‘CES | IBRARY THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY ‘ j Vv LOG v Return this book on or before the Latest Date stamped below. A charge is made on all overdue books. University of Illinois Library FEB 92 1944 Sipt. 3,195¢. OCT 5 1956 JUL 6 1959 FEB 6 960 gu MAR 2 3) 1971 sé a - “~~ 4 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 Str W. JARDINE, Barr., F.L:S.—P. J. SELBY, Esa., F.LS., GEORGE JOHNSTON, M.D., CHARLES C. BABINGTON, Ksa., M.A., F.L.S., F.G.S., J. H. BALFOUR, M.D., Reg. Prof. Bot. Glasg., AND RICHARD TAYLOR, F.L.S., F.G.S. VOL« PX: 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. 1842. ‘‘Omnes res create sunt divine sapientiz 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 vere eruditis et sapientibus semper exculta; male doctis et barbaris semper inimica fuit.”— LINN. ; CONTENTS OF VOL. IX. NUMBER LV. I. Organographic and Physiologic Sketch of the Class Fungi, by C. Montacne, D.M. Extracted from ‘ Histoire physique, politique et naturelle de l’ile de Cuba,’ par M. Ramon pe xa Sacra, and translated and illustrated with short notes by the Rev. M. J. Berxetey, M.A., BEE cals co ae xevesseee eg sn kite wcivtideatienee saws Cacasenle SWaners dhddcee das tcltamaen II. On Hirudo geometra, Linn., and some other species of British Freshwater Leeches. By T. Bricnrweit, Esq. of Norwich, F.L.S. BME EABEGS) Joa so scnceddeleschoseve ventas Sea pavementae neminiemtes af mes oaisesaltdnareis III. Contributions to the Ichthyology of Mande By Joun Ricu- Arpson, M.D., F.R.S., &c., Inspector of Hospitals, Haslar ..........+. rv. Beseyaicions of several new species of Nudibranchous Mollusca found on the coast of Northumberland. By Josnua AupgrR, Esq., and BEEMAN RTAMCOOCK, FSG: 5... 1.000000 -cstnscaseedoovesssoneasseSeonsinssesasaises VY. Insectorum novorum Centuria, auct. J. O. Westwoop, F.L.S.... VI. Description of two new species of Mammalia discovered in Au- stralia by Captain George Grey, Governor of South Australia. By J. E. Gray, Esq., F.R.S., &c. ...... Bee Sy clacioe s Scab haaeb eco te doeebtetesapmannees VII. Excerpta Botanica, or abridged Extracts translated from the Foreign Journals, illustrative of, or connected with, the Botany of Great Britain. By W. A. Leieuton, Esq., B.A., F.B.S.E., &c. Spach—Revisio Populorum et Betulacearum ............ soaeen VIII. Description of a new species of Ichneumon (Herpestes) dis- eeveredim Spain. By J..E. Gray, Esq., F.R.S., &¢. .....scccccecseses New Books:—Histoire Physiologique des Plantes d’Europe, ou expo- sition des Phénoménes qu’elles présentent dans les diverses pé- riodes de leur développement, par J. P. Vaucher, Prof. 4 l’Acadé- mie de Genéve.—Transactions of the Berwickshire Naturalists’ Page 11 15 31 36 39 42 49 Club SOOT COH OTOH TCEHOHTEOHEE ESHA HETE OTE SETEEEEE SESH H EASES @esecesse @eecece 50—54 Proceedings of the Zoological Society; Microscopical Society; Royal Society of Edinburgh; Botanical Society of Edinburgh ...... 54—72 On the partiality of Slugs for Fungi, by C. Recluz; University of Glas- gow—Botany; Bust of Professor Jameson; M. A. De St. Hilaire on the Epochs of Vegetation in different countries; Mr. Westwood on Government Patronage of Zoology ; Mr. Hassall on Phospho- rescence ; Cygnus Guineensis—N orfolk Birds ; Meteorological Ob- Mervavions and: Table scicccvsccxeecws eee ie ote ES oie woes aie 73—80 iv CONTENTS. Page NUMBER LVI. IX. Contributions to Structural Botany. By W. Hucues Witusuire, M.D., M.B.S., Lecturer on Botany at Charing Cross Hospital ......... 81 X. On the separation of the Pomegranate as a distinct Natural Order from Myrtacea. By Roserr Wicut, M.D., F.L.S., &e. «..-. 86 XI. A Critical Examination of Mohl’s Views of the General Struc- ture of the Pollen Granule. By A. H. Hassaut, Esq., M.R.C.S.L., Corresponding Member of the Dublin Natural History Society ......... 93 XII. On Valerianella olitoria and V. gibbosa. By Cuar.es C, Ba- Bincton, Eeq., M.A., BLS. FIGS, © ...ccscdsseeeesttdbaadetencobents estve. 808 XIII. Organographic and Physiologic Sketch of the Class Fungi, by C. Montaene, D.M. Extracted from ‘ Histoire physique, politique et naturelle de l’ile de Cuba,’ par M. Ramon pe ta Sacra, and translated and illustrated with short notes by the Rev. M. J. Berxerey, M.A., F.L.S. (Continued.) «js. sites dnetinaaidl divweedhdnc ee ENS Spee. YS 107 XIV. Note on Lpilobium angustifolium and macrocarpum. By H. O. Steruens, Esq., with remarks by Sir W. J. Hooxer, V.P.L.S. ... 117 XV. Insectorum novorum Centuria, auct. J.O. Westwoop, F.L.S. 118 XVI. Contributions to the Ichthyology of Australia. By Joun Ricuarpson, M.D., F.R.S., &c., Inspector of Hospitals, Haslar ...... 120 XVII. On Mucor observed by Col. Montagu growing in the Air- cells-of.a°Bird. From Wa. Yarruny, Esq: FiGS.0 p.tescs tesevene 131 XVIII. A List of Invertebrata found in Dublin Bay and its vicinity. By Ani Hassan., Esq, MoROC. Sines ccir-ai i; Staaceecneus aeome: neers 132 XIX. Carabideous Insects collected by Charles Darwin, Esq., during the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle. By G. R. Warernousz, Esq., Curator to the Zoological Society of London. (With a Plate.) .........seseeeeee 134 XX. Description of a new species of Carinaria, a genus of Nucleo- branchiate Mollusks. By Mr. Lovett Reeve, A.L.S. (With a Plate.) 140 XXI. The Birds of Ireland. By Wma. Tuompson, Esq., Vice-Pres. Nat. Hist. Society of Belfast. (Comtiudted:) <0. ccc. csaceseconssosasse-c> sem 141 Proceedings® of the Zoological Society; Botanical Society of Edin- burgh evescoese SOS Feces ee ee SFeFesseeeseesesesseeSsEesseesseosese @eeecccse 145—156 Notices relative to Paleontology, by the Rev. Dr. Buckland, from his Anniversary Address to the Geological Society of London; Expe- dition to Torres Straits and New Guinea; Meteorological Obser- vations and Pable--i....-2-.scesreacacens BP a nae a 156—168 NUMBER LVII. XXII. The Physical Agents of Temperature, Humidity, Light, and Soil, considered as developing Climate, and in connexion with Geogra- phic Botany. By Ricuarp Brinstey Hinps, Esq., Surgeon R.N. ... 169 XXIII. Observations on the Pregress recently made in the Natural History of the Echinodermata, By Prof. AGASSIZ.........ceeeeeeeeeeeees 189 XXIV. On the Natural Arrangement of Fishes. By W.S. Mac- CONTENTS. Vv Leay, Esq., A.M., F.L.S., in a Letter to J. M‘Clelland, Esq., dated Elizabeth Bay, near Sidney, N. S. W., September 12th, 1840 ......... 197 XXV. Contributions to the Ichthyology of Australia. By Joun Ricuarpson, M.D., F.R.S., &c., Inspector of Hospitals, Haslar. (Con- 2 eee phiaeetses « BGR eRe TN dows Uleioaa dace mde bedebededhiescenidee 207 XXVI. On the genus Scarabus, a small group of Pulmobranchiate Mollusks of the family Auriculacea. By Mr. Lovett Reeve, A.L.S. CWith a Plate.) c.ceccssccssccssesecsessonccssess open pee tasmass sbhnew gametes 218 XXVII. The Birds of Ireland Bp Wa. Tompson, Esq., Vice- Pres. Nat. Hist. Society of Belfast. (Continwed.) ...ccccscesscceccecssees 221 XXVIII. Organographic and Physiologic Sketch of the Class Fungi, by C. Montacne, D.M. Extracted from ‘Histoire physique, politique et naturelle de l’tle de Cuba,’ par M. Ramon bE ta Sacra, and trans- lated and illustrated with short notes by the Rev. M. J. Berxetey, M.A., F.L.S. (Continued.) ...... ee Sgieweiidedsinoit site wactow oe en's eels eile 230 XX1X. On two new species of Trogon and a new species of Toucan from the Cordillerian Andes. By Joun Goutp, Esq., F.L.S., &c. ... 236 XXX. Information respecting Scientific Travellers :—Extracts from Letters received from Mr. E. Forbes in Asia Minor; Mr. Jerdon 229—243 Proceedings of the Linnzan Society; Botanical Society of London ; Botanical Society of Edinburgh; Philcsophical Society of Glasgow; froyeiaucicty sof Main buries i...2.0tcescecessteecsentecedacovsses 243—256 Notes on Marine Animals, by R. B. Hinds, Esq.; Mr. J. D. C. Sow- erby on the Giconomy of the Whale; Notes on some Libellule, by J.C. Dale, Esq., F.L.S.; Definition of a Genus; Dr. Barry on Fibre; Temperature of Cold-blooded Animals ; Paleontology— Rudista; Rev. D. Landsborough on Rissoa Harveyi, &c.; Niger Expedition—Mr. Fraser ; Scientific Memoirs, Part X.; Obituary — Dr. Theodor Vogel; Meteorological Observations and Table. 256—264 NUMBER LVIII. XXXI. General Features of Chusan, with remarks on the Flora and Fauna of that Island. By Tureopvore Cantor, M.D., Bengal Medical EN lo ao oan onlanieininainciik oelare'lsed Cale vensmenwtieeseces encuisioa tees 265 XXXII. Notice of the Genus Murchisonia. By M. D’Arcuiac... 278 XXXIII. Organographic and Physiologic Sketch of the Class Fungi, by C. Montacne, D.M. Extracted from ‘ Histoire physique, politique et naturelle de Vile de Cuba,’ par M. Ramon pr xa Sacra, and trans- lated and illustrated with short notes by the Rev. M. J. Berxerey, M.A., F.L.S. (Coneluded.) XXXIV. Observations on the Progress recently made in the Natural History of the Echinodermata. By Prof. Acassiz. (Concluded.) ... 296 XXXV. Descriptions of new species of Coleopterous Insects be- longing to the genus Apocyrtus, collected by Hugh Cuming, Esq., in the Philippine Islands. By G. R. Wareruouse, Esq., Assistant Secre- tary and Curator to the Zoological Society 302 vi CONTENTS. XXXVI. The Physical Agents of Temperature, Humidity, Light, and Soil, considered as developing Climate, and in connexion with Geo- graphic Botany. By Ricuarp Brinstey Hinps, Esq., Surgeon R.N. ( Cosgeipised,). tines)» va) abisnde hae Pevkosuxadveuty extwkedelbe wecdccocetcdvccecconined XXXVII. On the Conferva which vegetates on the skin of the Gold- fish. By Joun Goopsir, Conservator of the Museum of the Royal Col- lege of Surgeons in Edinburgh .........sssscsscsseceeseeees sage cherart soedeav’ New Books :—Gould’s Birds of Australia.—Florigraphia Britannica ; or Engraving and Descriptions of the Flowering Plants and Ferns of Britain, by R. Deakin, M.D.—Transactions of the Botanical Society at Edinburgh.—Linnza, ein Journal fiir die Botanik, Page 311 333 BOE) sia v's tue bvcdasotacdbabadsunbanstueheckabbemstaant er Sonpdusasdvsdsane 337—344 Proceedings of the Zoological Society; Royal Irish Academy; Bota- nical Society of Edinburgh ; Geological Society ......++sese«++ 344—351 Sterna arctica—remarkable flight of Arctic Terns; J. H. Gurney, Esq. on Norfolk Birds; Mr. Hassall on Showers of Pollen ; Craterium pyriforme ; Application of Photography to the delineation of Fos- sils; Biographical notice of Blumenbach ; Meteorological Obser- vaions and ‘Table... ssvesccsaaseicackaatseacntee ae eeteeatee eoseee GOL—360 NUMBER LIX. XXXVIITI. General Features of Chusan, with remarks on the Flora and Fauna of that Island. By Turopore Cantor, M.D., Bengal Me- dical Service,-tc. © ( Continved.) ss c0tdegsreten oansncsanagaecoidersaseen see XXXIX. Observations on a specimen of the Black or Leading Whale, Phocena melas, taken on the coast of Cornwall. By Jonatuan Coucn, ELS... 5. ( With a Biaie live eetadictaana hs satis teeth aeeteea eee XL. The Birds of Ireland. By Wm. Tuompson, Esq., Vice-Pres. Nat. Hist. Society of Belfast. . (Continued.) sceic, Fungi from South America. XI. XII. Vegetable Structure. XIII. to } strutur of the Pollen Granule. XVIII. ERRATUM IN VOL. VII. We are directed by Mr. Blyth to notice an error in Plate V., Vol. VII., where the name Ovis Burrhel is attached to the figure of Ovis Nahoor, and vice versd. THE ANNALS AND MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. Seis . per litora spargite muscum, Naiades, “et ‘circam vitreos considite fontes : Pollice virgineo teneros hic carpite flores : Floribus et pictum, dive, replete canistrum. At vos, o Nymphe Craterides, ite sub undas ; Ite, recurvato variata corallia trunco Vellite muscosis e rupibus, et mihi conchas Ferte, Dez pelagi, et pingui conchylia succo.’ aye Eel. 1. No. 55. MARCH 1842. eS 1.—Organographic and Physiologic Sketch of the Class Fungi, by C. Monraene, D.M. Extracted from ‘ Histoire phy- sique, politique et naturelle de Pile de Cuba,’ par M. Ramon DE LA SAGRA, and translated and illustrated with short notes by the Rev. M.J. Berke ey, M.A., F.L.S. THE class Fungi is without doubt one of the largest of the vegetable kingdom, and the study of the productions of which it is composed is one of the most difficult in botany, whether on account of the infinitely varied forms and disguises which they assume, their small size requiring the aid of the micro- scope, or their obscure place of growth. Neglected by the older botanists, Fungi began to attract attention only towards the commencement of the last century. It is to the immortal Micheli that we owe the first just notions upon these vegetables; it is he who first made known the sporidia of Agarics, of which some modern mycologists claim the discovery, and those other organs which many, even at the present time, regard with Bulliard as real anthers, but to which he assigned other functions. For him again was reserved the honour of placing beyond doubt the reproduc- tion of these plants by seeds or sporidia, which the greater number of botanists before his days believed to be the result of the decomposition of organized ‘bodies, or of a spontaneous or equivocal generation. Gleditsch and Batarra followed, though at a distance, his footsteps, and fully confirmed his observations. Bulliard not only recognised the fact, previously Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Vol. ix. B 2 M. C. Montagne’s Organographic and Physiologic announced by Micheli, that the sporidia of Agarics and Boleti are naked or exogenous, but he was the first to con- jecture that these organs, which the illustrious Florentine regarded as destined simply to keep the gills separate, were in fact equivalent to the stamens of higher plants. The very limited number of species known at that time did not require a great degree of perfection in the mode of classification. But mycology soon increased to such an extent as to re- quire some one to arrange its riches, and render them easily accessible. Persoon, a man of sound judgement and great talent for observation, accomplished with success the arduous task, in publishing in 1801 his excellent Synopsis, entitled by Fries ‘opus aureum,’ in which are arranged with peculiar tact all the species of Fungi then known. Link, in his new arrangement of the Gymnomycetes, and Nees von Esenbeck, in his ‘System der Pilzen und Schwamme,’ made valuable con- tributions to systematic mycology. Fries, the last in point of time, but in my opinion the greatest of all, who has passed half his life in the midst of forests, tracing the different phases of evolution of these frequently ephemeral productions, Fries, the worthy successor of Linnzus, has also made various and important emendations of the natural method of the illus- trious Nees von Esenbeck. If he is not altogether irreproach- able, especially as regards details of intimate structure, which demand imperatively the aid of good microscopes, and con- siderable skill in their use, not to mention the fact, that when his system was published the modern improvements had not been made, what mycologist will dare to compete with him ‘in loftiness of conception, immense learning, and especially in that genius which all his works exhibit, but more pecu- liarly his arrangement of the genus Agaricus, in the ‘Systema Mycologicum ?’ an arrangement perhaps more philosophic, certainly more calculated to lead to the determination of the species of this difficult genus, than the new method adopted by him in the ¢ Epicrisis.’ As it is not my intention to give a history of mycology, I must confine myself to a few words. I cannot therefore re- view the works of those who have contributed to its progress by local floras, monographs, or organographic, physiologic, or medical remarks on Fungi. To enable the student, how- ever, to have recourse to the fountain-head, and to consult the different materials scattered in scientific journals, or par- ticular treatises which have appeared since the time of Persoon, I shall give as complete a list as possible of the most import- ant works relating to this interesting class, reserving to myself the power of showing, in the general remarks which Sketch of the Class Fungi. 3 follow, the honourable rank which each has acquired by his labours *. Fungi then are agamous vegetables, formed of variously- shaped cells, destitute of epidermis, and consequently of stomata. ‘They consist of a vegetative system (mycelium), formed of elongated, simple, or articulated filaments, concealed within the matrix, or creeping and expanded over its surface, from which, according to the different degrees of complication of the fungus, arise extremely varied forms of fructification. The modifications which the fruit receives, either from the mode of evolution of the mycelium, or from the stage at which it is arrested, are such, that we may readily consider as very distinct families the six natural divisions generally established in this class. * T shall confine myself here to indicating the sources from which a more or less complete knowledge may be derived of the structure, functions, nomenclature and classification of Fungi, without omitting those which re- late to their useful or noxious qualities. In strict justice I ought to com- mence with Micheli, but I shall begin at a much more recent period. Bulliard, Hist. des Champign. de ‘la France, 5 vol. 4to, Paris, 1791.— Paulet, Traité des Champ., 2 vol. 4to, Paris, 1793.—Sowerby, Eng. Fungi, 3 vol. fol. Lond. 1799.—Persoon, Synops. Meth. Fungorum, Gott. 1801, 8vo. Traité Champign. comest., 8vo, Paris, 1819. Mycol. Europ., tom. i. ii. iii. 8vo, Erlang. 1822—1828, not completed.—Link in Berl. Mag. 1809—1815, and in Spec. Plantar. Linn. ed. Willd., tom. v. viicNees von Esenbeck, Das system der Pilzen und Schwamme, 4to, Nurenb. 1817.—Fries, Syst. Mycol., 3 vol.8vo. Gryphiswald, 1821—1829.—Syst. Orb. Veget., 8vo, Lund. 1825. Elenchus Fungorum, 8vo, 2 vol. Gryphisw. 1828. Eclog. Fung. in Linnza, t. v. Epicrisis, seu Synopsis Hymenomyc., 8vo, Upsal, 1836—1838. —Adolphe Brongniart, Classif. nouv. des Champ. in Dict. class. hist. nat., tom. v. p. 155, &c.—Trattinick, Die Essbare Schwamme Cisterreichs, Wien, 1830, 8vo (2nd edit.).—Vittadini, Monographia Tuberacearum, Mediol. 1831, 4to.—Krombholz, Naturgetreue Abbild. der Essbaren schadlichen und verdicht. Schwimme, Prag. 1831.—Roques, Hist. des Champ. comest. et vénén., 4to, Paris, 1832.—Unger, Die Exantheme der Pflanzen, Wien, 1833, 8vo, and Ann. Sc. Nat., 2 série, tom. ii. p. 193.—Secretan, Mycog. Suisse, 8vo, 3 vol. Genéve, 1833.—Dutrochet, Obs. sur les Champ., Ac. des Se. Paris, March 3, 1834.—Klotzsch in Dietrich’s Flor. Reg. Bor., 8vo, Berol. 1834.—Corda sur les Anthéres de Micheli dans les Champ. charnus, Flora 1834, p. 1128-116. Sur les Fibres Spirales des Trichiacées, |. c. 1838, p- 419. Ic. Fung., tom. i.-iv. fol. Prag. 1837-40.—Berkeley, Fungi in Hook. Eng. Fl., tom. v. p. 2. Lond. 1836, 8vo. On the Fructif. of the Pileate and Clavate tribes, &c., Ann. of Nat. Hist. i. On the Fructification of Phallus, Lycoperdon, &c., Ann. of Nat. Hist., translated by the author in Annales des Sciences Nat., 2 sér. tome xii. p. 160.—Léveillé, Rech. sur l’Hym. des Champ., |. c. t. viii. p.321. Recherches sur les Urédinées, 1. c. t. xi. p. 5.— - Trog sur la Végétation Fongique, Flora 1837, p. 609.—Philippar, Traité organ. sur la Carie et la Charbon, &c. 8vo, Versailles, 1837. [To which I must add, Sturm’s Deutschi. Fl, 8te Abth.—Ehrenberg in Nov. Act. Nat..Cur., tom. x. pars i. 1821; the excellent treatise just pub- lished in Ann. d. Sc. Nat. by Tulasne on Elaphomyces, and Montagne pas- sim in Ann. Se. Nat—M. J. B.] B.2 4 M. C. Montagne’s Organographic and Physiologic These are, commencing with the most simple, 1, Coniomycetes; 2. Hyphomycetes; 3. Gasteromycetes ; 4, Pyrenomycetes ; 5. Discomycetes ; 6. Hymenomycetes. The 3rd, 4th and 5th of these families have the fructifica- tion concentric or included (Fungi involuti); the remaining three eccentric or naked (Fungi evoluti). Fries gives the name of Cryptomycetes to the two first, reserving that of Phaneromycetes to the four last families. Coniomycetes, Nees von Esenbeck. The fungi of this group were, for the most part, known to the earlier botanists, who regarded them as mere exanthemata. Divided into Epiphytes and Entophytes, according as they are produced upon or beneath the cuticle of vegetables, their origin and nature are still matter of dispute. Some modern naturalists, and amongst them Unger, who has written a treatise on the subject, hold, as regards the latter, that they arise from a pathologic affection of the vegetable itself, or of the respiratory organs. More recent works, however, especially that of Léveillé upon Uredines, have successfully combated these two opinions. M.Corda, who had formerly contended for the German notions, has lately proved, in an admirable analysis of Puccinia gra- minis (Ic. Fung. iv. t. 3. f. 37.), that the sporidia, far from being a disease of the utricles, spring clearly from a mycelium whose threads are figured as scattered amongst the intercellular passages of the leaf. Even before these works of Léveillé and Corda, I had pub- lished a fact (Prodr. Fl. Fernand., Ann. Sc. Nat., 2 sér. tom. iii. p. 256) which appeared to me decisive on the point, viz. the presence on the same leaf of an #cidium and Uredo; and, what is more con- clusive, M. Corda has seen* Pucc. graminis and Caoma linearis united in the same stroma. In the species of this numerous family, the vegetative system is filamentous or cellular. In the first case, the mass of filaments of which it is formed is called hypothallus, hyphasma, or simply flocct. These threads are usually articulated, much branched, and entangled. In the second case it is called stroma or hypostroma. This is some- times discoid as in Tubercularie, sometimes nucleiform and cellular, bearing the spores on its surface. Sometimes the sporidia spring from very short threads (flocci spurii), scarcely capable of being re- garded as a hypothallus. The mycelium, by its metamorphosis into spores, sometimes forms the whole plant, or it is so obliterated that the least trace is not visible, in which case it is probable that a mu- cilaginous medium has served as a matrix for the spores, as is the case in the parallel series of Phycee. Lastly, in more highly deve- loped forms, the mycelium produces a cellulo-membranous pouchf, * Philippar, however, is of opinion that these two species are identical. Uredo rubigo vera is certainly only a form of Puccinia graminis. See Hens- low’s Report on the diseases of wheat, 1840; and a paper on the specific identity of the fungi producing rust and mildew. Journal of Roy. Ag. Soc., vol. ii. part ii. 1841.—M. J. B. + Corda refers these to his Myelomycetes,= in part Gasteromycetes, Fr. Sketch of the Class Fungi. 5 which has been called peridium or pseudo-peridium, from the base of which spring sporidia in moniliform rows, as in Peridermium, Aici- dium, Endophyllum. The fungi of this order are, as stated above, Epiphytes or Ento- phytes. The former, which grow on dead vegetables, are frequently at first concealed under the epidermis, or amongst the woody fibres which they burst or displace in order to continue their morphosis externally. The Entophytes (Hypodermii, Fr.) pass through all the phases of their development* under the thin bark of trees, or under the epidermis of living or dead leaves, or of herbaceous stems. It is only at the moment of the dispersion of the spores, or a little before this epoch, that, rupturing the raised and distended cuticle which covers them, they are exposed to the light, and receive from atmospheric influences the completion of their development. What- ever be the nature of the mycelium, its regular and normal morphosis ends always in the production of the spores, the only aim of nature in the formation of these singular productions, which have been com- pared, and not without reason, to the Entozoa or intestinal worms of animals. The sporidia, whether they arise from the metamorphosis of the threads of the mycelium, or derive their origin from the matrix on which they are produced, become at length free. Their forms are numberless; they are simple or articulate, that is to say, formed of a single cell (Uredo), or several placed end to end (Puccinia, Phragmidium), or more rarely side by side in the same plane (T7i- phragmium), constantly deprived of a common envelope (Corda, /. ¢. p- 10). The sporidia, whether sessile or borne by a peduncle (Ay- popodium, Corda), and consisting of one or more cells, are, as regards each cell, formed of a simple membrane (episporium simplex), as in Uredo, or double (episporium duplex), as in Puccinia. In the latter case, the two coats of unequal thickness which constitute the epi- sporium are so intimately united, that it is impossible to separate them ; the outer is called exosporium, the inner endosporium.. ‘The episporium is smooth, wrinkled, warty, hispid, &c., and encloses the nucleus in its cavity. This, according to Corda, consists of a gela- tinous fluid, in which are suspended a few oily globules, and in which swim some granules, endowed, duriig the life of the plant, with molecular motion, but which, as it approaches maturity, have a ten- dency to become concrete. It is superfluous to add, that it is upon the infinite variety of forms assumed by the sporidia and mycelium that the perhaps too numerous genera of this family are founded. In this respect I am of Fries’s opinion, who says, Inter hypodermios maximam partem (Coniomycetum) efficientes, typos nosse sufficiat, nisi singulorum mu- tationibus in singulis plantis observandis vitam velimus dicare (Syst. Myce. iii. p. 457). * Professor Henslow, who has lately paid great attention to the subject, has satisfied himself that dregma and Triphragmium are a more highly de- veloped state of certain so-called Uredines. This too is probably the case with Xenodochus. I am myself convinced that many of the brown Uredines are merely an early stage of growth of certain Puccinie.—M. J.B. 6 M. C. Montagne’s Organographic and Physiologic The Coniomycetes, which are real parasites, grow on dead or living vegetables ; in the latter case they attack in preference herbaceous plants, and rather the leaves than the stems, or the reproductive organs, which unfortunately are not always exempt from their ravages. It is in this class that the most injurious fungi are found, producing rust, bunt, mildew, &c.*, the scourge of farmers. It is not my intention to describe these here. It is among plants of this family that we observe that method of reproduction by division} (‘‘ tomipare”), which we shall again notice in the following family. With regard to the mode of generation and propagation of Coniomy- cetes, | shall make some observations in the general remarks on the class. Hyphomycetes, N. von E. This family is not distinguished from the foregoing { merely by the presence of a vegetative system, as Fries supposes, for we have just seen that a great number of Coniomycetes possess one. We must then look for the difference in a higher degree of development, in a more complicated structure, and especially in the free evolution of the mycelium and sporidia. It is divided into two grand sections, characterized by a filament- ous stroma, but which differ in this, that in the one the sporidia are naked or merely clothed with the same coat as the matrix, while in the other they are at first contained in a sort of peridium, formed by the swelling of the end of the filaments, from which they escape when mature. The mycelium, though always fides is not alike in both these sections. In the first its filaments form a sort of floccose stroma on which the sporidia are fixed, or rather in the midst of which they are dispersed ; these filaments are called flocci. In Sporotrichacee§ all the filaments recline upon the matrix, and the spores, scattered amongst them, are in some degree covered by them, as by a veil, an organ which we shall find more decided in Phaneromycetes. Here then the mycelium is confused with the fertile or spore-bearing threads, or rather the whole plant consists of mycelium. But in the Botrytidee these filaments are of two kinds; the one erect and fertile (flocci fertiles), the other barren, reclining on the matrix (hyphasma or hypopodium). These may be regarded as the vegetative system, from whence spring the former, * It is curious, that in England, rust, though often extremely abundant, is seldom considered injurious, except perhaps to some of the new whests, though it appears to be very destructive in France. See Henslow, /. ¢.— Med. Bs + Compare the observations of Mohl and others on the formation of cells. —M. es oh t It would be better parhage to place this family first, at least if we adopt a circular or reticulate system. There would then be a natural transition on the one side to Hymenomycetes through Jsaria, and on the other to some of the more obscure Pyrenomycetes through Séilbospora, &c. This is of course on the supposition that Gasteromycctes be entirely reviewed.— M. J. B. § It is however to be remarked, that most species of Sporotrichum are spurious. Zrichothecium roseum is in reality a Dactylium, &c.—M. J.B, Sketch of the Class Fungi. r which bear the fruit. It is amongst the barren filaments that the granules called conidia occur, analogous to the gonidia of Lichens, and which must be cautiously distinguished from true sporidia*. In proportion as the structure is more complex, these filaments, erect or decumbent, which were at first free, or only more or less loosely interwoven, are closely united, especially at the base, so as to form a stem-shaped stroma, the extremity of which, at a greater or less distance, supports the sporidia. We see this disposition in the genera Coremium and Isariat, which M. Corda refers to Hyme- nomycetes. In the second section, composed of Mucorine, the erect tubular filaments, whether springing or not from a mycelium or decumbent threads, swell at their free extremity into a vesicle. By observa- tions which throw a brilliant light on the morphosis of these plants, Corda (Ic. Fung. ii. p. 19. t. 11. f. 75.) has proved that the vesicle or sporangium, at first in connexion with the cavity of the stem, 1s soon separated by a columella or septum which is hemispherical, campaniform, &c., of which he has been able to follow the develop- ment, and upon which the spores, most frequently united like neck- laces, acquire at length the degree of development necessary for the reproduction of the species}. This vesicle, which is termed perzdio- lum, opens regularly or irregularly. In two genera (Pilobolus and Chordostylium), analogous forms to which we shall find in the Gasteromycetes, the peridium separates entire from the summit of the simple filament which bears it, and is thrown to a distance by an elastic force. Persoon and Corda, per- haps with reason, place them in the following family. The fertile filaments of Hyphomycetes, extremely variable in their form, are simple or branched, continuous or articulate, hyaline or dusky, &c. Their mode of ramification varies with the species and genera; it is dichotomous, verticillate, virgate, &c. Indehiscent, and in themselves generally colourless and pellucid, they owe their various hues to the juices which they contain. In Dematie, the fertile filaments, besides being usually destitute of mycelium, or having one of a crustaceous nature, are remarkable for their rigidity, and their olive, dingy or black hue; they are sep- tate, and bear sporidia adhering to the sides or tips of the threads * They often abound in the mycelia of Hymenomycetes, which are in consequence described as Sporotricha.—M. J. B. + As regards the first at least, Corda’s notion is quite untenable, for it is more than doubtful whether its species be not mere modifications of Pe- nicilia. Isaria most beautifully unites Hymenomyceies with Hyphomycetes through Typhaula.—M. J. B. { On the strength of these observations, Corda has separated from true Hyphomycetes this second section, in order to unite it to the following family, changing its name into Myelomycetes. Ought we however to place more reliance on the presence of a peridiolum than on the filamentous structure and mode of vegetation? ‘The same might be said of eczdium, at present included in the foregoing family, and of which the same naturalist, in consequence of the presence of a peridium, has likewise changed the place in the system, 8 M. C. Montagne’s Organographic and Physiologic and their branches; they are usually termed fibres (fibre). We still observe in them reproduction by division ; that is to say, in Cladosporium, for example, the septate extremity of the principal filament or branch is changed into sporidia which separate from it and fall successively. The sporidia are simple or compound. The first are formed of a single hyaline membrane (episporium), sometimes marked with a hilum, and always containing a sporaceous, variously coloured mass, which is termed nucleus. They enclose also, though more rarely, granules which have been considered as sporidiola*. ‘Though fre- quently isolated, they are sometimes heaped about the tips or sides of the filaments which support them. At other times, they form, as it were, necklaces whose grains are either contiguous, or separated by a connecting band (desmos) interposed between each of them. The compound sporidia are observed only in Dematie, where, ac- cording to Corda, they present the same structure as that which I described after him in the spores of Puccinia. As to general form, they are spherical, ovoid, oblong, elliptic, reni-, pyri-, or clavi-form. They are smooth, angular, scabrous, wrinkled, papillary, rough, with hairs or prickles. Their colour is extremely variable, with the exception of deep green and blue. In the greater number of the species of this family, the sporidia originate clearly from the granular sporaceous mass, suspended in a viscid or watery fluid which circulates in the tubes of the continuous filaments. Fries has seen an ascending current in the fluid of Asco- phora Mucedo. I have confirmed the fact in my experiments on Muscardine, without being able to decide whether this motion be vital or molecular. But at the same epoch I have certainly seen in Botrytis Bassiana the sporidia, or globular cells which did not seem to differ from them, rise incessantly in the tube, from the base to the summit of the filament, at the time when the reproductive bodies are formed, that is to say, the second day from the evolution of the flocci on the outside of the body of the silk-worm. But whatever be the mode of formation of the sporidia in this family, their mor- phosis or evolution is not the same in both the sections. In the one they issue, or appear to issue, from the extremity of the filament, and are grouped after a peculiar manner predestined for each genus and species. In the Sporotrichacee they are free and dispersed among the filaments ; in Jsarie they are acrogenous, or adnate on the summit of a branch; in Botrytidee united usually in spherical heads of greater or less size, around the tip of the principal thread or its branches. This grouping takes place successively, as I have con- vinced myself in tracing from hour to hour the evolution of Botrytis * It is probable that they are not, properly speaking, sporidiola, at least if we may judge by what takes place in the germination of compound spo- ridia of the fourth family, where a shoot is given off opposite to each globule. See Mont., Ann. Sc. Nat., t. xiv. pl.19. fig.6 7; and Berk., Ann. of Nat. Hist., vol. vi. tab. xi. fig. 8 b.—M. J. B. + The nearest approach is in Phycomyces nitens and the Brazilian Mu- cor virens and cyanocephalus.—M. J. B Sketch of the Class Fungi. 9 Bassiana. My belief was, that the spores, formed in the tube of the principal filaments or branches, issued from their tips, carrying be- fore them the extremity of the thread like a cul-de-sac, which formed their second coat or episporium, and in the end adhered at the point of their passage*. In some genera, instead of being grouped in this manner in more or less fertile heads, the sporidia (moniliformiter con- catenata) form necklaces which crown the digitate, fasciculate, or verticillate branches of the plant (e. g. Penicillium, Aspergillus, &c.). In the genus Jorula, these same chains or necklaces of sporidia constitute almost all the fungus, and Ozdium is formed of filaments which are changed almost completely into spores. In Mucorine this morphosis takes place in quite a different way. It is between the kind of columella with which we have seen most of the species are furnished, and the peridiolum which arises from the dilatation of the tip of the filament, that the sporaceous mass, accumulated at first by the ascent of the juices, passes successively through a multitude of changes, extremely well indicated by Corda (ic. Fung. i. p. 19), before arriving at the state of spores, and ac- quiring their perfect maturityf. We must not forget that the sporidia of Mucedines are capable of being developed in liquids, and giving rise to confervoid productions which have often been taken for Alge{. ‘They show the analogy, or, as it were, the link between these productions; but they are easily distinguished by the absence of all fructification so long as they remain submerged; it is only when they reach the surface of the liquid that the evolution of the spores can take place. ‘The genus Leptomitus and many others offer examples of these barren mycelia; they are, as regards liquids, what the genera Hypha, Himantia, Byssus, &c., are to piaces deprived of light. A multitude of species in the work of Biasoletti (Di alc. Alg. Microsc., Trieste, 1832) have no better origin. I believe that the same may be said of the transformation of the globules of milk into Penicillium glaucum §. * This is perhaps one of the most important questions in the physiology of Fungi. Ifthe learned author himself has not leisure to repeat his observa- tions, which unfortunately I know to be the case, it is greatly to be wished that scme competent and unprejudiced naturalist would undertake the task. In Hymenomycetes the spores are gradually produced at the tips of the spicules, and certainly are not developed within the threads; and this is the case with Botrytis parasitica and its allies. I am not aware that the memoir itself has ever been published. The only account I have seen of it is in ‘Comptes Rendus.’—M. J. B. + It is necessary to mention that the author is not responsible for the correctness of statements like the present. They are given on the faith of the respective authors, it being impossible to verify every observation. } Schimper imagines that the greater part of freshwater Conferve ori- ginate from an analogous cause, viz. the anormal development of the spo- rules of Mosses; and that each species of moss corresponds to a species of conferva, &c. See Soc. Hist. Nat. Strasb., 3 December 1833. § Consult on this subject, Fries, Syst. Orb. Veg., p. 42.—Dutrochet sur Vorigine des Moisissures, Ann. Sc. Nat., 2 sér. tom. i. p. 30, &c.—Berkeley on a conferv. state of Mucor clavatus in Mag. of Zool. and Bot., tom. ii. p. 351, and Meyen’s remarks on this paper in his Jahresberichte. 10 M. C. Montagne’s Sketch of the Class Fungi. There is still a remarkable fact which we must not omit. Tham- nidium elegans, Lk. (Ascophora elegans, Corda, Ic. Fung., iii. p. 14. t. 2. f. 43.) has presented to Corda two sorts of fructification*®, as is the case with all other agamous plants. ‘The verticillate ramuli are terminated by reproductive gemme, while the main thread is tipped by a true sporigerous peridiolum. The little plants which form this family are worthy of the great- est attention, especially in a physiological point of view. They are not less capable of exciting in the highest degree the curiosity of the naturalist, whose pleasure it is to contemplate the wonders of creation. If they less attract the vulgar eye, it is because without the micro- scope to it they scarcely exist. What a new world do we owe then to this instrument! The Mucedines, for example, which rival in elegance some of our prettiest articulated hydrophytes, form some- times in the space of a square inch an immense forest of trees from one to two lines high, varied, but always elegant in their ramification, bearing at the extremities of their whorled, umbellate, or panicled branches, bunches or heads of seed producing the most exquisite effect. Sometimes they are less branched, and have their uncinate, clavate, umbellate or shrubby tips loaded with fruit. Nature, in corapensation for their brief existence, reproduces them everywhere, so that it is always easy to find individuals for examination. The Hyphomycetes grow on vegetable or animal substances in the course of decomposition+. In general they are not difficult in their choice, though some species are confined to particular habitats. The most common of all, Penicillium glaucum, grows on all sorts of substances, and in all latitudes. On the one side the Hyphomycetes approach the Coniomycetes, the lower individuals in the series differmg only in the free develop- ment of their hyphasma; on the other side they touch upon the Gasteromycetes, by those Mucorini which have a separable peridium, (ce. g. Pilobolus). Fries compares them to his Ulvacee (FI. Scan. p. 357), our subfamily Zoosperme, and remarks that, like these, they have both their inarticulate and septate representatives. In the two families which I have just examined, the individuals of which have little use in the ceconomy of nature, except to hasten the decomposition of animal and vegetable substances, or to furnish nutriment for a multitude of insects, the threads at the extremity of which the sporidia grow may be called erecto-divergent; in the following families these same filaments, variously woven and en- tangled, end always, except in the Pyrenomycetes, in becoming erecto- convergent. [To be continued. ] * Something of the kind is exhibited by 4g. racemosus. The lateral heads have the structure of Stzlbum.—M. J. B. + An account has lately been published in Ann. Sc. Nat. 1841, of a mould developed in the stomach of a living bird. A fact of the same kind has been described before, in Dr. Valentin’s Repertorium fir Anatomie und Physiologie, bd. 1. 1836.—M. J. B. Mr. T. Brightwell on Hirudo geometra. 11 I].—On Hirudo geometra, Linn., and some other species of British Freshwater Leeches. By T. BrigurweE.u of Nor- wich, F.L.S. Earty in March of the present year (1841), about twenty specimens of a small leech were taken from the back fin of a roach caught in the river Wensum. They agreed generically with the characters given by Savigny of his genus Hemocharis, viz. body cylindrical, composed of indistinct articulations, terminated by large flattish circular* discs or suckers; head without any toothed tubercles; eyes four. These leeches were from one to two inches long, slender, cylindrical, diminishing in size from the tail to the head; an- terior disc or sucker smaller than the posterior ; colour lght brown, with broken rings of a darker colour ; posterior disc with eight or nine small dark spots and brown longitudinal streaks. These characters are nearly those of H. piscium or geometra of authors, the only described species of this genus. These leeches being placed with a gudgeon in water, in- stantly attached themselves to the edge of the fins or lip, and remained fixed some days. Being placed by themselves in a glass vessel, and having fresh water put to them every morn- ing, several instances of sexual connexion were observed to take place immediately after the fresh water was added, one of the leeches suddenly twisting itself round the neck of another, and closing upon a longitudinal opening which at this time was very conspicuous in the neck of each. During this union a white substance could be perceived on each side of the part where the bodies were connected. They continued united generally several hours, and in one case during the whole day. When’ the leeches separated, a white filmy substance was detached from the parts where they had been united, which in one case had the appearance of an egg, but from subsequent observation was found to be part of the film in which the eggs are enveloped. Within twenty-four hours after the union took place eggs were deposited, and were found firmly attached to the sides of the glass vessel. By an experiment made with a pair which were kept separate for that purpose, twelve eggs were found to proceed from two individuals. These eggs were semitrans- parent, of a reddish brown colour, oblong-oval, with one end truncated ; they were covered with a white filmy web-like se- cretion, and had longitudinal elevated ridges on the sides. The shells of the eggs were found, on dissection, to be ex~ tremely hard. * Oblique is the character given by Savigny. 12 Mr. T. Brightwell on Hirndo geometra, On the thirtieth day after the eggs were deposited the first young leech made its appearance. Each egg produced only one leech—this was ascertained by detaching an egg and keeping it in a glass by itself, when one leech only proceeded from it. The young leeches were the size of a small thread, about one-third of an inch long, and appeared perfectly formed ; the brown annular markings of the body, the longi- tudinal lines upon the posterior disc, and the four eyes in the anterior disc or sucker being clearly visible. They were very active and vigorous, and exceedingly beautiful little animals. One of the young leeches being placed in a small cup of water with a tadpole, instantly fixed itself to the edge of the tadpole’s tail, and remained so for some hours; but several tadpoles being placed in the vessel where the young leeches were, they had all disappeared on the following morning, the tadpoles having probably devoured them. The adult leeches all became faint and died, afew days after they had deposited their eggs. These leeches were rarely, if ever, observed to move in the geometrical manner which is described by Linnzus and others, and from which character the trivial name geometra was given to them. Our species ali moved in the same manner as the common medicinal leech, and often swam about in the undulating manner of that species. Both the young and the old ones also, frequently, after attaching themselves firmly by the posterior disc only, assumed a rigid appearance, and flung their bodies about as if eagerly seeking some object to fix themselves to, which they did, if any object presented itself, in a moment, and were very difficult to detach. Cuvier (or rather Latreille), ‘ Régne Animal,’ vol. v. p. 215, describes the genus Hemocharis as never swimming; but it our species be of this genus, this must be incorrect. M. de Blainville seems of opinion that the Hirudo cephalotes of Ca- rena is of this genus ; but this species is not only described as never swimming, but also as viviparous ; characters which will not agree with our species, and from which those in Cuvier and other authors may probably have been taken. The figure given of H. geometra in the ‘ Encyclopédie Mé- thodique,’ pl. 51. fig. 12—19, which professes to be copied from Rosel, differs much from our species both in the form of the discs or suckers, the situation of the eyes, and the mark- ings. We add a few general observations on the freshwater leeches occurring in our neighbourhood, Hemopsis sanguisorba (Sav.), the common horse-leech. This species is common in our ponds and ditches. We have not been able to determine and the reproduction of Leeches. 13 whether it be oviparous or not, though there is little doubt of its being so. We have found its young, in an early stage, in the same places as the adult, but never adhering to the pa- rent. We have in our possession a singular variety of this species, which has the posterior part and a large spot on the abdomen of a pale flesh-colour. , Sanguisuga medicinalis (Sav.), the medicinal leech. This species is occasionally found in our neighbourhood, but is by no means common. A dealer in Jeeches, residing in Norwich, keeps a stock of about 50,000 leeches in two large tanks of water, floored with soft clay, in which the leeches burrow. On examining these tanks we found many capsules or ova de- posits of the leech, which the owner (ignorant of their nature) stated to be, at times, very numerous, but which he had neg- lected and generally destroyed. The Austrian variety he keeps in a separate tank, as he says it destroys the others. Nephelis vulgaris (Sav.). This species abounds in all our fresh waters, and the brown capsules containing its ova may constantly be found on the underside of the leaves of water plants among the ova of the freshwater helices. We have kept several of this species through the summer, and the following are our notes as to the deposit of the ova and the development of the young :—On the 2nd of June H. vulgaris deposited one capsule containing ova; on the 5th another; on the 10th an- other; and on the 15th two more, each of them containing from seven to ten eggs. On the 22nd young appeared in the capsule deposited on the 2nd, and on the 13th of July they emerged from the capsule, so that in three weeks the young were seen alive in the capsule, and in six weeks were fully developed and left the capsule. Examining the young of this species under a power of about sixty linear, we detected a Cypris and four specimens of a common rotiferous animalcule in its stomach, one of the ro- tifera being still alive. Nephelis tesselata? In June last we captured in the river at Costessey in this county a single specimen of a leech which nearly agrees with the descriptions given of this species. It is described by Blainville as follows :—“ Body elongated or oval, eighteen lines long, with eight eyes in a double longitudinal series ; ash-coloured, with orange or whitish-coloured spots above, the sides marked with white or partly gray and partly orange-coloured spots; the abdomen gray, with two round spots in the middle.” Our specimen is nearly cylindrical, about an inch long, the posterior disc larger than the anterior ; eight eyes, in two rows of four each; colour green, with two indistinct, whitish, lon- 14 Mr. T. Brightwell on Hirudo geometra. gitudinal series of spots above and two spots underneath ; the whole body, magnified, appears studded with small, dark, ir- regular spots. Miller says the female is sometimes filled with 300 young ones. The abdomen of our species was, when captured, co- vered with young, which adhered solely by the posterior dise. We kept this specimen from the 24th of June to the 28th of August, when it died. ‘The young remained attached to the parent during all this time, and we took some pains to ascer- tain their exact number, and found they amounted to 143. We never saw the parent or the young ones take any food. The young differed altogether in colour from the parent, the latter being a deep green, the former a light ash-colour: the eyes of the parent could scarcely be discerned with a lens; the eyes of the young were very conspicuous, and could be seen with the naked eye. The motion of this species is geo- metrical, and it never swims. The abdomen of the parent had no pouch, but was much expanded by the adhesion of so nu- merous a progeny, so much so as to make the form appear very different to the young. Clepsina (Sav.). This genus or family of Hirudinide (which comprises the leeches furnished with a retractile proboscis) does not appear well understood. They are found adhering to the undersides of the leaves of the larger aquatic plants, where the small helices (upon which they feed) abound ; they are also found adhering to stones in running waters. The proboscis is rarely seen exserted. C. complanata. We have kept many of this species during the whole summer, and never saw the proboscis unless we . compelled the animal to protrude it, which it may be made to do by a glass compresser. We have seen it devour one of the common Planorbes, which it did by thrusting itself up the shell of the snail and sucking the body of the animal. ‘The five-lobed stomach of the leech and of several young ones ad- hering to it, were, when it left the shell, filled with a clear dark red fluid, which, contrasting with the transparent straw- colour of the rest of the animal, gave it a very unique and beautiful appearance. The ova of this species are first ob- served to proceed from the ovary in two longitudinal rows to the abdomen, which is dilated and drawn up into a kind of pouch or bag to receive them. The young are gradually de- veloped, and when excluded remain adhering, by their whole length, for many weeks to the body of the parent. C. stagnalis. This little species is said to be common, but we have never met with it; all the leeches we have seen of this family having six eyes, whereas this species is described Dr. Richardson on the Ichthyology of Australia. 15 as having only two. C.complanata varies much in size, and we have seen a specimen full of ova as small as C. stagnalis is described to be. C. hyalina? We have taken a single specimen of a leech of this family, which nearly agrees with the descriptions of this species. It was more than twice as large as any other in- dividual of this family which we have seen, being about an inch long, of a yellow-brown colour, with two rows of longi- tudinal dark lines upon its back. The whole body was re- markably hard and tough. We saw the proboscis of this ani- mal well developed ; it had no ova or young attached to it. REFERENCE TO PLATE I. Fig. 1. H. geometra, a pair united, mag. nat. 2. The fore-part of the same, magnified. a, a. White substance. 3. Eggs, mag. nat. 4. Young, idem. 5. Eggs, highly magnified (about 150 linear). 6. Lid of the egg whence the leech escapes. 6. Anterior disc or sucker of the young, free, highly magnified. 8. The same attached. 7. Posterior disc attached. Fig. 9, 10, 11. Eggs or capsules with ova of Nephelis vulgaris. 9. Mag. nat. 10,11. Magnified. 12, The same, the ova near hatching. 13, 14. The same, with the young in the egg just before they come out. Fig. 15. Nephelis tesselata? mag. nat., with the young adhering. 16. The same, upper side. 17. One of the young, highly magnified. Fig. 18, 19. Clepsina complanata, mag. nat., with the ova attached. Fig. 20. C. hyalina? mag. nat. Ill.— Contributions to the Ichthyology of Australia. By Joun Ricuarpson, M.D., F.R.S., &c., Inspector of Hospitals, Haslar. Mr. Goutp having had the kindness to place in my hands for examination a collection of fish, procured by his assistant Mr. Gilbert, at Port Essington, on the north coast of New Holland, I purpose in the following paper to give a summary of my observations thereon, together with a few remarks upon some drawings made by Lieutenant Emery, R.N., of fish captured on the north-west coast of the same country. I shall also introduce several notices of species from Van Die- men’s Land and New Zealand, now existing in the museum at Haslar, with the view of enumerating as many Australian fish as the materials in my possession enable me to do. Mr. Gilbert’s specimens, numbered from 1 to 37, are all dried skins of one side of the.fish. The colours of most are consequently altered, and in a few instances the vomerine and 16 ' Dr. Richardson’s Contributions to palatine bones have been cut away, but in other respects they are in excellent condition. Lieut. Emery not being an ichthy- ologist, has sometimes omitted to portray the minute ser- ratures of the opercular pieces, and has not always distin- guished the spinous from the articulated rays. On this ac- count it is difficult to fix the genus of the undescribed species ; but the drawings exhibit no mean share of artistical skill, and, judging from the few known species among them, are correct representations of the recent fish, and consequently valuable records of their real tints of colour. In preparing the follow- ing notes, I have availed myself as often as my professional avocations and residence at a distance from London would allow, of the valuable collection of drawings made in Cook’s first and second voyages by Parkinson and Forster, now in the Banksian library. Many of these figures are referred to in the posthumous edition of Bloch by Schneider, and also in the ‘ Histoire des Poissons’; and it may be advantageous to mention, that the mode in which the fin-rays are noted in pencil at the bottom of the drawings, viz. by putting the number of spinous rays as the numerator, and the whole num- ber of rays of each fin, both spinous and articulated, as the denominator of a fraction, has sometimes led the authors of the works just named into error, the denominator being quoted as the amount of the soft rays alone. In most instances, however, the quotation is correctly made. Mr. Gould destines his collection for the British Museum. ApoGon APRION (Nob.), Rough-tongued Apogon. No. 11. Mr. Gilbert’s list. Mr. Gilbert states that the aborigines name this fish ‘ Mun- duruk,’ and that it is a very local species, having hitherto been seen only in King’s River (near Victoria, Port Essing- ton), and not in the other very similar and closely adjacent streams. The species seems to differ from all those described in the ‘ Histoire des Poissons,’ in the total absence of serra- tures on the preoperculum, and in the presence of a small cluster of teeth on the tongue. It is more compressed than the 4. reamullorum, but does not differ much from that fish in the general form of its profile. Its height in the middle is contained three times and a half in the total length, caudal included. The length of the head exceeds the height of the body, and the thickness is greatest at the gill-covers, being there equal to about half the height behind the ventrals. The muzzle is also wide at the preorbitars. The preoperculum has the raised acute edges posteriorly and inferiorly, proper to the genus; there is a less conspicuous ridge on the foremost border of the operculum, the Ichthyology of Austraha. , 17 | and they are all perfectly smooth. ‘The operculum exhibits no ves- tige of a spine, but its broad membranous border is supported by a thin, narrow, cartilaginous rib, which runs out from the subopercu- lum. The teeth form pretty broad and densely villiform bands on the jaws, the posterior ones near the symphysis being a little longer, but all are short. On the vomer and palatine bones these teeth are very short, and there is a small cluster in the middle of the tongue which is just perceptible to the naked eye, and very sensible to the finger. The pharyngeal teeth are not longer than those in the jaws. Rays :—B. 7 — 7; D. 5|— 1|10; A. 2/9; C.154; V.1|5; P.11. The branchiostegous rays are very slender. The dorsal commences over the anterior third of the pectorals, and rather before the middle of the ventrals. The first spine is very short and acute; the second is the longest and strongest, and tapers suddenly at the top, which is slightly curved; the third is a little shorter, and the fifth is half the length of the second. This fin has a smaller number of rays than is ascribed to any other species in the ‘Histoire des Poissons.” They are alike in our two specimens. The spine of the second dorsal is not quite half as long as the soft rays. The first anal spine is barely perceptible, and the second spine and soft rays are shorter than those of the second dorsal. ‘The ventrals are scarcely shorter than the pectorals, and are attached a little further forwards. The spine is one-third shorter than the soft rays. The caudal is rounded ; it has fifteen forked rays and four graduated, simple, jointed ones above and below. The collection contains two specimens—one dried, the other in spirits, neither of them retaining much of their original colours. There are no traces of any stripes on the body, or caudal spots having ever existed. The upper parts appear to have been dark in colour, gra- dually softening off towards the belly. The specimen in spirits ex- hibits faintly the hue of the grounds of Port wine, which probably was diffused over the head and upper part of the body. The fins appear dark. These traces of colour agree with the tints of Ap. ni- gripinnis or vinosus, but the number of dorsal rays is different. The only previously known New Holland species is banded (Mullus fas- ciatus, White). The scales are orbicular or widely oval, with about twenty furrows and corresponding marginal crenatures on the basal half of the circle, radiating from towards the centre, but not reaching it, and a narrow chequered border with very minute teeth exteriorly. The lateral line has nearly the curve of the back, and changes to a straight course through the tail very gradually. It is composed of forty scales, each having a simple but rather uneven elevated tube on its surface. There are two scales on the base of the caudal, beyond the termination of the lateral line. The two central rays of the caudal diverge rather more at their bases than the other rays, thus dividing the fin into two parts. There are five rows of scales above the lateral line, and about thirteen below it, under the first dorsal. Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Vol. ix. C 18 Dr. Richardson’s Contributions to DIMENSIONS. inches, lines. Length from intermaxillary symphysis to extremity of caudal. 6 0 ————— —— ——-. —_———_ base of caudal ...... 4 Qf SOURETESELNaven tee vnampeenners Wane ks ve) andl Git sés-torssds0s, a a first dorsal ......... 2 93 tip of gill-flap -...... 1 113 —. ——— edge of orbit ......... 0 54 THameter Of OFDiE pcrcentncnsyssdevounaeteeenes’ re sphalivadwaads ast 0 & Length of second spine of first dorsal ..........sscesssesscecseecees 0 8 rays of soft doreal iivliseysspes:sccdastenanleiereretyrs tL .8 tays of andl... cecaces spssharecssosesshducds ba tamibedl igus 0 10 PECLOTAIS ..acpsnnadooeensnvte one dh ok clip aenneahietes ae Wentrale | 3is.0isesckesessuentess Jevpusoeaemierredamel we Height of body. ...047.00))..qucvennfomntds toeeeAdlboe aeetede sales ee Thickness at gill-cover and nape .........tscccovccsssdocesewevongses 0 9 Length of caudal. fins. ..»0iasssiuiesuds spinoostedebedosntginnaeubogiyeses 1 2 SERRANUS LEPIDOPTERUS (Nob.), Butterfly-barber. “ Perca lepidoptera, J. R. Forsteri, MSS.,” Schn. Epinephelus lepidopterus, B). Schn., p. 302. A drawing of a Serranus nearly related to S. rasor (Zool. Proceed., vol. 1i.), made by a convict artist at Port Arthur, Van Diemen’s Land, under the inspection of Dr. Lhotsky, exhibits all the characters of the New Zealand fish described in Schnei- der’s edition of Bloch under the appellation of Hpinephelus lepidopterus, except that there is some discrepancy in the numbers of the fin-rays. The colour of the parts above the lateral line is clove-brown, which lower down gradually softens into brownish-red, and towards the belly changes to a dilute roseate tint. The scales forming the lateral line are truncated and smaller than the others, and have a rich um- ber-brown colour. Below the line the sides are thickly dotted to ‘about half-way down with small irregular umber-brown spots, of dif- ferent degrees of intensity. Under the posterior third of the soft dor- sal, about the middle of the height, there is a large rectangular brown- ish-black mark. The top of the head and upper part of the opercu- lum are tinted with clove-brown, approaching to lead-gray ; there is a pale orange-brown bar crossing the preorbitar to the anterior angle of the eye, and the membranous parts about the mouth have a sky- blue hue. There are some dark shades on the preoperculum, and a patch of orange-brown on the interoperculum. The dorsal fin is coloured with a mixture of more red than the adjoining part of the back ; the caudal is scarlet, with a tinge of orange-brown at the base and along the edge of the forked membrane. The pectorals, ventrals and anal are rose-red, the rays being more deeply coloured than the membrane, and there are a few very pale reddish-brown spots on the pectoral. A curved canine tooth is represented on the middle of each limb of the lower jaw, and the maxillary is densely scaly, as well as the snout, cheeks, and all the opercular pieces. The preoperculum has a rectangular form, with the angle rounded, and the whole margin is the Ichthyology of Australha. 19 represented as ciliated. Two conspicuous, flat, triangular spines are shown on the operculum, and the edge of bone is rounded away in a semi-circular arc, to a small angle adjoining the top of the gill- opening. The pectoral is large, and has an oval outline, its central rays reaching as far back as the anterior third of the anal. The ventrals are also large, and reach to the anal. The second anal spine is the largest of the three. The spinous dorsal moves in a densely scaly in- tegument, there being only a triangular piece of smooth membrane behind the top of each spine. The base of the soft dorsal is also scaly, but the scales are not represented as advancing far on the anal. The caudal is forked to the depth of one-third of its length. Rays :—D. 10/14; A. 3\7; P.12; V. 1/5 or 6; C. 15 :—Figure. D. 10)20; A. 3/9; P.16; V.1]6; C. 18 :—Schneider. The vertical height of the body is equal to one-half the length of the fish, caudal excluded ; the length of the caudal being equal to two-thirds of the height of the body. The total length of the figure, which is said to be of the natural size of the fish, is eleven inches. SERRANUS GiLBERTI (Nob.), Gilbert’s Serranus. No. 18. Mr. Gilbert’s collection. This fish is stated by Mr. Gilbert to inhabit deep rocky places near the entrance of the harbour of Port Essington. It belongs to the group of spotted Serrani, of which the Merra (Bl. 329.) is a typical species. The members of this group are characterized in the ‘ Histoire des Poissons’ by the various combinations they exhibit in the forms and denticulations of the opercular pieces, the development of scales on the jaws, the form of the dorsal fin, and the distribution of spots on the body and fins. The phrases by which their peculiarities are described, though sufficient to distinguish the species that the authors of the work had actually under observation, are inadequate, in the absence of correct figures, for the purposes of the ichthyologist who desires to characterize fully the new species or varieties which may fall under his notice. These must, therefore, be proposed with some degree of hesitation, until an opportunity offers for comparing the specimens with ascertained examples of known species. The Port Essington fish, which I have named after Mr. Gilbert, exhibits charac- ters which I do not find combined in any Serranus described in the ‘ Histoire des Poissons.’ Upper jaw and maxillaries destitute of scales; the lower jaw and snout clothed with minute ones. Ascending limb of the preopercu- lum arched, finely toothed, and having a small slightly projecting lobe at the angle, armed with five or six somewhat larger teeth: the under edge of the bone is straight, and almost entire, there being only some very indistinct crenatures perceptible by the aid of a lens. 90 Dr. Richardson’s Contributions to The suboperculum and interoperculum have entire margins. The upper opercular spine is scarcely visible through the skin of the dried specimen; the acute point is all that shows of the under one: the middle one is flat but pointed, and conspicuous enough. ‘The third dorsal spine is the highest, and equals the tallest of the soft rays; the others decrease very little in height, the last or eleventh being only one-fifth shorter than the third, and nearly equal to the second : the first is half the height of the third. The soft dorsal, like the anal, is highest posteriorly, and both are moderately rounded. The anal spines are strong, more particularly the second, which is also rather the longest, and equal to the second dorsal spine in height. Caudal much rounded. Rays :—P.17; V.1|5; D. 1117; A. 3]9; C. 15%. The head forms somewhat less than one-third of the total length, caudal fin included. ‘Teeth on the jaws brush-formed, and, as in most of the allied species, taller and more slender posteriorly. The anterior row is short and conical, but, with the exception of one or two small canine teeth near the symphysis, it is concealed by the lips. The whole body and the vertical fins are covered with round, dark, umber-brown spots, which correspond in size with those of Serranus faveatus. ‘The ground-colour is paler, and on the back and sides appears like the threads of net, with round or slightly hexagonal meshes, enclosing the dark round spots, which are largest on the shoulders, and smaller on the tail and towards the belly. A space between the gill-openings and anus, beneath the level of the pecto- rals, is spotless, and was seemingly white in the recent fish. There are about a dozen spots in a row, between the gill-opening and caudal fin. No distinct spots are visible on the head; but some parts round the eye, about the jaws, and the edges of the pieces of the _gill-cover are darker than the rest. There are also some darker shades towards the tips of the pectoral and ventral rays, but no spots on these fins. There are four rows of spots on the dorsal, the small- est on the edge of the fin, and the largest along the base. On the spinous portion of the fin the spots are less distinct, and the highest row forms merely a black speck on the notched membrane behind the tip of each spine. The anal is similarly marked: on the caudal there are about six rows of spots. The scales of the body are moderate in size, or they may be desig- nated as rather small, and they are much ciliated. Very minute scales cover the membranes of the fins, and even encroach on the rays. Serranus merra, judging from what is said of it in the ‘ Histoire des Poissons,’ differs from the above in having scaly jaws, a rounded preoperculum, very pointed opercular spines, in wanting spots on the spinous part of the dorsal, and in the numbers of the rays being different. S. faveatus approaches nearer to our specimen in the numbers of its rays and im the size of its spots, but it has four large dark spots at the base the Ichthyology of Australa. Dit of the dorsal and an odd one on the top of the trunk of the tail; whereas S. Gilderti has a series of twelve spots running along the base of the spinous and soft dorsal to the caudal, smaller, though darker, than those on the body. S. hewago- natus has the same large spots along the dorsal with faveatus, the same number of rays, and is further distinguished by white dots on the body. Its second anal ray is stated to be long and pointed. In S. Gilberti the second spine is deci- dedly the strongest, but it scarcely exceeds the third one in height. S. ura has a rounded preoperculum, equably denticu- lated on its margin. S. maculosus, as far as one can judge from the short description, scarcely differs from ours in form, except that it has two articulated rays fewer in the dorsal, and one in the anal. There are no spots on its caudal, but, as the only specimen noticed had been long kept in spirits, there is no great weight to be attached to their absence. S. bontoo has no spots on its fins. 8S. swéllus has very strong spines at the angle of the preoperculum, and no spots on the dorsal. This comparison of the species which come nearest to Mr. Gilbert’s fish in the number of rays and general distri- bution of colours, shows that the latter differs as much from any one of them as they do from one another; and until an examination of many individuals at their native haunts has shown how far the rays may vary in the same species, and what changes may take place in the patterns of colour at dif- ferent seasons, it will be most convenient to assign a distinc- tive name to the Port Essington fish. The analogy of the nuptial dress assumed by the Salmonide and other anadro- mous fish may prepare us to expect a very considerable va- riation in the brilliant tints of the Serrani on the approach of the spawning season. It is certainly desirable that new spe- cies should be proposed chiefly on the existence of some tangible peculiarities of external form or of internal structure ; but to do this properly, the ichthyologist requires to have access to a well-filled museum. Dimensions. inches, lines. Length from intermaxillary symphysis to extremity of caudal. 12 3 —_——_—__—_—_____—_ base of ditto......... 9 10 ——————-—___-—__—__—__ anus ..... aaah crane 5 5 —— —__ --- tip of gill-flap ...... 3.67 EE ERA foe entice toe aco itd decir cies dais Se we nioaes utateve ova 2 aE i EM ERAS | PSN AES BOT AE mee ed eae 1p as Sha Pl lel VEEAS SEL hiatal Lome nid 2.004 le lalla Diidee thd Height of the highest dorsal spine .........0.--sscsesescsssccseees Ie 6 NE I alee alse t Se oe ois ings Soe enisio.naipe ans = 9.0 1 a TTT St i PE I Lia tite Re ee ie bears ie epee eae es Se Peng 22 Dr. Richardson’s Contributions to There are two Serrani in the museum at Haslar of un- known origin, though from some circumstances they are sup- posed to be from Melville Island, on the north coast of New Holland. One of them agrees so well with the account of the S. merra in the ‘ Histoire des Poissons,’ that I have con- sidered it to be an example of that common and somewhat variable species. It differs from S. Gilberti in the head being rather longer in pro- portion, and forming exactly one-third of the entire length of the fish, caudal included ; in the presence of some very minute scales on the limb of the maxillary, and in the very regular round spots being distributed over every part of the head, body, and fins. The ground- colour, after long maceration in spirits, has a pale leaden tint; the spots are dark umber-brown, and are smaller on the snout and lower jaw, and less crowded on the belly. ‘There are but few on the ven- trals, and on the pectorals they are small, though distinct, being confined to the rays, and forming about six rows. They are paler and less distinct on the spinous dorsal, but the fillet of membrane behind the tip of each spine is black. On the soft dorsal, anal and caudal, they are as in S. Gilberti, and the forms of these fins are the same. The opercular spines are more acute, but less conspicuous, particularly the middle one, which is nevertheless much larger than the other two, and the preoperculum is more rounded, both limbs being arched, without any distinct lobe at the moderately obtuse angle, above which, however, there is a slight re-entering curve. The ascending limb curves forwards considerably, and the lower one declines very slightly, so that the spherical angle which they form does not exceed a right one. The ascending limb is finely denticu- lated, with the teeth enlarging towards the angle; the lower one is faintly crenated. ‘There is a canine tooth on each side of the sym- physis above and below, but no exterior row of short conical teeth on the sides of the jaws. The bands of teeth on the limbs of the jaws, palate, and vomer are finer and more even than in S. Gilberti, approaching to villiform. The second anal spine is a little longer and much stronger than the third one. There is a further slight difference between the species, in the fourth and fifth dorsal spines of merra being rather taller than the third one. The soft dorsal is as tall as the highest spine; but the spmes becoming shorter, though only a little, as they approach it, the soft fin appears taller than the spinous one, as is the case also in S. Gilberti. ‘The under jaw of S. merra projects very evidently beyond the upper one, even when the mouth is shut. The scales of the body are small, and strongly ciliated. Rays:—P. 16; V.1|5; D.13|16; A. 3|7, last ray deeply divided ; C. 15. Specimen 54 inches long. Bloch’s figure 329 gives a good idea of the specimen above men- tioned, though it does not exhibit the slight re-entering curve above the angle of the preoperculum. bo Os the Ichthyoloyy of Australa. SERRANUS STELLANS (Nob.), Star-spotted Serranus. This is the second Serranus, mentioned in a preceding page as belonging to the museum at Haslar, and as being supposed to have come from Melville Island, on the south side of Tor- res Straits. The specimen bears a strong general resemblance to that which we have considered to be the merra, having the same distribution of the scales on the jaws, fins, &c., the same spines on the operculum and denticulations on the preoperculum, whose limbs form the same arcs; but the angle appears more rounded, from the absence of the small re-entering curve above it: the crenatures on the under limb are also more readily discovered. ‘he teeth are rather more brush- like and unequal than in the merra, but the canines are the same,— a pair above and below. The under jaw is shorter, being just equal with the upper one when the mouth is closed. ‘The dorsal is less arched anteriorly, the spines diminishing more gradually after the fifth, which is the tallest. From this cause the soft fin seems to be lower in proportion than in merra, but its posterior third actually equals the highest spime in height. The spines generally are more slender, and somewhat taller than in a merra of the same size. ‘The second anal spine is stout, and exceeds the third one conspicuously in length. ‘The caudal is much rounded, and the soft vertical fins moderately so, asin merra. ‘The dark round spots are more crowded, so as to show little of any paler ground-colour; but instead thereof each spot is surrounded by six triangular specks of white, giving a somewhat hexagonal form to the meshes, though the dark areas are quite round. These spots exist on the caudal fin also, on the whole soft dorsal and anal, and the posterior part of the pectoral; but they are confined to the inferior halves of the spinous dorsal and fore-part of the pectorals; they are absent on the lower jaw and under surface of the fish from thence to the anus. ‘The vestiges of spots of any kind are very faint on the ventrals. The dorsal and anal are edged with black. Rays :—B.7 — 7; P.16; V. 1|5; D.11]15, the last one divided ; A. 3/8; C. 15. This is much like the species sketched by Parkinson at Otaheite*, where, as we learn by a note in pencil on the drawing, it is named ‘tarao’ or ‘tarao opoppe.’ ‘‘The ground-colour and the spots are darker, and softened into one another. Round about each spot there are small dots of white or straw-colour; the same across the fins. There is of this fish as large again.” (Solander.) The spots on the body are coloured dark purplish-brown, those on the pectorals being redder. The figure shows twelve dorsal spines; the third anal spine is much the tallest, equalling the soft rays, and the lower jaw is longer than the upper one. The two latter characters disagree with stellans. 8S. hexagonatus (Cuv. & Val.), (Perca hexagonata, Forster), * Fig. No. 36. Parkinson; pl. 75, Banks. Libr. (Perca maculata); Ser- ranus Parkinsonii, Cuv. & Val. ii. p. 239. 24 Dr. Richardson’s Contributions to which is also said to bear the name of ‘ tarao’ at Otaheite, has four large spots at the base of the dorsal, one large odd one before that fin, and another behind it; but in other respects it does not seem to differ much from S. Parkinsonii. S.summana has small white spots on the body and fins, but there is a conspicuous black mark on the tail, and the under edge of the preoperculum is finely denticulated. Dimensions. inches. lines. Length from intermaxillary symphysis to tip of caudal......... 5 1 ————E base of ditto ......... 4% $$ AS eeeeecccccrccacece Zan, SE > tip of gill-cover...... 1 8% Height of body at beginning of dorsal .........sscesesceeeeeecees 1 3% Thickness there” sive. Pid cecchass soos docbehecboraametentusre’ Ou 5 Height ‘of: tallest doraal-epinte “1.2.0 i31404 ba -std eccditpececas taste Onl oe SERRANUS URA (Cuv. & Val.?), The Ura. No. 27. Lieut. Emery’s drawings. Ura, a Japanese name (Cuv. & Val. ii. p. 332). Lieut. Emery’s portfolio contains a drawing of a Serranus captured at Depuch Island, which agrees tolerably well with the account of S. ura in the ‘ Histoire des Poissons.’ The species was discovered: by M. Langsdorf in Krusenstern’s voyage on the coast of Japan. In Lieut. Emery’s drawing the body is represented as fuller and higher, and the dorsal spines as decreasing more in height as they approach the articulated portion of the fin, than in the other species closely allied to the merra. The depth of the body is equal to one- third of the total length, caudal included: the head forms one-third of the total length, caudal excluded. ‘The middle opercular spine only is indicated in the drawing, and we therefore conclude that the others were inconspicuous in the recent fish. ‘The third dorsal spine is the tallest, and is fully twice as long as the eleventh; it is about equal to one-third of the height of the body. The soft dorsal is one- fifth part higher. The second anal spine is stouter, but not so long as the third one. All the fins are rounded. Rays :—D. 11|14; A. 3]7; V. 1]5; &c. It is possible that one or two soft rays may have been omitted in the drawing, as Lieut. Emery was not aware of the importance of enumerating them correctly. The general colour of the fish is gamboge-yellow, which fades to white on the middle of the belly. The fins are a paler lemon-yellow. Yellowish-brown spots, roundish, but not very regular in form, are evenly distributed over the head, body, and fins. There are about six in a line between the pill-cover and caudal. On the fins and middle of the belly the spots are paler, and they are not so numerous on the pectorals, head, and under jaw as elsewhere. On the anterior part of the operculum they unite, to form an irregular blotch. The length of the individual from which the drawing was made was seven inches. bo Or the Ichthyology of Ausiralia. SERRANUS CRAPAO (Cuww. & Val.), The Crapao. Serranus crapao, Cuv. & Val. ili. p. 494. Crapao, Malagese name. (Ditto.) No. 1. Mr. Gilbert’s collection. Mr. Gilbert states that “ this fish inhabits the shallow parts of Port Essington.” The specimen possesses the characters ascribed to the S. crapao, which was taken by M. Reynaud in the roadstead of Batavia. In general it bears a close resemblance to S. Gilberti, having the same very small scales on the under jaw, snout, and cheek. ‘There exists, however, a cluster of minute scales on the maxillary, which I could not detect in S. Gilberti; the opercular scales are somewhat larger than in that species, and the under jaw is a little longer. ‘The preoperculum is rather more rounded at the angle, there being no distinct lobe there, but merely a slight change in the curve embra- cing the five lower teeth. ‘The upper limb is finely denticulated, the teeth becoming gradually larger towards the angle. Some very slight crenatures may be perceived on the lower limb. The middle opercular spine is flat and scarcely pungent, and more than its own length distant from the tip of the gill-flap. The upper and under spines are buried among the scales, and are but just perceptible. The interoperculum and suboperculum are perfectly entire. The spinous dorsal is even, and rather lower than the soft portion of the fin. The third and six following spines are of the same height; the two last are but very little shorter, and they are a little taller than the second, which is twice as high as the first. The second anal spine is rather stronger than the third one, but it is not so long by about one-eighth part. The vertical soft fins and the pectoral are about as much rounded as in the S. merra. The scales on the fins are like- wise the same, but those on the bedy are rather more strongly ciliated. The dental surfaces of the jaws are more strongly brush-formed, form- ing pretty broad bands towards the symphysis; but on the limbs of the intermaxillaries the teeth are short, curved, and not very slender, and there is an exterior even row of short conical ones, not rising above the lips. On the limbs of the lower jaw the teeth are all curved, and longer and stronger than in merra, and there is no ex- terior row of conical ones. There are two or three canine teeth near the symphysis, above and below, not much stronger than the rest. The vomerine teeth are similar to those of the upper jaw, short, curved, and moderately strong. The palate bones have been cut away. The colours of the dried skin have evidently faded greatly ; but the whole body, the gill-covers, cheeks, and lower jaw appear to have been marked with dark spots, generally roundish, but not very ex- actly defined, nor disposed in any regular order. Their diameter is less than half that of the spots of S. stel/ans, and they are much less crowded. Four irregular blotches, of considerable size, range along the base of the dorsal. The anal and ventrals appear dark towards their tips, and traces of vertical bars or dark blotches are visible near the distal extremity of the caudal. There are also some dark shades on the top of the head and ascending limb of the pre- 26 Dr. Richardson’s Contributions to operculum. ‘Traces of spots remain on the vertical fins, but the spinous dorsal does not appear to have been tipped with black as in S.merra and stellans. Rays :—D. 11/14; A. 3|8; C. 15%; P.17; V. 1\5. Dimensions. inches, lines. Length from intermaxillary symphysis to end of caudal ...... 12 4 eee tec oe ee oe SSP SY base of ditto ......... 10 3 newer et enews oS eee GDUB oa eddhs oieysescce B26 tip of gill-cover 3 10 Length -of pectoral ic sive esrsbneok> ieeesonhen tel MEINE tesy re. 2°.9 Ventral) i.54.15). csevbi.seouagel soask bea ean helo i, 6 CAUGBL: vp aclee anning 9Z'¥3 sos benph dala cohh naan nen fee Height of third doraal spine! «0c tesnreat=dyusehanmicieccnianee. wee ROLL CLOTAG] »>0..sscepe-serepsacenacnees erent ankaeEE Eee 1 4 third anal spine \s,,0cser; cs -wedungesogueteeee sw aeeeee 0 11 BOLL Aual:.....vectesceeeues Caceuseeeeee tenn. SL eee To OS No. 22, Serranus punctulatus, and No. 24, Serranus margi- nalis, of Mr. Gilbert’s collection, were procured at Copang, in the island of Timor, and do not therefore come within the scope of this paper. MESOPRION YAPILLI (Cuv. & Val.), The Yapilli. Yapilli, Russell, pl. 95. No. 21. Mr. Gilbert’s list. This fish is stated by Mr. Gilbert to be common in all the rocky parts of Port Essington, but he did not ascertain its appellation among the aborigines. The specimen was taken at the Tamar rock in November 1840. The short characters of the Mesoprions noticed in the ‘ Histoire des Poissons’ being strictly comparative, and turn- .ing much on the patterns of colour, are of difficult application when the naturalist has only a single species before him, and especially when the specimen is, as in the present instance, a solitary dried skin. All the particulars, however, which are mentioned in the work in question of the Yapilli are to be found in our specimen, and the resemblance of the fish to Russell’s figure is very close. The length of the fish is twenty inches, caudal included. The preoperculum has a slightly arched under-edge continuous with the rounded angle, which appears toproject solely from the existence of the re-entering curve above it. The vertical limb is minutely toothed to within one-fourth of its upper end. ‘The teeth are more acute in the sinus ; and on the rounded angle and under edge of the bone, the teeth, though short, are wider, and are separated from each other by obtuse sinuses: two or three of the anterior ones are slightly inclined forwards. The thickening of the interoperculum opposite the pre- opercular sinus is very slight. The bony operculum ends in a flat, tapering, but obtuse lobe, whose lower margin is not concealed by the scales; a re-entering angle above its base forms the rounded upper corner of the bone into a minor and much shorter lobe. The mem- branous flap which tapers from the point of the operculum, but is the Ichthyology of Austraha. are not acute, is supported by a cartilaginous prolongation of the sub- operculum. ‘The two rows of large supra-scapular scales are ren- dered very conspicuous by each of them being bounded anteriorly by a patch of small scales. ‘lhe semioval projecting limb of the supra-scapular is minutely undulated on the margin. The edge of the humeral bone is entire. The pectoral has the pointed and tapering sparoid form, and reaches back nearly to the anal fin. The dorsal spines are strong, much compressed and acute, and the membrane is attached alternately to their right and left sides. ‘The third anal spine is longer, and fully as strong as the second one; the first one is short, tapers suddenly to an acute point, and is furrowed anteriorly: these spines are also right and left. ‘The soft dorsal and anal fins are rounded; their bases are scaly, and fillets of scales run between the rays for one quarter of their length: very short fillets of scales recline against the base of each spinous ray. The caudal is crescentic on the margin. Scales.—There are about fifty furrows running to the basal edge and part of the adjoining lateral margins of each scale, the alternate ones being short, and the longer ones reaching nearly to the middle. The exposed surface of the scale is smooth to the touch, and its margin looks to be thin andmembranous; but when examined through a lens the surface appears to be shagreened, or reticulated by minute obtuse eminences, and some very small and irregularly placed teeth may be discovered on the edge. Each scale is pale on the border and dark towards its middle, the dark tint occupying nearly the whole exposed surface of the scales above the lateral lie, and becoming proportionally smaller and fainter on the sides, so as to be scarcely perceptible at the level of the pectorals. They produce longitudinal lines on the sides corresponding to the number of rows of scales. Teeth.—Each limb of the upper jaw is armed with an even row of about twenty conical teeth, which are so short as to be concealed by the lips; and there are also two conspicuous canines close to each other near the symphysis. Behind these, on the whole length of the concave surface of the jaw, there is a narrow stripe of very short irregularly crowded teeth, which must have been almost concealed by the soft parts in the recent fish. Through a lens each of these minute teeth appears blunt, and answers better to the term ‘ dents grenues, used in the ‘ Histoire des Poissons,’ than to that of villiform. Each limb of the lower jaw is furnished with about eight strong co- nical teeth of unequal heights and unequally distributed, as if some had dropped out and were not yet replaced. The lateral ones are rather the tallest, but they do not equal the two upper canines, though they are much larger than the upper lateral teeth and project beyond the lip. The minute teeth of the lower jaw are restricted to a very small and not crowded cluster near the symphysis. A por- tion of the vomer which remains, and the edge of the anterior half of the palate bone, show a few microscopical teeth just protruding from the bone, which is however roughened by minute pits, appa- rently the sockets of teeth which have dropped out. The soft parts are entirely gone. 28 Dr. Richardson’s Contributions to Inches. lines. DIMENSIONS. Length from intermaxillary symphysis to end of caudal ......... 20 6 ———_ —__—___—____—__ basse of ditto ......... 16 4 pee Eek Sees SUA ads bbiidhdy odandae ae 10 2 ——————_ ——_—__—_—_—_—_——____—_——— beginning of dorsal... 6 11 > ——_ ——_ tip of pill-flap ......... 6 we —-—-- —____—___——_ centre of orbit......... as Diameter OF OTvIt,...0+serccsseppseddansheseneceu dene taaeeeeeneeeteetsroie 1 Oo Length. of pectoral °, spose nangoeesscpeshest cohtaees mmasanIUeL ese j 2 : VENIVAIG ... ccccsvnnnvccdendeccsotcoventtsbaeeeeeeneeeuean 3 4 a Moria ys tot oS A ie a Ge sc 8 10 spinous part of cored]. ini este besledoaee Bidgbeabacs