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THE ANNALS 


AND 


MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY, 


INCLUDING 
ZOOLOGY, BOTANY, ann GEOLOGY. 


(BEING A CONTINUATION OF THE ‘MAGAZINE OF BOTANY AND ZOOLOGY,’ AND OF 
LOUDON AND CHARLESWORTH’S ‘MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. ’) 


CONDUCTED BY 


Siz W. JARDINE, Barr., F.L.S.—P. J. SELBY, Esa., F.L.S., 
GEORGE JOHNSTON, M.D., 
CHARLES C. BABINGTON, Ese., M.A., F.L.S., F.G.S., 
J. H. BALFOUR, M.D., Prof. Bot. Edinburgh, 


AND 


RICHARD TAYLOR, F.L.S., F.G.S. 


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. 


1847, 


*-Omnes res create sunt divine sapientie et potentie testes, divitie felicitatis 
humane :—ex harum usu bonitas Creatoris; ex pulchritudine sapientia Domini; 
ex ceconomia in conservatione, proportione, renovatione, potentia majestatis elucet. 
Earum itaque indagatio ab hominibus sibi relictis semper estimata; a veré eruditis 
et sapientibus semper exculta; malé doctis et barbaris semper inimica fuit.”— 
LINNZUs. , 


0 ole ees 6 ee 6 oe othe 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. 


% - aterE & FLAMMAM. 


CONTENTS OF VOL. XIX. 


NUMBER CXXIII. 


Page 
1. On the Formation of the Flints of the Upper Chalk. By J. Tour- : 
MIN SmiTH, Esq. (With a Plate.) ...cccccescsescseseeeees paekw sobs chs esstsvece 1 
II. A Supplement to “ A Synopsis of the British Rubi.” By Cuartes 
C. Basrnerom; MA Ps, FO GG: weds cecccdcccchccnccsdwcscvssvcceses 17 
III. On a peculiar Organ found in the Rays (Raia, Cuv.). By 
M. te Dr. Cu. Rosrn......... ees enecaveccccnsnvevccesevencenss phessldgeaamabe ons 19 
IV. Notice of an Ichthyolite from Sheppey, in the collection of 
Mr. Tennant, F.G.S. By Prof. Owen, F.R.S.  ....cccccecseceesseoees veo, 25 
V. On the Development of the Lycopodiacee. By Karu Mutter. 
(With five Pilates i osisediss lei de. watkvwdevlacadeveds chase diisde BE 
VI. Drafts for a Fauna Indica. By Ep. Buytru, Curator of the 
Asiatic Society’s Museum, &c. &. .......ceecerseeseees SHRGe th dah epieaisy <0 41 


New Books :—A Natural History of the Mammalia, by G. R. Water- 
house, Esq., of the British Museum.—Introduction to Zoology, for 
the Use of Schools, by Robert Patterson, Vice-President of the 
Natural History Society of Belfast.—Eliz Fries Summa Vegetabi- 
lium Scandinaviz ............00 biaGih de tilnd ate seeeunes bslideencas 53—58 


Proceedings of the Entomological Society ; Microscopical Society .. 58—69 


On the Habits of the Limpet; Meteorological Observations and 
TOO aa Seteatnnas deeadetex Peele La ces cc oud bed Eb dae Capone 70—72 


NUMBER CXXIV. 


VII.. Descriptions of some new species of the genus Gynautocera, 
from Northern India. By Epwarpv Doustepay, Assistant in the 
Zoological Department of the British Museum, F.L.S. &c. (With a 


PUR aasiai stinsncg needs sdbovpsccevecdsppevesndsbarnes ete housuanadeoubeesdebeqarps 73 
VIII. Hore Zoologicze :—Ornithology of the Island of Tobago. = 
Sir Wittiam Jarpine, Bart., F.R.S.E. & F.LAS.......cccccecescscses icse 78 


IX. A Supplement to “ A Synopsis of the British Rubi.” By 
Cuarves C, Basineton, M.A., F.L.S., F.G.S. &€C. ...ccesccccecseseccccees 83 


iv CONTENTS. 
Page 
X. The Birds of Calcutta, collected and described by Cart J. Sun- 
DOBVAEL . Seccosves cinivenwee bsdaucswasenacoas aeeesch rave chnhheah ens ea eeneeninmel 87 
XI. Description of a new species of the genus Actias of Hiibner, from 
Northern India. By Epwarp Dovs.epay, Assistant in the Zoological 
Department of the British Museum, F.L.S, &c. (With a Plate.) ...... 95 
XII. Notices of new or rare British Animals observed during Cruises 
in 1845 and 1846. By Roserr M‘Anprew, Esq., and Professor Ep- 


wARD Forses. (With a Plate.)............08. eibsaseacsdysssbeispasonsnsete css 96 
XIII. Drafts for a Fauna Indica. By Ep. Buyru, Curator of the 
Asiatic Society’s Museum, &. &¢.  .sc..sccccccsscecesees Aaass apbaicha Shanken’ 98 
XIV. On the Development of the Lycopodiacee. By Karu Mit- 
LER. (With five Plates.) ....... hard cebhoang Spek Ger isende oeakexacudeshacceane 109 
XV. An Outline of an Arrangement of Stony Corals. By J. E. 
Gary, Fist. OECs vecesnecsdncess bas Bakeca eee ishecumes Mes ynpamb ade tan che Nebaa vibes 120 


Proceedings of the Zoological Society ; Microscopical Society ... 129—137 


Addendum to the Birds of Corfu, by Capt. Portlock ; Achillea tanace- 
tifolia, All. ; On the Characters separating the four great Divisions 
of the Animal Kingdom, by J. E. Gray, F.R.S.; On the genus 
Caloptylum, by Sir J. Richardson; The Tein-ching, or Chinese In- 
digo; M. Schénherr; On the Minhocdo of the Goyanese, by M. 
Auguste de Saint-Hilaire; Award of Medals—Linnzan Society ; 
Meteorological Observations and Table ..... saspetbens ceseeesee 137—144 


NUMBER CXXV. 


XVI. On the Reproduction of Lost Parts in the Articulata. By 
Gerorce Newport, F.R.S. &c. (With a Plate.).........cccceccssecceceees 145 
XVII. Notes on Buccinum undatum. By Ausany Hancock, Esq. 150 
XVIII. On a second form of Fructification in Peyssonnelia Squa- 
maria. By C. Montaene, D.M., in a Letter to the Rev. M. J. Berxe- 
LEY, M.A., Fi daS. ‘scicessecis pb hte eis weed a aN dh Sid seed SH Ria Rodd Noe OND 49 slawnie’s 155 
XIX. Note on the genus Atya of Leach, with descriptions of four 
apparently new Species, in the Cabinets of the British Museum. By 
G. Newrorr, ¥.R:S. &e. ': CWith-a: Plate.) sccccccciscccvdcecciscovessscave 158 
XX. Notes on a Dredging Excursion off the coast of Durham; with 
descriptions of the Ova-Capsules of Fusus Norvegicus and Ff. Turtoni. 


By Mr. Ricuarp Howse. (With a Plate.).......cccccscccsccsecvecsaceeess 160 
XXI. The Birds of Calcutta, collected and described by Caru J. 
SUNDEVALL. .c.ccesseee Vande ciks glad Gillon Cnalstiag Gag andebwbeeis Césvevecacetscccaceuss 164 


XXII. Descriptions of new or imperfectly described Lepidopterous 
Insects. By Epwarp Dovustepay, F.L.S., Assistant in the Zoological 
Department of the British Museum, &c. ..........scscescssccceseeeees ceases 178 

XXIII. Note on the Irish species of Cephaloptera (Pterocephala). 

By Frenericx M‘Coy, M.G.S. & N.H.S.D. &c. (With a Plate.)...... 176 


CONTENTS. v 
Page 

XXIV. Drafts for a Fauna Indica. By Ep. Bryrn, Curator of the 
Asiatic Society’s Museum, &c. &c.  ......+4+. tveceesecucces (bevediginvedeseus 179 


New Book :—Wectures on the Comparative Anatomy and Physiology 
of the Vertebrate Animals; Part I, Fishes, being Vol. II. of 
Hunterian Lectures, by Richard Owen, F.R.S.  .....seeeeeeee ovgnce 187 


Proceedings of the Linnzean Society ; Royal Institution ; Botanical So- 
ciety of Edinburgh  .......eseecssenes ead eeeshnpereecevesos pebkveds 190—209 


Description of a new genus and species of Entozoa, by Joseph Leidy, 
M.D.; Description of two living Hybrid Fowls, between Gallus and 
Numida, by Samuel George Morton, M.D. ; On the Habits of the 
Honey Buzzard in Confinement, by Gordon Jos. Forster, Esq. ; 
Larus eburneus ; Fossil Human Bones ; On the Mechanism which 
closes the Membranous Wings of the genus Locusta, by Joseph 
Leidy, M.D.; On the genus Caloptylum ; Meteorological Obser- 
vations and Table ...... Sedvetacsbebssyabavennestvbevessy sesceseesese 209—216 


NUMBER CXXVI. 


XXV. Notes on the genus of Insects Trachyphleus, with descrip- 
tions of new species. By Joun Wa Ton, F.L.S.  ...cceceseeeeee soveeeees 217 
XXVI. Comparison of the Periods of Flowering of certain Plants 
in the early Spring of 1846, in the. Botanic Garden of Belfast and the 
Jardin des Plantes at Paris. By Wittiam Tuompson, Esq. (Belfast)... 223 
XXVII. Notice of anew species of Dawsonia. By Rosert Kaye 


Grevitte, LI..D., F.R.S.E., F.L.S. &c. (With a Plate.) ..........000.. 226 
XXVIII. Notes on some Chalcidites and Cynipites in the Collection 

of the Rev. F. W. Hope. By Francis Watker, F.L.S.  .......2008 eee 227 
XXIX. The Birds of Calcutta, collected and described by Cari 

J. SUNDEVALL oo iscccccciecsccscdecseccaseseecedecessecs ced hne eds bddeds ine odeeteues 232 
XXX. On the Development of the Lycopodiacee. By Kart Mit- 

LER. (With five Plates.) ........ ce couse pha bie Valiobkouavenusiceaccesss ea vi dant 240 


XXXI. On the Siliceous Bodies of the Chalk and other Formations, 
in reply to Mr. J. Toulmin Smith. By J. S. Bowersank, F.R.S. &c. 249 


Proceedings of the Zoological Society; Royal Institution ; Botanical 
Society of Edinburgh ....... steno nksaehicn vender Perreer eerste tie 262—278 


Reproduction of Lost Parts in Articulata ; Note on a British specimen 
of Oculina prolifera; On a new species of Penella; Report on be- 
half of the Section of Zoology by the Secretary, Prince Bonaparte, 
read at the concluding General Meeting of the Eighth Italian Sci- 
entific Congress; Observations on the Development of the Echi- 


vi CONTENTS. 

Page 
nidé (Echinus esculentus), by M. Dufossé; Remarks on Opalina 
Naidos, an Entozoon found in the Naiade, by Dr. O. Schmidt ; On 
the Formation of Cylindrical Masses of Snow in Orkney, by Charles 
Clouston, Esq. ; Meteorological Observations and Table ... 279—288 


NUMBER CXXVII. 


XXXII. Further Observations on the Formation of the Flints of 
the Upper Chalk, with Remarks on the Sponge Theory of Mr. Bower- 


bank. By J. Toutmin Smit, Esq..........cccescececsceaes RvatUedaN abana 289 
XXXIII. Descriptions and Notices of British Shells. By J. Gwyn 
SRPVRETG, FT AES. osc wegesertasectsconaneeeses sul Bdixevansisacsevduses 309 
XXXIV. Notes on the genus of Insects Omias, with descriptions of 
new species. By Jon WALTON, FLAS... .0..ccccscsscsccccscccsnccncess . 314 
XXXV. On the Development of the Lycopodiacee. By Kart 
DEGULER..”.€ V0 00h TUB PARE) concn esos ip cinsd snes Aancecdasscesas eh hi eee 317 
XXXVI, On the Discovery of Silurian Rocks in Cornwall. By Sir 
Ropericx Impey Murcuison, G.C. St.S., F.R.S., V.P.G.S. &c......... 326 


XXXVII. First series of Supplementary Notes to a former Paper, 
entitled “An Account of some Shells and other Invertebrate Forms 
found on the coast of Northumberland and of Durham.” By Witt1am 
Kine, Curator of the Newcastle Museum......... aime ssltan sap seLeueaiates airs 334 


New Books :—Outlines of Structural and Physiological Botany, by 
Arthur Henfrey, F.L.S. &c.—-Supplement to English Botany.— 
Cybele Britannica ; or British Plants and their Geographical Rela- 
tions, by H. C. Watson ...... pea skoegtabne is vacoessus Cepeccesnese 340—344 


Proceedings of the Linnean Society ; Zoological Society ......... 344—353 


Microscopic Anatomy of the Shell of the Decapodous Crustacea, by 
J. Lavalle; The Tea-Plant of China; Description of two new 
species of Shells, by William Case; Trichina spiralis ; Meteoro- 
logical Observations and Table ........scsesecsecenscectecseeeees 353—360 


NUMBER CXXVIII. 


XXXVIII. Biological Contributions. By Gzorce J. Auman, M.B., 
F.R.C.S.1., M.R.I.A., Professor of Botany in Trinity College, Dublin, ° 
late Demonstrator of Anatomy and Conservator of the Anatomical 
Miusenus,-T.C.D. .. CWith two Plates.) ...cccerneonscdsssteliuigse tvetedsbsi. 361 

XXXIX. Ornithological Notes. By Joun Buacxwatt, F.L.S. ... 371 

XL. Descriptions of new British Coleoptera, with additional Notes. 


By J aemtis EL anos, eels isis ces tek 5 iia 0hbs 6a tes ods biccec cadens cece dacccccweees 379 
XLI. On a new genus of Labyrinthi-bronchial Fish from Quelli- 
mane: By De, W. Perens: (With a Plate.) i......ccccecssececesccsecesns 384 


XLII. Descriptions of new or imperfectly described Lepidopterous 


CONTENTS. vil 
Page 
Insects. By Epwarp Dovsxiepay, Esq., F.L.S., Assistant in the Zoo- 
logical Department of the British Museum, &¢. .........sseeeeeeeeeeree ene 385 
XLIII. Notices of new or rare British Animals observed during 
Cruises in 1845 and 1846. By Rozert M‘Anprew, Esq., and Pro- 
fessor Epwarp Forses. (With a Plate.)  ..........+. poseehanebbs deeds cede 390 
XLIV. ‘Characters of undescribed Chalcidites collected in North 
America by E. Doubleday, Esq., and now in the British Museum. By 
PRSNCUE AGRO, BBs iii icicdchoddtnasis chakdentqutn sktbeecceneusssicies 392 


New Books :—Flore del’ Algérie, ou Catalogue des Plantes indigénes du 
Royaume d’Alger, par G. Munby.—The Ancient World ; or Pic- 
turesque Sketches of Creation, by D. T. Ansted, M.A., F.R.S. 

WR. vuesdaqecessessedccechobuh ronal (up spidey Stacks dye haed. wa eebacs 398—401 


Proceedings of the Zoological Society; Botanical Society of Edin- 
burgh See eee eae ree seeeeeeeeeetens COOP eee eee BHC eset Here eHeneeeeeBetees 401—424 


Occurrence of Sertularia elongata, Lamouroux ; Description of two new 
genera of Shells, by Dr. Philippi ; Infusorial Deposit at Dolgelly, 
North Wales; A Sketch of the Geology of Texas, by Dr. Ferdinand 
Roemer; Meteorological Observations and Table .......+++4. 425—432 


NUMBER CXXIX. SUPPLEMENT. 


XLV. On the Larval State and Metamorphosis of the Ophiuride 
and Echinide. By Prof. J.Muuuer. (With a Plate.) ..........s.eeees. 433 


XLVI. Notes on the genus of Insects Otiorhynchus, with descrip- 
tions of new species. By Joun Watton, F.L.S. (With a Plate.) ... 445 
Proceedings of the Linnzan Society ; Zoological Society ......... 453-470 


Deri Ate EE ie canal oo Vancbneabvoosne:- siubenenuas te halaeeus oa cre Mia aate 470 
Inde? oss Se NU te ea ON eck Sg hib's bs CAG MAD oR UR ea MEK Cuedodmcbaabis eee 478 


PLATES IN VOL. XIX. 


Prate I. Formation of Flints of the Upper Chalk. 


II. 

III. 

IV. Development of the Lycopodiacee. 
V 


VI. 
VII. New species of Gynautocera and new species of Actias. 
VIII. Reproduction of lost parts in the Articulata.-New species of 

Atya. 

IX. New species of Testaceous Mollusca.—New species of Pelagia. 

X. Ova-capsules of Fusus Norvegicus and F. Turtoni. 

XI. Figs. 1 and 2, Pterocephala Fabroniana.—Figs. 3 and 4, Cteno- 

poma multispinis.—Fig. 5, Metamorphosis of the Ophiuridz. 


XII. Dawsonia superba. 


sen, } Chelura terebrans. 


XV. New species of Otiorhynchus. 


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Ann.& Mag.Nat.Hist. Vol 19. 71.1. 


imaraved bv E Raddvtic. 


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THE ANNALS 


AND 


MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 


BS cv adcebeccecsouase per litora spargite muscum, 

Naiades, et circdm vitreos considite fontes : 
' Pollice virgineo teneros hic carpite flores : 
Floribus et pictum, dive, replete canistrum. 
At vos, o Nymphz Craterides, ite sub undas ; 
Ite, recurvato variata corallia trunco 
Vellite muscosis e rupibus, et mihi conchas 
Ferte, Dee pelagi, et pingui conchylia succo,” 
N. Parthenit Giannettasié Ecl. 1. 


No. 123. JANUARY 1847. 


I.—On the Formation of the Flints of the Upper Chalk. 
By J. Toutmin Smiru, Esq. 


[ With a Plate. ] 


VARIOUS theories have, at various times, been proposed to 
explain the very curious and interesting phenomena connected 
with the presence of flints in the upper chalk. Having for some 
time paid close attention to the facts, from which alone any true 
theory can be framed, I would now offer a few observations on 
some of the more prominent of those theories. 

The theories which have been proposed have had very differ- 
ent objects, which it is desirable to distinguish clearly at the outset. 
Thus, while Ehrenberg and Dr. Turner have suggested explana- 
tions of the origin of flint itself, without entermg into detailed 
observations on the particular modes and forms in which we now 
find it in the chalk, Dr. Buckland and Mr. Bowerbank have en- 
deavoured to explain, not the origin of flint, but the forms and 
modes in which it is now found. 

Disposed as I am to regard the explanation offered by Dr, 
Turner*, combined with other sources known to exist, of the ori- 
gin of the siliceous fluid as sufficient and satisfactory, the sug- 
gestions of Ehrenberg being, at any rate, applicable in particular 


* See ‘“ Lecture on the Chemistry of Geology,” Philosophical Magazine, 
vol. iii. (1833). 
Ann. & Mag. N, Hist. Vol. xix. 1 


2 Mr. Toulmin Smith on the Formation 


cases and to a very limited extent only, our attention will at pre- 
sent be principally confined to the theories which attempt to 
explain the forms and modes in which the flint is now found. 

Of these, the theory of Dr. Buckland, that flint and chalk 
being deposited together in the form of viscid fluids the former 
separated itself from the latter according to the well-known laws 
of chemical affinity, is of too indefinite and general a character to 
be readily applied and tested in individual cases, though, as we 
shall find, such opportunity does sometimes occur. The theory 
of Mr. Bowerbank alone proposes a distinct and definite explana- 
tion of all the forms and modes in which flint, either in nodules 
or tabular masses, is actually found, To that theory therefore 
I will direct chief attention, the more so as it has very recently 
been advocated in this Journal*, and as I believe the views ex- 
pressed in Mr. Bowerbank’s published paper on the subject+ are 
still held by their author, and they come from him with an au- 
thority so great as to claim the most careful and candid exami- 
nation. 

Mr. Bowerbank’s views may be shortly stated to be, in his 
own words, “that the common tuberous flints, the horizontal 
tabular flints, and those forming perpendicular or oblique veins, 
were ALL produced by the same agency,” namely, IN ALL CASES 
from sponges, of which those flints occupy the exact places, 
though of the sponges themselves but small remains generally 
exist (see pp. 183 and 186 of the paper referred to). 

It is not my intention to dispute the particular facts stated by 
Mr. Bowerbank as applying to the cases observed by him. What 
I undertake to show is that those, admitting their correctness, 
are not all the facts, and that many others exist wholly imcon- 
sistent with the conclusions which Mr. Bowerbank would draw. 
And it is here well deserving of remark, that, while Mr. Bower- 
bank finds in such abundance on the exterior of all flints sponge 
spicule and evidence of the mouths of the excurrent canals of 
sponges, Ehrenberg finds the same exteriors to consist almost 
entirely of the skeletons of Infusoria! No one accustomed to 
the use of the microscope can be otherwise than aware how much 
very minute objects seen under a high power are apt to assume 
a character in accordance with preconceived notions; and when 
we find such careful observers as Mr. Bowerbank and Ehrenberg 
thus differing altogether and in so very marked a manner in the 
results of their examinations, it may be allowed us, in all humi- 
lity, to call in the aid of other classes of facts to clear up the 
mystery, and this I now proceed to do. 

I fully admit that spicule are not uncommonly found in some 


* By Prof. Ansted, 1844. + Geol. Trans. vol. vi. 181. 


of the Flints of the Upper Chalk. 3 


flints, but they are most assuredly not always found ; in some 
flints they are very numerous, while in others from the same spot 
they are exceedingly rare, arid in very many wholly wanting. 
Now these sponge spicule are indestructible. The destruction 
of the structure of the sponge, which this theory requires as a 
necessary postulate, would not destroy them. How then is it 
that they are thus variably present ? And it is important to re- 
member that similar spicule are also found in the chalk itself. 

It may be remarked, in passing, that this theory, if true, pre- 
sents us with a phenomenon still more extraordinary and unac- 
countable than that which it is called in to explain. It is taken 
for granted that the flint itself is a foreign substance which has 
filled the places formerly occupied by sponges. Now how hap- 
pens it that flint should be found in such places only ? and this 
restriction, be it observed, besides being expressly made by Mr. 
Bowerbank, is necessary to the existence, in any shape, of the 
theory. If it is once admitted that flint is ever, or may be even 
in a single instance, found elsewhere, the theory ceases to be an 
explanation of the phenomena, and becomes of no value to the 
philosophical inquirer. Now, can it be shown that silex has any 
peculiar affinity for either the animal substance or the horny 
skeleton of sponges? The contrary is known, as matter of fact, 
to be the case. Facts paleontological as well as recent might be 
cited in abundance in disproof of this necessary postulate of the 
sponge theory. I have undoubted sponges in my possession 
from the chalk, which, instead of being wholly silicified, are in 
part so, and in part still in the chalk, while the flint is otherwise 
extended beyond the boundary of the sponge. Such facts dis- 
prove the alleged special affinity. But if we turn to events going 
on before our eyes, we find that not only is silex abundantly se- 
creted on the leaves and stalks of the Plumbago, and at the joints 
of the bamboo, and in many other instances, but the plants grow- 
ing near the Geysers in Iceland, as well as near the hot springs 
in some of the Azores, are incrusted with silex, in which many 
are completely imbedded, and that without the presence or neigh- 
bourhood of any sponge whatever. These facts alone, apart from 
those of a like nature which will presently be named, and which 
every one must feel to be clearly analogous, are fatal to the 
theory. They show analogous results produced at the present 
day by a wholly different set of causes from those suggested by 
the sponge theory and necessary to its maintenance. 

It is admitted that it is very rarely, if ever, that the reticulated 
tissue which is conceived to have belonged to sponges is found 
throughout any considerable portion of the flint; that often but 
little of such tissue is found ; often no trace of it at all. Now 
these facts want, but have not had, explanation. How is it that 

* 


3 Mr. Toulmin Smith on the Formation 


the bodies themselves whence the flints are said to derive their 
forms are almost wholly, often wholly, gone, and yet in those 
very flints are preserved structures, as we shall see, in endless 
variety, every whit as delicate and beautiful as the sponges them- 
selves, and that too of bodies which, according to the very as- 
sumption of the theory, were themselves dead before the sponge 
was formed over them ? 

But it may further be asked, how happens it that there are 
found in flints fragments perfect and in beautiful preservation of 
the reticulated tissue, while all the rest is wanting? This is in- 
consistently enough an admitted fact,—a fact itself proving that 
the destruction of this tissue, assumed to have taken place in all 
but these fragmentary places, is not a necessary or easily explain- 
able fact. These fragments generally show under the micro- 
scope a clear and distinct torn edge, not a going-off into gradual 
indistinctness as-would be the case if they were the remnants of 
a large body formerly filling the place of the flint. I can readily 
understand that fragments of sponges might float about in the 
ocean mud and become, with other organic remains, imbedded and 
preserved in flint. We find precisely such fragments in the chalk 
also. Such a view fully accounts for the presence of these frag- 
ments in the flints, while their presence in that fragmentary state 
is totally inconsistent with the idea of the whole mass of flint 
having ever been made up of such tissue. 

Moreover, perfect sponges do exist among the flints. These 
however assume a totally different aspect and form to ordinary 
flints. I have several specimens, in which the general form of 
the sponge, with its roots, is perfectly preserved, and the struc- 
ture very beautifully displayed on fracture; and, placed side by 
side with a fine specimen of recent sponge, the one seems but 
the solidified representation of the other. Not so the flint nodules 
or tabular masses. They assume every variety of fantastic form, 
_ while it is admitted that roots, or traces of them, are not to be 
found. 

We advance now to another and distinct branch of the in- 
quiry ; namely, as to the evidence afforded by the organic re- 
mains, undoubtedly other than sponges, which are found in 
flints: and I think we may derive equally conclusive evidence 
from this class of facts. 

Where, in recent sponges, do we find the innumerable quan - 
tities of shells and other large objects that we find in the chalk 
flints ? In a specimen now before me, by no means a picked one, 
I find projecting from the exterior two Plagiostomas, a Terebra- 
tula, a Pecten, twelve Ostreas and several Serpulas ; all these ob- 
vious ; besides innumerable smaller shells and several portions of 
a quadrangular Ventriculite. This specimen is about 8 inches 


of the Flints of the Upper Chalk. 5 


by 4, unbroken, and of most fantastic form. Another, about 
4 inches by 8, and containing one Ventriculite which it just 
encases, presents two beautiful Dianchoras and at least eight 
Ostreas, besides many small shells. These are lying on the ex- 
ternal surface, just sunk, as it were, in the flint, as they would 
sink in water, but not at all covered*. No hollow of a sponge 
could have retained them thus. 

I have seen, in Mr. Bowerbank’s valuable collection of sponges, 
a specimen in which one small shell is imbedded: this may have 
happened in casual instances with small dead shells, but where 
can it be found, in recent sponges, from the most favourable spots, 
that they are full, as we find the flints full, of bivalves large, nu- 
merous and perfect, and apparently livimg when enveloped ? 

It is assumed by this theory that the sponges grew over the 
shells and other organic objects which lay on the surface of the 
mud. But the observed facts are wholly at variance with this 
assumption. The organic bodies are found, not on the under 
surface of the flints only, but equally on all parts of the surface 
and in all parts of the inside. Now how can this be accounted 
for? Shall we suppose that the shells, &c. sank down from 
above and rested on the sponges till grown over, unaffected by 
their natural tendency to fall to the actual bottom on the slightest 
motion in the water ? What follows then ? necessarily this: that 
the upper surfaces of the tabular masses would, far more than 
any other flints, display these remains, as such shells, &c. would 
be far less liable to roll off the assumed sponges of this form. 
But do the facts support this necessary conclusion from the sponge 
theory? Assuredly not. It is the nodular flints in which are 
found most of the organic remains of the class alluded to. Thus 
on the flat surfaces, off which shells, &e. could not fall, they are 
not found in any abundance, while on the smaller and nodular 
masses, of all sizes, off which the least motion, if not their natural 
gravity, would cause them to fall, they are found in great abun- 
dance! The same result follows from the observation of the fact, 
that on the under side of the upper part of the goblet-shaped flints 
which inclose Ventriculites (and the upper and under surfaces of 
which can therefore be positively known), shells and other re- 
mains, not originally affixed to the surface of the animal, are found, 
which therefore could never have been either lying on the ground 
or have fallen from above. These two sets of facts are equally 
conclusive against the sponge enveloping theory. . 

The Echinites alone, extensively examined, afford conclusive 
evidence against the sponge theory. These are very frequently 
indeed found in the very centre of flints. They are sometimes 


* See note, p. 7, for explanation of this fact. 


6 Mr. Toulmin Smith on the Formation 


found with spines affixed, and therefore alive or with unde- 
composed soft parts when entombed. The masses of flint to 
which they are affixed are very frequently not attached to either 
of the large orifices of the shell, but to some part of the sides, 
while the shell is entirely filled with flint and both orifices closed. 
Mr. Bowerbank states that, when the shell is not entirely filled 
with flint, in “ the space thus unoccupied by the flint was always 
included one or both of the large orifices of the shell*.” I do 
not find this fact in any degree borne out by my own observations. 
I have specimens at this moment before me in which the reverse 
is the fact,—both orifices being closed though the Echinite has 
never been filled with flint. Many other illustrations of the clear 
inapplicability of the sponge theory to the case of Echinites might 
be given. 

It is frequently the case that the remains of a zoophyte are 
found in the exact centre of a flint which is externally round.. In 
some localities these abound, and they occur from the condition 
of a very friable substance, perfectly preserving the structure 
however, and merely coated with a layer of flint, to the same 
body perfectly solid and silicified throughout, though still clearly 
showing the structure. It is easy to understand that, in parti- 
cular classes of objects (such e. g. as some of the beautiful ob- 
jects inclosed in the Wiltshire flints) and under particular. cir- 
cumstances, the affinity for the siliceous fluid might not be suf- 
ficiently great, or the rapidity of its solidifying too great, to 
allow of its penetrating the body round which it formed. In such 
cases we should necessarily find, as we do, that the soft animal 
substance, not being penetrated, has decayed, leaving only what 
we find,—the hard and, so protected, indestructible parts ; where 
it was wholly soft animal matter a mere hollow is found. The ex- 
tent to which penetration extended will of course affect the facts 
exhibited. The explanation offered by Mr. Bowerbank of the 
Wiltshire flints is clearly inadmissible. Had they been dead and 
sponges grown over them, it is obvious that they would not, as 
now, have been doose within the flints, but solidly encased, as 
shells and corals are found. . 

I have an Asterias in the centre of a flint. Teeth, pieces of 
wood, &c. are often found in flints, which could never have be- 
come entangled within the meshes of a sponge. It will be said 
that the sponge may have been built over them. This, though 
highly improbable, may be possible ; but there are cases to which 
such an explanation cannot apply, in which flint is found in situ- 


* Loe. cit. p. 186. 

+ I believe it may be stated as an invariable rule, that there is an orifice, 
large or minute, in all such cases, through which the gases evolved might 
escape. 


of the Flints of the Upper Chalk. 7 


ations to which it is impossible that, on the sponge theory, it 
could have gained access. 

The specimen of Mososaurus (Leiodon of Owen *), discovered 
by Mr. Charlesworth, exhibits the pulp cavities of the teeth par- 
tially filled with flint. This is sufficiently remarkable ; but those 
teeth being large, and the cavities not being wholly filled with 
the flint, it may not perhaps, alone, be considered as absolutely 
conclusive. What is wanting in this case is however fully sup- 
plied by the following :— 

I have a flint, in the centre of which is found, by a happy frac- 
ture, a jaw on which are made visible, by the fracture, at least 
sixteen teeth (see figure). They are very minute; the largest 


not exceeding in size the point of a pin the eighth of an inch in 
length. On examining this very interesting specimen under the 
microscope, it is found that, though the jaw itself is perfect and 
not silicified+, the pulp cavity of each tooth in which the fracture 
has exposed it is entirely fi//ed with solid flint. How did that 
flint get there? Geological phenomena will indeed be easily ex- 
plainable if we are to believe that any sponge gemmule ever found 
its way into these minute and perfectly inaccessible spaces, and 
still more that, having found its way there, it was able to exist and 
grow there without any possible access to the very essential means 
of its existence, the sea-water. That the silex when in solution 
possessed however the power, and that it was one of its qualities, 
to penetrate some of the most intimate tissues of organic bodies 
within its range, will appear from the next class of facts cited ; 
in reference to which, as well as to the last-named facts, it may 
be stated that soft animal matter appears to have had a greater 


' * Odontography, p. 261. and pl. 72; and a section is figured in the Lon- 
don Geological Journal for Sept. 1846. 

+ See this phenomenon alluded to in a very interesting paper by Dr. Man- 
tell in the ‘ Annals and Magazine of Natural History,’ vol. xvi. p. 80. The 
whole article is well-worthy of attentive perusal. ‘The same principle will 
consistently explain why, as often seen, though a Ventriculite was enveloped 
in flint, the shells on it were left bare, not having so much affinity for the 
siliceous fluid as the soft animal substance of the Ventriculite. On the sponge 
theory this frequent fact would be utterly inexplicable. 


8 Mr. Toulmin Smith on the Formation 


affinity for the silex than bone or shell; through which latter 
the silex would frequently pass without lodging there in order to 
reach those parts for which its affinity was greater*. 

We now come to the innumerable cases in which organic re- 
mains belonging to the many varieties commonly, though very 
loosely, grouped as Ventriculites, whether cyathiform, flexuous 
or quadrangular, and Choanites and the like are found imbedded 
in flints; and many of the most delicate of which we now find 
imbedded in the solid flint with yet a light floating elegance of 
form as if still enjoying life in their native liquid element ; and 
which facts assure us that they were thus suddenly and instanta- 
neously fixed in a moment of the highest vitality. 

What are the conclusions to which a careful and extensive ex- 
amination of these objects necessarily leads ? 

First, that the animals were enveloped while livingt+, and not 
afier death, as the sponge theory assumes as a necessary postu- 
late. The specimens are found both in flint and chalk in pre- 
cisely the same conditions. They are found in all states, from the 
fully expanded to the closely contracted. They are found—not, 
as is the case with the sponge tissues, rarely or never, but—very 
generally in a perfect. state of preservation, the whole tissues and 
structure being preserved to us in a condition fully as clear as if 
the living being were before us. Now it is very easy to conceive 
of the living animal bemg suddenly enveloped in a mass of soft 
mud or other liquid which hardened more or less rapidly, but we 
cannot conceive of its allowing the growth over it, while living, 
of a sponge which enveloped without killing it or altering its ap- 
pearance ; still less of that sponge afterwards decaying and leaving 
the inclosed body undecayed. 

Second. It is beyond a question that the cause which gave 
rise to these flints was not a foreign body enveloping the exterior 
of the Ventriculites and other bodies, but a substance which pos- 
sessed the quality of penetrating their most intimate structure. 
It is only necessary to examine polished specimens of either 
Choanites or the cyathiform, quadrangular or flexuous Ventri- 
culites, or the specimens of either cracked open, when, as is often 
the case, they admit of this, to be fully satisfied on this point. 
The structure of these bodies themselves remains perfect and 
most beautiful, while no enveloping structure or tissue can be 
made out, except in the occasional fragments already noticed. 
Again, it is not unfrequently found that the flint itself has only 


* The same point is well illustrated by cases of fish and crustacea, of 
both of which I have specimens of which the integument remains unsili- 
cified, the interior is solid flint. 

- + This might easily be shown to have been the case with other classes of 
objects, but space forbids extending the illustrations. All these soft parts 
are preserved, and yet the enveloping sponge has decayed ! 


of the Flints of the Upper Chalk. 9 


penetrated the internal structure, none being found encasing 
either the external or internal surface*. This would clearly be 
inexplicable on the sponge theory, but. presents itself as a fre- 
quent phenomenon in several of the classes of objects above 
enumerated, and is consistent with the observed fact, already no- 
ticed, of the affinity of the silex for soft animal matter. When, 
moreover, flint is found enveloping the outside of a Ventri- 
culite, it is almost invariably found enveloping it, to exactly the 
same extent and no more, on the inside, and this without the 
edges of the Ventriculite bemg at any point overlapped. It is 
obvious that no sponge can have possibly grown in this manner. 
Again, the delicate roots of these bodies are very frequently in- 
deed, more frequently than any other part, found preserved in 
flint, a fact im most diametrical opposition to the very funda- 
mental and necessary postulates of the sponge theory, as the 
sponge would clearly lie upon, not penetrate into, the mud. Yet 
these ventriculite roots are thus commonly found, while it is ad- 
mitted that no place of root is to be found belonging to the so- 
called sponge masses themselves. I have a specimen in which, 
in one block of chalk, there are five Ventriculites. The stem and 
root of each one, and no other part, is enveloped in flint. 

It may here be noticed as an interesting and important fact, 
that it will be found, on careful examination, that not only is the 
internal structure of the Ventriculite preserved, but, im fine spe- 
cimens opened with care, the integument of the animal, which 
presents quite a different structure, is also preserved, covering over 
the internal structure ; and thus at the same time disproving the 
alleged sponge character of the Ventriculites+, and showing that, 
at the time when the silex aggregated round and penetrated the 
Ventriculite, this integument was unbroken. So in Choanites, 
which have quite a different exterior, that exterior will be fre- 
quently seen perfect, clear and distinct, while exterior to it is a 
layer of flint. 

It will be obvious, that if the sponge theory is to be taken as 
any explanation at all, it must assume, in addition to the inad- 
missible postulates already noticed, the mconceivable phzno- 
menon that every one of these living bodies was penetrated by 
the sponge, since the very object of the theory is to show that all 
the spaces now occupied by flint were once sponge, that is, that 
silex has precisely replaced sponge and nothing else. If it does 
not go this length it is of no value whatever as a theory, since 


* It is worthy of particular remark, too, that all these bodies are very 
frequently found only partially enveloped in flint, the remainder of the 
body being found in the adjoining chalk. This affords clear demonstration 
against the sponge theory, but space will not allow of my entering on this 
very interesting class of facts. 

+ See Prof. Ansted’s paper above cited. 


10 Mr. Toulmin Smith on the Formation 


there is no doubt, as already seen, of sponges being, like other 
remains, sometimes inclosed in flint : the point is to explain upon 
a general and universally applicable principle, the presence, in all 
its forms, of flint ; and this has been seen by the extract already 
given to be the express intention of Mr. Bowerbank. If there- 
fore it appears that it is impossible, in any one particular in- 
stance, to explain the presence of flint on this theory, the theory 
itself falls wholly to the ground as an explanation of the pheeno- 
mena. Its insufficiency is not any more demonstrated, though 
it is further illustrated, by multiplying such instances or sets of 
instances. Such illustration is afforded by the variety of factswhich 
have been already cited, and the citation of which, did space per- 
mit, might be extended almost without limitation. It is conceived 
however that it has been sufficiently shown, first, from the con- 
dition of the assumed sponge remains themselves, second, from 
the nature and condition of the inclosed organic bodies, that the 
sponge theory is in nowise tenable as a comprehensive theory 
to explain the origin of the forms and modes in which flint is now 
found in the chalk. 

We will now take another ground apart from any internal ex- 
amination, to which we have hitherto confined ourselves, of the 
substance of the flint. And we shall find, on taking a careful 
review of some facts of the external forms and modes in which 
the flints are found, that the sponge theory is not only wholly 
unsatisfactory, but absolutely impossible ; while we may gain some 
hints as to the true origin of these masses. To avoid extending 
these remarks to too great a length I shall confine myself to a 
few cases, which however are conclusive, and all of which, with 
many others confirming them, have been collected by myself upon 
the spot ; and I purposely select such as have been collected at 
spots many miles apart. 

The reader is requested to examine carefully the specimen 
represented in fig. 1 of Plate I., which is, with the others there 
figured, of the natural size. It will be seen that the external 
_ surface of this specimen is entirely covered with strong liny 

ridges. These ridges overlap one another precisely like pieces 
of card-board cut to a clear square edge, or, to take another and 
I believe an exact analogy, as flakes of ice just on the point of 
congelation would do if violently agitated*. They rise one above 
another about, on an average, the twentieth of an inch, and, as it 
will be seen that they run in various directions, they thus give to 
the surface a very peculiar form, the anticlinal axis } ¢ crossing 
it, and there being at a, where the ridges run concentrically, a 
deep and very accurately rounded cup, of which a small space at 
- * In an experiment with Glauber salts, made since the above was written, 


I found, on an accidental motion given, exactly the same character of ridges 
assumed. 


of the Flints of the Upper Chalk. ll 


the bottom is flat and all around the ridges rise regularly and 
concentrically ; giving necessarily the idea of some liquid sub- 
stance, of which the surface was very rapidly solidifying, and 
disposed altogether to very rapid solidification, and which at the 
exact moment of such condition was affected by some small 
rapidly revolving eddy, while the other parts of the solidifymg 
substance were at the same moment affected by small but rapid 
currents running in opposite directions. This very motion pro- 
bably caused the solidification of the mass, for, curiously enough, 
there are fewer marks of organic remains in this and another 
similar flint than in any others I possess*. The edges of all 
the ridges are sharp, although in this instance, contrary to what 
we shall presently find in another, the whole surface, under the 
angles of the ridges as well as above them, is covered with the 
mealy coating. The under surface of this flint is covered with 
ridges precisely in the same manner as the surface figured, and 
in a manner which renders the specimen still more striking as 
illustrating the action of the supposed currents. Traces of the 
flakes which have thus been forcibly slipped over each other are 
also observable in the substance of the flint, at a cross fracture, 
precisely as might be the case where flakes of ice, slipped over 
one another, varied slightly in colour, from some contained sub- 
stance, while separately exposed and before being piled over by 
a mass of other liquid, on whose thus forcibly and rapidly 
upraised surface the broken edges of other flakes would of 
course be seen ; and the whole of which mass, so piled up and very 
rapidly solidified by the 
very agitation thus given, 
affords the most exact idea 
of the present specimen. 
I have another specimen 
presenting exactly the 
same general characters of 
liny ridges with sharp over- 
lapping edges, though the 
form assumed is different. 
I have also a most inter- 
esting section of flint, pre- 
senting, under the micro- 
scope, evidence of a pre- 
cisely analogous train of 
facts and consequences. : 

This specimen, which is Traces of revolving particles in flint mag- 
here figured, speaks for nified about four linear. 


* “The slightest disturbing causes, as agitation, change of temperature 
or the affinity, though slight, of some other body for the solvent, would put 
an end to the solution.” —TZurner’s Lecture, as before cited, p. 26. 


12 Mr. Toulmin Smith on the Formation 


itself. The lines on it present no trace of organic structure, 
but are obviously caused by the rapid revolution of the particles, 
to which motion the flint, almost free from trace of organism, 
probably owed its solidification. 

These facts are obviously totally incompatible with the sponge 
theory. Not only is it clear that no sponge can ever have taken 
such forms of growth as these, which are obviously the result of 
mechanical causes acting, not on an animal substance but on an 
inorganic one; but, while the sponge theory, necessarily assuming 
as it does the decomposition of the saturated sponge, requires 
as a necessary postulate a very slowly solidifying body, as the 
only means of accounting for that decomposition, the facts above 
named obviously point to a very rapidly solidifying substance, a 
condition, too, best agreeing with known phenomena. Nor do 
the facts admit of that substance being of the nature suggested 
by Dr. Buckland. They seem, on the contrary, necessarily to 
indicate a substance which, while of a considerable specific gra- 
vity (flint is 2°59), was in an extreme state of liquidity* for the 
time, but liable to extremely rapid solidification ; in fact such a 
substance as Dr. Turner indicates. The sharp edges, as well as 
the character of the ridges, preclude the supposition of a viscid 
fluid. Phenomena analogous to those suggested as explanatory 
of the condition of fig. 1 are often seen in cold weather in a 
vessel of water in which fine flakes of ice only are seen while it 
is at rest, but the moment it is agitated the whole becomes a 
solid mass. Similar phenomena may be produced experiment- 
ally in many ways. 

The rare occurrence in the flit of instances like those just 
stated probably arises from that very rapidity of solidification 
which explains those particular instances ; a solidification which 
contact with any organic body would equally induce, and which 
would of course, therefore, prevent frequent liability while yet 
liquid to such casualties as there happened. That rapidity of 
solidification,—a fact, as has been seen, inadmissible on the 
sponge theory,—is demonstrated not only by the facts last stated 
but by those to be next named, and which, with the last, render 
it indisputable that the flint was perfectly solid and brittle (and 
not in anywise in the state of a glutinous or viscous mass) before 
the chalk itself became solid or was in otherwise than the state 
of a soft mud, but yet while it was in a state of mud and not 


* Dr. Turner speaks, p. 27, of the silica being in a gelatinous form and 
hardening slowly. Why this should ever have been assumed does not ap- 
pear, and both parts of the assumption are obviously directly inconsistent 
with all the general principles enunciated in that lecture and with observed 
facts, as above shown. There is probably some incompleteness in this part 
of the report of his lecture. 


of the Flints of the Upper Chalk. 13 


merely of muddy water*. This is a very important point, as it 
enables us to explain very many of the most striking phenomena 
connected. with the deposit and contents and aspect of flints. 

Pl. I. fig. 2 represents a specimen extracted with elaborate 
eare from the rock with my own hand, and in which therefore 
no mistake exists as to facts or appearances. It is a mass of 
chalk in which is a flint in part enveloping a Ventriculite, though 
a part of it (on each side of d) is an instance of a frequent case 
above named, where the flint is found not enveloping but only 
penetrating the substance of the animal; and the specimen af- 
fords the yet further illustration of a Ventriculite preserved 
partly in flint, partly in chalk. Now this flint formerly enve- 
loped with an extremely thin coating (not the eighth of an inch 
thick) the lower part of the Ventriculite, together with the stem 
and roots. After it was thus encased however, and while the 
chalk was yet a soft mud, the flint, then necessarily solidified and 
brittle, was by some accident broken. The force which broke it 
nearly expended itself in so dog, and was not sufficient to 
overcome entirely the adhesive properties of the mud and so to 
remove the separated parts to a great distance. In this instance 
there were in the chalk, when I found it i situ, four pieces of 
flint a, 6, e, and one at c, the impression of which last remains, 
but the piece itself was broken out before I discovered the nature 
of the specimen: a, 6 and e remain exactly as they were. 
Neither of them has ever been disturbed, and each is perfectly 
fixed and firm in the chalk. The chalk still remains, fillmg up 
the spaces between them and between ¢ and a, except where I 
have, to a slight depth, cleared it away between a and 6 in order 
to ascertain the interesting fact to be next stated, namely, that 
the substance of the structure of the Ventriculite is perfectly 
preserved and displayed in each piece a and 4, and the edge a is 
the exact counterpart of the edge b, and would fit to it if they were 
brought in contact. A more interesting fact it has seldom been 
my lot to develope in the course of my geological researches. 
This case alone is sufficient to establish beyond possibility of 
dispute the proposition to illustrate which it has been cited. 
Neither the mass of chalk in which it now exists, nor that from 
which it was extracted, does or did exhibit, on or near the place 
of this fracture, the slightest trace of any movement or displace- 
ment. Being, as above said, obviously in a state of soft mud 
when the accident happened, it was sufficiently adhesive to retain 


* This condition, while thus demonstrated, explains with a beautiful con- 
sistency the very frequent fact of Ventriculites, &c. preserved half in flint 
and half in chalk. I regret that space will not allow me to enter on that 
point, which an extensive reference to facts only may render obvious to those 
unfamiliar with the phenomena. 


14 Mr. Toulmin Smith on the Formation 


the pieces in these positions and to prevent injury to the exposed 
parts of the Ventriculite, but filled up the space made by the 
fracture, and afterwards gradually hardened, bearing itself no 
trace of the event. 

I have also another and larger specimen in which precisely the 
same state of facts is found, and which therefore, though an im- 
portant illustration of the results learnt from the last specimen, 
it is unnecessary to describe in detail. 

Fig. 3 of the Plate exhibits phenomena of the same character, 
but carried further. A mere glance at the figure will show that 
the mass of flit is covered by sharp angular pieces of broken 
flint adhering to its surface. These do not, as in the case of 
fig. 1, rise as mere ridges. They are clearly broken fragments 
of a flint already solidified, which have heredodged on this mass 
while in the act of solidifying, and have become a part of it. 
The places of union show no mark of junction or fracture: they 
are completely united. The edges are sharp enough to cut the 
finger, and the mass ¢, the largest, and which is itself, as will be 
seen, cross-cracked into four pieces which are now at slightly 
different elevations, rises at least the sixth of an inch above the 
mass onto which it is fixed. The edges of these pieces are not 
covered with the mealy coating *. It should be remarked that 
the minute angular fragments scattered all over the surface of 
this specimen are much more numerous than could be repre- 
sented with clearness in the figure, and that the whole mass on 
which these angular fragments rest (the left-hand portion of the 
figure) has received a slip over to the right, so as to leave a ridge 
at a b of a quarter of an inch high and having a very sharp edge, 
and beyond which to the right not a single angular fragment is 
found. 

It is clear that in this case a very different state of things took 
place to what happened in fig. 1, although equally clear, as in 
that case, that the sponge theory is directly opposed by the facts, 
as neither could any sponge thus fracture (which, if that theory 
be true, must be assumed), nor could such broken fragments fall 
in this manner onto a soft sponge and become thus part of its 
substance. It is obvious that a mass of flint had become per- 
fectly solidified ; that that solid mass became by some accident 
greatly shattered; and that some of the fragments fell through 


* Thus disproving a view which has been advanced, that the mealy coat- 
ing is the mere effect of exposure to carbonate of lime and the deprivation 
of some of the water of the flint thereby. ‘These parts have been in every 
respect equally exposed with all other parts, but were not so until after they 
had become solid. ‘The mealy coating does not seem to present any diffi- 
culty, but space will not allow me now to enter into it further than to add 
that I have found it covering a large part of the surface of flints inclosed in 
Echinites. 


of the Flints of the Upper Chalk. 15 


the soft chalk-mud upon another mass at that moment on the 
point of solidifying. The movement which caused this fracture 
and impelled the pieces onto the yet fluid mass was probably 
the same which caused the whole surface on which the fractured 
pieces alighted to slip forwards, and which surface and the mass 
beneath it, probably by the very agitation thus caused, instantly 
solidified, leaving the ridge a 0, and fixing the fractured pieces 
firm. 

This case illustrates and demonstrates all the conditions al- 
ready noticed; extreme liquidity and rapid solidification of the 
flint, together with the soft state of the surrounding chalk. 

It is unnecessary to enter now into further details of facts, or 
to dwell long on the conclusions to which the numerous facts 
above cited lead us. Some of these conclusions have been sug- 
gested in the course of these observations, others will naturally 
suggest themselves *. Numberless facts unite to show that the 
sponge theory is wholly untenable, while they point to a state of 
facts easily conceivable and analogous to what is found in other 
formations ; which is in accordance with known laws and experi- 
mental phenomena ; and with which all the observed phenomena 
of flint will be found consistent. For different mineral concre- 
tions to form themselves round organic centres, by the combined 
effect of some affinity thereto and of their own molecular attrac- 
tion, is a phenomenon of frequent occurrence. In the Septaria 
of the London clay, each having its organic centre, numerous 
organic remains are found interspersed, and frequently half im- 
bedded and half projecting on the surface, precisely as is the 
case with the flints. The siliceous solution, which was probably 
supplied periodically only, being supplied but to a limited ex- 


* I conceive it unnecessary to enter here at length on the question of the 
arrangement of the flints in layers. Such a phenomenon presents no 
greater difficulty than any fossiliferous layers proving several distinct. and 
successive bottoms of the sea; such, for example, as form so marked a 
feature of the Dudley limestone. There would thus always be some bottom 
sufficiently hard to resist the pressure caused by the specific gravity of the 
siliceous fluid and flints, the greater part of which would thus fall onto it 
through the softer mud above. Scattered small flints are found between 
the layers, which a variety of causes may have arrested in their descent. 
The distances between the layers are by no means equal; the modifying 
conditions which caused at intervals, in this formation like others, a rela- 
tively hard bottom to form, varying at different times. That such “ modi- 
fying conditions” must be taken into consideration will be evident from the 
important facts that in the Lower Chalk no flints at all occur in the south-east 
of England, while in the Middle Chalk they do occur scattered indiscri- 
minately through the mass; but it is only in the Upper Chalk that they 
assume the peculiar stratified arrangement which marks it. To explain 
these facts on the sponge theory would indeed be impossible, but they are 
perfectly consistent with the conclusions above drawn, and those conclusions 
and these facts mutually illustrate each other. 


16 = On the Formation of the Flints of the Upper Chalk. 


tent and during a certain part of the chalk formation only, dif- 
fering, as is known, in different localities, could only form itself 
into masses which occupy a certain space. Whether it took the 
form of nodular or tabular masses was owing to local modifying 
causes. Where organic remains of any considerable size, or 
grouped in particular masses, happened to be abundant and lie 
near one another, they acted as separate centres, while the solu- 
tion was attracted to them in a mass. Hence the fantastic and 
varied forms in which we find the nodules, together with the 
projecting bodies, the supply of material being often too limited 
to encase the whole of all the organic bodies by which it was 
attracted. Where those bodies were less abundant or less indi- 
vidualized,—as where there was a layer of minute organic bodies, 
—there would be fewer centres of attraction, and tabular flints 
would be formed. Wherever the concretions happened to form 
themselves they would be attracted by and envelope, more or 
less, every organic body with which they came in contact, living 
or dead. That the siliceous liquid possessed the power of pene- 
trating,—that is, had some peculiar affinity for,—the substance of 
the organic bodies, vegetable or animal, which it enveloped, and 
even sometimes without being in sufficient quantity to envelope 
them at all, is a fact which we see before us. This may be a fact 
difficult to explain, but it is one which is exemplified m mnu- 
merable other instances, and which is not therefore peculiar to 
flint *. 

Such are the conclusions to which a very careful and extensive 
observation of the phenomena of flints has led me. Accepting 
the views of Dr. Turner, combined with the well-known facts of 
the products of thermal springs, as affording a satisfactory and 
the most probable explanation of the origin of the siliceous liquid, 
I offer these conclusions as explanatory of the modés and forms 
in which we actually find the flints themselves: and I offer them 
without being wedded to any preconceived notion or theory, but 
simply as the results of extensive observation, and as alone ap- 
pearing consistent with all the varied class of facts which that 
observation has brought under my notice. 


Highgate, Nov. 1846. 


* The extreme liquidity of the siliceous fluid, combined with its specific 
gravity and the superincumbent pressure, help to explain these facts. The 
questions of that specific gravity of the siliceous fluid, and of its not under- 
going any material contraction when solidified, cannot be here discussed, 
penton ean and supporting the conclusions to which other facts have 
above led. 


Mr. C. C. Babington on the British Rubi. 17 


II.—A Supplement to “ A Synopsis of the British Ruli.” No. I. 
By Cuaruzs C. Banineton, M.A, F.LS., F.G.S. &e.+ 


Tue publication of my Synopsis of the British Rudi has already 
resulted in the discovery of several additional British forms of 
this difficult but beautiful genus. These I purpose publishing 
at intervals as time will allow me to determine them with accu- 
racy. 


25. R. glandulosus, Bell. 

3. dentatus; caule subanguloso piloso setoso, aculeis parvis paucis, 
foliolo terminali ovato cuspidato basi cordato inequaliter apicu- 
lato-dentato, panicule hirte aculeis paucis tenuibus rectis decli- 
natis setis brevibus multis apice et ramis paucis brevibus distan- 
tibus divaricatis paucifloris corymbosis. 


Whole plant of an ashy green colour. Barren stem rather 
~ angular with small not very numerous yellow prickles ; hairs and 
sete abundant, nearly equal, short. Leaves very like those of 
R. Bellardi but different in colour, thinner, much less hairy 
(with scattered hairs on both sides), the terminal leaflet cordate . 
at the base{; petioles armed like the stem, except that the 
prickles are deflexed (this is also the case in the R. Bellardi 
from Terrington Car—in the ‘ Rubi Germ.’ they are represented 
straight). On the flowering shoot the hairs are more numerous 
relatively to the sete than on the barren stem; both are very 
short ; prickles few, scattered, short, very slender. Leaves all 
ternate, the uppermost 1—8 excepted, which are usually simple. 
Branches few-flowered, subcorymbose ; panicle corymbose at the 
end; sepals lanceolate with an attenuated point, setose, acicular, 
reflexed from the fruit. 

Abundant near Twycross, Leicestershire, Rev. A. Bloxam, 
from whom my specimens were received. 

Obs. Very closely resembling the typical R. glandulosus (R. 
Bellardi), but ditfermg remarkably im its colour, the dentition of 
its thin leaves and its fewer prickles and aciculi, and more nu- 
merous hairs on the barren stem. N.B. A specimen of this 
bramble will be found in Bloxam’s ‘ Fasciculus of Rubi.’ 


25*. R. Giinteri (Weihe) ; caule subanguloso sparsim piloso et se- 
toso, aculeis ineequalibus nonnullis validis sed brevibus rectis decli- 
natis multis, foliis ternatis vel quinatis ineequaliter dentato-serratis 
concoloribus supra glabris subtus ad venas pilosis pallide viridibus, 
foliolo terminali late obovato cuspidato, panicule thyrsoidee hirte 


+ Read before the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, Dec. 10th, 1846. 
+ The leaves are almost invariably ternate, but rarely a quinate leaf 
occurs. 


Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Vol. xix. 2 


18 Mr. C. C. Babington on the British Rubi. 


inferne foliose aculeis paucis tenuibus rectis declinatis setis bre- 
_ vibus apice et ramis brevibus ascendentibus multifloris paniculatis. 
R. Ginteri, Weihe, Rubi Germ. 63. t. 21. 

Prickles rather numerous on the barren stem, remarkably de- 
clining, but straight, short, their base thick ; hairs few ; aciculi 
more numerous ; sete rather plentiful, short and nearly equal (in 
an old shoot now before me the hairs, aciculi and setze have nearly 
all fallen off). Leaves ternate or (in very rare instances from the 
subdivision of the unequal lateral leaflets) quinate, green on both 
sides, nearly or quite glabrous above, rather paler, and with yel- 
lowish downy and hairy veins beneath; terminal leaflet broadly 
obovate, cuspidate, slightly cordate or emarginate below ; lateral 
leaflets placed nearly at right. angles with the intermediate leaflet 
as in R. glandulosus and Bellardi, unequally ovate or lobed on 
the lower margin, cuspidate ; all irregularly but rather strongly 
dentate-serrate ; general and partial petioles and midribs beneath 
armed similarly but less strongly than the stem, and their 
prickles are often deflexed ; stipules linear, hairy, setose. Flower- 
ing shoot long, very hairy, with rather numerous, short (and a 
few longer) slender declining prickles; aciculi and sete short, 
not longer than the hairs, not very numerous, ‘except in the 
upper part of the shoot and amongst the flowers. Leaves ter- 
nate ; leaflets nearly equal, rather obovate or lanceolate, green 
and hairy on both sides with paler veins beneath; general and 
partial petioles armed like the shoot but with more numerous 
prickles ; the two or three uppermost leaves simple, ovate or cor- 
date-ovate, often lobed on one or both sides. Panicle long, nar- 
row, with three or four axillary short panicled branches, and a 
long slightly compound panicled ultra-axillary summit with very 
short branches, each bearing four or five long-stalked flowers. 
Sepals downy, setose, ashy, with a long point, reflexed from the 
fruit. 

Hartshill Wood, Warwickshire, in abundance, Rev. A. Blox- 
am, to whom I am indebted for most beautiful specimens. 

Obs. 1. This plant very much resembles R. glandulosus, of 
which I was once inclined to consider it as a variety ; but its pa- 
nicle is so different from that of all the forms of that species as 
to claim specific distinction. Its leaves (on the barren stem) are 
often exactly like those of typical R. glandulosus (R. Bellardi) in 
look and form, but differ greatly in their dentition. In one of 
the specimens now before me the panicle is almost exactly like 
that represented in the ‘ Rubi Germ.’ as characteristic of R. thyr- 
siflorus, except that its upper ultra-axillary portion is narrower 
from its shorter branches ; other specimens have the ultra-axillary 
part shortened and the axillary branches lengthened, thus ap- 
proaching some forms of R. glandulosus. 


M. Robin on a peculiar Organ found in the Rays. 19 


Obs. 2. R. Giinteri is referred by Arrhenius to R. glandulosus, 
to which it is doubtless very nearly allied. Its armature seems 
to differ and so does its panicle. Probably R. thyrsiflorus (Weihe) 
is only a form of this species ; and that, together, they will take a 
place close adjoining to, but not absorbed in, R. glandulosus. 

N.B. This plant is named, on my recommendation, R. glan- 
dulosus var. subracemosus in the ‘ Fasciculus of Rubi,’ issued 
lately by the Rev. A. Bloxam. 


III.—On a peculiar Organ found in the Rays (Raia, Cuv.). 
By M. te Dr. Cu. Rosrn. 


THERE exists upon each side of the tail of the Rays an organ 
which is not mentioned in any of the works which I have hitherto 
been able to consult. This apparatus however deserves, on more 
than one account, to attract the attention of physiologists, and 
probably of physicists also. 

The two organs united form nearly the third of the entire bulk 
of the tail of the Rays. The bulk of each, at its largest part, is in 
one of these fishes of an average size, nearly that of the index-finger. 
Their origin is towards the union of the first and second quarter 
of the caudal appendage of the Rays, and they terminate in a point 
at the extremity of the latter. ‘Their anterior extremity is soft 
and more or less slender, according to different individuals : it 
swells gradually as far as the middle of the tail of these fishes ; 
the volume remains the same as far as the origin of the posterior 
quarter, whence it diminishes finally to the end. This organ is 
at first almost cylindrical, though a little flattened on the sides 
(to about the extent of the anterior quarter); im the whole of 
that part it is enveloped by several thin and concentric muscular 
layers. These muscles soon terminate in as many aponeurotic 
layers; the organ then becomes subcutaneous, and at the same 
time its form changes, becoming round externally and flattened 
within. In a word, this organ, separated from the tissues to which 
it adheres, presents the form of an elongated fusiform body, 
swollen in the centre, more or less blunt at the extremity, and 
always flattened upon its internal surface. 

In a Ray one metre* long, the tail was 49, and the organ 36 
centimetres in length ; 11 millimetres in the transversal direction, 
and 13 from above downwards. 

The tissue of this organ has the semitransparency of gelatine, 
but more consistence, and its colour is a clear translucid gray. 
It is furnished with a general fibrous envelope, which adheres to 
the adjoining tissues by aponeurotic membranous layers ranged 
at regular distances. 


* The metre is equivalent to 39°37 English inches. 
2* 


20 M. Robin on a peculiar Organ found in the Rays. 


I have already said that its anterior portion was completely 
surrounded by some concentric muscular layers, and then that 
it became subcutaneous in its three posterior quarters, for the 
greatest part of its surface. I add, by way of more detail, that its 
internal surface alone is not subcutaneous, and is separated from 
the vertebral column by the two long muscular and tendinous 
bundles intended to move the caudal vertebre. Its upper mar- 
gin is traversed by a large subcutaneous vein, a branch of the 
lateral vessel ; its external surface is traversed by the lateral vessel 
itself, which is accompanied by the lateral nerve. This nerve is 
situated betweeen the organ and the skin, throughout the whole 
length of the subcutaneous portion. 

After these details on the relations of this apparatus with the 
adjacent organs,—relations, moreover, common to all the species 
of Rays,—I proceed to make known the texture of the tissue 
peculiar to this organ and the distribution of its vessels and its 
nerves. For this purpose I shall adopt a comparative course, 
that is to say, at each step I shall refer to the relations of this 
organ with those which most resemble it in other fishes. 

On examining attentively the apparatus in question, we ob- 
serve that its substance does not constitute an uniform gelatinous 
mass, but that it is divided into a large number of polygonal 
flattened discs by the partitions of cellular tissue. These discs 
have consequently two surfaces larger than the rest, one turned 
forwards, the other backwards. With respect to the faces of the 
circumference, they are in number three, four or five, which gives 
the discs a triangular, tetragonal or pentagonal form ; their small- 
est diameter measures the thickness of the disc, which is 1 mil- 
limetre in nearly all the species. The diameter of the Jarge sur- 
faces, which measures the height of the disc, is 2 mill., one more 
in the Raia rubus and R. batis, and 3 to 4 mill. in the Raia cla- 
vata. 

From this difference it follows, in the greatest diameter of the 
discs according to the species, that in a transverse section of 
the organ, from eleven to fifteen discs are counted in a R. clavata, 
and twenty to twenty-five in the R. rubus and the R. batis. The 
volume of the discs increases with age and the size of the indivi- 
duals, but their number does not appear to increase. 

These gelatinous discs are piled up one upon another, in the 
direction of the length of the apparatus, by the adherence of 
their broad faces, with the interposition nevertheless of a thin 
cellular partition. These longitudinal rows of discs are arranged 
side by side, reunited by a cellular partition thicker than that 
which separates each disc from that which follows or precedes it. 
The kinds of longitudinal columns represented by the piled-up 
discs are not rectilinear and do not all follow the length of one 


M. Robin on a peculiar Organ found in the Rays. 21 


of the faces of the apparatus ; but they are more or less contorted, 
and are interrupted at intervals. The interruptions proceed from 
the discs becoming at intervals irregular, more narrow, and the 
series of discs terminates ordinarily in a very small, triangular 
one. It follows from these anatomical arrangements, that on the 
surface of the organ we may perceive one of the small faces of 
each of the superficial discs, and study very regularly the elon- 
gated, quadrilateral or lozenge-shaped polygonal, sometimes hex- 
agonal form which it assumes in consequence of the reciprocal 
pressure which it undergoes from the adjoining discs. We may 
moreover very easily perceive that when the discs of a series 
begin to lose their form and are interrupted, there exist at the 
side other irregular dises which commence a new series. It is to 
be remarked also that the discs are ranged more regularly on the 
internal surface of the apparatus in the Raia rubus and R. batis 
than in the Raia clavata ; in the first two species we also observe 
on the internal surface of the organ, that one of the partitions 
which separates the series of discs on the internal surface, follows 
its whole length and is of greater thickness than the rest: it is 
formed by glistening aponeurotic fibres, and it forms a sort of 
longitudinal pile into which the vessels and the nerves penetrate. 

With respect to the gelatinous substance of the discs, mag- 
nified 400 diameters, it is seen to be hollowed out by cavities, 
and the walls of the latter are hollowed by cavities gradually 
lessening in size. The substance too which circumscribes these 
areole (to which we shall recur hereafter) is hyaline, homogeneous 
and transparent; it is studded with extremely fine molecular 
granules. From one spot to another are very regular granular 
spheres of 0™-0050, surrounded by a very pale circular mass of 
granules similar to the preceding. . It is impossible to recognise 
veritable cellules with walls and nuclei, and it is easy to see that 
the preceding areole are not cellules; we shall soon speak of 
their uses. On the margins of the discs, the homogeneous gela- 
tinous substance presents regularly undulated strize which it 
would be impossible to take for fibres. 

At the point at which we are arrived, it is impossible not to 
recognise a great analogy between the semitransparent gelatinous 
substance which essentially constitutes the discs of the peculiar 
organ of the Rays, and that of the prisms of the apparatus of the 
Torpedo, the rhomboidal meshes of the Silurus electricus, and 
those interrupted ones between the transversal and vertical fibrous 
lamine of the Gymnotus. 

Although there may be differences in form between the discs 
of the organ of the tail of the Rays and those which constitute 
the prisms of the electrical apparatus of the Torpedo, these dif- 
ferences are certainly less considerable than those of the portions 


22 M. Robin on a peculiar Organ found in the Rays. 


of gelatinous substance circumscribed by the partitions and 
areole of the apparatus in the Silurus and Gymnotus, which 
however produce similar effects to those of the Torpedo. 

The mode of arrangement of these dises is as regular in the 
Ray as in the Torpedo, and approximate much nearer to the 
latter than to that of the same parts in the apparatus of the 
Silurus and Gymnotus. 

The nerves of this apparatus originate in the portion of the 
spinal marrow which is prolonged into the caudal vertebre. I 
have an object in view in remarking that this portion of the 
spinal marrow must be composed of sensitive and motive nervous 
fibres, for it corresponds to the portion called cauda equina in the 
higher animals. 

The nervous roots which originate from this organ do not take 
their rise together at the same level, but there springs alternately 
an anterior and a posterior root. It is always from the anterior 
one (before its anastomosis with the posterior) that the greatest 
number of nerves which exist in the apparatus proceed ; lastly, 
some issue from the ganglion and the lowest branch of the two 
which ptoceed from it. . These nerves are of the number of four 
to seven for each nervous pair. They are, as is seen, very nume- 
rous, and their diameter is from + to } millimetre. These nerves 
are finally distributed im the thickness of the partitions which 
separate the lateral muscles from the tail, when they penetrate 
into the organ, after being more or less subdivided. In the Raia 
rubus and R. batis the greatest number penetrate into the longi- 
tudinal pile of the internal surface ; in the Raza clavata they pe- 
netrate into some one of the partitions of that surface. In these 
three species several branches wind round the superior and infe- 
rior margins of the apparatus to penetrate into one of the parti- 
tions of its subcutaneous portion. In the first two species these 
superficial branches freely anastomose before penetrating. 

It results from these facts that a considerable number of nerves 
extend into the partitions of each series of discs infinitely subdi- 
viding. From these subdivisions part the filaments which pene- 
trate between the partition which separates each dise from that 
with which it is in contact. This filament expands opposite to 
the anterior face of each disc, but never does a single one pene- 
trate into the substance of the disc. The nerves spread out on 
the internal surface of the partition between it and the disc. No 
single thread ever ramifies against the posterior face of the disc ; 
we shall soon see that this surface receives only vessels. 

The elementary fibres of the nervous filaments have a double 
character ; that is, they are true elementary nervous tubes tra- 
versed by a semifluid substance which escapes in drops of variable 
forms from their extremities when torn across. [These observa- 


M. Robin on a peculiar Organ found in the Rays. 23 


tions however would require to be verified upon animals fresh 
captured. | 

The elementary tubes which spread out against the prism are 
from 0™-01 to 0°013, that is to say, half the diameter of the ele- 
mentary tubes measured on the nerves at the point of their pe- 
netration into the apparatus. The elementary nervous tubes do 
not terminate in a net-work, but actually in very large meshes, 
to effect which they fork out several times into two or three 
branches and anastomose by inosculation. 

These facts rest on the clearest evidence, being easily proved 
even with a magnifying power of 100 diameters. The semifiuid 
nervous substance contained in these elementary tubes may be 
made to flow out, and be seen to penetrate into each of their sub- 
divisions and anastomoses. These anastomotic terminations of 
the elementary nervous tubes have already been proved to exist 
by Savi, in his “ Anatomical Investigation of the Torpedo (1844).” 
He has also proved this fact in the partitions which separate the 
discs of gelatinous substance of the electric apparatus of this 
fish. 

The last facts which I have just established exhibit a still 
greater analogy between the organ in question and the apparatus 
of the electric fishes. It is true that these nerves proceed from 
the termination of the spinal marrow, that is to say, from the 
cauda equina, but the same fact takes place in the Gymnotus, the 
most potent in its discharges of the electrical fishes, whose elec- 
trical organs however, according to Hunter, do not receive a mass 
of nerves proportionably so considerable as those of the Torpedo. 
In the Ray, as in the Gymnotus, the mass of the nerves sent to 
the electric apparatus by each nervous pair, is at least as consi- 
derable as those which they transmit to the skin and the muscles. 
The lateral nerve does not in the Ray, any more than in the 
Gymnotus, send any filament to the organ in question. 

The nerves of the electrical apparatus of the S/urus, examined 
by Geoffroy St. Hilaire, M. Valenciennes, Rudolphi and Peters, 
proceed from the lateral nerve, a branch of the eighth pair. 

Thus there is nothing constant in the origin of the nerves of 
the electrical apparatus, as they proceed sometimes from the 
eighth and ninth pair (Torpedo), sometimes from the eighth pair 
alone (Si/urus), sometimes from the pairs which arise from the 
spinal marrow (Gymnotus and Raia). Their situation has also 
no constancy, as they are sometimes situated towards the head 
(Torpedo), around the body (Silurus), and on each side of the 
tail (Gymnotus and Raia). 

The vessels of this organ are numerous and curiously arranged. 
Between the articulation of each vertebra there passes a vessel, 
alternately an artery and a vein, proceeding from the principal 


24 M. Robin on a peculiar Organ found in the Rays. 


artery and vein of the tail, These two vessels never pass together 
to reach their foramina, and they never traverse the inferior spi- 
nal apophyses, like the nerves, to issue from the spinal canal. 
Beyond the vertebrae, the vessels follow the course of the nerves, 
and penetrate with them into the apparatus. Several branches 
ramify on its surface, surround it with their anastomoses, and 
from the plexus which they form, some branches are detached, 
destined either for the skin or the adjoining muscles. 

Those vessels which penetrate the thickness of the organ are 
there subdivided infinitely in the partitions of connective tissue 
which separate the discs from one another. 

From the plexus formed by the arterial and venous ramifica- 
tions capillaries are given off, which are directed towards the pos- 
terior face of the disc which is in front of them, and penetrate 
into its substance. A capillary vessel never penetrates into the 
anterior surface of a prism; but we have stated that the nerves 
ramify opposite to or against that surface. The capillaries which 
penetrate the discs are very elegantly arranged in flexuous loops, 
and are sometimes agglomerated in the form of tufts. These 
loops and tufts are lodged and buried in the cavities by which 
the disc is hollowed out ; these excavations exist only on the pos- 
terior face of the discs, whilst the anterior face against which 
the nerves are arranged is smooth. The capillaries which are 
buried in the discs are from ;4; to 34, of a millimetre im dia- 
meter. 

To sum up the matter, there exists in the Rays a pretty volu- 
minous organ, situated in the tail of that fish, as in that of the 
Gymnotus. [From a letter which I have received from Prof. J. 
Miller, Riippell would appear to have described an organ ana- 
logous to the former in the tail of the fishes of the genus Mor- 
myrus.| This organ of the Rays receives fine but very numerous 
nerves. It is formed of a gelatinous semitransparent and firm 
matter, as in all the electrical organs known. This substance is, 
as in all these fishes, divided ito polygonal discs, regularly piled 
together, against which nerves ramify that terminate by succes- 
sive bifurcations and anastomoses supplied from their elementary 
fibres. How can we help seeing in this an electrical apparatus ? 
It is true that its position is not the same as in the Torpedo, but 
in the Gymnotus and the Silurus the organ is also situated in the 
tail or around the body. These conclusions are further confirmed 
by the following facts: I have proved that this apparatus is 
wanting in the tail of the Torpedo and the genera Mustelus, 
Scyllium, Squatina, Zygena, Acanthias and Carcharias. 

The presence of this apparatus in the tail of the Rays explains 
the immoderate proportional length of this organ, its flattened 
form beneath, and the absence of the inferior lobe on the caudal 


Prof. Owen on an Ichthyolite from Sheppey. 25 


fin, which scarcely exists in the Rays. The anal fin is also want- 
ing in the Rays, it is also wanting in the Torpedos ; but all these 
fishes have a complete caudal fin, whereas it is wanting in the 
Rays, as [ have just observed. 

I am indebted to the kindness of M. Bibron for being enabled 
to ascertain that the other fishes allied to the Rays (Cephaloptera, 
Myliobates and Pastinacus) whose tail is terminated by a thin 
and extended whip or prolongation, do not possess this apparatus. 
The whip is formed of a portion of the tail, which the electrical 
apparatus would occupy if it existed. 

As we have just seen, this organ cannot be regarded as a 
gland, for it has not the structure of one; it does not possess an 
excretory duct, it does not communicate in any part with the in- 
side, and no gland recelves so many nerves of animal life*. 


IV.—Notice of an Ichthyolite from Sheppey, in the collection of 
Mr. Tennant, F.G.S. By Prof. Owen, F.R.S. 


Tue unfrequency of the discovery of any part of the internal 
skeleton of the cartilaginous fishes associated in a fossil state 
with the teeth, which are the most common evidences of the ex- 
tinct Chondropterygit, induces me to send the following descrip- 
tion of the Ichthyolite figured in cuts A and B, which has been 
kindly transmitted to me for that purpose by Mr. Tennant, F.G.S. 
It was found in the well-known and rich fossiliferous deposit of 
London-clay at the Isle of Sheppey, and consists of a portion of 
the premandibular bone (c) with six of the large median (a) and 
a few of the small lateral (b) dental plates of the extinct species 
of Kagle-ray, called by M. Agassiz ‘ Myliobates striatus.’ 


seis i Ais 


Se 


Fossil under jaw of Myliobates striatus. 


The first appearance likely to attract attention in the portion 
of lower jaw here preserved is that of a large medullary cavity at 


* Nevertheless the proof of its being an electrical organ must depend 
upon its power of giving electric shocks. Such a property, in our common 
Rays, if it existed, could hardly have escaped the notice of fishermen, in the 
constant habit of handling large Rays, Skates and Thornbacks immediately 
after their capture.—Eb. 


26 Prof. Owen on an Ichthyolite from Sheppey. 


m, fig. B, an appearance affecting at first sight a general charac- 
ter attributed to the bones of fishes *, and apparently at variance 
with the known laws of development ‘of the osseous tissue in the 
existing members of the class. 

In most Vertebrata, as is well known to physiologists, exten- 
sion of parts is not the sole process which takes place in the 
growth of bone: to adapt the bone to its destined office, changes 
are wrought in it by the absorption of parts previously formed, 
chiefly in the interior. In the growth of the bones of fishes 
such internal changes have not been observed, and hence the 
character assigned to them by Prof. M. Edwards ; and in point 
of fact, most of the bones of recent fishes are solid or spongy in 
their interior. The bones of the Chelonia are likewise solid: a 
coarse diploé fills the interior of the long bones of the extremi- 
ties, and we find a similar structure in the bones of the Cetacea 
and Phocide. Among terrestrial mammals also, the inactive 
Sloths, both recent + and extinct {, have the long bones of the 
extremities solid; whilst the agile Antelopes have their diaphyses 
in the condition of hollow columns; the strength and lightness 
of the bones being increased by the progressive absorption of the 
‘ first-formed osseous substance, which is removed from within as 
new bone is deposited from without. The ribs of the large 
Ophidians, which serve them as legs, have likewise their medul- 
lary cavities; and the bodies of the vertebre of some Lizards, 
and of the great extinct Pozkilopleuron, are similarly excavated. 
These medullary cavities become filled with spar or matrix in 
fossil marrow-bones: and the same infiltration of foreign matter 
in the cavities of such bones of cartilaginous fishes, as the jaw 
of the Myliobates here described, might seem to indicate that 
there had been an original formation of a medullary cavity in it 
by the action of the absorbents on a primitively solid bone. 
This however is not the case: in most Chondropterygit an os- 
seous crust is formed upon the periphery of the original cartilage ; 
the crust consists, as in the fossil (figs. A, B, c), of prismatic 
pieces, which under the microscope present oval calcigerous cells 
about 54,th of an inch in diameter, but without conspicuous 
radiating tubes: the ossicles closely resemble in tissue the plates 
and tubercles (placoid scales) on the imtegument; but in the 
fossil this tessellated crust of bone may be traced passing beneath 
the posterior dental plates. 

The cavities which such partially ossified bones of fishes ap- 
pear, when seen in the fossil state, to have had while recent, were 


* «Les os ne présentent jamais de canal médullaire,” Milne Edwards, 
Elémens de Zoologie, Classe des Poissons, p. 690, 1834. 

+ De Blainville, Ostéographie de Paresseux, p. 1. 

t Owen, Memoir on the Mylodon, 4to, pp. 88, 112. 


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M. Miiller on the Development of the Lycopodiacee. 27 


actually then occupied by the clear unossified cartilaginous basis 
of the bone, and not by marrow. The non-medullary character, 
therefore, assigned to fishes from the texture of their bones is 
strictly accurate. They may have cavities, but these are never 
occupied, as in higher classes, by marrow. The persistent carti- 
laginous basis of such partially ossified bones of fishes differs in 
chemical composition from the temporary cartilage of the bones © 
of reptiles, buds and mammals, as Prof. Miiller has shown *. — 
It bears a closer resemblance to mucus: it requires a thousand 
times its weight of boiling water for its solution, and is neither 
precipitated by infusion of galls, nor yields any gelatine upon 
evaporation. 

I have been induced to offer the foregoing comments on Mr. 
Tennant’s Ichthyolite from having been asked more than once 
to explain the seeming contradiction given by such fossils to the 
law of the absence of medullary cavities in the bones of fishes, 
and from the circumstance of there being no precise explanation 
of the appearance, in reference to the cavities in the bones of 


higher Vertebrata, in the classical work of M. Agassiz on fossil 
fishes. 


V.—On the Development of the Lycopodiacez. 
By Karu Miuusry. 


[With five Plates. ] 


§ 1. Literature. 


THE most complete researches on this interesting family which 
have hitherto been presented to us are certainly those of Bischoff, 
which he published in his ‘Cryptogamische Gewichset.’ Since 
that time however the position of science has undergone such an 
important change, that m this family also questions have arisen 
which remain to be solved. Toward the attainment of this end 
the present memoir is contributed. I know well that there is 
yet many a gap to be filled up here, still I am induced to publish 
my observations in their present condition, as I believe them to 
be conclusive in reference to many points. 

The history of this family up to the time of Bischoff has been 
given by him in his above-mentioned work. This relieves me 
from the necessity of entermg upon it here. What has been 
done since, is chiefly confined to their systematic arrangement, 

* See his admirable memoir, ‘Ueber die Myxinoiden,’ in the Berlin 
Transactions for 1835. 


+ From the ‘ Botanische Zeitung,’ July 31, and August 7, 1816. Trans- 
lated by Arthur Henfrey, F.L.S. &c. 
t 2te Lieferung, Nuremberg, 1828. 


28 M. Miller on the Development of the Lycopodiacez. 


and on this point Spring’s observations are the most important. 
His labours are to be found in the ‘ Flora’ Journal, 1838, and 
in the ‘ Fl. Brasiliensis,’ pp. 1O6—135. I am not acquainted 
with a treatise of Link’s, which Schleiden cites in the first edition 
of his ‘ Grundziige, &c.*,’ but it appears of very little import- 
ance to my purpose. In another memoir however by H. von 
Mohl+, an attempt is made to open a new path, which will be 
spoken of hereafter in the places bearing reference to it. Other 
critical observations are given by Schleiden in his work already 
mentioned {. Nothing connected, therefore, seems to have ap- 
peared upon the Lycopodiacee. 


§ 2. The Germinative Spore. 


It is well known that two kinds of spore-cases are distinguish- 
_ able in the Lycopodiacee,—1. for those capable of germination, 
and 2. for others which apparently have no share in the repro- 
duction. Spring calls the former Oophoridia, the latter Anthe- 
ridia. In the latter expression Spring indicates no more than a 
morphological opposition to the Oophoridia ; he did not entertain 
any idea of a sexual distinction§. The essential points relating 
to both sporangia have been long known ; Bischoff has given ac- 
curate illustrations of them in his work above-mentioned. We 
have here therefore only to do with the spore which germinates, 
the development of which I have traced, as also did Bischoff, in 
Lycopodium denticulatum. 

This exhibits, on the whole, a great conformity of structure 
in the different species in which it makes its appearance. They 
are more or less roundish bodies, which on those surfaces which 
have been in apposition with each other in the oophoridium, are 
flattened just like the smaller pollen-like spores. Therefore, since 
only three or four spores are contained in one of these capsules, 
they are spherical on the outer surfaces, that is, where they are 
not in contact, and on the inner side have three or four triangular 
faces. This is particularly distinct in L. selaginoides, and also in 
LL. denticulatum. In others they are often quite round, for in- 
stance in L. articulatum and pygmeum. 

A transverse section distinctly shows that they possess two 


* Part 2. p. 82. 

¢t Morphologische Betracht. iiber das Sporang. der mit Gefassen versehen- 
en Kryptogamen. ‘Tubingen, 1837, p. 28, &c. 

{ 2 Th. pp. 79—83. I have here usually cited the first edition, since 
this is probably now in the hands of most botanists. The second contains 
nothing new relating to this family. 

§ At least I so understand Spring’s words: “ capsulas fariniferas et globu- 
liferas non de essentia sed per accidens solummodo esse diversas neutiquam 
credo. Est omnino antithesis inter ipsas, seauali analogo, licet non eadem.” 
(See FI. 1. Bras. fase. 7. pp. 106—108.) 


M. Miller on the Development of the Lycopodiacer. 29 


coats. The exterior is very thick and made up of numerous 
cells, the walls of which are wholly confused together, so that 
they are often scarcely perceptible on the surface of the section. 
This thickening is common to the whole coat, the cells of which, 
by the incessant deposition of new matter in their interior, be- 
come homogeneous plates. Yet some species differ so much in 
this respect, that the cells are not completely thickened, but still 
exhibit some cavities, as in L. articulatum. The continued depo- 
sition of membranous substance usually causes the external coat 
of the spore to exhibit elevations on its outer surface. They occur 
especially upon walls of the cells as anastomosing ridges of irre- 
gular form (Z. articulatum) ; in other spores where the walls of 
the cells have become almost indistinguishable, as wart-like bodies 
(L. selaginoides), or as large, compact papille (L. pygmeum). In 
L. articulatum there are, besides these larger elevations, still 
smaller papille scattered over the whole surface. They constitute 
a special thin membrane which may be detached from the cells 
lying beneath. 

The inner membrane on the contrary is usually perfectly struc- 
tureless and of equal thickness im all parts ; it 1s not so firmly 
adherent to the outer membrane as to prevent its being detached 
from it. I have only found the inner membrane different from 
this in the spore of a single species, namely in L. gracillimum, 
that is indeed if I did not confound it with the outer membrane, 
which I do not believe. In this case, beneath the outer thick 
membrane lies a layer of parenchymatous cells of tolerable size, 
which could be separated from the former. I saw nothing of 
any other layer, like that which is present as the inner mem- 
brane in all the other spores ; this therefore must be regarded as 
the peculiar inner layer, although it is not clear to me how this 
inner membrane can consist of an independent layer of cells. 

In general this membrane is formed of a more or less granular 
substance, which is particularly evident in L. articulatum. 

The contents of these spores consist of a granular mass which 
is contained free within the inner membrane. The granules 
are perfectly round, distinct from one another, transparent and 
of very variable though always small size. They stil] remain in 
this condition after being kept for years, as I can state, in con- 
firmation of Bischoff, with regard to L. selaginoides. This in- 
quirer says* of them, that they appeared to him to consist of ve- 
sicular cells, and following him, Schleiden + speaks also of a deli- 
cate cellular tissue. On the other hand, I must remark, that to 
me these granules appeared to be not nearly so like small cells as 
compact grains, since on treating them with strong tincture of 


* Ut sup. p. 110. + Grundz. ii. p. 82. ed. 1. 


30 M. Miiller on the Development of the Lycopodiacez. 


iodine I could not detect any ring in their interior, and this 
is the first character of a hollow globule. But there can be no 
question at all of a cellular tissue here, and this can only be a 
misconception. A fluid which appears to be oily accompanies 
the granules at a later period, and this will be more fully spoken 
of hereafter. . 


§ 3. The process of Germination. 


When the spore eseapes from the sporangium and falls upon 
a suitable soil (which must be somewhat moist), it swells out by 
absorbing water into its interior. If we examine under the mi- 
croscope a spore in this stage, on crushing or cutting it the gra- 
nular matter contained is readily spread through the water upon 
the slip of glass, and is evidently accompanied by the apparently 
oily fluid already mentioned. This is also scattered through the 
water in the form of drops or globules of oil. To satisfy myself 
whether I had to do here with actual globules of oil which have 
but too frequently been described by various inguirers as forming 
part of the cell-contents, or with some other substance, I next 
endeavoured to test them with very strong solution of iodine. 
By the application of this, the mass became brown, firmer and 
more tenacious. I then added ether, and the globules were not 
dissolved, as must have been the case if they really consisted of a 
fatty matter. The mass remained tough. Moreover it still re- 
mained so when I applied hydrochloric acid, and distinctly 
showed by this that I had to do with a totally different sub- 
stance. It is already present before the formation of cells begins 
and is the material for that operation, therefore I do not doubt 
in the least that it is the same mass which H. Mohl has briefly 
characterized under the very expressive name of Protoplasma in 
the ‘ Botanische Zeitung’ (vol. iv. p. 75*). 

If the process of cell-formation has already begun, when we 
carefully examine a spore, we find that as soon as we act upon it 
with iodine, some free cells always show themselves among the 
remainder of the cell-contents and the protoplasma, and are 
always coloured blue. They appear more or less round, com- 
pressed on two sides or angular, most of them however in the 
laterally compressed form. In the centre occurs a roundish, 
smaller nucleus inclosed in a coagulated mass, but in such a 
manner that it always appears round. Other layers, surrounding 
this, now present themselves, which are concentrically situated 
around the nucleus, and are likewise coloured blue. A gelati- 
nous, coagulated and thicker layer envelopes the whole in the 
form of a cell, which therefore wholly identifies itself with an 


* Annals Nat. Hist. vol. xviii. p. 3. 


M. Miiller on the Development of the Liycopodiacer. 31 


“amylum-cell.” I regard it in fact as actually such, and like- 
wise as one of the earliest stages of cell-formation. They soon 
lose the character of amylum-cells, since they become transformed 
into another substance which is coloured brown by iodine, and 
which again wholly incloses the nucleus like the protoplasma, 
only in another situation, as I shall at once show further on. 

I must here however make mention of a peculiar phenomenon 
which remains totally inexplicable to me. When I treated these 
cells with iodine, zther and hydrochloric acid, I found that their 
deep indigo blue colour was changed and they became reddish 
or even wholly colourless. When I now touched the fluid in 
which they swam, the slight agitation instantly restored the blue 
colour. . In a state of rest however this soon disappeared again, 
and reappeared when the fluid was touched, and so on. But if 
the cells had become quite colourless, immediate contact with 
some object, either of metal or wood, was necessary, and then the 
blue colour again instantly seized upon one point—it appeared 
to me to be the nucleus—and extended itself over the whole cell. 
I have met with this remarkable phenomenon in two spores. 
In spite of every endeavour I have not hitherto been able to 
find it again, although I have applied an infinite variety of 
mixtures of the three reagents, and also used the hydrochloric 
acid first and the others afterwards, or these first and that last. 
It is possible that a peculiar stage of the life of the cell may be 
here requisite, which therefore I have not again lighted on. 
I remark however expressly, that I found this changing of colour 
‘in all the blue-coloured cells of those two cells, and consequently 
it cannot be attributed to any optical illusion, and so much the 
less that I could continue this play of colour as long as I liked. 
Perhaps some one else may succeed in observing this phenome- 
non in similar cells and by more close observation discover the 
law, and it is for this reason that I have here called attention 
to it. 

In the interior of the perfect young cell is found a collection of 
that granular substance which has been already described as the 
spore-contents, or only a single large granule as a nucleus, al- 
ways in the centre. Around it, as has been stated above, a sub- 
stance similar to, probably identical with the protoplasma, has 
already been evenly deposited, the outer contour of which, firmer 
than the inner substance, forms the whole into a cell. The 
protoplasma has been thus equably deposited round the granules, 
because these lie exactly in the centre of the cell, and this posi- 
tion is an evidence of the importance of the granules for cell-for- 
mation. They are, as often in the process of crystallization, only 
the point of attachment, and thus the special foundation for the 
substance deposited around them, just as we explain the forma- 


32  M. Miiller on the Development of the Lycopodiacee. 


tion of the oolite limestone or urinary calculi, &c., the nucleus 
of which is a granule, which is afterwards to be found in the 
centre. This analogy is the more striking here, since in these 
amylum-cells the contents have been likewise deposited concen- 
trically around the nucleus, as in these crystalline formations. 
Some authors draw a parallel between the processes of cell-for- 
mation and crystallization, and in fact I see no reason to object 
to this view. 

From these observations this cell-formation appears to be 
somewhat different from the usual kind depending on cytoblasts. 
Here we have no cytoblasts but only a simple nucleus as a cen- 
tral organ; around this the protoplasma is deposiied till the 
outermost surface hardens; in the other formation, protoplasma 
is indeed similarly deposited round a nucleus and so forms the 
cytoblast and through this a cell, but then the process is of some- 
what longer duration, as the outer surface of the cytoblast must 
first become softened and extended to form a membrane, while 
in the other case such solution and extension does not take place, 
and the outer surface of the protoplasma is immediately trans- 
formed into “membrane substance.” Thus we can, if we like, 
with perfect right m our case, call the cells eytodlasts which de- 
velope directly into cells, since they soon become hollow, although 
the protoplasma is not perceptible without the addition of iodine. 
As a whole however it comes to the same thing, with this di- 
stinction only, that in one case the protoplasma is not precipitated, 
as in the cytoblast, in the form of a granular and distinctly vi- — 
sible, compact mass. In both cases the nucleus is to be consi- 
dered as the central organ, as therefore especially the basis of 
cell-formation. The cells now become hollow by the absorption 
of the protoplasma. ‘This does not take place quite completely 
at first, for, exactly as in the cytoblasts, the nucleus comes to be 
suspended in the centre by thin, persisting filaments of proto- 
plasma, till at last both filaments and nucleus disappear. 

Thus these observations wholly agree with Monl’s so far, as 
here the protoplasma is deposited round the nucleus exactly as 
he describes. The formation of membrane alone by the direct 
hardening of the outer surface of the protoplasma deposited round 
the nucleus appears to be a new modification of cell-formation. I 
am the less inclined to believe myself deceived here, since I could 
never find any true cytoblasis, and I saw that the cells were 
already filled with protoplasma in their earliest stage. I must 
particularly remark, that the earliest cells inside the spore cer- 
tainly originate independently. I never found secondary-cells 
within parent-cells. 

This formation of cells commences at a particular spot on the 
inner spore-membrane. The spot is characterized by the fact 


M. Miller on the Development of the Liycopodiacer. 33 


that the membrane upon which the cells are deposited are coloured 
blue by iodine, while the rest of the surface becomes brown. It 
is consequently partly altered chemically and mdeed into a sub- 
stance containing starch. It is thus qualified for its further ex- 
tension, since beg more porous than the rest of the membrane 
it can more readily acquire new parts by. interstitial deposition. 
The cells apply themselves so firmly upon this spot, that they 
appear to grow together with the inner membrane. 

Lastly, the firm outer spore-membrane is broken through, 
since the bud grows out from the interior of the spore in the 
form of a blunt, rounded cone. I distinguish it here by the 
name germ (Keimkérper). Its cells are yet quite white and 
transparent. The place however where the outer spore-mem- 
brane opens, is, according to Bischoff, always where the three 
elevated ridges meet, consequently at the point of union of the 
three triangular faces of the spore. 

At this period the process of germination begins to be visible 
externally. But the whole of the contents of the spore are not 
yet by any means transformed into cells; on the contrary, the 
“germ” is yet of very small circumference, and more or less 
truncated at its base in the interior (Pl. IL. fig. 4 3). 

If the spore-membrane is first ruptured and the primary germ 
drawn out, it- exhibits a growth in two opposite directions. 
One indicates the formation of the stem and the foliaceous or- 
gans, the other the formation of a rootlet. _The former appear 
in the shape of an ovate mass, the latter as a little cone. Both 
stand quite upright upon the perpendicular spore (Pl. II. fig. 1). 
Subsequently they both are curved into a much more horizontal 
direction, so:'that, since the stem and root come to be placed ex- 
actly on a level, the spore becomes transposed into a horizontal 
position (Pl. II. figs. 5, 11, 13, 15—19). This position only 
pai if the elongating stem subsequently becomes irregularly 
curved. 

If we now examine more closely the whole development, we 
have here to consider four masses visibly distinct from each 
other: 1. the germ; 2. the rootlets; 3. the stem, and 4. the ter- 
minal bud, which organs will be treated of in the following para- 
graphs. 


§ 4. The Germinating Plant. 


1. The germ (Keimkorper). This body is composed of an 
assemblage of very small, parenchymatous and transparent cells, 
rising to the height of a few lines above the spore, and is here 
provided with many little radicle fibrils which are merely 
elongated cells of the outer surface (Pl. II. fig. 1). Within the 
spore, its base is truncated (fig. 4), and it does not become per- 

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Vol. xix. 3 


384 M. Miiller on the Development of the Lycopodiacez. — 


fectly round until a later period, when it gradually produces a 
number of new cells upon the base. This however takes place 
but slowly, and it is seldom that the whole contents of the spore 
become completely transformed into cells before the plant has 
attained a condition in which its self-sustaining power has be- 
come tolerably evident. Considered in connection with the plant, 
the “germ” in its perfect condition is pear-shaped, a neck being 
formed where it breaks through, and rises from the spore (fig.4 a). 
At a later period it disappears, apparently through decomposi- 
tion. : 

2. The rootlet. This first appears, as I have already said, 
under the form of a little conical process (fig. 1). Its substance 
originally consists of an apparently structureless, undeveloped 
deposit of roundish granules which appear of a somewhat reddish 
colour. The apex however of the radicle is more transparent. 
It soon grows longer, forms parenchymatous, elongated tissue, 
and many of its epidermal cells become radicle fibrils. The 
inferior extremity still remains, as at first, more transparent, 7. e. 
having the reddish substance and the brighter point, which is 
indeed the condition of newly-formed parts generally. 1 have 
never been able to find any little spongy imvestment upon this 
end, and I therefore know not what Bischoff alluded to under 
this character. I have seen a number of radicles in all stages, 
and have carefully examined them under the microscope ; but an 
organ of this kind, such as we find in Lemna, never presented 
itself to me. As to the vessels, which the root subsequently ex- 
hibits, they are formed after those of the stem. The growth of 
the root generally is slower than that of the last-named organ. 

The subsequent course of development of the radicle is an 
elongation and dichotomous ramification. As soon as the plant 
has become more independent, several roots are developed at the 
base of the stem, and these present characters exactly similar to 
those of the first. Like this they originate from the extension of 
the “ germ,” and by their frequent occurrence on the same point 
of attachment they render it very doubtful whether we ought to 
consider the root first developed as a chief root (Hauptwurzel) as 
Schleiden does*. It is indistinguishable from those subsequently 
produced, and only has the advantage over them in the fact that 
it is the first formed and is on a level with (its axis correspond- 
ing with that of) the stem. The only question is therefore how 
much importance is to be attached to this last circumstance. 

The radicle fibrils subsequently appearing upon the foliaceous 
branches do not differ from these roots in their structure and 
development. But these cannot be spoken of until we come to 
the formation of branches. 


* Griindzuge, ed. 1. ii. 79. : 


M. Miiller on the Development of the Lycopodiacer. 35 


3. The stem. The future situation of this is very evident in 
the “ germ” as a dark, circular expanded spot. This occurs near 
the middle, and consists of cells filled with material for develop- 
ment (Pl. II. fig. 4a). This is the special point of vegetation 
for stem and root, and the boundary of the germ. By the time 
indeed that the stem has become so far visible that we can di- 
stinguish clearly in the main axis, a terminal bud and an infe- 
ferior, cylindrical, cellular portion (the stem itself), the vessels of 
the stem and the terminal bud have already set out from that 
spot. At a subsequent period the vessels of the root also origi- 
nate at the same place ; so that this organ must be accounted part 
of the main axis, notwithstanding that its originally erect and 
independent development, apparently unconnected with that of 
the bud of the stem, appears to indicate the contrary. 

The number of the vessels always amounts to two. This 
number indeed occurs almost universally in Lycopod. denticula- 
tum, since both the roots and the subsequently formed branches 
divide dichotomously. Ata later period, it is true, these two ves- 
sels appear to become blended, but this union is only apparent, 
and in the perfect stem the two orifices of the vessels are always 
easily demonstrable in a transverse section. 

In their first stage they decidedly contain air, since when we 
bring a stem at this period of its development under the micro- 
scope, the vascular bundle appears all dark and filled with air- 
bubbles (fig. 5 a). This arises probably from the circumstance, 
that as the germinating plant lies in water, the latter penetrates 
to a certain extent, accumulates in particular places among the 
air contained in the vessels, and thus somewhat compresses it. 
This is the more likely, since the vessel soon becomes so filled 
with water, which could only be taken up through endosmose, 
that the air is completely driven out, or perhaps in great part 
mixed with the fluid. 

This stem now constitutes the whole of the as yet undivided, 
main axis,and may thus be clearly distinguished from the branches 
next produced. What the condition of this may be in the other 
Lycopodia which do not belong to the genus Selaginella, 1 am 
unable to say. It elongates only up to a certain limit, while the 
terminal bud is becoming perfected at its apex. 

4. The terminal bud. When the stem is only just distinguish- 
able, this organ is found upon it as a little head, of ovate form 
and of a green colour. Within appear distinctly two, much 
smaller, ovate bodies, situated opposite one another, which are 
visible through the external, green envelope (fig. 1 d, fig. 2 a, a 
lateral view), in which one body is in front of the other, and so 
only one is visible. 

Examined more narrowly, the terminal bud is seen to consist 

3* 


386 M. Miiller on the Development of the Lycopodiacez. 


of two outer leaves, which are so closely united that they may be 
said to fit one another like the two hollow hemispheres of a bul- 
let-mould (fig. 3 a, where they are separated to some extent by 
slight pressure between two glass plates). I distinguish them by 
the name of “ bud-envelopes” (Knospenhiillblitter), because the 
two inner bodies which they inclose are already in fact two buds, | 
in which may be found the types of the complete organs of the 
future branches. They are therefore two buds of ramification 
(Astknospen). A vessel in course of development proceeds toward 
each of them from the point of vegetation of the stem (PI. II. 
fig. 4c). 

Since however all the organs have already been contempora- 
neously produced in the youngest condition in which it becomes 
visible to us, I prefer to describe them in a somewhat more ad- 
vanced stage of development, because at their first production 
the individual organs are too minute, to allow of our giving a 
sufficiently clear representation of them, since it is scarcely pos- 
sible to prepare them for examination. 

a. The bud-envelopes. They are broad, somewhat oval, almost 
roundish and having transparent denticulations on the borders, 
in other parts of a green colour, and in all these characters quite 
indistinguishable from the leaves of the branches which succeed. 
They possess but one character which does not and indeed can- 
not belong to the leaves of the branches. They possess, namely 
at their base, which, broader than that of the branch leaves, half 
embraces the stem, a thin, membranous, transparent, cellular 
membrane, which also half incloses the stem, and usually appears 
as if torn more or less regularly at the truncated base. This is 
not organically connected with the stem, but only an appendage 
to the “ bud-envelopes ”’ (figs. 5—7). 

I regard this appendicular membrane as a remnant of the in- 
ternal spore-membrane. For this does not become detached from 
the terminal bud until after a considerable period, and then re- 
mains with its upper portion (on which, as I have already said, 
the primary cells of the “ germ” are so closely applied that they 
grow together with it) also further organically connected with the 
base of the “ bud-envelopes,” until the developing stem in the 
course of its elongation tears through the spore-membrane, ex- 
actly like the calyptra and vagina of the Mosses, where, as here, 
the lower portion remains attached to the base of the axis, while 
the superior portion is carried upwards. This explanation is con- 
firmed by the fact that this membrane always looks as if it had 
been torn, and the other portion of the spore-membrane is still 
to be observed upon the base of the young stem (fig. 5). It is 
however cellular, while the remaining portion of the spore-mem- 
brane consists of a homogeneous membrane, and this appears to 


~ M. Miiller on the Development of the Lycopodiacer. 37 


me to arise from the following circumstances: those cells which 
were originally produced in the spore and became organically 
connected with the spore-membrane, belong peculiarly to this 
last structure and form a special membrane upon the inner coat 
of the spore as it becomes attenuated by its external prolonga- 
tion, for they have a flattened form and must be regarded as be- 
longing to the spore-membrane only, since they are perfectly free 
and distinct from the other cells of the “germ.” In fact the 
whole course of development exhibits it in this light. 
_ That these “ bud-envelopes” were formerly regarded as actual 
cotyledonary leaves, may be accounted for to a certain extent, by 
the /ong time during which they remain visible upon the young 
plant. But they cannot naturally be compared to cotyledons, 
since they proceed from no embryo, and are in no wise different 
from the leaves of the branches. But they have the same func- 
tion on the young “ germ,” as cotyledonary leaves, to nurse, that 
is, to defend the young buds of ramification, until they have at- 
tained a self-sustaining degree of development. 

b. The buds of ramification. As soon as the “ bud-envelopes ” 
unfold, 7. e. have become turned back, the buds of the future 
branches may be very distinctly perceived between them, oppo- 
site to each other. ach occurs in the middle of the leaf, and 
placed in such a manner that its side is turned toward the in- 
ternal cavity of its enveloping leaf (fig. 6 a). Therefore when by 
their further unfolding the two buds become turned outwards in 
opposite directions, a cruciform arrangement is produced with 
the “ bud-envelopes” (fig. 11). Every leaf which is inclosed in 
the bud follows the same course. If we examine, with a view to 
ascertain this, the bud represented in fig. 6, and unfold it, another 
leaf presents itself (fig. 8), which, hollow and folded upon itself, 
may contain yet more according as the bud has become deve- 
loped, till at last we reach the axis on which the leaves are pro- 
duced (figs. 9, 10). The development of these leaves I prefer to 
describe as seen in the perfect plant. 


The unfolding of the leaves takes place according to the fol- 
lowing plan :— 


1. Two “ bud-envelopes” (fig. 5). , 
2. Two branch-leaves. These deviate 90° from 
the first, and form a cross with them (fig. 11) a. 
3. Two leaves, which again cross the cross al- a 
ready formed. They stand therefore at an angle of 
about 45° from the “bud-envelopes,” and are at 
this period the smallest leaves of the bud distin- 
guishable by unassisted vision (fig. 12) 5. vices 


38  M. Miiller on the Development of the Lycopodiacee. 
4. This arrangement does not long persist, for , 


two new leaves arise between the last two c, and 

affect the position of the remainder, so that a is | 
pushed aside to the extent of 45°. ¢ stands almost & # 
exactly at an angle of 90° with the bud-envelopes 

(fig. 13). : 

5. Then two more leaves appear in each bud 
which deviate almost equally about 90° d. a 

The alternation of the first two leaves a b may already be re- 
marked here, whereof 4 is placed higher up on the axis of the 
branch than a. Both are attached to the lower side of the axis, 
and are the larger leaves. c and d, on the contrary, are deve- 
loped upon the upper side of the axis of the branch, and are here 
(in L. denticulatum), as almost universally in Selaginella, smaller 
than the preceding. Spring calls them folia intermedia. 

Between the last and first leaves lies the axis of the branch, 
which now becomes elongated, while in the next place two other 
larger leaves become visible, whereupon two folia intermedia 
appear on the upper side, &c. 

Four series of leaves therefore are now distinctly visible upon 

the axis of the branch, two above and two below. Of these four 
‘series two on one side always correspond so with each other, that 
first a large leaf is situated on the under, and a folium interme- 
dium at some distance on the upper side. But if all four series 
are now compared, a foliwm intermedium is normally opposite a 
large leaf situated on the other (under) side (figs. 15—18) ; con- 
sequently two series of leaves always alternate with each other. 
' The two opposite buds developing in this manner, the germi- 
nating plant becomes bifurcated. But one of the buds is some- 
times abortive, and then of course there is no bifurcation; the 
single bud developes into a branch, and this subsequently under- 
goes a bifurcate division (Pl. II. figs. 18, 19). 

c. Accessory organ. I come now to an organ which is con- 
tained in the terminal bud and contemporaneously formed, and 
which, so far as I know, has never hitherto been observed. It 
appears to me that it must be of importance to the plant, since 
its occurrence is constant. 

It is a body, usually pyriform, composed of a number of deli- 
cate, transparent, parenchymatous cells. It is consequently 
bellied out at its base and attenuated into a neck above (PI. III. 
fig. 1). It is compressed on two sides, but in such a manner 
that its borders are not acute, but rounded (fig. 2). The borders 
are entire, and the apex alone, which is always truncated, has 
the uppermost cells irregular and more or less rounded. Within 
them are parenchymatous cells usually smaller, normally hexa- 


M. Miller on the Development of the Lycopodiacee. 39 


gonal, with horizontal walls (figs. 1,3). The apex of this organ 
is often bifurcated (fig. 4); the forks however at their apices 
pass gradually into cells like those we have before met with 
(figs. 1, 8). By a transverse section we find that the interior 
also is filled by layers of delicate parenchymatous cells (fig. 2). 
The same is seen in a longitudinal section (fig. 5), in which it 
may be clearly perceived, the external layer of cells regularly 
inclosing the remaining mass of cells. The apex is prolonged 
out into a few layers of cells (fig. 5); finally into a single one 
(fig. 1). Moreover the cells of the swollen, expanded base are 
filled with a finely granular, somewhat reddish matter, which 
however is only developed here into membrane-substance, since 
it probably forms new cells to multiply the numbers, whereby 
the bulging circumference of the basis is enlarged. No other 
kind of cell-contents is present (fig. 1). 

This singular organ is present in all stages of the plant’s 
existence. In the terminal bud of the youngest “germ”? it is 
already perfect, and is situated between the bud of the branch and 
the bud-envelope (PI. Il. fig.6 6). It is again met with in every 
successive leaf, in the large as well as in the “ intermediate.” 
In the terminal bud even of the perfect branch it is produced 
soon after the development of the leaf from the stem, and is 
always placed between them. Equally constant is it between 
the oophoridium and the antheridium and their involucral 
leaves. It is particularly large between the oophoridium and 
its involucre. 

With respect to the development of this organ, it appears both 
in the terminal bud of the “ germ” and that of the branch as a 
more or less circular plate (Pl. III. figs. 6, 7, 8,8). In the 
first-named bud its very delicate cells are already filled with 
that often-mentioned reddish substance, by means of which the 
organ becomes more extensively developed (figs. 6, 7). In the 
second the plate is frequently quite transparent and devoid of 
that substance (fig. 8). The plate, now of equal thickness all 
over, then extends itself upwards into an attenuated neck, 
rounded at the top (Pl. III. figs. 9,10). This is usually more 
transparent than the base of the organ, which also in the leaves 
of the terminal bud of the branch soon becomes filled with the 
same reddish contents. Through this elongation, however, the 
base appears as if thicker; this indeed is quite natural, as it has 
not yet become extended. But the cells speedily become deve- 
loped in this part of the organ on the side next to the leaf. By 
this means the organ acquires a bulging form in this situation 
(Pl. III. fig. 5 a), while the side turned toward the axis of the 
branch is usually much more perpendicular (fig. 5 4). As soon 
as the general form is perfect, the top of the organ becomes 


40 M. Miiller on the Development of the Lycopodiacez. 


truncated by the cells of this part separating from one another, 
so that it looks as if it had been torn (figs. 1, 3), and the organ 
is then perfect. In this shape it continues until the end of the 
annual growth of the plant, at the end of which period it withers 
with the leaves, apparently without acquiring any further develop- 
ment, since we never find anything in its interior different from 
what has already been described. 

But the nature of its connexion with the longitudinal axis of 
the branch is to be seen by making a delicate longitudinal sec- 
tion. In this we observe that it is neither attached to the leaf 
nor laterally upon the axis of the branch. It stands exactly be- 
tween the two, and is united by several larger, transparent and 
empty cells, usually two, with the green parenchyma which 
passes off from the axis to the leaf. The organ never receives a 
branch from the vascular bundle, although the vascular bundle, 
which is given off from the axis to the leaf (figs. 5 c, 11 a), runs 
close under it. If at a later period we cautiously detach a leaf 
with the whole of its base from the stem, we always find upon it, 
i.e. upon its thickened base, this organ removed with it, and it 
would thence appear as if it really belonged to the leaf and had 
been formed from the parenchyma of the same; but the history 
of its development speaks most decidedly against this last view. 

It is difficult, with respect to this enigmatical structure, to at- 
tain a view which shall give us even an approximation to its real 
import. Even the history of development here leaves us at fault, 
and a true solution of this question will probably only be found 
when we know how widely this structure is extended throughout 
the Lycopodiacez, in how many different forms it appears, and 
when perhaps anomalies in its mode of formation shall be met 
with. Meanwhile its analogues appear to me to occur in those 
buds which are often met with in the axils, between leaf and 
stem, in various other Cryptogamic plants, as in the axils of the 
leaves of Bryum annotinum and others. Here however it must 
not be forgotten that in our case the cells never acquire green 
contents, while those often do. They consequently cannot be 
regarded as buds. Are they little branches? are they radicle 
structures? Reasons on both sides may be brought forward, 
which to me are yet inadequate to solve the question. I com- 
mend it therefore to the attention of more skilful investigators. 


[To be continued. | 


Mr. E. Blyth’s Drafts for a Fauna Indica. 41 


VI.—Drarrts ror A Fauna Inpica. 


(Comprising the Animals of the Himalaya Mountains, those of the 
Valley of the Indus, of the Provinces of Assam, Sylhet, Tip- 
perah and Arracan, and of Ceylon, with occasional Notices of 
Species from the neighbouring Countries*.) By Ev. Bryru, 
Curator of the Asiatic Society’s Museum, &c. &c.+ 


No.1. The Columbida, or Pierons and Doves. 
Order IV. Gyratores, Pr. Bonap. Gemitores, McGillivray. 
Tuts consists but of a single family, that of the Pigeons, 


Fam. CoLuMBID2, 


which subdivides into three marked subfamilies, viz. Treronine, 
or arboreal fruit pigeons; Gouwrine, or ground pigeons; and 
Columbine, or ordinary pigeons and doves. 


Subfam. TRERONIN2. 


The members of this group are eminently frugivorous and ar- 
boreal, scarcely ever descending to the ground, and some perhaps 
never, unless to drink{ ; and in general they are of a green 
colour, which renders them difficult to discern amid the foliage 
of trees. They are distinguished from other pigeons (with the 
sole known exception of Ectopistes carolinensis) by having con- 
stantly fourteen tail-feathers instead of twelve§. In form of 


* The object of publishing the present series of Monographs of various 
groups of animals, is to elicit, as much as to impart, information that might 
be incorporated in a general work now in preparation ; and it is therefore 
earnestly requested that observers, interested in the subject, will favour the 
author with any additional facts or corrections that may occur to them, and 
that they will also endeavour to settle any questions that are still at issue, 
and, in short, to render the future conspectus of Indian animals as complete 
as circumstances will permit of. In the class of Birds, it may be here re- 
marked, that any information on the nidification and colour of the eggs of 
species generally, and of the song-notes of the smaller Jnsessores, will be 
particularly acceptable. [The notes marked T. have been supplied by Capt. 
Tickell, and those marked H.E.S. by Mr. H. E. Strickland.] 

+ From the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, no. 169. 

¢ An individual of Treron bicincta has been seen feeding onthe ground, 
but such instances are extremely rare. Vide also description of 7'r. nipa- 
lensis. 

§ Perhaps, however, certain of the ground pigeons may also have more 
than twelve tail-feathers, which remains to be ascertained. In the domestic 
breed of fan-tails, the number is abnormally multiplied to as many as thirty 
or more. It is very remarkable, that of the two species of Ectopistes, which 
are nearly allied to each other, one should bave fourteen tail-feathers, while 
the other, the celebrated passenger-pigeon of North America, should possess 
but the usual number—twelve. This fact was observed and recorded by 
the Prince of Canino. 


42 Mr. E. Blyth’s Drafts for a Fauna Indica. 


bill, they present a gradation from the strongest beak that occurs 
throughout the order, to a feeble organ, soft and tumid to near 
its tip, which alone is corneous ; but the gape, especially in the 
latter case, is very capacious. The tarsi are short, stout, and 
more or less feathered; and the toes (except in one subgenus) 
are remarkably broad-soled, and are furnished with strong and 
sharp claws, commonly much-hooked ; hence they have great 
power of clasping, or holding on to the small branches of trees, 
while straining to pluck the fruit or berries from the terminal 
sprays; so that, when feeding, these birds may be commonly 
observed to lean over and downward so far as to be inverted, and 
then draw themselves back by the unaided muscular strength of 
the extremities. The flight of allis powerful and rapid. Three 
strongly-marked genera occur, numerous species of which in- 
habit the warm regions of the Old World, Australia, and Poly- 
nesia; but from America they are wholly excluded. 

Genus Treron, Vieillot: Vinago, Cuvier. (Hurrial and 
Hurrwa, H.; Hurtel, Beng.; N’goo, Arracan.) The Hurriats. 

In this genus may be observed the gradation in form of bill 
that has been adverted to in its full extent; but all the strong- 
billed species are here included. The plumage is blent and 
glossless, and almost without exception of a lively green, varied 
with ashy, and with a stripe of bright yellow on the wings mar- 
gining their coverts; while the males are commonly further 
adorned with a deep maroon hue* on the mantle, and with 
orange, or orange and lilac, on the breast. Inrides crimson, with 
a blue ring encircling the pupilt. The voice a melodious deep- 
toned whistle, considerably prolonged and varied in different 
cadences. Nidification as in most other arboreal doves and 
pigeons, and two white eggs produced, of a somewhat less elon- 
gated shape than in common pigeons. xcept in the pairing 
season, these birds collect in small, or moderately large flocks, on 
the topmost branches of high jungle trees, where, if one can be 
descried and is shot at, two or three will commonly fall, that had 
eluded observation from the similarity of their colourmg to that 
of the foliage. They subsist on fruits and berries of all kinds, 
and during the season especially on the small figs of the Ficus 
indica and F. religiosa; and they have likewise been observed 
“‘ devouring the blossoms and newly-formed fruit of the mangoe 

* This hue, in different shades of vinous or claret-colour, occurs in a 
great number of Columbide, and has been remarked to be almost peculiar 
to the tribe. 

+ A partial exception to this occurs in 7’. nipalensis only, among the 
Indian species; at least, the only two living specimens of this bird which 
I have seen had dark red-brown irides, with a blue inner circle. Mr. Hodg- 


son describes them as—‘“ outer circle of the iris orange-red, inner circle 
blue.” . 


Mr. E. Blyth’s Drafts for a Fauna Indica. 43 


and tamarind trees.” Their flesh is esteemed for the table, but 
the skin requires to be removed, this having a strong bitter taste ; 
and hanging them up for a day or two, when the season will 
permit of it, improves them much for culinary purposes. 

It is necessary to distinguish three well-marked subgenera, as 
follow :— 

A. Torta (since altered to Romeris), Hodgson. Distinguished 
by the great strength and vertical depth of the corneous terminal 
portion of the beak, which, in the typical species, is continued back 
to beyond the feathers of the forehead. The eyes are surrounded 
by a naked space. 

Tr. NIPALENSIS: Toria nipalensis, Hodgson, As. Res. xix. 164. 
(T’horya, quasi rostrata, of the Nepalese.) Green, yellowish 
below and towards the tail ; the crown of the head ash-coloured ; 
mantle of the male deep maroon-red, and a faint tinge of 
fulvous on the breast ; primaries and their larger coverts black, 
the latter margined with yellow ; middle tail-feathers green, the 
rest with a blackish medial band and broad gray tips; lower 
tail-coverts cmnamon-coloured (more or less deep) in the male ; 
subdued white, marked with green, in the female. Bill greenish- 
white, with a large vermilion spot occupying the membrane at 
the lateral base of the mandibles; legs also vermilion ; irides 
deep red-brown, with a blue inner circle ; and orbital skin bright 
green. Length, 10% inches by 17 inches; closed wing 53 in. 

This bird inhabits the central and lower hilly regions of Nepal, 
and more abundantly those of Assam and Arracan, spreading 
southward to the Tenasserim provinces and Malay peninsula. 
It also occurs in the hilly districts of Bengal, but rarely strays 
into the plains, though specimens are occasionally met with even 
near Calcutta. Mr. Hodgson states, that “it is not very grega- 
rious ; adheres to the forests; feeds chiefly on soft fruits; and 
prefers the trees to the ground, but without absolute exclusive- 
ness of habit in that respect.” 

Most closely allied and hitherto confounded with it is Tr. 
aromatica of Java, and I believe of the more eastern portion of 
the Malayan Archipelago generally (the Col. curvirostris, and the 
female, C. tannensis, of Gmelin)*. The latter differs by having 
a bright yellow beak, greenish at sides towards base, and the 
nude skin at the sides of its base is apparently blue, fading into 
a blackish tint in the dry specimen; while in 77. nipalensis the 
vermilion colour fades to amber; the anterior half of the crown 
is much more albescent; the fulvous tinge on the breast much 
stronger; the maroon colour of the back is more extended ; the 

* Mr. G. R. Gray’s figures of the beak, &c. of a species of Hurrial to 


which he applies the name aromatica, in his illustrated work on the genera 
of birds, refer to a species of the following section of this genus. 


44. Mr. E. Blyth’s Drafts for a Fauna Indica. 


longest tertiaries are greenish-dusky instead of green ; and the 
lower tail-coverts are of a deeper cmnamon colour. Lastly, the 
corneous portion of the upper mandible scarcely extends quite so 
far back asin Tr. nipalensis; and a curious and marked distinc- 
tion consists in the Indian species having the inner web of its 
third primary sinuated, as in the Hurrials of the next section, 
while its closely allied Javanese representative exhibits no decided 
trace of such a character *. In a third species which I refer to 
this section, the Zr. Capeliei, Temm.t+ (common near the Straits 
of Malacca), the beak is lengthened by the prolongation of its 
soft and tumid basal portion becoming, as remarked by Mr. 
Strickland, “ almost vulturine in form;” while the size of the 
bird is considerably larger, and, it may be added, that the sinua- 
tion of the interior web of its third primary exists, but not to 
the same depth as in 77. nipalensis. 

B. Typical Treron. Hurrials with the beak moderately ro- 
bust, much less so than in the preceding section, its corneous 
portion occupying the terminal half, or thereabouts. There is 
no bare space round the eyes, and the tail is squared. Sinuation 
of the third primary well-developed in eight species examined, 
and probably therefore throughout the group. 

TR. PHENICOPTERA : Col. phenicoptera, Latham: C. militaris, 
Temm.: C. Hardwickit, Gray (figured in Griffith’s Animal King- 
dom, vill. 299): Vinago militaris, Gould’s Century, pl. 58 ft. 
Green. The neck all round, with the breast, bright yellowish- 
green, having a shade of fulvous; cap, sides of base of neck, and 
the abdominal region ash-gray, the belly with generally some 
admixture of green, more or less developed, and there is a green 


* This character of the sinuation of the middle of the inner web of the 
third primary appears to be variable. I have before me two specimens of 
what I consider the true aromatica, both obtained at Malacca, but the male 
bird presents no trace of such a sinuation, while in the female it is strongly 
marked. I think therefore that the supposed distinctness of nipalensis and 
aromatica requires further confirmation, the differences in colour being 
very slight.—H.E.S. 

t+ Treron magnirostris, Strickland, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. 1844, p. 116, 
and doubtless Vin. giganteus of Raffles, mentioned in the ‘ Catalogue of 
Zoological Specimens’ appended to Lady Raffles’ ‘ Life of Sir Stamford 
Raffles,’ p. 674, though not the bird referred to in the note attached, which 
is probably a Carpophaga. 

t Mr. G. R. Gray identifies this bird with Col. Sti. Thome of Gmelin, 
to which name he assigns the precedence ; but I decidedly think that he is 
mistaken in so doing. I perceive also that in Griffith’s ‘ Animal Kingdom,’ 
Col, Sti. Thome is referred to militaris of Temminck ; this last-named author 
having stated that C. Sti. Thome occurs in India. 

[The Columba Sti. Thome was so named from occurring in the island of 
St. Thomas, on the west coast of Africa, and is undoubtedly distinct from 
any Asiatic species. It is probably referable to the female of 7. calvus, 
Temm., or of 7. crassirosiris, Fraser.—H.E.S. } 


Mr. E. Blyth’s Drafts for a Fauna Indica. 45 


tinge on the forehead; shoulder of the wing lilac in the male, 
and a trace of the same in the female; greater wing-coverts 
margined with pale yellow, forming an oblique bar across the 
wing; terminal two-fifths of the tail ash-gray above, albescent 
underneath, and its medial portion blackish underneath, and 
deeply tinged with green above ; tibial plumes (extending partly 
down the tarse) and central abdominal feathers between the 
tibie bright yellow; vent mingled white and green ; and lower 
tail-coverts maroon, with white tips. Beak whitish ; the feet 
deep yellow. Length 123 by 22 inches, and of closed wing 
7 to 73 inches. | 

This is one of three closely-allied species, each having its pecu- 
liar habitat ; and it is intermediate in its colouring to the two 
others, namely 77. viridifrons, nobis, of the Tenasserim provinces, 
and Tr. chlorigaster, nobis, of Peninsular India. 7. viridifrons 
is distinguished by having the anterior half of the head and the 
medial portion of the tail of the same (and as bright) yellowish- 
green as the breast, though somewhat less fulvescent ; that of 
the tail being well-defined, and contrasting strongly both with 
the gray tip and also with the gray coverts impending the tail, 
so that this green appears as a very conspicuous broad caudal 
band: the throat also is not weaker-coloured, as in Tr. pheent- 
coptera. Tr. chlorigaster, on the other hand, has the whole 
under parts green ; no trace of green upon the tail, except at its 
extreme base, and the whole cap and ear-coverts are ashy, devoid 
(in fine males at least) of the slightest tinge of green on the 
forehead. These are, in fact, three osculant races, which, if com- 
monly inhabiting the same districts, would doubtless intermix 
and blend, like Coracias indica and C. affinis, and likewise cer- 
tain of the Kalidge pheasants (Gallophasis) ; but within their 
own proper range of distribution, each continues true to the co- 
louring which distinguishes it from the others. To term them local 
varieties of the same species, would not merely imply that the three 
are descended from a common origin, but also that such changes 
of colouring are brought about by difference of locality ; a notion 
which is inconsistent with the fixity and regularity of markings 
we observe in either race, over an extensive and diversified range 
of country. Tr. phenicoptera is a very abundant species in 
Bengal, Assam, Sylhet, Nepal, and all Upper India, its range 
extending southward at least to the foot of the mountains of Cen- 
tral India, where it would seem to be equally common with the 
next, and intermediate specimens are met with even in Lower 
Bengal. In Arracan it does not appear to have been met with, 
but further southward, in the Tenasserim provinces, it is repre- 
sented by its other near affine, 77. viridifrons*. 


* Capt. Hutton writes me word from Mussooree, that Zreron pheenico- 


46 Mr. E. Blyth’s Drafts for a Fauna Indica. 


TR. CHLORIGASTER, nobis, Journ. As. Soc. 1843, p. 167: Tr. 
Jerdoni, Strickland, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. 1844, p. 38: Vi- 
nago phenicoptera v. militaris of Southern India, Auctorum. 
Similar to the last, except in the particulars already mentioned. 
It replaces Tr. pheenicoptera 1 the Penimsula of India, and 
specimens are occasionally met with in the vicinity of Calcutta. 
These three species have the feet of a deep yellow colour, whereas 
in all the other Asiatic Hurrials they would appear to be bright 
red. 

Tr. Bictncta: Vinago bicincta, Jerdon, Ill. Ind. Orn. pl. 
21; Madras Journal, 1840, p. 13 (the male); and V. wnicolor, 
Jerdon, ibid. (the female): V. vernans, var. Lesson’s Traité. 
(Chota Hurrial, Hind, Bengal.) Green: the forehead and throat 
brighter and more yellowish, as are the whole under-parts of the 
female, passing in both sexes to bright pale yellow towards the 
vent ; occipital region ash-gray; a stripe of yellow along the 
wing, formed by the margins of the greater and .outer coverts ; 
tail gray above, with a blackish medial band on all but its middle 
feathers; beneath blackish, tipped with grayish-white; and its 
lower coverts cinnamon-coloured in the male, and mingled 
dusky-ash and buffy-whitish in the female. The male is further 
distinguished by having a large buff-orange patch on the breast, 
and above this a lilac band, broader at the sides. Bill greenish- 
glaucous; and the legs deep pinkish-red. Length 11 or 12 
inches by 20, or nearly so; and of wing generally about 6 inches, 
rarely as much as 63. 

This beautiful species is common to all India, but would seem 
to be more numerous in Lower Bengal than in the Peninsula ; 


ptera is “common in the Deyrah Doon, but never mounts into the hills, 
where it is replaced by 7. sphenura. Many of the Doon birds,” he adds, 
“ have come to be regarded as hill species, from their commonly occurring 
in collections made by residents at the different hill stations. Such collectors 
however entertain one or more shikarrees, who start off sometimes to the 
Doon, sometimes to the interior of the mountains, just as they happen to 
remember or to want any bright-coloured’bird; and when the collection is 
brought in, the collector never dreams of asking where the birds were shot, 
but puts them all down together as ‘a collection from the hills.’ Nepal 
being further to the south-east than Mussooree, a greater elevation may be 
required to produce the same temperature that we have; so that birds 
which with us are found only in the warm valley of the Doon, may perhaps 
in Nepal rise to a certain elevation on the mountains!” Capt. Tickell 
adds, that “ 7’. phenicoptera is very common throughout the high stony 
barren parts of Singhbhoom, and in the Mautbhoom district, confining them- 
selves to the hurgoolur and peepul trees. They breed in the thick damp 
forests to the southward towards Sumbulpoor, during the rains, at which 
time not a single specimen is to be found in these parts. The Oorias sell 
numbers of the young ones, which are taken to Calcutta.” All that I have 
seen with the Calcutta dealers were from the neighbourhood, and chiefly 
adults newly taken with bird-lime. 


Mr. E. Blyth’s Drafts for a Fauna Indica. 47 


and it occurs plentifully in Nepal, Assam, Sylhet, Tipperah, 
Arracan and the Tenasserim provinces. In Bengal, however, it 
is much less numerous than Tr. phenicoptera, and the flocks of 
the two species do not commingle. I once found its nest, half- 
way up a small mahogany tree, in the Calcutta Botanic Garden. 
The eggs, of a somewhat less lengthened form than in pigeons 
generally, measured an inch and a quarter in the long diameter. 
I have also obtained the young, which resemble in colouring the 
adult female. The voice is much the same as in 7’. pheni- 
coptera. 

Mr. G. R. Gray has erroneously identified this bird with Tr. 
vernans (L.), common in the Malay countries. The latter differs 
in its smaller size, having the wing but 53 inches; in the male 
having the entire crown and throat gray, instead of green; in 
the very much greater development of the lilac colour above the 
orange of the breast, this enveloping the whole neck, whereas in 
Tr. bicineta it is confined to a band above the breast ; and in the 
tail being gray above, with a blackish terminal band, and slight 
grayish extreme tips to the feathers ; whereas Tr. bicincta has a 
broad whitish terminal band to the tail, as seen underneath, and 
which appears of a dull ash-colour above. No two species can 
be more obviously distinct *. 

Tr. MALABARICA: Vinago malabarica, Jerdon, Ill. Ind. Orn. 
(Art. V. bicincta) : V. aromatica, apud Jerdon, Catal. (the male) ; 
and V. affinis, Jerdon, ibid. (the female): also V. aromatica of 
Southern India, Jardine’s Nat. Libr., Columbide. This bird 
exactly resembles 7. nipalensis in size and colouring, except in 
having a yellower throat in both sexes ; but is at once distin- 
guished by the very different form of its beak, and by having no 
naked space round the eyes; the buff tinge on the breast of the 
male is also more decided, and its legs are ‘lake-red.? The 
female may be distinguished from that of Tr. bicincta by the 
ash-colour of its forehead and entire crown, and by its unspread 
tail being wholly green above. 

Mr. Jerdon’s specimens of this bird were obtained on the 
western coast of the Peninsula, and at the foot of the Neil- 
gherries. I have never seen it from Northern India; but to the 
eastward it inhabits Assam +, Sylhet, Tipperah, and appears to 
be equally common with Tr. nipalensis in the island of Ramree, 
Arracan. 


* | killed a specimen of 77. bicincta some years ago in Singhbhoom, when 
firing into a flock of the common Hurrial; and I have more than once re- 
marked in a flock of the latter, smaller individuals, which I have no doubt 
were interlopers of this species. It is exceedingly rare here, for I have 
never obtained another specimen.—T. 

+ It is figured among Dr. McClelland’s drawings of the birds of Assam. 


48 Mr. E. Blyth’s Drafts for a Fauna Indica. 


There is a nearly allied species in the Nicobar islands, 77. 
_ chloroptera, nobis, which differs in its superior size, having the 
wing 7 inches, instead of 6 to 61; and m the male having a 
large portion of the fore part of its wing green instead of deep 
maroon ; its breast also is less tinged with fulvous, and the fore- 
head more albescent. 

Columba pompadora, Gmelin, founded on pl. 19 and 20 of 
Brown’s Zoology (1776), should be another nearly allied spe- 
cies, inhabiting Ceylon; but as both figure and description re- 
present the back to be green instead of maroon, like the rest 
of the mantle, and as it is also described as “ smaller than the 
turtle-dove,” it clearly cannot be Tr. malabarica, and is probably 
a sort of representative (as regards its diminutive size) of 77. 
olax of the Malay countries*. 

_C. Spuenvrvs, Swainson: Sphenocercus, G. R. Gray. Hur- 
rials with cuneiform tail, of which the central feathers are, in 
some species, much elongated beyond the rest, and their pro- 
longed tips attenuated, with the basal two-thirds or more of the 
bill soft and tumid, and with the soles of the toes narrow, whereas 
in the preceding sections they are particularly broad and flat: a 
nude livid space surrounds the eyes, but less developed than in 
the first section ; and the curious character observable through- 
out the preceding group, of having the mner web of the third 
primary abruptly sinuated, does not exist in the present one. 
These birds are exclusively mountaineers, mhabiting the hill- 
forests, and are remarkable for the music of their notes. 

Tr. SPHENURA: Vinago sphenura, Vigors, Proc. Zool. Soc. 
1831, p. 173; Gould’s Century, pl. 57: Kokla or Kokhela, H. 
(a name also applied to the next species). Very similar in co- 
louring to Tr. nipalensis and Tr. malabarica, but larger, and at 
once distinguished by its cuneiform tail; by the greater develop- 
ment of the soft basal portion of its bill; also by the green co- 
lour tinged in the male with buff of its crown ; by the consider- 
able diminution of the maroon colour on the mantle of the male, 
especially on the back, the posterior scapularies, the tertiaries, 
and the great wing-coverts bemg green; and by having but a 
slight pale yellow margin to only the great coverts of the wing. 
Tail green above, with an ill-defined subterminal dusky band to 
its outer feathers, and uniform dull albescent-gray underneath ; 
its lower coverts long, and of a pale rufous-buff hue in the male, 
yellowish white with green centres in the female, as are likewise 
the short outer ones of the male; breast of the latter deeply 
tinged with buff. In the female, the subterminal dusky band on 


* I have no doubt of the identity of pompadora and malabarica, Brown’s 
description is drawn up from the sketch of a native artist, and great accu- 
racy cannot therefore be expected.—H.E.S. 


Mr. E. Blyth’s Drafts for a Fauna Indica. 49 


the three outer tail-feathers is much better defined. LIrides co- 
loured as usual; the bill, and nude skin around the eye, livid, 
and legs coral-red. Wing 7 to 71 inches ; middle tail-feathers 
5% inches. 

This species inhabits the Himalaya, and is, I believe, more 
abundant in the south-eastern portion of the chain, as in Nepal 
and at Darjeeling, though it is also common at Simla. Capt. 
Hutton writes from Mussoorie—“ This species is very numerous 
in the hills from April to June, when, having reared its young, 
and the rains having set in, it becomes scarcer, and gradually 
disappears during the rainy season. The nest is in high trees, 
composed of dried twigs, a mere platform ; and the eggs are two, 
and white. I heard the first Kooklah this year on the 12th of 
April.” It is greatly prized by the natives as a cage-bird, on 
account of its singularly prolonged and varied musical note, 
which is an improvement upon that of Tr. phenicoptera and its 
allies. A few are even brought in cages to Caleutta, and sell at 
a high price as song-birds. [ have heard the notes of both this and 
the next species, which I-think are absolutely similar: they bear 
some resemblance to the human voice in singing, and are highly 
musical im tone, being considerably prolonged and modulated, 
but always terminating abruptly ; and every time the stave is 
repeated exactly as before, so that it soon becomes wearisome to 
an European ear *. 

TR. CANTILLANS: Vinago cantillans, nobis, Journ. As. Soc. 
xul. 166: Col. aromaiica, var. A, Latham. . Size and proportions 
of last, but the green colour replaced by a delicate pearl-gray, 
with a shght tinge of green here and there, more especially on 
the under-parts: forehead and throat whitish; the crown and 
breast of the male tinged with ruddy or weak maroon ; and the 
mantle marked, as in 7. sphenura, with deeper maroon: a 
shght yellowish-white outer edging to the greater wing-coverts. 
Irides as usual in this genus, or having a crimson ring encircling 
a violet one: bill and bare skin around the eye glaucous-blue, 


* Tr. sphenurus, This bird, the Kookoo-fo of the Lepchas at Dar- 
jeeling, is there exceedingly common, but is not so extensively gregarious 
as the common Hurrial of the plains. They frequent the highest trees, feed- 
ing on their berries, and running along the branches with great agility. The 
male has a most agreeable note, exactly resembling the music of a pastoral 
reed or pipe. It breeds in June and July, making a large nest in high trees, 
deeper than that of the common doves and wood pigeons. Bill pale livid 
blue, nearly white at tip, and pale clear cobalt basally, The young resém- 
ble the female; and the ruddy tinge of the back and small! wing-coverts of 
the male is not assumed until the second year.—T. 

I have observed this red to be less developed in some specimens, but 
still suspect that more or less of it would be obtained at the first moult.— 
E.B 


“Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Vol. xix. m 


50 Mr. E. Blyth’s Drafts for a Fauna Indica. 


and legs and toes reddish-carneous. The female I have not yet 
seen. Length 13 by 21 inches; closed wing 7 inches. 

This species occurs in the north-west Himalaya, as about Simla, 
and is, I believe, rare in Nepal. I-kept one alive for some time 
that was stated to have been brought from Agra, whither it had 
no doubt been carried from the hills. Can it be a variety only 
of the last ? 

Tr. aprcaupa, Hodgson (mentioned in Mr. G. R. Gray’s 
Catalogue of the Ornithological Specimens in the British Mu- 
seum). Nearly allied to Zr. oxyura of the Malay countries, 
from which it is at once distinguished by the pale yellow margins 
of its great wing-coverts, forming two narrow longitudinally ob- 
lique bars on the wing. General colour green, more yellowish 
towards the tail and on the under-parts, and tinged in the male 
with russet on the crown and breast ; primaries dusky black ; 
tail with its middle feathers greatly prolonged beyond the rest, 
and their elongated portion much attenuated; its colour gray 
with a medial blackish band, obsolete on the middle pair of 
feathers, which at base are yellowish-green. Bill evidently glau- 
cous-bluish, and legs red. Length of wing 6} inches, and of 
middle tail-feathers 8 inches or more, passing the next pair by 
about 3 inches. 

Inhabits the south-eastern Himalaya and the hill-ranges of 
Assam, being tolerably common at Darjeeling. 

Genus CarropuaGa, Selby (1835): Ducula, Hodgson (1836): 
Dukul, or Dunkul, H. The Dunxuts. 

These fruit pigeons are mostly of large size, with broad-soled 
feet and strong hooked claws, much as in the typical Hurrials, 
and a slender, generally somewhat lengthened bill, having the 
terminal third only of its upper mandible corneous, and the plu- 
mage of the chin advancing very far forward, underneath the 
lower mandible. In a few species the base of the upper mandible 
expands to form a fleshy knob. Wings, in all the typical spe- 
cies, adapted for powerful flight. The plumage of the head, 
neck and under-parts, and in some species throughout, is blent 
and glossless, and mostly of a delicate gray, or a vinous hue, with 
never the peculiar burnish on the sides of the neck so general 
among ordinary pigeons ; but many species have the upper parts, 
wings and tail shining metallic green, which in some is bronzed 
or coppery, in others varied with rich steel-blue; hence several 
are among the most showy of the pigeon tribe; others, however, 
being simply black and white, though all are alike handsome 
when viewed in the fresh state, from the delicate beauty of the 
irides, bill, feet, and any nude skin about the head, the exquisite 
colouring of which is lost in the dry specimen. These birds are 
more especially developed in the great Oriental Archipelago, where 


Mr. E. Blyth’s Drafts for a Fauna Indica. 51 


the species are very numerous, two only occurring in India, and 
others in Australia and Polynesia. They are gregarious, like the 
Hurrials, and keep exclusively to the great forests, more espe- 
cially to those of upland districts : and it would appear that they 
Jo not generally lay more than a single egg, and certain species 
uvariably but one; in which respect they resemble the cele- 
brated Passenger Pigeon of North America (Hctopistes migra- 
toria). At least three subgenera occur, at the head of which 
may be placed Lopholaimus, G. R. Gray, founded on the Col. ant- 
arctica, Shaw (v. dilopha, Temm.), of Australia; then follow the 
ordinary Dunkuls, of which the two Indian species are charac- 
teristic ; and finally a short-winged type, with bill and feet as 
in the former, and colouring as in the division Chalcophaps (of 
the next subfamily), to which I apply the appellation Dendro- 
phaps. ' 

C. instenis: Ducula insignis, Hodgson, As. Res. xix. 162: 
Carp. cuprea, Jerdon, Madr. Journ. 1840, p.12, and subsequently 
referred by him to Col. badia, Raffles, zbid. 1844, p. 164. (Dukul, 
Nepal; Dunkul, H.) Head, neck and under-parts pale ruddy 
hilac-gray ; the throat albescent; and crown pure cinereous. in 
some specimens, in others tinged with ruddy; back and wings 
deep vinaceous-brown; the rump and upper tail-coverts dusky- — 
cinereous, and the lower tail-coverts buffy-white ; tail dusky, 
with its terminal fourth dull ashy above, and albescent as seen 
from beneath. Bill, circle of eyelids and legs intense sanguine, 
except the tip of the bill and the claws, which are horn-coloured ; 
orbital skin livid; and irides “hoary or blue-gray,’’ according 
to Mr. Hodgson, “red,” as stated by Mr. Jerdon. Length 20 
inches by 24 feet (Hodgson), 19 by 26 inches (Jerdon); of wing 
93 inches, and of tail 8 inches. Weight a pound and a half. 
“The female,” remarks Mr. Hodgson, “is a fourth smaller than 
her mate, wants almost wholly the rich vinous tint of the male, 
and is generally more obscurely coloured.” 

This diversity of colouring of the sexes reminds us of the Hur- 
rials; and it may be remarked, that the general tints are not 
very different from those of Treron cantillans. The species in- 
habits the Himalaya and the Neilgherries; and Captain Phayre 
has obtained it in the Ya-ma-dong mountains, which separate 
Arracan from Pegu. It appears to keep always to a more ele- 
vated region than the next species, as near the snow line of the 
Himalaya; and Mr. Hodgson states that it is “almost solitary ” 
in its habits *. : : 


* Carpophaga insignis. Of this fine species I killed a female (one of 
a pair, the male of which escaped) at Kursiong, towards the end of the 
month of June, It is not common. The pair were perched on a small tree 
on the summit of the hill, feeding on berries, with which the crop ofthe 


4-* 


52 Mr. E, Blyth’s Drafts for a Fauna Indica. 
The Col. badia, Raffles (v. capistrata, Temm.), of the Malay 


countries, would appear to be very closely allied in its colouring, 
but considerably inferior in size ; the two are regarded as distinct 
by Mr. G. R. Gray. 3 

C. sytvatica: Col. sylvatica, Tickell, Journ. As. Soc. ii. 581: 
C. enea of India, Auctorum; but not of Raffles, Linn. Trans. 
xill. 8316. (Dunkul, H.; Pyoon-ma-dee, Arracan.) Head, neck 
and under-parts pearl-gray, purer on the crown and breast, and 
tinged elsewhere (and occasionally on the crown) with ruddy- 
vinaceous ; back, wings, rump and tail shining coppery-green, 
with a dash of gray on the large alars, and greenest upon the 
tail; under tail-coverts dark maroon; chin and immediately 
around the base of the bill white. ‘“ Irides and orbits lake-red ; 
bill slaty, at base above red, at tip bluish-white; legs lake-red,” 
(Jerdon). Another observer describes the irides to be “deep 
pink ;” but Captain Tickell writes: “Eyes orange; feet rose- 
coloured ; bill horny, bluish over the nostrils.” Length 18 or 
19 inches; expanse 23 feet ; closed wing 9 inches to 93, and 
tail 6 inches to 61; sexes alike. 

“This fine species,” remarks Mr. Jerdon, “is found in all the 
lofty forests of the west coast, single, or in small parties of three 
or four. It hasa single, low, plamtive note.” Captain Tickell, 
in his ‘ List of Birds collected in the Jungles of Borabhtim and 
Dholbhiim,’ states that it is “ common in some parts, preferring 
the open and large-timbered tracts. They are wild and difficult 
of approach, and go generally in small parties of four or five. 
The voice is deep, and resembles groaning.” I have never seen 
it from the Himalaya, but it is very abundant in the hill regions 
of Assam, Sylhet, Tipperah, and Arracan; also in the Tenasse- 
rim provinces; and the Asiatic Society has received it from Java. 
A writer in the ‘Bengal Sporting Review’ (no. 2. p. 89) ob- 
serves, “The habits of this handsome bird are strictly arboreal ; 
it is seldom seen but in the depths of the jungle; is gregarious, 
like the Hurrials, but is only a cold-weather resident in the east- 
ern districts of Bengal, and breeds elsewhere*. It makes its 
appearance in November, and leaves towards the end of March. 
Its favourite food consists of the bijer plum (Zizyphus Jujuba), 
and a jungle berry, called by the natives Anygootah. When 
wounded it evinces more spirit than the Columbide appear gene- 
rally to possess; erecting the feathers of its head and neck, and 


female was filled. Voice a deep short groan, repeated—‘ woo-woo-woo.’ 
Length of this female 17 inches by 27 inches in spread of wing; wing 9 
inches. rides pearl-gray ; bill dull lake, with blackish tip; legs dull lake. 
Back, scapularies and wing-coverts full deep vinous ash-gray washed with 
cupreous, the latter pervading the tips and edges of the feathers.—T. 

* Mr. Frith found a nest of this bird in the Garrow hills. 


Bibliographical Notices. 53 


buffeting with its wings the hand that captures it. The note is 
harsh, not unlike the croaking of a bull-frog *.” 

There are several closely allied species: C. enea, as figured 
(i. e. the head) by Mr. G. R. Gray in his illustrated work on 
the ‘Genera of Birds,’ has a large round knob at the base of its 
upper mandible, of which the Indian species never presents the 
slightest trace; and a beautiful specimen before me, from Bor- 
neo (?), exhibiting this knob, differs also from the Indian species 
in several other particularst+. Another, from the same region, 
exactly resembles the Indian species, except in its inferior size, 
having the wing but 8 inches, and the rest in proportion; this 
is doubtless the C. enea of Raffles’s list, described as “ exceeding 
15 inches in length”; so that in Sumatra there would appear to 
be closely allied diminutives of both the Indian species {. C. per- 
spicillata of Java and the Moluccas also approximates a good 
deal, but is readily enough distinguishable. 

Of the third great genus of fruit-eating pigeons, Pdilinopus, 
also largely developed in the Eastern Archipelago and Polynesian 
isles, no Indian species has been discovered; the Pt. Elphin- 
stonit of Sykes (seemingly) appertaining to the same group of 
ordinary pigeons as the British Cushat or Ring-dove. 


{To be continued. ] 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 


A Natural History of the Mammalia. By G. R. Waternovss, Esq., 
of the British Museum. Illustrated with engravings on wood and 
coloured plates. London, H. Bailliére. 


Tue first volume of this excellent work, in which every species in 
the class Mammalia will be described in detail, is now completed. 
The author is already favourably known to the public by various 
monographs, and by papers in this Journal, on the Rodentia, Marsu- 
piata and other animals. His former connexion with the Zoological 
Society and his present position in the British Museum (where he is 


* C. sylvatica. I have found these birds only in one part of my district, 
—in the jungles bordering on Midnapore. They were in a party of eight 
or ten, perching on detached trees, in a wide plain of jungle-grass. The 
notes are deep and ventriloquous. By the Oorias it is called Sona Kubootra, 
or Golden Pigeon; it is also termed Burra (or Great) Hurrial.—T. 

t+ It seems to be the “Sumatran Pigeon, no. 12,” of Latham. 

t The true Columba enea of Linnzus is founded on the Palumbus mo- 
luccensis of Brisson, whose figure and description perfectly accord with the 
Indian bird, though it is stated to be from the Moluccas. ‘The knob-fronted 
species will stand as C. myristicivora, Scop. (C. globicera, Wag]l.), founded 
on Sonn. Voy. Nouv. Guinée, pl. 102. Mr. Gray erroneously applies the 
name myristicivora to Sonn. pl. 103, which is the bicolor of Scopoli.— 
H.E.S. 


54 Bibliographical Notices. 


at present chiefly employed on fossil Mammalia),—his extensive ac- 
quaintance with the works of foreign naturalists, as shown by the 
numerous references in this publication, —together with several visits 
undertaken solely from his love of science to the museums on the. 
continent, eminently fit him for the great work here commenced.. 
We use this expression advisedly, for it must not be supposed that 
we have here merely a compilation; original descriptions, and mea- 
surements generally taken from more than one specimen, are in the 
majority of cases given. The dental and osteological details are 
described with particular care, and are illustrated by distinct and 
careful plates: in the precision of these details, we imagine we see 
the effects of Mr. Waterhouse’s long and ardent attachment to en- 
tomology. Although the work is not a compilation, the author has 
not neglected any source of information; and in this first volume, 
which is confined to the Marsupiata, he is much indebted to Mr. 

Gould’s admirable labours in Australia. Mr. Waterhouse however 
often differs from Mr. Gould with respect to specific characters, and 
we rejoice to see no signs of that rage to create new species, so pre- 
valent amongst zoologists, 

_ A distinguishing feature in this work is the notice of all fossil 
species, interpolated in their proper places; hence, when the whole 
is completed, we shall have a comprehensive view of the entire class 
of Mammalia, as far as known; and the accident of extinction will 
not remove from the series, as is too often the case in systematic 
works, allied or intermediate forms. Many curious and original 
remarks are interspersed on the affinities of the various genera and 
families ; but we find no trace of those fanciful speculations on ana- 
logies—such as between a mouse’s nose and a snipe’s beak, or be- 
tween oxen and poultry—which we fear must have lowered us in the 
estimation of continental naturalists. In reference to affinities, we 
must express our regret that the Marsupiata were not ranked, in 
conformity with Prof. Owen’s views, as a sub-class distinct from the 
placental mammifers. Whether we view classification as a mere 
contrivance to convey much information by a single word, or as 
something more than a memoria technica, and as connected with the 
laws of creation, we cannot doubt that where such important differ- 
ences In the generative and cerebral systems, as distinguish the 
Marsupiata from the Placentata, run through two series of animals, 
they ought to be arranged under heads of equal value. We are not 
convinced by the ingenious remarks on this subject given at p. 17; 
we cannot admit that numerical differences in the number of the 
species in two groups, or their geographical distribution, or a some- 
what hypothetical statement that the amount of difference is greatest 
amongst the lower forms in each class, ought to be taken into ac- 
count in asystem of classification ; we believe that our best botanists, 
who may well serve as guides on this subject, eschew such considera- 
tions, and confine themselves to the strict rule of difference in struc- 
ture. ‘Should this rule be disregarded, some naturalists would admit 
habits (useful as they undoubtedly are)—-some would admit analo- 
gies, or, as well expressed by Lamarck, adaptations in widely different 


Bibliographical Notices. 55 


beings to similar external conditions,—some would admit the sup- 
posed order of the appearance of organic beings (as has been sug- 
gested) on the surface of the earth, as aids or bases of classification ; 
—the result would be, that no two naturalists would agree in the 
same conclusion, and our system, instead of becoming a solid and 
simple edifice, would be a labyrinth of blind passages. 

An admirable feature in Mr. Waterhouse’s work is the great at- 
tention paid to Geographical distribution, that noble subject of which 
we as yet but dimly see the full bearing. The following remarks» 
(p. 537) give us an excellent summary,on the distribution of the 
Mammalia on the Australian continent :— 

Australia may be conveniently divided into five principal divi. 
sions or districts, of which the east, west, north and south portions 
of the main land will each form one province, and Van Diemen’s 
Land the fifth. Of these provinces, the northern one has the great« 
est number of species peculiar to it, since out of ten species dis- 
covered in that part of Australia, eight are not found elsewhere. 
The Marsupiata of the eastern district are for the most part distinct 
from those of the opposite side of the continent, there being but 
eight species, out of upwards of sixty inhabiting the two provinces, 
which are found in both. But if the three districts mentioned are 
characterized by the few species which they have in common, South 
Australia must be characterized by an opposite quality, that of having 
a comparatively large proportion of species identical with those of 
other districts; indeed I know of but four species which are peculiar 
to this district : it possesses sixteen species in common with Western 
Australia, and fifteen in common with Eastern Australia. Western 
Australia possesses one genus (Tursipes) which is peculiar to it, and 
one sub-genus (Macrotis); none of the other districts of continental 
Australia possess any genera which are not found elsewhere. About 
half of the species found in Van Diemen’s Land are peculiar to that 
island—in fact, nine out of twenty: of the remainder, the greater 
portion are found on the eastern part of the main land. This island, 
moreover, possesses one genus (Thylacinus) and one sub-genus (Sar- 
cophilus) which are now peculiar to it. Examples of both these 
sections have, however, been found in a fossil state on the main 
land.” 

Speaking strictly we have here four divisions, for South Australia 
does not appear from these remarks, zoologically considered, to de- 
serve to be ranked as a subdivision, New Guinea, however, and 
the adjacent islands form a well-marked fifth subdivision, and an 
interesting table is given (at p. 3) of the ranges of the quadrupeds 
inhabiting them. The fact of South Australia possessing only few 
peculiar species, it having apparently been colonized from the eastern 
and western coasts, is very interesting ; for we believe that Mr. Ro- 
bert Brown has shown that nearly the same remark is applicable to 
the plants ; and Mr, Gould finds that most of the birds from these 
opposite shores, though closely allied, are distinct. Considering 
these facts, together with the presence in South Australia of up- 
raised modern tertiary deposits and of extinct volcanos, it seems 


“56 Bibliographical Notices. 


probable that the eastern and western shores once formed two 
islands, separated from each other by a shallow sea, with their in- 
habitants generically though not specifically related, exactly as are 
those of New Guinea and Northern Australia, and that within a 
geologically recent period a series of upheavals converted the inter- 
mediate sea into those desert plains which are now known to stretch 
from the southern coast far northward, and which then became colo- 
nized from the regions to the east and west. We will only further 
point out an interesting table (p. 536) showing that in South Ame- 
rica, Brazil is the metropolis of the Didelphidz, a family which, as 
Mr. Waterhouse remarks, curiously replaces in that continent the 
Insectivora of the Old World. 

Most of the genera are illustrated by elegant and spirited copper- 
plates; there are also many woodcuts; some few however of these 
latter are rather unfortunate works of art. The plates are printed 
on excellent paper, and the whole work is got up im a style credit- 
able to the publisher. The Marsupiata, though highly interesting in 
their structure and affinities, yet are less so in their habits than the 
higher mammalia; but from some scattered notices we clearly see 
that this amusing part of the subject will not be neglected. To the 
professed naturalist we believe that this work will be almost indis- 
pensable; but we also strongly recommend it to those who do not 
come under this class, but yet are interested in the wide field of na- 
ture. We do not doubt that Mr. Waterhouse is conferring by this 
publication a real service on natural science; we therefore trust to 
his continued perseverance, and we heartily wish him all success. 


Introduction to Zoology: for the Use of Schools. By Roxserr Par- 
TERSON, Vice-President of the Natural History Society of Belfast. 
—Invertebrate Animals. With upwards of 170 Illustrations. Lon- 
don: Simpkin and Co. 1846. | 


The main cause of the great ignorance of Natural History in this 
country among all classes, not excluding even the highest, is that it 
forms no part of our regular system of education. Most of our 
youth leave school scarcely aware of the existence of such a science, 
and so utterly unacquainted with its merest rudiments, that to be 
told that whales and bats give suck to their young, would excite in 
them a contemptuous smile of incredulity. This is deplorable; but 
it is the misfortune not the fault of our youth, that they are thus 
ignorant of facts with which mere children in France and Germany 
are familiar. Fully occupied with the routine of our usual instruc- 
tion at school, and thence directly transferred either to college or 
the active duties of commercial or professional life, they have no 
opportunity of repairing this great deficiency of their early educa- 
tion, and thus remain deprived of what may be justly called another 
sense—the power of seeing at every step objects of the highest in- 
terest and delight, to which the man unacquainted with natural 
history is blind, and of thus opening to themselves a new source of 
mental enjoyment, which, whether they traverse the mighty ocean 


Bibliographical Notices. 57 


or the pathless desert, stroll through the woods or the fields, or are 
even confined to the limits of a garden, will be found to be endless 
and inexhaustible. 

It is the conviction of this great defect in our system of educa- 
tion which has led Mr. Patterson, Vice-President of the Natural 
History Society of Belfast, and well-known as an excellent observer 
of nature, to compose the work whose title stands at the head of 
this notice, which from his intimate acquaintance with the subject, 
the popular interest he has imparted to it, and the numerous excel- 
lent wood-cuts (chiefly adapted from Milne Edwards’s ‘ Cours Elé- 
mentaire de Zoologie’) amply illustrating every part of it, combined 
with its low price, may be regarded as one of the most valuable con- 
tributions ever offered towards the more extended cultivation of 
natural history in this country. 

As its high character as an elementary work has been recognised 
by the Board of National Education in Ireland, by its adoption in all 
the Nationai Schools there (of which in December 1845 the num- 
ber was 3426, attended by 452,844 scholars), it is superfluous to 
speak further in its praise, and we shall merely state our full per- 
suasion, that if adopted, as we trust it will be, in all our schools, 
both for the upper and lower classes, the next generation will show 
a hundred naturalists for one that we can now boast of, and that 
results, the value and importance of which can scarcely be too highly 
estimated, will attend a more extended cultivation of a science, 
which, as Mr. Patterson truly observes in his preface, ‘‘ exercises 
both the observant and reflective powers, furnishes enjoyment pure 
and exhaustless, and tends to make devotional feelings habitual.” 

We conclude with the following anecdote from the Work, both as 
a specimen of its popular manner, and as proving very strikingly how 
important an acquaintance with the nature of the lower objects of 
creation in quarters seemingly the most remote from being affected 
by them, may often prove. ‘‘ With regard to the Medusa, we may 
mention an anecdote which we learned from an eminent zoologist, 
now a professor in one of the English Universities. He had a few 
years ago been delivering some zoological lectures in a seaport town 
in Scotland, in the course of which he had adverted to some of the 
most remarkable points in the economy of the Acalephe. After the 
lecture, a farmer who had been present came forward, and inquired 
if he had understood him correctly, as having stated that the Meduse 
contained so little of solid material, that they might be regarded as 
little else than a mass of animated sea-water? On being answered 
in the affirmative, he remarked that it would have saved him many 
a pound had he known that sooner, for he had been in the habit of 
employing his men and horses in carting away large quantities of 
jelly-fish from the shores and using them as manure on his farm, and 
he now believed they could have been of little more real use than an 
equal weight of sea-water. Assuming that as much as one ton 
weight of Meduse recently thrown on the beach had been carted 
away in one load, it will be found that, according to the experiments 
of Prof. Owen already mentioned (p. 30), the entire quantity of solid 


58 Entomological Society. 


material would be only about four pounds, an amount, which, if com- 
pressed, the farmer might with ease have carried home in one of his 
coat-pockets !”—P. 39. 


Ev1z Frizs Summa Vegetabilium Scandinavie. Holmie et Lipsie.. 


A new work by Prof. Fries of Upsala—need we say more in its 
recommendation? It may however be as well to mention the cha- 
racter of its contents. 

It has long been known that Fries was contemplating a Flora of 
Scandinavia, i.e., as he defines it, ‘‘ inter mare occidentale et album, 
inter Eidoram et Nordkap.”” The present may be considered as the 
forerunner of such a work, since it contains a complete catalogue of 
Scandinavian plants accompanied by a tabular view of their distri- 
bution. This is followed by a synopsis of such species as are either 
not contained in the invaluable ‘ Synopsis Floree Germanicz’ of Koch, 
or are considered by Fries to require further elucidation or correction. 
In short it may be considered, as observed by its author, to be an 
extension of the ‘Synopsis Flore Germanice,’ which is bounded on 
the north by the Baltic Sea and the river Eyder, from that river, 
through Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Lapland and Norway, to the 
North Cape. It is therefore essential to all who make use (and what 
botanist does not ?) of Koch’s Synopsis. 


PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES, 


ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 


[Continued from vol. xviii. p. 473.] 3 
September Ist, 1845.—The Rev. F. W. Hope, President, in the Chair. 


‘‘ Further notes on the Honey-bee.” By Mr. Golding and Dr. 
Bevan. 

In this communication Mr. Golding again affirmed that the first 
swarm from a hive is led off by the queen-bee. He considered that 
it was chiefly owing to the striking peculiarity in the royal cells that 
the insects developed therein are so different from the ordinary indi- 
viduals in the hive. He adopts the opinion of Huber, that the great 
number of males in a hive is rendered necessary in order to ensure 
the fecundation of the virgin queen in her flight in the air, and 
that the law of primogeniture seems to be followed strictly in the 
emigration of young queens. From the fact that the long piping 
note of a young queen at liberty may be heard—but with short in- 
tervals of a minute or two—without intermission, from the time of 
her hatching until she comes off with the swarm, together with their 
having been seen to leave the hive in a day or two after being hived, 
he thinks it may be safely inferred that impregnation in the case of 
the young emigrant queen takes place after she becomes sovereign 
in her own right, and that she never leaves the hive until accom- 
panying the swarm. 


Entomological Society. 59 


Dr. Bevan’s communication was a reply to a note addressed to 
him by Mr. Westwood, and is as follows :— 

“ Machynlleth, August 25, 1845. 

« My dear Sir,—I was well pleased to find from your favour of 
the 12th inst. that our opinions on the relative perfection of queen- 
and worker-bees were in unison; and also to learn, from your letter 
to Mr. Golding, that we agree as to the probable effect of the pabu- 
lum which is supplied, as well to the development of animal as of 
vegetable life. The instance which you refer to of the effect pro- 
duced on flowers by the soil in which they bloom, and of course by 
the kind of nutriment which the plants derive therefrom, is very 
much in point. So likewise is its effect on fruit. It is well-known 
that in the cider counties the juice of the same fruit, treated in the 
same manner, will produce very different sorts of cider, according to 
the soil by which the trees are nourished. In Herefordshire to wit, 
the clay side of the county affords a sweet pleasant liquor, the sandy 
side a liquor that is rough and harsh, the fruit being the same. The 
mere dimensions of the royal cell without other concomitants would, 
I conceive, only cause the evolution of a large worker-bee, not a bee 
undergoing such wonderful changes as a queen presents, and capable 
of continuing its race. ‘To accomplish this end, supported as we are 
by various analogies, it is surely reasonable to believe that much, if 
not the whole, depends upon diet. With yourself, I should much like 
to obtain the analogies of other swarming insects, such as humble- 
bees, wasps, ants, &c., in support or otherwise of this theory, but 
must transfer the research to the eyes of younger investigators and 
the resources of another Huber. 

«« As I now, for the first time, learn what was stated in the British 
Association * at Cambridge, and am unacquainted with the particu- 
lars, which ought to be minutely ascertained before an opinion rest- 
ing on such abundant evidence can be shaken, that matter must 
stand over for the present. I should like to know what evidence 
can be afforded that the queen which accompanied the swarm was 
a young one; also, whether it be clearly ascertained to have been a 
first swarm, and what queen, if any,* was left behind. The hive 
might have contained a superannuated queen, which died during the 
maturation of her successor, though in that case I should conceive 
that the family would not have been populous enough to send forth 
aswarm. But she might have issued unknown to her proprietor, 
and have lost her life from some accident prior to being hived, in 
which case the swarm might return, and might in a short time after- 
wards re-issue with a young queen. Upon one or other of these 
suppositions only can I ever believe a prime swarm would be accom- 
panied by a young queen. 

‘‘ The disproportionate number of males usually found in a family 
of bees, in summer, has long been a stumbling-block with natural- 
ists; but it is a difficulty which Hiiber hoped he had been able to 

* It was stated by one of the members of the British Association, at the 


meeting at Cambridge, that he had observed a first swarm led off by a 
newly-hatched queen.—J. O. W. 


60 Entomological Society. 


remove, by what however can only be regarded as an ingenious hy- 
pothesis, viz. that as the queen is evidently impregnated in the wide 
expanse of the atmosphere, this may render a numerous race of males 
desirable, that she may run no risk of experiencing disappointment 
in meeting with them. This aérial flight, having impregnation for 
its object, is countenanced by a similar proceeding among ants and 
humble-bees. In a correspondence which Feburier held with Mr. 
Knight, he mentioned a circumstance which fell under his own ob- 
servation, tending to show that the union of the sexes in bees takes 
place after the manner of whales and human beings. If so, the 
horny prehensile appendages which appertain to the genital organs 
of wasps and hornets would not be needed. The evidence afforded 
by Mr. Golding of the act having been performed, taken per se, 
is certainly merely presumptive; but confirmed as it is by Hiiber’s 
declaration, that a portion of the drone’s organ (corps lenticulaire) 
was repeatedly seen by Burnens in the vulva of the young queens, 
I think Mr. Golding’s observation carries weight with it. I never 
knew nor heard of a princess having been impregnated prior to her 
quitting the parent hive. The experience of Hiiber, Mr. Golding, 
myself and other apiarians shows that impregnation never takes 
place till after she has been established in her new abode. In all 
probability, if she quitted the old stock to take her aérial flight, the 
next in succession would be set at liberty during her absence, and 
when she returned, be prepared to receive her in hostile array, an 
event which the bees appear, on all occasions, sedulously to guard 
against. 

** As regards the law of primogeniture in the royal brood, I think 
you will be satisfied that it is observed, when you consider the na- 
tural enmity which the royal insects bear towards each other; so 
great as to render it intolerable for more than one to be at liberty in 
the hive at the same time. ‘The first-born pipes in a shrill tone, her 
voice being heard through no other medium than that of the air and 
the hive, while the next in succession, and sometimes even the next 
but one, sends forth a hoarse note, being heard through the addi- 
tional medium of the royal cell. And the workers allow not one of 
the imprisoned princesses to emerge till the swarm issues forth, or 
till it is decided that there shall be no farther issue; in which latter 
case the royal cells are left unguarded, and the senior princess is 
allowed to despatch all the embryo princesses, which she very soon 
accomplishes, and thereby prevents the possibility of any compe- 
tition for the throne.—E. Brvan.” 

A discussion also took place on the potato-disease, the President 
attributing it chiefly to the attacks of the wire-worm, whilst Mr. 
Spence and others referred it to atmospheric causes. 


October 6th.—The Rev. F. W. Hope, President, in the Chair. 


The President exhibited a large collection of Ichneumonide, re- 
cently captured by himself at Southend. Also some plates of exotic 
Lepidopiera, drawn by Mr. Spry for the Transactions, containing 


Entomological Society. 61 


figures of new species of Charares from his own collection. Like- 
wise a number of specimens of Scolopendre of small size, which he 
had found in myriads infesting diseased potatoes at Southend, which 
he was thence induced to consider as the chief cause of tlie evil; an 
opinion which was however opposed by several of the members, Mr. 
Edward Doubleday detailing the results of microscopical observa- 
tions made in this country and abroad, proving the growth of a mi- 
nute parasitical fungus within the diseased part of the tubers. 

Captain Parry exhibited two cases of insects from Caffraria, in- 
cluding Manticora latipennis, Waterh., and other new and rare Co- 
leoptera. 

Mr. W. W. Saunders exhibited a box of exotic insects, including 
a new and most brilliant species of Morpho, from South America, 
several species of Thynnide taken in copuld, and several species of 
Zeuzere and other case-making Lepidoptera from New Holland. 

Mr. Evans exhibited a specimen of Sphinx Atropos, taken on the 
rigging of a ship forty miles from land, off Cape Clear island, and 
one of Porthesia auriflua, taken 250 miles from land in the Bay of 
Biscay. 

Mr. F. Smith exhibited specimens of Nomada pucata, one of 
which was gynandromorphous. 

Mr. Edward Doubleday stated that the British Museum had re- 
cently acquired a collection of Lepidoptera from the north of Bengal, 
containing anew species of Papilio and many other new species, and 
that a collection from Honduras, formed by Mr. Dyson, had also 
been recently received by the Museum. 


The following memoirs were read :— 
The continuation of Mr. Saunders’s Descriptions of New Holland 
Cryptocephalide. 


Sp. 4. Pleomorpha concolor, W.W.S. Entirely dark blue green, 
except underside of \st joint of antenne, which is rufous ; elytra 
shining punctate-striate, the lateral stri@ more deeply. Length 
j¢5ths of an inch.—Inhabits Australia. In Mus. Parry. 


Sp. 5. Pleomorpha atra, W.W.S. Entirely black, except under- 

side of first two joints of the antenne, which is rufous, and the 
club, which is pitchy brown ; mandibles strongly projecting; ely- 
tra punctate-striate. Length ;=15,ths of an inch.—Inhabits West- 
ern Australia. In Mus. Hope. 


A letter from John Hogg, Esq., F.L.S., addressed to Mr. West- 
wood, on the alleged habits of Crabro cephalotes, dated Norton, 
July 19, 1845 :— 

“On my return home on the 28th of June, I observed a couple 
of the handsome Crabro cephalotes about my hot-house, and I found 
that they had nearly constructed a somewhat curious nest, or de- 
posit for their eggs. It is composed of fine gravel or sand, strongly 
agglutinated together with clay, and contains four cylindrical cells, 
which are quite closed up at the top. I watched one of the insects 
sitting, most likely the female depositing her eggs, in the last cell, 


62 Entomological Society. 


which she afterwards finished; and which she has now deserted, as I 
have not seen her for many days. 

«« The nest is firmly fixed on the lime and gravel surface of the 

wall of the hot-house, and is itself nearly of an equal hardness with 
it. Ido not doubt but each cell contains one or more eggs, and 
from which in due time young insects will come forth. 
_ “ The genus Crabro of Fabricius is a part of Linnzeus’s genus Sphez ; 
and I find that the latter author has given a short account of the mode 
adopted by the Sphex sabulosa (now called Ammophila sabulosa), of 
making its hole in the sand, and of depositing its eggs in the bodies 
of insects (see Syst. Nat., edit. 12, p. 941, vol. ii.) ; and he also de- 
scribes (p. 942) how the Sphex figulus makes its nest in holes in wood, 
and ‘nidum argilld claudit.’ ‘The mode there described of that in- 
sect using clay is similar to that adopted by the Crabro cephalotes, but 
I did not notice it conveying a spider, or the larva of any other insect, 
into its nest; though perhaps, if the cells were examined, some 
such insect might be discovered within them. 

«‘ A few days ago I observed some sparrows on their nest in a tree 
in my garden pulling about something which appeared like a bundle 
of white feathers; a short time afterwards I went to water some 
flowers below the same tree, when to my surprise I found on the 
ground a beautiful nest of the Vespa Britannica. ‘The sparrows 
having however dug holes with their bills in the lower portion of 
it, in search of larvee, or of something to devour, had a good deal 
injured this most elegantly-made nest.” 

In a subsequent communication Mr. Hogg states that he is quite 
certain the insect which formed the nest ‘‘is the same as that which 
I sent to you some few years ago, and which you named ‘ Crabro 
cephalotes’; and the reason of my troubling you with my commu- 
nication was, that I strongly suspected that its economy in nidifi- 
cation has never been fully ascertained. But as I before said, I 
have not at hand Shuckard’s ‘ Monograph of the Fossorial Hyme- 
noptera,’ or any other modern work which describes the species. 
That it may sometimes make its nest in the holes of rotten wood or 
in sand-banks, I do not know; but that it does not always do so, 
the present example clearly proves. 

‘One of the insects (probably the male) I only saw one day; it 
was inside, flying up and down the glass light of the hot-house. The 
other, or the female, was then as usual forming her nest. But I did 
not capture either of them, because I thought they would make 
more cells, and I should have frequent opportunities for doing so. 
Should either of them return, I will take care and secure it. 

“JT yesterday (22nd July 1845) opened one of the cells, when 
I found only a single Jarva, which is soft, yellowish-white, apodous, 
and resembling that of the common wasp. ‘The entire cell was lined 
with a white membrane; but I did not notice, after the most minute 
examination, any fly, spider, or any remains whatever of any insect, 
and no egg. ‘This was the same cell which I mentioned in my last 
letter as that in which I..saw the female Crabro sitting, and then 
closing up its top. _ 


Entomological Society. 63 


‘‘T have thought it better to send you herewith pieces of the 
nest, from which you will see how it has been formed of clay and 
sand; and you will also observe a part of the membrane which lined 
the inside of the cell. The Jarva (also inclosed) was at first quite 
alive; but, owing to my having injured its head as I was opening the 
cell, it became yesterday evening nearly motionless. I observed, in 
using a strong lens, that here and there some pieces of sand do not 
fit quite close, and are unfilled up with clay; this will allow a little 
air to reach the inside of the cell. 

« The cells are of an elongate-ovate form, varying from #ths to [ths 
of an inch in length, the four being applied side to side and mea- 
suring 13 inch across their upper part, each cell being about $ths of 
an inch actos, and the diameter of the interior of the cell which I 
opened being about 4th of an inch. The exterior surface of the 
nest projects from the surface of the wall about 3ths of an inch. 
Each cell is quite separated from the adjoining one and has no 
internal communication with the other. 

«The tree in which I saw the sparrows on their nest, pulling 
about the nest of the Vespa Britannica, is a large pear-tree trained 
against the wall of my house: I examined the nest in which the 
sparrows were, but found no remains of the wasp’s nest, only three 
gaping unfledged sparrows, and many feathers, some pieces of paper 
and cloth, to keep them warm and snug; and I likewise examined 
the tree around, in order to discover the peduncle of the wasp’s nest, 
but I could see no traces of it. The wasp’s nest had then been 
brought from some of the neighbouring trees or shrubs; this could 
easily be done, as it is extremely light, and measures only about 
2 inches in its Jarger diameter, and about 1finch in its smaller 
diameter.” 


November 3rd.—The Rev. F. W. Hope, President, in the Chair. 


It was announced that the second part of the fourth volume uf 
the Transactions was ready for delivery to the members. 

Mr. Tatham exhibited several splendid species of Carabi, one be- 
longing to a new species recently received from China. 

The President exhibited a box of insects received by him from 
Dr. Savage, collected at Cape Palmas, containing a new Goliath 
beetle. Also several boxes of insects recently forwarded from Lan- 
dour in the East Indies by Mr. Benson, including several new spe- 
cies of Coleoptera. 

A letter from Captain Boys, on the habits of various Indian spe- 
cies of insects, addressed to Mr. Westwood, was read, dated from 
Simla in the Himalayas, August 2nd, 1845: 

“It is a curious fact, of which I have undoubted proof from 
ocular demonstration, that both male and female insects of the genus 
Copris are mutually employed in forming the casing of earth after 
the deposition of the ova within the cowdung. When at Mhow, 
in search of scorpions on the bank of a rivulet, in turning up a-large 
stone I exposed the perpendicular section of an excavation formed 


64 Entomological Society. 


by them, and which was about two feet from the upper level, imme- 
diately below a large dropping of cowdung. ‘The stone was on the 
slope of the bank, the cavity containing four balls, two nearly 
finished and two about half-size. The male and female were hard 
at work, and after a little surprise at the light, continued the opera- 
tion of adding earth to the smallest ball; this was performed by 
rolling it round and round, scraping up the mud which gathered, 
and by pattering it firmly with the fore and hind tibie. When I 
use the word pattering, I only mean to say the insects kept their 
legs in constant motion on the ball, as obtains in Sisyphus when 
rolling its pill; but in order that it should collect more earth, the 
male was frequently employed in digging beneath it. I could not 
detect the female in the act of depositing her ova. One side of 
every ball is very thin (comparatively), which leads me to believe 
that on this side the ova is placed. In forming the nucleus of cow- 
dung, the female is the principal worker; she rolls it round and 
round, digging occasionally, so as to let it sink as the earth is thrown 
_ up above, and in this work the male also assists.—The small insect 
allied to Aphodius (Chetopisthes fulvus, Westw.) is one of our com- 
monest, though not indigenous to these hills at this height: it 
abounds in horse- and cow-dung.—A small species of Tridactylus is 
also very common; during the rains, with a sheet and a lantern, my- 
riads may be taken. Was it perfect or in the larva state? or rather 
I should ask if the wing-cases were black ?—The larva of Hete- 
rorhina Roylii tomy knowledge may become a pupa, and perfect from 
the pupa in less than two months, however long it may have been 
in the larva state.—I arrived here on the Ist of June, and collected 
a great number of larve of all sizes, which I brought home, accom- 
panied with the rotting debris of oak-dust in which I found them. 
Of these, six formed cocoons of the earth and oak-dust, and two 
were perfect the day before yesterday, and two more came out yes- 
terday, but were not H. Roylii, though certainly I could in nowise 
distinguish a difference in any of the larvee. One was a bronzed 
Cetonia (Heterorhina?) with faint white lines on the elytra and 
thorax; the other a bronzed green with spots.—Does the Atlas 
moth feed on oak-trees in its larva state, or on the hill species of 
Berberis? At Almorah I took the cocoon from the latter, but never 
saw the larva; here I have taken the insect in the latter stage (at 
least I conjecture it will turn out to be the moth in question) on the 
oak, and the cocoon looks very like what I took at the former place. 
The larva of the one now alluded to is very like the one which 
forms the Tussa silk (I believe an Actias also), but the nidus is like 
whitey-brown paper and no thicker, in this respect resembling that 
formed by Actias Luna, but the caterpillar is not the same.—I heard 
a few days ago from a friend (W. Benson, Esq.), that a novel spe- 
cies of Trictenotoma had been captured in his neighbourhood (Mus- 
soorie), as also either a variety of, or novelty allied to, Geotr. 
longimanus. The former he describes to me as more nearly allied 
to the Prionides than to the Cerambyces, though possessing con- 
nexion with the Lucani as far as the antenne are concerned. The 


Entomological Society. 65 


thorax in his specimen is strongly toothed as in many species of 
Prionus.—From the body of an unfortunate goat, carried off by a 
leopard some days since, I have lately taken three species of Necro- 
phori; one species large, 7. e. 1} inch, and wholly black; the second 
black with red patches, } inch; and the third I suspect is a shade 
removed from, or may be, a Necrodes. ‘The male and female are both 
black, but the former is easily distinguished by the form of the pos- 
terior thighs, which are strongly incrassate. All these insects if not 
very strongly pressed when taken smell of musk, but their stench 
is intolerable if roughly handled. A largish species of red ant forms 
its nest among the leaves of mangoe trees. I have not yet met a 
description of it, though it cannot have escaped so long, being not 
only common, but the insect is a perfect nuisance to all pic-nic-ians, 
and must have drawn attention. ‘The queens or females, when 
winged, are a very fine apple-green in the colour of body. I took 
them from the nest near Mhow at several times. ‘The web which 
they elaborate from the mouth will bear writing on, and take ink as 
legibly as paper. I never saw any but red workers making the 
web. In this country the natives use them for the purpose of get- 
ting rid of wasps’ nests (though I do think the remedy equally bad 
with the cure). ‘The branch on which the colony has formed its 
leafy home is carefully cut through and transported to the vicinity 
of the wasps, and in afew days a total extirpation of the latter ensues. 
The ground is covered with the bodies of the Vespe, and the ants 
go about biting every human being that they happen to crawl on. 
Is not the remedy as I stated? It is however only used when the 
wasps are in a chopper or thatched roof, and not easily to be got at 
for extirpation. I have never observed their nests but on the 
mangoe tree and Ficus Indica. I would wish to know if the com- 
mon cabbage in England is ever infested with an apode (?) Acarus, 
or something allied thereto, and resembling a flask. Here I have 
taken them for the first time, and for some time doubted my own 
eyes, even with a microscope to help them. ‘The creature is fully 
one-third of an inch long, but the snout or mouth is so minute as to 
require the aid above- mentioned *.— I have lately taken quantities 
of Colliuris; the larger one with black legs is a different species 
from those with red. Of this I doubted some time ago, but all my 
suspicions are now perfectly set at rest.” 


December Ist.—The Rev. F. W. Hope, President, in the Chair. 


Mr. Bedell exhibited a specimen of Anacampsis alacella of Zeller 
and Fischer, a species new to Britain, which he had captured on 
Leatherhead Common on the 17th of August last. 

Mr. Edward Doubleday exhibited a box of Lepidoptera from the 
highest range of the Rocky Mountains in North America, collected 
by Mr. Burke, the majority of which were strikingly analogous to 
European species, including a species of Parnassius, a genus hitherto 
found only in the Old World, although Dr. Boisduval had suggested 


* [Probably a female Coceus of an undescribed species, ] 


Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Vol. xix. o 


66° Entomological Society. 


the probability of its existence in the northern parts of America. 
Also a box of Lepidoptera from Borneo, collected by Mr. Hugh Lowe, 
jun. 


The following memoirs were read :— 

“* Descriptions of a new Longicorn Beetle (since published in the 
‘Annals of Nat. Hist.’) and of a species of Lucanide (Lucanus ma- 
crognathus) from Borneo.”” By Adam White, Esq. | 


‘“‘ Descriptions of two new Goliath Beetles from Cape Palmas, in 
the Collection of the Rev. F. W. Hope.” By J. O. Westwood. 


Smicoruina, Westw. 


Corpus oblongum, depressum, supra velutinum, lateribus subparal- 
lelis, pedibus elongatis. Caput in mare laminis duabus parvis 
horizontalibus in vertice clypeoque in cornu breve recurvum pro- 
ducto. Prothorax lateribus pone medium feré rectis, margi- 
neque postico fere recto. Processus mesosterni brevissimus. 
Tibie antice maris extus tridenticulate, intus pone medium ser- 
rate. 


Smicorhina Sayii, Hope MS. Nigra, pronoio sanguineo, vitiis 4 
nigris, intermediis duabus abbreviatis, capite supra cinereo-velu- 
tino, pedibus nigris, femoribus tibiisque sanguineo variis. Long. 
corp. lin. 18.—Hab. in Africa tropicali (D. Savage). In Mus. 
Hope. 

Mercatornina, Westw. 

Corpus oblongo-ovale, subdepressum, supra velutinum, elytris postic® 
angustioribus. Caput maris suprafere planum, denticulis duobus 
ad marginem internum oculorum, clypeo in cornu valde elongato 
apice bifido producto. Prothorax fere semicircularis, convexus. 
Elytra subconveza, velutina, colore pallido guttata. Tibie antice 
elongate, curvate, externe fere ad apicem emarginate, intern 
serrate. Processus mesosterni anticé porrectus. 


Megalorhina Harrisii, Savage MS. Supra opaco-velutina, capite 
supra albo, cornu subtis castaneo ; pronoto brunneo, luteo-margi- 
nato ; scutello brunneo, elytris olivaceo-nigris maculis numerosis 
fulvescentibus in seriebus 5 (in singulo elyiro) dispositis, pedibus 
castanets, tibits tarsisque 4 anticis nigris tarsis posticis flavescen- 
tibus. Long. corp. (exclus. capitis cornu) lin. 18; latitudo ely- 
trorum lin. 9.—Hab. cum precedente (D. Savage). In Mus. 
D. Hope. 


‘* Descriptions of some new Scutelleride from Cape Palmas.”” By 
J. O. Westwood. 

After detailing the structural characters of Plataspis Bucephalus, 
White, descriptions are given of two new species of the same genus 
of large size, collected at Cape Palmas by Dr. Savage, and for- 
warded by him to Mr. Hope. 


Plataspis (Aphanopneuma) biloba, Westw. Supra obscure lutea, 
nitida, depressa, lateribus subparallelis, undique nigro-guttulata, 
gutiulis punctatis, spatio magno bilobo fulvescenti ad basin scu- 


aanmuaecdnd Society. 67 


telli, capite maris in  lobos duos magnos conicos convergentes pro- 
ductis, spiraculis lateralibus in membrand tenui fere inconspicuis. 
Long. corp. lin. 7.—Hab. Cape Palmas (D. Savage). In Mus, 
Hope. | 

Plataspis (Cantharodes) ccenosa, Westw. Supra obscura sub- 
lutescens, opaca, nigro punctatissima, scutello fascia indistincta 
mediana subpallidiori, capite magno subconcavo, postice in collum 
angustato, prothorace antice valde emarginato, lateribus rotunda- 
tis in medio parum angulatis, pedibus subgracilibus. Long. corp. 
lin. 8.—Hab. cum precedente. 


“ Note on two species of Moths taken at great distances from 
land.” By W. F. Evans, Esq. 

The two insects in question were Sphinx atropos and Porthesia 
auriflua. 'They were caught on board Her Majesty’s Ship ‘Rodney’ 
(one of the experimental squadron), which left Portsmouth on the 
15th of July, and lost sight of land in two days; which they never 
saw, nor were certainly within 200 miles of, until beating up to 
Cork in September; and when at least forty miles off Cape Clear, 
wind due east (or off the land), the specimen of Sphinx atropos was 
captured on one of the topmasts. 

The specimen of Porthesia auriflua was taken from off one of the 
boats which had been recently tarred, at about the extreme point of 
the cruise in the Bay of Biscay, and at least 200 miles from land. 
The sailors called the Sphinx an Irish paroquette. Great difficulty 
was experienced in killing it, but its death was after some time 
effected by means of creosote. 


Extracts from a letter addressed by Dr. Savage to Mr. Hope on 
some of the insects of Cape Palmas, dated Cape Palmas, W. Africa, 
7th March, 1845. Communicated by the Rev. F. W. Hope. 

“* Gouratuus.—Ceratorhina frontalis and aurata feed upon a small 
fig, the fruit of the Ficus microcarpa; also the ciliolosa and other 
species, of which we have several. One resembles in its habits the 
F.. Indica; so much so, that it had obtained the common name of 
‘Banyan-tree.’ G. frontalis feeds also upon the fruit of another tree, 
belonging to the Linnzan class Pentandria and order Monogynia ; 
further examination of this tree, botanically, I have not had time to 
make. Upon these fig-trees we find also the Cetonia guttata of 
Oliv., C. marginata, the different species of black Cetonia, green, &c., 
feeding upon the juices of the ripe fruit. 

-“T have fully established the point that the Goliathi proper feed 
upon juices; and all the Cetonie (especially the Goliathideous spe- 
cies) that I have captured have been taken in the act of extracting 
juices from fruits and plants. The tree upon which the G. Cacicus 
is found I suppose to be a gigantic Kupatorium, from the juice of 
the bark of which that insect, and also Cetonia guttata, derive their 
nourishment. 

“ The C. guttata being found upon two different trees, feeding at 
one time upon the juice of the bark, at another upon that of the 
fruit, shows the manner in which its food is supplied the year round. 


5* 


68 Entomological Society. 


The figs yield several crops during the year, and the different. spe- 
cles come to maturity at different times. ‘The Mecynorhina Savagu 
of Harris feeds upon a gigantic climber, which upon being cut yields 
an astonishing quantity of pellucid water. So abundant is this fluid, 
and so negative in its qualities, that the natives, when a stream of 
water is not at hand, resort to it to quench their thirst. (See “A 
description of an African Beetle allied to Scarabeus Polyphemus, 
with remarks upon some other insects of the same group,”’ published 
in the Journal of the Boston Natural History Society, 1843, by 
Thaddeus William Harris, M.D.) I have remarked that almost 
every individual Cetonia that I have sent to England I have found 
feeding upon the juices of plants; one (Plesiorhina mediana, figured 
by Mr. Westwood) I captured in a rose-apple, through which it had 
made a hole; another, an Heterorhina (Westwood), I captured in 
the act of extracting the juice of the Zea maize, having made quite 
a hole at the foot of the young succulent leaves. 

‘‘T also send several pairs of C. guttata. One of the individuals of 
the series (a male) you will find with a different armature on the 
clypeus from all the others; the clypeus itself is extended, while the 
central horn remains the same. I have had severa] hundreds of 
guttata in my possession, but the individual in question is the only 
one of the kind. Is it simply a variety of guttata? It was captured 
with gutiata proper, and brought to me by my collector with not 
less than fifty specimens of that insect. October and November are- 
the months in which frontalis, aurata and guitata have been found 
most abundantly this year. 

“Apip#.—I send eight specimens of the best honey-bee of this 
region; it is that from which the wax of commerce (as I suppose) 
is derived. ‘The local name at this point (region of the Grebos) is 
‘Duh’ (pronounced Doh). The natives (I speak only of this tribe 
(Grebos), the native inhabitants of Cape Palmas) do not domesticate 
them. Occasionally a hive will be seen in a Gregree or Fetish 
house, attached or placed there, and looked upon as a sacred ob- 
ject. I have known only one instance, that of a noted doctor, when 
it was made a private Fetish. Their sting, it is said, is very severe 
and much dreaded by the natives. They make their nests generally 
in the cavities of old trees. I have succeeded in taking one swarm 
and domesticating them. When the natives desire their honey, they 
make a bundle of splintered bamboo, about six or ten feet in length, 
and, setting one end on fire, apply it to the entrance of the nest, 
which soon destroys them. The wax is not an article of commerce 
here, and is used to a very limited extent among the natives. The 
principal use by them is to make tight small boxes, &c., to protect 
their contents avainst the bad effect of water on the sea as they go 
off to vessels. ! 

«There is a second species, the local name of which is ‘Nuh’ 
(pronounced Noo), about the same size as that of Duh. It is of a 
darker aspect, as also its wax, which is held in no estimation by the 
natives. This bee is said by some to be stingless; I am unable to 
decide this point. | 


Microscopical Society. 69 


“A third species exists, very small indeed, of a very light colour, 
approaching closely to white; local name ‘ Dafre’ (pronounced 
Darfray). It attaches its nest to the surface of trees, and delights 
in lofty positions. The nest varies in size from a man’s fist to three 
or four times that size, and is very light in aspect, nearly white. 
All admit that this bee is stingless. I regret that I have no speci- 
men at hand. I mention these different species at the present time, 
simply because I have forwarded them in the box. 

“A fourth species is found with the local name ‘Vranh’; French 
sound, the an sounded like am in ‘franc.’ Many of the natives 
pronounce it as if written with f, Franh. This species burrows in 
the soft sticks of which the rafters in the natives’ houses are made. 
They take a longitudinal direction, and extend from three to ten 
inches in length. They have the diameter of a bullet; sometimes 
two will be seen parallel. At the end will be found a shallow ex- 
cavation, in which are deposited the eggs, and which are separated 
from the main cell bya perpendicular division, consisting of the fine 
particles of the wood made in process of excavation, united by some 
agglutinal, which no doubt they have the power of secreting. One 
of the specimens sent differs from the others. Is it nota male? It 
was found in the same nest with the others.” 


~ 


MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY. 


Oct. 14, 1846.—J. S. Bowerbank, Esq., F.R.S., President, in the 
Chair. 


A paper by John Anthony, Esq., ‘‘ On a Method of rendering the 
Appearances in delicate Structures visible by means of oblique trans- 
mitted light.” 

This method depends upon the placing the object in such a posi- 
tion that the fine lines or other delicate markings are exactly at 
right angles to the illuminating rays, when these lines, &c. will be 
at their maximum of distinctness, and thus tissues may be rendered 
distinctly visible whose existence when viewed in the ordinary man- 
ner might be considered as exceedingly doubtful. The object em- 
ployed to illustrate this position was the Navicula of the Humber, 
one of the most delicate of test objects, which under ordinary cir- 
cumstances appears perfectly transparent, but when viewed in this 
way, not only exhibits a double set of lines but also transverse lines, 
giving the whole the appearance of being covered with a delicate 
net-work. Four drawings of this object were exhibited, showing it 
in as many different positions, making a complete revolution of the 
field in which the markings just mentioned were distinctly visible. 
In order to bring out these appearances, it is necessary that the light 
should be very oblique, and must be passed laterally through the 
‘‘bull’s eye,” in such a manner that the object (the Navicula) may 
appear of an intensely blue colour nearly opake. The stage is then 
to be gradually turned round until the shell is in the position to be 
best seen as described. 


70 Miscellaneous. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 


ON THE HABITS OF THE LIMPET. 
_ Lyme Regis, Oct. 10, 1846. © 

Dear Mr. Dean,—The limpets have engaged my attenticn, but 
' the wall newly-built has been thrown down by a great gale. I find 
limpets to be very intelligent creatures, and I justify the term from 
finding them suit their habits to their locality: thus some placed — 
upon a tolerably smooth surface out of the stroke of the breakers 
move and halt anywhere as their choice leads them. 

They move out of the water at a steady pace, about half as fast 
as a house snail ; a foot distance is consequently soon accomplished. 
In some situations I could not see what made‘them start off or halt, 
whether to feed or for any other purpose. 

I do not think limpets move about much when the tide is in and 
their enemies the crabs near. I have often admired their clever 
manner of slewing themselves round without moving from the spot. 

I again repeat, the limpets I have specially watched do move about, 
and if upon a smooth surface halt anywhere: now for a little dis- 
covery I made. 

On the slope of a great cockle rock (higher greensand rock from 
Whitlands) at the end of the Cobb, is a basin-like depression which 
is left partly filled with water. One fine day I climbed up and found 
in the basin and round about several small and a few middle-sized 
limpets. Above the level of the water (the basin) was a smooth 
place from which a limpet had not long before moved, as the spot 
was different in colour to the rock around; the shape was singular. 
Looking into the water I saw several limpets there, anda good many 
little feeces of these creatures. I was not long in spying my friend, 
who was from home. I found him leaving the others and making 
his way steadily back to his habitat. I watched his course ; he ar- 
rived, and I at once perceived a difficulty, which he made nothing of, 
viz. the getting adjusted. He slewed himself round and fitted a little 
notch which he had to a small piece of projecting quartz with won- 
derful readiness. He was tight in a moment, ready to resist the 
heaviest breakers or any enemy. 

I give you a sketch to show how peculiar the shape was, which is 
not unusual in limpets fixed to cockle and Portland stone, in which 
are shells, chert, and in the former quartz, which they cannot cor- 
rode like the other parts. 

The Limpet the size of life. 


Piece of Quartz. 


Two Balani upon the shell. 


I find this limpet descended daily into the little basin of water, 
met his fellows there, and duly travelled back before the tide came 
in, and fitted the notch to the piece of quartz as before described. 


Meteorological Observations. 71 


I believe his disappearance in October is due to some interference 
with him or her made by one of my pupils who had seen me visit 
the spot, perhaps to try how far the creature would travel back to 
his habitat. 

I have found some depressions in the Portland blocks made by 
limpets within the last fifty-five years very surprising for their 
extent. 

Edge of the stone originally when first worked. 


Westie Makin 


The lower line shows the present outline, the intervening matter 
having been worked away by limpets. 
I am, dear Mr. Dean, your faithful Servant, 
Grorce Roserts. 
Very Rev. Dr. Buckland, Dean of Wesiminster. Darn 


METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR NOV. 1846. 

Chiswick.—November 1. Foggy. 2,3. Very fine. 4. Overcast. 5. Foggy 
and drizzly. 6,7. Foggy: hazy. 8. "Foggy. 9. Hazy andcold. 10. Dusky 
clouds: fine. 11. Coldanddry. 12. Overcast. 13. Hazy. 14. Foggy. 
15. Cloudy. 16. Overcast: cloudy and fine. 17. Densely overcast: slight rain 
at night. 18. Cloudy: very fine. 19. Cloudy and damp: very fine. 20, Cloudy: 
boisterous, 21. Very fine: rain. 22. Fine: clear. 23. Slight rain: overcast. 
24, Hazy and damp: rain: overcast. 25. Rain. 26. Clear and fine : foggy. 
27. Dense fog. 28. Clear and fine, 29. Frosty: clear and fine. 30, Sharp 
frost: overcast. 


Mean temperature of the month ......... caerenthaavigncpes SRCES 
Mean temperature of Nov. 1845 .......ccseceeeees éercotees Se "SO 
Mean temperature of Nov. for the last twenty years ... 42 ‘91 
Average amount of rain in Nov. ..........6. hap opdave seas 2°56 inches. 


Boston.—Nov. 1. Foggy. 2. Fine. 3, 4. Cloudy. 5. Fine. 6—9. Cloudy. 
10, 11. Fine.. 12—14. Cloudy. 15. Cloudy : rain p.m. 16. Cloudy. 17. 
Cloudy: rain p.m. 18. Cloudy. 19. Fine. 20. Stormy. 21. Cloudy: rain p.m. 
22. Fine: rainr.m. 23. Cloudy: rainr.m. 24. Fine. 25. Cloudy. 26. Fine. 
27. Cloudy: rain a.m.ande.m. 28. Cloudy: snow p.m. 29, Fine: snow on 
the ground. 30. Fine : melted snow in the gauge. 

Sandwick Manse, Orkney.— Nov. 1. Showers: cloudy. 2, 3. Cloudy. 4. Bright : 
rain. 5. Bright: cloudy. 6, Hazy: rain. 7. Bright: showers. 8. Bright: 
clear: fine, 9. Clear: very clear and fine. 10. Hoar-frost: cloudy: fine. 
1i—15. Cloudy: fine. 16. Bright: clear; aurora. 17. Rain: clear: aurora, 
south. 18. Clear: showers. 19. Clear: aurora. 20. Rain: showers. 21. 
Showers. 22. Rain: clear. 23. Damp: cloudy. 24. Showers. 25. Showers: 
cloudy. 26. Showers. 27. Hail-showers. 28, Snow: hail-showers. 29. Snow- 
drift: clear. 30. Cloudy : shower : thaw. 

Applegarth Manse, Dumfries-shire.— Nov. 1. Slight showers p.m. 2. Showers 
morning and evening. 3. Rainr.m. 4. Moista.m.: rain p.m. 5. Showers. 6. Fair, 
but moist. 7. Fair, but dull andcloudy. 8. Fair and fine. 9. Fair, but cloudy. 
10. Hoar-frost: clear and fine. 11. Fair and fine: hoar-frost AM. 12—15. 
Fair, but dull. 16. Clear: piercingly cold. 17. Wet. 18. Showers. 19, Heavy 
rain, 20, Heavy rain: riverin flood. 21. Heavy rain: thunder p.m. 22. Rain. 
23. Heavy rain. 24 Rain a.m. 25. Rain and fog. 26. Dull and drizzly. 
27. Fair. 28. Frost: shower of snow. 29. Hard frost: clear. 30. Frost: 
thick and foggy. 


Mean temperature of the month — ...sscscsessesssesereees 44°°4 
Mean temperature of Nov. 1845 .......scceseeeeesees ssevee 49 °7 
Mean temperature of Nov. for 23 years .......sssesereee 40 2 


Mean rain in Nov, for 18 years ......cccsessssseeeeecesees 3°63 inches. 


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| WWing del. Hullmande} & Walton Lithographers. 


THE ANNALS 


AND 


MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 


No. 124. FEBRUARY 1847. 


VII.—Descriptions of some new species of the genus Gynautocera, 
from Northern India. By Evwarv Dovs.epay, Assistant in 
the Zoological Department of the British Museum, P.LS. &e, 


[With a Plate.] 


Genus GYNAUTOCERA, Guérin. 


Section Amxsta, Hope. 


Gyn. Namouna. Alis omnibus fuliginosis, anticis punctis sex mi- 
nutis pone cellulam albidis, posticis maculis disci czeruleis, mar- 
gine externo linea alba ceruleaque profunde dentata notato. ?. 
Exp. alar. 4 unc. vel 100 mill. : 

Hab. India Septentrionali. 

Anterior wings fuscous black, with six minute white spots 
edged with blue, placed between the nervules immediately be- 
yond the cell. Posterior wings of the same colour, with four 
blue spots placed transversely a little beyond the middle, two si- 
milar spots at the end of the cell, of which the inner is pupiled 
with white. Between the cell and the outer margin is a deeply 
zigzag line, the outer angles upon the ends of the white slightly 
bordered with blue, the inner between the nervules bright blue, 
embracing a series of fine white spots ; anal angle gray. 

Below, black, all the wings bordered with white ; nervules of 
aren wings slightly, of posterior very distinctly bordered with 
white. 

Head, thorax and abdomen black above, spotted with blue be- 
low, the terminal segment of the last blue. Antenne and legs 
blue. © 

In the collection of the British Museum. 

The marginal band of the posterior wings very much resembles 
that of the two common species of the genus Thais in form. 

6 


Ann. § Mag. N. Hist. Vol. xix. 


74 Mr. E. Doubleday on new species of the genus Gynautocera. 


Gyn. Aliris. Alis omnibus supra fusco-nigris, anticis maculis qua- 
tuor basalibus roseis, apicalibus plurimis albido-ceruleis, posticis 
merging externo lete et late ceeruleo, maculis albis. @ 2. Exp. 
alar. 35 unc. vel 90 mill. 

Hab. Silhet. 


Anterior wings fuscous black, with a chocolate or vinous hue 
in certain lights ; the base darker, with several small bright blue 
dots, followed by four rosy spots, one on the costa, one nearly 
opposite to this below the cell, two in the cell rather farther from 
the base; the margin with a series of white dots divided into two 
parts by the nervules and bordered with blue, between which and 
the cell are six small dots placed in two transverse series, and 
also a seventh placed more internally near the third of the inner 
series. Posterior wings of the same colour, with a broad blue 
patch commencing on the costa beyond the middle, occupying 
the outer angle and extending along the outer margin nearly to 
the anal angle, preceded by one or two detached spots of the 
same colour, and marked by a series of submarginal white spots, 
preceded by three others of the same colour near the apex. 

Below, the posterior wings want the blue border, have the anal 
angle blue, a red spot im the cell followed by four blue ones with 
white centres ; the anterior wings have the spots larger and bluer 
than above, and also have several additional spots on the disc. 

Head, thorax and abdomen black, spotted below with white, 
the terminal segment of the last shining olive-green, especially 
in the males. Antenne blue, pectinated in both sexes, not dif- 
fering remarkably in their structure. 

In the collections of the British Museum, Dr. Boisduval, &c. 

Closely allied to B. Sanguiflua, Drury (Am. Sanguiflua, Hope), 
but at once known by the absence of the purplish red veins. — - 


Gyn. Azim. Alis omnibus utrinque fuscis, maculis numerosissimis 
flavidis adspersis, anticis basi fascia transversa flava. 9? Exp. 
alar. 34 unc. vel 90 mill. 

Hab. India Septentrionali. 


Wings fuscous black, somewhat diaphanous: the anterior with 
numerous pale yellowish spots, viz. a series of small rounded dots 
between the costa and costal nervure, alternating for some di- 
stance beyond the base with a series between the costal and sub- 
costal nervures, two series in the cell, of which the upper are 
elongate-quadrate, the first. and second of the lower series round, 
the first being very small, the third almost reniform, the fourth, 
fifth and sixth elongate, and the second round ; a series of rounded 
dots in the interstices between the subcostal and discoidal ner- 
vules, a similar series and a solitary spot in that between the se- 


Mr. E. Doubleday on new species of the genus Gynautocera. 75 


cond discoidal and the third median nervules, a double series in 
the interstice between the second and third median nervule, the 
upper consisting of five, the lower of four rounded spots, and 
between these near the cell a solitary spot ; in the next interstice 
a series of five and another of three spots, followed by two very 
minute ones near the margin; in the interstice above the sub- 
median nervure a series of fifteen spots, the first round, as are 
also the six outer ones, the last of all very minute; a rounded 
spot at the origin of the first median nervule; in the interstice 
below the submedian nervure and along the inner margin two 
other series of spots, the upper composed of fifteen, the lower of 
ten, the five outer of the first and four outer of the imner series 
rounded. The posterior wings have two series of suboval spots 
in the cell, the last but one of the inner series being small and 
placed a little out of the straight line. 

Head, thorax and abdomen black, spotted with white. An- 
tennze black. 

In the collection of H. G. Harrington, Esq. : : 

The only specimen I have ever seen of this curious species is 
the one from which the above description has been taken: un- 
fortunately the posterior wings are much injured. 


Gyn. Camadeva, Alis anticis trigonis, nigris, puncto minuto in cel- 
lulam, quinque pone cellulam, duobusque anguli anali albidis pos- 
ot saturate ceruleis fimbria nigra. @. Exp. alar. 2} unc. vel 55 
mill. | 

Hab. Penang. 

Anterior wings elongate, trigonate, black, a minute spot near 
the end of the cell, five rather larger oval ones beyond the cell 
and two near the anal angle, pale, subdiaphanous. Posterior 
wings rich deep blue, with a narrow black border. : 

Below, the anterior wings are bright blue with the apex fuscous, 
the markings of the upper surface reproduced more clearly, and — 
besides there is a yellow vitta in the cell at the base, an irregular 
spot in the cell, and an indistinct cloud below it of the same 
colour. Posterior wings blue, with a black border, three yellow 
vittze at the base, an irregular yellow spot in the cell, between 
the cell and the nearest -vitta two spots of the same colour, the 
first small, the second large, oval; on the anterior margin near 
the outer angle a large white spot, preceded by a black ad and 
some white atoms; about the middle of the outer margin two 
— spots, the inner preceded by a black ocellus pupiled with 
white. , 

Head and thorax black above, yellow below. Antenne blue. 

Abdomen blue above, yellow below. 

In the collection of the British Museum. 

6* 


“A 


.o. 


76 Mr. E. Doubleday on new species of the genus Gynautocera. 


Gyn. Adalifa. Alis omnibus albidis, anticis nervis, nervulis, fasciaque 
transversa nigris; posticis nervulis czeruleis, fascia transversa nigra, 
angulo anali flavo, Exp. alar. 3 unc. vel 74 mill. 

Hab, Silhet. 


Anterior wings white, shghtly tinged with yellowish, the ner- 
vures and nervules of a greenish black ; a waved band of the same 
colour extends from the costa across the end of the cell, and is 
continued onwards as far as the first median nervule of the pos- 
terior wings. Posterior wings of the same colour as the anterior, 
broadly yellow at the anal angle, the subcostal and median ner- 
vures and nervules and the discoidal nervule bluish green. 

Below, the anterior wings have a basal black vitta along the 
costa, and the base of the cell is greenish. 

Head green ; thorax black, prothorax crimson ; abdomen pale. 

In the collection of the British Museum. 


Section Cuaucos1a, Hiibn, 


Gyn. Zuleika. Alis omnibus albis, anticis fimbria lata marginis ex- 
terni nigra, aureo-viridi notata, basi, fasciaque media transversa, 
aureo, nigro, viridi, czeruleoque variegatis, posticis apice late nigro, 
ceruleo vittato. Exp. alar. 2 unc. vel 50 mill. Pl. VII. fig. 4. 

Hab. Silhet. 

Anterior wings with the base of a bright golden green, the 
green colour bounded externally by bright blue varied with black 
and green; beyond this a wide space of a very light cream-colour 
or almost of a pure white, then a broad transverse band of a 
bright golden green, bordered on.each side with black, divided 
by blue nervures and shaded with blue. The whole outer margin 
broadly black, the black extending more along the costa than the 
inner margin, glossed with blue and ‘divided by broad golden 
green lines along the nervules. Posterior wings white, the apex 
broadly black, divided by blue lines along the nervules ; the cilia 
white. 

Below, anterior wings nearly as above but less brilliant, the 
white space near the base yellowish, the apex white. Posterior 
wings white, immaculate. 

Head, thorax and base of abdomen gold-green, abdomen ex- 
cept the base pale. Antenne blue; legs white. 

In the collection of the British Museum, &e. 


Gyn. Zelica. Alis anticis nigro-fuscis, macula magna baseos, fascia 
media transversa maculisque tribus apicalibus albis ; posticis albis, 
fimbria lata nigro-fusca. ¢ 9, Exp. alar, 2—24 unc. vel 50—65 

mill. Pl. VII. fig. 3. 

Hab, Silhet. 


Anterior wings black, with slight bluish or greenish reflections, 


Mr. E. Doubleday on new species of the genus Gynautocera. 77 


the base with a large white spot not reaching the costa, the mid- 
dle with a broad white band, the apex with three white spots 
placed transversely, less distinct in the males than in the females ; 
the apex in the females white. Posterior wings white, with a 
broad black fimbria ; the apex in the females white. 

Below, colours and markings as above, but greener. 

Head blue ; antenne very deeply bipectinated in the males, 
much less so in the females except at the apex. . 
_ Thorax green anteriorly. Abdomen of the male yellow, with 
a black transverse band on each segment aboye. Abdomen of 
the female white. 


Gyn. Zenotia. Alis omnibus subdiaphanis albidis anticis vitta ad 
basin coste, maculis duabus costalibus, altera marginis interni, 
aliquotque marginis externi nigris; posticis macula costali apice- 
que nigris. Exp. alar. 1}—2 unc. vel 40—50 mill. PI. VII. fig. 2. 

Hab. Silhet. ; , 
Anterior wings somewhat diaphanous white, the costa from the 

base to about the middle black, marked before the middle and 

beyond the cell with a large subquadrate black spot; the outer 
margin towards the apex with two black patches, below which 
are some irregular black spots; on the imner margin near the 
middle is a large black spot divided by a nervule, and between 
the cell and the anal angle another smaller oval one. Posterior 
wings with a fuscous black spot near the costa, the apex also 
fuscous. | 

Below, as above. 

Antenne of the male large, very deeply bipectinated ; of the 
female less deeply except at the apex. 


Section Hutzrusta, Hope. 


Gyn. sex-punctata. Alis omnibus luteis anticis pone medium punctis 
duobus, posticis unico nigro cerulescentibus. Exp. alar. 14 unc. 
vel 40 mill. 

Hab. Silhet. 


All the wings luteous above, with two small bluish black dots 
between the end of the cell and the anal angle of the anterior 
wings, and one in a similar position on the posterior. Below, 
rather paler, with a second indistinct spot on the posterior wings. 

Head and prothorax bright red. Antenne bluish black. Ab- 
domen black at the base with white rings, beyond white with 
black rings. 

In the collection of the British Museum. 

The colour and markings of this species strikingly resemble 
those of some Lithosie. ; 


78 Sir W. Jardine on the Ornithology of the Island of Tobago. 


VIII.—Hore Zoologice. By Sir Wit11aMm Jarpine, Bart., 
E.RS.E. & F.LS. 


{ Continued from vol. xviii. p.121.] 


_ Ornithology of the Island of Tobago. 
TRoGON COLLARIS, Vieill. s.* 


Mr. Kirk says in one of his early notes, “ very rare,” but from 
the number of specimens received from him and seen in his pos- 
session, we judge he had not at that time discovered their loca- 
lity in the island. Mr. Gould, in his beautiful monograph, gives 
Brazil and Cayenne as the true country of the species, and states, 
from any localities to the north of which countries I have never 
seen specimens.” The white spot posterior to the eye of the fe- 
male, and ring of white feathers encircling it, do not appear in 
these figures. 

We have been able only partially to examine the structure of 
this bird, and feel much inclined to agree with those who place 
the Trogons with the Fissirostres. The very tender skin and 
loose soft plumage, the habits partially nocturnal, or frequenting 
thick and shaded woods, and the generally insectivorous food, 
assimilate them with the Caprimulgide, while the observations of 
Mr. Eyton place them among the Kingfishers. We may be able 
to illustrate this more fully ere long, but may in the meantime 
state that the tongue is short, bifid at the tip, thick and mus- 
cular-at the base ; the stomach round and slightly elongated, and 
in all that were opened contained the remains of Grylh, Lepi- 
doptera and caterpillars ; in one only a few seeds were found ; 
the ceca are about one half the length of the space between their 
origin and the anus; the whole general structure weak. Mr. Kirk 
remarks in one letter, “This bird has the most tender skin of 
any I ever attempted to skin; the note is four distinct shrill 
mournful whistles diminishing in duration ; I cannot describe it 
better than by saying it is four notes of E natural on flageolet, 
which I have this moment tried ;’ and in another he observes, 
“The orbits of the female, encircled by a single row of white 
feathers, terminating a little broader towards the corner of the 
eye backwards, have the appearance at some distance of a white 
spot. Feed upon berries and fruit; are remarkably stupid ; I 
have frequently called them half a mile distant and brought them 
within twenty yards. Their note is four distinct hoo, hoo, hoo, 
hoos, which they cease as soon as they see the person calling 
them, but seem to apprehend no danger, as they generally sit 


* Species marked wn. are also found in North America; s. in South Ame- 
rica; and n. s. in both. 


Sir W. Jardine on the Ornithology of the Island of Tobago. 79 


and look down with deliberate stupidity; their flights are short 
and frequent,” 


PRIONITES BAHAMENSIS, Swain. (King of the Wood.) s. 


We have never received this closely-allied species from the con- 
tinent of South America ; Swainson gives the Bahama Islands as 
its principal locality, and in addition to those from Tobago we 
possess specimens from the island of Trinidad; one of the latter 
is varied on the wings with white. 

In vol. vi. p. 321 of these ‘ Annals’ we gave an account of the 
habits of this species from the notes of our correspondent, to 
which we refer our readers ; the following additional information 
in regard to their nidification was received. in a subsequent letter. 
“T think I can now happily afford you all the information you 
require regarding this bird; on the 11th of June I shot No. 172, 
and found her nest close by from the curring sound kept up by 
the young. After examining the diameter of the entrance, which 
was only 21 inches, I dug into a marl bank 5 feet direct back, 
and 5 feet farther at a direct angle, the passage considerably 
larger at the angle and again considerably larger at the farthest 
extremity, where I found three young huddled up on the top 
of a moving mountain of maggots, claws and remains of beetles 
and various other insects. They feed also upon various kinds 
of berries: I found in the stomach of the parent a berry of 
which the French used to make soup when im the island, and 
which the negroes use at this day. The cat killed one of the 
young after flying about the house quite domesticated: they 
look upon man as their natural protector, and have become 
very tame; I have taught them to eat pottage, but they prefer 
animal food. All their food is taken in the point of the bill, 
and with a toss of the head as it were pitched into the throat*. 
They are particularly fond of lizards, snakes, &c., and must at 
times dig in the ground after insects, as 1 have sometimes sur- 
prised one, and on examination found the bill dirty as high as 
the eyes. My object in rearing the young was to ascertain if 
they actually stript the two tail-feathers with their bills, which 
is a common report; but having no convenient aviary, and un- 
willing to let them come altogether under the mercy of the cat, 
I have them in a small cage which destroys the tail as fast as it 
grows : if they succeed in thriving with me, I will send them home 
alive in the spring ; they will feed well on the intestines of fowls 
or anything of that nature, and I have-no doubt of their living 
in Europe by care.” 


* This is an important fact ; the same manner of taking the food is prac- 
tised by the Toucaus. : 


80 Sir W. Jardine on the Ornithology of the Island of Tobago. 


CEerYLe acyon, Linn. N. 

This is properly a North American species, according to Sir 
J. Richardson’s tables, reaching as far north on the Saskache- 
wan during summer as the 53° and 54°, and from 600 to 1000 
miles from the sea. The winter quarters are there also stated to be 
the Southern States, Mexico, California within the tropics, and 
even the West Indian Islands, as Mr. Swainson possessed speci- 
mens from St. Vincent’s sent by the Rev. Lansdowne Guilding. 
We have also received specimens from Jamaica, but these islands 
may be near the limits of their range in summer ; in Tobago at 
least they are not common ; the note of our correspondent being, 
“migratory, but cannot say as to the period of their arrival or 
departure ; seldom seen; this is the second within the last two 
years, one in February, this in October.” 


CERYLE AMERICANA, Gmel. 8. 


“Tobago Kingfishers—feed upon fish, and are to be found in 
great abundance on the banks of our fresh rivulets.” 


GALBULA LEPTURA, Swain. s. 


We refer the Tobago birds to the G. leptura, Sw. (Animals 
in Menageries, No. 141), which seems to have been described 
from specimens brought from Guiana by Sir R. Schomburgk. 
“‘ Jackamar of natives: eyes dull red ; feeds on Cantharides flies ; 
builds in marl banks like the mot-mot, without any preparation 
except digging a hole or entrance an inch and a half in diameter ; 
the distance of the eggs from the entrance about 18 inches ; they 
are three in number, pure white, and nearly circular, differmg only 
one-tenth in longitudinal diameter.” 


_ The forms which come next in our list are very numerous, and 
from the generally dull colours of their plumage and their retired 
habits very little is yet known of them, while the species remitted 
from time to time to Europe are extremely difficult to make out 
or reconcile with previous descriptions. Where we have had 
any doubt it is marked, and to those to which a new provisional 
name has been applied,a description and measurements are added ; 
our correspondent will do well to give as much attention as he 
can to these curious and interesting forms of the Certhiade. 


SCLERURUS ALBOGULARIS, Swain.? s. 


We have no note of this species, and have only received two 
specimens J 2. 


SYNALLAXIS TERRESTRIS, Jard. s. | 
“ Resident ; eyes dark orange and slightly freckled; feeds on 


Sir W. Jardine on the Ornithology of the Island of Tobago. 81 


insects, found either on the ground or very near it.” Length 
6 inches, of wing 2,4, ; both sexes nearly equal in size. ¢ above 
yellowish brown ; shoulders, greater and lesser wing-covers, outer 
webs of the scapulars and quills sienna-brown ; tail reddish um- 
ber-brown. Below wood-brown, tinted with reddish on the breast 
and sides of the neck, the feathers of the whole tipped and edged 
with a deeper shade, giving to these parts an indistinct marking ; 
chin and throat white with the base of the feathers black.  co- 
lours slightly duller, the throat and fore part of the neck pale 
wood-brown, the feathers edged with grayish brown. 


DENDROCINCLA TURDINA, Licht.? s. 


We have compared the Tobago birds with specimens of what 
we have named D. turdina from other localities: in the former 
there is a little more rufous on the wings and tail, the tint of the 
plumage generally is clearer, and the bill is less powerful and 
less dilated at the base, but with these exceptions, there is nothing 
to separate the two*. “ Feeds on grasshoppers, winged and other 
insects ; tongue slightly bifid; legs light lead-colour : although 
the tail resembles the Woodpeckers the os hyoides is entirely dif- 
ferent from that tribe.” 


DENDROCOLAPTES SUSURRANS, Jard. s. 


“Resident ; eyes dark brown. ‘This species seldom ascends 
trees to any great height, but generally proceeds from one tree 
to another, running up ten or twelve yards examining the cre- 
vices ; uttering occasionally a shrill purring note peculiar to the 
species, easier distinguished than described; I found im the 
stomach some parts of large insects resembling wings, probably 
of grasshoppers.”” Among the specimens received, the difference in 
length, with one exception, amounts to about 1 inch, that of the 
wing being similar in all. Bill nearly straight, slightly curving 
towards the point ; mandible umber-brown ; maxilla paler ; crown, 
cheeks and back of the head umber-brown, centre of each feather 
having an oval ochraceous spot ; nape and back yellowish brown, 
the feathers on the nape and upper part of the back having the 
central ochraceous spots elongated and narrower as they reach 
the back, where they gradually disappear, each being surrounded 
by a narrow umber-brown line ; rump, wings and tail dull red- 
dish orange ; throat yellowish white, remaining under parts yel- 
lowish brown, on the throat and breast having each feather marked 
in the centre with an oval yellowish white spot surrounded with 
a darker line ; these markings gradually grow more and more in- 


* The Tobago bird does not agree with Lichtenstein’s character, ‘‘ capite 
striolato.” 


82 Sir W. Jardine on the Ornithology of the Island of Tobago. 


distinct towards the lower part of the breast, where they are lost. 
Entire length from 9,8, to 8; inches ; of bill about 1,5, ; of wing 
in all 4,3. One specimen 8; wing 333. 


SITTASOMUS GRIsEUS, Jard. s. 


“ Resident ; this bird is said to be hitherto entirely unknown 
in Tobago, hence it has no provincial name, but finding it to cor- 
respond exactly with Wilson’s Brown Creeper so far as regards 
manners, I have applied that name to it.” Above grayish oil- 
green ; scapulars, rump and tail brownish orange. Below gray- 
ish oil-green, under wing-covers, base of the secondaries and 
part of the inner webs of the last quills yellowish white. Lengths 
of three specimens 7, 6,5,, 53% inches ; wing of two first 3,3, ; 
of last 3,4. 


THRYOTHORUS sTRIOLATUS, Swain. (Wood Wren, or Gray-throat 
Wood Wren.) s. 


‘This species has a lively and powerful whistle, pronounced 
distinctly and with great emphasis, running over the notes in a 
shrill voice often repeated. Feeds on spiders, &c. This bird 
long remained unobserved by me; my attention was arrested by 
his sprightly notes, and I am inclined to think that frequent ex- 
cursions in the woods about the season of incubation might be 
the means of eliciting some new species, which at other seasons 
remain mute and unobserved from the extreme height of the trees 
as well as the thick foliage and impenetrable nature of our under- 
woods.” 

To the last three or four birds the name “ Woodpecker ” or 
“Creeper” seems commonly applied in Tobago, though they 
are known to be a form quite different from the true Woodpeckers 
to be after noticed. 


TrocLopytes FrurvA, Vieill, (God Almighty Bird or Wren.) s. 


“This is a beautiful warbler; so domestic, that it builds in 
general either inside our dwelling-houses or somewhere in the 
vicinity, makes a coarse nest lined inside with feathers and lays four 
eggs. Remarkable for its cleanly habits—carries all the excre- 
ments of its young out of doors ; feeds upon insects, and is by 
nature all the year what the European robin is by necessity in 
winter, making our houses its constant home. It darts with ra- 
pidity on the most venomous insects—a first attack separates the 
tail of the scorpion from the body, then both portions are carried 
in triumph to feed its young. I have often when writing been 
so annoyed with this little warbler pouring forth his song upon 
a chair-back within 10 feet of my desk as to be obliged to expel 
him from the house, which is not easily done, especially if they 


Mr. C. C. Babington on the British Rubi. 83 


have a nest. They have been known in some instances to occupy 
the same corner not only throughout the year, but during the life 
of the oldest inhabitant. I know not how often they build in the 
year, but the young have a very short time left the nest, when the 
work of relining it again commences, and it is generally during 
this time of incubation that the song is poured forth with all its 
sweetness.” Ina subsequent letter Mr. Kirk continues, “ I men- 
tioned in my supplementary letter of last year, that this little 
bird built generally in our houses; I have since found a nest in 
the very interior of the woods, and at the same time neglected to 
relate one very daring act of his in which I participated. One 
day my attention being arrested by the more than usual vocife- 
rations of this little bird quite adjacent to my window, on looking 
out I observed a pair of them fluttering and hovering over a small 
bush of grass in the garden ; on stepping down stairs I observed 
a whip snake 4 or 5 feet long, hiding his head and drawing his 
body after him“under the grass; on turning him out he was at- 
tacked right and left by these little warblers, striking him on the 
head and tail alternately as an opportunity offered, obliging him 
to take refuge wherever he could hide. They seemed to pay no 
attention to my presence, for on pressing his head to the ground 
they continued to nip his tail with their bills within 3 feet of 
me. After I despatched him they retired to an adjoiming fence 
and poured forth a thousand thanks in an ecstasy of joy.” 


SyLvicota #stTiva, (Canary or Siskin.) nN. 


“ Migratory ; time of arrival and departure not ascertained, but 
they are to be found in February, March and April. Feed upon 
small ants which they pick from the blossoms of trees, especially 
that of the ‘Cog wood,’ of which they appear particularly fond, 
and which is exactly the colour of the bird’s belly when in good 
plumage ; they warble very prettily at times, are very unstaid, and 
appear always pursuing each other.” We receive this also from 
Jamaica, ; 

SYLVICOLA PARUS. N. 


A single specimen only has been received and without remark. 
[To be continued. ] 


IX.—A Supplement to “ A Synopsis of the British Rubi.” No. 2, 
- By Cuarzies C. Basinerton, M.A., F.LS., F.G.S. &e.+ 


9*, R. Grabowskii (Weihe?); caule arcuato anguloso glabro, acu- 
leis eequalibus valde declinatis deflexisve basi dilatatis, foliis qui- 
nato-digitatis planis supra opacis glabris subtus cinereo-tomentosis 


+ Read before the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, Jan. 14, 1847. 


84. Mr. C. C. Babington on the British Rubi. 


acute dentatis, foliolo terminali cordato abrupte cuspidato infimis pe- 
dicellatis intermediis incumbentibus, panicule composite inferne 
foliose ramis ascendentibus : rachi pilosa summa pedunculisque 
tomentosis, fructibus pubescentibus. 

R. Grabowskii, Weihe in Wimm. et Grab. Fl. Siles. ii. 32? 

R. nitidus? var. rotundifolius, Blovam MSS. in Fasc. of Rubi. 


Stem arching, angular, furrowed when young, glabrous (young 
shoots slightly hairy), ultimately purple; prickles moderately 
numerous, rather short, yellow, from a broad red base, strongly 
declining or deflexed, nearly equal, confined to the angles of the 
stem. Leaves quinate-pedate ; stipules almost linear ; petioles 
and midribs with numerous strong much-hooked prickles ; leaflets 
finely toothed: teeth pyramidal, glabrous opake and dark green 
above, ashy white and finely woolly with the veins rather yellow 
beneath ; terminal leaflet broader than long, cordate below, ab- 
ruptly cuspidate, sides regularly rounded ; lateral similar but pro- 
portionably rather longer and almost exactly round ; basal ellip- 
tical-ovate, rather unequal, overlapping the lateral leaflets, which 
themselves overlap the terminal leaflet.—Flowermg shoot long, 
nearly glabrous ; prickles numerous, rather slender, declining. 
Leaves nearly all ternate, ashy green beneath ; petioles and mid- 
ribs beneath with many short hooked purplish yellow prickles ; 
leaflets like those of the barren stem, but the lateral ones lobed 
on the lower side ; stipules very slender. Panicle narrow, com- 
pound, not. setose, very prickly throughout: prickles slender de- 
clining or deflexed ; rachis pilose below, becoming more hairy 
upwards, its summit and the peduncles and pedicels tomentose ; 
about three lower branches axillary, short, racemose-corymbose, 
about six-flowered ; ultra-axillary part compact, cylindrical, ab- 
rupt, branches short and corymbose ; terminal flower subsessile ; | 
lower bracts leaf-like but inconspicuous, upper trifid hairy and 
tomentose. Sepals woolly, loosely reflexed from the oblong black 
pubescent fruit. ) 

Near Cadeby, Leicestershire, Rev. A. Blozam. August ? 

Obs. 1. This plant agrees so nearly with the elaborate descrip- 
tion in the ‘ Flora Silesie’ that that work might perhaps be 
referred to without doubt. In the Silesian plant the panicle is 
described as “ampla, pyramidata, apice acuta, usque fere ad api- 
cem foliosa,” but it is not so in our plant. In that the under 
side of the veins of the leaves is said to altogether want any 
esi hairs—in our plant those veins are clothed with longer 

airs. 

Obs. 2. This is an interesting connecting link. The clothing 
of the panicle and of the young lateral branches from the barren 
shoot is that of R. nitidus. It differs from that species by its 
hooked prickles; very abrupt leaflets opake above and whitish 


Mr. C. C. Babington on the British. Rubi. 85 


beneath, the lower and intermediate ones overlapping ; and its 
woolly fruit. Its leaves much resemble those of that form of 
R. discolor named R. abruptus by Lindley, but that has silky 
barren and flowering shoots and rachis, and a very different pa- 
nicle. Perhaps the most remarkable character of this plant is 
found in its woolly fruit, by which it is distinguished from all the 
allied species. The authors of the ‘ Flora Silesie’ have not de- 
scribed the fruit of their plant. Arrhenius mentions a pubescent- 
fruited variety of R. corylifolius, but our present subject can 
scarcely be confounded with that species. 


10. R. discolor, W. et N. 


In place of the description of the varieties (Annals, xvii. 236) 
it is proposed to substitute the following. 


a. discolor; caule strigoso-sericeo, aculeis declinatis deflexisve, fo- 
liolis marginem versus seepissime decurvatis supra glabriusculis 
subtus albis tenuissime tomentosis, panicule racemose tomentose 
ramis decompositis. 

R. discolor, Rub. Germ. 46. t. 20; Arrhenius, Rub. Suec. 32. 

R. fruticosus, Sm. Hng. Bot. 715. 


3. thyrsoideus (Bell Salt.!); caule subglabro, aculeis rectis, foliolis 
planis supra glabris subtus viridi-cano- vel candicanti-tomentosis, 
panicula elongata thyrsoidea tomentosa. 

R. thyrsoideus (Wimm.), Arrhen. Rub. Suec. 28. 

R. fruticosus, Rub. Germ. 24. t. 7. 

R, discolor var. lividus, Blovam MSS. in Fasc. of Rubi. 


vy. macroacanthus (Bell Salt.!); caule sparsim patenteque piloso, 
aculeis validis pilosis rectiusculis paululumve deflexis, foliolis 
planis supra pilosis subtus pubescenti-canis mollibus, panicule 
pubescentis ramis racemosis paucifloris. 

R. macroacanthos, Rub. Germ. 44. t. 18. 


6. argenteus (Bell Salt.) ; caule patente-piloso, aculeis rectis, foliolis 
planis subtus argenteo-cano-pubescentibus, panicule pubescentis 
ramis racemoso-compositis paucifloris. 

R. argenteus, Rub. Germ. 45. t. 19. 


Obs. 1. Since the publication of my former account of this 
species I have seen reason to modify my views concerning its va- 
rieties. I now think that Dr. Bell Salter is correct in referrmg 
tab. 7 of the ‘ Rub. Germ.’ to the R. thyrsoideus of Arrhenius ; his 
and my var. 8. of this species. The former difference between us 
originated from none of my specimens of A. thyrsoideus having 
well-developed panicles. A plant given as R&. discolor var. lividus 
im Bloxam’s ‘ Fasciculus of Rubi’ is what I consider as the true 
R. thyrsoideus. 


Obs, 2. The former “ Obs, 2” (Annals, xvii. 237) is not cor- 


86 Mr. C. C. Babington on the British Rubi. 


rect. I believe that the lower (axillary) branches of the panicle 
ascend in all the varieties, and the upper (ultra-axillary) branches 
usually spread at a considerable angle to the rachis. I am not 
well-acquainted with var. 5, having only one rather doubtful spe- 
cimen ; the character of it is therefore a compilation from books. 


12*. R. Balfourianus ; caule arcuato teretiusculo patenti-piloso, acu- 
leis paulo ineequalibus tenuibus rectis vix declinatis, foliis quinatis 
subtus mollibus pullide viridibus, foliolo terminali cordato ovatove 
acuto, infimis subsessilibus intermediis incumbentibus, panicule co- 
rymboso-diffusze tomentose setose bracteis foliaceis trifidis, sepalis 
ovato-lanceolatis tomentosis setosis erecto-patentibus apice foliaceis 
vel filiformi-attenuatis. 


R. Balfourianus, Bloram MSS. in Fasc. of Rubi. 


Stem roundish, striated ; pubescence of scattered patent hairs ; 
prickles moderate, scattered, nearly equal, straight, very slightly 
declining, reddish yellow. Leaves large, quinate, dull green and 
pilose above, pale green soft and downy with the veins yellow 
beneath, crenate-serrate-apiculate ; terminal leaflet cordate or 
_ ovate, acute, on a long stalk ; lateral leaflets ovate, acute, shortly 

stalked; basal subsessile, ovate, overlapping the intermediate 
pair; general and sali petioles pilose, with few distant rather 
stout depressed yellow prickles; midribs similarly armed; sti- 
pules lanceolate, leaf-like, attenuated at both ends.—Flowering 
shoot with scattered hairs. Leaves ternate or quinate; leaflets 
ovate, pilose above, downy beneath. Panicle corymbose or diffuse, 
tomentose, pilose, setose ; lower branches axillary, upper ones 
subtended by trifid leaf-like bracts. Flowers mostly on long 
stalks ; terminal one shortly stalked or subsessile ; sepals ovate- 
lanceolate, very broad, attenuated into a long leaf-like or seta- 
ceous point, often slightly trifid at the end like the uppermost 
bracts, downy on both sides, setose, brownish green, erect-patent 
when the hemispherical fruit is ripe. 

Near Rugby, Warwickshire, Rev. A. Blovam. August? | 

Obs. It is difficult to determine the position of this plant. Its 
stem, pubescence, and prickles place it near to R. sylvaticus, 
whilst its usually much more lax and diffuse panicle, and espe- 
cially the erect or embracing calyx of the fruit seem to separate 
it widely from that species ; in the latter point and in some others 
of less moment, it is nearly allied to R. Borreri, from which its 
barren stem abundantly distinguishes it. ‘The lower leaflets also 
overlapping those of the intermediate pair distinguishes it from 
both of those species. 

Named by Mr. Bloxam in honour of Professor John Hutton 
Balfour, M.D., of Edinburgh, and in paying this just compli- 
ment to my valued friend I fully concur with him, 


M. Sundevall on the Birds of Calcutta. 87 


19. R. rudis, Weihe. 

e. denticulatus; foliolo terminali quadrangulari-obovato cuspidato 
basi cordato late inepteque dentato: dentibus denticulatis. 

Stem angular, striated; hairs very few; sets and aciculi not 
many, short. Terminal leaflet with a somewhat square outline 
widening slightly upwards and then narrowing rapidly to a cus- 
pidate termination, cordate below. Leaflets all stalked; mar- 
gin with broad but very shallow and scarcely distinguishable 
teeth, fringed with small acute prominent denticulations ; dark 
green and pilose above, pale yellowish green beneath. Panicle 
exactly like that of the typical R. rudis. 

Loxley near Sheffield, Rev. W. W. Newbould. 

Obs. This is a very curious variety, in which the coarse serra- 
tures of R. rudis are reduced in length but not in width, and are 
thus converted into very broad and very shallow teeth ; the whole 
margin is also fringed with minute points or denticulations. It 
is very near in general character to R. rudis B. Leightonii, but 
differs in the above respects. 

22. R. fusco-ater, Weihe. 

6. subglaber; caulis petiolorumque aculeis subzequalibus setisque 
paucis, aciculis brevibus pilisque paucissimis, foliis apiculato-den- 
tatis supra glabris subtus tomentosis, foliolo terminali cordato cus- 
pidato, paniculee diffusee tomentose pilis subnullis setis aciculisque 
brevibus aculeis elongatis. . 

Distinguished from all the other forms of R. fusco-ater by its 
almost total want of hairs on the panicle, and the nearly glabrous 
and more uniformly prickly stems. Its panicle is.much divided 
and spreads in an irregular manner. It is the plant mentioned — 
in the Synopsis as received from Mr. Coleman. Mr. Adamson’s 
plant noticed in the same place is more nearly allied to the ty- 
pical R. fusco-ater. 

Mangrove Lane near Hertford, Rev. W.H. Coleman. On the 
canal bank between Claverton and the Dundas aqueduct near 


Bath. 


X.—The Birds of Calcutta, collected and described by 
Cart J. SuUNDEVALL*, 


[Continued from vol. xviii. p. 461.] 


69. Gallus alector var. domestica. 'Tame fowls are kept in 
great numbers by the Musselmans and Portuguese+. The Hin: 

* Translated from the ‘ Physiographiska Siillskapets Tidskrift’ by H. E. 
Strickland, M.A. " 

+ The Portuguese who migrated thither in the time of Albuquerque 
settled in the country, and their descendants, who are now numerous in and 
around Calcutta, have become as black as negroes. The Hindoos in the 
lowlands have nearly the same colour. ; 


88 M. Sundevall on the Birds of Calcutta. 


doos also, who do not themselves lall or eat animals, rear poultry 
to sell to Europeans. These birds are similar to our own, and of 
as many varieties: possibly some have been brought thither from 
Europe. I often inquired whether any yellow or horn-like spots 
are seen on the neck-feathers of any variety, as in the wild Gal- 
lus Sonnerati of India, but nothing of the kind was detected, nor 
any cocks with a blue margined or undivided comb on the head, 
such as other wild species have. It is reported that wild poultry 
are found in the Sunderbunds, which is very probable, as Gallus 
bankiva, Temm., which is indubitably the origin of the domestic 
fowl, is said to occur in many parts of India. 


70. Perdiz. Iwas informed that partridges are found near 
Calcutta, and even that they are abundant; but as I never saw 
any, I cannot say what species was intended. They were said 
to resemble P. cinerea. ; 

Wild pea-fowls (Pavo cristatus) are also said to occur in the 
uninhabited districts. I saw two which were said to be caught 
in the country, but nothing certain was learnt as to the place 
where they were taken, except that they were from “ the jungles,” 
and the same was the case with most of the wild animals which 
I saw in captivity ; but whether the jungles around Calcutta or 
in Nepal or the Sunderbunds wére intended, could not in general 
be decided. Jungle is an original Indian word which is now 
adopted in English to express a forest: it commonly implies 
the dense thickets of bamboos and bushes which prevail every- 
where. 

Pavo bicalcaratus, Linn., was also seen caged, and was said to 
be from jungles far up the country. Various other gallinaceous 
birds occurred tame or in confinement as rarities, e. g. gold and 
silver pheasants from China. Guinea-fowls (Numida meleagris) 
are kept in some places, as at the Government garden at Seram- 
pore, where some had lived and propagated for many years in 
company with a flock of Axis Deer, without any other superin- 
tendence than that of being prevented from escaping. 


71. Grus antigone, L., Wagl. Syst. no. 10. Cinerea capite toto 
nudo, rubro, vertice cinereo. 

(Indiv. vetus Martio.) Collum supra medium albidum, supremo 
breviter nudum, et ut caput rubrum. Iris rubra. Remiges posticze 
parum lacere, vix pendule. Altitudo euntis 5 ped. In hoc indi- 
yiduo rostrum et pedes fuscescentia, obscura; remiges et cauda sa- 
turate cinerez. 

I did not see in a wild state this elegant Crane, which closely 
resembles our common species, but is twice the size ; it can erect 
itself to a height of full three ells from the ground. It is the 
largest in the genus, and is one of the birds which come nearest 


M. Sundevall on the Birds of Calcutta. 89 


to the Ostriches in size. I saw several of this species tamed, and 
especially I had an opportunity of observing accurately and closely 
one which was kept in the garden at Serampore, and which had. 
been caught several years before near that town. These birds 
are said to appear rarely so low down, but further north they 
~ geem to occur in large flocks, probably however only in winter, 
for in summer they are found, according to Pallas, in the south- 
ern parts of Siberia. This Crane had as lively actions as our 
own in a tame state; it sprang, hopped, cast up straw and sticks 
and caught them again, as though some person was playing with 
it. The Bengalese name is Saros. 


72. Ibis macei, Cuv. R. A.; Wagl. Syst.—I. leucon, Temm. P?. 
Col. 481 (an Tant. melanocephalus ? Lath.). 

Alba, capite colloque nudis, nigris, remigibus (plerisque) totis albis ; 
tarsis reticulatis, digito medio vix longioribus. 9 adulta (initio 
Maii). Pure alba. Caput et collum cute duriori, nigerrimo tecta. 
Cutis plumata corporis pallide rubra ; sed in plaga obtecta, ad latera 
pectoris, et in tota ala, subtus, usque ad digitos, sanguinea, subnuda. 
Iris nigricans. Rostrum et pedes nigri. Remiges primariz albz 
(in hoc individuo omnes immaculate) ;-3* reliquis longior ; 2° bre- 
vior quam 4, Penne cubiti 5 ultime dilute cinerez (nec nigree), 
pogonio longissimo, laxo, pendulo fimbriate, et apicem ale paullu- 
lum deflexo-superantes. Plume colli infimi, in lateribus subtusque, 
elongate, acutze dependentes (collare infra partes nudas formantes, 
ut in Vulturibus). Longit. 264 poll. Ala 322 millim., tarsus 88 ; 
digitus medius 68, cum ungue 82, cauda 130, rostrum e fronte 143. 

Indiv.aliud, Mus. Stockh. (Patriaincerta.) Simile precedenti. Ala 
316 mill., tarsus 90, digitus medius 72, cum ungue 86. 

Indiv. e Java, Mus. Stockh. a prioribus tantum in his differt ; re- 
miges 1—3 apice nigro-marginate. Penne cubiti ultimee vix lacere, 
apice cinereze. Collare caret plumis elongato-dependentibus. Ala 
330 mill., tarsus et digitus ut proxime precedens (verisimiliter 
junior). 

Obs. Descriptio Wagleri citata differt ‘‘ remige prima apice nigra.” 
Icon Temmincki (loco cit.) bene convenit cum nostro individuo ben- 
galensi; sed descriptio ad hanc figuram data paullo differt, et, ubi 
de plumis ale ultimis agitur ; cum individuo javano nuper descripto 
congruit. © 

This species of Jbis was first seen on the river bank in March 
near Sucsagor, N. of Calcutta, and afterwards in the beginning 
of May near Culpe, five or six miles further south near the capi- 
tal. In both cases five birds were seen grouped together. They 
walked steadily about like storks, which they much resemble in 
their exterior. The flight and mode of rising is also lke that of 
the Stork, though the neck is not carried straight, but somewhat 
curved in an opposite direction to the beak, yet not doubled like 
a heron’s. The pure white colour and the large wings made 


Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Vol. xix. 


90 M. Sundevall on the Birds of Calcutta. 


like a. stork’s with long bones, make the bird appear very large, 
although it but slightly exceeds our Numenius arquata. The spe- 
cimen which I shot had nothing in the stomach but small crabs. 
This bird closely resembles Ibis religiosa which occurs in Central 
Africa, and is found embalmed in the Egyptian catacombs, al- 
though it seems not to inhabit Egypt at present. It is chiefly 
distguished by the black tips to all the remiges, and by the 
pendulous, blackish, much-fringed feathers behind the wings. 


73. Ibis falcinellus. Although this bird did not come into my 
hands in Bengal, nor have I seen any specimen from thence, [ 
do not hesitate in citing it here. Three individuals were seen 
on March 23, near Sucsagor, at about 200 ells distance, which 
was near enough to distinguish the colours. They were pursued 
and were very shy. 


74. Ciconia alba, L. (vix = Mycteria asiatica, Lath. ?). The 
Stork is one of the birds which occurs both in Sweden and Ben- 
gal; it is probably found in the latter country only at the sea- 
son when it is wanting with us. In the tree-covered vicinity of 
Calcutta I only saw one, but some miles further north they occur 
in flocks on the plains: about sixty were counted in one of 
these flocks. This was a very unusual sight for a European, 
for the storks with us live, or at least fly, solitary; yet in our 
country they assemble in flocks at certain places of meeting, in 
order to migrate. There has been from time immemorial one of 
these meeting-places for storks on certain hills near my native 
place, Hégestad in Southern Scania. These hills lie between 
Hogestad and Baldringe on a dry heath, surrounded on two 
sides by marshes and peat-bogs, about 1000 paces from an open 
oak-wood, where storks have always built im numbers. After the 
storks in autumn have collected around in parties for some weeks, 
without keeping near the nests or roosting in them at night, one 
may see them some day in the middle of September coming from 
all quarters to the hills in question. The number gradually in-. 
creases, so that many times more storks than breed in the district 
are soon assembled. They are supposed to come hither from a 
considerable part of Scania, perhaps from all the colonies which 
are sent out at intervals from the oak-wood above-mentioned. 
Two days thus elapse, during which the birds which have arrived 
chiefly remain quiet, each by itself, without seeking food, which 
however is to be found abundantly in the marsh close by ; but the 
following morning they have all disappeared, and no stork is seen 
afterwards in the district, until they, after half a year’s interval 
return more gradually to their homes from their distant wander- 
ings. The natives say that they hold a council before they set 
out from the country. Many such meeting-places for storks are 


M. Sundevall on the Birds of Calcutta. 91 


found in Scania, near the woods which they inhabit. In the 
wood just mentioned they build close to each other in the oak- 
trees, and agree well together; but in other places they usually 
will not allow another bird in their vicinity, without a violent 
battle arising when they come near each other’s: nests. 

The storks which I saw in Bengal had the beak and legs red 
as with us, but it occurred to me that the black between the beak 
and the eye in the males was somewhat broader. 


75. Ciconia dubia.—Ardea dubia, Gm. ; Raffl. Sumatr. Ardea ar- 
gala, Lath. Ciconia marabu, Temm. Pl. Col. 330; Wagl. Syst. (De 
nomine vide infra.) 

Cinerascens (absque nitore viridi), capite colloque nudis, jugulo 
inferius caruncula conica dependente. 

Adulta: Corpore supra nigro-cinereo, subtus albo ; collo pallide 
rubro, caruncula longiore. Junior, tota dilutius cinerascens. De 
ceteris, confer descr. Wagl. et Temm. Ala flexa long. 3 pedum. 

This Stork, with the American Ciconia mycteria and the Con- 
dor, comes in size next to the Struthious birds. After it follows 
an African Stork, the above-described Indian Crane, the two 
Vultures of South Europe, the Swan, Albatros, &c.; our Hagles 
follow, and so on. Ciconia dubia is 12 feet between the tips of 
the wings, or near the size of the Condor, and 5 feet to the top of 
the head when it walks, which is not more than Gus antigone ; 
but the body is larger. It is a prodigy of ugliness; gray, dirty, 
with the head and neck naked, reddish, thinly strewed with hair, 
which on the nape forms a ragged tuft ; on the lower part of the 
neck is a loose fringe of feathers, over which there hangs from 
the throat a fleshy caruncle, much like that over the beak of a 
turkey-cock. The whole appearance indicates stupidity, especially 
when in hot weather it sits upon its heels with the tibiz erect, 
and gasps with the heat. The beak is disproportionately thick, 
and so strong that it can cut off the arm from a corpse. Like 
the vultures in Bengal, this Stork lives chiefly on the putrid 
bodies which are cast up on the river banks, as I have often 
stated. The Hindoos burn their dead, and this is done as far as 
possible on the banks of the sacred river; but as a complete 
funeral pile costs more than the poorer people can afford for their 
dead relatives, these are commonly laid at ebb-tide close to the 
water’s edge upon some straw, which is set fire to, in order to 
fulfill the ordinances of their religion, after which the slightly 
scorched body is carried off by the flood-tide to drift about until 
it lodges by chance upon the shore, where predacious animals 
take charge of its burial. By day the vultures, crows, and espe- 
cially this species of Stork, contribute to the destruction of the 
corpse, and by night troops of jackals arrive to complete the 
work ; dogs also often partake in the feast. 


V* 


92 M. Sundevall on the Birds of Calcutta. 


The species in question is called in Bengal Hargila or Hargill, 
or Gorur. The Europeans sometimes call it Eagle or Pelican, 
but commonly Adjutant, in consequence of this bird being no- 
where so abundant as at Fort William near Calcutta, and on the 
roof of the Government-house in the town, where often twenty 
or thirty collect in the evening to pass the night. The Hindoos 
regard them as especially sacred, and the English government 
has for their protection imposed a fine of sixteen rupees for the 
killing of one. They have even become so tame that at Fort Wil- 
liam I often got within fifteen ells of them, and the inhabitants, 
whom they are more accustomed to see, can go close to them 
without their moving. I believe that they would make resistance 
if any one were to attack them. 

The flight of the Hargill is remarkably steady and elegant, 
like that of the Vulture ; in large circles with the wings perfectly 
still. One often sees them gradually ascend in spiral circles to 
such a height that they can hardly be perceived as fine specks ; 
by the angle which they subtended I estimated the perpendicular 
height at a quarter of a Swedish mile [one and a half English 
mile]. They remain near Calcutta all the year, and are rather 
rare at some miles’ distance from the town. 

Obs. A nearly allied species is found in Africa, which is some- 
what less, and greenish above. It was first described by Tem- 
minck and well figured in Pl. Col. 8301. Under the tail of both 
these species are found the elegant curled feathers which are used 
as ornaments under the name of Marabu’s feathers. Temminck 
calls the Indian bird Ciconia marabu and the African C. argala, 
but he has here confounded these names. Argala was derived 
by Latham from the Indian Hargila, and unquestionably applies 
only to the Indian species. Marabu on the other hand is a name 
introduced from Africa, and can least of all be applied to an In- 
dian species which had two names already. The word Marabun, 
or in common parlance Marabu, means, according to the Arabic 
dictionary, an assembler of the people, and is used in Barbary for 
the priests of the Bedouins, who it seems use these feathers as 
marks of distinction ; whence in Europe they have got the name 
of Marabu’s feathers. Now that this confusion of names has 
once occurred, it can scarcely be corrected in any other way than 
by adopting entirely fresh names ; so that it is best to retain for 
the Asiatic species the older though ill-adapted specific name of 
Gmelin, C. dubia, and for the African one to adopt a new one, 
viz. C. vetula. 


76. Ardea nycticorax, L., Wagl. Syst. no. 31. Plumis colli elon- 
gatis, tibia brevius nuda. Rostrum crassum, capite paullo longius. 
Adulta: alba, capillitio dorsoque sneo-nigtis, alis, dorso posteriore 
obtecto, caudaque canis. 


M. Sundevall on the Birds of Calcutta. 93 


? (d. 28 Febr.). Occiput caret pennis longis albis. Plume dorsi 
anterioris viridi-nitentes, laceree long : caudam attingentes. Super- 
cilia et margo frontis alba. Collum postice leviter canescens. Kos- 
trum apice fuscum, basi, cum loris et orbitis olivaceo-flavescens. 
Pedes virescenti-flavi. Iris sanguinea. Rostrum e fronte 70 millim. 
Altit. 22. Ala 272, tarsus 65, digitus medius 64, cum ungue 76. 


This single specimen was procured from the Danish merchant 
Berg at Serampore, the same day that he had shot it near a small 
tank. I did not see this species living myself. It was consi- 
dered rare, and was unknown to Berg, who was a keen sportsman. 
The stomach was empty, but smelt strongly of fish. -Ardea nyc- 
ticoraz is one of the birds which is found all over the globe, in 
the entire torrid zone and in a considerable part of the temperate 
ones. 


77. Ardea scapularis, Ill., Licht.; Wagl. Syst. no. 35. Plumis 
colli elongatis, tibia brevissime nuda, rostro capite longiore. Adulta 
cinerea ; alis virescentibus, albo-marginatis. Capillitio zneo-nigro, 
crista dependente ; dorsi plumis longis, lanceolatis, obscure cinereis, 
virescenti nitidis, rhachide albida. 

2 (d. 20 Febr.—adulta). Corpus cinereum. Collum totum cum 
jugulo immaculato, cinereum, unicolor; gula alba. Capitis latera 
cinerea, macula oblonga atra pone angulum oris, et vitta alba sub 
eodem. Rostrum et facies olivacea, maxilla inferiori et orbita flavi- 
dis. Pedes (in siccata) obscure rubicundi. Rostrum e fronte 65 
mill., cum cranio 115. Ala 170, cauda 60, tibia nuda 12, tarsus 42, 
digitus medius 40, cum ungue 48. Differt ab indiv. americanis, quee 
vidi, et a descriptione Wagleri jugulo non rufo maculato, magnitu- 
dine paullo majori, et rostro crassiori. 


This small Heron, which is one of the least in the genus, not 
much larger than a double snipe, was only seen twice, at some 
tanks near Serampore. Like the larger species it is lazy, but shy 
and wary, and often perches in trees. The specimen obtained 
had the stomach empty, and smelling strongly of fish. The same 
species occurs also in South America*, 


78. Ardea speciosa, Horsf., Wagl. Syst. no. 25. Plumis colli elon- 
gatis, tibia brevius nuda. Rostrum tenue, capite longius. Alba, 
capite levi dorsoque plumis laceris, prolixis, obscuris. 

& 2 (junior ?) Febr. Martio. Corpus ale et cauda alba, capite 
colloque plumis testaceis, late fusco-marginatis. Gula alba. Plume 
dorsi antici laceree; magne, fusco-griseze. Scapulares ejusdem coloris, 
striola media albida. Plume immixte, sericeo lacerz, fusco-purpu- 
rascentes. Plume occipitis null elongate. Iris flavissima. Rostrum 
apice nigrum, basi et facie nuda flavescentibus. Pedes fuscescentes. 
Rostrum e fronte 62 millim., tarsus 53, digitus medius 53, cum un- 
gue 62, ala 220. 


* This is incorrect, the American species being distinct.—H. E. S. 


94 M. Sundevall on the Birds of Calcutta. 


Ardea speciosa is the commonest of the Bengalese Herons. It 
is seen everywhere near tanks and on the banks of the river, even 
among houses and at Serampore. It was said to build in trees, 
and is stationary the whole year. Like all the Herons it flies 
with the neck doubly curved. When the large white wings are 
expanded, but few of the dark feathers above the body are seen, 
so that the bird seems wholly white, but when it walks it appears 
dark gray. A male which was shot had the stomach filled with 
grasshoppers; in the female were found both grasshoppers and 
remains of fish. The Bengalese name is Bogg or Khanni bogg, 
which name however I often heard applied to the other species 
of Heron, both greater and less, white and coloured. 


79. Ardea russata, Wagl. no. 12. Plumis colli brevibus, tibia 
longius nuda. Rostrum capite parum longius. Junior tota alba. 

9 (in fine Martii). Tota alba immaculata, occipite non cristato. 
Iris flava. Rostrum totum et facies nuda flava. Pedes fuscescentes, 
tarso superne parteque nuda tibiz flavescentibus. Unguis medius 
validior, usgue ad apicem pectinatus. Longit, 18 poll., rostrum e fronte 
62 mill., ala 240, tarsus 87, digitus medius 57, cum ungue 75, 
Plume occipitis breves, simplices; pectoris vix elongato-pendule. 


This small white Heron was seen rather less frequently than 
the last species during all the time I remained in Bengal. Among 
the many which I saw from February to April, none were ob- 
served with the isabella-coloured back, neck and head, as the old 
birds are described, which is perhaps owing to the old ones being 
more wary, so that I did not approach them near enough to di- 
stinguish the colour. The only one which I shot had been eat- 
ing grasshoppers and water-larve, but no traces of fish were found 
in its stomach. This, like the other Herons with a small neck 
and long legs, is often seen walking about with outstretched 
neck. Those species which I have seen with long neck-feathers 
and shorter feet have been more sedentary ; they conceal them- 
selves and crouch, so that they are not seen until they fly up. 


80. Ardea garzetta, Wag]. Syst. no. 10. Plumis colli brevibus, 
tibia longe nuda. Rostrum tenue, capite longius. Tota alba, pe- 
dibus nigris, tarso inferius digitisque viridi-flavis. 

Senior (initio Maii). Iris flava. Rostrum et facies nuda nigra, 
orbita flavescente: Occiput et pectus plumis elongatis, pendulis, 
lacero-acutis. Plume dorsi speciosze, raro pectinate, pauce, vix cau- 
dam attingentes. Ungues breviores : medius 12 millim., pectine, ut 
in plerisque Ardeis, ante apicem abrupte terminato. Priori dimidio 
major. ; 

Although this species was not rare, I only procured one spe- 
cimen, which from various interruptions was not preserved, so 
that I cannot give the dimensions. It was often seen walking 


i 


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Morty, j 7 Noe 


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WWing 4 Auilman del & Walton Lithogvaphers . 


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Mr. E. Doubleday on a new species of the genus Actias. 95 


with long steps on the river bank, and frequently perched in 
trees. Their white colour makes these species appear much larger 
than they really are. On the backs of this and two other species 
grow the highly-prized Egret-feathers. Ardea garzetta is also 
found in South Europe. 


81. Ardea cinerea? Three or four times I saw (in the end of 
March and the end of April) a species which could hardly be 
anything else than our common gray Heron; I think I cannot 
be mistaken, although the bird each time arose at the distance 
of 200 or 300 ells. As Ardea cinerea is found in Europe and 
Africa, and is recorded to occur in Java and the Philippine Islands, 
it is not likely to be wanting in the intermediate country of 


India. 
[To be continued. ] 


XI.—Description of a new species of the genus Actias of Hiibner, 
from Northern India. By Eywarp Dov, epay, Assistant in 
the Zoological Department of the British Museum, F.L.S. &c. 


[With a Plate. ] 


Ac. Menas. Alis omnibus pallide viridi-flavis, marginibus externis 
rufescentibus, anticis costa ferruginea, cinereo lavata; lunula magna 
discoidali fascia transversa baseos, alteraque postica indistincta 
valde undata rufescentibus; posticis caudatis, lunula discoidali 
parva ; fascia pone medium flexuosa, obsoleta, rufescente. 2. Exp. 
alar. 64 unc. vel 165 mill.; caude long. 33 unc. vel 90 mill. 
Pl. VII. fig. 1. 

Hab. Silhet. ' 

Anterior wings pale greenish yellow, the costa, except at the 
apex, ferruginous, sprinkled with cimereous ; outer margin ru- 
fescent: near the base a transverse narrow band of the same co- 
lour, and beyond the middle a not very distinct flexuous streak : 
a large lunule at the end of the cell connected with the costal 
vitta, of the same colour with this at its origin, then much paler 
externally, nearly black internally, marked with a very delicate 
white line. Posterior wings of the same colour as the anterior, 
tailed, the tails very long, wrinkled at the extremity, sprinkled 
with ferruginous from the base. nearly to the middle, the outer 
margin of the wing and of the basal half of the tail ferruginous ; 
disc with a small black lunule divided by a white line resting on 
a faint cloud, darkest on the inner side: between this and the 
margin a very obsolete waved striga. 

Below, the anterior wings want the basal striga, the costa is 
paler, the lunule wants the black, and the flexuous band is more 
distinct, as it also is on the posterior wings. 


96. Messrs. M‘Andrew & Forbes on new or rare British Animals. 


Head and antenne pale. 

Thorax greenish yellow, the front part broadly ferruginous, 
sprinkled with cinereous ; legs vinous red, with pale spots. 

Abdomen pale greenish yellow. 

In the collections of the British Museum and W. W. Saunders, 
Esq. 
This fine insect is easily distinguished from Act. Selene by its 
peculiar greenish yellow colour, the flexuous external striga, the 
want of the white band on the prothorax, the great length of the 
tails, and the more rounded anterior wings. 


XIT.—Notices of new or rare British Animals observed during 
Cruises in 1845 and 1846. By Rosperr M‘Anprew, Esq. 
and Professor Epwarp Forsess*. 


[ With a Plate. ] 


I. Species of Testaceous Mollusca, new or new to Britain, from 
the seas around the Zetland islands. 


1. Trochus formosus, sp. nov. ‘'T. testa pyramidata, anfractibus 7, 
planis, nitidis, albis, spiraliter costatis, costis in ultimo anfractu 
sex, costa superiori crenulata; basi imperforata, in medio levi, 
prope columellam sulcis tribus cincta; apertura quadrangulari. 
Animal album, oculis nigris.—Breadth at base § an inch; height 
the same. Pl. IX. fig. 1. 

This beautiful Trochus resembles T. ziziphinus in form and 
habit. The whorls are slightly convex, smooth, shining, white, 
and not covered by an epidermis. The body-whorl is encircled 
by six spiral ribs, the uppermost crenate, the next fine and smooth, 
the third and fourth thick and distant, the two lowermost close 
and fine. The upper whorls are encircled by three spiral ridges, 
those of the apex all crenate. The whorls are seven. The base 
is imperforate, slightly convex, smooth in the centre, with three 
spiral furrows round the columella and one round the margin. 
The mouth is quadrangular. 

The animal is entirely white, except its eyes, which are black. 
It has long, linear, cirrhated tentacula. The eyes are borne on 
sus-tentacula at their outer bases. The capital lobes are partially 
developed and abbreviated. The lateral lobes are plain, and the 
sides furnished with six simple long cirrhi, which are usually 
carried closely appressed to the shell. The operculum is very 

ale. 

. The only British shell with which this Trochus could be con- 

founded, is the variety Lyonsii of T. ziziphinus. But indepen- 


* Communicated to the Natural History Section of the British Associa- 
tion at the Southampton Meeting, September 1846. 


Ann. and Mag: Nat: Hast. Vol 19 Pl. LK 


Ose ee A 
Sn ee 


COD 


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i aaa 


J.D.C.S. hth. 


E Forbes del. 


Hullmandel & Walton Lithographers 


ae 
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. 
F ‘ 

2 ‘ 

Z 4 
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a , ; 

= 1 a ¥ 
' 
* 


Messrs. M‘Andrew & Forbes on new or rare British Animals. 97 


dent of the characters of the shell, the animals are very distinct ; 
those of Lyonsit being highly-coloured, like the normal form of 
TL. ziziphinus, whilst T. formosus is perfectly white. 

We dredged it adhering to large stones in fifty fathoms on 
the Ling Bank, forty miles to the westward of the mainland of 
Zetland, and afterwards nearly half-way between Fair Island and 
Fitful Head *. . 


2. Margarita undulata, var. trochiformis. 


With some doubt we refer to the above species of Sowerby and 
variety of Moller (Index Molluscorum Greenlandiz) a Margarita, 
of which we dredged a single specimen near Lerwick. Whilst it 
exactly agrees with Moller’s description, the specimen does not 
so well accord with any of the examples of Margarita undulata 
in British collections. It is small and probably not full-grown 
(2°; breadth, 4; height), and in colour and habit presents a stri- 
king resemblance to Trochus tumidus, but is easily distinguished 
by its rounded whorls and circular aperture. 


3. Cerithium nitidum, sp. nov. C. testa subulata, alba, anfractibus 
12, planis, spiraliter longitudinaliterque costatis ; costis spiralibus 
tribus, fortibus, granuloso-decussatis ; basi levi, margine incras- 
sato levi; apertura quadrangulari, cauda brevi, lata, contorta.— 
Length ,4,ths of an inch; maximum breadth ;4th of an inch. 
Pl. IX. fig. 2. 

A very beautiful, slender but rather strong shell, having twelve 
whorls, which are nearly flat, and ornamented by three strong 
spiral ridges, decussated and granulated by numerous longitu- 
dinal ribs. On the last whorl there is an additional smooth 
ridge, forming the margin. The base is smooth. The mouth is 
quadrangular, with a short and rather wide but equal canal, 
twisted suddenly to the left. 

Three specimens were dredged im the same localities with the 
Trochus formosus. 


4, Pleurotoma brachystomum, Philippi, Enum. Moll. Sci. vol. ii. 
p. 169. t. 26. f. 10. 


Of this pretty little Pleurotoma we dredged a specimen be- 
tween Fair Island and Fitful Head in fifty fathoms. It has been 
taken by Mr. Jeffreys in the Hebrides. 


5. Fusus albus, Jeffreys, MSS. F. testa minuta, lanceolata, pellu- 
cida, alba, anfractibus 5, convexis, ultimo maximo, omnibus spi- 


* I have recently seen a specimen in the collection of Lieut. Thomas, 
R.N., who dredged it in a similar locality near Orkney. In that gentle- 
man’s collection is also the rare Buccinum lineatum, dredged quite fresh in 
thirty-five fathoms off the Staples; thus fixing with certainty the indige- 
nousness of one of our most doubtful species.—E. F. 


98 Mr, E, Blyth’s Drafts for a Fauna Indica. : 


raliter crenato-striatis.—Length ,%,ths of an inch; breadth ,4,th 

of aninch. Pl. IX. fig. 3. 

Exactly resembling a Fusus corneus in miniature, but evi- 
dently a full-grown shell, and well-characterized by its peculiar 
sculpture. No described species of Fusus can be confounded 
with it. We dredged it in fifty fathoms between Fair Isle and 
Fitful Head. On showing the specimen to Mr. Jeffreys, he re- 
cognized it as the J. albus of his manuscripts *. 


6. Astarte crebricostata, sp. nov. Pl. IX. fig. 4. 

We have applied this name provisionally to a remarkable 
Astarte of which several single valves, not very fresh, were 
dredged up on the west coast of Zetland. They evidently be- 
long to a species very distinct from any European form with 
which we are acquainted. These valves are ovate, oblique, very 
depressed, with numerous (thirty), very prominent, narrow, ele- 
vated, regular, transverse ridges which become obsolete ante- 
riorly, where they are interspersed by slightly oblique striz. The 
margin is crenate. The largest valve measures 1 inch ;%,ths m 
length and the same across. 3 


7. Astarte borealis. 

We dredged in fifty fathoms water on the Ling Bank off the 
west coast of Zetland a valve of this well-known species, so 
fresh that we cannot doubt that it is a living inhabitant of our 


northern seas. 
[To be continued. ] 


XIJI.—Drarts ror a Fauna Inpica. By Ep. Buiytu, 
Curator of the Asiatic Society’s Museum, &c. &c.t ~ 


[Continued from. p. 53.] 


Subfam. Gourin#, Ground Pigeons. 


Tue great series of ground pigeons and ground doves presents a 
marked gradation in form and character from genera allied (ex- 
cepting in the form of the feet) to the Carpophage and Ptilino- 
podes of the preceding subfamily, to others which exhibit a nearer 
relationship to the species of the next subfamily. The size also 
varies remarkably, as both the largest and smallest pigeons | 
known are comprised in this group ; some attaining the magni- 
tude of a hen-turkey, while others are scarcely bigger than a 
sparrow. These birds are of a shorter, more full, and grouse- 
like figure than that of other pigeons, having the wings more or 


* Lieut. Thomas, R.N., has lately dredged it near the Orkneys. 
+ From the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, no. 169. 


Mr. E, Blyth’s Drafts for a Fauna Indica. 99 


less rounded, and even bowed or hollowed in some instances ; the 
tarsi comparatively elongated, and the toes long and adapted for 
ground habits. Some even much resemble partridges in their 
mode of life ; but even these, for the most part, prefer the cover 
of low brush-wood (as do also many partridges), the haunts of 
different species varying ; and other genera are completely sylvan 
in their abode, feeding on the ground, more especially on fallen 
fruits and berries. Such are the magnificent Gouras, or great 
crowned pigeons (Goura coronata and G, Stoursii) of the Moluc- 
cas and New Guinea, which in their plumage and colouring ap- 
proximate Teron cantillans and Carpophaga insignis; and the 
elegant hackled ground pigeons (Calenas), one of which (C. nico- 
baricus) abounds in the forests of the Malay peninsula, and in 
the Nicobar, Andaman and Cocos isles, thus almost verging on 
the eastern boundary of the territory whose fauna we here treat 
of. The general resemblance of this bird to Ptilinopus is strikmg 
in the living specimens of both ; and from what I have observed 
of it in confinement, I have great reason to doubt the current 
statement that it ever lays more than two eggs, the number so 
usual in the pigeon family : indeed I think there is present rea- 
son to be sceptical of the statements that any pigeon lays more 
than that number ; though it is certain that several of the Gourine 
are clad with down at an early age, and follow their parents soon 
after they are hatched. The only Indian species is among the 
least characteristic of the tribe, so much so, that it requires some 
knowledge of its various Australian affines to comprehend its 
classification in the present group. It ranks under 
Cuaxcornars, Gould (apparently a sylvan subgenus of Phaps, 
Selby, exemplified by the common Bronze-wing of Australia). 
Cu. 1npica: Columba indica, Linn.: C. pileata, Scopoli: C. 
javanica (?), eyanocephala et albicapilla, Gmelin: C. cyanopileata 
et griseocapilla, Bonnaterre: C. superciliaris, Wagler. (Rdm- 
G’hoogoo and R'hdj-G' hoogoo, Bengal ; Gyo-ngyo, Arracan.) Back 
and wings emerald-green, glossed with aureous; the feathers 
distinct and scale-like ; neck, breast and under-parts vinaceous- 
brown, paler below, and of a duller hue in the female ; two broad 
dusky bars alternating with grayish-white on the rump; tail 
dusky in the male, its outermost and penultimate feathers 
whitish-gray, with black subterminal band; primaries dusky ; 
forehead of the male white, passing as a supercilium over the 
eye ; the crown of the head ash-gray ; a white bar near the angle 
of the wing; and lower tail-coverts ashy, the longest brown- 
black ; mside of the wings reddish cmnamon-brown. The female 
has a grayish-white forehead much less developed than in the 
other sex, and a narrow whitish supercilium ; crown of the head 
rufescent ; no white bar at the shoulder of the wing; the tail 


100 Mr. E. Blyth’s Drafts for a Fauna Indica. 


tinged with ferruginous; and the neck and under-parts are 
browner than in the male. Irides dark ; bare skin around the 
eyes deep purplish-carneous, as are also the legs; and the beak 
is bright coral-red, except towards the nostrils, where somewhat 
dusky. Length 104 inches by 173; and of wing 5 inches 
to 53. 

This beautiful ground-dove is common in thick jungly situa- 
tions, and especially among dense bamboos throughout the 
country ; and it is equally abundant in the Malayan Archipelago. 
A writer before-cited remarks,—“ The rapidity of flight it ex- 
hibits exceeds that of any bird 1am acquainted with, except per- 
haps the brief decisive swoop of some of the smaller Falconide : 
as in the progress of the latter there is no apparent motion of 
the wings, but gliding along a few feet from the ground, diver- 
ging or rising just sufficiently to clear intervening obstacles, the 
ground-dove skims with an arrow-like swiftness, and is come and 
gone in an instant, scarcely giving the eye time to detect what 
has crossed the field of vision. When settled on the ground, 
however, it shows no unusual degree of fear, and may be ap- 
proached near enough to notice its motions and brilliancy of co- 
louring. Bare spots about the roots of large trees, particularly 
of the tamarind, appear to be favourite resorts ; and a pair will 
be occasionally found sunning themselves, arranging their plu- 
mage and scraping up the earth, and beating up the dust with 
expanded wings, after the manner of the Rasores upon an old 
b heetah—the artificially raised mound of a deserted village. They 
soon become reconciled to confinement ; and the voice is plain- 
tive and monotonous like an oft-repeated low tone on a distant 
flute*.”” The nest of this species I have never seen, but am in- 
formed that it is built in low thorny trees and often in bamboo 
jungle: the eggs are two in number ; and one taken from the 
oviduct (April 80th) measures just an inch long by three-quarters 
of an inch across, and is of a less pure white than those of ordi- 
nary pigeons and dovesf. 

There is a nearly allied species in Australia, the Col. chryso- 
chlora,Wagler, which Mr. G. R. Gray conceives to be the true Col. 
javanica of Gmelin. One character by which it may always be 
readily distinguished, is the total absence of white on the fore- 


* « Columbide of the Eastern Districts.”—Bengal Sporting Review, 
No. 4, 1845. 

+ Chalcophaps indicus is common in the deep forests, always in the vici- 
nity of streams, and generally upon the ground in the shelter of beds of 
reeds and rank grass. When flushed it takes a short but exceedingly rapid 
flight, alighting as abruptly with a sudden plunge into the herbage, so that 
it is a most difficult bird to shoot. Its favourite food consists of the seeds 
of the castor-oil plant.—T. 


Mr. E. Blyth’s Drafts for a Fauna Indica. 101 


head of both sexes*. The rapidity of flight so remarkable in the 
Indian species, as compared with our other Columbide, is equally 
observable in other subgenera of Phaps, which might include 
even Peristera of Swainson t. 


Subfam. CoLUMBIN2. 


This consists of the ordinary pigeons and doves, the characters 
and habits of which are familiar to all. They are mostly arboreal, 
though many of them feed much on the ground, chiefly on grain 
and oleaginous seeds ; some of the species also nipping the young 
sprouts of vegetables. They fall into two principal and nearly 
allied series, those of the pigeons and the doves; the latter sub- 
dividing into several well-marked groups. 

Genus Cotumsa, Linn. (as restricted). Piezons. (Kubbooter, 
H.; Paira, B.) 

These are of comparatively large size, and generally more ro- 
bust in make, with square or subquadrate tail. The Indian spe- 
cies fall into two subgenera, viz. rock pigeons and wood pigeons ; 
the former exemplified by the common house pigeon, the latter 
by the common Cushat of Europe. 

Rock Pierons. In these the tarse is rather longer, and the 
toes are better adapted for walking on the ground. They rarely, 
if ever, perch on trees, except under peculiar circumstances, as 
when a dove-cot of domestic pigeons is placed near a tree, with 
large and conyeniently shaped boughs, in which case the pigeons 
will commonly resort to the latter to sit and roost, but never to 
form their nests. In the wild state it is probable that they 
never perch at all, retiring to roost and nestle in caverns and 
small hollows of rocks or sea-cliffs, in the absence of which they 
select buildings that offer suitable recesses, breeding in the capi- 


* It is I think very doubtful whether C. chrysochlora be really distinct 
from indica. The absence of white on the forehead is probably due to the 
specimens being immature.—H. E. S. 

t+ A curious pigeon, in the guise of a Pteroeles, is figured among the draw- 
ings prepared under the superintendence of the late Sir Alexander Burnes 
and Dr. Lord, marked Fahktuk (i. e. Facktah or dove, Hind.) from Cabul, 
which should be sought for in the Scindian deserts. Total length about a 
foot, the wing 63 inches, and tail pointed and Pterocles-like, extending 
nearly 2 inches beyond the tips of the wings ; tarsi and toes, which, though 
rudely drawn, would appear to be those of an ordinary pigeon, naked and 
of a pink colour. Bill dusky, being also apparently that of an ordinary 
pigeon, and rather slender. General colour light isabelline, with darker 
maryins to the feathers of the mantle and wings; neck, breast and under- 
parts plain, the breast rufescent, and the belly and lower tail-coverts whitish ; 
the outer tail-feathers would appear to have black tips; irides crimson. 
Should this hereafter be verified and constitute (as seems probable) a new 
genus of sand-doves, having the habits of the Gangas or Sand-grouse, it 
might bear the name Psammenas Burnesii, 


102 Mr. E. Blyth’s Drafts for a Fauna Indica. 


tals of pillars and whatever other convenient nooks they find. 
Hence, when unmolested, these house pigeons soon become fa- 
miliarized with man, and require little encouragement to merge 
into the domestic condition. 

C. inTteRMEDIA, Strickland, Ann. and Mag. N. H. 1844, p. 39: 
C. enas of India, auctorum: C. enas, var., from Tartary, Wagler. 
(Jalalaya, H.; Parwa, Mahr.; Golah of the pigeon dealers.) 
(Inp1an Rock Picron.) The common wild blue pigeon of 
India is most closely allied to the European C. livia, but is of 
rather a deeper slaty-gray, with invariably a deep ash-coloured 
rump; whereas C. livia has as constantly a pure white rump: 
there appears to be no other distinction between them, unless it 
be that the play of colours on the neck is finer in the Indian bird. 
The same difference in the colour of the rump is observable in 
the domestic pigeons of the two countries, whenever these tend 
to assume the normal colouring; for the tame Indian pigeons are 
as clearly derived from the wild C. intermedia as those of Europe 
are from C. livia. 

Colour slaty-gray, darker on the head, breast, upper and lower 
tail-coverts and tail, which last has a blackish terminal band not 
well-defined ; nuchal feathers divergent at their tips, and brightly 
glossed with changeable green and reddish-purple ; two black bars 
on the wing* ; the primaries tinged with brownish, and the outer- 


* In some specimens, particularly among the semi-domestic, slight dusky 
streaks occur on the shafts of the lesser wing-coverts, which, in the latter, 
are often much more developed, spreading across the feathers and spotting 
the whole wing; such birds much resembling (except in the rump not being 
white) a race of wild pigeons that are abundantly brought at times to the 
London markets—all of them shot birds; but the latter have not, in addi- 
tion, the two black bands on the wing well-defined, as seems to be regularly 
the case with this variety of C. intermedia. Moreover, in the English bird, 
the spotting of the lesser wing-coverts does not occur on the shafts of the 
feathers, but partly margins each web, excepting near the edge of the wing, 
where the feathers are unspotted. I suspect that the wild rock pigeons of 
the south of England are mostly of the kind alluded to, which may be de- 
signated C. affinis; while those of North Britain, and it would seem of 
Europe generally, are true C. livia. 

Here, again, we have three closely-allied species, analogous to the three 
yellow-footed Hurrials, Zreron viridifrons, Tr. phoenicoptera, and Tr. chlo- 
rigaster ; and if they are to be regarded as mere varieties of the same, what 
limits can be assigned to the further variation of wild species? Col. leuco- 
nota is but a step more removed, and I doubt not would equally merge and 
blend with the others in a state of domesticity. Equally allied are—7Zreron 
sphenura and Tr. cantillans ; Tr. apicauda and Tr, oxyura; and if we grant 
also some variation of size, we have 7’r. bicincta and Tr. vernans; Tr. ma- 
labarica and Tr. chloroptera; Turtur chinensis and 7. suratensis; 7. meena 
and 7’, auritus, &c. &c., which might be regarded as local varieties of the 
same, and we might thus go on reducing species ad infinitum with no useful 
definite result, but to the utter confusion of all discriminative classification. 
However closely races may resemble, if they present absolute and constant 


Mr. E. Blyth’s Drafts for a Fauna Indica. 103 


most tail-feather having its external web gradually more albescent 
to the base. Irides brownish-orange, the lids bluish-white ; bill 
black, with a white mealiness at the tumid base of its upper man- 
dible ; and legs reddish-pink. Length 13 by 23 inches; of wing 
8 inches. 

Mr. Jerdon rightly remarks—‘“ The blue pigeon abounds all 
over India, being occasionally found in the more open spaces of 
jungles, especially in rocky districts and in the neighbourhood 
of water-falls ; but more generally in the open country, inhabit- 
ing walls of villages, pagodas, wells, and any large buildings, 
and breeding chiefly in old walls.” Another observer, writing 
of it in the eastern districts of Bengal, remarks: “ Large colonies 
of these birds inhabit every moogur, mhut*, and mass of ruins 
in the country, where, in company with the (house) mynah and 
(rose-ringed) parroquet, they multiply to a vast extent; and 
the more so, as being held in religious veneration by some, and 
in special favour by all natives, their destruction is prevented 
wherever there exists the power. They are so devoid of timidity, 
that even in the midst of crowded cities, they will build on the 
cornices in the open verandahs of inhabited houses. When this 
takes place in the dwelling of a native, their tenure is secure ; as 
their making such selection is looked upon as a happy omen, and 
their dismission as the sure forerunner of evil fortune. Pairs 
frequently take up their quarters among the domestic pigeons of 
the dove-cot ; indeed it is not an easy matter to prevent their 
doing so, and intermingling the breed. In the cold weather they 
flock and frequent the paddy-stubble in large numbers+.” Capt. 
Hutton informs me that this bird “is found in Affghanistan, 
where, as in many parts of India, it builds in wells and ruined 
buildings: the kazeezes, or Artesian wells of Affghanistan, are 
sometimes crowded with them. ‘They occur also in the Doon, 
and ave known as the common blue pigeon. At Mussoorie, I 
have only seen them in the cultivated fields, low down on the 
sides of hills, in warm situations {.” 

Being the original stock of the domestic pigeons of India, some 
notice of the latter should here be introduced. I have not, how- 
ever, paid much attention to the several varieties ; the more choice 


differences, whether of size, proportions or colouring, and if they manifest 
no tendency to grade from one to the other, except in cases of obvious inter- 
mixture, we are justified in considering them as distinct and separate; and 
more especially if each, or either, has a wide range of geographic distribu- 
tion, without exhibiting any climatal or local variation. 

* Rude Hindoo temple. 

+ India Sporting Review, No.4, 121. 

t Columba intermedia is exceedingly common in Chota Nagpore, breed- 
ing in all the steep lofty rocks of that country.—T. 


104 Mr. E. Blyth’s Drafts for a Fauna Indica. 


of which are, besides, kept chiefly by the Moguls in the Upper 
Provinces, and it is there that observations should be recorded of 
them. A chapter is devoted to the rearing of pigeons in the 
Ayeen Akbaree, and a number of breeds or races enumerated ; 
but nothing definite can be understood of their distinguishing 
characters. The different kinds are chiefly esteemed for perform- 
ing sundry aérial evolutions, and returning at once from any 
height at an accustomed signal. But to quote the work cited: 
“There are also many other beautiful pigeons, which, although 
they neither wheel nor tumble in the air, yet perform many 
pleasing tricks ; amongst these are the followmg :—The Kowkh, 
which seems to say the words yak-roo. The Luckeh [ fantail], 
whose cooing is very agreeable, and he carries his head with 
astonishing pride and stateliness. The Lowtun, who upon being 
shaken, and then put upon the ground, jumps about with strange 
convulsive motions.” ['This may be seen at any of the Calcutta 
bird-dealers; shaken two or three times in the hand, and the 
head more especially, the poor bird tumbles about in a fit for 
some seconds, when the owner recovers it by blowing hard in 
its face. They are chiefly black and white and bare-legged, with 
a crested occiput, but present no other marked distinction. | 
“ The Kehrnee, who has such amazing affection for his hen, that 
when he has flown out of [human] sight, if she is exposed in a 
cage, he instantly drops down upon it : they descend either with 
both wings spread, or with one open, or else with both shut. 
The Ruhteh is a pigeon famous for carrying letters; but any 
pigeon may be taught to do this. The Neshwaree ascends in the 
air till he is out of sight, and remains so [7. e. absent ?] for a day 
or two, after which he alights on the ground. There are also 
many other kinds that are valuable only on account of their 
beauty, such as the Sherazee*, the Shushtree, the Shashenu, the 
Jougeeah, the Rezehdehn, the Muggessee, the Komeree, and the 
Gowlah; the last [or intermedia in its natural state] is a wild 
pigeon, of which, if a few are taken, they are speedily joined by 
a thousand others of their kind. There are people who obtain a 
livelihood by sending these pigeons to feed abroad, and making 
them vomit up the grain, by giving them water strongly impreg- 
nated with salt. A pigeon is said to live to the age of thirty 
years.” Among the kinds commonly bred about Calcutta 
are fine Powters (Gulla-p’hoolat), both feather-legged and bare- 
legged; Fantails (Luckah) of indisputable merit, but poor help- 


less monstrosities, except in the eyes of connoisseurs, some of 


* Sarajoo, Beng. A large black pigeon, with white rump, quills and 
under-parts from the throat; generally very true to this colouring. 
t ‘Swollen throat,’ or, literally, fudd gullet (gula). 


Mr. E. Blyth’s Drafts for a Fauna Indica. 105 


which have at least thirty-six tail-feathers*, and races with an 
occipital top-knot (Nuns), are common ; but I have seen nothing 
like the variety commonly bred by English fanciers, and the races 
generally are less pure (at least in Lower Bengal), with their pe- 
culiarities not so strongly brought out ; unless in the instance of 
the fantails, and sometimes powters, which are as preposterous 
caricatures of the wild race, as the most extravagant admirer of 
Nature’s freaks of the kind could reasonably desire, and as un- 
deniably curious in showing what domestication can produce. 

C. teuconora, Vigors, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1831, p. 22; Gould’s 
Century, pl. 59. (Hoopep Rock Picron.) Size and form of 
last, the wings a trifle longer: cap, comprising the throat and 
ear-coverts, ashy-black ; neck, rump (as in C. livia) and the en- 
tire under-parts white, with a faint shade of ashy, except on the 
rump, deepest on the lower tail-coverts ; interscapularies, scapu- 
laries and wings light brownish-gray, purer pale ashy on the me- 
dial coverts of the wings; the primaries dull blackish towards 
their tips, the secondaries broadly tipped with dusky, and the 
tertiaries and their coverts having a subterminal dusky band and 
broad grayish tips, producing a series of three short bars, suc- 
cessively smaller to the front, and a trace of a small fourth band 
anteriorly ; tail and its upper coverts ashy-black, the former ha- 
ving a broad grayish-white bar, occupying the third quarter from 
the base of its middle feathers, and narrowing and curving for- 
ward to reach the tip of its outermost feathers. Bill black, legs 
pinkish-red, and irides yellow. Common on the rocky heights 
of the Himalaya, inhabiting near the snow line. 

According to Capt. Hutton, there are two races, if not species, 
confounded under C. leuconota, viz. the true leuconota, as figured 
by Gould, with the white of the hind-neck spreading a consider- 
able way down the back, and which (he informs me) is found only 
“far in the mountains ;” and another, of which the description 
wholly corresponds with the Nepal and Darjeeling specimens 
which have served for the above description, and which Captain 
Hutton states “inhabits the Doon all the year, but is there 
called ‘ Hill Pigeon,’ while the other is known to collectors as the 
‘Snow Pigeon.” The Doon bird flies in small flocks during sum- 
mer from the hills to the Doon in the morning, and returns to 
the hills in the evening.” If there be really any difference, how- 
ever, between the birds adverted to, I suspect it must be merely 
one of age. 

Subgenus Patumsus, Kaup. Woop Picrons or Cusnarts. 
These have feet well adapted for perching, and a shorter tarse 
than in the preceding section, which also is more. feathered 


* While drawing up this notice, I visited the bird bazaar, and counted 
thirty-four feathers in a tail which was obviously imperfect. 


Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Vol. xix. 


106 Mr. E, Blyth’s Drafts for a Fauna Indica. 


towards the knee. They nidificate and habitually perch on 
trees*, 

C. patumsBus, Linn. (Europzan Woop Piaron.) Upper 
parts brownish-gray, the head, cheeks, throat, rump and upper 
tail-coverts pure ashy, paler on the lower tail-coverts; fore-neck 
and breast vinaceous-ruddy, weaker on the belly, and albescent 
towards the vent; nape and sides of the neck and shoulders 
glossed with changeable green and reddish-purple, the former 
predominating above, the latter below ; and upon each side of the 
neck a great patch of subdued white, in general largely developed, 
very rarely reduced to a mere trace; coverts forming the edge of 
the wing and impending the winglet white, as is also the exte- 
rior margin of each primary ; tail gray at base, becoming black- 
ish at its tip. Bill orange, with a white mealiness at the tumid 
base of its upper mandible; feet red, and irides light yellow. 
Length 17 by 30 inches, and wing 93 inches. 

This well-known Kuropean species inhabits the north-western 
Himalaya, as about Simla, and in the Alpine Punjab. : 

C. (?) Expuinstoni1: Péilinopus Elphinstonii, Sykes, Proc. 
Zool. Soc. 1882, p. 149: a Carpophaga, apud G. R. Gray. 
(NerLGHERRY Woop Pigeon.) “ Upper parts fuscous-brown, 
the head, neck and lower parts ashy; nape black, the feathers 
marked with a white spot at tip; interscapularies ruddy; neck 
and breast glossed with emerald-green, the rump with ashy ; first, 
second, third, fourth and fifth primaries having their outer web 
emarginated. Irides ochre-yellow.” Length 15 or 16 inches. — 

I have had no opportunity of examining this fine species, but 
from the above description of its plumage, translated from Colonel 
Sykes’s brief Latin definition, I cannot help doubting exceedingly 
the propriety of arranging it as a Carpophaga, and as strongly 
suspect that the present is its true systematic station}. Colonel 
Sykes describes it to be “a rare bird in the Dukhun, met with 
only in the dense woods of the ghauts. Not gregarious. Stony 
fruit found in the stomach. Sexes alike, Flight very rapid. The 
lateral skin of its toes is very much developed.” Mr. Jerdon has 
only noticed it “in the dense woods on the summit of the Neil- 
gherries, in small parties, or single. It is a retired and wary 
bird. I found various fruits,” he adds, “ and small shells in its 
stomach.” 

C, PULCHRICOLLIS, Hodgson (mentioned in Mr. G. R. Gray’s 


* It should be remarked, that the European C. @nas is completely inter- 
mediate to these two groups in its form, colouring, habits and nidification ; 
breeding sometimes in the cavities of trees, sometimes in rabbit-burrows. 

+ Mr. Blyth is right in this surmise; C. Elphinstonii being a true Co- 
lumba, not a Carpophaga. ‘The lateral skin of the toes is not more deve- 
loped than in C. palumbus.—H. E.S, 


Mr. E. Blyth’s Drafts for a Fauna Indica. 107 


Catalogue of the specimens of Colwmbide in the British Museum). 
(Asuy Woop Pigzon.) Considerably smaller than the two pre- 
ceding species; and general colour dusky-gray, much paler and 
faintly tinged with lake below, more or less whitish towards the 
vent, and subdued white on the lower tail-coverts ; tail blackish ; 
head, cheeks and ear-coverts. pure light ashy, passing to whitish 
on the throat ; the sides of the neck and breast brightly glossed 
with the usual changeable green and reddish-purple, the former 
predominating ; and above this the feathers are somewhat rigid 
and black at base, with broad isabelline tips whitish at the end, 
forming a large patch on each side confluent behind. Corneous 
portion of the bill apparently pale yellow, and legs probably pink, 
but fading to amber im the dry specimen, of which colour are also 
the claws. Length of wing 83 to 9 inches. Common in the 
wooded region of the eastern Himalaya. 

C. punicns, Tickell, Journ. As. Soe. xi. 462*. (Pompapour 
Woop Pigzon.) General colour deep vinaceous-ruddy, weaker 
below, and most of the feathers margined with glossy changeable 
green and amethystine-purple, the former colour prevailing on 
the neck and sides of the breast, the latter elsewhere :. whole top 
of the head, including the occiput, whitish-gray ; alars and cau- 
dals blackish ; the primaries tinged externally with gray ; upper 
and lower tail-coverts nigrescent ; bill yellow at tip, its basal half 
blackish in the dry specimen ; “irides orange with a red outer: 
circle; feet dull lake.” Length about 16 inches, of wing 8 
inches, and tail 7 inches. 

This handsome pigeon inhabits the hill forests of Central In- 
dia, also those of Assam, and would appear to be tolerably com- 
mon in the island of Ramree, Arracan. I have never seen it 
from the Himalayat. ; 

C. Hopesonu, Vigors, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1832, p. 16: C. nipa- 
lensis, Hodgson, Journ. As. Soc. v. 122t. (Speckitep Woop 


* Type of Alsocomus, Tickell. 

+ C. punicea. _ Length 16 inches by 2 feet spread; wing 8% inches. 
Bill greenish-yellow, with basal half livid. Iris amber-yellow in an orange- 
red circle. Legs and feet dull lake. ‘The female is similar to the male, but 
rather smaller and duller in plumage. This species is not uncommon to the 
south of Singbhoom, going in small parties of four or five, and always along 
the banks of rivers which are shaded by large forest-trees. Up and down 
these noble aventies, which the green shades of mingling boughs above, and 
the clear rippling stream below, preserve at all hours and seasons pleasantly 
cool, these pigeons fly, rarely taking when disturbed to the more open tracts 
distant from the stream. In January 1842 I killed five specimens on the 
Bytarnee river in Singblioom, They were feeding principally on the jamoon. 
These birds feed chiefly in the morning and again at evening, and during 
the heat of the day roost on the uppermost branches of the huge derris trees, 
common in that country. They are wary and difficult of approach.—T. 

{ Type of Dendrotreron, Hodgson. Q 

* 


108 Mr. E. Blyth’s Drafts for a Fauna Indica. 


Piaron.) Above dark vinaceous-ruddy, with white specks on 
the medial coverts of the wing ; head and upper part of front of 
neck cinereous, with a vinous tinge In some specimens; rump, 
upper and lower tail-coverts dusky-ash ; tail ashy-black ; the great 
alars brownish-dusky, the first three primaries having a slight 
whitish outer margin in some specimens ; exterior wing-coverts 
grayish ; nape, sides of neck and lower parts vinaceous-ruddy 
at base of feathers, margined (more broadly on the side of each 
feather of the breast) with vinmous-gray, which increases in quan- 
tity upwards, till the surface of the plumage appears solely of this 
hue, while the dark vinous tint predominates more and more to- 
wards the belly; the red portion of each feather appears thus as 
an obtusely pointed spot upon those of the breast, and on the 
feathers of the neck is darker and acutely pointed, being there 
uniformly edged with the pale ashy margin. Bare orbital space 
livid ; bill purplish-black ; “ irides hoary or gray-white ; legs and 
feet black-green to the front, yellowish elsewhere ; claws clear 
lively yellow.” Length about 15 inches by 25 or 26 inches in 
alar expanse; wing 9 inches to 94. “ Female,” according to 
Mr. Hodgson, “ rather less, and differmg in having the bluish- 
gray of the head less pale and.clear, and in wanting almost en- 
tirely the purplish timge which adds so much beauty to certain 
parts of the plumage of the male, as especially the upper part of 
his back and the lower part of his belly.” 

“This elegant species,” continues Mr. Hodgson, “ is found in 
the woods of the valley of Nepal. It is very shy, seldom or never 
entering the cultivated fields for the purpose of feeding, but 
keeping almost always to the woods, and living upon their pro- 
duce, in the shape of grass, seeds or berries.” It would seem to 
be not uncommon near Darjeeling: and Captain Wroughton in- 
forms me, that it is also tolerably numerous about Simla and 
Mussooree, where it frequents the pine forests on the higher 
mountains, as Whartoo and the vicinity of Kotghur. They are 
generally seen in flocks of six or seven, which are particularly shy 
and difficult of approach. 

C’. Hodgsoni is nearly allied to C. arquatrix of Southern 
Africa ; but is at once distinguished from that bird by its black- 
ish bill, by the gray upon its head and neck, and by the reduced 
development of the nude space surrounding the orbits. Another 
allied African species is the C. guinea, Linn. (v. trigonigera of 
Wagler). 

(To be continued. ] 


M. Miiller on the Development of the Lycopodiacee. 109 


XIV.—On the Development of the Lycopodiacce. 
By Karu Miuirr*. 


[ With five Plates. } 
{Continued from p. 40. ] 


§ 5. The perfect Plant. 


We have here to consider :—l1. the ais of the branch; 2. the 
roots of the branch ; 3. the leaves ; and 4. the organs of reproduc- 
tion. 

1. The axis of the branch. The germinating plant divides, as 
we have already seen, normally into two branches, consequently it 
is bifurcated. The same kind of division is exhibited throughont 
the whole growth of Lycopodium denticulatum. The branches are 
always dichotomous, the vascular bundle always dividing in this 
manner. , 

The branches, as is known, are compressed on the upper and 
under sides. 

Interiorly they are composed of numerous layers of cells. At 
first two circular spots are found in the centre, lying at, some 
distance from each other. In these situations are produced the 
vessels, which as usual are surrounded by long, prosenchymatous 
cells (Pl. III. fig. 12). They lie within the latter as a simple and 
almost circular group. From these vascular bundles proceed out- 
ward a number of tubular cells which finally come in contact 
with a layer of delicate and short parenchymatous cells. These 
last are the only cells throughout the whole axis of the branch 
which as yet contain any of the “cell-contents” (fig. 12 a), 
which consist of very small yellowish green granules, more or less 
collected into groups. The whole is inclosed by several layers of 
thin-walled, transparent and short parenchymatous cells. The 
layers situated most externally (the cortical layers) consist of cells _ 
which are always somewhat more elongated and more slender, 
and are not hexagonal, but have the form of parallelograms. 
Toward the terminal bud, the cells of the axis all become smaller 
and more crowded, till at last they look lke mere globules 
(fig. 13). 

“All these conditions vary in the most manifold way in the 
stems of the other Lycopodiacee. This is especially the case with 
regard to the grouping of the vascular bundles. The structure 
of the cell-membrane also is very variable among them. These 
however are conditions of which a further examination would be 
extrinsic to my design. Most of them indeed are already known, 
and only individual cases require pointing out. The development 


* From the ‘ Botanische Zeitung,’ Aug. 28, and Sept. 4, 1846. Trans- 
lated by Arthur Henfrey, F.L.S, &c. 


110 M. Miller on the Development of the Lycopodiacee. 


of the cells of the terminal bud remains yet to be traced. I 
therefore next consider— 

2. The roots of the branch. These are solid round bodies, al- 
most perfectly cylindrical, which always split, like the axis, dicho- 
tomously when they come in contact with the ground, penetrate 
it, and attach the plant more firmly to it. When growing in pots 
however, as in our green-houses, and not long enough to reach 
the earth, they do not divide. : 
~ Interiorly they are made up of the same kind of cellular tissue 
as the axis of the branch ; but the cells are firmer. They never 
contain more than one vascular bundle, and also differ from the 
axis in the fact that this bundle is not attached to the cortical 
layer by those tubular cells, whereby a large empty space is formed 
in the centre of the axis of the branch. 

The most remarkable point about them is their extremely re- 
gular occurrence upon the axis of the branch. They always make 
their appearance in the situation where the axis splits into two, 
and in fact immediately in the axil of the last or penultimate leaf 
of the branch (PI. II. fig. 17), which leaf is always a folium inter- 
medium ; the root consequently is always developed upon the upper 
side of the axis. Schleiden (in his Grundziige, ed. 1. part 11. 80) 
expressly says of the roots, that they proceed from the under side. 
He has not mentioned the species in which he observed this, and 
therefore I am still in doubt as to the truth of the statement. 

- The rootlet appears at first as a little papilla upon the axis of 
the branch. This soon developes into a conical projection, and 
as soon as it has attained a certain length, which is not very con- 
siderable, the little cone curves downwards. This structure begins 
to be developed almost in the earliest stage of the growth of the 
axis of the branch, and the rootlet itself is found in that situation 
where the organs of reproduction are produced ; a condition to 
which I shall have again to refer hereafter. Every joint of the 
branch consequently possesses a root at its base. A successful 
transverse section exhibits the history of development in the in- 
terior ; at the particular point of the axis, where the root is to be 
formed, the tubular cells round the vascular bundle partly dis- 
appear ; with the disappearance of these the vacant spaces also 
vanish, and the cortical parenchyma now immediately invests 
the central vascular bundle. On the upper side of the axis 
alone, consequently directly at the spot where the rootlet subse- 
quently becomes visible, some tubular cells still occur, which 
however are of small importance compared with the former of the 
axis of the branch (Pl. IV. fig. 1). Indeed they are really only 
parenchymatous cells elongated upwards. Since these cells are 
wanting and the parenchyma is thus brought close to the vas- 
cular bundle, the nutrient fluids must naturally become con- 


M. Miller on the Development of the Liycopodiacee. 111 


centrated at this point. This is in fact the case. In that situ- 
ation where the root is to be formed, the cells soon become 
filled with a matter which distends them and is reddish like 
the often-mentioned material for development (cytoblastema). 
The root now begins to shoot outward, and may indeed be caused. 
to project out by a simple mechanical process, by the expansion 
of its cells. The elongation continues to increase, the apex of 
the rootlet always remains filled with cytoblastema, and the older 
portions finally exhibit perfect cells, among which a delicate vas- 
cular bundle then soon penetrates, being a branch from the larger 
one of the axis of the branch (Pl. IV. fig. 2). 

8. The leaves. As to their form and position, these conditions 
have already been examined in the germinating plant, to which 
I have only to add, that the perfect leaf of the axis of the branch 
is produced downward at its posterior face into a kind of tail, is 
enlarged into a roundish projection, and has the base so detached 
from the axis of the branch, that this apparent appendix looks 
like that appendage which we at first found on the basis of the 
envelopes of the bud (PI. III. figs. 11 d, 11 z). However they 
cannot be confounded, since that is always a much more delicate, 
simple membrane, while here the green cellular tissue of the leaf 
usually extends to the apex of the appendage. It is only neces- 
sary, then, to speak of the relations of the leaf to the axis of the 
branch. 

When a leaf is about to be developed upon this, a little eleva- 
tion may be perceived upon its terminal bud. This prominence 
consists of an evident extension of the parts at the circumference 
of the axis of the branch, 7. e. the young leaf at its first appearance 
is a flattened shoot, which has only to become extended in 
length and breadth to form a perfect leaf. In the interior of this 
shoot the material for development (cytoblastema) shows itself, 
and. as the lamina extends itself, the cytoblastema is gradually 
converted into cells. At the same time, and equally keeping pace, 
a branch of the central vascular bundle—which always reaches 
almost to the point of the terminal bud and also keeps pace with 
its elongation—proceeds across through the delicate parenchyma 
in the interior of the leaf (Pl. ILI. fig. 11), where it terminates 
abruptly or in a clavate form, as in Ferns. At the same time, 
the long parenchymatous cells clothing the vessel naturally ac- 
company it into the leaf, and around these assemble also the 
tubular cells. And thus the tissue of the leaf appears spongiform 
in the cross-section. 

It must here be noticed, that both in the young branches and 
in the terminal bud, the surface of the axis of the branch is 
formed of a single layer of elongated cells (fig. 18), while at a 


112 M. Miiller on the Development of the Lycopodiacez: 


later period several layers of similarly elongated cells clothe it 
(fig. 11). 

The surface of the young leaf of L. denticulatum therefore 
consists of but one single layer of cells, which developes ito 
the proper epidermis, subsequently contains porous orifices, and 
always remains as a membrane composed of a single layer. Its 
cells are always hyaline and of flattened form. Next to it inte- 
riorly follows a layer of larger, round cells, next the spongiform 
tissue, and lastly, the vascular bundle with its appurtenances. 

The larger, round cells originally possess a nucleus which is 
firmly attached to the interior of the cell-wall: it is green and 
somewhat compressed. In this form it resembles a cytoblast, 
persisting in the cell, and I consider it as one, and that it has 
been converted into chlorophylle. Subsequently it separates into 
several granules, but not into many (fig. 11 ¢). 

The leaves are consequently only prolongations of the paren- 
chyma of the axis of the branch-axis, and never attain an inde- 
pendent position, as they universally remain attached by the 
whole base. 

The relations of the leaves to each other is such, that the older, 
the inner face of which have by this time become concave, over- 
lie the younger, and so on until we arrive at the delicate termi- 
nal bud which is completely inclosed by them, and, like the 
young, delicate and almost transparent leaves, is thus protected. 

4. The organs of reproduction. I now come to a point which 
is undoubtedly the most important of all, since it exercises the 
most direct influence over the systematic position of the Lycopo- 
diacee. This is the morphological import of the organs of repro- 
duction. Having been long known, this question has not passed 
unnoticed. ‘The first who expressed an opinion on the subject 
was Bischoff in his ‘ Lehr. d. Bot.’ 1 Th. 421. He says, “The 
position of these fruit (this refers both to the oophoridia and an- 
theridia) in the axil of the leaf appears to indicate that they are 
buds, the leaves of which, united in the younger stages to form 
the envelope of the fruit, separate when it is mature; they do 
not possess however the epidermal layer on the upper face. In 
favour of this view may be instanced the two- or three-chambered 
fruit of the foreign genus Pst/otum, in which, at its first appear- 
ance, the corresponding number of leaves may be perceived, and 
which generally resembles in structure a chambered capsular 
fruit.” 

On the other hand, H. Mohl in his memoir above-cited (Morph. 
Betr. tiber das Sporang., &c.), p. 29, opposes this, and for two 
reasons: “ In the first place,” he says, “it appears that the spo- 
rangium is not actually situated in the axil of the leaf. This is ~ 


M. Miller on the Development of the Lycopodiacee. 113 


shown indeed, although not very distinctly, by a careful exami- 
nation of Lycopodium, in which it may be observed that the base 
of the sporangium is connected equally with the mid-nerve of the 
leaf, in the axil of which it is situated, and with the stem, so that 
its true point of insertion remains doubtful ; this condition how- 
ever is better marked in Psilotum, especially in Tmesipteris, as 
here the capsule is attached in the incisure of the leaf.” The 
author then comes to speak of Jsoétes, where also two kinds of 
spores occur, by which the affinity to Lycopodiacee is so distinctly 
shown, and says that in Jsoé¢es the sporangia are decidedly not 
axillary but proceed from the leaf, whereby it is rendered pro- 
bable that this is also the case in the Lycopodiacee, and that the 
sporangia are productions from the leaves. He further says, 
p- 30, “The position of the sporangium on the leaf of Psilotum 
might indeed be explained by an adhesion of the fruit-stalk to 
the leaf, but on the other hand there is the opposing circumstance, 
that in this family generally the fruit-stalk is remarkably short, 
and in Isoétes no trace of it is to be found.” 

A second evidence against Bischoff’s view is found by this au- 
thor (Mohl) in the development of the spores contained in the 
fruit of the Lycopodiacee, “ since this takes place in the same 
manner as in Ferns and the pollen-granules of the Phanerogamia, 
in mother-cells which: fill the cavity of the fruit, and therefore 
indicates that it occurs in the interior of a cellular organ even as 
it does on the surface of a foliaceous part.”—“ This circum- 
stance,” he says further, p. 31, “ appears to have led Bischoff to 
the assumption that the epidermis is wanting on the upper side of 
the carpellary leaf. The assumption, that in the single carpellary 
leaves, the face, folded inward, disappears either at first or during 
the course of development, and that the cavity of the carpel be- 
comes filled with mother-cells which originate from the naked 
mesophyllum there present, is not indeed impossible in itself, but 
it is too little supported by any analogy to allow of our accepting 
it as valid without further examination of the point, in the pre- 
sent case where the position of the fruit generally renders its de- 
rivation from the leaf doubtful.” 

By these statements, Mohl endeavours to controvert Bischoff’s 
view, and to render the other probable, that the sporangia of 
Lycopodiacee are productions from the leaves ; for he says, him- 
self, finally (p. 33), “the fact of the sporangium of Psilotum being 
two- and three-chambered, cannot, as it appears to me, be brought 
as an objection to the view thus proposed ; for this structure may 
be explained as well by the growing together of two or three spo- 
rangia, formed like the thece of an anther, as by the union of 
carpels, and this the more that we find an analogous fusion of 
sporangia among the Ferns in Danea and Marattia.” 


114 M. Miller on the Development of the Liycopodiacese. 


The third investigator, whose opinions on this subject I have 
become acquainted with, is Schleiden. He declares himself most 
decidedly in favour of Mohl’s view, and says (Grundziige, ed. 1. 
part ii. 81), “ that the spore-fruits are special modifications of the 
parenchyma of the leaf, has been shown by Mohl as clearly as was 
possible without tracing the development. This however affords 
the same results.” From this last sentence we may guess that 
Schleiden had founded his very definite statement on an exami- 
nation of the development. ‘This however is not to be found in 
his earlier writings, and it is therefore very much to be regretted 
that this author has not given us a more detailed account of it ! 

How far my own investigations agree with the foregoing opi- 
nions, will best be seen after I have given the history of the 
development so far as I have arrived at any conclusions about it ; 
these I hope however may solve the questions above stated. 

1. The spike (spica nonnullor., amenta et strobilus. Spring.). 

The inflorescence of Lycopodia is always to be regarded as a 
spike: the peduncles of the fruit may be abbreviated and the 
leaves be thus brought closer together, in which case the cha- 
racter of the spike appears most distinctly, or the leaves may re- 
main in their original position. In this latter case the fruit is 
said to be scattered on the stem. It will be evident that I here 
of course only speak of the genera Lycopodium, Selaginella and 
Phylloglossum. 

The form of the spike naturally depends upon the arrange- 
ment of the leaves of the species, and therefore has usually no 
remarkable differences from the preceding whorls of leaves. In 
Selaginella alone it is regularly altered in such a manner, that 
while the leaves of the compressed branches, in four rows,—two 
above and two below,—are distant and of two forms, the leaves of 
the spike are densely crowded and thus form a four-sided spike 
on the round axis; for the little uniform leaflets are strongly 
keeled, overlap one another regularly, and the keel is thus dis- 
played at a prominent line on the spike (Pl. IV. fig. 18). Four 
such lines occur normally, and the four-sided form is thus pro- 
duced as the fruit-leaves are compressed so as to form an angle. 
The spike of Lycopodium, denticulatum is of this form. Two cir- 
cumstances have an important influence over its perfect develop- 
ment. If the axis of the branch does not become attached to 
the earth by its roots—and this is often the case in plants raised 
in pots—the spikelet of the branch which has not attached itself 
by rooting is manifestly retarded in its development, and often 
to such an extent that it scarcely visibly projects beyond the 
leaves ; but on the other hand, when the branches always root, 
the spikelet acquires a considerable height. 

On this now occur oophoridia and antheridia, The character 


M. Miiller on the Development of the Lycopodiaces. 115 


of their occurrence varies in three ways. Hither only antheridia 
appear on the spikelets (LZ. Selago, clavatum, annotinum, inunda- 
tum, the genus Phylloglossum, &c.), or only oophoridia (LZ. sela- 
ginoides), or both organs together. Here belongs L. denticu- 
latum, apparently together with the whole genus Selaginella and 
some annual species of the genus Lycopodium, which represent, 
as it were, the pigmies of the Lycopodiacee, e. g. L. gracillimum 
and pygmeum. In these two the oophoridia are situated under 
the antheridia at different points on the spike. On the other 
hand, in L. denticujatum and other Selaginelle in which I have 
become acquainted with the formation of the fruit, only one 
single oophoridium occurs on the spikelet, and that always at its 
base. This becomes of very great importance when we seek to 
discover the import of the oophoridium, and will be spoken of 
hereafter. In development however it is the simplest case, and 
therefore the most instructive. 

Examining the base of the spikelet of L. denticulatum more 
closely, the oophoridium is found to rest upon two leaves, two 
folia intermedia. The spikelet, which beyond this point bears 
only antheridia, also has intermediate leaves from its very base, 
that is, on the side opposite the oophoridium, and the whole 
spikelet is furnished with them. 

To trace the structure of the fruit-bearing portion of the axis, 
we must go back to the earliest condition of the terminal bud. 
The dichotomous division is always strongly marked in this bud, 
since the apex of the axis is always broader and more thickly 
clothed with leaves than the inferior portion. Inquiring into 
which portion is developed into the fruit-stalk, avery careful ex- 
amination shows that it is always that lying to the right hand. 
That there may be no doubt as to left and right, the plant must 
be looked on from above. The upper side however is always that 
on which the folia intermedia are attached. When the axis has 
divided into two branches, that part lying to the left of the axis 
elongates and always divides in a similar manner further on, 
whence it generally happens, that the direction of the right-hand 
branch of the left axis is always diverted a few degrees towards 
the left as in all cases of bifurcation, and thus the plant is in a 
condition to spread to such an extent that it covers large circular 
areas. 3 

So much for the fruit-bearing axis. I have now to explain 
more specially the development of the oophoridium and the an- 
theridia, in order to make out their morphological import. 

2. The oophoridium.—a. The formation of the sporangium. I 
do not dwell long upon the description of this, since its structure 
is nearly or almost wholly similar in most species, and may also 
be regarded as sufficiently understood. It.is, briefly, a sporan- 


116 M. Miller on the Development of the Lycopodiacez. 


gium of about the same size as the antheridia, the periphery pre- 
senting four rounded projections. These projecting portions are. 
always opposed in pairs, so that their lines of intersection cross 
(Pl. IV, figs. 3—5). Schleiden (Grundz. ed. 1. 1. 82) calls it 
a rounded tetrahedral fruit; but the expression “ fowr-knobbed 
(vierhiigelige) fruit” appears to me much more indicative of its 
character, as a rounded tetrahedral form does not include the 
rounded projections which so distinctly occur. At its base the 
oophoridium is furnished with a short pedicel, compressed on 
two sides, which consequently resembles the axis of the branch 
(fig. 3). Around this pedicel is a circular spot consisting of de- 
licate, minute and hyaline cellular tissue (fig. 4). From this 
runs out on each side a long, elliptical space which also consists 
of the same delicate tissue (fig. 4). The latter spaces indicate 
the line in which the oophoridium subsequently opens, without 
being itself actually torn. In L. gracillimum these two long spaces 
are dichotomously divided. The line of dehiscence also extends 
over the crown of the sporangium (fig. 5). The crown however 
is usually regularly depressed inward in the younger stages. The 
membrane of the oophoridium is composed of a layer of dense 
parenchymatous cellular tissue. On the inner wall of this is 
usually found an irregularly deposited, green cellular mass, 
which is apparently a secondary deposit: this is what we find 
in L. denticulatum. The four germinative spores found in the 
sporangium have already been spoken of in § 2; they form the 
four projections of the oophoridium. 

When the fruit-bearing axis is examined in a very early con- 
dition—and this is necessary, since the organs of fructification 
are very rapidly developed—a relation between the oophoridium 
and antheridium shows itself, which cannot easily be detected in 
the subsequent fully-developed condition. The spikelets bearmg 
the oophoridium and the antheridia here appear as_ perfectly 
distinct parts (fig. 6): they deviate from each other dichoto- 
mously, just as the young forking branches of the axis do. The 
oophoridium is at this time externally an almost angular, round- 
ish, inflated body, the breadth not exceeding the length (fig. 6 a) ; 
but very soon, after it has produced the four spores in its inte- 
rior, it acquires the already-noticed four-lobed form with much 
more distinctness. The oophoridium is then, generally, of a 
longish shape and compressed on two sides (fig. 10). In this 
ellipsoidal form it stands with the longer face on the base of the 
spike, so that the angle of the spike, produced by the above- 
described keel of the leaf, corresponds approximatively to the 
middle of the oophoridium (13a). If this organ is now looked 
at laterally, so that the two prominences a 3 in fig. 10 lie on a 
level with the eye of the observer who thus looks along the long 


M. Miiller on the Development of the Lycopodiacee. 117 


vertex of the ellipsoid, this vertex appears somewhat depressed 
inward as if emarginate (fig. 12 aa). If it is then looked at 
again on the side which brings the long face (ce d in fig. 10) 
across the eye, the long side appears as a rounded trigone 
(fig. 11 @ b is the other side lying behind). In all these forms 
the oophoridium can externally only be made out to be a vesi- 
cular projecting organ, and naturally so, since the four spores 
have not yet become developed into compact masses. In pro- 
portion as the spores are perfected it appears to become gradually 
denser until it acquires the above-described four-lobed shape. 

Here, before we know anything of the interior of the oopho- 
ridium, the question proposes itself, What is the oophoridium 
actually? According to all that I have hitherto said about it, 
the oophoridium is the whole, metamorphosed terminal bud of a 
main axis. It ts therefore an axial organ. 

Most important grounds support this opinion. The first is 
the independent position of the oophoridium, opposite the spike, 
in the early condition (fig. 6a). Here we distinctly see the 
oophoridium and spikelet are the two metamorphosed branches into 
which a main branch has just divided. In a later condition it 
does certainly appear as if both oophoridium and spikelet be- 
longed to one single axis. There can however be so little doubt 
about our having to do with two branches, that in the absence 
of other argument, this mode of development alone would be 
sufficient to warrant my opinion. All that a branch possesses is 
found with the oophoridium, since we have already seen above 
that it is protected by two leaves; and these two intermediate 
leaves are to be regarded as the two first of that which is here 
developed into an oophoridium. We also saw above, that near 
the oophoridium and the spike is often produced the same root 
which appears in the bifurcation of a main axis. Moreover that 
in L. denticulatum, as in most of the Selaginelle, only one 
oophoridium is found on each fruit-bearing axis, speaks equally 
in favour of my view, since it stands in exact connexion with the 
scattered fructification of the said axis. The branches divide 
too frequently in L. denticulatum for the branch to produce 
many fruits. It is too thin to form a main axis out of which 
oophoridia might be developed. The case is different in L. se- 
laginoides. Here the axis of the fruit is very thick, and thus 
it is suited to form branches which may develope into oopho- 
ridia. Another proof is, that in the young condition the 
oophoridia are all compressed, as the branch of Z. denticulatum 
always is, since the oophoridium is in fact only the transformed 
apex of the branch. ‘The internal course of the vascular bundle 
is even a better evidence, for a vascular bundle runs into the 
pedicel of the oophoridium (fig. 14), a condition which must be 


118 M. Miller on the Development of the Lycopodiaceze. 


further examined hereafter. Finally, the view becomes incon- 
trovertible from an anomaly which I have observed once, where 
both the branches of the fruit-bearing axis had been transformed 
into oophoridia. ere of course the spikelet was wanting, and 
two oophoridia were opposed to each other, the most complete 
proof that the terminal bud of that branch had been transformed 
into an oophoridium, which properly should have produced a 
branch. 

It would be very interesting to trace the formation of the 
oophoridia in a fruit-axis which bears these organs alone, as in 
LL, selaginoides. Were the axis of the branch is very slender, as 
in L. denticulatum, but the formation of the oophoridia, which 
takes place within a spike, is distinct. This is explained, as we 
have already seen, only by the thickness of the fruif-axis, as this 
increases in thickness as it proceeds upwards, and does not branch 
beyond like the inferior portion of the axis of the branch. This 
ramification however occurs again above in a more evident de- 
gree, since the individual joimts of the axis become so distinctly 
shortened that the stalk of the spikes becomes diverted outwards. 
Here also there is no doubt that the oophoridium is a metamor- 
phosed branch, and a history of the development of this most 
interesting species is very desirable. 

Consequently the view of H. Mohl and Schleiden in reference 
to the oophoridium, that this sporangium is a production from 
the leaf, is certainly incorrect ; neither is it formed of carpellary 
leaves, as Bischoff endeavoured to show. 

b. The formation of spores. A new question to which I now 
come relates to the formation of the four germinative spores in 
the interior of the oophoridium. I regret that I cannot offer a 
perfect account of their development. What my researches have 
hitherto made me acquainted with on this point is limited to the 
following. . 

If we cut through the oophoridium in the direction of its 
length in a very young condition, the view of the interior con- 
firms what we have above concluded from its external conforma- 
tion. The membrane of the oophoridium is a mere development 
of the apex of the axis and is identical with the epidermis of the 
leaf, both being formed by the outermost cellular layer of the 
axis (figs. 7, 8). It is only at a subsequent period that the leaf 
acquires an organ, the porous slit, which never shows itself in 
the oophoridium. The membrane of the oophoridium is not 
equally strong at all points, but much thickened at the vertex 
(fig. 7 a). It is also decurved somewhat over its point of attach- 
ment, the future pedicel (fig. 7 6), whence this latter comes to 
be situated in a longitudinal fold which is continuous with the 


base. 


M. Miiller on the Development of the Lycopodiacese. 119 


Projecting into the interior of this cavity may now be discerned 
a more or less roundish vesicle (figs. 7 ¢, 9a). This is formed 
of a very delicate, homogeneous membrane, perfectly hyaline, 
therefore deyoid of contents, and surrounded at its base by a 
great number of smaller, more or less hyaline cells. This vesicle 
is now apparently only the apex of the proper central axis of the 
vascular bundle, as may be seen in figs. 7 and 9; and those cells 
occurring at the base of the vesicle are the terminal ones of the 
axis of the branch, the growth of which has not nearly kept pace 
with that of the external cortical layer of the branch-axis, and 
thus the cortical layer has become isolated and appears as the 
sporangium. ‘These cells subsequently acquire some green con- 
tents; but they undergo no further development, and exist in 
the perfect oophoridium merely as a compact mass of cells out 
of which project the four spores, 

The four spores however are formed in the vesicle produced 
from the apex of the vascular bundle, and I have hitherto only 
met with them in one single stage (fig. 15). Here they all four 
lay closely grouped together and occupied the greater part of the 
cavity of the vesicle. Each spore was already composed of a very 
delicate, somewhat reddish-coloured membrane, which however 
though still so young was already cellular. This last circumstance 
has as yet remained perfectly incomprehensible to me. 

Should subsequent investigations show that this cellular struc- 
ture is only apparent, and that this appearance coincides with the 
ridge-like projections which so often occur on the pollen-grains 
of the Phanerogamia, the question of the origin of the four ger- 
minative spores would be very clearly solved. We should here 
have in the interior of the oophoridium exactly the same law, 
that the matter contained in a mother-cell in the pollen-grain is 
formed, regularly, into four portions—subsequently four pollen- 
grains. We should have, in this vesicle, an actual mother-cell. 

The further development of the spore is nothing more than a 
gradual expansion of its membrane, which soon acquires a yellow 
colour. It is quite empty, the form flat and compressed, and 
tetrahedral in the same way as the antheridia-spores, so that a 
long ridge may be observed on it (fig. 16). Little elevations 
also soon show themselves upon it;—a sign that the membrane is 
becoming thickened by the deposition of membranous matter. 
As the spore increases in size however, the vesicle in which it 
was formed disappears, and the four spores, which were originally 
situated directly on the summit of the central axis, now lie scat- 
tered in the four projecting lobes of the spore (sporangium ?). 
They go on swelling and becoming more thickened, until they 
are at last found in that condition which was described in § 2. 

The course of development of these spores must be very clearly 


120 Mr. J. E. Gray’s Outline of an Arrangement of Stony Corals. 


exhibited in L. selaginoides, where it must be possible to find 
a great many stages at one time on a single spike, as so many 
oophoridia occur on it. They must be also very easy to prepare 
for examination here,—a matter of exceeding difficulty in L. den- 
ticulatum. | 

In conclusion to these remarks on the oophoridium, two words 
on the affinities of Isoétes and Lycopodium. It appears to me 
that this question involves the import which must be attributed 
to the large spore-sporangia of Jsoétes. Are these metamor- 
phosed branches or not? In the latter case the affinity would 
be merely apparent, only inasmuch that both, [soétes and Lyco- 
podium, exhibit two kinds of spores. In the former case, how- 
ever, the affinity would be perfectly proved. The compressed, 
concentrated stem of the Jsoétee would not be any great evidence 
against the affinity, smce we have become, through Kunze, ac- 
quainted with the genus Phylloglossum. This is apparently a con- 
necting link between Jsoétes and Lycopodium; and if A. Braun’s 
opinion be correct, that Phylloglossum is to be regarded as a Ly- 
copodium acaule, Isoétes would also have to be regarded as a 
planta acaulis of the Lycopodiacee. It is readily conceivable 
that the term stemless plant is not to be taken here in its strictest 
sense, but rather to be understood as indicating a plant with an 
abbreviated stem. 

Lastly, in reference to the import of the germinative spore of 
the oophoridium, Bischoff (Krypt. Gew. 126) has called them 
spore-bulbels (¢ubercula sporoidea), and compared them to the 
bulbels of Arum ternatum and Dentaria bulbifera. It is evident 
that this has no meaning till we know the whole course of de- 
velopment. The same applies to the expression receptaculum 
tuberculiferum, which he applied to the oophoridium. I have 
preferred the latter name because it is the more simple. 3 


[To be continued. ] 


XV.—An Outline of an Arrangement of Stony Corals. 
By J. HE. Gray, F.R.S. &e. 


Axout ten years ago, when I arranged the Corals in the British 
Museum, I was struck with the difficulty of determining with 
precision the proper situation in the system either of Lamarck 
or De Blainville, of a large number of the specimens we then 
possessed, and in the ‘Synopsis’ I made some remarks on the 
variation which accidental circumstances, such as localities, &c., 
appeared to have on specimens of the same species. Since that 
period I have examined the collections of corals which have 
come in my way, and selected for the Museum collection the 


Mr. J. E. Gray’s Outline of an Arrangement of Stony Corals. 121 


specimens which showed any variation or peculiarity of structure. 
Being now called, by the increased space which I have at my dis- 
posal, to re-arrange the collection, I intend in the following paper 
to embody the result of my experience in the study of these in- 
teresting beings. 

Pallas divided the Madrepores into seven groups, according to 
their general forms (Zooph. 275). Lamarck gave names to these 
groups, and extended their number, taking for the characters of 
his genera the form of the cell, the position of the mouth of the 
cell, and the distribution of the cells with regard to each other in 
the mass, and also if they were distributed on both or confined 
. the upper surface of the mass, and if the mass was fixed or 
ree. 

Forskal figured the animal of several species, Savigny in the 
great work on Egypt figured another, and arranged them with the 
harder Actinie ; and subsequently Lesueur in three papers pub- 
lished in the Mémoires of the Museum and Philadelphia Journal, 
figured the animal of some other genera. Blainville with these 
materials and with the original drawing made by MM. Quoy and 
Gaimard in their ‘ Cireumnavigation,’ in his article Zoophytes in 
the ‘Dictionnaire des Sciences Naturelles’ (afterwards published 
separately as a Manual) attempted to characterize the genera by 
the conjoint consideration of the animal and its coral, paying 
more: attention to the form of the cells than to the form of the 
coral and the distribution of the cells in the mass, and certainly 
he succeeded in much improving Lamarck’s arrangement ; and 
having Lamarck’s original specimens within reach, he has referred 
them to their proper genera according to his view, and produced 
one of the best works on these animals which has yet appeared. 
Unfortunately, like Lamarck, having only isolated specimens, and 
often only fragments to examine, M. de Blainville has placed too 
much reliance on the general form of the corals : thus he divides 
his genus Gemmipora into arborescent, explaniform and crusti- 
form; the Montipora into crateriform and explaniform species ; 
the Porites into incrusting, conglomerate and branching species ; 
when the same species of these genera may be found in each of 
these forms, and the species founded on these characters depend 
only on some accidental and often local peculiarity of the speci- 
mens, or may even have been broken from the same specimen. 

M. Ehrenberg in 1834 proposed an arrangement of Zoophytes, 
which, though it has much the external appearance of novelty, 
made very little addition to the real knowledge of the stony 
corals; for his generic characters differ very little from those 
given by Lamarck and De Blainville, though they are expressed 
in a very different manner, and made chiefly to depend on 
the mode in which the buds are developed ; and as this circum- 

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Vol. xix. 


122 Mr. J.E. Gray’s Outline of an Arrangement of Stony Corals. 


stance is in almost every instance only to be derived from the 
study of the result in the perfect coral, and not from the deve- 
lopment of the buds of the animals themselves, I think it is 
better to state, as Lamarck and De Blainville have done, the de- 
scription of the coral as found in the collection, than to give a 
theoretical account of the development of the buds, leaving one 
to divine what kind of coral must result from the development 
of the buds described. As was to be expected, the development 
which appears from the study of the Polyphyilia, for example, in 
the different stages of growth in the same specimens, does not 
appear to agree with the theoretical development described by 
the author; for in the young state this coral has a single star 
with regular rays, and looks like an attached Fungia, but is rather 
more solid ; new mouths, indicated by smaller stars, are gradually 
developed near the centre, the number increasing as the coral 
increases in size, and at length the mass becomes free and as- 
sumes the oblong shape. It appears to be one of the great de- 
fects of this arrangement, that the stony corals which are free in 
the adult state, as Mungia, Haliglossa and Polyphyllia, are sepa- 
rated from the others by Pennatula and its allied genera, because 
the author believes these corals to be internal and hence free ; 
for we now know that these genera (which belong to two very 
different groups) are all in their young state attached like other 
corals. M.Ehrenberg compared these free internal corals to the 
bones of cuttlefish, and the plant-like or external corals, as he calls 
the other genera, to the shells of the oyster : he can only mean this 
as a resemblance as regards their position, for neither the inter- 
nal Fungia nor the external Cladocora are deposited or formed 
like a shell, but merely consist of the hardening of the cellular 
substance of the animal itself by the deposition of cretaceous 
matter in the cavities of its cellular substance ; and the Pungia is 
not truly internal, but placed in exactly the same situation as 
regards the coral as the other genera, and only covered with a 
reflexed part of the edge of the body. M. Ehrenberg divides the 

lant or external corals into two sections, those which have many 
~ and those which have twelve tentacles, but these divisions exactly 
agree with the sections named Madrephylles and Madrepores 
established by M. de Blainville. — 

M. Ehrenberg in the paper above referred to has described 
many new species ; they have not been figured, and unfortunately 
his characters are not very clear and are difficult to understand, 
so that I am not able to refer to them with certainty, more 
especially as he places great reliance on the size of the coral 
and on the size of the cells. Now experience has taught me 
that both are very liable to variation even in different parts 
of the same specimen or group. In the ‘ Synopsis of the British 


Mr. J. E. Gray’s Outline of an Arrangement of Stony Corals. 123 


Museum’ for 1842 I observe, “the form of the masses (of coral) 
appears to be greatly influenced by the position in which they 
have grown, and the size of the individuals (cells) greatly depends 
on the quantity of nourishment they are able to procure. ‘This 
is proved by the fact, that if all the individuals of the same mass 
are equally exposed they are of equal size, but if the surface of 
the coral is waved as in Hwplanaria, the individuals on the 
convex part of the mass which could procure the most food are 
large, while those on the concave or sunken parts are small,” 
p. 1381. Continued experience and the examination of many 
hundred specimens have only extended and confirmed these opi- 
nions ; consequently I expect that many of M. Ehrenberg’s new 
species are what are only regarded in this paper as varieties : for 
example, he has described six species of Sertatopora; I have ex- 
amined many specimens from different localities presenting dif- 
ferences of size and of comparative thickness and length of the 
branches, but am inclined to consider them as all varieties of the 
same species*, 

It is a common error to regard the whole mass of a Brainstone, 
for example, as a living mass; this is by no means the case ; it is 
only a very shallow coat on its outer surface, which is alive at 
one time ; for as the animal increases in size above, the deposition 
of calcareous matter continues advancing below, and when that is 
completely deposited it is of no further use to the animal but as 
a support, and has no longer any organic life, for this part is in 
fact buried in its own secretion. This is the case with most of 
the coral animals, it is only the end of the Caryophylle or Dendro- 
phylle, about as deep as the cavity of the cell, that is alive; the 
other part being merely a peduncle to support the animal. This 
is well seen in the Oculina virginea, where the older branches of 
the coral often become tubular. 

This structure is further exhibited by the fact, that when any 
part of a massive coral is injured and the animal destroyed, the 
mjured part is healed over by the lateral development of a thin 
layer of coral, which is not to be distinguished in appearance 
from the normal structure of the coral. 

In general the edge of the cell and the lamin within it are 
calcareous nearly to the surface of the animal, and in many of 


* Since this paper has been in type, Mr. Forbes has kindly lent me a 
volume by Mr. Dana on the Structure and Classification of Zoophytes (Phi- 
ladelphia, 1846), containing some very interesting observations on these 
animals made during the United States’ exploring expedition. Mr. Dana’s 
classification of the stony corals is only a slight modification of that pro- 
posed by M, Ehrenkerg. The three works I have quoted have each a very 
different character ;—the French clear, calm and minute; the German 
theoretical, almost mystical, and difficult; the American oratorical and 
high-flown. : 

O* 


124 Mr. J. E. Gray’s Outline of an Arrangement of Stony Corals. 


these animals each individual is distinctly divided, and hence each 
cell has distinct parietes ; but on the contrary in the Porites the 
separate animals do not secrete any calcareous matter between 
themselves, hence there are no distinct cells on the surface of the 
coral, and the coral is very porous, being pierced in every direc- 
tion, and what are lamine in other corals in this genus are only 
calcareous spicula. 

The animals of the stony corals, besides being reproduced by 
eggs, which are developed between the septa of the stomach and 
emitted by the mouth, as in soft coralless Actinia or the coria- 
ceous Zoanthi, and form new individuals or masses, also have the 
power of developing buds from their sides, or of increasing them- 
selves by the spontaneous division of their stomachs, and it is by 
these means that the masses of coral are enlarged and continued ; 
and the forms which the various kinds of coral assume in their 
growth, which gives the most prominent differences between their 
genera, depend on the manner in which these buds are developed, 
or the body of the animal spontaneously divided, each cell or 
branch being either the growth of a separate bud or resulting 
from this spontaneous division. 

Before the spontaneous division of the animals takes place, the 
stomach enlarges and a new mouth opens near the original one in 
the disc, and from the mouth new radiating lamelle arrange 
themselves, forming new centres, and this process is again and 
again repeated. Now as the lamine of the coral represent the 
plates in the stomachs, and the centre of the plates the mouth, 
this kind of development may be observed in the coral nearly as 
well as if the animal was present. 

The effect of this kind of spontaneous division on coral is very 
different in the two forms which the animals assume during their 
growth ; and as these forms gradually pass into each other, so 
their peculiarities become less apparent. If the animal grows in 
height, raising itself on the gradually solidified part of the former 
coral, as in the branched Caryophyllia fastigiata, Lam., where 
the cells are round, they at length become oblong, then separate 
in the middle, the separation becomes more complete, and at 
length two complete similar cells are formed*, each placed on 
the end of a branch divided by a fork, and this process is repeated, 
forming a forked coral. The same kind of separation takes place 
in Caryophyllia sinuosa, Lam., but here the divided portions some- 
times form separate stars, and at others only form new centres 
in the enlarged old star, which remains surrounded by the same 
edge. It is this latter kind of division which forms the elon- 
gated compressed cells of the Meandrine and the sinuous con- 


* See Synopsis Brit. Mus. 1842, 130, 


Mr. J. E. Gray’s Outline of an Arrangement of Stony Corals. 125 


tinued cells of Monticularie ; these forms gradually pass into the 
next form. 

On the other hand, if the animal chiefly extends its size by 
spreading out laterally, forming a thin foliaceous expanded coral, 
the cell of the young animal has simple rays, as is shown in the 
young Fungia Talpa, Lam., in the British Museum; and as the ani- 
mal expands, new mouths forming new centres are developed in 
the disc of the star. This is the mode of growth of the Agaricia, 
Pavonine, &c., the animals being continually expanded towards 
the margins of the corals ; and when the cavities of the stomach, 
separated by the septa which form the plates on the surface, are 
sufficiently expanded (or perhaps too much expanded for the 
food conveniently to reach them), then new mouths are opened ; 
hence the mouths, and the stars indicating these mouths, are gene- 
rally placed in concentric lines parallel with the edge of the corals. 
The foliaceous corals which are thus developed are easily known 
from those which are produced by buds, for in the latter mstance 
(as the Gemmipora) the edge of the coral is formed by the last- 
formed buds or stars, while in these the edges are formed by the 
extended side of the stomach, and are thin and marked above 
with the laminz of the stomach, the stars being some distance 
within the margin. | 

In these corals the animals form a common mass, the cell of 
the stomach of the different mouths having a more or less com- 
plete communication with each other, which is not the case with 
those which enlarge by buds, the polypes and their stomach 
being separate from each other, and the animal only united by 
their cellular integuments. 

The manner in which the buds are developed also greatly mo- 
difies the form of the coral; thus if they are developed from the 
expansions of the base, the coral formed is crustiform or rounded, 
as in some Astree; and if from the upper part of the cell, then 
the coral is generally arborescent and branched. It may be ob- 
served that it is the marginal or terminal that is the last deve- 
loped bud, which shows plainly the manner in which the buds are 
developed, as the after-development of the coral obliterates the 
separation between them ; and further, when branches of different 
stems meet or cross they are frequently united together in a single 
network, as is the case with the horizontally expanded Madrepores 
and Oculina virginea, and if the branches are arranged parallel 
and by their growth become near each other, they by the deve- 
lopment of the animal are united into a single expanded mass, 
as in Madrepora palmata, where the separate spike-like branches 
which are gradually united together to form the fronds are to be 
seen on its edges. 

As in the coral animals which enlarge by the spontaneous di- 


126 Mr, J.B. Gray’s Outline of an Arrangement of Stony Corals. 


vision of their digestive cavity, so in these, there are all kinds of 
intermediate gradations between the two modes of development 
above described ; indeed in some corals, as the Madrepores, in the 
early stages of the animal, the buds appear to be developed from 
the base of the sides forming a crust, and then one of the ani- 
mals which is larger and stronger than the rest, ascends above 
the level, throws off buds from its upper part, and the coral 
becomes arborescent. 

The buds are developed in various manners from the surface 
of the body; in the Oculina axillaris, Lam., they are emitted 
from each edge of the cells, and the coral becomes forked with 
the stars in the axilla; in O. prolifera, Lam., one or two buds 
are produced from one side of the animal; and hence a kind of 
secund arrangement of the cell. In O. flabelliformis a single bud 
is developed on one side of the animal, and then this developes 
another on the opposite side; so that the young cells form a kind 
of zigzag stem, and the whole coral assumes a fan-like shape ; 
while in O. virginea and hirtella the buds are so developed, that 
the animal assumes a somewhat spiral direction, the cell at the 
tip being the one last developed. 

In other corals, as the Seriatopores, the buds are developed in 
pairs on the alternate side of the branch, hence the cells appear 
in longitudinal series; and lastly, in the Porites, Pocillopora 
and Sideropora, each of the animals at the end of the compressed 
branches developes a bud on the upper side, and the branches 
are prolonged. 

- Tn other corals a single animal continues to ascend, and as it 
grows developes from its sides a succession of buds which form 
lateral cells; some of these being produced form branches emit- 
ting buds like the original stem. This is well seen in Caryo- 
phyllia ramea, Lam., where the lateral cells and branches are 
smaller than the main stem; sometimes, as in C. flexuosa, Lam., 
where the whole coral assumes a subglobular shape, the branches 
are nearly as large as the stem. In the genus Madrepora the 
original animal as it elongates gives out a succession of buds on 
all sides, forming subspiral whorls of cells round its base ; some 
of these cells in their turn becoming the parent of a similar set 
of buds. It is this original cell which forms the “apea per- 
foratus” in Lamarck’s description of these corals. 

There is extreme difficulty with regard to the authority that 
can be placed in the figures hitherto published of the animal of 
these corals. Donati (Mer Adriat. 50. t. 7) figures the animal 
of Madrepora ramea, and M. Milne Edwards, who has seen the 
animal on the coast of Africa, assures us it has nothing resem- 
bling the hooked appendages figured by Donati (Lam. H. edit. 2. 
ii. 354). MM. Quoy and Gaimard figure in the Voy. of the Ura- 


Mr. J. E. Gray’s Outline of an Arrangement of Stony Corals, 127 


nia, t.96, the animal of Mad. cerulea, but in the Voyage of the 
Astrolabe they found that what they had taken for the animals 
must be parasites, which must have been lodged between the cells, 
and not what they then regarded as the true animals of the corals. 
M. Lesueur figures the animal of several species of Meandrine, 
but they all differ from the animal which MM. Quoy and Gaimard 
(Voy. Astrolabe) figure as bemg the animal of that genus, and 
both differ from M. Ehrenberg’s account of the animal. Lesueur 
. describes Astrea ananas as having no tentacles, and Quoy de- 
scribed under the same name a coral that has small rounded 
tubercle-like tentacles ! 


Synopsis or THE Famiuizs. 

1. Animal 12- or fewer rayed, with 12 or fewer tentacles placed 
in a single series; coral cells gemmiferous, circumscribed, simple, 
with 12 or fewer longitudinal ridges, and sometimes furnished with 
a central style. Les Madrepores, Blainv. Phytocorallia dodeac- 
tinia, hr. 

Fam. 1. Pocrtuoporipa, Gray,. Syn. B. M. 1842, 180. 

Coral hard, solid, brittle, spinulose or granulated; cells 6-sided, 
simple, shallow, ciliated or spinulose. 


Seriatopora, Lam. Pocillopora, Lam.* Stylopora, Schw. (Si- 
deropora, B/., and Anthopora, Gray.) 


Fam. 2. STYLASTERIDZ. 
Coral minutely porous ; cells deep, cylindrical, with six grooves, 
each ending in a pore and a central style. | 
Stylaster,' Gray. 
Fam. 8. Mapreroripa, Gray. 


Coral porous, spongy and rough ; cells deep, circular, with six 
or twelve longitudinal folds, immersed or produced, subcylindri- 
cal, and without any central style. 


Madrepora, Lam. Ueliopora, Bl. Asteriopora, Bl. Monti- 
pora, Bl, Millepora, Linn. (Palmipora, B/.) 


Fam. 4. Poritipa, Gray. : 
Coral very porous, spongy and rough; cells many-sided, with 
granulose edges, more or less incomplete filamentose or spinu- 
lose lamellze, surrounded by pierced or netted parietes. 


Porites, Lam. Alveopora, Bl. 


2. Animal many-rayed, and with many tentacles, placed in two 
or more series ; coral cells with 12 or more radiating plates. Les 
Madrepores, Blainv. Zoocorallia and Phytocorallia Polyactinia, 
Lihrenb. 


128 Mr. J. HE. Gray’s Outline of an Arrangement of Stony Corals. 


a. Coral cell circumscribed, with only a single centre ; lamine 
smooth or very slightly serrated; animal gemmiferous. Ocellina, 
hr. 

DENDROPHYLLIDA. 


Coral moderately hard, porous; surface minutely longitudi- 
nally striated ; cells truncated, concave, generally with a convex 
centre. 


Tubastrea, Dendrophyllia, B/. (Cladocora, Hhr.) Explanaria, 
Lam. (Gemmipora, B/.) 
OcULINIDz. 


Coral hard, covered with an enamel surface ; cells concave, with 
radia extended over the edges, or with the outer edge radiately 
grooved. 

Cyathina, HAr. Oculina, Lam. Anthophyllum, Schw. (A. 


fasciculatum.) 


b. Coral cells circumscribed or not defined, confluent, with many 
centres ; lamine serrated and extended, reflexed over the outer sur- 
face of the coral, or extended from centre to centre; coral hard, 


with a hard enamel surface ; animal growing by spontaneous divi- 
sion. Dedalina, Hhr. 


CARYOPHYLLIADZ. 


Cells deep, round (or sinuous with many centres) ; lamine torn, 
serrated, with a sinuous twisted centre, and often with interme- 
diate smaller plates not reaching the centre; animal continuing 
to grow upwards and gradually to expand in diameter. 

Caryophyllia, Lam. (Lobophylha, B/.) Tridacophyllia, Bl. 
Manicina, Ehr. Dipastrea, Bl. 


MEANDRINIDA. 


Cells deep, elongate, compressed, with a single series of equal 
lamin forming a single linear impressed line in the centre ; ani- 
mal continuing to grow upwards and gradually to expand in 
diameter. 

? Fungia, Lam. Flabellum, Lesson. coat ia Lam. Mon- 
ticularia, Lam. 

AGARICIADA. 

Cells shallow, not circumscribed, but scattered and united ‘to 
one another by laminz on the star-bearing surface of the coral ; 
animal expanding out laterally, forming a leaf-like frondose coral. 

**kA garicia and Pavonia, Lam. Stephanocora, Hhr. Kchi- 
nastrea, Blainv. ? Astrea, Lam. 


Zoological Society. 129 


PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 


ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 


November 11, 1846.—George Gulliver, Esq., F.R.S., in the Chair. 


A paper was read entitled ‘‘ Notes on certain species of birds from 
Malacca,” by H. E. Strickland, F.G.S. 


Having lately examined a collection of Malacca birds belonging 
_ to the Yorkshire Philosophical Society, comparing them with speci- 
mens in my own cabinet, and with the descriptions given by MM. 
Temminck, Blyth, Eyton and other authors, I have thrown together 
such remarks as appeared necessary for the elucidation of their cha- 
racters and synonymy. For some of the identifications of species I 
am indebted to Mr. Blyth’s letters to myself*. 


Athene scutulata (Raff.), (Strix hirsuta, Temm., Ninox nipalensis, 
Hodgs.)—This is the Athene malaccensis of Mr. Eyton, Ann. Nat. 
Hist., v. xvi. p. 228. 

Caprimulgus macrurus, Hors.—Differs from the C. albonotatus, 
Tickell, of India, in its smaller size, being only about 11 inches in 
total length, wing 73, tail 53, and in its darker colour. It appears 
to be the same as the C. macrurus from North Australia figured by 
Mr. Gould, except in wanting the second white patch seen on the 
breast in his figure. 


Cypselus affinis, Gray.—Rather larger and of a deeper black than 
Indian specimens, but I do not venture to separate them. Wing 5} 
inches, tail 23. 

Ceyx tridactyla, (Pall.)—Much confusion has existed in the 
synonyms of this and the next species. The present one is distin- 
guished by the whole back and wing-covers being black, each feather 
terminated with deep blue. It is well-figured by Mr. Jerdon in 
plate 25 of his ‘ Illustrations of Indian Ornithology.’ It is found im 
South India and the Malay Peninsula. The following synonyms 
refer to it:—Ceywr luzoniensis, Steph.; Alcedo purpurea, Gm.; A 
erithaca, 3. Lath.; Ceyx microsoma, Burton; Sonn. Voy. Nouv. Guin., 
pl. 32; Buff. Pl. Enl., 778. f.2.; Penn. Gen. Birds, pl. 5. 


Cryx ruriporsa, Strickland. C. capite, dorso, tectrictbus cau- 
dique totis lete rufis, splendore lilacino variantibus ; corpore . 
subtus aurantio-fiavo, mento albo, loris et maculd aurium obscure 
ceruleo-nigrd. 

This species, which also occurs at Malacca, is very closely allied 
to the last, but differs in having the beak larger in all its dimensions, 
and in having the whole back and wing-covers, as well as the crown, 
rump and tail, rufous, with a brilliant lilac tint. The dark blue spot 
on the front and ears is much less marked than in C. tridactyla. 
Lower parts orange-yellow; chin white. This bird was supposed 
by Pallas, in his ‘ Spicilegia Zoologica,’ part 6, p. 13, to be the female 

* Since this paper was written I have seen some rectifications of synonyms by 
Dr. Hartlaub, Rey. Zool, 1846, p. 1, which nearly agree with those here arrived at. 


130 Zoological Society. 


of C. tridactyla. It is figured by Messrs. Jardine and Selby in the 
‘ Illustrations of Zoology,’ ser. 1. pl. 55. f. 2. as C. tridactyla. Mr. 
Jerdon, in his ‘ Illustrations of Indian Zoology,’ refers this bird to 
Alcedo madagascariensis, Lin. ; but as that bird is distinctly described 
by the accurate Brisson as having four toes, it must be a true Alcedo, 
and I have therefore given a new specific name to the present bird. 


Prionochilus thoracicus, (Tem.), Pl. Col. 600. f. 1.—Temminck’s 
specimens were from Borneo, an island which has but few species in 
common with the peninsula of Malacca. This is closely allied to 
P. percussus, which I adopted as the type of my genus Prionochilus. 
This genus is very near to Diceum, and has the stoutest and shortest 
beak of all the Nectariniide. Many systematists would place it near 
Pipra or Pardalotus, but the finely serrated mandibles point out its 
true affinities. 


Diceum chrysorrheum, Tem. Pl. Col. 478.—Judging from the | 
similarity of plumage in the young of Prionochilus percussus, I sus- 
pect that this bird is either the female or young of some other species 
of Diceum. | 

Phyllornis moluccensis (Gray), Zool. Misc.—This is the P. maia- 
baricus of Tem. Pl. Col. 512. f, 2. and of Blyth, Journ. As. Soc. Beng. 
1848, p. 957, but is not the true malabaricus of Sonnerat and Sco- 
poli, which has been rediscovered in South India by Mr. Jerdon, and 
is a larger bird, with the head green and the forehead orange. The 
last is the P. cesmarhynchus of 'Tickell. In P. moluccensis the whole 
top and sides of the head are a clear yellow, surrounding the black 
of the chin and throat, and passing into golden yellow on the hind 
neck, A small spot on each side of the maxilla indigo-blue. Rest 
of body green; lesser wing-covers azure, primaries and lateral rec- 
trices externally greenish blue. P. aurifrons of Nepal differs from 
both the above in the chin being blue, &c. 


Parus flavocristatus, Lafr, (Melanochlora sumatrana, Less. ; Cratai- 

onyx ater, and flavus, Eyton; Parus sultaneus, Hodgs.)—One of the 
Malacca specimens is fully as large and as long-crested as Mr. Hodg- 
son’s Nepal ones. This is a perfectly typical Parus, and is the 
largest species which I know except the so-called Oreoica cristata of 
Australia, which I also consider a true Parus. 
’ Pitta cydnura, Gm. (M. affinis, Horsf.)—An immature specimen ; 
exhibits plain blue feathers in various parts of the abdomen, which 
appear to be supplanting the barred black and rufous feathers com- 
monly seen in this species, 

Turdus modestus, Eyton.—One of the specimens before me, pro- 
bably a fully adult, has the whole throat cinereous brown, and only 
the tip of the chin white. 

Criniyer gularis (Horsf.), (Izos pheocephalus, Hartl.; Trichopho- 
rus caniceps, Lafr.; Pycnonotus rufocaudatus, Eyton).—This is a true 
Criniger, though the beak is rather wider than in the type species. 


Pycnonotus cyaniventris, Blyth, Journ. As. Soc. Beng. (Malaco- 
pteron aureum, Eyton).—The smallest species of Pycnonotus with 


Zoological Society. 181 


which I am acquainted. Mr, Blyth makes it the type of his genus 
Levidia. 

Pycnonotus melanocephalus (Gm.), (Ixos atriceps, Tem. Pl. Col. 
147.)—This seems to be the /xvos metallicus of Mr. Eyton, in which 
case the length, eight inches, assigned by him (Ann. Nat. Hist. v. xvi. 
p- 228), is probably a misprint, as the specimens before me hardly 
exceed six inches. ; 

Pycnonotus crocorrhous, Strickl., Ann. Nat. Hist. v. xiii. p. 412.— 
A specimen before me has the vent pale scarlet, and is evidently the 
Hematornis chrysorrhoides, Lafr., Rev. Zool. 1845, p. 367, but is 
otherwise identical with that formerly described, in which the vent 
is ochreous-yellow. These differences may be sexual. It differs 
from Pycnonotus hemorrhous of Southern India in having the ear- 
covers and lower parts nearly white, and in other respects. 


Myiagra pyrrhoptera (Tem.), Pl. Col. 596. f. 2. (Muscipeta plumosa, 
Blyth; Philentoma castanea, Eyton.)—This bird is intermediate be- 
tween Myiagra and Muscipeta, but the development of the uropygial 
feathers alluded to by Mr. Eyton is hardly sufficient to form a generic 
distinction. It is probable that the long downy feathers of the lower 
back and rump, which admit of being expanded laterally, like an 
umbrella, over the wings, and which we meet with in many distinct 
groups of tropical Insessores, as the Formicariine of America, the 
Laniariine of Africa, and the Pycnonoting and Timaliine of Asia, may 
be a provision of nature against the violent and long-continued rains 
of the torrid zone. The species of Flycatcher before us, and the one 
which follows, may, from their mode of life or geographical distri- 
bution, be more exposed to rain than the other species of Myiagra, 
and may be provided with extra clothing accordingly. 


Myiagra pectoralis, Lord Arthur Hay in Madras Journ., March 
1846,—This is another species, in which the dorsal and hypochondrial 
feathers are lengthened and thickened, even to a greater degree than 
in the last. The whole plumage is uniform plumbeous blue, except 
the lores and chin, which are blackish ; the flanks, which are streaked 
with whitish ; and the inner webs of the remiges and rectrices, which 
are black. Beak and legs black, the former strong, the rictal bristles 
reaching two-thirds of its length. The first three remiges graduated, 
the fourth and fifth equal. ‘otal length, 74 inches; beak to front, 
7 lin. ; to gape, 11 lin.; height, 29 lin. ; ; breadth, 45 lin. ; ; wing, 3 in. 
10 in: ; medial reettioes, 33 in.; “ax banat ditto, 3 in. 5 Ye tarsus, 
7 lin. A younger specimen is marked with rufous on the wing- 
covers, abdomen and lower tail-covers. According to Lord A. Hay, 
the above-described is the female, the male having the breast claret- 
coloured, a state of plumage which I have not seen. 


Pertcrocotus mopestvus, Strickland. P. corpore supra cinereo 
subtus albo, remigibus atris, primariis 5 ad 9 et secundariis om- 
nibus fascid subbasali alba; rectricibus atris, albo large termi- 
natis. 

Above uniform cinereous; front whitish; lores black; remiges 

blackish, the medial portion of their inner webs white; the fifth to 


182 Zoological Society. 


ninth primaries and all the secondaries with a sub-basal white bar 
on the outer webs; rectrices blackish, largely tipped with white ; 
chin and lower parts white. Length, 8 inches ; beak to front, 5} lines ; 
to gape, 9 lines; breadth, 3 lines ; wing, 33 inches ; medial rectrices, 
34 inches; external ditto, 15 inch; tarsus, 8 lines; middle toe and 
claw, 8 lines; hind ditto, 5 lines. 

This is a typical species, but is at once distinguished from all the 
other known species of Pericrocotus by the absence of red or yellow 
in the plumage. 


Dicrurus malabaricus, Scop. (D. rangoonensis, Gould ; D. retifer, 
Tem.)—Racquet-tailed Dicrurus, with a very short erect frontal 
crest. 


Dicrurus balicassius (D. affinis, Blyth).—This seems to be the true 
balicassius of Linneus, judging from Brisson’s description, though I 
have never seen a specimen from the Philippine Islands to comere 
with the Malacca bird. 


Lanius lucionensis, Lin.—Having now examined many specimens 
from the Philippines, Malacca and British India, I find so many vari- 
ations in the rufous tint of the upper parts, the amount of white on 
the forehead, and the size of the beak, that I am compelled (con- 
trary to my former opinion, Ann, Nat. Hist., v. xiv. p. 44) to regard 
them as forming one widely-spread and variable species. The Ma- 
lacca specimens exhibit a considerable amount of variation in the 
size of the beak, and the Philippine ones are generally less rufous 
than those from India. If this view of specific identity be correct, 
Lanius cristatus, Lin. ; L. superciliosus, Lath. ; L. phenicurus, Pallas; 
L. magnirostris, Bélanger; L. melanotis, Valenciennes; L. ferrugi- 
ceps, Hodgson; and L. strigatus, Eyton, will all stand as synonyms 
of Lanius lucionensis, Lin. 


Eupetes macrocercus, Tem.—This form appears to belong to the 
subfamily Timaliine, a group chiefly confined to the Malasian archi- 
pelago and the peninsula of Malacca, and which seems to me to in- 
clude the following genera: Timalia proper, Brachypteryx, Malaco- 
pteron, Macronus, and one or two others. They are distinguished 
by great density of plumage, especially on the rump, a more or less 
shrike-like beak, well-developed legs, and a coloration in which 
rufous and brown predominate. Little is known of their habits, but 
they probably form a subfamily of the Luniide, and may be placed 
next to Formicariine, in which most of the South American Tham- 
nophili and Antcatchers should be included. 


MALACOPTERON OLIVACEUM, Strickland. MM. supra olivaceo-brun- 
neum, remigibus fuscis, extus rufo-brunneo, intus albido margi- 
natis; rectricibus rufo-brunneis, rufo marginatis ; loris superci- 
liisque cinerascentibus, mento et guld sordide albidis, pectore 
lateribusque pallide olivaceis, abdomine pallide fulvo, crisso pal- 
lide rufo. 

Upper parts olive-brown ; remiges fuscous, edged externally with 

reddish brown and internally with whitish ; tail reddish brown, mar- 


Zoological Society. 133 


gined externally with rufous. Lores and streak over eye greyish; 
chin and throat dirty white ; breast and sides pale olive-brown ; belly 
pale fulvous; vent and lower tail-covers light rufous; upper man- 
dible fuscous, lower yellowish; feet and claws yellowish brown. 
Total length, 6 inches; beak to front, 10 lines; to gape, 1 inch; 
height, 3 lines; breadth, 33 lines; wing, 2 inches 10 lines; medial 
rectrices, 24 inches; external ditto, 2 inches; tarsus, 1 inch ; middle 
toe and claw, 11 lines; hind ditto, 9 lines. 


_ Malacopteron macrodactylum, Strickland in Ann. Nat. Hist., v. xiii. 

p-417.—Since described as Brachypteryx albogularis by Dr. Hartlaub, 
Rev. Zool. 1844, p. 401. It is however a true Malacopteron, which 
genus differs from the type of Brachypteryx by its shorter legs and 
by the beak, in which the shrike-like form is developed to the greatest 
extent of all the Timaliine. Brachypteryx sepiaria of Horsf. is a 
Malacopteron*. | 


Timalia pectoralis, Blyth (= Malacopteron squamatum, Eyton). 


Timalia nigricollis, Tem. Pl. Col. 594. f. 2. (Brachypteryx nigrogu- 
laris, Eyton ; Timalia erythronotus, Blyth),—This is a typical Timalia. 


Timalia erythroptera, Blyth, Journ. As. Soc. Beng. (Timalia pyr- 
rhophea, Hartl.; Brachypteryx acutirostris, Eyton).—A true Timatlia. 


Amadina acuticauda, Hodgs. in Asiatic Researches, v. xix.—A 
well-marked species intermediate between A. striata, Lin., and A. 
punctularia, Lin. 


Agapornis ? malaccensis, Lath. sp.—In the descriptions hitherto 
given of this bird no mention is made of the deep brownish red 
feathers on the radial margin of the wing. Mr. Blyth makes of 
this bird his genus Psittinus. 


Tiga Rafflesi, Vig.—The only description which I can find of this 
curious bird is in the classified list given by Mr. Vigors of the ani- 
mals of Java and Sumatra, published in the Appendix to the edition 
of the ‘ Life of Sir Stamford Rafiles.’ As few persons think of look- 
ing into a biographical work for a treatise on zoology, this paper is 
less known than it deserves to be, and I therefore extract the dia- 
gnosis given by Mr. Vigors of the species before us :— 


Picus RAFFLESI, Vig., 1. c. p. 669. P. supra flavescenti-brunneus, 
subtus brunneus; capite coccineo; gula pallide ferruginea; 
strigis, und ab oculis, secunda a rictu extendentibus maculisque 
ad latera abdominis albis; strigis duabus ad latera genarum, 
altera parva superciliari; remigibus rectricibusque nigris. 

The specimen before me is a female, and has the crown and elon- 
gated crest-feathers wholly deep black ; the upper parts are yellowish 
olive and the lower olive-brown; all the remiges have three round 
white spots on the inner webs of each; the lower wing-covers are 
pale yellowish, margined with brown. In all other respects the bird 
agrees with the description above-quoted. Its total length is 103 


* Mr. Blyth makes my M. macrodactylum the type of his genus Turdinus, but 
1 cannot approve of genera founded on such very slight distinctions. 


134: Zoological Society. 


inches; beak to front, 14 inch; to gape, 14 inch; wing, 53 
inches ; medial rectrices, 43 inches ; external ditto, 24 inches ; tarsus, 
104 laems middle toe and claw, 13 lines ; rémneed: ditto, 10 lines ; 
hind- toe entirely wanting. 

The beak is of moderate length, the culmen nearly straight, the 
gonys ascending, the apex compressed, a slight but distinct ridge 
running parallel to the culmen, and the nostrils are covered with 
incumbent feathers. As the Tiga tridactyla resembles in its style of 
plumage the orange-backed woodpeckers, Brachypternus and Chryso- 
colaptes, so the more uniform coloration of this species calls to mind 
the green woodpeckers which form the typical Gecini, But the beak 
is stronger and more adapted for chopping wood than in the latter 
group, and resembles more the structure of that organ in the red- 
winged and yellow-crested Gecini, such as G, nipalensis (Gray), G. 
mentalis (Tem.), &c. 


Tiga tridactyla.—Identical with specimens sent by Mr. Jerdon 
from Madras, except in being smaller. The wing measures only 5 
inches, while in the Madras ones it is 52 inches. Mr. Blyth has 
already noticed this distinction, but I cannot consider it as a spe- 
cific one. 


Hemicercus rubiginosus, Swains. Birds W. Af. v. 2. p. 150. (Picus 
rubiginosus, Eyton.) 

Hemicercus concretus (Tem.), Pl. Col. 90. (Dendrocopus sordidus, 
Eyton.) 

Cuculus Sonnerati, Lath.—This species, which occurs also in 
Southern India, appears never to assume a typically adult plumage, 
being invariably barred with brown and rufous above, and brown 
and white below. 


Cxnrropus rEcTuNeurs, Strickland. C. corpore nitide ceruleo- 
nigro, alis rufis, primariis fusco terminatis, ungue hallucis sub- 
brevi, recto. 

Body and tail glossy black, with a deep blue tint on the head, 
neck and breast ; wings wholly rufous, the primaries slightly tipped 
with fuscous ; hind-claw short and straight, Total length, 14-15 
inches ; beak to front, 14 inch; to gape, 14 inch; height J inch; 
width, 5 inch; wing, 6 inches ; medial rectrices, 7% inches; external 
ditto, 64 inches ; ; tarsus, 12 inch ; claw of hind-toe, > inch. Nearly 
allied in size, form of beak and coloration to C. philippensis, Buff. 
Pl, Enl. 824. (C. bubutus, Horsf.) of India, Java and the Philippines ; 
but differs in the shorter wings and tail, and in the hind-claw being 
almost perfectly straight, and only half an inch long; while in C. 
philippensis (sent by Mr. Jerdon from Madras) this claw is three- 
quarters of an inch long and considerably curved ; the wing measures 
7% inches and the tail 10 inches. 

Treron Capellei (Tem.), Pl. Col. 143.—The largest of the genus, 
and erroneously named militaris, in many museums. I inadvertently 
described this as new, under the name of magnirostris in the Ann. 
Nat. Hist., v. xiv. p. 116. 


Zoological Society. 185 


Treron fulvicollis (Wagl.), (T. tenuirostre, Eyton.) 


Rollulus niger.—The female of this bird has been described by Mr. 
Vigors under the name of Cryptonyxr ferrugineus, and by Mr. Eyton 
as Perdix e«ruginosus (Proc. Zool. Soc. part 7. p. 106). It departs 
from the type of Rodlulus in possessing a rudimentary hind claw. 


Turnix pugnaz, Tem, Pl, Col. 60, f. 2.—This seems to be the He- 
mipodius atrogularis of Mr. Eyton, Proc, Zool. Soc. part 7, p, 107. 


Rallus striatus, Lin. (Rallus gularis, Horsf., Blyth, &e.)—I have 
specimens of this species from the Philippine Islands, Malacca and 
Madras, which present no specific difference, and which exactly agree 
with Brisson’s description of his Rallus philippensis striatus, on 
which R, striatus, Lin., is founded. 


November 24,—William Yarrell, Esq,, Vice-President, in the Chair. 


Mr. Gould exhibited to the Meeting, named and described three 
Australian Birds collected by the late Mr. Gilbert, viz. :— 

Perroica superciLiosa. Pet. strigd superciliari, guld, abdomine, 

et humeris infra, albis ; loris, auribus, et alarum tectricibus, atris ; 
primariis et secondariis, ad basin albis, ad mediam intense? atris ; 
alis, cauddque fuligineis ; rectricibus, intermediis duabus exceptis, 
ad apices albis. 

Superciliary stripe, throat, abdomen, under surface of the shoulder, 
and the base of the primaries and secondaries white; lores,. ear- 
coverts, wing-coverts, and the primaries and secondaries for some 
distance beyond the white, deep black ; all the upper surface, wings, 
and tail, sooty-brown; all but the two central tail-feathers largely 
tipped with white; bill and feet black; irides reddish brown. 

Total length 5 inches; bill, 2; wing, 3; tail, 2}; tarsi, 7. 

Hab. 'The neighbourhood of the Burdekin Lakes, in the interior 
of Australia, | 


Poiipnita tevcotis. Poé, vittd in fronte, loris, guldque, et maculd 
magnd quoque in latere, intense holosericis nigris; auribus, lined 
attenuata nigrum in guld colorem infra marginante, et spatio macu- 
lam in latera circumdante, albis ; vertice, omni superiore corpore, 
alisque, saturate cinnamomeis ; pectore, ei abdomine, pallid vinosis ; 
tectricibus caude superioribus inferioribusque albis, 

Band crossing the forehead, lores, throat, and a large patch on 
each flank, deep velvety black ; ear-coverts, narrow line beneath the 
black of the throat, and a space surrounding the black patch on the 
flanks, white; crown of the head deep reddish chestnut ; all the upper 
surface and wings dark cinnamon-brown; chest and abdomen pale 
vinous brown; upper and under tail-coverts white, the former mar- 
gined externally with deep black; tail black; irides dark brown; 
feet red; bill yellowish horn-colour. 

Total length, 42 inches; bill, 3; wing, 24; tail, 24; tarsi, 2. 

The female is somewhat smaller and not quite so brightly coloured, 

Hab. The neighbourhood of the river Lynd, in the interior of 
Australia. 

. Remark.—Nearly allied to P, personata, 


136 Microscopical Society. 


CLIMACTERIS MELANOTUS. C/i. strigd superciliari, guldque, albo- 
cervinis ; lined ante oculum, alterd post oculum, omni superiore 
corpore, alis, cauddque, saturate fusco-nigris ; primariis, secon- 
darits, tertiariisque ad basin, et humeris infra stramineis ; corpore 
inferiore vinoso; singuld abdominis plumd lineis duabus spatium. 
album marginantibus nigris longitudinaliter prope caulem ornatd. 

Superciliary line and throat buffy-white; line before and behind 

the eye, all the upper surface, wings, and tail, dark brownish black ; 
the base of the primaries, secondaries, and tertiaries, and the under 
surface of the shoulder buff; under surface pale vincus brown; the 
feathers of the abdomen with two stripes of black running parallel 
to and near the stem, the space between dull white; at the base of 
the throat several irregular spots of black; under tail-coverts buffy- 
white, crossed by broad bars of black; irides brown. 

Total length, 53 inches; bill, $; wing, 34; tail, 25; tarsi, 2. 

The female differs in having the markings of the abdomen larger 

and more conspicuous, and in having the spots at the base of the 
throat chestnut instead of black. 

Hab. The neighbourhood of the river Lynd, in the interior of 

Australia. 
Remark.—Nearly allied to C. melanura and C. scandens. 


MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY. 


Nov. 11, 1846.—J. S. Bowerbank, Esq., F.R.S., President, in the 
Chair. 

A paper was read by Mr. John Quekett, entitled ‘« Additional Ob- 
servations on the intimate Structure of Bone.” 

The author, after alluding to a previous paper on the same subject 
read before the Society in March last, in which he described certain 
characters peculiar to the bones of each of the four great classes of 
the vertebrate kingdom, by which a bone of each class could be 
easily distinguished, and after pointing out the importance of the 
knowledge of this subject to the paleontologist and geologist in en- 
abling them to determine the nature of any fossil fragment of bone 
however minute, went on to state that he had ascertained that the 
cells of the bone bore a certain relation in point of size to that 
of the blood-discs ; thus for instance the blood-discs were found to 
be largest in reptiles, smallest in birds and mammalia, and were in 
fishes of an intermediate size ; and he had discovered that the bone- 
cells followed the same law. In the present paper Mr. Quekett 
stated the results of his examination of the structure of the bone of 
the perennibranchiate reptiles, viz. the Syren, Proteus and Axolotl, 
which have the largest blood-discs of all the vertebrata; and he 
found that in them the bone-cells were the largest also, which 
fully bore out and confirmed his former statement. Diagrams were 
exhibited which represented the bone-cells in the human subject, the 
Ostrich, Turtle, Syren and Lepidosteus, when magnified 450 dia- 
meters, by which means their characteristic differences were ren- 
dered very evident. 

A second paper by John King, Esq., Ipswich, was read, ‘‘ On a 


Miscellaneous. 137 


Method by which all objects may be polarized under the Micro- 
scope. 

4 analyser consists of a double image prism placed over the 
eye-piece of the instrument, and a plate of selenite is then put upon 
the stage ; the edges of the field will then appear coloured, while the 
centre remains colourless. Any object introduced into the field will 
exhibit the effects of polarized light with great intensity and purity 
of colour. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 
ADDENDUM TO THE BIRDS OF CORFU. 


Platalea leucorodia, the Spoonbill or White Spoonbill. 
Corfu, Nov. 15, 1846. 
Turs bird, according to Yarrell, is still an occasional summer visitor 
in England, has been noticed by Mr. Robert Ball in Ireland, by 
Mr. Eyton in Wales, and by Sibbald and Fleming in the Scottish 
islands. Of the northern regions its favourite summer resort is 
Holland, and Temminck says that it is nowhere so abundant as 
there. In winter it seeks a warmer abode, and flocks amongst other 
southern localities to the salt-marshes or sea-coast of Italy, being 
specially abundant, says Temminck, at Cagliari in Sardinia. In these 
islands the naturalist has not as yet recorded the Spoonbill, and the 
occurrence of the present bird, the young of the year, is therefore 
highly interesting, as offering another line or belt of migration. I 
received the bird with’ the blood quite fresh upon it on the 31st of 
October, and therefore conclude it was shot in the island itself. I 
was unable to ascertain from the bird-dealer (not the sportsman) who 
brought it whether others had been seen, but I conclude, as the bird 
was one of the year, or at least an immature bird, as shown by the 
beak and quill-feathers, and by the absence of elongated occipital 
feathers, that it was not alone in its flight —J. E. Porriock. 
; Corfu, Nov. 23, 1846. 

Piatalea leucorodia. On inquiry I find that the Spoonbill re- 
corded by me as appearing at the close of October was one of a 
flock of about seven birds, three of which, all immature, like the one 
noticed by me, were shot. Signor Gangadi informs me, that though 
rare at Corfu it has been occasionally observed, and that he believes 
it appears every season on the Albanian coast. It is recorded amongst 
the Dalmatian birds by Dr. Carrara in his work ‘ Dalmazia descritta’ 
now publishing. 

I observe also in Dr. Carrara’s work, Aquila nevia, Ardea comata, 
Sterna leucoptera, birds added by me to the former list of Corfu birds. 
—J.E.Porttocx. — 


_ ACHILLEA TANACETIFOLIA, ALL. 


This beautiful plant has been recently added to the list of British 
species by Mr. John Hardy. He has found it in two places, as he 
considers, indubitably indigenous and not an escape from cultivation, 


Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Vol. xix. 10 


138 Miscellaneous. 

viz. on ‘‘ Cromford Moor near Matlock, Derbyshire, July 21, 1843,” 
and on ‘a rough hilly bank near Ringing Low, five miles from 
Sheffield, July 1844; the plant accompanied by Vaccinium Vitis-Idea, 
&c., and growing among a profusion of Lastrea oreopteris.” It is 
the A. dentifera (DeCand. Prod. vi. 25), but that is not separated from 
A. tanacetifolia by many, of which it seems to be only a variety.— 
C.C.B. 


On the Characters separating the four great Divisions of the Animal 
Kingdom. By J. E. Gray, F.R.S. 


Great attention has been paid to the anatomical character which 
separates the four great divisions of the animal kingdom, but com- 
paratively little attention has been paid to the external form of the 


groups and the characters furnished by their supports. 


Form anp Limes. 
VERTEBRATA With two pair: two 
on each side of the body for 
walking or flight. 
Organs of sense in pairs. 


ANNULOSA with five pair: five on 
each side of the body, for creep- 
ing or flight. 

Organs of sense in pairs. 

Mottuuvsca : a single central foot 
for crawling. 

Organs of sense in pairs. 

Raprata: a circular free or at- 


SUPPORTED 3 
by a permanent internal cartila- 
ginous skeleton hardened by 
age, and restored and removed 
by the vessels like the rest of 
the body. : 
by a hardened external - skin 
which is periodically shed. 


by two lateral shelly valves* se- 
creted by the skin and attached 
to the body by muscles. 

by horny or calcareous matter 


deposited in the entire or su- 
perficial part of the cellular 
substance of the body, part of 
which is often killed by the 
excess of the deposit. 


tached body. 
The organs of sense in a circle. 


ON THE GENUS CALOPTYLUM, 


To Richard Taylor, Esq. 
Haslar Hospital, Gosport, January 12, 1847. 
Dear Si1r,—In the Ichthyology of the voyage of the ‘ Sulphur’ I 
described a fish from the collection of Sir Edward Belcher which 
I then considered to be the type of a new genus under the name of 
Caloptylum. Mr.'Thompson lately called my attention to the Breg- 
maceros MacClellandi published by him in the fourth volume of your 
‘Annals,’ p. 184 (April 1840), which is evidently of the same genus, 
but most probably another species. Bregmaceros is therefore the 


prior generic appellation. I remain, faithfully yours, 
3 Joun Ricuarpson. 


* The second valve is sometimes reduced to the form of a lid or opercu- 
lum, and sometimes entirely wanting, but is often found in the feetal state 
when wanting in the adult animal. 


Miscellaneous. 139 


THE TEIN-CHING, OR CHINESE INDIGO. 


When in the north of China my attention was directed to a plant 
largely cultivated by the inhabitants for the sake of its blue dye. In 
the southern provinces a considerable quantity of indigo (Indigofera) 
is cultivated and manufactured, besides a large portion which is an- 
nually imported from Manilla and the Straits. In the north, how- 
ever, the plant which we call indigo is never met with—owing, I 
suppose, to the coldness of the winters—but its place is supplied by 
this satis indigotica, or the ‘‘ Tein-ching,” as it is called by the 
Chinese. I met with it in the Nanking cotton district, a few miles 
west from Shanghae, where it is considered a plant of great import- 
ance, and covers a large tract of country. It is grown in rows a 
few inches apart, and at a distance looks like a field of young turnip 
or cabbage plants. In June 1844, when I was in that country, the 
plants were from 6 inches to 1 foot in height, and being considered 
in perfection, the natives were busily employed in cutting them and 
removing them to the manufactory. One of these places which I 
inspected was close on the banks of the canal, and was placed there 
for the convenience of the farmers, who brought their leaves in boats 
from the surrounding country, as well as to be near the water, a 
large quantity of which was requisite in the manufacture. It con- 
sisted of a number of round tanks, which are built for the purpose of 
steeping the leaves. ‘The leaves are thrown into the tanks and co- 
vered with water, and, after remaining for a certain length of time, 
the juice is drawn off into other tanks, where I believe it is mixed 
with lime. The colour of the liquid at first is a kind of greenish 
blue, but after being well stirred up and exposed to the air it be- 
comes much darker and very like the well-known indigo of com- 
merce. I suppose it is thickened afterwards by evaporation in some 
way, but that part of the process did not come under my observa-. 
tion. Iam very much inclined to believe that this is the dye used 
to colour the green teas which are manufactured in the north of 
China for the English and American markets ; this, however, is only 
conjecture. The plant has a half-shrubby stem covered with a fine 
bloom. Its root-leaves are oval-lanceolate, on long stalks, sharp- 
pointed, slightly toothed, and somewhat fleshy ; those on the upper 
part of the stem, near the flowers, are linear. ‘The stem is decum- 
bent, a foot and a half long, and divided at its extremity into several 
drooping racemes about 6 inches long; on its sides it bears here 
and there small clusters of leaves like those of the root. Flowers 
very small, yellow. Silicles black, quite smooth, 6 lines long by 
2 wide in the broadest part, oblong, obtuse at each end, a little 
contracted below the. middle, with a thin edge and a single median 
line.—Fortune, in Journal of the Horticultural Society. 


M, SCHONHERR. 

M. Schénherr the celebrated Swedish entomologist has had a 
distinguished mark of royal favour conferred upon him in November 
last by being made Knight Commander of the Royal Order of Wasa, 
having previously in 1829 by the late King of Sweden been made 
Knight of the Royal Order of the Polar Star. 

10* 


140 _ Miscellaneous. 


On the Minhocdo of the Goyanese. By M. Aveusts pg Saint- 
Hinarre*, 


Luiz Antonio da Silva e Souza, whose acquaintance I made during 
my travels, and to whom we owe the most valuable researches on 
the history and statistics of Goyaz, says, in speaking of the lake of 
Padre Aranda, situated in this vast province}, that it is inhabited by 
minhocdées{; then he adds that these monsters—it is thus he ex- 
presses himself—dwell in the deepest parts of the lake, and have often 
drawn horses and horned cattle under the water§. ‘The industrious 
Pizarro, who is so well acquainted with all that relates to Brazil, 
mentions nearly the same thing, and points out the lake Feia, which 
is likewise situated in Goyaz, as also being inhabited by minhocées|. 

I had already heard of these animals several times, and I con- 
sidered them as fabulous, when the disappearance of horses, mules 
and cattle, in fording the rivers, was certified by so many persons, 
that it became impossible for me to doubt it altogether. 

When I was at the Rio dos Pilées, I also heard much of the min- 
hocédes; I was told that there were some in this river, and that at 
the period when the waters had risen, they had often dragged in 
horses and mules whilst swimming across the river. 

The word minhocdo is an augmentative of minhoca, which in Por- 
tuguese signifies earth-worm ; and indeed they state that the monster 
in question absolutely resembles these worms, with this difference, 
that it has a visible mouth; they also add, that it is black, short, and 
of enormous size ; that it does not rise to the surface of the water, but 
that it causes animals to disappear by seizing them by the belly. 

When, about twenty days after, having left the village and the 
river of Pildes, I was staying with the Governor of Meiapont, M. 
Joaquim Alvez de Oliveira, I asked him about these minhocées: he 
confirmed what I had already been told, mentioned several recent 
accidents caused by these animals, and assured me at the same time, 
from the report of several fishermen, that the minhocao, notwith- 
standing its very round form, was a true fish provided with fins. 

I at first thought that the minhocéo might be the Gymnotus Ca- 
rapa, which according to Pohl { is found in the Rio Vermelho, which 
is near to the Rio dos Pilées; but it appears from the Austrian writer 
that this species of fish bears the name of Terma termi in the coun- 
try ; and moreover the effects produced by the Gymnoti are, accord- 
ing to Pohl, well-known to the mulattos and negroes who often felt 
them, and have nothing in common with what is related of the min- 
hocao. Professor Gervais, to whom I mentioned my doubts, directed 
my attention to the description which P. L. Bischoff has given of the 


* This notice is taken from an unpublished work on the province of 
Goyaz. 

‘4 The province of Goyaz stretches from nearly 5° 22’ lat. south to the 
22nd degree, and is greater than France. 

t Plural of minhocdo. ¢ 

§ See Memoria sobre o descobrimente, etc. da capitania de Goyaz in the 
‘ Patriota,’ 1814. 

|| Memorias Historicas, etc., vol. ix. p. 332. 

q Reise, vol. i. p. 360. 


Miscellaneous. 141 


Lepidosiren* ; and indeed the little we know of the minhocao agrees 
‘well enough with what is said of the rare and singular animal dis- 
covered by M. Natterer. 

That naturalist found his Lepidosiren in some stagnant waters near 
the Rio da Madeira and of the Amazon: the minhocao is not only 
said to be in rivers, but also in lakes. It is, without doubt, very far 
from the lake Feia to the two localities mentioned by the Austrian 
traveller; but we know that the heats are excessive at Goyaz. La 
Serra da Paranahyba e do Tocantim+, which crosses this province, is 
one of the most remarkable dividers of the gigantic water-courses of | 
the north of Brazil from those of the south; the Rio dos Pilées be- 
longs to the former, as does the Rio da Madeira. The Lepidosiren 
paradoxa of M, Natterer has actually the form of a worm, like the 
minhocdo. Both have fins; but it is not astonishing that they have 
not always been recognized in the minhocao, if, as in the Lepidosiren, 
they are in the animal of the Rio dos Pilées reduced to simple rudi- 
ments. ‘The teeth of the Lepidosiren,” says Bischoff, ‘‘ are well- 
fitted for seizing and tearing its prey; and to judge of them from 
their structure and from the muscles of their jaw, they must move 
with considerable force.’”’ These characters agree extremely well 
with those which we must of necessity admit in the minhocao, since 
it seizes very powerfully upon large animals and drags them away 
to devour them. It is therefore probable that the minhocao is an 
enormous species of Lepidosiren; and we might, if this conjecture 
were changed into certainty, join this name to that of the minhocdo 
to designate the animal of the lake Feia and of the Rio dos Pildes. 
Zoologists who travel over these distant countries will do well to 
sojourn on the borders of the lake Feia, of the lake Padre Aranda, 
or of the Rio dos Pildes, in order to ascertain the perfect truth—to 
learn precisely what the minhocao is; or whether, notwithstanding 
the testimony of so many persons, even of the most enlightened 
men, its existence should be, which is not very likely, rejected as 
fabulous.—Comptes Rendus, Dec. 28, 1846. 


AWARD OF MEDALS.-——-LINN#ZAN SOCIETY. 


A Special General Meeting of this Society was held on Friday the 
8th of January, to consider the subject of the following Statement 
and Resolution of Council relative to the Bequest of the late Edward 
Rudge, Esq., F.L.S. 

The Council, after much patient and anxious deliberation, had 
unanimously come to the following resolution :— 

‘“‘Resolved,—That in the opinion of this Council, on a full con- 
sideration of the terms of the bequest of the late Edward Rudge, Esq., 
of the interest of a sum of £200, for the purpose of establishing a 
Medal ‘ to be awarded by the President and Council of the (Linnzan) 
Society, at their discretion, to the Fellow of the said Society who 
shall write the best communication in each volume which after his 
(the testator’s) decease shall be published by the said Society, in 

_* Annales des Sciences Naturelles, 2° série, tom. xiv. p. 116. 

+ In an article on the whole of the mountains of Brazil, | shall make 

known the portion of the chain which should bear this name, 


14.2 Miscellaneous. 


either of the four departments of Natural History,’ it is inexpedient 
to accede to the liberal intentions of the testator under the conditions 
expressed in his will.” 

This Resolution, which received the entire concurrence of the 
President and of every Member of the Council, was chiefly founded 
on the following considerations :— 

The great object of the Linnean Society, as of all other bodies 
similarly constituted, is the production and publication of such essays 
as tend to the advancement of that branch of science which it culti- 
vates. The principal question therefore in reference to Mr. Rudge’s 
bequest, is the manner in which its acceptance would operate on the 
Society’s publications, and the Council has arrived at the conclusion 
that its tendency would be prejudicial rather than favourable ; inas- 
much as while the Medal would offer no inducement to some of those 
Members who have hitherto been in the habit of communicating 
papers which have had a place in the ‘‘I'ransactions,’ they might, 
on the contrary, be unwilling to submit their future communications 
to this new ordeal; and it does not appear probable that the Medal 
would prove a stimulus to the production of more valuable Essays 
from any other class of the Society. On the other hand, it is pro- 
bable that dissatisfaction would arise in the minds of some of those 
Members, who after contributing papers to more than one volume of 
the ‘ Transactions,’ should fail in obtaining the award of a Medal. 

A second objection to the acceptance of the bequest arises from 
the absence of any discretionary power of withholding the Medal, 
which is necessarily to be awarded to the best paper in every volume, 
and consequently to papers of very unequal value, thereby lowering 
the character of the Medal, and consequently affecting the scientific 
reputation of the Society itself. 

Differences of opinion, and consequent dissatisfaction, would also 
be not unlikely occasionally to arise in deciding upon the compara- 
tive merits of papers in botany and zoology, the two branches of 
natural history, of which, for many years past, the Transactions of 
the Society have exclusively consisted. 

Another point may still be noticed as decidedly unfavourable to the 
acceptance of the bequest, namely, the not improbable award of the 
Medal by the Council, in some cases to one of its own body, in strict 
conformity with the conditions of the will; conditions which neither 
the Council itself, nor (as it appears from the tenor and provisions 
of the will) any other party has the power to modify. 

These objections have appeared to the Council so important as not 
to admit of any other course but that of respectfully declining to 
accept a bequest, the operation of which would in all probability be 
injurious to the best interests of the Society, by lowering the cha- 
racter of its publications, and endangering the continuance of that 
harmony which has hitherto prevailed in all essential points. ‘The 
Council is at the same time deeply sensible of the kind and liberal 
intentions of Mr. Rudge, and entertains a sincere regret that the 
express terms of his will should have rendered the acceptance of his 
bequest liable to such grave objections. 

The meeting was numerously attended, and the President (the 


Meteorological Observations. 143 


Bishop of Norwich) having read from the chair the above Statement 
on the part of the Council, some of the Fellows who had been Mem- 
bers of the Councils of the Royal and Geological Societies stated 
their opinion of the inconvenience and injurious tendency of the 
awarding of medals in those Societies, and their inutility for the 
promotion of science; after which the Resolution proposed by the 
Council was unanimously approved and adopted. 


METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR DEC. 1846. 


Chiswick.x—December 1, 2. Foggy. 5. Cloudy: frosty 4, Sharp frost: fine. 
5. Cloudy: clear and fine: overcast. 6. Clear: cloudy. 7. Fine: cloudy. 
8. Cloudy: fine. 9. Slightly overcast: drizzly: slightrain. 10. Rain. 11. 
Frosty : snowing: clear and frosty. 12. Frosty: cloudy: clear and frosty. 
18. Frosty: cloudy: severe frost at night. 14. Severe frost: clear and frosty 
throughout. 15. Severe frost: densely overcast: clear and frosty. 16. Sharp 
frost: clear and cold: frosty. 17. Densely overcast: fine: slight snow, 18. Sharp 
frost: clear: overcast. 19. Rain: foggy. 20. Rain: cloudy. 21. Rain: clear 
and frosty at night. 22. Slight frost and fog: fine: clear. 23. Rain. 24. Foggy. 
25. Frosty: clear. 26. Clearand frosty. 27. Frosty: cloudy: clear and frosty. 
28. Frosty and foggy. 29. Slight frost: overcast. 30. Densely overcast: frost 
at night. 31. Sharp frost: foggy. 

Mean temperature of the Month  .....sceseeeceesesecereeercessees 31°26 


Mean temperature of Dec. 1845 ......cisceeseseeneees ebudisccces SO SE 
Average temperature of Dec. for the last twenty years ...... 40 ‘04 
Average amount of rain in Dec. ........0..ceeeseseeesees seveveceese,  U'S8inch, 


Boston.— Dec. 1. Fine: snow on the ground, 2. Cloudy: snow on the ground. 
3. Fine: snow on the ground. 4. Cloudy: snow on the ground. 5, Fine: snow 
on the ground: rainp.m. 6. Fine. 7. Rain. 8. Fine: rainp.m. 9. Cloudy: rain 
p.M. 10, Fine. 11,12. Snow: snow on the ground, 13—16, Cloudy: snowon the 
ground. 17, Cloudy: snowearly a.m. 18*, 19. Cloudy: snow on the ground. 
20. Fine: snow on the ground. 21. Cloudy: snow on the ground. 22, Fine: 
snow nearly all gone: melted snow. 23. Cloudy. 24. Snow: snow on the 
ground. 25,26. Fine: snow on the ground. 27—30. Cloudy: snow on the 
ground. $1. Cloudy: snow on the ground: melted snow. 


Sandwick Manse, Orkney.—Dec. 1. Showers: clear. 2. Bright : sleet-showers. 
3. Hail-showers: sleet-showers. 4. Bright: showers. 5. Showers: sleet- 
showers. 6. Sleet-showers: cloudy. 7. Rain: clear. 8. Drizzle: cloudy. 
9, Drizzle: shower: clear; aurora. 10, 11. Snow-showers : snow-drift, 12, 13. 
Snow-drift : snow-showers. 14, Snow-showers. 15. Snow-showers : snow-drift. 
16. Snow-showers. 17. Snow-showers: snow: clear, 18. Thaw: quick thaw. 
19. Frost: showers. 20. Bright: clear: hoar-frost. 21. Rain: showers. 22, 
Hail-showers: frosty. 23. Hail-showers: clear: aurora. 24. Hail-showers: 
cloudy. 25. Clear: cloudy. 26. Bright: cloudy. 27. Bright: rain. 28, 
Bright: drizzle. 29. Drizzle: clear. 30. Fine: clear: halo. 31. Drizzle. 


Applegarth Manse, Dumfries-shire-—Dec. 1. Thaw. 2—4. Hard frost. 5. 
Wet. 6. Frost: clear. 7. Frost. 8. Frost, but dull. 9. Frost, slight. 
10. Thaw: slight snow. 11—14. Keen frost. 15. Keen frost: slight snow. 
16. Keen frost: sleet. 17. Keen frost: slightsnow. 18. Frost a.m.: rain p.m. 
19—21 Wet. 22. Frost, keen. 23. Frost, keen: slight snow. 24. Frost, keen: 
more snow. 25,26. Frost, keen. 27. Thick fog: frost. 28. Thaw: fog: rain. 
29. Thaw: thick fog. 30,31. Thaw: fog. 

Mean temperature of the month  .,...,...cosccsccssescevseeses SSS 


Mean temperature of Dec. 1845 ........sceceeee dvesestcsscees OD °S 
Mean temperature of Dec. for twenty-three years ......... 38.3" 
Mean rain in Dec. for eighteen years ......sccceseesseeseeees 3 inches. 


* Not so cold a day in December since 28th December 1829, which was 16%5. 
Not so cold a month of December for twenty years at least: December 1829 was 
very cold—average 33°°1, 


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THE ANNALS 


AND 


MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 


No, 125. MARCH 1847. 


ists, 
—- 


XVI.—On the Reproduction of Lost Parts in the Articulata. 
By Grorce Newport, F.R.S. &c. 


[With a Plate.] hee on, 


Tue reproduction of lost parts in animals is an occurrence of — 
great interest to the physiologist, when considered with refer- 
ence to the function of nutrition, or. with regard to the manner 
in which the external parts of the body are originally formed. 
It is desirable, therefore, that we should carefully record every 
fact that can in any way assist us in explaining the phenomena 
connected with it, or that tends to verify its occurrence in any 
particular class. 

Naturalists, for a long series of years, have been aware that 
the Crustacea and Arachnida have a power of reproducing their 
limbs when the original ones have been accidentally lost or re- 
moved, but, until a somewhat recent period, this power was 
believed to be confined almost entirely to those two classes of the 
Articulata. It was believed that true insects were not endowed 
with it, or at most but to a very slight extent. 

Beckmann formerly noticed the existence of a leg of diminu- 
tive size in Agrion virgo*, and Goeze a similar one in Semblis 
bicaudata + ; whence the latter naturalist concluded that these 


~were parts which had been reproduced. But no experiments 


whatever seem to have been made by him, or by any other natu- 
ralist, so far as I am aware, to test the question as to whether true 
insects possess the power of reproducing lost parts, until those 
which were made by Dr. Heineke{. This gentleman’s observa- 
tions however were imperfect, as they were made only on the 
antennee of Blatta and Reduvius. The antenne of these species 
were reproduced, but no experiments were made on the legs, 


* Physikalisch-cekonomische Bibliothek, vol. iii p. 20. 
_¢ Naturforscher, par. xii. p. 221. : 
t Zoological Journal, vol. iv. p. 422. 


Ann. & Mag. N, Hist. Vol. xix. 11 


146 Mr. G. Newport on the Reproduction 


Dr. Burmeister indeed, in 1836*, made a general vague state- 
ment that mutilated caterpillars are said to obtain new limbs, 
but his remark was not accompanied by any reference to experi- 
ments in support of the fact ; while he remarked of insects gene- 
rally, that they “display but very slight traces of a power of res 
production.” Subsequently to this, Professor Miller, in the excel- 
lent English edition of his ‘ Physiology’ by Dr. Baly in1837, stated 
that the larvee of insects reproduce their antenne, and that those 
of Phasma also reproduce their legst. No observations had yet 
been made to show that any of the Myriapoda possess this power, 
until a specimen of Scolopendra subspinipes with the eleventh leg 
on the left side extremely diminutive, was exhibited by myself at 
a meeting of the Entomological Society in November 1839, and 
pointed out as an instance of reproduction in that class. In the 
following February the Rev. F. W. Hope exhibited an Australian 
Scolopendra with one of the posterior legs very diminutive, and 
which, with me, he regarded as a structure that had been repro- 
duced. This view was strongly objected to by Mr. J. Obadiah 
Westwood, the entomologist, who contended that these were only 
instances of retarded development; and he maintained this opi- 
nion with much perseverance. In November 1840 the same gen- 
tleman produced to the Society, in support of his assumption, a 
specimen of Lithobius with a diminutive posterior leg, which he 
regarded as an instance of retarded development, and not as one 
of reproduction. - 

As the promulgation of erroneous opinions is a matter of 
serious import to science, more especially when sheltered by ap- 
parent facts, I endeavoured to put these opinions and my own 
views to the test of experiment. Accordingly, I instituted a series 
of experiments on the Myriapoda, both on the Chilognatha in 
1841 and on the Chilopoda in 1842. These most fully verified 
my formerly expressed belief. The Julide and Lithobii were both 
found to possess the power of reproducing their antenne and 
legs. This was proved to be most extensively possessed by the 
very young animal, in which the legs can be reproduced even a 
second time. ‘The first of these experiments in 1841 were wit- 
nessed by my friend Mr. Waterhouse, and this gentleman bore 
testimony to the facts at a meeting of the Entomological Society 
in January 1844 when I announced them, on the occasion of the 
reading of some observations by Mr. Fortnum on the repro- 
duction of a limb, observed by himself in Phasma. On that 
occasion I-also pointed out the fact, that the armature of spines, 
&e. on reproduced limbs is almost always imperfect, and often 

* Manual of Entomology by Shuckard, 1836, p. 427. 


+ Elements of Physiology by Baly, vol.,i. p. 405, 1837. 
t Ann. and Mag, Nat, Hist, vol. xvi. p. 274, 


of Lost Parts in the Articulata. 147 


entirely absent; a fact which Mr. J. Obadiah Westwood after- 
wards * quietly re-announced without due acknowledgement, 
Mr. Waterhouse’s testimony in support of my facts has also been 
most strangely omitted by Mr. J.O. Westwood, the Secretary, in 
his printed report of that meeting+, notwithstanding that Mr. 
Waterhouse’s confirmation was duly entered in the Minute Book 
of the Society. Mr. Westwood however still doubted that the 
fact was common to the whole class of insects. 

Mr. Fortnum’s observations on Phasma confirmatory of the 
statement by Miiller, together with Heineke’s on the antennz of 
Blatta and Reduvius, and an observation then made by Mr. 
Marshall, that he had once observed a specimen of the common 
Blaita with one leg much smaller than the rest, were regarded by 
Mr. J. O. Westwood as showing only a power of reproduction in 
those insects which do not undergo a complete metamorphosis ; 
and on a subsequent occasion { he endeavoured to draw a distine- 
tion between these, and those which do undergo such change, 
and announced his belief that the Lepidoptera are incapable of 
reproducing lost parts. 

With a view to set this question at rest, as I had already set 
at rest that respecting the Myriapoda, I made a series of experi- 
ments in the following summer on the larve of two of our com- 
monest Lepidoptera, Vanessa urtice and V. Id, the nettle and 
peacock butterflies. The results of these were perfectly confir- 
matory of the general view, and established the fact, that a power 
of reproduction of lost parts is common to the whole of the In- 
secta. The observations on V. urtice were communicated to the 
Royal Society on the 20th June 1844, and are printed in the 
‘ Transactions’ for that year. An account of these experiments 
was also given a few months later, and the specimens exhibited 
to the Entomological Society in October 1844, at which time 
Mr. H. D. 8. Goodsir also gave an account of his own experi- 
ments on the Crustacea. 

Thus then these experiments have established the fact as a 
law, that the whole of the Articulata have the power of repro- 
ducing lost parts. Every new observation on the growth of 
parts confirms this view. Very recently I have received, in a 
collection of insects from Melbourn, Port Philip, a specimen of 
Panesthia, one of the Blattide, in which the metathoracic leg 
on the left side has been reproduced. The entire limb is not 
more than one-third of that of the corresponding one on the 
opposite side, but, as in the insects experimented on, it pos- 
sesses the whole of the essential parts of the organ—the coxa, 


* Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. xvi. p. 277. + Loc. cit, 274. 
{ Proceedings Ent. Soc. March 1844; Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist, vol. xvi. 


p: 277, 
ti* 


148 Mr. G. Newport on the Reproduction 


femur, tibia, tarsus and claw, as well as rudiments of spines 
(Pl. VIII. fig. 2). It thus agrees precisely with the new limbs 
produced in Lepidoptera. I have found in every instance in my 
experiments that all the primary or essential parts of a limb exist 
when the new organ first makes its appearance ; but that its se- 
condary parts, as, for instance, the armature of spines and the 
joints of the tarsus, are later in their formation. The joints of 
the tarsus usually are fewer in number in new limbs that have 
not attained the normal size than in the original limbs. This is 
invariably the case when the ‘limb is first produced. As the en- 
tire organ continues to grow, the tarsus becomes more and more 
elongated, proportionately to the other parts ; and when the insect 
next changes its tegument, the number of joints to this part 
of the limb is increased by the production of a new joint at the 
distal extremity of the penultimate one, interposed between it 
and the joint which bears the claw ; precisely as new segments are 
added to the body of the Myriapod, between the last newly-pro- 
duced segment and the caudal, or penultimate, at each change of 
its covering. It is in this way ‘also that new joints are developed 
in the antennee of Lnthobius, always at the distal margin of a pre- 
existing joint, only that in this case the new part is formed at 
the distal end of each previous joint. 

In the specimen of Panesthia above alluded to, there are only 
three joints to the tarsus, instead of five, besides the unguis. Of 
these, the basilar or true tarsal joint, as in the perfect limb, is the 
longest, so that those joints which are nearest to the body are 
always, at first, most quickly enlarged and elongated. Thus, as 
the growth of the whole limb proceeds, first the femur and next 
the tibia become proportionately elongated, and lastly the tarsus 
and its subdivision into jomts. This is a fact of some import- 
ance in a comparative anatomical and zoological point of view, 
because it shows that an increased number of tarsal joints 
amongst true insects is not a proof of inferior development. 

The immediate source of origin of the new limb is extremely 
difficult to ascertain. My own experiments on Lepidoptera, and 
Mr. Goodsir’s on the Crustacea, lead to the belief that the new 
limb has its origin in a little, elevated, central point, beneath the 
cicatrix which covers the surface of the space to which the old 
limb was attached ; and that within this little elevated point, as 
within a capsule, the microscopic rudiments of the new limb are 
formed. Mr. Goodsir’s observations on the Crustacea seem to 
show that even at this early period the limb is formed of distinct 
articulations ; but recent observations made by myself on the 
original formation of the limbs in the Chilopoda and in the For- 
ficulide have led me to believe that this is not the case in the 
earliest state of the limbs in the Myriapoda and in these insects, 


of Lost Parts i the Articulata. 149 


but that commencing as little tubercles they are first elongated 
to some extent, and that their division into joints takes place at 
a subsequent period. 

No reproduction of limbs is manifest until the period of change 
of tegument. Nor does the growth of a newly-formed limb con- 
tinue apparent after the first few hours or day subsequent to a 
deciduation of tegument, when the new covering has become con- 
solidated. The further enlargement of parts is then arrested until 
the next change. If a limb is lost by the young insect early in life, 
the newly-produced one grows more rapidly at each change, and 
ultimately acquires the same size and same number of joints as 
the normal limb on the opposite side of the body. If, on the 
contrary, the insect has approached to within one or two changes 
of its perfect state, then the new part never attains to the adult 
size or number of joints. 

There are many circumstances which greatly influence the pro- 
duction of new parts. The chief of these are—the temperature 
and hygrometric state of the atmosphere, and the health, and 
quantity of nourishment supplied to the animal. If the tempe- 
rature of the season is below the average height, or the atmo- 
sphere be loaded with an excess of moisture; or the insect weak and 
unhealthy, or not supplied witha proper quantity of food, the expe- 
riment, usually, will fail. Under the first of these circumstances 
the insect often dies from exhaustion from loss of blood, owing to 
the coagulation of effused blood not taking place ; in the latter 
they have not sufficient power to undergo the change. Healthy 
insects, in a proper temperature of the atmosphere, usually begin 
to take food in large quantities soon after the hemorrhage con- 
sequent on the excision of the old limb has ceased. A greater 
quantity of nourishment seems always to be required in the re- 
paration of every severe injury or lesion of structure ; as every 
severe injury always more or less retards, although it does not 
necessarily prevent, the usual changes. These circumstances are 
operative to a greater or less extent in different species of insects. 
Thus some species undergo their changes at a much lower average 
temperature than others. The common nettle butterfly, on which 
my first experiments were performed, undergoes its changes at a 
lower temperature than the peacock, V. J6, the subject of my se- 
cond set of observations. Vanessa urtice is in general from thir- 
teen to fourteen days in the pupa state, at a mean highest range 
of temperature of from 55° F. to 60° F; but the same insect 
undergoes its changes in from eight days and a half to nine or 
ten days in a temperature of from 70°F. to 75° F. The peacock 
butterfly, Vanessa 16, requires naturally a higher temperature for 
its development than V. urtice ; it comes forth, as is well known, 
later in the season and nearer midsummer. It usually is fully 


150 Mr. A. Hancock’s Notes on Buccinum undatum. 


fourteen days in chrysalis at the seasonal temperature. The spe- 
cimens bred by myself were developed in somewhat more than ten 
days, when the mean of the lowest temperature during that period 
was 71°06 F. and the highest 75°°5 F. | 

In conformity with this, I found that V. urtice is the best 
species for experiment, owing to its not requiring so high a tem- 
perature for development. On Plate VIII. fig, 3 is represented 
one of the specimens of V. Jd which were the subjects of expe- 
riment, It has the left mesothoracic leg reproduced precisely in 
the same stage of development as the new limb in Panesthia. 


EXPLANATION OF PLATE VIII. 


Fig. 2. Inferior surface of Panesthia - ? (magnified two diameters) with 
the left posterior leg reproduced. 
Fig. 8. Inferior surface of specimen of Vanessa 16, from which the left meso- 
thoracic leg was removed at the end of the fourth change of the 
larva, 


XVII.—WNotes on iiteinitin undatum. 
By Ausany Hancock, Esq. 


Durine a short residence at Cullereoats in 1841, I paid some 
attention to the various forms of Buccinum undatum, with the 
view to determine whether the several reputed species of this pro- 
tean shell should retain the rank to which they haye been elevated 
by some naturalists, or be reduced to mere synonyms. 

In furtherance of this object I collected extensive suites of the 
different varieties, and soon ascertained that there are three well- 
marked forms, which on this coast at least do not appear to run 
into each other, and which are procured from distinct localities 
and from different depths of water. These three forms are distin- 
guished from each other by their general shape and habit, and 
not merely by the undulations and striz, characters of little im- 
portance in this portion of the genus, and on which conchologists 
have placed too much reliance, In all the three varieties the 
undulations and striz are very variable ; the form of the mouth 
and columella, however, is constant throughout, never losing the 
essential characteristics, which are retained in the most robust 
and coarsely undulated as well as im the most delicate and 
smooth, se ri 

At fiyst I was inclined to think it probable that these three 
varieties might proye to be distinct species; but after a length- 
ened and careful inyestigation I feel satistied that they are mere 
yarieties, though of permanent and strongly-marked characters, 
resulting from locality and depth of water. The animals of these 
three varieties do not appear to yary, 

It is evident from what has been said respecting the undula- 


Mr. A. Haneock’s Notes on Buccinum undatum. 151 


tions and striz, that the surface of the shell in this species can- 
not be depended on, whether these three varieties are to be con- 
sidered specifically distinet or not; but that failing the animal 
we must look to the columella and mouth, and of course to the 
general form and habit,-for specific characters. Keeping this in 
view, I have drawn together the following notes, which I trust 
may assist in elucidating this intricate species. 

find by a recent number of the ‘ Annals,’ that Mr. Wm. King 
has described these three varieties, giving an account of their lo- 
ealities and general habits as I pointed them out to him, shortly 
after I had commenced the examination of the species. I was 
rather surprised at this, particularly in respect of the coarse va- 
riety without an epidermis, and the shore variety, as I believe he 
had never collected these two forms himself, nor has he ever pos- 
sessed a sufficient number of them to illustrate their peculiar 
modifications and the permanency of their characters, and as he 
was aware that I was about to publish on the subject. He how- 
ever commits an error, when he states that the shore variety is 
only found on rocks and pebbly bottoms. Had he attained an 
accurate knowledge of the subject, such as might be derived from 
personal experience on the coast of Northumberland, he must 
have known that it also oceurs on mud. 

It has been stated by Mr. Gray, that “the thickness, the 
roughness, and the smoothness of the surface of shells appear to 
depend, in a great measure, on the stillness or agitated state of 
the water which they inhabit. The species of our own coast,” 
that gentleman says, “afford abundant instances of this: the 
shells of Buceinum undatum and B, striatum of Pennant have no 
other difference, than that the one has been formed in rough 
water, and is consequently thick, solid and heavy; and the other 
in still water of harbours, where it becomes light, smooth, and 
often coloured.” 

This is scarcely corroborated by what is observed on the North- 
umberland coast : there, the thickest and roughest forms are from 
twenty fathoms water, and the thinnest and smoothest from much 
greater depths. In both these cases the water is probably less 
agitated than in harbours, where the depth is generally much less. 
The third variety, however, which is intermediate in coarseness 
and thickness, is procured between tide-marks, and consequently 
subjected to the most violent action of the sea. The thin delicate 
specimens are, I believe, always found on a soft sandy or muddy 
bottom, and the strong rough individuals on hard or rocky 
ground. It is therefore probable that the food, varying in loca- 
lities so different, may modify development. The three principal 
varieties themselves undergo considerable change on different 
grounds, irrespective of depth. Thus the beach variety on rocks 


152 Mr. A. Hancock’s Notes on Buccinum undatum. 


is strong, rather rough and without an epidermis, but on mud 
it is clothed with a thick hairy epidermis, and is comparatively 
smooth and thin. No doubt many causes are in operation to 
produce these changes, and the stillness or the agitation of the 
water may have some influence; but the nature of the ground 
and depth would appear to be the chief agents in modifying the 
forms of this species. 

The mouth of B. undatum is oval, and the arch of the colu- 
mella is not much interrupted at its junction with the outer lip 
by the bulging of the body whorl into the mouth ; near the mid- 
dle there is an obscure fold or swelling which gives to the colu- 
mella the appearance of being twice bent, and before sloping off 
to the left it is advanced towards the outer lip: the enamel does 
not extend far over the body whorl. : 

Slight variations of course occur; in some the mouth is wider 
and more rounded than in others, and the columella varies a little 
in length: as a general rule it is shortest in the thin and delicate 
varieties, but to this there are many exceptions. 

All the various forms of B. undatum concur in these characters 
of the columella and mouth, and may be placed with one or other 
of the three principal varieties found on the coast of Northumber- 
land, which I shall now proceed to describe. 

Variety 1. is found in forty fathoms water and upwards on a 
muddy bottom. 

Mr. Alder informs me that on the west coast of Scotland it 
occurs in much shallower water. 2 

This variety is undoubtedly the true B. undatum, and is taken 
everywhere on the British shores: it is sometimes four or five 
inches long; the shell is moderately thick with the undulations 
well-developed, and is always covered with a somewhat strong 
hairy epidermis ; the spire is usually as long as the mouth, and 
the whorls are considerably rounded. In this state it is the 
B. vulgare of Da Costa, and the B. undatum of Miller, Bruguiére, 
Montagu, Donovan, Kiener, Brown and others. The B. angli- 
canum of Brown and the B. striatum of Pennant also belong to 
this state, varying only by having the undulations more or less 
obliterated, and the spiral strize well-marked and regular. The 
B. anglicanum of Lamarck is not a British species. 

This variety is occasionally very thin and delicate, and has the 
spire sometimes considerably produced and the whorls much 
rounded. The B. undatum of Brown (Illust. Conch. 2nd. ed. pl. 3. 
fig. 2) is an example of the extreme form of this state which oc- 
curs not unfrequently on the Dogger-bank. It is however impos- 
sible to draw any line of demarcation between these thin, delicate, 
elongated shells and the more general appearance of this variety. 

Flemimg unites B. Humphreysianum with his B. striatum. I 


Mr. A. Haneock’s Notes on Buccinum undatun. 153 


have seen nothing, however, to warrant the union of that species 
with any of the varieties of B. undatum,.and am inclined to con- 
sider the former well characterized ; it is distinguished from the 
latter by the ovate form of the mouth and the shape of the colu- 
mella, as well as by the character of the surface. 

The B. carinatum of Turton is a mere lusus of the deep-water 
variety (var.1.). There is in the Newcastle Museum a specimen 
taken by the Rev. J. Law on the Durham coast like Turton’s shell 
with the whorls flattened and carinated above, without undula- 
tions, and rather finely and regularly striated. The form of the 
columella and mouth of this specimen also agrees with the figure 
of B. carinatum, and proves it to be B. undatum, whilst the epi- 
dermis and general form of the shell place it with this variety. 

Varieties like B. carinatum occur in various species, and are 
occasioned by some original malformation of the mantle, or by 
injuries sustained by it. These varieties therefore frequently ex- 
hibit old fractures of the shell. 1 possess a specimen of Lit- 
torina vulgaris which has the whorls strongly flattened and cari- 
nated above. The shell however was originally of the normal 
form ; but a fracture is apparent in the second or third whorl, 
and from thence the abnormal appearance is continued through- 
out the succeeding whorls. Had the fracture been unattended 
by injury to the mantle, the shell would have assumed its proper 
shape, as is commonly seen to be the case in repaired shells. 

Variety 2. is procured in twenty fathoms water on a hard gra- 
velly bottom. 

It is common on the Northumberland and Durham coasts, 
where it is brought to shore by the fishing-boats. This variety is 
smaller than variety 1, rarely measuring more than three inches 
long ; it is somewhat fusiform, very thick, heavy and rugged, 
and generally much undulated ; the spire, which is as long as 
the mouth, is conical, and the whorls are not much rounded ; the 
mouth is white, or occasionally of a yellowish colour : this form 
has no epidermis. | 

The B. undatum of Pennant perhaps belongs to this variety, 
judging from the figure, in which the outer lip appears to be in 
a growing state. An elongated form of it is figured in Brown’s 
‘ Illustrations of Conchology,’ 2nd ed. pl.3. fig. 1. In Mr. Alder’s 
cabinet there is a specimen from Zetland precisely agreeing with 
this figure, which is stated to be from an individual procured 
from deep water off the Orkney coast. The B. Zetlandicum of 
Forbes also appears to belong to this variety, differing from 
Mr. Alder’s shell and Captain Brown’s figure only in being de- 
void of undulations, and more regularly and finely striated ; the 
spire, too, is not quite so much produced. A specimen closely 
resembling the B. Zetlandicum was taken on the Durham coast 


154 Myr. A. Haneock’s Notes on Buccinum undatum. 


by the Rev. George Cooper Abbs: it is almost without undula- 
tions, and is finely and regularly striated. There can be little 
doubt that this individual is a mere modification of variety 2. 

The B. Zetlandicum seems to be different from B. fusiforme of 
Broderip, with which Professor Edw. Forbes, however, is disposed 
to unite it. It is probable that B. fusiforme occurs in the seas 
around Zetland, for I have seen a drawing of a shell brought from 
thence by Dr. Charlton which agrees very accurately with Bro- 
derip’s figure, particularly in the form of the columella and mouth, 
the peculiarities of which would appear to distinguish this spe- 
cies from all its allies. 

In the Newcastle Museum there is a very much elongated 
shell with the whorls flattened and the apex much acuminated. 
This specimen was taken on the Durham coast by the Rev. J. 
Law, and is undoubtedly a mere lusus belonging to variety 2: it 
is only an inch and a half long, and is imperfectly and obscurely 
undulated. In other respects it is a very good representation of 
B. acuminatum of Broderip ; it lacks however somewhat of the 
perfect symmetry of that shell, but has the strong plait and ge- 
neral form of the columella, thus proving it to be a slight modi- 
fication of Broderip’s shell, which however most probably belongs 
to variety 1, as it is described to have an epidermis. | 

After a careful examination of the specimen in the Newcastle 
Museum, it seems to me impossible to insist on the specific di- 
stinctness of B, aeuminatum ; and it is satisfactory to observe that 
Mr. Gray considers the specimen of that reputed species in the 
British Musum to be merely a variety of B. undatum. The flat- 
tened whorls and the shape of the spire are evidently of no 
importance as specific characters ; and the form of the mouth and 
columella does not distinguish it from B. undatum. It is true 
the characters of these parts are considerably exaggerated, but 
certainly not more so than might be expected in a lusus, whose 
deviation from the normal form is mainly dependent on the ex- 
traordinary growth of the pillar. 

Variety 3. occurs between tide-marks on rocks and mud. 

This variety is not uncommon on the coasts of Northumber- 
land and Durham; I have received it also from the east coast of 
Scotland and the west coast of England, and Mr. Alder has taken 
it in the Isles of Bute and Arran. It may always be distinguished 
from the two preceding varieties by its short, conical spire and 
large body whorl; the mouth is longer than the spire, and the undu- 
lations are never very strong, and are sometimes quite obliterated ; 
the whorls are somewhat flattened; the epidermis, which is fre- 
quently wanting, is occasionally strong and hairy; and the shell 
is generally of a uniform darkish brown colour, occasionally of a 
yellowish hue, sometimes white; I have never seen it with co- 


On the Fruetification of Peyssonnelia Squamaria. 155 


loured bands as in the preceding varieties, though, from imperfect 
indications of them in one or two instances, it is not improbable 
that this variety may occasionally assume the markings of the 
deep-water shells ; the mouth is rarely white, most frequently of 
a deep rich purple-brown, occasionally tawny or of a fine bright 
yellow, particularly when the shell is white or pale, 

A very interesting modification of this variety occurs on the 
Lancaster Sands, where it was procured in abundance by Mr. 
Charles M, Adamson. The undulations of this form are scarcely 
to be distinguished, and in many individuals are completely oblite- 
rated ; the striz are generally very strong and regular, with finer 
strie between them, giving the surface precisely the appearance 
of B, striatum of Pennant; the surface is however occasionally 
deyoid of the more elevated striz, and is closely covered with fine 
but somewhat irregular striz. Another striking modification of 
this variety was taken by the Rev. J. Law on rocks near Sunder- 
land : it is white with a bright yellow mouth, having the surface 
well undulated and the striz strong and much elevated, 

Dr, Johnston mentions in the ‘ Proceedings of the Berwickshire 
Naturalists’ Club,’ a shell with a purple mouth that occurs in 
Berwick Bay, which probably belongs to this variety ; and the 
B. undatum of Gould’s ‘ Invertebrata of Massachusetts’ appears 
also to resemble it. The golden-coloured mouth of the American 
shell, and its locality, which is stated to be “on the rocky bars 
in Boston harbour,” go far to prove that it belongs to this form. 
Professor Edw. Forbes also mentions in his ‘ Malacologia Mo- 
nensis ’ a dwarf form of this variety as occurring near Bergen in 
Norway, and in the Firth of Forth. With these three exceptions, 
this strongly-marked variety appears to have escaped the notice 
of writers on the subject. a 

Newecastle-on-Tyne, January 26, 1847. 


~ XVIII.—On a second form of Fructification in Peyssonnelia 
Squamaria. ByC, Monraens, D.M., in a Letter to the Rev. 
M. J. Berxurey, M.A,, F.L.S. 


I Troup you in my last letter of a new form of fructification which 
I had just discovered in a specimen of Peyssonnelia Squamaria 
from Algiers, I propose at present to trace the history of this 
discovery, to describe these new organs, and to subjoin some 
brief notes on Nemathecia. 

In studying the Fungi collected by Drége at the Cape which 
had been placed in my hands by Professor Miquel of Amsterdam, 
I found under the number 4108 (44) a specimen of Peyssonnelia 


* Since writing the above, Mr. Richard Howse has informed me that he 
has yecently taken this variety with coloured bands. 


156 | Dr. Montagne on a second form 


which presented some peculiarities of structure. The frond, in 
other respects resembling that of young individuals from the 
Mediterranean, presented on its upper surface a multitude of 
granules of a paler tint, which gave to it the appearance of a 
man’s skin affected with a miliary eruption. A thin vertical slice 
of the frond placed under the microscope showed the central and 
horizontal layer of quadrilateral cells from whence were given off 
on one side the root-like threads which form a sort of nap on the 
lower surface, and on the other the filaments, which at first 
ascending and oblique, become vertical and terminate on the outer 
surface which is formed by the intimate adherence of the ulti- 
mate articulations. In the Cape plant the four or five articula- 
tions nearest to the surface turn up and form with the others an 
angle of about 130°, which circumstance presents a certain ana- 
logy with what takes place in the cylindric fronds of certain Flo- 
ridee of the tribe Cryptonemee ; analogy, I say, for there is no 
real resemblance. 

It is amongst the ascending filaments, and not those which 
have resumed their original vertical direction, that I have ob- 
served the agglomerations of granules which may be considered 
as spores. It is these little elevations which give to the frond 
the appearance of which I have spoken above. They are about 
the tenth of a millimetre in diameter, and are composed of free 
oblong granules ;25ths of a millimetre long, and rather thicker 
than ;j5th of a millimetre, entire, or divided into two trans- 
versely ; some appeared to be divided crosswise into four, like true 
tetraspores, but I cannot affirm this positively. Their more in- 
tense colour and greater opakeness prevent their being con- 
founded with the endochromes from which they probably derive 
their origin, though it is difficult to say how. Supposing then 
that they are organs destined to multiply the species, it 1s im- 
possible not to see that they differ from the normal tetraspores of 
the Peyssonnelia of our coasts, by their aggregation, their form, — 
their proportionally smaller size, and above all by their position. 

Desiring to re-examine the already well-known fructification, 
and of which Decaisne, Kiitzing and Zanardini have given good 
figures, not to mention the more recent analysis of P. Dubyi by 
Mr. Harvey, I placed under the microscope a very thin vertical 
slice taken from the centre of a nemathecium of a specimen sent 
from Algiers by Dr. Guyon. What was my astonishment, when 
instead of seeing what I had so often observed, and indeed had 
just described for the ‘ Flora of Algiers,’ I perceived an entirely 
different form of fructification ! 

The pustules formed by the nemathecia have just the same di- 
mensions as those of individuals bearing tetraspores. They are 
composed of two sets of filaments, the one extremely delicate, 


of Fructification in Peyssonnelia Squamaria. 157 


apparently dichotomous, but in reality simple, with long endo- 
chromes, performing probably the office of paraphyses ; the others 
of the same length, but far larger ; and it is remarkable that it is 
the endochromes of these which become spores absolutely in the 
same way as in a great number of conceptacula of Floridee, as 
for instance in Nothogenia variolosa, Melanthalia Jaubertiana, 
Plocaria confervoides, Spherococcus coronoptfolius, Delesseria hy- 
poglosson, &c. (see the analyses given by myself and Kiitzing). 
Thus we find rows of two, four, six or even eight spores, accord- 
ing to the degree of evolution at which the nemathecia have ar- 
rived. It appears that their development proceeds from the 
upper part of the thread, taking a downward course, because 
those which are nearest the upper surface of the nemathecia are 
the largest and most spherical, the lower ones being still elon- 
gated and claveform, and much more slender. This however 
may depend on the form of the nemathecia whose convexity 
allows a greater extension than the base. The number of the 
spore-producing threads is large enough to make one imagine 
that the nemathecia are entirely composed of them, but in com- 
pressing them underShiek’s compressorium, threads are distinctly 
observed remaining still in the form of paraphyses. When the 
row consists of four spores only, it might be taken for a linear 
tetraspore. Nevertheless there is even then this difference, that 
in this case the extreme spores are neither similar nor equal to 
one another. The upper one is ;3,ths of a millimetre in length, 
and rather more than ;2,ths m breadth, rounded above and 
truncate below ; the second and third are truncate at either end. 
The form of the lower was described before ; its length is 4,ths 
of a millimetre, and its greatest thickness -25ths. Observe, I am 
describing here only a single series of spores, for they are very 
variable according to the number of the spores of which they con- 
sist. I should add, that when they are once free they are soon 
clothed with a distinct perisporium and acquire larger dimensions. 
Hence I have measured some, which, together with their peri- 
spore, had a diameter of j),th of a millimetre. 

On the whole then, this form of fructification appears to me to 
correspond with that which one meets with in the conceptacula 
of Spherococcoidee and Delesserie. It differs simply in the ab- 
sence of a conceptaculum properly so called, which is here re- 
placed by filaments radiating from the surface which give rise to 
the nemathecia. 

Nemathecia then may inclose three forms of fructification : 
1. masses of spores inclosed in a pericarp (Favellidia, J. Ag.) as 
in Polyides, and perhaps in Rhizophyllis (see Fl. Alg. t. 16. fig. c 
and d) ; 2. tetraspores which may, as we see in the genus Fauchea 
(2. c. t. 16. fig. 1h), and in Peyssonnelia, grow between the radia- 


158 Mr. G. Newport on the genus Atya, 


ting filaments, or, as in Chondrus, Gymnogongrus and Phyllophora 
Stiridia (1. c. t. 16. fig. 5d and 5 e), derive their origin from the 
metamorphosis of the endochromes of these filaments ; 3. a form 
of fractification which may possibly be merely a modification of _ 
the former, in which the endochrome, suffering a normal hyper 
trophy, is not divided as a tetraspore, and presents an analogy to 
what one meets with in certain conceptacula. However this may 
be, one must allow that the organs in question are true spores, 
since they are exactly like those of the species with which I have 
compared them as regards their mode of reproduction. I ought 
to add, that Mr. Harvey has seen something like this in the ne~ — 
mathecia of Phyllophora Brodiai, but he does not say whether it is 
in the same nemathecium which incloses the tetraspores, which | 
would make a great difference. 


XIX.—Note on the genus Atya of Leach, with descriptions of 
four apparently new Species, in the Cabinets of the British Mu- 
seum. By G. Newrort, F.R.S. &e. 


[With a Plate.] Sab. ap aba 4 ae 
Fam. Macrovura, Latr., Leache / 
Gen. Atya, Leach. 


Wuen Dr. Leach described this genus of Macrourous Crusta- 
ceans, he was acquainted with only one species. There are four 
specimens of this in the cabinets of the British Museum, but 
nothing whatever is known of their habits, or from whence they 
were obtained. M. Milne Edwards, in his work on Crustacea, 
states that Atya scabra is from the coasts of Mexico. <A species 
described in Wiegmann’s ‘ Archives’ for 1836, Atya mexicana, is 
from the same country. Whether this is identical with Dr. Leach’s 
species is not ascertained. ‘Two new species have since been 
added to the collection in the British Museum, one from Jamaica 
and the other from the Philippine Islands. I have myself re- 
ceived two others, presented to me by my friend Dr. M‘ William, 
R.N., the indefatigable officer of the Niger Expedition, to whose 
kindness I am also indebted for other valuable specimens of na- 
tural history. These Atyas are now in our national collection. 
One of them, a small species, is from New Zealand. This is a 
female with an abundance of ova attached, and near the period 
of hatching: it was found in brackish water at Apia, Upoln, 
nine miles inland. The other species is of the size of Dr. Leach’s 
A. scabra and very closely resembles it, so that it may prove to 
be only a variety of it; but it seems to differ from Dr. Leach’s 
species in having the legs slightly sulcated, and the middle plate 


with descriptions of new Species. 159 


of the tail has a deep triangular sulcus, and the antenne are not 
more than one-half the length of the body. It was captured by 
Dr. M‘William in fresh water, 300 feet above the level of the sea, 
at San Nicolao, Cape Verd Islands. This fact, and that of the 
New Zealand species inhabiting brackish water, seem to show a 
natural affinity in habits as well as in structure with the genus 
Astacus, as well as with Crangon ; the latter being a truly marine 
genus, while the former includes both freshwater and marine 
species. 
Genus Arya, Leach. 

1. A. scabra, Leach, Linn. Trans. vol. xi. p. 345; Zool. Misc. 

iii. p. 29. Feb. 1881. 


2. A. mexicana, Wiegm. Archiv, 1836, 145. 


3. A. suleatipes? Newport. Pl. VIII. fig. 1. 

Body compressed, deep ; thorax slightly pubescent, with the 
rostrum short, trifid; third pair of legs very strong, and, to- 
gether with the fourth and fifth, covered with obtuse elongated 
tubercles, armed with short stiff hairs ; the femoral joints rounded, 
subclavate, with an oblique sulcus on the anterior lateral surface 
of each extended to the front of the tarsal joint ; middle plate of 
the tail with a deep triangular sulcus. Length im recent state 
3 inches. : 

Hab. in fresh water, San Nicolao, Cape Verd Islands. Inthe 
‘ collection at the British Museum. 


4. A. occidentalis, Newp. 

Thorax, abdomen and first two pairs of feet smooth ; rostrum 
conical, with its sides subangulated ; third pair of legs the largest, 
but somewhat slender, and with the fourth and fifth pair covered 
with smooth obsolete tubercles without hairs, tarsal tubercles 
slightly elongated. Length 14 inch. 

Hab. West India Islands. 

There are four specimens of this distinct species in the British 
Museum; they were taken by Mr. Gosse in Jamaica. The 
species seems to be common to the West India Islands, and ap- 
pears to be that which is figured and described, but not named, 
by Gronovius, tab. 17. fig. 6. p. 231. No. 988 of ‘ Zoolophylacii 
Gronoviani,’ fase. secund. Lugd. Batav. fol. 1764, in which it is 
said— Habitat in Oceano Americano ad Martinicam.” 


5. d. spinipes, Newp. 

Thorax and body smooth ; rostrum conical, simple, with an 
acute median ridge ; third pair of legs with the femoral joints 
almost smooth, slightly elongated, with an oblique furrow on the 
anterior external surface, and armed in front with a long acute 
spine, and with a second smaller one more posteriorly ; tibial and 


160 Notes on a Dredging Excursion off the Coast of Durham. 


tarsal joints equal in length with minute tufts of hairs. Length 
13 inch. | 

Hab. PhilippineIslands. One specimen in the British Museum, 
from the collection of Mr. Cuming. 


6. Atya pilipes, Newp. 

Body smooth; rostrum simple, triangular, very short, with a 
slight median ridge ; fourth and fifth pairs of legs nearly equal ; 
femoral joint with an oblique sulcus on the external surface, 
fringed with a margin of dense fine hairs. Length 13 inch. 

Hab. Apia, Upoln, New Zealand. One specimen in the Bri- 
tish Museum cabinet. I have been unable to derive characters 
for this species from the third pair of legs, both these being 
absent. 


XX.—WNotes on a Dredging Excursion off the coast of Durham ; 
with descriptions of the Ova-Capsules of Fusus Norvegicus and 
F. Turton. By Mr. Ricnarp Howse. 


[ With a Plate. ] 


On the 29th of last June I sailed from Staithes, a fishing hamlet 
on the Yorkshire coast, in one of the fishing luggers which du- 
ring the summer months visit the inner or western edge of the 
Dogger-bank. I made this marine excursion for the purpose of 
examining the Invertebrata of that much-frequented fishing- 
ground, and therefore went prepared with a dredge and the other 
necessary apparatus for collecting. 

Unfortunately the weather was most unfavourable, the wind 
blowing a gale from the west. We were driven about from Mon- 
day, the day on which we sailed, till Wednesday morning without 
being able to use the dredge; during the latter day, however, 
we had three hauls with it, but had no other opportunity of put- 
ting it down. The wind freshening towards evening we were 
obliged to leave off dredging, and on the following morning steered 
for the shore, which we reached in the afternoon. 

The little dredgig we had was im sixty fathoms water, on a 
fine, gray, sandy bottom, about fifty miles east of the coast of 
Durham, and about the same distance from the western edge 
of the Bank. The result, though small, was more satisfactory 
than under such unfavourable circumstances I had any reason to 
expect. 

The following mollusks were taken: a few specimens each of 
Fusus antiquus and F. Islandicus ; a beautiful specimen nearly an 
inch in length of Fusus Barvicensis; one of F.? lineatus ; speci- 


yee Ann: & Mag: Nat: Hist: Vol 19. PX. : 


Notes on a Dredging Excursion off the Coast of Durham. 161 


mens of Buccinum undatum, Natica Grenlandica, N. Montagui ; 
several of Turritella terebra; one of Tornatella fasciata; several 
of Dentalium entale ; specimens of Venus ovata, Venus laminosa 
and Psammobia Ferroensis ; Astarte Damnoniensis in great abun- 
dance—as many as would fill a quart measurewere obtained ; a few 
fine specimens of Astarte Scotica and A. compressa ; two of Kellia 
suborbicularis ; dozens of Montacuta substriata adhering to the 
spines of Spatangus purpureus ; one of Solen pellucidus ; a few of 
Cardium echinatum ; two specimens of Pecten opercularis, and 
several valves of P. obsoleta. These were all living with the ex- 
ception of Natica Grenlandica, N. Montagui, Psammobia Ferro- 
ensis, Venus ovata, Cardium echinatum and Pecten obsoletus. 

From the quantity dredged, the bottom must have been thickly 
strown with Spatangus purpureus—nearly half a peck were brought 
up the second haul; and when the dredge was taken on board 
the third and last time, it was pressed almost full of this species, 
which hitherto has been considered rare on the coast of Durham 
and Northumberland. Six specimens of another species of Spa- 
tangide were also procured at the same time. These most nearly 
resemble Bryssus lyrifer, but are much larger and less com- 
pressed than that species. The dorsal lyriform impression is 
almost obsolete, and it will probably prove distinct from any 
recorded British species. Very few starfish were dredged; only 
two or three specimens each of Ophiura texturata, Ophiocoma 
rosula, Asterias aurantiaca and Uraster rubens were brought up. 

As might be expected from the sandy nature of the sea-bottom, 
the dredging was rather unproductive in zoophytes; only a few 
were obtained ; a beautiful living specimen of Retepora Beaniana, 
and a few dead ones of Cellepora Skenei and C. ramulosa. 

Four specimens of a new and interesting variety of Fusus 
Islandicus were also taken. In general outline this variety is 
short and tumid, the spire having the appearance of being pushed 
in. ‘The lower part of the body-whorl is much puffed out, the 
upper part flattened and folded over at the suture. The canal is 
very much curved, and more inclined to the left than usual. The 
chief character, however, is in the epidermis, which is hispid ; 
the hispidations are very fine, and occur at the crossing of the 
strize of growth with the spiral striz. The largest specimen is 
about 14 inch in length and } inch in width, and has seven 
whorls. Plate X. fig. 5. will give a pretty correct idea of this 
variety, which from the number obtained, the constancy of form 
and other characters, must be regarded as permanent. 

The most interesting objects, however, that I procured were 
two ova-capsules of Fusus Norvegicus, which I shall describe 
further on. In this place I very much regret having to state 
that Mr. Wm. King, Curator of the Newcastle-on-Tyne museum, 

Ann, & Mag. N, Hist. Vol. xix. 12 


162 Notes on a Dredging Excursion off the Coast of Durham. 


has put the result of this dredging excursion in a note on Rete- 
pora Beaniana (p, 238), and that he has also given notice of the 
ova-capsules of F. Norvegicus in the text of his paper in the 
‘Annals’ of October last. This is the more to be deplored, as 
his description is partly erroneous and very imperfect. I allowed 
this gentleman to examine the capsules, but did not for a moment 
suppose that he would publish an account of them without my 
- consent or knowledge. 

~ In addition to those objects resulting from the dredging ex- 
-eursion, I have obtained several interesting specimens from the 
coasts of Durham and Northumberland from other sources, 
From the Haddocks, those indefatigable collectors, I have pro- 
cured one specimen each of Neera cuspidata and Bulla Cranehit, 
and two of Natica helicdidea ; this is the first time, I believe, that 
this rare shell has been taken so far south. From the fishermen, 
less careful and less industrious collectors than the former, I have 
received fine specimens of Fusus Turton, F'. Norvegicus, F. Bar- 
vicensis, Trochus millegranus, the two last fished up off Berwick ; 
two or three specimens of Natica Greenlandica and Sealaria Tre- 
villyana ; a large single specimen of Panopea arctica, and a single 
specimen each of Retepora Beaniana and Bryssus lyrifer. This 
is the first time the last-mentioned species has been recorded as 
being taken on the coast of Durham. It is most probably not 
uncommon, as Mr. A. Hancock informs me that he has procured 
it from the fishing-boats at Cullercoats. 

I have also obtained from the fishermen three ova-capsules of 
Fusus Turtont, These capsules are exceedingly interesting, as 
they, together with the capsules of F. Norvegicus, prove very 
clearly the distinctness of these two rare and little-known species, 
which by some conchologists, I believe, have been considered as 
mere varieties of /. antiguus. 


Ova-capsules of Fusus Norvegicus. Plate X. fig. 3. 


The spawn of FP’. Norvegicus was dredged July 1, 1846, in sixty 
fathoms water as ‘before stated. Only two were taken ; they are 
of a subhemispherical form, about one inch in diameter, and are 
agelutinated td by a very thin, produced marginal rim 
to the inside of old valves of Cardiwm echinatum. The envelope 
is coriaceous, of a horny appearance, very transparent, smooth, 
glossy and ofa yellowish colour; one of the capsules contained 
three, the other only two embryos. The last were far advanced, 
and apparently ready to leave the case. Through the transparent 
covering when first dredged, I could:see them moving about and 
adhering to the inner surface of the capsule by the expanded 
foot, the sides of which were of a faint lilac colour, The thin oper- 


Notes on a Dredging Excursion off the Coast of Durham. 168 


culum, the flattened tentacles, the diminutive spot-like eyes of 
these beautiful and interesting creatures were also distinctly vi- 
sible. The young shell is very thin, brittle, pellucid, brilliantly 
glossy and of a pale amber colour, nipple-formed, and perfectly 
resembles the nucleus or upper whorl of the adult individual, as 
will be seen by referring to the accompanying plate. Those most 
advanced in growth have two whorls, and are half an inch in 
length by a quarter in width. 

There is an interesting circumstance connected with one of 
the capsules which may give some idea of the time required to 
mature the embryo of this animal, A Serpula overlies a consi- 
derable portion of the flattened marginal rim, and must therefore 
at least have grown the length it has attained from its first attach- 
ment to the rim, about an inch, since the capsule was deposited. 
The embryo therefore requires more time for its development than 
a Serpula does to increase an inch in length. 


Ova-capsules of Fusus Turtoni. Plate X. fig. 9. 


The ova-capsules of F. Turtoni were fished.up off the North- 
umberland coast last June. Three were obtained ; two were at- 
tached to the inside of a valve of Modiola vulgaris, and one to the 
outside of another valve of the same species, They differ com- 
pletely from those of F. Norvegicus, in shape, in being double, in 
number of embryos, and in mode of attachment ; but agree with 
them in being solitary. They are ovate, compressed, lentiform, 
and are supported on a short flattened peduncle. This peduncle 
is a production of part of the margin of the capsule, and is consi- 
derably spread at its base over the surface to which it is attached. 
The capsule is composed of an inner and an outer case; the latter 
is of a pale yellow colour, opake, not very glossy, coriaceous, 
and has a few raised lines across the upper surface; the former 
is vey thin, and separated from the latter by a parallel, fibrous, 
silky layer. One of the capsules is nearly an inch in greatest 
diameter, and contains six embryos, the largest of which is half 
an inch in length by one-fifth in width, and has three volutions 
which perfectly resemble the apex of the mature individual. They 
are almost cylindrical, coarse, opake, the last whorl faintly spi- 
rally striated and of a reddish brown colour. 


From the above descriptions it is evident that these two forms 
are specifically distinct from each other, and from those with which 
they have been and are most likely to be confounded, viz. F. an- 
tiquus and B, undatum, The spawn of F. Norvegicus cannot for 
a moment be mistaken for that of F’. antiquus, as the capsules of 
the latter are only half an inch in diameter, and are very coarse 


and corrugated, and piled one upon the other in a conical heap, 
12% 


164 . M. Sundevall on the Birds of Calcutta. 


Neither can the capsules of F. Turtoni be mistaken for those of 
B. undatum, which are not more than a quarter of an inch in 
diameter, and contain upwards of twenty-four embryos. In 
conclusion, it is utterly impossible for the most casual observer to 
mistake the spawn of these distinct and interesting species, or to 
confound them with one another. 

The following table will show at a glance a few of the chief 
points of distinction :— 


Embryos. 
No. of, in each 
Capsules. Size of. capsule. 
Fusus Norvegicus...... 1 in. diam. 3 by din. 2or3 
Turtoni ...cceee. 3 by 3 by $ 6 
ANLIQUUS wee seeees 4 4 2—4 
Buccinum undatum ... } ty 24 


EXPLANATION OF PLATE X, 
Fig. 1. Fusus Norvegicus. 


Fig. 2. Operculum. 

Fig. 3. Ova-capsule. 

Fig. 4. Embryos. 

Lig. 5. Fusus Islandicus, hispid var. 
Fig. 6. Fusus Turtoni. 

fig. 7. Operculum. 

Fig. 8. F. Turtoni, young. 

Fig. 9. Ova-capsule. 

Fig. 10. Embryos. 


XXI.— The Birds of Calcutta, collected and described by 
Cart J. SUNDEVALL*, 


{Continued from p. 95.] 


82. Parra indica, Lath. no. 10.—P. melanochloris, Vieill. Gal. 
tab. 264 (colore superne nimis viridi. In descr. Parre melanoviridis). 
P. superciliosa, Horsf. Jav. Linn. Tr. xiii. Obs. P. nea, Cuv. R. A. 
e Brasilia, huic affinis an eadem ? 

Supra fusco-zenea, dorso postico castaneo, alis muticis, subtus 
remigibusque nigris; naribus ovalibus. (Cauda brevis, gradata, vix 
excedit alas.) 

Adulta. Atra, viridi-nitens, vitta pone oculos alba. Dorsum antice 
cum alis extus saturate fusco-enea. Dorsum postice et cauda ob- 
scure rufa, violaceo-nitida. Iris fusco-rufescens. Rostrum flavum, 
basi cute libera, supra frontem jacente, postice semicirculari, in- 
structum. Pedes fusco-virescentes. Longit. 102 poll. Ala 174 
millim., tarsus 74, digitus medius 72, cum ungue 101 ; digitus pos- 
ticus 31, cum ungue 90; rostrum e fronte 36, cauda 36. (dmense 
Febr. Alius Martio simillimus.) 


* Translated from the ‘ Physiographiska Sillskapets ‘Tidskrift’ by H. E. 
Strickland, M.A. 


M. Sundevall on the Birds of Calcutta. 165 


Junior, 2, d. 20 Febr, (an adulta?). Gula et corpus subtus alba; 
latera colli vitta longitudinali pallide flavescenti, ad alas extensa. 
Caput supra ferrugineum, lateribus cum gula et macula brevi supra 
oculos albis. Collum postice nigrum, antice pallide rufescens. Dor- 
sum et ale paullo dilutiora quam in adulta. Dorsum postice ferru- 
gineo-fuscescens, paullo zneo-nitens. Kectrices rufescentes, extus 
albide, linea intramarginali (concentrica) nigra. Ale subtus pure 
nigre. Iris et pedes ut adulte. Rostrum sordide flavescens, vix ullo 
rudimento membrane frontalis. Long. 10 poll. Ala 168 millim., 
tarsus 69, digitus medius 68, cum ungue 88 ; pollex 30, cum ungue 
75, rostrum e fronte 34. 


The genus Parra, which belongs to the torrid zone of both 
continents, is especially marked by its long toes, provided with 
quite straight, almost disproportionately long claws, so that the 
expanse of the foot is longer than the closed wing. They con- 
sequently tread upon avery large surface, and are enabled to run 
on the very softest mud, or occasionally on the surface of the 
water, which is covered with the leaves of aquatic plants. P. in- 
dica is not rare around Calcutta, and is often seen to run across 
water-tanks where Nymphea lotos grows. Sometimes this bird 
is heard to utter a short whining cry almost like pja-o! In 
March many were seen together, running round each other ; they 
could not be pursued in a flock, but each flew by itself when 
alarmed. Nothing was found in the stomach but a kind of roots 
or bulbs of some common water-plant. The same substance was 
found in the stomachs of all the herbivorous water-birds, but I 
omitted to ascertain whence it was procured. 


83. Parra luzoniensis, Sonn., Lath. (certe a P. sinensi distincta). 

Supra grisea ; alis spinosis, subtus albis, remigibus arcuatis: an- 
ticis apice appendiculatis. Caude apice elongato, acuto, adscen- 

enti. 

Indiv. sexus incerti (veris junius) d. 23 Martii. Corpus superne 
fusco-griseum, parum violaceo-nitens ; subtus et lateribus, jugulum 
et major pars ale pure alba. Frons albo varia. Vitta e rostro su- 
pra oculos alba, dein in colli latera deflexa, flava, ad alas extensa. 
Vitta alia nigra, per oculos in collum descendens, priorem limitans, 
ante pectus cum pari conjuncta, jugulum cingens. Ala alba, extus 
plaga magna colorata e tectricibus griseis, fusco-undatis. Remiges 
cubitales omnes immaculate albz ; primarie falcate, acute: 1 et 2 
nigre ; 3 basi late alba; sequentes albe, apice nigro marginate ; 
1*—-3* appendice lanceolato, e rhachide elongata, primo nuda, dein 
brevius plumata. Rectrices albz ; 2 medize fuscee ; angustate, acute, 
lax, apice paullo sursum curvato ; mediz longe : 2 poll. ultra alas, 
Rostrum fuscum, limite frontali transverso absque lobo. Pedes ni- 
gricantes. Spina carpi valida, acuta. Long. 124 poll. Ala 210 
millim., tarsus 55, digitus medius 55, cum ungue 73 ; pollex 22, cum 
ungue 49; rostrum e fronte 27, cauda 105, 


166 M. Sundevall on the Birds of Caleutta. 


This species lived in the same manner as the foregoing, and 
on the same vegetables, but was more rare. It more often utters 
its restless cry, and during flight keeps its wings more still. It 
is remarkable for the appendage to the points of the wings, and 
has a strong, sharp point on the bend of each wing. This last 
character occurs in many waders of the torrid zone, e. gy. many 
species of Parra, Vanellus, Charadrius, Palamedea, &c. 


84. Gallinula phenicura, Lath.—Rallus ph., Gm. Gall. erythrina, 
Bechst., Lath. i 

Nigricans crisso ferrugineo. (Affinis G. chloropodi.) 

& (junior? d. 14 Dec. e Ceylon; nec a me in Bengalia inventa). 
Cinereo-nigricans, olivaceo tincta. Gula et vitta longitudinalis e 
rostro ad abdomen alba, sed corporis collique latera colore dorsi. 
Abdomen et plume tibie rufo-testacea. Crissum ferrugineum. 
Cauda mollis, rotundata, fusco-nigra. Al fusco-nigre, remige 1* 
margine externo albo. Rostrum et pedes flavi. Lamina frontalis 
minima seu vix ulla: tantum e culmine rostri, basi paullo dilatato ; 
postice rotundata; colore rostri. Longit. (collo extenso) 13 poll. 
Ala 165 millim., cauda 70, rostrum cum laminula frontis 37, digitus 
medius 53, cum ungue 64; tarsus 53, os tibiz 83, extensio alarum 
20 poll. 

Structura. Corpus valde compressum, angustius quam G. chloro- 
podis, collo longiore in formam § inflexo. Rostrum ut G. chlorop. 
Lingua cartilagineo-carnosa, crassa, apice membranaceo-lacera. Ala 
inermis, rotundata. Pedes toti scutati, ut in G. chloropode constructi, 
sed ratione corporis majores.- Ventriculus valde musculosus. Intes- 
tinum longit. 20 poll. pariete crassa, cavitate tenuissima. Intestina 
ceca 2, longit. 1 poll.; ab ano 2 pollices distantia. 


This water-hen was caught on board ship about twenty [Swe- 
dish] miles west of Ceylon, in 5°50’ N. It had consequently 
flown a longer way than I could have expected one of these 
heavy-flying birds to do when it was not the season for migra- 
tion, at which time a remarkable and peculiar vigour is excited 
in birds. I did not see it in Bengal, but will not assert that it is 
not found there. In the stomach were many pebbles, and re- 
mains of plants which resembled those mentioned under the spe- 
cies of Parra. It flew with a rapid motion of the wings almost 
like a partridge, and with the feet stretched backwards. The 
readiness with which it went upon deck, and especially on the 
cordage, sometimes even on the rigging, was remarkable. It. 
grasped the ropes with wonderful security by means of its long 
curved toes, and seemed to be accustomed to climb among reeds 
and branches in the marshes of Ceylon. 


85. Fulica atra. Only one specimen of the Coot was seen ; 
I shot it on March 24, in the small lake near Sucsagor which I 
have often mentioned, as it was swimming among the roseate 


M. Sundevall on the Birds of Caleutta. 167 


Lotus-flowers. It presented no difference from a full-grown Swe- 
dish specimen. The frontal dise was white, and not larger than 
in our own specimens ; after drying it as usual became red. It 
had fed on the same sort of water-plants as Parra indica. 
(Length 154 inches; wing 210 mill. ; tarsus 62 ; middle toe and 
claw 87 ; beak from front 31.) 


86. Scolopax gallinago, Linn. The common Snipe is one of the 
more frequent birds near Calcutta, where it is considered to be in 

eat measure stationary, but in all February and March they are 
ound in much greater numbers than in April. They were met 
with not only near water and in swampy places, but as often on 
the dry and bare ground in woods, and even among the houses 
in the villages. In February they are said to run about in fami- 
lies, although those which were found together never consti- 
tuted a flock, or were followed until they flew up. Later in 
the spring some occurred to me which must have had their 
eggs among the fallen leaves in the aforesaid dry grounds; but 
this is only a conjecture. On two occasions the well-known cry 
of the snipe while flying was heard inthe morning. It happened 
that no specimen was brought home, so that I have not been able 
to compare the species with European specimens ; but as far as I 
could see on the spot, not the slightest dissimilarity was noticed. 
Scolopax major was not seen. 


87. Numenius arquata, Lath. Of this bird also no specimen 
was brought home, but I saw it in the latter half of March, once 
shot and twice living, on the river banks. I did not hear it cry 
so loud or continuously as it is wont to do at the breeding season 
in Europe, but only with a shorter heeee! as one also often hears 
with us. Temminck also mentions (in his Manuel d’Ornitholo- 
gie) that the Curlew occurs in India. 


88. Totanus glareola, Temm. This Swedish species was also 
met with on the Ganges, and pursues the same mode of life as 
with us. In its stomach were found small snails. According toa 
rigid comparison it precisely resembles those of our climate, and 
I will therefore only give the measurements of a female, shot 
March 24, Beak to front 30 mill. ; wing 135 ; tarsus 37; middle 
toe and claw 34; tail 50. 

Near Sucsagor, on March 20—25, some other Scolopacide 
' were seen, among which I thought I recognised Totanus glottis 
and Limosa rufa in their winter dress, but they did not occur 
very frequently. The species of Parra, Charadrius, Ardea and 
Scolopax gallinago seemed to be the most abundant waders in 
Bengal. 


89. Charadrius minor, Meyer, occurred commonly near the 


168 M. Sundevall on the Birds of Calcutta. 


river in February and March; I have not noted its occurrence 
later. They ran upon the shores, commonly several together, but 
were not heard to cry. In the stomach they had much sand, 
with insects, larvee, &c. The Hindoos called them Ghorta gotta. 
No difference was noticed between Swedish specimens and one 
brought from Calcutta. (¢ Beak to front 13 mill.; wing 118; 
tail 60 ; tarsus 22 ; middle toe 16, with the claw 19.) 


90. Charadrius cirripedesmos, Wag). Syst. no. 18 (?). 

Griseus, subtus fronteque albus, pedibus elongatis rostroque nigris, 
remigibus omnibus fuscis, scapis plerisque albis; rectricibus fuscis, 
margine apicis albis, extima alba macula ante apicem fusca. 

Adultus (@ initio Maii) fascia pectoris latissima ferruginea (ni- 
gredine nulla). Frons late nigra, utrinque macula magna alba : 
albedo enim ordinaria frontis in medio divisa. Vitta ordinaria sub 
oculis ad aures, nigra. Vertex anterior cum superciliis pallide ru- 
fescens; nucha cum torque, in pectus descendente, ferruginea. Plume 
dorsi quedam margine sordide pallidiore. Long. 190 millim., rostrum 
e fronte 20, ala 125, cauda 54, tarsus 34, digitus medius 19, cum 
ungue 22. (4 et fsimiles; sed individua colore rufescente et ma- 
culis frontis albis paullo inter se differunt ; quibusdam frons postice 
non nigra.) Pullus ( 2 initio Maii) superne magis cinerascens, uni- 
color: caret coloribus nigris rufisque. Frons cum superciliis latis- 
simis alba, vitta sub oculis, et fascia nebulosa, indeterminata pectoris, 
pallide fuscescentes. Pedes fusco-nigri. Longit. ale 120 millim., 
cauda 48, tarsus 32, digitus medius 19, cum ungue 22. Est avis e 
sectione Ch. hiaticule affinis Ch. cantiano, sed pedibus longioribus. 
Ala mutica, tectricibus colore dorsi. Cauda paullulum superat alas. 
Remiges prime fere pure nigre ; 6—8 extus in medio albe: scapus 
primus totus albus, reliqui basi longius, apice brevius fusci. 


On the river banks south of Calcutta this bird occurred in the 
beginning of May in large flocks, which however were now ter- 
minated, so that individuals migrated in flights. They were very 
common further down, eight or ten miles from the town, on the 
broad swampy shores left half-dry at ebb tide. Among several 
specimens shot in these flocks no two were exactly alike, the 
brown and black on the head and breast being somewhat variable. 
The young bird described above was shot some miles nearer the 
town. It was quite alone upon the shore, and none like it was 
got among the flocks, though I can safely assert its specific 
identity. Its plumage was perfectly formed, and it could hardly 
have been hatched the same year. The note resembled that of 
our small plovers, and was heard on two occasions when they 
flew up. In the stomach they had small crabs and insects. 

Obs. On the river banks south from Calcutta, near Culpee for 
instance, [ saw on my homeward voyage a great number of 
waders, most of which seemed to be plovers. Among others I 


M. Sundevall on the Birds of Calcutta. 169 


thought I saw C. helveticus and Strepsilas collaris. There were 
swarms of shore-birds, but I had unfortunately only a short hour 
to stay in the place and had no assistance. Jbis Macei and the 
Charadrius above-described were procured here. 


91. Larus ridibundus, var. remigibus 3 anticis nigris, basi albis. 
2 d. 20 Aprilis (habitu perf. estivali). Iris alba. Nigredo capitis, 
colore et limite, picturaque totius corporis exacte ut in individuis 
Suecanis tempore estivo. Rostrum, pedes, palpebre, remigum pro- 
-portio ete. collata et simillima inventa; sed remiges 1* et 2* nigre, 
basi et macula oblonga ante apicem alba (in aliis indiv. macula paullo 
major vel minor); 3* nigra, basi latius alba, omnino caret macula 
alba; 4*—6° albe apice late nigrze; sequentes et omnes cubitales 
dilute incanz. Tectrices primariz albze, relique colore dorsi. Longit. 
153 poll. Ala 320 millim., tarsus 45, digitus medius cum ungue 43, 
cauda 118, rostrum e fronte 34. 


Juniores? eodem tempore, ptilosi hiemali; capite albo, maculis 
solitis fuscis. 


I did not see this bird before the middle of March, or at least 
it was not common ; but in April and the beginning of May it 
was very abundant, so that whole flocks often made their appear- 
ance over the river. They seemed to live chiefly on the maggots 
which swarmed in the dead bodies in the river. The female de- 
scribed had her throat full of them, some of which were still living. 
Remains of fish were also found in the stomach. The cry, re- 
sembling laughter, was heard occasionally. The Bengalese name 
is gangtjeel (river-hawk), which is common both to gulls and 
terns, like the word Fisk-mase with us. 

Obs. Another Larus, somewhat larger, much like LZ. canus, was 
seen sometimes on the river as well as in the sea off the coast. 
Of Sterna two or three species occurred, and one of them was 
common for a short time in April. It was larger than S. hirundo, 
with a shorter tail and white front, probably S. cantiaca of 
Raffles (Linn. Trans. vol. xi.), but none such were procured. 
Another, seen in the Bay of Bengal, seemed like S. minuta, but 
of a grayer brown above; perhaps S. panayensis, as it could 
scarcely be S. infuscata, Licht., which is larger. 


92. Halieus africanus.—Pelecanus africanus, Gm., Lath. P. gra- 
culus 3. Lath. Mus, Carlss. tab. 61 (? gula lutea). P. javanicus, 
Horsf. 

Niger, gula alba, plumis scapularibus, tectricibusque minoribus 
cinerascentibus, atro-marginatis, acutis. Rostrum longitudine fere 
capitis. Rectrices 12, medi rostro quadruplo longiores. 

6 adultus (d. 24 Mart. testiculis parvis). Supra subtusque niger, 
gula sola alba. Collum antice, pectus et dorsum antice plumis gri- 
sescenti-marginatis. Plume scapulares oblonge, elongate, acute, 
margine atro latit. 14 millim. Ala subtus atra: tantum caude basin 


170 M. Sundevall on the Birds of Caleutta. 


attingit. Cauda rigida, gradata. Pedes nigri. Rostrum fuscum, 
subtus pallidum. Longit. 20 poll. sv. Ala 198 millim., rostrum e 
fronte 34, tarsus 37, digitus externus cum ungue 62, cauda 143. 


This small Cormorant, the least in the genus, was seen only in 
the lake near Sucsagor, ten [Swedish] miles north from Calcutta. 
It lived there in small flocks of from five to seven, and was not 
particularly shy, though difficult to shoot, for when I approached 
them they laid all their bodies under water, so that only the head 
- and tip of the tail were seen above the surface. When fired at 
they dived, and rose again at a distance. The power of floating, 
in the manner mentioned, motionless in the water, exists also in 
many of our swimming birds, especially in young ducks, and 
is difficult to explain, as it seems to imply a specific gravity 
but little less than that of water, while the position of the bird 
in the ordinary mode of swimming shows that it is then at least 
twice as light*. When flying they resemble ducks. They were 
often seen sitting in trees near the water, or on roots, posts, &c. 
like those birds, but they were then more shy. The neck is com- 
monly stretched out at full length. In the stomach they had fish 
and small crustacea. 

This and the following species occur in the collection of Baron 
Gyllenkrok from Java, whence they were brought by Dr. Mel- 
lerborg. 


93. Plotus melanogaster, Gm., Lath. p. 895 (cum var.é). Pl. Le- 
vaillantii, Temm. Pl. Col. 380 (cum synonymia extricata). 

Capite colloque fulvo-griseis, utrinque linea longitudinali alba ; 
cauda tota nigra; plumis scapularibus nigris, linea alba notatis f. 

Senior subtus niger ; junior subtus rufesc.-griseus ( ¢ temp. pro- 
pagationis crinibus laterum colli. Temm.). 

& (d. 25 Mart. testic. parvis). Plume nulle elongate colli. 
Corpus totum nigrum, subtus obscurius. Caput et collum ad trun- 
cum usque fulvescenti-grisea, fusco-punctata; gula et linea ex an- 
gulo oris ad medium collum, albe. Linea e medio gutture ad alas 
fulvescens, nigredinem pectoris limitans. Cauda tota nigra. Alée 
higre ; plume scapulares longissimee, lineari-acutee, rigidee, linea me- 
dia alba, tectrices eodem colore, anguste, acute. Iris griseo-flaves- 
cens. Rostrum fuscum, subtus flavescens. Pedes sordide virescentes. 
Longit. 32 poll, Suec. (collum 11, cauda 9). Rostrum 77 millim. 


At the same place with the last species lived three or four of 


# It is probable that in the case alluded to by Prof. Sundevall, the bird 
increases its specific gravity by ejecting a portion of the air contained in its 
pneumatic apparatus; or by partially condensing the air like the Nautilus 
and Ammonite.—H. E.5. . 

+ Pl. anhinga, L.; cauda apice grisescente, capite colloque nigris vel 

riseis, absque linea alba; plumis scapularibus nigris, macula oblonga alba. 
Fix America: conf. Temm. loco supra citato. @ temp. propagationis nucha 
crinita. ; 


M. Sundevall on the Birds of Calcutta. 171 
these handsome though remarkably long-necked birds. They 


were commonly seen sitting in trees or upon posts in the lake, 
and seemed hardly to enter the water in quest of food. Here 
they were not so i as they are described in Levaillant’s ‘ African 
Travels.’ I succeeded with some trouble in shooting one. When 
these birds sit, they have some resemblance to gallinaceous birds 
of the genus foe. but the long neck and the long straight 
beak give them a very peculiar appearance. ‘The first I saw sat 
motionless on a post in the lake almost upright, with the wings half- 
opened, the neck curved somewhat like an 8, and the long tail 
hanging straight down; it was as though I had seen one of the 
monstrous animals of mythology. The food consists of fish and 
crustacea, with which the stomach of the specimen which I shot 
was filled. In the wide cesophagus were many curious intestinal 
worms. The Bengalese name is unknown to me. ‘This species 
is found in all the warm parts of the old continent, and in the 
Indian islands. The warm regions of America have another spe- 
cies, very little different, and no more species of Plotus are known. 


94. Anser 
tiaca, auct.? 

Dilute rufescens, speculo alarum viridi nigricanti. Magnitudo 
Anseris albifrontis. 

Near Sucsagor at the end of March a considerable flock of 
small reddish geese frequented the banks of the river. They 
were said to come there yearly, but depart during the hot season, . 
so that they probably migrated soon after I saw them. Like all 
geese they were very wary, so that in spite of every effort I did 
not succeed in shooting any, though I managed to observe them 
tolerably with the help of a telescope. Their note was a cackling 
rather like that of common wild-geese, but rougher and shorter. 
The Bengalese name is Raz hangs or Lolli hangs. The word hangs 
is sounded like the French pronunciation of hanse, and is the 
common name for geese and ducks. Loll/ signifies red. 


95. Anser domesticus. (Rostrum totum pallide rubicundum, 
longitudine capitis, basi gibbosum, pone medium fortius depressum, 
leviter deflexum. Pedes colore rostri. Caput superne et nucha (ple- 
rumque) castanea, limite definito, ut in A. cygnoide. Cauda alas 
equans. Cutis inter pedes nunquam dependens. Magnitudo et 
statura A. cinerei?. Corpus Cinerascens (anserinum) subtus albidum, 
sed color szepe alius.) 


The tame geese were in general somewhat unlike those which 
occur with us. The beak had a large knob above the base, and 
the hind neck a sharply-defined brown colour, as in the so-called 
Turkish [Chinese] geese (Anser cygnoides), but the beak and feet 
were the same colour as in our tame geese. It is probably a 


Anas indica et cana? Gm., Lath. ; an A. egyp- 


172 M. Sundevall on the Birds of Calcutta. 


mixed race. The voice was also somewhat harsher than in the 
common goose. . 


96. Tame ducks (Anas boschas), as well as geese, are kept by 
the naturalized Portuguese and by the Musselmans, but not by 
the Hindoos. Perhaps both these domestic birds were introduced 
from Europe. I did not see Anas boschas wild. 


97. Anas caryophyllacea, Lath.—A. javanica? Horsf. Linn. Tr. xiii. 
A. castanea, Mus. Holm.? 

Rufescens, dorso nigricante, plumis subtruncatis, griseo-margi- 
natis; ala subtus nigra, superne tectricibus minoribus ferrugineis. 
Rostrum nigricans ungue lato, adunco. 

2? (Calcutta Martio). Caput superne griseo-fuscum, lateribus et 
collo testaceo-griseis ; jugulum dilutius, nucha obscurior, gula alba. 
Dorsum fusco-nigrum, antice plumis obtusis latis griseo-marginatis ; 
postice immaculatum. Gastreum dilute rufum, non maculatum, 
crisso albido. Cauda nigra, tectricibus superioribus rufis. Alarum 
remiges nigro-fusce ; tectrices maxime, etiam primariz, nigro-cine- 
ree, nullum speculum formantes. Rostrum fuscum, pedes plumbei. 
Longit. 15 poll. Ala 192 millim., tarsus 40, digitus medius 60, ros- 
trum e fronte 37, cauda 42. 

Rostrum longit. fere capitis, angustius, basi latitudine multo altius ; 
lamellz suboccultate ; unguis validus, abrupte perpendiculariter de- 
flexus, apice rotundatus margine acuto. Ale breves, caude basin 
attingunt ; remiges 2—3 subeequales, reliquis longiores. Cauda bre- 
vissima rotundata. Pedes postici, subelongati, tarso reticulato, di- 
gitis longis, scutatis, membrana non excisa. Pollex non lobatus 
longus, equalis articulo primo digiti externi. 

6 (an junior? Martio) similis femine sed coloribus saturatioribus, 
nucha nigricante. Tectrices nulle arcuate *. 


This seems to be the commonest species in Bengal ; it occurs 
both single and in flocks on every piece of water in the country, 
and lives on plants. The specimens examined had in their sto- 
machs remains of the same sort of vegetables as those noticed 
under Parra indica. They had a strong muscular gizzard and a 
large pouch in the cesophagus. The voice is a rough, very short 
grah'\ grah! The Hindoos merely called this bird Hangs. 


98. Anas querquedula, Linn., Temm., Nilss. ( habitu perf. hie- 
mali, testiculisque minutis, d. 25 Martii.) 


_ [shot a male of our common Teal, which on comparison showed 
no difference from Swedish specimens. Several were seen near 


* Individuum e Tranquebar in Mus, Hafniensi differt ; capillitio palli- 
diore, rufescenti; collo medio undique cinereo-variegato ; vitta nuchz ad 
dorsum extensa, nigra, hypochondriis albo-maculatis. 

Indiv. e Java, Mus. Gyllenkr. (certe A. javanica, Horsf.), differt capillitio 
nigro, coloribusque rufis multo saturatioribus. 


Mr. E. Doubleday on some Lepidoptera. 173 


Calcutta, and the species was said not to be rare in that quarter. 
The natives knew it by the name of Bigri hangs. 


99. Anas coromandeliana, Gm., Lath. 106. Ale nigricantes re- 
migibus omnibus apice albis, subtus alba. Pollex tenuis. ¢ superne 
viridis nitens; 9 superne fusco-cinerea. Minor quam crecca. 

This pretty little Duck is easily recognised even during flight, 
by a white margin to the wings, formed by the tips of all the 
quills. The male is of a fine grass-green above. It is common 
- on the river, but I only procured a pair, which shared the same 
fate as the Lark, no. 28, above-mentioned ;—they were destroyed 
by ants during the night. They had only fed on vegetables. 


[To be continued. } 


XXII.—Descriptions of new or imperfectly described Lepido- 
pterous Insects. By Eywarp Dovsuepay, Ksq., F.L.S., Assist- 
ant in the Zoological Department of the British Museum, &c. 


[Continued from vol. xviii. p. 376.] 


Genus ORNITHOPTERA. 


Orn. Poseidon. Alis supra holosericeo-viridibus, limbo nigro, anticis 
fascia longitudinali latissima nigra, nervulis viridibus divisa; pos- 
ticis subtus aureo-viridibus, angulo aniaureo. Exp. alar. 64 unc. 
vel 168 mill. 

Hab. Darnley Island. 


_ Above, anterior wings with the entire limb deep velvety black, 
the disc occupied by a broad fascia of the same colour united to 
the black margin below the apex, divided by the median nervure 
and nervules, which are golden-green, its inner side more fuscous 
and opake. The space between this and the limb is occupied by 
two vitte of a bright golden or satiny green, shading to bright 
coppery. The upper of these is narrow at the base and becoming 
gradually wider until near the apex of the wing, when it sud- 
denly narrows. The lower follows a direction parallel to the 
inner margin until near the anal angle, gradually widening to 
this point, when it is bent abruptly upwards ; and becoming some- 
what macular, terminates near the second discoidal nervule. Pos- 
terior wings small, triangular, the anterior and outer margins 
rounded; satiny green with coppery reflections, the limb nar- 
rowly black, the outer angle with one or more round black dots, 
and generally near the outer margin is a series of round orange 
spots between the nervules. 

Below, the anterior wings have the limb black, broadest on 
the costa, with a slender green vitta below the third and also the 
fourth subcostal nervule, all the interstices below the fifth sub- 


174 Mr, E, Doubleday on some Lepidoptera. 


costal nervule occupied by a large green patch, each divided ex- 

cept the first by a black spot, these spots forming an irregular 
transverse fascia. Cell black, the lower half almost occupied by 
a golden green vitta extending from near the base to the end of 
the cell. Posterior wings golden green, the golden colour pre- 
dominating externally ; the anterior and outer margins black, the 
former with one, the latter with five black spots, the costal spots 
sometimes preceded by an orange dash; the anal angle broadly 
golden yellow. ? 

Head and thorax black, the latter with a long golden green 
vitta above. Abdomen golden yellow. 

In the cabinet of the British Museum. - 

This beautiful insect differs from Orn. Priamus in the different 
form of the green vitte of the anterior wings, in the golden green 
colour of the median nervure and nervules, in its much smaller 
posterior wings less broadly bordered with black, in the golden 
green hue of its posterior wings below, and especially in the large 
golden orange patch at the anal angle (which is black in Orn. 
Priamus), and the suffusion of the same colour along the outer 
margin. 

It was found abundantly by Mr. Jukes on Darnley Island, 
amongst the cocoa-nut groves. 


Genus Paprxio. 


P. Zagreus. Alis anticis elongatis nigris, vitta in cellulam fulva, 
fasciisque macularibus fulvis, ochraceisque, posticis obtuse dentatis 
fulvis, maculis disci, fimbriaque postica, in qua macule sex ochra- 
cere, nigris. Exp. alar, 5 unc. vel 127 mill. 

Hab. Venezuela. 

Anterior wings elongate, rounded at the apex, the inner mar- 
gin slightly concave, black : the cell with a transverse ochraceous 
band near the end, and a bright fulvous vitta at the base, extend- 
ing along the upper side of the median nervure beyond its second 
nervule: beyond the cell is a macular band composed of seven 
spots ; the first, near the costa, triangular, the second rhomboidal, 
the third, fourth, fifth and sixth subtriangular, the apex directed 
outwards, the seventh oval; of these the first four are ochraceous, 
the others fulvous: between this band and the cell is a large ful- 
vous spot divided into three parts by the first and second median 
nervules, and only separated from the vitta by the median ner- 
vure; near the apex four subovate ochraceous spots, ‘the third 
longest, placed so as to form an oblique macular band, and be- 
low these near the outer margin four small spots of the same 
colour. 

Posterior wings oval; the outer margin with four short, 
rounded teeth ; fulyous, the outer margin broadly black, in which 


Mr, E, Doubleday on some Lepidoptera. 175 


are six small ochraceous spots ; the interstice between the costal 
and subcostal nervures marked with a black vitta: a black cloud 
at the end of the cell and in each of the interstices of the ner- 
_vules. Below, the anterior wings as above, but paler, the poste- 
rior with the markings of the dise more distinct ; the marginal 
band fuscous posteriorly, black anteriorly, where it is marked 
by two pure white dots in each interstice. 

Head large, black, the vertex with two white dots, palpi and 
orbits white. Antenne ochraceous, the base black. 

Thorax very robust, black above, with an ochreous line down 
the middle; three spots of the same colour on each side near the 
base of the wings, two white dots on the prothorax: below 
ochreous, striped laterally with black; legs black ; coxze striped 
with ochreous. 

Abdomen robust, elongate, brown above, more fulvous below, 
where it is marked with a median black line. 

In the cabinet of the British Museum. 

This extraordinary insect is without exception the most re- 
markable Papilio yet found in the New World. In form and 
colouring it so closely resembles the Heliconian butterflies of the 
same group as Hel. Eva, that but for its robust body it might 
easily be mistaken for one of them. Its pale antennz are.a re- 
markable character ; for I only know one other species of true 
Papilio (P. Antenor) in which the antenne are of any other co- 
lour than black except some small spot at the base or apex; but 
here we have them precisely resembling those of Hel. Eva in 
colour. Whilst however it possesses these subordinate characters 
of the Heliconians, it has all the essential characters of Papilio, 
or I might say of Ornithoptera ; for in the form of the head, tho- 
rax and abdomen, it comes nearer to Orn. Priamus than to any 
true Papilio I am aequainted with. 

The only specimen I have ever seen was found in Venezuela 
by Mr. Dyson, whose indefatigable exertions as a collector merit 
the highest praise. 

Genus AMATHUSIA. 
Am. Amythaon. Alis omnibus supra fuscis, anticis fascia obliqua lata 
leete cerulea (in 2 fulva) ; subtus pallide chocoladinis, strigis plu- 
rimis transversis saturatioribus, posticis ocellis duobus albo pupil- 


latis, Exp, alar. 5 unc, vel 122 mill. 
Hab. Silhet. 


Above, all the wings fuscous black, darker, especially the pos- 
terior near the base; the anterior traversed by a broad oblique 
band of a beautiful light blue, with purplish reflections, com- 
mencing on the costa above, opposite to the middle of the cell, 
and occupying in width about one-third of the costa, extending 
obliquely across to the submedian neryule, and terminating near 


176 Mr. F. M‘Coy on the Irish species of Cephaloptera. 


the outer margin, where its upper boundary is the second dis- 
coidal nervule. Below, all the wings pale chocolate, with lavender 
reflections, traversed by seven transverse lines; the first com- 
mencing on the costa of the anterior wings near the base, con- 
tinued along the precostal and first median nervule of the poste- 
rior wings, the second continued across both wings to the ori- 
gin of the second median nervule of the posterior wings, the third 
short, just crossing the cell a little beyond the middle, the fourth 
beyond the cell, continued nearly to the anal angle, the fifth more 


oblique, only reaching the first median nervule of the posterior © 


wings, the sixth arising near the apex, meeting the fourth at its 
termination, the seventh submarginal, common. Posterior wings 
slightly produced into a short, round tail or palette at the anal 
angle, having besides the markings already described two ocelli 
composed of an oval black ring with a white pupil, the larger one 
near the costa between the first and second subcostal nervule, 
the second between the first and second submedian nervule at 
the point of junction of the fourth and sixth strigze, the anal pa- 
lette with two black dots edged with white. Cilia all white. 

Head, thorax, and abdomen brown. 

Female paler, with the band of the anterior wings much nar- 
rower, not occupying any part of the cell, fulvous, marked near 
the outer margin with a brown waved striga. 

In the cabinet of the British Museum, &c. 

Much resembling in form Amathusia Phidippus, but known at 
once by the blue band above and different markings of the under 
surface. » The blue band of the anterior wings gives it a consi- 
derable resemblance to Zeuxidia Luxeri of Hiibner, but it wants 
the blue on the posterior wings, and is totally different below. 


XXIII.—Note on the Irish species of Cephaloptera (Pterocephala). 
By Freprerick M‘Coy, M.G.S. & N.H.S.D. &e. , 


[ With a Plate.] 


On looking over some memoranda lately, I found the followmg 
notes and drawing, Pl. XI., made some years ago, of the speci- 
men of Cephaloptera, originally noticed by Mr. Thompson of Bel- 
fast, in the Museum of the Royal Dublin Society, and which may 
be interesting to naturalists, as the specimen is still, so far as I 
know, not only unique as Irish, but even the genus to which it 
belongs has not been observed before or since in the British seas ; 
and further, the specimen seems to be erroneously referred to in 
most works on British zoology. 

I wish here to acknowledge the liberality with which Dr. 


ee 


ee ee 


a 


q 


Annand Mag. Nat Host: Vob 19. PLAT. 


Hullmandel & Walton Lithographers. 


JDeC. Sowerby lith. 


Mr. F. M‘Coy on the Irish species of Cephaloptera. 177 


Scouler, Lecturer on Geology and Keeper of the Museum to the 
above Society, has always permitted me to examine and describe 
any objects which interested me in the Museum under his care ; 
and he it was, I believe, who first drew Mr. Thompson’s attention 
to this most interesting addition to the British fauna, and noted. 
its genus. 

The specimen in question was first publicly noticed by Mr. 
Thompson in a communication to the Zoological Society of Lon- 
don (Proc. June 5, 1835), and the particulars which he gives of 
its capture on the Irish coast are all I know on that point, having 
failed in my inquiries for any information in addition to that 
which has been published on his authority. That gentleman 
however neither described nor figured the specimen, merely no- 
ticing its general resemblance to the figure given by Risso of the 
Cephaloptera Giorna; subsequent writers seem to have in some 
manner mistaken the passage, as they make the reference to that 
species decisive, which, as I have stated, was not the case in the 
original notice. 

I might here suggest, that according to the rule of priority, 
Dumeril’s name Cephaloptera should not be retained for this 
genus, having been previously used by Geoffroy St. Hilaire for a 
genus of Coracine, formed for the reception of that remarkable 
bird the Coracina cephaloptera of Vieillot; it has been proposed 
to alter the name of the genus of Fish to Pterocephala, which it 
would be well to adopt. 

On examining this very interesting specimen, I found that 
although obviously a Pterocephala, yet it presented most import- 
ant differences from the C. Giorna, both im outline, proportions, 
shape of the fins, and form of the wing-like appendages to the 
head ; neither does it agree with any of the European or Ame- 
rican species described by modern writers, so far as I have seen, 
but seems referable to that described many years ago, from the 
coast of Tuscany, by Dr. Fabroni of Florence, and figured by La- 
cepéde under the name of Raja Fabroniana in honour of its dis- 
coverer. This species seems to have been lost, Cuvier and most 
other ichthyologists throwing a doubt on its existence, and sup- 
posing the figure referred to, to represent a mutilated example of 
the common C. Giorna ; it is therefore doubly interesting to redis- 
cover it in our own seas, as an addition to the fauna and as replacing 
an old species in the systems. The P. Fabroniana differs from the 
P. Giorna in the length of the body (exclusive of the whip-like tail) 
being nearly one-half of the width from tip to tip of the pectoral 
fins, while the length is not more than one-third of the width in 
the latter species. Besides this great proportional width of the 
P. Giorna, its pectorals are much narrower than in the present 
fish, and nearly straight, while in the P. Fabroniana they are 

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Vol. xix. 13 


178 Mr. F. M‘Coy on the Irish species of Cephaloptera. 


broadly faleate, recurved, and without any fin-like margin on 
the anterior edge. The appendage to the head forms a semicy- 
lindrical process in the P. Giorna, but forms two horn-like fins, 
one on each side of the head, in the Irish fish and in Fabroni’s 
Mediterranean one ; these are represented in the figure sent to 
Lacepéde and engraved in his work, with I think rather too many 
turns, being twisted into regular conical horns ; the correspond- 
ing parts in the specimen under consideration show also a strong 
tendency to roll spirally, but not amounting to more than I have 
represented in the sketch ; this is however a matter easily exag- 
gerated by an artist, or the difference of age and sex would very 
probably make a difference in the length and consequent inroll- 
ment of those parts. 

Dr. Fabroni’s species is defined as a “ falciformly dilated 
brown ray, whitish beneath,” &c.; this colouring agrees exactly 
with our specimen, but differs entirely from that of the P, Giorna: 
another point of agreement between the two former specimens is 
the extreme slenderness of the tail, it not being more than half 
the thickness of that of the P. Giorna; the tail in both speci- 
mens of the P. Fabroniana is defective as to all that portion from 
the barbed spine to the tip, so that the exact position or form of 
the spine is unknown. The figure given ‘by Lacepéde is of the 
under-side only ; it agrees however very well in the general form 
and proportions, broad, recurved pectoral fins, frontal processes, 
and the small size of the tail. 

There is a very strong resemblance also between the present 
fish and the Indian Cephaloptera Kuhlii (Valenc.) as figured by 
Miiller and Henle in their ‘ Systematische Beschreibung der Pla- 
giostomen,’ &c., as may be perceived by comparing the sketch I 
have given with their drawing, particularly in the form of the 
lateral processes of the head and the general proportions of the 
body ; but our specimen and Dr. Fabroni’s seem to differ from 
that species in the small size of the head and some minor points, 
in addition to the difference of habitat. 

Length (of the Irish specimen) from the front to the dorsal 
fin 1 foot 8 inches; entire width 3 feet 81 inches; height of 
bee fin 24 inches, length the same; from one eye to the other 
8 inches. 


Cambridge, 12th January 1847, 


Mr, E. Blyth’s Drafts for a Fauna Indica. 179 


XXIV.—Drarts ror a Fauna Iyprca, By Ep. Buytu, 
Curator of the Asiatic Society’s Museum, &c, &c.* 


{Continued from p. 108.] 


The Doves 


Are generally smaller and more delicately formed, with the tail 
commonly more or less lengthened and graduated, this latter 
character attaining a high degree of deyelopment in certain 

oups of them. The nearest approach to the wood-pigeons is 
exhibited by the North American passenger doves (Hctopistes, 
Sw.), which are especially characterized by having a long, much 
graduated and sharp-pointed tail, and powerful wings, of which 
the first two primaries are equal and longest ; coe have the true 
pigeon-like ey of colours on the sides of the neck. The African 
(Ena capensis has been generally placed near Ectopistes, but (so 
far as can be judged from drawings) would appear rather to ap- 
proximate certain of the Macropygie of the Kastern Archipelago, 
as M. Reinwardtii. To the last-named group one Indian species 
appertains. 

Macroryeta, Swainson: Coecyzura, Hodgson. (CucKoo- 
DOVES.) | 

The species of this division are remarkable for their very broad, 
long and much graduated tail, and general Cuckoo-like figure. 
They chiefly inhabit the great Eastern Archipelago, a single spe- 
cies occurring in the Himalaya, and another in Australia. For 
the most part they are confined to rocky upland forests, and sub- 
sist much on berries, often descending to the ground to pick up 
fallen mast and fruits; upon being disturbed, their great broad 
tail shows to much advantage as they rise. The species of the 
Archipelago are very injurious to the pepper and other spice 
plantations ; and their flesh is highly esteemed for the table, from 
the fine flavour said to be imparted to it by the various aromatic 
berries on which they feed. 

M. teprocrammica : Col. leptogrammica, Temminck, PI. Col. 
248: Coccyzura tusalia, Hodgson, Journ. As. Soc. xiii. p. 936, 
(Rayep Cuckoo-pove.) Upper parts dusky, with numerous 
narrow rufous bars on the mantle, wings, rump and upper tail- 
coverts ; tail more obscurely barred in the male; forehead, chin 
and throat whitish, tinged with lake; the occiput, neck and 
breast dull pale vinaceous, glossed (less brightly on the breast) 
with changeable green and amethystine-purple ; lower parts yel- 
lowish-albescent, the under tail-coverts pale buff; all but the four 
middle tail-feathers ashy, with a broad black subterminal band ; 


* From the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, no. 169, 
13* 


180 Mr. E. Blyth’s Drafts for a Fauna Indica. 


and above this band the exterior web of the outermost tail-feather 
is whitish. Female having the tail barred with narrow rufous 
cross-lines, like the rest of the upper parts; and the fore-neck 
- and breast are similarly rayed with alternate dusky and pale buff. 
The tail-feathers, more especially of the female, have their inner 
webs rufous at base. Bill black; cere, orbits and legs red. 
Wings 72 to 8 inches; middle tail-feathers the same, the outer- 
most 4:1 inches. | 

The above descriptions are taken from a fine characteristic male 
and female ; considerable variation of plumage occurring, as many 
specimens are in different degrees intermediate. This bird in- 
habits the Eastern Himalaya, and is common at Darjeeling. 

Turtur, Selby. (The Turrie-poves.) (G'hoogoo, Bengal ; 
Fachtah, H.; Gya, Arracan.) 

Small and delicately formed tree-pigeons, with the tail mode- 
rately graduated or merely rounded, having always broad gray or 
grayish-white tips to its graduating outer feathers; neck devoid 
of iridescent gloss. They feed chiefly on the ground, upon grain, 
small pulse and oil-seeds ; assemble in small flocks except when 
breeding, and generally prefer groves and coppices which inter- 
sperse the open country, coming much into gardens, where some- 
times they may be seen nearly as familiar as domestic pigeons. 
In such situations they breed abundantly, constructing the slight 
platform-nests common to all arboreal Columbide; and in warm 
climates they have no special season for propagation, but produce 
alike at all times of the year, the same as domestic pigeons. As 
compared with the large true wood-pigeons, these birds are cer- 
tainly much more terrene in their habits*; but they grade to- 
wards the wood-pigeons in Turtur picturatus (T. Dufresnit) of 
the Isle of France, which however is a true turtle-dove, having 
merely a larger bill than its congeners. Their geographical 
range is confined to the old world, inclusive of Australia, and 
the only Australian species (7. humeralis) is coloured like the 
Geopelia ; which last are indeed but a subgenus of the present 
group, consisting of smaller and more slender-formed species, 
with delicate rayed plumage, and which are confined in their 
distribution to the Malay countries and Australiat. 


* They resemble the generality of more dove-like Gourine (as do also 
the rock-pigeons) in having the outer toe shorter than the inner, which, 
accordingly, would indicate a terrene propensity. 

+ G. striata (v. Col. sinica, malaccensis, bantamensis, &c.), common in the 
Malay countries, appears also to inhabit the Mauritius. Living specimens 
are occasionally brought to Calcutta, where I have kept both it and 7’. hu- 
meralis; and being thus familiar with both, { do not agree with Messrs. 
Gould and G. R. Gray in making a Geopelia of the latter, It serves, how- 
ever, to show the immediate connexion of the two subgroups. 

G. humeralis agrees with G. striata in having the first primary suddenly 


Mr. E. Blyth’s Drafts for a Fauna Indica. 18] 


T. risorius: Col. risoria, Linn. (Kalhdk, Kahdlak, Kahalaki, 
or Pénr G'hoogo, Beng. ; Dhor Fachtah, 8. India.) (Gray Tur- 
TLE-DovE.) Uniform light gray-brown; the edge of the wing 
and lower tail-coverts pure ashy, somewhat deeper on the latter ; 
head delicate pale vinous-gray, whiter on the forehead and throat ; 
the nape and under-parts less ashy and more vinaceous, passing 
to light grayish towards the vent ; a narrow black half-collar on 
the hind-neck; primaries dusky, with slight whitish margins 
bordering their tips ; and closed tail uniform with the back above, 
all but its middle feathers successively more distinctly marked 
with black about the middle, passing into grayish on the basal 
half, and to white on the terminal, successively more strongly 
pronounced. [rides crimson ; bare orbital skin white ; bill black ; 
feet dark pinkish-red. Length 13 inches by 20 or a trifle less ; 
wing 61 inches, or sometimes rather more. 

Common and generally diffused, frequenting hedges and trees 
in the neighbourhood of cultivation, and even low bush-jungle : 
it inclines more to be gregarious than the other species. To the 
eastward however it seems to be unknown in Arracan. Accord- 
ing to Mr. Strickland, the identical species occurs in Northern 
Africa ; and it is lhkewise stated to inhabit the south-eastern part 
of Europe, as Hungary, Turkey, and the islands of the Lower 
Danube*. In Southern Africa it is replaced by a nearly-allied 
species, the Col. vinacea, Gmelin, to which Mr. G. R. Gray refers 
T. erythrophrys of Swainson, while Mr. Strickland identifies the 
latter with 7. risorius, and considers T. semitorquatus of Swain- 
son to be the vinaceat. Mr. Gray, again, does not mention 
semitorquatus of Swainson, but gives semitorquatus, Riippell, as 
distinct from either. TZ. vinaceus is distinguished from T. riso- 
rius by its generally much darker colour, by having the under 
tail-coverts whitish instead of deep ash, by its much broader 
black nuchal semi-collar, and by its winglet and primary coverts 
being dusky instead of pale ash-gray. It is also rather smaller 
than the Indian species ; in which respect, and in the breadth of 
the nuchal half-collar, the common tame cream-coloured (or pale 
buff-backed) doves, which are abundantly bred in captivity both 
in Europe and in India, agree with the South African rather than 
with the wild Indian species. As for Swainson’s two alleged 
species, I can identify neither of them satisfactorily ; his figure 


narrowed on both webs near the tip (a character which does not exist in 
Turtur), and I therefore consider humeralis to be a true Geopelia.—H.E.S. 
* Bull. de l’Acad, des Sciences de Saint Pétersburg, 1837, No. 46; as 
quoted in the Rev. Zool. par la Société Cuviérienne, 1838, p. 293. 
+ Vide Strickland in Ann. & Mag. N. H. 1844, p. 38; Gray’s illustrated 
L on of Birds’; and Swainson’s ‘ Birds of West Africa,’ vol. ii., Nat. 
ibr. 


182 | Mr. BE. Blyth’s Drafts for a Fauna Indica. 


of T. erythrophrys is evidently faulty in the colouring; but he 
speaks of “the belly, flanks, vent and under tail-coverts”’ as 
“clear cinereous,’’ which should distinguish it from T. vinaceus, 
while its “broad black semi-collar, margined by a narrow cine- 
reous line,” instead of a slight grayish-white one, should equally 
separate it from 7. risorius; again, “the orbits are naked and 
rich red,’”’ which applies to neither of them: his 7. erythrophrys 
has the wing 7 inches, and his 7. semitorquatus only 5} inches, 
both the Indian and South African species being in this respect 
intermediate. 7. semitorquatus has, further, “the belly, vent, 
thighs and under tail-coverts cinereous-white,” which agrees 
sufficiently with some specimens, apparently females, of 7. vina- 
ceus, the (presumed) males having at least the abdomen scarcely 
paler than the breast ; but, “above all, the inner toe is one- 
twentieth of an inch Jonger than the outer,” whilst “in erythro- 
phrys this proportion is almost reversed, or at least the inner toe 
is not even equal to the outer.” In both the Indian and South 
African birds the inner toe is shorter than the outer*. 

Besides the common cream-coloured domestic race, a small 
albino variety is frequently bred in cages, in different parts of 
India, with wing measuring 5} to 6 inches; but its form of tail 
and other proportions are as in 7. risorius and 7. vinaceus. This 
bird is often interbred with the cream-coloured race, producing 
offspring of intermediate size and shade of colouringt. The coo 
of 7. risorius somewhat resembles the sound cuckoo, pronounced. 
slowly and with a pause between the syllables, the second being 
much prolonged and at first rolled. It may not unfrequently be 
heard in moonlight nights. — 

T. Humiuis: Col. humilis, Temminck : Asiatic Pigeon, Latham. 
(Serotee Fachtah, Hind.; Golabee, or rose-coloured, G'hoogoo, 
Témikhiree, or copper-cup, and I’tkitiyd, or brick-coloured— 
Dove, Beng.; Goodko, Ghoogoo? i. e. Dove, Scinde; Gyo- 
leng-bya, Arracan.) (Rup TurtiLe-povr.) Much smaller and 
of a less elongated form than the last; general colour fine 


* Notwithstanding these apparent inconsistencies, I have no doubt that 
erythrophrys == risorius, and semitorquatus, Sw. == vindeeus. The breadth 
of the nuchal collar, and even the apparent nakedness of the orbits, greatly 
depend on the stretching of the skin in preparing the specimen. I have an 
Indian specimen of risorius which exhibits a wide ring of bare skin round 
the eyes, solely from their being filled with too much cotton. In this spe- 
cimen the wing measures 7 inches, as in the description of erythrophrys. 
My specimens of vinacea from South Africa have the inner toe (including 
the claw) conspicuously longer than the outer, as is stated of semitorquatus. 

N.B. The Zurtur semitorquatus of Rtippell is a distinct species, much like 
risorius, but larger and otherwise different.—H. E. S. 

+ The “Jungle Pigeon” of Latham would seem to be merely a domestic 
variety of this kind. 


Mr. E. Blyth’s Drafts for a Fauna Indica. 183 


vinous-red, weaker below; the head ash-gray, paler towards the 
forehead, and whitish on the chin; a black half-collar on the 
nape; the rump and upper tail-coverts dusky-ash; vent and 
lower tail-coverts white, the former tinged with ashy; middle 
tail-feathers ash-brown; the rest successively more broadly tip- 
ped with white, which spreads up the whole exterior web of 
the outermost feather, and their basal two-thirds (more or 
less) blackish; margin of the wing gray for the anterior half ; 
the primaries and their coverts dusky, and the secondaries 
grayish-dusky. Irides dark brown; bill black ; legs purplish-red. 
Length 93 imches, and of wing 54. Female rather smaller. 
The young nearly resemble the adults of 7. risorius, except in 
their much smaller size, their general darker colour, especially 
upon the head, and in wholly wanting the vinaceous tinge: in 
this state of plumage they doubtless constitute the supposed 
small race of 7. risorius mentioned by Major Franklin. 

The Red Turtle-dove is generally diffused over the country, 
though much less numerously than the gray one. It also keeps 
more to cover, frequenting groves and high thick hedges. Its 
coo is short and grunt-like. 

T. seNEGALENSIS: Col. senegalensis, Linn.: C. cambaiensis, 
Gmelin: C. egyptiaca, Latham: C. maculicollis, Wagler:— 
figured, but not well, and much over-coloured, in Denon’s ‘Hgypt.’ 
(Yortroo Fachtah, Hind.) (Necxiacep Turtiz-povz.) Brown 
above, the wing-coverts (except towards the scapularies) pure light 
gray; winglet, primaries and their coverts dusky, the secondaries 
tinged with gray; head, upper part of neck and breast pinkish- 
vinaceous, paler below, and passing to white on the belly and 
lower tail-coverts ; the sides of the neck anteriorly (and meeting 
imperfectly in front) adorned with a large patch of furcate fea- 
thers, black at base, with a round rufous spot on each tip; in the 
living bird, these hardly dppear at all when the neck is drawn 
im; and unlike the preceding species, there is no bar or other 
marking on the nape; tail graduated to the depth of an inch, 
and its feathers attenuate a little towards their tips; the middle 
tail-feathers are brown; the rest white for the terminal half, or 
nearly so, and black for the remainder. Irides dark, with a white 
inner circle; bill blackish ; legs lake-red. Length 10 inches or 
103 by 14 inches; closed wing 5 inches. 

This delicate little species abounds in most parts of the penin- 
sula, also in Western and Upper India generally, and it inhabits 
the Rajmehal and Monghyr hills in Bengal ; but in Lower Bengal 
I have never seen or heard of it wild, nor does it appear to occur 
im the Himalaya or in the countries to the eastward. In the 
peninsula, according to Mr. Jerdon, “it abounds both in low jun- 
gles and near villages and cantonments, being found especially 


184: Mr. E. Blyth’s Drafts for a Fauna Indica. 


towards the north in every garden, and frequenting stable-yards, 
houses, &c.” . Like 7°. risorius, it is common to India and North 
Africa; and Mr. Strickland states that it “inhabits the Turkish 
burial-grounds at Smyrna and Constantinople, which are dense 
forests of cypress-trees. It is strictly protected by the Turks, 
and it was with some difficulty,” he adds, “that I could obtain 
a specimen. It was perhaps originally introduced there by man, 
but now seems completely naturalized*.” The coo of this spe- 
cies is low, subdued and musical, a dissyllabic sound repeated 
four or five times successively, and of which its Hindoostanee 
name Tortroo is a sort of imitationt. 

T. suRATENSIS: Col. suratensis, Gmelin, founded on la Tour- 
terelle de Surate of Sonnerat: C. tigrina, Temminck: C. turtur, 
Linn., var., figured in Griffith’s ‘Animal Kingdom,’ viii. 290. 
(Chitroka Fachtah, Hind.; Chanral G'hoogoo, or Telia G'hoogoo, 
Beng.; Kangskiri, Bhagulpore; Chitla, Upper Provinces; Lay- 
byouk, Arracan.) (Sreckxiep Turtie-pove.) Above blackish 
or dusky, each feather having two pale rufous terminal spots, 
which latter enlarge and spread up each side of the feather, upon 
the wing-coverts, the blackish contracting to a central streak, 
with broad pale vinaceous lateral borders ; edge of the wing light 
gray; head grayish, tinged with vinaceous, which latter prevails 
on the breast and under-parts, passing to white on the belly and 
under tail-coverts ; a broad half-collar on the nape, consisting of 
black feathers divergent at the tips, each tip ending in a small 
round white spot; tail broad and graduated to the depth of an 
inch and a half or more, each feather attenuating towards its tip ; 
the middle tail-feather brown, the outermost grayish-white for 
nearly the terminal half, having the rest black, and the other 
tail-feathers successively intermediate in their colourmg. Irides 
dark hazel, surrounded by a reddish sclerotica ; beak dull leaden- 
black; legs dark purplish-red. Length 12 inches by 163; of 
wing 53 inches; female rather less. | 

A very familiar species, and generally diffused both throughout 
India and in the Malay countries, coming very much into gardens 
even of large towns. It abounds even more than 7’ risorius in 
the vicinity of Calcutta, where it inhabits every patch of garden ; 
T. risorius keeping generally a little away from houses. Its coo 
is musical and pleasing. Mr. Jerdon mentions having “seen a 
nearly albino variety once or twice of a pinkish-white colour 
throughout.” This species has been erroneously identified with 


* Proc. Zool. Soc. 1836, p. 100. 
+ African and European specimens are larger than the Indian ones, the 
wing measuring 53 inches. I have one from the Cape of Good Hope, iden- 


tical with a Turkish specimen, and more rufous on the back than the Indian 
bird.—H. E. S. 


Mr. E. Blyth’s Drafts for a Fauna Indica. 185 


the 7. chinensis (Col. chinensis, Scopoli, vel C. risoria, var. B, 
Latham), founded on la Tourterelle grise de la Chine of Sonnerat, 
by whom it is correctly figured. The latter is distinguished by 
its larger size, having the wing and tail respectively six inches 
long; by the deep ash-colour, instead of white, of its lower tail- 
coverts; and especially by having the back and wings plain un- 
spotted dark brown, with merely a slight tinge of gray at the 
bend of the wing only; the spotting of the nape is precisely 
similar. This bird inhabits China, and the Society possess a 
specimen of it from Chusan. 

T. MEENA: Col. meena, Sykes, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1832, p. 149: 
C. agricola, Tickell, Journ. As. Soc. 1. 581: very closely allied 
to, if not identical with, C. orientalis, Lath., founded on la Tour- 
terelle brune de la Chine of Sonnerat, which is certainly also C. 
gelastis, Temminck, Pl. Col. 550. (Kullah Fachtah, Hind.; Sdém 
G'hoogoo, Beng. ; H‘hulgah of the Mahrattas ; Gyo-pein-doo-ma, 
Arracan.) (Fox-coLourED TuRTLE-DOVE.) Vinaceous-brown, 
lighter on the belly; more or less ruddy, ashy, or even duskyish 
above; the rump and upper tail-coverts deep gray; vent and 
lower tail-coverts lighter gray ; crown and forehead more or less 
ashy, passing to whitish towards the bill; throat also whitish in 
some specimens; on the sides of the neck a patch of black fea- 
thers, margined with grayish-white, forming a series of three or 
four lines of the latter hue; scapularies, and a greater or less 
proportion of the wing-coverts, black, broadly margined with 
rufous all round their tips ; coverts of the secondaries pale bluish- 
ash, at least in some specimens; winglet and primaries with their 
coverts dusky, the primaries slightly edged with whitish; tail 
dusky-ash, its outer feathers successively more broadly tipped 
with whitish-ash, whiter on the outermost and beneath; irides 
orange. Length about 11} inches ; of wing commonly 7 inches. 

This bird is also pretty generally diffused throughout India, 
and occurs upon the Himalaya as a summer visitant, arriving in 
pairs towards the end of March, as I am informed by Capt. Hut- 
ton. Mr. Jerdon observed it to be tolerably abundant in the 
forests of Goomsoor, south of Cuttack, associating in flocks of 
various sizes. It is enumerated by Mr. Elliot, he adds, as found 
in the Southern Mahratta country, but was not observed by 
himself in the forest of Malabar. In the Himalaya, and in the 
eastern countries of Assam, Sylhet and Arracan, it appears to be 
plentiful, inhabiting alike the hills and plains; and it is common 
in the Bengal Soonderbuns. A Javanese specimen is rather 
large, and very dull-coloured; less vinaceous underneath, with 
more gray on the head, and less rufous margining the feathers 
of its mantle, than in any Indian specimen I have seen; never- 


186 Mr. E. Blyth’s Drafts for a Fauna Indica. 


theless, the species is probably identical*. It is nearly allied to 
T. auritus, Ray (Col. turtur, Lann.), of Europe, which it resembles 
in its manners and in its coo, but is distinguished by its superior 
size; “orange irides instead of yellow; by the whole head (in 
some), neck, shoulders, breast and belly being richer vinaceous ; 
in the back and rump being ash, and vent and lower tail-coverts 
light cmereous,” &c. The specimens of 7. auritus from India 
and China, mentioned by Latham, may accordingly be presumed 
to have been of the present species. Another nearly-allied dove 
would seem to exist in la Tourterelle cendrée de I’Isle de Lucon 
of Sonnerat, upon which are founded Col. cinerea, Scopoli, and 
C. turtur, var. C, of Latham. Living specimens of the present 
species, and of the gray, red and speckled turtle-doves, also of 
the ground dove and of Treron phenicoptera and Tr. bicincta, 
are almost always to be seen for sale at the shops of the Caleutta 
bird-dealers. 

Memorandum.—The only known Indian Pigeons now wanting 
to the Museum of the Asiatic Society, Calcutta, are Columba El- 
phinstonit and Himalayan specimens of C. palumbus ; also females 
of Treron cantillans and of Carpophaga insignis; and good spe- 
cimens of Col. leuconota are acceptable, as also of C. pulchricollis. 
Of species that require verification, there remain the Treron 
pompadora of Ceylon, and Psammenas Burnesii of the Western 
Deserts (?). Also Col. malabarica, Lath. (Colombe brame of 
Temminck), founded on la Tourterelle de la céte de Malabar of 
Sonnerat. Size of Turtur risorius; head, back and wing pale 
ash-gray; the neck and breast weak vinous-gray; belly white ; 
some oval black spots on the greater wing-coverts; tail marked 
with white as in the other Turtle-doves ; bill, irides and feet red. 
Whether the Indian Carpophage ever lay more than a single egg 
in each nest is also a subject for investigation.—E. B. 


April 4, 1846. 


* This Javanese bird is certainly 7. orientalis (Lath.) and gelastis(‘Temm.), 
the former of which names holds precedence for the species. 

The Indian bird may safely stand as Turtur orientalis. To its synonyms 
may be added that of Columba ferrago, Eversmann, ‘ Addenda ad Pallasii 
Zoographiam Rosso-Asiaticam,’ Casan, part iii. 1842, p. 17, from which it 
appears that this species extends northwards as far as Songaria,—H. E. 8, 


Bibliographical Notices. 187 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 


Lectures on the Comparative Anatomy and Physiology of the Vertebrate 
Animals : Part I. Fishes, being Vol. II. of Hunterian Lectures. 
By Ricuarp Owen, F.R.S. London, Longman and Co., 1846. 


Prerarep as we had already been from all the former labours of our 
distinguished author to form high expectations with regard to the 
present work, we rejoice to find that these have been so richly ful- 
filled, and that in thus embodying the results of his own investi- 
gations and those of others in a definite form, available at once 
to the student and the matured scientific inquirer, Professor Owen 
has been at work with the same untiring eye and hand, animated 
and guided by the same profound and philosophic spirit of analysis 
when applied to the higher organisms or Vertebrata, as heretofore. 
As in Vol. I., this, which is devoted exclusively to Fishes, commences 
as a sequel to the Introductory Lecture with a clear and ample sur- 
vey of the leading or typical characters by which the Vertebrate ani- 
mals in general are distinguished from the Invertebrata; allusion is 
then made to the “ amount of concordance which will justify us in 
predicating unity of organization,” between any members of these two 
great types, and it is shown that to do this we must look to the 
very beginning of the development of the vertebrated being, in 
which, ‘‘ in the mysterious properties of the impregnated ger- 
minal vesicle, diffused and distributed by fissiparous multiplication 
amongst countless nucleated cells, is an organic correspondence to 
be first traced with the lowest and simplest beginnings of animal 
life—with the infusorial monads.” Attention is next directed to the 
second stage in the development of the ovum, when with the appear- 
ance of the double chord the nascent being is impressed with its 
vertebrated type; after which follow full descriptions of the several 
classes of Fishes, Reptiles, Birds and Mammalia, with reference not 
only to their anatomical, but geological, grade of succession through 
the various strata of the earth’s crust. We pass over the intervening 
five chapters, designing to reserve their consideration for the last, 
and are met for the first time in our language with a clear and definite 
outline at Lecture VII. of the conditions general as well as special 
displayed by the muscular system of Fishes, although, adds the Pro- 
fessor, ‘‘ the determination of the special, serial, and general homo- 
logies, and the recognition of the various individual adaptive modi- 
fications, of the muscles of Fishes, still remains a rich and little-ex- 
plored field for the labours of the myologist.” With the discourse 
upon the nervous system, as it commences in the Lancelet by a simple 
continuous chord, more obtuse only at the anterior end, where its ho- 
mology to the ganglionic brain of the higher species is indicated by 
connexion with the trigeminal and optic nerves, we have been most 
especially interested ; first and foremost by the adoption of a rational, 
of the only true kind of scientific nomenclature, for the several parts 
composing the nervous axis, such, e.g. as the terms prosencephalon, 
mesencephalon and epencephalon, as expressive first of the cerebrum, 


188 Bibliographical Notices. 


secondly of the optic lobes, and thirdly of the medulla oblongata and 
cerebellum, while the olfactory lobes, as being serially homologous 
to the optic, have been designated by the apt appellation of rhinence- 
phala; secondly, by the eminently suggestive observations at pp. 187, 
190, relative to the functions performed by the different portions of 
the brain, more especially of the prosencephalon and cerebellum, the 
last of which, after a careful comparison of its degrees of develop- 
ment as evidenced by the “ sluggish Rays”’ and “‘ vigorous Sharks,” 
our author inclines to believe is very directly subservient to the 
power of locomotion. How fully were we convinced, upon reading 
this, of the profound truth of a remark made by Oken in his ‘ Naturphi- 
losophie,’ ‘‘ that the reason why we have as yet wandered to and fro, 
without main-stay and without compass, in the pursuit of mental phi- 
losophy, rests solely in the disregard that has been paid to the know- 
ledge or science of nature!” Would we essay to decipher the psychical 
functions and their allotted organs in the human brain, recourse must 
be had less to experiment than to the study of that organ throughout 
the Vertebrate series ; ‘‘ since (p. 187) it may well be doubted whether 
nature ever answers so truly when put to the torture, as she does 
when speaking voluntarily through her own experiments, if we may 
so call the ablation and addition of parts which comparative anatomy 
offers to our contemplation.”’ To follow our author through the rich 
record of facts and reflective observation contained under the head 
just alluded to, and including the special organs of sense and elec- 
tric apparatus, or into the dental and digestive, followed by the vas- 
cular, system, a masterly account of the air-bladder in the lecture 
devoted to the pneumatic and renal organs, or finally into the ela- 
borate description of the generative system and developmental pro- 
cess in the class of Fishes; would be but to multiply quotations and 
gratify an idle and temporary curiosity on many important points, 
which, to be fully appreciated, must be read in their proper places 
along with the context, where each fact and its interpretation form 
but the linked parts of one great Whole. We hasten therefore at 
once to indulge in a few words concerning that which has been 
omitted hitherto, expressly that it might be last mentioned, seeing 
that it constitutes a large portion of the present volume, and from 
the objects whereof it treats, and the manner in which that is effected; 
deservedly forms the most valuable and novel feature, paramount to 
every other perfection in this goodly contribution to British science, 
while it lays claim to presaging a new dawn or mental epoch in the 
career of biological investigation. We allude to that which is the 
principal subject-matter of Lectures II. to VI. inclusive, where, in 
considering the skeleton, vertebre and vertebral column, the skull, 
with finally the dermal bones, in the different Piscine orders, our 
author enters Jearnedly and largely into the determination of the 
homologies or structural relations of the several parts of the skeleton 
in Fish, when contrasted in the different members of that class or 
those belonging to the other great divisions of the Vertebrate series 

But let us preface in our author’s own words the definition and 
scope of the term homology as applied in the present, and to be 


Bibliographical Notices. 189 


strictly regarded in such a sense throughout his forthcoming, labours 
among the remaining classes of Vertebrata. ‘‘ The great aim of the 
philosophical osteologist is to determine by natural characters, the 
natural groups of bones of which a vertebrate skeleton typically 
consists ; and next, the relations of individual simple bones to each 
other in those primary groups, and to define the general serial and — 
special homologies of each bone throughout the Vertebrate series. 
By general homology I mean the relation in which a bone stands to 
the primary segment of the skeleton of which it is a part; thus, 
when the basi-occipital bone (basilar process of the os occipitis in 
anthropotomy) is said to be the centrum or body of the occipital or 
posterior cranial vertebra, its general homology is enunciated. When 
it is said to repeat in its vertebra, or to answer to the basi-sphenoid 
in the parietal vertebra, or to the body or centrum in the atlas, den- 
tata, or any other of the vertebral segments of the skeleton, its serial 
homology is indicated; when the essential correspondence of the 
basilar process of the occipital bone in Man with the distinct bone 
called ‘ basi-occipital’ in a Crocodile or Fish is shown, its special ho- 
mology is determined.”” ‘With the above clear and exact formula of 
the object and the course to be pursued in its attainment, we must 
pause, for the space allotted in this Journal will not admit of our 
entering into detail; and, as a sufficient plea for our silence, will 
simply remind the reader of what has been observed by Oken, to 
whom is unquestionably due the honour of having first announced in 
an essay, published in 1807, and entitled ‘ Ueber die Bedeutung der 
Schadelknochen,’ the relations of identity existing between the cra- 
nial bones and the other segments of the vertebral column: “ It is bond 
fide,” says he, ‘‘ remarkable what it costs in order to bring but one 
problem of philosophical anatomy into a pure state, or that of solu- 
tion. He who has not been engaged in such a task remains without 
conception of its difficulties. Without knowing the what, how and 
why, one may stand not for hours nor days, but weeks, before a 
Fish’s skull, and vacantly stare at its calcareo-stalactitic forms.”’ 
Now, in the work of Prof. Owen, the diligent reader alone will be 
in a capacity to appreciate the force of the above quotation; when, 
after having worked his way, and this from the striking precision 
of our author’s language, he will effect with pleasure instead of toil 
to himself, and, if resident in London, availed himself of the op- 
portunity of comparing and testing the text by skeletons of fish now 
mounted and labelled with appropriate catalogues of the homologi- 
cal terms in the College of Surgeons’ Museum, he next turns to the 
table of synonyms of the bones of the head of Fishes, according 
to their special homologies, at pp. 158—162, and in the contrast 
of our countryman’s nomenclature with those of prior zootomists, 
such as the great Cuvier, Geoffroy, Bojanus, Spix, Meckel, Carus, 
and others, there discerns the great and priceless boon that has been 
conferred upon subsequent inquirers by this unravelling of a false, 
because in many respects unmeaning and artificial terminology, and 
the substitution in its place by the Professor of scientific words 
intelligible from their appositely compound or connotative character, 


190 Linnean Society. 


as e.g. basio-oecipital for the basilaire, and meso-, pre- and hypo- 
tympanic instead of the symplectique, tympanal and jugal bones of 
Cuvier. Again, we repeat, a new epoch dawns upon the science of 
Comparative Anatomy. For, should the views of Prof. Owen, when 
critically analysed, receive the general assent of British and con- 
tinental observers, it is not going too far to predict the important 
influence they must inevitably exercise in simplifying the acquire- 
ment by the student, not only of the osseous system of animals, 
but of Man; their conducing to a gradual recognition and accordant 
naming of the primary ganglionic portions of the brain in harmony 
with its corresponding skeletal segments, and finally, carried yet 
further and associated with other generalizations, laying the logical 
groundwork of a natural classification of the animal kmgdom, In 
fine, to Prof. Owen, in his investigation of homological relations, is 
due the rare merit of having been the first to grapple with, and carry 
into amplitude of detail, a principle, which though only partially 
evolved, was boldly announced as if irrefragable, by Oken; while 
rejected by Agassiz and discussed or enlarged upon by other writers, 
the question has at length devolved to the cautious and inductive 
reasoning of the worthy successor of John Hunter, for ultimate 
extrication from its labyrinth, and thus implantation upon a true 
philosophic basis. Before such a statement of plain historical fact, 
the usually knotty points touching priority of discovery must dis- 
solve in the mind of the candid and liberal reader, who, revering 
Truth for her sake alone, will rest content with adjudging the crown 
of honour to him who has struggled best in behalf of her cause. 


PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 


LINNAZAN SOCIETY. 


May 24, 1846,—The Lord Bishop of Norwich, President, in the 
Chair. 


This day, the Anniversary of the birth of Linnzus, and that ap- 
pointed by the Charter for the election of Council and Officers, the 
President opened the business of the Meeting and stated the num- 
ber of Members whom the Society had lost during the past year, of 
some of whom the Secretary read the following notices ;— 

James Hussey Abraham, Esq., for nearly half a century the con- 
ductor of the most flourishing seminary in the town of Sheffield, was 
well-skilled in various branches of Natural Philosophy, especially 
Electricity and Magnetism, and possessed a large and yaluable col- 
lection of apparatus with which he illustrated his lectures on these 
and allied branches of science. In the course of his magnetic expe- 
riments, the idea suggested itself to him that the minute particles of 
steel evolved in the dry grinding of forks, needles, &c,, the inhala- 
tion of which is so deleterious to the workmen engaged in those 
trades, might be intercepted by means of a wire-gauze mask, or 
caught by a chaplet of magnets worn about the mouth of the ope» 


Linnean Society. 191 


rator. For the ingenious contrivance by which he proposed to effect 
this object, he received in 1821 the large gold medal of the Society 
of Arts. Other ingenious modifications of the practical application 
of the magnet were also devised by Mr, Abraham; and he delivered 
a lecture on this, his favourite topic, at an evening meeting of the 
British Association, at their first meeting in the city of York in 1831, 
In conjunction with his friend James Montgomery the poet, who 
then edited one of the local newspapers, he was mainly instrumental 
in originating the Literary and Philosophical Society of Sheffield, of 
which in 1834 he was elected President, He was also celebrated in 
his neighbourhood for his skill in horticulture, and seldom failed to 
carry off one or more prizes at the exhibitions of the Sheffield Hor- 
ticultural Society, founded in 1830 by himself and some friends; the 
prize medals of which Society bear on their obverse an exquisitely 
engraved head of Linneus, Mr. Abraham died on the 5th of Fe- 
bruary in the present year, in the 69th year of hisage. He became 
a Fellow of the Linnean Society in 1825. 

Henry Singer Chinnock, Esq. 

Barron Field, Esq., was born on the 23rd of October 1786, He 
was the second son of Mr. Henry Field, who was in extensive me- 
dical practice in London, and for many years apothecary to Christ’s 
Hospital, Mr. Barron Field was lineally descended in the sixth de- 
gree from Oliver Cromwell; his grandfather, Mr, John Field, having 
married Anne, the daughter of Thomas Cromwell, who was grandson 
of Henry Cromwell, Lord Deputy of Ireland, the younger son of the 
Protector, Mr. Barron Field was educated for the profession of the 
law, and called to the bar by the Honourable Society of the Inner 
Temple. In 1811 he published an ‘ Analysis of Blackstone’s Com- 
mentaries,’ which has become a standard work for the use and in- 
struction of students. In 1816 he was appointed Judge of the Su- 
preme Court of New South Wales, and continued to exercise the 
duties of that office till 1824; when, on a change in the Charter of 
Justice for that colony, he relinquished his appointment and returned 
to England, Early in 1829 he received from Government the ap- 
pointment of Chief Justice of Gibraltar, which he held until ill-health 
obliged him to retire and return to his native country. In both 
these distant appointments Mr, Barron Field applied himself to what 
was always with him a favourite relaxation, the study of botany, In 
New South Wales he availed himself of the talents of Mr. Lewin, 
the distinguished painter of natural history, and formed a pleasing 
collection of drawings of Botany Bay plants; and his garden at 
Gibraltar, situate at nearly the most southern point of Europe, ex- 
hibited fine specimens of geraniums, cacti and other beautiful plants, 
flourishing in an almost natural state. Mr. Barron Field also dedicated 
much of his leisure to the critical perusal of the early English dra- 
matists and poets; and latterly attached himself to the Shakspeare 
Society, of which he was chosen one of the Council, and for which 
he edited several old dramas, He died on the 11th of April 1846, in 
his 60th year, at Torquay in South Devon, where he had resided for 
the last two years, ’ 


192 Linnean Society. 


During his residence in New South Wales he published a small 
volume of poems, the first that had ever been printed in that colony, 
which he subsequently included in a collection of ‘Memoirs on New 
South Wales,’ containing, among several geographical papers of in- 
terest, some notes by Allan Cunningham on the Botany of New Hol- 
land. He became a Fellow of the Linnean Society in 1825. 

The Rev. Thomas Gisborne, Prebendary of Durham, a name distin- 
guished in the literature of our country, was attached from early life 
to the pursuit of natural history, to which his ‘ Rural Walks,’ first 
published in 1795, bear in many passages ample testimony. It is 
not necessary to speak here, and indeed it would be out of place to 
do so, of the value of his ethical and religious writings; but he well 
deserves mention as one of the most zealous collectors of rare Bri- 
tish birds, and for his great liberality to the Durham Museum, of 
which he was one of the founders and principal patrons. The fine 
collection of British birds, which forms the foundation of that Mu- 
seum, was munificently purchased and presented to the Institution by 
him, and he never missed an opportunity of adding to its value and 
completeness by supplying its deficiencies in the rarer species. He 
became a Fellow of the Linnean Society in the year 1799, and died 
in the spring of the present year. 

Robert Graham, M.D., Regius Professor of Botany in the Univer- 
sity of Edinburgh, was the third son of Dr. Robert Graham, and was 
born at Stirling on the 7th of December 1786. In the first part of 
his career he practised medicine in Glasgow, and in 1818 he was ap- 
pointed to the Professorship of Botany then first established by the 
Crown as a distinct chair in the University of that city. In 1820 he 
was transferred to the Botanical chair of the University of Edinburgh, 
which he filled up to the time of his death. In the same year he be- 
came a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and in 1821 of 
the Linnean Society. 

Dr. Graham devoted himself assiduously and successfully to the 
duties of his office. By his energy and enthusiasm, as well as by his 
affable and pleasing manners, he succeeded in implanting a taste for 
his favourite science among the pupils of his class, many of whom 
have since become able teachers, as well as zealous students and 
collectors. In the promotion of this taste he derived much assistance 
from the botanical excursions which he made in company with his 
pupils, not merely in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, but in distant 
parts of Scotland, and even in England and in Ireland, in the course 
of which several additions were made to the Scottish flora. During 
these excursions he also laid in a large store of materials for a Flora 
of Britain, in the preparation of which he had been long engaged, 
but which he did not live to complete. His published works consist 
chiefly of descriptions of new or rare plants from the Edinburgh Bo- 
tanic Garden, which owes much of its present excellence to his ex- 
ertions. These descriptions, together with notices of his botanical 
excursions, appeared in the ‘ Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal’ 
and in the ‘ Botanical Magazine.’ In the ‘ Companion’ to the latter 
work, published by Sir Wm. J. Hooker, he also gave ‘‘ an account 


Linnean Society. 193 


of the Camboge-tree of Ceylon.” His favourite tribe was the Legu- 
minose, and he had undertaken to describe the plants of that exten- 
_ sive family contained in Dr. Wallich’s Indian herbarium, but subse- 
quently relinquished the intention and transferred the plants to Mr. 
Bentham, who has made considerable progress in their illustration. 

The genus Grahamia jointly commemorates the botanical merits 
of Mrs. Graham, afterwards Lady Callcott, and those of Dr. Graham ; 
and several species have also been named in honour of the latter. He 
died on the 7th of August last at the house of his brother at Coldoch 
in Perthshire, after a long and painful illness, leaving behind him 
the character of an able and enthusiastic teacher, a warm and zealous 
friend, and a candid and honourable man. 

In Joseph Janson, Esq., the Society has lost a very active and 
zealous member. He was born at Tottenham in Middlesex on the 
12th of July 1789, and became a Fellow of the Linnzan Society in 
November 1831. Before his election into the Society, he contributed 
towards the purchase of the Linnzan collections, and it was owing 
in a great degree to his exertions that the subscription was set on 
foot which has enabled us to pay off so large a portion of our debt. 
The Society has since been indebted to Mr. Janson for a valuable 
set of cabinets for its herbarium, and for the cabinet which contains 
the principal part of the collection of fruits which have been so care- 
fully arranged by Mr. Kippist. To the library also he has presented 
upwards of forty volumes of local European floras ; and he was always 
ready to add to our collections, or to aid in giving interest to our 
meetings by the exhibition of rare and curious specimens from his 
garden at Stoke Newington, where, in addition to the more usual 
garden plants, he was particularly successful in the cultivation of the 
rarer and less determinately settled British species. 

Mr. Janson was, as many now present can well bear testimony, 
a man of cultivated understanding, of a clear head and a warm heart. 
He was ever ready to perceive and to acknowledge merit, and it was 
~ one of his benevolent pleasures to bring forward young men of talent 
and to put them in a way of making their abilities available. He was 
a zealous friend of various establishments for the education of the 
poor, to the promotion of the objects of which he devoted much time 
and labour as well as rendering pecuniary assistance. He was never 
married. He died on the 30th of April in the present year after a 
long illness, which did not assume a dangerous appearance until 
about a fortnight before his death. By his will he has bequeathed 
to the Society a legacy of 100/. 

Henry Gally Knight, Esq., M.P., distinguished for his extensive 
acquaintance with the architecture of the middle ages, on which he 
published several highly beautiful and important works. He was 
educated at Eton and afterwards at Trinity College, Cambridge, 
where he formed an acquaintance with Byron, which he renewed 
during a tour in the East in 1810-11, and which probably led to 
his attempting poetry in a series of new ‘Persian Tales.’ These, 
however, met with little success, and he devoted himself during the 
latter years of his life to the more congenial study of medieval 

1 


Ann. & Mag. N, Hist. Vol. xix. 


194. Linnean Society. 


architecture. He was returned to parliament in 1834 for North 
Nottinghamshire, for which he continued to sit till the time of his 
death, which occurred on the 9th of February in the present year, 
and in the 59th year of his age. He became a Fellow of the Lin- 
nean Society in 1818. 

Richard Latham, Esq., received the rudiments of his education at 
Christ’s Hospital, and in grateful recollection of the benefit, devoted 
the first four hundred pounds which he saved by industry and fru- 
gality to the uses of that noble institution. He became connected 
with the extensive brewery of Sir Henry Meux and Co,, of which 
for more than a quarter of a century he was acting partner. - In this 
position he acquired considerable wealth ; while he amused his leisure 
hours with the pursuits of chemistry, geology, botany and ornitho- 
logy. He also contributed largely to the funds of many of the most 
important charitable institutions of the metropolis. He became a 
Fellow of the Linnean Society in 1821, and died at his residence at 
Bayswater on the 24th of January in the present year, and in the 
79th year of his age. 

Thomas Knowlton, Ksq., the son of a father of the same names, 
who was in the early part of his life gardener to Sherard, and after- 
wards to the Earl of Burlington, and who is mentioned with honour 
in Pulteney’s ‘ Sketches of the Progress of Botany in England’ as an 
antiquary as well as a naturalist. Our deceased member inherited 
his father’s taste for natural history, and formed a valuable botanical 
and zoological library, which was disposed of by auction on the death 
of its proprietor in the spring of the present year, The elder Knowlton 
died in 1784 at the advanced age of 90, and his son, who became a 
Fellow of the Linnean Society in 1795, must also have reached a 
good old age. 

Charles Lush, Esq., M.D., was educated as a surgeon, and the first 
bent of his mind towards natural history was given in a small society 
of juniors to which several of our Fellows who have since distin- 
guished themselves also belonged. He became the Botanical Lec- 
turer at St. Thomas’s Hospital in 1825, and in 1827 sailed for India 
as an Assistant-Surgeon in the East India Company’s service on the 
Bombay establishment. Soon after his arrival he was appointed to 
take charge of the Botanic Garden at Dapooree near Poona, which 
appointment he retained until his return to England in 1837. In 
1829 he was employed by the Bombay Government in travelling in 
the Southern Mahratta country, along the coast of Canara, and visit- 
ing the Portuguese settlement of Goa, &c. in order to select a suit- 
able spot for the establishment of an experimental cotton-farm. His 
report of the results of this journey was published with the appro- 
bation of the authorities, and circulated among all the magistrates 
and other functionaries. From 1830 to 1833 he had the direction 
of some experiments in the cultivation of silk and cotton carried on 
in the Southern Provinces, and in 1833 made a report to the Govern- 
ment respecting mulberries for the feeding of the silk-worms. In 
1836 he visited the cotton districts in Guzerat, for the purpose of 
inspecting the different farms, on the subject of which he furnished 


Linnean Society. 195 


a report; and in the same year he communicated to the Medical 
and Physical Society of Bombay, a paper published in December in 
the ‘ Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ entitled ‘‘ Geological 
Notes. on the Northern Conkan, and a small portion of Guzerat and 
Kattywar.” In this paper he mentions the discovery by himself in 
the Island of Perim, in the Gulf of Cambay, of a large deposit of 
fossil bones, which has since been more fully investigated by Capt. 
Fulljames and Dr. Falconer, and has been found to comprise some 
of the most remarkable among the very extraordinary fossils for the 
knowledge of which we have recently been indebted to the natu- 
ralists of India. 

In 1837 he returned to England overland, and in 1840 again pro- 
ceeded to India, where he was appointed surgeon to the 14th Bom- 
bay Native Infantry, and accompanied that regiment in 1844 to Kur- 
rachee in Scinde, and in 1845 to Hydrabad, where he fell a victim 
to spasmodic cholera on the 4th of July, in the 49th or 50th year of 
his age. 

In character Dr. Lush was well-known to many of our members 
as warm-hearted, sincere, and of so sweet a disposition, that I am 
assured by one of our Fellows who knew him best, that during a 
close intimacy of many years he never saw him out of temper. He 
was a constant peacemaker, and his simplicity was extraordinary. 
His talents were excellent, and had his application been equal, there 
is no doubt that he would have attained a high position in science. 

Peter Nouaille, Esq. 

Of our Associates we have lost two during the past year. 

Mr. James Main began life as a working gardener in the neigh- 
bourhood of Edinburgh, and was afterwards employed by Mr. George 
Hibbert, to whom we are indebted for the introduction of many va- 
luable plants through the means of collectors whom he sent abroad. 
One of these was Mr. Main, whom he despatched to China, and who 
continued in Mr. Hibbert’s employ for some years after his return to 
England, but afterwards took a farm in Scotland. Here he was 
unsuccessful ; but having made himself well-acquainted with the re- 
ceived theories and practice both of horticulture and of agriculture, 
he turned his attention to the literature of those subjects, and from 
this time forwards became a frequent and welcome contributor to 
some of the principal periodicals devoted to their illustration. In the 
year 1830 he published ‘The Villa and Cottage Florist’s Direc- 
tory,’ which reached a second edition in 1835; in 1833 ‘ Illustra- 
tions of Vegetable Physiology, practically applied ;’ in 1835 ‘ Po- 
pular Botany ;’ and in 1839 ‘The Young Farmer’s Manual,’ and 
‘ The Forest Planter’s and Pruner’s Assistant ;’ and he also edited 
new editions of Mawe’s ‘Every Man his own Gardener,’ and of 
several other works of a similar character. 

Mr. Main was elected an Associate of the Linnean Society in 
1829, and communicated to us in 1844 a paper entitled ‘“‘ Remarks 
on Vegetable Physiology,” in which he reproduced the leading ideas 
on the growth of plants contained in his ‘ Illustrations of Vegetable 
Physiology.’ Of this paper an abstract is published in the ‘ Proceed. 

14* 


196. Linnean Society. 


ings’ of the Society. He died at Chelsea in the spring of the pre- 
sent year at an advanced age. 

Mr. George Samouelle was brought up to the business of a book- 
seller, and was for several years an assistant in the establishment of 
Messrs. Longman and Co. He early imbibed a taste for natural 
history, and more especially for entomology, and became an assi- 
duous collector of British insects. In 1819 he published a work en- 
titled ‘The Entomologist’s Useful Compendium, or an Introduction 
to the Knowledge of British Insects, comprising the best means of 
obtaining and preserving them, and a description of the Apparatus 
generally used; together with the genera of Linné, and the modern 
method of arranging the Classes Crustacea, Myriapoda, Spiders, Mites 
and Insects, from their affinities and structure, according to the views 
of Dr. Leach. Also, an explanation of the terms used in Entomo- 
logy ; a Calendar of the times of appearance and usual situations of 
near 3000 species of British Insects ; with instructions for collecting 
and fitting up objects for the Microscope. Illustrated with twelve 
plates,’ 8vo, Lond. In this work, the multifarious’ nature of which 
may be inferred from the title-page, Mr. Samouelle furnished the 
British entomologist with a careful and valuable compilation, and 
added moreover numerous original observations calculated to be 
useful to the collector ; but the greater part of the work, as well as 
the most important in a scientific point of view, was derived from 
the MSS. of Dr. Leach, which were freely communicated to the 
author. This work was followed by ‘ General Directions for col- 
lecting and preserving Exotic Insects and Crustacea,’ 18mo, Lond., 
1826. Soon after the publication of his ‘Compendium’ Mr. Sa- 
mouelle became an assistant in the Natural History Department of 
the British Museum, and was chiefly employed for many years in the 
care and arrangement of the entomological collections of that esta- 
blishment. In 1832 he commenced the publication of an illustrated 
periodical, entitled ‘The Entomological Cabinet; being a Natural 
History of British Insects,’ of which he completed two annual vo- 
lumes. He afterwards issued two numbers. of a second series of the 
same work, but not meeting with sufficient encouragement he pro- 
ceeded no farther. In 1836 he also published two numbers of a 
second edition of his ‘ Entomologist’s Useful Compendium,’ but this 
undertaking fell to the ground from the same cause. He was elected 
an Associate of the Linnean Society in 1818, and died at Lambeth 
in the spring of the present year. 

His principal work was highly useful at the time of its appearance, 
following as it did on the two introductory volumes of Messrs. Kirby 
and Spence, and affording to the numerous students who were in- 
cited by those volumes to take up entomological pursuits, a manual 
of information for their guidance in collecting, preserving and ar- 
ranging insects, which was then greatly wanted by British entomo- 
logists. : 

At the election, which subsequently took place, the Lord Bishop 
of Norwich was re-elected President ; Edward Forster, Esq., Trea- 
surer ; John Joseph Bennett, Esq., Secretary ; and Richard Taylor, 


Linnean Society. 197 


Esq., Under-Secretary. The following five Fellows were elected 
into the Council in the room of others going out: viz. Sir Henry 
Thomas De la Beche ; Hugh Falconer, M.D. ; Joseph Dalton Hooker, 
M.D. ; William Wilson Saunders, Esq., and William Yarrell, Esq. 


June 2.—E. Forster, Esq., V.P., in the Chair. 


Read some ‘‘ Notes towards a Statistical Account of the Fauna of 
New Zealand and the Auckland Islands, so far as regards Annulose 
Animals.” By Adam White, Esq., M.E.S., Assistant in the Zoolo- 
tas Department of the British Museum. Communicated by the 

ecretary. 

In these notes, Mr. White remarks on the advantages offered by 
an insular position, of comparatively limited extent and far removed 
from any great continent, in the drawing up a local fauna or flora ; 
and anticipates that in the course of time, when we shall have been 
furnished with nearly perfect lists of the animals and vegetables in- 
habiting New Zealand, we may arrive at tangible results regarding 
them, free from the disturbing influences which result from the great 
extent and yaried nature of such a continent as New Holland, and 
from the ready access afforded to wanderers of both kingdoms by the 
proximity of such islands as our own to great and almost adjoining 
continents. He limits his present observations to the Coleopterous 
order of insects, and states the sources from which the various col- 
lections examined by him have been derived. From the information 
which he has been enabled to acquire from all these sources he 
arrives at the following conclusions :—1st, that Coleoptera do not 
abound in species in New Zealand ; 2ndly, that the numbers of Cicin- 
delidea, Carabide, Curculionide and Longicornes are strikingly cha- 
racteristic of its Coleopterous fauna as compared with any part of 
New Holland; and 3rdly, that Cetoniade, Buprestide and Chryso- 
melide, so abundant in nearly every part of the Australian continent, 
are either wanting or very poorly represented in New Zealand. He 
does not, however, venture in the present state of our knowledge to 
propound these as axioms; and instances the paucity of species of 
various orders of insects, especially Hymenoptera and Neuroptera, 
enumerated in the ‘ Fauna Boreali- Americana,’ as compared with the 
large number of species of those orders collected by Mr. Barnston in 
a single locality within the limits of that territory, as a striking ex- 
ample of the fallacy of the conclusions which might be drawn from 
insufficient and uncertain data. 

The author then proceeds to give an enumeration of the species of 
each Coleopterous family hitherto detected in New Zealand ; and ob- 
serves in a note that the Mshna liassina of Strickland, a Neuropte- 
rous insect, of which a lower wing has been found in the lias of 
Stonesfield, belongs (as Mr. Dale has conjectured) to a genus closely 
allied to Petalura, which latter has hitherto only been detected living 
in New Zealand and New Holland. 


June 16.—The Lord Bishop of Norwich, President, in the Chair. 
Read a paper ‘On the calcifying functions of the Cowry and the 


198 Linnean Society. 


Olive, two genera of Pectinibranchiate Mollusks.”” By Lovell Reeve, 
Esq., A.L.S. &c. &e. 

After referring to the numerous instances of very considerable 
modifications in the form of shell and mode of calcification which 
occur among Mollusca, even in genera very nearly related to each 
other, Mr. Reeve proceeds to describe more particularly the manner 
in which the calcifying process is performed in the two genera which 
form the subject of his paper. Each of these genera produces a 
porcellanous shell of very analogous structure, consisting of a cy- 
linder of several enlarging whorls, convoluted on a plane nearly ver- 
tical to the spire, and composed of layers of vitrified enamel of dif- 
ferent colours and design; but there is a striking difference in the 
calcifying organ as regards its structure and its function of secretion. 
In the Cowry the office of calcification is performed by a lobate ex- 
pansion of the mantle from either side of the aperture, sufficiently 
large to cover the entire shell, and retracted only under the influence 
of alarm. In the Olive, on the other hand, the mantle is limited to 
the interior and the aperture of the shell; and appears to be furled 
over the edge of the lip, and retained in a state of tension by a cord 
or filament passing from its posterior extremity into a narrow channel 
which is excavated round the spire of the shell in place of the suture. 
The result of this difference in the condition of the calcifying organ 
is, that in the Cowry the testaceous secretion is deposited over the 
whole shell from the outside in successive layers at different inter- 
vals of time, while in the Olive the layers must be secreted simul- 
taneously at the lip alone, and the porcellanous surface of the shell 
is preserved (both in its course of retrovolution and after maturity) 
by a reflection of the ventral disc somewhat analogous to the re- 
flected mantle of the Cowry, but bearing no part in the formation of 
the shell. 

In support of this view and with the view of proving that this 
distinction is borne out by the physical condition of the shells at 
different periods of growth, the author takes for examples Cyprea 
Tigris and Oliva Utriculus. The Tiger Cowry in its first stage is of 
a uniform light chestnut-bay ; the colour then breaks up, as it were, 
into bands of close-set blotches of a richer hue; a coating of white 
is next superposed, and upon that is deposited a series of rather 
distant zigzag flames ; these are partially concealed by a second layer 
of white enamel thinner and more delicate than the preceding one, 
on which a number of dark spots are subsequently deposited ; and a 
third coating of white enamel, with a new layer of black and brown 
spots intermingled, characterizes the maturity of the shell. Each 
period in the life of the Cowry appears therefore to be distinguished 
by a different design of colouring ; but this is not the case with the 
Olive, the shell of which exhibits the same appearance at all stages 
of its growth, and the different layers of its colouring matter must 
be deposited simultaneously because the organ of calcification ex- 
tends only to the lip, from which the shell gradually recedes in the 
progress of its growth. The external coating of Oliva Utriculus 
is of an obscure milky-blue, and the removal of this layer by means 


Linnean Society. 199 


of an acid reveals a dull ashy ground sprinkled with numerous tri- 
angular opal-like dashes; in Oliva Brasiliensis the removal of the 
outer layer exhibits a longitudinally striped pattern, and other va- 
rieties of design may be found in different species; but there is no 
periodical change of colour in the entire shell to mark its advance- 
ment in growth. 

November 3.—R. Brown, Esq., V.P., in the Chair. 


Read a “‘ Description of the Asafcetida plant of Central Asia.” 
By Hugh Falconer, Esq., M.D., F.L.S. &c. &e. 

Dr. Falconer describes the plant which yields the Asafcetida under 
the following characters :— 


Ord. UMBELLIFERZ. 
Trib. PeucEeDANeZ. 
Gen. Nartuex, Fale. 


Calycis margo obsoletus. Petala ? Stylopodium plicato- 
urceolatum. Styli filiformes demim reflexi. Fructus a dorso plano- 
compressus, margine dilatato cinctus. MJericarpia jugis primariis 5, 
3 intermediis filiformibus, 2 lateralibus obsoletioribus margini contiguis 
immersis. Vitte in valleculis dorsalibus plerumque solitariz (valle- 
culis lateralibus nunc sesqui- vel bi-vittatis) ; commissurales 4—6 varie 
inzequales, exterioribus szepé reticulatim interruptis. Semen compla- 
natum, Carpophorum bipartitum, Umbelle pedunculate, composite. 
Involucrum utrumque nullum.— Genus inter Peucedaneas calycis mar- 
gine edentato; fructis vittis magnis, commissuralibus inequalibus ; in-~ 
volucroque utrogue nullo distinctum. Narthex nuncupatum a vocabulo 
vapOné, apud Dioscoridem Ferule atiributo. 


N. Asararrpa, caule tereti simplici petiolis dilatatis aphyllis instructo, 
foliis radicalibus fasciculatis ; petiolis trisectis; segmentis bipinnati- 
sectis: laciniis lineari-lanceolatis obtusis ineequilateralibus integris vel 
varié sinuatis decurrentibus. 

Asafcetida Disgunensis, Kempf. Ameen. Exot, p. 535. 

Ferula Asafoetida, Linn. Mat. Med, p.79; Dec. Prodr.iv. 173; Lindl, Fl. 
Med. p. 45. 

Hab. in apricis inter saxa in valle ‘‘ Astore”” vel “ Hussorah’’ dicta prope 
Indum ultra Cashmeer ; indigenis Daradris “Sip” vel “ Sip” dictum. Legi 
fructigerum prope Boosthon die 2i1™° Septembris 1838. 

Dr. Falconer states that he has compared his materials with 
Kzempfer’s description and figures and with the original specimens 
of that author in the collection of the British Museum, and found 
them to agree, so far as a comparison could be instituted, in every 
essential particular. Jubbar Khan, the Dardoh Rajah of the country 
in which Dr. Falconer gathered his specimens, at once recognised 
the plant as that which furnishes the Heeng or Asafcetida of com- 
merce, and referred to the medicinal accounts given of it by the Per- 
sian and Arabic authors; but the Dardohs are a wild race and do 
not collect the gum-resin for exportation. ‘Some young roots were 
carefully removed and introduced in the first instance into the Bo- 
tanic Garden at Saharunpoor, but afterwards transferred to the sub- 
sidiary hill garden at Mussooree. Of these some had succeeded 


200 Linnean Society. 


well, but had not flowered up to the time of Dr. Falconer’s leaving 
India ; and one of these furnished the leaves which were represented 
in a figure accompanying the paper, together with a small quantity 
of Asafcetida, differing in no respect from the ordinary condition of 
that substance as it occurs in commerce. The species is found, as 
it would appear, in the greatest abundance in the Persian provinces 
of Khorassan and Laar; and thence extends on the one hand into 
the plains of Turkestan upon the Oxus, where it seems to have been 
met with by Sir Alexander Burnes, and on the other stretches across 
from Beloochistan, through Candahar and other provinces of Affgha- 
nistan, to the eastern side of the valley of the Indus in Astore. Dr. 
Falconer has not met with it in Cashmeer. 

Besides the gum-resin, the fruits of the Narthex Asafetida are also 
imported into India for medicinal use, and along with them the fruits 
of another umbelliferous plant which Dr. Falconer found to belong 
to a true Ferula, and which are sold under the name of Doogoo; a 
word evidently connected with the Greek daixos. Of these fruits 
he gives a description ; and he also mentions another umbelliferous 
fruit in the collection of Dr. Royle, labelled as ‘‘the seed of the 
Wild Asafcetida plant, collected and brought to England by Sir John 
MacNeill from Persia,” which differs widely from the fruit both of 
Narthex and Ferula, and belongs to another tribe of the Order. 


November 17.—E. Forster, Esq., V.P., in the Chair. 


Read a portion of Dr. William Buchanan Hamilton’s ‘‘ Commen- 
tary on the Hortus Malabaricus of Van Rheede.” 


December 1.—E. Forster, Esq., V.P., in the Chair. 


Read a paper ‘On the Structure and Movements of Bacillaria 
paradoxa, Gmelin.” By G. H. K. Thwaites, Esq. Communicated 
by William Spence, Esq., F.R.S., F.L.S. &c. 

Mr. Thwaites commences his memoir by a description of the spe- 
cies. The filaments are ribbon-shaped, curved, pale brown with a 
paler mesial line, and consist each of from 4 or 5 to upwards of 100 
linear frustules, lying contiguous and parallel to each other. The 
front view of each frustule exhibits a slight tapering towards the 
apices, and a minute dentation on the inner edge of the smooth 
raised lateral margins, the intermediate space being smooth. Ina 
side view, the surface of mutual contact is seen to be linear-lanceolate 
with the apices rounded; and the space between the smooth raised 
lateral margins is marked with transverse raised strie. The length 
of the frustule, and consequently the width of the filament, varies 
from 735 to 7%>5 Of an inch; and the width of the frustule from 
T0000 1° sg55 Of an inch. The frustules are filled (with the ex- 
ception of a lighter transverse central fascia) with a pale brown en- 
dochrome ; and the filaments increase in length from multiplication 
of the frustules by fissiparous division.. . 

Mr. Thwaites has found this (the original) species of Bacillaria 
abundantly in ditches at the mouth of the Avon near Bristol, in water 


Linnean Society. 201 


probably slightly blackish, and also in small quantity in the river 
Frome at Stapleton, encrusting various aquatic plants with a dark 
brown coating, which under the microscope is resolved into a num- 
ber of pale brown filaments that seem to adhere tolerably firmly to the 
plant on which they are situated. When they have been for a few mo- 
ments detached, a remarkable motion is seen to commence in them. 
The first indication of this consists in a slight movement of a terminal 
frustule, which begins to slide lengthwise over its contiguous frus- 
tule, the second acts simultaneously in a similar manner with regard 
to the third, and so on throughout the whole filament; the same 
action having been going on at the same time at both ends of the 
filament, but in opposite directions. The central frustule thus ap- 
pears to remain stationary or nearly so; while each of the others has 
moved with a rapidity increasing with its distance from the centre, 
its own rate of movement having been increased by the addition of 
that of the independent movement of each frustule between it and 
the central one. This lateral elongation of the filament continues 
urtil the point of contact between the contiguous frustules is re- 
duced to a very small portion of their length, when the filament is 
again contracted by the frustules sliding back again as it were over 
each other ; and this changed direction of movement proceeding, the 
filament is again drawn out until the frustules are again only slightly 
in contact. The direction of the movement is then again reversed, 
and continues to alternate in opposite directions, the time occupied 
in passing from the elongation in one direction to the opposite being 
generally about 45 seconds. In the course of this movement the 
filaments seldom resume their original Fragilaria-like appearance ; 
and there are occasional interruptions to its regularity, both the ter- 
minal frustules in some cases moving in one and the same direction 
instead of in a direction opposite to each other. This Mr. Thwaites 
regards as resulting from a breach in the vital or dynamical con- 
nexion of the filament, and as not improbably indicating the place 
where spontaneous division of the filament is about to occur. If a 
filament, while in motion, be forcibly divided, the uninjured frustules 
of each portion continue to move as before, proving (as the author 
believes) that the filament is a compound structure, notwithstanding 
that its frustules move in unison. When the filament is elongated to 
its utmost extent, it is still extremely rigid and requires some com- 
paratively considerable force to bend it, the whole filament moving 
out of the way of any obstacle rather than bending or separating at 
the joints. A higher temperature increases the rapidity of the move- 
ment. 

The author hazards a conjecture that the action of cilia is the 
proximate cause of the phenomenon; for, although he has been un- 
able to discover cilia, he has little doubt of their presence from the 
mode in which minute particles of indigo suspended in the water 
were acted upon, when coming into contact with the frustules. He 
regards the movement of each individual frustule, considered alone, 
as Closely resembling that which is seen in the detached frustules of 
other species of Diutomacee; namely, a so to speak alternate back- 


202 Royal Institution. 


ward and forward movement at regular intervals. On the animal or 
vegetable nature of the production he has no remarks to offer. 

The paper was accompanied by magnified drawings of Bacillaria 
paradova in various stages of elongation and retraction ; and by very 
highly magnified representations of its mode of fissiparous increase, 
and of the markings on both its surfaces. 


Read also the commencement of a memoir ‘‘ On the Vegetation of 
the Galapagos Archipelago, as compared with that of some other 
Tropical Islands and of the Continent of America.” By Joseph Dal- 
ton Hooker, Esq., M.D., F.L.S. &c. 


ROYAL INSTITUTION. 


Jan. 29, 1847.—<« On the fundamental type and homologies of the 
Vertebrate Skeleton.’”’ By Prof. Owen. 

The Professor commenced by alluding to the origin of anatomy in 
the investigation of the human structure, in relation to the relief and 
cure of disease and injuries; and to the consequent creation of an 
anatomical nomenclature, having reference solely to the forms, pro- 
portions, likenesses and supposed functions of the parts of the human 
body ; which were originally studied from an insulated point of view, 
and irrespective of any other animal structure or any common type. 
So, likewise, the veterinary surgeon had begun the study of the 
anatomy of the horse in an equally independent manner, and had 
given as arbitrary names to the parts which he observed. Thus, in 
the head of a horse there was the ‘‘os quadratum ;” and in the foot 
the ‘‘cannon-bone,” the ‘“‘ great”? and ‘‘ small pastern-bones,” the 
‘« coronet,” and “‘ coffin-bones,” &c. When the naturalist first sought 
to penetrate beneath the superficial characters of the objects of his 
study, their anatomy had often been conducted in the same insulated 
and irrelative way. The ornithotomist, or dissector of birds, de- 
scribed his ‘‘ ossa homoidea,’’ ‘‘ossa communicantia”’ seu ‘‘ inter- 
articularia,” his ‘‘ columella,” his ‘‘ os furcatorium”’ and ‘‘ os quadra- 
tum,” the latter being quite a distinct bone from the “ os quadratum”’ 
of the hippotomist. The anatomiser of reptiles described ‘‘ hatchet- 
bones” and “‘ chevron-bones,” an “‘ os cinguliforme”’ or “‘ os en cein- 
ture,” and an “os transversum ;”’ he had also his ‘‘ columella,” but 
which was a bone distinct from that so called in the bird. The 
ichthyotomist described the ‘‘os discoideum,” “os transversum,” 
‘‘os coenosteon,” ‘fos mystaceum,” ‘‘ ossa symplectica,’’ “ prima,” 
** secunda,”’ “‘ tertia,” “‘ quarta,” &c. Each at first viewed his sub- 
ject independently and irrelatively ; and finding, therefore, appa- 
rently new organs, created a new and arbitrary nomenclature for 
them. 

After pointing out the impediments to a philosophical knowledge 
of anatomy, from such disconnected attempts to master its complexi-~ 
ties, and the almost impossibility of retaining in the memory such an 
enormous load of names, many distinct ones signifying the same es- 
sential part, whilst different parts had received the same name, Prof. 
Owen proceeded to demonstrate the principal results of the philoso- 


Royal Institution. 208 


phical researches of Cuvier, and other comparative anatomists, in 
tracing the same or homologous parts through the animal series, as 
they were exemplified in the osseous system, and principally in the 
bones of the head. When any bone in the human skull, for exam- 
ple, had been thus traced and determined in the skulls of the lower 
vertebrate animals, the same name was applied to it there as it bore 
in human anatomy, but understood in an arbitrary sense ; and when 
the part had no name in human anatomy, but was indicated, as often 
happened, by a descriptive phrase, it received a name having a close 
relation to such phrase ; and thus a uniform nomenclature had arisen 
out of the investigation of the homologies of the bones of the skele- 
ton, applicable alike to the human subject, the quadruped, the bird, 
and the fish. The corresponding parts have been sometimes called 
analogues, and sometimes homologues ; the latter being the appropriate 
term, since the parts are in fact namesakes. The essential difference 
between the relations of analogy and homology was illustrated by re- 
ference to a diagram of the skeletons of the ancient and modern fly- 
ing dragons. The wings of the extinct pterodactyle were sustained 
by a modification of the bones of the fore-arm or pectoral limb, which 
bones were long and slender, like those of the bat; and one of the 
fingers, answering to our little finger, was enormously elongated. 
The wings of the little Draco volans, the species which now fits 
about the trees of the Indian tropics, were supported by its ribs, 
which were liberated from an attachment to a sternum, and were 
much elongated and attenuated for that purpose. The wing of the 
pterodactyle was analogous to the wing of the Draco, inasmuch as it 
had a similar relation of subserviency to flight; but it was not homo- 
logous with it, inasmuch as it was composed of distinct parts. The 
true homologue of the wing of the pterodactyle was the fore-leg of 
the little Draco volans. 

The recognition of the same part in different species, Prof. Owen 
called the ‘‘ determination of its special homology ;” the recognition 
of its relation to a primary segment of the typical skeleton of the 
vertebrata, he called the ‘‘ determination of its general homology.” 
Before entering upon the higher generalization involved in the con- 
sideration of the common or fundamental type, Prof. Owen gave 
many illustrations of the extent to which the determination of spe- 
cial homologies had been carried, dwelling upon those which ex- 
plained the nature and signification of the separate points of ossifi- 
cation at which some of the single cranial bones in anthropotomy 
began to be formed; as in the so-called “ occipital,” ‘‘ sphenoid,” 
and ‘‘ temporal” bones. More than ninety per cent. of the bones in 
the human skeleton had had their namesakes or homologues recog- 
nized by common consent in the skeletons of all vertebrate animals ; 
and Prof. Owen believed the differences of opinion on the small re- 
siduum capable, with one or two exceptions, of satisfactory adjust- 
ment. ‘The question then naturally arose in the philosophic mind, 
upon what cause or condition does the existence of these relations 
of special homology depend? Upon this point the anatomical world 
was divided. The majority of existing authors on comparative ana- 


204 Royal Institution. 


tomy appeared either to have tacitly abandoned, or, with Cuvier and 
Agassiz, had directly opposed, the idea of the law of special homo- 
logies being included in a higher and more general law of uniformity 
of type, such as has been illustrated by the theory of the cranium 
consisting of a series of false or anchylosed vertebrae. Profs. De 
Blainville and Grant, however, teach the vertebral theory of the 
skull; the one adopting the four vertebre of Bojanus and the gifted 
propounder of the theory, Oken; the other regarding the hypothesis 
of Geoffroy St. Hilaire of the cranial vertebre as more conformable 
to nature. Prof. Carus of Dresden has beautifully illustrated the 
poet Goethe’s idea of the skull being composed of six vertebrae. 
But these authors had left the objections of Cuvier and Agassiz un- 
rebutted; and judging from the recent works of Profs. Wagner, 
Miller, Stannius, Hallmann, and others of the modern German 
school, and those of Milne Edwards, the doctrine of unity of organi- 
zation, as illustrated by the vertebral theory of the skull, seemed to 
be on the decline on the Continent. To account for the law of spe- 
cial homologies on the hypothesis of the subserviency of the parts 
so determined to similar ends in different animals—to say that the 
same bones occur in them because they have to perform similar func- 
tions—involve many difficulties, and are opposed by numerous phe- 
nomena. Admitting that the multiplied points of ossification in the 
skull of the human foetus facilitate, and were designed to facilitate, 
child-birth, yet something more than a final purpose lies beneath the 
fact, that all those points represent permanently distinct bones in the 
cold-blooded vertebrata. And again, the cranium of the bird, which 
is composed in the adult of a single bone, is ossified from the same 
number of points as in the human embryo, without any possibility 
of a similar final purpose being subserved thereby, Moreover, in 
the bird, as in the human subject, the different points of ossification 
have the same relative position and plan of arrangement as in the 
skull of the young crocodile ; in which animal they always maintain, 
as in most fishes, their primitive distinctness. A few errors, some 
exaggerated transcendentalisms and metaphorical expressions of the 
earlier German homologists, and a too obvious tendency to d-priori 
assumptions and neglect of rigorous induction on the part of Geof- 
froy St. Hilaire, had afforded Cuvier apt subjects for the terse sar- 
casm and polished satire which he directed against the school of 
“Unity of Organization.” The tone also which the discussions 
gradually assumed towards the latter period of the career of the two 
celebrated anatomists of the French Academy seems to have led to 
a prejudice in the mind of Cuvier against the entire theory and 
transcendental views generally; and he finally withdrew, in the 
second edition of his ‘ Lecons d’Anatomie Comparée,’ that small de- 
gree of countenance to the vertebral theory of the skull which he 
had given by the admission of the three successive bony cinctures of 
the cranial cavity in the ‘Régne Animal,’ 

Prof. Owen then briefly alluded to the researches which he had 
undertaken, with a view to obtain conviction as to the existence or 
otherwise of one determinate plan or type of the skeletons of the 


Royal Institution. 205 
vertebrata generally ; and stated, that after many years’ considera- 
tion given to the subject, he had convinced himself of the accuracy 
of the idea that the endo-skeleton of all vertebrate animals was ar- 
ranged in a series of segments, succeeding each other in the direction 
of the axis of the body. For these segments or ‘‘ osteocommata”’ 
of the endo-skeleton, he thought the term “ vertebre” might well 
be retained, although used in a somewhat wider sense than it is 
understood by a human anatomist. ‘The parts of a typical vertebra 
were then defined, according to the views explained in the Professor’s 
‘ Lectures on Vertebrata’; and he proceeded to apply its characters 
to the four segments into which the cranial bones were naturally 
resolvable. ‘The views of the lecturer were illustrated by diagrams 
of the disarticulated skulls of a fish, a bird, a marsupial quadruped, 
and the human fcetus. ‘The common type was most closely adhered 
to in the fish, as belonging to that lowest class of vertebrata in which 
*« vegetative repetition*”’ most prevailed, and the type was least ob- 
scured by modifications and combinations of parts for mutual sub- 
servience to special functions. The bones of the skull were arranged 
into four segments or vertebree, answering to the four primary divi- 
sions of the brain, and to the nerves transmitted to the four organs 
of special sense seated in the head. Prof. Owen adopted the names 
which had been assigned to these vertebrze from the bones constitu- 
ting their neural spines, viz. occipital, parietal, frontal, and nasal ; 
and enumerated them from behind forwards, because, like the verte- 
bre of the tail, they lose their typical character as they recede from 
the common centre or trunk. The general results of the Professor’s 
analysis may be thrown into the following tabular form :— 


Primary Segments of the Skull-bones of the Endo-skeleton. 


VERTEBRA. ' OCCIPITAL. PARIETAL. FRONTAL. NASATn 
Centrums. Basioccipital. Basisphenoid. Presphenoid. Vomer. 
Neura; ae Exoccipital. Alisphenoid. Orbitosphenoid. | Prefrontals. 
Neural Spines. Supraoccipital. Parietal Frontal. Nasal. 
Parapophyses. Paroccipital. Mastoid. Postfrontal, None. 
Pleurapophyses. Scapula. pose 'ympanic. Palatal. 
awe hy ses. Coracoid. Ceratohyal. Articular. Maxillary. 
Hama ‘pines, s Episternum. Basihyal. , Premaxillary. 
Diverging Appendage, | Fore-limb or fin. | Branchiostegals. | Operculum. Pterygoids and Zygoma. 


The upper or neural arch of the occipital vertebra protected the 
epencephalon, or medulla oblongata and cerebellum; that of the pa- 
rietal vertebra protected the mesencephalon, or third ventricle, optic 
lobes, conarium and hypophysis ; that of the frontal vertebra the pros- 
encephalon, or cerebral hemispheres; that of the nasal vertebra the 
rhinencephalon, or olfactory crura and ganglions. 

The superior development of the cerebral hemispheres in the warm- 
blooded class, and their enormous expansion in them, occasions cor- 
responding development of the neural spines, not only of their proper 
vertebra, but, by their backward folding over the other primary seg- 
ments, of those of all the other vertebra ; whilst the more important 


* The general principle of animal organizations, which Prof. Owen has 
termed “the law of vegetative or irrelative repetition,” is explained in the 
first volume of his ‘ Hunterian Lectures,—on the Invertebrate Animals.’ 


206 Royal Institution. 


parts of the neural arch, as the neurapophyses, undergo comparatively 
little change. 

The acoustic nerve escapes between the occipital and parietal ver- 
tebre, but the organ itself is intercalated between the neural arches 
of these segments and its ossified capsule ; the petrosal projects into 
the cranial cavity between the exoccipital and alisphenoid in the 
warm-blooded vertebrata. The gustatory nerve (part of the third 
division of the fifth pair) perforates or notches the alisphenoid, and 
in crocodiles and many fishes passes through an intervertebral fora- 
men between the alisphenoid and orbitosphenoid ; but the gustatory 
organ is far removed from the neural arches or. cranium proper, and 
is united with its fellow to form the apparently single organ called 
the tongue. ‘The optic nerve perforates or grooves the orbitosphe- 
noid, and the eyeball intervenes between the frontal and nasal ver- 
tebree, as the earball does between the occipital and parietal: the 
vertebral elements are modified to form cavities for these organs of 
sense; that lodging the eye being called the ‘‘ orbit,” that for the 
ear the ‘‘ otocrane.”’ 

The divergence of the olfactory crura, and the absence of any union 
or commissure between the olfactory ganglia, leads to an extension 
of ossification from their neurapophyses, which are always perforated 
by the olfactory crura or nerves, to the median line between those 
parts; and the neurapophyses themselves coalesce together there in 
batrachia, birds and mammals. This extreme modification was to 
be expected in a vertebra forming the anterior extremity of the se- 
ries; and the typical condition of the prefrontals, so well shown in 
fishes and saurians, is marked in mammals by the enormous deve- 
lopment of the capsules of the organ of smell anterior to them, which 
become ossified and partially anchylosed to the compressed, shrunken 
and coalesced prefrontals; the whole forming the composite bone 
called “‘thmoid” in anthropotomy. The vomer, or body of the 
nasal vertebra, has undergone an analogous modification to that 
which the terminal vertebra of the tail presents in birds; whence its 
special name, referring to the likeness to a ploughshare, in human 
anatomy. ‘The spine, or nasal bone, is sometimes single, sometimes 
divided, like the frontal, the parietal and the supraoccipital bones. 
Their special adaptive modifications have obtained for them special 
names. 

The hemal arches corresponding with the above neural arches 
retain most of their natural position and proportions, as might be 
expected, in fishes; they are called the scapular, hyoid, mandibular 
and maxillary arches. ‘The pleurapophysis of the occipital vertebra 
is the scapula, and is commonly attached by a head and tubercle to 
the centrum and parapophysis of its proper occipital vertebra. 

The hyoid arch is suspended by the medium of the epitympanic to 
the mastoid parapophysis of the parietal vertebra, the epitympanic, 
in fishes, intervening and separating the hemal arch from its proper 
vertebra, just as the squamosal intervenes to detach the tympanic 
pleurapophysis of the mandibular arch from its proper vertebra in 
mammals; which vertebra the squamosal attains in man by articu- 


Royal Institution. 207 


lating with the process representing the coalesced postfrontal, In 
return, we find the hyoidean arch resuming its normal connexions in 
many mammalia, the stylo-hyal element being directly articulated to 
the mastoid: in man the large petrosal capsule intervenes, and con- 
tracts that anchylosis with the proximal or pleurapophysial element 
of the hyoid arch, which has led to the description of the stylohyal 
as a process of the temporal bone, in works on human anatomy, 

In fishes, the tympanic, which is the true pleurapophysis of the 
mandibular arch, always articulates with the postfrontal, besides its 
accessory joint with the mastoid. The maxillary arch is articulated 
by its pleurapophysis, the palatine bone, with the centrum and neu- 
rapophysis (vomer and prefontal ) of the nasal vertebra. ‘This is the 
normal and constant point of suspension of the maxillary arch ; other 
accessory attachments to ensure its fixation and strength are succes- 
sively superinduced upon this primary and essential one, Through 
this knowledge of the general homology of the palatine, an insight 
was gained into its singular disposition in man, creeping up, as it 
were, into the orbit, to touch the pars plana of the ethmoid; this 
secret affinity with the modified neurapophysis of the nasal vertebra 
becomes intelligible by a recognition of its relations to the general 
type of the vertebrate skeleton, by its determination as the rib or 
pleurapophysis of the nasal vertebra, and therefore retaining, as such, 
more or less of its essential connexion with the centrum (vomer) and 
neurapophyses (zthmoid or prefrontal) of the nasal vertebra through- 
out the vertebrate series. 

The tympano-mandibular and the hyoidean arches had both been 
recognized as resembling ribs. A like homology of the scapula had 
early been detected by Oken ; but its relation to the skull or occiput 
had been masked, and had escaped previous notice, by its displace- 
ment from its natural or typical connexions in all the air-breathing 
vertebrata. 

The enunciation of these correspondences has sometimes been re- 
ceived by anatomists conversant with one particular modification of 
the general type, with as little favour as those of the ‘‘ cannon-bone”’ 
to the metacarpus, of the “ great and small pastern”’ and the “‘ coffin- 
bones” to the digital phalanges of the human hand, may be supposed 
to have been by the earlier veterinarians. 

Prof. Owen adduced instances of the displacement of different 
vertebral elements to subserve special exigencies, as that of the neu- 
rapophyses in the bird’s sacrum, and that of the ribs in the human 
thorax, in which there could be, and had been, no question as to the 
reference of such displaced parts severally to their proper vertebral 
segments. ‘The displacement of the scapular arch from the occiput 
was a modification of precisely the same kind, and differed only in 
degree. In the crocodile every ceryical as well as every dorsal ver- 
tebra had its ribs; and in the immature animal the same elements 
existed, as distinct parts, in the lumbar, sacral, and in several caudal 
vertebre. The occipital vertebra would be represented only by its 
centrum” and ‘‘ neural arch,”’ unless the loose and obviously dis- 
placed scapulo-coracoid arch were recognized as its pleurapophysial 


208 Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 


and hemapophysial elements. This arch made its first appearance 
in every vertebrate embryo close to the occiput; and in fishes—the 
representatives of the embryo-state of higher vertebrata, where the 
principle of vegetative repetition most prevailed, and the primitive 
type was least obscured by teleological or adaptive modifications— 
the scapular arch retained its true and typical connexions with the 
occiput. 

The general homology of the locomotive members, as developments 
of the diverging appendages of the inferior vertebral arches, was il- 
lustrated, and the parallelism in the course of the modifications of all 
such appendages pointed out. As the scapular arch belongs to the 
skull, so its appendages, the pectoral or anterior members, were es- 
sentially parts of the same division of the skeleton segments. 

As a corollary to the generalization that the vertebrate skeleton 
consisted of a series of essentially similar segments, was the power 
of tracing the corresponding parts from segment to segment in the 
same skeleton. ‘The study of such “serial homologies” had been 
commenced by the unfortunate Vicq. d’Azyr, in his memoir “on the 
parallelism of the fore and hind extremities ;”’ and similar relations 
could be traced through the more important elements of the series 
of vertebrze. Prof. Owen believed it to be an appreciation of some 
of these homologies that lay at the bottom of the epithets, ‘‘ scapula 
of the head,” ‘‘ ilium of the head,” ‘‘ femur of the head,” &c. applied 
to certain cranial bones by Oken and Spix. To Cuvier this language 
had seemed unintelligible jargon; yet the error consisted merely in 
assigning a special instead of a general name to express the serial 
homology rightly discerned, in some of the instances, by the acute 
German anatomists.. ‘ Scapula,” “‘ ilium,” ‘‘ rib,” &c. were names 
indicative of particular modifications of one and the same vertebral 
element. Such element, understood and spoken of in a general 
sense, ought to have a general name. Had Oken stated that the 
tympanic bone of the bird, for example, was a ‘‘ pleurapophysis” (or 
by any other equivalent term) of the head, his language would not 
only have been accurate, but intelligible, perhaps, to Cuvier. When 
Oken called it the ‘‘ scapula of the head,” he then unduly extended 
such special name, and transferred it to a particularly and differently 
modified pleurapophysis, which equally required to have its own 
specific name. 

Prof. Owen dwelt on the necessity of having clearly-defined terms 
for distinct ideas, in order to ensure the progress of science ; and al- 
luded to the advancement of human anatomy by accurate determina- 
tions of the general type, of which man’s frame was a modification. 
—From the Literary Gazette. 


BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH. 


January 14, 1847.—Sir William Jardine, Bart., in the Chair. 


The following communications were read :— 
1. “On Fairy Rings,” by Dr. George Wilson. The object of 
Dr, Wilson’s remarks was to show that the chemical theory of the 


Miscellaneous. 209 


origin of these remarkable circles, laid before the meeting of the Bri- 
tish Association, held at Southampton in September 1846, by Pro- 
fessor Way of the Agricultural College at Cirencester, was identical 
with that published by Wollaston in the ‘ Philosophical Transactions ” 
for 1807. Dr. Wilson also pointed out that analyses of various fungi 
had been made by Professor Schlossberger of ‘Tubingen and Dr. 
Doepping, and thought that these gentlemen’s names deserved to be 
mentioned, as confirmers of Wollaston’s views and predecessors of 
Professor Way, in establishing the probability of the chemical theory 
of Fairy Rings. ‘To Professor Way, on the other hand, belonged 
the twofold merit of being the first to analyse Agarics actually taken 
from Fairy Rings, and the first to supply a detailed qualitative and 
quantitative analysis of the ashes of these fungi. 

Dr. Balfour made -remarks on the views of botanists relative to 
centrifugal development, and endeavoured to show that a combina- 
tion of the botanical and chemical theories was necessary to account 
for the phenomenon. | 

Dr. Fleming thought that none of the theories were sufficient to 
account for the so-called fairy Rings in all cases ; and alluded to the 
occurrence of fungi, especially dgaricus oreades, in a circular ar- 
rangement without any alteration in the grass. 

Sir Wm. Jardine agreed with Dr. Fleming; and stated that the 
growth of fungi in lawns was often not in a-circular manner, but of 
various forms, and without altering the appearance of the grass. He 
then briefly noticed the points which still required determination, 
and urged upon botanists the importance of attending to them. 

2. Supplement to “‘ A Synopsis of British Rubi,” No. 2, by 
Charles C. Babington, M.A. See ‘ Annals,’ p. 83 of the present 
volume. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


Description of a new genus and species of Entozoa. 
By Joseru Leipy, M.D. 


In the course of an investigation of the anatomical structure of the 
terrestrial Gasteropoda of the United States, I discovered a micro- 
scopic Entozoon inhabiting the fluid contained in the vessie copula- 
trice or spermatheca of Helix albolabris, since which I have found it 
to exist in two other species, Helix tridentata and Helix alternata, 
and I have no doubt of its existence in others, not yet having had 
an opportunity of examining further. As there appears to be no 
known genus in which this animal can be placed, I have been neces- 
sitated to form the following :— 

Cryptobia. Animal minute; form exceedingly proteoid; internal 
organization cellular or granular. 

C. helicis. Coluurless; form ordinarily elongate, ellipsoid, fusi- 
form or ovate; caudated, caude opposite, one longer than the other. 
Internal granular structure consisting of two large cells and nume- 
rous minute granules. ‘Total length from the 125th to the 100th of 

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Vol. xix. 15 


210 Miscellaneous. 


a line. Habitat, the vessie copulatrice or spermatheca of Helix al- 
bolabris, Helix tridentata, and Helix alternata. 

This singular Entozoon in its general appearance and organization 
appears to be intermediate between Cercaria seminis and Filaria. 
Its varied form and movements are curious to observe; at. one mo- 
ment globular, then oval, ovate, fusiform, sigmoid, crescentic, &c., 
it appears as if it would outvie the kaleidoscope in its changes. The 
motions are vibratile, rotary, with a lateral progression, or whirling 
in circles like the insect Gyrinus. 

Cryptobia helicis might be confounded with the Spermatozoa of 
the animal in which they are parasitic, on account of the organ in 
which they are found being connected with the m 
generative apparatus and its supposed use as a @ 
spermatheca, but they may be readily distin- , 
guished; the Spermatozoa of Helices generally me 
having either a uniform sigmoid or a beaded 
body, with an enormous proportionate length of 
tail, and a slow, vibratile motion. It may be 
well to mention that C. helicis does not exist in 
the collapsed state of the generative organs. 

The subjoined sketch represents some of the 
principal forms of the animal, highly magnified.—From the Proceed- 
ings of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences. 


Description of two living Hybrid Fowls, between Gallus and Numida. 
By Samvuet Grorce Morton, M.D. 


The singular birds which form the subject of this communication 
were bred on a farm about seven miles from Wilmington, in the 
State of Delaware. The person who raised them states that the 
eggs that produced them differed in no respect from those of the 
guinea fowl, were part of a large number that were hatched at the 
same time, and that the birds are known to be just four years old. 
My friend Mr. Augustus E. Jessup having accidentally observed 
these birds on the above-mentioned farm, purchased them of the 
proprietor, and sent them to my care, with a request that they might 
be eventually placed in the collections of the Academy. Both are 
yet living and in good health; and the following description, in 
which I have been materially assisted by my friend Mr. William 
Gambel, has been drawn up after many examinations, made during 
a month and upwards that the birds have been in the charge of Mr. 
Robert Kilvington, horticulturist of this city. 

The first of these birds is mottled with the colour of a reddish 
brown chicken and guinea fowl (Numida meleagris). Back and 
rump lineated with darkish brown and whitish, and a tinge of yel- 
lowish brown. Greater wing-coverts and margins of secondaries 
reddish brown; breast, belly, sides and under tail-coverts dirty 
white, with scattering feathers of the same. Quills and tail-feathers 
dusky brown, lineated, and finely speckled like those of the guinea 
fowl. Two quills in one wing and one in the tail are entirely white. 
Wings concave and rounded, one foot in length from flexure. First 


Miscellaneous. 211 


quill an inch and a half shorter than the second, which last is one 
inch shorter than the third; 3—8 quills about equal. Tail of fifteen 
feathers, rounded; the two middle ones longest and pointed. 

Head sparsely covered with feathers, almost bare for a considera- 
ble distance around the eye. Upper mandible dusky, except at tip, 
which, with the lower mandible, is whitish; towards the base it is 
somewhat striated, and covered by a reddish, fleshy cere, elongated 
at the angle of the mouth into barbles, which however are only ru- 
dimentary in comparison with those of the guinea fowl. Beneath 
the skin a distinct, hard, bony ridge can be felt, extending over the 
top of the head. Another bony ridge extends over the eye, giving 
it a sunken appearance. The nostrils are half-closed by a fleshy 
membrane ; sides of head and front white. Top of head and nape 
with linear black feathers, elongated on the nape into hackles. 
Neck and upper part of the breast reddish brown. Tarsus very 
stout, with large, divided scutelle; length 3} inches; middle toe 
and nail 23 inches. Total length about 2 feet. 

The second of these birds bears yet more resemblance to a guinea 
fowl, both in shape and colour, than the preceding, not being so 
much mottled with reddish brown feathers, but principally with 
white. The bill appears to be not so much arched ; the upper man- 
dible is barbled as in the other, and the head is in general the same. 
Back, shoulders and upper tail-coverts dusky, lineated with whitish 
like the guinea fowl; greater wing-coverts fading into white, the 
tertiaries being margined with the same. One quill white. Quills 
like the other as to colour and markings ; third to sixth nearly equal. 
From flexure the wing measures 114 inches. 

Back of head and neck with black linear feathers, not so much 
like hackles as those of the other bird. Breast, beneath and sides 
whitish. ‘l'ail nearly plucked out, as in the other ; upper tail-coverts 
full and pendent. ‘The bare flesh around the eye in both birds is 
tinged with blue. 

The sounds which these birds utter are also intermediate, but 
partake much more of the harshness of the guinea fowl, although 
they occasionally cluck not unlike the common hen. 

They are shy, wild and resentful, boldly attacking any one who 
irritates them. They have several times escaped from custody and 
flown a hundred yards or more, when they alight and run with great 
celerity. 

The sex of these birds has not been determined with certainty, but 
the male characters seem to predominate. During the four years 
they were on the farm, they were never observed to have sexual in- 
tercourse with any other fowls. It is designed on a future occasion 
to notice their anatomical peculiarities, when the productive organs 
will be carefully examined. 

It has been remarked by a distinguished naturalist, that ‘ many 
of the birds which compose the gallinaceous order appear to be less 
difficult to unite with strange species than those of any other order. 
From the great majority of pheasants, mongrels may thus be pro- 
duced ; all the Hoccos (Crax) will couple together in a state of do- 

15* 


212 Miscellaneous. 


‘mestication ; the pheasant will ally with the cock; the last with the 
‘turkey, with which the hoccos born in the domestic state will also 
unite. It appears, in fact, very possible to produce mongrels from 
the major part of those Galline which are susceptible of domestica- 
tion*.” | 

The latter remark receives strong corroboration from the facts we 
have adduced in this paper; and we believe that a hybrid progeny 
between the guinea fowl and common fowl is now for the first time 
made known to naturalists. The fact derives its peculiar interest 
from the remoteness of the genera which have thus produced an in- 
termediate variety.—Jbid. Ss 


On the Habits of the Honey Buzzard in Confinement. 
By Gorpvon Jos. Forstrr, Esq.  ~ 


The Honey Buzzard now in my possession was wounded in the 
wing, and taken about three months ago. It was at first confined 
in a small garden-house, and for a day or two refused to eat any- 
thing, but at last began to feed upon small birds, but would not 
touch raw flesh or any kind of offal, nor has it yet done so, although 
it has not the smallest objection to a rat or a frog. Many birds of 
prey, after eating the muscular parts of any animal or bird, leave 
the entrails untouched; the Honey Buzzard, on the contrary, gene- 
rally begins by opening the carcase, and then devouring everything 
it finds within it. It is very fond of the honeycomb of the wild bee, 
and when hungry will swallow large pieces of the comb containing 
the grub or larve, but when its appetite is not very keen it usually 
separates the cells, extracts the grub, and throws the wax away. 
There has been little honey in the combs this year, but when per- 
chance any has dropt from the cells upon the ground, I have seen 
the bird repeatedly thrust its bill into the earth, where it appeared 
to be moistened by the honey. Unless very hungry it will not at- 
tempt to tear open a large bird, but is exceedingly fond of a fresh 
herring. There is something capricious in the appetite of birds, 
as well as in that of the human race. I had an eider duck for three 
years, and during that time it never could be prevailed upon to 
taste shell-fish ; its favourite food was barley bread, though if grain 
of any kind was thrown down to it, it would devour it in the same 
manner and with the same rapidity as the common duck. Of all 
the birds of prey with which I am acquainted, the Honey Buzzard 
is apparently the gentlest, the kindest, and the most capable of at- 
tachment; it seems to possess little of the fierceness of that warlike 
tribe. It will follow me round the garden, cowering and shaking 
its wings, though not soliciting food, uttering at the same time a 
plaintive sound, something like the whistle of the golden plover, but 
softer and much more prolonged... Though shy with strangers, it is 
very fond of being noticed and caressed by those to whose presence 
it has been accustomed. In the same garden there are three lap- 


* Griffith’s Cuvier, viii. pp. 173,175,176. Prichard, Researches into the 
Physical History of Mankind, i. p. 140, 3rd ed. 


Miscellaneous. 213 


wings, a blue-backed gull, andacurlew. ‘The plovers are often seen 
with the buzzard sitting in the midst of them, showing no signs of 
caution or apprehension, but seem as if they were listening to a lec- 
ture delivered by him. The gull frequently retires into the garden- 
house, probably to enjoy the society of the buzzard. The garden is 
not the garden of Eden, and yet these birds, of different natures, 
habits and dispositions, appear to live in perfect harmony, peace and 
good fellowship with each other. G. J. F. 


Newton-by-the-Sea, Aug. 29, 1845. 


P.S.—I have had three living specimens of the Honey Buzzard 
in my possession, not one of them in plumage at all resembling the 
other. One of the three never could be induced to take any food, 
and after living about a fortnight, died, I believe, from pure inani- 
tion. Besides the plaintive cry above-mentioned, the Honey Buz- 
zard has another and more varied note apparently of alarm.—From 
the Transactions of the Berwickshire Naturalists’ Club, vol. ii. p. 173. 


LARUS EBURNEUS. 


On Monday last Michael Roberts of Penzance, who devotes a 
considerable portion of his time and attention to the subject of orni- 
thology, succeeded in shooting, off the pier head, a very excellent 
specimen of the ivory gull (Larus eburneus). We believe that the 
first specimen of this species obtained in the United Kingdom was at 
Balta Sound, Shetland Islands, in the winter of 1822. The length 
of these birds varies from 16 to 18 inches, depending upon age and 
sex. Captains Sabine and J. C. Ross represent this species as com- 
mon on the coast of Greenland, Davis’ Straits, Baffin’s Bay, Port 
Bowen and Hecla Cove. Dr. Richardson mentions these birds as 
having been seen breeding in great numbers in the high perforated 
cliffs which form the extremity of Cape Parry, in lat. 70°.—Cornwall 
Royal Gazette. 

FOSSIL HUMAN BONES. 


At a Meeting of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia 
(Oct. 6, 1846), Dr. Dickeson exhibited a large and remarkably varied 
series of fossil bones, obtained by him from the vicinity of Natchez, 
Miss. The collection embraces the entire head and half of the lower 
jaw of the Megalonyx Jeffersoni *, now for the first time discovered ; 
together with many parts of the skeleton, and indeed of several ske- 
letons of that animal, sufficient to enable its complete osteological 
reconstruction. The stratum that contains these organic remains is 
a tenacious blue clay that underlies the diluvial drift east of Natchez, 
and which diluvial deposit abounds in bones and teeth of the Mas- 
todon giganteum. 


* Dr. Dickeson originally suggested, from partial comparisons, that this 
cranium belonged to the Megalonyx, and not to the Mylodon as others had 
supposed ; his opinion was fully confirmed by M. Agassiz on a recent exa-~ 
mination; and this distinguished naturalist has proved the Megalonyz la- 
queatus of Harlan to belong, not to Megalonyx, but to some other nearly 
allied genus. 


214 Miscellaneous. 


The animals associated with-the Megalonyx are, an Ursus, a Bos, 
two species of Cervus, one or two species of Equus, and several un- 
determined genera, all which are now in progress of delineation and 
description for the Academy’s Journal. 

Dr. Dickeson presented another relic of yet greater interest, viz. 
the fossil os innominatum of the human subject taken from the above- 
mentioned stratum of blue clay, and about two feet below the skele- 
tons of the Megalonyx and other extinct genera of quadrupeds. 

This ancient relic of our species is that of a young man of about 
sixteen years of age, as determined by its size and form, and by the 
fact that the epiphyses have separated from the tuberosity of the 
ischium and from the crista of the ilium. Nearly all the os pubis is 
wanting, the upper posterior part of the ilium is broken away, and 
but half the acetabulum remains. That this bone is strictly in the 
fossil state is manifest from its physical characters, in which it ac- 
cords in every respect of colour, density, &c. &c. with those of the 
Megalonyx and other associated bones. ‘That it could not have 
drifted into the position in which it was found is manifest from 
several facts :—1. that the plateau of blue clay is not appreciably 
acted on by those causes that produce ravines in the superincumbent 
diluvial; 2. that the human bone was found at least two feet below 
three associated skeletons of the Megalonyx, all which, judging from 
the apposition or proximity of their several parts, had been quietly 
deposited in this locality, independently of any active current or other 
displacing power; and lastly, because there was no admixture of 
diluvial drift with the blue clay, which latter retains its homogeneous 
character equally in the higher part that furnished the extinct quad- 
rupeds, and in its lower part that contained the remains of man. 
Dr. Dickeson has announced his intention of returning, at an early 

period of the present autumn, to resume his explorations in this pro- 

lific and most interesting locality ; and it is earnestly hoped that his 
researches may lead to a further elucidation of this important ques- 
tion in science. 


On the Mechanism which closes the Membranous Wings of the genus 
Locusta. By Josepx Lerpy, M.D. 


The membranous wings or alz of the locusts while at rest are 
folded up, like a closed fan, beneath the anterior pergamentaceous 
wings. These are opened or expanded by the contraction of appro- 
priate muscles (extensores ale) contained within the thorax, the 
tendcns of which are inserted into the ribs or longitudinal veins at 
the root of the wings. When one of the wings is separated from 
the body of the insect and stretched open by the fingers, upon let- 
ting go it will be found instantly to close or resume the position of 
rest. 

The mechanism which produces this closure in the separated wing, 
as well as when attached to the living animal, I find to be spiral 
ligamentous bands, wound, like the thread of a screw, around the 
transverse or connecting veins, which latter are also flexible. By 
this arrangement, upon the contraction of the alary extensors, the 


Meteorological Observations. 215 


spring-like ligaments, or ligamenta spiralia as I will call them, are 
stretched in the expansion of the wings, and upon the relaxation or 
cessation of the action of the muscles, the physical properties alone 
of the ligamenta spiralia, in resuming their unstretched state, close 
the wings. ‘These ligamenta spiralia are numerous, and exist in all 
the species of Locusta possessing perfect alee which I have examined. 
—Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences. 


ON THE GENUS CALOPTYLUM.,. 


A mistake occurred in the notice which appeared in our last 
Number on this subject, the ‘ Annals’ being referred to as the work 
in which Mr. Thompson’s paper was published, whereas it should 
have been Charlesworth’s ‘ Magazine of Nat. Hist.’ vol. iv. p. 184. 
—Ep. 


METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR JAN. 1847. 


Chiswick.—January 1. Frosty: overcast, 2. Hazy and cold. 3. Dry haze: 
snow at night. 4, Cloudy. 5. Hazy. 6,7. Foggy. 8. Hazy. 9. Cold: 
hazy. 10. Sharp frost at night. 11. Frosty: fine: sharp frost. 12, 13, Foggy. 
14. Sharp frost : foggy: frosty. 15, 16. Dense fog: frosty at nights. 17, Dry 
haze: foggy. 18. Cloudyand cold. 19. Overcast: hazy. 20. Slight haze; 
snow at night. 21. Snowing. 22. Dense fog throughout. 23. Slight fog: 
eloudy: rain. 24. Densely clouded: rain: clear. 25. Fine: slight showers in 
the evening. 26. Partially overcast: fine: boisterous at night, 27. Clear: rain 
at night. 28. Boisterous: clear and frosty. 29, Fine, with sun: clear and 
frosty. 30. Clear and frosty: fine: densely overcast. 31. Light haze: cloudy ; fine, 


Mean temperature of the month ......... oda ceasevesecesces 34°26 
Mean temperature of Jan. 1846 ......seseeseerceees gebecke 43 *54 
Mean temperature of Jan. for the last twenty years ... 36 °81 
Average amount of rain in Jan. ....... eeeeeee Goadeodeedabs 1-60 inch. 


Boston.—Jan. 1. Foggy: snow on the ground. 2, 3, Cloudy. 4. Cloudy: 
snow early a.m. 5. Cloudy: rain early a.m. 6. Cloudy. 7. Rain. 8—11, 
Cloudy. 12. Cloudy: raine.m. 13. Cloudy. 14—16. Fine. 17—20. Cloudy. 
21. Cloudy: snow p.m. 22. Cloudy: snow on the ground. 23. Cloudy. 24, 
Cloudy : snow nearly all melted. 25. Fine: rain midday. 26. Fine. 27. Windy. 
28, Rain. 29—31. Fine.—'rhis January has been the coldest since January 1842, 
and the driest since 1833. 

Sandwick Manse, Orkney.—Jan. 1. Fog. 2. Cloudy. 3. Damp: showers, 
4, Showers. 5. Showers: rain. 6,7. Damp. 8. Cloudy. 9. Bright: clear. 
10—12. Bright: frost: clear, 13. Bright: clear, 14. Bright: frost: clear, 
15. Bright: clear, 16. Drops: cloudy. ~17—19. Cloudy: clear: aurora. 20, 
Fine: frost: clear: frost: aurora. 21. Sleet-showers. 22. Bright: clear. 
23, 24. Cloudy: rain. 25—27. Bright: clear. 28, Clear: frost: cloudy. 29, 


Bright: clear. 30, Bright: snow-showers: aurora. $1. Hail-showers: snow- 
showers: aurora, 


Applegarth Manse, Dumfries-shire—Jan. 1. Ciear, but moist. 2, Dull and 
raw: slight snow. 3. Slight frost: very chilly. 4. Dull: slight frost : rain p.m. 
5. Dull: rain, 6. Fine and fair. 7, 8, Fair, but cloudy. 9, 10. Frost: clear. 
11—13. Frost, hard. 14. Frost, hard, but cloudy. 15. Thaw. 16. Thaw: 
drizzle. 17—21. Frostagain. 22. Frost: snow: thaw. 23. Thaw: sleet. 
24, Heavy rain. 25. Slight frost a.m.: rain. 26. Heavy rain. 27. Rain: 
cleared p.m. 28. Fair, but dull. 29, Slight frost a.m. 30, Slight frost a.m. : 
cloudy. 31. Hard frost: snow P.M. 


Mean temperature of the month _..... opesfeageckons vcece 35°97 
Mean temperature of Jan. 1846 ......sccccscovseeseseeeses 43 °0 
Mean temperature of Jan. for 25 years ......s.ssececeees 34 °9 


Mean rain in Jan, for 20 years ......cccseceuses Sve teosts 2°60 inches. 


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THE ANNALS 


AND 


MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 


No. 126. APRIL 1847. 


XXV.—WNotes on the genus of Insects Trachyphleus, with 
descriptions of new species. By Joun Watton, F.L.S. 


Fam. CURCULIONID ZA. 
Genus TracnuyPpHLevs, Germ., Schinh., Steph. 


1. Trachyphleus scaber, Linn., Mus. Linn., Germ. 
— tessellatus, Marsh., Steph., Schonh. 
— confinis, Steph. secund. ejus Mus. 
Cure. scabriculus, Payk., Gyll., Schénh., non Linn. 
— bifoveolatus, Beck, Germ. 
Strophosomus nigricans, Steph., Kirb. MSS. et Mus. 
Thylacites grisescens, Kirb. MSS. et Mus. 


According to the museum of Linnzus and to his description, 
this insect is the true Curc. scaber of that illustrious naturalist, 
and it is specifically identical with Curc. tessellatus of Marsh. 

I regret that I cannot concur with M. Schénherr and Dr. Ger- 
mar in considering this insect as specifically distinct from Cure. 
scabriculus of Payk. I apprehend that the want of time to de- 
tach the scales and the extraneous matter from the upper surface 
of the thorax by which the sculpture is obscured, and the want 
of a long series of specimens to exhibit a variation of size and of 
form in the elytra, have led those distinguished entomologists 
into an error ; otherwise it is impossible to reconcile the discre- 
pancies between themselves and Gyllenhal. 

I possess a series of forty-three specimens (thirty of which I 
have denuded to obtain a distinct view of the sculpture), and have 
very closely and minutely examined and compared them with four 
authentic specimens of Curc. bifoveolatus of Beck from Germar, 
but I am unable to discover a uniform distinctive difference, and 
have no doubt that they are specifically identical. Gyllenhal, 
Schonherr and Germar have cited Curc. bifoveolatus of Beck as 
synonymous with Curc. scabriculus of Payk., therefore the latter 

Amn. & Mag. N. Hist. Vol. xix. 16 


218 Mr. J. Walton on the genus Trachyphleus. 


is synonymous with 77. scaber ; however, in deference to the great 

authorities above named, it is necessary to show better reasons 
for venturing to dissent: according to Schénherr, “ Cure. tessel- 

latus of Marsh. (from an examination of British specimens) differs 
from Cure. scabriculus by having the thorax equal, neither canali- 

culated nor impressed ; the elytra more globose and deeply pune- 

tate-striate*.” According to Germar, “ 77. scaber of Linn. (Cure. 

tessellatus of Marsh.) has the thorax obsoletely canaliculated and 
bifoveolated posteriorly ; the elytra ovato-globose and punctate- 
striate ; it is very like Tr. bifoveolatus, and differs almost only by 
its shorter elytra, the greatest breadth of which is in the middle+.” 
* Tr. scabriculus has been sent to me by Schénherr himself, and 
to it Curc. bifoveolatus of Beck belongs; it has the thorax with 
scarcely any central furrow, and the elytra scarcely exhibit striae, 
and its greatest breadth is beyond the middle.” 

Nevertheless the whole of my denuded specimens, and also the 
four examples of Curc. bifoveolatus sent to me by Germar himself, 
have the thorax more or less unequal, distinctly bifoveolated and 
furrowed ; the elytra ovate, more or less convex, gibbous beyond 
the middle, and very distinctly punctate-striate ; as to the form of 
the elytra it is subject to variation, and has a tendency, especially 
in large and in fully matured specimens, to become more convex, 
and varies from ovate to globose-ovate: this insect agrees in all 
its essential characters with the excellent description of Cure. 
scabriculus by Gyllenhal ; but he very justly observes, that unless 
the upper surface is denuded, the sculpture is scarcely percep- 
tible. 

Of this species it may be useful to notice, that the inequality 
and the sculpture of the thorax, above and at the sides poste- 
riorly, have a most extraordinary range of variation, and although 
it is constantly more or less distinctly canaliculated, bifoveolated, 
and closely and minutely granulated or rugulose-punctate, yet 
in the major part of my specimens, these characters are inter- 
spersed with a greater or less number of scattered acute tubercles, 
or rugged with short ridges or tubercles, whilst in others they 
are obsolete or entirely absent : it may be distinguished from every 
other species by having the head invariably with a transverse 
striga or constricted at the base, and by the anterior tibie being 
armed in both sexes at their apices, externally and in front, with 
six minute spines, which hitherto, as far as I know, have not been 
noticed. 

I intend ultimately to deposit in the cabinets of the British 


* Syn. Ins. Suppl. vii. p. 114. 
+ Germ, Stett. Ent. Zeit. 1842, p. 102. t Ibid. 


Mr. J. Walton on the genus Trachyphleeus. 219 


Museum and of the Entomological Society a series of specimens 
to illustrate the varieties of this insect. 

Frequently found, but not plentifully, on Hampstead Heath, 
Plumstead, Charlton, Birch Wood, &c., generally in sand-pits, 
sandy banks or gravel-pits in June. 


2. Trachyphleus Waltoni, Schonh. 


— ventricosus, Steph., non Germ. 


Ovate, black, densely clothed with griseous and cinereous re- 
cumbent scales, and with white erect scales. Head short, de- 
pressed, deeply striated and ridged above, beneath, and at the 
sides, not punctulated ; eyes small, round and prominent ; rostrum 
rather narrower and scarcely longer than the head, rugulose, 
deeply excavated above, with a slender channel-in the middle, 
which extends to the front of the head. Antenne rufo-ferrugi- 
nous. Thorax broader in the middle than long, considerably nar- 
rowed, but not constricted anteriorly, the anterior margin fiat, 
greatly dilated and rounded at the sides towards the base, convex 
above, finely carinated, neither furrowed nor foveolated, thickly 
punctulated, the punctures confluent. Elytra ample, globose- 
ovate, very convex above, regularly punctate-sulcate, the punc- 
tures large and deep, the interstices narrow, convex and coria- 
ceous, densely clothed with cardiform, recumbent griseous scales, 
variegated with cinereous behind the middle, and with claviform 
erect white scales ; the cardiform scales under a microscope are 
beautifully and distinctly striated and ridged. Legs rather short, 
robust, fusco-ferruginous, clothed with griseous and cinereous 
scales ; the anterior tibia at the apex externally and in front un- 
armed. Length 1} to 12 line. 

This very distinct species may readily be known by the longi- 
tudinal striz and ridges which surround the head ; the deep sulci 
with large punctures on the elytra ; and the want of spines at the 
apex of the anterior tibia, externally and in front. 

I forwarded specimens of this insect to Schonherr and Germar 
as Tr. ventricosus of Germ. ?—the former observed “ non ventri- 
cosus of Germ., Waltoni of Schénh.” *—the latter remarked, 
“ Tr. ventricosus of Steph. is different from Tr. ventricosus of 
Schonh., and is a distinct species, which Schénherr will describe 
in his ‘Supplement’ as Tr. Waltoni+.” 

Rare, occasionally found in a gravel-pit on Plumstead Common, 
and at Shirley Common by Mr. 8S. Stevens and by myself in June 
and July ; found under a stone near Bridgenorth, Shropshire, by 
Mr. Marshall ; south of Ireland by Mr. T. V. Wollaston. 


* Syn. Ins, Suppl. vii. p. 115. 
+ Germ. Stettin Ent. Zeit. 1842, p. 102. 
16* 


220 Mr. J. Walton on the genus Trachyphleeus. 


3. Trachyphleus scabriculus, Linn., Fab., Mus. Banks., Herbst, 
Marsh., Steph., Kirb. MSS. 
— setarius ( 2) Schonh. 
— scaber, Schonh. Syn. Ins. Suppl. vii. p.117. 
— maculatus (var. 3.), Schénh. in litt. olim. 
— digitalis, Steph. secund. ejus Mus. 
— occultus, Chevr. in litt. 


According to the description of Linneus, and to an insect in 
the Banksian cabinet, named Cure. scabriculus of Linn. by Fa- 
bricius, it appears that this insect is correctly referred to Linnzus 
by British authors. 

There is considerable difficulty in reconciling the notices of 
Tr. scabriculus and Tr. scaber by Schénherr with those of Germar 
and of himself, and I fear I am in some measure responsible for 
the discrepancies. In October 1840 I sent to M. Schonherr, 
among many other insects, three specimens of this as 77. scaber, 
Mus. Linn., and as 7. scabriculus, Mus. Banks., and the same 
of Marsh. and of Steph. : I was led into this error by there being 
three insects in the Linnean cabinet, so placed as to induce a 
belief that they were all alike, whereas I subsequently discovered 
that only one had attached to it the name of ‘ scaber, and that it 
differed from the others which were really 71. scabriculus ; this I 
greatly regret, as it appears to have induced M. Schonherr on my 
authority to refer this sect incorrectly to Tr. scaber of Linn., 
by which much confusion in the synonymy has been created. I 
sent specimens to Germar as 7. scabriculus of Fab., Mus. Banks., 
Marsh., Kirb. and Steph.: he remarked, “ Your specimens seem 
to me to be the true Cure. scabriculus of Linn., and were new to 
my collection.” 

Recent and immature varieties not unfrequently occur of 
smaller size, with the body rufous or ferruginous ; the elytra va- 
riegated with cinereous and fuscous scales and densely clothed 
with erect white scales; these varieties, without a long series of 
specimens and a very close comparative examination, are very 
hable to be considered as distinct species: of this variety I sent 
specimens to Schonherr as a new species which he named 7’. ma- 
culatus, but he subsequently referred it to this insect as a variety*. 
I likewise sent similar specimens as 77. maculatus of Schounh. to 
Germar, who observed, “I believe it to be Tr. setarius of Schonh. 
and scabriculus of Herbst+;”’ he also sent me a foreign specimen 
which clearly belongs to this variety, as do specimens forwarded 
to me by Chevrolat as Tr. occultus. 

Tr. scabriculus is chiefly distinguished by having the thorax 
greatly dilated and rounded at the sides, and having in front a 


* Syn. Ins. vii. p. 117. + IDS. p.492, 


Mr. J. Walton on the genus Trachyphlceus. 221 


small fascicle of scales which has the appearance of a small spine, 
the anterior margin strongly elevated, deeply constricted in front, 
with a deep dorsal furrow, and with a small impressed furrow on 
each side near the posterior angles; the elytra ovate-spherical, 
distinctly punctate-striate, sometimes maculated or variegated 
posteriorly with white and fuscous scales, and the erect scales 
more or less abraded ; the anterior tibia of the male has at the 
apex externally a strong tooth, and another in front which is bifid 
at its extremity ; the female has similar appendages, but they are 
very minute. 

Certainly the most abundant insect of the genus, and found 
in similar situations and in the same localities as 7. scaber. 


4. Trachyphleus squamulatus, Oliv. (1789), Schonh. 
— aristatus, Gyll. (1827), Schonh. 
— stipulatus, Germ. 
— hispidulus, Steph. Ilustr. 
Cure. setosus, Kirb. MSS. 


British specimens of this insect, which I presented to Schén- 
herr and Germar, were identified by them as T7. aristatus of Gyll. 
I possess an insect under that name from Germar which agrees 
with my series of specimens. I have adopted the oldest name 
for this insect on the authority of Chevrolat, who sent to me on 
two several occasions examples of Tr. sguamulatus of Oliv., which 
is very distinctly a small immature variety of Zr. aristatus of 
Gyll. ; yet Gyllenhal has described the former (from a specimen 
also sent by Chevrolat) as specifically different from the latter, 
but I am persuaded the want of varieties of this rare and variable 
insect has led him into an error. It is necessary to make a few 
observations having reference to the differences between the two 
descriptions of Tr. aristatus* and Tr. squamulatust+ by Gyllenhal. 
The major part of my specimens have the head, rostrum and 
thorax black, with the elytra ferruginous or piceous, but imma- 
ture specimens occur entirely rufous or rufo-ferruginous ; all have 
the antenna inserted near the apex of the lateral furrow on the 
rostrum near to the mouth ; yet when the scape is placed at right 
angles with the rostrum, the antenna seems to be mserted in the 
middle, but the scape is curved just at the base in front, and 
must be extended forward to see the true point of insertion; the 
small and proportionably narrow specimens have the thorax com- 
paratively less expanded at the sides, and all my British and 
foreign specimens have the thorax constantly and distinctly ru- 
gulose-punctate, not obsoletely alutaceous ; the greater part have 
either the dorsal furrow or the fovea distinct or indistinct, in 
others they are very obsolete. 


* Gyil. Ins. Suec. iv. p. 613. + Schonh. Syn. Ins. ii. p. 492. 


222 Mr. J. Walton on the genus Trachyphleus. 


Readily distmguished from every other species except Tr. Wal- 
toni by having the anterior tibiz in both sexes unarmed at their 
apices externally and in front. 

I may refer to the cabinet of Mr. 8. Stevens for a good series 
of specimens of this insect with several interesting varieties. 

Rather rare, occasionally found on sandy banks on Windmill 
Hill, Gravesend; also near Birch Wood, and Bishop’s Wood, 
Hampstead, in June. 


5. Trachyphleus alternans, Schonh. Syn. Ins. 1. p. 493. 


Ovate, black, densely clothed with recumbent cinereous-ochra- 
ceous scales (generally incrusted with earth), and very sparingly 
with short, suberect scales. Head short, broad, thickly and mi- 
nutely rugose-punctate ; eyes small, semiglobose ; rostrum almost 
as broad, and rather longer than the head, concave above, rugu- 
lose-punctate, and finely canaliculated m the middle. Antenne 
obscure testaceous. Thorax short, transverse, narrowed and trans- 
versely impressed in front, the anterior margin elevated, greatly 
dilated and rounded at the sides, a little convex above, closely and 
minutely rugose-punctate, interspersed with scattered small tu- 
bercles and not furrowed. LElytra ample, ovate, convex above, 
distinctly punctate-striate, the alternate interstices slightly raised, 
minutely granulated, and clothed with a series of short, very re- 
mote, suberect scales. Legs stout, obscure testaceous, the ante- 
rior tibia in both sexes armed with a short spine near the apex 
externally, and acutely bidenticulated in front. Length 13 line. 

This insect is closely related to 7. spinimanus, but 1s suffi- 
ciently distinct, and may be discriminated from that species by 
having the elytra deeply and distinctly punctate-striate, the 
alternate interstices, elevated and clothed with suberect scales, 
and by the spinous appendages at the apex of the tibia being 
much smaller. 

According to Schonherr, 77. alternans is synonymous with Tr. 
scaber (scabriculus of Linn.*), but I possess specimens of 7’. al- 
ternans from Chevrolat and Germar which are beyond all doubt 
different from scabriculus of Linn., and a distinct insect. 

Found rather plentifully in the sand-pits near Charlton Church 
in June and July; Brighton, Arundel, and in other chalky di- 
stricts, Mr. S. Stevens. 


6. T. spinimanus, Germ., Steph. secund. ejus descr. 


The forms of the thorax and elytra of this insect differ from 
Tr. alternans, but are easier seen than expressed ; it may however 
be distinguished by having the elytra very faintly punctate-striate, 


* Syn. Ins. vii. p. 117. 


On the Periods of Flowering of certain Plants. 223 


all the interstices flat and broad, and all very sparingly clothed 
with short, suberect whitish scales, and by the anterior tibia 
being armed with a long spine near the apex without, and with 
two diverging spines in front. 

According to Sehénherr, Tr. spinimanus (which is described by 
Gyllenhal apparently from a native msect*) is synonymous with 
Tr. scaber (scabriculus of Linn.+), but my foreign specimens of 
Tr. spinimanus from Germar himself are very different from sca- 
briculus of Linn., and very distinct. 

Although I have taken many specimens of 7’. alternans in 
different localities, yet I never met with a specimen of 77. spini- 
manus ; it appears to be very rare; specimens in the cabinet of 
Mr. Waterhouse were found I think near Cromer, Norfolk, and 
I am indebted to him for a specimen; I have seen specimens in 
the cabinet of Mr. Stephens. 


XXVI.— Comparison of the Periods of Flowering of certain 
Plants in the early Spring of 1846, in the Botanic Garden of 
Belfast and the Jardin des Plantes at Paris. By Wi1LL1aM 
Tuompson, Esq. (Belfast). 


To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History. 


GENTLEMEN, 


Although fully sensible that the following very brief commu- 
nication on a highly interesting subject is almost too trivial for 
publication in the ‘ Annals,’ I send it forward under the impres- 
sion that possibly it may be considered worth the little space that 
it will occupy. 

Belfast, Feb. 27, 1847. Wa. Tuompson. 


A paper by M. Ch. Martins appeared in the number of ‘ Annales 
des Sciences Naturelles’ for April last, on the subject of the 
extraordinary temperature of the winter of 1846, and its influ- 
ence on the flowering of plants. Lists of the species which 
flowered in the Botanic Garden of Paris at certain periods of that 
season being given, they suggested to me the desirability of 
drawing up similar lists respecting the Botanic Garden at Belfast. 
These compared with the others exhibit some interesting results, 
although the number of species noted down in the latter locality 
falls far short of what could be wished. The information re- 
specting them was derived from Mr. D. Ferguson, the able cu- 
rator of the Garden—who also supplied the few notes respecting 
Glasgow. 

(It was not until after this communication was read before the 


* Gyll, Ins, Suee. iv. p. 614. + Syn. Ins. vii. p17, 


224 On the Periods of Flowering of certain Plants. 


Meeting of the British Association at Southampton in September 
last, that I was aware of a paper to the same effect respecting 
Brussels having been read by M. Quetelet before the Academy 
of Sciences of that capital, on the 7th of February 1846. A no- 
tice of it appeared in the ‘ L’Institut’ Journal of August 12 
(No. 658. p. 272). Very few plants are there named, and such 
in my lists as are of the same species have been noticed in con- 
nection with them. | 


Plants which flower every winter in the Botanie Garden at Belfast 
and its neighbourhood. 


*Linaria Cymbalaria. 
* Senecio vulgaris. 
tArabis alpina. Not checked by severe weather ; flowers when 
snow is on the ground. 
+Ulex europeus. 
1 +Bellis perennis. 
t Viola tricolor. 
tTussilago Petasites t. 
+Cydonia (Pyrus) japonica. 
2 +Cynoglossum Omphalodes. 
*Capsella Bursa-pastoris. Flowers generally in mild winters— 
flowers four times in the year. aps 
tRhododendron dauricum. Generally flowers about Christmas. 
tFicaria ranunculoides. In flower at mid-winter 1845-46 ; always 
in flower here mid-February §. 


—_ 


— 


~o 


Plants in flower at end of January 1846. 


Meeks Moran Not extraordinarily early for them. 


||Kerria (Corchorus) japonica. Always in flower first or second 
week of February. | 

Prunus sinensis. Covered with flowers end of January ; two or 
three weeks earlier than usual. 

+Mahonia aquifolium. 

|| Cornus mas ¥. 

Prunus Lauro-cerasus. Commenced flowering in profusion, end of 
January. 


* Flowering March 20—22 at Fontainbleau. 

¢ Flowering February 28 in Jard. des Plantes, Paris. 

In the extraordinary mild winter of 1845-46 did not cease to flower at 
Brussels. 

? Commenced flowering from the 20th to the end of January ‘at Brussels. 

t wie about Glasgow commonly at the end of March or by the Ist of 
April. 

Sometimes the end of March or Ist of April before it flowers about 
Glasgow. 

|| Flowering February 18 in Jard. des Plantes, Paris, 

4, Commonly at Glasgow early in February. 


On the Periods of Flowering of certain Plants. 225 


Plants in flower at 1st of February 1846. 


+Hepatica triloba.. Generally in flower mid-February. 

Savifraga oppositifolia. ‘Three weeks earlier than usual. 
1 crassifolia. | Always flower in February; not pertteaing 
cordifolia. larly remarked this year. 
+Hyoscyamus Scopolia. Generally flowers 1st of February. 
+Andromeda calyculata. Generally in full flower 1st of March. 


tErica herbacea**. Flowered fully, early in February—two to 
three weeks earlier than usual. 

||Chinese Roses. Showed flowers in their spring growth end of 
February—shoots 12 to 18 inches long when cut down by frost 
on the 18th of March. 

Rhododendron arboreum (hybrids of). Commenced flowering about 

lst of March. 

\||Syringa vulgaris (purple and white flowering). Exhibited their 
spikes, some of which were in flower early in March. 


Fuchsia discolor and its varieties partially in flower early in 
March. 
_ Lonicera tatarica. In full flower early in March. 


\|Primula sinensis. Not tried out of doors in Belfast Botanic 
Garden. 


When at Springvale, on the eastern coast of the county of 
Down, on the 26th Feb. 1846, [remarked a horse-chestnut tree 
(Aisculus Hippocastanum) of about thirty years’ growth with green 
- woody shoots fully three inches in length on its lower branches, 
and flower-buds developed to half that.extent. The article com- 
mented on informs us, that on the 28th Feb. the large horse- 
chestnut tree (“ Marronnier ”) of the Tuileries, Paris, bore on its 
under branches a great number of perfect blossom-buds, and the 
leaves were expanded to the extent of five centimetres ; the upper 
branches were not so far advanced (p. 229). 

On the same day at Springvale, the May-flower (Caltha palus- 
tris) exhibited flower-buds in such a state of forwardness, that 
another week of such weather would develope the full flower. 

Meteorological tables of the temperature of many winters com- 
pared with that of 1845-46 at Paris and Brussels are given in 
the articles referred to ; but, in a communication on the whole so 
brief as the present one, it may be sufficient to notice the few 
salient points of that winter at Belfast. 

Dec. 1845. The temperature of the month of December has 
frequently of late years exceeded that of 1845. 


+ Flowering February 28 in Jard. des Plantes, Paris, 
|| Flowering February 18 in Jard. des Plantes, Paris. j 
** Did not usually flower about Glasgow before the middle of March. 


226 Dr. Greville on a new species of Dawsonia. 


Jan. 1846. The temperature of this month was higher by 3° 
than that of January in any of the many years referred to. 

Feb. 1846. The temperature was as high in February 1827 
as in this month, and was within 1° of being as high in 1826 
and 1829. © 

The chief feature of the winter was therefore in the high tem- 
perature of the month of January, and again, of that and February 
combined ; the difference between the mean of the two months - 
being less than 1°. A check to the rapidly advancing vegetation 
was given on the 18th of March, upon the night of which and 
the following, the thermometer at the Botanic Garden, Belfast, 
fell to 21° Fahrenheit. 


XXVII.—Notice of a new species of Dawsonia. By Ropert 
Kaye Grevitye, LL.D., F.R.S.E., F.L.S. &.* 


[ With a Plate. ] 


No one can take the most cursory glance at the subject of the 
present notice without being satisfied that it is distinct from the 
only other described species, Dawsonia polytrichioides of Hooker ; 
and yet it is extremely difficult to draw up such a character as 
shall distinguish it on paper, if we except the much larger size. 
The latter feature however is so decided, that practically there can 
be no hesitation in pronouncing between the two species. 

The single specimen which I possess of the new species, which 
I propose to name Dawsonia superba, was sent to me from Au- 
stralia a few years ago by my friend Augustus Erskine, Esq., 
Deputy-Assistant Commissary-General in that country. 

In the same parcel were some New Zealand plants, but from 
those with which the Dawsonia was associated in the collection, I 
have little doubt that it, as well as the previously known species, 
is an Australian plant. My specimen is fully fourteen inches 
high, whereas the tallest of those of D. polytrichioides, as de- 
scribed both by Dr. Robert Brown and Sir W. J. Hooker, do not 
exceed four inches, including the seta. The Jeaves are an inch 
in length (nearly three times longer than in D. polytrichioides), 
linear-subulate, less rigid than in the last-named species, and 
spreading in a more lax manner, spinuloso-dentate, but only 
toothed at the back of the nerve near the apex. At the lower 
extremity the very wide membranaceous sheath is of a fine pur- 
plish pink colour. Seta three-fourths of an ich in length. 
Capsule with the operculum, resembling that of D. polytrichi- 
oides, but twice as large. 

Dawsonia superba; procera, foliis uncialibus, rigidiusculis, sublaxe 

patentibus. Plate XII. 

Hab. Australia. 
* Read before the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, March 11, 1847. 


Ann. be Mag. Nat Hist. Vol. 19, 20H. 


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Dawsonrta superba . 


Mr. F. Walker on some Chalcidites and Cynipites. 227 


XXVIII.—WNotes on some Chalcidites and Cynipites in the Col- 
lection of the Rey. F. W. Hope. By Francis Waxxer, F.L.S. 


Tux species in the following list belong to a collection which the 
Rev. F. W. Hope received from Austria, and kindly allowed me 


to inspect. 


Chalcis emarginata, Fabr.? Brazil = Chalcis punctata, Fabr. 
conica, Fabr., Brazil. 

Body black, thinly clothed with white hairs: head and thorax 
punctured: antennz piceous: abdomen obclavate, smooth, shining, 
longer than the thorax ; the latter segments attenuate; a spiracle 
visible on each side of the telum : legs yellow ; thighs black except 
their tips; an interrupted and irregular black band around each 
tibia: wings limpid, not more than half the length of the body ; 
squamulz yellow ; nervures pale brown. Length of the body 33 lines; 
of the wings 4 lines. 


Chalcis nana, Kollar, Austria = Chalcis parvula, De Laporte, Ent. 
Mag. ii. 32. 

Eurytoma aspera, Kollar, Austria = Eurytoma nodularis, Boheman. 

-—— geniculata, Kollar, Austria = Isosoma angustatum, Walker, Ent. 
Mag. i. 20. 

signata, Nees, Austria = Decatoma Cooperi, Curtis, Brit. Ent. 

345 = D. biguttata, var. 

Neesii, Kollar, Austria = Decatoma mellea, Walker, Ent. Mag. 
1, 27. 

Torymus Vicicelle, Kollar, Austria = Monodontomerus dentipes, 3?. 
Dark bluish green : antenne dark piceous, shorter than the thorax: 

abdomen dark cupreous, nearly fusiform, bluish green at the base; 

metapodeon occupying nearly half the dorsum ; octoon very short ; 

ennaton much longer than the octoon ; decaton shorter than the en- 

naton ; protelum still shorter ; paratelum and telum very short : legs 

rusty red; thighs mostly bluish green: wings slightly clouded, espe- 

cially near the stigma ; nervures piceous. Length of the body 14 line; 

of the wings 24 lines. 


Torymus giganteus, Kollar, Austria. 
This seems to be only a large variety of Megastigmus dorsalis. 


Torymus cyaneus, Kollar, Austria = Callimome ditto. 

Male and Female.—Bright blue varied with purple and green : 
antenne black: sheaths of the oviduct longer than the abdomen : 
legs pale yellow; thighs blue; hind tibie piceous: wings limpid ; 
nervures fulvous. Length of the body 14—1} line; of the wings 
2—24 lines. 

Siphonura trochilus, Kollar, Austria, Istria, Sicily = Ormyrus tubu- 


losus (Cynips tubulosa, Fonscolombe), Ent. Mag. ii. 161. 
cyanosthetus, Kollar, Austria. 


Female.—Bright purple: head bluish green: antennze black: ab- 


228 Mr. F. Walker on some Chalcidites and Cynipites. 


domen bright green at the base, brassy at the tip, and having brassy 
bands across its back, less attenuated than that of Ormyrus tubulosus, 
but more so than that of O. punctiger: legs tawny; tarsi paler ; 
thighs bluish green: wings limpid ; nervures brown. Length of the 
body 23 lines ; of the wings 23 lines. 


Eucharis adscendens, Fabr., Austria. 

cyniformis, Latr., Austria. 

Perilampus violaceus, Fabr., Austria. 

~—— auratus ? Nees, Austria = Perilampus italicus, Latr. 

Encyrtus scutellaris, Dalman, Austria. 

Lecaniorum, Kollar, Austria = Encyrtus Swederi, Dalman. 
punctipes, Dalman, Austria. 

—— Aisculi, Kollar, Austria = Encyrtus sericeus, Dalman. 
dasycerus, Kollar, Austria = Hncyrtus Azalius, Walker, Ent. 
Mag. iv. 457. 

poduroides, Kollar, Austria = Encyrtus mirabilis (Ceraptero- 
cerus ditto, Westwood). 

erythrosthetus, Kollar, Austria, 


Head transverse, convex, finely punctured, as broad as the thorax, 
blue below, green in front, eneous above: eyes dark red: antennz 
slender, subclavate, as long as the head and the thorax ; first joint 
elliptical, black, much dilated, white at the tip, nearly as long as one- 
third of the whole antenna; second joint white, slender, linear, ~ 
black above at the base; third and following joints to the eighth 
slender and linear, successively but slightly increasing in breadth 
and decreasing in length; third, fourth and fifth joints pale brown ; 
sixth, seventh and eighth joints white; ninth, tenth and eleventh 
joints forming a fusiform black club as long as the two preceding 
joints : thorax eneous green and roughly punctured and clothed with 
white huirs above, pale orange, smooth and shining beneath and on 
each side: pectoral plates very large: abdomen short-elliptical, not 
so long as the thorax, black and flat above, pale orange at the tip 
and on the under side which is keeled : legs white ; tarsi pale yellow ; 
claws brown; middle legs slightly dilated as usual: wings limpid ; 
squamule pale orange; nervures brown. Length of the body 2 line; 
of the wings 14 line. 

It has some resemblance to Encyrtus sericeus, but is rather nar- 
rower, and its colour and the structure of its antenne at once distin- 
guish it from that species. 


Encyrtus stigma, Kollar, Austria. 

Body broad and thick: head dark blue, transverse, short, convex, 
thinly punctured, purple in front, a little broader than the thorax : 
antenne subclavate, slender, as long as the head and the thorax ; 
first joint pale red, long and slender; second and following joints to 
the sixth rather short, pale brown, slightly hairy and successively 
decreasing in length; seventh and eighth joints short, white ; ninth, 
tenth and eleventh joints formiig a black elliptical club that is longer 
and broader than the two preceding joints: thorax brassy black, 


Mr. F. Walker on some Chalcidites and Cynipites. 229 


roughly punctured above ; scutellum blue towards the tip : abdomen 
brassy green, smooth, shining, obconical, flat above, slightly keeled 
beneath, not longer than the thorax: legs black; tarsi and tips of 
tibiz pale red ; middle legs having the tibiz armed with long spines, 
_and the tarsi much dilated : wings limpid ; squamulz pale red; ner- 
vures brown. Length of the body ? line; of the wings 14 line. 


Encyrtus Eitelwienii, Ratzeburg, Austria = Encyrtus flaminius, Dal- 
"man. 

graminis, Kollar, Austria = Encyrtus subplanus, Dalman. 
longicornis, Kollar, Austria. 


Female.—Body neous, long and narrow: head and thorax con- 
vex, finely punctured, almost smooth: head: transverse, dark green, 
hardly as broad as the thorax: eyes piceous: antennz black, filiform, 
extremely slender, shorter than the body ; first joint long and linear : 
thorax elliptical : prothorax very distinct above, narrower in front : 
abdomen fusiform, depressed above, keeled beneath, rather narrower 
and much longer than the body: oviduct pale red, projecting a little 
beyond the tips of the abdomen: legs long, pale tawny, slightly 
shaded with piceous: hind thighs brassy black ; hind tibiz dark pi- 
ceous ; tips of the tarsi piceous: wings limpid, of moderate size ; 
squamule piceous; nervures brown. Length of the body 1} line; 
of the wings 13 line. 

This species is allied to Encyrtus Imandes (Ent. Mag. iv. 449), 
but the latter has a different colour, and is less than half its size. 


Encyrtus encopiformis, Kollar, Austria. 

Body very broad and thick: head and thorax convex, dark bluish 
green: head transverse, short, a little broader than the thorax, 
roughly punctured: eyes dark red: antennz clavate, slender, dull 
pale tawny, shaded with piceous, as long as the head and the thorax ; 
first joint long, slender, linear; second and following joints short ; 
club piceous, slightly truncate : thorax slightly punctured : prothorax 
just visible above : scutum of the mesothorax very short ; scutellum 
with a slight longitudinal impression : abdomen dark brassy green, 
obconical, depressed above, not longer than the thorax : legs stout, 
brassy black ; tarsi tawny, their tips piceous ; middle tarsi much di- 
lated: wings small, piceous, iridescent, thick, as if half coriaceous ; 
nervures piceous; ulna and radius very short ; cubitus longer than 
the ulna; stigma very small. Length of the body # line; of the 
wings 1 line. 

This insect is allied to Hunotus cretaceus (Ent. Mag. ii. 298), to 
Encyrtus (Choreius) ineptus (Dalman), and to Epicopterus chorei- 
formis (Westwood, Mag. Nat. Hist. v. 418), and it resembles the 
last species in having a slight indentation on the fore border of the 
wing near the end of the humerus. 


Encyrtus fallax, Kollar, Austria = Encyrtus hemipterus, Dalman. 
atomon, Kollar, Austria. 


This beautiful little species seems to belong, or to be very nearly 
allied to, the genus Tetrastichus. ‘The body is dark blue and rather 


230 Mr. F. Walker on some Chalcidites and Cynipites. 


narrow: the head is red: the antennez are white with black rings, 
setaceous and as long as the thorax: abdomen fusiform, attenuated 
towards the tip, longer than the thcerax: legs pale yellow ; tips of 
the tarsi black ; a broad black band round each thigh : wings limpid, 

mottled with brown, very deeply fringed like those of Thysanus or of 
Mymar; nervures piceous. Length of the body } line; of the wings 
1 line. 


Eulophus amethystinus, Kollar, Austria = Entedon | apittica: | gem- 
meus, Westwood. 

orbifer, Kollar, Austria = Euplectrus (Westwood) bicolor Gus. 

derus. 

Aceris, Kollar, Austria = Eulophus Orsinus, Mon. Chal. i. 126. 

Pteromalus Mesoleptorum, Kollar, Austria = Pteromalus cavus, Ent. 

Mag. li. 477. 
robustus, Kollar, Austria. 

This species is nearly allied to Pteromalus latus, ‘Ent. Mag.’ ii 
481, but it is larger and has longer and paler antenne. Body neous, 
broad and thick: head and thorax closely punctured: head large, 
broader than the thorax : antenne tawny, subclavate, rather slender, 
as long as the thorax; tip of each joint piceous; first joint linear, 
long and slender ; second cup-shaped ; third and fourth very minute ; 
fifth much longer ; sixth and following to the tenth successively but 
very slightly decreasing in length ; club conical, much longer than 
the tenth joint: thorax nearly obconical: prothorax short, slightly 
concave behind : sutures of the parapsides distinct : propodeon large, 
transverse, not furrowed: podeon very short: abdomen smooth, 
shining, broader than long, truncated towards the tip, rather nar- 
rower than the thorax, and less than half its length; metapodeon 
large ; octoon and following segments very short: legs pale tawny, 
rather stout; hind thighs except their tips piceous ; tarsi and tips 
of tibiee of middle and hind legs pale straw-colour : wings limpid, of 
moderate size ; squamulz piceous ; nervures brown ; ulna hardly half 
the length of the humerus; radius as long as the ulna; cubitus much 
shorter than the radius; stigma small. Length of the body 14 line; 


of the wings 2+ lines. 


Eulophus Forsteri, Kollar, Austria. 

This species seems to be a variety of Tetrastichus Eurytus (Cirro- 
spilus ditto, Ann. Nat. Hist. ii. 202); its thorax is more overspread 
with yellow than that of the specimen there described. 


Eulophus histrionicus,-Kollar, Austria = Tetrastichus Zeuxo (Cirro- 

sptlus ditto, Mon. Chal. i. 194). 

Perilithi, Kollar, Austria = Eulophus gallarum, Nees. 
signaticollis, Kollar, Austrian Alps. 

This insect, which is a female, belongs to the genus Tetrastichus ; 
the oviduct and its sheaths project a little beyond the tip of the ab- 
domen like those of some other species of that genus. It is very dark 
piceous or almost black; the antenne are piceous: there are two 
parallel sutures along the back of the scutellum: the hinder part of 


Mr. F. Walker on some Chalcidites and Cynipites. 231 


the scutum, the sutures of the parapsides, and the greater part of the 
paraptera and of the epimera are pale tawny ; the sides and tip of 
the scutellum are also tawny : the abdomen is fusiform, very slender, 
much longer and narrower than the thorax: the oviduct is bright 
pale red ; its sheaths are piceous, and about one-fourth of the length 
of the body: the legs are pale tawny: the wings are limpid, and 
when at rest they do not extend beyond the tip of the abdomen ; the 
nervures are pale tawny. Length of the body 1? line; of the wings 
2 lines. 


Platygaster acuminatus, Kollar, Austria = Pl. Olorus, Ent. Mag. iii. 
255. 

siphon, Forster, Austria = Pl. elongatus, Westwood. 

Teleas pumilio, Nees, Austria = Telenomus Turesis? Ent. Mag. iii. 
353. : 

—— Dipterorum, Kollar, Austria=Telenomus Phylias, Ent. Mag. iit. 
348. 

alpinus, Kollar, Austria = Telenomus Alcon? Ent. Mag. iii. 
352. 

Ibalia cultellator, Latr., Austria. 

Cynips Calicis, Hartig, Austria. 

Caput Meduse, Hartig, Austria. 

folit, Linn., Austria. 

lucida, Kollar, Austria. 

tinctoria, Hartig, Sicily. 

Kollarii, Hartig, Austria. 

lignicola, Hartig, Austria. 

Hartigii, Kollar, Austria. 

radicis, Hartig, Sweden. 
All the above species of Cynips are females, and are nearly allied 

to each other, with the exception of C. folit which is a male, and may 

belong to a different group of the family. 


Teras terminalis, Hartig, Austria. 
spongiparus, Kollar, Austria. 
pedunculata, Kollar, Italy. 

Cerris, Kollar (“an Teras’”’), Austria. 


Of these four species of Teras, the first, second and third are com- 
mon in England, and are perhaps only varieties of one species. The 
fourth differs from the rest in colour, being all black with tawny 
antenne and legs. 


Synergus socialis, Kollar, Austria. 
Aylar Brandtii, Ratzeburg, Austria. 
froricola, Kollar, Austria. 
Synophrus politus, Hartig, Austria. 
Psilogaster tibialis, Hartig, Austria. 
— monilicornis, Kollar, Austria. 
Figites Urticeti, Dahlbom, Sweden. 


232 M. Sundevall on the Birds of Calcutta. 


XXIX. _The Birds of Calcutta, collected and described by 
Cart J. SuNDEVALL*. 


[Concluded from p. 173.] 


100. Podiceps philippensis,'Temm. Man. ii. p. 129 ; et ibid. Ana- 
lyse, p. cvii; Buff. Pl. Enl. 945.—P. minor, var. 6, Lath. Fusces- 
cens remigibus cubiti albis ; tarso postice duplici serie irregulariter 
serrato: interne 8—9-dentato ; digitis margine undique integerrimof. 

6 (d. 22 Martii). Iris flava. Corpus dilutius quam P. minor ; 
superne cum alis et capillitio rufescenti-fuscum, nucha pallidiore ; 
subtus albidum, collo pallide cinerascente. Remiges primariz unde- 
cim : 2% reliquis longior ; omnes fusce basi et intus late albe. Re- 
miges cubiti albe: mediz immaculate ; anticz et postice macula 
fusca extus, prope apicem, in posticis majore. Tectrices fusce. 
Rostrum majus, sutura recta; forma ut P. cornuti. Caput absque 
crista vel barba. In tarsi margine postico squamule seriei exterioris 
circa 23, quarum 17 (sc. 3 et sequ.) serrate; interioris 18, quarum 9 
(sc. 72—15*) serratze; mediz ponbiag. seriei majores, obtusi.—Paullo 
major quam P. minor. Long. 83 poll. Rostrum e fronte 23 millim., 
ad fauces 29, altit. 83, cum cranio 52; ala 97 millim., tarsus 37, 
dig. med. 40, cum ungue 46. 

Alia individua (eodem die ; veris. seniores), collo dilute rufo. 

Indiv. e Java (coll. Gyllenkr.) obscurius, capite supra et tota 
nucha nigro-fusca. Occipitis et colli superioris latera castanea. Ala 
112 millim., digitus medius 44, cum ungue 50. Cetera ut descr. 
superior. * 

The species of the genus Podiceps are among the more diffi- 
cult to define by general characters, as may be seen in the two 
largest, viz. our P. cristatus and rubricollis. In the winter dress 
these can hardly be distinguished but by size, and in fact speci- 
mens of the smaller species (P. rubricollis) are often met with 
which are decidedly larger than many of P. cristatus. Like 
water-birds in general, they vary more than land-birds in size 
and colour. The Indian species just described is very like our 
P. minor, so that they may easily be confounded, even in the 
summer dress. It occurs not rarely about Calcutta, and was very 
common at the end of March in the small lakes near Sucsagor. 
Five or six commonly kept together. They dived with remark- 
able activity, and when alarmed flew only a short way close over 
the water, on the surface of which they were often seen to run. 


In addition to these birds, which with two exceptions were 


* Translated from the ‘ Physiographiska Sallskapets Tidskrift’ by H. E. 
Strickland, M.A. 

+ Pod. minor remigibus cubiti albis, omnibus extus plaga fusca, posticis 
fere totis fuscis; tarso postice duplici serie regulariter serrato denticulis 
eequalibus, interne sub-12. Digitorum membrana serrulata. Rostrum minus. 


M. Sundevall on the Birds of Calcutta. 233 


found within the boundaries of Bengal, I may reasonably enu- 
merate the water-birds which I saw in the Bay of Bengal, and 
which certainly often come ashore in that country. 


101. Yachypetes aquilus, Vieill., Pelecanus, Linn. Frigate- 
birds were seen several times in December in the Indian Ocean, 
between 10° N. and 10°S., but not beyond these limits. There 
were commonly two or three not far from each other, and in 
places where flocks of other sea-birds were assembled, but the 
frigate-birds soared high over these in large circles like the kite, 
with which it has so much resemblance in the form of tail, size, 
and mode of flight, that one might easily mistake them. Occa- 
sionally the colour of one species (7. minor) resembles that of 
the kite. The wings however are more angular, and the long 
beak is distinctly visible. The feet are more like those of rapa- 
cious than of natatorial birds, and the membrane is scarcely larger 
than that found at the base of the toes in most birds of prey. 
The plumage also has a rather anomalous appearance for a water- 
bird, especially in the feathered tibia. It constitutes a truly 
transitional form between the rapacious and natatorial birds. It 
is often seen to plunge into the water from a great height after 
the flying-fish, which seem to form its principal food. All the 
specimens I saw were white below, and seemed to be blackish 
above. I saw no frigate-birds in the Atlantic Ocean, though they 
are found there also, and breed abundantly on Ascension Island 
(see Burton in Linn. Trans. vol. xii. p. 1). They are stated to 
lay only a single egg, upon the ground, in September, which is 
sat upon by the male, who is wholly black ; the female, who is 
white below, procures food. They cannot walk on the ground. 
(Burton, /. c.) 


102. Phaéton melanorhynchus? Gm., Lath. Small Tropic-birds 
occur commonly in the Indian Sea, within the torrid zone ; but 
though I certainly saw hundreds, and many of them only twenty 
or thirty ells distant, I did not succeed in getting any ; for if one 
were to shoot a bird in the open sea, it is commonly impossible 
to procure it. This species is hardly as big as a pigeon ; it seems 
but little larger than Sterna hirundo, and is all white except a 
black band near the eye and one upon the wing. The tail is 
rounded, rather shorter than that of a pigeon, with two long 
white medial feathers, which measured from the root are as long . 
as the rest of the body including the beak. Among the many 
which I could distinctly observe, not one occurred which had 
these feathers red, or as long as they are commonly figured and 
described in Tropic-birds. The beak appeared red and the feet 
black. The young ones are waved with black or gray on the upper 
part. In outward appearance and mode of flight it resembles a 

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Vol. xix. 17 


234 M. Sundevall on the Birds of Calcutta. 


tern, but the neck is more extended, and the wings are moved 
incessantly. It flies constantly, not remarkably quick and some- 
what unsteadily, generally at the height of twenty or thirty ells ; 
I never saw any of them repose upon the water. Two or three 
are often seen together, when they appear to chase one another, 
and utter a shrill ery like tjeck, tjeck. Durimg flight they are 
wont frequently to turn the head and look behind them, which 
action is especially characteristic, as one seldom sees it in other 
birds. They seem to be very inquisitive, and often come near to 
examine the pennant of the ship. They would fly round it for 
half an hour, and look at it from every side as though they would 
bite at it, fly away and return several times, till at last they seemed 
weary and took themselves off. Occasionally they plunged straight 
down into the water to catch flying-fish, and on two occasions I 
distinctly saw them come up again with one in their beak. It 
occurred to me that Tropic-birds may migrate with the sun, for 
in my outward voyage across the Indian Ocean from November 
to January, they were seen as far as 26° S. (on Noy. 7), but on 
my homeward voyage from May to July they were not seen 
further south than 7° (July 7). Far up m the Bay of Bengal, 
till within ten or twelve [Swedish] miles from the land, they were 
seen at both seasons, though they were rare in January and very 
abundant in May. 

In the Atlantic Ocean I did not see more than two Tropic- 
birds, and both times at a distance, so that I am not sure what 
species it was. Several of the crew who had been in Brazil said 
that they had but seldom seen these birds, and that they are 
there much larger than those we saw in the Indian Sea. It seems 
to me highly probable that the small Tropic-bird never occurs in 
the Atlantic, and the large one but rarely. 


103. Phaéton ethereus, L. The great Tropic-bird in colour 
resembles the last, but is twice the size, nearly as large as a tame 
duck, with a rather longer and thicker neck, and the two feathers 
in the tail only twice as long as the other rectrices (the part which 
extends beyond the tail seemed about one quarter the length of 
the bird). In flight and mode of life it resembled the foregoing 
species, but was more slow in its motions. I saw it only a few 
times in the northern part of the Indian Ocean. One was seen 
in December which wanted the two long tail-feathers. 

In the same region, namely in the southern part of the Bay of 
Bengal, there was seen occasionally in December a bird which I 
believe was the young P. ethereus. It resembled it in size, form, 
flight and voice, but seemed altogether ash-gray, and wanted the 
two long tail-feathers*. 


* The species here termed @ethereus appears to be the P. pheenicurus.— 
H. E. S. . 


M. Sundevall on the Birds of Calcutta. 235 


104. Dysporus piscator, Ill.—Pelec. piscator, L., Lath. Sula can- 
dida, Briss. (adulta). P. sula, L. et Auct. (diagnosis e juniori hujus 
sp., sed synonymia et descriptio sunt alius speciei). 

Gula nuda; rostro tenuiore, apice curvato, facie pedibusque rubris ; 
cauda acuta. 

Vetus fere totus albus, dorso pure colorato. Remiges et rectrices 
nigro-fuscx. Facies, rostrum et pedescorallino-rubra. Ala360millim., 
cubitus 200, cauda 200, cetera ut sequ. Medie atatis ? albus, dorso 
toto, alis caudaque fusco-cinereis, plumis sparsis albidis sordidisve. 
Alarum tectrices presertim albo-varie. Pectus ad latera pallide 
fuscum. Remiges et rectrices obscure fuscescentes. Rostrum apice 
fuscum. Ala 320 millim., cubitus fere 200, cauda 190, tarsus 30, 
digitus medius cum ungue 66, rostrum e plica frontis 80, e fauce 110, 
altit. baseos 27. 

Junior pallide fusco-cinerascens, jugulo pectoreque dilutioribus, 
ventre albido. Corpus superne, preesertim in alis, plumis albidis et 
obscuris maculatum. Facies et pedes sordide rubicundi. 

Vix duo colore perfecte similes invenies. Etiam dimensiones paullo 
variabiles. Rostrum e basi sensim angustatum, apice sutura sat cur- 
vata. Facies late nuda, limite plumata non ad fauces angulata, sed 
gulam nudam circulariter ambiente. Rectrices 25 poll. excedunt 
alas ; minus rigid, mediz apice acutz. 


The species of Dysporus are much like each other, and remark- 
ably distinguished from other allied forms. The genus Phaéton 
approaches them the nearest. They are sea-birds which only 
approach cliffy sterile shores to breed, but which are otherwise 
chiefly seen far from the land, often in the midst of the ocean, in 
regions where the water is not very deep, as on banks of 20 to 
100 fathoms, where they have access to fish and crustacea. They 
fly almost incessantly, but heavily, with their somewhat long neck 
stretched out, in a straight line but not rapidly, and flap their 
wings considerably, by which they are easily distinguished from 
albatroses and petrels, which have a remarkably smooth flight, 
with the outstretched wings almost motionless. The Gannets 
which I saw, frequently look behind them during flight like the 
Tropic-birds. 

D. piscator is very common in the Indian Ocean, between 
10°N.and10°S. {have but seldom seen it beyond these limits, 
and never near the Cape or in the Atlantic, where other species 
occur. I saw one in May as far upas the Bengal coast. Gray, 
white, or spotted individuals are found mixed together at all sea- 
sons, at least such was the case when I crossed the region where 
they occur. In November and December they were seen in flocks ; 
in June and July they were solitary or m pairs. The food con- 
sists of fish, which they catch by plunging. They commonly fly 
eight or ten ells above the sea. Like Sterna stolida this species 
is known by its stupidity, and by the boldness with which they 

1 de 


236 M. Sundevall on the Birds of Calcutta. 


would light towards evening upon the vessel. On two occasions 
I nearly caught them with my hands. The English, and seamen 
in general, call them Boobies*. 


* The species of this genus known to me are the following :— 

1. Dysporus bassanus, Il. Pelecanus bassanus, L. Sula alba et §. bas- 
sana recentiorum. Gula plumata, linea media nuda. Gene quoque plu- 
mate limes faciei ad os angulatus, &c. Reliquis major. In Mari Atlantico 
Septentrionali. 

2. D. capensis, Licht. Berl. Verz. p. 86. ‘ Albus remigibus omnibus et 
rectricibus nigris, scapis basi albis. D.bassano paulo minor, 34 poll.” (3. e. 
36 poll. Suec.) Gula, ...... Facies, ...... 

This species is seen at all seasons on the great banks off the south extre- 
mity of Africa, It is easily known from the following by its greater size 
and more stretched-out form; it also moves its wings more during flight, 
instead of occasionally holding them still. I have only seen this bird at a 
distance, and always (in October and August) of a pure white and black. 

3. D. cyanops, n. (Physiogr. Tidskr. pl. 5). Gula genisque nudis, facie- 
que ceruleis, cauda rotundata. 

? (ad eequatorem maris Atlant. d.6 Sept.). Alba; dorsum et colli latera 
plumis nonnullis fuscis. Alarum tectrices minores albeze, immixtis aliis 
fuscis ; majores omnes nigro-fuscee. Remiges omnes nigro-fusce, basi intus- 
que albz. Rectrices fuscz basi albidz. Iris flavissima. Facies et rostrum 
ultra medium cerulea; apex olivaceus. Pedes olivacei membrana fusca. 
Long. 30 poll. Sv., ala 420 millim., rostrum e fronte 100, cauda 170, tar- 
sus 52, digitus medius 70, cum ungue 82. (Ale extense 5 ped. 3 poll., 
truncus 10 poll., latit. 5, altit. 4.) 

Junior? (eodem loco et tempore anni). Differt magnitudine paullo minore, 
rostro ex apice fere ad basin olivaceo, dorso toto fusco, alis magis fuscis, 
collo et capite totis sordide albis, nec fusco-maculatis. 

Adultus albus, remigibus caudaque nigris (tantum procul visus). 

Pullus? fere totus cinereo-fuscus, ............ do. 

Limes faciei ut in D. piscatore, sed pone oculos non sinuatus. Rostrum 
crassius, fere 4-gono pyramidale, apice leviter deflexo. Ala ad } excedit 
anum. Cauda submollis, alam perparum (1 poll.) superat. 

Anatomia feminz supra descriptee. CEsophagus maxime extensilis. Ven- 
triculus magnus, oblongus, sacciformis, fere cutaneus, strato musculari ob- 
soleto. Pars glandulosa nulla constrictione distincta, fere dimidiam partem 
superiorem ventriculi constituens ; glandule cylindrica, altit. 3 millim., in 
tres arcas, lineis angustis levibus distinctas, congestz, limite undique defi- 
nito. Jntestinum totum longit. 80 poll. exit e latere apicis ventriculi; duo- 
denum longissimum : 20 poll. ad insertionem ductus hepatici. Int. czeca 2 
parva, 3 poll. ab ano sita. Cloaca interne sat glandulosa. Hepar magnum, 
substantia molli, lobis fere separatis, elongatis ; sinistro 1 poll. pone apicem 
sterni extenso, 2 poll. breviore quam dextro.—Vesica fellea ut in plerisque 
natatoribus. Pancreas e laciniis duabus omnino separatis, linearibus, exitu 
cum hepatis communi. Corsimile dice et Urie.—Musculi et nervi evi- 
dentissimi ob pinguedinem vix ullam. Sternum longum carina humili. 
Collum angulis duobus definitis ut Z flexile. Cranium postice strictura 
profunda. 

This species occurs in the Atlantic Ocean near the equator. I have not 
seen it elsewhere, but when I crossed this region (on both occasions in Sep- 

-tember) it occurred in considerable plenty. In this part of the ocean no 
banks are marked in the charts, though I suspect that the depth is in some 
_places not great (perhaps not more than 50 or 100 fathoms), both from the 
occurrence of these birds in that region, and from the sea wanting the clear- 


M. Sundevall on the Birds of Calcutta. 237 


105. Sterna stolida, L. Genus Megalopterus, Boie. Nigro-fusca 
fronte canescente, loris atris, cauda rotundata. Longitudo ale circa 
250 mill. ; rostrum variat: 35—50 mill. (e fronte). 

Junior magis grisescens ; adulta nigrior, fronte albidiore. Differt 
a Sternis propriis: forma caudze, colore, collo longiore, et humero 
cubitoque ut in Procellaridibus longitudine trunci, unde volatus alius. 
Unguis medius in quibusdam, minime specifice distinctis, intus ser- 
ratus (an differentia sexus? in uno ¢ observatum). 


This bird, common in all collections, is one of the most widely 
extended species: I have found it very common in all the Indian 
Ocean, and in the Atlantic as far north as Madeira, though less 
frequent than on the other side of Africa. Like all the truly 
oceanic birds it was most abundant towards the south, and was 
seen in great numbers about 39° S. in October. According to 
the observations of others, it occurs still further to the south in 
the Pacific Ocean. At night they settled occasionally on the 
vessel, and could sometimes be captured by hand. One evening 
after dark a noddy settled on the steersman’s head and was caught 
by him. This occurred the 7th of September near the equator 
in the Atlantic, and as it was the only one which I procured on 
that side of Africa, it served for comparison with those of the 
Indian Ocean : they are of the same species, I have only seen 


ness and bright blue colour which prevail in great depths of ocean. This Dys- 
porus moves the wings during flight eight or ten times in succession, and then 
sails forwards a short distance with the wings still; but it cannot, any more 
than the other species which I have seen, soar round in majestic circles like 
the petrels and frigate-birds. The same seems to be the case with D. bassanus, 
though it flies somewhat more lightly and considerably higher than the 
southern species. Like Phaéion and the other Dyspori this bird plunges 
and dives some distance under water, and then suddenly flies up again without 
running on the surface. Those which were opened had eaten flying-fish, 
and one had four of these fish the size of a common herring, besides a crab, 
in its stomach. Like all sea-birds they had a remarkable number of tape- 
worms in the intestines. The flesh was oily and tough. This as well as the 
Indian species showed much curiosity, though they did not fly around the 
pennant, which is too high for them, but kept astern of the vessel and peered 
down on to the deck without attempting to settle. 

4. D. piscaior, vide supra, No. 104. In Mari Indico et Sinensi, 

5. D. fuseus. Sula fusca, Vieill. Gal. Pelecanus sula, L., Lath., secun- 
dum synonymiam et descr. sed diagnosis a D. piscatore desumta. Catesby 
87. fig. opt—Gula nuda, facie pedibusque flavescentibus, rostro basi con- 
vexo-incrassato, apice subrecto. Cauda rigida, acutissima, 4 poll. ultra alas, 
Color obscure nigro-rufescens, in adultis ventre albo. Ala 400 millim., 
cauda 220, rostrum e fronte 98. Hab. in Oceano Atlantico, ad Americam, 
intra zonam torridam. (Junior subtus quoque fuscus, Licht.) Conf. Pr. Max. 
Beytr. iv. p. 890. 

6. D. parvus, Ill. (secundum Kuhl in expl. tab. Daubent. et Buff. 973.) 
Pelecanus parvus, Lath. “Niger subtus albus, facie plumosa; 18 poll. 
Cayenne.” Lath. 

7. D. fiber. Pel, fiber, L., Lath. Ut praecedens mihi ignotus. An junior 
D. piscator ? sed differre videtur “ dorso postice alho.” 


238 M. Sundevall on the Birds of Calcutta. 


this species and Dysporus piscator settle on the ship, and that 
only after sunset, when the water was calm and the motion of 
the ship steady and gentle. It is an entirely unfounded assertion 
that sea-birds seek ships during storms and tempests, although 
they keep on the wing at such times, as they cannot repose on 
the water, and are consequently most conspicuous ; moreover they 
often follow in the wake of the ship, as it affords them a smooth 
surface. Out of thousands of petrels I never saw one attempt to 
alight on the vessel, though they have occasionally flown close 
past, and been cast by the violent eddy of the sail upon the deck, 
where they were unable either to stand or to fly up again. 

Sterna stolida is in its mode of life very unlike the true Sterne 
with forked tails. These are coast birds, which seldom or never 
are seen far from land, fly high and unsteadily, live on fish, which 
they catch by plunging, and scream almost incessantly. S. stolida 
-_ on the contrary is rarely seen near the land, but chiefly far out in 
the wide ocean ; it flies low, steady and slow, leaps upon the water 
when it flies up, never utters any sound, and never takes its food 
without settling by the side of its prey upon the water. It lives 
not on fish but on small mollusca, &c., and is very greedy of the 
fat of animals. In a word, its mode of life is identical with that 
of the larger petrels and albatroses; they are strictly oceanic 
birds. But S. stolida can stand or walk ona level surface, which 
the others cannot, and it consequently alights on the vessel, which 
they never do. 


106. Haladroma urinatriz ? I1.—Proc. urinatrix, Forst.,Gm., Lath. 
Certe = Puffinuria Garnoti e Chili, Lesson (Zool. it. Duperr. et 
Traité d’Orn.) sec. indiv. e Chili in Mus. Stockh. Forte eadem ac 
H. Berardi Temm. Pl. Col. 517? 


In the southern parts of the Bay'of Bengal I saw several times 
in December and January a bird which could hardly be anything 
else than the above-mentioned. The colour and form were clearly 
distinguished through the telescope at less than 100 ells distance. 
It was blackish gray, beneath and under the wings white, with 
projecting nostrils, and was but little larger than Alca alle, L., 
which it resembled. in its exterior. Two or three were commonly 
seen together resting on the water, from which they occasionally 
arose and flapped with their wings like ducks. They dived re- 
markably well and long, like Alcea and Uria, and flew heavily with 
a rapid motion of the wings for a short distance close over the 
surface. 

Haladroma, from its projecting nostrils, has been included 
among the Procellarie, but erroneously, for in all other respects 
it resembles an Alca, and differs from the former in its small 
wings and the want of a hind claw. 


M. Sundevall on the Birds of Calcutta. 239 


107. There now remains only a species of bird which I saw in 
the Bay of Bengal, but which I know not to what genus it be- 
longs. It was full as large as the small tropic-bird, which it 
most resembled ; it was ash-gray even on the whole under side ; 
the wings below of the same colour, with a small transverse 
white line (formed by the tips of the lower covers). The wings 
and mode of flight are nearly like those of the small tropic-bird, 
but it seemed not to belong to that species, and it showed less 
curiosity. Two were first seen (Oct. 30) about 37° S. in the In- 
dian Sea, one of which had the two middle tail-feathers rather 
longer than the rest. This was not noticed in other individuals, 
which on several occasions were met with in December and Janu- 
ary, north of the equator. At the head of the bay, only ten or 
twelve miles from the Bengal coast, two flocks of these birds were 
seen, but on my return (from May to July) they were not met 
with. a 

PostTscRIPT. 


In concluding this translation of M. Sundevall’s memoir, it is 
just to that distinguished Swedish zoologist to state, that this 
paper was published as long ago as 1837, which will account for 
occasional inaccuracies of synonymy and of classification which the 
subsequent progress of science has rectified. J thought it better 
however to republish the paper unaltered, so as to place on record 
in an English periodical the priority of M. Sundevall’s claim to 
the names which he has given to certain new species, and also to 
show the many accurate and original observations which he made 
during his short stay in India. In regard to the translation, a 
few errors have inadvertently crept in which I shall point out in 
the following notes. It is to be regretted that so few facilities 
exist in this country for the study of the Scandinavian languages, 
which are beautifully simple in construction, while they abound 
in scientific and literary treasures, and exhibit many interesting 
points of affinity to our own. 


Vol. xviii. p. 104, line 23, for ‘‘ I did not expect to find,” read “I 
did not find,” &c. 

P. 108, line 6, for ‘‘ It sang,” read *‘ It was said to sing.” 

P. 252. In a letter to me Prof. Sundevall remarks of his Acan- 
thiza arrogans, “ This bird is the same as Muscicay-a bilineata, Lesson, 
Rev. Zool. 1839, p. 104, and Sylvia Burkii, Burton, Culicipeta Burkii, 
Blyth.” 

Pp. 253, line 30, for ‘‘ Three of the males,” read ‘‘ Three of the 
females.” 

P. 253, line 38, for “ only on his second visit,” read ‘ died on his 
second visit thither.” 

P. 255, line 4, for ‘‘ the edges of the under mandible being rather 
high, and towards the end very much bent in,” read “‘ which have the 


240 M. Miiller on the Development of the Lycopodiacez. 


edges of the under mandible rather high, and in the hind part very 
much bent in.” 

P. 257, line 34, for ‘‘ Notes, habits, &c. not thoroughly known,” 
read ‘* The notes, habits, &c. were completely recognised.” 

This supposed variety of Motacilla alba is the M. luzoniensis, Scop. 
(M. leucopsis, Gould, M. alboides, Hodgs.) 

No. 25. ‘* Motacilla flava”’ is the Budytes viridis (Gm.), (B. beema, 
Sykes). 

P. 260, line 34, for ‘‘ The best are of compact coarse hay,” read 
** They consist of compact coarse hay.” 

P. 260, last line, for ‘‘this seemed the most probable,” read 
‘‘were most frequently seen.” : 

_H.E. Srraicxzianp. 


XXX.—On the Development of the Lycopodiacee. 
By Kart Miuier*. 


[ With five Plates. } 


[Continued from p. 120.] 


3. The antheridium.—a. The formation of the sporangium. This 
sporangium has a more simple structure than the oophoridium. 
It is found, almost universally, under a more or less reniform 
shape, having at the base a stalk, which is always longer than that 
of the oophoridium (Pl. V. fig. 9). The membrane is made up 
of cells almost regularly hexagonal, a structure which is very va- 
rious in different species. In L. denticulatum it dehisces trans- 
versely over the vertex when ripe; but this condition is also 
subject to modification according to the species. In the interior 
is then found a free pulverulent mass, the well-known so-called 
Semen Lycopodi. As usual, they are tetrahedral cells which only 
differ in respect to size and nature of surface. In L. denticula- 
tum the surface is covered by a number of papille which are 
broad at the base and, diminishing to a point above, are usually 
somewhat curved (Pl. V. fig. 1). Seen in any quantity, these 
spore-cells usually appear yellow : this is the case in L. denticu- 
latum : in L. pygmeum and other species they appear reddish. 

These antheridia are produced in considerable numbers on the 
other branch, opposite to that which is transformed into the 
oophoridium (Pl. IV. fig. 6). It is thus evident a priori, that 
the antheridia cannot be regarded, like the oophoridium, as meta- 
morphosed terminal buds of a branch. 


* From the ‘ Botanische Zeitung,’ Sept. 25, 1846. Translated by Arthur 
Henfrey, F.L.S. &c. 


M. Miiller on the Development of the Lycopodiaceze. 241 


To trace its origin, we must, as in every case, turn to the ter- 
minal bud. It is a cone more attenuated above than below, ori- 
ginally almost transparent, but subsequently becoming opake 
through the penetration of water into its internal cavities and 
substance. This of course occurs through the water applied in 
the microscopic examination. On this terminal bud, above the 
youngest leaf and antheridium, at four alternating points around 
the axis of the branch, two little conical processes are always visi- 
ble, lying in one plane, 7. e. one above the other (Pl. V. figs. 2-—6, 
ab): they are the youngest parts of the spike, in their earliest 
condition. The upper process is destined to become a leaf, the 
lower an antheridium, and both of them are mere processes bud- 
ding from the axis of the branch. It soon becomes evident that 
the leaf is increasing in size and exceeding the antheridium in 
regard to extent of surface, becoming wider at the base and elon- 
gated at the apex (figs. 2—6 b). This is very natural, since 
the growth of the antheridium is centralized in its interior, while 
that of the leaf is more especially directed toward the periphery. 
The conical process from which the antheridium is to be deve- 
loped therefore becomes gradually more rounded in its form, 
and soon appears as a perfect sphere, seated in the axil of the 
leaf. In this condition both leaflet and antheridium are almost 
perfectly transparent, like what has been already said of the ter- 
minal bud. At a later period however a granular matter makes 
its appearance, which is seen through the outer and as yet tole- 
rably hyaline membrane of the antheridium, which evidently con- 
sists of a layer of denser cells, the granular mass of the anthe- 
ridium not extending to its external surface (fig. 7). The base 
of the spherical antheridium is even now tolerably thick, and as 
it elongates it becomes still more independent (fig. 8). The 
growth of the antheridium is now particularly directed from the 
base toward the two sides (fig. 10 c). Thus the upper part be- 
comes the more slender, the lower broader, and the form of the 
antheridium is perfected. It is ovato-reniform, and the peduncle * 
at this time is very slender: this latter often attains a consider- 
able length. 

We are now met by the question: What is the import of the 
antheridium? The reply to this question is somewhat more dif- 
ficult than to that respecting the oophoridium; yet this much 
is certain, that the antheridium can be no product from a 
leaf, since it is formed from the axis contemporaneously with the 
leaf. As little can we regard it, with Bischoff, as formed by the 
growing together of leaves. Besides, H. von Mohl has already 
triumphantly refuted this view. But that we have to do with a 
metamorphosed bud, on the contrary, cannot be disputed ; since 
the first, rounded antheridium-spherule possesses all the pecu- 


242 M. Miiller on the Development of the Lycopodiacee. 


harities of a bud, the epidermis and a formative cell-contents. 
The only question here is, whether we are to regard this bud as 
that of a branch, or altogether as an axillary bud like those so 
often met with in the axils of the leaves. I consider it the bud of a 
twig (Zweig), which is only distinguished from the terminal bud of 
the branch developed into the oophoridium by the circumstance 
that the latter is a principal branch, which possibly was capable 
of a more extensive development into branch and foliaceous or- 
gans, while the twig which is developed into an antheridium 
is but a small particle of such a main branch. That it is a twig, 
appears to me to be shown by the internal structure of the fruit- 
axis, since from its central vascular bundle are given off real 
lateral branches to each bud (antheridia). Yet it must be freely 
admitted, that the vascular bundle does not actually run into the 
peduncle of the antheridium, but terminates before reaching it, 
and it is merely elongated cellular tissue which proceeds from the 
vascular bundle into the peduncle (Pl. IV. fig. 14). 

If now we endeavour to bring Von Mohl’s observations into 
agreement with the foregoing facts, we are first opposed by the 
statement that the sporangia are not actually situated in the axils 
of the leaves. That is subsequently seen to be perfectly correct, 
but does not testify against the formation of the antheridium from 
a twig, since the simultaneously-formed antheridia and leaves also 
simultaneously diverge from the fruit-axis, and thus it happens 
that if a leaf be cautiously detached from the axis, the antheri- 
dium also is removed with it, and may then always be observed 
on the inwardly thickened base of the leaf. We have, therefore, 
here an actual growing together of the fruit-stalk and the leaf; 
and if Von Mohl reminds us that the shortness of the fruit-stalk 
and the absence of it speak to the contrary in Jsoétes, we have 
here on the other hand a fruit-stalk of tolerable length, and it ap- 
pears rather that Jsoétes possesses a different structure. It would 
be some what different with Psilotum if the antheridium were ac- 
tually formed from the leaf. I have therefore examined this ge- 
nus in a living state, and found that the condition is exactly the 
same as in L. denticulatum : the earliest development of the an- 
theridia shows their perfect independence of the leaf, and it is 
only subsequently that the fruit-stalk contracts such union with 
the leaf that its exceeding shortness causes it to be scarcely 
noticed. Yet it may always be recognised as independent if we 
trace the internal structure of the base of the sporangium in a 
delicate longitudinal section. Here a thick vascular bundle most 
distinctly proceeds to an internal, chambered cavity, and the 
length of the fruit-stalk must consequently be defined by the — 
point where the bundle ends (Pl. V. figs. 9—10). The vas- 
cular bundle, closely examined, consists of porous vessels, like 


M. Miiller on the Development of the Lycopodiacerr. 243 


that which proceeds into the leaf. That the sporangium of Psi- 
lotum however is chambered, is not to be explained, as Von Mohl 
believes, as resulting from a growing together of several spo- 
rangia, but by the fact that—as the course of development shows 
—the sporangium is always simple in the youngest stage, and 
the several partitions are formed in its interior subsequently, the 
number often amounting to four. The partitions are formed of 
parenchymatous cellular tissue, which ramifies in the interior and 
consists of enlarged cells. These facts I have observed with the 
greatest certainty, although I cannot declare the law by which the 
ramification of these layers of cells is governed, and why their cells 
do not rather become mother-cells for the spores. That the fruit 
of Psilotum is one-, two-, three- or four-chambered, indicates, 
from what has already been said of it, that a growing together of 
leaves or sporangia is not to be thought of here. The inconstancy 
is too great to admit of our believing, that several sporangia can 
be developed freely in one axil and so grow together. Here in 
Psilotum however it would be more pardonable than in any other 
case, to explain the formation of the sporangium by the growing 
together of carpels, since in a tolerably perfect sporangium a 
pretty distinct furrow runs over each globular protuberance 
(Hiigel), which may easily lead an observer to suppose that it is 
formed of leaves grown together. In this genus indeed a complete 
history of the development might become in the highest degree 
interesting. The structure of the antheridium appears to me to 
be still more clearly evident in Tmesipteris than in Psilotum, at 
least from the dried specimens I was able to examine in the Royal 
Herbarium at Schéneberg near Berlin; for in these the fruit- 

stalk was often developed to a considerable length and projected 
- beyond the leaf. In fact, we have here as in Pst/otum a simul- 
taneous formation of sporangia and leaves, so that it is impos- 
sible that the former can be composed of the latter, as in such 
case the sporangia must clearly be formed subsequently. 

H. von Mohl also opposes to Bischoff’s view, the formation of 
the spores in the same manner as pollen-grains, &c., which I have 
already refered to. ‘This cannot be made to contradict my opi- 
nion—in fact, it even does not once touch Bischoff’s. For where- 
soever formative substance is present, there cells may be formed. 
These formed, and a sufficient quantity of the formative matter 
still present, new cells again may be formed within the first, the 
mother-cells, and the second generation become perfect simple 
cells which we then call spores. 

Regarding Von Mohl’s and Bischoff’s opinions therefore, I 
hope that I have succeeded in displaymg in a convincing man- 
ner, a different theory of the course of development of the anthe- 
ridia. As to Schleiden’s so very definitely stated views, how- 


244 M. Miller on the: Development of the Lycopodiacez. 


ever, I can oppose no further reasons to them, since this observer 
has not unfolded his ideas sufficiently in detail. Meantime the 
figure of the antheridium of L. annotinaum which he gives in the 
second edition of his work is represented in such an advanced 
state, that it cannot by any means be regarded as a proof of the 
origin of the antheridium from the leaf. Since the leaf and the 
antheridium are formed simultaneously, it is naturally the ear- 
hest stage alone which can yield evidence in the history of the 
formation of the two organs. 

But by this history of the mode of formation, moreover, the 
independence of the family of Lycopodia is shown most indubi- 
tably, and the gap which formerly existed between them and the 
Ferns is again established (compare Roper in the ‘ Flora Mek- 
lenburgs.,’ 1 Th., 1843, p. 127). More of this however here- 
after. 

b. The formation of the spores. That which is now perfected 
im the interior of the antheridium is the so-called spore. The 
essential points relating to its form have already been given in 
the commencement of these observations on the development of 
the antheridia. I pass therefore to the history of their develop- 
ment. 

According to H. von Mohl the spores are formed here exactly 
in the same manner as pollen-grains, and this has already been 
pointed out above in that observer’s own words. From my own 
researches I can of course confirm that here also the spores are 
formed in mother-cells ; meanwhile I have not attained to a com- 
plete history of the development in L. denticulatum, because in 
fact I neglected it. The reason however was this: I wished to 
give a perfect history of the formation in a Lycopodiaceous plant 
with very large spores; thus to make certain at once, in what 
peculiar manner the contents of the mother-cells become divided 
into four parts—whether this, as some observers hold, occurs 
through division by means of septa, or whether, as others will 
have it, it is effected through the agency of cytoblasts. To this 
end I traced the formation of the spores in Psilotum triquetrum, 
which I obtained in a living state through the kindness of Prof. 
Kunze of Leipzic. In the first place, however, two words on the 
internal structure of the antheridium of L. denticulatum. If once 
successful, after many long preparations, in obtaining a very fine 
longitudinal section of the antheridium in a very young condition, 
we notice a threefold layer in its internal cavity (Pl. V. fig. 11). 
First the outermost or true epidermis: this is composed of a 
layer of parenchyma of some density which passes off to the fruit- 
stalk. ‘T'o this follows a second layer of empty, transparent and 
delicate parenchymatous cells : this is continuous with the elon- 
gated cells in the fruit-stalk. Then comes the third layer which 


M. Miiller on the Development of the Lycopodiacee. 245 


occupies the whole of the interior: this also consists of delicate 
parenchymatous cells, which are very densely filled with a forma- 
tive matter (reddish cytoblastema): they are the mother-cells 
of the spores. By the examination of the imterior we now un- 
derstand, why the layer of mother-cells of the spores is often 
compressed in an evident degree, and why, when seen through 
the young and delicate membrane of the antheridium, they ap- 
pear globular. The greater or less degree of compression depends 
of course on the thickness of the epidermis and the subjacent 
cellular layer. 

Passing to Psilotum, we find, in a delicate longitudinal section 
of the sporangium, the same layer of mother-cells which we meet 
with in L. denticulatum (P1. V. fig. 12). However, the layer of 
empty cells which follow close upon the epidermis of L. denticu- 
latum does not exist here. The mother-cells, tolerably regular in 
form and of large size, lie closely upon the very thick epidermis 
of the sporangium of Pszlotum; they are also distended by a 
reddish mass, which, agglomerated into a spherical form, may 
clearly enough be perceived to consist of cytoblasts. If the cy- 
toblast has been cut through a little out of the centre, the central 
nucleus also is perceived in its granular, distinctly evident sub- 
stance. ‘These mother-cells are therefore formed through cyto- 
blasts in the first instance, and fill the interior of the sporangium . 
as a large-celled parenchymatous tissue. 

The sporangium now swells, and this process depends on the 
expanding mother-cells (fig. 13). This swelling out and exten- 
sion act m such a manner that the membranes of the mother- 
cells acquire an extraordinary degree of transparency, which may 
be so increased in later stages, that unless one has very sharp eyes 
and observes with great attention, the cell-walls will be certainly 
overlooked. I shall return once more to this. The expansion 
of the mother-cells is combined simultaneously with that of the 
cytoblasts contained in their interior: this is in consequence of 
their outer borders becoming dissolved or rather macerated in 
water, since the softened mass is almost always granular. The 
latter thus becomes mucilaginous. The cytoblast becomes gra- 
dually smaller, but is usually so equably dissolved that it always 
appears globular (fig. 13). Sometimes however it is oval (fig. 14) : 
this only occurs if the mother-cells no longer lie, as in the 
former case (fig. 13), one upon another as tumefied cellular tis- 
sue, but when the individual cells have become perfectly sepa- 
rated from each other, and thus lie so much freer in the interior 
of the sporangium. That the sporangium undergoes proportional 
expansion with the actual enlargement of the mother-cells is to 
be understood in all cases. 

The expansion of the mother-cells proceeds with continually 


246 M. Miller on the Development of the Lycopodiacer. 


accelerating rapidity, and with it that part of the cytoblast also 
becomes more fluid which in the foregoing stages was becoming 
softened at the periphery (fig. 15). Now it appears as a mass 
composed of very small granules in a state of fine division in a 
mucilaginous fluid. The end of the next stage is, that the whole 
cytoblast has become dissolved in the said fluid (Pl. V. figs. 16, 
17, and Pl. VI. fig. 1). It very seldom happens, however, that 
the mass becomes so fluid that granular points are no longer per- 
ceptible in it (Pl. VI. fig. 1). 

In the same figure we see, moreover, that the whole mass has 
become more agglomerated. That is a further stage, and is 
always met with before the division of the cell-contents into se- 
veral portions. The whole mass has returned into the condition 
of cytoblastema*. Thereupon it becomes retracted either on to 
the walls of the cell, or, as more rarely happens, into the centre. 

The mass is now seen to be collected into four parts (fig. 2). 
Thereby either the whole substance is appropriated, or the four 
portions are formed inside the mass. This is easily explicable. 
Each of the portions is a cytoblast : it creases in size in the 
latter case, because that portion of the mass which has not been 
appropriated in the formation of cytoblasts becomes deposited 
upon its external surface (Pl. VI. figs. 3—6). 

~ The substance of the cytoblast 1s still visibly very mucilagi- 
nous. In the interior of it is seen the central nucleus as a sim- 
ple granule (Kern). Around it the mass of cytoblastema is so 
deposited that its outer contour is composed of granules lying 
heaped together, 7. e. very closely applied upon one another 
(fig. 6). 

In a more advanced stage the cytoblast exhibits an enveloping 
membrane (Haut) which is as yet very delicate and mucilaginous 
(fig. 8). It is now manifestly undergoing extension, and the 
cell-membranes approach toward each other with increasing pace 
for the tetrahedral junction+ (figs.6—11). | 

In fig. 8 a, b, c, we find also how the membrane is formed 
and extends from the cytoblast on one side only, therefore in 
the same manner which Schleiden first described. Subsequently 
however the membrane is detached and expands all round the 
cytoblast (figs. 9—10 0). Frequently it becomes detached at 
an earlier period, as in figs. 11 and 12. 

* Cytoblastema and protoplasma (incl. mucilage, Schleim) are essentially 
one and the same; yet both names may be used, the latter for the oleagi- 
wie fluid, mucilaginous mass, the former for the granular and coagu- 

ated. 

+ This is well-known as an expression proposed by H. von Mohl for that 
position of the secondary cells where their faces, directed toward the centre 


of the mother-cell, become pyramidally pointed through their reverse super- 
position, while the outer faces remain spherical. 


M. Miller on the Development of the Liycopodiacere. 247 


The whole of the contents of the mother-cell being now appro- 
priated in the formation of the secondary cells and the membrane 
of the latter quite complete, without their form being as yet ne- 
cessarily perfected, the mother-cells expand in an extraordinary 
degree, and the secondary cells become more widely separated 
(fig. 12). It is worthy of remark here that the secondary cells 
are usually quite free, rarely (as in fig. 12) occurring on the wall 
of the mother-cell. There are no signs of their being retained in 
their position by filaments or similar means of attachment ; we 
must therefore attribute all to the contents of the mother-cell, 
and assume that the same is of sufficient specific gravity and 
thickness to maintain this position. I say we must assume it, 
since in reality it is not to be observed, for no contents can be 
made evident in the mother-cells even when the strongest tinc- 
ture of iodine is applied. This is also always the case with the 
membrane of the mother-cell: this may equally be treated with 
the most concentrated tincture of iodine, and it remams transpa- 
rent and so clear, that, as I have already remarked, it is only to 
be traced by the closest attention. When one of these mother- 
cells is beheld for the first time beneath the microscope, the ap- 
pearance has something very striking about it, since the four cells 
are always seen in one and the same position without the mother- 
cell being at all perceived. This definite position of the secon- 
dary cells is retained even when the mother-cells are moved back- 
ward and forward in the water under the microscope. The sepa- 
ration of the secondary cells from each other is however very 
variable in regard to distance. 

Now commences a new process in the history of the formation 
of the secondary cells, relating to their form. They do not, like the 
spores of other Lycopodiacea, remain tetrahedro-spherical, but 
become elongated (Pl. VI. fig. 13) and form bean-shaped cells. 
On the ventral surface, 7. e. on the side of the tetrahedral junc- 
tion, occurs a double border (Leiste) in a straight line, whence it 
appears as though the interior of the cell was open (figs. 15—25). 
The border however does not extend the whole length of the cell, 
but at most 2rds or $ths of it. 

This mode of formation of the spores is so much the more 
striking, that it is in Ferns alone, for instance in Polypodium 
Dryopteris, that we find anything exactly corresponding. At the 
same time it appears to me, that it already entitles us to give the 
Lycopodiacee a higher place than, for instance, Schleiden is in- 
clined to do, who rather places them (Grundziige, ed. 1. part un. 
80) in the vicinity of Mosses and Hepatice. However, as | have 
said, more on this matter hereafter. 

The bean-shaped cells lie for some little time in the mother- 
cell, only, repeating the former condition, they soon become 


248 M. Miiller on the Development of ihe Lycopodiacez. 


more (fig. 14) or less (fig. 13 5) grouped together. At a subse- 
quent period the absorption of the membrane of the mother-cell 
takes place. 

The outer membrane of the bean-shaped secondary cells is ex. 
ceedingly delicate and transparent, almost as clear as glass, and 
thus they produce a very pleasant impression on the eye. The 
contents consist at present of the cytoblast : this now undergoes a 
new series of essential changes, into which I will therefore enter 
more minutely. 

It either les upon the wall, or attached upon a mucilaginous 
mass more in the centre of the cell (fig. 17). The other charac- 
ters of position are also excessively variable ; sometimes it is in 
the midst of the cell, sometimes more approached toward the 
end or in the end itself (figs. 15—20). In the stages where the 

membrane of the mother-cells is undergoing absorption and the 
secondary cells come to lie free in the sporangium, the cytoblast 
becomes altered. Its substance is dissolved, and this usually 
occurs in such a way that its external border remains behind ap- 
pearing like a mucilaginous membrane (figs. 18—20). The cy- 
toblast often disappears altogether (figs. 21 and 22). 

The mucilaginous fluid originating from the solution of the 
greater part of the cytoblast passes now into a new structure. 
It becomes deposited in the shape of exceedingly delicate, minute 
globules, again coagulated, round the whole internal periphery 
of the bean-shaped secondary cell or spore, and appears like a 
very fine precipitate giving the spore a grayish-coloured aspect, 
produced by the shades the single globules cast around them, 
whereby of course a peculiar mingling of dark and bright points 
is necessarily brought about. The outline of the cytoblast is 
often still to be observed, usually in a roundish form (fig. 23). 
Before long, the eranular contents swell into larger globules 
which are more or less closely assembled together (figs. 24and25). 
If, in this condition, the membrane of the spore is cut through, 
a most distinct conviction may be obtained that the remaining 
space is empty, and that it is from the granular cell-contents 
alone that the larger globules have originated. At the same 
time it is seen that the spore-membrane is simple and apparently 
tolerably tough. 

Lastly, the termination of the whole formation is a contrac- 
tion and corrugation of the hard spore-membrane. It also tears 
in places, and now occurs a very remarkable phenomenon. 
The globules (Pl. VI. fig. 26), which, when treated with very 
concentrated tincture of iodine, appear distinctly hollow (fig. 27) 
and more or less round, begin to elongate into thick filaments 
(fig. 28). These frequently branch in the most manifold curves 
with thick prolongations, and thus usually grow through the 


Mr. J. 8S. Bowerbank on the Siliceous Bodies of the Chalk. 249 


corrugated and torn spore-membrane. I have not succeeded in 
discovering any purpose whatever in it, striking as the appear- 
ance is. 

All these observations on the formation of spores confirm the 
general results which H. von Mohl laid down in his memoir on 
the development of the spores of Anthoceros levis, Linnea, 1839, 
vol. xiii. p. 273—290. 

1. Four spores are always developed in a mother-cell. 

2. Previously to their development,’a granular fluid matter is 
contained in the mother-cell. Here it may be added, that this same 
is formed of the dissolved cytoblasts. 

3. The four spores are formed at the same time, and certainly 
not, as Mirbel believed, by the mechanical division of the cell-mass 
into four parts by septa, these septa proceeding from the membrane 
of the mother-cell, but in an independent manner. To this it may 
a added, that actual cytoblasts are simultaneously produced in 
the cell. 

The chief conclusion therefore is, that the process of spore- 
formation does not differ from the formation of cells through cyto- 
blasts. Psilotum cannot be too highly recommended for the ob- 
servation of all these facts, as we here possess extraordinarily 
large mother-cells which allow all the alterations in their interior 
to be perceived with the greatest distinctness. 

Diversity in the peculiarities of the formation of spores in 
Psilotum from that in Anthoceros and other Cryptogamic plants, 
is of course owing to family and generic differences. 


[To be continued. } 


XXXI.—On the Siliceous Bodies of the Chalk and other Forma- 
tions, in reply to Mr. J. Toulmin Smith. By J. S. Bowersanx, 
F.R.S. &c. : 


In the last January Number of the ‘Annals and Magazine of 
Natural History ’ there are some observations by Mr. J. Toulmin 
Smith on the Formation of the Flints of the Upper Chalk, in 
which the author combats certain conclusions of mine published 
in the ‘ Transactions of the Geological Society,’ vol. vi. new series, 
p- 181, relative to the spongeous origin of the flinty bodies of the 
chalk, greensands, and oolites. Had the differences between the 
author and myself been merely matters of opinion, I should not 
have occupied your valuable pages on the present occasion, espe- 
cially as he has declared* that “it is not his intention to dis- 
pute the particular facts stated by myself as applying to the cases 


* Page 2. 
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Vol. xix. 18 


250 Mr.J.S.Bowerbank on the Siliceous Bodies of the Chalk. 


I have observed ;” and granting this, I have really very little more 
to desire, as the whole of the views exhibited im my paper are 
attempts to elucidate obscure natural phenomena and not mat- 
ters of theory ; but as in the course of his reasoning upon the evi- 
dence which I have produced of the organic origin of the siliceous 
bodies in dispute, he has referred to natural historical facts in 
support of his views, and ventured upon assertions based upon 
these facts which are unfortunately not correct, I should not 
be doing justice either to the subject or myself if I were not to 
endeavour to correct these misapprehensions. 

The author, after noticing the difference in the views of the 
formation of chalk flints entertained by Prof. Ehrenberg and 
myself, proceeds thus* : “ It may be allowed to us, in all humility, 
to call in the aid of other classes of facts to clear up the mystery, 
and this I now proceed to do. I fully admit that spicule are not 
uncommonly found in some flints, but they are most assuredly 
not always found ; in some flints they are very numerous, while in 
others from the same spot they are exceedingly rare, and in very 
many wholly wanting. Now these sponge spicule are indestruc- 
tible. The destruction of the structure of the sponge, which this 
theory requires as a necessary postulate, would not destroy them. 
How then is it that they are thus variably present? And it is 
important to remember that similar spicule are found in the 
chalk itself” In the first place, I deny totally that the destruc- 
tion of the structure of the sponge is a necessary postulate of 
what the author designates as my theory. I have never under 
any circumstances made such an assertion, and if I had, it would 
have been a most egregious blunder; for the remainder of the 
passage I may simply say, that the conditions of the structure of 
the skeleton and the spicula are precisely those which every natu- 
ralist acquainted with the Spongiade would expect ; for although © 
the horny skeletons of the Spongiade are very enduring, the 
gelatinous interstitial substance of the sponge, which in life 
abounds with spicula, is exceedingly destructible, and is dis- 
solved away from the skeleton almost immediately after the death 
of the animal; and in many species of Halichondria this is so ra- 
pidly effected, that a specimen taken fresh from the sea and placed 
in the hand can scarcely be retained there many minutes without 
its being flooded with the gelatinous matter shed by the animal, 
and this equally takes place if the sponge be placed in a small 
basin of salt water ; in a few hours it will have shed the whole of 
its interstitial gelatinous matter, the dead skeleton only remaining. 
What is more natural then, than that in the silicified remains of 
sponges, in which the skeleton has always to a great extent been 


* Page 2. 


Mr. J. S. Bowerbank on the Siliceous Bodies of the Chalk. 251 


destroyed, the spicula should be but very sparingly found in the 
fossil, and what more to be expected than that they should be 
found imbedded in the surrounding chalk ? 

After some passing observations the author says: “If it is 
once admitted that flint is ever, or may be even in a single in- 
stance, found elsewhere, the theory ceases to be an explanation 
of the phenomena, and. becomes of no value to the philosophical 
inquirer*.” This is really so richly dogmatical that one cannot 
suppress a smile: does the author seriously think that he can 
thus fetter by a syllogism those who differ. from him in opinion ? 
But even in the face of this denunciation, I will at once admit 
that flint has been and is continually found elsewhere. It abounds 
in the mountain limestone formation of England, and I have it 
through the kindness of Mr. Lyell from the newest freshwater 
tertiary beds, from Egypt from Prof. Ansted, and out of the late 
Capt. Clapperton’s collection from the neighbourhood of Tini- 
buctoo, and from other parts of the world through various chan- 
nels ; and in all these cases it abounds in animal remains which 
are under the same conditions as those of the chalk flints._ 

The author continues, “ Now, can it be shown that silex has 
any peculiar affinity for either the animal substance or the horny 
skeleton of the sponge? The contrary is known, as matter of 
fact, to be the case. Facts paleontological as well as recent might 
be cited in abundance in disproof of this necessary postulate of 
the sponge theory. I have undoubted sponges i my possession 
from the chalk, which, instead of being wholly silicified, are in 
part so, and in part still in the chalk, while the flint is otherwise 
extended beyond the boundary of the sponge.” The author is 
evidently unacquainted with the second paper which I published 
in the ‘ Annals and Magazine of Natural History’ in September 
and October 1842, or he could scarcely have seriously asked the 
question contained in the first sentence of the last quotation. If 
he will take the trouble to consult that paper, or to examine a few 
thinly sliced specimens of moss agates or green jaspers, as they 
are termed, from India, he will see abundant proofs of the strong 
predisposition of siliceous matter for the horny skeletons of the 
Spongiade. Every separate fibre which is inclosed forms a di- 
stinct nucleus, from which the chalcedonic crystals of the silex 
spring. 

The author states, that the contrary of this predisposition is 
known to be the fact, but does not adduce a single proof of the 
correctness of this assertion, although he professes to have an 
abundance of such ; nor does he even attempt to disprove the rea- 
soning which I have advanced in the first paper to prove the ex- 


* Page 3. 
18* 


252 Mr.J. 8. Bowerbank on the Siliceous Bodies of the Chalk. 


istence of an elective attraction between the siliceous matter and 
animal and vegetable remains ; nor offer the slightest explanation 
of the cause of the suspension in all parts alike of the masses of 
siliceous spicula, the remains of polythalamous shells, small 
branched corals and numerous other animal bodies ; nor account 
for the continually recurring presence of that tissue, which I have 
described as, and still believe to be, portions of the skeleton of 
the sponge to which the great mass of chalk flints owe their ori- 
gin. If this description of tissue were found only in the flints of 
the chalk, there might remain room for doubt of its being that 
which I have asserted it to be; but when we find that the flints of 
the Portland oolite afford similar remains of a corresponding tis- 
sue, but specifically different from that of the chalk flints, and 
that circumstances of the same description obtain in the flints of 
the greensand formation and in those of the mountain limestone, 
such doubts cease to exist, and the fair philosophical inference is, 
that those tissues are in truth the remains of the spongeous 
bodies to which these siliceous masses have been indebted for 
their form. 

The author then proceeds to ask*, “ Where, in recent sponges, 
do we find the innumerable quantities of shells and other large 
objects that we find in the chalk flints ?’ And after describing 
some flints with numerous shells attached to them, and spe- 
cimens of which kind are by no means rare, he proceeds thust : 
“T have seen, in Mr. Bowerbank’s valuable collection of sponges, 
a specimen in which one small shell is imbedded : this may have 
happened in casual instances with small dead shells, but where 
can it be found, in recent sponges, from the most favourable spots, 
that they are full, as we find the flints full, of bivalves large, nu- 
merous and perfect, and apparently living when enveloped?” In 
the paragraph immediately preceding the one last quoted, Mr. 
Smith describes his specimens of flint, not as being full, but 
merely as having shells attached to the surface of the flint, for he 
says of the shells in the conclusion to the description of the flints 
alluded to: “These are lying on the external surface, just sunk, 
as it were, in the flint, as they would sink in water, but not at all 
covered.” But the author does not give us the slightest expla- 
nation of the extraordinary phenomenon he describes of shells 
partially sunk into all parts of the surface of an irregularly 
formed nodule of water or fluid silex “ of most fantastic form,” 
to quote his own words. It would appear most natural to sup- 
pose that the mode of their sinking in water would be at once to 
the bottom, and not merely to indent the surface and there re- 
main, while, on the contrary, their position is quite natural if the 


* Page 4. + Page 5. 


Mr. J.S. Bowerbank on the Siliceous Bodies of the Chalk. 2538 


body to which they are attached be a sponge. But where, says 
the author, are such specimens to be found? I answer, in my own 
collection,and I will show him dozens such if he will favour me with 
a visit to see them; and I assure him that that which he considers 
as so very improbable is in truth the natural habit of the Spon- 
giade, which attach themselves to both living and dead shells, 
and in that situation they develope themselves to their full ex- 
tent, freely rolling about as the tidal or other currents impel 
them. I have a specimen of Arca with a sponge firmly based 
upon one valve and loosely embracing the other, and which is 
many times the bulk of the shell, and the animal still remaining 
within the shell. Arca, Pecten, Hinnites, Ostrea, and numerous 
other bivalves, are frequently to be seen thus encumbered with 
large sponges ; and I have also a large keratose sponge from Port 
Lincoln, Australia, which has more small univalve shells entangled 
in its meshes than could be counted correctly in a long summer’s 
day ; but we need not goto exotic specimens for such proofs, for 
if the author had only taken the precaution to have consulted 
Dr. Johnston’s excellent ‘ History of British Sponges,’ he would 
have found it quite unnecessary to have gone further to have sa- 
tisfied himself of the fallacy of his own imaginations regarding 
the habits of the Spongiade, and I beg to refer him to plates 8, 
5, 12, 14 and 15 of that work as pictorial proofs to the contrary 
of his assertion ; and it is well known to every man who has paid 
the slightest attention to marine natural history, that Halichondria 
suberea described by Dr. Johnston, p. 139. fig. 5 and 6. pl. 12, 
is rarely met with, excepting partially or wholly enveloping uni- 
valve shells, and that these shells are usually inhabited by a Pa- 
gurus. I have brought up a dozen or more of such specimens at 
each haul of the dredge in Weymouth Bay and in the neighbour- 
hood of Tenby, and I have many such in my possession at the 
present moment. It is as much the habit of the animal to be 
parasitic upon shells, as it is for Dromia lator and other species 
of the genus, during its life, to carry a living ambush of sponge 
upon its back, to secure which in its proper situation nature has 
stinted the growth of the two hinder pairs of legs, and directed 
them over the back of the animal to hook into and hold firmly 
the mass of sponge under which it lives and moves. 

There is also another crab, which I believe belongs to the genus 
Pericera, which is in the constant habit of cherishing the growth 
of long fistulose sponges on the front spines of its shell, and these 
sponges often attain three or four times the length of the crab. 
I have in my possession at the present moment five specimens of 
the latter and ten of the former, bearing each his sponge ; and in 
one case the mass of sponge is as big as my two fists placed 
together, and in several of the smaller ones the sponge is so big 


254 Mr.J.S. Bowerbank on the Siliceous Bodies of the Chalk. 


in proportion to the crab as entirely to conceal it when viewed 
from above. There is no special preference on the part of the 
crabs for any particular genus or species of sponge, but these 
differ in almost every instance in my possession, and in one case 
a single crab of the latter genus has three species fixed upon its 
shell. The author continues: “It is assumed by this theory 
that the sponges grew over the shells and other organic objects 
which lay on the surface of the mud. But the observed facts 
are wholly at variance with this assumption.” I have before 
my eyes at the moment of writing this, a sponge of the genus 
Halichondria from Van Diemen’s Land of an oval form, seven 
inches and a half long by five and a half wide, and not more 
than two inches thick, which once grew spreading on the bottom 
of the sea, and in the under surface of which sponge there are 
more single valves and fragments of bivalves and univalves than 
I can attempt to count with success; and my friend Mr. Frederic 
Catherwood, whose beautiful work on the Extinct Cities of Cen- 
tral America has made him so favourably. known to the public, 
informed me that during a coasting voyage in a canoe, of about 
100 miles, along the shore of South America, one of his chief 
amusements was to lie with his head over the bows of the canoe 
and feast his eyes with the splendid and variegated carpet of 
sponges of all descriptions of form and colour, which almost co- 
vered the bottom of the shallow sea over which he was voyaging. 
But here again we need not transport ourselves to South Ame- 
rica to illustrate this fact—the cave under St. Margaret’s Island 
at Tenby will suffice for our purpose. In this place I have found 
seven or eight species of British sponges spreading over the sur- 
face, and rendering the rocks beautiful with their tints of green, 
orange, yellow, red, &c. The author then proceeds: “ The Echi- 
nites alone, extensively examined, afford conclusive evidence 
against the sponge theory. These are very frequently indeed 
found in the very centre of flints. They are sometimes found 
with spines affixed, and therefore alive or with undecomposed 
soft parts when entombed. The masses of flint to which they 
are affixed are very frequently not attached to either of the large 
orifices of the shell, but to some part of the sides, while the shell 
is entirely filled with flint and both orifices closed. Mr. Bower- 
bank states that, when the shell is not entirely filled with flint, 
in ‘the space thus unoccupied by the flint was always included one 
or both of the large orifices of the shell.’ I do not find this fact 
in any degree borne out by my own observations.” With regard 
to the last sentence, I can only say, the author must have been 
very unfortunate in his observations not to have found my asser- 
tion “in any degree” borne out ; that in the cases where the shell 
was only partially filled with flint, one or both of the large orifices 


Mr.J.S. Bowerbank on the Siliceous Bodies of the Chalk. 255 


of the shell were always included in the empty space. I can only 
say that I shall have much pleasure in showing him, at any time, 
nine such specimens in one drawer of my collection. 

With regard to the fact that the shell of an Echinite should be 
partially or wholly filled with silex, and then attached by some part 
of its surface unconnected with the great orifices to a mass of flint, 
it is in no respect unnatural among recent sponges. Two sepa- 
rate individuals are often based upon the same stone or shell, and 
_ if they grow sufficiently large to touch each other, they unite or- 
ganically and form one sponge ; but if they be not of the same 
species, they will grow over or envelope each other, but never 
unite organically. I have several such specimens from Algoa Bay 
and from Wollongong near Sydney, and of the latter description 
I have one specimen which is composed of three species. Some- 
times an individual of a different species will be developed upon 
the very summit of another sponge, and both live and thrive 
under these circumstances ; such a specimen I have from Wol- 
longong. I have also from the West Indies a Verongia seven or 
eight inches long so completely enveloped by a large fistulose 
spongia that not more than about one inch of its length is ex- 
posed, and yet both species were alive when taken from the sea. 
Is it unnatural then, that among the Wiltshire flints we should 
find one, two or three species of sponge included within another 
parasitical and casing sponge, and that the included ones should 
not be united to the enveloping one? On the contrary, it is what 
we see is the habit of the Spongiade of the present day, and 
therefore exactly what we should expect to have been the case 
with the fossil species. And again, with regard to the filling of 
the dead shells of Echinites and other hollow bodies with sponge. 
It is true I cannot show the author an Echinus shell filled with 
sponge, but thanks to my friend Mr. Pickering, who presented 
me with the specimens, I can show him nine cases of the interiors 
of bivalves of various genera, which have been, some wholly, while 
others are only partially filled by the common sponge of com- 
merce ; and what could scarcely have been expected, there is not 
one of the casts in which the shell has been gaping, but eight of 
them have had both valves closely shut, and in the ninth one very 
nearly so, and in this the sponge extends by means of a thin 
plate beyond the boundaries of the front of the valves of the 
shell. In these cases, which afford beautiful casts of the interior of 
the shell, and exhibit on their surfaces the impression of the mus- 
cular attachments and striz of the valves, each cast has its cha- 
racteristic enveloping membrane, and as the sponge has needed 
no support, it has not attached itself to any portion of the inte- 
rior surface of the shell. The author thinks it highly improbable 
that teeth, wood and other extraneous bodies should be enveloped 


256 Mr.J.S8. Bowerbank on the Siliceous Bodies of the Chalk. 


in sponge. He can have seen but very few species of the recent 
Spongiadze to be thus surprised ; they abound im such extraneous 
matters, and moreover are the natural habitation of many species 
of Balanus and other genera of shells, just as we find among the 
Corallide certain genera and species of shells which are familiar 
to every conchologist as occurrmg i such situations and in none 
other. Is it then a wonder that living things should be enve- 
loped in sponges, either ancient or modern, seeing that in many 
cases it is their natural and imevitable situation ? 

The author then alludes to the fact of the pulp-cavities of the 
teeth in the fragment of a jaw of Mososaurus in the possession of — 
Mr. Charlesworth being filled with silex, and quotes this as ini- 
mical to my views of the origin of flint ; and in this opinion some 
time since I know my friend Mr. Charlesworth shared ; but after 
having at the British Association expressed his views regarding 
this interesting specimen, he with his usual liberality gave me 
permission to take a thin longitudinal slice from the centre of 
one of these flint casts of the pulp-cavity, and upon examining 
this through the microscope im the usual manner it was found 
to exhibit all the characteristic appearances of flint nodules. Two 
specimens of Xanthidium and numerous polythalamous shells 
were imbedded in the midst of it, and a considerable quantity of 
the remains of sponge tissue 1s apparent round the edges of the 
slice. Now it must be borne in mind that the fossil was but the 
fragment of a jaw when imbedded in the chalk, and I believe, from 
my recollection of the specimen, that at the time of its imbedment 
it had lost the lower edge or keel of the bone: is it therefore to 
surprise us, that such bodies as sponge gemmules, often much less 
than one hundredth of an inch in diameter, having ciliary loco- 
motive power, should insinuate themselves into the pulp-cavities, 
either through the nerve or blood channels, or by means of the 
space between the tooth and its socket after the animal matter 
lining the latter has been removed by maceration, and there de- 
velope themselves and fill up the space of the cavity? Neither is 
it unnatural, that such minute living bodies as microscopic fora- 
minifera and Xanthidia should be found in such a situation, as 
sponges are continually inhaling currents of water through one 
set of canals and ejecting it as continually through others, and this 
with no small degree of power. 

When I was at Tenby some years since, I placed some speci- 
mens of Halichondria panicea, Johnston, in a shallow dish of 
sea-water, and in one of them in which the orifice of the excur- 
rent canal was more than half an inch below the surface of the 
water, the outpouring current was so strong, that when the reflec- 
tion of one of the bars of the window was brought over the ori- 
fice of the sponge, the reflected line was curved to a very consi- 


Mr. J. S. Bowerbank on the Siliceous Bodies of the Chatk. 257 


derable degree, so as to render it evident that the surface of the 
water was elevated by its power the tenth or the eighth of an 
inch, and some light dust shaken over the spot was dispersed in a 
circle with great rapidity. I have seen the same phenomenon 
in vivid action with Grantia botryoides in a closed cell filled with 
sea-water beneath the microscope, when at Weymouth in the year 
1845. Need we wonder then, with such powers inherent in the 
Spongiade, that minute animal or vegetable organisms should be 
found in such positions as those alluded to by Mr. Smith? But 
there is yet another way in which the filling of the pulp-cavity 
and the space intervening between the tooth and its socket may 
be accounted for in the small jaw figured by the author, and it is 
simply this: that as the whole of the fragment of the jaw has been 
built over by the sponge originating the flint, it is quite natural 
that it should have insinuated its fibres into those spaces in thin 
plates, and such thin plates of single layers of reticulated fibre, 
not exceeding the five-hundredth of an inch in diameter, may be 
frequently seen by the aid of a lens in the sponges of commerce, 
especially at the termination of the excurrent canals of the West 
Indian species. But in reality Mr. Smith’s specimen needs none 
of these conditions to account for the presence of the silex in any 
- one part of it more than in another, as the whole substance of the 
jaw is more or less silicified, which fact was not observed by the 
author at the time of the publication of his paper. There is no- 
thing more surprising in this replacement of carbonate or phos- 
phate of lime in bone by silex, than there is in like replacements 
in the shells of the greensand formation and of the London clay, 
Voluta luctator and other shells. The same phenomenon takes 
place in the corals of the mountain limestone of Derbyshire, 
Ireland and elsewhere ; and this I believe to take place without 
the presence of any degree of heat above the ordinary mean tem- 
perature of the earth, and for this reason ; that in almost every 
flint that I have examined, I have found evidence of chalcedonic 
crystallization wherever there has been a small space originally 
not occupied by spongeous substance. And in almost every moss 
agate it may be seen that the fibres are the prevailing nuclei of 
crystallization ; from these they constantly radiate until the va- 
rious crops of crystals meet at their apices and form ultimately 
the solid mass of the agate. In fact, the process of siliceous de- 
posit in these organized fossils appears to be precisely the same 
in principle as in the deposit of siliceous matter in hollow spaces 
in rocks of igneous origin, only that in the first case the place of 
crystallization is determined by the presence of the organic fibre 
of the sponge, and in the latter case simply by the sides of the 
cavities in the rock. We find also in chalk flints, that where there 
has happened to be a large central cavity, the sides are often coated 


258 Mr. J.8. Bowerbank on the Siliceous Bodies of the Chalk. 


with half an inch in thickness or more of pure chalcedony, and 
then succeeds a crop of regular crystals of quartz. The like is 
familiar to every mineralogist in agates from rocks of volcanic 
origin, in the cavities of which, the water, perhaps containing 
but a very few per cent. of silex, may by gradual and continuous 
filtration have deposited the silex long after the rocks had ceased 
to possess a greater degree of heat than the ordinary temperature 
of the earth. 

If, on the contrary, we imagine a high degree of thermal heat 
necessary for the conveyance and deposit of the silex, how is it 
that the water at this high temperature spares the carbonate of 
lime in the beautiful and delicate shells which are often attached 
to the surface of the chalk flints, and the numerous remains of 
cartilaginous and other fishes, crustacea, and other delicate animal 
remains which abound in a most perfect condition amidst the 
very flints that are supposed to ‘require so great a degree of 
thermal heat for their formation ? Andif the deposit of the silex 
be determined by any great degree of thermal heat, it may na- 
turally be supposed that it would be deposited somewhat in the 
form of that precipitated from the waters of the Great Geyser 
and other such springs; but this is not the case. In the flints 
and agates the normal form of the deposit is the compressed 
acicular crystallization of chalcedony; while in the latter it 
is purely amorphous, the highest power of the microscope afford- 
ing not the slightest indications of crystallization : in fact, it is 
the well-known mineral, siliceous sinter. I have examined spe- 
cimens of this mineral bearing the impressions of leaves recently 
brought from the Great Geyser by Mr. C. C. Babington, and with 
a power of 500 linear it presents a purely resinous or glassy 
structure ; not the slightest trace of radiating crystallization even 
from the parts-which bear the impress of the leaves. 

The author then treats of the fossilization of Choanites and 
Ventriculites, and describes them as imbedded in flint, and pos- 
sessing “a light floating elegance of form as if still enjoying life 
in their native liquid element; and which facts assure us that 
they were thus suddenly and instantaneously fixed in a moment 
of the highest vitality.” I really cannot understand how the 
author arrives at this conclusion, that because they retain their 
form they were necessarily imbedded alive. We are all familiar 
with the very long time that a piece of common sponge will do 
duty in a water-filter, for months or even years, without the 
destruction of its texture; and the recent genera to which the 
fossil sponges termed Ventriculites and Choanites belong, are of 
a much stronger and more horny structure. The recent type of 
the former I have received from my friend Capt. Ince, R.N., who 
procured it at Torres Straits, and another species from the Phi- 


Mr. J. S. Bowerbank on the Siliceous Bodies of the Chalk. 259 


lippine Islands by Mr. Cuming; and I have the fac-simile of 
Choanites Kenigit both single and double, and of about the same 
size as the fossil species from Wollongong near Sydney, Australia. 
The author, dismissing the evidence to be derived from the in- 
ternal conditions of flints, then proceeds to consider their external 
forms, and says: “ And we shall find, on taking a careful review 
of some facts of the external forms and modes in which the flints 
are found, that the sponge theory is not only wholly unsatisfac- 
tory, but absolutely impossible.” I reply to this simply by asking 
the author why such an origin for the chalk flmts should be im- 
possible, seeing that the author does not deny the existence of 
other sponges of undoubted character in a silicified state ; and but 
a few paragraphs previous to the one quoted, he describes the in- 
vestment of Ventriculites by silex as if it were quite a natural 
event. Now if one sponge may be thus invested and imbedded by 
silex, why not another? To me, the whole difference appears to be, 
that the one was more prone to decomposition after death than 
the other, and therefore that we find its skeleton in a worse state 
of preservation than in fossilized Ventriculites and Choanites. 
The author having obliged me with an inspection of the spe- 
cimens he has figured, I may briefly say, that the supposed re- 
volving particles in flint represented by the woodcut, page 11, 
and for the peculiar motion of which amidst the imaginary fluid 
flint, the author offers no principle, are in my idea merely the 
remains of one of the large internal canals of the sponge, the na- 
tural arrangement of the particles of which, as a matter of course 
presents the appearance described by the author. : 
There appears to me nothing in either of the originals of 
figures 2 and 3, Plate I., that is in any degree anomalous. In 
No. 2 a portion of the stem (c) has broken away from the base 
of the Ventriculite after it had become silicified, an accident very 
likely to happen during the subsequent elevation of the chalk, 
and which process was probably going on during the period of 
its deposit. No. 3 presents the imbedment of fragments, some 
of which appear to have been shells, on the under surface of the 
flint, the carbonate of lime having been replaced by silex ; others 
are simply fragments of older flints. Figure 1 represents a mass 
of flint which exhibits an appearance of having been deposited in 
concentric layers which are exposed by what seems to have been 
an irregular decomposition of its surface. I have often met with 
this anomalous structure, containing the same organic remains 
as those in the common chalk flints, but I have not yet obtained 
a clue to the origin of its peculiar form: nor do I think Mr. 
Smith’s hypothesis of two currents in contrary directions, and 
one whirlpool in about six superficial inches, at all likely to afford 
that clue, as unluckily there are another set of contrary currents 


260 Mr.J.S. Bowerbank on the Siliceous Bodies of the Chalk. 


in opposition to the figured side also to be explained, and more- 
over the author does not give us any principle upon which these 
minute currents can be accounted for. 

In treating of the probable origin of these figured specimens 
the author says *: ‘The movement which caused this fracture 
and impelled the pieces on to the yet fluid mass was probably the 
same which caused the whole surface on which the fractured 
pieces alighted to slip forwards, and which surface and the mass 
beneath it, probably by the very agitation thus caused, instantly 
solidified, leaving the ridge a b, and fixing the fractured pleces 
firm. 

“ This case illustrates and demonstrates all the conditions al- 
ready noticed ; extreme liquidity and rapid solidification of the 
flint, together with the soft state of the surrounding chalk.” 

Here the author distinctly recognises the theory of the gelati- 
nous condition of flint, although he appears in the commence- 
ment of the paper to have repudiated it, and in the following 
page he sayst: “Where organic remains of any considerable 
size, or grouped in particular masses, happened to be abundant — 
and lie near one another, they acted as separate centres, while 
the solution was attracted to them m a mass.” I must confess 
that this mode of accounting for the fantastically-formed nodules 
of flint is perfectly incomprehensible to me. I cannot by any 
stretch of the imagination conceive a mass of saturated solution 
of “extreme liquidity ” preserving its integrity for a moment at 
the bottom of the ocean, and especially amidst so many minute 
currents as the author supposes to exist. But let us see what 
foundation we have for the supposed “ masses” of solution of 
silex. 

Throughout the whole of the report of Dr. Turner’s lecture, 
there is nothing touching the existence in nature of a gelatinous 
condition of silex beyond the supposition of Brongniart that such 
might be the case, and which is expressed thus{: “ In the forma- 
tion of chalcedony and flint, it was most likely, as Brongniart sup- 
posed, that the silica, as in operations in the laboratory, was depo- 
sited in a gelatinous form, hardening gradually by evaporation 
and the cohesive attraction of its particles.” By the use of the 
word evaporation it is evident that the passage is not applicable 
to the conditions of silex in solution in the depths of the ocean. 
The author then proceeds thus: “The regularly disposed lines 
which were so beautifully displayed in some varieties of chalcedony, 
seemed owing to successive deposition—one layer succeeding an- 
other, each assuming the form and irregularities of the preceding, 


* Page 15. T Page 16. 
+ London and Edinb. Phil. Mag. vol. iii. p. 27. 


Mr. J. S. Bowerbank on the Siliceous Bodies of the Chalk. 261 


and differing in tint according to the absence or presence of small 
varying quantities of foreign matter, such as iron or manganese.” 

It is evident from this passage that Dr. Turner had chalce- 
dony more especially in his mind when he penned this passage, 
and that in reality he believed flints to have originated from or- 
ganized bodies by slow infiltration, for the last passage quoted is 
immediately succeeded by the following one: “In the case of 
flint it was necessary,” he said, “to account for that remarkable 
tendency which silica possessed to occupy the place of organic 
matter, as exemplified by the specimens of flint, silicified wood, 
and coral on the lecture-table. This phenomenon the lecturer 
thought might be explained on the principles which had been 
developed that evening. Siliceous solutions infiltrating through 
organic masses in progress of decay, might readily be decom- 
posed by the affinity of gases or other compounds generated 
during slow putrefaction, either for the silica itself or for its 
solvent. In either case a deposit of silex would result.” From 
this passage it would appear that, although he quotes the sup- 
position of Brongniart, he was for his own part of opinion that 
the slow infiltration and deposit through the agency of the de- 
composition of organic bodies had been the means of the forma- 
tion of flint. 

Let us now inquire what foundation there is for the supposi- 
tion that flints are formed from detached masses of gelatinous 
solution of silex. Have such solutions ever been found in na- 
ture? Is there a single writer on chemistry or mineralogy who 
describes such a condition of silex as natural? Mackenzie in 
his account of Iceland speaks of the vast deposits of silex in the 
form of siliceous sinter, and of its encrusting the living stems of 
grasses, but says not a word of its ever occurring in the gelati- 
nous form under any circumstances; and Mr. C. C. Babington, 
who has recently returned from a visit to the Geysers, confirms 
this account, and also has told me that in no case did he see 
anything in the form of a soft or gelatinous deposit of silex in 
the neighbourhood of the springs, although he saw the Great 
Geyser more than once in full action. Certainly if there be any 
place in the world where we should expect to find this gelatinous 
form of silex deposited in a natural condition, it is there, where 
the waters are so high in temperature and so abundantly charged 
with the earth in solution, and yet nothing approaching to it has 
ever been observed by the most enlightened and observant visitors 
of the spot. From our own knowledge of nature, therefore, we 
may reasonably arrive at the conclusion that such a natural con- 
dition of silex as the gelatinous one is no more to be expected 
than that we should find pure potassium or sodium occurring in 
the bowels of the earth, or any other such substance which is the 


262 Zoological Society. 


result of chemical science only, and not the natural condition o 
the bodies in question. We can only therefore regard the idea 
of Brongniart as a pure hypothesis, which is very much easier to 
invent than it is to carefully work out the truth by laborious in- 
vestigation. 

And again, let me ask, what is the necessity for resorting to 
far-fetched hypotheses to account for the presence of the silex, 
when we have such frequent and obvious evidences of its great 
prevalence in solution in water under almost every description 
of circumstances? We have but to examine wheaten straw to 
be assured of its having been imbibed by the plant from the 
water of the soil during its growth and secreted as one of its 
component elements in great abundance; and every little boggy 
hole that is filled with water, every pond, ditch, lake, river or sea, 
swarms with Desmidize and infusorial animalcules alike secreting 
silex as their outward covering and protection, evincing in all 
these situations the abundance of the earth in question in solu- 
tion ; and geology is proving to us daily that such also has been 
the case from time immemorial. No vast pressure, no high 
temperature is in reality required to sustain silex in solution, 
and this is readily to be proved by reference to springs in our 
own country, as at Bath, where the hot-bath spring yields 
128 gallons of water per minute, or 184,320 gallons per day ; 
and as each pint of the water, according to the analysis of Mr. 
R. Phillips, contains one-fifth of a grain of silex, there is conse- 
quently 352 pounds of solid silex poured forth in solution in 
every day’s discharge, or 12,857 lbs. per annum, and the water 
has a temperature of only 117° Fahr. The Great Geyser in Ice- 
land jets forth a column 200 feet high and 10 feet in diameter 
at a boiling temperature, and contains, it is said, 31°38 grains 
of silex per gallon. If these two comparatively insignificant 
sources produce thus much of silex, ought we to be at all either 
surprised or astonished at the universal presence of this earth in 
solution ? 


PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 


ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 


December 8, 1846.—George Gulliver, Esq., F.R.S., in the Chair. 


A paper was read containing descriptions of 38 new species of 
Land-shells, in the collection of Hugh Cuming, Esq., by Dr. L. 
Pfeiffer :— 


1. Parmacenta Cuminer, Pfr. Parm. testd depresso-semiovatd, 
tenuissimd, striatd, lineis spiralibus subtiliter decussatd, diaphand, 


Zoological Society. 263 


pallid virenti-corned vel (in adultis) succined ; spird vie promi- 
nuld, subpapillatd ; anfractibus 2; columella arcuatd, acutd. 

Long. 6, lat. 6, alt. 23 mill. 

From the island of Juan Fernandez (H. Cuming). 

2. Succinga PALLIDA, Pfr. Succ. testd ovato-conicd, solidiusculd, 
longitudinaliter ruguloso-striatd, diaphand, pallidé stramined ; 
spird acutd; anfractibus 4 convexis ; columelld leviter arcuatd, 
jilari, supra basin aperture ovalis subtruncatd ; peristomate mar- 
gine subincrassato. 

Long. 13, lat. 7, alt. 64 mill.; apert. 85 mill. longa. 

From Tahiti (H. Cuming). 


3. Succinga sEmiaLoBosa, Pfr. Succ. testd ovato-semiglobosd, 
tenui, levigatd, nitidissimd, lutescenti-corned ; spird vix promi- 
nuld, obtusd ; anfractibus 2, ultimo ventroso ; columelld strictius- 
culd, oblique recedente ; aperturd rotundato-ovali. 

Long. 8, lat. 63, alt. 4 mill.; apert. 7} mill. longa. 

From the island of Massafuera, Chile (H. Cuming). 


4. Succinea TAHITENSIS, Pfr. Succ. testdé ovatd, striatuld, tenui, 
vix nitidd, pellucida, pallidé succined; spird brevi, obtusiusculd ; 
anfractibus 24 convexis, ultimo ovato ; columelld leviter arcuatd, 
medio obsolete (interdum distinct?) angulatd ; apertura regulari- 
ter ovali ; peristomate expansiusculo. 

Long. 12, lat. 7, alt. 45 mill; apert. 82 mill. longa. 

From Tahiti (H. Cuming). 


5. Hezrx Linpont, Pfr. Hel. testa imperforatd, semiglobosd, tenuit, 
trregulariter striatuld, superné opacd, albidd, punctis castaneis 
conspersd et lined nigricanti-castaned ad suturam ornatd ; anfrac- 
tibus 45 convexiusculis, ultimo basi planulato, pellucido, corneo- 
virente, antice breviter deflexo; columelld intrante, declivi, sub- 
arcuatd, dilatatd, introrsum acutd; aperturd lunato-ellipticd ; 
peristomate simplice, recto. 

Diam. 16, alt. 93 mill. 

From the island of Cuba (Lindon). 


6. Hevrx pempnicopgs, Pfr. Hel. testd imperforatd, subglobosd, 
tenui, membranaced, oblique plicatuld, diaphand, lutescenti-corned ; 
spird brevi, papillatd; anfractibus 4 vix convewis, ultimo per- 
magno, carinato, juxta suturam inflato, basi convexo, antice vie 
descendente ; columelld simplice, acutd, subverticali; aperturd 
ampld, fere circulari; peristomate simplice, acuto, marginibus 
conniventibus. 

Diam. 18, alt. 12 mill. 

From the island of Cuba (Lindon). 


7. Hexrx eravata, Pfr. Hel. testd imperforatd, globoso-turbinatd, 
striatuld, tenui, hyalind ; spird turbinatd, ad apicem acutd ; anfrac- 
tibus 6 convexiusculis, gradatis, ultimo medio acut2 carinato, basi 
convexo, sub lente minutissimeé concentriceé striato ; aperturd sub- 
tetragono-lunari ; peristomate simplice, acuto, margine columellari 
verticaliter descendente. 


264 | Zoological Society. 


Diam. 5, alt. 5 mill. 
From the island of Leyte (H. Cuming). 
Nearly allied to H. tongana, Quoy. 


8. Hexix Barcrayana, Pfr. Hel. testd umbilicatd, depresso-tur- 
binatd, confertim oblique costatd, albd, epidermide fusco-olivaced 
indutd ; spird conoided, apice obtuso ; suturd profundd ; anfracti- 
bus 54 convexis, ultimo medio carinato (interdum obsolete bicari- 
nato), basi convexiusculo; umbilico mediocri, fere cylindrico ; 
apertura subverticali, quadrangulari ; peristomate simplice, acuto, 
margine columellari verticaliter descendente, cum basali angulum 
formante. 

Diam. 18, alt. 12 mill. 

From the island of France (Sir D. Barclay). 


9. Heurx arcuata, Pfr. Hel. testd umbilicatd, orbiculato-converd, 
tenui, pellucidd, pallidé corned, confertim et regulariter arcuato- 
plicatd; spird late conoided, apice obtusiusculo; anfractibus 6 
vix convexiusculis, carind acutd, serratd marginatis, ultimo circa 
umbilicum magnum, feré cylindricum subcompresso ; aperturd an- 
gulato-lunari, latd ; peristomate simplice, acuto, margine columel- 
lari brevi, vertical. 

Diam. 54, alt. 23 mill. 

From the province of Cagayan, island of Luzon (H. Cuming). 


10. Hexix Mienexsrana, Pfr. Hel. testd umbilicatd, globosd, so- 
lidd, validé et confertim plicatd, spiraliter obsolete striatd, rufd 
vel lutescenti-fuscd ; spird conoideo-semiglobosd ; anfractibus 5 
convexiusculis, ultimo ventroso, anticé vir descendente, circa um- 
bilicum angustum compresso; aperturd subverticali, rotundato- 
lunari ; peristomate recto, intus albo-labiato, margine columellari 
dilatato-patente. 

Diam. 19, alt. 15 mill. 

From Surigao, island of Mindanao (H. Cuming). 


11. Hexrx Rissoana, Pfr. Hel. testd perforatd, globosd, tenui, 
striatd, diaphand, vir nitidd, rufa; spird conoided, obtusiusculd ; 
anfractibus 6 convexiusculis, ultimo subangulato, medio pallide 
cingulato, antice breviter descendente, basi ventroso; aperturd 
magnd, semicirculart ; peristomate intus rubello-labiato, breviter 
expanso, margine columellari in laminam brevem, perforationem 
semioccultantem reflexo. 

Diam. 18, alt. 13 mill. 

From Greece (Lieut. Spratt, R.N.). 


12. Hxew1x picryopss, Pfr. Hel. testd angusté umbilicatd, depressd, 
sublenticulari, oblique plicato-striatd, tenuiusculd, diaphand, pal- 
lide corned, fusco subtiliter reticulataé et maculis castaneis juxta 
suturam et carinam ornatd; spird late conoided; anfractibus 7 
vix convexiusculis, ultimo acute carinato ; aperturd subverticali, 
depressd, lunari, intus margaritaced ; peristomate simplice, mar- 
gine columellari breviter dilatato-patente, basali sinuoso, reflexius- 
culo. 


Zoological Society. 265 


Diam. 27, alt. 12 mill. 
From New Guinea (Ince). 


13. Hexix ptienaria, Pfr. Hel. testd imperforatd, subgloboso- 
depressd, solidd, levigatd, castaned, fasciis variis epidermidis 
hydrophane, fusco-cineree obductd; spird vix elevatd, obtuse ; 
anfractibus 44 vix convexiusculis, celeriter accrescentibus, ultimo 
ad peripheriam subangulato ; columella strictiusculd, perobliqud, 
latd, planatd, fuscd; aperturd rotundato-lunari, intus albidd ; 
peristomate subincrassato, brevissimé reflexo, fusco-marginato. 

Diam. 45, alt. 27 mill. 

From Surigao, island of Mindanao (H. Cuming). 


14, Hexrx crassiLaBris, Pfr. Hel. testd imperforatd, depressd, 
crassd, ponderosd, trregulariter striatd et undique granulatd, al- 
bidd, lineis spiralibus, undulatis, fuscis, fascidque unicd ad peri- 
pheriam ornatd ; spird viz elevatd, distincté granulatd, apice nudo, 
albo; anfractibus 44 planiusculis, sensim accrescentibus, ultimo 
minutissime granulato, medio subcarinato, antice vix descendente ; 
aperturd obliqud, semiellipticd, intus albd ; peristomate undique 
incrassato-reflexo, margine dextro subsinuoso, columellari intus 
obsolete plicato. 

Diam. 42, alt. 22 mill. 

From the island of Cuba (Lindon). 


15. Hexix Spenereriana, Pfr. Hel. testd imperforatd, depressd, 
solidd, striatd, nitidd, pallidé castaned ; spird parum elevatd, ob- 
tusd; anfractibus 54, supremis planis, minutissim? granulatis, 2 
ultimis convexis, ultimo medio obtusé carinato, basi convexiusculo ; 
aperturd perobliqud, lunari, intus fusculd ; peristomate late expan- 
so, breviter reflero, marginibus callo nitido junctis, basali sinuoso, 
refleco, subappresso, columellari perdilatato, adnato, umbilicum 
prorsus tegente. 

Diam. 49, alt. 26 mill. 

From the island of Jamaica (Gosse). 


16. Hexix coponopss, Pfr. Hel. testd umbilicatd, globoso-conoi- 
ded, solidd, oblique striatuld, lineis spiralibus confertis subtilissime 
sculptd, nitidd, albd, castaneo-bifasciata ; spird campanulatd, apice 
obtusiusculo ; anfractibus 54 vix convexis, ultimo antice deflexo, 
basi juxta aperturam gibboso-subconstricto ; aperturd obliqud, fere 
circulari ; peristomate incrassato, reflexo, marginibus approxima- 
tis, callo nitido junctis, columellari dilatato, patente, sinuoso, 

Diam. 20, alt. 17 mill. 

From the Philippine Islands (H. Cuming). 

The described specimen shows a tooth-like protuberance on the 

inner side of the columella, which seems not to belong to the essen- 
tial characters of this species. 


17. Buuimvus castus, Pfr. Bul. testd subperforatd, ovato-conicd, 
tenuiusculd, minutim et obsolete decussatuld, hyalino-albidd, basi 
et prope aperturam erubescens ; spird conicd, acutiusculd ; anfrac- 


Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Vol. xix. 19 


266 Zoological Society. 


tibus 54 convexiusculis, ultimo spiram pauld superante ; columella 
strictiusculd, filiformi; aperturd oblongd; peristomate simplice, 
roseo, marginibus subparallelis, callo tenui junctis, dextro breviter 
expanso, columellari brevissimé reflexo, perforationem fere clau- 
dente. 

Long. 19, diam. 9 mill. 

From Central America ? (Lattre). 


18. Buximus ERvusescens, Pfr. Bul. testd subperforatd, oblongo- 
turritd, leviusculd, lineis spiralibus sub lente insculptd, carneo- 
luted, apice rubicundd ; spird turritd, apice acuto ; anfractibus 6 
planiusculis, ultimo spird pauld breviore ; columelld superné sub- 
tortd, basi pauld recedente ; aperturd oblongd, intus nitide albd ; 
peristomate simplice, margine dextro expansiusculo, columellari 
Jornicatim breviter reflexo, subappresso. 

Long. 24, diam. 10 mill. 

Locality unknown. 


19. Burimus rimatus, Pfr. Bul. testd profunde rimatd, oblongo- 
turritd, tenuiusculd, subarcuatim striatuld, pallide corned; spird 
turritd, obtusiusculd ; anfractibus 7 fere planis, ultimo 3 longitu- 
dinis equante, basi rotundato ; columelld intus uniplicatd ; aperturd 
oblongo-ovali; peristomate simplice, marginibus approximatis, 
callo junctis, dextro vix expanso, columellari dilatato, patente. 

Long. 33, diam. 11 mill. 

Locality unknown. 


20. Butimus Stuperi, Pfr. Bul. testd perforatd, oblongo-conicd, 
tenuiusculd, striatuld, lineis spiralibus confertis sub lente decussatd,. 
nitidd, albd, cingulis angustis, roseis 3-4 ornatd; spird conicd, 
acutd ; anfractibus 6 vir convexiusculis, ultimo 4 longitudinis sub- 
@quante ; columella arcuatd ; apertura ovali-ellipticd, intus con- 
colore ; peristomate simplice, marginibus subconniventibus, dextro 
breviter expanso, columellari fornicatim reflexo, roseo. 

Long. 25, diam. 10 mill. 

From Central America? (H. Cuming). 


21. Buxrimus Moricann1, Pfr. Bul. testd perforatd, ovato-conicd, 
tenui, lineis spiralibus subconfertis insculptd, subdiaphand, citrind ; 
spird conicd, acutiusculd ; suturd pallidé submarginatd ; anfracti- 
bus 6 vix convezis, ultimo spiram equante ; columella strictd ; aper- 
turd suboblongd, truncato-ovali, intus concolore ; peristomate sim- 
plice, breviter expanso, margine columellari superné breviter 
patenti-reflexo. 

Long. 24, diam. 12 mill. 

From Mount Coban, Central America (Lattre). 


22. Butimus Exnrenserct, Pfr. Bul. testd profunde rimatd, ob- 
longd, solidd, oblique striatuld, albidd; spird oblongd, apice atte- 
nuato, obtusiusculo ; anfractibus 7% vix convexiusculis, ultimo 2 
longitudinis pauld superante ; aperturd angulato-ovali ; peristomate 
incrassato, breviter reflexo, marginibus callo crasso, prope inser- 


Zoological Society. 267 


tionem labri tuberculifero junctis, columellari dilatato, crasso, 
patente. 

Long. 24, diam. 10 mill. 

From Cerigotto, Greece (Lieut. Spratt, R. N.). 


23. Bunimus Rossmassuieri, Pfr. Bul. testd profunde rimatd, 
oblongd, soliduld, confertim rugoso-plicata, superne fusco-corned, 
basi sordidé albidd; spird oblongo-conicd, apice obtuso; anfrac- 
tibus 8 vix convexiusculis, ultimo bast rotundato, 4 longitudinis 
a@quante ; columella brevi, strictiusculd ; aperturd truncato-ovali, 
intus albd ; peristomate albo-labiato, breviter expanso, marginibus 
callo tenui, juxta insertionem labri dentifero junctis, columellari 
dilatato, patente. 

Long. 19, diam. 7 mill. 

Locality unknown. 


24. Butimus Draparnavunl, Pfr. Bul. testd subobtecté perforatd, 
oblongo-subfusiformi, striatuld, opacd, nitidd, albd, cerulescenti- 
nebulosd, strigis nigro-castaneis et brunneis, interdum maculose 
interruptis, ornatd ; spird turrito-conicd, ad apicem acutd ; anfrac- 
tibus 7 convewxiusculis, ultimo 2 longitudinis subequante ; columelld 
rectd; aperturd oblongd; peristomate simplice, acuto, margine 
columellari dilatato, membranaceo, angulatim reflexo, appresso. 

Long. 28, diam. 11 mill. 

2. Minor, interstitiis strigarum castaneo-litiuratis. 

From Chilon, Bolivia (Bridges). 

25. Buximus Zineuert, Pfr. Bul. testd subperforatd, ovato-conicd, 
tenui, confertim striatuld, lineis spiralibus sub lente obsolete decus- 
satd, albidd; spird conicd, acutiusculd ; anfractibus 6 vix con- 
vexiusculis, ultimo medio subangulato, spird pauld breviore ; colu- 
melld pauld recedente; aperturd ovali; peristomate simplice, 
margine columellari breviter reflexo, subappresso. 

Long. 21, diam. 10 mill. 

B. T. pellucida, lutescente, fasciis castaneis, supremis maculose in- 
terruptis, cinctd. 

Locality unknown. 


26. Buxiimus Savi, Pfr. Bul. testd subperforatd, ovato-oblongd, 
solidiusculd, confertim rugoso -plicatd, nitidd, albd, strigis pellu- 
cidis, fuscis ornatd ; spird conicd, obtusiusculd ; anfractibus 6 viz 
convexis, ultimo spiram subequante, basi attenuato, circa perfora- 
tionem obsoletam fusco-areolato ; columelid leviter arcuatd ; aper- 
turd elliptico-oblongd, intus fusco-carned ; peristomate simplice, 
margine columellari breviter reflexo, subappresso. 

Long. 20, diam. 9 mill. 

Locality unknown. 


27. Bunimus conirormis, Pfr. Bul. testd subperforatd, ovato- 
conicd, tenui, irregulariter striatd, fuscescenti-albidd, strigis ob- 
liquis, fuscis signatd; spird conicd, acutiusculd; anfractibus 5 
planiusculis, ultimo spiram pauld superante, medio anguilato, basi 
subcompresso ; columelld leviter arcuatd ; aperturd ovali, utrinque 

: 19* 


268 Zoological Society. 


angustatd ; peristomate simplice, recto, margine columellari superne 
_ dilatato, breviter reflexo. 
Long. 12, diam. 6} mill. 
From Merida, Andes of Bolivia (T. Bridges). 


28. Butimus Sowersyl, Pfr. Bul. testd perforatd, ovato-conicd, 
tenui, sublevigatd, albidd, strigis obliquis, castaneis, maculas 
albas pyramidales et rhomboidales formantibus ornatd ; spird co- 
nicd, acutd; anfractibus 6} vix conveziusculis, ultimo spiram 
equante, medio pallide, juxta basin attenuatam castaneo-unifasciato ; 
columelld pauld recedente; aperturd oblongo-ovali ; peristomate 
simplice, recto, margine columellari angulatim late reflezo, plano. 

Long. 22, diam. 10 mill. 

From the Columbian Andes (Lindon). 


29. Butimus porpuyrivs, Pfr. Bul. testd perforatd, oblongo- 
attenuatd, solidiusculd, confertim et ruditer corrugatd, castaned, 
strigis albis irregulariter marmoraté ; spird conicd, ad apicem 
obtusd ; suturd submarginatd, irregulariter crenata ; anfractibus 
7 planiusculis, summis subtiliter granulatis, ultimo spird pauld 
breviore ; columella subrectd ; aperturd angustd, oblongd ; peristo- 
mate simplice, acuto, margine columellari dilatato, reflexo, carneo- 
livido, perforationem feré occultante. 

Long, 51, diam. 20 mill. 

From Bolivia (T. Bridges). 


30. Butimus Vorruianus, Pfr. Bul. testd perforatd, subfusiformi- 
oblongd, soliduld, rugis longitudinalibus et linets concentricis im- 
pressis ruditer granulatd, sordidé albd; spird conicd, ad apicem 
acutiusculd ; anfractibus 6-7 vix convexiusculis, ultimo spird pauld 
breviore ; columelld subverticali, nigro-castaned ; aperturd an- 
gustd, oblongd, intus castaned ; peristomate simplice, recto, mar- 
ginibus callo fusco junctis, columellari dilatato, fornicatim reflexo, 
perforationem profundam non tegente. 

Long. 19, diam. 73 mill. 

From Chile (T. Bridges). 


31. Burtimus castrensis, Pfr. Bul. testd angusté umbilicatd, ob- 
longo-conicd, levissimé striatuld, opacd, albidd, strigis spadiceis 
denticulatis et maculis albis pyramidalibus ornatd ; spird conicd, 
acutiusculd ; anfractibus 7 vix convexiusculis, ultimo ventrosiore, 
infra medium lineis nonnullis spadiceis cincto, 2 longitudinis sub- 
equante ; columelld strictiusculd ; aperturd oblonga ; peristomate 
simplice, recto, margine dextro superné arcuato, columellari dila- 
tato, patente. 

Long. 19, diam. 9 mill. 

Locality unknown. 


32. Buximus anpicota, Pfr. Bul. testd perforatd, turrito-conicd, 
solidd, lineis concentricis, confertis sub lente sculptd, opacd, nitidd, 
albd, strigis fuscis, linearibus irregulariter ornata ; spird elongatd, 
acutiusculd ; anfractibus 7 convewxiusculis, ultimo 3 longitudinis 
subequante, basi rotundato ; columelld deorsum aliquantulum rece- 


Zoological Society. 269 


dente ; apertura ovali-oblongd ; peristomate simplice, acuto, mar- 
gine columellari superne fornicatim reflexo, perforationem angus- 
tam formante. 

Long. 24, diam. 11 mill. 

From the Columbian Andes (Lindon). 


33. Pupa eLrecantuLa, Pfr. Pup. testd breviter rimatd, subcylin- 
draced, apice obtuso, levigato, nitido, hyalino ; anfractibus 7 pla- 
niusculis, ultimo precedente pauld angustiore, extus medio sulcato, 
intus lamellis 2 validis, suture parallelis, plicdque profundd colu- 
melle paralleld munito ; aperturd subsemicirculari, lamella parietis 
aperturalis intrante juxta insertionem labri coarctata ; peristomate 
expansiusculo, margine dextro flecuoso, medio subincrassato. 

Long. 62, diam. 3 mill. 

Locality unknown. 


34. Acwatina LAmarckiana, Pfr. Ach. testd ovato-conicd, solidd, 
ponderosd, ruditer plicatd, in fundo albido strigis fulminatis nigri- 
cantibus et castaneis, maculisque rufis variegatd ; spird conicd, 
pallidd, apice obtusiusculo ; anfractibus 8 convexiusculis, supremis 
lineis spiralibus obsolete decussatis, ultimo ventroso, spiram supe- 
rante; columelld arcuatd, purpureo-callosd, supra basin aperture 
oblique et leviter truncatd ; aperturd ovali, intus margaritaced, 
cerulescente, saturatius marmoratdé; peristomate fusco-limbato, 
marginibus callo purpureo junctis. 

Long. 108, diam. 52 mill. 

From the interior of the island of Madagascar. 


35. Acnatina Ranerana, Pfr. Ach. testd elongatd, turritd, solidd, 
ponderosd, levissimé arcuatim substriatd, lineis spiralibus distan- 
tibus notatd, stramined, apice albo, obtusiusculo ; suturd levissimé ; 
anfractibus 11 planulatis, ultimo + longitudinis pauld superante, 
basi rotundato ; columelld rectd, callosd, ad basin aperture bre- 
viter et oblique truncatdé ; aperturd subsemiovali, intus margari- 
taced ; peristomate simplice, acuto. 

Long. 39, diam. 11 mill. 

From Mexico (Lindon). 


36. AcHaTiInA BuLIMOIDES, Pfr. Ach. testd ovato-conicd, tenui, 
striatd, epidermide corneo-luted, pellucidd indutd; spird conicd, 
acutd; anfractibus 55 vix convevis, ultimo ventrosiore, spiram 
@quante ; columelld superné tortd, filari, supra basin aperture 
obsoletissime truncatd, callo tenui ventrem anfractds penultimi 
vestiente munitd ; aperturd lat? semiovali ; peristomate simplice, 
tenut. 

Long. 11, diam. 6 mill. 

From the island of Juan Fernandez (H. Cuming). 


37. Acnatina (Grianpina) Linpvont, Pfr. Ach. testd oblongd, 
utrinque attenuatd, soliduld, levigatd, nitidd, pallide fulvd, lineis 
incrementi arcuatis, vix prominentibus, saturatioribus notatd ; 
spird conicd, acutiusculd ; suturd submarginatd ; anfractibus 8 
planiusculis, 2 ultimis oblique descendentibus, ultimo spiram 


270 Zoological Society. 


e@quante, supra columellam intus gibboso; columelld brevi, ad 
basin aperture oblique truncata ; aperturd angustissimd, basi sub- 
canaliculatd ; peristomate simplice, marginibus callo junctis, dextro 
antrorsum arcuato-dilatato. 

Long. 21, diam. 6 mill. 

From the island of Cuba (Lindon). 


38. CytinprELLA Sowersyana, Pfr. Cyl. testd truncatd, cylin- 
draceo-subulatd, solidiusculd, oblique subarcuatim costulato-striatd, 
opacd, cinnamomeo et albo radiatd ; anfractibus (spec. trunc.) 16 
angustis, convexiusculis, ultimo basi subcarinato (carind parum 
prominente, fere rectanguld), anticé vix protracto, subtilius striato ; 
aperturd subcirculari ; peristomate undique libero, tenui, breviter 
expanso, margine supero sursum dilatato. 

Long. 35, diam. 8 mill. 

From the island of Cuba (Lindon). 


December 22.—R. C. Griffith, Esq., in the Chair. 


The following descriptions of new species of Chama, by Lovell 
Reeve, were communicated by Hugh Cuming, Esq. 


OCuHAMA FIMBRIATA. Cham. testd suborbiculari, valvis ambabus 
concentricé fimbriato-lamellatis, valvarum marginibus minute cre- 
nulatis ; lutescente-albd. 

Hab. Point Cunningham, North Australia; Dring. 

A very distinct species, though its characters are set forth in few 

words; the lamelle are not isolated as in most of the genus, but 
arranged in concentric continuous wavy frills. 


CHaMA PANAMENSIS. Cham. testd ovatd, circiter trigond, late- 
raliter affizd, valvd superiore postice levi, tenuissime appresso- 
laminatd, antice rugosd, rude fimbriatd, inferiore levi, per basim 
lamellatd, valvarum marginibus levibus ; albidd, ferrugineo-fusco 
hic illic tinctd. 

Hab. Panama (attached to stones); Cuming. 

The upper valve of this shell is distinguished in a peculiar manner 

by its twofold style of sculpture. 


CHAMA PRETEXTA. Cham. testd ovatd, valvis ambabus concentric? 
pulcherrime fimbriatis, fimbriis tenuibus subpellucidis, grandibus, 
plus minusve erectis, valvarum marginibus levibus ; pallidé croced, 
fimbriis supra rufescentibus. 

Hab. ? 

This truly delicate and beautiful shell was received by Mr. Cuming 
from a continental naturalist of some celebrity as the C’. croceata of 
Lamarck, but it does not answer to the description. ‘There are 
several Lamarckian species of this genus, and even the Linnean 
C. gryphoides, which it is quite impossible to identify with the least 
degree of certainty. 


Cuama Exicua. Cham. testd parvd, tenui, subpellucidd, cireiter 
trigond, lateraliter afficd, valud supertore minutissime appresso- 


Zoological Society. 271 


laminatd et radiatim striatd, subasperd, inferiore divaricatim ex- 
cavato-punctatd, per basim lamellatd ; albd. 

Hab. Singapore (dredged from sandy mud at the depth of seven 
fathoms attached to fragments of shells) ; Cuming. 

A little transparent white shell, of which Mr. Cuming collected 
several specimens; the lower valve is distinguished by a peculiarity 
of punctured sculpture somewhat analogous to that of the C. arcinella ; 
there is no trace of it, however, in the upper valve, as in that species. 


Cuama FracGum. Cham. testd suborbiculari, valvd superiore con- 
centric tenuissime fimbriato-laminatd, laminis marginem versus 
subtubulosis, inferiore rudé tubuloso-squamatd, valvarum margini- 
bus minute crenulatis ; albd, rufo-punctatd, intus albidd, 

Hab, Island of Mindoro, Philippines (attached to coral) ; Cuming. 

The sculpture of this species somewhat approaches that of the 

C. spinosa; it is of a more minute and delicate character and easily 
distinguished on comparison. 


Cuama varieGatTa. Cham. testd oblongo-ovatd, circiter trigond, 
valud superiore lamellatd, precipue in seriebus duabus posticis, 
lamellis latiusculis appressis, interstitiis oblique rugoso-liratis, 
squamis perpaucis brevibus remotis, valvarum marginibus levibus ; 
corallo-rubrd, liris lamellis squamisque albis, intus albidd, rufo- 
Susco tinctd. 

Hab. Honduras; Dyson. 

The colouring of this shell has a very pretty effect, the oblique 

ridges and other external sculpture being white upon a coral or 
orange-red ground. 


Cuama cistunta. Cham. testd orbiculari, postice profunde sinuatd, 
valvis ambabus peculiariter rudé lamellatd et squamatd, squamis 
ad margines subproductis, appressis, valvarum marginibus lavibus ; 
albidd, roseo-fuscescente varid, intus albd. 

Hab. Honduras; Dyson. 

The upper valve of this shell is rather more convex than usual ; 

the sculpture peculiarly rudely developed. 


» Cnama tumutosa. Cham. testd orbiculari, postice subprofunde 
sinuatd, valvis ambabus valde convexis, rudé tumulosis et imbri- 
catis, interstitiis postice oblique liratis, liris minutissimeé squamatis, 
valvarum marginibus levibus ; aurantio rufoque varid, liris posticis 
albis, intus albd. 

Hab. Honduras (attached to coral) ; Dyson. 

A striking species, though of rude growth; it is doubly sinuated 
on the posterior side, having round orange protuberances along the 
summit, whilst the channeled interstices have a striped appearance, 
from their being crossed by white ridges on a blood-red ground. 


CHAMA LINGUA-FELIS. Cham. testd orbiculari, supra depressiusculd, 
valvis ambabus precipue inferiore minute retuse squamatis, supe- 
riore pulcherrime fimbriato-laminatd, laminis appressis, postice 
concavo-planatd, ad angulos elongato-lamellatis, valvarum margini- 
bus levibus ; nived, rosaceo hic illic tinctd. 


272 ‘Loological Society. 


Had. Island of Guimaras, Philippines (attached to stones); Cu- 
ming. 

An extremely delicate and characteristic species, in which the 
upper valve is very finely laminated, whilst the ground sculpture of 
both that and the lower valves is of a curious roughened character, 
somewhat similar to the Telline scobinata and lingua-felis. 


Cuama PELLIS-PHOCE. Cham. testd suborbiculart, valvd superiore 
undique minutissime squamatd, squamis umbonem versus brevissime 
retusis, marginem versus longioribus subspiniferis, inferiore rude 
lamellatd, valvarum marginibus levibus ; albd, squamis marginem 
versus rufo-fuscis, umbone roseo. 

Hab. Island of Ticao, Philippines (attached to stones) ; Cuming. 

The pink stain upon the umbone is probably a character which 

may help to distinguish this species. 


Cuama Aaprpressa. Cham. testd orbiculari, valvis ambabus concen- 
trice laminatis, laminis tenuibus plano-appressis, inferiore postice 
liris perpaucis minutis oblique exsculptd, valvarum marginibus 
levibus ; albd, roseo-fuscescente sparsim tinctd. 

Hab. Honduras; Dyson. 

Distinguished by its concentric flatly appressed lamine. 


Cuama Rurretii. Cham. testd suborbiculari, valvd inferiori valde 
productd, crassiusculd, levigatd, plus minusve erosd ; albidd, val- 
varum marginibus internis vivide rufo-purpureis. 

Hab. Red Sea. 

Approximating closely to the C. iostoma, but from so remote a 

locality that I venture to distinguish it as a new species. 


Cuama Brassica. Cham. testd suborbiculari-ovatd, circiter tri- 
gond, valvis ambabus rugosis, profuse squamatis, squamis valve 
superioris subfoliaceis, inferioris brevibus, erectis ; albidd, squamis 
roseis. 

Hab. Island of Cabul, Philippines (under stones at low water) ; 

Cuming. 

An interesting species, curiously scaled, and of peculiarly circui- 

tous growth. 


Cuama Carpit#rormis. Cham. testd transversim oblongd, valvis 
ambabus radiatim minutissimé squame liratis, squamis appressis, 
posticis majoribus, valvarum marginibus crenulatis ; albd, lirarum 
interstitus postice coccineo-rufis. 

Hab. ? 

Easily distinguished by its peculiar oblong growth, which appa- 

rently is not accidental. 


Cuama venosa. Cham. testd circiter trigond, lateraliter affixd, 
valvis ambabus levibus, radiatim subobsoleté tricostatd, costis 
asperé nodulosis; albd, lineis purpureo-roseis obliquis undique — 
venosd, intus albd. 

Hab. ? (Attached to shells.) 

The blood-red lines with which the entire surface of this shell is 


Zoological Society. 273 


painted are not less characteristic than the three faint sharply-no- 
duled ribs. 


Cuama Janus. Cham. testd circiter trigond, valvd inferiore et 
dimidio postici superioris levibus vel oblique obtuse liratis, squa- 
marum brevium seriebus duabus radiantibus, valvd superiore un- 
dique irregulariter appresso-squamatd, valvdrum marginibus levi- 
bus ; purpureo-rufd, liris obliquis squamisque albis. 

Hab. Gallapagos Islands (attached to the large Avicule) ; Cuming. 

The general aspect of this shell is not much unlike that of C. 

venosa, but the difference may be easily detected on examination ; 
instead of being veined with fine lines of colour upon a white ground, 
the oblique ridges are raised upon a red ground; besides this, the 
upper valve is characterized by a double style of both colour and 
sculpture, the anterior half being of a dull brick-red colour and ap- 
pressly scaled, whilst the posterior half is similar to the under valve. 
Mr. Broderip has figured this shell as the young C. imbricata, but it 
is far removed from that species. 


CuaMa RUBEA. Cham. testd ovatd, circiter trigond, valvis amba- 
bus rudé flexuosis et appresso-laminatis, squamis perpaucis, val- 
varum marginibus subtilissimé crenulatis, purpureo-rubrd, squamis 
albidis, intus albd, margine purpured. 

Hab. Cagayan, island of Mindanao, Philippines (attached to 

stones); Cuming. 

The under valve of the specimen here represented is more squa- 

mate, and the scales are more erect than the upper. 


Cuama Juxesit. Cham. testd ovatd, valvis ambabus profuse et 
confertissime brevispinosis, spinis valve inferioris subsquamatis ; 
intus extusyue nived, umbonibus apice pallidé purpureis. 

Hab. Cape Upstart, North Australia (on the coral reefs at low 

water) ; Jukes. 

I dedicate this shell with a great deal of pleasure to Mr. Jukes, 

the zealous naturalist of H.M.S. The Fly, to whom this monograph 
is indebted through Mr. Cuming for several interesting species. 


Cuama sarpva. Cham. testd suborbiculari, valvis ambabus peculi- 
ariter exiliter oblique striatis, squamis brevibus asperis remotis ; 
intus extusque vivide corallo-rubrd. 

Hab. Honduras (attached to coral) ; Dyson. 

Rich in colour and very characteristic in sculpture, being crossed 

in an oblique direction throughout with faint strie, and roughened 
here and there with short scales, like the asperities of a coarse file. 


The following paper, by Dr. J. H. Jonas, containing descriptions 
of two new Shells, was also communicated by Hugh Cuming, Esq. 
Pyruxa 1poLteum, Jonas. Pyr. testd oblongo-fusiformi, biconicd, 
umbilicatd, testaceo-albd, transversim regulariter liratd, sulcis 
interjectis angustis, liris sub lente squamosis ; anfractibus sex per 
longitudinem leviter plicatis, medio acuté angulatis ; angulo costa 
undulata munito ; costd squamis imbricatis oculo nudo vix conspi- 
cuis distinctd ; caudd spird breviore, recurvd et squamis armatd ; 


274 Royal Institution. 


aperturd pyriformi, intus striatd, columelld levi, nitidiusculd, cy- 
lindraced, canali recurvo, aperto. 

Long. 173, lat. 92 lin. ‘ 

Patria? 

(Exstat in museo Gruner.) 

The form of this shell differs so much from all those known to 
me, that I find it impossible to compare it with any of them ; its 
only resemblance is to a product of art—-to the roof of a Chinese 
pagoda, and for this similarity’s sake I have named it Pyrula idoleum. 
Starting from the supposition that in former times men took the 
productions of nature which surrounded them as models for their 
works of art, the peculiar form of this shell has suggested to me the 
conjecture that it originates from China; in all probability we shall 
yet obtain from this country many strange forms, as for example the 
Pyrula Mawee, which is brought from the Chinese Sea. 


ANOMIA NAVIFORMIS, Jonas. An. testd transversim elongatd, an- 
gustd, tenui, pellucidd, marginibus dorsali et ventrali parallelis, rec- 
tis, lateralibus brevibus, rotundatis ; valud majore ened, valdé con- 
cavd, minore albd, fragilissimd, concaviusculd ; foramine ovato, 
integro. 

Long. 16, lat. 4 lin. 

Patriam ignoro. 

This Anomia may perhaps be an aberrant form of the A. enigma- 
tica, with which it has great resemblance in the texture of the shell, 
position of the umbones and form of the foramen ; but I do not dare 
to assert this, and therefore I describe it as a peculiar species till 
intermediate species are found, forming the links of a chain, of which 
the above two are the terminating ones. 


Mr. Tomes exhibited to the Meeting a specimen of the Bimacu- 
lated Duck, Anas glocitans, which he had obtained in Leadenhall- 
market; the specimen is a female, and agrees in size and plumage 
with that in the Society’s collection. 


ROYAL INSTITUTION. 


March 5, 1847.—‘‘ On the Successive Phases of Geological Sci- 
ence.” By Prof. Ansted. 

The lecturer stated that he proposed to give something of a psy- 
chological view of geological history,—tracing the successive ideas 
that seem to have prevailed and to have chiefly contributed towards 
the advancement of the science,—and pointing out how far these 
ideas involved truth, and how far errors of exaggeration, although 
they were useful as suggesting new views and observations. After 
passing rapidly under review the philosophy of the ancients and the 
cosmogony of the middle ages—which latter he described as without 
the true aspect of philosophic investigation—the lecturer referred to 
the discoveries of Werner as being the first which distinctly created 
geological science. He stated that these discoveries induced three 
important assumptions :—first, that the whole crust of the earth had 


Royal Institution. 275 


been deposited mechanically from water ; secondly, that the newer 
deposits were generally horizontal ; and, thirdly, that there was an 
invariable order of superposition of similar mineral types. The idea 
thus involved was that of ‘‘the universality of formations,” and a 
perception of order in the arrangement of the materials of which the 
earth’s crust is made up; and the idea was described as useful and 
suggestive, although the conclusions were in many important respects 
unsound, While Werner was thus laying the foundation of geology 
by observations and speculations on mineral structure, William Smith, 
the father of English geology, had obtained an insight into an im- 
portant fact concerning the distribution of fossil bodies; and at the 
same time Dr. Hutton, in his ‘Theory of the Earth,’ had recognised 
a succession of worlds and a history of the nature of the succession 
by the agency of causes not different from those still in action. The 
idea involved in the discoveries of Smith was, that ‘‘ fossils are cha- 
racteristic of formations ;”’ while Hutton first appreciated the import- 
ance of existing causes. The next step in geological discovery was 
described as the result of Cuvier’s investigations in paleontology, 
and the establishment of the law of the adaptation of structure to habit 
in all animals. This law however is combined with another, also 
of great importance—that there is in all nature a permanence of ty- 
pical peculiarities. Modified and brought to bear on fossils in this 
way, the “law of universal adaptation ” was described as the sug- 
gestive idea in this step of geological progress; while the law after- 
wards made out concerning the representation of species in time as 
well as space was mentioned as affording important accessory aid in 
applying paleontology to the determination of geological problems. 
After referring to the subject of geological classification, and descri- 
bing it as the result of the working out of these various laws, the lec- 
turer briefly stated the actual results of observation in descriptive 
geology, and the nature of the most remarkable speculations in phy- 
sical geology ; but the latter were rather indicated in allusions to 
the desiderata in that department than dwelt upon or described di- 
rectly. Among these desiderata he particularly referred to the con- 
dition of knowledge with regard to metamorphic rocks, and their 
relations with rocks of distinctly igneous origin on the one hand, 
and the fossiliferous stratified rocks on the other. He stated that 
much yet remains to be done in connecting the present with the im- 
mediately antecedent condition ; but expressed grounds for belief 
that investigations actually in progress may lead to some satisfactory 
and fixed conclusions. ‘The making comparative observations on a 
large scale was mentioned as an important means of advancing geo- 
logical science: and in conclusion, Prof. Ansted spoke of the neces- 
sity of distinguishing in all cases the true objects of geology, and 
stated his firm conviction that geology would soon occupy a very 
important place as an inductive science, leading to great practical 
results. 

March 12.—‘‘ On the Causes and Amount of Geological Denuda- 
tions.” By Mr. A.C. Ramsay. 

Mr. Ramsay commenced by defining the term “ geological denu- 


276 Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 


dation,” in its strictest sense, to be the removal of portions of the 
earth’s surface by water, so as to expose to view the rocks previously 
concealed beneath that surface. He briefly adverted to the various 
effects produced by running water ; but enlarged principally on the 
action of the sea—that being the principal agent employed in the 
destruction and reproduction of strata mechanically deposited in 
water. To show the bearings of this, he explained the action of the 
sea on certain coasts; showing the manner in which the breakers 
act on coasts composed of rocks of unequal hardness, and on others 
which, from the peculiar position of portions of their component 
strata, are more or less easily wasted by the waves. The manner in 
which a country is affected by these operations, according as it may 
be rising above or sinking beneath the waters, was expounded, and 
the processes by which the débris thus won from the land is spread 
abroad in the surrounding seas; showing that periods of slow de- 
pression are most favourable for the accumulation of great thicknesses 
of strata and the preservation of organic remains—the reverse being 
the case during periods of elevation. Mr. Ramsay applied these 
principles to explain the geological history of South Wales and the 
neighbouring counties, showing the amount of denudation that the 
rocks beneath the new red sandstone had suffered at various periods. 
This was illustrated by certain of the sections of the Geological 
Survey of Great Britain, drawn on a true vertical and horizontal 
scale of six inches toa mile. In these, the older disturbed rocks 
beneath the new red sandstone (viz. coal-measures, carboniferous 
limestone, old red sandstone and Silurian formations) were shown to 
have been all bent and contorted together. He explained the prin- 
ciples by which the curvatures of disturbed strata beneath the sur- 
face are deduced ; and on these principles he had restored the curves 
that the same strata (once having, in these districts, been continuous) 
would follow if now joined above the existing surface of the ‘land. 
This gave an approximation to the quantity of matter removed by 
denudation from above that surface—amounting over great part of 
the country to ten or twelve thousand vertical feet of solid rock ; part 
of which, on the outskirts of Wales and in Somersetshire, was re- 
moved during the new red sandstone and liassic periods; and the 
greater part—viz. the interior of Wales—since the deposition of the 
London clay ;—the seas of the oolite and cretaceous periods never 
having penetrated into the interior of Wales. It was during tertiary 
times that the removal of this great mass by sea denudation was 
effected; this denudation giving to the country its present contour 
of hill and valley.—Atheneum. 


BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH. 


Feb. 11, 1847.—Dr. Greville, President, in the Chair. 


The following communications were read :— 

1. A letter from Capt. Portlock, giving a short account of his hor- 
ticultural proceedings at Corfu, and suggesting the Convolvulus Ba- 
tatas, or sweet potato, as a substitute for the potato; the plant has 


Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 277 


been introduced into Corfu, and apparently with success. Capt. Port- 
lock describes it as an excellent vegetable, being dry, and between 
the potato and parsnep in taste. 

2. “On the Defoliation of Trees,’”’ by the Rev. Dr. Fleming. After 
referring to the extremely defective nomenclature connected with the 
‘‘ defoliation of trees” employed in the writings of Lindley, Gray, 
and others, the author called the attention of the Society to a classi- 
fication of the phenomena which he had published in the ‘ Edinburgh 
Journal of Science’ (Brewster) in Jan. 1826, and where leaves are 
arranged in reference to their duration into three groups—Folium 
deciduum, Folium annuum, Folium perenne. In the first class the leaves 
cease to exercise their functions when the buds have been perfected, 
and fall off in succession before winter ; or, when the plant is trained 
as a hedge, they frequently remain until the evolution of the buds 
in the following spring. In the second class the leaves outlive the 
winter, and do not die or fall off until a number of new leaves have 
been evolved for the support of the plant in spring or summer. Such 
are the bay, laurel, holly and ivy, which are never without living 
leaves, while in the first class such leaves are periodically wanting. 
In the third class the leaves continue to exercise their functions for 
several years, as in the Firs, an arrangement in part connected with 
the ripening of the seeds. He then proceeded to expose the erro- 
neous views of those who maintain that it is only the buds of a tree 
which are alive, and that its timber is dead, and destined to serve 
merely as a soil for the buds on their evolution in spring. He re- 
stricted his proofs to the leaves and branches connected with them 
which live throughout a succession of seasons—to the mode in which 
buds can be forced—and to the individual differences preserved, in 
the case of fruit-trees, between the stock and graft during the whole 
period of their connection. 

3. “On Carex sazatilis (L.) and Carer Grahami (Boott),”’ by Dr. 
Balfour, who endeavoured to show that intermediate forms exist 
which seem to connect the two species. He exhibited specimens 
picked on Ben na Cruichben, near Killin, in 1844, which showed 
characters partly of the one species and partly of the other; all gra- 
dations are found from the true form of C. saratilis with its rounded 
or ovate, dark, erect spikes, ovate, beaked, emarginate perigynia 
slightly longer than the scale, to C. Grahami with its oblong-ovate, 
somewhat nutant spikes, and bifurcate perigynia twice as long as the 
scales. 

Dr. Balfour exhibited a series of American Ferns from Dr. Gavin 
Watson of Philadelphia, among which the following were the most 
interesting species and varieties :—Cistopteris tenuis of Schott, a va- 
riety of C. fragilis, and various intermediate forms; Polystichum 
acrostichoides, some specimens with rounded pinne, and others with 
the pinne much divided and deeply serrated—among the latter were 
several with the fructification extending to the lowest pinne ; Dipla- 
zium thelypteroides of Presl, several with segments of the pinne very 
acute; Lastrea spinulosa, various forms, including L. intermedia of 
American botanists ; Lastrea lancastriensis, a form approaching L. 
cristata, but apparently distinct : in some specimens the frond w: ; 


278 Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 


alternately pinnate, with the pinne approximated, cleft, or slightly 
pinnatifid, the segments rounded or slightly toothed; in others the 
pinne were deeply pinnatifid and much toothed, more or less acute ; 
while in a third set the frond was bipinnate. Numerous intermediate 
forms were exhibited, showing the transition from the one to the 
other. Athyrium Filiz-femina of Roth; of this fern a complete series 
was shown, connecting the typical form of the species with the various 
forms to which the names of ¢rriguum, angustatum and asplenoides have 
been given by some botanists who regard them as distinct species. 

Dr. Greville, who had carefully examined the specimens of the 
two last-mentioned ferns, was of opinion that Lastrea lancastriensis 
is a good species, and that all the forms of Athyrium Filix-femina 
exhibited were referable to one species. 

Dr. Balfour also showed specimens of Hieracium rigidum, var. an- 
gustifolium, from near Inversnaid, Loch Lomond; H. prenanthoides, 
Habbie’s Howe, Pentland Hills ; and Mimulus luteus, near an old reser- 
voir, Pentlands. ‘The last-named plant has now been found in seve- 
ral spots near Edinburgh ; also on the banks of the Clyde near Glas- 
gow; near Largs ; ; in Perthshire, Stirlingshire and Aberdeenshire ; 
near Morpeth and in South Wales. He also mentioned the discovery 
of Achillea tanacetifolia in England. 

March 11.—Professor Balfour in the Chair. 

The following communications were read :— 

1. ‘ List of plants collected in the neighbourhood of Auchincairn, 
Kirkcudbrightshire, in July and August 1846,” by W. Wells, Esq., 
communicated by Sir Wm. Jardine, Bart. The author enumerated 
the plants which he had noticed in the district named, among which 
were many rare and some interesting alpine species. 

2. ‘Description of a new species of Dawsonia,” by Dr. Greville. 
This splendid moss, of which a specimen and drawing were exhibited, 
has been named D. superba by Dr. Greville. It was received from 
Australia; the specimen exhibited was 14 inches high, with leaves 
fully an inch inlength. [See p. 226 of the present Number. ] 

3. ‘Notice of Palms at present in flower in the Royal Botanic 
Garden,” by Dr. Balfour. 1. Livistona chinensis, Mart. The plant 
in the garden is about thirty-six years old, 25 feet high, and the 
stem at the base has a diameter of 22 inches. The leaves are up- 
wards of 13 feet long, and the blade of the leaf 7 feet across; the 
spadices 4 to 44 feet long. It is believed that this is the first time 
the palm has flowered in Britain.—2. Huterpe montana, Graham, or 
Mountain Cabbage-Palm. ‘The plant in the garden used to fruit 
regularly, but of late years no fruit has been produced, although it 
continues to flower abundantly. It is now 380 feet in height.— 
3. Chamerops humilis, or European Fan-Palm. It has for many years 
produced staminiferous flowers only, but this season produced sta- 
miniferous and pistilliferous flowers, and the fruit was apparently 
perfect. 

4. Dr. Balfour stated that he had obtained information that the 
Luzula nivea, discovered last year in a wood near Broomhall by Dr. 
Dewar, had been planted there by the former gardener, so that it can 
have no claim to rank as a British plant. 


Miscellaneous. 279 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


REPRODUCTION OF LOST PARTS IN ARTICULATA. 


To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History. 


Hammersmith, 5th March 1847. 

GrenTLEMEN,— Will you kindly allow me to mention, for the infor- 
mation of some of your readers who may have been led (from Mr. 
Newport’s observations in the March Number of the ‘ Annals’) to 
suppose that I had quietly taken up a theory of his and passed it off 
as my own, that my remarks (to which he alludes) were made at a 
meeting of the Entomological Society when he himself was in the 
Chair, and that instead of applying to the spines and spurs of the 
tibize of the reproduced legs of an insect (such spines and spurs being 
articulated appendages of the limb), my observations referred to the 
membranous lobes of the femur, tibize and tarsus of the leg of a species 
of Phasmide in my own collection, such lobes being integral, and not 
articulated, portions of the joints? It was from this circumstance, in 
conjunction with Mr. Fortnum’s observations, that I was led to be- 
lieve that the limb of my specimen had been reproduced. 

I shall not further notice Mr. Newport’s observations than to state 
that the abnormally small size of a leg must necessarily be the result 
of retarded development in those species which have apodal larvee, 
as must also the diminished size of the wing in any species. Illus- 
trations of many such abnormities will in due time be given to the 

ublic. 
ss I am, Gentlemen, your obedient servant, 
J. O. Wesrwoop. 


NOTE ON A BRITISH SPECIMEN OF OCULINA PROLIFERA. 


For a considerable time that beautiful coral, Oculina prolifera, has 
been known, though not generally, to be a native of the Norwegian 
seas; but it is entirely to the Rev. Dr. Fleming that naturalists are 
indebted for the fact, that it is also a member of the British fauna : 
the fact however has never yet been so satisfactorily proved as to 
command an unqualified conviction. About twelve years ago a fine 
mass of this coral, measuring eleven inches in diameter, was presented 
to the Newcastle Museum by Mr. G. C. Atkinson, one of the 
Honorary Curators, who received it from a friend, with the state- 
ment that it had been brought up by the fishing-lines from deep 
water on the coast of Shetland; but so doubtful were the then 
officers of the Institution as to so tropical a form being a native of 
Britain (especially when there was a probability of its having been 
lost overboard from some foreign vessel, supposing that it had ac- 
tually been fished up from where it was stated, and such like instances 
do occasionally occur; for example, a large specimen of Gorgonia 
flabellum, now in the museum, was brought up by the lines of the 
Cullercoats fishermen last year), that it was thought best not to 


280 Miscellaneous. 


mark any locality on it. A few months ago Mr. Atkinson called my 
attention to the circumstances connected with this specimen ; and on 
examining it, I very soon became convinced, that it was truly a na- 
tive inhabitant, and that it had in reality lived on the coast of Shet- 
land, inasmuch as there were positive evidences that it had grown 
on the upper valve of a Crania anomala, or the celliferous surface of a 
Retepora Beaniana (which proved that the latter had not grown on 
it), and on pebbles identical with some in the museum that had been 
procured by Dr. Charlton in Shetland, and to which the same species 
of Crania and the same species of Retepora are attached, 

Dr. Johnston has noticed the specimen in the 2nd edition of his 
‘ British Zoophytes ;’ but as nothing is mentioned proving its loca- 
lity, I have deemed it necessary to state these particulars. 


Wiuiam KIna. 
Newcastle-on-Tyne Museum, March 17, 1847, 


ON A NEW SPECIES OF PENELLA. 


“Tn lat. 11° 54' S., long. 27° W., I found a new and remarkable 
parasite belonging to the genus Penella, subsisting on the body of a 
dolphin (Coryphena) ; it was buried in the fish near the gills as far 
as the junction of the neck with the abdomen. 

‘*I am favoured with the following description of it by my friend 
Dr. Baird of the British Museum :—Class Crustacea, Division En- 
tomostraca, Legion Siphonostoma, Order Lernida, Family Lerneo- 
cerida, Genus Penella, Species P. pustulosa, Baird. Head rounded 
and furnished with small fleshy projections of a light red colour. 
Two fleshy prolongations at its base, short and obtuse, terminating 


at the tip in a small red knob. Neck long and slender, and as well 
as the head transparent, showing the intestine and red blood. Ab- 
domen of a very dark purple colour, and studded all over with small 
whitish pustules. Plumose appendages simple. Ovigerous tubes 
very long and slender. Length four inches.”’—Angas’ Savage Life 
and Scenes in Australia, &c., vol.1. p. 31. 


Miscellaneous. 281 


Report on behalf of the Section of Zoology by the Secretary, Prince 
Bonaparte, read in the concluding General Meeting of the Eighth 
Italian Scientific Congress, Sept. 29, 1846. 


The Report is introduced by a notice of the eminent natu- 
ralists of various countries who formed the Members and officers of 
the Section, among whom occur the names of Filippi, Bassi, Panizza, 
Spinola, Riippell, Schmid, Durazzo, Verany, Keelliker, Lurati of 
Lugano, Giordani, and Gioberti of Turin. The distinguished Secre- 
tary then proceeds :— 

Although I shall give but a rapid sketch of the subjects treated of, 
their number and importance will not appear the less. ‘The memoir 
of Panizza on the movement of the water surrounding the branchize 
of the Proteus anguinus, and of the larve of the Salamanders and 
Tritons, would alone suffice to confer honour upon a Section. Nor 
of less importance to science were the memoirs of De Filippi on the 
development of the Clupee, on the embryogeny of the Gudgeon, in 
which he perfected his theory of the liver; not to mention another 
excellent one on the ova of the Valvate. Kceelliker discoursed to 
us on the structure and development of the lymphatics and capil- 
laries in the larve of the Frogs, and the anatomy of Tristoma papil- 
losum; and followed out the unfolding of the nervous fibres from 
their origin to their termination. Oronzio Costa of Naples wrote to 
us upon the Tristoma coccineum, also on the form and structure of 
the heart and the bulb of the branchial artery of fish. From his son, 
our able coadjutor, there was sent to us the pterygo-tympanic appa- 
ratus of various families of fish; from Restani a phrenological com- 
munication ; from Dubini the anatomy of Anchilostoma duodenale ; 
from Bourcier the organ of silk in silk-worms, upon a monstrosity 
in which Bassi made some observations. Dorotea sent us his re- 
searches upon the contents of the small ovarian vesicles in cows; De 
Martino on the beating of the heart, on the spontaneous contraction 
of the muscular fibres, and his reports on the relation of the corpus 
luteum with the folliculus of Graaf; Rusconi on the passage of in- 
jections in the lymphatics through the veins by endosmosis. And the 
President exhibited delicate preparations of the trachez of insects, 
which prove, from their being coloured by alimentary substances, 
that the fluid circulates within them. 

Anatomy was prolific, and we found Zoology not less so. As re- 
gards the Mammifere, Gené made a communication on the golden- 
coloured teeth of the goats of the isle of Tavolara ; d’Hombre Firmas 
on the dog in the grotto of Pozzuoli; and Patellani spoke upon the 
zoological characters of domestic animals. On Birds, Riboli treated 
phrenologically of the Gallinacez ; Durazzo on various doubtful 
species of Passeraceew; De Selys Longchamps sent a memoir on 
Passer pusillus, with other ornithological notices; and from Blyth 
at Calcutta came a paper on the Columbide; whilst Lanfossi gave a 
description and plate of Huspiza dolychonia. Verany figured other 
Emberize, with Emb. Selysii, a new species; Astengo detailed the 
habits of the Emberiza rustica. As for Reptiles, Gangadi sent some 
species from Corfu, one of which, new as to that island, was Abdle- 


Amn. & Mag. N. Hist. Vol. xix. 20 


282 Miscellaneous. 


pharus Kitaibeli. The Secretary presented a monography, upon which 
he had been engaged, of the order Testudinez, besides a systematic 
enumeration of the Reptiles and Amphibia of Europe. Gené gave 
an interesting description of the amours of the Snakes which greatly 
entertained the Assembly, dispelling entirely the horror and need- 
less dread of these crawling animals. 

As to Fishes, the Secretary explained the characters of the chief 
divisions; and the Assistant-Secretary read a notice on the Petro- 
myzon marinus, and discoursed convincingly on the puncture of the 
Trachini. Important observations on European Fish were made by 
Kiippell, and numerous additions to the list of Ligurian Fish by Ve- 
rany, among which is the new species Cybium Bonaparii, an en- 
graving of which he distributed. Amati gave an account of an 
African fish inhabiting thermal waters, which drew from Prof. Orioli 
some remarks evincing his science and erudition. D’Hombres Firmas 
exhibited the fossil teeth of the Spherodus Gigas, and Nardo contri- 
buted his ichthyological lucubrations. The Marquis Mazzarosa of 
Lucca gave us in the department of Insects an important communi- 
cation on the Tryps which injures the olives. Achilles Costa de- 
scribed some species of Neapolitan Coleoptera; G. Bertoloni four 
new species from the coast of Mozambique ; the Swede Loewenhjelm 
the Phryganea phalenoides, never found since the days of Linneus. 
In Mollusks, Verany described and figured new and rare Cephalo- 
podi, and Keelliker related curious facts respecting the males of these 
animals. Calcara gave a catalogue of the Mollusca of Sicily, with a 
description of new species. 

As to Radiata, Michelin described a remarkable new species of 
Echinoderm ; and the very eloquent Professor Meneghini, the pride 
of Italian Algology, very fully illustrated the anatomical plates of 
Ranieri, hitherto removed from the light of science. 

Beyond the sphere of its own department, the Section of Zoology 
extended its attention to subjects in connexion with commissions 
serviceable to humanity, to pasturage, and to agriculture, resolving 
queries proposed by other Sections, teaching the hygiene of cattle 
through the instrumentality of Fossati, and overthrowing ridiculous 
prejudices by the authoritative voice of Gené. Our Section was 
honoured by a copious correspondence of the first zoologists of Asia 
and America, besides those of Europe, among which it will suffice to 
enumerate a Miiller, a Heckel, a Strickland, an Owen, a Geoffroy 
St. Hilaire, and above all an Oken, who wrote to express his strong 
feeling of regard for Italy, and the interest he took in our annual 
Scientific Congress. 


Observations on the Development of the Echinide (Echinus esculentus), 
By M. Dvuross&. 


I have ascertained that all the eggs contained in the ovary of the 
-Echinide may be artificially fecundated, by placing some of the 
points of their testaceous membrane in contact with a drop of semen 
and of sea-water sufficiently renewed. The duration of the embry- 
onic life of the Echinus seemed to me to vary from twenty-four to 


Miscellaneous. 283 


forty-two hours, according to the temperature, and various other 
circumstances. From thirteen to fifteen minutes after the impreg- 
nation, the vitelline mass is seen most commonly to vibrate and be- 
come animated with a more or less rapid rotatory motion. From 
the fourth to the sixth hour the vitellus begins to divide, and the 
segments which result from this division become more and more 
transparent. Then a number of little globules are produced on the 
surface, from the large globules, subsequently surrounding them 
completely, and thus constituting a pretty thick layer. When this 
layer of globules, which is the rudiment of the tegumentary enve- 
lope, is extended to the whole of the vitelline surface, the embryo 
has nearly acquired the form under which it will issue from the egg. 
The vitelline membrane, very distinct during the first period of the 
division, has completely disappeared, and the albumen, at first opa- 
line, has become as transparent as sea-water. Soon after, the tegu- 
mentary surface of the embryo is covered with filiform appendages, 
of extreme tenuity. Generally towards the twenty-fourth hour, 
but sometimes a little later, the embryo agitates its appendages with 
a great velocity, which have acquired sufficient force to serve it as 
locomotive organs. The animal then soon divests itself of the tes- 
taceous membrane of the egg. 

At the moment of hatching, the larva of the Echinus has a form 
very analogous to that of the Meduse and the Radiata in general. 
Its body is rounded like that of the adult animal, presenting simply, 
at one point, a slight concavity, in the centre of which is the 
outline of the mouth. That portion may be distinguished whose 
degree of development is more advanced than other parts of the 
body, by the name of oral pole. By the aid of its filiform appen- 
dages the larva moves with tolerable facility, and almost always re- 
volving upon itself. In the sixth or eighth day the form of the 
animal is modified; half its body, that where the anus is situated, 
and which may be termed the anal pole, is a little elongated. The 
surface of the exterior envelope has become more compact and 
transparent ; the large globules which were in the centre of the body 
have disappeared. We then observe the first rudiments of the in- 
testinal canal, in which a short cesophagus is distinguished, a sto- 
mach having the form of a large ampulla, and a very short intestine. 
About the twelfth or the fifteenth day, the body of the larva has be- 
come completely pyriform; the circumference of the anus presents 
little discs forming a sort of small rosette, and deep circular lines are 
seen on the portion of the tegument comprised between the two poles; 
the dimension of the oral pole has considerably increased, and we 
now perceive, around the mouth, appendages analogous to labial 
tentacula. ’ 

Arrived at this stage of development, that is to say, towards the 
sixteenth to the eighteenth day, the larva of the Echinus, which has 
lost all its agility, attaches itself, by the anal pole, to the body near 
which it has rested; and a cylindrical pedicle of tolerable size, and 
once and a half as long again as the diameter of the body, is deve- 
loped very rapidly. ‘T'hus fixed on a flexible stem, the young ani- 

20* 


284 . Miscellaneous. 


mal has no other. motions than those which are given it by the 
agitation of the liquid. During this period, small buds are distin- 
guished, arranged in regular rows around the oral pole. Towards 
the twentieth day spiniform processes are developed on the top of 
these buds, of a great length in comparison to the bulk of the ani- 
mal. The calcareous matter already enters so largely into their 
composition, that the least shock is sufficient to break them without 
making them bend. 

I have followed the progress of the animal up to the moment when 
it is detached from its pedicle, doubtless to live under the form which 
it retains during the rest of its existence. However incomplete may 
be my observations, I think that they may give a general idea of the 
development of the Echinus, and allow us to draw from them the fol- 
lowing deductions :—From the moment when the embryo has a form 
of its own, all the parts of its body are arranged almost symmetri- 
cally around the ducco-anal axis, and, consequently, it bears in the 
highest degree all the characters of the type of the zoological class 
in which it is arranged, that is to say, of the radiate type. 

It is around the bucco-anal axis that the activity of the genesic 
process is manifested from its origin, and is maintained greater 
during the whole course of the development; and it is principally 
from the two extremities of this axis that it radiates, and extends 
gradually to the other parts of the tegumentary envelope. 

Search as much as we may, in the arrangement of the different 
parts of the Echinus esculentus, for a tendency to bilateral develop- 
ment similar to that pointed out by M. Sars in an Asteria, not the 
least trace will be found, even during the shortest duration of one of 
the phases of the genesic phenomena. In the larva of the Echinus, 
when the body elongates as well as when it contracts, to return to 
nearly its primitive configuration, these changes take place in the 
direction of the bucco-anal axis, so that the radiate form is not at 
all affected by it. In short, as soon as we can discover the first 
organic lineaments of this being, it is already a radiate embryo, and 
the animal, in all the other phases of its life, remains invariably ra- 
diate.—Comptes Rendus, Jan. 4, 1847. 


Remarks on Opalina Naidos, an Entozoon found in the Naiadee. 
By Dr. O. Scumipr, 


The very interesting discovery of this entozoon was made in a 
species of Nais nearly allied to N. elinguis, which is furnished with 
a bundle of hooks at each fourth hook. When the Naid lies upon 
its side, a spot in which the oral fissure appears as a notch and the 
ciliary motion in the cesophageal bulb may be very distinctly per- 
ceived. I was looking for the fleshy ridges, which in Stylaria I 
correctly considered to be regarded as forming the tongue, and was 
delighted on perceiving that a somewhat elongated body situated in 
the cesophageal bulb, and which was pointed anteriorly, frequently 
moved nearly as far as the oral fissure, and then, as it appeared to 
me, was again retracted. I had not expected to find so moveable a 


Miscellaneous. 285 


tongue, especially as I had not hitherto seen any trace of it in Nais, 
and was thus anxiously watching its motions when suddenly the 
body turned round with ease, and I recognised in it a distinct 
animal. 

It is a polygastric Infusorium, belonging to that genus of which 
one species occurs so abundantly in the rectum of the frog, but it is 
somewhat longer, corresponding to the form of the animal within 
which it lives. It is whitish, entirely covered with cilia, which are 
only visible when highly magnified, and are regularly arranged in 
rows. Within it I detected a row of perfectly transparent vesicles. 
The form of the body is susceptible of various alterations. 

After I had watched the motions of Opalina Naidos, the name 
given to this animal, for about a quarter of an hour in the cesopha- 
geal bulb, during which time it was moving forwards and backwards, 
it turned round near the mouth and receded further into the intes- 
tinal canal, in which, at first, I could not detect it. However, it 
returned several times with the activity peculiar to these animals, 
and which was not in the least impeded by the ciliated epithelium 
of the intestinal canal, 

My sight however had become more acute during the period of 
observation, and hence I soon detected it in the middle of the Naid 
and among several other individuals, all of which were in active 
motion. The circumstance that Stylaria and Nais, according to 
Miller’s and my own observations, take up only finely-divided nu- 
tritive matter, is so completely opposed to the supposition which I 
myself made of their being Infusoria which had been swallowed, that 
it cannot be entertained.—WMiiller’s Archiv, 1846, part iv. 


On the Formation of Cylindrical Masses of Snow in Orkney. 


To Richard Taylor, Esq. 


Sandwick Manse by Stromness, Feb. 11, 1847. 

My pear Sir,—A curious phenomenon in this parish has asto- 
nished and perplexed all, and filled the superstitious with no small 
degree of consternation. Since the 6th inst. we have had hail- or 
snow-showers, on the 9th snow-drift, and yesterday a slight thaw 
with frost again in the evening. 

During the night a heavy fall of snow took place which covered 
the plain to the depth of several inches. Upon this pure carpet there 
rest thousands of large masses of snow which contrast strangely with 
its smooth surface. A solitary mass may be seen in a field, but in 
general they occur in patches from one acre to a hundred in extent, 
while the clusters may be half a mile asunder, and not one mass to 
be seen in the interval. ‘These fields appear at a distance as if cart- 
loads of manure had been scattered over them and covered with snow 
but on examination the masses are all found to be cylindrical, like 
hollow fluted rollers or ladies’ swan-down muffs, of which the smaller 
ones remind me, from their lightness and purity, but most of them 


286 Miscellaneous. 


are of much greater dimensions and weight than any lady would 
choose to carry, the largest that I measured being 3} feet long and 
7 feet in circumference. The weight however is not so great as 
might be expected from the bulk; so loose is the texture, that one 
near this house which was brought in and weighed, was found to be 
only 64 lbs., though it measured 3 feet long and 63 feet in circum~ 
ference. ‘The centre is not quite hollow, but in all there is a deep 
conical cavity at each end, and in many there is a small opening 
through which one can see, and by placing the head in this cavity in 
the bright sun, the concentric structure of the cylinder is quite ap- 
parent. So far as I am yet informed, they do not occur in any of 
the adjoining parishes, and they are limited to a space of about five 
miles long and one broad. They may occupy about 400 acres of 
this, and I counted 133 cylinders in one acre, but an average of a 
hundred would, at a rough computation, yield a total of about 
40,0900. ; 

Now the question naturally arises, what is the origin of these bo- 
dies? I believe the first idea was that they had fallen from the 
clouds, and portended some direful calamity, and I hear an opinion 
that one had fallen on a corn-stack and been broken to pieces. It is 
a pity to bring down such lofty imaginations, and to deprive these 
cylinders of their high descent, but I prefer truth, when it can be 
discovered, to the loftiest theory. I must at once, then, set aside 
the idea that they fell from the atmosphere in their cylindrical form, 
as the first one I examined satisfied me that its symmetry and loose 
texture must have been immediately destroyed on coming in rude 
contact with this earth. 

Farther observation has convinced me that they have been formed 
by the wind rolling up the snow, as boys form large snow-balls. 
This is proved by examination of the bodies themselves ; their round 
form, concentric structure, and fluted surface all show this mode of 
formation. Again, it is proved by their position: none are found on 
the weather side of hills or steep eminences, where the wind could 
not drive them up, nor close to leeward of any wall or perpendicular 
bank from which they seem to have originated—the nearest well- 
formed small ones being 60 yards to leeward, and the large ones 
100 yards. All nearer than this are fragments that have not gone 
on to completion, but broken down in their passage, and the differ- 
ent portions of the wreck form the nuclei of others. Many how- 
ever are found blown to the windward side of walls or over the lee 
side of banks. Indeed, they are found almost exclusively on the 
leeward side of hills and eminences, where both the wind and decli- 
vity assisted in rolling them along, or on plains so exposed that the 
wind alone operated without the declivity. 

I shall only add, that this mode of formation is proved by the di- 
rection in which these cylinders lie. The wind has been from the 
north for four days, and I believe that it was so all night, when I am 
told it blew strong. Now they are all lying with their ends east 
and west, and their side to the wind; and farther, in some cases, 


Meteorological Observations. 287 


their tracks are still visible in the snow for twenty or thirty yards on 
their north side, from which they have gathered up their concentric 
coats; and I understand these were still more evident at an early 
hour before a snow-shower obliterated them in many places. 
I am, Sir, yours very truly, 
Cuarues CLouston,. 


METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR FEB. 1847. 


Chiswick.—February 1. Overcast. 2. Slightsnow. 3. Cloudy. 4. Cloudy: 
frosty. 5. Overcast. 6. Slight rain. 7. Overcast: snowing. 8. Sharp frost: 
snowing. 9. Clear and frosty: intense frost at night. 10, Severe frost: snow- 
ing. 11. Overcast: slight thaw: severe frost. 12. Intense frost: clear: severe 
frost. 13. Clear and frosty. 14. Rain. 15. Cloudy: boisterous. 16. Over- 
cast: rain. 17. Fine. 18. Densely clouded: boisterous, 19. Boisterous: fine: 
clear and calm. 20, 21. Overcast: fine. 22. Hazy: overcast. 23. Hazy and 
cold. 24. Dry air: clear and frosty. 25. Slighthaze. 26. Hazy. 27, 28. 
Cloudy and cold, 


Mean temperature of the MOnth  ......seceessesseeesceeeresess soe 34°79 
Mean temperature of Feb. 1846  ........seeeseessecsreees whaeanes. 40 [Oe 
Mean temperature of Feb. for the last twenty years ......... 39 °55 
Average amount of rain in Feb...........++eeeeeee sicegnenecegncdes,.) U°GDatich; 


Boston.—Feb. 1. Cloudy: snow p.m. 2 Cloudy: snow early a.m.: snow 
nearly all day. 3. Cloudy: snowr.m. 4. Fine. 5—7. Cloudy. 8—10. Fine. 
11. Cloudy: snow on the ground. 12. Cloudy. 13. Fine. 14. Cloudy: rain 
early a.M. 15, Cloudy. 16. Cloudy: rain early a.m. 17. Fine: rain early a.m. 
18, Fine: rainr.m. 19. Stormy. 20—23. Cloudy. 24. Fine. 25. Cloudy. 
26. Cloudy: snow early a.m. 27. Fine: snow p.m. 28. Fine: melted snow. 


Sandwick Manse, Orkney.—Feb. 1. Snow: clear. 2. Snow: clear: frost: clear. 
3. Bright: thaw: drizzle. 4. Damp: drizzle. 5. Showers: lightning. 6. Hail- 
showers: aurora. 7. Hail-showers: snow-showers: aurora. 8. Snow-showers: 
aurora. 9. Snow-drift. 10, Slect: thaw: snow: frost. 11. Deep snow*: snow. 
12. Deep snow: bright: showers: thaw. 13. Thaw: rain. 14. Sleet-showers. 
15. Cloudy: showers. 16, Showers. 17. Showers: rain. 18. Showers. 19. 
Showers: clear. 20. Cloudy: rain. 21. Bright: showers. 22. Bright: clear: 
aurora: large halo. 23. Bright: clear. 24. Cloudy: clear: aurora. 25, Clear: 
frost: clear. 26. Bright: clear. 27. Clear: cloudy. 28. Cloudy. 


Applegarth Manse, Dumfries-shire—Feb. 1. Frost: snow lying half an inch 
deep. 2. Frost: slight shower : snow. . 3. Frost. 4. Frost, but mild. 5. Thaw: 
slight rain. 6. Thaw: fair. 7, Frost: clear and fine, &. Frost, hard. 9. Frost: 
threatening snow. 10. Frost: sprinkling snow. 11. Frost: fine: clear. 12, 
Frost: sprinkling snow. 13. Frost a.M.: raine.m. 14, Thaw, soft and fine. 
15. Frost, slight: thaw: rain. 16—18. Rain. 19. Rain and sleet: fierce wind. 
20, Rain and wind. 21. Fair and fine: thrush singing. 22. Rain early a.m. : 
cleared. 23. Slight hoar-frost: clear. 24. Frost: clear and bright sun, 25. 
Hoar-frost. 26, 27. Frost. 28. Frost: clear and fine. 


Mean temperature of the month .........+00+00. Babtvee deus sss S6°°R5 
Mean temperature of Feb. 1846 .......... Sodncesessssicsccece 49. °4 
Mean temperature of Feb. for twenty-five years ............ 37 °2 
Mean rain in Feb. for twenty years ......sscsscsccseerecees «e» 2 inches, 


_ * This morning the snow in many places is found rolled up in hollow fluted 
cylinders, the largest of which measures 3} feet long and 7 feet in circumference : 
one which measures 3 feet by 64 weighs 64 lbs. 


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THE ANNALS 


AND 


MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 


No. 127. MAY 1847. 


— 


XXXII.—Further Observations on the Formation of the Flints 
of the Upper Chalk, with Remarks on the Sponge Theory of 
Mr. Bowerbank. By J. Tovtmin Suiru, Esq. 


Ir is well remarked by Bacon*, that, “if every intellect of every 
age could assemble and labour in united and transmitted union, 
but little progress could ever be made in science by the method 
of anticipation.” And in another placet he tells us what he 
means by this “anticipation” (which term he uses as the opposite 
to “interpretation,” or true generalization), when he says, 
“There are two ways of seeking truth. One jumps from a few 
individual facts to general axioms, and makes use of such axioms 
in all other individual and mediate cases; and this is the way 
hitherto in use. The other draws axioms from facts also; but 
it is by going gradually up from one to the other, by slow steps, 
until at length the general axioms are reached; and this is the 
true though untrodden way.” 

Sir J. W. Herschel says§,— Whenever we perceive that two 
or more phenomena agree in so many or so remarkable points 
as to lead us to regard them as forming a class or group, 
if [there is much in this if]—if we lay out of consideration, 
or abstract, all the circumstances in which they disagree, and 
retain in our minds those only in which they agree; and then, 
under this kind of mental convention, frame a definition or state- 
ment of one of them in such words that it shall apply equally to 
them all, such statement will appear in the form of a general pro- 
position, having, in so far at least, the character of a law of 
nature.’ A law of nature may perhaps be defined as being a 
proposition announcing that a certain class of individuals agree- 
ing in one character agree also in another. 

What is necessarily implied in the very term “law of nature,” 
and in the language of Bacon and Herschel? Obviously that 
there exists no single thing or fact in nature which is simply and 

* Nov. Org. Scien. lib. i. § 30 (ed. Lugd. Bat. 1645). 

t+ Ibid. § 19. t Ibid. § 28. § Preliminary Discourse, p. 98. 
Ann, & Mag. N. Hist. Vol, xix. 21 


290 Mr. Toulmin Smith on the Formation 


independently existent in itself; which does not stand in the re- 
lation of necessary connexion with some other thing or fact in 
nature. The recognition of this as a primary axiom certainly 
lies at the bottom of all science and of every attempt to discover 
truth. If truth or science has any existence, and is not a mere 
vain search, every question must really assume this form :—Given 
the thing or fact before me, with what other thing or fact does 
it stand in necessary connexion or relation? Abstractedly few 
men will deny this; but practically it is neglected every day. It 
is now as it was in the time of Bacon, that the reasoners by 
anticipation,” they who “jump from a few individual facts to 
general axioms, and. make use of such axioms in all other indivi- 
dual and mediate cases,’ are most common; the important if of 
Sir J. Herschel is forgotten. Were not this the case, we should 
never hear, as we continually do, of exceptions to laws of nature. 
Every one would feel, at the very beginning of and througli- 
out his investigations and attempted generalizations, that in facts 
of nature there is a necessary connexion, or there is not. If 
there is, no exception can exist; for the statement of such ex- 
ception involves a contradiction, viz. that there is not a necessary 
connexion. | 1 | 
Every process of true imduction must depend upon the exer- 
cise of three different mental operations :—comparison of: simili- 
tudes (or analogies); of dissimilitudes, or points of disagree- 
ment; and, lastly, inferrimg a necessary connexion between the 
existence of and relations common to the things or facts com- 
pared. Most men are caught by analogies; on these frame theo- 
ries—“ anticipations ;” with a distorted axiom thus obtained they 
view every fact subsequently seen, caught, in each, by its simili- 
tude, disregarding its dissimilitudes, and so never arrive at a true 
* interpretation.” Talk to such men of the very first principles 
of reasoning, of the primary axiom of “ necessary connexion,” 
or, as the same thing may be stated in other words, of the uni- 
versal laws of unity and design, and they grow impatient. No 
wonder at it: the constant application of those principles must 
upset many a theory. Every one who has considered this sub- 
ject will feel it to follow as a necessary corollary from the prin- 
ciples above indicated, that the existence of a single real dissimi- 
litude must upset any assumed law, generalization, or theory, pre- 
viously made upon observation of ever so many similitudes. 
Thus, had it been announced as a law that all transparent solids 
exhibit periodical colours, it would have been upset, and there- 
fore proved false, by the discovery of a single case im which a 
transparent solid did not exhibit such colours. Again, though 
it had been observed a thousand times, and in a thousand dif- 
ferent ways, that water decreases in dimension as heat is with- 


of the Flints of the Upper Chalk. 291 


drawn, and that had been announced as a general law of nature 
and necessary connexion, yet the very first case in which it was 
observed that below 40° Fahr. an increase of dimension takes 
place would have proved the above generalization* to have been 
an “ anticipation” merely. 

The reader will feel the exact pertinence of the above observa- 
tions to the subject immediately before us. The problem is— 
The Flints of the Upper Chalk: what are the necessary con- 
nexions of these in character, mode of formation, &c.? and the 
point is to explain, upon a general and universally applicable 
principle, the presence, in all its forms, of flint. 

To this problem Mr. Bowerbank has offered a solution, namely, 
“that the common tuberous flints, the horizontal tabular flints, 
and those forming perpendicular or oblique veins, were ALL pro- 
duced by the same agency, namely, in all cases, from sponges 
of which those flints occupy the exact places.” I deny that this 
is a solution of the problem; and, having the principles above 
glanced at before my eyes, suggest at the beginning of my argu- 
ment} that, if it can once be shown to be impossible, in any one 
particular instance, to explain the presence of flint on this theory 
—if flint is ever, or may be even im a single instance, found else- 
where—the theory ceases to be an explanation of the phenomena, 
and becomes of no value to the philosophical inguirer ; that it is 
proved to be not an “interpretation,” but an “ anticipation” 
merely. To this Mr. Bowerbank repliest (instead of re-examining 
my facts, and ascertaining whether they really are the exceptions 
I allege) by saying, “ This is so richly dogmatical, that one can- 
not suppress a smile.” I have shown that constant regard for 
such “ dogmas” lies at the very foundation of all scientific inves- 
tigation. Exact science depends wholly on them; natural 
science becomes more exact by how much such “dogmas” are 
continually observed. Without attention to them there can be 
no such thing as science; all will necessarily result in mere em- 
piricism. 

Among the numerous services rendered to science by Professor 
Owen, none has been more important, as it seems to me, than the 
distinction he is perpetually enforcing, both in print and in the 
lecture-room, between analogy and homology. ‘That distinction, 
without attention to which comparative anatomy can be no 


* In two articles, ‘On the Discovery of Truth,” and on ‘ The Inductive 
System of Philosophy,” in the ‘Christian Review’ (Boston, U.S., vols. iv. 
and v., 1839 and 1840), I have endeavoured to point out the importance and 
universal application of the principles of investigation above glanced at. 

T See this Magazine for January of the present year, pp.3 and 10. I 
would also refer the reader to the bottom of p. 9 and top of p. 10. 

{ bid. for April, p. 251. 

21% 


292 Mr. Toulmin Smith on the Formation 


science, but mere empiricism, is founded entirely upon the strong- 
felt necessity within Professor Owen’s mind of continually being 
guided by such “ dogmas” as many of his predecessors have per- 
chance regarded only with a smile. If, on view of an analogy, 
inquirers would ask themselves whether, in the two or more 
cases before them, they can for analogy read homology, they 
would save vast confusion in science and promote vastly the dis- 
covery of truth. Such was my aim in reminding the reader of 
the “ dogma” which has excited Mr. Bowerbank’s smile. Num- 
berless illustrations, without the guide of this principle, would 
have been valueless; with it, any one becomes sufficient. 

livery one knows that sponges are found, among other things, 
in flints. It is the announcement of this as an explanation uni- 
versally applicable to the origin and cause of the formation of 
ALL flints which is the point. IJ have undertaken to show that 
that theory is a mere “ anticipation,’ founded only upon a few 
vague and very loose and casual analogies ; and that it affords no 
true “interpretation” of the phenomena, for that the mass of 
real facts is full of “ dissimilitudes.” Mr. Bowerbank has pro- 
fessed to reply to my observations ; and the fact that he has done 
so shows the importance of having the matter thoroughly sifted, 
in order to get at the truth. 

Mr. Bowerbank has, however, not replied to my observations. 
He does not appear, indeed, to have read my former paper 
through, as the greater part of my arguments are left wholly 
untouched, and he has,.in very many cases, represented me as 
saying that which I nowhere say—in many cases the exact 
reverse of what I do say*. In other and numerous instances, 
the issues raised and discussed by him are wholly immaterial. 
I pass by the very distinct intimation, more than once so com- 
placently given, of my hardy ignorance ; as that is a mode of 
meeting an argument sanctioned by such long prescription, that 
it cannot fail to have its due effect on every candid reader. 

In order to save needless length, I shall now show,—1st, in 
what cases I have been misrepresented or unread; 2nd, in what 
cases immaterial issues have been raised; 3rd, what arguments 
have been left untouched; 4th, the unsatisfactory explanations 
attempted of the facts named and of the specimens figured in 
my former paper; 5th, some further illustrations which occur to 
me explanatory of the ‘formation of flint. 

1. I certainly did not conceive it necessary to add an inter- 
pretation clause to my paper, giving the reader credit for at least 
understanding that when I used one word, I meant something 


* I beg to refer the reader, for some admirable remarks on this tendency 
and its mischiefs, to Dr. A. Combe’s “ Letter to Dr. Forbes,” in the ‘ Medical 
Review’ for Jan, 1847. 


of the Flints of the Upper Chalk. 293 


akin to such definition as would be found in Johnson’s Dictionary; 
at any rate, not exactly the opposite. Thus, when I named 
“neculiar affinity” (p. 3), I meant “ belonging to one to the ex- 
clusion of others” [Johnson’s Dictionary]. When I used the 
word “envelope,’”’ I meant inwrapping and surrounding, and not 
mere attachment to, or growing upon, as Mr, Bowerbank under- 
stands it (see p. 255). 

I nowhere deny the predisposition of sponges for silex; on 
the contrary, I expressly allude to it several times (see p. 10, &c.). 
I deny the “peculiar” and “ special” affinity only, which the 
sponge theory requires. The very next clause to that quoted is, 
“Such facts disprove the alleged special affinity.” Mr. Bower- 
bank himself admits (p. 259) that I do not deny what on p. 251 
he says that I do deny ; thus admitting that the whole discussion 
raised on the latter page is immaterial and unfounded. 

Again, it is said that I do “not offer the slightest explanation 
of the cause of the suspension in all parts alike of the masses of 
siliceous spicule, the remains of polythalamous shells, small 
branched corals, and numerous other animal bodies ; nor account 
for the continually recurring presence of that tissue which he 
(Mr. Bowerbank) has described as, and still believes to be, por- 
tions of the skeleton of the sponge, to which the great mass of 
chalk flints owe their origin.” Now any one who has read my 
former paper will find every one of these questions discussed, 
both as to the fact of their alleged presence, and as to the pro- 
bable explanation where present (see pp. 4, 15, 16, &c.). The 
explanation offered by Mr. Bowerbank himself, in his paper in 
the ‘Geol. Trans.,’ p. 183, is clearly untenable, requiring as it 
does the integrity of the entire sponge tissue, an integrity which 
has never yet been found to exist in a single instance. On the 
same page (252) I am represented to have described two speci- 
mens quite differently from my actual expressions, arising from 
inattention to the grammatical connexion of my sentences; and 
am further said to offer no explanation of the fact of the position 
of certain shells on flint, while on the very page referred to I 
make an express reference, by note, to an explanation in a later 
page, which explanation is consistent with all known facts, though 
it happens to be in direct antagonism with the sponge theory. 
On the same page I am said to speak of a “ nodule of water,” 
an absurdity which is certainly nowhere to be found in my 
paper. 

On page 253 I am represented to consider as “ very impro- 
bable,”’ and to indulge in certain “fallacies of imagination” 
respecting, certain habits of sponges, which are so familiar to 
every one that it never occurred to me to be necessary even to 
allude to them; much less did I doubt them. 


294: Mr. Toulmin Smith on the Formation 


- On page 254, by citing the first three lines only of a para- 
graph, I am made to appear to refer to a wholly different and 
exactly opposite class of facts to that to which I do refer, and 
my reference to which (p. 5) is left altogether unnoticed. I show 
that shells are, in flints, found where they could not possibly 
be found in sponges. Mr. Bowerbank’s observations only fur- 
ther show that, in recent sponges, they are actually found in a 
wholly different place and manner to what they are found in 
flmts. On the same page, by reversing the use of italics, my 
meaning is reversed. Mr. Bowerbank having alleged, in sup- 
port of his theory, that one of the orifices of Echinites is always 
found in one position, I show, from reference to individual facts, 
the erroneousness of this generalization, and therefore of the spe- 
cial inference to sustain which it was made; nor can a smile at 
the essential dogmas of inductive science lessen the force of those 
observed facts. | | 

I nowhere deny or dispute, as throughout Mr. Bowerbank’s 
paper I am represented as doing, the well-known fact—known to | 
every merest tyro in natural history—that corals and sponges 
usually attach themselves to and grow upon rocks, stones, shells, 
and other hard bodies. Such familiar facts it was unnecessary 
to mention, either for the purpose of my argument or to prevent 
my being misunderstood. The question is not, to what sponges 
attach themselves, of which only all the cases cited by Mr. 
Bowerbank are instances—but (as I have shown, p. 5), what 
attach themselves to sponges. The cases instanced are moreover 
cases of attachment, not of envelopment. In the cases of wood, 
&c. it is really a question of penetration, not only of envelop- 
ment. So that in each and every case Mr. Bowerbank has 
missed the true point, and been arguing only with a chimera of 
his own creation. The important distinction between enveloping 
and. attaching to is throughout lost sight of. 

I nowhere suggest, as represented on page 258, the necessity 
of thermal heat for the formation of flints, nor make the slightest 
allusion to it. 

From smiling at the dogmas of inductive science my meaning 
is again misrepresented at page 259; my point in the passage 
cited being simply that, as I could show “some facts of external 
forms” inconsistent with the sponge theory, the generalization 
presented by that theory could not possibly be true, no universal 
law admitting of exceptions. 

On page 260 I am alleged to “ distinctly recognise the theory 
of the gelatinous condition of flint,” while the three lines just 
before quoted from my paper most explicitly affirm the reverse ; 
which view—the impossibility of the gelatinous nature of the fluid 
—is throughout and in many places affirmed and endeavoured to 


of the Flints of the Upper Chalk, 295 


be proved by me. It is quite impossible to be more explicit on the 

oint ; and it would be as correct to represent an author writing 
in support of the animal nature of sponges to be an advocate of 
their vegetable nature, as thus, and so very little to the point, to 
misrepresent my language and argument. 

On page 260 I am said to suppose the existence of “many 
minute currents,” without any evidence of such supposition from 
my paper, and in direct opposition to my expressions on page 12, 
where I speak of the “rare occurrence” of the instances. 

The pointing out the erroneous representations given of my 
language and views of course relieves me from the necessity of 
noticing at any length the discussions raised by Mr. Bowerbank on 
the points thus erroneously stated ; but the fact of such numerous 
misrepresentations existing argues little for the soundness of the 
opposing theory. 

2. Nothing is more important in questions of science, as well 
as of law, than to keep the real question always in view, and not 
- to travel out of the record, and so raise what the lawyers call 
false issues. By raising always one certain, single and material 
issue only can the truth be got at. Raising false issues, though 
very convenient when an argument cannot be answered, serves 
only to—but at all times it does—obscure the truth and confuse ~ 
and mislead the reader. The present question is with the flints 
of the upper chalk *. We have nothing now to do with the sili- 
ceous masses and cherty nodules of either mountain limestone or 
tertiary beds. So, every one being familiar with the fibrous ap- 
pearance of agates, &c., and with the occurrence of undoubted 
sponges in the chalk flints, any discussion on either of these is 
merely leading us astray from the point, viz. a universally appli- 
_ eable generalization as to the formation of the flints of the upper 

chalk. 

It may be very interesting, in a natural history of recent 
sponges, to inform us of all the modes in which they are found. 
But, unless it can be shown that they are found in flint as they are 
alleged on page 253 &c. to be found recent, it is wholly beside the 


* In all geological questions, nothing is more important than stratigra- 
phical exactness. A recent instance of neglect of this has occurred which 
will be a fertile source of error and vain theory. In the second volume of 
the ‘Journal of the Geological Society’ is a description of a Pterodactyle, 
alleged to be from the “upper chalk.” fetiniedintely after it appeared (Feb. 
1846) I informed the author that this was incorrect, as no upper chalk what- 
ever exists in the localities whence his specimens came, No correction has 
however been made, and it has now gone forth to the whole scientific world, 
with the authority and sanction of the Geological Society of London (p. viii. 
of vol. ii. of the Journal), that Pterodactyle remains have been found in the 
upper chalk, a statement fruitful of future theories, and which is without a 
shadow of foundation. 


296 Mr. Toulmin Smith on the Formation 


mark, and it is unnecessary to travel to Algoa Bay, Torres Straits 
or Wollongong in search of illustrations. Now it is well known 
to all familiar with flints, that the latter are never found, and 
have never been found, having the characteristics here described 
by Mr. Bowerbank as attaching to recent sponges. It was said 
of the old Greek philosophers, that, while one made laws for men 
as they are, another made laws for men as they ought to be. So 
Mr. Bowerbank, having by “ anticipation”? determined that all 
chalk flints have been sponges, proceeds to tell us how recent 
sponges are found. Hence we may indeed infer his opinion, 
that flints ought to be found the same; but, in the mean time, 
the facts as to the actual mode in which flints are found are alto- 
gether lost sight of. With the “habits of the Spongiade,” such 
as described on page 253, and figured by Dr. Johnston and 
others, every one is familiar; but they have nothing to do with 
the question before us, unless indeed it be to afford another 
illustration of the utter fallacy of the sponge theory, by satisfying 
us that there is no true analogy whatever between the flints and 
any of the illustrations given or cited. Of that fact every one 
having a moderate acquaintance with flints must be fully aware. 

The facts cited on page 254 again, being only adduced to 
appear to meet a sentence which, in its original connexion, had 
an exactly opposite meaning to that here given to it, are equally 
beside the mark, as they are also equally inconsistent with any 
of the observed phenomena of flints. 

I have already shown that the whole discussion on the gelati- 
nous state of the fluid is gratuitous; but I must remark that 
Mr. Bowerbank involves himself in several contradictions on this 
point, first ridiculing the idea of one solution preserving any in- 
tegrity within another* (page 260), and afterwards speaking 
(page 262) of the “ great prevalence in solution in water” of this 
very substance. Mr. Bowerbank cannot surely but have seen the 
condition when mixed of fluids of different densities, as oil and 
water, &c. &c. The specific gravity of the liquid silex is ob- 
viously a very material point. But Mr. Bowerbank himself, in 
his paper in the ‘Geol. Trans.,’ p. 183, several times mentions 
the “ gelatinous globules,” so that his views must have under- 
gone a material change in this respect. 

3. But all the material arguments used by me are left wholly 
unnoticed by Mr. Bowerbank. This silence can leave but one 
inference. It is proper, that the nature of the discussion may 
be understood, to enumerate the principal arguments thus unan- 


* Dr. Turner expressly alludes to the “ tendency of like molecules to get 
together and adhere while intermixed with a mass of dissimilar matter ren- 
dered liquid,” and the fact is familiar. Mr. Bowerbank’s observations 
amount, if anything, to a denial of molecular attraction ! 


of the Flints of the Upper Chalk. 297 


swered. On page 3 of my paper is discussed the necessarily im- 
plied peculiar and special affinity of sponges for liquid silex; on the 
same and following pages, the sparing and fragmentary presence 
and character of the remains of tissue; on the latter page, the non- 
existence of any places of roots, and the contrary fact of un- 
doubted sponges bemg found in which such places are always 
present. On page 5, not only is the abundance and size of shells, 
&c. found within flints noticed, but the position of the organic 
bodies found on the exterior of flints is very fully and promi- 
nently discussed. On page 6 the condition of certain zoophytes 
is noticed. On page 7, the important fact that—and it is explained 
why—shells fixed on Ventriculites are left bare by the flint, and the 
fact that soft animal matter, and not, as in recent sponges, shells 
and other hard substances, formed the point of attraction for the 
flint. On page 8 the phenomena of Ventriculites are more fully 
noticed. On page 9, the important fact of flint occurring to the 
same extent without as within the Ventriculite, though with no 
connexion between them ; and, on the same page, the extremely 
frequent case of flint nodules being found round the roots of 
Ventriculites, where sponges could never reach, but which places 
would be peculiarly apt, according to my view of the formation 
of the flints, to exhibit these aggregations. 

The non-sponge character of Ventriculites is also shown on 
page 9*, and also certain inconceivable phenomena which the 
sponge theory requires (among many others) to explain the sili- 
cification of Ventriculites. 

The true nature and character of the specimens figured is 
described on page 10, &c., and the mode of their formation en- 
deavoured to be explained in detail; and it is proved that the 
liquid silex could not possibly have been in a gelatinous state, 
but must, on the contrary, have been in a state of extreme 
liquidity, and liable to very rapid solidification ; which rapidity 
of solidification is shown to be necessarily inconsistent with the 
sponge theory, and which Mr. Bowerbank’s remark (page 250), 
on the very enduring character of the horny skeleton of sponges, 
makes still more evident. 

On pages 15 and 16, the modes and forms assumed by the 
flint nodules} and tabular masses, and the imbedment in them 
of the various classes of organic remains, are explained, the pre- 
sence of the fragmentary tissue having been before explained on 
page 4. 


* Mr. Bowerbank’s alleged recent Ventriculites (p. 258) have no analogy 
whatever to the true Ventriculites ; nor are his specimens so new or rare as 
he imagines, the most striking of them being beautifully figured, with others 
no less striking, on plate 59 of Ellis’s Zoophytes. 

tT See note post, p. 308, 


298 Mr. Toulmin Smith on the Formation 


Not one-of the arguments and points thus enumerated, and 
minor ones might have been added, is attempted to be answered 
by Mr. Bowerbank. That fact naturally gives them much addi- 
tional weight, as his paper is an avowed “reply” to mine, and 
all that could be answered would assuredly be so :—Ewpressio 
unius est exclusio alterius. Mee 
_ 4, Let us now see how points really touched on, and bearing 
on the question, are handled. : 

On page 250 there is an attempt to reconcile the facts of the 
unequal distribution of the sponge spicula [their “ suspension in 
all parts alike” (see page 252*) is a thing which does not exist]. 
When I speak of the “ destruction of the structure of the sponge,” 
I of course allude to the “tissue” so often named; though, 
whether this or the gelatinous matter be meant, it is equally 
certain that its destruction is a necessary postulate of the sponge 
theory, inasmuch as, if not destroyed, it would be still present ; 
but no single instance exists in which that tissue has been found 
to pervade the whole substance of any flint ; and this must be ob- 
vious to every one familiar with the phenomena, notwithstanding 
that Mr. Bowerbank now “ denies totally+” this destruction of 
structure. It is admitted, in this very passage, that the “ horny 
skeletons are very enduring,” and see further page 258. This 
fact then necessarily implies, what I have shown to be incon- 
sistent with fact, and what the author himself elsewhere now 
denies, viz. the long-continued gelatinous state of the flint to 
allow of the decomposition of this tissue to such an extent that 
only the fragmentary remains we have of it shall be left. Mr. 
Bowerbank tells us that the spicula exist in the gelatinous sub- 
stance. Dr. Johnston, on the contrary, describes those spicula 
as “bound together by a substance analogous to horn or albu- 
men,” either in the form of fibre or diffused, this horny matter 
being the very substance described by Mr. Bowerbank as so- 
very enduring ;”” so that the spicula ought clearly to be retained 
in their position, and not to run away in the poetic manner ima- 
gined by Mr. Bowerbank. Besides this, Mr. Bowerbank tells 
ust that the mealy coating of flints is formed by the penetration 


* See also ‘Geol. Trans.,’ vi. p. 181, This very assumption is also ob- 
viously inconsistent with the explanation now offered at p. 250, 
_ + Ehrenberg expressly says of the Paramoudras, that he “ failed to dis- 
cover in the interior the structure of well-preserved sponges ;” and further, 
that “the internal structure does not in any way favour this view” of their 
spongeous origin. This is not an unimportant testimony. See ‘Ann. Nat. 
Hist.,’ vol. ii. pp. 161 and 162, In the ‘ Geol, Trans.,’ vol. vi. p. 183, Mr. 
Bowerbank himself says, that often ‘‘no indication of the former presence 
of the organized structure of the sponge remains,” What are we to under- 
stand by such contrary and contradictory propositions? 

{ Trans. Geol. Soc. vol. vi. p. 184. 


of the Flints of the Upper Chalk. 299 


of the surface of the sponge by fine silt, which caused the pre- 
servation of form. If such a coating were thus formed, it is ob- 
vious that the spicula could not escape in the way represented ; 
and the fact is, further, that spicula are not found specially to 
abound in the mealy coating, as the explanation offered would, 
at any rate, render necessary. r 
I shall presently show, moreover, that Mr. Bowerbank is en- 
tirely wrong in imagining that the gelatinous substance was 
poured out of the sponges before they were enveloped in flint. 
On pages 252 and 253 Mr. Bowerbank tells us that the posi- 
tion of such shells as I described on pages 4 and 5 is “ quite 
natural” on the outside of sponges. I answer that it is contrary 
to every law of gravity and to every fact, and that no illustration of 
similar facts can be produced among recent sponges. He him- 
self says, just before, that their natural mode of sinking would 
be to the bottom of the water*. So I say, and beg to refer to 
the argument on page 5 of my former paper, which has not even 
been noticed by Mr. Bowerbank. He has shown to me, I must 
presume, having visited his museum twice for the purpose, all 
his most characteristic specimens ; and I have certainly not seen 
in his collection, or elsewhere, a single specimen having the 
slightest approach in character to the specimens described by me 
on pages 4 and 5.. It is indeed obviously impossible that shells 
could adhere to any sponge in such positions as in the second- 
named specimen. The fact of those shells bemg so found is, on 
the other hand, a beautiful illustration of the mode of formation 
of flint suggested by me, namely by affinity for a nucleus com- 
bined with molecular attraction. On Mr. Bowerbank’s theory, 
these shells ought, of all places, to be covered with the sponge, 
sponges especially attaching themselves to solid bodies. But 
the fact is, that instead of the flint “loosely embracing” (page 
2538) a shell lying on it, as in the cited sponge, the presence of a 
shell on the surface of a Ventriculite invariably acts as a repellent 
of the flint. The flint surrounds the shell on all sides, tends to 
lap a little over in a bulging manner, but does not extend over. 
Why is this? Because the soft body had a peculiar affinity for 
the liquid silex, the shell had none. Attracted by the soft body, 
the flint surrounds it—extends as far as the shell; the molecular 
attraction causes it to bulge a little over the margin of the shell ; 
but the combined nuclear affinity being wanting beyond, it ex- 
tends but little way. This seems very simple; and as it is the 
test of a true theory or generalization, that every new fact, 
thoroughly understood, serves only to illustrate it and make it 
* We are not speaking here of such shells as Ostreas and Dianchoras, 


which affixed themselves by special provisions to surfaces of Ventriculites, 
&e. ; 


800 Mr. Toulmin Smith on the Formation 


still clearer; while it is that of a false theory or generalization, 
that new facts cannot, without much distortion, be reconciled ; 
so these phenomena, while negativing in the most absolute 
manner the sponge theory, beautifully illustrate the mode of 
formation of flint which I have ventured to suggest. 

The reader must again carefully note that we are not, in truth, 
considering the cases of sponges growing onto, attaching themselves 
to, shells, &e.—such cases as are figured and described in Dr. 
Johnston’s beautiful and most interesting volume. It is noto- 
rious, and is not attempted to be denied, that we never do find 
flmts in which a root-place is visible, except in such instances as 
I have noted on pages 4 and 9. We are considering shells scat- 
tered on all parts of the exterior of the flints*. 

While on this point, it is proper to notice that Mr. Bowerbank 
bases his ideas of the sponge growth of the tabular flints (Geol. 
Trans. vi. 184) on an entirely erroneous view of the nature of these 
tables. They are, in fact, all made up of two distinct plates, as I 
shall have occasion to notice hereaftert. This alone renders their 
sponge origin quite untenable. 

It is laid down by Mr. Bowerbank on page 255, as it is by 
Dr. Johnston (page 11), and is no doubt correct, that if one 
sponge grow over another of different species, they never unite 
organically ; and hence he would explain the Wiltshire flints. 
The empty space there however is too great by far for such an 
explanation, as the parasite clings close though it does not orga- 
nically unite. But this explanation is wholly inconsistent with 
another very large class of facts. For it is more important to 
observe, that, while Mr. Bowerbank is obliged in another place 
(page 259) expressly to admit that one species of sponge was so 
extremely different from another, that, though the inclosed spe- 
cies is often wholly preserved, the incloser is utterly decomposed 
(notwithstanding the “very enduring” nature of its horny ske- 
leton), the fact is—I speak from mspection of many hundred 
specimens in my possession—that hardly a single instance, if any 
one, can be found in which these so different species of alleged 
sponges have not united organically { ; insomuch that it is only 
by artificial means that the external structure, either outside or 
inside, of the inclosed object can be detected. One of the two 
generalizations thus, with equal confidence, announced, must there- 


* T do not here dwell on shells inclosed in flints, as they present no diffi- 
culty. 

+ See post, p. 308. Ehrenberg, though not noticing this point, felt their 
sponge origin untenable. See ‘Ann, Nat. Hist.,’ vol. ii. p. 162. 

{ In a few instances small patches may be found in which they can be 
separated, but these are extremely rare. The cause of such instances is 
quite explicable on principles hereafter to be explained, which also explain 
the Wiltshire specimens, See p. 306, 


of the Flints of the Upper Chalk. - 301 


fore necessarily be false; and none who see the structure of the 
inclosed object perfectly preserved, while not a trace of the struc- 
ture of the alleged incloser can be found, can for a moment 
doubt which generalization must be abandoned. 

But we come now to another and most important point, to 
which I request the special attention of the reader; and I cannot 
imagine that any one who applies the rules of inductive philosophy 
to scientific investigation can contemplate the facts 1 have now 
to name without at once feeling that the sponge theory is utterly 
untenable. It is necessarily a postulate of the sponge theory, 
and is distinctly stated by Mr. Bowerbank (page 255, &c.), 
that, in every case where a Ventriculite is encased in flint, it is 
in consequence of the parasitic growth over the Ventriculite of a 
foreign sponge. I have in my cabinet at least 500 specimens 
(probably very many more) of Ventriculites. I have shown Mr. 
Bowerbank the greater part of these, and he was not able to 
point to more than one single specimen (and that very doubt- 
fully*) in which a parasite had not overgrown the original body, 
and so formed the flint. Now it is not enough to tell us of in- 
stances of parasitic sponges, nor yet that certain species are 
always parasitic. It must be demonstrated that there existed 
species, having a special and peculiar affinity for silex, which 
were invariably parasitic ; and that there was invariably present 
silex in precisely sufficient quantity to saturate them. It must 
further be proved that this species of parasites had the wonderful 
property of always growing in pairs, one growing inside and the 
other outside of the invested object, and yet having no possible 
connexion with each other, though, with very rare exceptions, 
growing to precisely the same level. It must further be proved 
that the Ventriculites themselves, unless thus invested, never could 
become silicified ; that, when invested by the parasite, they were 
always silicified. It must yet further be proved that the parasite, 
though retaining its form, invariably decomposed utterly before 
that process commenced in the invested Ventriculite. Further, 
it has been seen that the law of non-organic union of different 
species is never observed by these particular species of assumed 
parasites. This is a pretty long draft on our credulity. Now I 
request the reader to note that, having before me hundreds of 
Ventriculites invested with flint, and hundreds not invested with 
flint, there is not one solitary instance in which any para- 
sitic sponge is found in the chalk and unsilicified to surround a 
Ventriculite; nor is there one single instance in which, the Ven- 
triculite being invested by flint, a trace of the alleged parasite is 


* This ease really forms no exception. Mr. Bowerbank declares even the 
Raters named by me at bottom of p. 8 and top of p. 9 to be invested with 
threads of the parasitic sponge. 


302 Mr. Toulmin Smith on the Formation 


found beyond the margin of the flint, as is the case in number- 
less instances in true sponges. But it is continually found 
that as well Ventriculites as sponges of many different varieties 
are preserved in the chalk equally as in the flint, and that 
without any connexion whatever with Veutriculites, but always 
themselves again invested with the assumed parasites. It is 
‘further to be noted, that there is not a single case in which a 
Ventriculite or sponge is found silicified in a normal form, i. e. 
without an assumed parasite; nor, further, a single case in which 
either Ventriculite or sponge is found inside the assumed para- 
site in the unsilicified state in which each is so often found in the 
chalk, and with the body or extended threads of the assumed 
investing parasite alone silicified. What an extraordinary tissue of 
contradictions is then involved in this theory! Had such para- | 
sites existed, no one can doubt that they would have been often 
found investing Ventriculites and sponges in the chalk and unsi- 
licified ; and, further, that Ventriculites and sponges would have 
been found silicified indifferently with or without parasites, as 
well as unsilicified within the silicified parasite. The doctrine 
of chances, which is but another name for the laws of unity and 
design and the principles of induction, is at an end, if, to prop up 
a theory, we are called upon to accede to postulates thus mon- 
strous and contradictory, but absolutely necessary if the sponge 
theory is to be sustained. 

I have alluded in my former paper to the frequent flint nodules 
formed round the roots of Ventriculites. To my no small sur- 
prise Mr. Bowerbank showed me a specimen of this kind, re- 
moved at the lower part from the chalk; and pointed to the 
orifices through which the roots passed as proof that it had been 
disrupted, and as great excurrent canals. I expressed my asto- 
nishment as strongly as courtesy would permit. I stated that 
I would engage that the assumed excurrent canals would, if cut 
open, show roots of Ventriculites. Mr. Bowerbank, however, 
insisted on the excurrent canals. Now, having hundreds of like 
specimens in every condition, the true facts are so familiar to me, 
that I can only be amazed at this as an extreme instance of the 
lengths to which “ anticipation” will lead a man to overlook the_ 
most obvious facts in support of his theory. Mr. Bowerbank, 
moreover, insisted to me that, where flints were formed round 
roots of Ventriculites, the latter must have been disrupted and 
lying on their sides; remarking that it must be so, because other- 
wise the sponge could not have grown round the roots, which, 
normally, struck into the mud. This is indeed arguing in a 
circle. I admit the latter part of the position, namely that no 
parasitic sponge could have grown into the mud and so invested 
the roots; and, because it is so, I again assert that these flint 


of the Flints of the Upper Chalk. — 803 


nodules never were sponges. For I am prepared to demonstrate 
to any one who will favour my cabinet with an inspection, that 
the Ventriculites thus invested as to their roots were not dis- 
rupted, but, on the contrary, were growing normally and in situ 
when invested by the flint; and the great specific gravity of the 
flint readily accounts for its sinking into the soft mud so as thus 
to invest their roots. It is further obvious, that had they been, 
as alleged, disrupted and lying on their sides, the accumulations 
of flint would be all on one side, they forming merely the attach- 
ments of the sponge; whereas the fact is, that the general rule 
is a pretty equal distribution of flint all round. If a special 
mass lies on one side, it is capable of explanation. 

My space warns me that I must hasten to notice the explana- 
tions attempted of the figured specimens. , 

Mr. Bowerbank would have us believe (page 257) that the 
woodcut (page 11) is explained by the flint being “ the remains 
of one of the large internal canals of the sponge.” When the 
reader is reminded that this is an assumption of a petrified mass 
of revolving water (revolving, too, normally, after all the rest of 
the sponge has utterly decayed), it cannot be necessary to notice 
the suggestion further. 

I noticed Mr. Charlesworth’s silicified pulp-cavity with a reser 
vation. I have seen the specimen. ‘There are undoubted poly- 
thalamia in it, though not such apparent sponge tissue. For the 
reasons named in my former paper, I see no difficulty in account- 
ing for the presence of the minute polythalamia, though very 
great in imagining the growth of any sponge in such a locality, 
As to my own figured specimen of jaw, I certainly was not then; 
nor am I now, aware that the substance of the teeth and jaw is 
silicified, but know the reverse to be the fact; and when the 
reader learns that the teeth in that specimen are anchylosed to 
the jaw, which is solid below them, he will feel that no “ space 
intervening between the tooth and its socket” ever existed. But 
Mr. Bowerbank’s attempts to explain figures 1, 2 and 3 are the. 
most extraordinary. The condition of figure 2 is so fully ex- 
plained in my former paper as at once to refute the notion of an 
“accident during the elevation of the chalk,”—a notion under any: 
circumstances so far-fetched and, on every ground, inadmissible, 
that it cannot be necessary to combat it. Mr. Bowerbank can- 
not, however, have read the description of this specimen. As to 
fig. 3, of which it is most gratuitously said (page 259) that some 
of the fragments “appear to have been shells,” in direct oppo- 
sition to the fact, Mr.. Bowerbank is compelled to admit that the 
fragments are “fragments of older flints,” which is just what 
the specimen.was engraved to show, and which Mr. Bowerbank 
leaves wholly unexplamed. As to figure 1, I cannot at all under- 


804: Mr. Toulmin Smith on the Formation 


stand the statement that it “exhibits an appearance of having 
been deposited in concentric layers, which are exposed by what 
seems to have been an irregular decomposition of its surface.” 
I beg, in the most explicit manner, to say, that not the slightest 
appearance of the kind, in any respect whatever, is presented. 
Let the reader glance over the description given on page 11 and 
examine the plate, and he will at once see that the actual ap- 
pearances are the most directly opposite and reverse of the alleged 
appearances. The decomposing flints alluded to are not very 
rare; but in every respect whatever they totally differ, both in 
external aspect and internal appearance and arrangement, from 
the specimen described, of which all the edges are perfectly 
sharp, the substance perfectly hard and in the highest state of 
integrity, and the horizontal—and no trace of concentric—layers 
very visible in some places. I have since obtained other fine 
specimens of the same kind, all in an equal state of integrity, 
and all therefore equally conclusive against the sponge theory. 

Mr. Bowerbank is much distressed at the idea of “currents 
and whirlpools.” IfI gently give motion to a jug of water at 
a given temperature, the whole mass assumes a form, as stated 
in my former paper, very much like that on these specimens, and 
the necessary “currents” excite no marvel. The motion among 
the particles themselves causes the angular ridges. It is only 
when the mass assumes special forms, as in fig. 1, that some 
special motion must be suggested. Now I can show that such 
slight, but sufficient, motions took place in the region of these 
phenomena, having been at the pains to collect specimens for 
the purpose of establishing the point. Thus all the difficulty 
vanishes. There are no “contrary currents in opposition to the 
figured side,”’ but precisely the reverse, as stated in my former 
description of the specimen. 

As to the last-named specimen (fig. 1), it may not be amiss to 
state that, as if to afford direct evidence of the truth of the views 
advanced by me in explanation of the phenomena exhibited by 
that and similar specimens, I have been fortunate enough, since 
that paper was written, to obtain a specimen exactly similar to 
the part a in fig. 1, in the chalk. This proves the existence of an 
absolute cause in that ocean sufficient for the production of such 
forms. Now it is particularly interesting to find that, in this 
chalk specimen, immediately underneath the chalk surface, 
which was cleared from the block by my own hand, there is a 
layer of flint—a capsule fitting mto but below it, so that the 
chalk impression is no mould, but a cap. This is beautifully 
consistent with the suggested cause of the solidification of flint . 
under such circumstances, viz. the given motion. It further 
suggests how the chalk impression remained firm after the mo- 


of the Flints of the Upper Chalk. 305 


tion which caused it had ceased, the rapidly solidified flint com- 
pressing it. 

5. Space will not allow me to add many of the additional 
illustrations which crowd upon me. Several fresh facts have 
been already named. I will therefore conclude with a brief 
notice of two most important facts in the natural history of 
flints and their inclosed bodies, which, by an extended series of 
preparations, I have ascertained since my former paper was 
written. Each of these points has furnished me with direct 
evidence of that which I had before inferred, as most probable, 
from collateral facts only. Hach equally demonstrates the fal- 
lacy of the sponge theory, and points to important truths in the 
natural history of flints. As I propose to take an early oppor- 
tunity of detailing the observations relative to the first point 
alluded to, I will only call attention here to the general result. 

Flints are generally considered in the light of homogeneous 
masses, mineralogically the same throughout each individual 
mass, except in such cases as Mr. Bowerbank notices on p. 257, 
and which notice by him shows that he is not aware of the facts 
which I have now to state*. Indeed had he been so, the sponge 
theory could never have been framed. Mr. Bowerbank speaks 
(p. 257) of chalcedonic crystallization “ wherever there has been 
a small space originally not occupied by spongeous substance ;” 
and at p. 250 he evidently implies that silicification took place 
after all animal matter had drained out of the horny skeleton ; 
and at p. 258 he cannot understand any reason for imagining 
the Ventriculites to have been imbedded in flint while alive. 
His remarks also, in this and other papers, upon agates, equally 
show his opinion that the chalcedonic crystallization took place 
only in spaces “ originally not occupied by spongeous substance.” 
Now I am prepared to show that, confining ourselves to the flints 
of the upper chalk, our true point, the exact converse of this is 
true, and that the places in which chalcedonic crystallization has 
taken place are places which were originally occupied by the 
spongeous or other animal substancet. I will not at present ab- 
solutely affirm that in no other cases is chalcedonic crystallization 
found, though I believe such to be the case. It is enough for 
my present purpose if I can clearly show that this chalcedonic 
crystallization is present in numberless instances in perfectly 


* Nor are these phenomena noticed in Brongniart’s ‘ Essai sur les orbi- 
cules siliceux ;’—their possibility being indeed expressly put out of the ca- 
tegory. See pp. 21 and 23 of that ‘ Essai,’ 

_ + It will be understood that I mean to express this as the ordinary cause 
of hollows in chalk flints, which Mr. Bowerbank nowhere explains. Else- 
where (in volcanic rocks, &c.), hollows existing from other known causes, 
siliceous infiltration and crystallization would obey the ordinary laws. 


Ann, & Mag. N. Hist, Vol, xix. 


306 Mr. Toulmin Smith on the Formation 


solid flints, and that, in all such cases, I can demonstrate the 
origin of the space it occupies. In my former paper several facts 
were named (pp. 4, 7, 8,.9, 16, &c.) showing that the places of 
the soft parts of animals had been penetrated by silex. I felt 
however and admitted a difficulty in fully explaining this. That 
felt difficulty led me to make a long series of preparations, which 
seem to have at length cleared up the point and thrown much 
light on the whole formation of flint. ager 


f 


If a section of moderate thickness is properly-taken from a 
flint in which experience teaches the observer that a Ventriculite 
or true sponge has been inclosed, it will be found, in holding the 
specimen up between the eye and the light, that a part of it, 
having a very defined outline, is much more transparent than 
the remainder. On examining that more transparent part under 
an inch achromatic, traces, more or less distinct, of crystallization 
will be obvious. Continued and extended observation—the means 
of which I shall be most happy to supply to any who may feel 
interested in the question—is necessary to realize the result, 
which will however in the end inevitably be the conviction that 
those lighter shades are the places formerly occupied by the soft 
parts of animals or sponges once inclosed—ain a living or unde- 
composed state—in the flint which had suddenly and solidly en- 
cased them in an amorphous condition ; that the soft parts first, 
and afterwards the firmer parts, of those animals subsequently de- 
composed, /eaving, in the then solid flint which encased them, a hol- 
low mould of the exact form of the living animal ; that subsequently 
to this it was that silex, suspended in a gaseous or liquid form 
(I incline to think the former the more frequent*), found its way 
ito these then hollow spaces and there erystallizedt ; that, where 
any of the firmer fibrous parts happened to remain, they served as 
nuclei round which crystallization formed ; that if the silex were 
thus presented in sufficient abundance, it gradually filled up the 
entire hollow space, leaving a perfectly solid flint ; if not so abun- 
dant it crystallized round the remaining fibres only, presenting us 
with those open reticulations of such exquisite beauty with which 
carefully-made sections have most amply rewarded my labours in 
the course of these preparations. 

* Mr. Bowerbank’s objection (p. 258) to thermal heat is unfounded. Shells, 
&c. may be subjected to a greater heat than that necessary to suspend the 
silex in a gaseous state without danger. Dr. Mantell has reprinted some in- 
teresting experiments on the suspension of silex in steam, and, though this 
does not seem necessary, the permeation of rocks by heated gases is so well 
known, that it presents perhaps a more obvious general (not universal) 
explanation of the gradual accumulation of the matter than any other 
hypothesis. 

+ The note (p. 6) applies in all these cases. If there were no orifice, 


neither could gases of decomposition escape nor the chalcedony enter. The 
place of the original orifice may always be found, either marginal or radical. 


of the Flints of the Upper Chatk. 307 


In Dr. Turner’s lecture (p. 27) he says, “The development of 
regular crystals was owing to the extremely slow progress of the 
same process which, when less slow, might cause the deposits to 
be amorphous.” ‘This precisely accords with the view suggested 
of the rapid solidification of the amorphous flint round the livmg 
animal, and the slow deposit of the crystallized silex* in the 
subsequently present hollow space. 

Of course cases occur in which other substances besides chal- 
cedony have insinuated themselves into the hollow. Such cases— 
the line of division being equally marked-—serve only further to 
illustrate my position. In the majority of cases however it is 
chalcedony. 

To these observations on this first point I will add nothing 
more at present but the remark, that the suggestion offered in 
my former paper (p. 4) as explanatory of the presence of .frag- 
ments of sponge tissues in many flints has a strong light thrown 
on it by these observations, and the bearing of these observations 
on the present question becomes of great importance when those 
fragments are considered. I there considered them to be torn 
fragments of the horny tissue. In such case it is clear that 
none of the gelatinous substance of the sponge would be pre- 
sent. It would be purely and truly a. mere fragment of the 
horny network. Consequently this would be indeed saturated 
with and imbedded in the flint itself, and, there being no gela- 
tinous mass to decompose, no hollow space would ever be left to 
be filled with chalcedony. Hence it is that around such tissues we 
see none of the semitransparent chaleedony, but simply the dull 
homogeneous flint. Hence the true nature and origin of those 
fragments, as suggested in p. 4, is—with the consistency which 
always attends the examination of new facts by the light of 
a true explanation of nature—rendered almost demonstrative, 
and, by consequence, the so-called “ characteristic flint tissue” 
at once placed out of further question and removed altogether 
from the argument. And yet it is upon the presence of these 
fragments only that the whole fabric of the sponge theory has 
been raised! Even the weak analogy which they afforded, and 
on which the whole “ anticipation” rested, seems thus entirely 
destroyed ; and the facts which destroy it appear to increase the 
light which points with clearness to the true origin of the modes 
and forms in which the flints of the upper chalk are.actually found, 


* For convenience this more transparent part may be termed chalcedony, 
though it is clear that chalcedony and flint are merely different forms of 
silex, having a differing amount of foreign matter and impurities. The 
gaseous state of the chalcedony would tend to cause it to have less of the 
grosser impurities which discolour the flint and render it opake. Hence its 
general transparency. 

22% 


308 On the Formation of the Flints of the Upper Chalk. 


as suggested in my former paper, namely, by the rapid solidifi- 
cation of a fluid—induced by special circumstances—combined 
with its own molecular attraction; those special circumstances 
being, generally, an affinity for an organic nucleus* ; occasionally, 
mere mechanical action, such as motion taking place where the 
solution happened to be present. The point before obvious as a 
fact, but difficult of explanation, of the penetration of soft parts, 
has now also, I trust, received some elucidation. 

The second point to which I would call attention relates, not to 
the formation of the nodular flints, in which the bodies just consi- 
dered are usually found, but to a no less interesting and confirma- 
tory fact as to the suggested origin of the tabular flints. I sug- 
gested, at p. 16 of my former paper, that “where there was a layer 
of minute organic bodies, there would be fewercentres of attraction, 
and tabular flints would be formed.” This has been confirmed 
by facts of subsequent detailed observation. The tabular flints, 
which extend unbroken over vast spaces, are not found as de- 
scribed by Mr. Bowerbank, ‘ Geol. Trans.’ vol. vi. p. 184, but are 
formed of two plates united in few places. Between the plates, 
and totally unconnected with the chalk above or below, is a 
layer of pulverulent substance, not chalk, but which, on submis- 
sion to the microscope, is found to be made up of most minute 
organisms—so minute as only to be at all discernible under 
a quarter-inch achromatic, and only clear under an eighth. 
These are of a character and belong to genera totally distinct 
and different from the ordinary microscopic forms abounding 
in the beds of chalk immediately above and below the several 
tables, while the latter forms are extremely sparing in this 
most interesting and remarkable layer. The principal forms 
in this are extremely numerous and minute Gallionell, a mi- 
nute Navicula, and several other forms. These forms make up 
the whole mass, or very nearly so. These facts point to pheeno- 
mena, as to the time and manner of the deposit and depth of 
the water, which require careful and separate consideration, and 
on which therefore | forbear now to enter. Their important bear- 
ing on our immediate subject cannot fail to be recognised. Not 
a trace is found on the under side of these tabular flints of the 
nature described by Mr. Bowerbank (p. 254) as appertaining to 
flat sponges, while the remarks made by me on p. 5 are most 
fully borne out, I have had an opportunity of examining a large 


. * As to the formation of the nodular flints by “ separate centres in one 
mass” (p. 16 of my former paper), this will surely be understood by any one 
who has watched two or more globules of water or mercury approach and 
unite. Had they contained organic nuclei, instead of forming fresh and 
larger perfect globules they would have formed irregular nodules like the 
flints. 


Mr. J. G. Jeffreys on some British Shells. 309 


area just cleared of the flat table of flint. It was perfectly flat, 
as was the upper surface also of the flint removed. No shell of 
any large size was found on either surface. I observed however 
in several places on the upper surface lines of much the same cha- 
racter—though occurring for the most part only singly or few— 
as the lines on the specimen figure 1, and which lines I cannot 
doubt owe their existence to a slight motion of the water above 
while the mass was in the act of solidification. 

In conclusion I would remark, that, while it has been abso- 
lutely necessary for me, in order that some approach might be 
made to the discovery of truth on this very interesting and oft- 
mooted question of the formation of the flints of the upper 
chalk, to show how much my language and views have been mis- 
represented, and how contrary the facts are to the representa- 
tions, I would not for a moment be thought to imply any inten- 
tional misrepresentation in either respect on the part of Mr. 
Bowerbank. It is one of the greatest evils of all “ anticipation ” 
that it tends to dim the sight and to warp the impression derived 
from what seems the clearest fact or statement, and that any 
fancied analogy (I use the word as more familiar than szmilitude) 
is seized and dwelt on to the exclusion of numberless points of 
dissimilitude. I trust that the observations of Mr. Bowerbank 
may serve to advance the discovery of truth in this matter, if they 
be the occasion of my rendering more clear the facts and reasons 
which appear to me to demonstrate the existence of numberless 
dissimilitudes between the facts of nature and the generalization 
hazarded by him, and of enabling me to render also clearer the 
suggestions which I have ventured to throw out, and which I 
would fain hope, tend to elucidate in some degree the natural 
history of the formation of the flmts of the upper chalk. 


XXXIII.—Descriptions and Notices of British Shells. 
By J. Gwyn Jerrreys, FR. & LS. 


Ir was my first intention to have reserved for the work on Bri- 
tish Mollusca, in which my friend Mr. Forbes requested my as- 
sistance, the publication of any discovery on this subject which 
may from time to time have oecurred to me ; but as in his opi- 
nion the anticipation by this mode of publication of any such 
discoveries would increase, instead-of diminishing, the interest of 
the proposed work, I will give a short account of some import- 
ant additions to the Catalogue of British Shells, for which I am 
principally indebted to my indefatigable friend and collaborateur, 
George Barlee, Esq., during his excursion to the western coast of 
Scotland last year. 


310 Mr. J. G. Jeffreys on some British seaman 


Preropopa ? 


Orbis foliaceus, Philippi, vol. 11. p. 147. tab. 24. f. 26. Several 
specimens of this singular shell occurred to us in about fifty 
fathoms water off Skye. I doubt this species being the same as 
that of Philippi, because in perfect specimens the last whorl ex- 
ceeds in size all the others so as to form an obtuse keel. One 
specimen is remarkable for its having two apertures occasioned 
by a malformation of the first, and the animal having subse- 
quently formed another to replace it. This monstrosity is occa- 
sionally found in the shells of Gasteropods. 


GASTEROPODA. 


Bulla pruinosa, Zool. Journ. vol. 1. p. 341. One specimen of 

this shell, which had not been, as far as I am aware, rediscovered 
by any collector since the publication of the species by Mr. Clark 
in 1827 as an Exmouth shell, occurred from Loch Fyne. Mr. 
Barlee observed a specimen in ‘the Rev. Dr. Fleming’s collection, 
and procured another specimen last year from Branscomb, Mr. 
Clark’s dredger at Exmouth. 
_ Bulla acuminata, Phil. vol. i. p. 122. t. 7. f. 18. A single 
specimen (although broken) from Loch Fyne. Mr. Alder in- 
formed me that he had also found one specimen on the west coast 
of Scotland. 

Bulla truncatula, Phil. vol. i. p.122.t. 7. f.21. Volvaria sub- 
cylindrica, Brown, p. 3. pl. 19. f. 19, 20. Several specimens of 
this very distinct shell occurred in from twenty to fifty fathoms 
from the coast of Skye. 

Bulla mammillata, Phil. vol. i. p. 122. t. 7. f. 20. Skye. 
This species had previously been found by myself and others at 
Exmouth and on other parts of the south coast. 

Rissoa Barleei. Shell subcylindric, smooth, solid, of a yel- 
lowish horn-colour. Volutions six, gradually increasing in size, 
and more or less decorticated at the top ; suture slight. Apex ob- 
tuse. Aperture oval, contracted and surrounded by a complete 
peristome and having the outer lip inflected towards the pillar. 
Umbilicus none. Length 14 line; breadth 3 of a line. 

Loch Carron and. Skye in twenty to fifty fathoms. 

This species has very much the appearance of Rissoa (Palu- 
dina) Ulve, but differs from it in its subcylindrical form, its 
rather more solid texture, in not having the last volution an- 
gulated, and above all in its more contracted aperture and the 
peculiar inflexion of the outer lip. Its habitat is also very dif- 
ferent. I had not an opportunity of examining the animal. 

Rissoa clathrata, Phil. vol. 1. p. 223. t. 28. f£.20?. Cyelo- 
strema zetlandicum, Flem. Brit. An. p. 312. 

In fifty fathoms off Skye. 


Mr. J. G. Jeffreys on some British Shells. 311 


Rissoa abyssicola, Forbes. Inthe same locality as the last. 

Eulima distorta (Melania distorta, Desh.), Phil. vol. i. p. 158. 
t.9.f.10. Oban and Loch Fyne. 

This species was also found many years ago by Mr. Clark at 
Exmouth ; and several other localities in Great Britain are now 
known for it. 

Chemnitzia rufescens, Forbes. Turritella indistincta, Flem. 
Brit. An. p. 804. Melania scalarts, Phil. vol. i, p. 157. t.9. £9? 
From the same locality as the last. I obtained it in 1843 and 
1844 in various parts of the western coast of Scotland. 

Eulimella (Forbes) crassula, Mal. and Conch, J. LE. MacAndrei, 
Forbes in Ann. Nat. Hist. vol. xiv. p.412. In many parts of the 
western coast of Scotland. 

Eulimella gracilis. Shell elongated, of a rather thin texture, 
smooth, glossy, white. Volutions ten, gradually increasing in 
size and tapering to a point: they are rounded and well-defined 
by the line of separation. Aperture oval, angulated and slightly 
channelled at the base. Peristome not folded on the pillar. Um- 
bilicus none. Length ,ths of an inch ; breadth =,th. 

Several specimens of this beautiful and very distinct shell were 
found by Mr. Barlee at Oban, and since in Loch Fyne. 

Pleurotoma variegatum, Phil. vol. i. p.19.t. 11. f. 14. A single 
specimen of a shell which appears to be the above species occurred 
‘ to me at Loch Carron in 1843. It differs from Pl. purpureum in 
the texture of the shell being thinner, the volutions more rounded, 
and the longitudinal ribs more numerous. 

Pleurotoma Boothii, Smith in Wern. Mem. Oban and Skye. 
This species is scarcely distinguishable from Pl. lineare. I ob- 
served specimens in Mr. Metcalfe’s collection of shells from Herm, 
one of the Channel Islands, mixed with the other species, 

Pleurotoma scabrum. Shell oblong, yellowish white. Volutions 
six or seven, tapering and rounded, having each marked with 
twelve rather oblique longitudinal ribs, which are crossed by 
about the same number of raised transverse strize which produce 
tubercles at the point of junction, and are of a purplish brown 
colour. Suture rather deep and well-defined, showing the gra- 
dual formation and prolongation of the slit. Aperture oblong. 
Canal short. Umbilicus none. Length ,%ths of an inch; 
breadth ,5,ths. 

Two specimens of this shell were found by Mr. Barlee at Oban. 

It differs from Pl. lineare in the volutions being more taper- 
ing, and generally in its more slender form, and in the ribs and 
transverse striz being sharper and more elevated, giving the 
shell a scabrous appearance. 

Pleurotoma brachystomum, Phil. vol. u. p. 169. t. 26. f. 10. 
Oban, Loch Carron and Skye, as well as in Bantry Bay. This 


312 Mr. J. G. Jeffreys on some British Shells. 


species seems to be represented in fig. 14 of the plate to Capt. 
Laskey’s account of North British Testacea in the Memoirs of 
the Wernerian Society. ) 
Pleurotoma Ginannianum, Phil. vol. ii. p. 168. t. 26. f. 6. 
Ichnusa Setaba, Clark, MSS. Lerwick (1841) as well as the 
southern and western coasts. This species is closely allied to the 
last. It differs from P/. nebula in more abruptly tapering, having 
a rough aspect and the ribs being more raised and arched. The 
aperture is more straight and contracted. The colour is always 
of a uniform yellowish brown, but the P. nebula is yellowish white, 
with invariably two dark purplish bands on the last volution, one 
of which is continued on the upper part of each of the other vo- 
lutions. This species seems also to be more common and gene- 
rally distributed than the Pl. nebula, which is a southern form. 
Several of the rarer species of Pleurotoma (including Pl. teres, 
coarctatum, Trevelyanum, accinctum, &c.) also occurred to us. 
Buccinum Humphreysianum, Zool. Journ. vol. i. p. 398. A 
young specimen of this shell was found by Mr. Barlee at Skye. 
Emarginula crassa. Skye, Lochs Duish and Fyne. 
Cemoria Noachina. Not uncommon on many parts of the west- 
ern coast of Scotland. 

Velutina flexilis. Skye, and by myself in 1844 at Ullapool. 
Patella fulva. Not uncommon on many parts of the western 
coast of Scotland. ; 

Chiton Hanleyi. Oban and Skye. 

Chiton cancellatus. Ch. alveolus (Sars), Lovén, Moll. Scand. 

py 

2 Chiton albus. On several parts of the western coast of Scotland. 

One specimen of Chiton, which appears to be undescribed, was 
found by Mr. Barlee at Inverary ; but until more specimens have 
been found, it is perhaps better not to assign it a distinct name 
at present. It resembles in form C. albus, but is more strongly 
beaked and the granulations are more like those in C. marginatus. 
The margin is intermediate between the two. Colour brownish 
white. 

ACEPHALA. 


Terebratula seminulum, Phil. vol. i. p. 97. t. 6. f. 15 f? One 
specimen was found by me in company with Mr. Barlee at Skye 
in fifty fathoms attached by its byssus. 

The species is described by Philippi to be very variable in form ; 
but I am not quite satisfied as to the identity of my shell with 
that species. This is half the size, of a brownish colour, and nearly 
smooth, whereas the 7. seminulum is of a whitish colour, and 
thickly punctured over the surface. Further discoveries may 
clear up the doubt. 

A depressed variety (?) of the Ostrea edulis, having the inside 


Mr. J.G. Jeffreys on some British Shells. 313 


of a dark purplish colour, and nearly answering Philippi’s de- 
scription and figure of Ostrea depressa (vol. i. p. 89. t.6. f.3), is 
occasionally found on the western coast of Scotland. 

Pecten striatus, Mill. Not uncommon on many parts of the 
western coast of Scotland as well as of Ireland. 

Pecten adspersus, Lam. Pecten danicus, Mart. and Chemn. 
Pecten glaber, Pennant, Br. Zool. vol. iv. p. 223; Mont. Supp. 
p- 59. t. 28. f.6? Abundant in Loch Fyne, and sparingly on 
other parts of the western coast of Scotland. A white variety 
also occurs, although rarely ; and another variety having strong 
longitudinal strize between the ribs towards the margin. 

Pecten Dumasii, Payr. p. 43. pl. 2. f.6 and 7. Skye. I can- 
not agree with Philippi that this is a variety of the last. It is 
distinguished by being narrower, having the ribs more elevated, 
and close-set longitudinal prickly striz between the ribs. 

Pecten Pes-felis, Lam. Loch Long, but only single valves 
occurred to Mr. Barlee. 

Pecten levis. On many parts of the western coast of Scot- 
land. 

Modiola phaseolina, Phil. vol. i. p. 51. t.15. f. 14. On many 
parts of the western coast of Scotland, where it first occurred to 
me in 1843. 3 

The Mod. costulata (Risso), Phil. vol.i. p. 50. t. 15. f. 10, has 
occurred to me on the southern and western coasts of England. 

Nucula Polii, Phil. vol. i. p. 63. t.5. £10. Oban. This spe- 
cies has also been found in Dublin Bay, and I believe in other 
parts of Scotland and Ireland. 

Leda (Schumacher) tenuis. Nucula tenuis, Phil. vol. i. p. 65. 
t.5. £9. Leda pygmea, Forbes in Mem. of Geol. Surv. p. 419. 
Not uncommon on the coast of Skye. 

Arca pectunculoides (Scacchi), Phil. vol. 1. p. 44. t. 15. f. 8. 
With the last. 

Cardium suecicum (Loveni al.). Oban, and on many other 
parts of the western coast of Scotland. 

Cardium nodosum. Lerwick in 1841, and with the last. 

Tellina balaustina, Poli. Skye. This is the second occurrence 
of this beautiful species in this country. | 

Lucina spinifera. On many parts of the western coast of 
Scotland. 

Poronia (?) ferruginosa. 

Artemis (?) ferruginosa, Forbes. In 50 to 100 fathoms, Skye 
and Loch Fyne: some specimens from the latter place are double 
the usual size. 

Venus Plagia. Shell oblong, compressed, brownish white, 
glossy, marked transversely with antiquated ridges, which are 
stronger towards the margin and anterior extremity, and crossed 


314 Mr. J. Walton on the genus Omias. 


longitudinally by oblique strize which diverge from the hinge to 
the margin. There is a strongly developed flexuosity at the an- 
terior extremity which terminates in rather an acute edge. Hinge 
asin V. Pullastra. Breadth 13 inch ; length 1 inch. 

A single valve of this size occurred to me at Lerwick ; a small 
live specimen at Deal Voe in the Shetlands ; and a still smaller 
specimen was found by Mr. Barlee in Loch Fyne. 

It has a considerable resemblance to V. Pullastra, but it differs 
in the peculiar obliquity of its form as well as its greater breadth 
and other particulars. : 

Astarte crebricostata, Forbes in Ann. Nat. Hist. vol. xix. p- 98. 
Skye, but only single valves were found. 

Many specimens ; of Astarte were extremely difficult, if possible, 
to be distinguished specifically, and the variety of form in this 
genus is very puzzling. I am quite satisfied that the crenulation 
of the margin is not a specifically distinctive character ; nor the 
number of ribs, nor the form, much less the size or colour. With 
respect to size, 1 may observe that specimens of A. compressa 
measured more than three-quarters of an inch in diameter. 

Psammobia (?) plicata. Mytilus plicatus, Mont. Suppl. p. 70; 
Laskey in Wern. Mem. pl. 8. f.2. Two single valves of this cu- 
rious shell were found by us in fifty fathoms off Skye. Mr. ieee 
ley had previously taken it at Ryde. 

It has much the aspect of a Panopea. 

Psammobia costulata. 

Psammobia strigillata. Skye. 

Corbula (?) granulata, Nyst, Belg. Foss. p. 71. pl.2. £.6. Tel- 
lina polygona, Mont.? 1 dredged one (live) specimen of this 
curious shell in fifty fathoms off Skye. 

Neera abbreviata, Forbes. Between seventy and eighty spe- 
cimens of this shell were procured by Mr. Barlee in Loch Fyne. 

Many other extremely rare and interesting shells occurred, but 
I have already I fear trespassed too long on the columns of this 
month’s ‘ Annals.’ | 


XXXIV.—WNotes on the genus of Insects Omias, with descriptions 
of new species. By Joun Watton, F.LS. 


Fam. CURCULIONID A. 


Genus Om1as, Germ. olim, Schinh., Latr., Dej., Sturm. 
Thylacites (Brachysomus), Schonh., olim. 
Otrorhynchus, Brachysomus, Steph. 

Char. Gen. “Antenne moderate, either slight or rather stout; 
scape generally longer than the head, more or less curved, to- 
wards the apex incrassated ; first and second joints of the funi- 


Mr. J. Walton on. the genus Omias. 815 


culus short, obconic, the first bemg somewhat longer and thicker 
than the second, 3—7 nodose ; club ovate. Rostrum short, nar- 
rower than the head, having generally a somewhat triangular 
impression above towards the apex, in some a little flat; the 
scrobes short, subcurvate. Eyes rounded, convex, small. Thorax 
- either short or oblong, truncated at the base and apex, slightly 
rounded at the sides, a little narrowest in front. Scutellum in 
most specimens none, in a few triangular, minute. Elytra ample, 
either short-ovate or oblong-ovate, very convex above.” 

“ Observ. Body either subrotundate or subovate, apterous ; of 
very small size.” Transcribed from Schonherr, 


1. Omias hirsutulus, Fab., Marsh., Gyll., Germ., Schonh. 
Brachysomus hirsutulus, Steph. 
Not very abundant : found in whitethorn hedges on a gravelly 
or chalky soil at Gravesend, Shirley Common, and Mickleham, in 


May and June. 


2. O. Bohemani, Schonh. 


Ovate, nigro-piceous, shining, and densely clothed with erect 
cinereous hairs. Head small, narrow, black, sparingly pubescent, 
the vertex smooth, the front closely and minutely punctured ; 
eyes small, round, moderately prominent and black; rostrum 
narrower than the head and scarcely longer, stout, plane above, 
black, closely and finely punctured, and distinctly canaliculated. 
Antenne inserted near the apex of the rostrum, and reaching 
beyond the base of the thorax, rather slender, pale testaceous, 
and sparingly pubescent, the clava long-ovate, acuminated. Tho- 
rax broader m the middle than long, more narrowed anteriorly 
than posteriorly, moderately rounded at the sides, very convex 
above, piceous-black, shining, densely pubescent, closely and 
very minutely punctured. Scutellum indistinct. Elytra ample, 
Eioboes Hate: very convex above, piceous, deeply punctate-striate, 
the interstices moderately convex, smooth, and thickly clothed 
with erect cinereous hairs. Legs moderate, pale testaceous and 
pubescent. Length 13 line. 

Of this very distinct insect, which is new to the British fauna, 
I possess foreign examples from Schonherr. 

Mr. T. V. Wollaston captured a specimen by brushing amongst 
grass in a meadow near Stamford, and liberally presented it to 
me: received from York, Newcastle and Chesterfield by Mr. S. 
Stevens, who kindly supplied my cabinet with specimens. 


3. O. brunnipes, Oliv., Steph. Manual. 
Curc. piceus, Marsh., Kirb. MSS. 
Otior. piceus, Germ., Steph. Illust. 


This insect, with its numerous varieties of form, size and co- 


316 Mr. J. Walton on the genus Omias. 


lour, may be distinguished as being nearly glabrous and very 
shining ; as having the thorax subglobose, coarsely and remotely 
punctured ; the scutellum distinct, triangular, and the elytra glo- 
bose-ovate. : 

I possess authentic specimens of O. mollicomus of Ahr. from 
Germar, and of O. pellucidus from Chevrolat, which are distinct 
species ; and although closely allied to O. brunnipes, they may 
readily be distinguished from that insect by having the elytra 
oblong-ovate, and being clothed with hairs. Mr. Stephens, in his 
‘ Manual of British Coleoptera,’ has introduced the above-named. 
two species as indigenous, but I have not hitherto observed a 
specimen of either in any collection. : 

Common in hedges in sandy districts in June and July. 


4. Omias sulcifrons, Schonh. 


Oblong, black, shining, and very sparingly clothed with short, 
scattered, white pubescence. Head large, very broad, the vertex 
convex, closely punctulated, the front deeply furrowed to the apex 
of the rostrum ; eyes small, rotundate, very prominent ; rostrum 
scarcely as long as the head, and but a little narrower, and thickly 
punctured. Antenne rather slender, rufo-ferruginous, the clava 
long-ovate and very acute. Thorax a little broader in the middle 
than long, narrowed anteriorly, moderately dilated and rounded 
at the sides, rather convex above, coarsely punctured towards 
the sides, and remotely and irregularly on the disk. Scutellum 
small, triangular and distinct. Elytra oblong-ovate, nearly gla- 
brous, rather wider at the base than the thorax, the shoulders 
rounded and not elevated, somewhat dilated at the sides, mode- 
rately convex above, punctate-striate, the interstices plane and 
rather smooth. Legs rufo-ferruginous, shining and pubescent. 
Length 13—12 line. 

Readily recognised by its broad head and deep sulci, and by 
its elongate form. 

This insect, which is new to this country, was unknown to 
Schoénherr until I sent a specimen. 

First discovered in Dalmeny Park, Scotland, by Mr. R. N. Gre- 
ville in August ; and subsequently found at Mount Edgecomb, 
Devonshire, in May, by Mr. T. V. Wollaston; to both of these 
gentlemen I am indebted for specimens. 

It is necessary to notice that the insect included in the genus 
Cathormiocerus (Trachyphlous olim) of Schénherr, and described 
under the name of C. socius, with the addition of “ Patria Anglia. 
Mus. Dom. Walton,” I gave to Schonherr ; it is the only speci- 
men I have seen, and I think it came into my possession with 
the collection of the late Mr. Millard of Bristol. Of its history and 
locality I am equally ignorant: the genus only contains two spe- 


M. Miiller on the Development of the Lycopodiacee. 317 


cies, and C. horrens, an exotic insect, is the type; under these 
circumstances I consider that it is sufficient to refer to the ela- 
borate generic and specific characters given by Schonherr rather 
than to transcribe them*. 


XXXV.—On the Development of the Lycopodiacee. 
By Karu Mixieryt. 


[ With five Plates. ] 
[Concluded from p, 249.] 


ce. The morphological import of the spore. Up to the present 
time it remains doubtful what purpose is served by the anthe- 
ridium-spore. One person maintains this opinion, another that. 
This author declares that he has seen it germinate, the other that 
he has never been able so to do. Kaulfuss (Das Wesen der Far- 
renkrauter, &c. Leipz. 1827) relates (p. 23) that, first, Fox sowed 
Lycopodium Selago, then Lindsay Lycop. cernuum with success, 
and that Lycopodium clavatum had sprung up in abundance with 
Willdenow. With himself it did not succeed, yet the garden- 
inspector Otto, at Berlin, raised Lycop. pygmeum, Kaulf., from 
seed, for several years in succession. The last case however is 
easily explicable, since the Lyc. pygmeum which I know by this 
name from the hands of the exact Kunze, possesses oophoridia 
also; and that these germinate is known. Here therefore we 
cannot place full dependence even on the assurance of such an 
authority as Willdenow. 

An observation of Goppert’st however is of far greater im- 
portance from the fact, that it does not merely amount to a confir- 
mation ; this was beholding young plants produced from the an- 
theridium-spores of the same Lye. denticulatum, the development 
of which we have above become acquainted with. His observa- 
tions were first published in the ‘ Uebersicht der Arbeiten und 
Veranderungen der schlesischen Gesellschaft fiir vaterlandische 
Kultur,’ in the years 1841 and 1845. In the latter the author 
has also, although imperfectly, furnished illustrations to it. The 
observations were next published in No. 7 of the literary notices 
in the ‘ Flora,’ p. 110, and lastly by Réper (in the ‘ Flora Meck- 
lenburg’s,’ i. p. 126). The passage in question is here transcribed 
a nl for those who may not have access to any of these 

ooks ;— 


* Syn. Ins. vii. p. 120, 121. 

Tt From the ‘ Botanische Zeitung,’ Oct. 2, 1846. Translated by Arthur 
Henfrey, F.L.S, &c. 

t I have only become acquainted with it since the second section was 
printed, 


318 M.Miiller on the Development of the Liycopodiacez. 


“ Both kinds of spores (in Lye. denticulatum) have already been 
seen to germinate by Brotero and Salisbury (Trans. of the Linn, 
Soe, vol. xii. p..2. tab. 19). The accuracy of these observations 
was however questioned by G. W. Bischoff (Krypt. Gew. 2 Lief. 
p- 111), because Salisbury’s figures exhibited, throughout, too 
great an agreement with the germination of a dicotyledonous 
plant*. In November 1840 I noticed in a flower-pot standing 
near Lyc. denticulatum in the hothouse of our botanical garden, 
some germinating plants which on closer inspection and their 
further development I was enabled to recognise as Lyc. denticu- 
latum. They exhibited two conditions: one kind which had been 
developed from the delicate pulverulent seeds were one-eighth of a 
line high, and were already thickly clothed from the rootlets up- 
ward with alternate leaves, but they did not divide in the bifurcate 
manner so peculiar to the Lycopodia until they had attained a 
length of from three to four lines. The others differed strikingly 
from these, outwardly, and at the first glance appeared to possess 
the greatest similarity with a germinating dicotyledonous plant. 
The outermost envelope of the spore was still adhering to the 
spot from which the roots, three to four lines long, extended 
downward, so that no doubt could remain as to the development 
from it, and from the same envelope was prolonged a perfectly 
naked stem two to three lines long, projecting above the surface 
of the ground; the upper part bore the first leaflets, which how- 
ever did not stand opposite one another like the seed-leaves of the 
Dicotyledons, but alternate: this however could only be ascertained 
by a pretty close examination ; and therein lies the mistake of the 
illustrations figs. 2, 4 and 5 of Salisbury, who has represented the 
leaves as oppositet. Above these leaflets the axis divided into 
two branches of equal development, so that the dichotomy appeared. 
at once here, while in the former it did not occur until after the 
development of eight to ten whorls of leaves. Moreover in these 
the leaflets were also twice or thrice as large as in the others.” 

I have also related this author’s observations on the germi- 
nation of the oophoridium-spores here, because I hold them to be 
an evidence, that Goppert saw real germinating plants of Lyc. 
denticulatum, and to him the Lycopodial nature of the plants pro- 
duced from the antheridium-spores must be indubitable. Assu- 
ming this, implicit trust may be placed on so accurate an ob- 
server as GOppert ; yet I cannot suppress some perverse doubt, 
which his figures have inspired me with. In the first place, they 
are figured under too small a magnifying power to show more than 


* Asis well known, Bischoff retracted this in an appendix to his ‘ Krypt. 
Gew.,’ having himself observed this germination. 
t+ According to my observations Salisbury is quite right. 


M. Miiller on the Development of the Liycopodiacee. 819 


the branches and leaves. Then, figure 17 appears to me so like 
a young plant of Fissidens, a moss which often enough occurs in 
flower-pots in our green-houses, that I am involuntarily—I hope 
M. Géppert will, in such an important circumstance, be charita- 
ble enough to pardon me—led to imagine that he may have 
been deceived. By one single argument however Goppert could 
free himself at once from this suspicion—if, namely, he can as- 
sure us positively that he has seen. the antheridium-spore still 
adherent to the young germinating plant ; a condition of which 
he has made no mention. If this was actually the case, an axis 
must have been developed at once from the spore, and thus a 
confusion with a young moss plant would have been impossible, 
because in this as in many other Cryptogamous families a proto- 
thallus is developed first, and then a bud is afterwards produced 
upon this, from which the axis and the remainder of the plant are 
developed. Moreover the Lycopodial nature might have been 
pointed out at once, from the structure of the leaf. But Goppert’s 
figures give nothing of this, and, alas! the subsequent develop- 
ment of the plant is wanting altogether. | 
Although I do not now throw any doubt on the possibility of 
the germination of the antheridium-spores, yet one involuntarily 
asks, how then are the Lycopodia without oophoridium-spores 
propagated? we must still wait for further observations which 
shall offer a complete history of the development. But it 
always presents itself to me as a peculiar phenomenon, that some 
observers have unanimously described plants produced from an- 
theridium-spores, while others again have altogether failed in 
discovering them. This has been my own case, although I have 
kept Lyc. denticulatum more than half a year in a room, and 
observed dozens of germinating plants developed from oopho- 
ridium-spores and have sown numbers of antheridium-spores. 
Just the same has occurred to me with the spores of Pstlotum 
triquetrum, although, according to Kaulfuss (/.c. pp. 10 and 27), 
the inspector Otto found Bernhardia dichotoma quite separate 
from the parent plants upon roots of plants, im many pots in 
the Berlin gardens, a phenomenon which Dr. Fischer has also 
observed upon a palm root in Gorenki. Enough of all these opi- 
nions and assurances; they are altogether too doubtful to allow 
any conclusions to be drawn from them. One can only urgently 
desire that this important point may right soon be settled. 


§ 6. Retrospect. 


The following are the points which may be considered as surely 
proved in the foregoing history of development :-— 
_ 1. The Lycopodiacee possess two kinds of organs of fructifica- 


320 M. Miller on the Development of the Lycopodiacez. 


tion, antheridia and oophoridia. The spores of the latter cer- 
tainly germinate ; of the former, it is still doubtful. 

The antheridium-spores correspond to those of such eryptoga- 
mia as are formed to the number of four in a mother-cell. 

The oophoridium-spores correspond to the ovule of the higher 
plants ; nearest to those of the Rhizocarpee if the ovule is under- 
stood as a mother-cell produced by the axis, inside which the 
plant is formed. It appears to me that nothing can be objected 
to this: the inner membrane then would correspond to the em- 
bryo-sac of the ovule of Rhizocarpee, and the outer in like man- 
ner would be the analogue of the external membrane of the same 
ovule. Since in these, according to Mettenius (Beitr. z. Kentniss 
der Rhizocarpeen), the embryo-sac originates by the deposition 
of membranous substance, or rather by the secretion of the in- 
ternal membrane, so also must it be formed in the Lycopodium 
ovule in the same manner, since it is produced at a later period. 

If this comparison, of the oophoridium-spore with an ovule, 
have a good foundation—and I see with pleasure that Spring is 
of the same opinion, which so much the more strengthens me in 
my views that I did not yet venture to assert them in the second 
section, and only determined to regard them as clear and correct 
after subsequent explanations—the Lycopodium ovule thus be- 
comes of as much consequence in a systematic point of view as 
that of Rhizocarpee has become since an impregnation has been 
distinctly pointed out init. Perhaps I may be allowed to express 
briefly and conclusively what here presses itself upon us invo- 
luntarily as a@ necessary consequence, in propounding here five 
chief stages in the formation of plants. Four of them have per- 
haps already been propounded by many authors; but hitherto 
they have never been displayed in connection with one another. 

The vegetable kingdom commences with a single cell. It becomes 
a mother-cell, new cells being formed in its interior. The daughter- 
cells propagate the species in a similar manner, these again also 
becoming mother-cells. This is the case in the Bacillarie and 
plants of the genus Protococcus. Schleiden will pardon me if I 
reckon the Bacillarie and Desmidiacee decidedly among plants. 
In Frustulium IJ believe that I have distinctly observed a single cell 
expand itself into the so-called siliceous lorica, inside which new 
chlorophylle-like cells were formed, from which the species was 
again propagated in the same manner. This I have clearly ob- 
served in my Frustulia polymorpha from the North Sea—no mat- 
ter where this be arranged, since my honoured friend Kiitzing 
has passed it over in silence in his work on the Bacillaria. I be- 
lieve that I saw it also in an Achnanthes, which appeared to me 
to be Ach. pandureformis. Moreover I have observed in Closterium 
Acus cell-formation in the interior from cytoblasis, which wholly 


M. Miiller on the Development of the Liycopodiacer. 321 


corresponded with that observed by Schleiden himself. In my 
estimation however, that is a vegetable cell which possesses no 
contractility (like that of the animal), whereby we can at the first 
glance through the microscope distinguish a simple animal cell, 
like that of a Monas. The development of chlorophylle im the 
interior of this vegetable cell is to me the second important di- 
stinction. A third lies in the colour of the animal cell, which 
can only be comprehended by actual sight, which cannot be ex- 
pressed, and varies from the hyaline appearance of the vegetable 
cell to the reddish colour of cytoblastema. 

Next to this structure follows, secondly, the simple spore, 
from the Alge to the Ferns. Here the plant is formed out- 
side the spore, which elongates in a tubular manner: there are 
several modifications of this. In the Algee—e. g. in Chara, which 
I include here on account of the agreement of its fruit with that 
of Chetophora, in Chetophora tuberculosa and endiviefolia, where 
I have distinctly observed it—the whole spore grows out at once 
into an axis, which is in fact nothing more than a simple tube. 
Whether the so-called Floridee among the Algz, ally the true sea- 
weeds, to the following modifications, I know not. In these, as 
is well known, a proto-thallus is developed and the plant is then 
produced from a bud which is formed upon it. This occurs from 
the Fungi—in the Lichens it is only probable—to the Ferns. It is 
sufficiently known that further modifications occur in theprotothal- 
lus, that this sometimes appears as a tubular filament, sometimes 
as a tissue of filaments, according to the more highly developed 
structure of the family. A higher step is at all events taken by 
nature if Gdppert’s observations shall be confirmed—that an axis 
is developed at once from the antheridium-spore of Lycopodium. 

To this widely distributed structure succeeds, thirdly, the ovu- 
lum of the Selaginelle. Here the plant is produced without im- 
pregnation in the interior of the ovule, consequently in an embryo- 
sac, and perfected externally. 

Fourthly, we come to the ovule of Rhizocarpex: here the plant 
is produced in the interior of the ovule by impregnation in the man- 
ner pointed out by Schleiden, the embryo being formed in the pol- 
len-tube outside the embryo-sac, and the plant perfected on the out- 
side of the ovule ; but the acts of impregnation and germination are 
simultaneous stages. In the Rhizocarpee the axis originates free 
in the germinal “ nidus” (Wauisée) serving as envelope (the germ, 
Keimkorper), which may be compared to the proto-thallus of the 
preceding Cryptogamia, only that here it is formed in the inte- 
rior of the ovule. In the ovule of Lycopodium the axis still grows 
m connection with the germinal body. Up to this point no main 
root occurs, since, according to Mettenius, the root of the Rhizo- 
carpee is not a main root, as Schleiden considered it. 

Ann, & Mag. N, Hist, Vol. xix. 23 


822 M. Miller on the Development of the Lycopodiacce. 


Lastly, we see in the fifth place, that the acts of impregnation 
and germination have become two independent stages ; then the em- 
bryo ts produced by impregnation inside the ovule, in fact in the 
embryo-sac, and is at once so fully perfected, that the act of germi- 
nation is nothing more than an evolution of an already fully-formed 
part. Here therefore the plant is produced and perfected in the 
interior of the ovule. | 

The degree of importance the Lycopodiacee possess in this 
series Is at once evident. They unite the sexual plants with the 
asexual (Agama), the plant being actually formed in the interior 
of the ovule without the occurrence of impregnation. They pos- 
sess therefore the ovule of the sexual plants and the gemmation 
of the asexual, and thus make good their place for ever between 
Ferns and Rhizocarpee. 

2. In the formation of the plant in the interior of the ovule all 
cells originate singly. This is not in opposition to the law laid 
down by Schleiden, that the cells are developed within cells, 
Here the ovule is to be regarded as the common mother-cell for 
many cells. As we here see therefore distinctly that the cells are 
formed without impregnation, I must mention a phenomenon 
which Spring relates in his “ Monographie de la Famille des Ly- 
copodiacées”’ in the ‘ Mémoires de l’Académie Royale de Brux- 
elles,’ tom. xv. He says that R. Brown has often seen the escape 
of a fovilla-like mass from the spores of Psilotum triquetrum, and 
that he also has often noticed it. This may easily be, since we 
have above become acquainted with a finely granular matter con- 
tained in these spores. I have never seen any fovilla-like mass 
escape, but certainly the above-described granular contents, which 
often become elongated and branched. This phenomenon how- 
ever Spring holds to be very important, without giving any further 
explanation of it. But if in this importance an intimation is given 
of anything analogous to an act of impregnation, it disappears 
of itself before the direct proof that the ovules never open to 
absorb a fovilla. 

Every cell is self-formed, the protoplasma of the ovule being pre- 
cipitated round a central nucleus, and the outer layer becoming 
hardened. As in the Rhizocarpee, where Mettenius (loc. cit.) 
traced the course of formation of the cell, the cells here appear 
at first as cavities in the.protoplasma, since the substance around 
the nucleus is so transparent that it cannot be detected. An 

outer ring of protoplasma alone, more granular than the rest, is 
to be seen, and the outermost layer of this becomes membrane. 
I have never perceived a cytoblast here in Lyc. denticulatum ; this 
structure therefore must. be regarded as a modification of cell- 
formation. 
3. The terminal bud alone is formed by the plant inside the ovule. 


M. Miiller on the Development of the Lycopodiacer. 323 


The rootlets are not formed till afterwards upon the outside of it. 
Another proof that the Lycopodia cannot be said to have a main- 
root, 

4. The terminal bud becomes inclosed by an envelope (two bud- 
envelopes, Knospenhiillblittern). These remind us of the cotyle- 
dons of the Dicotyledons. At all events those bud-envelopes are 
identical with it, which so often occur in the Phanerogamia, e. g. 
in many Leguminose, as in Amicia, Lathyrus, Pisum, in Agri 
monia, in Cunonia capensis, especially, exactly as in Selaginella 
denticulata, in the Begonias, &c. Here these enveloping leaves 
have usually been looked upon as stipules. It is impossible that 
they can be such ; for they are distinguished from true stipules, 
e.g. in Roses by the fact that they always inclose axial buds, and 
always surrounding the stem at the origin of the internode, they 
persist or drop off (Cunonia), while the stipules, mere appendi- 
cular organs, rest upon the leaves. This is alluded to in another 

lace, 
: 5. The Selaginelle possess a main-axis. This however remains 
very short and divides at once in the terminal bud into two 
branches, which in like manner always divide again dichoto- 
mously. Hence the “ caulis dichotomo-procumbens.” 

6. The leaf is merely an “ outshoot ” (Auftreibung) of the stem, 
which expands into a flattened body. i 

7. Jn Selaginella denticulata an accessory organ also is found 
between the axis and the leaf; the import of this is as yet doubtful. 
In more recent researches in living Selaginelle I found it also in 
Selaginella stellata, epus and viticulosa, and of exactly the same 
structure. It thus becomes probable that it extends throughout 
the whole of the genus Selaginella. 

8. Among the significant peculiarities in Selaginella is also to 
be included the extremely regular position of the branch-roots. I 
mentioned above that they are formed upon the upper side of the 
stem in Selag. denticulata, and that Schleiden, without referring 
to the species, says that he has observed them on the under side. 
Since this was printed I have become acquainted with several 
living Selaginelle in the Berlin Botanic Garden, and I found in 
one of them, in Selag. stellata, Spr., a confirmation of Schleiden’s 
assertion. I thus had an opportunity to seek for the law which 
prevails here. It proves to be as follows : the roots of the branches 
make their appearance both on the upper and under side of the 
stem, but always just inferior to the forked division of a branch, 
and indeed within its last leaf. If this be on the upper side—and 
then it is a folium intermedium—there, also, the branch-root ap- 
pears. Butif the leaf be on the under side—and it is then a larger 
leaf—the branch-root also is formed on the under side always 
between the stem and leaf, consequently as a true branch. 

23% 


824 M. Miiller on the Development of the Lycopodiacee. 


9. The oophoridium in Selaginella denticulata, and all those Se- 
laginelle where it stands at the base of the spike, 1s always a meta- 
morphosed main-branch. This is the case in Selag. ferruminata, 
Sprg. (= elongata, Klotzsch), lucidinervia, Sprg. (= pedata, K1.), 
conduplicata, e}., distorta, ej., Poppigiana, e}., sulcata, e}., stolo- 
nifera, e}., deliquescens, e}., puberula, Kl., levigata, Sprg., arti- 
culata, &e. Whether this law may be modified in those species 
where antheridia and oophoridia occur on one spike, whether it is 
here a transformed secondary branch, e. g. in S. stellata, Sprg., * 
pygmea, e}., helvetica, ej., &c., yet remains to be investigated. In 
other Selaginelle, the fruit of which is dicecious, where therefore 
oophoridia and antheridia occur on distinct spikes, the oopho- 
ridium appears to be a metamorphosed main-branch, e. g. in 
S. selaginoides—certain it is however that the oophoridium is 
never a leaf-product. ) 

The oophoridium-spores, more properly the ovules, are formed at 
the extremity of the vascular bundle which projects free into the in- 
terior of the oophoridium as a hollow mother-cell. 'The course of 
its development still requires to be more minutely investigated. 

10. The antheridium is a metamorphosed twig-bud* (Zweig- 
knospe) developed simultaneously with the leaves from the axis, a 
twig here being understood to be a secondary branch. The an- 
theridium is never a leaf-product. Here refer also the sporangium 
of Psilotum and Tmesipteris. | , 

The antheridium-spores originate by fours in a mother-cell, and. 
certainly by cytoblast-formation as understood by Schleiden (for- 
mation of a membrane around a nucleus), never by division of 
the cytoblastema. 


EXPLANATION OF PLATES II. ro VI. 


Prate II. 
Fig. 1. The germinating spore: a, the rootlet; 5, the terminal bud; ¢, the 
germ. 250 f. 
Fig. 2. The terminal bud so seen that the other branch-bud lies behind the 
onea. 250. 


Fig. 3. The same, unfolded artificially. 250. 

Fig. 4. The whole germinating plant, removed from the spore: a, the puint 
of vegetation for the stem and root; b, the germ (Keim-kdrper). 0. 

Fig. 5. The germinating plant with the bud-leaves. 10. 

Fig. 6. A bud-enveloping leaf, with a branch-bud a; 6, an accessory organ. 
250. 

Fig. 7. The base of the bud-envelope. 400. 


* The word Zweigknospe, literally twig-bud, is here used in distinction to 
Astknospe or branch-bud, which latter may be regarded as determining the 
bifurcation of the main axis, while the former is a secondary ramifica- 
tion.—Tr. : 

+ The figures give the magnifying power. 


M. Miller on the Development of the Liycopodiacese. 325 


Fig. 8. The branch-bud from fig. 6a, unfolded ; a, pre-formed leaf. 250. 
Fig. 9. The same unfolded, with the terminal bud of the young branch a. 
250. ea 
Fig. 10. The last magnified 400 times. 
Figs. 11—19. Germinating plants, more or less developed, magnified 5 to 
10 times, 
Prate III. 


Fig. 1. Accessory organ of the leaf. 250. 

Fig. 2. The same cut across between the leaf and branch parenchyma, 400. 

Fig. 2a. The same cut across between a leaf and branch. 50. 

Fig. 3. The same, magnified, at the apex, 400 times. 

Fig. 4. The same, bifurcate. 250. 

Fig. 5. The same cut lengthways. 400. 

Fig. 6. The same in its earliest development on a young leaf from the ter- 
minal bud of germinating plant, seen laterally. 400. 

Fig. 7. The same, seen crossways. 400. 

fig. 8 and 8a. The same in course of development on the youngest branch 
of the perfect plant. 250. — 

Figs. 9 and 10. The same, isolated and more developed. 250. 

fig. 11. Longitudinal section of the axis-branch, to show the various ana- 
tomical relations: a, accessory organ with its basilar cells; 6, cor- 
tical layer of the branch ; c, inner leaf-cells; d, the elongated base 
of the leaf. 250. 

Fig. 11x. Longitudinal section of the leaf. 50. 

Fig. 12. Cross section of the axis-branch. 250. 

Fig. 13. Longitudinal section of the apex of the branch. 50. 


Puate LV. | 


Fig. 1. Cross section of a branch at a node with the branch-root forming,. 50, 

Fig. 2. The same. 50. 

Fig. 3. The oophoridium, in situ. 50. 

Fig. 4. The same, gegen from beneath. 50. 

Fig. 5. The same, seen from above. 50. 

fig. 6. Two branches producing, a, an oophoridium, and 4, a spike with an- 
theridia. 250. 

Fig. 7. An oophoridium in longitudinal section, in a very young condition : 
a, the epidermis of the oophoridium ; 6, the same, produced down- 
ward at the base ; c, mother-cell of the spores ; d, contents of the 
future fruit-stalk. 250. 

Fig. 8. The same, seen from behind. 250. 

‘ig. 9. A similar one with a more highly magnified mother-cell a; b, cells 
on the base of the interior of the oophoridium. 400. 

Fig. 10, An oophoridium, very young, in situ, seen from above. 10. 

Fig. 11. The same, the longer side. 10. 

fig. 12. The same, the shorter side. 10. 

Lig. 13. The spikelet with the oophoridium. 10. 

Fig. 14, Oophoridium a, and antheridia d, in situ on a fruit-axis cut longi- 
tudinally. Only the central portion, represented with the cortical 
layers of the axis removed. 50. 

fig. 15. Mother-cells from the oophoridium of Lye. selaginoides, with four 
young spores. 250. 

Fig. 16. The last magnified 400 times, 


Prats VY. 
Fig. 1. Spores from the antheridium. 
Figs. 2—6. The terminal bud of the antheridia-spike, with the antheridia 
forming upon it. 400. 
fig. 7. An antheridium, more perfect. 400. 


826 SirR.1. Murchison on the Silurian Rocks of Cornwall. 


fig. 8. Another still further developed. 56. 

Fig. 9*. Perfect antheridium a; accessory organ b; base of the leaf ¢. 50. 

Figs. 9 and 10. Longitudinal sections of the sporangium of Psilotum. 50. 

Fig. 11. Longitudinal section of an antheridium of Lycopodium denticula- 
tum. 400. 

Fig. 12. Cross section from the sporangium of Psilotum.. 400. 

Figs. 13—17. Forms of the development of the spores of Pstlotum trique- 
trum. 400. . 

Prats VI. , 

Figs. 1—28. Forms of the development of the spores of Psilotum trique- 
trum. 400. ; 


XXXVI.—On the Discovery of Silurian Rocks in Cornwall. By Sir 
Roperick Impry Murcaison, G.C. St. S., F.R.S.,V.P.G.S. 
& R. Geogr. S., Honorary Member of the Royal Geological 
Society of Cornwall, Mem. Imp. Acad. Sc. St. Petersburg, Corr. 
Roy. Inst. France, &c. Ina Letter addressed to Sir C. Lemon, 
Bart., M.P., President of the Royal Geological Society of 
Cornwall. : 


My pear Sir CHARLES, 


In compliance with the promise I made when attending your 
last anniversary meeting at Penzance, I now give you a more de- 
cided opinion than I was then enabled to do, respecting the age 
of the lowest and oldest of the sedimentary rocks of Cornwall. 
Not having seen the fossils collected by Mr. Peach on the south 
coast of Cornwall, I then found it difficult to come to any other 
conclusion than that at which Professor Sedgwick and myself 
had long ago arrived; viz. that with the exception of the pre- 
sence, in the north-eastern extremity of the county, of a portion 
of the culmiferous (carboniferous) trough of central Devon, the 
remaining and underlying strata of Cornwall were of the age of 
the Devonian or Old Red system. The few Cornish fossils which 
were then shown to me in your museum, were unquestionably 
similar to those with which I was formerly familiar in Devon- 
shire and North Cornwall, as well as with those of the Rhenish 
provinces and the Eifel, which Professor Sedgwick and myself 
had shown to occupy a like geological position. They were, in 
fact, forms of the same type as those which, at the suggestion of 
Mr. Lonsdale and with the assistance of Mr. James Sowerby on 
one occasiont, and with the help of MM. de Verneuil and 
d’Archiac on another {, we had published as characteristic of a 
group of intermediate characters, pertaining to strata lymg beneath 
the carboniferous rocks and above the Silurian system. In a 
word, they were identical with some of the numerous fossils of 
Devon and North Cornwall, published in the work of Professor 


+ Trans. Geol. Soc. n. s. vol. v. p. 633. { Ibid. vol. vi. pp. 221, 303. 


Sir R. I. Murchison on the Silurian Rocks of Cornwall. 827 


Phillips* ; who, in pointing out in certain tracts the connexion 
of this group with the carboniferous fossils, which he had so well 
described, and in others with the Silurian forms I had published, 
had also concluded that the great mass of fossiliferous strata 
which rise up from beneath the culm measures of central Devon 
were of the same intermediate characters. In his valuable Maps 
of Cornwall and Devon, Sir H. De la Beche gave essentially the 
same views of geological succession ; and lastly, in his Report 
upon the geological structure of that region, he described certain 
detailed sections in the southern districts of Cornwall, to which 
I will presently advert. 

In proposing the word “ Devonian,” as applied to the. inter- 
mediate strata in question, Professor Sedgwick and myself for- 
tunately thus qualified our meaning in regard to the extension 
of such rocks into Cornwall :—“ In asserting that the stratified 
rocks of Devonshire and Cornwall are, upon a broad scale, the 
equivalents of the Carboniferous and Old Red systems, we do not 
however deny, that in certain tracts the lowest members of some 
of these rocks may represent the upper division of the Silurian 
system; for although we have as yet found few if any of the 
fossils most typical of that system, we admit that when the sedi- 
ments of a given epoch have been accumulated under peculiar 
conditions, we must expect to find considerable variations in the 
forms of animal life. Again, we know that the rocks of this 
region have undergone great changes in assuming their hard 
and slaty character ; and under such circumstances, the difficulty 
of precisely limiting the boundary line of any portion of them is 
prodigiously increased +.” 

-The truth is, that neither Sir H. De la Beche and Professor 
Phillips, nor Professor Sedgwick and myself, had, at the time 
when our works were published, seen any fossils from South 
Cornwall sufficiently distinct to warrant the conclusion, that it 
contained forms of an older type than those which had been 
detected in North and South Devon and in the west of Cornwall. 
It was therefore believed (and all geological maps were coloured 
accordingly) that the zone of rocks occupying the southern 
headlands of Cornwall, between the Bay of Plymouth on the east 
and the Lizard Head on the west, were simply downward expan- 
sions of the fossiliferous ‘ Devonian” strata. In this state of 
the question, your associate Mr. Peach began his labours in col- 
lecting fossils along the southern headlands of Cornwall. He 
first ascertained that certain forms first discovered by Messrs. 
Couch in the environs of Polperro were fishes, which he exhibited 
at the Cork Meeting of the British Association, and concerning 


* Paleozoic Fossils of Devon and Cornwall. 
t+ Phil. Mag. 1839, vol. xiv. p. 241. 


328 Sir R. I. Murchison on the Silurian Rocks of Cornwall. 


which Professor Phillips and myself could only venture (so 
obscure did they appear to us) to give the guarded, though sug- 
gestive opinion, which Mr. Peach has recorded in your thirtieth 
Report. I then ventured to surmise, that these ichthyolites 
might belong to the Upper Silurian rocks, the oldest i which 
the remains of any vertebrated animals had yet been discovered, 
because “ they occurred in rocks forming the axis of South Devon 
and Cornwall, which I had always considered to be the oldest in 
that country.” | 3 

In pursuing his researches, Mr. Peach published in 1844 a 
synopsis of the Cornish fossils from various localities, in which, 
besides the ichthyolites of Polperro, he identified several mollusca 
from Gorran Haven, Caerhayes, and Carn Gorran Bay, with 
typical Silurian species. These were the fossils I was so anxious 
to see at Penzance; and Mr. Peach having obligingly forwarded 
them to me in London, I no sooner unpacked the box, than I 
found that true Silurian and even Lower Silurian rocks existed in 
Cornwall,—the proofs being the presence of certain simple-plaited 
Orthide, which are invariably typical of that age. But although 
Mr. Peach had come to a correct general conclusion, the specific 
names he attached to the South Cornish fossils in your thirtieth 
Reportare not correct. In respect tothe ichthyolitesfrom the slates 
of Polperro, Pentuan, &c., they have been referred to our mutual 
friend Sir Philip Egerton, who is better versed in the classifica- 
tion of Agassiz than any of our countrymen, and he thus writes 
to me concerning them :—“ These remains are very enigmatical, 
and I cannot identify a single specimen with any form I know. 
I do not think any one of the fragments belongs either to Ce- 
phalaspis or Holoptychius. 'The nearest approach is to Bothrio- 
lepis. The dorsal fin named by Mr. Peach Onchus Murchisoni 
(Agass.) is not that species, as far as I can determine from the 
description of Agassiz, unless it be a more perfect specimen than 
he has seen. The longitudinal ribs, instead of being uniform 
(as figured by Agassiz), are notched, more after the manner of 
Ctenacanthus. The other Onchus may be O. tenuiserratus, but 
I have not here the means of comparison. From the general 
appearance of the collection, I should say they differ from any 
Old Red or Devonian fishes I have ever seen.” 

If these ichthyolites do not decisively help us to settle the age 
of the Polperro zone of rocks, they are still of great interest, as 
being the only group of fishes worth noticing which has been 
found in the older rocks of Devonshire and Cornwall*, and also 
as being associated with shells, which Mr. J. Sowerby identifies 

* Professor Phillips mentions two very imperfect and doubtful scales of 


fishes, the one in South Devon, the other in North Devon. Palzozoic Fos- 
sils, p. 133, figs, 256, 257. 


Sir R. I. Murchison on the Silurian Rocks of Cornwall. 329 


with the Bellerophon trilobatus (Sil. Syst.) and the Lowomena 
lincta (Phillips). The first-mentioned of these shells is charac- 
teristic of the tile-stones in Herefordshire and Shropshire, and 
is also found in strata of the same age in Cumberland (between 
Kirby Lonsdale and Kendal), which form the uppermost band 
of the Silurian rocks, or a transition from the Silurian into the 
Devonian system. Now as Professor Sedgwick and myself had 
inferred that the limestones of Looe and Fowey belonged to the 
lower calcareous zone ‘of Devonshire, and as the sections of Sir 
H. De la Beche show that the Polperro beds dip beneath the 
Looe and Fowey rocks, the zoological evidences seem to harmo- 
nize with recorded physical facts, and we thus obtain reasonable 
grounds for believing, that the lowest Devonian and the upper- 
most Silurian strata are exposed in the district which ranges 
along the shores of that part of Cornwall, by Polperro, Pentuan, 
&e. , 

But if doubts should exist as to whether the Polperro slates 
ought to be referred to the bottom of the Devonian or top of the 
Silurian system, the discoveries of Mr. Peach in the headland of 
the Dodman, and in the prolongation of its strata to Veryan Bay, 
completely demonstrate, that still older and unquestionable Silu- 
rian rocks are there present. This is the district in which both 
Professor Sedgwick and Sir H. De la Beche had noted the exist- 
ence of a line of elevation*, running from north-east to south- 
west, which bringing up certain quartzose or argillaceous slates 
had thrown the beds off, both to the south-east and north-west, 
the published section of the latter having clearly indicated these 
relations. 

The fossils found by Mr. Peach at Gerrans Bay, as determined 
by Mr. J. Sowerby, are Orthis lata, O. orbicularis, another spe- 
cies resembling O. plicata, and a fourth which does not appear 
to have been published. At Caerhayes, Mr. Peach has collected 
other forms of Orthide, one of which approaches nearest to the O. 
alternata of the Silurian system. The remainder are not, however, 
referrible, as he had supposed, to Leptena lata, Terebratula nucula, 
Atrypa striatula, &c. The fossils from the Great Peraver quarries 
in Gorran Haven, on the eastern face of the Dodman, are still 
more decisive; for the species which Mr. Peach has named 
Orthis flabellulum and O. testudinaria both belong, unquestion- 
ably, to the Orthis (callactis B)+ calligramma (Sil. Syst.), and 


* See Trans. Geol. Soc., n. s., vol. v. p.666; and Report on Cornwall 
and Devon, p. 84. 

+ This shell was called Orthis callactis B in the Sil. Syst. pl. 19, fig. 5, 
but subsequent comparisons have shown that it is identical with the O. cal- 
ligramma (Dalman) of Scandinavia, Russia, &c. 

In like manner, the Orthis canalis of the Silurian system has proved to 


330. Sir R. I. Murchison on the Silurian Rocks of Cornwail. 


with it is a form undistinguishable from the Orthis (canalis) 
elegantula (Sil. Syst.). The only well-preserved trilobite in this 
rock appears to me to be the Calymene pulchella? (Dalman) ; a 
second species resembles C. Blumenbachit. | 

No one accustomed to the Paleozoic rocks can throw his eye 
over the fossils from these three localities, without at once recog- 
nising them as true Silurian types. They have an entirely di- 
stinct facies from the fossils of the overlymg Devonian system, 
and none of the species so abundant in North-western Cornwall 
are here present. With my imperfect knowledge of the country, 
it would be premature to say that subdivisions can be established 
in this highly dislocated region, so as to define Upper and Lower 
Silurian bands. But it may safely be asserted, that the fossils 
of Gorran Haven are Lower Silurian types; there being no one 
species more eminently characteristic of the inferior portion of 
that system than the Orthis calligramma, which in Shropshire and 
the adjacent Welsh counties is found to range downwards, from 
the very uppermost beds of the Caradoc sandstone into the heart 
of the Snowdon slates, and is equally typical of the Lower Silurian 
rocks of Russia and Scandinavia. At the same time, I do not 
think that the Gorran Haven beds lie deep in the Lower Silurian 
group: they probably represent the upper portion only of the 
Caradoc sandstone; for the Orthis canalis, or elegantula, and the 
Calymene pulchella* (Dalm.), closely allied to C. Blumenbachii, 
are Wenlock, as well as Caradoc, fossils. Judging from the fos- 
sils only, I should say that the beds at Gerrans Bay with the 
Orthis orbicularis are younger than those of Peraver and Gorran 
Haven. ‘Time and careful researches will, however, determine 
this question of detail, and all I can now express is my opinion, 
that the quartzose rocks and killas which extend from the tracts 
above alluded to, to the mouth and centre of the bay and harbour 
of Falmouth (probably much further to the south-west), are of 
Silurian age also. 

The energy of Mr. Peach having thus afforded us the key by. 
which new lights are thrown upon the succession of Cornish 
strata, I cannot but hope that, when the government geological 
surveyors revisit Cornwall, they will define the exact demarca- 
tions between these Silurian masses and their overlying Devonian 
neighbours. In fact, I have within these few days been talking 
over this subject with my friend the Director-General of the Sur- 
vey, and he has pointed out to me on his detailed map, how, 


be the O. elegantula of Dalman; and the names of that author being the 
oldest, are now necessarily adopted. 

* The Calymene pulchella (Dalm.) occurs both in the inferior part of the 
Upper Silurian, and the higher part of the Lower Silurian, in Sweden, Silu- 
ria and Wales. 


Sir R. I. Murchison on the Silurian Rocks of Cornwall. 831 


from the enormous flexures which the strata have undergone in 
their range from Devon into Cornwall, it is highly probable that 
Silurian rocks (the equivalents of those alluded to) may be re- 
cognised in other parts of Cornwall. Thus, the quartzose rocks 
of Pydar Down or Moor, to the north of St. Columb, which form 
an east and west axis, dipping to the north and south under fossili- 
ferous Devonian strata, may (he thinks) prove to be also of Si- 
lurian age. But, forbearing to speculate on the probable results 
of future researches, it is my decided belief, that the slaty rocks 
constituting the great southern headland of Devonshire, at least 
all the schists, &c. to the north of the Start Point, will eventually 
be classed with the Silurian group of South Cornwall; for ifthe 
Plymouth group of limestones, so prolific in animal remains, 
afforded us the means of deciphering the age of less clearly de- 
veloped zones on the same horizon in Cornwall, the Silurian 
types collected by Mr. Peach may enable us to carry out a more 
correct classification in still older strata, from Cornwall into the 
obscure southernmost promontory of Devonshire. Inthe mean 
time, confining ourselves to what we now know, it is manifest 
that Cornwall exhibits in ascending order from north to south,— 
lst, a band of true Silurian rocks; 2nd, a zone of intermediate 
character, forming a transition between the Silurian and Devo- 
nian systems; 8rd, a copious Devonian system, characterized by 
lower and upper limestones; and 4th, a limb of the culmiferous 
or carboniferous basin of Devonshire. 

This view will, I trust, be perfectly intelligible to the members 
of your Society who have occupied themselves with the considera- 
tion of this branch of geology, and on which Mr. R. Q. Couch 
has recently written with perspicuity and talent. I doubt, how- 
ever, if anything I have stated will make a due impression upon 
one of that number, my good-humoured antagonist the Rev. D. 
Williams, whose views of the Cornish succession of strata seem 
to be opposed to those of all his contemporaries. Geologists, 
however, who have long lived in Cornwall, and have so well 
illustrated its mineral structure, will, I am persuaded, be the 
first to admit the value of the Paleozoic classification, which 
having been worked out and established in tracts exempt from 
much dislocation and alteration, has been so applied, as to enable 
us to interpret the true history of the highly convulsed and me- 
tamorphosed ‘rocks of their county. It is, in fact, the greatest 
triumph which could have been anticipated on the part of those 
who have steadily proceeded from the known to the unknown. 

Looking from your own country to the opposite side of the 
channel, you are doubtless well-aware that there is the strongest 
analogy between the slates and granites of Cornwall and those 
of Brittany and Normandy. Many persons have remarked upon 


332 Sir R. I. Murchison on the Silurian Rocks of Cornwall. 


the strong resemblance between the Mounts St. Michael in the 
two countries ; and no one can have traversed these two regions, 
without perceiving that, just as they evidently belong to the 
same mineral type, so are their respective inhabitants descended 
from a common stock, whose names of places have passed down 
to ther French and English descendants. The existence of 
Caradoc sandstones and other Silurian rocks in that part of 
France having been already indicated (Devonian and carboni- 
ferous strata being also abundantly developed), their discovery 
in Cornwall is a happy addition to that union of geological and 
historical records, by which these widely-separated residences of 
the Celtic race are illustrated. : 

With regard to the highly mineralized or metamorphosed 
conditions of great portions of the killas and sandstone of Corn- 
wall, I can do little more than refer you to the few observations 
I made at your anniversary meeting, and of which a brief abstract 
has appeared in your newspapers. There are, as you well said 
in your anniversary discourse, many analogies between the me- 
tamorphic rocks of Cornwall on the one hand and those of Scan- 
dinavia and the Ural mountains on the other; whilst the paral- 
lel is now drawn closer by the recent discovery of the Cornish 
Silurian rocks. Your last erupted granites, elvans, and porphy- 
ries, have played exactly the same part in traversing your Palo- 
zoic sediments, as like rocks have done im Norway. Cornwall 
may also be compared to large portions of Siberia, and notably 
to the Ural mountains, whose chief eruptions have taken place 
through deposits of Silurian, Devonian, and carboniferous age. 
In both countries the eruptive rocks are granites, porphyries, 
greenstones and serpentines: even in their superficial accumula- 
tions there is this striking resemblance, that the Cornish detritus 
and gravel (as clearly pointed out by Mr. Carne) is purely Jocal,— 
the county being quite as exempt from all far-transported mate- 
rials as the Ural mountains and Siberia. With this absence of 
all foreign transport or drift, Cornwall is as instructive as the 
Ural in never exhibiting those ‘ roches moutonnées” and those 
polished ‘and striated surfaces which have (in my opinion) been 
so erroneously referred to the action of land glaciers, in all those 
low regions of the earth, where they have clearly been caused by 
the action of powerful aqueous drift, m the manner I have else- 
where attempted to explain*. 

Your stanniferous gravel bears, indeed, precisely the same re- 
lations to your granite and killas, as the auriferous deposits of 
the Ural to the eruptive and schistose rocks of that chain. Both 
are mere local, shingle accumulations, derived from veinstones 


* See Russia in Europe and Ural Mountains; and Journal of the Geol. 
Soc., No. 8. 


Sir R. I. Murchison on the Silurian Rocks of Cornwall. 333 


which have been denuded from the surface of adjacent crystalline 
rocks. With these analogies there is however a marked distinc- 
tion between Siberia and Cornwall. All richly auriferous chains 
(Humboldt first remarked the fact) have a meridian direction, as 
in the Ural, and various north and south parallel ridges in Si- 
beria and other parts of the globe. The axis of Cornwall, on the 
contrary, is transverse to that direction, viz. from E.N.E. to 
W.S.W.; and though containing copper ore in common with 
the Russian mountains, it differs from them in not producing 
gold or platinum ; whilst it is peculiarly distinguished by con- 
taining tin, which is unknown in the Ural. Let us hope that 
the day is fast approaching, when the cause of the production of 
such striking phenomena as these will receive some explanation 
at the hands of those physical philosophers, who are advancing 
a line of research in which your own countryman Mr. R. W. Fox 
has already so distinguished himself. But if gold does not exist 
(in any appreciable quantity at least).in your otherwise richly 
endowed mineral county, there are, I am happy to say, good 
grounds for hope, that in their most distant great colony English- 
men may find it abundantly. In an address to the Royal Geo- 
graphical Society, delivered in May 1845, when commenting 
upon the valuable labours of Count Strzelecki in deciphering the 
structure of the great north and south chain which ranges along 
the eastern shores of Australia, I specially insisted upon its stri- 
king resemblances to the Ural mountains, whether in direction, 
in structure, or in alluvia; remarking, by the way, that as. yet 
no gold had been found in this alluvium. I now learn, however, 
that fine specimens of gold have been found on the western flank 
of the Australian cordillera, particularly at the settlement of 
Bathurst, where it occurs in fragments composed of the same 
matrix (viz. quartz rock) as in the Ural. My friend and asso- 
ciate in the Imperial Academy of Petersburg, Colonel Helmersen, 
has also recently suggested, that a careful search for gold ore in 
the Australian detritus will, it is highly probable, lead to its de- 
tection in abundance; since the Russians had long colonized the 
Ural mountains, and had for many years worked mines of mag- 
netic iron and copper in solid rocks, before the neglected shingle, 
gravel and sand, on the slopes of their hills and in their valleys, 
were found to be auriferous. If, then, in the course of your 
statistical inquiries, you may know of any good Cornish miner 
about to seek his fortune in Australia, be pleased to tell him to 
apply his knowledge of the mode of extracting tin ore from his 
own gravel to the drift and debris on the flanks of the great 
north and south chain of Australia*, or any smaller parallel 


* The grand, rich and well-watered region which lies between Moreton 
Bay on the south and the Gulf of Carpentaria on the north, is that to which 


334 Mr. W. King on some Shells and other Invertebrate Forms 


ridges of that vast country ; for great would be my pleasure to 
learn, that through the application of Cornish skill, such regions 
should be converted into a British “ El Dorado.” 

Requesting you to pardon this little digression, which after 
all may be turned to profit, and hoping that you will be as proud 
as I am of the connexion which is now established between Corn- 
wall and Siluria, 

Believe me to be, my dear Sir Charles, 
Yours most faithfully, 
R. I. Murcutson. 


XXXVII.—First series of Supplementary Notes to a former Paper, 
entitled “ An Account of some Shells and other Invertebrate 
Forms found on the coast of Northumberland and of Durham*.” 
By Wiiu14M Kine, Curator of the Newcastle Museum. 


Havine lately read with some attention Professor Edward 
Forbes’s highly philosophical paper on “ The Geological relations 
of the existing Fauna and Flora of the British Isles,”’ published 
in the first volume of the ‘ Memoirs of the Geological Survey of 
Great Britain,’ &c., I have been induced to make a few remarks 
on the depth of habitat of certain species and varieties living on 
the coasts of Durham and Northumberland. 

Professor Forbes divides the bottom of the British seas mto 
four regions or zones according to depth of water and biological 
peculiarities. “The first or Littoral zone is that tract which lies 
between the high and low water marks,” and inhabited by some 
common species of Fucus, Littorinas, Purpura lapillus, &c. ‘The 
second or Laminarian zone is that land-encircling belt which com- 
mences at low water mark and extends to a depth of from seven 
to fifteen fathoms. The great tangle sea-weeds form miniature 
forests in this region,” which is also tenanted by Rissoas, Lacu- 
nas, Patella pellucida, Pullastras, &c. The third is the Coralline 
zone, the vertical range of which is from “fifteen to about fifty 
fathoms ; its chief development between twenty-five and thirty-five 


I would specially direct attention, now that its true characters have been 
opened out to geographers and naturalists by the undaunted and able 
explorations of Dr. Leichhardt. Some of the tracts recently passed through 
with so much zeal, by the Surveyor-General of the colony, Sir Thomas 
Mitchell, may also prove valuable in gold, though they lie further from the 
axis of elevation. In the mean time, gold ore has been found on the other 
side of the Australian continent, in the ridges which extend northwards 
from Adelaide towards the scene of the adventurous and toilsome journey of 
Major Sturt. These gallant geographers, the pioneers of civilization, are 
explaining to us the condition of tracts which thousands of our countrymen 
may soon colonize with the best effects.—London, April 12, 1847.—R. 1. M. 
* Annals and Magazine of Natural History, vol. xviii. pp. 233—251. 


found on the coast of Northumberland and of Durham. 335 


fathoms.’ It is so termed, because “in it we find the greatest 
variety and abundance of the corneous zoophytes—arborescent 
animals, which seem here to take the place of plants. Here we 
find the great assemblage of carnivorous mollusca, the species of 
Fusus, Pleurotoma, Buccinum,’ &c. . The fourth is the deep sea 
Coral zone, which ranges from “ fifty fathoms to beyond one hun- 
dred ;’ it is  well-characterized by the abundance of the stronger 
corals,” such as Cellepora and Oculina prolifera, “by a few pe- 
culiar Mollusca, and by peculiar Echinodermata,” &c. 

I am not aware that there is any extensive area of sea-bottom 
on our coasts so deep as the utmost limit here assigned to the 
Coral zone, but there is no doubt that we have the whole of the 
zones which have just been described. 

Had I gone over Professor Forbes’s paper when mine was in 
preparation, I should undoubtedly have given the depths of the 
severally described species and varieties, in accordance with this 
gentleman’s views ; for it is remarkable, how strictly their vertical 
distribution is regulated by the bathymetrical laws he has pointed 
out. 

It will be recollected that most of the forms which I described 
were stated to be from ‘“ deep water ;”” and that I defined the 
term in a foot-note as follows: ‘ By the expression ‘ deep water’ 
must be understood a depth ranging from forty to eighty fathoms, 
The greatest depth given in Norrie’s chart of the North Sea for 
the trough separating the coasts of Northumberland and Durham 
from the Dogger and Great Fisher banks, seldom exceeds eighty 
fathoms.” Now this “depth ranging from forty to eighty fa- 
thoms” nearly corresponds with Professor Forbes’s Coral zone. 

My former paper contained a description of “ two strongly 
marked varieties” of Fusus antigquus : the “ thin, short and tumid” 
variety I have invariably procuredfrom the Coral zone, where it lives 
on soft ground ; the “ thick and elongated ” variety inhabits hard 
ground * in the Coralline zone: they appear to graduate into each 
other’ by a form living at an intermediate depth. The thin tumid 
variety of Fusus islandicus is also from soft ground in the Coral 
zone; and the “ thick, long and narrow” variety belongs to the 
Coralline zone, where it occurs on both kinds of sea-bottom. 
Panopea arctica, Natica grenlandica and Retepora Beaniana 
appear to be confined to the Coral zone. The variety pelagica 
of Mya truncata lives in the same region; the normal variety is 
peculiar to the Littoral and Laminarian zones; and an interme- 
diate form inhabits the Coralline. Fusus norvegicus, F. Turtoni + 


* The terms “hard ground” and “soft ground” are in common use 
among the fishermen ; the former for a gravelly, pebbly, or rocky bottom, and 
the latter for one that is muddy or sandy. 

+ I regret that my paper contained no allusion to Mr. W. Bean being the 


es 


886 Mr. W. King on some Shells and other Invertebrate Forms 


and F. berniciensis have only been procured from the Coral zone, 
or where it merges into the Coralline. 

Two of the four varieties I mentioned of Buccinum undatum 
are remarkable instances illustrating how different depths of 
water influence modifications of form: the varieties magnum 
and pelagicum are both from soft ground; but the former “ lives 
at depths varying from fifteen to forty fathoms,” and conse- 
quently belongs to the Coralline zone; the latter lives in from 
forty to eighty fathoms water, and therefore inhabits the Coral 
zone. These variations of depth induce a most remarkable dif- 
ference in the form of this species: thus pelagicum is thin, 
finely threaded and corded, and in general slightly waved ; it has 
the spire elongated, the epidermis thin and finely ciliated, and 
the anterior part of the outer lip expanded beyond the termi- 
nation of the columella* : whereas magnum is a thicker, a shorter, 
and a more tumid shell; it is strongly threaded and corded 
and prominently waved ; its epidermis is thick and clothy ; and 
its columella extends as far forward as the anterior part of the 
outer lip. Through the kindness of Mr. Pickering of London, 
I have lately become possessed of a specimen from Newfoundland, 
the same as the shell which Dr. Gould identifies with the Buccinum 
ciliatum of Fabricius: I cannot but consider it as only a variety 
of B. undatum, and closely allied to pelagicum, if not the same: 
it agrees with the latter in being thin, slightly waved, and in 
having the anterior part of the outer lip expanded beyond the ter- 
mination of the columella; but the spire is somewhat less pro- 
duced, and the whorls are merely threaded: the last character is 
more strongly marked than in the “ simply striated” specimen 
from Ireland I have spoken of elsewhere (vide Annals, vol. xviii. 
p- 248). Were I sufficiently acquainted with the Buccinum ci- 
liatum of Fabricius, and the B. Donovani of Gray, and writing a 
general account of the varieties of Buccinum undatum, it is 


first discoverer of Fusus Turtoni: this isan omission which remained undis- 
covered until after my paper was published. 

* It is stated by Mr. Albany Hancock, in his ‘‘ Notes on Buccinum un- 
datum” (vide Annals for March), that his variety 1. ‘‘is occasionally very 
thin and delicate, and has the spire sometimes considerably produced and the 
whorls much-rounded. The B. undatum of Brown (Illust. Conch. 2nd ed. 
pl. 3. fig. 2) is an example of the extreme form of this. state, which occurs 
not unfrequently on the Dogger-bank.” Variety 1. is the same as my mag- 
num (Mr. Hancock’s specimens were procured from the Cullercoats’ cobles 
that usually fish in from thirty to forty fathoms water ; occasionally deeper) ; 
and the “ occasionally very thin and delicate ” shells referred to belong to 
my pelagicum, of which hundreds of specimens have now passed through 
my hands, and all, without exception, were obtained from the Coral zone. 
The Dogger-bank, which is shallow, and in parts rocky, yields forms as 
thick and rugged as those inhabiting the Coralline zone. 


found on the coast of Northumberland and of Durham. 337 
highly probable that I should be induced to regard these and 


pelagicum as so many forms of the deep-water or Coral zone va- 
riety : in this case the earlier name of Fabricius would have to be 
used instead of mine. 

But depth is not the only element inducive of a varietal 
difference: the nature of the sea-bottom, whether hard or soft, 
as is well known to fishermen and many naturalists, exercises a 
marked influence in this respect. In my paper, as it was read 
at the Southampton Meeting of the British Association, another 
variety was described under the name of crassum, and which I 
am disposed to think is represented by the shell figured in 
Pennant’s ‘ British Zoology,’ pl. 73. One of the principal dif- 
ferences between it and B. magnum is in the general absence 
of an epidermis, which, when present, has somewhat the ap- 
pearance of network, or it assumes the character usual in /itio- 
rale: moreover, it is a thicker, narrower and smaller shell; the 
whorls are more angulated and more numerous, the aperture is 
considerably smaller, the canal is narrower, the waves are closer 
together, more rugose and more angulated, occasionally showing 
a tendency to become biplicated on the middle of the whorls ; the 
cords are thicker and closer to each other, and the intervening 
furrows are narrower, rarely having more than one or two threads. 
Notwithstanding these differences, I have seen specimens which 
it was difficult to say whether they belonged to B. crassum or 
B. magnum. The colour of this variety is generally reddish 
brown externally, and yellowish white internally ; occasionally 
the outside of the shell is marked with dark brown bands on a 
light-coloured ground. My largest specimen, which has nine 
whorls, is 33 inches long and 2 broad. I possess an interesting 
specimen (one of the doubtful forms just alluded to) 5 inches 
long and 2% broad, and having nine whorls: the first seven 
whorls have all the characters general to crassum ; while the last 
two are covered with an epidermis, and, in other respects, agree 
with those of magnum: I look on this specimen as having been 
a crassum for so long of its existence, and afterwards, perhaps 
through migrating to soft ground, to have become changed into 
a magnum! The variety crassum is common on hard ground in 
the Laminarian and Coralline zones on the coasts of Northumber- 
land and Durham, where it ranges from seven to thirty fathoms: 
it also occurs on the Yorkshire coast ; but I apprehend it will be 
a scarce shell further south, where soft ground is prevalent. I 
am not yet sufficiently acquainted with rock-inhabiting forms 
from deeper water, including the Coral zone: from what has 
passed under my observation, however, I am induced to believe 
that they approximate more or less to magnum and pelagicum. 

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Vol. xix. 24, 


333 Mr. W. King on some Shells and other Invertebrate Forms 


The variety littorale lives on hard ground* in the Littoral 
and Laminarian zones. It is now my opinion that I was wrong 
in formerly limiting it to grounds “laid bare at low tides.” 
For some years I have been acquainted with a form of Buccinum 


* I have been charged with committing “an error” in stating that the 
variety littorale is only found “on pebbly bottoms and rocks.” Mr. Albany 
Hancock, in his “ Notes on Buccinum undatum,”’ published in the last 
Number of the ‘ Annals,’ avers, that it “ occurs between tide-marks on rocks 
and mud.” The statement which I gave is based on my own observa- 
tions : when living at Sunderland, I often observed specimens of this variety 
between tide-marks, opposite the Moor, burrowing among pebbles, sand and 
gravel, and sheltering themselves behind stones and in the crevices of rocks; 
but I have never seen any on a muddy bottom: that specimens may occa- 
sionally occur on mud I do not deny, but that such is a regular habitat I am 
very much disposed to question ; for these reasons, that a bottom of this 
kind, ‘‘ between tide-marks,’’ could neither afford them shelter from the 
surge of the shore, nor objects to which they could attach their spawn. Even 
the sea-bottom, inhabited by magnum and pelagicum, cannot strictly be 
called soft ground, as from the number of stones, and masses of Modiola vul- 
garis that are continually being brought up by the fishing lines, its rough- 
ness must vastly exceed that of a “ mussel scarp.” 

With reference to Mr. Hancock’s other charges, I feel it necessary to 
state the following particulars :— 

While Librarian of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Sunderland, 
and Curator of the Museum in the same town, that is, from 1834 to the close 
of 1840, I devoted especial attention to the study of recent and fossil shells. 
By carefully examining for that purpose the cobles and decked boats; 
and frequently visiting Hartlepool and the whole coast from the Tyne to the 
Tees, as also joining for some days in a dredging excursion, I procured a 
great variety of shells, some of which were rare: my finest Panopea was 
got in 1839. Nor was Buccinum undatum overlooked: it was a shell which 
I always held in particular favour, inasmuch as I believed its various mo- 
difications illustrated an early and a favourite speculation of mine as to the 
genesis of species I repeatedly procured the dwarf whitish variety (dittorale) 
at low water opposite Sunderland ; the red rock-inhabiting variety (crassum) 
from the crab and in-shore fishing cobles of Sunderland and other places ; 
the large thick-skinned strongly-waved variety (magnum) from the Brat 
nets of the Hartlepool fishermen; and the small thin variety (pelagicum) 
from the decked boats that frequented our deep far-off fishing grounds. 

Was it possible then for any one to be thus procuring these widely dif- 
ferent forms without being struck with their differences—without knowing 
something about “ their localities and general habits? ’—points, which Mr, 
Hancock, availing himself of the current knowledge of the fishermen as to 
the depth at which they lived and the nature of the ground they inhabited, 
“ soon ascertained”’ of the varieties which he collected “during a short 
residence at Cullercoats in 1841.” 

, In 1841, having been previously appointed Curator of the Newcastle 
Museum, I became acquainted with Mr. Hancock, who appeared to be as 
much interested with the various forms of Buccinum undatum as myself. 
He was then inclined, he stated, to regard the three forms he had collected 
at Cullercoats as distinct species ; but more particularly his variety 2. (cras- 
sum) ; for this reason, that with only a single exception, he had never seen 
it but without an epidermis. He further stated to me his intention of pub- 


found on the coast of Northumberland and of Durham. 839 


undatum with an unusually thin shell, a remarkably short spire, 
and very tumid whorls, inhabiting a “mussel scarp” at a depth 
of from a foot to about two fathoms below low water mark, 
within the entrance of the river Tees. I have hitherto been 
disposed to regard this form as a distinct variety ; and probably 
it would have been described as such in my paper had net cir- 
cumstances prevented me: I now consider however that it is 
merely a thin form of littorale ; and hence my reason for extend- 
ing the vertical range of this variety to the Laminarian zone. 
The Tees form of littorale is exceedingly interesting on account 
of its confirming an opinion of Mr. J. H. Gray, that “the shells 
of Buccinum undatum and B. striatum of Pennant have no other 
difference, than that the one has been formed in rough water, 
and is consequently thick, solid and heavy ; and the other in sé#ll 
water of harbours, where it becomes hght, smooth, and often 
coloured*.” It cannot be denied, that the ocean at great depths 
is “ still,’ and that it is inhabited by thin varieties, pelagicum for 
example: whether the shell figured by Pennant as the Buccinum 
striatum was obtained from the “ still water” of the ocean or 
“of harbours,” I cannot say ; but I am quite certain, that the 


lishing on the subject, as soon as he became satisfied as to the correctness of his 
views : it was on this contingency that I understood his publishing to depend. 
What I was unacquainted with at the time, was the negative character just 
mentioned of the variety crassum—having been previously led to think that 
the epidermis was worn off: this is the only point I will concede to Mr. 
Hancock, and as such it is duly acknowledged in my paper. 

Five years after the subject had been introduced between us, and finding 
it necessary to describe my new acquisitions, and conceiving that my views 
respecting the number of varieties of Buccinum undatum belonging to our 
coasts, and the essential characters of these varieties, were different from 
those I had seen or heard described, I commenced my paper, without ever 
thinking,jthat in publishing these views I should be interfering with the 
publication of Mr. Hancock’s, particularly when the publication of the latter 
depended on a contingency which I saw little or no chance of ever hap- 
pening. My surprise is certainly great, that Mr. Hancock, after my paper 
was published, and after leaning to a contrary opinion for nearly six years 
(up to last August for a certainty), should now “ feel satisfied” that his 
three varieties are ‘‘ mere varieties.” 

My paper, as it was read at the British Association, contained the descrip- 
tion given in the text of the variety crassum, also an acknowledgement to the 
effect that it was Mr. Hancock to whom I was indebted for the information 
of its generally being without an epidermis: the descriptive part, I regret, 
was afterwards cancelled: I was very reluctant to do this at the time, as I 
felt that this gentleman had no more exclusive right to describe this variety 
than he had to describe li‘torale and magnum, inasmuch as all three had 
been previously either described or figured by Lister, Pennant, Dr. Johnston 
and others: nor could I conceive, that his informing me of the general ab- 
sence of the epidermis in the case of crassum prevented me describing it or 
any of the others. 

* Philosophical Transactions, 1833, p. 784. 

24* 


840 Bibliographical Notices. 


“still water” of the river Tees is tenanted by a form of Bucci- 
num undatum as light and thin as most of the specimens I pro- 
cure from the depths of the Coral zone, 

The most obvious difference between the Tees shell and pela- 
gicum consists in this, that in the latter the spire is “ very long ”’ 
in consequence of the whorls slowly increasing in diameter ; while 
it is remarkably short in the former, owing to the rapid augmen- 
tation of the whorls. It is singular, while Buccinum undatum 
decreases in tumidness in proportion as its depth of habitat in- 
creases, that the two species, Fusus antiquus and F. islandicus, 
should, on the contrary, become more and more ventricose. 

It affords me much pleasure, before concluding the present 
notes, to mention, that I have lately procured a young specimen of 
Buccinum ovum, Turton (vide Zoological Journal, vol. 11. p. 366. pl. 
13. fig. 9). It was brought up by the fishing lines off the coast of 
Northumberland, from soft ground, in the Coral zone. The spe- 
cimen is half an inch long, and has four whorls, the first two of 
which have a truncated form: the shell is white, faintly spirally 
striated and covered with a greenish epidermis. Considering the 
numerous varieties existing of Buccinum undatum, it would not 
surprise me, if the crag fossil B. Dalei, Sowerby, should prove 
to be the same species: the principal difference between them 
seems to be in the latter being more strongly spirally striated. 
Mr. Morris, however, informs me, that the striation of B. Dalet 
is a variable character, which is proved by some unpublished 
figures of this species that he has kindly favoured me with. An 
examination of more specimens, than I possess, of both forms is 
necessary, however, before deciding assto their specific identity. 
Probably, the ordinary specimens of B. Dalei lived in the Coral- 
line zone, which will account for their being thicker than those 
of B. ovum, judging of my specimen, and the one figured by Dr. 
Turton. In both forms, the termination of the left side of the 
canal is slightly tongue-shaped. 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 


Outlines of Structural and Physiological Botany. By AnrHuR HENFREY, 
F.L.S. &c. 12mo. Van Voorst, 1847. Pp. 245, 18 plates. 


Muc# has been done of late years in this country to aid students in 
the prosecution of botany. The valuable Introductions of Lindley 
and Gray are now in the hands of all, and when combined with 
Babington’s excellent ‘ Manual’ they form a complete text-book for 
the British botanist. Nevertheless we hail the appearance of Mr. 
Henfrey'’s work as one which has been ably executed, and in a 
manner somewhat different from that adopted by the other authors 


Bibliographical Notices. 341 


alluded to. The ‘‘ Outlines” are confined entirely to structural and 
physiological botany without reference to classification. ‘They con- 
tain many interesting original observations, and they give a con- 
densed view of the state of botanical knowledge at the present time, 
to the exclusion of all theories which have been abandoned or ad- 
vanced without sufficient grounds. The book is thus confined within 
a moderate compass, and the student is at once put in possession of 
the great leading facts of the subject unencumbered with the state- 
ment of numerous opinions. 

The author commences with a consideration of the chemical con- 
stituents of vegetables, and then proceeds to the elementary struc- 
ture, or the cells and vessels of plants and their functions. His re- 
marks on cytogenesis are well worthy of attention. ‘There are three 
theories of cell-development which he considers worthy of notice :— 

“1. The formation of free cells from nuclei, in the cavity of the 
parent-cell : this view was proposed by Schleiden. 

“2. The formation of new cells by the division of the mucilaginous 
investment of the interior of the cell (primordial utricle) into two or 
four perfect, closed sacs, around and by the whole outer surface of 
which a new layer of membrane is simultaneously formed for each 
portion, these constituting the new cells. This is the theory of 
Nageli. 

‘«3. The gradual division of the primordial utricle into two por- 
tions by an annular constriction and infolding, the fold growing in- 
ward to the centre, and a layer of permanent cell-membrane being 
also deposited by each lamella of the fold, gradually from the cir- 
cumference to the centre. This view was advocated by myself as 
the universal mode of cell-formation, in a paper read before the Bri- 
tish Association at Cambridge last year, and has been more fully 
developed in a recent memoir by Mohl.”’ 

In speaking of the functions of what have been called milk-vessels 
he says, ‘‘ They may be regarded as intercellular passages containing 
peculiar secretions not essential to the life of the plant. The pre- 
tended circulation of the latex was a groundless hypothesis and arose 
from erroneous observation.” He thus differs completely from 
Schultz, and believes with Mohl, that the gravitation of the fluids 
when the vessels are cut is the cause of the motions observed. In 
treating of the mode in which woody matter is formed, he seems to 
discard the theories of Petit Thouars and Gaudichaud as reared on 
erroneous foundations. At p. 54 he remarks, ‘‘ Each vascular bundle 
(of a monocotyledonous stem) originates at the point where the new 
leaf or phyton is developed out of the nucleus of cellular tissue at the 
apex in the centre, and is gradually elongated into an ascending por- 
tion which passes upward into the petiole, and into a descending 
portion which passes outward and downward a little above the 
ascending bundle of the leaf below. It must not be imagined how- 
ever that the descending fibres break through the cellular tissue ; no 
interruption of continuity takes place within the stem; the vascular 
bundle is formed out of cells in the place where it is subsequently found, 


342 Bibliographical Notices. 


in consequence of the law of development of the plant. We say that 
the fibres descend, because the middle portion is that which first be- 
comes distinctly developed into a vascular structure.” 

_ When considering the physiology of vegetation, the author dade 
to the function of spiral vessels, and differs from those who look upon 
these vessels as formed for the special purpose of conveying air. In 
their earlier developing condition they are full of fluid, and “ it ap- 
pears probable,”’ he says, ‘‘ that their office, like that of the other vas- 
cular and fibrous tissue, is to give strength to the parenchyma, and 
they are peculiarly adapted to the requirements of the tissue in which 
they are found. Their structure is that which gives the greatest 
strength and elasticity consistent with lightness. ‘his is a sufficient 
explanation of their predominance in those parts where the tissue is 
most delicate and the growth most rapid. The medullary sheath is 
of course, in this view, regarded as adapted peculiarly to the early, 
developing condition of the pith.” . 

The process of respiration and assimilation in plants, nboontin: to 

the author, ‘‘ consists of the production of a proteine compound, by 
the agency of light, from the crude juice consisting of water holding 
in solution carbonic acid and ammonia. When the light is freely 
admitted to act, as is the case in the usual condition of plants, the 
assimilating process preponderates in activity over the developing 
power, and the excess of nutriment not being required for immediate 
use is deposited as starch instead of cellulose; the deoxidating pro- 
eess still continuing, this starch, also receiving in the process a small 
quantity of nitrogen, becomes chlorophylle. Should the light be in- 
tercepted now, we shall have a retrogressive series of processes ; the 
chlorophylle will disappear, since the respiration is reduced to such 
a low degree that all the carbon is required for development; the 
plant continues to grow for a time, its tissues weak and succulent, 
till all the assimilated carbon having been consumed in the production 
of new structures, the plant dies of starvation.” 
. The consideration of the reproductive organs and their functions 
necessarily occupies a large portion of the work, and the morpholo- 
gical views of structure are brought forward in a lucid and interest- 
ing manner. After stating the opinions relative to marginal and 
axile placentation, he concludes thus :— 

‘«‘ As the question stands at present, we are led to prefer the theory 
of carpellary placentation by the evidence afforded by the parietal form 
as occurring in Violacez, Papaveraceee, Orobanchacee ; the azile pla- 
centas of Scrophulariacez, Ericaceze, &c. appear to admit of an ex- 
planation by both views, as do also the central placentas of Caryo- 
phyllacee. ‘The central placenta of Primulacez and Santalacez 
favours the idea that the placenta is a prolongation of the axis, and 
can only be explained by the carpellary hypothesis, by supposing 
that the central placental column is a confluent whorl of placental pro- 
cesses developed separately from the carpels through a process of dedu- 
ee: ~ 

‘The obscure subject of fertilization receives considerable attention, 


Bibliographical Notices. 343 


but the author confesses that he is as yet unable to come to any de- 
finite conclusion on the point. ‘The important facts however, so far 
as they are known, are well stated. ; 

The work concludes with remarks on physiological phenomena of 
a general nature, including the colour, light, and motions of plants. 

The plates are from drawings by the author, and they are exe- 
cuted in a clear and correct manner. 

We have no hesitation in recommending this work to the atten- 
tion of all students of botanical science. ‘The conciseness and clear- 
ness of the descriptions, the accuracy of the views, and the philoso- 
phical spirit which pervades the whole work, deservedly place it in a 
high rank among the elementary botanical treatises of the present 
day. 

: Supplement to English Botany. 

It is long since we have called attention to this valuable and most 
beautiful work, and therefore now repeat our earnest call upon all 
our botanical readers to extend their patronage to it. We do this 
the more earnestly because we know that it is in great want of that 
support which it has so good a right to expect, for at the present 
time ‘‘ the sale barely repays the money expended upon print and 
paper, the proprietor being himself the artist and engraver.” From 
this cause much irregularity has attended its publication, but it is 
now the intention of Mr. J. W. Salter, the son-in-law of Mr. Sow- 
erby, who has undertaken its management, to issue it regularly on 
the first of every third month, with six plates in each number instead 
of four. 

Mr. Salter states that he is ‘‘ favoured with the support and en- 
couragement of those distinguished botanists whose assistance has 
conferred so much value upon the work,” and that “he has every 
reason to hope that the descriptive part of future numbers will not be 
inferior to that which has already appeared.” We feel confident that 
such will be the case, and may add concerning the plates, that no bet- 
ter, even if equally good, representations of plants are to be found 
in any work of science or art. The drawings and engravings will be 
made by Mr. Sowerby and Mr. Salter, the persons from whose hands 
the illustrations in former numbers have proceeded. 

We have now before us two numbers published since the issue of 
the prospectus from which we quote, and can safely state that they 
are fully equal to their predecessors ; they are numbered 68 and 69, 
being 12 and 13 of the new series, no part of which will be included 
in the ‘‘ small edition’”’ lately issued by the proprietors of the original 
work. Amongst the plants figured in them are Lamium intermedium, 
Hieracium Lapeyrousii, Statice rariflora, beautiful plates both bota- 
nically and artistically; also Poa Parnellii and P. Balfourii, new 
grasses which are well represented; and in addition several inter- 
esting cryptogamic plants. 

When we remember the very numerous copies which have been 
purchased of the original work and the ‘‘ small edition,” it is unac- 
countable to us that this supplement (an essential appendage to’ 
either of them) has obtained so little support. 


344: Linnean Society. 


Cybele Britannica ; or British Plants and their Geographical Relations. 
By H. C. Watson. London, Longmans. 8vo. 


We have just received the first volume of this valuable work, and 
hasten to notice it. Its author is too well known for the success 
with which he has studied the geographical relations of British plants 
to require any praise from us, and perhaps we need only state that 
the present work is, in our estimation, far superior to either of his 
former publications. We have not room for long quotations—indeed 
they are unnecessary, since the book must soon be in the hands of 
all botanists. The ‘‘ Introductory explanations,” as they are deno- 
~minated, extend to 69 pages, and seem to us a very complete state- 
ment of the plan upon which a work on the geographical distribution 
of the plants of a single country should be elaborated. He divides 
the whole of Great Britain into regions both of space and elevation, 
points out the peculiarities of each of them, and explains the reasons 
for their adoption. But all must refer to the work itself. 

The geography of British plants was quite a new subject when 
first taken in hand by Mr. Watson, and he is well-deserving of con- 
gratulation upon the publication of the work now before us, in which 
he shows a complete knowledge of his subject~far more complete 
than is possessed by any other person. 

We trust that the success of this volume will encourage him to 
proceed rapidly with the preparation of its successors ; and that the 
time may at length arrive when similar information may be obtained 
in reference to Ireland, for much must be done before the attempt 
at illustrating the distribution of its plants can be made with any 
reasonable prospect of suecess. Let Irish botanists see to this. 


Works in the Press. 


Weare informed that.the sixth edition of Dr. Mantell’s ‘ Wonders 
of Geology, or a Familiar Exposition of Geological Phenomena,’ is 
in the press, and will shortly appear in one volume uniform with the 
Author’s ‘ Geology of the Isle of Wight,’ with many new illus- 
trations. 


We have also much pleasure in announcing that a Second Edition 
of Babington’s ‘ Manual of British Botany’ will be published in a 
few days. 


PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 


LINNZAN SOCIETY. 


December 15, 1846,—E. Forster, Esq., V.P., in the Chair. 


Specimens of Juncus diffusus, Hoppe, collected by John Ansell, 
Esq., at Darman’s Green near Hoddesdon, Herts, were exhibited 
and presented. 

‘Read the conclusion se Dr. Hooker’s memoir “‘ On the Vegetation 


Linnean Society. 345 


of the Galapagos Archipelago, as compared with that of some other 
Tropical Islands and of the Continent of America.” 

The present paper offers the deductions which Dr. Hooker has 
drawn with reference to Botanical Geography from his ‘‘ Enumera- 
tion of the Plants of the Galapagos Islands,” read during the previous 
session. He regards the relationship of the Flora to that of the ad- 
jacent continent as double ; the peculiar or new species being for the 
most part allied to plants of the cooler parts of America or of the 
uplands of the tropical latitudes, while the non-peculiar are the 
same as abound chiefly in the hotter and more humid regions, such 
as the Islands of the West Indies and the shores of the Gulf of 
Mexico ; and while on the other hand many of the species, and those 
the most remarkable (as is likewise the case with regard to the 
Fauna), are confined to a single islet of the group, and often repre- 
sented in other islets by similar, but specifically very distinct, con- 

eners. 

: The author commences his memoir with an account of the geo- 
graphical position, and of some of the most important features of the 
climate and soil of the Archipelago, chiefly derived from the journals 
of Mr. Darwin and of some other voyagers, including the unpublished 
journal of the late Mr. T. Edmonstone. This is followed by an 
Enumeration of the Naturalists who have explored it in the order of 
the dates of their respective visits, including Mr. Cuming, Mr. David 
Douglas, Dr. Scouler, Mr. Macrae, Mr. Darwin, Admiral Du-Petit- 
Thouars and Mr. Edmonstone. The total number of species brought 
together from these various sources amounts to 244, of which 202 
are flowering plants and 28 ferns. All of these, excepting perhaps 17, 
natives of Charles Island (the only inhabited one), are truly indige- 
nous, but it is probable that this is only an approximation to the true 
number. Under any circumstances, however, the Flora is extremely 
poor when compared with that of other tropical islands of equal, or 
even of smaller, extent; the Cape de Verd Islands, scarcely so well 
explored, yielding upwards of 300 species on a soil quite as sterile ; 
and the Sandwich and Society groups being very much richer, 
although further detached from any great continent. 

Dr. Hooker next proceeds to review the Flora under three distinct 
heads ; first with reference to the proportion borne by each of the prin- 
cipal Natural Orders to the whole Flora, and its relations to the Flora 
of the neighbouring continent and of other islands somewhat similarly 
circumstanced. Secondly, he treats of the Flora of the Galapagos 
as divisible into two types ; the West Indian (including Panama), to 
which the plants common to other countries and some dubious spe- 
cies almost universally belong; and the Mexican and temperate 
American, or that under which the great majority of the peculiar 
species rank. ‘Thirdly, he notices the most singular feature in the 
vegetation of the group, namely that the several islets are tenanted 
for the most part by different species, many of which are, however, 
represented by allied species in one or more of the other islets, 
Under each of these heads Dr. Hooker enters into minute statistical 
details, accompanied by extensive research and careful comparisons. 


346 Linnean Society. 


Read also a ‘‘ Description of a new species of Cowry.” By G. B. 
Sowerby, Esq., F.L.S. &c. &c. | 


Cypr2A VENuSTA, testé ovato-ventricosa utraque extremitate anticé pre- 
cipué subrostrata, dorso gibboso carnicolore maculis pallidé castaneis 
notato, lateribus basalibus incrassatis carnicoloribus, extremitatibus 
pallidé castaneis roseo-tinctis, basi subplanulataé albicante extremita- 
tibus carnicoloribus, spiraé valida obtusa. anfractibus duobus, apertura 
elongata angusta rectiusculd intus rose posticé in canalem brevem 
sinistralem exeunte anticé subflexuosa, canali anticA brevi rectiuscula 
paululim deflexa, dentibus labii externi circa 25 magnis interstitiis 
zequalibus rotundatis; labii interni paucis (circa 16) majoribus distan- 
tibus anticis maximis medianis feré obsoletis, cavitate columellari parva 
alba. 


A very handsome Cowry, of which a single specimen has lately 
been received from Port Adelaide, South Australia. 


January 19, 1847.—E. Forster, Esq., V.P., in the Chair. 


Mr. Ward, F.L.S., exhibited a fine series of specimens of Adiantum 
Capillus Veneris, L., together with a specimen of Asplenium Tricho- 
manes, L., collected in Italy by Mr. E. W. Cooke, the latter bearing 
on several of its pinne sori taking their origin from the upper as well 
as from the lower surface of the frond ; and also a portion of a large 
branch of a Scotch Fir hollowed out by hornets to form a nest, and 
beautifully exhibiting in the dissected parts the origins of the smaller 
branches. 

Read a paper “‘ On the Natural History, Anatomy, and Develop- 
ment of Meloé (second memoir).” By George Newport, Esq., F.R.S. 
&c. Communicated by the Secretary. 

Mr. Newport states at the commencement of his paper, that his 
present object is to compare the habits and anatomy of Meloé in its 
larva state with those of the larve of allied genera, and with the pa- 
rasitic groups of insects the Strepsiptera and Anoplura, with a view 
to show that habit and instinct in animals are always closely asso- 
ciated with the functions of particular organs, and seem to be the 
immediate result of structural peculiarities of organization. 

Having in his former memoir described the habits of Meloé, and 
traced the young from the egg to the imago state, he now entered 
on an examination of the habits of the entire group of insects allied 
to Meloé, and showed that the whole of them in their larva state bear 
a general resemblance to the larva Meloé, not only in their organi- 
zation but also in their habits ; and that the more closely the larve of 
different genera approach in structure, the more nearly also are they 
allied in instinct and ceconomy. This accordance between structure 
and instinct he regards as universal throughout nature, and as par- 
ticularly marked in the Articulata. The author believes that, by 
carefully comparing our observations on the natural history of ani- 
mals with their peculiarities of structure, and these on the other 
hand with their instincts, what might otherwise remain useless and 
isolated facts may be rendered truly important to science, ‘‘ as data 
on which a correct knowledge of the laws of creation and life may 


Linnean Society. 347 


_be established.” In this way, he states, “natural history may be 
made to occupy its proper position as an important branch of useful 
knowledge, and mainly help to demonstrate the connexion which 
subsists between structure and function, and function and the habits 
of animals.”’ 

In pursuing this view, he shows that the organization and instinct 
of the larva Meloé closely agree. At the moment of birth, when the 
larva is destined to attach itself parasitically to the Hymenoptera which 
alight on flowers to collect pollen, and which are to convey it to their 
nests, its organs of vision are largely developed, and those of loco- 
motion are elongated, powerful, and constructed like those of the pa- 
rasitic Anoplura; and it is extremely active and sensitive of light. 
But when, at the period of full growth, it is found in the cell of 
Anthophora, it is a fattened, yellow-coloured, almost motionless larva, 
with its legs atrophied and reduced to mere pedal tubercles previous 
to a further change in their structure when the larva passes to the 
state of nymph. Ean oy: 

In the course of these observations Mr. Newport proved, by actual 
comparison, the identity of many yellow-coloured larve which had 
been taken by Mr. Smith on some of the Nomade (themselves 
parasitic insects) with the larve of Meloé, which he had himself 
reared from the eggs, thus establishing the fact of the parasitic 
attachment of Meloé to perfect Hymenoptera. The genera allied to 
Meloé (Mylabris, Lytta, Tetraonyzx, Sitaris and Apalus), and those of 
allied families, Horia, Cipiter, Rhipiphorus, Symbius and others, were 
all shown to bear a more or less close relation to Meloé in the habits 
or the structure of their larvee. Sztaris was especially referred to, on 
the observations of Audouin and Pecchioli, as affording close simi- 
larity to Meloé both in structure and habit, this species having 
already been found by the former naturalist in the nests of Antho- 

hora. 

s Mr. Newport then traced the history of the Strepsiptera as now 
ascertained by the labours of Siebold, most of whose observations he 
has confirmed, and he showed some remarkable coincidences between 
the structure and habits of the extremely minute larve of these in- 
sects and those of Meloé. The chief of these are their parasitism on 
the Hymenoptera, and the atrophy of their limbs after they are located 
in the nests of their victims. So extremely minute are the young 
Stylops shortly after their birth, that on measuring several, while 
living, on a micrometer plate, Mr. Newport found that each indivi- 
dual does not exceed twenty-two thousandths of an inch in length : 
yet internally this minute object is as fully organized as other in- 
sects. He then showed that what had been regarded by Dr. Siebold 
as a cecal termination to the alimentary canal is in fact a reduplica- 
tion of part of that organ, which after folding twice on itself is con- 
tinued to the anal segment as in other insects. He also described 
the imago of this species of Stylops, which, as well as its larve, had 
been obtained from the bee, Andrena Trimmerana, and pointing out 
in what it seems to differ from Stylops melitte, he proposed to de- 
scribe it as Stylops aterrimus. 


348 Zovlogical Society. 


Comparing the male Stylops with the female, Mr. Newport re- 
marked especially on the peculiar organization of the former, as fitted 
for special instincts, perfection of vision and celerity of flight, con- 
jecturing that the object of this in Stylops may be the detection on 
the wing of those Hymenoptera which carry about with them through 
the air the apodal female that awaits impregnation; and showed 
that all we yet know of the habits of Stylops is conformable to this 
view. 

Returning then to the consideration of Meloé, the author showed 
that notwithstanding the structures with which it left the egg are fully 
developed, they are so on an inferior type of organization, like Sty- 
lops and like the Anoplura. The eye, although large and highly 
sensitive to light, is still but a single ocellus, fitted only for near vi- 
sion. The limbs although strong are unguiculated, like those of the 
Anoplura, and fitted for clinging rather than for regular progression ; 
and its mandibles, retaining the jointed, pediform structure of the 
corresponding organs in the carnivorous Chilopoda, are fitted for 
piercing soft structures, rather than for triturating or for incising 
their food. This fact, overlooked by the author in his former memoir, 
now induced him to believe that the young Meloé pierces and preys 
on the bee larva rather than that it subsists on its food. This he 
believes also may hereafter prove to be the true habit of the larva 
of most of the allied genera. 

Specimens of the larva and imago Stylops, and of the larva, nymph 
and imago Meloé, were on the table for inspection. 


ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
January 26, 1847. George Gulliver, Esq., F.R.S., in the Chair. 


The following communication was read :— 


Descriptions or Srx New Spscizs or AvusTrRALian Birps. By 
Joun Goutp, F.R.S. 


CysTICOLA LINEOCAPILLA, Gould. Cys. rufa; plumis capitis et 
dorsi laté conspicuéque per mediam longitudinaliter nigro-fusco 
striatis ; rectricibus maculd albd infra ornatis. 

General plumage pale rufous, with broad and conspicuous striz of 
blackish brown, forming lines down the centre of the feathers of the 
head and back, the under surface fading into white on the throat 
and centre of the chest; tail-feathers with a conspicuous blackish 
spot on the under surface near the tip; irides light reddish brown ; 
bill and feet flesh-brown. 

Total length, 33 inches; bill, $; wing, 1%; tail, 13; tarsi, 3. 

Hab. Port Essington. 

Remark.—Nearly allied to C. evilis. 


Mirarra Horsrietpiu, Gould. Mir. cinerea; mediis plumis, 
capite, dorso inferiore, alisque, fuscis ; alis albo-marginatis ; guld 
serie macularum intense fuscarum semilunari ornatd. 

General plumage ashy brown, with the centre of the feathers dark 

brown, the latter colour predominating on the head, lower part of 


| Zoological Society. 349 


the back and tertiaries; wings brown, margined with rufous; over 
the eye a stripe of buff; chin white; under surface pale buff; throat 
crossed by a series of dark brown spots, arranged in a crescentic 
form ; under surface of the wing rufous ; bill flesh-brown at the base 
and dark brown at the tip; feet fleshy brown. 

Total length, 5} inches; bill, +; wing, 23; tail, 23; tarsi, Z. 

Hab. Interior of New South Wales. 

Remark.—Nearly allied to, but smaller than, the Mirafra Javanica 
of Dr. Horsfield. 


Amytis macrourus, Gould. Amy. corpore superiore fusco ; plumis 
singulis lined angustd albd longitudinaliter per mediam ornatis ; 
corpore inferiore nec aliter nisi pallidius picto ; scapulis infra ru- 
biginosis ; caudd fuscd brunneo-marginatd. 

Upper surface brown, each feather with a narrow stripe of white 
down the centre; under surface the same, but much paler; under 
surface of the shoulder pale rusty red; tail brown, margined with 
pale brown; irides hazel; base of the lower mandible horn-colour, 
remainder of the bill black; feet flesh-brown. 

Total length, 7 inches; bill, +; wing, 23; tail, 44; tarsi, 1. 

Hab. Western Australia. 

Remark.—This is a more robust species than the two previously 
known, viz. A. terilis and A. striatus, from which it may also be 
distinguished by the much greater length and size of the tail. 


SeRicorNis MacuLatTus, Gould. Ser. corpore superiore, alis, cau- 
ddque, fuscis ; caudd ad apicem lata fascid nigro-fuscd transversim 
ornatd ; rectricibus externis viz albo ad apices notatis ; alis spuriis 
nigris ; internis pennarum pogoniis albo-marginatis ; corpore in- 
feriore griseo-albo. 

Upper surface, wings and tail brown, the latter crossed near the 
tip with a broad band of blackish brown, and the outer feathers 
slightly tipped with white; forehead and lores deep black; stripe 
above and a small patch below the eye white ; spurious wing-feathers 
black, margined on their inner webs with white; under surface in 
some greyish white, in others washed with yellow; the feathers of 
the throat and chest spotted with black on a light ground; irides 
greenish white. 

Female.—Differs in having the lores brown, and in being some- 
what smaller than the male. 

Total length, 43 inches; bill, 3; wing, 21; tail, 2; tarsi, 7. 

Hab. Western and Southern Australia. 

SERICORNIS oscuLans, Gould. Ser. (Mas) corpore superiore, alis 
cauddque brunneis ; rectricibus, duobus intermediis exceptis, fascid 
nigra ad extremitatem ornatis ; alis spuriis nigris albo-marginatis ; 
guld et medio abdomine albis, griseo vel flavo tinctis; paucis 
oblongis maculis in guld nigris. 

Male.—Upper surface, wings and tail dark brown, all but the 
two centre feathers of the latter crossed by a band of black near the 
extremity ; spurious wing-feathers black, margined with white ; lores 
black, above which on each side a patch of white continued in a fine 


850 Zoological Society. 


line over the eye; throat and centre of the abdomen greyish white 
in some and yellowish white in others, marked with a few oblong 
black spots on the throat. 

Female.—Somewhat smaller in size, and with the lores brown i in- 
stead of black. 

Total length, 45 inches; bill, 8; wing, 2}; tail, 2; tarsi, 2. 

Hab. South Australia. 

Remark.—Intermediate in size between S. frontalis and S. humilis. 


SERICORNIS Lavieaster, Gould. Ser. corpore superiore Susco ; 
caudd, ad apicem gradatim nigricante, in apice albd; alis spuriis 
brunneis, pogoniis quarum internis albo- owen corpore infe- 
riore cervino lavato. 

Upper surface brown ; tail deepening into black near the extremit ty 
and tipped with white ; spurious wing-feathers dark brown, margined 
with white on their inner webs; lores and mark under the eye 
brownish black; above the eye an indistinct line of white; under 
surface washed with yellowish buff; irides greenish white. 

Female.—Smaller than the male, and with the lores pale brown. 

Total length, 4} inches; bill, #; wing, 23; tail, 2; tarsi, 2. 

Hab. Interior of Australia, near the Gulf of Carpentaria, where it 
was discovered by Mr. Gilbert. 

Remark.—Nearly allied to S. frontalis. 


February 23.— William Yarrell, Esq., Vice-President, in the Chair. 
The following communications were read :— 


1. OBSERVATIONS ON STRUTHIONINE Birps IN THE MENAGERIE AT 
Knows.tey. By Tue Presipent. 


I shall take this opportunity of noticing some of the differences 
which appear to me to characterize the Struthious tribe in their breed- 
ing, and which I rather think are not generally known. 

I believe the general supposition to be, that no difference exists, 
and that they agree at this period with most of the Rasorial birds 
in being polygamous; but this is by no means the case. 

What may be the truth with the head of the Family, the African 
Ostrich, we have had too few opportunities or means of judging. 
The Emu. is strictly monogamous; and the male, who attends to the 
eggs, by no means approves of any other female than the favoured 
one coming near the nest. 

The Rheas, on the contrary, are clearly polygamous; and with 
them the male not only selects the place for and forms the nest, but 
actually collects together in it the eggs* (which are frequently laid 
at random about the enclosure), in order that he may incubate them. 
He shows no signs of anger when the females approach, and in one 
instance two females have laid in the same nest. By analogy we 
may perhaps suppose that the Ostrich follows a similar plan. 


* The manner in which this operation is accomplished is by inserting the beak 
between the egg and the ground, and rolling it along by the assistance of his long 
neck, exactly in the way that a boy would roll a cricket-ball along by the aid of a 
long stick with a hooked end to it. 


Zoological Society. 851 


There are differences also in their modes of copulation. If my 
memory does not deceive me, the Struthio Camelus does not, like 
other birds, mount on the back of the female, but merely places one 
foot on her back, the necks of the pair twisting about all the while 
like two snakes, but without holding. 

The Rhea, on the other hand, seizes hold of the back of the neck ; 
and the Emu, I think, is the one which straddles over the female 
during the operation with his legs on each side of her. 

The Rhea lays from fourteen to twenty-five eggs; the Emu from 
twelve to seventeen. 


2. DescrIPTION OF A NEW Rat From Soutrn AvustTraiaA. By J. E. 
Gray, Esa., F.R.S. &e. 


Mus veutErosus. M. brunneus, albido-varius, ad caput obscurior ; 
vellere preélongo, denso ; pilis mollibus ad basin fusco-brunneis, inde 
pallidioribus, ad apicem albis ; codario mollissimo, brunni-plumbeo ; 
caudd annulatim squamatd, raris brevibus et rigidioribus setis 
obsitd ; auribus mediocribus, rotundatis. 

Hab. in campis Australiasianis inter fluvios Murray et Glenelg. 

The skull resembles the typical Rats. The cutting teeth are yellow, 

moderate, slightly rounded in front, without any regular groove. 
The grinders are 3, worn; the anterior upper oblong, formed of three 
transverse folds, the hinder being smallest ; the second tooth is nearly 
circular, formed of two folds, the front fold largest, and having a 
notch on its inner side; the third tooth small, half ovate, with two 
notches on the inner side. The anterior lower grinder is formed of 
three, and the others of two folds ; the anterior fold of the last tooth 
having a slight notch on the inside, and the posterior fold being 
smaller than the rest. 


in. lin. 
Lenptts OF BROS, o3% sii la ONE CoN 9 
——— tooth-line ................ 0 4 
Opal deme hae os! oidig iin Soebinie fhgod Gas: He 7 6 
BRE EOS athe N cok Reis dudibinwae Me eats 4 6 


_ This rat has the dentition and somewhat the general appearance 
of Mus fuscipes, Waterh., but the skull and animal are considerably 
larger, and the fur is, very much longer and paler. 
The specimens from which this description is taken were sent to 
Be ore Museum by His Excellency Capt. Grey, Governor of New 
ealand. 


3. On Two NEw Genera or Certuina. By G. R. Gray, Esa., 


F.L.S. &c. : 


I beg to lay before the Meeting the following description of what 
I believe to be a new genus belonging to the subfamily Certhine, . 
under the name of Caulodromus. 


Rostrum capite longius, latum, basi subdepressum, gracile, per totam 
longitudinem curvatum, lateribus a naribus usque ad apicem ob- 
tusum subemarginatum fortiter compressis. Gonys longus cur- 


352 Zoological Society. 


vatus.. Nares laterales, anteriis in sulco brevi lato siti, apertura 
magna rotundata nuda. Ale breves, basin caude operientes, for- 
titer rotundate, remige sexta omnium longissima. Cauda brevis- 
sima, rectricum apicibus subacutis. Tuarsi digito medio breviores, 
anticé squamis latis transversis muniti. Digiti longi, graciles, 
extimo quam intimo longiore basi coadunato, intimo basi vix 
coadunato; postico longo, ungue longo curvato armato. 


CauLopromus Grace. Caul. rufescens, plumarum scapis strigd 
rufo-albidd notatis, pogoniis interioribus in dorso nuchdque nigris ; 
tectricibus caude superioribus inferioribusque lete rufis, alis cau- 
ddéque saturate brunneis strigis duabus nigris alterd a rictu alterd- 
que (breviusculd) @ rostri basi ductis, guld pectore abdomineque 
medio rufescenti-albis rufo-brunneo variegatis. 

Rufous brown, streaked narrowly down the shaft of each feather 
with rufous white ; the inner web of the feathers of the back of neck 
and back black ; the upper and under tail-coverts bright rufous; the 
wings and tail dark brown ; two streaks of black, one from the gape 
and the other (rather short) from the base of the bill; the throat, 
breast and middle of the abdomen rufous white, varied: with rufous 
brown. 

Total length, 5 inches; bill, from gape, 1 inch; wing, 2 inches 2 
lines; tarsi, 1 inch. 

This proposed division differs from the typical form of Certhia by 
the length and form of the bill and the position and form of the nos- 
trils, while the extreme shortness of the tail at once points out a great 
dissimilarity from those species that properly belong to the above- 
mentioned genus. 

. -have also before me another bird that appears to belong to the 
same subfamily, which I shall form into a distinct genus, under the 
name of © 


SALPORNIS. 


Rostrum longum latum basi subdepressum, per totam longitudinem 
curvatum ; lateribus 4 naribus fortiter compressis. Gonys elonga- 
tus, curvatus. Nares laterales, anticé in sulco lato brevi siti, 
apertura magna nuda. Ale longissime, usque ad caude apicem 
feré attingentes, acute, remige prima brevissima, secund4 feré 
longitudinis tertiz quarteeque, que zequales et omnium longissime. 

- Cauda breviuscula, quadrata, rectricum apicibus rotundatis. Tarsi 
medio digito breviores, squamis latis muniti. Digiti longi, fortes, 
intimo quam extimo breviore basi parim coadunato, extimo lon- 
gius coadunato; postico longu, forti, ungue curvato armato. 


The type of this proposed genus is already described by Major 
Franklin in the Proceedings of the Society under the name of Certhia 
spilonota (Proc. 1831, p. 121). 

The differences exhibited between this and the former genus are 
at once seen in the form of the wings, which are lengthened and 
pointed, and of the tail, which has the ends of the feathers slightly 
rounded. ‘These characters are like those of Tichodroma, while the 


Miscellaneous. 353 


form of the bill and feet are similar to those of the genus proposed 
above. 

The specimen of Caulodromus was kindly lent me by J. R. Grace, 
Esq., who procured it in Darjeeling : that of Sa/pornis was presented 
by B. H. Hodgson, Esq. to the British Museum, and forms part of a 
collection from Behar. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


Microscopic Anatomy of the Shell of the Decapodous Crustacea. 
By J. Lava.tz. 


From my observations, says the author, the tegumentary apparatus 
of the Crustacea may be divided into two parts: Ist, an exterior one, 
which is incrusted with calcareous salts, and has no apparent ves- 
sels ; it is the carapace, the shell properly so called; it alone forms 
the solid skeleton of the animal, and its inextensibility requires it 
to be shed at certain periods, to be replaced by a larger covering. 
2nd, the other, situated in the interior, covers the first at all points : 
it is soft and highly vascular, it remains after the shedding of the 
tegument, and appears to be especially destined to reproduce a 
new one. 

My observations apply to the shell alone, to that portion of the 
tegumentary apparatus which is cast annually, and I have purposely 
limited the subject, because it has been hitherto almost impossible to 
base a sufficiently, settled opinion upon the nature of this coriaceous 
and hardened covering. 

The solid portion of the tegumentary apparatus of the decapodous 
Crustacea which is shed differs essentially from shells, in one thing, 
that when treated with an acid it parts with its carbonate of lime 
without its organization being any way changed. In this respect it 
may be compared to the bones of the vertebrate animals. 

The shell constitutes a covering of a single piece, continuous 
throughout, and which is only interrupted on the level of the natural 
openings. The flexible points, and the softest parts of this envelope 
differ from the solid parts only in the absence of calcareous salts ; 
their organization is perfectly identical. The articulations are only 
more or less complicated, but often very simple folds, of this cover- 
ing. It is the same with the ossiform parts placed withinside the 
organs, and designed for the insertion of the locomotor muscles. 
The parts destined to break or grind the food are only more solid 
parts of the shell and of a denser texture. At the time of shedding, 
all these parts are cast off together. The shell presents, in the most 
perfect state, three layers quite distinct and easily separable :—The 
most external, homogeneous, transparent and corneous one, presents 
an opening only for the passage of the hairs or analogous organs, 
and covers the whole shell with a varnish often extremely thin; it 
is evidently analogous to the epidermis of the higher animals ; I have 
designated it by the name of epidermal layer. The central layer is 

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Vol. xix. 


354 Miscellaneous. 


especially destined to contain the colouring matter of the shell; it 
has a peculiar organization, and always contains the base of the hairs 
and the corneous tubercles: this is the pigmental layer. ‘The in- 
ternal layer is much the thickest, and constitutes nearly the whole 
shell ; in it are found the passages of the hairs, tubercles and spines, 
as well as a great number cf small irregular bodies of an organic 
nature: this is the dermal layer. 

These two last layers are the only ones in which the carbonate of 
lime is deposited ; they have a nearly analogous organization. Under 
a weak magnifier, we ascertain that they are formed throughout of 
extremely fine and delicate lines, whose general and striking cha- 
racteristic is that they are constantly parallel. This organization 
exists in the great majority of cases, and we remark that, when it is 
absent, or difficult to detect, the dermal layer presents iridescent 
tints, often as brilliant as those of the most beautiful shells (the 
Anomouri). These lines are not produced by independent and super- 
posed layers, for the shell is not separable into laminz correspond- 
ing to these lines. By means of a very high magnifying power we 
can perceive that these lines form part of one whole. The intimate 
organization of the shell therefore presents itself under three principal 
forms: lst, we only find extremely thin filaments, joined to one 
another and directed from within outwards, perpendicularly to the 
surface ; these filaments, becoming thicker and more opake at simi- 
lar levels, give an appearance of parallel lines: 2nd, these filaments 
exist, but are traversed at right angles and along parallel zones, 
by other bundles of filaments; from these last issue ramifications 
which anastomose with the adjacent zones and thus reunite all the 
bundles: 3rd, the perpendicular filaments no longer exist, and we 
only meet with parallel bands, from which issue very irregular rami- 
fications which unite with the adjacent bands. 

The hairs of the decapodous Crustacea are simple or barbed ; they 
never have barbules. They are not a prolongation of the epidermal 
layer; they are always in communication with the interior of the 
shell by a canal which traverses in a straight line the thickness of 
the carapace, and which is one while empty and at another filled 
with a matter similar to that which exists in the interior of the hairs. 
They all have a central canal filled with a marrow analogous to that 
which is found in the hairs of the higher animals. ‘They all grow 
from a rounded part, which has the greatest analogy with bulbs. 
These sorts of bulbs are always situated in the pigmental layer. 
The irregular bodies which cover certain Crustacea, and in particular 
Pisa tetraodon, are only hairs, the barbs of which are coherent. 

The spines of the decapodous Crustacea appear to be continued in 
the epidermal layer, with which they have the greatest analogy in 
appearance and composition. We find in them a very considerable 
number of small canals analogous to those of the hairs, and which, 
like the last, traverse the whole shell to reach the spine. 

With respect to the tubercles often found in the pigmental layer, 
and each of which has a small canal by means of which they com- 
municate with the interior of the shell, we can only consider them as 


Miscellaneous. 355 


organs analogous to the bulbs which are found at the base of the 
hairs. 

I shall here only observe further, that my investigations seem to 
be in complete opposition to the theories which make the shell of the 
Crustacea analogous* to the scaly epidermis of serpents and lizards. I 
see no analogy between the shedding of the shell of the Crustacea,— 
which divests them of organs destined to give the body its form and 
volume, to serve as points of attachment to the locomotor muscles, to 
furnish the instruments of prehension and mastication ; organs placed 
not only on the surface of the body, but often immersed in the 
midst of the soft parts, and in which we find an organization such as 
I have described,—and the periodical shedding observed in reptiles of 
a thin epidermis, without consistency, completely inorganized and 
incapable of fulfilling any of the uses to which the shell is destined. 

My researches have convinced me of the vitality of the shell, at 
least in the first period of its existence; and in reference to this, I 
am fully of Cuvier’s opinion, when he said, in his ‘ Anatomie Com- 
parée,’ “ The envelope of the Crustacea is at first soft, sensible, and 
even furnished with vessels; but a quantity of calcareous molecules 
- soon collect there, harden it, and obstruct the pores and vessels.” 

Such was also the decided opinion of Dugést.—Comptes Rendus, 
Jan. 4, 1847. 


THE TEA PLANT OF CHINA. 


There are few subjects connected with the vegetable kingdom 
which have attracted such a large share of public notice as the tea- 
plant of China. Its cultivation on the Chinese hills, the particular 
species or variety which produces the black and green teas of com- 
merce, and the method of preparing the leaves, have always been ob- 
jects of peculiar interest. The jealousy of the Chinese government 
in former times prevented foreigners from visiting any of the di- 
stricts where tea is cultivated ; and the information derived from the 
Chinese merchants, even scanty as it was, was not to bedepended upon. 
And hence we find our English authors contradicting each other ; 
some asserting that the black and green teas are produced by the 
same variety, and that the difference in colour is the result of a dif- 
ferent mode of preparation ; while others say that the black teas are 
produced from the plant called by botanists Thea Bohea, and the 
green from Thea viridis, both of which we have had for many years 
in our gardens in England. During my travels in China since the 
last war, I have had frequent opportunities of inspecting some extensive 
tea districts in the black and green-tea countries of Canton, Fokien, 
and Chekiang, and the result of these observations is now laid be- 


* The reader will see the need of the term homologous, signifying 
‘answerable part or namesake,’ proposed by Professor Owen; as the shell 
of the Crustacea is ‘ analogous’ to the scaly epidermis of serpents and lizards, 
Ser ec as it has a similar relation to the protection of the surface of the 

ody. 

ft See Dr. Schmidt’s important researches on this subject in Taylor's 
‘ Scientific Memoirs,’ Part XVII. 

25* 


356 Miscellaneous. 


fore the reader. It will prove that even those who have had the 
best means of judging have been deceived, and that the greater part 
of the black and green teas which are brought yearly from China to 
Europe and America are obtained from the same species or variety, 
namely, from the Thea viridis. Dried specimens of this plant were 
prepared in the districts I have named by myself, and are now in 
the herbarium of the Horticultural Society of London, so that 
there can be no longer any doubt upon the subject. In various 
parts of the Canton province, where I had an opportunity of seeing 
tea cultivated, the species proved to be the Thea Bohea, or what is 
commonly called the black-tea plant. In the green-tea districts of 
the north—I allude more particularly to the province of Chekiang— 
I never met with a single plant of this species, which is so common 
in the fields and gardens near Canton. All the plants in the 
green-tea country near Ning-po, on the islands of the Chusan 
Archipelago, and in every part of the province which I had an op- 
portunity of visiting, proved, without exception, to be the Thea 
viridis. ‘Two hundred miles further to the north-west, in the pro- 
vince of Kiang-nan, and only a short distance from the tea hills in 
that quarter, I also found in gardens this same species of tea. ‘Thus - 
far my actual observation exactly verified the opinions I had formed 
on the subject before I left England, viz. that the black teas were 
prepared from the Thea Bohea and the green from Thea viridis. When 
I left the north, on my way to the city of Foo-chow-foo, on the river 
‘Min, in the province of Fokien, I had no doubt that I should find 
the tea hills there covered with the other species, Thea Bohea, from 
which we generally suppose the black teas are made; and this was 
the more likely to be the case as this species actually derives its 
specific name from the Bohee hills in this province. Great was my 
surprise to find all the plants on the tea hills near Foo-chow exactly 
the same as those in the green-tea districts of the north. Here were, 
then, green-tea plantations on the black-tea hills, and not a single 
plant of the Thea Bohea to be seen. Moreover, at the time of my 
visit, the natives were busily employed in the manufacture of black 
teas. Although the specific differences of the tea-plants were well- 
known to me, I was so much surprised, and I may add amused, at 
this discovery, that I procured a set of specimens for the herbarium, 
and also dug up a living plant, which I took northward to Chekiang. 
On comparing it with those which grow on the green-tea hills, no 
difference whatever was observed. It appears, therefore, that the 
black and green teas of the northern districts of China (those districts 
in which the greater part of the teas for the foreign markets are 
made) are both produced from the same variety, and that that variety 
is the Thea viridis, or what is commonly called the green-tea plant. 
On the other hand, those black and green teas which are manufac- 
tured in considerable quantities in the vicinity of Canton are ob- 
tained from the Thea Bohea, or black tea. * * * 

In the green-tea districts of Chekiang near Ning-po, the first 
crop of leaves is generally gathered about the middle of April. ‘This 
consists of the young leaf-buds just as they begin to unfold, and 


Miscellaneous. 357 


forms a fine. and delicate kind of young hyson, which is held in 
high estimation by the natives, and is generally sent about in small 
quantities as presents to their friends. It is a scarce and expensive 
article, and the picking of the leaves in such a young state does con- 
siderable injury to the tea-plantations. The summer rains, however, 
which fall copiously about this season, moisten the earth and air; 
and if the plants are young and vigorous, they soon push out fresh 
leaves. In a fortnight or three weeks from the time of the first 
picking, or about the beginning of May, the shrubs are again covered 
with fresh leaves, and are ready for the second gathering, which 
is, in fact, the most important of the season. The third and last 
gathering, which takes place as soon as new leaves are formed, pro- 
duces a very inferior kind of tea, which, I believe, is rarely sent out 
of the district. 'The mode of gathering and preparing the leaves of 
the tea-plants is extremely simple. We have been so long accus- 
tomed to magnify and mystify everything relating to the Chinese, 
that in all their arts and manufactures we expect to find some pe- 
culiar and out-of-the-way practice, when the fact is, that many ope- 
rations in China are more simple in their character than in most 
other parts of the world. To rightly understand the process of roll- 
ing and drying the leaves, which I am about to describe, it must be 
borne in mind that the grand object is to expel the moisture, and at 
the same time to retain as much as possible of the aromatic and other 
desirable secretions of the species. The system adopted to attain 
this end is as simple as it is efficacious. In the harvest seasons the 
natives are seen in little family groups on the side of every hill, 
when the weather is dry, engaged in gathering the tea-leaves. They 
do not seem so particular as I imagined they would have been in 
this operation, but strip the leaves off rapidly and promiscuously, and 
throw them all into round baskets made for the purpose out of split 
bamboo or rattan. In the beginning of May, when the principal 
gathering takes place, the young seed-vessels are about as large as 
peas. These are also stripped off and dried with the leaves ; it is these 
seed-vessels which we often see in our tea, and which have some 
slight resemblance to young capers. When a sufficient quantity of 
leaves are gathered, they are carried home to the cottage or barn, 
where the operation of drying is performed. 

This is minutely described, and the author continues :— 

I have stated that the plants grown in the district of Chekiang 
produce green teas, but it must not be supposed that they are the 
green teas which are exported to England. The leaf has a much 
more natural colour, and has little or none of what we call the ‘ beau- 
tiful bloom’ upon it, which is so much admired in Europe and Ame- 
rica. There is now no doubt that all these ‘ blooming’ green teas which 
are manufactured at Canton, are dyed with prussian blue and gyp- 
sum, to suit the taste of the foreign ‘barbarians’ : indeed, the process 
may be seen any day, during the season, by those who will give them- 
selves the trouble to seek after it. It is very likely that the same 
ingredients are also used in dyeing the northern green teas for the 
foreign market; of this, however, I am not quite certain, There is 


358 Miscellaneous. 


a vegetable dye obtained from JIsatis indigotica much used in the 
northern districts, and called Tein-ching ; and it is not unlikely that 
it may be the substance which is employed. The Chinese never use 
these dyed teas themselves, and I certainly think their taste in this 
respect is more correct than ours. Itis not to be supposed that the 
dye used can produce any very bad effects upon the consumer, for, had 
this been the case, it would have been discovered before now; but if 
entirely harmless or inert, its being so must be ascribed to the very 
small quantity which is employed in the manufacture. 

In short, the black and green teas, which generally come to En- 
gland from the northern provinces of China, are made from the same 
species ; and the difference of colour, flavour, &c. is solely the result 
of the different modes of preparation.—From Mr. Fortune’s ‘ China.’ 


Description of two new species of Shells. By Wiuu1am Case. 


Helix annulata. Shell minute, much depressed—umbilicus show- 
ing all the volutions ; aperture simple and somewhat oval; whorls 
four, banded by thin, sharp and parallel ribs, inclining slightly for- 
ward ; intercostal space marked with waved lines, running parallel 
with the whorls; nearly transparent ; diameter about one line. 

This minute but beautiful shell was found by Captain B. A. Sta- 
nard, in the region about Lake Superior, and I have heard of its being 
observed in other places, but so far as I can learn, it is undescribed. 
It differs from any description of the pulchella I have yet met with, 
in having uniformly an oval aperture and simple lip. The H. minuta 
of Say, I believe never has the parallel ribs, and is supplied with a 
lip. 
Planorbis multivolvis. Shell about five-eighths of an inch in dia- 
meter; whorls seven, about half of the last whorl overlapping the pre- 
ceding one, sometimes the last whorl suddenly distorted and expanded 
for the last half of its length ; right side concave, left side slightly 
acuminate and considerably carinate; throat campanulate ; aperture 
opening towards the left, but projecting on both sides beyond the 
preceding whorl. 

This shell also I obtained from Captain Stanard, who found it in 
the northern part of Michigan. It is very distinct from any Planorbis 
I have met with, or have been able to find any description of, I have 
named it from its strong characteristic—a greater number of whorls 
than usual in the genus. 

Note.—The Helix here described approaches the pulchella, (minuta 
of Say,) a ribbed variety of which is called H. costata ; yet it appears 
to be a distinct species. The Planorbis is most nearly allied to the 
P. campanulatus.—A. A.G.—Silliman’s American Journal, Jan. 1847. 


TRICHINA SPIRALIS. 


Dr. Leidy stated, at a recent meeting of the Academy of Natural 
Sciences, Philadelphia, that he had lately detected the existence of 
an Entozoon in the superficial part of the extensor muscles of the 
thigh of a hog. The Entozoon is a minute, coiled worm, contained 


Meteorological Observations. | Gee 


in acyst. The cysts are numerous, white, oval in shape, of a gritty 
nature, and between the thirtieth and fortieth of an inch in length. 

The Entozoon he supposes to be the Trichina spiralis, heretofore 
considered as peculiar to the human species. He could perceive no 
distinction between it and the specimens of T. spiralis which he had 
met with in several human subjects in the dissecting-rooms, where 
it had also been observed by others, since the attention of the 
scientific public had been directed to it by Mr. Hilton and Professor 
Owen, 


METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR MARCH 1847. 


Chiswick.— March 1,—3. Cloudy. 4. Fine: cloudy. 5,6. Cloudy. 7. Slight 
showers: uniformly overcast: clear. 8. Small rain: cloudy. 9. Cloudy. 10. 
Hazy: severe frost at night. 11. Slight haze: cloudy: frosty. 12. Clear. 
13. Cloudy. 14—18. Clear, with bright sun, 19. Clear: cloudy. 20,21. Cloudy: 
clear. 22. Hazy. 23,24. Cloudy. 25. Foggy: clear: cloudy. 26. Slight 
haze: fine. 27. Foggy: fine. 28. Uniformly overcast: rain. 29. Very clear: 
cloudy: frosty. 30. Clear: cloudy: clear and frosty. 31. Frosty: cloudy. 


Mean temperature of the month .,......... beborechabasatags 40°14 
Mean temperature of March 1846 _ .........cccsecseccoes - 43 °43 
Mean temperature of March for the last twenty years... 42 -91 
Average amount of rain in March ,.,........ Ceveceeseseees 1°36 inch. 


Boston.—March 1—5. Cloudy. 6. Fine. 7. Fine: rain early a.m. : rain p.m. 
8. Cloudy. 9. Fine: snow a.m. and p.m. 10. Cloudy: hail and snow p.m. 
11—13. Fine. 14. Cloudy. 15—18. Fine. 19. Fine: a luminous appearance 
of an extraordinary nature seen in the sky 9 p.m. 20,21. Cloudy. 22. Fine. 
23. Fine: rainr.m. 24,25. Fine. 26,27. Cloudy. 28. Cloudy: rain a.m. and 
p.M. 29. Fine: thick ice this morning: hail a.m.: rainp.m. 30. Fine: hail 
P.M. 31. Fine. 


Sandwick Manse, Orkney.—March 1. Cloudy: clear. 2. Bright: elear. 3. 
Showers: clear. 4, 5. Cloudy. 6. Showers: cloudy. 7. Damp: cloudy. 8. 
Showers : snow-showers. 9. Snow-showers. 10. Snow: cloudy. 11. Showers: 
sleet-showers. 12. Showers. 13. Cloudy: showers. 14. Bright: cloudy. 15, 
16. Cloudy. 17, 18. Bright: cloudy. 19, 20. Bright: clear: aurora. 21. 
Bright: clear, 22, Bright: large halo. 23. Damp: cloudy. 24. Damp. 
25. Cloudy. 26. Damp: cloudy. 27. Cloudy. 28. Hail-showers: sleet-showers. 
29. Shower: clear. 30, 31. Snow-shower. 


Applegarth Manse, Dumfries-shire.—March 1. Thaw: slight rain. 2. Slight 
frost: very mild. 3. No frost: gray day. 4. Frost, slight. 5. No frost: clear 
and fine. 6. No frost: dull and cloudy. 7. No frost. 8. Slight frost: clear. 
9. Frost, hard. 10, Frost, hard: sprinkling of snow. 11. Frost: sprinkling 
of rain r.m. 12, Frost again. 13. Fair and moderate weather. 14. Fair, but 
threatening : change. 15. Fair still, but cloudy. 16. Fair: rainrp.m. 17. Rain 
allday. 18. Very fine: fair, 19. Very fine. 20. Rain: cleared p.m. 21. 
Heavy showers, 22. Fine: a few drops of rain. 23, Rain a.m.: thunder p.m, 
24. Frosty: fine. 25. Slight frost. 26. Rain. 27. Very fine: rain a.m. 28, 
Clear and cold: slight snow. 29, Fair: cold: slight frost. 30. Fair: slight frost. 
31. Slight snow : hail: frost. 


Mean temperature of the month —....essecseessccesceeees 42°°5 
Mean temperature of March 1846 ........csseeeeeees osnns SQ 2 
Mean temperature of March for 25 years ............08+ 39 °1 


Mean rain in March for 20 years ......essesssecssssseens 2°35 inches. 


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THE ANNALS 


AND 


MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 


No. 128. JUNE 1847. 


1 oailliaiaas 
—“ie~ 


XXXVIIT.—Biological Contributions. By Guorar J. AttMaN, 
M.B., F.R.C.S.1., M.R.I.A., Professor of Botany in Trinity 
College, Dublin, late Demonstrator of Anatomy and Conser- 
vator of the Anatomical Museum, T.C. D. 


[With two Plates.] 
{Continued from vol. xvii. p. 419.] 


No. II. On Chelura terebrans, Philippi, an Amphipodous 
Crustacean destructive to submarine timber-works *. 


In January last, my friend Professor Oldham placed in my hands 
for examination a small crustacean discovered in great numbers 
by M. B. Mullins, Esq., C.E., in perforations formed in the tim- 
ber-piles of the jetty in the harbour of Kingstown near Dublin. 

The little animal was totally unknown to me, and believing it 
to belong to even a generic form hitherto unrecorded, I lost no 
time in submitting it to a careful examination, and having had 
at my disposal abundance of living specimens, I drew up a full 
description of the supposed new genus, and made drawings of its 
details with a view to immediate publication. 

My memoir on the Crustacean was thus completed and ready 
for the printer, when Mr. Thompson of Belfast directed my at- 
tention to a description of a new genus of Amphipods given by 
Philippi in Wiegmann’s ‘ Archiv,’ 1839, and translated into the 
fourth volume of the ‘ Annals of Natural History.’ 

In my search for some published record of the timber-destroy- 
ing Crustacean, I had overlooked Philippi’s memoir, and yet here 
was to be found a description of the very animal to which I had 
devoted many hours’ careful examination. It is true that neither 
Philippi’s description nor drawings will apply in every particular 
to the Irish specimens, but yet I would feel rather disposed to 
consider the discrepancy as the result of certain slight errors in 
the memoir of the excellent naturalist who has the honour of the 


* Read before the Royal Irish Academy, April 12, 1847. 
Ann. & Mag, N. Hist. Vol. xix. 26 


862 Prof. Allman on Chelura terebrans. 


discovery, and which it is often almost impossible to avoid, than 
to view it as pomting towards any real distinction. 

Notwithstanding this anticipation, I have yet deemed it advi- 
sable to publish my original paper, making of course the name 
which I had given to the Crustacean, yield to that which its dis- 
coverer had previously imposed tipon it. To this determination 
I have come, not only from the fact of my researches having been 
conducted quite independently of any knowledge of what had 
been previously done in the matter, but also because, from having 
had abundance of living specimens at my disposal, my details are 
considerably fuller than those of Philippi, while they do not, as 
has just been said, correspond in all pomts with the description 
given by this naturalist. . | 

Specimens from the Kingstown locality have been for some 
years in the collection of Mr. Robert Ball, who must be viewed 
as the original discoverer of the crustacean as an inhabitant of 
the British seas, though it is in a paper read by Mr. Mullins in 
January last before the Institute of Civil Engineers in Ireland, 
with the view of eliciting suggestions for preserving timber from 
the attacks of this and other destroyers, that is to be found the 
first record of the animal as an addition to our fauna. _ 

In the year 1834 Mr. Thompson noticed the occurrence in 
the same place of Limnoria terebrans*, and this animal may still 
be detected proceeding along with the subject of the present 
paper in its ravages, but quite outdone by the latter in the work 
of destruction. 

The characters of the genus may be comprised in the following 
enumeration:— = 

Cuetura, Phil. 


Gen. Cuan. Body not compressed. Head distinct. Superior 
antenne shorter and more slender than the inferior, and con- 
sisting of a peduncular portion which supports two unequally 
developed rami ; inferior .antenne large, not divisible into a di- 
stinct peduncle and ramus. Mandibles strong, palpigerous, 
furnished with a molar tubercle with transverse ridges. First 
pair of mazille strong, pyramidal, palpigerous; second pair 
lamelliform. Mawillary feet large, bearing a palp-like stem, 
and united at their origin so as to constitute a great opercular 
lip covering all the other organs of the mouth. Thorax} com- 


* Thompson (Wm.) on Teredo navalis and Limnoria terebrans in Edinb. 
New Phil. Journ. January 1834. 

+ It is deemed advisable throughout the present paper to adopt the gene- 
rally received terminology, though the beautiful researches of Erichson 
(Entomographia) have altogether disproved its correctness, the thorax of 
carcinological writers generally being according to this philosophic natura- 
list composed almost entirely of segments really belonging to the abdomen. 


Prof. Allmnan on Chelura terebrans. 368 


posed of seven distinct segments with the epimers distinct and 
moderately developed. First two pairs of thoracic feet didac- 
tyle, five remaining pairs terminated by a small unopposable 
claw. First three segments of abdomen each bearing a pair of 
biramous natatory feet; remainder of abdomen consisting of 
one very large trunk supporting anteriorly a pair of large 
foliaceous lobed appendages and a pair of cylindrical false feet, 
and terminated posteriorly by two lamellar leaping organs 
and an intermediate leaf-like lobe*. 


Species unica, C. terebrans+, Phil. Pl. XIII. fig. 1. 


Hab. In timber taken from the sea at Trieste, Philippi. In 
excavations formed in the timber-piles of the jetty in Kingstown 
Harbour near Dublin, @. B. Mullins, Esq., and R. Ball, Esq. 

The largest specimens of C. ¢erebrans measure about half an 
inch in length, including the caudal appendages and antenne. 
The head is large, and presents when viewed from above a tole- 
rably regular pentagon with one angle directed forwards between 
the eyes (fig. 2). These last are borne upon the two latero-ante- 
rior angles, which are prominent, and almost suggest the first 
sketch of the ocular peduncles of the podophthalmie crustacea. 

There are two pairs of antenne; the superior (fig. 1 and 
fig. 24) originate at the level of the eyes and on their internal 
side. They consist of a peduncular portion which is composed 
of three hirsute articulations, the last of which supports two rami 
of very unequal development {, one being as long as the peduncle 
and composed of six hirsute articulations, the other consisting of 
a single slender articulation terminated by two or three rudi- 
mental ones with a few long hairs and not reaching beyond the 
first joint of the longer ramus. The last two articulations of the 
longer ramus are very minute. The inferior antenne (fig. 1) are 
considerably larger than the superior ; they originate just below 


* Philippi gives no detached summary of the generic characters; the 
above, which were drawn out from an examination of the Irish specimens, 
are therefore retained. 

+ It has been already mentioned that a slight discrepancy exists between 
Philippi’s description and that here given. This however has been supposed 
to be referable to a source different from a real distinction between the ani- 
mals described. It is yet possible however that the Adriatic and Irish spe- 
cies may not be the same. The discrepancy alluded to will be chiefly found 
in the form of the superior antenne and of the terminal portion of the last 
three pairs of feet. Though it may therefore perhaps be deemed advisable 
to retain provisionally for the Irish animal the specific name ‘ destructor ” 
applied to it in my original paper, subject to rejection or confirmation ac- 
cording as an actual comparison of specimens may decide, I have neverthe- 
less in the present memoir preferred considering the Irish as identical with 
the Adriatic species. | 

t This condition of the superior antenne is not described by Philippi, 

26% 


364. Prof. Allman on Chelura terebrans. 


the eyes, and are composed of six articulations, which, except the 
second, which is the smallest, do not differ from one another 
much in size; these antenne thus present no distinct division 
into peduncle and ramus; the last four articulations are clothed 
with long hair, especially on the inferior surface ; the last is flat- 
tened, and assumes the condition of a fringed oval lamina. The 
oral appendages consist of a pair of mandibles and two pairs of 
maxille, together with an upper and lower lip, the whole being 
covered in by a pair of large maxillary feet. The mandibles (fig.3) 
are very strong, bidentate at the anterior and inner angle, and 
furnished along their inner edge with long curved spines beset 
with minute spinule (figs. 3 & 4). Between the spines and the 
base of the mandibles is an oval elevated surface marked with 
transverse ridges which are again crossed at right angles by de- 
heate striee (figs. 3, 5, 6). This singular eminence must consti- 
tute a very efficient molar surface, and would seem evidently in 
connection with the peculiar habits of the animal, though it has 
its representative in other Crustaceans of the same order. The 
mandibles support upon their external side a three-jointed seti- 
gerous palp, and are furnished with powerful adductor and ab- 
ductor muscles. 

The first pair of maxille (fig. 7) consist of strong, somewhat 
pyramidal organs bearing stiff setee at the apex, furnished on the 
outer side with a two-jointed palp, and carrying at the base an 
oval fringed lamina analogous to a flagellum. 

The maxille of the second pair (fig. 8) consist of an elongated 
lamina supporting a somewhat similar one upon its external edge. 
This last must be viewed as a flattened single-jointed palp, or 
else as the terminal joint of a two-jointed stem, the internal la- 
mina being formed by the basal articulation ; both lamin are 
terminated by long sete. 

The upper and lower lips (figs. 9 & 10) are fleshy, somewhat 
conical organs, bounding the buccal cavity anteriorly and pos- 
teriorly. 

The maxillary feet are united at their origin, and thus consti- 
tute a sort of great opercular sternal lip which lies over and con- 
ceals all the other oral organs. ach (fig. 11) consists of a large 
basal joint supporting a well-developed palp-like stem which is 
composed of four joints and a terminal incurved claw. The basal 
joint moreover as well as the first joint of the stem support each, 
internally, a large plate, thus completing this great opercular lip 
towards the mesial line of the mouth. 

The thorax consists of seven distinct segments each with a pair 
of legs. Of these the two anterior pairs are didactyle and di- 
rected forwards over the mouth. The penultimate and antepen- 
ultimate joints of the first pair (fig. 12) are clothed with sete 


Prof. Allman on Chelura terebrans. 365 


whose structure is peculiar. These sete are bulbous at their 
origin, then present for some distance a cylindrical stem, but 
soon become suddenly attenuated, and from this point to the ex- 
tremity are beautifully pectinated on one side (fig. 13). They 
are for the most part arranged in linear groups of from three to 
five. The setee which immediately surround the base of the last 
joint are of the ordinary structure. 

The second pair of feet (fig. 14) resembles the first in all es- 

sential points ; it is however without the pectinated set, and its 
antepenultimate joint, which is narrower than that of the first, 
supports near its distal extremity a row of small curved spines 
constituting a kind of comb-like organ. ‘The five pairs of feet 
which succeed to these (fig. 1 & fig. 14) are all nearly similar 
to each other, and consist of six joints, of which the terminal 
one is in the form of a short claw, but does not by opposition to 
a produced portion of the penultimate joint constitute, as in the 
first two pairs of feet, a didactyle prehensile organ. ‘The third 
and fourth pairs resemble the first two in being directed for- 
wards, the last three pairs point backwards. In none of the 
thoracic legs does the first jot present the shield-like form so 
frequent among the Gammaride. 
_ The thoracie legs are copiously beset with long hairs, for the 
most part plumose ; a flattened membranous branchial vesicle is 
borne at the base of each (fig. 14), and in the females there is also 
found in the same place another appendage in the form of an 
oblong membrane (fig. 14) set round its edges with blunt spines, 
and probably destined for the protection of the eggs. 

In the abdomen five distinct segments may be demonstrated. 
The first two resemble those of the thorax, but are narrower, 
and not furnished with distinct epimere. The third is large, 
also without distinct epimerz, and is produced posteriorly by a 
long curved spine which points towards the tail, and has a small 
tubercle or rudimental spine at each side. These three segments 
carry each a pair of biramous natatory feet, each foot (fig. 15) 
consisting of a basal lamina supporting two long, flat, transversely 
striated rami which are copiously furnished on the edges with 
long, beautifully plumose setz (fig. 16). These natatory feet are 
kept in a constant state of rapid vibration backwards and forwards 
both while the little animal is swimming and while it is holding 
on by its true feet, and they would seem, by the extensive cur- 
rents which they produce in the surrounding fluid, to be subser- 
vient to respiration as well as to locomotion. 

To the three segments just described there succeeds a ver 
large one (figs. 1, 17), equal in length to about twice that of the 
preceding three together. It is of a somewhat oblong figure 
compressed horizontally, with a slightly prominent keel at each 


366 Prof. Allman on Chelura terebrans. 


side. It supports three pairs of heteromorphous appendages. 
Those of the first pair consist each of a long basal stem termi- 
nated by two small, one-jointed rami (figs. 1, 18), and articu- 
lated upon the inferior edge of a small vertical plate, which is 
placed at each side of the anterior end of the segment. The 
second pair is articulated upon the same plate, at a point nearly 
vertically over the origin of the first. It is a large lamellar 
organ (fig. 1) fringed with hair, and having two fringed leaflets 
articulated on its edge; im its habitual position it is thrown up 
vertically upon the back, with its surfaces directed, one inwards 
and the other outwards. The appendages of the third pair con- 
stitute a sort of tail by which the body is prolonged backwards ; 
they are borne upon the posterior extremity of the segment, and 
consist each of a very large leaf-like lamina supported on a short 
basal joint* (figs. 1, 17); the margins of the lamina are ser- 
rated, each serration bearing a minute but strong spine. 

The terminal segment of the abdomen assumes the form of a 
small leaf-like lobe (figs. 1, 17) placed between the origins of the 
two last-mentioned appendages, 

The true import of the great abdominal trunk, with its ap- 
pendages, may now for a few moments arrest our attention. 

The probability of its being made up of three distinct elements 
would at once be suggested by the fact of its bearing three pairs 
of appendages, as well as by the circumstance that such view 
would establish the normal number of abdominal rings; but 
then the peculiar position of its two anterior pairs of append- 
ages, one being placed vertically over the other, as well as their © 
arising from a common intermediate plate, would present itself 
as a difficulty to this mode of viewing the subject. <A careful 
examination however will get rid of the difficulty, and enable us 
to reconcile the apparent anomaly with the fact, that this single 
trunk is really made up of three confluent segments, each bear- 
ing its own pair of appendages. If the under surface of this 
part of the abdomen be examined, it will be found marked near 
its anterfdr extremity by two transverse grooves, terminated at 
the sides by the lateral plates already mentioned, and plainly in- 
dicating the existence of three originally distinct rings, of which 
the posterior alone becomes greatly developed. The lateral 
plates must then be viewed as the very unequally developed epi- 
sternal pieces of the-first two of these rings, so consolidated as 
to leave no trace of their original distinctness, while the second 
episternal piece being developed in a forward direction, and pass- 


* It is these basal joints of the two caudal appendages which Philippi 
seems to have mistaken for a fifth abdominal segment, with the anus in a 
fissure on the back. 


Prof, Allman on Chelura terebrans. 367 


ing above the first, must bring the appendages of the second 
ring nearly vertically over those of the first; and the episternal 
pieces of the first ring remaining rudimental, the whole assumes 
the appearance of a single plate supporting two appendages, one 
on its upper, and the other on its lower edge. The third ring 
becomes greatly developed, and carries its very large appendages 
at its posterior end. 

The six pairs of abdominal appendages, though so very hetero- 
morphous, may yet be easily reduced to a common type. Let us 
assume as a point of comparison the natatory isomorphous legs 
of the first three abdominal segments, in which we have the stem 
and palp of a completely developed limb represented by a basal 
inarticulate lamina supporting on its distal edge two long setose 
lamellar rami with transverse strie indicating the traces of arti- 
culation. In the fourth pair of abdominal members the basal 
lamina becomes long and cylindrical, and the rami are reduced 
to two minute inarticulate appendages ; in the fifth pair the basal 
portion becomes again lamellar, disproportionately developed, and 
produced on one side into a large fringed lobe, while the two ter- 
minal rami assume the appearance of small oval fringed plates, 
pushed towards the other side by the large lateral lobe ; finally, in 
the sixth pair the basal portion preserves somewhat of its normal 
condition while one of the rami disappears, and the other acquires 
an enormous development, constituting one of the most striking 
features in the little animal’s physiognomy ; in the sevénth ab- 
dominal segment the appendages have completely vanished. 

To the internal anatomy of Chelura I have not yet given suf- 
ficient attention to enable me to introduce into the present paper. 
facts of much importance in this part of the inquiry. It may 
however be stated, that a large dorsal vessel with transverse 
branches may be seen vigorously pulsating through the entire 
length of the thorax, and that the stomach is supported by a: 
corneous framework and lined with a minutely spinulose epi- 
thelium. 

Chelura terebrans is an active little animal, swimming on its 
back and employing its thoracic legs to adhere to the timber 
which it has selected for its ravages. The large lamellar append- 
ages placed near the anterior end of the great abdominal trunk 
do not appear to be employed in swimming, they are kept thrown 
upwards on each side of the spinous process of the third abdo- 
minal segment, and seem in no way subservient to locomotion ; 
they are not confined to any particular sex, and it is difficult to 
assign to them any office unless it be that of keeping the exca- 
vations formed by the Amphipod free from the detritus of the 
timber, and from other extraneous bodies which might interfere 
with respiration. 


868 Prof. Allman on Chelura terebrans. 


When removed from the water and placed upon a resisting 
surface, the little crustacean bends the abdomen under the thorax, 
brings the terminal appendages between the antenne, and then 
suddenly resuming its straight condition, springs to a consider- 
able distance. 

The habits of Chelura terebrans are truly xylophagous, and it 
excavates the timber not merely for the purpose of concealment, 
but with the object of employing it as food, which is apparent 
from the fact that the alimentary canal may be found on dis- 
section filled with minutely comminuted ligneous matter. It 
will freely attack a piece of timber placed with it in a glass of 
sea-water, so that its habits may be studied in confinement. 
Timber which has been subjected to the ravages of Chelura pre- 
sents a somewhat different appearance from that which has been 
~ attacked by Limnoria terebrans. In the latter we find narrow 
cylindrical burrows running deep into the interior, while the ex- 
cavations of Chelura are considerably larger and more oblique 
in their direction, so that the surface of the timber thus under- 
mined by these destructive animals is rapidly washed away by 
the action of the sea, and the excavations are exposed in the 
greater part of their extent, the wood appearing ploughed up, so 
to speak, rather than burrowed into. Upon the whole, Chelura 
would seem to be a still more destructive creature than even 
Lamnoria. 


General Considerations. 


Milne Edwards * divides the Amphipoda into two great fami- 
lies, of which Gammarus and Hyperia may be taken as the re- 
spective types, assuming as the essential characters of his division, 
the different conditions presented by the maxillary feet, these 
differences being found to be for the most part in connection with 
certain other peculiarities of structure as well as of habits. 

Of the two families thus formed, that of the Gammaride (fa- 
mille des Crevettines, Edw.) will include the subject of the pre- 
sent notice, provided we implicitly yield to the characters drawn 
from the condition of the maxillary feet. The division however 
adopted by the great French carcinologist, though adapted to the 
state of our knowledge of the Amphipoda previously to the dis- 
covery of the present animal, and separating the then known 
forms into two sufficiently natural groups, cannot we think be 
now undeviatingly adhered to, as would seem evident from an 
attentive consideration of the characters just given of Chelura 
terebrans. ‘This crustacean has its maxillary feet entirely refer- 
able to the form of these organs in Gammarus and its allies, and 


* Hist. Nat. des Crust. ft. iii. 


Prof. Allman on Chelura terebrans. 369 


yet we believe the rest of its organization as well as its habits will 
separate it as far from the family of the Gammaride, as this fa- 
mily is separated from that of the Hyperide (famille des Hype- 
rines, Edw.). 

We believe that in the order Amphipoda an important syste- 
matic character available in the formation of our higher groups 
will be found in the condition of the last four rings of the abdo- 
men with their appendages. In the entire order of Amphipoda, 
the abdomen (using this word in its ordinary acceptation among 
carcinologists) is divided into two very distinct regions, an ante- 
rior and a posterior. The former is composed invariably of three 
distinct rings, and supports three pairs of isomorphous natatory 
feet ; the posterior portion also bears three pairs of appendages, 
but these are never formed like the feet of the anterior region*, 

In the two families of Gammaride and Hyperide, constituting 
the entire order of Amphipoda in the system of M. Edwards, the 
appendages of the fourth and fifth abdominal rings (the first two 
rings of the posterior region) are similar to each other, and con- 
sist each of a long cylindrical peduncle terminated by two pieces 
whose form varies within narrow limits in different genera, and 
the rmgs which support these appendages are distinct from one 
another. 

In Chelura however it is very different ; we are here at once 
struck with the great size of the posterior region of the abdomen, 
and we find that the first, second and third ring of this region 
are consolidated into one great trunk which bears three pairs of 
heteromorphous appendages. 

From these two very different conditions of the abdomen, 
therefore, we may obtain characters available in the formation of 
our primary division of the order. In a zoological point of view 
I believe we may consider such characters as ranking higher than 
those which are derived from the conformation of the maxillary 
feet, a principle indeed which is already acknowledged in the 
establishment of the order Lemodipoda, in which the maxillary 
feet as well as the other oral appendages are in every respect like 
those of the Gammaride, and in which the rudimental condition 
of the abdomen is almost the sole character from which these 
Crustacea have been established as a distinct ordert. 


* The anterior and posterior regions of the abdomen here alluded to must 
not be confounded with those to which Erichson, in his more philosophic 
views of the import of the parts among the Crustacea, has applied the same 
phraseology ; the anterior region of this author consisting of a large portion 
of the so-called thorax, while his posterior region is made up of those seg- 
ments to which the term abdomen is exclusively given by the generality of 
writers, and to which, in order to avoid misconception, we have thought it 
better to restrict it here, 

+ The universal absence of mandibular palps in the Lemodipoda has been 


370 Prof. Allman on Chelura teiidbsiend: 


Availing ourselves therefore of the characters derived from 
these considerations, the families of the Amphipodous Crustacea 
may be analytically arranged as follows :— 

; Family. 
_ Fourth and fifth abdominal segments confluent. Ab- 

dominal appendages of the fourth and fifth par | Cnsnomies 

very different in form (heteromorphous). 


a 
= r Mouth concealed 
© by the mail | Gannannas 
4 Fourth and fifth abdominal seg- lary feet, 
oa ments distinct. Abdominal 
st appendages of the fourth and ¢ 
< | fifth pair nearly similar in 
form (isomorphous), Mouth not con- 
cealed by | HyPERIpaé. 
$ .  mazxillary feet. 


EXPLANATION OF PLATES XIII. anp XIV. 


Puate XIII, 


Fig. 1. Chelura terebrans magnified. 
Fig. 2, The head deprived of the antenne and viewed from above, 
Fig, 2*. One of the superior antenne. 
Fig. 3. One of the mandibles. 
Fig. 4. A spine from the inner edge of the mandible. 
“ig. 5. Molar surface of the mandibular tubercle much magnified. 
Fig. 6. Portion of the same still more highly magnified. 
Fig. 7. One of the first pair of maxille, 
Fig. 8. One of the mawille of the second pair. 
Fig. 9. Upper lip viewed on its oral aspect. 
Fig, 10. Lower lip viewed on its oral aspect. 
Fig. 11. Mazillary foot of the left side, 


Puate XIV. 


Fig. 12. Terminal portion of one of the first pair of thoracic feet, 

Fig. 13. One of the peectinated bristles of its penultimate joint. 

14, One of the second pair of thoracic feet. 

Fig. 14°. Thoracic foot of the seventh pair. 

Fig, 15. An abdominal foot from one of the first three pairs, 

Fig. 16. One of its plumose sete. 

Fig. 17. Posterior portion of abdomen deprived of its first and second pairs 
- of appendages and viewed from above. 

Fig. 18. One of the first pair of appendages from the great abdominal trunk. 

Fig. 19, First three abdominal rings. 


= 


disproved, and the absence of distinct epimere is but a slight degradation 
from the condition presented to us in the gressorial Gammaride. The Le- 
modipoda are indeed a group in every way referable to the Amphipodous 
type, and there is much reason to believe that they should never have been 
separated as a distinct order. See Kroyer in the ‘ Isis’ for 1846, Heft ii. 


Mr, J. Blackwall’s Ornithological Notes. 371 


XXXIX.— Ornithological Notes. By Joun Buackwaut, F.L.S, 
[Continued from yol. xv. p, 171.] 


Tue Wuire Own, Stria flammea. 


Dozs the white owl hoot or does it not? is a question which 
has engaged the attention of ornithologists in consequence of a 
doubt expressed on the subject by the Rev, Gilbert White, in his 
‘Natural History of Selborne,’ Letter XV., addressed to the 
Honourable Daines Barrington. 

Haying enjoyed peculiarly favourable opportunities of deciding 
this question, 1 am prepared to answer it im the negative. 

For a long series of years I resided at Crumpsall Hall, near 
Manchester, situated in the township from which it takes its 
name; and during the greater part of that period the premises 
were constantly frequented by this species of Siri, but no hooting 
ever occurred there, and I may add that the tawny owl, Syrnium 
aluco, was unknown in the township. This last remark applies 
equally to the adjoining township of Broughton, in which a 
pair of white owls brought up their young annually in an out- 
building attached to Broughton Hall, the residence of the late 
Rev. John Clowes, under whose protecting care they enjoyed a 
secure asylum; the call termed hooting, however, was never 
heard in that locality either by Mr. Clowes, by myself, or by any 
persons familiar with the neighbourhood as far as I had an op- 
portunity of ascertaining the fact, Iam decidedly of opinion 
therefore that the white owl does not hoot. 

It would seem that the tawny owl ceases to hoot when in 
captivity ; at all events, I have kept individuals of this species for 
several years confined to a piece of ground surrounded with walls, 
including a dark shed in which they roosted, without once hear- 
ing this their well-known call, 

The singularity of the incident I am about to narrate will serve 
as a sufficient apology for its introduction here, 

Very early one fine morning in June 1831 my slumbers were 
interrupted by the sound produced by something beating against 
one of the windows of my sleeping-room at Crumpsall Hall, and 
on looking in the direction from which the noise proceeded, I 
was surprised to see a white owl clinging by its talons to the 
window-frame and striking against the glass with the extremities 
of its expanded wings; at last it flew away, having persevered 
in this extraordinary occupation for more than a minute. Pre- 
viously to quitting my room I opened the window at which the 
bird had appeared so desirous to effect an entrance, and on joining 
the family at the breakfast-table mentioned what had occurred, 
when my brother, Mr, Thomas Blackwall, stated that he had been 


372 Mr. J. Blackwall’s Ornithological Notes. 


disturbed in a similar manner. After the morning repast was 
finished I proceeded to Manchester, and did not return home 
till the evening, when I was told by one of the domestics that the 
housemaid had got a fine white owl for me. On inquiring how 
it had been procured, I was informed that the young woman on 
entering the dressing-room connected with my sleeping-apart- 
ment, the door of which was open, felt something alight on her 
left shoulder, and on turning her head in order to ascertain what 
it was, perceived the large dark eyes of the owl directed full 
upon her face: though amazed and somewhat startled, yet she 
had the presence of mind to close the door, and with the assist- 
ance of a fellow-servant succeeded in securing the intruder, which, 
there can be little doubt, was the identical bird that had in vain 
attempted to obtain admission early in the morning. At first I 
was inclined to think that it must be a partially domesticated 
pet which had escaped from confinement, but the very fine con- 
dition of its plumage, and the circumstance of its declining to 
take any of the diversified articles of food which were presented 
to it, convinced me that such was not the case ; after remaining 
in my possession nearly two days and two nights without par- 
taking of any nutriment whatever, it was suffered to escape lest 
it should die of starvation. In support of the conclusion here 
arrived at, [ may remark that a white owl captured by the foot- 
man in the preceding winter, on its perch among the branches 
of a young beech which retained its withered foliage, during a 
violent storm, likewise refused to take any food ; whereas, young 
birds of this species when removed from the nest and brought 
up by hand feed freely and soon become familiar. 


The Common Dipper, Cinclus aquaticus. 


The mountain-streams of North Wales are much frequented 
by dippers, which occasionally construct their bulky nests among 
aquatic plants growing upon the face of rocks over which a sheet 
of water is precipitated. Under such circumstances, the birds 
on quitting their domiciles and. returning to them pass through 
the falling torrent without any apparent difficulty, and, as they 
generally pursue the course of the stream in their flight, some- 
times come in contact with the rod or line of the angler who is 
exerting his skill to allure the trout from its retreat with the ar- 
tificialfly. 

I have reason to believe that the dipper occasionally preys upon 
small fish, for im the months of October and November 1844, 
several individuals were observed to descend into the river Con- 
way and speedily to emerge with a light-coloured object about 
two inches long in their bill, having every appearance of the young 
of some species of migratory Salmonide, with which they flew to 


Mr. J. Blackwall’s Ornithological Notes. 373 


a stone or mass of rock in the vicinity of the stream, and after 
violently striking the prize against it several times in rapid suc- 
cession, swallowed it entire. 

The agreeable song of this species may frequently be heard 
early in the year, even during severe frost. 


The Rook, Corvus frugilegus. 


The rook introduced to notice in the ‘Annals and Magazine 
of Natural History,’ vol. xv. pp. 169, 170, as the subject of an 
experiment made for the purpose of ascertaming whether the 
nudity at the base of the bill and the anterior part of the head 
in this species is referable to a mechanical or to a physiological 
cause, was accidentally killed on the 20th of June 1846. It lived 
long enough, however, thoroughly to establish the fact, that after 
the feathers are once shed from those parts in the act of moulting 
they are not renewed, as the denudation became rather more ex- 
tensive and complete after the bird had moulted a second time in 
the summer of 1845, and continued unchanged to the day of its 
death, affording a convincing proof that this conspicuous feature 
in the adult rook, which strikingly affects its physiognomical 
expression, must be regarded as a specific character. 


The Cuckoo, Cuculus canorus. 


Several intelligent ornithologists have denied or doubted the 
capability of young cuckoos to eject the progeny of their foster- 
parents from the nest until they are a week or ten days old, and 
have acquired the use of their eyes. This incredulity can only 
be accounted for on the supposition that such observers have 
failed carefully to investigate the early ceconomy of this species, 
which I shall proceed to show not only serves to establish the 
fact called in question, but likewise renders evident the unrea- 
sonableness of hastily rejecting phenomena which are extraordi- 
nary or anomalous as unworthy of belief, and of relying too 
exclusively on analogical reasoning in natural history. 

On the 30th of June 18231 took the nest of a meadow pipit, 
Anthus pratensis, containing a young cuckoo, which was disen- 
gaged from the egg on the 28th of the same month, and sup- 
porting it firmly near the side of my bed on the evening of the 
day on which it was procured, very early in the morning of the 
Ist of July, when all was still, I carefully introduced into it eges 
of different kinds in the first instance, and afterwards young 
birds previously selected for the purpose, and had the satisfaction 
of contemplating at leisure the entire process of their ejection, so 
minutely and accurately described by Dr. Jenner*. These asto- 


* See the Memoirs of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Man- 
chester, Second Series, vol. iv, p, 462. 


374 Mr. J. Blackwall’s Ornithological Notes. 


nishing feats, it will be perceived, were accomplished by the 
nestling cuckoo when it was only three days old, and, conse- 
quently, before it had the use of its eyes ; it died soon after, and 
to me, who witnessed its exploits, it is an object of much interest, 
being preserved in spirit of wine to the present hour. 

The curious fact, first announced in the ‘Memoirs of the Lite- 
rary and Philosophical Society of Manchester,’ Second Series, 
vol. iv. pp. 455, 456, that the cuckoo frequently watches birds 
construct the nests in which it deposits its eggs, is not, it seems, 
peculiar to that species ; according to Mr. Audubon, a similar 
instinct is manifested under like circumstances by the cow-pen 
bird, Icterus pecoris, whose ceconomy resembles that of the 
cuckoo in other remarkable particulars. (Ornithological Bio- 
graphy, vol. i. pp. 495, 496.) 

o the recorded instances of young cuckoos having been pre- 
served alive through the winter, I am enabled, by the kindness of 
Mrs. Warner of Crumpsall Green, to add another. This lady 
procured a nestling cuckoo on the 12th of July 1842, and by 
skilful management and constant attention succeeded in keeping 
it in excellent health till July 1843, when it died of inflammation 
caused by the negligence of the servant who had the care of it, 
Mrs. Warner being absent at the time on a visit to her sister, 
who resided at a distance. In the second week of August the 
young-bird began to exhibit symptoms of restlessness, which in- 
creased to such a degree that it was found requisite to keep it in 
darkness, lest the violent efforts it made to effect an escape from 
captivity should occasion its destruction. This extreme agitation, 
which continued, with short intervals of repose, through the day 
and night, began to subside towards the end of the month, and 
ceased altogether about the middle of September, having been 
limited to the night for a short period antecedent to the last date. 
The act of moulting, which commenced in February, proceeded 
with extreme slowness and was never completed, though the bird 
was provided with nourishing food in abundance, and the tem- 
perature of the room in which it was kept was not suffered to fall 
below 50° Fahrenheit. : 

A person named Thomas Holt brought to Crumpsall Hall on 
the Ist of July 1826 a young cuckoo which he had taken about 
an hour before out of the nest of a meadow pipit, and at my re- 
quest he undertook to keep and treat it according to such in- 
structions as from time to time I should communicate to him. 
This nestling, under the prescribed system of management, in- 
creased rapidly in growth and vigour, and as the principal object 
I had in view was to ascertain whether it would become torpid 
or not on the approach of winter, the cage occupied by it was 
placed in a room without fire, In the ensuing November sharp 


Mr. J. Blackwall’s Ornithological Notes. 375 


frosts were of frequent occurrence ; the maximum temperature 
of the last week in that month, indicated by a pair of Rutherford’s 
horizontal self-registermg thermometers exposed to the open air 
in a shady situation, was 46°-5, the minimum 22°, and the mean 
36°, as recorded in my meteorological journal; but in January 
1827 the cold became intense; the temperature descended to 
zero on the night of the 4th, and the mean for the month was 
so low as 84°18. 

Notwithstanding the extreme severity of the season, the young 
bird did not manifest the slightest symptom of torpidity, and on 
the 12th of January I exhibited it at a meeting of the Literary 
and Philosophical Society of Manchester, at which time it was 
moulting, and in as good health apparently as birds usually are 
when undergoing that process, a minute to that effect being en- 
tered in the journal of the proceedings of the Society by my friend 
Mr. Peter Clare, who then officiated as secretary. On the 18th 
of the succeeding February this young cuckoo died very sud- 
denly, an event occasioned in all probability by exposure to severe 
cold, for a Six’s self-registermg thermometer fixed in its cage 
several days before indicated that the temperature had descended 
to 31°; and though the bird had previously resisted the effects 
of a much lower degree of temperature, yet it had not then made 
such progress in moulting, and was therefore better protected, 
being more completely covered with feathers. I may remark, 
that in the year 1826, adult cuckoos disappeared from the 
neighbourhood of Manchester in the first week of July, and that 
young birds of the same species were not observed there after 
the termination of August. 

Admitting the difficulty of proving a negative, still I am in- 
clined to think that the experiment detailed above, when taken 
in conjunction with others to be adduced hereafter, goes far to 
establish the fact, that birds have not any physiological tendency 
to torpidity. 

In advocating this view of the subject, I am aware that I 
stand opposed to the high authority of Cuvier, who, in treating 
upon the sand-martin, Hirundo riparia, in the first edition of the 
‘Régne Animal,’ tome 1. p. 374, asserts, with reference to its 
supposed torpor, that “il parait constant qu’elle s’engourdit 
pendant Vhiver, et méme qu’elle passe cet état au fond de eau 
des marais ;” and the same opinion is reiterated by Humboldt in 
one of his published works; but as I have not an opportunity of 
referring to them at present, I cannot state in which. Both 
these celebrated authors, however, have omitted to communicate 
the particulars which led them to this conclusion, and the bare 
assertion even of persons the most distinguished in the annals of 
science cannot be received as equivalent to direct evidence ; more- 


376 Mr. J. Blackwall’s Ornithological Notes. 


over, all the British Hirundinide moult in the interval which 
elapses between the times of their disappearance and reappear- 
ance in this country. Such also is the case with the cuckoo and 
some other species of periodical summer-birds: how utterly irre- 
concilable this plain fact is with the hypothesis of their passing 
that interval in a state of torpidity needs scarcely to be insisted 
upon ; indeed it is absolutely inconceivable that birds in a lethargy 
so profound as that in which the animal functions seem to be sus- 
pended should undergo a change of plumage, when Mrs. War- 
ner’s cuckoo, enjoying all the advantages of exuberant animation, 
high temperature and stimulating nutriment, failed to do so. 

I now revert to the experiments. Three young house martins, 
Hirundines urbice, were taken from a nest in the chapelry of 
Blakeley, near Manchester, in September 1827, and were kept 
in a room without fire. From the 21st of the November follow- 
ing to the 27th inclusive there was a continuance of inclement 
weather, the maximum temperature for the period being 47%5, 
the minimum 19°, and the mean 33°39, yet not the least dis- 
position to become torpid was apparent in the young martins, 
though they did not long survive the test to which they had 
been subjected; indeed, for periodical birds to suffer severely, 
and even to perish from cold and hunger during their sojourn in 
this country, is no uncommon case; but a lowering temperature 
and a decreasing supply of food, when they pass certain limits, 
are the very conditions which should induce torpidity in them 
were they liable to be so affected, and which actually do produce 
such a result in animals known to be endowed with this consti- 
tutional peculiarity. 

I myself have repeatedly seen large numbers of swallows, 
HMirundines rustica, reduced to the necessity of alighting in fields 
for the purpose of obtaiming some of the insects which a low 
temperature had constrained to seek refuge among the herbage, 
and so greatly were they enfeebled as almost to suffer themselves 
to be taken with the hand. 

Severe and long-continued frosts, especially when accompanied 
with snow, often prove very fatal to the redwing, Turdus iliacus, 
and under such circumstances, I have occasionally found indivi- 
duals of this species dead or in a dying state. 

Numerous instances of a similar kind might be selected from 
works on natural history, but one will suffice. I quote from ‘A 
Catalogue of the Norfolk and Suffolk Birds, with Remarks, by 
the Rev. R. Sheppard and the Rev. W. Whitear,’ published in 
the ‘ Transactions of the Linnean Society,’ vol. xv. :—“ The fol- 
lowing extraordinary circumstance in the natural history of the 
swallow, which occurred at Christ Church, Ipswich, (the resi- 
dence of the Rev. Mr. Fonnereau,) very forcibly illustrates the 


Mr. J. Blackwall’s Ornithological Notes. 377 


unusual coldness and backwardness of the season :—‘ On the 
mornings of the 5th and 6th of June 1816, the gardeners could 
have taken up hundreds of these birds in their hands: they were 
collected in knots, and sat on the grass in parcels of. thirty and 
forty. This, there is reason to believe, was owing both to cold 
and hunger.’—Suffolk Chronicle, June 15, 1816. The same 
summer many house martins were found dead on the ground in 
Norfolk, and others were so weak that the cats sprang upon 
them and caught them as they flew near the ground. A pair of 
these birds, which had completed a nest under the eaves of our 
house, were both found dead in it before any eggs were laid. 
From the above circumstances, birds of this kind were unusually 
scarce throughout the summer.” 

The effects produced by variations in temperature upon the 
dormouse, Myoxus avellanarius, and other animals whose liability 
to become torpid is unquestionable, claim attention in the next 
place. 

Having obtained five healthy dormice, I endeavoured at va- 
rious periods in the year 1824 to render them torpid by artificial 
means. ‘Two of them were placed in a tall cylindrical glass jar, 
with a supply of flax and cotton for the construction of a dormi- 
tory ; and when they were familiar with their new residence, it 
was weighted to keep it steady, and put into a tub containing 
cold water, which rose within a few inches of its top. . The tem- 
perature of the water was further reduced by causing to be 
speedily dissolved in it finely pulverized muriate of ammonia 
and nitrate of potash mixed in equal quantities, the degree of 
cold produced in the glass jar being ascertained by means of a 
small thermometer included within it. Experiments of this kind 
were soon perceived to be too uncertain in their results to effect 
the purpose for which they were instituted ; for though the dor- 
mice sometimes became perfectly lethargic, yet it frequently hap- 
pened that no such consequence followed, the rapid fluctuations 
in the temperature of the water, and the motion unavoidably at- 
tendant upon the process, combining to stimulate the animals 
and. prevent torpidity. 

Disappointed in this attempt, I resolved to rely on the natu- 
ral temperature of the atmosphere solely ; and on suspending a 
cage containing two of the dormice in the open air from a win- 
dow having a north aspect, whenever the thermometer was un- 
usually low for the season, I had the satisfaction to find, that by 
this simple expedient they were rendered completely torpid at 
intervals in every month of the year 1824; the other three dor- 
mice continuing quite alert on those occasions if subjected to the 
influence of a high degree of temperature. After constructing a 
comfortable bed of flax and cotton on being exposed to a cold 

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Vol. xix. 


378 Mr. J. Blackwall’s Ornithological Notes. 


atmosphere, the two dormice in the cage invariably placed them- 
selves in their usual posture of repose, when sleep ensued, which 
gradually lapsed into torpidity, accompanied with all the cus- 
tomary symptoms, such as decreasing circulation, respiration, tem- 
perature and irritability. While im a state of transition the re- 
spiration became intermittent, and, with the cireulation, ulti- 
mately ceased to be apparent. ‘The temperature of the skin 
slowly descended to that of the atmosphere or nearly so, and the 
nervous uritability diminished so greatly that loud and sudden 
sounds, whether grave or acute, produced no sensible effect ; 
punctures also with sharp instruments, and slight electric shocks 
and sparks given by means of a Leyden jar and an electrophorus, 
merely occasioned a degree of muscular contraction so small as 
scarcely to be discerned; but the repeated application of exter- 
nal stimuli causing bodily pain, exposure to a current of hot or 
cold air, or to a high degree of temperature alone, at all times 
prevented the animals from becoming torpid, and when torpid 
speedily revived them. ‘ 

The hedgehog, Erinaceus europeus, long-eared bat, Plecotus 
auritus, common wasp, Vespa vulgaris, flesh fly, Musca vomitoria, 
house fly, Musca domestica, peacock butterfly, Vanessa io, and 
tortoise-shell butterfly, Vanessa urtice, when found in winter in a 
torpid state, I have frequently restored to animation by subject- 
ing them to a high temperature, perfect torpidity having been 
again induced on submitting them to the requisite degree of cold. 

In the year 1829 I captured several specimens of the large 
aquatic beetle, Dyticus marginalis, for the purpose of making 
some observations and experiments relative to the structure and 
use of the cup-shaped suckers, with which the males have the 
tarsi of the first and second pairs of legs provided on the under 
side, and putting them mto an earthenware vessel containing 
water, I supplied them during several weeks with raw flesh, 
which they devoured greedily. The month of December in the 
same year terminated in severe frost; the maximum temperature 
of the last week was 37°, the minimum 16°5, and the mean 
28°°75 ; consequently the water in the earthenware vessel was 
frozen into a solid mass of ice, and it remained in that state for 
some days, yet, on being gradually thawed, the beetles resumed, 
and long continued to exercise their customary functions, 

From the foregoing experiments it appears that birds are not 
liable to be rendered torpid on being exposed to the same agency 
which quickly induces torpor in yarious animals known to pos- 
sess a constitutional proneness to that state of lethargy, It is 

‘obvious therefore that they must differ physiologically from those 
animals; and I am disposed to think that the legitimate infer- 
ence to be deduced from the facts is, as I have already stated, 


Mr, J. Hardy on new British Coleoptera. 379 


that birds haye no tendency whatever to torpidity, which seems 
to result from diminished nervous irritability, occasioned by a low 
degree of temperature, more or less directly affecting numerous 
important vital functions, as circulation, respiration, and neces- 
sarily the evolution of animal heat; also digestion, secretion, 
assimilation, absorption and excretion. 

That the periodical birds which visit this country in autumn 
are not rendered torpid by cold will be readily acknowledged, as 
they are known to quit. the north of Europe on the approach of 
winter for more genial climates in lower latitudes; and it has 
been shown that even in Britain the redwing frequently falls a 
victim to severe and protracted frosts, .Why then should any 
reluctance be felt to admit that the periodical birds, whose ap- 
pearance in spring is attended with so many pleasing associa- 
tions, retire from this kingdom on the return of the cold season 
to more southern countries, where a suitable temperature and an 
ample stere of food are to be found? I have endeavoured to 
prove by experiment that they do not become torpid; and I may 
add, that a premium of five pounds a head, publicly offered for 
birds in a state of perfect torpidity, when I resided at Crumpsall 
Hall, failed to produce a single individual, though, for a fifth 
part of the sum, I know that I might have been abundantly — 
supplied with torpid bats and hedgehogs. 

Thus it is seen that experiment, observation and analogy are 
all in favour of the conclusion at which | have arrived, namely, 
that there is no physiological tendency whatever in birds to be- 
come torpid. 


XL.—Deseriptions of new British Coleoptera, with additional 
Notes. By Jamus Harpy, Esq. 


RHYZOPHAGUS CYANEIPENNIS, Hardy. 


Niger, nitidus, convexus, capite crebre thoraceque minus dense 
punctatis, illo triangulari, hoc subquadrato-globoso ; elytris cy- 
aneis minus profunde punctato-striatis ; pedibus antennisque rufis, 
his apicibus nigris. oa corp. lin, 13. | 
Shining; head black, short, much narrower in front, thickly 

and finely punctured ; eyes rather prominent: antenne ferrugi- 

nous, as long as the thorax ; club small, black, piceous at the apex ; 
thorax black, subquadrate, globose, conyex, punctured less thickly 
but more coarsely than the head: seutellum black : elytra convex, 
eyaneous, with a very narrow brown line along the margins and 
the suture, slightly depressed behind the scutellum, finely punce- 
tate-stviate ; strie rather shallow, deepest towards the base ; punc-. 
tures confused at the apex; there are a few confused interstitial 


880 Mr. J. Hardy on new British Coleoptera. 


punctures round the scutellum ; the base of the elytra is about the 
breadth of the middle of the thorax : legs with the femora strongly 
constricted before the apex ; the tibie attenuated at the base, sub-. 
clavate at the apex; the tarsi paler, ferruginous, with the last 
joint spatulate, elongate and attenuated. 

I took a single specimen under the bark of Alnus glutinosa on 
the margin of the river Derwent, near Gibside, in June. 

Obs. The projecting eyes, black and rather small club of the 
antennee, rounded thorax, cyaneous elytra, and the convexity of 

the insect, are its obvious features. 


APHODIUS SUBALPINUs, Hardy. 

Niger, nitidus, clypeo emarginato, punctato rugoso, tuberculis tribus, 
medio subcornuto; maris thorace convexo rotundato-ampliato 
disco punctis subtilibus minus frequenter dispositis, feminze sub- 
quadrato angustiore punctis mediis frequenter obsitis; elytris 
nigris humeris apicibusque rufis, vel totis rufis, punctato-striatis, 
interstitiis punctulatis ; corpore subtus fulvo-pubescente ; pedibus 
nigris, tarsis rufescentibus. Long. corp. lin. 3—3}. 


Male. Black, glossy, robust: clypeus emarginate, punctate- 
rugose in front and in a less degree behind; the margin is ele- 
vated ; the surface is unequal; there is a large central tubercle on 
the crown, and on each side a minute and almost obsolete one, 
being an elevated portion of a ridge that runs behind the central 
tubercle, and bends obliquely to join the margin before it reaches 
the hinder angle, which is distinct, rounded, and finely ciliated : 
base of the antennze rufous; club clothed with a changeable ful- 
vous or slaty pubescence: thorax convex, approaching to globose, 
widened at the middle, considerably broader in front than the 
clypeus, and behind than the base of the elytra, divided by a 
nearly obsolete middle line which is most discernible at the base, 
finely and somewhat distantly punctured on the disc, but be- 
coming more thickly and distinctly punctured on the sides, a 
number of larger punctures being intermixed with those of 
smaller size; the lateral margins are finely ciliated with fulvous 
hairs arising from the breast: mesosternum with a large, deep, 
lozenge-shaped, and distinctly punctured depression: scutellum 
punctured at the base, smooth at the apex: elytra convex and 
black ; the apex and sometimes the base and the shoulders, and 
even the whole elytra are red; they are punctate-striate, narrowed 
at the base, compressed before the middle, expanded towards the 
apex, and about as broad as the thorax; the interstices are flat- 
tish, minutely and distantly punctured ; the punctures increase 
in size and number at the apex: body clothed beneath with ful- 
vous pubescence, more particularly on the prothorax, the sides 
of the breast and the apex of the abdomen: legs black; femora, 


Mr. J. Hardy on new British Coleoptera. 381 


especially the anterior, fringed with fulvous pubescence ; tibize 
finely ciliated, their tips sometimes piceous ; tarsi rufescent. 
Var. B. Aph. ericetorum, MSS. olim. Female. Smaller and 
differently shaped, being broader behind and gradually narrower 
to the apex of the head; posterior angles and tubercles of the 
clypeus less distinct ; thorax less convex; body beneath more 
thinly pubescent : thorax subquadrate, widest and as broad as the 
elytra behind, somewhat parallel on the sides, narrower but wider 
than the clypeus in front; it is thickly and distinctly punctured 
throughout with a mixture of large and small punctures which 
are rather more crowded on the sides, the former predominate. 
Var. B. The size of the female, and having the thorax of the 
male punctured nearly like that of the other sex. Rachills, Dum- 
fries-shire, Rev. W. Little ; on the heaths of Berwickshire, J. 1. 
Var. B. Prestwick Car, Northumberland, J. H. May to July. 
The Rev. W. Little has recently informed me that he has had 
this species in his possession for several years, and having sent 
specimens thereof to Mr. Stephens, he returned them with the 
name “ Lapponicus.” Gyllenhal has an 4. Lapponum, but not 
being able to ascertain what its characters are, or what is the ori- 
gin of Mr. Stephens’s name, I have, with Mr. Little’s concurrence, 
adhered to that by which I had designated my specimens in con- 
sideration of the upland tract of country which they inhabited. 
Obs. As the sexual distinctions in Aphodius have been little 
_ attended to, I may state the process by which I became convinced 
of the propriety of uniting these apparently distinct insects. I 
had often been unable to account for A. terrestris having a thorax 
more dilated and globose in some specimens than in others, and 
bringing both these states into a comparison with my A. subal- 
pinus and A. ericetorum, I found that the globose thorax was 
combined with a more sparingly punctured disc and a strong 
development of the frontal tubercles, but that a crowd of punc- 
tures was distinctive of a narrow thorax, and that along with this 
modification the tubercles of the clypeus underwent a diminution 
in size. Referrmg to A. Fossor, in which the sexes were known, 
I found that the punctured thorax and less evident tuberculation 
of the clypeus was a female character, while the male along with 
its dilated thorax had, as was the case with the species under 
review, a decided superiority in size. I had no longer any doubt 
that my A. ericetorum was a variety of A. subalpinus. Apply- 
ing the principle thus obtained to other species, it appears to 
hold pretty generally among species in which the puncturing of 
the thorax is not particularly dense. A. erraticus, which belongs 
to Mulsant’s genus Colobopterus, is in the latter condition. As 
an additional instance of the former, A. sordidus may be cited. 
In the male of this species the thorax is dilated, the dise is nearly 


882 Mr. J. Hardy on new British Coleoptera. 


destitute of punctures, and the sides carry only a few ; in the fe- 
male the thorax is subquadrate, the punctures are more thickly 
disposed upon the sides and likewise scattered over the disc ; the 
inale is distinctly tuberculated, while the clypeus in the female 
is almost smooth. It may also be remarked, with reference to 
A. terrestris and A. melanopus, that the larger the specimen the 
more obsolete becomes the puncturing, and the number of punc- 
tures and their size augment in proportion as it approaches nearer 
to the size of the female. Thus also we have, in the specimens 
of A. subalpinus from Prestwick Car, which are of the female size, 
a combination of the male and female characters, a result that 
may have been produced by their becoming dwarfed. towards the 
limit of their geographical range. In A. melanopus I find that 
the character of the female thorax goes to oppose a portion .of 
the specific character as drawn from the male, Mr. Stephens ha- 
ving described that species as having the thorax rather finely and 
sparingly punctured. Being in possession of a series of this spe- 
ciés, I shall venture to point out its characters with a slight de- 
tail, to compare with that author’s description. 


APHODIUS MELANOPUS, Kirby. 
Steph. Ill. Mand. ii. 198. J6. Manual, No. 1292. 

Niger; nitidus, clypeo antice rugoso, postice leviore punctis minutis, 

tuberculis tribus, duobus lateralibus antice linea curva conjunctis, 

tuberculis in feminis minutis vel totis obsoletis, thorace maris sub- 

rotundato tenue punctulato, femine subquadrato punctis frequenti- 

oribus majoribusque, utriusque linea media longitudinali leviter 

depressa antice evanescente, ‘ elytris piceo-nigris apice pallidiore, 

punctato-striatis,” interstitiis parum elevatis, purictis interstitiali- 

bus perminutis, corpore subtus parce fulvo-ptibescente, pedibus 

nigris, tarsis dilutis. Long. corp. lin. 2—2}. 

My specimens were taken at Prestwick Car in April, in com- 
pany with Mr. T. J. Bold of Newcastle. 


APHopIvs uLicinosus, Hardy. 

Niger, nitidus, elypeo tuberculis tribus instructo, lateralibus minutis, 
in femina omnino obsoletis, thorace sparsim punctato, angulis 
posterioribus rufis, elytris punctato-striatis, piceis, humeris apici- 

_busque rufis, pedibus nigris vel piceis. Long. corp. lin. 13-—2. 
Black, shining : elypeus narrower in front and slightly emar- 
ginate; hinder angles rather distinct, finely and somewhat di- 
stantly punctured, bearing in front a very indistinct bent ridge 
before which the surface is slightly depressed; there are three 
tubercles on the crown, but excepting the middle one they are 
very faint, and all three are obsolete im the female; edge of the 
clypeus usually red: antennee rufous at base ; club black or piceous 
with ashy reflections ; maxillary palpi piceous : thorax as broad as 


Mr.J. Hardy on new British Coleoptera. 383 


the base of the elytra, subquadrate, narrower in front, and having 
a slight rise on the middle of each side; the front angles are 
slightly projecting ; the hind angles are rufous; the anterior and 
lateral margins are dispersedly punctured with a mixture of 
coarse and fine punctures, the former are narrowly, the latter in- 
definitely rufous or piceous; the base is slightly and obliquely 
truncate on each side: breast behind the anterior legs obscure, 
with a very indistinct opake middle line: mesosternum broad, 
punctured, and with a shallow depression: scutellum depressed 
and punctured at the base, smooth at the tip: elytra piceous, 
shining and polished, nearly parallel; shoulders somewhat pro- 
mninent, of a bright red, and the entire base is also sometimes 
reddish ; the tip has two red dots or fascie, or is indefinitely red ; 
it is punctate-striate, the strie: are somewhat deep, the interstices 
are apparently smooth, but beneath a lens they are indistinctly 
subrugulose : body beneath very sparingly clothed with fulvous 
pubescence : femora and coxe black ; femora fringed with a slight 
pubescence ; tibize piceous ; posterior tibire scarcely dilated with 
subequal teeth ; tarsi ferruginous, sometimes entirely piceous. 

In marshy places on the Berwickshire heaths, and at Prest- 
wick Car, Northumberland, J. H.; Tenby, South Wales, 7. V. 
Wollaston, Esq. May to July. : 

I first took this species in Berwickshire in 1845, and recorded 
it in the ‘ Berwickshire Naturalists’ Club’s Proceedings’ as A. 
granum, deeming that in the tuberculated specimens I had dis- 
covered the male of that species. I again found it at Prestwick 
Car in the spring of 1846, and Mr. Wollaston having about the 
same period taken a fine series of it in Pembrokeshire, kindly 
pointed out my mistake. 

Obs. From A. granum, to which it bears a close resemblance, 
this species is primarily distinguished by the tubercles with which 
the male is beset ; and the red humeral and apical spots or fascize 
furnish a constant character in all the specimens of A. uliginosus 
that I have examined. A. granum is generally larger, has a 
broader and more distinctly punctured clypeus, the thorax also is 
broader and rounder as seen from beneath ; the elytra are rela- 
tively shorter and more tapering at the tips ; the posterior tibiz 
are broader at the tips and more deeply dentate, and the spines 
of the tibiz are more distinct than in A. uliginosus. The under 
surface of A. granum is almost glabrous, and on that part of its 
breast which is behind the base of the anterior legs, there is a 
very distinct minutely punctured and shining longitudinal line, 
but this part in A. uliginosus is quite opake. The mesosternum 
in A. granum is rather narrow, and the central depression is more 
lengthened, deeper, and less distinctly punctured than in A. ult- 
ginosus. 


384 Dr. Peters on a new genus of Labyrinthi-bronchial Fish. 


XLI.—On a new genus of Labyrinthi-bronchial Fish from Quel- 
limane. By Dr. W. Purers*. 


[ With a Plate.] 


Amone those fishes which live in the marshes of Quellimane, 
some are common to this part of Africa and the Nile, as the elec- 
trical shad-fish, Malapterurus electricus, Clarias anguillaris and 
Chromis niloticus ; others belong also to both the western and 
eastern parts of Africa, as Protopterus anguillaris (Lepidosiren 
annectens) ; others are peculiar to Mozambique, as Ctenopoma 
multispinis, Peters, of the family of Labyrinthi-bronchial fishes, 
Tribranchus anguillaris, Peters, from the Mureenoid family (having 
only three gills), Cyprinodon orthonotus, Peters, of the family of 
-Cyprinodonta, and a small new species of Barbus. 

In Zambesia, the fauna of which I am acquainted with as far 
as Tette, we find, besides these, other Nile forms, as Mormyrus, 
Varicorhinus, Labeo, Hydrocyon, Alestes, Distichodus, Hetero- 
branchus, Bagrus, Synodontis, some species of which are identical 
with those from the Nile, some of which are peculiar ; also a new 
genus of Characine, which I shall describe in a future communi- 
cation upon the fishes of Zambesia. That species of saw-fish, 
Pristis Perotelli, which lives in rivers only, is the only one which 
is common to Zambesia and Senegal. 

The Labyrinthi-bronchial fishes, which are distinguished by 
the organs existing in the gill-cavity for respiration on land, are 
for the most part peculiar to Southern and Eastern Asia ; Spiro- 
branchus is the only form which has been hitherto known to 
occur in Africa; this belongs to the Cape. 

The new genus of the family of Labyrinthi-bronchial fish pos- 
sesses the following characters :— 


Ctenopoma, Peters. — 


Operculum furnished with two semilunar segments and three 
pectiniform toothed folds; the two uppermost of these folds 
belong to the operculum, the lower one to the interoperculum 
and suboperculum. Preoperculum smooth. A great number of 
teeth on the vomer, and a band of the same on the gums on each 
side. Jaws furnished with thin, peinted and curved teeth, the 
first row of which is longer than the others. A single long dorsal 
fin with numerous prickly rays. Anal fin also furnished with 
numerous prickles. Body and operculum covered with scales 
which are posteriorly incised in a pectiniform manner. Pharyngeal 
teeth short and pointed. The lateral lines are interrupted. Gill- 
rays six. A well-developed accessory gill-organ situated above 


* Translated from Miiller’s Archiv, 1846, part iv. 


Mr. E. Doubleday on some Lepidoptera. 385 


the latter, consisting on each side of an internal, larger, auriform 
labyrinthie gill, and an external, small, almost biscuit-shaped one ; 
on the gill-arches there is moreover a discoid, shortly peduncu- 
lated piece of cartilage, but which is situated apart from the cavity 
of the above organ. A simple swimming-bladder. Stomach sacci- 
form, and the simply coiled intestine has at its commencement a 
single rudimentary cecum. 


Ctenopoma multispinis, Peters. Pl. XI. fig. 3. 


Form of the body extended ; anal fin more than half as long as 
the dorsal fin, both furnished with elongated soft rays which 
form an acute posterior angle to these fins. Foramina exist in 
the infraorbital bones, as also laterally below the inferior maxilla. 
Two larger scales above and at the base of the pectoral fin. 
B.6; D.17,9; V.1,5; A.10,9; P.14; C.14—15. Colour 
dark green above, becoming yellowish below. The body is co- 
vered with dark spots in two-thirds of its breadth, as are also the 
dorsal and caudal fins. Length 3 inches. 


EXPLANATION OF PLATE XI. 
Fig. 3. Animal of the natural size. 
Fig, 4. a, Interior large labyrinthic gill; 6, exterior small labyrinthic gill ; 
e, discoid petiolated accessory organ. 


XLIT.—Descriptions of new or imperfectly described Lepidopterous 
Insects. By Eywarv Dovsiepay, Esq., F.L.S., Assistant in 
the Zoological Department of the British Museum, &c. 


[Continued from p. 176.] 


Fam. PIERIDE. 


Genus EuTerrpe. 


Eut. Dysoni. Alis omnibus supra nigris: maris fascia lata trans- 
versa alba: femine basi alba: marginibus externis albo maculatis ; 
subtus nigro, brunneo, alboque variegatis; posticarum basi coc- 
cinea. Exp. alar. 24 unc. vel 57 mill. 

Hab. Venezuela. 

Anterior wings elongate, ttigonate, somewhat truncate at the 
apex, the outer margin sinuate, dentate. Above, in the male, 
black, with a transverse white band, commencing near the costa 
beyond the cell, macular at its origin, widening towards the inner 
margin, dentate externally; between this band and the outer 
margin is a series of four or five whitish dots; cilia fuscous. 
Posterior wings with the anterior margin deeply emarginate near 
the base, the outer margin sinuate, dentate, the tooth in which 


386 Mr. E. Doubleday on some Lepidoptera. 


the second median nervule terminates being elongate: pearly 
white, slightly tinged with yellow and sprinkled with black scales 
near the base; the outer margin broadly black, marked in the 
sinuses with white. Cilia fuscous, spotted with white. 

Below, the anterior wings have the cell fuscous, darkest exter- 
nally ; the fuscous colour extending beyond the cell; the outer 
margin fuscous, with a series of white dots corresponding to those 
of the upper surface, and the apex varied with brown, white and — 
yellow, the whole of the other parts of the wing pearly white. 
Posterior wings pale brown, the costa at the base and a spot at 
the origin of the costal and subcostal nervures crimson ; @ ma- 
cular band commences on the costa at the base and terminates 
on the inner margin slightly below the middle, describing about 
two-thirds of a circle ; this band is composed of numerous, irre- 
gular white spots, divided by the nervures, each spot is marked 
by a yellow vitta and bounded internally by an irregular or cu- 
neiform black spot and externally by a waved black striga; the 
spot above the costal nervure is divided by a small black patch : 
between this band and the margin is a broken white band di- 
stinctly indicated on the inner and outer angle, nearly obsolete in 
the middle of its course : between the nervules a series of fuscous © 
clouds more or less divided by a central yellow line. : 

Head and antennee fuscous above, paler below. 

Thorax and base of abdomen clothed with long ashy hairs. 

Abdomen ashy white. 

The female differs in having the basal half of the anterior wings 
entirely white except a powdering of fuscous at the base and along 
the costa; the outer margin black, the black extending into the 
cell, beyond which is a short macular band divided into four parts 
by the nervules, and beyond this a submarginal series of white 
dots as in the male. : 

In the collection of the British Museum, &c. 

I have named this beautiful species after its discoverer, Mr. D. 
Dyson, who has for the past year been indefatigably exploring the 
entomology of Venezuela. The female has a striking resemblance 
above to Papilio Endochus, but the black border is much wider. 


Kut. Teutila. Alis omnibus supra fuscis, fascia communi, media, 
maculari, punctisque submarginalibus albis : subtus anticis fascia 
media, maculari alba ; punctis vittisque albis, aurantiacisque : pos- 
ticis nigro, aurantiaco, alboque variegatis, Exp. alar. 24 unc. vel 
56 mill, 

Hab. Mexico. 

Above, all the wings fuscous, slightly irrorated at the base 


with whitish scales, crossed by a narrow whitish band, commen- 
cing in the cell of the anterior wings a short distance from the 


Mr. E. Doubleday on some Lepidoptera. 387 


disco-cellular nervule; and crossing the posterior wings about the 
middle of the cell ; broadest on the anterior wings, slightly tinted 
with buff on the abdominal margin; divided by the nervures 
which are fuscous. Beyond this band, close to the costa of the 
anterior wings, are two whitish dots, the upper elongate, the lower 
nearly round; separated only by the subcostal nervule. Near 
the margin is a series of dots between the nervules, composed of 
whitish scales not very closely placed; the dots nearest the apex 
of the anterior wings most distinct. Cilia fuscous, spotted with 
white. 

Below, all the wings are fuscous: the anterior have the markings 
as above but more distinct, the spots towards the apex are tinged 
with yellow, and between the nervules near the apex are three or 
four delicate orange vittee, becoming white where they touch the 
margin. Oosta at the base whitish. The posterior wings have 
the space between the costal nervure and the costa white, tinged 
with orange near the base; at the base of the wings itself is a 
white dot bordered internally with a small tuft of crimson hairs. - 
Before the middle of the wing is a band corresponding in posi- 
tion with that of the upper surface, composed of six orange spots 
more or less margined with white, the outer elongate, the second 
subtriangular, the third subquadrate, connected anteriorly with 
an orange vitta, the others smaller, more or less rounded, all 
resting on a black cloud. Between this band and the base are 
five orange spots near the inner margin and a single one on the 
costa. At the extremity of the cell is an orange vitta divided by 
the disco-cellular nervule, and between the cell and the outer 
margin a series of sagittate spots, orange internally, white exter- 
nally, and on the margin itself between the nervules a series of 
similarly coloured vittz. 

Head, thorax and abdomen black, tinged with gray, shoulder 
slightly marked with orange. _ 

In the collection of the British Museum. 


Eut. Toca. Alis omnibus supra nigris, fascia media communi, tha- 
culari, serieque punctorum submarginali albis: subtus anticis 
vittis tribus baseos, fascia media alteraque submarginali macula- 
ribus albis, margine ipso albo flavoque maculato ; posticis pallide 
stramineis, flavo, nigroque variegata. Exp. alar. 13 unc. vel 45 
mill. 


Hab. Bolivia. 


Above, all the wings black, with a common transverse band 
arising on the costa and traversing the wings to the abdominal 
margin ; macular and narrow at its origin, gradually widening to 
the inner margin of the anterior wings, not macular and still 


388 Mr. E. Doubleday on some Lepidoptera. 


wider on the posterior, but suddenly narrowed just within the 
median nervule. Between this band and the margin a series of 
rounded white spots, least distinct on the posterior wings. Cilia 
of the anterior wings fuscous, dotted near the apex with white, 
cilia of the posterior white with black dots. 

Below, the anterior wings have the median band nearly as 
above, but.the part nearest the costa is tinged with yellow; the 
spot in the cell is larger, the submarginal spots are larger and 
form a macular band, the upper ones being yellow; the outer 
margin is marked between the nervules with short vitte, those 
near the apex yellow, the hinder ones white. The base with a 
whitish vitta along the costa and two in the cell. 

Posterior wings very pale straw-yellow ; the precostal nervule 
bordered with black, a black spot pupilled with yellow between 
the base of the costal and subcostal nervures, a black patch near 
the abdominal margin, at the base marked with six yellow spots, 
the two inner ones extended to the margin ; a series of cuneiform 
yellow spots across the wing beyond the middle, bordered inter- 
nally with black, preceded by five yellow vittee, af which the third 
extends nearly the whole length of the cell; a small round yel- 
low dot in the black at the end of the cell, and a series of yellow 
wedge-shaped spots bordered by a deeply zigzag black line on 
the outer margin. 

Head black, the vertex yellow, palpi yellow, with long black 
hairs. Antenne annulated with white. Thorax black, with a 
yellow spot at the shoulders, clothed above with silvery gray hairs, 
below with pale yellow. Legs black, varied with gray. Abdo- 
men black above, with a few gray scales and hairs, below whitish. 

In the collection of the British Museum, &c. 


Eut. Colla. Alis anticis supra nigro-fuscis, fascia transversa com- 
muni, maculari, sulphurea, serieque submarginali punctorum sul- 
phureorum : subtus fuscis, fascia transversa, maculis submargina- 
libus, vittisque marginalibus sulphureis, nebulis cinereis. Exp. 
alar. 24 unc. vel 57 mill. 

Hab. Bolivia. 


Above, all the wings fuscous black, crossed on the anterior be- 
yond the cell by a macular band, composed of rather elongate 
sulphur-coloured spots larger towards the inner margin, this 
band continued across the posterior wings before the middle, di- 
vided by the nervures. In the cell of the anterior wings is a 
small sulphur-coloured spot, and near the margm of both wings 
a series of round dots of the same colour between the nervules. ~ 
The margin of the posterior wings has three or four small sulphur- 
coloured dots. 


Mr. E. Doubleday on some Lepidoptera. 389 


Below, the colour is rather paler, the macular band more 
marked on the anterior wings, less so on the posterior ; the spots 
of the submarginal series are lunulate on the anterior wings, 
the upper ones margined with pale cinereous, those of the pos- 
terior margined by a dark cloud within and a pale cloud externally : 
the external margin of the anterior wings with a series of slender 
vittee between the nervules, the posterior with a series of wedge- 
shaped spots in the same position: base of both wings with two 
or three yellow vitte, those of the posterior with a crimson spot. 

Head, thorax and abdomen black, the thorax below spotted 
with yellow. 

In the collection of the British Museum. 


Eut. Pinava. Alis omnibus supra fuscis, fasciis duabus communibus 
macularibus ochraceis, serieque marginali punctorum ochraceorum ; 
posticis purpurascenti-cinereis, fasciis duabus pallidis, maculis ali- 
quot nigris flavisque. Exp. alar. 13 unc. vel 47 mill. 

Hab. Bolivia. 


Above, all the wings fuscous, traversed beyond the cell of the 
anterior by a macular band, narrow at the costa, enlarging to- 
wards the inner margin, composed of rather quadrate spots of an 
ochrey colour ; continued across the posterior wings, where it is 
divided only by the nervures and a black line down the middle 
of the cell ; occupying on these wings nearly the basal half of 
the wing, and extending along the abdominal margin almost to 
the anal angle. On the anterior wings is a series of round spots 
of the same colour about equally distant from the first band and 
the outer margin, and on the posterior wings in the same posi- 
tion a series of lunules likewise ochraceous. The extremity of 
the cell of the anterior wings has a single spot, and on the outer 
margin of both wings is a series of spots of the same colour. 

Below, the anterior wings are paler, the marginal spots more 
distinct than near the apex. The posterior wings are ash-coloured, 
tinged with purple, pale at the base, traversed near the middle 
by a whitish band, spotted with yellow; and not far from the 
outer margin by a much-waved band of the same colour. The 
marginal and submarginal spots of the upper surface are repro- 
duced more distinctly below, and are margined internally with 
black. Close to the base is a crimson spot, and two or three 
yellow ones are scattered over the basal half of the wings.. 

Head, thorax and abdomen black, mingled with gray. 

In the collection of the British Museum. 


3890 Messrs. M‘Andrew & Forbes on new or rare British Animals. 


XLITI.—Notices of new or rare British Animals observed during 
Cruises in 1845 and 1846, By Roperr M‘Anprew, Esq., 
and Professor Epwarp Forszs, 


[Continued from p. 98.] 
~ [With a Plate.] 


II. On the occurrence of a species of Pelagia in the British seas. 


On the 23rd of August 1846, when cruising off Mount’s Bay, 
Cornwall, our attention was attracted by some rather large Me- 
dusze which passed the vessel at intervals, The weather was fine 
and the sea smooth; the Medusz in question appeared like 
rose-coloured globes in the water. On capturing some we found 
they belonged to a species of the genus Pelagia, hitherto un- 
noticed in the British seas. 

The following description was drawn up from the living ani- 
mal (which is figured in Plate IX. fig. 5) :— 

Dise 23 inches in diameter ; subglobose, slightly depressed 
above, hyaline and tinged with pink, covered with small reddish 
orange warts which become obsolete towards the summit; mar- 
gin with sixteen lobes, each bilobed: each lobule rounded and 
haying a triangularly-lanceolate centre covered with reddish 
brown warts, which are also seen on the sides of the lobules, but 
are there not coloured, From beneath the separations of eight of 
the greater lobes spring as many tentacula; in the notches of 
the remaining eight are the ocelli, Ocelli composed each of an 
ovate red body (formed of pigment cells and prismatic crystals) 
suspended by a peduncle from a translucent (ganglionic ?) mass, 
whence radiate fibres (nerves ?), and behind which (connected by 
a nerve ?) is a cireular cavity containing an otolitie body in con- 
tinual reyolution. 

Tentacula pink, simple, hollow, short when contraeted and 
nearly equal throughout, but capable of extreme extension (even 
to the length of several feet) ; they consist of an external epi- 
dermic series of large pigment cells, forming a sheath or tube 
which is strengthened within by eight longitudinal ribs or co- 
lumns of eompact contractile granular tissue. 

Beneath, the subumbrella presents four dependent arms united 
at their bases, but separated again so as to form a central cavity 
with four openings. In the central eayity we find four purple 
furbelowed reniform ovaries (containing irregularly lobed germs), 
separated by four masses of contractile tubes (spermathecal ?) 
full of minute swarming bodies (spermatozoa?) : the ovaries are 
fringed by similar tubes. From the gastric cavities run sixteen 
or more vessels to the margin, obscurely branching. 


Messrs. M‘Andrew & Forbes on new or rare British Animals. 391 


Arms lanceolate, furbelowed and winged, separated from each 
other nearly to their bases, Their more solid and central parts 
are dotted with orange spots; their membranous margins are 
tinged with rose-colour: a canal perforates their united bases 
and opens into the central cavity. 

This Medusa is highly phosphorescent ; when irritated in the 
water by night it seemed like a globe of fire, The phospho- 
rescence is of an intense light green, and proceeds from a mucus 
_ which comes away by handling, It is given out chiefly and 
most vividly by the warts of the skin—especially by the tri- 
angular masses of them on the marginal lobes. The ovaries are 
also phosphorescent, but require to be strongly irritated. If the 
under surface of the umbrella be irritated, the warts on the ex- 
ternal skin opposite give out light, but not the under surface 
touched. A little crustacean is parasitic in the gastric cavity of 
this Pelagia. When removed from its dwelling it rushed through 
the water with rapid and frantic movements, seeking to return. 

The species appears to he Pelagia cyanella of Peron and Le- 
sueur ; Medusa pelagia of Linnzeus ; Dienea cyanelia of Lamarck. 
The Pelagia denticulata of Peron and Lesueur and the Pelagia 
parthenopensis of Lesson are scareely even yarieties of the same. 
It is distinguished from Pelagia panopyra by the shortness of the 
peduncle formed by the united bases of the arms. This character 
appears however to be a variable one. It is a characteristic in- 
habitant of the Lusitanian region of the North Atlantic, and ex- 
tends into the Mediterranean, On the British coasts it is pro- 
bably confined to the entrance of the Channel. 

The Pelagia noctiluca of Peron and Lesueur, founded on the 
Medusa noctiluca of Forskal, is scarcely distinct. Forskal, in his 
‘ Fauna Arabica,” has the following pithy notes on its phospho- 
rescence :— Hee, si que alia, vera est noctilueca. Multis expe- 
rimentis in mari Mediterraneo, ubi habitat, presertim sub insula 
Majorca institutis, mihi patuit, illam valde phosphoream esse ; 
e margine lucem fortiorem emittet, quam e nucleo. [This is 
true; the warts which phosphoresce most strongly being very 
small and few on the centre of the disc.| Lacerata et in mare 
projecta, lucida via ad fundum descendebant fragmina. Partes 
discerptee, aquee marine in vaseulo mixte et quassate copiose 
scintillant, et stagnando aquam cito corrumpunt. In cribello 
aquam superfudi ; que dum transibat, partes iste innumeris ra- 
diabant stellulis: et seepe affusa aqua, lumen non minuebant. 
Id memorabile est, et magni canonis instar in hac experientia : 
aquam marinam per chartam bibulam percolatam lucendi yim 
perdere, Innumera Medusarum integrarum copia, ut corpora 
undis attrita vel rupta, succumque gelatinosum effundentia toti- 
dem certe phosphoros accendunt : hinc tamen theoriam universa- 


892 Mr. F. Walker on some North American Chaleidites. 


lem alii deducant, ego non. Lente et modeste perpendant Me- 
duse ne virtutem hanc obtineant ex aqua, vel hee a Medusis 


immensis scilicet Oceanus minime sui parti tanta miracula de- 
bebit | 


XLIV.—Characters of undescribed Chalcidites collected in North 
America by E. Doubleday, Esq., and now in the British Mu- 
seum. By Francis Waker, F.L.S. 


1. Pteromalus Lausus, fem. Niger, abdomen viridi cupreo et pur- 
pureo varium, antenne picee, pedes flavo-fulvi, femora nigra, ale 
sublimpide, 


Corpus breve, crassum, convexum, nigrum, obscurum, scitissime 
squameum, pilis albis hirtum: caput transversum, breve, thoracis lati- 
tudine ; vertex latus; frons impressa, abrupte declivis: oculi picei, me- 
diocres, non extantes : os piceum: antennee pice, graciles, extrorsum 
crassiores, thorace paullo longiores ; articulus 1" longus, linearis, ful- 
vus; 28 fuscus, cyathiformis ; 3° et 4"° minimi; 5" et sequentes sat 
longi, usque ad 10" curtantes ; clava fusiformis, apice ferruginea, ar- 
ticulo 10° paullo latior et multo longior: thorax ovatus: prothorax 
transversus, brevissimus: mesothoracis scutum longitudine latius ; 
parapsidum suture vix conspicuz ; scutellum brevi-obconicum : meta- 
thorax brevis, declivis: petiolus brevissimus: abdomen ovatum, nitens, 
leeve, nigro-viride, basi cupreo et purpureo varium, supra planum, 
subtus profunde carinatum, apice acuminatum, thorace paullo longius 
vix angustius; segmentum 1" magnum; 2" et sequentia breviora, 
subeequalia’: pedes nigri, simplices, subequales ; trochanteres picei; 
genua fulva ; protarsi fulvi ; mesotarsi et metatarsi flavi, apice fusci : 
ale sublimpide ; squamule picez ; nervi fusci; nervus humeralis ful- 
vus ulnari paullo longior, ulnaris valida radiali fere duplo longior, 
cubitalis radiali paullo brevior; stigma sat magnum, obscurius. 
(Corp. long. lin. 1#; alar. lin. 3.) 

It is allied to Pteromalus intermedius, Kutelus intermedius, Ent. Mag. 
ii. 366. 


2. Pteromalus Cratylus, fem. <Ater, abdomen nigro-eneum, antenne 
picee, pedes flavi, femora nigra, ale limpide. 


Corpus breve, latum, crassum, convexum, atrum, obscurum, sci- 
tissime squameum, parce hirtum : caput transversum, breve, thorace 
paullo latius ; vertex latus; frons impressa, abrupte declivis : oculi 
picei, mediocres, non extantes : antenne pice, subclavate, graciles, 
thorace paullo longiores ; articulus 1"5 fulvus, longus, linearis; 2"§ cya- 
thiformis; 3"° et 4"° minimi; 5"° et sequentes mediocres, usque ad 
10" curtantes et latescentes ; clava conica, acuminata, articulo 10° 
duplo Jongior: thorax brevi-ovatus : prothorax transversus, brevis- 
simus : mesothoracis scutum longitudine latius ; parapsidum suture 
vix conspicue ; scutellum obconicum: metathorax brevis, declivis : 
petiolus brevissimus: abdomen nigro-zneum, brevi-ovatum, nitens, 


Mr. F. Walker on some North American Chalcidites. 393 


leve, supra planum, subtus carinatum, apice acuminatum, thoracis 
longitudine et latitudine: pedes flavi, simplices, subequales; cox 
nigre ; femora nigra, apice flava; tarsi apice fusci: ale limpide ; 
squamule fulve ; nervi flavi ; nervus humeralis ulnari multo longior, 
radialis ulnari brevior cubitali vix longior ;- stigma minutum. (Corp. 
long. lin. 13; alar. lin. 2.) 

This is also allied to Pt. intermedius. 


3. Pteromalus Cassotis, fem. Ater, abdomen cupreum, antenne 

picee, pedes fulvi, tarsi flavi, ale limpide. 

Corpus breve, latum, convexum, atrum, obscurum, scitissime squa- 
meum, parce hirtum : caput transversum, breve, thorace latius ; ver- 
tex latus; frons impressa, abrupte declivis : oculi rufi, mediocres, non 
extantes : antenne picex, clavate, thorace non longiores ; articulus 
1" fulvus, longus, gracilis ; 2"* longicyathiformis ; 3"° et 4"§ minimi ; 
5"8 et sequentes breves, usque ad 10"™ paullo curtantes et latescentes; 
clava conica, acuminata, articulo 10° paullo latior et duplo longior : 
thorax ovatus: prothorax transversus, brevis: mesothoracis scutum 
longitudine latius ; parapsidum suture vix conspicue ; scutellum sub- 
conicum : metathorax mediocris, declivis, obconicus: petiolus bre- 
vissimus: abdomen brevi-ovatum, nitens, leve, cupreum, basi viridi 
cupreo et purpureo micans, supra planum, subtus carinatum, apice 
acuminatum, thorace brevius non angustius: pedes fulvi, simplices, 
subzequales ; coxee nigra; mesotarsi et metatarsi flavi, apice fusci: 
alee limpide ; squamulee fulve ; nervi fulvi; nervus humeralis ulnari 
multo longior, radialis cubitali longior ; stigma parvum. (Corp. long. 
lin. 14; alar.-lin. 2.) 

Allied to Pt. deplanatus, Nees d’Essenbeck Hym. Ich. aff. ii. 110. 


4. Pteromalus Euthymus, mas. After, abdomen nigro-cupreum, an- 
tenne picee,-pedes fulvi, femora picea, tarsi flavi, ale limpide. 


Corpus breve, latum, convexum, nigrum, obscurum, scitissime 
squameum, parce hirtum: caput transversum, breve, magnum, tho- 
race latius ; vertex latus ; frons impressa, abrupte declivis : oculi rufi, 
mediocres, non extantes: antennez pice, clavate, thorace non lon- 
giores ; articulus 1S fulvus, longus, gracilis ; 2"° longicyathiformis ; 
3"5 et 4"5 minimi ; 545 et sequentes usque ad 10"™ breves, subzequales, 
discreti; clava conica, acuminata, articulo 10° paullo latior et duplo 
longior : thorax ovatus: prothorax transversus, brevissimus : meso- 
thoracis scutum longitudine latius ; parapsidum suture non bene de- 
terminate ; scutellum subconicum : metathorax mediocris, obconicus, 
declivis: petiolus brevissimus: abdomen subconicum, depressum, 
nitens, nigro-cupreum, leve, basi angustum, thorace brevius et multo 
angustius et humilius; segmentum 1%" magnum, 2" et sequentia 
brevia : pedes fulvi, simplices, subeequales ; coxze nigree ; femora picea, 
basi et apice fulva; mesotarsi et metatarsi flavi, apice fusci: ale lim- 
pide ; squamule picez ; nervi fulvi; nervus humeralis ulnari multo 
longior, radialis ulnari paullo brevior cubitali longior; stigma fus- 
cum, parvum. (Corp. long. lin. 3; alar. lin. 14.) 

Allied to Psilocera obscura, Ent. Mag. 1. 374. 

Ann. & Mag. N, Hist. Vol, xix. 28 


394 Mr. F. Walker on some North American Chalcidites. 


5. Pteromalus Dipsas, fem. Nigro-eneus, pedes fulvo-picei, femora 
nigro-picea, tarsi flavi, ale limpide. 


Corpus nigro-zneum, convexum, obscurum, scitissime squameum, 
parce hirtum: caput transversum, breve, thoracis latitudine ; vertex 
latus ; frons impressa, abrupte declivis: oculi picei, mediocres, non 
extantes: antennis articulus 1"’ fulvus, longus, gracilis ; 248 fuscus : 
thorax ovatus: prothorax transversus, brevissimus: mesothoracis 
scutum longitudine latius; parapsidum suture vix conspicue; scu- 
tellum subrotundum : metathorax brevis, declivis : petiolus brevissi- 
mus: abdomen ovatum, nitens, leve, supra planum, subtus carina- 
tum, apice acuminatum, thorace paullo brevius et angustius : pedes 
fulvi, simplices, subzequales ; coxze nigree ; trochanteres picei; femora 
nigro-picea ; mesopedum et metapedum tibiee fusce, tarsi flavi apice 
fusci: ale limpide ; squamule picee ; nervus humeralis ulnari multo 
longior, radialis ulnari multo brevior cubitali paullo longior; stigma 
parvum. (Corp. long. lin. 1; alar. lin. 13.) 

Allied to Pt. discolor, Ent. Mag. iii. 473. 


6. Pteromalus Hermeas, fem. Niger, antenne nigre, pedes fulvi, 
Semora nigra, tarsi flavi, ale limpide. 


Corpus angustum, convexum, nigrum, parum nitens, scitissime 
squameum, parce hirtum: caput transversum, breve, thorace paullo 
latius ; vertex latus ; frons impressa, abrupte declivis : oculi picei, 
mediocres, non extantes: antenne nigre, graciles, subclavatz, tho- 
race non longiores; articulus 1"§ longus, linearis; 2¥° longicyathi- 
formis ; 3° et 4"° minimi ;.5"° et sequentes mediocres, usque ad 10"™ 
curtantes et latescentes ; clava conica, acuminata, articulo 10° multo 
longior: thorax ovatus: prothorax transversus, brevissimus : meso- 
thoracis scutum longitudine latius; parapsidum ‘suture vix conspi- 
cue ; scutellum brevi-obconicum : metathorax brevis, declivis: pe- 
tiolus brevissimus : abdomen fusiforme, nitens, leeve, supra depressum, 
subtus profunde carinatum, apice acuminatum, thorace longius et 
angustius: pedes fulvi; coxe nigre; trochanteres picei; femora 
nigra; mesotarsi et metatarsi flavi, apice fusci: ale limpide ; squa- 
mule fulve; nervi flavi; nervus humeralis ulnari multo longior, ra- 
dialis ulnari brevior cubitali longior ; stigma minimum. (Corp. long. 
lin. 2; alar. lin. 13.) 

Allied to Pt. hemipterus, Ent. Mag, iii. 196. 


7. Pteromalus Epicles, fem. Cyaneo-viridis, abdomen cupreo et 
purpureo varium, antenne nigre, pedes fulvi, femora nigro-picea, 
tarsi albidi, ale albo limpide. 

Corpus breve, crassum, latum, convexum, cyaneo-viride, parum 
nitens, scitissime squameum, parce hirtum: caput transversum, 
breve, thorace vix latius; vertex latus; frons impressa, abrupte de- 
clivis: oculi rufi, mediocres, non extantes: antennis articulus 1"° 
longus, gracilis, niger, basi fulvus: thorax ovatus: prothorax trans- 
versus, brevissimus: mesothoracis scutum longitudine latius ; para- 
psidum suture non bene determinate, postice approximate ; scutel- 
lum obconicum : metathorax brevis, declivis: petiolus brevissimus : 


Mr. F. Walker on some North American Chalcidites. 895 


abdomen ovatum, nitens, leave, cyaneo cupreo et purpureo varium, 
supra planum, subtus profunde carinatum, apice acuminatum, thorace 
angustius non longius; oviductus fulvus abdominis basi subtus emis- 
sus ; pedes fulyi ; coxe nigro-virides ; trochanteres picei ; femora ni- 
gro-picea; mesotarsi et metatarsi albidi, apice fusci: ale albido lim- 
pide ; squamule fulvee ; nervi pallide flavi; nervus humeralis ulnari 
multo longior, radialis ulnari brevior cubitali longior ; stigma minu- 
tum, (Corp. long. lin, 14; alar. lin, 2.) 
Allied to Pteromalus altus, Hutelus altus, Ent. Mag, ii. 367. 


8. Pteromalus Damo, fem. Cupreus, abdomen basi viridi varium, 
pedes fulvi, tarsi flavi, ale subfulve. 


Corpus angustum, sublineare, convexum, cupreum, parum nitens, 
scitissime squameum, parce hirtum ; caput ademptum : thorax ovatus: 
prothorax transversus, brevissimus : mesothoracis scutum longitudine 
latius; parapsidum suture vix conspicuz ; scutellum obconicum : 
metathorax mediocris, obconicus, declivis; petiolus brevissimus : ab- 
domen fusiforme, nitens, leeve, basi viridi varium, supra depressum, 
subtus profunde carinatum, apice acuminatum, thorace paullo an- 
gustius et multo longius: pedes fulvi; coxe cupres; mesotarsi et 
metatarsi flavi, apice fusci: ale subfulve; squamule fulve; nervi 
flavi; nervus humeralis ulnari multo longior, radialis ulnari brevior 
cubitali longior ; stigma minutum. (Corp, long. lin. $; alar. lin. 14.) 

Allied to Pt. tenuis, Ent. Mag. ii. 498. 


9. Pteromalus Ciax, fem. Nigro-eneus, abdomen eneum, antenne 
Susce, pedes fulvi, tarsi flavi, ale limpide. 


Corpus angustum, nigro-zeneum, convexum, nitens, scitissime 
squameum, parce hirtum : caput transversum, breve, thorace latius ; 
vertex latus ; frons impressa, abrupte declivis : oculi picei, mediocres, 
non extantes : antennze fuscze, clavate, thorace non longiores ; arti- 
culus 1“* fulvus, longus, gracilis ; 2"* cyathiformis ; 3"° et 4" minuti ; 
5"5 et sequentes transversi, usque ad 10" curtantes; clava ovata, 
acuminata, articulo 10° latior et duplo longior; thorax ovatus : pro- 
thorax transyersus, brevissimus: mesothoracis scutum longitudine 
latius ; parapsidum suture vix conspicue ; scutellum obconicum : 
metathorax mediocris, declivis, obconicus ; petiolus brevissimus : ab- 
domen fusiforme, wneum, leve, supra depressum, subtus profunde 
carinatum, apice attenuatum et acuminatum, thorace angustius et 
multo longius: pedes fulvi, simplices, subeequales ; coxee zene ; me- 
sotarsi et metatarsi flavi, apice obscuriores : ale limpide ; squamule 
piceze ; nervi fulvi; nervus humeralis ulnari multo longior, radialis 
ulnari brevior, cubitalis sat longus ; stigma minutum. (Corp, long. 
lin. 4; alar. Jin. 14.) 

Perhaps a variety of Pt. Damo. 


10, Pteromalus Doryssus, mas. Niger, anienne picee, pedes fulvi, 
JSemora nigro-picea, tarsi flavi, ale limpide. 


Corpus angustum, conyexum, nigrum, parum nitens, scitissime 
squameum, parce hirtum ; caput transversum, breye, thgrace paullo 
28% 


896 Mr. F. Walker on some North American Chaleidites. 


latius ; vertex latus ; frons impressa, abrupte declivis: oculi picei, me- 
diocres, non extantes: antenne pice, valide, subfiliformes, thorace 
non longiores ; articulus 1"* fulvus, longus, gracilis ; 2"° cyathiformis ; 
3° et 4°° minimi; 5° et sequentes usque ad 10¥™ mediocres, sub- 
eequales ; clava conica, compressa, acuminata, articulo 10° multo lon- 
gior : thorax ovatus : prothorax transversus, brevissimus : mesotho- 
racis scutum longitudine latius; parapsidum suture vix conspicue ; 
scutellum obconicum: metathorax sat magnus, obconicus, declivis : 
petiolus brevissimus : abdomen sublineare, nitens, leve, depressum, 
thorace multo angustius non brevius: pedes fulvi, simplices, sub- 
eequales ; coxee nigra ; femora nigro-picea ; meso- et metatarsi flavi, 
apice fusci: ale limpide; squamule picee; nervi fulvi; nervus hu- 
meralis ulnari multo longior, radialis ulnari brevior, cubitali longior ; 
stigma minutum. (Corp. long. lin. 14; alar. lin. 24.) 
Allied to Pteromalus Zonaras, Mon. Chal. 1. 227, 


11. Pteromalus Timea, fem. Ater, abdomen nigro-purpureum, 
antenne picee, pedes nigri, tarsi flavi, ale limpide. 


Corpus crassum, atrum, convexum, parum nitens, scitissime squa- 
meum, parce hirtum:; caput transversum, breve, thorace paullo la- 
tius ; vertex latus ; frons impressa, abrupte declivis: oculi picei, me- 
diocres, non extantes: antennz pice, clavate, thorace non lon- 
giores ; articulus 1"% niger, longus, gracilis; 2"° longicyathiformis ; 
3"5 et 4"5 minimi ; 54S et sequentes mediocres, usque ad 10" curtantes 
et latescentes; clava ovata, articulo 10° latior et duplo longior : tho- 
rax ovatus: prothorax transversus, brevissimus: mesothoracis scu- 
tum longitudine latius; parapsidum suture non bene determinate ; 
scutellum brevi-obconicum: metathorax brevis, declivis: petiolus 
brevissimus: abdomen fusiforme, nigro-purpureum, nitens, leve, 
basi cyaneo-micans, supra depressum, subtus carinatum, apice acu- 
minatum, thorace paullo longius et multo angustius: pedes nigri ; 
trochanteres picei; genua fulva; protarsi fulvi; mesotarsi et meta- 
tarsi flavi, apice fusci: ale limpide; squamule pice; nervi flavi; 
nervus humeralis ulnari multo longior, radialis ulnari brevior cubitali 
longior; stigma minutum. (Corp. long. lin. 14; alar. lin. 2.) 


12. Pteromalus Orontas, fem. After, abdomen viride, discus pur- 
pureus, antenne nigre, pedes nigro-picei, tarsi flavi, ale lim- 
pide. 

Corpus angustum, convexum, nigrum, parum nitens, scitissime 
squameum, parce hirtum: caput transversum, breve, thorace paullo 
latius; vertex latus; frons impressa, abrupte declivis: oculi picei, 
mediocres, non extantes : antenne clavate, nigre, thorace non lon- 
giores ; articulus 1"8 longus, gracilis, 2" longicyathiformis ; 3" et 48 
minimi; 5"° et sequentes mediocres, usque ad 10"™ latescentes ; clava 
ovata, acuminata, articulo 10° latior et duplo longior : thorax ovatus : 
prothorax transversus, brevissimus: mesothoracis scutum longitu- 
dine latius ; parapsidum suture vix conspicuz ; scutellum subconi- 
cum: metathorax brevis, declivis: petiolus brevissimus: abdomen 
longiovatum, viride, nitens, leve, supra depressum, subtus carinatum, 


Mr. F. Walker. on some North American Chaleidites. 397 


apice acuminatum, thorace angustius et longius ; discus purpureus : 
pedes nigri, simplices, subequales ; trochanteres picei ; genua fulva ; 
tibiee picez ; protarsi fulvi ; mesotarsi et metatarsi flavi, apice fusci : 
ale limpide ; squamule picee ; nervi flavi; nervus humeralis ulnari 
longior, radialis ulnari brevior cubitali longior ; stigma minutum. 
(Corp. long. lin. 1 ; alar. lin. 14.) 


13. Pteromalus Dymnus, fem. Ater, abdomen viridi-eneum, an- 

tenne picee, pedes nigri, tarsi flavi, ale limpide. 

Corpus validum, convexum, nigrum, parum nitens, scitissime squa- 
meum, parce hirtum : caput transversum, breve, thoracis latitudine ; 
vertex latus ; frons impressa, abrupte declivis : oculi picei, mediocres, 
non extantes : antennz pice, clavate, thorace non longiores ; arti- 
culus 1" longus, gracilis ; 2" cyathiformis ; 3° et 4"° minimi; 5" et 
sequentes mediocres, usque ad 10" curtantes ; clava conica, articulo 
10° multo longior : thorax ovatus, pilis albis hirtus : prothorax trans- 
versus, brevissimus: mesothoracis scutum longitudine latius ; para- 
psidum suture vix conspicue : metathorax brevis, declivis : petiolus 
brevissimus : abdomen longiovatum, viridi-zneum, nitens, leve, su- 
pra depressum, subtus carinatum, apice acuminatum, thorace paullo 
longius et angustius: pedes nigri, simplices, subzquales ; trochan- 
teres picei; genua fulva ; protarsi fulvi ; mesotarsi et metatarsi flavi, 
apice fusci: ale limpide, sat late; squamule pice; nervi pallide 
flavi; nervus humeralis ulnari multo longior, radialis ulnari brevior 
cubitali longior ; stigma fuscum, parvum. (Corp. long. lin. 1; alar. 
lin. 1$.) 


14. Pteromalus Eryx, mas. <Aler, abdomen cyaneum, discus cu- 
preus, pedes flavi, metatibie fusco cincte, ale limpide. 


Corpus sublineare, convexum, nigrum, obscurum, scitissime squa- 
meum, parce hirtum, subtus nigro-cyaneum: caput ademptum : 
thorax longiovatus, pilis albis hirtus: prothorax transversus, brevis- 
simus: mesothoracis scutum longitudine latius; parapsidum suture 
non bene determinate ; scutellum brevi-conicum: metathorax me- 
diocris, obconicus, declivis: petiolus brevissimus: abdomen sublineare, 
cyaneum, nitens, leve, depressum, thorace angustius non longius ;. 
discus cupreus: sexualia fulva: pedes pallide flavi, simplices, sub- 
equales ; coxe cyanez ; trochanteres picei ; metatibize fusco-cinctee ; 
protarsi fulvi: ale limpide; squamule pice; nervi pallide flavi ; 
nervus humeralis wari multo longior, radialis ulnari brevior cubi- 
tali longior ; stigma minutum. . (Corp. long. lin. 14; alar. lin, 24.) 


15. Pteromalus Hybreas, fem. <Aineo-ater, abdomen cupreum, an- 
tenne nigre, pedes fulvi, tarsi flavi, ale limpide. 


Corpus sublineare, eneo-atrum, convexum, parum nitens, scitis- 
sime squameum, pilis albis hirtum: caput transversum, breve, mag- 
num, thorace multo latius; vertex latus; frons impressa, abrupte 
declivis : oculi rufi, mediocres, non extantes : antenne nigra, graciles, 
extrorsum crassiores, thorace non breviores; articulus 1¥° longus, 
linearis ; 2" cyathiformis, piceus ; 3" et 4"° minimi ; 5"* et sequentes 


398 Bibliographical Notices. 


 mediocres, usque ad 10" paullatim curtantes; clava conica, acumi- 
nata, articulo 10° multo longior: thorax ovatus: prothorax trans- 
versus, brevissimus ; mesothoracis scutum longitudine latius; para- 
psidum suture vix conspicue ; scutellum brevi-obconicum : metatho- 
rax mediocris, obconicus, declivis; petiolus brevissimus: abdomen 
longiovatum, cupreum, nitens, leve, supra planum, subtus vix cari- 
natum, apice acuminatum, thorace paullo longius vix latius; seg- 
menta subzequalia: pedes fulvi, simplices, subeequales ; coxe nigree ; 
mesotarsi et metatarsi flavi, apice fusci: ale limpide; squamule 
fulve; nervi fulvi; nervus humeralis ulnari multo longior, radialis 
ulnari vix brevior cubitali multo longior; stigma minutum. (Corp. 
long. lin. 1; alar. lin. 3.) 


16. Pteromalus Eurypon, fem. Afer, abdomen cupreum, antenne 
picee, pedes fulvi, tarsi flavi, ale limpide. 


Corpus convexum, atrum, parum nitens, scitissime squameum, pilis 
albis hirtum: caput transversum, breve, magnum, thorace multo la- 
tius ; vertex latus; frons impressa, abrupte declivis: oculi rufi, me- 
diocres, non extantes : antenne pice, subclavatee, thorace longiores ; 
articulus 1" fulvus, longus, gracilis ; 24° cyathiformis ; 84° et 4"5 mi- 
nimi; 5"° et sequentes mediocres, usque ad 10"™ paullatim curtantes ; 
clava longiconica, acuminata, articulo 10° duplo longior: thorax 
ovatus: prothorax transversus, brevissimus: mesothoracis scutum 
longitudine latius; parapsidum suture vix conspicue; scutellum 
brevi-obconicum: metathorax mediocris, obconicus, declivis: pe- 
tiolus brevis : abdomen longiovatum, nitens, leve, cupreum, viridi et 
zneo-varium, supra depressum, subtus carinatum, apice acuminatum, 
thorace paullo longius et angustius: pedes fulvi, simplices, sub- 
eequales : coxe nigre ; mesotarsi et metatarsi flavi, apice obscuriores : 
alee limpide ; squamulee picee ; nervi fulvi; nervus humeralis ulnari 
multo longior, radialis ulnari paullo brevior cubitali longior ; stigma 
minutum. (Corp. long. lin. 14; alar. lin. 2.) 


[To be continued. } 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 


Flore de UV Algérie, ou Catalogue des Plantes indigenes du Royaume 
d’ Alger. Par G. Munsy: Paris, 1847. Pp. 120. Six plates. 


Tu1s account of the plants of French Africa is the work of a well- 
known English botanist who has settled in Algeria. It is a valuable 
contribution towards our knowledge of the flowering plants of the 
great Mediterranean province. Our acquaintance with the Algerine 
flora has hitherto been derived mainly from the admirable ‘ Flora Atlan- 
tica’ of Desfontaines, published in 1798. During 1842 and 1843 the 
botany of Algeria was explored by the Members of the Scientific 
Commission, under the late M. Bory St. Vincent, sent by the French 
Government. ‘The botanical researches were conducted chiefly by 
M. Durieu, and have not as yet been published. Mr. Munby has 


Bibliographical Notices. 399 


herborized this region, however, during a longer period—the interval 
between the spring of 1839 and the close of last year. The pro- 
vinces of Algiers and Oran have been the chief fields of his labours, 
and in those districts he has added no fewer than thirty genera and 
200 species (including ten entirely new) to the lists published by 
Desfontaines. Eighteen hundred species, exclusive of cultivated 
plants, are enumerated in this catalogue. They are arranged in Lin- 
nan order for convenience of reference to the ‘ Flora Atlantica.’ 
This is a defect, and renders the book not so convenient as it might 
be for a work of reference. 

The new species described by Mr. Munby are the following :— 
Orchis sagittata, Galium brunneum, Phlomis mauritanica, Melissa can- 
didissima, Genista barbara, Ononis spicata, Anthyllis bidentata, La- 
thyrus luteus, Hippocrepis minor and Cistus sericeus. ‘There are enu- 
merated also several unpublished or little-known plants, of which we 
may expect an account when the researches of the French commis- 
sion are published—as, Boucerosia Munbyana, Decaisne, Narcissus 
Clusii, Dunal, Arisarum aspergillum, Dunal, Biarum Borei, Decaisne, 
Anthemis piscinalis, Durieu, Medicago corrugata, Durieu, Cistus Clusii, 
Dunal, and Helianthemum pomeridianum, Dunal. 

Among the genera added to the Algerine flora are Epilobium, Agri« 
monia, Thalictrum, Cochlearia, Coronopus, Succowia, Morecandia, Sida, 
Leobordia, Androsemum (officinale), Podospermum and Geropogon. 
Among the more interesting species are Iris filifolia of Boissier ; Cte- 
nium elegans of Kunth, brought from the desert of Angad, whence 
also comes Ranunculus gramineus var. luzulefolius, and a beautiful 
Salvia identified by the author, probably incorrectly, with Salvia la- 
nata, Roxburgh, a Himalayan plant; Phlomis floccosa, Helianthemum 
caput felis, Lycium intricatum, Convolvulus tenuissimus and Rosa She- 
rardi. 

It is probable that Desfontaines was mistaken in the identification 
of many of his species, for we find in such genera as Ranunculus, 
Veronica, Medicago, Helianthemum, Cyperus and Carez, that many 
of the species marked by him as common have not been found by 
Mr. Munby, who found however allied species not mentioned by 
the French botanist. Thus Veronica Cymbalaria appears by Desfon- 
taines to have been enumerated as V. hederefolia, V. precoe as ar- 
vensis, Ranunculus ophioglossifolius as R. Flammula, Geranium aconi- 
tifolium as G. sylvaticum, and Bellis sylvestris as Doronicum bellidi- 
astrum. 

Among the plants enumerated by Mr. Munby is the Nitraria tri- 
dentata of Desfontaines, brought from the desert of Soussa near 
Tunis. He conjectures this to be the true Lotus-tree of the ancients. 
It is called Damouch by the Arabs, who are aware of the semi- 
intoxicating qualities of its berry, much more likely to give rise to 
the fame of the Lotus than the dry and unpleasant fruit of the Zizy- 

phus lotus, or that of the Celtis australis, to which the infatuating 
food of the Lotophagi has been in turn referred. The locality of the 
Nitraria would also agree well with the realm of the famous Lotus- 
tree. E. F. 


4.00 Bibliographical Notices. 


The Ancient World ; or Picturesque Sketches of Creation. By D. T. 
Awnstep, M.A., F.R.S. &c. Post 8vo, with 149 Ilustrations. 
_ Van Voorst. 


The grandeur of the phenomena with which geologists deal, and 
the abundant use they have made of the free scope for generalization 
afforded, have enabled them to take a firmer hold upon popular at- 
tention than any of their scientific brethren—the organic chemists 
of the last few years not excepted. ‘here is a greater breadth as it 
may be called about the nature of geological facts, and for the com- 
prehension of its more general principles, less application to minute 
detail is required, so that a large class of persons find interest in and 
opportunity of acquiring a certain amount of information as to the 
causes which have been at work in the production of the present 
structure of the earth they live on, who would not, in these busy 
times, think it worth while to inquire into the nature and habits of 
the animals and plants around them. 

The dependence however of Geology upon Paleontology has 
opened a new source of interest in the history of organic life, and the 
speculations which have arisen out of the investigations of the suc- 
cessive phases presented during the world’s existence by the animal 
and vegetable kingdoms, have within a recent period been ‘‘ com- 
mon talk,’ ’—with how much profit to the generality of apemneee we 
will not stop here to examine. 

Prof. Ansted has done a good service in affording to the unsci- 
entific public a record of the real facts of Paleontology, and an au- 
thoritative account of the extent to which generalization has as yet 
been safely carried ; and although his book may want some of the 
poetic richness which has embellished the imaginings of the ‘‘ deve- | 
lopment”’ theorists, we believe that the sincere and earnest exposi- 
tion of his subject will not be the less attractive. 

The vividness of some of his ‘‘ picturesque sketches,” in which he 
successively groups together the most striking features-of the various 
geologic periods, we may illustrate by an extract. Speaking of Eu- 
rope during the formation of the older tertiaries, he says :— 

“‘ The shores of the islands or of the tract of main land then existing 
were apparently low and swampy, rivers bringing down mud in what 
is now the south-east of England and the neighbourhood of Brussels, 
but extensive calcareous beds near Paris.. Deep inlets of the sea, 
estuaries and the shifting mouths of a river, were also affected by 
numerous alterations of level, not sufficient to destroy, but powerful 
enough to modify the animal and vegetable species then existing ; 
and these movements were continued for a long time. The seas 
were tenanted by sharks, gigantic rays, and many other fishes of warm 
latitudes, and abounded also with large carnivorous mollusca, capable 
of living either in fresh or brackish water. The shelving land was 
clothed with rich tropical vegetation to the water’s edge, presenting 
to view the palm and the cocoa-nut, besides many of those trees 
which now lend a charm to the Spice Islands of the Indian Seas. All 
these abounded also with indications of animal life. 


Zoological Society. : 401 


“ The large rivers were peopled with crocodiles; turtles and por- 
poises floated upon them ; and these tenants of the water, strange 
and varied as they were, and unlike the present inhabitants of the 
district, were not without resemblance to many species still met with 
on the earth. 

‘« The interior of the land, of which the surrounding waters were 
thus peopled, was no less remarkable, and exhibited appearances no 
less instructive. Troops of monkeys might be seen skipping lightly 
from branch to branch in the various trees, or heard mowing and 
chattering and howling in the deep recesses of the forest. Of the 
birds, some, clothed in plumage of almost tropical brilliancy, were 
busy in the forests, while others, such as the vulture, hovered over 
the spots where death had been busy. Gigantic serpents might have 
been seen insidiously watching their prey. Other serpents in gaudy 
dress were darting upon the smaller quadrupeds and birds, and in- 
sects glittered brightly in the sun. All these indications of life and 
activity existed, and that, too, not far distant from the spots on 
which are placed the two most important cities in the world. But 
this happened not only before our island was visited by its earliest 
human discoverer, but long before man had been introduced on the 
earth.” 

The illustrations of the work (which is gorgeously ‘‘ got up”) 
deserve much praise ; the absence of complicated detail renders their 
comprehension more easy by general readers. 

Altogether this is a welcome addition to a class of books which 
we hope to see increase, namely popular scientific works written by 
scientific men. 


PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
Feb. 23, 1847.— William Yarrell, Esq., Vice-President, in the Chair. 


DRAFTS FOR AN ARRANGEMENT OF THE T'ROCHILIDZ, WITH DESCRIP- 
TIONS OF SOME NEW SPECIES. By Joun Gouxp, F.R.S. . 


Genus Prerasopnora, G. R. Gray (Heliothryr, Boie; Ramphodon, 
Less. ; Colibri, Spix). 

This is one of the best-defined groups of the family, and is distin- 
guished by several peculiarities, the principal of which are the greatly 
developed ear-coverts and their blue colour, and the similarity in the 
colouring of the sexes, the females possessing all the brilliancy of 
the males and only distinguishable from them by their smaller size 
and more delicate contour : the young too assume the plumage of the 
adult: 

The oldest known species of this form constitutes the type; it is 
the 

Sp. 1. PerasopHora SERKIROSTRIS. 

Trochilus serrirostris, Vieill. Nouv. Dict. tom. vii. p. 359 ; 
aa Méth. part 2. p. 561; Ois. Dor. tom. iii, pl. 1. 
ined, 


402 Zoological Society. 


Ornismya petasophora, Less. Ois. Mon. pl. 1; Ib. Troc. 
pls. 12 & 59; Pr. Max. de Wied, sp. 10; Temm. 
Pl. Col. 208. fig. 3; Jard. Nat. Lib. vol. i. p. 120. 
pl. 18, male; vol. ii. p. 81. pl. 15, fem. 
Petusophora serrirostris, G. R. Gray, List of Gen. of 
Birds, 2nd edit. p. 17. 
Hab. Brazil. 


Sp. 2. PETasorpHora cYANOTUs. 

Trochilus cyanotus, Bourc. Rev. Zool. 18438, p..1; Ann. 
de Lyons, tom. vi. p. 41, but not the cyanotus stated 
by Lesson to be synonymous with Delphine. 

This species appears to be the representative in the Cordilleras of 
the P. serrirostris of the Brazils, from which it is at once distin- 
guished by the blue colouring of the ear-coverts. 

Hab. Bogota. 


Sp. 38. PeETAsoPHORA THALASSINA. , 
Trochilus thalassinus, Swains. Syn. Birds of Mexico, in 
Phil. Mag. June 1827, p. 441. 

Differs from the other members of the genus by being of a smaller 
size and by the greater extent of the blue on the cheeks and ear- 
coverts; it has also a slight wash of blue on the chin and centre of 
the abdomen. 

Hab. Mexico. 


Sp. 4. Perasopyora Anals. 

Ornismya Anais, Less. Col. Supp. pl. 3; Less. Troc. pls. 
55, 56,57; Rev. Zool. 1838, p. 315, 1839, p.19; 
Less. Velin, no. 11; Echo du Monde savante, 1843, 
no. 31. ined. pl. 11. 

Much confusion evidently exists with respect to this species, M. 
Lesson having figured one bird and described another with the same 
appellation; under these circumstances it will be to the advantage 
of science to retain the specific term Anais for the bird best known 
to ornithologists by that designation, the species so common in all 
collections from Bogota, the great Anais of the French, and which is 
a very fine species, distinguished by the existence of a well-defined 
band. of blue on the throat. The female is fully as bright as the 
male, but at least one-third smaller in size. 

Hab. Venezuela and all the Cordilleras in the neighbourhood of 
Bogota. 


Sp. 5. Perasornora 1oLora, sp. nov. Pet. capite, et corpore su- 
periore saturate viridibus ; mento, spatio suboculari, auribus, et 
medio abdomine intense, metallice, cyaneis ; corpore inferiore ni- 
tense viridi ; guld quasi tessellatd, quia media plume quam pogonie 
extreme obscurius nitent ; tectricibus caude inferioribus pallidis 
ad margines pallidioribus. 

Head and all the upper surface deep green, in some specimens 

tinged with gold; primaries and secondaries brown, tinged with 
purple; chin, space beneath the eye, ear-coverts and the centre of 


Zoological Society. 408 


the abdomen rich deep metallic blue; all the under surface rich deep 
glossy green, the throat presenting a tessellated appearance, occa- 
sioned by the reflection from the webs throwing a darker hue on the 
centre of each feather ; under tail-coverts pale, with lighter margins ; 
two centre tail-feathers golden green, the remainder steel or bluish 
shining green, crossed near the extremity by a broad band, which is 
dull black on the upper surface and shining steel-blue on the under ; 
bill and feet black. 

Total length, 5# inches; bill, 18; wing, 33; tail, 25. 

The female is similar to the male in plumage, but smaller in size. 

Nearly allied to the preceding, but larger and finer in every respect. 

Hab. Bolivia. 


Sp. 6. PerasoPpHORA CORUSCANS. 
Vide Proc. of Zool. Soc. Part 14. pp. 44 & 90. 


Sp. 7. Perasopnora Detruina. 
O. Delphine, Less. Rev. Zool. 1839, p.44; Echo du 
Monde savante, 1843, no. 31; Less. Ill. de Zool. 
tom. ii. 1832, pl. 64. 


Sp. 8. Prrasopnora? Grorrroyi. 
Trochilus Geoffroyi, Bourc. et Muls. Ann. de Lyons, 
tom. vi. p. 37. 
It will probably be necessary at some future period to make this 
the type of a new genus. 


The eight species enumerated above comprise every member of 
this beautiful genus with which I am acquainted; I possess, how- 
ever, some immature specimens which may be referable to a ninth 
species, in which case it will prove to be most nearly allied to P. ser- 
rirostris. 'They differ from that bird in having the two outer tail- 
feathers rather largely tipped with white, the lower part of the ab- 
domen greyish white, and in the ear-coverts being very diminutive. 
Although I have little doubt of their being distinct, I prefer seeing 
other specimens before characterizing them. | 


Genus OrEoTROCHILUS, n. g. 


Rostrum capite longius, subcylindricum, paulo incurvum. Alé sub- 
grandes valentes. Cauda magna, rotundata, rectricibus attenuatis, 
submucronatis, rigidis. Pedes fortes. Digitus et unguis postici 
digito et ungui mediis longitudine zquales. Tarsi plumis ves- 
titi. Gu/a luminosa infra torquata. 

Gen. Char.—Bill longer than the head, almost cylindrical, but 
slightly curved downwards; wings rather large and powerful; tail 
large and rounded, the feathers narrow, rather pointed and rigid ; 
feet strong, the hind-toe and nail about equal in length to the middle 
toe and nail; tarsi clothed with feathers. Throat luminous, bounded 
below by a distinct collar. 

I propose this term as a generic appellation for a section of the 
Trochilide, which has hitherto only been found immediately beneath 
the line of perpetual congelation, where they feed upon the insects 
which resort to the newly expanded flowers. The type is 


404, Zoological Society. 


Sp. 1. Orgorrocuitus Esrevra, 
Orthorhynchus Estella, D’Orb. Voy. Am. Birds, pl. 6. 
fig. 1; D’Orb. et La Fres. in Guerin’s Mag. de 
Zool. 1838, p. 31. 
O. Cecilie, Less. Rev. Zool. 1839, p. 43. 


Sp. 2. OREOTROCHILUS LEUCOPLEURUS, sp. nov. Oreot. capite, cor- 
pore superiore, alisque, olivaceo-fuscis, griseo tinctis ; tectricibus 
caude@ superioribus sordidé eneo-viridibus ; rectricibus duabus in- 
termedtis viridibus, eneo splendentibus; rectricibus lateralibus 
sordidé albis, apicibus et marginibus exterioribus fuscis ; guld lu- 
minose viridi, fascid semilunari holosericd atré infra ornatd ; 
medio abdomine lateribusque nigris ; mediis sed lateribus et pec- 
tore albis. 

Head, all the upper surface and wings greyish olive-brown, passing 
into dull coppery green on the upper tail-coverts; two centre tail- 
feathers green, with bronze reflections; lateral tail-feathers dull 
white, margined externally and tipped, dull brown gradually blend- 
ing into the white ; throat rich luminous grass-green, bounded below 
by a crescentic band of deep velvety black ; breast and centre of the 
flanks pure white; the remainder of the flanks and centre of the 
abdomen bluish black ; feet dark olive-brown’; bill black. 

Total length, 43 inches; bill, 1; wing, 34; tail, 23. 

This species is nearly allied to the preceding, but differs from it 
in being somewhat smaller and in having the centre of the abdomen 
black instead of chestnut. 

Hab. The Chilian Cordilleras. 


Sp. 3. Orzotrocuitus CHIMBORAZO. | 
T’. Chimborazo, Bourc. in Rey. Zool. Sept. 1846, p.305. 


Sp. 4. Orzorrocuitus ADELA. 
Orthorhynchus Adela, D’Orb. Voy. Am. Birds, pl. 61. 
fig. 2; D’Orb. et La Fres. Mag. de Zool. 1839. 


Sp. 5. OREOTROCHILUS MELANOGASTER, Sp. nov. Oreot. omni cor- 
pore supertore olivaceo-fusco aureo nitente, tectricibus caud@ su- 
perioribus viridi lavatis ; alis griseo-fuscis purpureo splendentibus ; 
guld fulgente viridi, pectore et abdomine intense cyaneo-atris. 

All the upper surface olive-brown, with a golden lustre, and 
washed with green on the upper tail-coverts; wings greyish brown, 
with purple reflections ; throat rich lustrous grass-green ; breast and 
abdomen rich deep bluish black ; flanks rusty brown ; tail green, with 
bronze reflections; bill black; feet olive-black. 

Total length, 5 inches; bill, 1; wing, 34; tail, 24. 

Hab. unknown. 

This fine species is in the collection of Mr. John Leadbeater, to 
whom I am indebted for the loan of it for the purpose of describing. 


Mr. Gould then described a fourth new species of Humming Bird, 
belonging to the genus Calothoraz, as 

Trocaitus (Catornorax) Cauuiore. Cal. corpore superiore 

viridi; alis cauddque griseo-fuscis ; gule plumis elongatis, atte- 


Zoological Society. 405 


nuatis, coccineis, basibus albis in forma stelle ordinatis ; pectore, 
abdomine medio, tectricibusque caude inferioribus, albis ; lateribus 
cervino-albis. 

Upper surface green; wings and tail greyish brown ; feathers of 
the throat elongated, narrow, and of a rich pinky scarlet, with white 
bases arranged in a starred form ; breast, centre of the abdomen and 
under tail-coverts white; flanks buffy white ; bill and feet blackish 
brown. 

Total length, 24 inches; bill, 4; wing, 1}; tail, 1. 

This is a very diminutive species, much smaller than the C. cya- 
nopogon, but of precisely the same form. 

Hab. Mexico; precise locality unknown. 


The Secretary, on the part of Dr. Falconer, exhibited the lower 
end of the left tibia of a gigantic fossil Struthious Bird from the Se- 
walik Hills. This interesting remain indicates a very close generic 
representation of the existing African Struthio in the extinct fauna 
of Asia. Although not altogether unexpected, this is a valuable addi- 
tion to the facts previously demonstrated in relation to the genera 
Camelopardalis, Camelus, Elephas, and Hippopotamus. 


March 9.—William Yarrell, Esq., Vice-President, in the Chair. 
The following communications were read :— 


1. Norr on tHE Rep CorpuscuEs oF THE BLoop or THE MEMINNA 
Deer (Moschus Meminna, Erx|.). By Gzorce Guiiiver, F.R.S. 


After I had made known the curious minuteness of the red cor- 
puscles of the blood of that little ruminant the Napu Musk Deer, 
it was to be expected that these corpuscles would present the same 
character in the rest of the genus. Accordingly, I some time ago 
found this to be the case in the Stanley Musk Deer ; and it appears, 
from an examination which I have lately made of the blood-cor- 
puscles of the Meminna Deer, that these are not distinguishable in 
size from those of the Napu Musk Deer. 

__ The following measurements of the red corpuscles of the blood of 
the Meminna Deer exactly agree with the measurements of the cor- 
responding corpuscles of the Napu Musk Deer. ‘They are, as usual, 
given in vulgar fractions of an English inch :— 

13400 | Common sizes 

12000 : 

16000 Small size. 

9600 Large size. 


12325 Average of all the above sizes. 

So minute are these corpuscles, that vast numbers of them measure 
no more over the flat surface of the disc than the edge or thickness 
of the red corpuscle of human blood, the average of which appears 
from my measurements to be ;5};,th of an inch. 

The size of the blood-corpuscles in the ruminants affords a good 
illustration of the law, which I have elsewhere deduced from very 
numerous measurements, that in the smallest species of a natural order 
or family of mammals the blood-discs are much more minute than in 


406 Zoological Society. 


the largest species of that family; while in the entire class of Birds, 
the law as to the size of the blood-corpuscles is the same as in a 
single order of mammals. 

Therefore, when that eminent inquirer Hewson states that these 
corpuscles are not larger in the largest animals, citing in support of 
his argument the Ox and Mouse, it must be understood as applicable 
only to mammals of different orders. Among the rodents which I 
have examined, the great species, as the Capybara and the Beaver, 
have much larger blood-corpuscles than the smallest species, as the 
Bank Vole and the Harvest Mouse. 


2. CHARACTERS OF Six NEw GENERA OF BATS NOT HITHERTO DISTIN- 
euisHED. By J. E. Gray, Esa., F.R.S. ere. 


The first four genera belong to the tribe of Phyllostomina, or Nose- 
leafed Bats. 


1. Mrmon, 


Ch. gen.—Membrana interfemoralis magna, truncata. Ale late, 
margine anteriore lato, a summo talo extenso. Pedes elongati. 
Crura nuda. Cauda mediocris, inclusa ; apice superiore, mediano. 
Aures laterales, magne. Mentum tuberculo parvo utrinque sig- 
natum; tuberculis stria angusta divisis. Poller longus, attenu- 
atus; articulis equalibus. Dentes incisores 4; duo medii superiores 
magni; inferiores parvi, stipati. 

Ch. gen.—Interfemoral membrane large, truncated. Wings broad, 
with a broad front margin from the upper part of the ankle. Feet 
elongated. Legs bald. ‘Tail moderate, enclosed; apex superior, 
medial. Ears lateral, large. Chin with a small tubercle on each 
side, separated by a narrow groove. ‘Thumb long, slender; joints 
equal. Cutting teeth 4; two middle upper large; lower small and 
crowded, 

In the collection at the British Museum there are two species of 
this genus, viz. 1. M. Bennettii = Phyllostoma Bennettii, Gray, Mag. 
Zool. and Bot. vol. ii. p. 6; and 2. M. megalotis = Phyllophora mega- 
lotis, Gray, Ann. and Mag. N. H. 1842, p. 257; Voy, Sulphur, t. v. 
fig. 2. 


2. TrRacuoprs. 


Ch. gen.—Membrana interfemoralis magna, truncata. Ale a summo 
talo extensee. Pedes osse calcis elongato insignes. Crura nuda. 
Cauda mediocris, inclusa; apice superiore, mediano. Aures per- 
magne, laterales. Mentum et labia verrucosa, stria levis angusta 
in medio mento. Dentes incisores 4; medii superiores magni, lati, 
incisi; inferiores irregulariter ordinati. 

Ch. gen.—Interfemoral membrane large, truncated. Wings from 
the upper part of the ankles. Feet with the heel-bone elongate. Legs 
bald. ‘Tail moderate, enclosed; apex superior, medial. * Ears very 
large, lateral. Chin and lips covered with warts ; chin with a narrow 
smooth groove in front. Cutting teeth 4; middle upper large, broad, 
notched; lower in an irregular series. 


Type, 7. fuliginosus. 


Zoological Society. 407 


This species is characterized by its sooty-black colour. My son- 
in-law, Mr. J.P. G. Smith, collected it at Pernambuco, and sent two 
females to the Brit. Mus. | 

Vampyris cirrhosum, Spix, Vesp. Braz. t. xxvi. f. 3, evidently be- 
longs to the same genus, if indeed it is distinct from the species above 
noticed, He describes his specimen as chestnut. It is to he ob- 
served that his figure is only one-third of the natural size of the 
animal he described, although it is not noticed on the plate, 


3. AMETRIDA. 


Ch. gen.—Membrana interfemoralis sublata, truncata. Ale a digi- 
torum basi extense. Crura nuda. Caput rotundum, rostrum per- 
breve, depressum, latum; frons rotundata. Mentum triangulari 
tuberculorum mole scabrum. Pollex elongatus, articulo superiore 
longo, attenuato, inferiore brevi. Dentes incisores 4; superiores 
medii, elongati, conici, acuti; inferiores laterales, parvi, incisi. 
Ch. gen.—Interfemoral membrane rather broad, truncated. Wings 

from the base of the toes. Legs bald. Feet small. Tail none. 

Head round ; muzzle very short, depressed, broad ; forehead rounded. 

Ears moderate, lateral. Chin with a triangular group of tubercles 

in front. Thumb elongated, the upper joint long, slender; the lower 

short. Cutting teeth 4; the upper middle elongated, conical, acute ; 
lateral and lower small, notched. 

A, centurio, Epauletted Ametrida. ; 
Ch. sp.—Sooty-brown ; forehead, chin, and a spot on each shoulder 
at the base of the wing white. Heel-bone one-third the length of 
the shin. Arm-bones 11 lines. Ears moderate, rounded at the end, 
rather arched out at the sides. ‘Tragus moderate, denticulate at the 

tip and outer side. Nose-leaf ovate, lanceolate. 

Hab. Brazils, Para. Collected by Mr. J. P. G. Smith. 


4, Nicon. 


Ch. gen.—Membrana interfemoralis distincta, brevis, angulariter inse- 
cata. Ale ab summo talo tense. Pedes elongati, liberi. Os calcis 
brevis. Cauda perbrevis, inclusa, in media membrana interfemo- 
rali superior. Mentum stria tuberculis parvis marginata insigne. 
Pollex elongatus; articulo superiore attenuato, inferiore incluso. 
Denies incisores 4; duo medii superiores largiores, truncati; infe- 
riores seriatim fornicati. 

Ch, gen,—Interfemoral membrane distinct, short, angularly cut 
out. Wings from the upper part of the ankle. Feet elongate, free. 
Heel-bone short. ‘Tail very short, enclosed, superior in the middle 
of the interfemoral. Ears lateral. Chin with a groove in front, 
edged with small tubercles. Thumb elongate; upper joint thin, 
longest ; lower enclosed. Cutting teeth 4; two middle upper larger, 
truncate; lower in an arched continuous series. 

N. caudifer, Leach’s Nicon = Glossophaga caudifer, Geoff. Mem. 
Mus. iv. 418. t. 17 = Monophyllus Leachit, Gray, Zool. Sulph. 18. 

Hab, Central America, 


408 Zoological Society. 


The two following belong to the tribe of Horse-shoe Bats, Rhino- 
lophina :— 

5. AQUIAS. 

Ch. gen.—Prosthema permagnum, complicatum, parte posteriore lan- 
ceolaté erecta, tribus magnis cellis utrinque; processus centralis 
compressus margine anteriore lato, expanso, foliaceo, lobato, me- 
dio basi convexo; ferrum equinum anterius magnum simplex ex- 
pansum, centro inciso, setosum; labium inferius duabus verrucis 
triangularibus in medio notatum. Mamme in pube distinct. Ale 
a digitorum basi. 

Nose-leaf very large, complicated; hinder part lanceolate, erect, 
with three large cells on each side in front; central process com- 
pressed, with an expanded broad foliaceous lobed front margin, and 
with a convexity in the front of its base edge, formed by a diverging 
ring on each side in front. The front horse-shoe large, simple, ex- 
panded, nicked in the centre, very-hairy ; lower lip with two trian- 
gular warts in the centre. Pubal teats distinct. Wings from the 
base of the toes. 

This genus may be divided into two sections :— 

1. The interfemoral acutely produced; tail as long as the shin 
and foot. _Rhinolophus luctus, Temm. 

2. Interfemoral truncate; tail as long as shin. R. trifoliatus, 
Temm. 

We have a specimen in spirit in the Brit. Mus., which differs from 
Temminck’s description of RA. luctus in several particulars, but these 
differences may arise from his description having been taken from a 
dry specimen. 

6. RHINONICTERIS. 

Ch. gen.—Prosthema breve, erectum, cella utrinque, et alter anteriore 
in medio basi; processus centralis compressus, anterius planus; 
ferrum equinum emarginatum, concavum ; inter nares culmen fim- 
briatum. Aures magne. Ale atalo. Dentes incisores 4 incisi; 
superiores distincti; labium inferius triangulari tuberculorum mole 
scabrum. 

Nose-leaf short, conical, erect, with a cell on each side and one 
in the centre of the front of its base; the central process compressed, 
flattened in front, and without any pit beneath; the horseshoe 
deeply nicked, concave, with a longitudinal anterior fringed ridge, 
ending in a pit behind, between the nostrils, and with a ridge over 
the nostrils on each side. Ears large, separate. Tragus none. Pubes 
Wings from the ankle. Cutting teeth 4, notched; upper 
distinct ; lower lip with a triangular group of small warts in front. 

Type, Rh. aurantius = Rhinolophus aurantius, Gray; Eyre’s Cen- 
tral Australia, i. 406. t.1. fig. 1. 

Hab. Port Essington. 


3. DRarrs FOR AN ARRANGEMENT OF THE TROCHILIDAZ OR HumMING- 
Birps. By J. Govtp, Esa., F.R.S. (conrinvEp.) 


Genus Erropvs. 
Gen. char.—Bill straight, moderately long; tail slightly forked ; 


Zoological Society. 409 


tarsi thickly clothed with downy feathers, forming a thick ruff round 
the leg. 

Sexes nearly alike in colour, 

Type, E. vestita. 

I beg to propose the above generic appellation for a section of this 
family, comprising those species distinguished by the extraordinary 
ruffs of downy feathers with which their tarsi are clothed, and by the 
sexes being nearly alike in the colour of their plumage. All the 
species known frequent the mountain districts of the Cordillerian 
Andes or the valleys immediately beneath them. 

I possess five species of this form, and I have seen two others 
in the collection of Mr. Loddiges, which I believe to be equally 
typical. 

Sp. 1. Erropus vestitus. 

Ornismya vestita, Gouy de Longuemare; Less. in Rev. 
Zool. 1838, p. 314; Boiss. Rev. Zool. 1839, p. 18, 
1840, p.8; Mag. de Zool. pl. ? 

T. uropygialis, Fras. Proc. of Zool. Soc. 1840, p. 15. 

O. glomata, Less. Echo du monde savant, young? 


Sp. 2. Erropus cUuPREOVENTRIS. 
Trochilus cupreoventris, Fras. in Proc. of Zool. Soc. 1840, 
p- 14. 
Ornismya maniculata, Less. Echo du monde savant. 
Ornismya vestita?, Gouy de Long. Rev. Zool. 1838, 
p- 314. 
Ornismya glomata, Less. Echo du monde savant, young? 


Sp. 3. Errtorus Aine. 

Ornismya Aline, Bourc. Rev. Zool. 1842, p. 373; Ann. de 

Lyons, tom. v. 1842, p. 344. pl. xix. 

Sp. 4. Ertopus mMosquERA. 

T. mosquera, Bourc. et Delatt. Rev. Zool. 1846, p. 306. 
Sp. 5. Errorus Dersyt. 

T. Derbyi, Bourc. et Delatt. Rev. Zool. 1846, p. 306. 
‘This group forms part of M. Lesson’s Race Vestipedes, the genera 

comprised in which have not as yet I believe been defined. 


4, Aw account or Patoto, A Sra Worm EATEN IN THE NAVIGATOR 
Istanps. By tue Rev. J. B. Svar, wirH A DESCRIPTION BY 
J. E. Gray, Esa., F.R.S. ere. 

The Rev. J. B. Stair kindly presented numerous specimens of this 
Sea Worm to the British Museum, but unfortunately most of the 
specimens are broken into short pieces, and as yet I have not been 
able to discover any specimen with a head. It appears to be a new 
genus allied to Arenicola, which may be thus described :— 


Patoua, Gray. 
Body cylindrical, separated into equal joints, each joint with a 
small tuft of three or four spicula on the middle of each side. Head 


? Last joint ending in a couple of tentacles. Eggs globular. 
Ann, & Mag. N, Hist, Vol, xix. 29 


410 Zoological Society. 


Palola viridis, n. s. 

Green, with a row of round black spots down the middle of the 
dorsal ? surface ; one spot on the middle of each joint. 

Hab. Navigator Islands. 

I have found accompanying this worm a single specimen of a green 
Nereis, which differs from it in being paler green above and whitish 
beneath, shorter, more depressed, and furnished with white tentacles. 

The following is the account which Mr. Stair kindly communi. 
cated to me with the specimen from Samoa :— 

«« Palolo.—Palolo is the native name for a species of Sea Worm 
which is found in some parts of Samoa (the Navigator Islands) in the 
South Pacific Ocean. They come regularly in the months of October 
and November, during portions of two days in each month, viz. the 
day before and the day on which the moon is in her last quarter, 

‘They appear in much greater numbers on the second than on 
the first day of their rising, and are only observed for two or three 
hours in the early part of each morning of their appearance. At the 
first dawn of day they may be felt by the hand swimming on the 
surface of the water ; and as the day advances their numbers increase, 
so that by the time the sun has risen, thousands may be observed in 
a very small space, sporting merrily during their short visit to the 
surface of the ocean. On the second day they appear at the same 
time and in a similar manner, but in such countless myriads that 
the surface of the ocean is covered with them for a considerable ex- 
tent. On each day, after sporting for an hour or two, they disap- 
pear until the next season, and not one is ever observed during the 
intervening time. Sometimes, when plentiful at one island in one 
month, scarcely any are observed the next; but they always appear 
with great regularity at the times mentioned, and these are the only 
times at which they are observed throughout the whole year. They 
are found only in certain parts of the islands, generally near the 
openings of the reefs on portions of the coast on which much fresh 
water is found, but this is not always the case. 

‘* In size they may be compared to a very fine straw, and are of 
various colours and lengths, green, brown, white and speckled, and 
in appearance and mode of swimming resemble very small snakes. 

«They are exceedingly brittle, and if broken into many pieces, 
each piece swims off as though it were an entire worm. No par- 
ticular direction appeared to be taken by them in swimming. I ob- 
served carefully to see whether they came from seaward or rose from 
the reef, and feel assured they come from the latter place. 

“The natives are exceedingly fond of them, and calculate with 
great exactness the time of their appearance, which is looked for- 
ward to with great interest. The worms are caught in small bas- 
kets, beautifully made, and when taken on shore are tied up in leaves 
in small bundles, and baked. Great quantities are eaten undressed, 
but either dressed or undressed are esteemed a great delicacy. Such 
is the desire to eat Palolo by all classes, that immediately the fishing 
parties reach the shore, messengers are despatched in all directions 
with large quantities to parts of the-island on which none appear. 

 Joun B, Stair.” 


Zoological Society. 411 


5. Norges on certTaAIn Mouuuscous Animaus. By Arnruur ApAms, 
Ese., R.N., Assistant Surgeon To H.M.S. Samarane. 


The following notices refer to the animals that construct the shells 
of Pyrula, Calpurnus, Radius, Terebellum, Rostellaria, Eulima, Stilifer 
and some others, which I believe have not before been described, 
though the shells have long been known. ‘The drawings were made 
from the living mollusks on the spot. 

The genus Bullina of Risso or Cylindrella of Swainson has an ex- 
ternal subcylindrical shell covered with a thin reddish-brown epi- 
dermis. The mantle is enclosed ; the foot elongate, linear, truncated, 
and with three conical tubercles behind. The cephalic disc is sub- 
trigonal, broad, rounded in front, and produced behind on each side 
into a flat tapering process, with the eyes on the outer side of its 
base. ‘They crawl very slowly, moving by an almost imperceptible 
series of undulations of the foot. Dredged in fifteen fathoms, be- 
tween Borneo and Billiton. Mr. Gray informs me that M. Lovén 
has recently described the animal of a northern species of this genus 
under the generic name of Cylichna. 

The animal of Akera, Miller, Vitrella of Swainson, or the Bulla 
resiliens, is pale brown, with the foot very much expanded, narrower 
and rounded in front, broad and truncated behind, and with the sides 
sometimes bentup. The head-disc is elongated, rather broader, and 
slightly notched in front, but narrower and linear behind. Eyes 
none. The shell is perfectly external, and there is a fimbriated edge 
projecting through the slit in the spire. From Unsang, Borneo. 

This animal agrees with Lovén’s description of the northern spe- 
cies. Miiller figures the animal of Akera bullata, a northern species 
of this genus, in the ‘ Zoologia Danica’; and M. Loven in his re- 
cent work has observed, that Miiller’s species emits through the slit 
in the back of the whorls a series of elongated slender beards, which 
are appended to the mantle’s edge. 

The mollusk that constructs the shell of Bulla smaragdina would 
appear to form the type of a new genus. The shell is naked above. 
The foot moderate, rounded before and behind; the side-edges re- 
flexed and covering the sides of the shell. The head-disc is five. 
sided, rather broader on each side in front, flattish above with two 
small tubercles in front of the central eyes, and narrower and nicked 
behind. It is amphibious, though entirely marine, crawling slowly 
on rocks immediately above the ripple of the sea. The eyes are black 
and sessile; the tentacula short and anterior to the eyes. The ani- 
mal is dark olive-green, with the margin of the foot and mantle of a 
light colour, and mottled and speckled. Cagiani Islands and Disaster 
Island near Japan. 

In Calpurnus of De Montfort the mantle adheres to the sides, but 
does not cover the shell. It is dead-white and covered with round 
black spots. The foot is large, thin, flat, expanded, and marked like 
the mantle. The tentacula are tapering with a broad black band 
near their extremities. The eyes are large and black, and are placed 

29% 


A\2 Zoological Society. 


at the outer base of the tentacles. The longest slope and narrowest 
end is the forepart of the shell. 

Taken alive at the southern extremity of Mindoro, not far from 
Ylin: in shallow water and on a sandy bottom. 

In Radius or Ovulum Volva the mantle is covered with nipple- 
shaped tubercles, the nipples and areolee of which are dark-coloured. 
The tubercles extend to the extremities of the beaks of the shell. 
The foot is moderate and folded longitudinally. The tentacles are 
elongate and subulate. Dredged in five fathoms from a rocky coral 
bottom on the shores of Basilan. 

The Radius is slow and languid in its movements, sliding along 
deliberately, and not more sensible to alarm than Cyprea or Cal- 

urnus. 

f In the genus Pyrula, Lamk. (Ficula of Swainson), the siphon is 
elongate, subcylindrical, and produced in front. ‘The head slender ; 
the tentacles subulate, on the side of the extremity of the head, and 
separate from one another at their bases. Eyes sessile on the outer 
side of the base of the tentacles. The mantle is produced on each 
side into a rounded lobe equally reflexed on each side of the shell. 
The foot is very large and expanded; rounded in front, and rather 
produced on each side of the anterior margin, and expanded and 
broad with a small central point behind. There is no operculum. 
The head is marbled with light violet and the tentacles white. Six 
white opake spots are arranged round the upper surface of the edge 
of the foot. ‘There is another very beautiful species of Ficula with 
a pink mantle, mottled with white and deeper pink, the under sur- 
face of the foot dark chocolate-colour with sparse yellow spots. The 
first-mentioned species is from the west coast of Borneo, from seven- 
teen fathoms, muddy bottom, and the latter from thirty-five fathoms 
in the sea of Mindoro. 

Mr. Gray has observed that Lamarck established his genus Pyrula 
on this species, Bulla ficus, Linn., therefore the generic name should 
be retained for this form of animals, which he regards as an inter- 
mediate link between Muricide and Cypreide. 

The animals of Ancillaria crawl with a sliding motion and with 
considerable celerity. ‘The specimens we found on the east coast of 
Africa were of a dirty white colour with dull brown blotches. When 
alarmed, the entire animal is retracted within the shell. 

The genus Marginella has an elongated slender tapering siphon, 
with the tentacles also elongate and slender, bearing the eyes at 
their outer side just above the base. ‘The foot is large, broad, trun- 
cated in front, rather acute behind, and extends beyond the shell on 
all sides. ‘The mantle is thickened, and reflexed partly over the en- 
tire circumference of the shell. The animal, when roughly handled, 
retracted itself entirely into the shell. Dredged up in three fathoms 
water, sandy bottom, not far from Anger in Java. 

A second species from the east coast of Africa is similar to the 
former, but the foot is rather more expanded and more rounded be- 
hind. The left side of the mantle is rather more produced over the 


Zoological. Society. 413 


back of the shell than the right. The end of the tentacula and 
siphon in this species is yellow and the basal part streaked with car- 
mine. The foot and mantle are semi-transparent flesh-colour, streaked 
with deep carmine. 

These Marginelle are quicker and more lively in their movements 
than Cyprea, crawling pretty briskly and moving their tentacles in 
various directions. 

The head of Hulima is small; the tentacles are subulate, close to- 
gether at the base, rather thicker at that part, and slender beyond. 
The eyes are placed on the back of the head behind the base of the 
tentacles. The foot is rather expanded, rounded and somewhat pro- 
duced on each side in front, and rounded in behind. Operculum 
ovate, subspiral. ‘The animal is entirely opake pearly white. The 
eyes black and generally concealed under the front of the shell. 
Tentacles yellow at the tip, orange in the middle, and white at the 
base. 

Mr. Gray states that he places this genus with the family Pyrami- 
dellide in his arrangement, and it chiefly differs from Pyramidella in 
having no plaits on the pillar-lip. Itis a slow and excessively timid 
animal. From eight fathoms water; Philippines. 

The tentacula of the more elongated species of Melania are subu- 
late, close together at the base, with the eyes on short peduncles on 
the outer side of the base. The trunk is oblong, expanded and an- 
nulated, with a central cylindrical groove. The foot is expanded, 
rather produced and acute behind, with the operculum on the front 
of the upper surface. Operculum orbicular and many-whorled. They 
are generally found partially buried in the ooze formed by decayed - 
vegetable matter where weeds abound, and where the water is verging 
towards stagnation. 

The animal of Turritel/a is rather small for the size of the aperture 
of the shell; the head is small and oblong; the tentacula short and 
subulate, with the eyes on the middle of their outer side. The foot 
is moderate and slightly notched in front. Operculum orbicular, 
horny, many-whorled, with an epidermic fimbriated margin. 

This mollusk is very shy and sensitive, retiring quickly within its 
shell on the slightest alarm. It is slow-moving and inactive. 

The tentacula of Pleurotoma are subulate and close together at 
the base, and the eyes are near the outer side of the tip, which latter 
tapers off beyond them. They generally inhabit pretty deep water 
and crawl tolerably fast. 

Fusus, Lam., has an elongated subcylindrical siphon, with subulate 
tentacles close together at the base, and becoming more slender be- 
yond the eyes. Eyes placed rather above the middle of the outer 
side. Foot moderate. Operculum annular, oblong. 

The Cerithium truncatum has a broad suborbicular and expanded 
foot, and an elongated subcylindrical annulated trunk. The tenta- 
cula are short with the eyes at the tip. It is found generally in 
brackish water in mangrove swamps and the mouths of rivers. Some- 
times they crawl on the stones and leaves in the neighbourhood, and 
sometimes they are found suspended by glutinous threads to boughs 


41 4 Zoological Society. 


and the roots of the mangroves. Mr. Gray (vide Proc. Z. 8. 1883, 
p. 112) states he has found the Rissoa similarly suspended. From 
the swamps of Singapore and banks of rivers in Borneo. 

The animals of Quoyia are amphibious like Conovuli, being found 
in the shallow water at the roots of the mangroves or adhering to 
stones not far inland, but exposed to the sun. They are fond of 
those little bays where the water is shallow and the ripple gentle. 

In Phorus the separation from the foot is by a large space pro- 
duced into a subcylindrical annulated trunk. The tentacles are 
tapering and elongate, with the eyes sessile on the outside of their 
base. The foot is small and divided into two parts, the front rather 
expanded, the hind part small and tapering, carrying a large oper- 
culum. Operculum ovate, subannular? Penis elongate fusiform 
from the right side, rather below the base of the tentacula, These 
animals are small for the size of the mouth of the shell, and have 
much the general appearance of the animal of Strombus, like which 
they appear to walk, but their eyes are sessile. In colour they are 
dull opake white, the proboscis pinkish and the eyes black. They 
crawl like a tortoise by lifting and throwing forward the shell with 
the tentacles stretched out, the proboscis bent down and the oper- 
culum trailing behind. They are numerous in the Javan and China 
seas, preferring deep water, and a bottom composed of detritus of 
dead shells and sand mixed with mud. 

This genus has been generally placed with the Trochi, and some 
have proposed to remove it to near Calyptrea ; but Mr. Gray, in his 
systematic arrangement of the genera of mollusca published in the 
Synopsis to the British Museum (1840), p. 119, formed for this 
genus a peculiar family under the name of Phoride, having observed 
that the animal, though a Phytophagous mollusk, had the annular 
operculum of the zoophagous division. 

The animal of Terebellum has an annulated elongate proboscis 
with a central groove. The eyes are un the end of long cylindrical 
peduncles, one placed on each side of the base of the trunk and un- 
equal in length and origin. The body is thick and short; the foot 
ovate, broad, rounded in front and tapering behind. Operculum tri- 
angular, small, and serrated on the outer side with a great part free. 
This genus is on the confines of the family of Strombide, where 
Mr. Gray first proposed to place it (see Synopsis, British Museum, 
1841, p. 84, and 1842, pp. 52 and 89), for it agrees with the animal 
of that group in having the eyes placed at the ends of elongated pe- 
duncles, and in having the operculum triangular and serrated on the 
outer edge; but it differs from them in having no tentacula arising 
from the upper part of the peduncle beneath the eyes, and in having 
a thicker body and a broader and flatter foot. 

One specimen, from which I made a sketch, was taken in the 
Javan sea, the other is from the Caramata Passage. 

The animal is exceedingly shy and timid, retracting its body into 
the shell on the slightest alarm. It will remain stationary for along 
time, moving its tentacula about cautiously in every direction, when 
suddenly it will roll over its shell and continue again perfectly quiet. 


Zoological Society. 415 


With regard to Kostellaria rectirostris, or more properly recti- 
rostrata, | have a few words to say before I conclude this somewhat 
desultory communication. 

The animal of this genus is exactly like that of Strombus. The 
body is subcylindrical, marbled with rich brown on the outer side, 
and white on the inner and front side, The trunk is subcylindrical, 
and annulated with a central broad line of deep bronze-black. The 
margins yellow with a narrow vermilion line externally. The eyes 
are on long cylindrical peduncles, of a deep blue with a black pupil. 
The tentacula are subulate, elongate, arising from the peduncle rather 
below the eye. The foot is narrow, rather dilated in front and small 
behind. The operculum is ovate, triangular, annular, semi-transpa- 
rent and horny. Living in black muddy sand in oe nate and a 
half fathoms water. The specimen I figured was dredged on the 
coast of Borneo. : 

Rostellaria has all the habits of the Strombide, progressing by 
means of its powerful and elastic foot, which it places under the shell 
in a bent position, when suddenly by a muscular effort it straightens 
that organ and rolls and leaps over and over. It is however far more 
timid and suspicious than Strombus, which has a bold disposition. 

The animal of the genus S/ilifer, which I found living on the body 
of a starfish (Asterias) on the coast of Borneo, had two elongate 
subulate tentacles, with the eyes sessile near the outer side of their 
base, anda small rounded head. The mantle is entirely enclosed and 
covered by the thin shell, and the foot is narrow, slender, very much 
produced beyond the head in front and scarcely extended at all be- 
hind. 

The animal of this genus was described and figured in Mr, Sower- 
by’s ‘ Genera of Shells’ from a specimen in spirits brought home by 
Mr, Cuming, where the fleshy part enveloping the shell in its con- 
tracted state was considered as the mantle. 

Mr. Gray, in the Synopsis before referred to (ed. 1842, p. 60), 
from the examination of these figures, placed the genus in the family 
of Naticide, and observes that ‘‘ what has been called the enlarged 
mantle appears like the foot ;” and the above description of the ani- 
mal shows the accuracy of Mr. Gray’s conclusion, both as to the 
proper nature of the fleshy part and the position of the genus in the 
system. 

In the shallow pools left by the receding tide on the shore of 
Koo-Kian-San, one of the Maiacoshima group of islands, I discovered 
a large species of Doridide, which appears to be the type of a new 
genus, differing from all the other genera of the family in having the 
vent, and the gills which are extruded from it, situated beneath the 
edge of the mantle, which latter is extended beyond the circum- 
ference of the foot, while in all the other genera, as far as I am aware 
of, the vent and gills are situated on the mantle itself. This genus 
may be called Hyrpoprancuima*, 


* vmod (sub), Boayxiea (branchiis predita). The specific name might be “ de- 
pressa,” from its flattened appearance. 


416 | Zoological Society. 


Ch. gen.—Brachiis ano circumdatis, sub posteriore pallii margine 
positis. Pallio lato, ultra pedem extenso; duobus tentaculis cla- 
viformibus ; corpore depresso. 


The animal (Hypobranchieéa fusca) was of a sandy colour, the cen- 
tral disc deeper, with oblong blotches of a dark brown colour. In 
length about six inches, and in breadth two and a half. The under 
surface was light chocolate-colour, and the tentacula reddish brown. 
It crawled upon its flattened ventral disc in a slow and languid man- 
ner, and when detached and thrown into deeper water floated some 
time by undulating the free thin edges of the mantle, and gradually 
sunk to the bottom. 


6. DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW SPECIES OF SHELLS COLLECTED IN THE 
EASTERN ARCHIPELAGO By Capt. Sir Epwarp BELCHER AND 
Mr. ADAMS DURING THE VoyaGE or H.M.S. Samarane. By 
Lovety Reeve, F.L.S. 


Cuiton corganicus. Chit. testd ovatd, elevatiusculd, valvis ter- 
minalibus ceterarum areisque lateralibus radiatim sulcatis, inter- 
stitiis convexis peculiariter granatis, granis prominentibus, rotun- 
datis, solitariis, valvd terminali posticd umbonatd, extremitate 
radiatd parvd, brevi; areis centralibus longitudinaliter tenuissimé 
granato-liratis, lirarum interstitiis excavatis ; areis lateralibus 
nigricante-viridibus, granis lutescentibus, areis centralibus lutes- 
centibus nigro varié maculatis et variegatis ; ligamento tenuiter 
granoso-coriaceo, nigricante-viridi et virescente concinne tessellato. 

Long. 14 poll. ; lat. 1 poll. 

Hab. Korean Archipelago, under stones. 

The sculpture of this species is not much unlike that of the C. lu- 
ridus ; still it is distinct, and accompanied with a very characteristic 
style of painting. The central areas of the shell are of a yellowish 
ground, blotched and variegated with black. The terminal and 
lateral areas are very dark green, with the prominent granules con- 
spicuously tinged here and there with yellow. In addition to these 
peculiarities, the ligament is strikingly tessellated with dark and pale 
sea-green. 


Cuiton Futicinatus. Chit. testd oblongd, valde elevatd, valvis ter- 
minalibus ceterarum areisque lateralibus subirregulariter concen- 
tricé striatis, prope marginem incisis, areis centralibus levibus, sub 
lente minutissimé reticulatis ; sordide albd, nigro plus minusve 
sparsim fuliginatd ; ligamento corneo, angusto, fusco. 

Long. 4 poll. ; lat. 55 poll. 

Hab. Korean Archipelago. 

The terminal and lateral areas, the latter of which are so slightly 
raised as to be nearly on a plane with the rest of the shell, are stri- 
ated concentrically, the striz next the margin being somewhat deeply 
engraved. Of numerous specimens collected at the above-mentioned 
islands, all are of an uniform dull white, more or less sparingly be- 
sooted with black. 


Zoological Society. 417 


Curron acutirostratus. Chit. testd elongatd, medio elevatd, late- 
raliter subcompressd, valvis summitate obtuso-carinatis, levibus, 
utringue creberrime planigranatis, umbonibus productis, acute ros- 
tratis, valvarum areis lateralibus parvis, subindistinctis, concavis ; 
albidd, summitate nigro hic illic inquinatd; ligamento corneo, 
spicularum cristd parvd ad latus utriusque valve munito. 

Long. 1} poll. ; lat. 3 poll. 

Hab. Cape Rivers. 

An elongated species, of somewhat angularly compressed growth, 
remarkably distinguished by the sharply beaked structure of the 
umbones; the flatly-grained sculpture of the valves approaches that 
of C. hirudiniformis, to which it offers a singular contrast of colour. 


Cuiron petasus. Chit. testd parvd, subabbreviato-ovatd, valvis 
medio ared trigond subrostratd politd, utrinque rugoso-granatis ; 
vivide coccined ; ligamento latissimo, precipue antice, quoque vi- 
vide coccineo, setis pilisve brevibus hic illic obsito. 

Long. | poll. ; lat. 2 poll. 

Hab. Cape Rivers. 

A beautiful little bright scarlet shell enframed within a broad 
swollen ligament of the same very striking colour; in the form of 
the ligament it is the nearest approach I have seen to that remark- 
able species the C. Blainvillii. 


Curtron rormosus. Chit. testd oblongd, subangustd, valvis un- 
dique subtilissimé longitudinaliter striatis ; vivide coccined ; liga- 
mento corneo, spiculis vitreis nitidée albis densé obsito, spicularum 
cristd densd erectd ad latus utriusque valve. 

Long. } poll. ; lat. =% poll. 

Hab. Cape Rivers. 

A most exquisite little species of a bright scarlet colour, surrounded 

with dense tufts of white shining glassy spicule. Of this and the 
two preceding species only a single specimen of each was obtained. 


Carpium Becurr. Card. tesid subcordato-ovatd, medio et anticeé 
levigatd, striis minutis superficiariis radiantibus et concentricis 
sub lente decussatd, epidermide tenut corned nitente in funiculis 
fibrisve concentricis creberrimé dispositd ; ared posticd, epidermide 
nulld, radiatim costatd, costis tenuibus, confertis, quinque et viginti 
ad triginta, spinis brevibus compressis densissime seriatim ornatis ; 
undigue pulcherrimeé rosed, intus alba. 

Alt. 2 poll.; lat. 14 poll. 

Hab. Sooloo Seas and Korean Archipelago. 

I have much pleasure in dedicating this species, at the desire of 
Capt. Sir Edward Belcher, to Sir Henry De la Beche, Director of 
the Ordnance Survey and President of the Geological Society. It 
forms a most interesting addition to the genus Cardium, and is with- 
out exception the most striking and distinct from any hitherto known 
that can well be imagined. In colour it is of a pure rose tint, with 
the following singular contrast of character. The middle and ante. 
rior portion of the shell is smooth, presenting a peculiar soft velvety 


418 Zoological Society. 


appearance, the effect of its being minutely decussated with concen- 
tric and radiating strie, and covered with an exquisite thin shining 
horny epidermis, disposed in fine concentric cords, abruptly termi- 
nating at the posterior area. T'he posterior portion, accordingly de- 
stitute of epidermis, is very thickly rayed with ribs of short com- 
pressed spines, as if the delicately clad surface of the shell had been 
thus far ploughed up, as it were, into furrows. 

Only two odd valves of this pre-eminently beautiful shell were ob- 
tained, and, singularly, in localities very remote from each other; 
one-was dredged at the depth of forty fathoms in the Sooloo Seas, be- 
tween the islands of Borneo and Mindanao ; the other in the Yellow 
Sea, thirty degrees north, at one of the islands of the Korean Archi- 


pelago. 


March 23.—William Yarrell, Esq., Vice-President, in the Chair. 


The following communications were read :— 


1. Nore on THE BREEDING OF THE OTTER IN CONFINEMENT IN THE 
ZooLoegicaL GarpENS, Reeent’s Park, 1n 1846. By James 
Hunt, Heap KEEPER. 


The female Otter was presented to the Society by Lady Rolle on 
the 4th of February 1840, being apparently at that time about three 
months old. She remained without a male till the 11th of March 
1846, when a large male was presented to the Society by the Rev. 
P. M. Brunwin, of Braintree, Essex, in whose possession it had been 
for some months, and had been kept in a cellar. His weight when 
first taken was 21 lbs., but he was not above half that weight when 
he arrived at the Gardens, having wasted much in confinement and .- 
become very weak in the loins, from which he soon recovered after 
his arrival. About a month after his.arrival there was a continual 
chattering between him and the female during the night, which lasted 
for four or five nights; but they did not appear to be quarrelling. 
Nothing further was observed in their manners or in the appearance 
of the female to make me think she was with young, until the morn- 
ing of the 13th of August, when the keeper that has the charge of 
them went to give them a fresh bed, which he does once a week ; 
while in the act of pulling out the old bed he observed two young 
ones, apparently five or six days old, and about the size of a full- 
grown rat: he immediately put back the bed, with the young on it, 
and left them. On the 21st the mother removed them to the second 
sleeping-den, at the other end of their enclosure, and several times 
after she was observed to remove them from one end of the house to 
the other, by pushing them before her on a little straw; her object in 
removing them appeared to be to let them have a dry bed: on the 
9th of September they were first seen out of the house; they did not 
go into the water, but crawled about, and appeared very feeble. 

On the 26th of September they were first seen to eat fish, and 
follow the mother into the water: they did not dive into the water 
like the mother, but went into it like a dog, with their head above 
water; and it was not until the middle of October that they were 


Zoological Society. 419 


observed to plunge into the water like the old ones. On the 22nd 
of December the water was let out of the pond for the purpose of 
cleaning it, which is done once a week: the animals were shut up 
in their sleeping-den, but they let themselves out when the pond was 
but half-full of water, and the young ones got into it and were not 
able to get out without assistance ; after they had been in the water 
some minutes the mother appeared very anxious to get them out, 
and made several attempts to reach them from the side of the pond 
where she was standing; but this she was not able to do, as they 
were not within her reach. After making several attempts in this 
manner without success, she plunged into the water to them, and 
began to play with one of them for a short time, and put her head 
close to its ears, as if she was making it understand what she meant ; 
the next moment she made a spring out of the pond, with the young 
one holding on by the fur at the root of the tail with its teeth, 
having safely landed it, she got the other out in the same manner: 
this she did several times during a quarter of an hour, as the young 
ones kept going into the water as fast as she got them out. Some- 
times the young held on by the fur at her sides, at others by that at 
the tail. As soon as there was sufficient water for her to reach 
them from the side of the pond, she took hold of them by the ears 
with her mouth and drew them out of the pond, and led them round 
the pond close to the fence, and kept chattering to them, as if she 
was telling them not to go into the pond again. 


2. NorTes IN ADDITION To FORMER (Zool. Proc. 1843, p. 108, and 
1846, p.9) Parers on Sourm American OrniTHOLOGY. By 
T. Bripees, Ese., Corr. Memes, 


The beautiful species of Hudromia mentioned in my letter to Mr. 
Waterhouse (Proc. for 1846, p. 9) proved to be the bird characterized 
by Mr. Vigors under the name of Tinamotis Pentlandii (Proc. 1836, 
p. 79). On September 15, 1845, I found three couple in the pass 
of Tapaquilcha, between the town of Calama and the city of Potosi : 
they were close to the snow, at an altitude of about 14,000 feet, with 
the Pepoaze, skulking among the isolated stones which not unfre- 
quently occur in grassy places in the valleys of the main chain of the 
Andes. When they rise they utter a shrill and loud whistle, and fly 
a mile perhaps, getting up rapidly and shooting off in a horizontal 
direction. 

About twenty miles further on the road I stopped at a post-house, 
and there the natives brought a fresh-laid egg, which they said was 
the egg of this species. There could be no doubt about it, as I was 
engaged at the time in skinning one of the three specimens we had 
obtained, It was light green, larger than a lapwing’s, and very ob- 
tuse at each end. It had none of that polished texture which is so 
characteristic in the Tinamous. I regret that it was accidentally 
broken. 

Although I sought for this bird in many similar situations through- 
out Bolivia, I never again succeeded in finding it. 


420 Zoological Society. 


Tinamotis elegans ; Eudromia elegans, D’Orb. & Geoff. Mag. de Zool: 

1832, t. 1. 

I met with this species on the eastern side of the Andes—I be- 
lieve it never occurs on the Chilian side—in the vicinity of the city 
of Mendoza, in the Argentine Republic. It has an immense range 
over the grassy plains at the base of the Andes which run southward 
to Patagonia. I believe it generally is found in pairs; at least the 
only two I ever saw alive were together. My men informed me that 
it is abundant on the Pampas, near the forts of San Raphael and San 
Carlos, between 33° and 34° south lat.* The young bird presents 
no difference in plumage from the adults, having even the crest well- 
developed: it seems therefore to form an exception to the generally 
received rule, that where the parent birds have the same plumage 
the young is different from either. 

The Indians have a singular method of taking this bird. Having 
attached a noose to the end of a cane four or five yards long, they 
walk round and round in gradually contracting circles, until they are 
near enough to slip the noose over its head, and then, with a sudden 
jerk, they strangle it. 


Attagis Gayti, Geoff. et Lesson, Cent. Zool. t. 47. 

I believe the Chilian and Bolivian species are identical. I found 
the bird on the same day as Tinamotis Pentlandii, inhabiting the 
margins of frozen brooks near the post-house of Tapaquilcha. The 
Indians there know it as the Puco-puco, from its call-note. Like 
Thinocorus D’ Orbignianus, these birds evince great attachment to 
each other, and call immediately if separated. At that season they 
were in pairs and breeding, but I did not obtain the egg. 


Diglossa carbonaria, D’Orb. & De Lafres. 
Diglossa sittoides, D’Orb. et De Lafr. 

Birds of this genus are found in the temperate region, where the 
thickets commence, at an altitude of from 8000 to 10,000 feet. I 
found these species among bushes of Salvia and Eupatorium, on the 
slopes which fall into the valley of Cochabamba, and most abundantly 
at a place called Ticquepaya. ‘They have precisely the habits of 
flycatchers. D. carbonaria I have watched often, sitting motionless 
on the highest twig of a bush until he discovered a passing insect, 
on which he descended, and then returned to his post. I may men- 
tion that the vicinity of Cochabamba was the only district in which 
these two species occurred to me. 


Diglossa mystacalis, De Lafr.; Diglossa mystacea, G. R. Gray in 

Gen. of Birds, pl. 42. 

Lives entirely in the thickets, hopping from bough to bough, as if 
in pursuit of insects. I have often seen this species insert its bill 
into a scarlet and purple flower allied to the Arbutus, but whether 
for the purpose of capturing insects or of extracting honey I was not 
able to ascertain. Its habitat is the Yungas of La Paz. 


* The specimens now in the British Museum were obtained from this locality, 
as well as those of Rhea Darwinii. 


Zoological Society. 421 


I believe that the specimen described by M. le Baron De Lafres- 
naye was from my collection. 


Colaptes rupicola, D’Orb., is a Bolivian species, entirely terrestrial. 
I found it on the elevated table-land called'the Punas, which form 
the departments of Potosi, Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, La Paz, and 
Oruro. They are occasionally intersected by valleys and isolated 
mountains, but the unbroken plains are sometimes several leagues in 
extent. You find C. rupicola at an altitude of 12,000 to 14,000 feet, 
and generally in the grass, where it feeds. On being disturbed it 
takes an undulating flight towards some rock, on which it settles, for 
this country is entirely destitute of trees. It most frequently occurs 
in little companies of five or six. 

Another species of Colaptes, which frequents the warm plains of 
Moxas, near the town of Trinidad, not unfrequently resorts to the 
trees which there grow in forest patches, and in this particular it 
resembles C. chilensis. 


The genus Dendrocolaptes, as far as I have had opportunities of 
observing their habits, exactly resemble the woodpeckers, ascending 
the trees and searching the bark in a similar manner, and even sup- 
porting themselves by the tail. In the plains between the Indian 
town of Loretto and Trinidad, about long. 62°, I found a beautiful 
instance of the modification of form to a particular end; in the ap- 
parently singular species 


D. procurvus, D’ Orb. & De Lafr. 


As far as my experience goes, it only occurs in the open palm- 
groves which crown the undulating elevations which here and there 
rise up above the ordinary level of this district. In them I found a 
palm called Mutacu, with foliage like the date-palm. The short 
peduncles of the fallen leaves afford shelter to numerous coleoptera, 
and they grow from the trunk in a curve exactly similar to that which 
characterizes the bill of this species, so that as he runs up the trunk 
he is able to search all these lurking-places to the very bottom, al- 
though their form renders them impregnable to every other assailant. 

In the dense forests, where this particular palm is never to be found, 


I observed an abundance of the other species, but D. procurvus not 
once. 


3. Drarrs FOR A NEW ARRANGEMENT OF THE TrRocHILIDZ. By 
Joun Gouxp, F.R.S. (continvep From p. 409.) 

The Ornism. Sappho of Lesson, and a nearly-allied species which 

I shall describe in the present paper, appear to differ in so many 

characters from all the genera of this family hitherto instituted, that 


I propose to place them in a distinct genus or subgenus, under the 
name of Comerss, with the following characters :— 


ComETES, nov. gen. 
Char. gen.—Rostrum capite longius, cylindraceum, decurvatum. 
Cauda valdé furcata, plumis latis, truncatis. Tarsi nudi. Pedes 


moderati. Digitus et unguis postici digito et ungue mediis bre- 
viores, 


422 Zoological Society. 


Gen. char.—Bill longer than the head, cylindrical, and curving 
downwards; tail much-forked, feathers broad and truncate; tarsi 
bare; feet moderately large; hind-toe and claw shorter than the 
middle toe and claw. 


1. Comerrses Sarpno. Ornism. Sappho, Less., Ois. Mouch. t. 27, 
28. 

2. Comertes Paaon, sp. nov. Com. (Mas) capite, collo, alarum 
tectricibus, et corpore inferiore, brunni-viridibus ; dorso, caude 
tectricibus, cauddque, intense fulgente coccineis; rectricibus ad 
basin nigro-fuscis, ad apicem holosericis atris; alis fuscis pur- 
purascentibus ; guld luminose metallicé viridi. 

Male.—Head, neck, wing-coverts and under surface brownish 
green; back, upper tail-coverts and tail rich deep lustrous crimson ; 
bases of the tail-feathers blackish brown ; the tips deep velvety black ; 
wings purplish brown; throat rich lustrous metallic green. 

Female.—Tail of the same crimson colour as that of the male; she © 
also possesses the lengthened and curved bill. 

Total length, 7 inches; bill, 13; wing, 22; tail, 4. 

This fine species is a native of Peru, and differs from the Sappho, 
which inhabits Bolivia, in having the tail rich crimson instead of 
flame-colour, and in having a much longer and more curved bill. 
The two specimens exhibited, which are male and female, have been 
kindly lent me, for the purpose of describing, by the Earl of Derby. 


April 13.—William Yarrell, Esq., Vice-President, in the Chair. 
The following communication was read :— 


DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF FULIQGULA. 
By A. D. Barruerr, 


Fuuieuza rertnoipes. Fulig. ferinoides fuligule ferine similis, 
sed magnitudine minori, colore saturatiori, alis speculo albo con- 
spicue notatis, oculis stramineis, trached pauld longiore et angus- 
tiore, et sterno multo minore, diversd; emarginationes tamen sterni 
ejus tis ferine sterni magnitudine equales. 

Paget's Pochard. Adult male: Upper part of head, neck and 
cheeks reddish chestnut, tinged with purple ; a small triangular spot 
of white at the commencement of the feathers under the bill; chin, 
throat, lower part of neck and breast black, darkest on the breast ; 
back, scapulars, flank and side-feathers finely freckled with trans- 
verse lines of black on a greyish-white ground; greater wing-coverts 
and primaries greyish-black, the latter darkest at the tips; seconda- 
ries white, forming the speculum; tips of the feathers black, edged 
with white; rump, tail, upper and under tail-coverts brownish black ; 
belly mottled, the tips of the feathers being white, the remaining 
portion brownish; bill and legs bluish slate; the tip of the former 
and the webs and claws of the latter black ; the eyes straw-colour. 
The young birds differ in having the head, neck and breast of a 
lighter and brighter chestnut-red (becoming darker as the bird ad- 
vances to maturity) ; the under tail-coverts greyish-white. 


Zoological Society. 423 


Entire length, 174 inches; wing, from carpal joint, 73; bill, from 
forehead, 13; middle toe and claw, 24 inches. 

I have proposed the above specific name for this bird, as it appears 
more closely allied to our common Pochard than to any other species. 
I have called it, at Mr. Fisher’s suggestion, Paget’s Pochard, after 
the late E. J. Paget, Esq., of Great Yarmouth, a gentleman well- 
known-as a zealous and accomplished naturalist, and one of the au- 
thors of the ‘ Sketch of the Natural History of Great Yarmouth and 
its Neighbourhood,’ near which place the first authenticated British 
specimen was obtained. 

Remarks.—This bird may be readily distinguished from the com- 
mon Pochard (which it most resembles) by its smaller size, darker 
colouring, the conspicuous white speculum on the wing, and the colour 
of the eyes. The female is unknown to me, but I presume it will 
much resemble the female of the Pochard, and will doubtless possess 
the white speculum on the wings. 

The trachea of F. ferinoides differs from that of F. ferina in being 
rather longer and narrower, the tube being much narrower at the 
upper part, gradually enlarging towards the middle, where it is 
largest, and contracting gradually towards the end, which is its 
smallest part: the labyrinth is smaller in front, but much wider and 
differently formed on the left side; the enlargement at the bottom 
of the tympanum is also greater than that of the corresponding part 
in F. ferina: although the sternum is much smaller, the emargina-: 
tions are quite equal in size to these parts in ferina. ; 

_ With reference to the supposition that these birds are hybrids, I 
beg to remark, that I have paid some attention to the subject of hy- 
brids, and have compiled a list of the different species of Water Fowl 
(as far as I have been able to collect) which have produced hybrids, 
On referring to this list it will be seen that nineteen different kinds 
are mentioned ; five of these are referable to the Common Goose, and 
five of them to the Common Duck; the remaining nine kinds are re- 
ferable to species commonly kept, and which breed freely in a state 
of captivity. I am unable to find one instance of any species of the 
genus Fuligula (which includes no less than 15 species) having under 
any circumstances crossed. These birds are most difficult to breed 
in a state of captivity; I have known several pairs of the Common 
Pochard (Fuligula ferina) kept for years in places well-suited for 
breeding (where many wild species and one of this genus annually 
breed), yet these birds showed no inclination to breed, although they 
were perfectly healthy, and assumed the breeding dress at the proper 
season. As these birds have the power of suppressing and checking 
their desires when not in a perfect state of nature, I cannot imagine 
or think it probable that they would associate and breed, in a state 
of nature, with species distinct from themselves, possessing as they 
do the power of travelling over the globe if necessary to find a mate 
of its own species. Again, the fact of three specimens having been 
obtained at distant periods, agreeing in internal as well as external 
characters, is I think sufficient to prevent any one entertaining such 
an opinion. 


~ 


4.24, Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 
List of Hybrids. 


Hooper Swan. 
Chinese Goose. 

Common Goose............ < Canada Goose. 
Bernacle Goose. 
White-fronted Goose. 
Chinese Goose. 

1 Springs Goose. 
Common Duck. 
Chinese Goose. 
Bernacle Goose. 


Egyptian Goose............ 


Canada Goose .......... 


Bean Ga0ee: «.. o:6.a< eben --  Pink-footed Goose. 
White-fronted Goose ...... Bernacle Goose. 
(Muscovy Duck. 
Shelldrake. 
Common Duck ...........- < Pintail Duck. 
Wigeon. 
| Egyptian Goose. 
Shoveller ........ seiseeece. Garganey Teal. 
agit: UREN ere rear nr er Wigeon. 


BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH. 


April 8, 1847.—Dr. Greville, President, in the Chair. 


The following communications were read :— 

1. ‘‘ Description of an East Indian Palm, Areca triandra of Rox- 
burgh,” by Dr. Balfour. The plant has recently flowered in the Bo- 
tanic Garden; and cut specimens of the spadix, spatha and leaves, 
with a drawing and dissections of the flowers, were exhibited. 

2. “ Notes of a botanical trip to the Isle of Wight, in August and 
September 1846, with remarks on the geographical distribution of 
the British Flora,” by Dr. Balfour. After giving a general de- 
scription of the geological features of those parts of the island which 
he had visited, Dr. Balfour enumerated some of the rarer plants 
found by him near Yarmouth, the Needles, Ventnor, Ryde, and New- 
port : among these were some of the rarer species of Rubi, Calamintha 
sylvatica, Cyperus longus, Matthiola incana, Orobanche barbata, Inula 
Helenium, Spartina stricta, Dianthus prolifer, Melumpyrum arvense ; 
remarkable specimens of Campanula glomerata, about an inch high ; 
Agrostis setacea, Calamagrostis lanceolata, Tamariz anglica, Hieracium 
inuloides, &c. &c. Dr. Balfour next alluded to the nature of the 
plants found in the island in a geographical point of view, as be- 
longing to Professor E. Forbes’s Devon Flora and Norman Type ; and 
illustrated his remarks by a set of specimens, so arranged as to show 
at one view the various Floras of Great Britain and Ireland. 

Dr. Balfour afterwards read extracts from a letter from Mr. N. B. 
Ward of London, giving a short account of the successful mode in 
which he has been cultivating the rarer ferns, J ungermannie, and 
mosses in his plant-cases. 


Miscellaneous. 425 


MISCELLANEOUS. 
OCCURRENCE OF SERTULARIA ELONGATA, LAMOUROUX. 
To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History. 


Exeter. 
GenTLEMEN,—I have much pleasure in recording the occurrence on 
the British coast of the beautiful Sertularia elongata of Lamouroux, 
the S. lycopodium of Lamarck. A fine specimen of it has come into 
-my hands, which was obtained by a lady, along with a number of 
sea-weeds, on the south-east or south coast of England. 

Dr. Johnston informs me that the Sertularia elongata is mentioned 
by Lamouroux as an English species, but as he does not state on 
what authority, the author of the ‘ History of British Zoophytes’ 
has not included it in his admirable work. 

This zoophyte, which is an exceedingly pretty one, may be at 
once distinguished from all our native species of Sertularia by the 
six long spines which arm the wide aperture of each cell. It is an 
interesting addition to our fauna. 

I remain, Gentlemen, yours, &c., 
Tuos. Hincxs. 


Description of two new genera of Shells. By Dr. Putuiprr. 


In Reeve’s ‘ Conchologia Iconica’ we find under Mitra, No. 80, a 
dorsal view of a shell which Reeve states he found in Swainson’s 
collection of species of Mitra with the name Conohelix edentula at- 
tached to it, but that it is decidedly a Conus. No description of this 
species however is given in Reeve’s monograph of Conus. I had the 
good fortune to obtain this specimen last autumn by purchase, and 
am fully convinced that it belongs neither to Mitra nor to Conus, 
but must form a distinct genus which I have called Dibaphus, which 
will indicate its two colours, and at the same time call to mind its 
having been named twice. It may be briefly characterized as fol- 
lows :— 
Dibaphus, Ph., n. gen. Ctenobranchiorum. 

Testa spiralis, subcylindrica, in spiram acutam terminata; apertura 
angusta, linearis, edentula, basi excisa; columella basi recurva ; 
labrum incrassatum, rectilineum, basi rotundatum et abbreviatum ; 
labium nvullum ; superficies epidermide (tenui ?) vestita. Animal... 

The second new genus, which I propose to call Amphichena, may be 
characterized as follows :— 


Amphichena, Ph., n. gen. 

Testa bivalvis, zequivalvis, subequilateralis, utrinque hians, oblongo- 
linearis; apices parvi, parum promimuli; cardo in valva sinistra 
dentibus duobus, in valva dextra dentibus tribus constans ; liga- 
mentum externum, nymph parum conspicuz ; impressiones mus- 
culares duze; sinus palliaris profundus ; margo internus antice cre- 
natus, crassior. Animal... 


Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Vol. xix. 30 


426 Miscellaneous. 


Species unica : : 
Amphichena Kindermanni, Ph. 


Hab. litus Oceani Pacifici ad oppidum Mexicanum Mazatlan. 
I obtained this remarkable shell from M. Kindermann in Valpa- 
raiso.— Wiegmann’s Archiv, Part I. 1847. 


INFUSORIAL DEPOSIT AT DOLGELLY, NORTH WALES. 
To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History. 


Lancaster, May 12, 1847. 
GenTLEMEn,—It may interest some of your readers to learn that 

an infusorial earth has been found near Dolgelly in North Wales. 
This substance appears to have attracted the notice of some gen- 
tlemen engaged in the Geological Survey, who transmitted it to 
London for chemical analysis. A small portion came into my hands, 
and the microscope showed that it consisted almost exclusively of 
siliceous infusoria more or less perfect*. I am informed that this 
earth can be procured, in considerable quantity if desirable, on ap- 
plication either to Mr. James Price, Goat, or to Mr. James Jones, 

Saddler, Dolgelly. I am, Gentlemen, yours very truly, 

_ CurisToPpHER JOHNSON. 


A Sketch of the Geology of Teras. By Dr. Fervinanp Ramer. 


During the four months which I have already passed in Texas, 
my time has been employed in the study of its geological relations : 
and although my knowledge of the country is yet incomplete and 
mostly confined to the western section of the territory, I may hope 
that the following sketch of what I have seen, considering the little 
that is known, will prove of interest to your readers, and afford a 
basis for further investigations. 

It is not a very encouraging fact to the geologist in Texas, that 
only there, where civilization ceases and the wilderness commences, 
the geological relations of the country begin to be interesting. The 
line which separates the settled part of the country from the hunting 
grounds of the Indians, is almost exactly identical with that which 
divides the more modern diluvial and alluvial deposits from the se- 
condary formations. The three points, lying in the same straight line, 
San Antonio di Bexar, New Braunfels, (the German settlement on 
the Guadaloupe,) and Austin, are alike the extreme frontier parts of 
Western Texas, and the limit of the cretaceous deposits of the upper 
country towards the south-east. In the few observations which I have 
to make, I shall therefore separate the particulars relating to the 
lower country from those bearing upon the secondary formations in 
the section of country lying beyond the just-mentioned line. 

The route by which I reached the north-western section of the 
country, leading through Houston, San Felipe, Austin, Columbus 


_ * From an examination of a sample kindly forwarded by our correspond- 

ent, we can most fully confirm his statement. It abounds in forms of Ba- 

cillaria, Navicula, Gaillonella, &c.; and contains some remarkably beau- 
_tiful and peculiar annular forms,—W. F. 


Miscellaneous. 427 


on the Colorado, Gonzales and Seguin, is nearly devoid of any geo- 
logical interest ; you see no solid rock in place through the whole di- 
stance, excepting irregular layers of a coarse calcareous sandstone of 
very modern origin, exposed on the steep banks of some of the rivers. 
The surface is elsewhere a thick diluvium of loose materials consisting 
either of a fertile vegetable mould, or of rounded pieces of hydrate of 
iron, as over the barren section between San Felipe and Columbus, 
or of sand and gravel, as near Gonzales and elsewhere. 

The gravel and sand are of some interest on account of the abun- 
dance of fossil wood which they contain at many different places. I 
saw numerous localities of it between San Felipe on the Brazos and 
Gonzales, and in the valley of the Colorado between La Grange and 
Austin. This petrified wood is often found in large pieces, and it is 
said that occasionally whole trunks of trees are met with, which 
however I have not myself seen. The fossilization of the wood is 
generally imperfect, the silex into which it has been turned showing 
most minutely the original structure. Most of the wood is dicoty- 
ledonous ; but not having the leisure or the necessary books of refer- 
ence, I have not made out the species. . I have only observed that in 
some of the wood the fibres are extremely close, and the whole struc- 
ture very compact, exceeding any tree in the existing flora of Texas. 

As the gravel and sand in which most of this fossil wood occurs 
is generally covered by post oak timber, which alone grows on a soil 
of such sterility, it is a common belief among the farmers of the 
country that the fossil wood was derived from similar vak-trees of 
earlier growth in the same region. But this is evidently a mistake, 
as the fragments bear distinct marks of having been rolled and trans- 
ported by water; and the question arises as to the geclogical forma- 
tion in which this wood was originally deposited and petrified. The 
gravel where it occurs consists chiefly of rounded pebbles of silex, 
mostly of a reddish colour, and of a similar appearance to the silex of 
the cretaceous formation in the upper country. This might lead to 
the supposition, that the wood as well as the pebbles derive their ori- 
gin from cretaceous strata. But it is an objection to this view, that 
no remains of dicotyledonous plants (the Coniferee and Cycadez ex- 
cluded) have hitherto been found in strata older than the tertiary 
deposits, excepting the leaves of Credneria in the greensand of Ger- 
many ; and moreover, the fossil wood becomes scarce as you approach 
the hilly country where the cretaceous strata are in place. We 
may hope that the doubt will be removed by an examination of the 
eastern section of the country, where the fossil wood is said to be 
still more abundant, and where according to Kennedy*, between the 
Trinity and Nueces rivers, great numbers of petrified trees lie im- 
bedded in the soil. 

The thickness of the diluvial beds diminishes when you approach the 
cretaceous deposits; and when you are near the above-mentioned line 
the cretaceous strata begin to show themselves in the deep ravines and 
gullies; but they do not appear at the surface until you pass that line, 


* Texas, vol.i. p. 119. 
| 30* 


428 : Miscellaneous. 


At the same time the topographical character of the country entirely 
changes. Instead of the low undulations of the prairies, hills of con- 
siderable height with sharply defined outline, and but a short distance 
beyond, real mountain ranges show themselves to the north, mark- 
ing the limit between the rolling and mountainous region of Texas. 

The place where I first met with a cretaceous deposit was at New 
Braunfels, exactly where the old Precidio road from San Antonio to 
Nacogdoches crosses the Guadaloupe. Here in the bed of the river 
a white limestone is exposed which looks very similar to the ‘“ chalk 
marl” of England, and to the “ planerkalk”’ of Saxony. It is white, 
rather compact, in some beds more marly, and occasionally it con- 
tains green particles of silicate of iron. ‘The stratification is per- 
fectly horizontal. Some of the strata abound in fossils. The most 
common species is a small Ostrea, similar to Ostrea vesicularis, 
Lamk., but never growing as large, and generally not being more than 
one inch in diameter. Next to it comes alarge species of Exogyra, 
analogous in form to Exogyra costata, Say, but having concentric 
laminz instead of the oblique folds of that species. It certainly is the 
largest species of the genus, as some specimens of it are more than 
nine inches in length. Equally common with this Exogyra, there 
are two species of Inoceramus, one of them being similar to the Jno- 
ceramus Cuvieri, Sowerby, and the other to the Inoceramus Cripsii, 
Mantell. The Pecten quadricostatus is also abundant in some beds, 
a characteristic fossil, widely spread in cretaceous deposits. Of the 
large family of the Brachiopoda, I saw but a few specimens of Te- 
rebraiula gracilis. The family of the Cephalcpoda is not better repre- 
sented. I saw two species of Ammonite, one of them of the section 
which the Ammonites varians belongs to, and a Nautilus, which cer- 
tainly is nearly allied to the common Nautilus simplex, if not iden- 
tical with it. In one stratum which is only about five inches thick, 
sharks’ teeth of the genus Lamna and other genera abound. 

The same limestone ranges very far on both sides of the Guadaloupe, 
and everywhere parallel to the chain of high hills or mountains which 
separate the Indian country from the settled part of Texas, On one 
side I have followed it as far as Austin on the Colorado. The hills, 
on the slopes of which this city is so handsomely situated, consist 
of limestone with the same mineralogical and organic characters as 
that on the Guadaloupe. Among the fossils I found here a large 
Ammonite similar to the Ammonites Rhotomagensis, Sowerby. Near 
Austin also a single specimen of the Exogyra costata, Say, was met 
with. It seems that this species among the fossils of the North 
American cretaceous formation has the widest range. Besides its 
most abundant occurrence in the cretaceous marl of New Jersey and 
at some places in the Southern States, it is mentioned by Feather- 
stonhaugh * to be frequent at different localities in the State of 
Arkansas. 

From several facts I have obtained, it is certain that the same 
limestone extends beyond Austin much farther to the north-east. On 
the other side of the Guadaloupe, the limestone is exposed in many 


* Excursion into the Slave States, p. 119. 


Miscellaneous. 429 


places on the road from New Braunfels to San Antonio, which leads 
in a south-western direction. Where the road crosses the Cibolo, the 
limestone forms in the bed of the river singularly shaped rocks, 
through which the water has eaten its channel, and which are 
teeming with fossils. At San Antonio the limestone is opened by 
several stone quarries, and the far-famed Alamo mission has been 
built of it. West and south of San Antonio, I have not yet seen the 
limestone myself, but I have reason to believe that it extends much 
farther in both directions. A specimen of the same Exogyra which 
abounds on the Guadaloupe was brought to me, and said to have 
been found among the pebbles in the bed of the Rio Grande. 

Besides this white marly limestone, there is another series of 
strata to be described. Ascending, from New Braunfels, the range 
of steep hills which stretches to the north-west of this place, as soon 
as you leave the level of the valley, horizontal strata of a compact 
yellowish limestone are seen, resembling very much the compact 
limestone of Italy, and of Southern Europe in general. Some of the 
strata are very siliceous, containing large compressed nodules of pure 
dark-coloured silica. Other beds are so soft that they easily decompose 
through the action of air. Where limestone is very compact, hardly 
any trace of fossils is seen in it, but some of the looser strata abound 
with shells. Among them there is asmall species of Exogyra, which 
from its prominent, spiral beaks and general shape might easily be 
mistaken for a species of Chama or Diceras ; it is very common, and 
in some localities occurs in great abundance. ‘Together with this 
Exogyra, there is in most places a new species of Gryphea; also a 
smooth and globose Terebratula, and occasionally a specimen of 
Pecten quadricostatus. 'These beds of soft marly limestone are not 
only seen everywhere on the mountains in the neighbourhood of New 
Braunfels, but they extend north of this place about seventy miles 
as far as to the Piedernales river, everywhere containing the same 
fossils. Over the same wide range, there are other fossiliferous strata 
of an entirely different character. I saw them first in a deep ravine 
near the narrow rock-bound channel of the Guadaloupe, eight miles 
north of New Braunfels. One thick bed of compact limestone con- 
tains in immense numbers certain organic bodies of cylindrical shape. 
These fossils are generally an inch or two in diameter, twisted both 
ways, and mostly furrowed longitudinally on the surface. At first view 
I was rather puzzled as to their relations, but on closer inspection of 
their internal structure, it became evident that they must belong 
to the order of the Hippurites, that singular division of shells which 
gives the peculiar fossil character to the cretaceous formation of 
Southern Europe, from Lisbon in Portugal as far as Asia Minor along 
the Mediterranean. Some beautiful specimens of a real Hippurites 
resembling very much a species of Southern France were afterwards 
met with. In the same beds of limestone with these Hippurites, 
several species of bivalve shells are found which belong to genera 
equally characteristic of the Mediterranean cretaceous formations, 
viz. Diceras and some analogous genera. At last in the same beds 
also occur a large Pecten of the same section as the Pecten quadricos- 
tatus, besides several univalves. 


430 Miscellaneous. 


Some Hippurites and several species of the Diceras family were 
also found on the Piedernales; so that it seems probable that the 
strata just described have a very extensive range. 

Having presented the facts observed, I offer afew general conclu- 
sions from them. At first there cannot be the least doubt that all the 
strata just described are equivalent to the cretaceous formation of 
Europe. The identity in the general character of the fossils incon- 
testably proves it. It is more doubtful to which division of the creta- 
ceous formation they ought to#be referred. So much however is cer- 
tain a priori, that they do not represent the lowest divisions of the cre- 
taceous system; since among the organic remains there are no cha- 
racteristic fossils of the lower greensand or of the gault. The fossils 
‘of the white marly limestone first mentioned indicate an age not older 
than that of the “chalk marl” of England in the series of the creta- 
ceous deposits of Europe. We might even be inclined to believe 
those strata equivalent to the white chalk of Europe, if some of the 
most characteristic fossils of the chalk among them, especially the 
Belemnites mucronatus, were not wanting altogether. The system of 
strata partly consisting of compact siliceous limestone, and contain- 
ing fossils of the Hippurite order, next described, belong still higher 
in the European series; for near New Braunfels they certainly lie 
above the marly limestone. From some observations however made 
at other localities, I have reason to believe that the two systems of 
strata are not everywhere so distinctly separated, and form together 
a single continuous succession of strata of nearly the same age; and 
with regard to the age we can at present only say, that the beds be- 
long to the upper division of the cretaceous formation. It is inter- 
esting to compare these cretaceous deposits with the cretaceous strata 
of New Jersey, Virginia, &c. In the latter regions we find beds of 
a loose calcareous marl and of ferruginous sand, representing the 
upper division of the cretaceous formation. In their fossils and also 
their mineralogical constitution they bear a striking analogy to some 
deposits of England and Germany. In Texas we have a system of 
rocks which equally correspond to the upper division of the creta- 
ceous formation, but of a very different character, and not consisting 
like those just mentioned of loose unconnected materials, but partly 
at least a very compact siliceous limestone. By their fossils as well 
as the composition of the rocks, they are closely allied to the creta- 
ceous formation as it is developed in the south of Europe along the 
Mediterranean. 

A new and interesting analogy in the geological constitution of the 
two continents has thus been ascertained, proving the general simi- 
larity of physical condition and of the laws of organic life in both 
hemispheres during the period when the cretaceous strata were ori- 
ginally deposited. 

Still another observation of a general character remains to be stated 
respecting these cretaceous deposits.. About twenty miles north of 
Fredericksburg, the new German settlement on the Piedernales river, 
a reck more than one hundred feet high with nearly perpendicular 
sides stands out from the ground. This rock, which very probably 
is identical with that which has been laid down on the maps of 


Meteorological Observations. 431 


Wilson and others as ‘‘ the enchanted rock,” consists of a rather coarse- 
grained granite. I obtained specimens of the granite from some friends * 
of mine who were on the spot, and ascertained also that beds of 
limestone extended to the very base of the rock. This fact, in con- 
nexion with the other one, that on the San Saba river, silver-mines 
have been worked formerly by the Spaniards in a plutonic rock, seem 
to lead to the supposition that here, on the tributaries of the Colo- 
rado, we arrive at the boundary where the stratified rocks of the east 
side of the continent come in contact with the crystalline masses of 
the Rocky Mountains. If this supposition is correct, it follows that 
the cretaceous formation is the only one of the whole series of stra- 
tified rocks which exists in this part of Texas. From the facts ob- 
served in Texas, we derive additional confirmation of the hypo- 
thesis long since made with great sagacity by M. Leopold von Buch 
and never refuted, that the oolite series of Europe have no equivalent 
on the American continent. 

In the course of this summer I hope to extend my investigations to 
other parts of the country, and may be able then to give your readers 
some more Satisfactory information about its geological relations.— 
Silliman’s American Journal, Nov. 1846. 


ee 


METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR APRIL 1847. 
Chiswick.— April 1. Slight haze: sleet and hail-shuwers: frosty. 2. Overcast. 

‘8. Cloudy and cold: rain. 4. Overcast. 5. Cloudy: fine. 6. Cloudy: rain at 
night. 7. Cloudy: rain. 8. Rain: cloudy: clear. 9. Clear and cold. 10. 
Cloudy: fine. 11. Uniformly overcast: rain, 12. Rain: cloudy. 13. Densely 
clouded. 14. Bleak and cold: slight hail-showers. 15. Snow and hail : clear, 
cold and dry: sharp frost at night. 16. Sharp frost: clearand cold. 17. Frosty 
and foggy: eoldand dry. 18. Clear. 19. Clear: cloudy: slight frost. 20. 
Foggy : fine, with sun: cloudy. 2). Clear: overcast. 22. Cold haze: frosty. 
28. Fine: clear at night. 24. Slight haze: fine, with sun: frosty. 25. Foggy : 
fine. 26. Rain: overcast. 27. Boisterous, with showers. 28. Fine: showery. 
29. Heavy showers, partly hail: thunder. 30. Clear: heavy clouds and showers. 

Mean temperature of the month .,,,........ Shastestusteabay 44°28 

Mean temperature of April 1846 ........sssseeseees ae eras 47 °36 

Mean temperature of April for the last twenty years ... 47 *20 

Average amount of rainin April ......... ee asereveceeess 1°47 inch. 


Boston.—April 1. Cloudy: snow a.M, and p.m.: rain yesterday. 2. Cloudy: 
large fall of snow a.m.: rain p.m. 3. Cloudy: snow a.m.: rainrp.M. 4—6, 
Fine. 7. Cloudy. 8. Rain: rain early a.m. : stormy, with rain p.m. 9. Stormy. 
10. Fine. 11. Fine: raina.m.and p.m. 12,13. Cloudy. 14. Fine. 15. Cloudy : 
snow-showers. 16. Fine. 17,18. Fine:icethismorning. 19. Cloudy. 20— 
23. Fine. 24. Fine: rainr.m. 25. Cloudy: rainand hail r.m. 26. Rain: 


raina.M. 27, Windy: rainr.m. 28. Windy. 29. Fine. 30, Cloudy: thunder 
and rain P.M. 


Sandwick. Manse, Orkney.— April 1. Snowing: snow. 2. Snowing: showers: 
snow-showers. 3. Cloudy. 4. Bright: damp. 5. Sleet-showers: showers, 
6. Bright: showers, 7. Bright: hail-showers: aurora. 8. Rain: showers, 
9. Showers: clear: aurora. 10. Clear. 11. Clear: rain, 12, Bright: cloudy. 
13. Snow-showers : cloudy. 14,15. Cloudy. 16. Clear: cloudy. 17. Showers: 
clear. 18. Showers: cloudy. 19. Fine: clear. 20. Showers: clear. 21. Cloudy: 
clear: frost. 22. Bright: cloudy. 23. Bright: showers. 24. Showers: drops. 
25. Bright: cloudy. 26. Bright: clear. 27. Bright: rain. 28. Showers: 
drizzle. 29, 30. Bright: clear. 


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Ann. & Mag. Nat.Hist. Vo\\9, PUXV. 


THE ANNALS 


AND 


MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY, 
~ SUPPLEMENT TO VOL. XIX. JUNE 1847. 


XLV.—-On the Larval State and Metamorphosis of the Ophiuride 
and Kchinide. By Prof. J. Miruer*. 


[With a Plate.] 


I wap occasion last year to describe some animal forms observed 
near Heligoland, among which was one peculiarly remarkable from 
its form and skeleton, to which I gave the name of Pluteus para- 
doxus. During the present year I have been able to extend my 
observations and to study the further development and metamor- 
phosis of this remarkable animal, which have proved highly inter- 
esting. In fact, an Ophiura is developed from it ; Pluteus para- 
doxus is consequently the larva of an Ophiura. 

The first observations instituted on the development of an 
Echinoderm were those of M. Sars on Echinaster sanguinolentus 
(Echinaster Sarsii, Miill., Trosch.) and Asteracanthion Miilleri, 
Sars. This naturalist, to whom we are already indebted for the 
discovery of many important facts on the changes in form of the 
lower animals during their development, has also observed, that 
the young Asterig have no similarity to their later forms. The 
larva of Echinaster, when it escapes from the ovum, is of an oval 
form, without any external organs, and by means of innumerable 
cilia which cover the body swims about free in the water just as 
the Infusoria, or the Meduse, Coryne and Alcyone in their young » 
state do. Ina few days organs grow out at that extremity of 
the body which, when they swim, is seen to be the anterior ; 
these serve for attachment. They consist of four bulbous tu- 
bercles with a smaller one in the centre. By the aid of these 
organs the young one fixes itself firmly to the marsupial cavity of 
the mother. These tubercles disappear when the body of the 
animal is developed into the radiate form. M. Sars has not given 
any illustration of the internal structure of these young Echino- 
dermata or larve, which is sufficiently explained by their being 
perfectly opake. 

The larve of the Echinodermata, which form the subject of the 
present notice, are so transparent, that they admitted of a mi- 
croscopic analysis with a magnifying power of 250 diameters. 

* Translated by Dr. Griffith from the Berichte der Berliner Akademie for 


Oct. 29, 1846. 
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Vol. xix. Suppl. 31 


434 Prof. Miiller on the Larval State and the Metamorphosis 


Before Pluteus paradoxus exhibits any trace of a star-fish, it 
has the form figured in Pl. XI. fig.5. It has no further resem- 
blance to the larvee described by M. Sars than in the appendages 
being developed in one direction and the animal being bilateral. 
In other respects the form is so peculiar and so very dissimilar, 
that it would never be suspected to be the larva of an Echino- 
derm, notwithstanding the previous observations of M. Sars. 
The appendages are numerous, viz. eight, and very long; they 
have no relation to tubercles and organs for attachment. The 
elegant skeleton of Pluteus has been already described... We must 
now add, that it is calcareous and dissolves in acids. The obser- 
vations made during the present year, for the first time afford 
an explanation of its further internal structure and vital phe- 
nomena. ‘The membrane which covers the columns of Pluteus 
extends over the body of the animal m arches from one column 
to the other. The intermediate substance descends deeper be- 
tween two only of the columns which we shall call the posterior. 
The mouth is situated at the part at which, in my previous trea- 
tise, I noticed the occurrence of motion. Opposite the mouth 
at the anterior side, the skin of the body is extended between 
two of the columns like a marquise over a door. The oblique 
lower lip projects considerably forward at the mouth. The oral 
cavity leads upwards into an cesophagus, and this is connected by 
a contraction with the cecal stomach, which fills the cavity of the 
body between those columns which are inclined towards each other. 
The stomach is often divided by a constriction into an ascending 
portion and a blind pouch recurved anteriorly. Two granular, 
glandular bodies, of the use of which I am ignorant, are situated 
on each side of the cesophagus and stomach. Before the meta- 
morphosis commences, Pluteus paradowus is rather less than half 
a line (2) in-size. It occurs in great numbers during the months 
of August and September in the open sea near the surface, and 
swims by ciliary motion, usually with the appendages forwards ; 
but sometimes it continues to revolve horizontally, whilst the azy- 
gous extremity and the long appendages retain an opposite and ho- 
rizontal direction. Ciliary motion exists throughout the stomach, 
in the cesophagus and the cavity of the mouth ; as also definitely 
distributed on the outside of the body. The mouth is surrounded 
by a tuft of cilia. The acute, azygous extremity of the animal is 
also surrounded by a circular tuft of cilia; the cilia then expand 
into the eight long appendages, so that in each there are two 
rows or tufted lines, upon which they are situated. Both rows 
or lines at the extremity of the appendage curve into one another ; 
between two of the appendages. or arms the line of cilia runs 
from one arm to the other on the arches we have mentioned ; 
thus the entire animal is surrounded by a ciliated organ of 


of the Ophiuride and the Echinide. 435 


a linear form, which returns into itself, ascends and descends 
upon the arms in loops and passes from one arm to the other. 
In the situation of the mouth it passes beneath it. Ciliary mo- 
tion alone effects the entire locomotion of the animal; all other 
spontaneous motion is confined to the closure of the mouth and 
cesophagus which takes place from time to time. The walls of 
the stomach are of a granular or cellular structure and appear 
green, the larva is otherwise perfectly transparent ; its azygous 
apex and the extremities of all the arms are of an orange colour. 

Distinct indications of the nervous system were also perceived. 
They consist of two small knots below the mouth, a right and 
left, which are connected by a filament, and send several filaments 
upwards towards the mouth and one downwards. 

These Ophiura larvee are not luminous. 

The first indication, both internally and externally, of the trans- 
formation of the Pluteus into an Echinoderm, consists in the ap- 
pearance of certain cecal figures with double contours at the sides 
of the stomach and cesophagus. They are seen to form a row, first 
upon one and soon afterwards upon the other side of the stomach 
and cesophagus. The minute ceca are situated towards the ex- 
terior ; their bases, which are connected together, are turned to- 
wards the stomach ; each row appears like a thick membrane which 
has been thrown into cecal folds. They soon completely sur- 
round the stomach like a wreath. At first they do not project 
beyond the surface of the Pluteus, but lie within its substance, 
their contours being lost in it, but by their growth they soon 
project beyond the surface of the Pluteus; subsequently others 
are developed which project beyond the crown formed by the 
former ; these are neither more nor less than ‘ten, each pair being 
situated near each other : this is the first appearance of the arms. 
The two belonging to each arm then fuse together, and the whole 
assumes the form of a disc, which is grown over by five short 
appendages. ‘The former arms or columns of the Pluteus take 
no part in this formation. The Pluteus holds the same relations 
to the star-fish which is forming within it, as the embroidery 
frame does to the embroidery which is worked within it. More- 
over the arms of the P/uteus have no relation to the arms of the 
Echinoderm. The latter is situated obliquely within the body of the 
Pluteus, so that one of the arms of the star-fish crosses the great 
axis of the Pluteus, and comes into view on the side of the azy- 
gous apex of the Pluteus. As soon as the ceca become arranged 
im the form of a crown or star, the deposition of lime occurs in 
the form of ramified figures in the new formation ; during their 
further development these assume the form of a lattice-work, as 
is peculiar to the skeleton of Echinodermata. With the deve- 
lopment of the minute ceca into a crown, distortion occurs at 

31% 


436 Prof. Miller on the Larval State and the Metamorphosis 


that part of the Pluteus where the mouth was situated. This 
region now appears as if forcibly drawn obliquely upwards, and 
no further trace of the mouth of the larva is seen. But instead 
of the former lateral mouth of the Pluteus, there now appears a 
central mouth for the Echinoderm. 

I have not been able to decide whether the mouth of the larva 
is transformed into the mouth of the Ophiura, or whether the 
latter is of perfectly independent origin and the former disap- 
pears. In the true Kchinide, as in Echinaster, that spot in the 
newly-formed Echinoderm, at which the mouth is subsequently 
situated, is still perfectly closed, even when the first tentacles are 
formed. The mouth of the young Ophiura is at first round and 
totally dissimilar to the mouth of the larva; it gradually assumes 
a stellate form. 

In the Echinide, where, as we shall hereafter see, four sides 
can be distinguished in the larva, the formation of the mouth of 
the Echinus is always independent of the mouth of the larva; 
for none of the poles of the young Echinus formed in the larva 
correspond to that side of the larva in which the mouth of the 
larva occurs. 

In its present condition the newly-formed star-fish is always 
smaller than the remains of the Pluteus, but the more the star- 
fish grows,the more do the appendages and the azygous apex of the 
Pluteus appear as mere appendages of the star-fish. The azygous 
summit of the Pluteus, its two long lateral arms, and one of the 
two lower arms remain longest, but on the growth of the star-fish 
these at last also disappear. The stomach is the only structure 
in the new being which is completely received from the Pluteus. 

The tentacles or feet of the young star-fish are also formed be- 
fore the arms of the Pluteus disappear. At first there are only ten 
of them, which inclose the disc itself in a crown. Before the 
loss of any of the arms, two foramina are formed in the disc, 
from which the animal exserts the tentacles. At this period it 
still lives in the sea as before, but when it lies on the bottom of 
a vessel, it gropes about with the tentacles. The tentacles or 
little feet are covered with small knots, as in the Ophiure. In 
this state the animals move exactly as formerly by ciliary action, 
and we very frequently see the circular rotation in the plane of 
the longest or lateral arm of the Pluteus. So far we are un- 
able to guess from the form of the animal, whether an Asterias 
or an Ophiura will form from the Pluteus ; its remarkable differ- 
ence from the larva of the Asterias of Sars indicates something 
distinct, and in fact the characters of the Ophiura soon show 
themselves. Shortly before the time when the last traces of 
the Pluteus disappear, we see that the arms of the star-fish 
are deposited by the disc and as it were articulated. But this 


of the Ophiuride and the Echinide. 437 


arm is now nothing more than the most external or terminal 
member of the future Ophiura. Just as the first tentacles are 
formed upon the disc itself, so is it with the first spines, ten 
of which are seen, each being traversed by a calcareous network, 
and situated near its tentacle. The animal has the power of 
spontaneously moving these spines, which also indicates the 
Ophiura. As soon as the young Ophiura has become developed, 
it is furnished with a disc which is traversed by lattice-work 
and incloses the stomach, and a mouth which is encircled by five 
triangular interradial plates; outside these plates, on the abdo- 
minal side of the disc, there are two spines placed near each 
other, and sufficiently large to project beyond the margin of the 
disc. The two tentacles appear before the loss of the articu- 
lated arms. The arm-segment itself is narrow at the root, alto- 
gether it is longish and inflated. We meet with these young 
Ophiure in the upper parts of the open sea, although all traces 
of the organization of the Pluteus have disappeared. In size they 
are about equal to the breadth of the original Pluteus, and 
are about two-thirds of its length. The new segment of the 
arm is formed between the dise and the primitive segment, 
and is furnished with two spines articulated anteriorly to the 
sides, and two tentacles, one on each side. The young Ophiura 
with the two arm-segments is half a line in length. Subse- 
quently a new segment is again formed between the disc and 
the arm and furnished with spines and tentacles. I have found 
these young Ophiure free in the sea up to that period at which 
their arms had four segments, and the number of spines on the 
segments had increased to two on each side of every segment. 
The entire animal has at this period a diameter of 3—1 line. The 
terminal segments of the arms or the primitive segments have 
not become altered cither in form or size. The subsequent seg- 
ments differ inform, being of a polygonal shape, as is peculiar to 
the segments of the arms of the Ophiure. The origin of all the 
new segments is from the ventral surface of the disc itself, be- 
tween the interradial plates of the disc, where the segments of 
the arms run towards the angle of the mouth. As soon as the 
new segment has grown beyond the disc, it forms the largest 
of the arm-segments. Thus far the genus of Ophiuride to which 
it belongs cannot be determined with certainty ; probably it is an 
Ophiolepis, several species of which occur in the German Ocean. 

Besides the above-described Ophiura, which in a very large 
number of specimens may be observed in all the transition stages, 
I found another Pluteus, 7. e. the larva of another species of 
Ophiura ; this however was only seen once. In form and in the 
skeleton it exactly resembled Pluteus paradowus, but the arms of 
the larva diverged considerably more, and were much longer and 


488 Prof. Miiller on the Larval State and the Metamorphosis 


thinner. The uniform colour of the transparent animalcule was 
a very pale violet. Its size was double that of Pluteus paradoxus. 
There were no indications of its development into the star-fish. 

I now come to another class of Echinodermatous larve, which 
I have traced as far as the period of their metamorphosis, so that 
there is no doubt in my mind regarding their Echinoid nature. 
I had no opportunity of observing the earliest development of 
the Echinus from the ovum, upon which point H. yon Baer has 
instituted investigations by the artificial impregnation of the | 
ova*. Von Baer compares the embryos of the Echinus to the 
earliest forms of the larvee of the Meduse, such as Aurelia aurita, 
as they occur in the sacs on the margins of the arms, except that 
they are much broader. During their further change, they ap- 
peared as if about to approach the Beroé in structure; on the 
fourth day they assumed very irregular forms which differed from 
each other; on the fifth day they were all dead. The motion of 
the larva when it has quitted the ovum is effected by cilia. Von 
Baer estimates the diameter of the young Echinus which he ob- 
served at =,th of a line. 

The animals which formed the subject of my investigations, and 
which I consider as the larve of Echini, are much older, about 
half a line in diameter ; in this condition they have no resem- 
blance to the larve of the Meduse and Beroé. I have observed 
three kinds of the Echinoid larvee, two of which appear to be- 
long to one and the same genus, the third to another genus of 
Echini. 

One form, which I shall describe first, has an arched body, and 
may be compared to a spheroid or dome with four columnar, some- 
what divergent, elongated supports or feet. These calcareous co- 
lumns are continued into the spheroid, where they are further 
distributed in a peculiar manner, and which can only be rendered 
intelligible by figures. The columns are covered by the skin of 
the larva which forms the spheroid, and which forms arches at the 
margin of the arch between the columns. The spheroid has two 
broad and two narrow sides. The broad maybe distinguished as the 
anterior and the posterior sides. Between the two anterior columns 
the skin of the larva forms a tent-like expansion at the margin of 
the spheroid ; on the opposite posterior side the animal substance 
is continued from the dome into a long appendage, which is fixed 
by four separate columns, so that there are two on each side. 
This elongation contains the mouth and the cesophagus, the 
stomach is situated beneath the dome. 

To assist comprehension by a comparison, the larva resembles 
a clock-case resting upon four long feet, from the back of which 


* Bull. de l’Acad. Imp. de St. Pétersb. t. v. n. 15. p. 231, 


of the Ophiuride and the Echinide. 439 


the pendulum descends, which may be compared in our larve to 
the framework of the mouth. The columns of the oral framework 
also contain internally a calcareous column ; two of these calca- 
reous columns are branches of the two belonging to the four main 
columns, and pass off within the arched central body from those 
of the former which support the tent. The other two calcareous 
columns unite together at the back part of the dome at an angle, 
from which a single branch ramifies in the dome. The skin, 
which covers all the columns, the central body, and the expansion 
at the mouth, is spotted with sulphur-yellow and brown spots. 
The distribution of the ciliated organs is very peculiar. These 
larve are furnished with oblique tufts resembling epaulettes 
which are situated upon those spots where the four supports of 
the dome pass into it; the tufts are also covered with very long 
moving cilia ; a thick mass of sulphur-yellow pigment lies beneath 
the tufts. Moreover these larve are furnished with a row of cilia 
upon all the columns and on the dome itself, as is the case with 
the Pluteus. 'Two rows run upon each column; these run into 
one another at the extremity and superiorly at the dome from one 
ray to the others. At the anterior margm of the dome, where 
the latter is expanded like a tent, the row of cilia follows the 
margin of this protection : not so at the sides ; the arch of the row 
of cilia here lies much higher than the margin of the dome, and 
ascends almost as far as its summit. The columns also between 
which the mouth and cesophagus are situated are covered by a 
row of cilia, which passes from one ray to the other on the same 
side, and in the centre runs beneath the mouth from one side to 
the other. The mouth is surrounded by a distinct tuft of cilia. 
It is triangular, and bounded inferiorly by an oblique, basin- 
like projecting lip; the two other or upper sides are inclined to 
each other at an angle. In this direction the cavity of the mouth 
is continued into the cesophagus, which leads to the blind sac of 
the stomach. The latter receives the internal portion of the 
arched central body, and is frequently bent in several places, so 
that one portion of the blind sac is curved forwards. Both the 
mouth and the cesophagus contract powerfully from time to time. 
The interior of the cavity of the mouth, the cesophagus and the 
stomach is ciliated. These larvee are about half a line long, and 
live unattached in the water, their motions being entirely effected 
by cilia. All the arms are immoveable ; the columns which lie 
between the mouth and the cesophagus merely undergo a passive 
motion from the powerful contraction of the mouth and ceso- 
phagus. 

The first appearance of alteration is recognised in these larvee 
by a discoid plate, which is produced in the months of August 
and September on one of the narrow sides of the dome beneath 


440 Prof. Miiller on the Larval State and the Metamorphosis 


the spotted skin of the latter, and which is inclined at an acute 
angle towards the summit of the dome. In our comparison of 
the framework with a pendulum it forms as it were the dial-plate, 
but the position of the dial-plate would be heterologous to that 
of the pendulum, and it would be situated at the side of the 
clock-case. This disc is thus heterologous in position with 
the mouth of the larva. The round disc, which is now but 
slightly convex, becomes itself again spotted with yellowish spots. 
It is divided by a five-leaved figure into five valve-like divisions, 
which are almost in contact in the centre; at the circumference 
there are intermediate segments between them. Each valvular 
division has two outlines which are widely separated from each 
other. Opposite this disc, which forms the earliest appearance 
of the Echinus, there appear upon the dome on each side pedi- 
eellarize, which are furnished with three arms such as are peculiar 
to the Echini; for the pedicellariz of the Asteri@ have two arms. 
The pedicellarize he close to the dome ; at this period they-also 
exhibit spontaneous motion, the arms of the pincers opening and 
shutting. The larva has usually only four pedicellarie, two on 
each side, situated near to each other. 

During the growth of the disc within the dome, new seg- 
ments appear at its marginal portions which inclose the five cen- 
tral plates: externally between the five plates there appear five 
circular figures with double outlines ; these are the foundations 
for the tentacles or feet ; for the young Echinoderm which is at 
this period in the progress of formation possesses the peculiarity, 
that at first it is furnished with only five regular, symmetrically 
distributed, large, odd feet, which rise from the apertures of the 
disc in the form of minute ceca with double outlines. The 
other peripheral segments, which cannot be confounded with the 
plates of the shell of the adult Echznus, soon shoot up into cylin- 
drical elevations, which are converted into spines. When the 
young Echinus is so far developed as to form a slightly convex 
disc furnished with spines and five tentacles or soft feet, both 
the feet and the spines project far beyond the surface of the 
dome of the larva, the feet move in all directions in a groping 
manner, and are now in a condition to adhere to objects. The 
spines are also moveable at the will of the animal. The mouth 
of the larva still remains in its former position, and like the ceso- 
phagus is in full action. The feet are annulated, and like the 
spines, sparingly spotted with a yellow and brown pigment. Each 
of the five feet is furnished at its extremity with a disc, in the 
centre of which there is a tubercle, just as in the feet of the adult 
Echinus in their extended state, and as figured by Monro from 
life. Within the disc we find a polygonal simple calcareous 
rim. The minute feet are hollow internally, but at the extremity 


of the Ophiuride and the Echinide. 441 


the cavity is closed as in all the Echinodermata. At their first 
appearance the feet are rounded at the extremity ; the disc is 
formed at a somewhat later period. The spines, which.soon ac- 
quire a considerable length, contain a calcareous framework. 
When the latter is perfectly developed, it forms an hexagonal 
prism placed within the cylindrical skin of the spine, which con- 
sists of a regular calcareous lattice-work terminating at the ex- 
tremity in minute teeth. The horizontal arrangement of the axial 
network of the spine is radiate, so that the extremity of the 
spine viewed from above exhibits a star with six segments. 
Before the framework of the spines is thus far developed, when it 
first appears it has exactly the form of a candelabrum. The basis 
of the framework of the spine is thus a star with six rays, from 
the centre of which there arises a simple axis, which immediately 
subdivides into other branches which subsequently re-unite. In 
this manner a tubercle is formed which gives off some teeth 
(Zacken) externally. The continued trunk again rises vertically 
from the tubercle, six long arms proceeding from it ; these ascend 
parallel, and give off teeth externally. The length of the developed 
spines is so great, that it is about equal to the fourth part of the 
whole disc of the animal. 

It is very enigmatical, that at first the tentacles or feet do not 
appear in pairs, since these five odd tentacles do not occur in any 
perfect Echinus or Echinoderm. I must leave it undecided, 
whether the spinous disc under consideration corresponds to 
the middle ventral portion with the framework of the teeth, as 
it appears to do, or whether it is the dorsal part of the subse- 
quent Echinus. If it were the dorsal portion, the five-cleft figure 
would exhibit the five genital plates in the centre, and the seg- 
ments from which the tentacles arose, between the above plates, 
would correspond to the perforated plates, which M. Agassiz, with- 
out sufficient ground, denominates the ocellar plates ; the centre 
between the five original valves would then be considered as the 
anus. At this period there is no aperture at this point, and the 
spotted skin of the larva is continued over it. Moreover the shell 
of the Echinus is at this time a delicate structure, the segments of 
which growing into tentacles and spines cannot be considered as 
the subsequent plates of the shell, but as the foundations of the 
tentacles and spines. Moreover the foundations of the subsequent 
arrangement of the tentacles in pairs may now be recognised, for 
just anterior to those tentacles which are not in pairs, near the cen- 
tre, there are two smaller, circular rudiments of the tentacles, lying 
in pairs ; thus a circle of ten tentacles is produced ; and more to- 
wards the circumference, rudiments of tentacula arranged in pairs 
are visible. The disc itself, from which the tentacles and spines 
arise, also contains its peculiar calcareous network, which is not 


442 Prof. Miller on the Larval State and the Metamorphosis 


visible until we examine more minutely. It is first formed from 
isolated figures with three arms, which are bifurcated and soon 
form a lattice-work with circular meshes. At this stage of the 
metamorphosis the larva swims about by its ciliary organs, which 
remain in full activity, viz. the ciliary lines and the ciliary epau- 
lettes, it creeps with its five feet, moves its pedicellarize lke 
pincers, and each spine separately. I have not had an opportu- 
nity of tracing the metamorphosis of these larvee : the convex dis- 
coid form of the new animal, its total dissimilarity from the As- 
terie and Ophiure, the numerous spontaneously moveable long 
spines on the disc, and the three-limbed pedicellariz, leave 
scarcely any doubt that it represents one of the Hchinide, but it 
is impossible to say from these data whether it belongs to the 
genus Hchinus or Cidaris. 

To the same genus as that above described, in numerous spe- 
cimens and in larve seen several times almost every day, there 
belongs also the larva of another species which resembles the 
former in every respect, and especially in the ciliated epaulettes, 
but which appeared to differ in the termination of the calcareous 
axis in the dome; for instead of the round dome, the summit 
was conical and then truncated at the extremity. The calcareous 
axes of the two anterior main arms of the larva projected into this 
extremity and subdivided in the apex into two short oblique 
branches. The position of the disc in the dome and its struc- 
ture were the same as in the other species. 

My observations on the larvee of the Echinodermata with ciliated 
epaulettes have proceeded thus far. To observe the complete de- 
velopment of the Echinide, it would be necessary to continue the 
investigations through the first half of the winter. From obser- 
‘vations on another species of larva which will be detailed here- 
after, it is evident that the young Echinus has entirely lost all 
traces of the larva even when the spinous part of its surface is 
developed as far as a half of its entire sphere, and that the re- 
maining part of the shell is subsequently perfected. As the sea 
had become agitated and unfavourable to these investigations, it 
must at present remain undecided whether the spinous surface 
corresponds to the dorsal or ventral part of the Echinus, and 
whether the five-limbed figure in the centre of this part belongs 
to the genital plates with the anus, or, on the contrary, to the 
dental framework and mouth. 

A third species of larva belongs to another genus of spinous 
Echinodermata, probably also one of the Echinide. I have not 
met with this species very frequently, but have traced it furthest in 
its metamorphosis and up to that point at which the new spinous 
spherical Echinoderm has lost all traces of the larva. 

These larvae, somewhat larger than the larve of the Ophiura, are 


of the Ophiuridée and the Echinide. 443 


remarkable in possessing, in addition to the four arms which ema- 
nate from the margin of the dome, and the other four arms which 
form the framework of the mouth and cesophagus, two other arms 
which run backwards and downwards, and also three distinct ones 
running from the external surface of the dome, thus in all thirteen 
arms ; moreover in the four ciliated plates which exist in the 
former genus being here entirely absent, and in the arms (ex- 
cepting the two supernumerary ones behind and below) being ex- 
tremely long. Ofthe three peculiar arms on the dome, the odd 
one forms,a more or less elongated, frequently very long stalk on 
the summit of the dome, as if it were the elongated axis of the ani- 
mal. It contains a calcareous skeleton, 7. e. areticulated axis with 
three longitudinal ridges. Opposite that foot, upon which this 
axis rests upon the dome, it subdivides into two calcareous 
ridges, which descend within the dome and are continued into its 
lateral arms. The three axes at the dome are not covered with 
cilia ; the ciliated plates are also entirely absent. The cilia cover- 
ing the lower arms and the arches between them are arranged as 
in the previous genus. The four extremely elongated main sup- 
ports of the dome contain reticulated calcareous axes ; the calca- 
reous axes of the four equal elongated appendages which form 
the oral framework and the supernumerary posterior and inferior 
appendages are simple. The dome is much higher in this spe- 
cies. The distribution of the calcareous ridges from the axes 
within the dome is exactly similar to that in the previous genus, 
especially that species in which the dome is round. Some of 
these larvee did not exhibit any trace of the disc of the Echinus, 
others had it on the single lesser side of the dome ; in others the 
dise was covered with spines, and between them ambulacral pores 
and tentacles existed. I have never seen pedicellariz in this spe- 
cies. The spines exactly resemble those of the previous genus, and 
become so elevated, that they project beyond the larva and the 
animal moves them spontaneously. The calcareous skeleton ex- 
isting in them forms a six-sided prism of lattice-work, the upper 
ridges of which are elongated beneath the external tegument of 
the spine into small teeth. The internal arrangement of the axes 
in the substance of the spine is also six-rayed. The whole sur- 
face of the disc is densely covered with these spines, and like 
the entire larva and its appendages, they are spotted with yellow 
and brown pigment. Its size is as considerable as that of the 
previous genus ; the length is equal to the third or fourth part of 
the diameter of the whole body upon which they are situated. It 
is worthy of remark, that the dise with the spines is longish 
oval, round, and is considerably more elongated inferiorly than 
in the previous genus. The disc upon which the spines are 
situated consists of a calcareous net of lattice-work. 


444 On the Metamorphosis of the Ophiuride and Echinide. 


One of these larvee was once seen in which the axis of the 
larva had almost entirely disappeared, and in which no further 
trace of the oral framework remained. The young Echinus formed 
an elongated, spherical, somewhat flattened body without a trace 
of any Kchinoid arms, and in which one half of the surface was 
completely covered with spines, but the other half was still cu- 
taneous and exhibited traces of the integument of the dome of 
the larva. For im addition to the pigment spots, several irregular 
remains of the innermost concealed part of the column and its 
branches in the dome were visible. The spinous side was convex 
like a watch-glass, but elongated, and here and there exhibited am- 
bulacral pores, and at the circumference some very large tentacles 
or feet projected, the distribution of which I could not clearly 
ascertain. No mouthis visible at the opposite cutaneous portion 
of the flattened sphere. This may possibly exist at one extremity 
of the elongated body, but it was impossible to determine this 
from the opake structure of the body. The length and form 
of the spines are the same as in the above. 

On one occasion an exactly similar body, of equal size, spinous 
upon one half, elongated, spherical and somewhat flattened (one- 
fifth of a line long), and free from all larval remains, was observed. 
Like the previous one it was obtained near the surface of the sea, 
but it moved upon the glass exactly like an Echinus, putting the 
spines separately into action, and at the circumference extending 
some large tentacles, by which it held on to the glass. The centre 
of the spinous surface was free from spines. I recognised a 
surface divided into five parts and with a pentagonal centre, 
through the skin spotted with pigment which exists at this part. 
The side opposed to the spinous half was convex, but still covered 
merely by the spotted integument, beneath which, remains of the 
calcareous axes of the larva were still visible. Neither on this 
occasion was any certain information obtained regarding the 
mouth, and it remains doubtful whether it existed at either ex- 
tremity of the elongated, round body. The question is, whether 
the entire series of developmental phenomena just described be- 
longs to an Echinus or rather Spatangus. Although the ultimate 
forms of the larve which have been examined are so different, 
nevertheless it is remarkable that the larve of the Ophiure and 
Echini agree in being formed upon a certain common plan. The 
larvee of the Asteria observed by Sars differ most, but these also 
agree with the common plan in their bilateral appendages ; hence 
it may be supposed that an analogous starting-poimt may be 
found for all the Echinodermata. For this purpose, however, 
it will be necessary to re-examine the larve of the Asteria. Their 
internal structure and the position of their mouth are entirely 
unknown ; moreover I have not succeeded in observing from the 


Mr. J. Walton on the genus Otiorhynchus. 445 


larva of Echinaster Sarsii, which is preserved in the museum of 
M. Christie in Bergen, anything more than what has been de- 
scribed and figured by M. Sars. 

At the time when these larve have developed the star-fish of 
the Asterias, the arms of the larvee still being present, their great- 
est diameter is two-thirds of a line. Two pairs of tentacles are 
developed in each of the five rows of tentacles. But no trace of 
aperture can be recognised in the centre of the ventral side of 
the star-fish. If the oral aperture of the larva, as I suppose, exists 
between the four arms of the larva, the mouth of the Asterias is 
formed independently of the supposed mouth of the larva. The 
most central and lowest tubercle, situated between the four other 
bulbous warts, has a slightly rounded and somewhat basin-shaped 
aspect. Although these larve are absolutely larger than the larvee 
of the Ophiure and Echini, nevertheless they appear to contain 
little or no skeleton within them. From their perfect opacity and 
uniform red colour, I endeavoured to render their skeleton visi- 

‘ble by dissolving the animal parts in caustic potash, but this pro- 
ceeding did not bring into view any portions of a skeleton. 

The supposition of Sars, that the warty appendages of the 
larva of the Asterias, by means of which it adheres to the marsupial 
cavity of the mother, are subsequently transformed into the ma- 
drepore-plates, does not appear to me probable. These appendages 
are evidently the same as the four symmetrical supports of the 
body of the larva of the Echini and the appendages of Pluteus ; 
in both they disappear entirely, without being transformed into 
any other organ, and the young Echinus loses them before the 
madrepore-plates can be distinguished. Moreover the Echinoid 
larvee which I last described possess so-many arms on their body 
and on so many spots which are partly opposite, that a conver- 
sion of them into the subsequent madrepore-plates is impossible, 
on account of the situation which these arms occupy on the an- 
terior, posterior and lateral part of the larva. 


XLVI.—Notes on the genus of Insects Otiorhynchus, with 
descriptions of new species. By Jonn Watton, F.L.S. 


[ With a Plate. ] 


Fam. CURCULIONIDZ. 
Genus Orioruyncuus, Germ., Schinh., Steph., Curt. 
§ A. Femora dentate. 
1. Otiorhynchus Ligustici, Linn., Mus. Linn., Marsh., Gyll., 
Steph., Schonh. 
Rare, or very local; Mr. Smith found three specimens on 
Hawley-flat, near Blackwater, Hampshire, in June. Frequently 


446 Mr. J. Walton on the genus Otiorhynchus. 


taken by the late Rev. G. T. Rudd on the walls of his garden, at 
Kimpton, near Andover. “ On sandy banks, near Ventnor, 
Isle of Wight.”—Mr. J. F. Dawson. 


2. Otiorhynchus sulcatus, Fab., Marsh., Gyll., Steph., Schonh. 
Very abundant in many localities. 


3. O. picipes, Fab., Gyll., Germ., Schonh. 

— vastator, et asper, Marsh., Kirb. MSS. 

— squamiger, Marsh., Steph. Illustr., Kirb. MSS. 

— notatus, et singularis, Steph. 

— septentrionis, Steph. Manual. 

—- Marquardiii, Schéuh. 

— Chevrolati, Schonh. var. minor. 

The Fabrician name of O¢. (Curc.) picipes is now very gene- 
rally adopted for this insect by the principal entomologists of 
Europe. 

I have four British insects returned from Schonherr, two of 
them named ‘ picipes’ of Fab. (length 3 lines), and two ‘ Mar- 
guardti’ of Falderm. (length 4 lmes), but I cannot discover any 
difference between them except that of size. I possess forty 
British specimens, also returned by Germar, who has put on re- 
eord the following opinion :—“ Of. picipes of Schonh. differs 
somewhat in its form and clothing, and amongst the varieties 
(to which there is every kind of transition) are to be found Cure. 
squamiger and asper of Marsh., Marquardtii of Falderman*.” 

[ have examined the insects in the collection of Mr. Kirby and 
Mr. Stephens, under the names of vastator, asper, and squamiger 
of Marsham, but I am unable to detect a specific difference. 

I have now before me a multitude of specimens, collected in 
the course of several years in various localities in the north and 
south of England, and have many from Mr. R. N. Greville, who 
found them in Scotland. I have been induced very closely to 
examine this numerous series, in consequence of their having 
been divided into several species, but I must confess my inability 
to detect a single character on which to found a specific differ- 
ence; and according to my experience, there is less variation of 
form and sculpture im these than in any other long series of in- 
sects that I have had an opportunity of examining ; they vary in 
length from 2} to 4 lines, and in breadth from 14 to 1% line, 
and the numerous sizes which intervene between merge insen- 
sibly into each other. With reference to the distinguishing cha- 
racters of Ot. Marquardtii, as given by Faldermant, it may be 
observed, that the largest specimens have the rostrum, antennz 
and elytra longer and more robust when compared with the 


smallest. 
* Germ. Stettin Ent. Zeit. 1842, p. 104. 
+ Schénh. Syn. Ins. vii. p. 358. . 


Mr. J. Walton on the genus Otiorhynchus. 447 


Of Ot. septentrionis of Herbst I possess several examples from 
Germar and Chevrolat, but I have not hitherto observed a native 
specimen in any collection. 

Widely distributed throughout Great Britain, occurring almost 
everywhere from May to October in thick white-thorn hedges, 
especially in those which have been cut and clipped. 


4. Otiorhynchus rugifrons, Gyll., Steph., Schonh. 

— scaber, Steph. sec. ej. Mus. 

— Dillwynii, Steph. Illustr., Kirb. MSS. 

— rugicollis, Steph. 

This is the true Of. (Curc.) rugifrons of Gyll. identified by 
foreign specimens in the collection of Kirby, from Gyllenhal 
himself. 

The sculpture greatly varies; in some specimens the thorax 
has the dorsal channel very distinct, in others more or less ab- 
breviated, or entirely wanting. 

Lam of opinion that Of. rugicollis of Steph. (which is repre- 
sented in his cabinet by one insect) is but a variety of Ot. rugi- 
frons, having the thorax channeled, the elytra indistinctly stri- 
ated, and the anterior femora obscurely denticulated. 

Found in the south of England, and in Scotland, but I believe 
very sparingly ; specimens taken on the coast near Little Hamp- 
ton, Sussex, in August, by Mr. 8. Stevens. 


5. O. ovatus, Linn., Mus. Linn., Fab., Marsh., Gyll., Steph., 
Schonh. 
— vorticosus (Chevr. ), Schonh., Steph. Manual. 
I possess a specimen from Chevrolat of Ot. vorticosus of 
Schénh., which is decidedly a large variety of this insect. 
Very common in hedges about Hampstead in June. 


6. O. pabulinus, Panz., Germ., Steph. Illustr. 

— confinis, Kirb. MSS. 

Mr. Kirby separated this insect from the preceding under the 
name of ‘ confinis,’ appending the note, ‘sine sulcis;’ it is also 
separated in many cabinets on account of a strikig peculiarity 
in its general habit. Mr. Stephens, after describing it in his 
‘Illustrations,’ adds, “Probably an immature variety of Of. ovatus, 
but its form and sculpture are slightly dissimilar.” He has how- 
ever sunk it in his ‘ Manual;’ yet I think it has a strong claim 
entitling it to rank as a distinct species. By far the greatest 
number differ from Ot. ovatus in being piceous, never black, and 
clothed with brownish pubescence, and by having the thorax 
shorter in proportion to the breadth, less narrowed posteriorly, 
less distended at the sides, and thickly tuberculated, not sulcated 
on the back ; the legs shorter, the clava of the femora less robust, 
with the bifid teeth evidently much shorter and smaller. 


448 Mr. J. Walton on the genus Otiorhynchus. 


I sent specimens to Germar, who remarked in a note to me, 
that it also occurs in Germany, and seems to be a good species.” 

I have found it plentifully among herbage, on a hedge-bank, 
in a lane behind the Bull Inn, Birch-wood, in June ; but not in 
company with Of. ovatus. 


§ B.. Femora edentate. 


7. Otiorhynchus caudatus, Rossi, 1792, Schénh. 

— Lima, Marsh. 1802, Steph. Illustr. 

— bisulcatus, Steph. Manual, non Fab. 

First mtroduced into our fauna by the late Mr. Marsham, 
from whose collection Mr. Stephens obtained one specimen. Of 
its history and locality nothing appears to be known: it is a na- 
tive of Italy and Greece, and specifically identical with a speci- 
men sent to me by Chevrolat as Ot. caudatus. 


8. O. niger, Fab., Clairv., Germ., Steph. Manual. secund. ejus 
descr. 

— ater, Herbst. 

— villoso-punctatus, Schonh. ( 2?) 

It is sufficiently proved, by the elaborate observations on this 
and the following species by Professor Germar and M, Schmidt 
of Stettin, that this is the true “ Cure. niger of Fab. and Clairv. 
(ater of Herbst), and that it is entirely different from Ot. niger 
of Schonh. (ater of Gyll.)*.” I possess six insects sent by Ger- 
mar as the true Of. (Curc.) niger of Fab., and also a specimen of 
Ot. villoso-punctatus ( $) from Schonherr himself, which are be- 
yond all doubt specifically identical. 

The only specimen I have seen which is reputed to be indige- 
nous, and which agrees with my foreign specimens, is in the 
British Museum unnamed; its locality is unknown; probably 
found by Dr. Leach on Dartmoor, in Devonshire. According to 
Germar and Schmidt, it is a native of the mountainous districts 
of Germany, and found upon dz/berries and willows, and does not 


occur in Sweden. 


9. O. tenebricosus, Herbst, Gyll. (2), Steph., Schonh. - 


— morio, Payk. (2?) 
— niger, Payk. (3), Marsh., Schonh., Kirb. MSS. 


— ater, Gyll. (d) 

— scrobiculatus, Schonh. (¢) 

In June 1841 I distinctly identified the sexes of this and the 
following species, by confining living specimens in boxes covered 
with glass, and I then observed a remarkable sexual dissimilarity 
in the form and sculpture of the elytra, and in the sculpture of 


* Germ. Stettin Ent. Zeit. 1842, p. 103. Schmidt, id. p. 110. 


Mr. J. Walton on the genus Otiorhynchus. 449 


the ultimate segment of the abdomen, which I communicated to 
Germar and to Chevrolat in February 1842; previously to this, 
entomological authors (not being aware of the sexual disparities) 
had either considered the male as a variety, or had separated it 
as a distinct species. _ 

The male differs by having the elytra narrower, punctate- 
striate, the punctures distinct or indistinct, the interstices nar- 
row, transversely rugose, and the ultimate segment of the abdo- 
men delicately striated; the female differs by having the elytra 
broader, transversely rugulose, very obsoletely striated near the 
suture, and more or less distinctly near the apex, and the ulti- 
mate segment of the abdomen punctulated: immature varieties 
occur with the elytra rufo-piceous, and the colour of the legs 
varies from testaceous to piceous; the knee-joints and the tarsi 
are generally of a deeper shade of colour than the other parts, 
and are occasionally black. 

Scarcely any doubt can exist but that Gyllenhal has described 
the female under the name of Curc. tenebricosus, and the male 
under that of Curc. ater, and the words of the description, “ seg- 
mento anali tenuissime substriato*,” as a character peculiar to 
the male, appear to me conclusive. 

I sent fifteen specimens (¢ ¢ ) of this msect as Ot. tenebricosus 
to Germar, who remarks,—“ Of. niger of Schouh. (ater of Gyll.) 
I consider merely as a variety of Ot. tenebricosus, from which in- 
deed it apparently differs by its smaller size, and more distinct 
strie of the elytra, but it is reunited to it by the most uninter- 
rupted transitions +.” 

Under the name of Of. niger of Fab. (ater of Gyll.) Schonherr 
has synonymized and characterized the male of this insect as Of. 
scrobiculatust, of which I have specimens from Germar, and. 
which is decidedly a large male variety of Ot. tenebricosus. 

I may refer to Mr. Curtis’s ‘ British Entomology’ for an in- 
teresting account of the devastation committed in gardens and. 
nursery-grounds by the larve of this and of other species of the 

enus. | 
. This and the following insect being night-feeders, are found 
very abundantly in June, after twilight in thick hedges, about 
Mickleham in Surrey, and in many other counties in the south of 
England, but it appears to be very rare in the north. ? 


10. Otiorhynchus fuscipes, Oliv., Schonh. 
— Fagi, Chevr. (3) Schénh. 
— hypolaus et Sacer, Kirb. MSS. 


Oblong-ovate, black, very sparingly pubescent. Head rather 


* Gyll. Ins. Suec. iii. p. 292. + Germ. Stettin Ent. Zeit. 1842, p. 103. 
} Syn. Ins, Suppl. vil. p. 265 (18438). 
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Vol. xix. Suppl. 32 


450 Mr. J. Walton on the genus Otiorhynchus. 


convex and finely punctured; eyes brown and prominent ; ros- 
trum a little longer than the head, porrect, incrassated at the 
apex, angulated, thickly punctulated above, carmated in the 
middle, and bifurcate at the apex. Antenne half as long as the 
body, black, pilose and pubescent. Thorax narrow, a little longer 
than broad, somewhat constricted at the base, the margin slightly 
elevated, moderately dilated, and rounded at the sides before the 
middle, convex, and minutely punctured and wrinkled above, 
and distinctly granulated at the sides. Elytra anteriorly not 
broader than the base of the thorax, the sides gradually dilated 
to the middle, and from thence attenuated to the apex, convex 
above, distinctly punctate-striate, the interstices transversely 
rugose, very nearly glabrous, and the ultimate segment of the 
abdomen delicately striated. Legs rather long, robust, rufo-fer- 
ruginous or rufo-piceous, pubescent; the femora clavate, with 
the apex piceous or black; the tarsi also piceous or black.— 

Male. Length 43 to 53 lines. 

The female differs by having the thorax with the sides dilated 
and rounded at the middle; the elytra broader, dilated at the 
sides a little before the middle, and narrowed to the apex; the 
ultimate segment of the abdomen punctulated. Varieties of the 
female sometimes occur, although rarely, with the strie on the 
elytra indistinct, especially on the disc of each elytron: the 
colour of the elytra and the legs in both sexes varies as in the 
preceding species. 

_ There is undoubtedly a very close affinity between this and the 
preceding insect ; nevertheless I am of opinion it is sufficiently 
distinct, and that there is by far too great a difference between 
them to admit of their being united into one species; this is a 
shorter insect, and very generally smaller and less pubescent ; 
but it chiefly differs by having the antennz in both sexes, with 
all its articulations, distinctly shorter and stouter; the elytra of 
the female evidently shorter im proportion to the breadth, and 
more or less distinctly punctate-striate ; the knee-joints in both 
species are more or less strongly coloured, but too inconstantly to 
be of any value as a specific difference. 

I have applied the name ‘ fuscipes of Oliv, to this insect on the 
authority of Schénherr, having sent specimens for his examina- 
tion. I haveno doubt that Ot. Fagi, of which I possess a speci- 
men from Chevrolat, and with which the description of Schén- 
herr agrees, is but a female variety of this insect, having a 
smoother surface, and the elytra indistinctly striated. 

I forwarded many specimens (3 2) as Ot. fuscipes of Oliv. 
and Schénh. to Germar, who referred them to Ot. tenebricosus 
as varieties. | 

Most commonly found in company with the foregoing, and in 


Mr. J. Walton on the genus Otiorhynchus. 451 


the same localities; but I once met with it very plentifully in 
June in the Isle of Portland beneath stones, where there were no 
hedges, and without finding a single specimen of O¢. tenebricosus. 

The species figured 93 2, in Pl. XV. and 10¢ 2, exhibit the 
difference of size and form between the two species comparatively, 
and between the sexes of each ; and also the difference of sculpture 
of the elytra of the females; the antennee ¢ ? of each species, 
which are considerably magnified, exhibit their diversity of struc- 
ture. 


11. Otiorhynchus atroapterus, De Geer, Gyll., Schonh., Steph. 
Manual. 
— ater, Steph. Illustr. 
— niger, Steph. Manual secund. ejus Mus., non Fab. 
— arenarius, Kirb. MSS. , 
My foreign specimens sent by Germar as Ot. atroapterus of 
Gyll. agree with this insect. 
Extremely variable in size. Length 34 to 5 lines. Common 
in many places on the sandy coasts of Great Britain in June. 


12. O. Monticola (Dej. Cat.), Germ., Schénh., Steph. Manual. 
— levigatus, Gyli., Steph. Illustr. 

This insect is identified as Curc. levigatus by specimens in 
the collection of Kirby from Gyllenhal. 

The striz of the elytra in some individuals are very distinct, in 
others indistinct. 

Found in Scotland by the Rev. W. Little, Mr. R. N. Greville, 
and Mr. Weaver. 


13. O. seabrosus, Marsh., Steph., Schonh., Kirb, MSS. 
Pachygaster crispatus, De}. Catal. 

Rather local, and not very abundant. I once found a number 
of specimens in a thick white-thorn hedge near Ryde, Isle of 
Wight, the beginning of August. ° 
14. O. ligneus, Oliv., Schonh., Steph. Manual. 

— scabridus, Steph. Illustr., Schonh., Kirb. MSS. 

I have a specimen from Chevrolat of Ot. ligneus of Oliv., which 
is unquestionably identical with Ot. scabridus of Kirb.; Schoén- 
herr however has described the latter in his Supplement as a di- 
stinct species. 

Frequently taken in sandy and gravelly localities, but not very 
common. 


15. O. maurus, Gyll., Steph., Curt., Schonh. 

Chiefly found in the north of England and in Scotland, but I 
believe never in any quantity; specimens taken on the sides of 
Skiddaw, Cumberland, by Mr. Marshall, and likewise in Scotland 


by the Rev. W. Little and Mr. R. N. Greville. 
32% 


452 Mr. J. Walton on the genus Otiorhynchus. 


16. Otiorhynchus raucus, Fab., Gyll., Marsh., Steph., Schonh. 


Rather uncommon and local. I never took but one specimen» 
and that on a sandy bank under a hedge near Gravesend; in 
meadows near Hammersmith, and Hampstead, Mr. S. Stevens. 


17. O. (2? Trachyphleus) fissirostris (Schénh. in litt.), Walt. 


Oblong-ovate, piceous-black, densely clothed with fuscous, 
and variegated with cinereous recumbent scales, and rather spa- 
ringly with short, erect, fuscous scales. Head black, somewhat 
long, depressed, subconical, longitudinally ridged and striated 
all round behind the eyes, the front very deeply furrowed to the 
middle of the rostrum; eyes small, round, and very prominent ; 
rostrum distinctly shorter and narrower than the head, the apex 
incrassated, angulated, triangularly emarginated above, deeply 
excavated between the antenne, and the lateral margins greatly 
elevated. Antenne rather long, testaceous; the scape robust, 
gradually thickened towards the apex, slightly bent, nearly as 
long as the flagellum, and squamulose; the funiculus setose, the 
two basal joints rather long, the second being thinner and a little 
longer than the first, 3 to 7 obconic, rounded; the’ club ovate, 
acute. Thorax black, rather longer than broad in the middle, 
more narrowed in front than behind, obliquely truncated at the 
base, impressed on each side anteriorly, moderately dilated at the 
sides posteriorly, rather convex above, thickly rugose or rugose- 
punctate, with a dorsal carina more or less abbreviated, and a 
fovea on each side towards the middle sometimes indistinct ; 
densely clothed with fuscous scales, which are cinereous at the 
sides. Scutellum scarcely perceptible. Elytra ample, oblong- 
ovate, piceous-black, anteriorly broader than the base of the 
thorax, the shoulders rounded, not elevated, moderately expanded 
at the sides, the apex rounded, a little convex above, regularly 
punctate-striate, the interstices narrow, alternately elevated ; 
densely clothed with round fuscous scales, which in recent speci- 
mens are beautifully variegated with cinereous behind the middle 
and towards the sides, and rather thickly clothed with short erect 
fuscous scales. Legs with the femora and tibiz very stout, 
rather short and piceous, the former clavate, edentate; densely 
clothed with fuscous and cinereous scales, and the tarsi short, 
slender and testaceous. Length 23 to 3 lines. Immature ya- 
rieties occur of a ferruginous colour. 

The specimen of this insect which I sent to Schonherr for his 
opinion was returned with the name “ Otiorhynchus (?) fissirostris, 
u. sp. indescripta.” In general habit it resembles my foreign 
specimens of Ot. septentrionis; I have therefore placed it in this 
genus with an indication of doubt, after the celebrated author of 
the ‘Synonymia Insectorum ;’ yet it assimilates very closely in 


Linnean Society. 453. 


many of its characters to Trachyphleus Waltoni, especially in the 
clothing, the form and sculpture of the head and rostrum, the 
robust scape of the antennz, the short and stout tibie, and the 
short and slender tarsi; and although it chiefly differs in being a 
larger and longer insect, yet there is a much greater dissimilarity 
amongst the insects in the genus Otiorhynchus, and therefore [ 
think it should be located in that of Trachyphleus. id 
I obtained specimens from the collection of the late Mr. Millard 
of Bristol; subsequently found in a gravel-pit on Plumstead 
Common in June and July by Mr. S. Stevens and Mr. Smith. 


PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 


LINNAZAN SOCIETY. % 
February 2, 1847.—E. Forster, Esq., V.P., in the Chair. 


Read an “ Account of Gamopleais, an undescribed genus of Or. 
chideous Plants.” By Hugh Falconer, M.D., F.R.S., F.L.S. &c. &c. 


Trib. Gastropisz, R. Br. 
Gen. Gamop.texis, Fale. 


Perianthium monophyllum, tubulosum, basi ventricosum; limbi breviter 
6-lobi segmenta rotundata, antrorstim (torsione) subsecunda, exteriora 
eequalia, interiorum posticum (labellum) pedicelli torsione anticum 
lateralibus pauld majus, ceeteroquin consimile. Columna elongata, 
erecta, semiteres, marginato-dilatata, apice tridentata cava, basi anticé 
incrassata stigmatifera. -Anthera terminalis, mobilis, decidua, carnosa, 
bilocularis ; loculis parallelis contiguis. Masse pollinis in quovis loculo 
solitariz, e lobulis majusculis granulatis laxé coherentibus conflate. 
Glandula aut caudicula nulla,—Herba parasitica (?) aphylla, vaginata, 
rufescens, habitu Orobanchen quamdam omnind referens. Rhizoma 
hypogeum, tuberosum, annulatum, spongiosum. Racemus elongatus, 
multiflorus, primd nutans, demim erectus. Flores mediocres, erecti, 
pallidée stramineo-virides vel ochroleuci. 

Gamop.Lexis oroBANCHOIDES, Fale. MSS. cit. in Royle, Illustr. p. 364, et 

in Lindl. Gen. &§ Spec. Orchid. Pl. p. 384, absque charactere aut definitione. 

Hab. in umbrosis humidis inter Montes Emodenses ad alt. circiter ped. 

7000; Dhunoultee, Tyne-Teeba, Simla, &c. Floret Julio et Augusto. 


After a detailed description of the plant, Dr. Falconer proceeds to 
point out its atiinity both in habit and structure to Gastrodia, R. Br., 
and to Epiphanes Javanica, Bl., from both which, however, it is suf- 
ficiently distinct in the cohesion of the labellar segment with the 
tube of the perianthium. It is the only example, so far as Dr. Fal- 
coner is aware, hitherto ascertained in the order, of the union of 
all the divisions of both whorls of the floral envelope into a mono- 
phyllous perianthium. Its parasitism is of a peculiar kind; the tu- 
berous rhizoma emits no root-fibres by which to attach itself to other 
plants, but is itself matted over by their slender rootlets which ra- 
mify upon it in every direction slightly imbedded in its surface, to 


454A Linnean Society. 


which they adhere with great tenacity, and especially to the scarious 
margins of the abortive sheath annuli. This peculiarity was ob- 
served in numerous instances, but other cases occurred in which the 
surface of the tubers. presented no such appearance. 


February 16.—The Lord Bishop of Norwich, President, in the Chair. 


Read an extract from a letter addressed by Captain Sir E. Home, 
Bart., R.N., to R. Brown, Esq., V.P.L.S., giving an account of the 
measurement of some of the largest of the New Zealand and Norfolk 
Island Pines. With reference to the former Sir E. Home quotes from 
the Journal of Mr. Saddler, Master R.N., who was sent to New Zea- 
land in 1833—4 in command of the Buffalo Store-ship to procure spars 
for the Navy. The tree which he describes was in a forest near 
Wangaroa, some miles north of the Bay of Islands. Mr. Saddler 
says, ‘‘On 16th (May 1834) I went to examine a Kauri tree [Dam- 
mara australis, Lamb.] which Mr. Betts the purveyor in his search 
through the forest had discovered a few days previous; it is situated 
about two miles from the river on the steep bank of a ravine. It 
appeared perfectly sound and healthy, and measured forty-three feet 
nine inches in circumference, and sixty feet high without a branch. 
Its head then spread out into forty-one principal branches, some of 
which were four feet through. It is more than double the size of 
any tree I have before seen in this country.’’ Sir E. Home adds, 
that the largest tree of this species that he saw was only eighteen 
feet eight inches in circumference ; but that in Norfolk Island he had 
measured the largest tree [of Araucaria excelsa, Sol.] known to be 
upon the island and had found it to be 187 feet high, the girth at four 
feet from the ground fifty-four feet, and at twenty feet from the 
ground fifty-one feet. This tree is hollow for sixteen feet above the 
ground, but is in good health. 


Read also a memoir ‘‘On the Structure and Comparative Phy- 
siology of Chiton and Chitonellus.” By Lovell Reeve, Esq., F.L.S. 
&e. &e. 

Mr. Reeve commences his paper by remarking on the paucity of 
species of Chitonide known to Lamarck so lately as 1819, and the 
very large number (amounting to between two and three hundred) 
now known to inhabit the western coast of South America, the shores 
of New Holland and New Zealand, and other localities explored by 
recent voyagers ; and states that he is enabled by the kindness of 
Mr. Cuming and Capt. Sir Edward Belcher to offer a few observa- 
tions on the structure of Chiton and such remarks on Chitonellus as, 
in his opinion, will leave no doubt of their claim to generic distinc- 
tion. He notices the successive additions made to these genera by 
Mr. Frembly, by Mr. Cuming, by M. Quoy, by Capt. Belcher in the 
voyages of the Blossom, the Sulphur and the Samarang (and espe- 
cially in the latter in company with Mr. Arthur Adams), by the Rev. 
Mr. Hennah, by Dr. Dieffenbach, by Mr. Earl, by Mr. Ronald Gunn, 
by Mr. Ince, by Dr. Gould, by Mr. Courthony, and by Prof. Edward 
Forbes and Mr. M‘Andrew ; and then enters into an examination of 


Linnean Society. 455 


the views of authors with reference to their affinity, adopting that 
first promulgated by Adanson and now generally adopted, that they 
are immediately related to Patella. A description of the animal is 
then given, and the differences between it and the animal of Patella 
pointed out, as well as the modifications to which it is subject in 
different species. The distinctions between the shells and animals 
of Chiton and .Chitonellus are more particularly insisted on; and the 
author proceeds to point out a marked difference in the habits of the 
two genera. He states, on the authority of Mr. Cuming, that while 
the Chitons live attached to stones and fragments of shells in deep 
water, or more frequently under masses of stone and on exposed 
rocks about low-water mark, the Chitonelli dwell in holes and cavi- 
ties, either of natural formation or bored by other Mollusca, into 
which they thrust themselves by attenuating their bodies in a sur- 
prising manner, sometimes turning completely at right angles and at 
angles again. Those which were only partially imbedded were found 
to have entered holes too small to contain them, and the posterior 
part of their bodies remained suspended externally, fat and swollen, 
and constantly separating from the anterior half when any attempt 
was made to draw them forcibly from their retreats. These remarks 
apply to Chitonellus fasciatus, collected by Mr. Cuming in the Phi- 
lippine Islands in great abundance and of extraordinary dimensions, 
extending frequently to a foot or more in length. Capt. Sir E. Bel- 
cher and Mr. Adams collected the same species in the Korean Archi- 
pelago, where they were found in company with Chitons and noticed 
to be of locomotive habits; the Chitonellus seeking retirement in a 
hole or cavity, but crawling away from its attachment on being dis- 
turbed, at about the pace of the common garden snail. 

For these reasons, although Mr. Reeve does not regard the other 
subdivisions proposed in the genus Chiton as of greater value than 
sectional, he considers Chitonellus.as entitled to rank equally with 
Chiton in its most extended form, being in his opinion clearly di- 
stinguished both in structure (as regards the condition of the mantle 
and its system of calcification) and in habit. 


March 2.—The Lord Bishop of Norwich, President, in the Chair, 


Read ‘‘ Notes on the seals of Linneus.” By the Baron d’Hom- 
bres Firmas. Communicated by the Secretary. 

In these notes, intended to form part of the preliminary matter 
prefixed to the correspondence of Linnzus with his uncle, Boissier de 
Sauvages, which the Baron is about to print for private distribution, 
an account is given of the seals employed by Linnzeus in that cor- 
respondence, and of some others with which M. d’Hombres Firmas 
has become acquainted from other sources, Of all of these he gives 
figures, adding the armorial bearings of Linnzus as designed by 
himself, and as altered to suit the rules of heraldry by the Chancellor 
De Fitas, the seal uf the Linnean Society, and the reverse of a medal 
struck in 1758, in honour of Linneeus, by order of Count Tessin, 
Marshal of the Diet. 


456 Linnean Society). 


Read also a paper ‘‘ On the Impregnation of Dischidia.” By the 
late William Griffith, Esq., F.L.S. &c. &c. Communicated by 
Robert Brown, Esq., V.P.L.S._. 

In this ‘paper, dated ‘‘ Mergui, March 7, 1835,” Mr. Griffith de- 
tails a series of observations made in January of that year on Dis- 
chidia Rafflesiana, Wall., and confirmed (with the exception of those 
relating to the development of the ovule) by the examination of an- 
other species, apparently allied to D. Bengalensis, Colebr. 

Mr. Griffith commences by a description of the progress of the 
ovula from their first appearance as mere rounded elevations on the 
placenta. The first change consists in a narrowing towards the base, 
which afterwards puts on the appearance of a funiculus, and at the 
same time a rounded rather shallow cavity appears on the upper 
edge of the ovulum close to the funiculus. The further changes take 
place rapidly ; the rounded cavity assumes the appearance of a deep 
fissure with raised margins extending from the base of. the ovulum, 
close to the funiculus, along the upper margin of the ovulum for 
about one-fourth of its length. This fissure gradually lengthens ; 
its lips become more expanded, and a small indistinct grumous-look- 
ing mass becomes visible in the central line and towards the apex of 
the ovulum, which is the first rudiment of the nucleus, or of the ca- 
vity within which the future embryo is to be developed, and which 
becomes subsequently more distinct, and frequently assumes a 
rounded form. In the perfect ovule the fissure is very large, extend- 
ing longitudinally from the base of the funiculus for about one-third 
of the length of the convex upper margin of the ovule; its lips are 
gaping, and it is of considerable depth, gradually narrowing towards 
its fundus. The grumous mass is now very distinct and the first 
indications of an excavation around it are appreciable. When no 
impregnation has taken place, in flowers that have passed their me- 
ridian, the excavation is enlarged, the grumous mass is more irtre- 
gular, and it frequently appears to be broken up, the component 
parts being irregularly grouped together. 

The partial closing of the corolla of Dischidia by the connivence 
of its divisions, and the short hairs with which those divisions are 
furnished internally in D. Rafflesiana, induced Mr. Griffith to regard 
foreign agency as inapplicable in determining the escape of the pol- 
linia from their anthers, and to believe that impregnation in any 
given flower is in this genus the result of the action of its own pol- 
linia. The pollinia are erect, have no diaphanous margin, and de- 
hisce along that margin which is internal with regard to the cell of 
the anther, and which presents no appreciable difference of structure, 
but corresponds with the margin of dehiscence of the pendulous pol- 
linia first noticed by Mr. Brown. The base of the stigma is slightly 
papillose in D. Rafflesiana, and more evidently so in the other spe- 
cies ; and the fissures of communication are open in the former, but 
closely approximated in the latter. In neither has Mr. Griffith seen 
the pollinia engaged in these fissures, but they are either caught 
by the processes of the corona or fall to the fundus of the corolla ; 
and in whatever situation they emit their boyaux, the cord formed 


Linnean Society. 457 


by the aggregation of the latter always engages itself in the 
nearest fissure where it becomes more opake and grumous. ‘The 
cord then passes upwards to the base of the stigma, along which it 
is reflected until it reaches the union of the stigma with the styles, at 
which place it dips into one of them, or rarely both, and proceeds 
downwards to the placenta, causing a slight discoloration of the ad- 
joining tissue. The boyaux then separate and proceed in every di- 
rection among the ovula, to which they become firmly attached. 
They contain much granular matter which has a strong tendency to 
accumulate towards their termination. Mr. Griffith states that he 
has observed an oscillatory motion, but no motion of ascent or de- 
scent, of the contained granules. The tubes are simple and one ap- 
pears to be allotted to each ovulum, to which it remains applied for 
some time, invariably passing in at the centre of the fissure and ad- 
hering so firmly that they break across rather than separate. Mr. 
Griffith was unable to demonstrate their termination internally by 
actual dissection, but in one instance he observed the boyau to ter- 
minate about the fundus of the fissure in a cul-de-sac, which was 
crowded with granules. Whatever the function of these granules may 
be, similar bodies exist in the cellular tissue of the ovula both before 
and after the application of the tubes, and the majority certainly dis- 
appear before the tubes reach the ovula. 

No immediate change appears to be produced in the ovula by the 
application of the tubes; but some time afterwards the excavation 
appears to enlarge and extend towards the point of insertion of the 
tube ; and this action is continued until the whole of the granular 
mass disappears and the chief part of the ovulum is occupied by the 
now empty excavation. No further appreciable change, except in 
size, takes place for some time, and the rudiments of the coma are 
even visible before any part of the embryo appears to be formed. 


March 16.—The Lord Bishop of Norwich, President, in the Chair. 


Mr. Ward, F.L.S., exhibited specimens of several Ferns collected 
in Ireland, including Trichomanes speciosum (referred to Tr. radicans, 
Hedw. fil.) found in a new station on the Toomies mountain, Kil- 
larney ; Hymenophyllum Tunbridgense, of more than double the size of 
any specimens to be found at Tunbridge Wells; and a monstrous 
and singularly divided variety of Asplenium Filix Femina, found 
about twenty years ago in Connemara, and sent to the Botanic Gar- 
den at Dublin, where it maintains its character when grown from the 
sporules, which are freely produced. 


Read a ‘Note on Samara leita, L.” By G. A. Walker Arnott, 
Esq., LL.D., F.L.8.; Regius Professor of Botany in the University of 
Glasgow. 

In this note Dr. Arnott gives a minute account of the history of 
the genus Samara, and of the errors of various authors in regard to 
it, originating partly in Linnzeus’s own misquotation as a synonym of 
Burm. Thes. Zeyl. t. 31, which represents a species of Memecylon ; 
partly in Jussieu’s reference of the genus to Rhamnee, afterwards 


458 Linnean Society. 


corrected by himself, but which correction seems to have escaped 
observation ; and partly in the assumption that the Samara leta of 
Swartz, referred to in his ‘ Flora Indiz Occidentalis,’ must therefore 
be a plant of the West Indies. With regard to the affinities of the 
genus, he notices Mr. Brown’s reference to Myrsine of the three spe- 
cies added by Swartz, Solander and Willdenow, and also Jussieu’s 
suggestion that Samara is related to Myrsine, both published in 1810. 
A detailed examination of the three specimens of Samara leita pre- 
served in the Linnean Herbarium, and of three specimens from 
China referred to that species in the Banksian Herbarium, follows ; 
and he concludes from this examination that Samara, L.., is identical 
with Choripetalum, A. DeC., which is scarcely distinguishable from 
Embelia, L., except in the quaternary instead of quinary divisicn of 
the flower, although perhaps the estivation may also slightly differ. 
The following are the characters which Dr. Arnott gives of the spe- 
cies hitherto known to him :— 


1. S. leta, floribus corymbosis, bracteis pedicello dupld brevioribus, pe- 
talis intus glabris, foliis membranaceis planis. 

Samara leta, L., Sw. Se. 

Hab. in China. 


_ 2. S. undulata, floribus racemosis, bracteis pedicello multd brevioribus, 
petalis intus glabris, foliis membranaceis undulatis. 
Myrsine? undulata, Wall. in Roxb. Fl. Ind. i. p. 299. 
Choripetalum undulatum, 4/ph. DeC. in Linn. Trans. xvii. p. 131. 
Hab. in Nepalia. 


3. S. viridiflora, floribus racemosis, bracteis pedicello dupld brevioribus, 
petalis subacutis intus subvelutinis, foliis subcoriaceis. 

Choripetalum viridiflorum, Alph. DeC. Prodr. viii. p. 88. 

Hab. in Java. 


4, S. aurantiaca, floribus spicato-racemosis, bracteis pedicellum feré supe- 
rantibus, petalis intus velutinis, foliis coriaceis. 

Myrsine? aurantiaca, Wall. in Roxb. Fl. Ind. i. p. 300. 

Choripetalum aurantiacum, Alph. DeC. in Linn. Trans. xvii. p.131. 

Hab. in Peninsula Indiz Orientalis, ad Quilon. 

5. S. atropunctata, floribus racemosis, bracteolis pedicello florigero duplé 
longioribus, petalis obtusis intus glabris, foliis coriaceis. 

Hab.in Peninsula Indiz Orientalis, ad Quilon, 


Of the stability of this latter species, however, although apparently 
distinct from S. aurantiaca in the characters given, Dr. Arnott en- 
tertains some doubts. 


April 6.—R. Brown, Esq., V.P., in the Chair. 


Read a “‘ Note on Cryptophagus cellaris, Payk.” By George New- 
port, Esq., F.R.S., F.L.S. &c. 

The author states that in his first memoir on Meloé he described a 
larva, of which he had found three specimens in the cell of Antho- 
phora retusa, and which, although they were of small size, he then 
thought might ultimately prove to be the young of Meloé, at a pe- 
riod of growth between that in which it is now known to come from 


Zoological Society. 459 


the egg, and that in which he has found it, immediately before it 
changes to a nymph. He did not however describe them as actually 
the young of Meloé, and he now finds that they belong to another 
family, the Engide. 

The author then describes these larvee more minutely, and states 
that having kept them in a glass vessel partly filled with dry clay 
and a cell of Anthophora retusa which contained a nymph, he found 
that the larve constantly sheltered themselves beneath it, although 
they did not attempt to prey on it, but fed on the rejectamenta 
voided before it underwent its change. The larve continued in this 
state till the beginning of January, when each specimen quitted the 
cell of the bee, and excavated for itself a burrow in the clay in which 
it assumed the nymph state. The nymph closely resembled that of 
Diaperis Boleti in its general appearance. 

At the end of February each specimen assumed the imago state, 
but continued feeble, and remained in its burrow until the eighth of 
March, when it came forth and proved to be Cryptophagus cellaris, 
Payk. 


ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 


March 23, 1847.—Wm. Yarrell, Esq., Vice-President, in the Chair. 


ON EIGHT NEW SPECIES oF AUSTRALIAN Birps; anp on ANTHUS 
MINIMUS, Vie. AND Horsr., AS THE TYPE OF A NEW GENUS 
Cutuonicota, Goutp. By Joun Goutp, F.R.S. 


ARTAMUS ALBIVENTRIS. Art. loris, spatio infra oculum, et mento, 
atris ; capite, collo, et dorso superiore, fusco-griseis; pectore et 
abdomine pallide griseis, colore griseo in tectricibus caude infe- 
rioribus albo mergente ; tectricibus caud@ superioribus, cauddque, 
nigris ; tertid parte apicali rectricum omnium, intermediis duabus 
exceptis, albd. 

Lores, space beneath the eye and the chin deep black ; head, neck 
and upper part of the back brownish grey; lower part of the back 
and the wings dark grey, becoming gradually deeper towards the tips 
of the feathers ; primaries and secondaries narrowly edged with white 
at the tip; under surface of the wing white; ear-coverts, chest, 
and abdomen pale grey, passing into white on the under tail-coverts ; 
upper tail-coverts and tail black; the apical third of all but the two 
middle feathers white ; irides dark brown; bill yellowish horn-colour, 
becoming black at the tip; feet blackish brown. 

Total length, 7 inches; bill, 7; wing, 47; tail, 23; tarsi, 3. 

Hab. Darling Downs, New South Wales, &c. 

Remark.—This species differs from the A. cinereus, to which it is 
most nearly allied, in the white colouring of the abdomen and under 
tail-coverts. ‘Two specimens have come under my notice, both of 
which were killed by Mr. Gilbert, one on the Darling Downs, in New 
South Wales, and the other at Peak-range Camp, one of the stations 
so named by Dr. Leichardt during his expedition from Moreton Bay 
to Port Essington. 


4.60 Zoological Society. - 


ACANTHIZA APICALIS. Acan. plumis in fronte cervinis, fusco mar-' 
ginatis ; caudd latd fascid fusco-nigrd prope apicem transversim 
ornatd, apice ipso albo; tectricibus caude superioribus rufo 
tinctis. 

Feathers of the forehead deep buff, edged with dark brown; all 
the upper surface, wings and tail light olive-brown ; tail crossed near 
the extremity with a broad and distinct band of brownish black, and 
largely tipped with white; upper tail-coverts tinged with rufous; 
throat and chest greyish white, each feather margined with black, 
giving that part a mottled appearance; flanks, abdomen and under 
tail-coverts pale buff ; irides light red; bill, legs and feet dark brown. 

Total length, 4 inches; bill, 4; wing, 2; tail, 2; tarsi, 4: 

Hab. Swan River, Western Australia. 

Remark.—Distinguished from A. diemenensis, A. pusilia, and A. 
Ewingii, to all of which it is nearly allied, by its large size, by its 
larger and rounder tail, by the broad and distinct band of black which 
crosses the tail-feathers near their extremities, and by their being 
largely tipped with white. 


Cysticora 1surA. Cys. colli lateribus, nuchd, et uropygio pallid? 
rufis ; vertice, dorso, secondartisque, saturate brunni-nigris, sin- 
gulis plumis stramineo marginatis, et latd fascid atrd transversim 
prope apicem infra ornatis. 

Sides and back of the neck and rump pale rufous; crown of the 
head, back and secondaries deep brownish black, each feather mar- 
gined with buff; tail dark brown, margined with buff, and crossed 
on the under side near the tip with a broad conspicuous band of 
black ; under surface deep buff, becoming paler on the chin and centre 
of the abdomen; bill brown; feet yellowish brown. 

_ Total length, 4 inches ; bill, 2 3; wing, 12; tail, 15; tarsi, 2. 

Hab. Southern coasts of Australia. 

Remark.—Distinguished from the other members of the genus by 
the shorter and more truncated form of its tail, which has suggested 
the specific term assigned to it. 


CaAtciTEs oscuLans. Chal. capite, corpore superiore, alisque, ni- 
tente olivaceo-fuscis, colore eodem in humeris primariisque satura- 
tiore, sed in tectricibus caude superioribus albicante ; caudd in- 
tense olivaceo-fuscd, plumd qudque ad apicem albd ; pectore et abdo- 
mine pallidé cinnamominis. 

Head, all the upper surface and wings glossy olive-brown, becoming 
darker on the shoulders and primaries, and fading into white on the 
upper tail-coverts; tail dark olive-brown, each feather tipped with 
white, and the lateral one on each side crossed on the inner web with 
five bars of white; ear-coverts black, encircled with white; under 
surface of the wing, throat, breast and abdomen pale cinnamon-brown, 
fading into white on the under tail-coverts; bill brown; feet olive- 
brown. 

Total length, 73 inches; bill, 4; wing, 42; tail, 32; tarsi, 2. 

Hab. New South Wales. 

Remark.—I have applied the term of osculans to this species, be- 


Zoological Society. 461 


cause in it are united in a remarkable degree the characters of the 
genera Cuculus and Chalcites; but as those of the latter genus pre- 
dominate, I have retained it therein. 


Synoicus prigEMENENSIS. Syn. fronte, loris, et mento griseo-albis, 
stramineo tinctis ; vertice saturate brunneo, medio lined stramined 
notato ; omni corpore superiore fasciis irregularibus transversis 
griseis, nigrisque, castaneisque, vario ; mediis plumis lined griseo- 
albd ornatis. 

Forehead, lores and ehin greyish white, tinged with buff; crown 
of the head dark brown, with a line of buff down the centre; all the 
upper surface irregularly marked with beautiful transverse bars of 
grey, black and chestnut, each feather with a fine stripe of greyish 
white down the centre; primaries brown, mottled on their external 
edges with greyish brown; all the under surface greyish buff, each 
feather with numerous regular somewhat arrow-head-shaped marks 
of black, and many of them with a very fine line of white down the 
centre; bill blue, deepening into black at the tip; irides orange; 
feet dull yellow. 

Total length, 8 inches; bill, 2; wing, 43; tarsi, 1}. 

Hab. Van Diemen’s Land. 

Remark.—Nearly allied to S. australis, but of a much larger size 
and with the markings of the upper surface more numerous and 
varied. 


Synoicus sorpipus. Syn. saturate fuscus minute nigro maculatus ; 
mediis plumis corporis superioris inferiorisque lata fascid griseo- 
ceruled longitudinaliter ornatis. 

General plumage dark brown, minutely freckled with black, each 
feather of the upper and under surface with a broad stripe of bluish 
grey down the centre; feathers of the head and back of the neck 
with a spot of blackish brown at the tip, those down the centre of 
the head and a few of the back feathers with white shafts; chin buff; 
flank-feathers with an arrow-head-shaped mark of black near the tip. 

Total length, 7 inches; bill, $; wing, 3}; tarsi, 4. 

Hab. South Australia. 

Remark.—With the exception of S. sinensis, this species is the 
least of the genus yet discovered; it moreover differs from them all 
in the absence of any varied markings, in lieu of which all the feathers 
of the upper surface have a broad bluish grey stripe down the middle. 


Porzana LEucorHRYS. Por. fascid & mandibule superioris basi ad 
angulum oculi posticum ductd griseo-albd ; maculd latd atrd ab 
oculo ad rictum extensd; nuchd, corpore superiore, cauddque, 
fusco-nigris ; capitis, colli, et pectoris, lateribus griseis ; mento, et 
medio abdomine albis. 

From the base of the upper mandible to the posterior angle of the 
eye a streak of greyish white ; from the eye to the gape a broad patch 
of deep black; crown of the head brownish black ; back of the neck, 
upper surface and tail brownish black, each feather margined with 
pale reddish, the latter colour becoming very conspicuous on the 
wing-coverts and scapularies ; wings pale brown; sides of the head, 


462 Loological Society. 


neck and breast grey ; chin and centre of the abdomen white; flanks 
and under tail-coverts rufous ; upper mandible reddish brown ; tomia 
of both mandibles tile-red; legs and feet oil-green, blotched with 
light ash-colour. 

Total length, 63 inches; bill, 1; wing, 34; tail, 2; tarsi, 12. 

Hab. Port Essington and Northern Australia. 

Remark.—This bird differs from every other species of the genus 
inhabiting Australia, in having a superciliary stripe of white, in the 
black colouring of the lores, and in the olivaceous tint of the plumage. 


PLotTus Nov&-HOLLANDIAZ. Plot. (Mas) guld figurd sagitte cus- 
pidis albé notatd ; latd fascid albd & mandibularum basi quatuor 
unciis in colli latera extensd; scapularibus lanceolatis, lanceolatd 
maculd in medio, et caulibus atris ornatis. 

Male.—An arrow-head-shaped mark of white on the throat; a 
broad stripe of the same colour commences at the base of the man- 
dibles, extends for about four inches down the sides of the neck, and 
terminates in a point; head, neck and all the upper surface of the 
body greenish black, stained with brown and with a patch of deep 
rusty red in the centre of the under side of the throat ; under surface 
deep glossy greenish black; wings and tail shining black; all the 
coverts with a broad stripe of dull white, occupying nearly the whole 
of the outer and a part of the inner web, and terminating in a point ; 
scapularies lanceolate in form, with a similar shaped mark of white 
down the centre, and with black shafts, the scapular nearest the body 
being nearly as large as the secondaries, and having the outer web 
crimped and the inner web with a broad stripe of dull white close to 
the stem ; the secondaries nearest the body with a similar white stripe 
on the outer web, close to the stem ; centre tail-feathers strongly and 
the lateral ones slightly crimped; orbits naked, fleshy, protuberant, 
and of a yellowish olive, mottled over with brown specks; irides of 
three colours, the ring nearest the pupil being dull orange-buff; to 
this succeeds another of marbled buff and brown, and to this an 
outer one of orange-buff ; naked skin at the base of the lower man- 
dible wrinkled and yellow; upper mandible olive, under mandible 
dull yellow, both becoming brighter at the base; feet yellowish 
flesh-colour, becoming brown on the upper part of the outer toes. 

Female.—Upper surface blackish brown, each feather margined 
with greyish white; under surface buffy white. In other respects 
similar to the male. 

Total length, 36 inches; bill, 4; wing, 13}; tail, 9; tarsi, 2. 

Hab. 'The rivers of the whole of the southern coast of Australia. 

Remark.—Very nearly allied to the Plotus inhabiting Java, but 
distinguished from it by the shortness of the scapularies and by its 
larger size. 


Mr. Gould also exhibited to the Meeting a specimen of the Anthus 
minimus of Messrs. Vigors and Horsfield, and having pointed out the 
particulars in which it differs from the members of the genus Anthus, 
proposed to constitute it the type of a new genus, with the following 
appellation and characters :— 


Zoological Society. 463 


CuTHONICOLA, nov. gen. 


Char. gen.—Rostrum breve, a basi descendens, mandibula superiore 
ad apicem levé dentata, in lateribus compressa. Tomie introrsum 
curvate. Ale concave, primario primo perbrevi, tertio, quarto, 
quinto et sexto longitudine equalibus. Tarsi moderati. Digitt 
breves, posticus medio brevior. Ungues anteriores magis quam 
in ‘* Antho” curvati. 

Gen. char.—Bill short, gradually descending from the base; the 
upper mandible slightly notched at the tip, compressed laterally ; 
tomia curving inwards; wings concave ; the first primary very short, 
the third, fourth, fifth and sixth nearly equal and the longest; tail 
slightly concave, and all the feathers of an equal length ; tarsi mode- 
rately long; toes short, the hinder toe somewhat longer than the 
middle one; front claws more curved than in the genus Anthus. 


DeEscrRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF AMPHIOXUS FROM BorNEO, 
By J. E. Gray, Esa., F.R.S., evc. Ere. 


Capt. Sir Edward Belcher having most kindly sent to the British 
Museum the various species of reptiles, worms, &c. in spirit which 
had been collected during the voyage of H.M.S. Samarang, I hasten 
to lay before the Society the description of what appears to be a new 
species of Lancelet (Branchiostoma, Costa = Amphioxus, Yarrell), 
premising that I have sent a second specimen to Dr. Clarke, R.N., 
of Haslar, who has kindly promised to send me some anatomical 
details of it, which shall be communicated to the Society as soon as 
they arrive. 

I may remark that the specimen from Borneo very much resembles 
in size the specimen which Mr. Couch obligingly sent to me from 
Cornwall, and, like it, is more silvery and considerably larger than 
numerous specimens I have received through the kindness of Dr. 
Kolliker from Naples. This difference in colour may arise from the 
Naples specimens having been placed in stronger spirits ; but it gives 
the Cornish and the Borneon specimens much more the resemblance 
of Annelides, which generally have this metallic iridescent silvery 
hue. 

The resemblance of the Borneon to the Cornish specimen is so 
striking, that it is very difficult to draw a distinction between them 
with neatness or brevity ; yet they appear to my eye sufficiently dif- 
ferent to induce me to regard them as distinct species, which the 
great geographical distance between their habitats renders probable. 

Amphioxus Belchert.—The Borneon Lancelet appears rather thicker 
and more convex on the sides than Amph. lanceolatus, and the convex 
ridge which occupies the place of the dorsal fin appears higher and 
more closely divided by internal transverse septa than in that species, 
and these septa appear more numerous. I have not been able to 
observe any beards on the margin of the mouth, which is thickened 
and rounded; but this may arise from the specimen not being in 
good condition, especially in this part where it has been injured by 
the spines of a Spatangus which was in the same bottle. 


4.64 Zoological Society. 


Hab. Borneo, at the mouth of the river Lundu. 

I may remark, that the comparison of these Lancelets from Naples, 
Cornwall and Borneo has induced me to think that most probably 
the species from Naples may be distinct from the Cornish. All our 
specimens are smaller and more opake; the beards of the mouth 
appear finer; and the dorsal ridge above referred to appears compa- 
ratively smaller, even makimg allowance for the difference in the size 
of the specimens. 


A Few REMARKS ON THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF BIRDS IN 
THE West Inpvies. By Wixii1am Denny, Esa. 


Humboldt, Vigors, Swainson and other eminent naturalists, lament 
the defective state of knowledge respecting the zoology of the West 
Indies. The Flora of Jamaica has been often successfully explored; 
the geology of a great portion has been investigated by De la Beche ; 
the ornithology and entomology however remain nearly in the state 
in which they were left one hundred years since by Sir Hans Sloane. 
In all the departments of the natural history of the Antilles much 
still remains to the inquirer, but in zoology he has an almost unex- 
plored field for his researches. ‘The region of Tree-ferns has been 
left unexamined for the botanist, the western half of Jamaica for the 
geologist ; but with the exception of about sixty species of birds no- 
ticed by Sloane and Browne, the entire ornithology is unknown%*, 
including all the species peculiar to the mountainous districts. 

About thirteen years since an attempt was made to send out a 
party of naturalists to examine the animals and productions of Ja- 
maica, but it failed; and had the party reached those shores, I doubt 
that their researches would have thrown much additional light on 
zoology. ‘The insalubrious nature of the climate in the low grounds, 
the excessive heat, and many other causes, would probably have ren- 
dered their exertions fruitless. The naturalist must alike be familiar 
with the inhabitants of the deadly swamp and the pathless mountain ; 
he must brave the tropical heat and mountain cold, and the sudden 
transitions of temperature. It is only those inured to the climate by 
long residence, and who have had fortitude to resist its debilitating 
effects, or those born in the country whose habits are active and 
pursuits congenial, that can sustain these difficulties and dangers. 

Placed at nearly equal distance from North and South America, 
it might be supposed that nearly an equal number of the species of 
each division of that continent might be found in Cuba and Jamaica. 
This supposition is not however fully borne out by observation, al- 
though from our knowledge of the ornithology of Terra Firma being 
extremely imperfect, it is difficult to render a conclusion free from 
error. It will hereafter appear, that of the birds of Jamaica, one-half 
are common to North America, while hardly one-fifth are also found 
in the southern region of the New World. 

Of those species common to the islands more immediately under 


* This want of information has been reduced very considerably at the present 
moment by the appearance of Mr. Gosse’s work ‘ On the Birds of Jamaica.’ 


~ 


Zoological Society. 465 


notice, and Mexico, a great identity of genera and species might be 
expected. Placed in the same degree of latitude, possessing many 
similar features in scenery, elevation, temperature and productions, 
with sufficient facility of communication for the feathered tribes, 
they might, without actual examination, be considered as constitu- 
ting the same animal kingdom or province. But Mexico is united 
to the southern portion of the continent by land, while Jamaica is 
separated by leagues of sea, a great natural impediment to families 
possessing feeble powers of flight. 

Wilson remarks that ‘in passing along the chain of the Bahamas, 
towards the West Indies, no great difficulty can occur from the fre- 
quency of these islands, nor even to the Bermudas, which are said 
to be six hundred miles from the nearest point of the continent.” 
Whether this facility of communication between the United States 
and the greater Antilles may be sufficient to account for the greater 
preponderance of species from this division than from the southern, 
may by some be doubted ; but it may be as well to bear in mind that 
the Raptores and long-winged families of the Insessores are common 
both to the States and Antilles, while the short-winged families are 
nearly all distinct. 

There are many features of resemblance between the ornithology 
of Mexico and the great Antilles. Nearly all the birds common to 
the former and the United States are likewise found in Jamaica, 
while the latter possesses species supposed by Mr. Swainson to be 
peculiar to Mexico, and I believe that further investigation will tend 
to show that the distribution of species is very similar. 

_ 1 will only make one remark, that many birds supposed to belong 
to the States are in reality tropical or West Indian, and merely very 
transient and in numerous instances accidental visitors to North 
America. For example, the Columba Zenaida is very rare in the 
States, while in Jamaica it is the most abundant species in the island, 
and was mentioned by Sir Hans Sloane. 

I will pass over the migration of birds to and from the West In- 
dies, as well as the influence that natural families of plants appearing 
in distant countries may have in producing it, as being beyond the 
limits which I have assigned to myself in these observations. I will 
now give a catalogue of all the birds that I have met with during a 
sojourn of six years in Jamaica, during which time my leisure hours 
have been constantly devoted to pursuits connected with natural 
history. 


Birds common to Jamaica, Cuba, and the United States. 


Land Birds. 
1. Cathartes aura. 6. Pandion haliaétus (? carolinen- 
2. Buteo borealis. sis.) 
3. Circus americanus. 7. Strix flammea. 
4. Haliaétus niger. 8. asio. 
5. Accipiter pensylvanicus. 9. Hirundo fulva. 


Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Vol. xix. Suppl. 3: 


Zoological Society. 


. Caprimulgus carolinensis. 


americanus. 


. Alcedo alcyon. 
. Tyrannus intrepidus. 
. Muscicapa ruticilla. 


virens. 
fusca. 
crinita. 


. Vireo-olivacea. 
. Merula minor. 


mustelinus. 


. Orpheus polyglottus. 
. Sciurus aurocapillus. 


23. Trichas personatus. 
24. Sylvicola pusilla, 
25. americana. 
26. canadensis. 
27. ——— minuta. 

28. pensilis. 


. Sylvicola coronata. 


maculosa. 


. Vermivora solitaria. 
. Fringilla tristis. 


Zevanna. 


. Dolichonyx oryzivorus. 
. Sturnella magna. 

. Icterus versicolor. 

. Corvus ossifragus. 

. Picus carolinensis. 

. Cuculus carolinensis. 

. Certhia maculata. 

. Columba leucocephala. | 


passerina. 


: Ortyx marylandus. 
. Tyrannula Saya. 
. Columba carolinensis (Cuba 


only). 


Birds of Jamaica and Cuba observed in Terra Firma, but unknown 
in North America. 


1. Sarcoramphus papa (acciden- 4. Muscicapa ferox. 
’ 6. Icterus dominicensis. 
6. Trochilus furcatus. 


tal). 


2. Polyborus brasiliensis. 
3. Circus rutilans. 


7. Crotophaga ani. : 


Birds peculiar to the West Indies, and seldom if ever detected in the 
United States or Terra Firma. 


[These birds have been observed in Jamaica and Cuba. ] 


DIA TR wpe 


. Accipiter fringilloides, Vig. 
. Falco sparveroides, Vig. 
. Hirundo thalassinus, Sw. 


Tapera, Linn. 


. —- albicollis, Vieil. 


melanogaster, Sw. 
(undetermined). 


. Caprimulgus jamaicensis, 


Bris. 


. Todus viridis, Linn. 
. Merula jamaicensis, Linn. 


fusca vel leucophthalma 
(undescr.). 

dominicus, Linn. |. 
rubripes, Temm. 


. Sylvicola dominica, Linn. 
. Pyrrhula nigra, Linn. 


collaris, Vig. 


17. Fringilla Zena. 

18. noctis, Linn. 

19. jamaicensis, Linn. 
20. bicolor, Linn. 

ye lepida, Linn. 

22. Carduelis mexicana, Sw. 
23. Icterus bonano, Linn. 
24. cucullatus, Sw. 
25..—_-. mexicanus, Linn. 
26. brasiliensis, Linn. 
27. mexicanus*. 

28. baritus, Linn. 

29. Leistes humeralis, Vig. 


. Corvus jamaicensis, Linn. 
. Trogon temnurus, Temm. 
. Psittacus leucocephalus, Linn. 


eestivus, Linn. 


. Psittacara nana, Vig. 


* Icterus xanthornis. 


Zoological Society. * 467 


35. Picus carolinus, Linn. 


49. Columba montana, Linn. 


36. percussus, Vig. 50. jamaicensis, Linn. 

37. Colaptes auratus, Vieil. 51. leucoptera, Linn. 

38. Fernandina, Vig.(Cuba 52. ——- minuta, Linn. 
only). 53. sylvestris ? 

39. superciliaris, Temm. 54, ——— martinica, Linn, 
(Cuba). 55. Zenaida, Buon. 


40. Cuculus vetula, Lina. 
j pluvialis, Gm. 

42. Certhia flaveola, Linn. 
maculata, Wils. 


minimus, Linn. 
46. Lampornis mango, Linn. 


47. Columba Caribbea, Gmel. 


inornata, Vig. 


56. ——— cyanocephala, Linn. 
(Cuba only). 

57 Numida meleagris, Linn. 

‘ maculipennis, Sw. 


44, Cynanthus polytmus, Linn. 58. 'Tanagra gularis. 


59. Sitta jamaicensis (not of 
Sloane or Browne). 
60. Pipillo maculata, Sw. 


Note.—Many of the above species have not been referred to mo- 
dern genera on account of several of them being proposed from data 
so different that it is difficult for a Transatlantic naturalist to select 
from such eminent authorities as Vieillot, Swainson, Buonaparte, 
Cuvier or Temminck, When no authority is given, the nomencla- 


ture is that of Wilson. 


Water Birds. 


The following species, with one or two exceptions, seem equally 
distributed over the United States, Mexico, Jamaica and ‘Terra Firma, 
so that no division of them will be necessary. 


ARDEID&, 


Ardea virescens. 
ludoviciana. 
ceerulea. 
abba. 

exilis. 
candidissima. 
herodias. 
Nycticorax violacea. 
-—— Gardenii. 
Botaurus minor. 
Platalea ajuga. 


Pheenicopterus ruber (Amer.). 


TANTALIDA, 


Ibis rubra. 
alba. 
Tantalus loculator. 


ScoLoPpacip2z. 
Scolopax gallinago (Amer.). 


Scolopax grisea. 
minor. 
Totanus macularius. 
chloropygius. 
— — flavipes. 
semipalmata. 
Tringa rufescens. 
pectoralis. 
—— minutella. 
pusilla. 
Numenius longirostris. 


CHARADRIADA. 


Charadrius semipalmatus. 
vociferus. 

apricarius. 
monnellus. 

pluvialis. 

melodus. 

Squatarola cinerea. 
Himantopus melanopterus. 


33* 


468 J Zoological Society. 


RALLIDZ. Parra Jacana. 
3 ~ variabilis. 
Rallus minutus. Gallinula Galatea. 
PE ER Martinica. 
virginianus. 


Aramus scolopaceus. 


NATATORES. 
ANATINE. Podiceps cristatus. 
auritus. 
Dendronessa sponsa. 
Boschas fera. _ | : 
crecca (Amer.). PELECANID. 


Pelecanus fuscus. 
Tachypetes aquilus. 
Phaéton ethereus. 


discors. 

discors occident. 
Dafila caudacuta. 
Chauliodus streperus. 
Anas clypeata. 


Mareca americana. Lanipa. 
Anas ? fistularis. Larus atricilla. 
argentatus. 
FULIGULINZ. ip boegy 101955 
Sterna fuliginosa. 
Fuligula marita. minuta. 
— cristata. stolida. 
Anas? jamaicensis. Thalassidroma pelagica. 
Anas ? spinosa. Wilsonii. 


Anas ? dominica. 


Note.—I have been guilty of discourtesy to some authors by ex- 
cluding species from the catalogue whieh are assigned to Jamaica in 
their works. I have never discovered them, and I must plead that 
they may still reward my more successful researches. I have not 
included St. Domingo (Haiti) in my list, as I have no local know- 
ledge of its ornithology, but from the writings of Vieillot it appears 
more extensive than either Cuba or Jamaica. 

Regarding an ornithological province as a portion of the earth con- 
taining in it agreater number of land species peculiar to, and not ex- 
tending beyond it, than of those common to it and adjoining coun- 
tries, it may be asked—Are the greater Antilles a distinct ornitholo- 
gical province, or merely a portion of that of Mexico or the United 
States ? . 

There are however curious differences in the birds of the several 
West Indian islands. Trinidad has a diversified ornithology, appa- 
rently identical with the South American continent. Many of the 
pigeons, woodpeckers and humming-birds differ. The Columba 
carolin. extends to Cuba and Haiti, but not to Jamaica. The Col. 
Caribbea appears confined to the latter. ‘The Lampornis mango of 
Jamaica is represented in Haiti by gramineus. ‘There appears in the 
former island only one woodpecker, the Picus carolin., while in Cuba 


Zoological Society. 469 


and Haiti there are several. Geological researches may assist the 
explanation of these anomalies. There are three mountain-ranges 
of different date and vegetation. One of these constitutes the Ba- 
hamas, north side of Haiti and Cuba: the Cibao range, covered with 
pathless forests of Pinus occidentalis, re-appears in Cuba and the 
Isle of Pines, terminating in Mexico. The precipitous mountains 
of the Grand Anse are formed of limestone, which is prolonged 
through Jamaica into Yucatan, covered with its peculiar production, 
Myrtus Pimenta, equally remarkable for its individual beauty and 
fragrance. 
“ Pauca heec vidimus operum Det.” 


April 13.—William Yarrell, Esq., Vice-President, in the Chair. 
The following communication was read :— 


Somz OBSERVATIONS ON THE SKULL OF PHAscoLOoMys VOMBATUS, 
By J. E. Gray, Esa., F.R.S. erc. erc. 


In the collection at the British Museum there are three skulls 
which agree with Prof. Owen’s character of Phascolomys Vombatus, 
as described in vol. ili. of the Zool. Soc. Transactions: that is to 
say, they have only slightly curved upper cutting teeth, short noses, 
&c. Two were sent from Van Diemen’s Land by Mr. Ronald 
Gunn, and one from N. S. Wales was presented by my late friend 
and admirable botanist, Mr. Allan Cunningham, F.L.S. 

The specimens from Van Diemen’s Land are much smaller (the 
largest being 6 in. 4 lines long), and more depressed and truncated 
behind, and have two moderate-sized oblong holes in the hinder part 
of the palate. ‘The specimen from N. 8S. Wales is one inch longer, 
and has two large triangular holes in the end of the palate. All the 
three specimens differ in the size of the teeth, and especially in the 
size and relative position of the upper cutting teeth. 

1. The least of the Van Diemen’s Land skulls has rather small 
grinders, but the upper cutting teeth are small, compressed, rather 
diverging from each other, forming an angle in front and only touch- 
ing each other at the truncated inner edge. The crowns of these 
teeth are 5 lines long and 23 lines wide. The lower cutting teeth 
are small with a roundish crown. 

2. The other Van Diemen’s Land skull, which is rather larger in 
all its measurements, has larger grinders. The cutting teeth are 
much larger: the upper large, oblong, diverging from each other, 
forming together a segment of a circle in front, and only touching 
each other by the inner edge. The crowns of these teeth are 52 lines 
long and 34 lines wide. : 

3. The skull from N.S. Wales has the teeth very like those of 
the small Van Diemen’s Land specimen, but rather larger: the upper 
cutting teeth are considerably larger and rather more triangular, but 
in the same angular position. 

It is desirable that more of these skulls should be compared, to de- 
termine whether these are only individual variations, or that there 


470 Miscellaneous. 


are more than one species confounded under this name. Iam in- 
clined to the former view ; but if this is the case, it shows that the 
skulls and teeth do not present such good specific characters as many 
zoologists are willing to believe. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


MONSTROUS ROSES *, 


Now that the spring is advancing, and nature is about to repeat 
the marvellous processes, which, when they are deranged by any cir- 
cumstances, produce what we call monstrous flowers, we are anxious 
to prepare our readers to watch such phenomena by again directing 
them to the theory of morphology, taking for illustration the curious 
changes which were observed everywhere last year in the condition 
of the Rose. ‘To the amateur they were a source of mortification, 
and to the unlearned observer, of wonder; but to the botanist, of 
admiration. The first deplored the deformity of his favourite flowers, 
without suspecting that it tended to elucidate one of the most cu- 
rious points in their structure; the second puzzled himself.in vain 
attempts to comprehend how Roses should grow out of Roses, or 
leaves and branches spring up from flowers; the third seized the 
evidence, weighed it, compared it with other evidence, and saw that 
it formed the most beautiful explanation of the means by which the 
great Author of Nature has provided plants with the means of per- 
petuating their race. 

Linneus taught, and Goethe proved, that all flowers are but ar- 
rangements of altered leaves. ‘The one thought that their birth was 
anticipated in order to obtain the means of building up the blossom ; 
the other demonstrated, that although the fanciful doctrine of antici- 
pation was unsupported by evidence, yet that the blossom was really 
formed, in all its parts, by leaves in what a chemist would call a 
nascent state. 

Goethe thus laid the foundation of the modern school of struc- 
tural botany ; and if his successors have worked out his ideas, and 
applied them to all cases in all plants, they have done no more. It 
is now known that.a flower is analogous to a leaf-bud, consisting of 
scales within scales, packed with the most admirable method ; that 
in its ordinary condition nature moulds these flower-scales to par- 
ticular purposes, and stamps them with new attributes ; but that if 
the cosmic forces which regulate and determine customary develop- 
ment are interfered with, these scales resume more or less completely 
their original quality, and become leaves. . Hence it follows, that in 
cases of disturbed organization a flower extends its centre into a 


* This article is reprinted from the ‘ Gardeners’ Chronicle ’ for March 13, 
1847, and the Editors are indebted to the kindness of Dr. Lindley for the 
loan of the woodcuts illustrating these remarkable monstrosities. 


Miscellaneous. 471 


branch, clothed either with common leaves or with transition organs, 
just as a leaf-bud when called into existence pushes onwards into a 
branch, the only covering of which consists of leaves in their com- 
mon state. An attention to this principle will always enable the ob- 
server to comprehend the real history of the monstrous formations 
to which flowers. are most especially liable. 

From among the many cases of this nature which have been 
brought under our notice within the last few months, we select for 
illustration one for which we are indebted to Dr. Bell Salter of Ryde, 
along with some valuable observations in illustration of it. Some time 
in July last this gentleman wrote as follows :— 

** An extremely curious monstrosity of a Rose has been recently 
shown me, which exhibits some facts which I have thought might 


interest some of your readers, as they have interested myself. The 
fact of the stigmas in Roses becoming leafy has of late been only too 


472 Miscellaneous. 


often observed by amateur cultivators ; that formations of this kind 
vary in degree, there being, in some instances, only a few imperfect 
leaves in the centre of the Rose; while in others a distinct stem 
passes through, bearing a second flower. The present instance was 
shown me as one of this kind, but on examining it I found a quite 
different and much .more interesting condition of the parts. The 
calyx had been converted into an involucre of foliaceous bracts ; im- 
mediately within them were a considerable number of. petals, from 
the centre of which rose a portion of the axis or torus to the height 
_ of 1} inch. At the lower part of this central stem one or two petals 
were inserted above the rest, but the remainder was bare of any of 
the ordinary parts of the flowers and clothed with a few mossy setz : 
it was woody in its texture, and contained no germens. On the 
summit there was no recommencement of a new flower by a fresh 
calyx, but only the continuation of the former flower, there being 
petals, stamens and pistils, none of which were inserted in a calyx, 
one of the very characters of its class, whether considered by the 
Linnean or natural system of botany—but on an expanded recep- 
tacle. ‘Though thus altered in position, all the parts of the flower 
being perfect, there is no reason why this flower should not have 
matured its seed. It was in every respect a perfect flower, though an 
abnormal one. The points of interest inmany monstrosities consist 
in the analogies which the altered parts exhibit to the normal and 
usual condition of the same parts in other species, or even sometimes 
in other classes; and this is peculiarly the case in the present in- 
stance. It has often struck me that in Rosaceous plants, the Rosee 
are merely inverted Dryadee,—Dryadee, as it were, turned inside out, 

—the urceolate, so-called calyx of the Roses being rather a concave 
torus or receptacle ; while in the Dryadee, as Potentilla and Straw- 
berry, this part is convex! The same comparison may be made in 
the Urticaceous plants, between the Artocarpee and Urticee, the 
former being as the latter inverted. To cite a familiar comparison, 
the Fig may be said to bear the same relation to the Mulberry which 
the Rose does to the Blackberry. In the present instance, we have 
the Rose brought in some respects very nearly to the condition of 
the Potentilla and Geum, the numerous germens being inserted into 
an expanded and raised receptacle, and even exhibiting a still nearer 
resemblance to one species of Geum—the G. rivale, in which a part 
of the floral axis is elongated in the centre of the flower, forming a 
short stem, which is clothed as the peduncle. The most interesting 
consideration of all, however, in the specimen under notice, lies in 
the wide removal of the stamens from the calyx, thus artificially 
removing our Rose from the Calyciflore to the Thalamiflore ; indeed, 
the near approximation of the parts of fructification to their con- 
. dition in the genus Anemone is very remarkable. ‘The whorl of 
foliaceous calyx answers precisely to the involucre of leafy bracts 
in that genus, which, comparing it with its near congener Ranunculus 
in the same family (Ranunculacee), may be considered as the outer 
perianth or calyx removed from the rest of the floral whorls. From 


- Miscellaneous. 473 


the centre of this part in our Rose—as in Anemone—we have astem, 
with the ordinary clothing of a peduncle, bearing the essential parts 
of the flower; the only difference being, that in this monstrosity a 
part of the petals were in proximity with the involucre or altered 
calyx. To continue the comparison, the stamens are inserted, not 
on a calyx, but on a receptacle or torus; while the pistils, not being 
confined as they commonly are in Roses, by the contracted disc of 
the so-called calyx, spread abroad their hairy stigmas, very much as 
is seen in the Anemone.” 

A similar monster, in which the so-called tube of the calyx was 
quite absorbed, while the sepals became half-formed leaves, the petals 
half-formed sepals, the stamens half-formed petals, and the centre 
pushed upwards into a new Rose, whose calyx-tube was equally de- 
ficient, occurred in our own garden, and is the subject of the fol- 


lowing illustration. 


VAS 


| 
ys! \ i 
= / Hf 
\\\ ! J ff A\\\ hy 
Ny Z 
\\\Y\\ \ S a 
\ Nail 
Wh - 
\ \\ 5 > 
Sh Sa 
Y i : 
WH) ae? Ve ‘ 
v 
Sitar LLNS. 
ty We. By M a 
{ SS 
7. \ 
in ‘| 
SVE Ae ) 
fy) 


A third, for which we were indebted to a Hampstead Subscriber, 
was more remarkable still. In this instance the calyx-tube was 
again absorbed, or at least not manifest; the sepals were half converted 
into leaves ; the petals even more than half changed into sepals; the 
stamens had fallen off, but appeared to have undergone little change ; 
the exterior carpels were partly in their customary state; those 
nearer the centre were converted into small leaves ; but the remainder 
were carried up upon the axis or centre, which had lengthened into 
a branch, in every conceivable state of transition, until the last, that 


Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Vol. xix. Suppl. 34: 


4:7 4, Miscellaneous. 


is to say the uppermost, assumed the customary appearance of the 
leaves of the stem. 


a LF a A S/N —= = |S a - 
J \4 _— = ae lo 


Ne ened 
—————e eS SS ee 


SSS 


fix 
a 


We can conceive nothing more conclusive than this. Even if 
the doctrine of morphology had no other evidence than this to rely 
upon, we can hardly understand how a man with a logical mind 
could fail to give it his unqualified assent. 


47 


~ 


o 


‘INDEX to VOL. XIX. 


ABRAHAM, J. H., notice of the late, 
190. 

Achatina, new species of, 269. 

Achillea tanacetifolia, occurrence of, 
in Britain, 137. 

Actias, new species of, 95. 

Adams, A., on molluscous animals,411. 

Allman, Prof. G. J., on Chelura tere- 
brans, 361. 

Amathusia, new species of, 175. 

Amphioxus from Borneo, new species 
of, 463. 

Amytis, new species of, 349. 

Animal kingdom, on the characters 
separating the four great divisions 
of the, 138. 

Anomia, new species of, 274. 

Ansted, Prof., on the successive phases 
of geological science, 274 ; The An- 
cient World, notice of, 400. 

Anthony, J., on a method of render- 
ing the appearances in delicate 
structures visible, 69. 

Anthus minimus as the type of a new 
genus Chthonicola, 459. 

Aphodius, new species of, 380. 

Apide of Cape Palmas, notices re- 
specting the, 68. 

Ardea, descriptions of some species 
of, 92. 

Articulata, on the reproduction of lost 
parts in, 145, 279. 

mat tps plant, description of the, 

2 

Astarte, new species of, 98. 

Atya, notes on the genus, with de- 
scriptions of new species of, 158. 
Auckland Islands, notes on the fauna 

of, 197. 

Babington, C. C., on the British Rubi, 
17, 83; on the occurrence of Achil- 
ee tanacetifolia in Great Britain, 

37. 

Bacillaria paradoxa, on the structure 
and movements of, 200. 

Baird, Dr., on a new species of Pe- 
nella, 280. 


+ 


Balfour, Dr., on Carex saxatilis (L.) 
and Carex Grahami (Boott), 277. 
Bartlett, A. D., on new species of 
Fuligula, 422. 

Bats, new genera of, 406. 

Bevan, Dr., on the honey-bee, 58. 

Birds, new, 78, 131, 135, 348, 401, 
404, 422; of Calcutta, description 
of the, 87, 164, 232; from Malacca, 
on some species of, 129 ; of Corfu, 
137; new Australian, 348, 459; on 
the geographical distribution of, in 
the West Indies, 464. 

Ta J., ornithological notes, 
371. 

Blyth’s, Mr. E., drafts for a Fauna 

Vidic: 41, 98, 179. 

Bonaparte’s, Prince, Report on behalf 
of the section of Zoology, read in 

_ the Italian Scientific Congress, no- 
ticed, 281. © 

Bone, on the intimate structure of, 136. 

Botanical Society of Edinburgh, pro- 
ceedings of the, 208, 276, 424. 

Bowerbank, J. S., on the siliceous 
bodies of the chalk and other for- 
mations, 249. 

Boys, Capt., on the habits of various 
Indian species of insects, 63. 

Bridges, T., on South American orni- 
thology, 419. 

oe undatum, notes on, 150, 
336. 

Bulimus, new species of, 265. 

Caloptylum, note on the genus, 138, 
215. 

Calothorax, new species, 404. 

Carex, on some British species of, 277. 

eae on the Indian species of, 


Case, W., on two new species of shells, 
358. 

Caulodromus, characters of the genus, 
351. 

Centropus, new species of, 134. 

Cephaloptera, on the Irish species of, 


176. 
34 


476 


Cerithium, new species of, 97. 

Certhine, new genera of, 351. 

Ceryle, habits of some species of, 80. 

Ceyx, new species of, 129. 

Chalcidites, descriptions of new, 227, 
392. 

er 28 on the Indian species of, 


Chalk, on the formation of the flints 
of the, 1, 249, 289. 

Chama, new species of, 270. 

hele terebrans, observations on, 
361. 

China, on the tea-plant of, 355. 

Chiton and Chitonellus, structure and 
comparative physiology of, 454. 

Ciconia, on the habits of some species 
of, 90. 

a aquaticus, on the habits of, 
372 

Climacteris, new species of, 136. 

Clouston, C., on the formation of cy- 
Brereet masses of snow in Orkney, 
285. 

Coleoptera, new British, 379. 

Columba, on the Indian species of,101. 

Columbide of India, 41, 98, 179. 

Op on the habits of species of, 

Se 


Corals, stony, outline of an arrange- 
ment of the, 120. 
Cowry, on the calcifying functions of 
the, 197; description of a new spe- 
_ cies of, 346. 
raben cephalotes, on the habits of, 
i 


Crustacea, decapodous, anatomy of 
the shell of the, 353; account of an 
amphipodous, destructive to sub- 
marine timber-works, 361. 

Cryptobia, description of the new ge- 
nus, 209. 

Cryptocephalidee, descriptions of new, 

y P Pp 


Cryptophagus cellaris, note on, 458. 
Cuckoo, on the habits of the, 373. 
Cylindrella, new species of, 270. 
Cynipites, descriptions of new, 227. 
Cyprzea, new species of, 346. 
Cysticola, new species of, 348. ; 
Dawsonia, on a new species of, 226. 
Deer, on the red corpuscles of the 
blood of the Meminna, 405. _ 
re Midis susurrans, description 
of, 81. 
Denny, W., on the geographical dis- 


INDEX. 


tribution of birds in the West In- 
dies, 464 

Denudations, on the causes and amount 
of, 275. 

Derby, The Earl of, on struthionine 
— in the menagerie at Knowsley, 
350. 

D’Hombres Firmas, Baron de, on the 
seals of Linneeus, 455. 

Dickeson, Dr., on some fossil human 
bones, 213. 

re Ri on the impregnation of, 
456. 

Doubleday, E., on some new species 
of the genus Gynautocera from 
Northern India, 73; on a new species 
of the genus Actias of Hiibner, from 
Northern India, 95; on new or im- 
perfectly described lepidopterous 
insects, 173, 385; on Chalcidites 
collected in North America by, 392. 

Dredging excursion, notes on a, 160. 

Dufossé, M., on the development of 
the Echinidze, 282. 

Dysporus, new species of, 236. 

Echinidee, on the development of the, 
282; on the larval state and meta- 
morphosis of the, 433. 

Enchodus, on some remains of, 7. 

Entomological Society, proceedings of 
the, 58 

Entozoa, new genus and species of, 


Entozoon, description of a new species 
of, 284. 

Eulimella, new British species of, 311. 

Euterpe, new species of, 385. 

Evans, W. F., on two new species of 
moths taken at great distances from 
land, 67. 

Fairy rings, observations on, 208. 

Falconer, Dr. H., on the Assafoetida 
plant of Central Asia, 199 ; on Ga- 
moplexis, an undescribed genus of 
orchideous plants, 453. 

Ferns collected in Ireland, on, 457. 

Field, Barron, notice of the late, 191. 

Fish from Quellimane, new genus of 
labyrinthi-bronchial, 384. 

Fleming, Rev. Dr., on the defoliation 
of trees, 277. 

Flints of the chalk, on the formation 
of the, 1, 249, 289. 

Forbes, Prof. E., on new or rare Bri- 
tish animals observed in 1845 and 
1846, 96, 390, 


INDEX. 


Forster, G. J., on the habits of the 
honey-buzzard in confinement, 212. 

Fortune, Mr., on the Chinese indigo, 
139; on the tea-plant of China, 
355. 

Fossil human bones, description of 
some, 213. 

Fowls, description of two living hy- 
brid, 210. 

Fries’, Prof., Summa Vegetabilium 
Scandinavie, notice of, 58. 

Fuligula, new species of, 422. 

Fusus, new species of, 97; descrip- 
tions of the ova-capsules of, 160, 
Galbula leptura, on the habits of, 80. 

Gamoplexis, account of, 453. 

Geological science, on the successive 
phases of, 274. 

Gisborne, Rev. T., notice of the late, 
192. 

Golding, Mr., notes on the honey- 
bee, 58. 

Goliathus, on the habits of, 67. 

Gould, J., on new species of Austra- 
lian birds, 135, 348, 459; on the 
Trochilide, 401, 404, 408, 421. 

Graham, Dr. R., notice of the late, 
192, ; 

Gray, J. E., on the arrangement of 
the stony corals, 120; on the cha- 
racters separating the four great di- 
visions of the animal kingdom, 138 ; 
on a new rat from South Australia, 
351; on new genera of bats, 406 ; 
on a sea-worm eaten in the Navi- 
gator Islands, 409; on a new spe- 
cies of Amphioxus from Borneo, 
463; on the skull of Phascolomys 
vombatus, 469. 

Gray, G. R., on two new genera of 
Certhine, 351. 

Greville, Dr. R. K., on a new species 
of Dawsonia, 226. 

Griffith, W., on the impregnation of 
Dischidia, 456. 

Gulliver, G., on the red corpuscles of 
the blood of the Meminna deer, 
405. 

Gynautocera, on some new species of, 

3 ; 


Hancock; A., on Buccinum undatum, 
150. 

Hardy, J., on new British Coleoptera, 
379. 

Helix, new species of, 263, 358. 

Henfrey’s, A., Outlines of Structural 


4°77 
pe Physiological Botany, noticed, 


a 5 T., on Sertularia elongata, 
Hogg, J., on the alleged habits of 
rabro he 61. 

Home, Sir E., Bart., on the measure- 
ment of the New Zealand and Nor- 
folk Island pines, 454. 

Honey-bee, notes on the, 58. 

saan on the habits of the, 


Hooker, Dr., on the vegetation of the 
Galapagos Archipelago, 345. 

Hore Zoologice, 78. 

Howse’s, R., notes on a dredging ex- 
ria off the coast of Durham, 

‘Humming-bird, new species of, 404. 

Ichthyolite, notice of an, 25. 

Infusorial deposit at Dolgelly, 426. 

Insects, new, 61, 66, 73, 95, 173, 217, 
314, 379, 385, 392, 445 ; occurrence 
of rare British, 60, 67 ; on the ha- 
bits of various Indian species of, 63. 

Janson, J., notice of the late, 193. 

Jardine, Sir W., on the ornithology of 
the island of Tobago, 78. 

J oie J.G., on some British shells, 

Johnson, C., on an infusorial deposit 
at Dolgelly, 426. 

Jonas, Dr. J. H., on two new shells, 
273. 

King, J., on a method by which all 
objects may be P pea under the 
microscope, 136. 

King, W., on a British specimen of 
Oculina prolifera, 279; on some 
shells and other invertebrate forms 
found on the coast of Northumber- 
land and of Durham, 334. 

Knight, H. G., notice of the late, 
193. 

Knowlton, T., notice of the late, 194. 

Larus eburneus, notice of, 213. 

Latham, R., notice of the late, 194. 

Lavalle, J., on the microscopic ana- 
tomy of the shell of the decapodous 
crustacea, 353, 

Leidy, Dr. J., on a new genus and 
species of Entozoa, 209; on the 
mechanism which closes the mem- 
branous wings of the genus Locusta, 
214; on Trichina spiralis, 358. 

Lepidoptera, new, 173. 


78 INDEX. 


Limpet, on the habits of the, 70. | 

Linnean Society, award of medals, 
141; proceedings of the, 190, 453. 

Linnzus, on the seals of, 455. 

Locusta, on the mechanism which 
closes the wings of the genus, 

- 214. 

Lush, Dr. C., notice of the late, 194. 

Lycopodiacez, on the development of 
the, 27, 109, 240, 317. 

M‘Andrew, Robert, on new or rare 
British animals observed in 1845 
and 1846, 96, 390. 

M‘Coy, F., on the Irish species of 
Cephaloptera, 176. 

BrP ign on the Indian species of, 


Main, J., notice of the late, 195. | 

Malacopteron, new species of, 132. 

Mammalia, distribution of, on the 
Australian continent, observations 
on the, 55. 

Megalorhina, characters of the new 
genus, 66 

Meloé, on the natural history, ana- 
tomy and development of, 346. 

Meteorological observations, 71, 143, 
215, 287, 431. 

Microscopical Society, proceedings of 
the, 69, 136. 

Minhocdo of the Goyanese, notice re- 
specting the, 140. 

Mirafra, new species of, 348. 

Mollusca, testaceous, descriptions of 
new British, 96. 

Montagne, C., on a second form of 
fructification in Peyssonnelia Squa- 
maria, 155. 

Morton, Dr. S. G., on two living hy- 
brid fowls, between Gallus and Nu- 
mida, 210. 

Miiller, M., on the development of the 

. . Lycopodiacez, 27, 109, 240. 
Miller, Prof. J., on the larval state 
and metamorphosis of the Ophiu- 
ride and Echinide, 433. 

Munby, G., Flore de l’ Algérie, ou Ca- 
talogue des plantes indigénes du 
royaume d’Alger, notice of, 398. 

Murchison, Sir R. I., on the Silurian 
rocks of Cornwall, 326. 

Mus, new species of, 351. 

Mylobates striatus, fossil remains of, 
25 


Naiade, on a remarkable entozoon 
found in the, 284. 


Narthex, characters of the new genus, 
199 


Newport, G., on the reproduction of 
lost parts in the Articulata, 145 ; 
on the genus Atya, 158; on Crypto- 
phagus cellaris, 458; on the natu- 
ral history, anatomy and develop- 
ment of Meloé, 346. 

New pen notes on the fauna of, 
197. 

Oculina prolifera, on a British speci- 
men of, 279. 

Omias, on the British species of, 314. 

Opalina, new species of, 284. 

Ophiuride, on the larval state and 
metamorphosis of the, 433. 

Ornithology of the island of Tobago, 
78; on South American, 419. 

Ornithoptera, new species of, 173. 

Otiorhynchus, observations on British 
species of, 445. 

Otter, on the breeding of the, in the 
Zoological Gardens, Regent’s Park, 
418. 

Owen, Prof., on an ichthyolite from 
Sheppey, 25; lectures on the com- 
parative anatomy and physiology of 
the vertebrate animals, noticed, 187; 
on the fundamental type and homo- 
logies of the vertebrate skeleton, 
202. 

Owl, white, observations on the, 371. 

Palolo, a sea-worm eaten in the Navi- 
gator Islands, 409. 

Papilio, new species of, 174. 

Parmacella, new species of, 262. 

Parra, on some Indian species of, 164. 

Patterson’s, R., Introduction to Zoo- 
logy, notice of, 56. 

Pelagia in the British seas, species of, 
390. . 

Penella, new species of, 280. 

Pericrocotus, new species of, 131. 

Peters, Dr. W., on a new genus of 
labyrinthi-bronchial fish from Quel- 
limane, 384. 

Petroica, new species of, 135. 

Peyssonnelia Squamaria, on a form of 
fructification in, 155. 

Pfeiffer, Dr. L., on thirty-eight new 
species of land shells, 262. 

Phascolomys vombatus, on the skull 
of, 469. 

Philippi, Dr., on new genera of shells, 
425, 

Picus, new species of, 133. 


INDEX. 


Pines, on New Zealand and Norfolk 
Island, 454, 

Planorbis, new species of, 358. 

Plantes indigénes du royaume d’Alger, 
catalogue des, notice of, 398. 

Plants, on the periods of flowering 
of certain, 99h ; habitats for rare 
British, 137, 278, 344; on an unde- 
scribed genus of orchideous, 453. 

Plataspis, new species of, 66. 

Pleomorpha, new species of, 61. 

pre new “British species of, 
311. 

Poéphila, new species of, 135. 

Portlock’s, J. E., addendum to the 
birds of Corfu, 137. 

Prionites bahamensis, on the habits 
of the, 79. 

Pupa, new species of, 269. 

Pyrula, new species of, 273. 

Quekett, Mr. J., on the intimate struc- 
ture of bone, 136. 

Ramsay, A. C., on the causes and 
rR of geological denudations, 

Rat, description of a new, 351. - 

Rays, on a peculiar organ found in 
the, 19. 

Reeve, L., on the calcifying functions 
of the Cowry and the live, 197 ; 
on some new species of Chama, 
270; on new species of shells col- 
lected during the voyage of H.M.S. 
Samarang, 416; on Chiton and Chi- 
tonellus, 454. 

Rhyzophagus cyaneipennis, descrip- 
tion of, 379. 


Richardson, J., on the genus Calo- 


ptylum, 138. 
Rissoa, new British species of, 310. 


Roberts, Mr. G., on the habits of the - 


limpet, 70. 

Robin, M., on a peculiar organ found 
in the Rays, 19. 

Remer, Dr. F., on the geology of 
Texas, 426. 

Rook, on the habits of the, 373. 

Roses, monstrous, 471. 

Royal Institution, proceedings of the, 
202, 274. 

Rubi, on the British, 17, 83. 
Saint-Hilaire, M. Auguste de, on the 
Minhocdo of the Goyanese, 140. 
Salpornis, characters of the genus, 352. 
Salter’s,*Mr., Supplement to English 

Botany, noticed, 343, 


479 


Samara leta, on, 457. 

Samouelle, G., notice of the late, 196. 

Saunders, Mr., on some New Holland 
Cryptocephalide, 61. 

Savage, Dr., on some of the insects of 
Cape Palmas, 67. 

Schmidt, Dr. O., on Opalina Naidos, 
an entozoon found in the Naiade, 
284. 

Schonherr, M., notice respecting, 139. 

Scutelleridee, descriptions of new, 66. 

Sericornis, new species of, 349. 

Sertularia elongata, on, 425. 

Shells, descriptions and notices of Bri- 
tish, 309, 334; new, 96, 262, 270, 
310, 346, 358, 416, 425. 

Silurian rocks, on the discovery of, in 
Cornwall, 326. 

Smicorhina, characters of the new ge- 
nus, 66. 

Smith, J. T., on the formation of the 
flmts of the upper chalk, 1, 289. 
Snow, on the formation of cylindrical 

masses of, 285. 

Sowerby’s, Mr., Supplement to En- 
glish Botany, noticed, 343. 

Sowerby, G. B., on a new species of 
Cowry, 346. 

Stair, Rev. J. B., account of Palolo, a 
sea-worm eaten in the Navigator 
Islands, 409 

Strepsiptera, history of the, 347. 

Strickland, H. E., notes on the doves 
and pigeons of India, 41, 98, 179; 
on certain species of birds from 
Malacca, 129. 

Strix flammea, on the habits of, 371. 

Succinea, new species of, 263. 

Sundevall, C. J., on the birds of Cal- 
cutta, 87, 164, 232. 

3a terrestris, on the habits of, 


Tein-ching, or Chinese indigo, notice 


of, 139. 

Texas, on the geology of, 426. 

Thompson, Ww. on the periods of 
flowering of certain plants in the 
spring of 1846, 223. 

Thwaites, G. H. K., on the structure 
and movements of Bacillaria para- 
doxa, Gmelin, 200. 

Trachyphloeus, on the British species 
of, 217. 

Trees, on the defoliation of, 277. 

Treron, on the Indian species of, 42. 

Trichina spiralis, observations on, 358. 


4:80 


Trochilidee, new species of, 401; ar- 
rangement of the, 408, 421. 

Trochus, new species of, 96. 

oo furva, on the habits of, 


ih collaris, on the habits of, 


Turtur, on the Indian species of, 180. 

Venus, new British species of, 313. 

Vertebrate skeleton, on the funda- 
gprs type and homologies of the, 

Walker, F., on some Chalcidites and 
Cynipites in the collection of the 
Rey. F. W. Hope, 227; on Chal- 
cidites collected in North America 
by E. Doubleday, 392. 

Walker, G. A., on Samara leta, 457. 

Walton, J., on the genus of insects 
Trachyphlceus, with descriptions of 
new species, 217; on the genus of 


INDEX. 


insects Omias, 314; on the British 
species of Otiorhynchus, 445. ; 

Ward, Mr., on ferns collected in Ire- 
land, 457. 
Waterhouse’s, G. R., Natural History 
of the Mammalia, notice of, 53. 
Watson’s, H. C., Cybele Britannica, 
- or British Plants and their geogra- 
phical relations, 344. 

West Indies, on the geographical dis- 
tribution of birds in the, 464 

Westwood, J. O., on two new Goliath 
beetles from Cape Palmas, 66; on 
some new Scutelleride from Cape 
Palmas, 66; on the reproduction 
of lost parts in the Articulata, 279. 


‘White, A., on the fauna of New Zea- 


land and the Auckland Islands, 197. 
Wilson, Dr. G., on fairy rmgs, 208. 
Zoological Society, proceedings of 

the, 129, 262, 401, 459. 


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