rr isk: Cf Ar ve ) era AOR iia as Ovaay wanes Vanna i iy 4 ri ‘ “4 wd \ ee eat aaes ACMI E) a alas L f ea nt Lae i Mat vn rere aN ah Oh) ee shes hacen a 1 iy th as a bate " is 4 . ao i yy POT R Nini Varig ay ay oe yrecaena tay, ss AW a8: iy RONCHI VC DC AL CV stylus oh y On wi Mo i Vins ) , ‘ sw arly Mihi 4M Steen mis wea ats Oey i y ith Nee Me iA a ne Ea 4 al ARB Ake SENS NN \ a) 1 i ava | A ‘ i! i ny St \ ri ‘ dy AN a eA ea iy qa Sala all ot cane nibs OY AU stat i ieee SA he PO Lane Yea 4 Bhp 4 ‘ate it int Ai ‘, i Mt peat iy RT i, * he uns tee \ i Hie Vana Sat fa ete) #4 fs aU Ae Rinse ‘o II de as to shells of oysters, mussels, &c. and to Fucus’s. conformity to the previous acquisitions, and is disliked and condemned if incom- patible with them.”—Turner, Sac. Hist. of the World, vol. ii. p. 19. * See the Introduction to his Essay on the Corallines of Great Britain. It is from this work, and from the valuable “ Selection of the Correspondence of Linneus, and other naturalists, from the original manuscripts, by Sir James Ed- ward Smith,” 2 vols. Svo. Lond. 1821, that I derive my account of Ellis’s opi- nions. Sir J. E. Smith commences his memoir by saying—“ John Ellis, F. R.S., illustrious for his discovery and complete demonstration of the animal na- ture of Corals and Corallines, was a native of Ireland.” We have seen that he has no claim to this discovery, though he himself seems to have thought so, and never makes mention of his predecessors in the same field. A Professor Butt- Natural History of British Loophytes. 73 Ellis, however, was not forward to publish his discovery : he wait- ed further opportunities to confirm the accuracy of his first observa- tions, and to institute other experiments to remove whatever ap- peared hostile to the doctrine, which at length he fuily explained to the members of the Royal Society in a paper read before them in June 1754; and it was made more generally known in the fol- lowing year by the publication of his ““ Essay towards a natural his- tory of the Corallines, and other marine productions of the like kind, commonly found on the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland ;’—a work so complete and accurate that it remains an unscarred monu- ment of his well-earned reputation as a philosophical inquirer, and is even to this day the principal source of our knowledge in this de- partment of natural history.* In several essays presented subse- quently to the Royal Society, and published in their Transactions, he continued to illustrate and extend his opinions, and defended them so successfully against his opponents, that they soon came to be very generally adopted. There was nothing unformed nor mystical in Ellis’s opinion. Cer- tain marine productions which, under the names of Lithophyta and Keratophyta, had been arranged among vegetables, and were still very generally believed to be so, he maintained and proved with a most satisfactory fulness of evidence, to be entirely of an animal na- ner at Gottingen, who had been in England, and become acquainted with Ellis, who calls him an “ excellent botanist,” unhesitatingly claimed Ellis’s discoveries for his own, but a more bare-faced literary theft has not been recorded, and its detection has rendered the name of the German Professor infamous.—Lin. Cor- resp. vol. i. p. 170. and 179.—For a list of Ellis’s writings the reader may con- sult Hall. Bib. Bot. ii. 433, and the Introd. to Soland. Zvoph. p. viii. * The concluding paragraph of this work may be quoted as throwing light on the character of this great naturalist—“And now, should it be asked, granting all this to be true, to what end has so much labour been bestowed in the demon- stration? I can only answer, that as to me these disquisitions have opened new scenes of wonder and astonishment, in contemplating How varioulsy, how ex- tensively life is distributed through the universe of things: so it is possible, that the facts here related, and these instances of nature animated in a part hitherto unsuspected, may excite the like pleasing ideas in others ; and, in minds more capa- cious and penetrating, lead to farther discoveries, farther proofs (should such be wanting, ) that One infinitely wise, good, all-powerful Being has made, and still upholds, the whole of what is good and perfect; and hence we may learn, that, if creatures of so low an order in the great scale of nature are endued with facul- ties that enable them to fill up their sphere of action with such propriety; we likewise, who are advanced so many gradations above them, owe to ourselves, and to Him who made us and all things, a constant application to acquire that degree of rectitude and perfection, to which we also are endued with faculties of attaining.” 74 Natural History of British Zoophytes. ture—thetenements and products of animals similar in many respects to the naked fresh-water polype. By examining them, in a living state, through an ordinary microscope, he saw these polypes in the denticles or cells of the zoophyte ; he witnessed them display their tenacula for the capture of their prey,—their varied actions and sensibility to external impressions,—and their mode of propagation ; he saw further that the little creatures were organically connected with the cells and could not remove from them, and that although each cell was appropriated te a single individual, yet was this unit- ed “ by a tender thready line, to the fleshy part that occupies the middle of the whole coralline,” and in this manner connected with all the individuals of that coralline. The conclusion was irresisti- ble—the presumed plant was the skin or covering of a sort of mini- ature hydra,—a conclusion which Ellis strengthened by an exami- nation of the covering separately, which, he said, was as much an animal structure as the nails or horns of beasts, or the shell of the tortoise, for it differs from “ sea -plants in texture, as well as hard- ness, and likewise in their chemical productions. For sea-plants, properly so called, such as the Alge, Fuci, &c. afford in distillation little or no traces of a volatile salt : whereas all the corallines afford a considerable quantity ; and in burning yield a smell somewhat re- sembling that of burnt horn, and other animal substances ; which of itself is a proof that this class of bodies, though it has the vegeta- ble form, yet is not entirely of a vegetable nature.’’* Ellis taught no novel doctrine, but he gave it fixidity and curren- cy ; and he moreover applied it to those very zoophytes which pos- sessed the vegetable appearance in the most perfection, many of which he was the first to notice, and which he illustrated with a se- ries of figures of unequalled accuracy.t He rarely went beyond the * Dr Good is in error when he states that the ammoniacal smell from burnt zoophytes was the principal fact for placing them in the animal kingdom.—Book of Nature, i. 175 and 210. + As mentioned above, Bernard de Jussieu knew that the Sertulariade—the zoophytes here alluded to—were animal productions, but no detailed account of his observations seems ever to have been published. Trembley had made the same discovery. Dr Watson, in his account of Peyssonnel’s treatise in 1752, tells us that Mr Trembley shewed him, “ at the late excellent Duke of Rich- mond’s,” the small white polypes of the Corallina minus ramosa alterna vice den- ticulata of Ray, “ exactly in form resembling the fresh-water polype, but infinite- ly less.” ‘ When the water was still, these animals came forth, and moved their claws in search of their prey in various directions ; but, upon the least motion of the glass, they instantly disappeared.” P. 463.—Linneus, however, in refer- ence to the observations made previous to Ellis, says they are “ inchoate, non ad plenum confectz, et desiderentur adhuc quam plurima, que dies forte reve- labit.”—Amoen. Acad. vol. i. p. 186. Natural History of British Zoophytes. 75 mere statement of the facts witnessed, or what seemed an unavoid- able inference from them; but, perhaps, he deserted his usual cau- tion when, from analogy principally, he asserted that the articulated calcareous corallines (Corallina, Lin.) and sponges, of a very diffe- rent structure from coral, madrepore, or the horny corallines, were also like them, manifestly the places of abode of different species of polypes. In the former (Corallina) he had indeed detected some slender fibres which, it was presumed, might be parts of polypes, but this observation he was never able to confirm, and it was rather because of the porous structure of the corallines, than from any thing else, that he inferred the existence of polypes in them,—a structure which he had examined with minute accuracy and shown to be es- sentially different from any known vegetable tissue,—and, secondly, because of their chemical constituents, of which he procured an ac- curate analysis to be made.—With regard to the Sponges, Ellis, as Peyssonnel had previously done, supposed at first that the regular heles observable in dry specimens, strongly indicated their being once filled with animals ; but when after repeated examinations of recent sponge, he could detect none, this conjecture was abandoned, and so thoroughly was he afterwards satisfied of the non-existence of animalcules, that he combated the opinion of those who maintain- ed the contrary, pointing out where the error lay in mistaking small insects which had crept into the sponge in search of food or shelter for the real inhabitants and fabricators of the zoophyte. Yet not the less was Ellis convinced of its animality ;—its chemical consti- tuents and its structure were to him conclusive proofs of this fact, particularly when added to the signs of irritability he saw them ex- hibit when in a fresh state. “ I am persuaded,” he writes to Lin- neus, “ the fibre intertexte of sponges are only the tendons that en- close a gelatinous substance, which is the flesh of the sponge. Mr Solander and I have seen the holes or sphincters in some of our sponges, taken out of the sea, open and shut while they were kept in sea-water ; but discovered no animal like a polype, as in the Al- cyonium manus mortui.” And again— I attended last summer in pursuit of the animals in sponges, but believe me there are none : but the whole is an animal, and the water passes in a stream through the holes, to and fro, in each papilla.”* * Lin. Corresp. vol. i. p. 161, and p. 163. Ina subsequent letter Ellis ex- plains himself more fully. “ I am now looking into the nature of sponges, and think by dissecting and comparing them with what I have seen recent, and with the Alcyonium manus mortua, that I can plainly see how they grow ; without trusting to Peyssonell’s account of them, which is printed in our Philosophical 76 Natural History of British Zoophytes. When Ellis published these discoveries, which form in fact an epoch in the history of natural science,* Linneus was in the ze- nith of his reputation,—the “ prince of naturalists,” as his followers loved to style him,—from whose decision on all disputed points in natural history, there was scarcely an admissible appeal. And Linneus almost merited this distinction, for he was a man not on- ly of superior capacity and acquirements, of great sagacity, ready apprehension, and fruitful fancy, but he was also of a candid and liberal disposition ; and the ingenious labours of Ellis received from him great and merited commendation. He had previously, in the belief that lime was never formed but by animals, placed the Litho- phyta in the animal kingdom ; and he now adopted the opinions of Ellis so far as to include in it the horny and flexible polypidoms al- so, but at the same time he broached the conjecture, for it deserves no higher praise, that these were really intermediate between the animal and vegetable kingdoms, so that it could not be said they properly belonged to either. The animalcules of the Lithophyta, like the testaceous tribes, he said, fabricated their own calcareous polypidom, forming the whole mass into tubes, each ending on the surface in pores or cells, where alone the animal seems to dwell ; t but the polypes of the proper Zoophyta, so far from constructing their plant-like polypidoms, were, on the contrary, the production or ef- Transactions, wherein he pretends to tell you, that he takes the animal out of them, that forms them ; and that he put it into them, and it crept about through the meanders of the sponge. This kind of insect, which harbours in sponges, I have seen ; but sponges have no such animals to give them life, and to form them. Their mouths are open tubes all over their surfaces, not furnished, like the tubes of the Alcyonium manus mortua, with polype-like mouths or suckers. With their mouths they draw in and send out the water; they can contract and dilate them at will, and the Count Marsigli has (though he thought them plants) confirmed me in my opinion, that this is their manner of feeding. If you observe what he has wrote on sponges in his Histoire de la Mer, and the observations he has made on the Systole and Diastole of these holes in Sponges, during the time they are full of water, you will be of my opinion. ‘Take a lobe of the officinal sponge, and cut it through perpendicularly and horizontally, and you will observe how near the disposition of the tubes are to the figure I have given of the sections of the Alcyonium manus mortua in my plate of the Sea-Pens.”—Lin. Corresp. vol. i. p: 79-80. * The Royal Society adjudged to Ellis the Copley medal, “as the most public mark that the Council can give of their high sense of the great accession which natural knowledge has received from your most ingenious and accurate investigations.” The medal was delivered to him, Nov. 80, 1768, by Sir John Pringle, the President.—Soland. Zooph. Introd. p. xi. + Lithophyta— animalia mollusca, composita. Corallium caleareum, fixum, quod inedificarunt animalia affixa.”— Syst. 1270. Natural History of British Zoophytes. 77 florescences of it, * just asthe flowers do not make the herb or tree but are the results of the vegetative life proceeding to perfection. Polypes, according to this fancy, bore the same relation to their po- lypidom that flowers do to the trunk and branches of the tree ; both grew by vegetation, but while the one evolved from the extremities blossoms which shrunk not under external irritations and were there- fore properly flowers,—the other put forth flowers which, because they exhibited every sign of animality, were therefore with reason considered animals. ‘‘ Zoophyta,” he writes to Ellis, “ are construct- ed very differently, living by a mere vegetable life, and are increas- ed every year under their bark, like trees, as appears from the an- nual rings in a section of the trunk of a Gorgonia. They are there- fore vegetables, with flowers like small animals, which you have most beautifully delineated. All submarine plants are nourished by pores, not by roots, as we learn from Fuci. As zoophytes are, many of them, covered with a stony coat, the Creator has been pleas- ed that they should receive nourishment by their naked flowers. He has therefore furnished each with a pore, which we call a mouth. All living beings enjoy some motion. The zoophytes mostly live in the perfectly undisturbed abyss of the ocean. ‘They cannot there- fore partake of that motion, which trees and herbs receive from the agitation of the air. Hence the Creator has granted them a nervous system, that they may spontaneously move at pleasure. Their lower part becomes hardened and dead, like the solid wood of a tree. The surface, under the bark, is every year furnished with a new living layer, as in the vegetable kingdom. Thus they grow and increase ; and may even be truly called vegetables, as having flowers, produ- cing capsules, &c. Yet as they are endowed with sensation, and voluntary motion, they must be called, as they are, animals; for ani- mals differ from plants merely in having a sentient nervous system, with voluntary motion ; nor are there any other limits between the two. Those therefore who esteem these animalcules to be distinct from their stalk, in my opinion, founded on observation, deceive and are Ceceived.” T * Zoophyta—‘ animalia composita, efflorescentia. Stirps vegetans, meta- morphosi transiens in florens Animal.”—Syst. 1287. “ Zoophyta non sunt, uti Lithophyta, auctores sue teste ; sed Testa ipsorum; sunt enim corpora (uti flores) imprimis generationis organa, adjectis nonnullis oris motusque instru- mentis, ut motum, quem extrinsecus non habent, a se ipsis obtineant.’— Syst. Nat. edit. 10. 799. When Berkenhout translates the first of these definitions— “‘ stems vegetating and changing into animals;” Synop. i. 15, he certainly de- parts, if not from the letter, yet from the meaning of Linneus. + Lin. Corresp. vol. i. p. 151-2. 78 Natural History of British Zoophytes. There was something in this hypothesis peculiarly captivating to an imaginative mind, and few poets have possessed a richer faney than Linneus. He seems to have ever fondly cherished the opin- ion, for in his curious Diary, in which he has enumerated with much complacency all his works and merits, it is mentioned as one of his principal recommendations to the respect of posterity. ‘ Linné,” he suys, “ decided that they (zoophytes) were between vegetables and animals: vegetables with respect to their stems, and animals with respect to their florescence. ‘This idea is still entertained.” * Before we notice the manner of its reception by Ellis, we may take a short review of the writings of some other of the opponents of the latter naturalist. Ellis had indeed effected a revolution in the opinions of scentific men, but there were some even of considerable reputation who either wavered between the old and new, or continued to hold the notions of their fathers, f which, however, very few ventured to maintain publicly. Of these the only one who merits our parti- cular notice is Dr Job Baster of Zurichsee in Zealand, who seems to have been very imperfectly qualified for the task he had under- taken. At first he boldly asserted the vegetability of all zoophytes, attempted to prove that the Sertularie were really articulated Con- ferve, and that the little animals observed on them were merely parasites, which had as little to do with the formation of the object they rested on, as the maggots in a mushroom had to do with its moonlight growth. These the results of his actual observation were set forth in a tone of arrogance calculated to wound the feelings and good fame of Ellis, nor is this conduct to be wondered at, for igno- rance is usually as unfeeling as she is proverbially confident in her assertions, and the Dutch naturalist was truly very ignorant of all relating to the subject he attempted to elucidate. Unskilled in marine botany he actually mistook the objects of the enquiry, and instead of Sertularie set himself to examine true Confervee,—a fact which the drawings illustrative of his paper demonstrate. His fur- ther experiments made him fully aware of this ridiculous error; and having become better acquainted with his subject, he appears to have been puzzled what to make of zoophytes ; they were certain- ly not sea-weeds,—and it were too humiliating to adopt a once re- jected theory,—when happily the Systema Nature came to his aid, * Pulteney’s General view of the Writings of Linnzus, by Dr Maton, p. 560. Lond. 1805. + Count Ginanni was one of these, and had the hardihood to, question the ac- curacy and observations of even Jussieu.—See Hall. Bib. Bot. ii. 444. Natural History of British Zoophytes. 79 and he instantly adopted with zeal the vegeto-animal fancy, be- cause, he says, it illustrated in a wonderful manner other things which were previously obscure and incomprehensible, and because it was in perfect keeping with the doctrine which taught that ani- mated beings were a series of links constituting one long chain that could not be broken without violation to the continuity of organiza- tion,—the different species being so closely connected on this side and that, that neither sense nor imagination can detect the line which separates one from the other. Itmust be allowed that in Baster the doctrine of Linnzus has found its best advocate. He tells us that in zoophytes there are too many signs of a perfect vegetation to permit us to believe that they can owe their origin to animalcules so minute as to require a microscope to see them, and the great sim- plicity of whose organization altogether unfits them for perfecting such works: and as from the law of continuity indicated above it was reasonable to presume the existence of beings in which the dis- tinctions between animals and plants should meet and amalgamate, so by a comparison of their definitions it may be made obvious that these distinctions disappear in zoophytes. A plant is an organized body without sense or spontaneous motion, adhering by means of a root to some foreign substance whence it derives the material of its life and increase : an animal, on the contrary, is an organized body endowed with sensation and perception, which can, of its own free will, make certain movements peculiar to itself. Like the plant, zoophytes grow fixed by a root ; and yet at the same time they are animals, for they shew when touched that they feel by some mo- tion, and when they perceive food proper for them they seize and devour it by the action of certain members. Having in this manner commended the theory to our favour, and shewn its reasonableness and consonance to nature, Baster goes on to explain the manner in which he conceives his experiments prove that the Sertulariade or flexible corallines grow. The ova or seeds of these zoophytes, he asserts, pululate from the body of the mother in the likeness of tender articulations or new branches, which fall off on maturity, and adhere to any stone, shell, or other hard body, by which they are protected until the young are excluded. Now the outer coat of this egg or seed is of a vegetable nature, and it throws out from the sides, in the manner of other seeds, certain little roots by means of which it remains permanently attached ; but the internal part of the egg or seed is animal, and growing si- multaneously with its vegetable covering, it is dispersed through all the ramifications and occupies their hollow interior, being de- 80 Natural History of British Zoophytes. veloped into polypes in the lateral denticles and extreme cells. Such was the deduction he came to from observations made on the growth more especially of the Sertularia abietina, which he had kept alive for nearly four months in a vessel of sea water. When a new part was formed, there first emerged from the stem a minute tubular joint, which rose to four, five, or even eight lines in height: after some days some lesser buds, regularly disposed in an alternate man- ner, were seen on the sides of this branch, which in the course of four or six days grew into cells containing perfect polypes. Hence it is obvious to Baster that the stem of this and similar zoophytes grows in thickness and length as plants do, and that the medullary pith is animal, which it is not wonderful should assume a dendroi- dal form, when we see zinc and quicksilver do the same by the mere force of affinity. ‘Trembley had already pronounced the cells of the fresh-water zoophytes (Plumatella) to be not the work of the po- lypes, but rather compartments in which they concealed a part of their body ; and this fact, added to those already given, makes it certain that the animalcules of- the Sertulariade are entirely pas- sive, and have no more to do with their polypidoms than the flower has with the increase and growth of the herb. * There is some ambiguity in Baster’s statement of his opinions, for it is not very obvious whether he believed the new formed branch- lets to be themselves the eggs or seeds, or whether they only con- tained the eggs ; but be this as it may, it appears scarcely doubtful that he knew nothing of the true ova and their curious ovaries. The phenomena observed in the production of new parts are cor- rectly stated, but nothing but wilful prejudice could blind him to the fallacy of the consequent reasoning. The analogy attempted to be drawn between the eggs of zoophytes and the seeds of plants has no existence, for every tyro knows well that the coat or skin of seed in no instance ever pushes forth radicle fibres, or ever exhi- bits any sign of vegetation ;—it is a dead part which is cast off or corrupts, and exerts no further infiuence on vegetation than as a protection to the cotyledons and embryo which it invests, so that if it is true that the coat of the ova of zoophytes is the source of their vegetative part, as Baster says, that coat must be of a very differ- ent nature from the skin of seeds. It would have been better to have compared the oviform bodies of the zoophyte with the buds of the tree, and he might have disported with this fancy to some ef- fect, for there are many analogical resemblances, and the inapplica- * Phil. Trans. vol. li. p. 108-115.—For Baster’s works see Hall. Bib. Bot. 1. 468. 3 Natural History of British Zoophytes. 81 bility of the illustration is not so very plain. Still it is inapplica- ble, for buds grow from the absorption of water and inorganic mat- ter which is diffused and assimilated by means of a certain deter- minate organization, while the covering of zoophytes receives no in- crease except through the medium of its polypes;—it has no sap- vessels, no spiral tubes, no cellular parenchyma, no absorbent roots, no pores and spiracles on the surface, so that all its material must be derived from an internal source ; and to say that a body vege- tates when the nutriment is received and assimilated in a different manner and by a different structure from what it is in plants, and is productive in its assimilation of opposite principles, is to use terms in so vague a sense as would be intolerable in any science. Neither the authority of Linnzus, nor the imperfect experiments of Baster had any effect on Ellis, who steadily opposed this vegeto- animal doctrine, and whose superior knowledge made it easy for him to detect and point out the erroneousness of the observations on which it principally rested. In reference to the opinion itself he wrote to Linneus,— artful people may puzzle the vulgar, and tell us that the more hairy a man is, and the longer his nails grow, he is more of a vegetable than a man who shaves his hair or cuts his nails ;* that frogs bud like trees, when they are tadpoles ; and caterpillars blossom into butterflies. These are pretty rhapsodies for a Bonnet. Though there are different manners of growth in the different parts of the same animal, which the world has long been acquainted with, why should we endeavour to confound the ideas of vegetable and animal substances, in the minds of people that we would willingly instruct in these matters ?”t And ina subsequent letter he repeats, “ + Cucutus, Lin. {_uostrils round, ( Wings short, more or less rounded ; CoccyZIna&, nostrils linear, base of the npper( Coccyzus, Viel. mandible dilated. § Bill long, large, either serrated or ? SAUROTHERINZE SaurorHera, Vieil. SAUROTHER I) nolo: ¢ ; OPISTHOCOMIN®,... Legs very long,.........s..cecccceresscees OristHocomus? Hoff- INDICATORIN A.....- Bill short, thick ; tail somewhat rigid,... INDICATOR, Sparm. The aberrant genera, which represent the sub-families, are few ; but they are sufficiently marked, as will subsequently appear, to point out their true rank and station. The two typical sub-fami- lies, on the other hand, are so diversified in their subordinate divi- sions or genera, that they may each be considered as perfect circles, thus adding another proof of the position so often verified, that ty- pical groups are almost invariably more exuberant in species, and m modifications of form, than any others. My first object will be to show in what manner these sub-fami- the Family of Cuculide. 221 lies are united, so as to form a circle ; or, in other words, to point out their internal affinities among themselves. I shall then slight- ly notice their external affinities, or those relations by which they are united to the conterminous families of the Scansores, that is, to the Certhiade on one side, and to the Ramphastide on the other. First, as to their internal afhinities. The progression from the Cuculinae to the Coccyzine, or from the parasitic to the building cuckoos, is so gradual, that our only difficulty is to discover the precise point of their junction, or, in other words, which is the scan- sorial type of each, for by these are all circles invariably united. One of these appears to be the Cuculus Erythropthalmus of authors. From the genus Coccyzus of M. Vieillot, the natural series passes into Crotophaga, by means of the Cuculus guira of Linneus, rank- ed by some as a Coccyzus, and by others as a Crotophaga. By this genus, (the fissirostral type,) we leave the Coccyzine and enter the aberrant circle by means of the singular bird we shall subsequently describe, and which at the same time opens a passage to Phenico- phaus: then follows Leptosomus and Saurothera, two remarkable genera, which all writers have kept together. After these, I am dis- posed to place the genus Opisthocomus, yet with a mark of doubt, not having at this time the opportunity of minutely examining cer- tain parts of its structure. Whether or no the Coccyzus Geoffroyi of the Pl. Col. pl. 7, and the Cocc. Delalandi of the same work, PI. 440, two birds nearly as remote from the type of the family as is Opisthocomus, really belong to this particular group, remains for fu- ture investigation. ‘The last division is only represented by a single genus. This is composed of the well-known honey-guides of Africa : fortunately, however, the aflinity between this and the genus Eudy- nawys is sufficiently apparent to leave us in no doubt that they fol- low each other, and by this aflinity we once more return to the ty- pical genus Cuculus, and close the circle. The external affinities of the family will be found to strengthen what has now been said on its internal relations. The Cuculide, as being the most aberrant form of the Scansores, is consequently that by which the order Jnsessores is united to the Rasores,—the two other aberrant divisions, as before remarked, leading to the Ram- phastide or toucans on one side, and to the Certhiade or creepers on the other. When we find the Saurothere, therefore, with large, serrated, and hollow bills, we see at once the mode in which na- ture has united the structure of a cuckoo with that of a toucan, while, on looking to the honey-guides, we detect indications of that rigidity in the tail-feathers, about to be fully developed among the 229 On the Natural History of scansorial creepers ; the passage being further manifested by the honey- guides climbing with more facility than any other cuckoos. These two points of union I therefore consider as established ; because they are further confirmed by well-known analogies, too decided to be questioned. Nor do I feel any considerable doubt on the situa- tion of Opisthocomus ; for whether this curious genus is the grallato- rial type of the Cuculid@ or of the Cracidw,—in other words, the last form among the Insessores, or the first of the Rasores, it cer- tainly appears a form intermediate between the two orders, and bears every mark of being a grallatorial type, corresponding to Gypo- geranus. As such I shall consider it, until farther discoveries de- monstrate this opinion to be erroneous. But before proceeding farther, it is essential to submit this series to the same analogical test we have applied to the primary divisions of the Scansores. For this purpose, I now offer the following table of the ANALOGIES OF THE CUCULINZ. 1. Typical Group. Cuenene { Bill somewhat conic, the sides thick aa Caniiosmune: r] rounded, Sub-Typical Group. Bill compressed ; considerably oe : CoccyZinz, } from the base, the tip hooked, DENTIROSIBES: Aberrant Group. SAUROTHERINZ, Seize their prey from a fixed station, FISSIROSTRES. TENUIROSTRES. _ Bill short, thick, tarsus shorter than the INDICATORINA, - i SCANSORES. outer toe Where the prototype of a group, which in this case is the tenuiros- tral, has not been clearly ascertained, I have been accustomed in these analogical tables to leave a blank for its future insertion ; con- tenting myself with expressing such opinions on the subject as ap- pear, upon the whole, best supported by facts. This plan, it is true, is not calculated to impress superficial naturalists with a belief in those laws of natural arrangement upon which I have elsewhere expatiated ; but it will, at all events, manifest that degree of caution in the application of a theory, which is so vitally essential to the pro- gress of true science. For this reason I have not chosen to desig- nate the tenuirostral type of this family, partly because I feel un- certain as to which of the forms already noticed, this title should be applied and, secondly, because it involves one of the most im- portant athinities in the whole circle of ornithology ; this being the point of junction between the insessorial and the rasorial orders. But if, upon this question, we are obliged to suspend our judg- ment, the very singular and striking analogies which are manifest the Family of Cuculida. 223 between the other four groups in each column leaves us without any doubt that their station, at least, is natural. The further, indeed, that the philosophic naturalist pursues his researches, the more will he be struck with wonder and admiration at the universality of a few general laws, simple in themselves, yet modified in such a man- ner as to produce the most inconceivable variety. In the present family this is so manifest, that the analogical characters above given might either be employed, with little variation, to designate the pri- mary groups of the Cuculida, or those of the tribes of the order Insessores. Thus we see that the most conic billed cuckcoos are typical, and represent the conirostral tribe. Those which follow, of all others, have the bill most hooked and compressed,—these charac- ters being also typical of the Dentirostres, The long-billed cuckoos of the genus Saurothera depart from the habits of all their, family, since we are assured by eye-witnesses that they watch, like the fly- catch- ers and tyrant shrikes, for their prey from a fixed station, darting upon insects and lizards when they come within reach, and then re- turn to their former seat, this habit being altogether peculiar to fis- sirostral types. The honey-guides, independent of their possessing a tail whose feathers are more stiff than those of any other group in the family, exhibits one of the true characters of a scansorial foot ; that is, a tarsus so short, as to be greatly inferior in length to the outer or versatile fore-toe. This structure is a decided proof that the birds possessing it climb more in a perpendicular position than any other ; since it is carried to its maximum of developement in the two typical formsof the Scansores, the Psittacide,and the Picide. If, in short, the analogies of a group are correctly stated, they will bear comparison not only with every other in the same class of animals, but, as I firmly believe, with every other in the animal kingdom. There is a curious circumstance regarding the honey-guides which must not here be omitted. Upon what principle does this cuckoo, and this only, evince such attachment and familiarity towards man, as ac- tually to call in his aid for procuring food? The answer‘s deductable from the foregoing table. We have elsewhere shown that in every natural group one of the types is remarkable, above its congeners for its docility or its attachment to man, and that this type is the scanso- rial among the perchers, and the rasorial among birds. We may now add, that itis produced undera different formin the Pach ydermes among the ungulated quadrupeds, and in the order Ungulata among the Mammalia. These relations, however, will be better comprehend- ed by the following table, each column being viewed as a circular group. 294 Natural History of the Family Cuculide. Series of the Series of the Series of the Series of the Series of the Cuculide. Insessores. Class Aves. Class Mammalia. Ungulata. Cuculine Conirostres Insessores Quadrumana Ruminantes Coccyzine Dentirostres Raptores Ferze Solipedes Saurotherine Fissirostres Natatores Cetacea Anaplotheres Tenuirostres Grallatores Glires Edentates Indicatorinee Scansores Rasores Ungulata Pachydermes It is not absolutely essential for the verification of an ornithologi- cal circle that its contents should be compared with those of other circles in a different class of the animal kingdom, yet where doubts may be reasonably entertained on one of the types, as in the pre- sent instance, it is highly expedient that the other four should un- dergo a very extensive comparison, and for this reason the reader will not fail to perceive that they are here submitted toa very searching and severe test,—a test, in fact, which sooner or later they must undergo,—or be rejected. Another reason, also, for introducing them in this place, is to call the zoologist’s attention to the last set of analogies, or that which belongs to the Indicatores. By this we find that the attachment to man, and wonderful sagacity of the honey~ guides, are represented by the parrot in the first column, the gal- linaceous birds in the second, the ruminating animals in the third, and the elephant in the fourth, each being in its own series pre- eminently distinguished for social qualities. Further, I may ob- serve, that this extraordinary property of the rasorial type can be traced through all those groups among the Annulosa, which I have as yet investigated ; but, as this would involve us in an endless field of inquiry and demonstration, the subject cannot be pursued. There is, nevertheless, one analogy between the Cuculide and the Annulosa, which must be touched upon; since we should otherwise leave unexplained the most remarkable peculiarity attached to this family of birds: this, as before intimated, is in the parasitic nature of the typical cuckoos. We search in vain for analogous examples of this habit among these quadrupeds now existing, but on looking to the sub-kingdom Annulosa, and investigating the two typical classes of insects, (the Aptera and Ptilota,) we find that the follow- ing groups are all the most aberrant of their respective circles ; and as this is the precise station of the cuckoos in the circle of the Scan- sores, it consequently follows, that they are all mutual representa- tives of each other. Cuculus. Vermes, (pars) Lin.—Pediculus. Acarus.—Stylops.— Cynips, L.—Chrysis, Li. Nearly the whole of the insects compos- ing these groups, as every entomologist knows, are eminently pa- rasitic ; and, according to my researches, they actually occupy in Natural History of British Zoophytes. 225 their several circles, a situation precisely analogous to the Cuculide among the scansorial birds. Four out of the five divisions of the family, so far as their ana- logies are concerned, have now, I trust, been sufficiently demon- strated. So that, whatever genus actually fills the interval between those of Indicator and Saurothera, we may feel pretty confident, that it would not affect the arrangement of the remaining types. These primary divisions of the Cucud¢d@ I shall consider as sub-families, to which, for the sake of so distinguishing them, I add the termi- nation of anw, to the name of what appears to be the typical ge- nus in each. I must express my suspicion, however, that these sub- families are only equivalent to those groups called genera in the order of perchers. Our next inquiry will be directed to the con- tents of each of these sub-families, for the purpose of ascertaining the natural series of the genera, and we shall first examine the Cuculine or Genuine Cuckoos. (To be continued.) I1.—The Natural History of British Zoophytes. By GrorGE JoHN- ston, M. D. Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edin- burgh. (Continued from p. 81.) Pau.as, who published at this period an admirable history of zoo- phytes,* was also the advocate of the Linnean doctrine,t but he ad- duced no other facts than those furnished by Baster in its aid. He also adopted the opinion of Baster, who in this respect continued in opposition to Linnzus, that the true corallines (Corallina) were en- tirely of a vegetable nature, and his arguments on this head may be summed up as follows: In external appearance and structure a few corallines resemble some fuci, and many of them are like conferve ; they differ from other zoophytes in chemical composition, for, on being burned, they emit the smell of vegetable matter, neither do they con- * P. 8. Pallas, Med. Doct. Elenchus Zoophytorum sistens generum adum- brationes generaliores et specierum cognitarum succinctas descriptiones cum se- lectis auctorum synonymis. Hage-comitum, 1776.—‘ Princeps in hac classe opus.”—Hall. Bib. Bot. ii. 566. ; “ Didicimus in Zoophytis, sic jure vocandis, vegetabilem naturam cum ani- mali ita misceri, ut vere anceps et dubia passim sit.” &c. Elenc. Zooph. Pref. viii. It is because of its accordance with the hypothesis of a continuous series in the structure of organized beings, that Pallas mainly grounds his defence of the vegeto-animal nature of zoophytes. 226 Natural History of British Zoophytes. tain a volatile salt or animal oil; the pores observable in their cal- careous portion are too small to be the habitations of polypes, and similar pores can be detected on fuci; no polypes nor any visible token of life could be discovered by Jussieu in any coralline, a species of which, moreover, a Mr Meese had found growing upon a heath in Friesland ; and lastly, the fructification of corallines is very si- milar to that of fuci and conferve. Were these the deductions of correct observation and experiment they would unquestionably have been conclusive, but some of them were already known to be contrary to the fact, and the others were weakened with doubts and uncertainties. Ellis, conscious of his su- perior knowledge both of marine botany and zoophytology, put forth an answer to this attack which is remarkable for clear arrangement, and for candid and honourable bearing to his opponent, who had scarcely deserved this at his hand.* Having shewn that the pre- sumed coralline which Pallas had compared to a fucus or sea-weed, was in fact a fucus, Ellis proceeded to prove how widely different every coralline was in structure and texture from any conferve ; and that the former, contrary to Pallas’s assertion, not only gave out when burned “ an offensive smell like that ef burnt bones or hair,” but afforded also on careful analysis both volatile alkali and em- pyreumatic oil.t “ Doctor Pallas,” Ellis continues, “ proceeds to prove that corallines cannot be animals, as the pores of their cal- careous substances are too minute for any polypes to harbour in. These words of the Doctor’s seem to imply, as if the coralline sub- stances were only habitations for detached polypes, and not part of the animals themselves. How this affair stands, I hope to have clearly demonstrated long before this, for I have plainly seen, and endeavoured to shew mankind, that the softer and harder parts of zoophytes are so closely connected with one ancther, that they can- not separately exist, and therefore have not hesitated to call them constituent parts of the same body, and that the polype-like suckers are so many mouths belonging thereto. * It appears from the Lin. Corresp. Vol. i. p. 186, that Pallas had written disrespectfully of Ellis. In his Elen. Zoophytorum the latter, however, is pro- fusely complimented :—“ Ellisium subtilitate atque acumine observationum om- nes super eminentem,”— Pref. p. x.—is praise enough surely, but its sincerity might be questionable. + This character, as Lamouroux remarks, is insufficient, seeing that the major part of marine plants give out, in burning, odours and products analogous to those of animals.—Cor. Flex. p. 12. It is now well known that chemistry affords us, in its minute analyses, no test between animal and vegetable matter.—See Prout’s Bridgewater Treat. p. 415, and more particularly Tiedemann’s Comp. Physiology, p: 48, &e. : Natural History of British Zoophytes. 227 “© Now, for the smallness of the pores, which the Doctor has men- tioned here (among the Corallines) to be a contradiction to animal life ; he certainly has forgot one circumstance, when he introduces the Corallium pumilum album, (Essay Cor. t. 27. f. c.) or his Mil- lepora calcarea (Pall. Elench. p. 265,) as an animal, which is, that he there says, it has absolutely no pores at all. «¢ As there can be no doubt, but every part of what is called Co- ralline is necessary to make out such an animal, or being, it will be very difficult, if not almost impossible, to determine the proportion there ought to be between softer and harder parts; and therefore it cannot be thought unreasonable to say, that in some of this tribe the stony parts are by much the greater part of the whole, especially as Doctor Pallas’s objection can be only against the crust, or lapides- cent part, as the inside of many of them is far from being hard, be- ing exactly like a Sertularia, so that I do not know if it would not be a good definition to one well acquainted with that tribe to say, a Coralline isa Sertularia, covered with a stony or calcareous crust ; if the mouths should happen to be very small, their number may make up that deficiency. We see in the greatest number of coral- lines their surface full of holes ; we saw the same in Escharas and Milleporas thirty years ago ; since that time magnifying glasses have been improved, so as to shew us, that they are all orifices for polype- like suckers ; why should not we now admit that glasses may be still more improved, so as even to make us able to see what may be the intention and use of these minute orifices, which according to all rules of reasoning, we must suppose to approach in nature to them they are most alike. From this extreme minuteness then of the pores of these Milleporw, confessed to be zoophytes, as well as those of Corallina officinalis as before mentioned, it is no great matter of surprise, that Doctor Jussieu could not perceive any animal life in the corallines, nor Doctor Schlosser in the Millepora calcarea. As these experiments ought to be attended with many convenient coin- ciding circumstances that do not often happen to persons who only go to the sea side, perhaps for a few days or hours, so that it is un- reasonable to conclude, because they have been unsuccessful, that more accurate observers may not be more fortunate at another time.” — Having thus disposed of an argument which he could not distinctly answer, Ellis goes on to notice the fact of the coralline which had been found on Bergummer heath in Friesland, and which the vague- ness of the manner in which the discovery was announced per- mitted or warranted him to ascribe to accident ; and he then con- cludes his admirable essay with a faithful and minute account of the 228 Natural History of British Zoophytes. fructification of the conferve, and proves to a demonstration that when Baster and Pallas attributed a similar fructification to coral- lines, they had very erroneous ideas of the subject.* The discussion rested here, and zoophytes, including the sponges and corallines, have been ever since enumerated among the subjects of the animal kingdom, although some, among whom Spallanzani may be particularized, continued in the belief that the corallines and the sponges were vegetables. But naturalists continue to be divid- ed in opinion relative to the nature of acknowledged zoophytes, for many still speak of them as intermediate beings partaking of a two- fold nature, while others defend their claims to pure animality. No new doctrine has been promulgated ; neither indeed have the old been defended or attacked by any other facts or arguments than those already referred to, and with these before me I cannot hesitate to give my assent to the opinion of Ellis. No one denies that the polypes considered abstractedly from their polypidoms are really ani- mals ;—their quick and varied movements,—their great irritability, —the existence of a mouth and stomach,—the nature of their food, its digestion, and the evomition of the indigestible remains are in- contestible proofs of this ;—and it seems improbable, to say no more, that this animal should be fitted round with a case that grew inde- pendent of it and from a different cause. And the case itself has no analogy, as Ellis shewed very clearly, either to bark or to wood: it possesses the structure of neither of them, nor is it formed in the same manner by the addition of concentric layers, nor does it contri- bute to the formation of new parts, but, like the shell of testaceous mollusca, it is extravascular and inorganic, and when once formed suffers no other change than what external injuries or time may ope- rate. If possible its coincidences with the skin of cellular plants are even fewer: the one is a living part which has very important fune- tions to perform in relation to the plant itself and to the atmosphere or circumfluent medium in which it lives; the other exhibits no ac- tion characteristic of life, and is nothing more than a condensed al- * Phil. Trans. Vol. lvii. p. 404, &c.—Pallas appears to have been con- vinced by this essay that the Corallines were animal ; and he acknowledged that in reference to theland species he had been imposed on.—Lin. Corresp. i. 227, and 568. Yet it should be remembered that Captains Vancouver and Flinders observed on the shores of New Holland, at considerable heights above the level of the sea, arborescent calcareous productions which they considered to be corals. Peron says they are either corals or vegetables incrusted with calcareous mat- ter; and Dr Clarke Abel has proved that they are the latter.—Edin. Phil. Journ. ii. 198. Natural History of British Zoophytes. 229° buminous or calcareous sheath, appropriated solely to support or pro- tection.* But although I agree with the advocates of the animality of zoo- phytes in general, I cannot go the length of Ellis in considering it proved that sponges and corallines belong to the same class. Ellis, we have seen, knew that no polypes were to be found in sponge, and their existence in the pores of corallines was inferred merely from the structure of these and their chemical composition. They have been examined by subsequent naturalists fully competent to the task, and under the most favourable circumstances,—in particular by Cavolini and Schweigger,—and the result has been a conviction that these productions are truly apolypous. Now this fact, in my opinion, determines the point, for if they are not the productions of polypes, the zoologist who retains them in his province must contend that they are individually animals, an opinion to which I cannot as- sent, seeing that they have no animal structure or individual organs, and exhibit no one function usually supposed to be characteristic of that kingdom. Like vegetables they are permanently fixed,—like vegetables they are non-irritable,—their movements, like those of vegetables, are extrinsical andinvoluntary,—like cryptogamous vege- tables or alge they usually grow and ramify in forms determined by local circumstances, and if they present some peculiarities in the mode of the imbibition of their food and in their secretions, yet even in these they evince a nearer affinity to plants than to any animal whatever. II.—Own tHE SrructrurRE AND FUNCTIONS OF THE POLYPES ABSTRACTEDLY CONSIDERED. On the continent the term Zoophyte has of late been used in a very extensive sense, so as to include every animal which exhibits a circular disposition of parts radiating from a common centre, and many also in which this character is little or not at all obvious. In this country the word has never been so employed excepting in trans- lations from a foreign language: no English writer ever thinks of calling an intestinal worm, or a sea-jelly, or a star-fish, or even the * I do not enter into the question whether the Conferve are real animals or not, because,» whatever conclusion we might adopt, they would not come within our definition of a zoophyte or polype, since they assuredly have neither mouth, tentacula, nor stomach. Nor need I discuss the propriety of instituting, with Treviranus, a fourth kingdom of animated nature, composed of the zoophytes and aquatic cryptogamia, as my object and plan is only to describe what have been almost universally considered zoophytes. NO. III. Q 230 Natural Mistory of British Zoophytes. infusory animalcules, a zoophyte ; but he applies the name to no other creatures than those which in their form, or most remarkable characters, recall the appearance of a vegetable or its leading pro- perties. In this restricted sense I also use it in these essays, or ra- ther with a still narrower circumscription, having assigned what ap- pear to be suflicient reasons for removing the corallines and sponges from the category, and restoring them to the vegetable kingdom, to which the earlier naturalists believed they had a rightful claim. The definition of a zoophyte is thus considerably simplified, but there remains suflicient variety and discrepancy in the constituents of the order to render that definition in some degree vague and incongruous. The fact is—the classification of molluscous, and radiated, and acri- tous animals requires to be recast: the limits between them have not been determined with undisputed precision, and it seems probable that there are in each class some tribes which will: pass from one to the other as discovery proceeds. It has been recently proposed* to remove a large proportion of zoophytes hitherto considered legiti- mate subjects of their order to the mollusca, which, about the year 1815,t had received a considerable accession to its numbers from the same source ; but so far from acknowledging the propriety of the proposed translation, I incline to agree with Lamarck} that it would be better to separate again the colonized zoophytes from the mollusca, and form with them, and with such zoophytes as have an analogous organization, a distinct class, to occupy the wide interval between the molluscan and radiated types, allied to the former by the non- symmetrical figure of the body, and to the latter by the circularity of the oral members. It is, however, unnecessary to enter here upon this discussion, for my intention is to describe what are usually reckoned zoophytes, without having regard to the naturalness of the group considered as a whole, and with this view I adopt the class as it was tong ago established by Solander and Ellis, excepting only the corallines and sponges, which will form the subject of separate monographs. The following definition may serve to characterize the class: : Animals avertebrate, inarticulate, soft, irritable and contractile, without a vascular or separate respiratory or nervous system : mouth superior, central, circular, edentulous, surrounded by tubular or more * Thompson’s Zoological Researches and Illustrations, p. 92. + Savigny’s Memoires sur les Animaux sans Vertebrés. Seconde Partie. Pa- ris, 1816, 8vo. + Hist. Nat. des Anim. s. Vert. iii. 82—87. Natural History of British Zoophytes. 231 commonly by filiform tentacula: alimentary canal variable,—where there is an intestine the anus opens near the moulh : assexual ; gem- miparous: aquatic.—The individuals (Polypes) of a few families are separate and perfect in themselves, but the greater number of zoo- phytes are compound beings, viz. each zoophyte consists of an indefi- nite number of individuals or polypes organically connected and placed in acalcareous, horny or membranous case or cells, forming, by their aggregation, corals or plant-like Polypidoms. In this definition there are two parts which require our particu- lar attention—the Polype whose presence is essential, and the Po- lypidum,* which is the house or support of the polype, and which, though commonly present, is yet not necessary to the existence of a zoophyte. To the structure and functions of the former we limit ourselves in this chapter ; and should the reader find the outline given in relation to some of the families too slight and sketchy, we may advertise him that he will find it filled up with greater detail in the observations which it is intended to prefix to each separate order. The description usually given of the structure and functions of polypes in general has been derived principally from an examina- tion of the Hydra—a naked species which inhabits ponds and ditch- es. A polype is thus represented as being a somewhat globular or cylindrical body of small size, of a homogeneous gelatinous consist- ence, and very contractile, in the centre of which there is excavat- ed a cavity for the reception and digestion of its food. The aper- ture to this cavity is placed on the upper disk of the body, and is encircled by one or two series of filaments or tentacula which are used to capture the necessary prey, and bring it within reach of the lips ; while the opposite end serves the purpose of a sucker to fix the creature to its site, or being prolonged like a thread down the hol- low sheath, to connect it with its fellow-polypes of the same poly- pidom, which by this means become compound animals, “ the whole of whose parts are animated by one common principle of life and growth.” There are no organs of sense, no limbs appropriate to lo- comotion, no circulating vessels, no nerves, nor lungs, nor gills, no chylopoetick viscera, nor intestine, for there is “‘ but one conduit both for purgation of their excrements, and reception of their sus- tenance ;’ and when to these negations there is to be added the want of generative organs, a being of simpler erganization than the * T borrow this term from the translator of Lamouroux’s work on Coral- lines. The Rey. Mr Kirby uses the word Polypary to express the same thing. Both of them are translations of the Polypzer of the French naturalists. 932 Natural story of British Zoophytes. polype can scarcely be conceived; and, perhaps, it is actually the simplest, for the infusory animaleules which had been placed un- derneath them in the scale of organization, are now known to pos- sess a much more complex structure. Such is the idea of a polype we obtain from the writings of El- lis, and the description of its general structure given by Lamarck,* after an interval of seventy years, is identically the same. Some few species, classed by the predecessors of the latter among zoo- phytes, had in the meantime been ascertained to be differently con- structed, and furnished with less simplicity, but beingin consequence removed into a different category, they were not allowed to disturb the received opinions on polype anatomy. Still mere recent disco- veries have shown, however, that these are very erroneous, and that the animals of even our native polypidoms form at least two classes distinguished by a very remarkable dissimilarity of organization. By the one they are allied to the tunicated and acephalous mollus- ca, more especially to the compound families of the former, and hence may be denominated Ascidian polypes ; by the other they form a link of the chain or circle which associates the radiated animals, and, assuming the hydra, for their representative, we shall call them Hy- draform polypes. The ascidian polypes never occur in a separate and naked form,, but are always placed within the cells of a polypidom of a calcare- ous, membranous, or fibro-gelatinous consistence. The form of the cells in many genera, as Eschara, Flustra and Cellepora, suggests a belief that their tenants, although arranged in a close and determi- nate manner, are each separate from their neighbours and complete in themselves, and this opinion is held by some of our best natura- lists ; but the observations of Professor Grant seem to have proved that the polypes of the Flustra are connected together by a living * Anim. s. Vert. i. 16. Bosc, Vers, ii. 216.—Lamouroux in 1810 and 1812 had indeed asserted that the polypes with polypidoms could not, in relation to their structure, be compared with the fresh-water hydra, but that they approxi- mated nearer than was believed to the mollusca, of which they might at some fu- ture time be considered a family. The opinion certainly rested on few and hasty observations, and no anatomical details were given in its support. See his Edit. of Soland. Zoophyt. pref. p. vil. For example, he not only recognizes a relation- ship between Lobularia and Actinia, but he tells us that the polypes of the Flustre, Cellariz and Sertulariz are similar to those of Lobularia! Coral. Flex. p. 332. Such loose observations as these are have no influence on the progress of dis- covery. The observations of Savigny were evidently more specific and correct ; but Iam not aware that the details have been yet published.—See his Mem. sur les Anim. s. Vert. i. p. 65. 3 - Natural History of British Zoophytes. 233 axis, and are hence truly compound beings ; and since the Vesiculi- fera, which are admitted to be composites, belong unquestionably to this remarkable form of animated entities, it is safer, for the present, to consider all the ascidian as compound polypes.* ‘There is never- theless a remarkable difference between them and the hydraform tribes in their mode of composition. In the latter the polypes are simply developements of the common central fleshy mass, identical with it in structure and texture ; in the former each individual is a distinct organism, and the medium which binds them together, whether vascular or ligamentous, has its own peculiar character. The one we may compare to a chain of which all the links are welded,— the other to a necklace where the beads are strung together by a percurrent thread. ‘To express this distinction we shall call the hydraform compound polypes, and the ascidian aggregated polypes. The body of the ascidian polypes is lengthened, somewhat cylin- drical or at times bulged at the base, and when at rest lies, in the form of a syphon, doubled up upon itself in the Fig. 1. cell, (Fig. 1, f) to which it is connected by a tendon at the bottom, and by the duplicature of a thin membrane round the aperture, so that it is impossible it should ever voluntarily leave the cell to swim at large, as Baster and others have maintained. The head or upper end is surround- ed by asingle row of tentacula, (Fig.2, a,) which are solid, filiform, and non-contractile, for the animal can only shorten them by rolling them up in a spiral manner: they are apparently smooth, but with a high magnifier it is ascertained that they are clothed with numerous fine cilia,{ which are in ceaseless * “ The polypi are most intimately and inseparably connected with the axis by three parts of their body, and are only digestive sacs or mouths developed by the axis, as in all other zoophytes, for the nourishment of the general mass. By the axis of a zoophyte, I understand every part of the body excepting the polypi, whether of a calcareous, horny, or fleshy nature. The exact mathematical ar- rangement and forms of the cells of Flustre is incompatible with their existence, as separate and independent beings, but is quite analogous to what we are ac- customed to observe in Cellarie, Sertulariz, Plumulariz, and many other well- known compound animals.”—Grant in Edin. New Phil. Journ. iii. 116. See also Blainyille, Man. d’ Actinologie, p. 99. + The figure represents the polypes of Flustra membranacea in a state of re- traction. ¢ The Rey. Dr Fleming is the first who discovered this structure and its im- portant use in creating respiratory currents. —See Wern. Mem. iy. 488-9. The 234 Natural History of British Zoophytes. motion, and are supposed to perform the office of breathing organs by keeping up a constant current of wa- Fig. 2. ter along their surfaces, which sets in towards the mouth in an invariable di- rection ; and from the incessant revolu- tion of particles within the mouth and the gullet, observed by Professor Grant, this organ seems to be also ciliated inter- nally. The more especial use of the ten- tacula is to arrest the prey which chance floats within their reach and conduct it to the mouth,—a simple aperture placed in the centre of the tentacular circle, and which is armless, having in no instance either jaws or teeth. It is the entrance into a long membranous gullet (6,) of per- fect transparency, and which can be traced through its equally transparent envelope, to its termination in a somewhat globu- lar and comparatively large organ placed near the curvature of the body, and rendered opaque partly by the greater thick- ness and fleshiness of its structure, but perhaps more so by the na- ture of its contents. This is the stomach (c,) and from the side of it there proceeds a narrow intestine (d,) which follows a straight upward course along the side of the gullet, and opens at the aper- ture of the cell by a separate orifice from which the undigested re- mains of the food are ejected. There is another organ of a round- ish figure appended to the bend of the intestine, which is supposed by some to be an ovarium (e,) but it seems not unnecessary to re- mark, that this appropriation of it to the generative function has Bete haps no better proof than what is der ived from a similarity of posi- tion between it and the supposed ovarium of the compound mollus- ca. It is, I presume, the organ which Blainville says he is willing to believe performs the functions of the liver,* an opinion in which I am disposed to concur. No trace of a nervous or vascular system of any kind has been detected, nor is there any organ of sense, but the polypes are notwithstanding very sensible of external impressions.f When currents had been previously observed, but had been attributed erroneously to the movements of the tentacula. * Manuel d’Actinologie, p. 72.—-Fig. 2 represents the polype of Vesicularia imbricata “a magnified. It is copied from Thompson’s Zool. Il. Memoir, v. pl. 1, fig. 4 + “ But as we perceive, in these animals, phenomena which take place by the medium of nerves in animals of a more elevated order, that is to say, sensi- 4 Natural History of British Zoophytes. 235 left undisturbed in a glass of fresh sea water, they push their tentacula beyond the mouth of the cell by straightening the bo- dy ; and then expanding them in the form of a funnel or bell, they will often remain quiet and apparently immoveable for a long time, presenting a very pretty and most interesting object to an observer of “the minims of nature.” If, however, the water is agitat- ed they withdraw on the instant, probably by the aid of the posterior ligament or muscle ;—the hinder part of the body is pushed aside up the cell, the whole is sunk deeper, and by this means the tentacu- la, gathered into a close column, are brought within the cell, the aper- ture of which is shut by the same series of actions. The polypes of the same polypidom often protrude their thousand heads at the same time, or in quick but irregular succession, and retire simultaneously or nearly so, but at other times I have often witnessed a few only to venture on the display of their glories, the rest remaining conceal- ed; and if, when many are expanded, one is singled out and touch- ed with a sharp instrument, it alone feels the injury and retires, without any others being conscious of the danger, or of the hurt in- flicted on their mate. Of the hydraform polypes a sketch of their anatomy has already been given in the beginning of this chapter. They diifer from the ascidian in their figure, which is somewhat globular or cylindrical and straight ; in the position of the body, which is vertical; inthe homoge- neity of their composition, which is a semitransparent glairy gelatine, full of microscopic coloured granules ;* and very remarkably, in being bility and voluntary motion, it is not improbable that in them the nervous sub- stance is mixed with their gelatinous or mucous mass, without being demonstrable as a particular tissue.” Tiedemann’s Comp. Phys. p. 64. * Trembley having ascertained that the colour of the polype resides in these granules, and that it varies with the quality of their food, of which the nutritive part or chyme passes first into the granules of the stomachal cavity and then gradually into those placed more towards the surface, infers that they area kind of glands or rather vesicles, which have the power of sucking in and again transpir- ing the nutritive fluid. Hist. des Polypes, p. 132. Lamarck adopts this opi- nion, Anim. s. Vert. ii. 9, which is probably correct, but it ought to be remem- bered that it is somewhat hypothetical. Consult in relation to this subject Ro- get’s Bridgewater Treatise, Vol. ii, p. 77-8, Carus’ Comp. Anat. Eng. Trans. Vol. i. p. 25, §. 23 ; and the reader will find Edwards’ and Dutrochet’s opinions on the nature of the elementaty corpscules in Bostock’s Elementary System of Physiology, Vol. iii, p. 348 et seq. Tiedemann sums up our actual knowledge in the following sentence. —“ In animals of a simple structure, polypi, entozoa, and some others, in which no vascular system for the movement of the humours has hitherto been discovered, the nutritious assimilated liquid passes directly into the parenchyma of the body, with which it enters into combination.”—Comp. Physiology, p. 35. 236 Natural History of British Zoophytes. contractile at every point, so that they can change the figure of their bodies from a globe to a cylinder, or distort it with strictures, and can shorten and extend the tentacula at will, sometimes to an ex- tent which is astonishing, although nothing like muscular tissue can be detected in their structure.* When therefore they have occasion to conceal themselves within their cells, they are not necessitated, like the ascidian, to bend the body in order to obtain sufficient space for the tentacula, but they shorten the body and the tentacula at the same time, causing the one to assume a more globular form, and the other to dwindle down to mere knobs or papille (Fig. 3.)t The tenta- cula, even when fully extended, have not the same appearance,— Fig. 3. they taper a little, and are roughened with minute warts generally arranged in an imperfectly verticillate fashion, and in their evolution they are less regularly campanulate, one or more being usually in action and moving from the outline of the circle. The stomach is not a distinct sac, but a simple cavity towards the centre of the bo- dy, “ neither figured nor limited by particular membranes,” and from which the indigestible remains of the food are ejected at the same aperture by which it had entered, for the aperture in the base of the stomach or intestine seems to be appropriated to other oflices. And in reference to its relation with the polypidom there is this dif- ference,—the hydraform polype is not connected with the cell by any membrane or ligament, but rather sits free within its miniature cup, retained there only by the gelatinous living pedicle which is prolonged from its base down the sheath, and binds all the polypes of the polypidom in one sympathising family. But this description is applicable only to the Hydra itself, and to those compound species which tenant the cups of the plant-like polypidoms embraced in the order Zoophyta hydroida. The poly- pes of the asteroid zoophytes, although evidently modelled on the * Trembley, Mem. pourVhist. des Polypes, p. 25. Carus’ Comp. Anat. i. p. 43. + The figures represent Hydra viridis in various attitudes and states. Natural History of British Zoophytes. 237 same type, have made considerable advances towards complexity of organization, and their relation to the polypidom is entirely alter- ed. Hitherto the polypidom has been, what its name imports, a cell for retreat in danger, and in ordinary an extrayasular insensi- ble sheath to protect the contained animal from the rude contact of the circumfluent element ; but now we find it occupying an inter- nal position, and instead of a covering it has become a sort of prop or skeleton to a fleshy crust in which the polypes are immersed. In the Alcyonium this interior support is scarcely to be recognized in some calcareous spicula scattered through the central mass, but in Pennatula it forms a bone stretched like a vertebral column from one extremity to the other, and in Gorgonia it is ramified into branches after the manner of atree. It is this axis, under what- ever shape it appears, which is the true analogue of the polypidom of the ascidian and hydraform polypes, although the name certainly has no suitableness here, for the polypes cannot only not nestle in that which is uncellular, but they have no immediate connection with it. They, as already mentioned, are found lodged in a sort of cell (Fig. 4. a.) exca- Fig. 4. vated inan exterior sar- coid crust, which con- stitutes the main bulk of the polypiferous mass, and which, in fact, is nothing more than a production of the bases and outer skin of the polypes hardened by a deposi- tion of calcareous gra- nules and spicula, and made more coriaceous in texture, to bear with impunity the contact and ruffling of the wa- ter: * This crust is accordingly a living irritable structure, permeated by tubes prolonged from the po- * “ Torsqu’on observe les Aleyons dans leur état naturel, la ligne de démarea- tion entre ces deux parties parait bien tranchée, et on pouvrait au premier abord, croire ces petits animaux logés dans des cellules au pourtour de louverture des- quelles ils adhereraient ; mais quand on eléve a Vaide d’un acide ¢tendu deau, 238 Natural History of British Zoophytes. lypes and by capillary canals, for the conveyance of water and nu- triment to every part. .; The connection between the crust and the polype is therefore of the most intimate kind, and if for conveniency the latter are sepa- rately described, the reader should ever remember, that this sepa- ration is a forced and artificial one. An asteroid polype mass is known by the orifices of the cells forming on the surface a mark more or less resembling a star, as this is painted in maps—hence the name of the order: when the polype is protruded from this cell the body has a cylindrical figure, its upper disk surrounded by eight shert pectinated hollow tentacula, in the centre of which the mouth is situated, leading into a distinct stomach, which is as it were sus- pended in the centre, and sustained there by eight thin membranous septa, which, stretched between the outer surface of the stomach and the inner surface of the external tunic, divide the intervening space into eight equal compartments. The base of the stomach is perforated like the mouth, and from the margin of the aperture de- pend eight white tortuous filaments, which hang, either loose or con- nected to a continuation of the membranous septa, in a wide abdo- minal cavity, immediately underneath the stomach. This cavity is again continuous with a tube which penetrates the common mass, communicating freely by anastomoses with the tubes of ether polypes, and with a fine net-work of capillary vessels, formed in the spaces between them, by means of small apertures in their walls. (Fig. 4.*) In this manner there is effected a very free communi- cation between the individuals of each common mass, so much so, that the water swallowed by any one polype of it rapidly permeates the whole. t By tracing the course of the fluid we may obtain a clearer view of the organization. The water then enters the mouth, and passes through the cylindrical gullet and stomach into the abdominal cavity: thence part of it, flowing through the canals formed by the septa stretched between the stomach and outer tu- le dépot calcaire dont la base du polype est environnée, on voit qu'il y a entre ces parties continuité organique, et que la cellule polypifére n’est autre chose que la portion inferieure du corps du polype qui, en se contractant, rentre en luiméme, comme nous l’avons deja vu pour les Aleyonides. Le polypier com- mun nest en effet autre chose que la résultat de Paggrégation intime de la por- tion basilaire des polypes.” Milne-Edwards in Ann. des Sc. Nat. iv. 336. an 1835. The student may compare this with Lamouroux’s description of the Gor- gonia. Corallina, p. 198. * A longitudinal section of Aleyonium digitatum. + Milne-Edwards has proved this by a decisive experiment.—Ann. des Sc- Nat. iv. 328 and 338, an 1855. Natural History of British Zoophytes. 239 nic, passes into the tentacula with whose cavity the canals are con- tinuous, and by means of small apertures in the sides of the hollow tentacula, the water penetrates and unfolds the cilia, with which these tentacula are fringed. By the distension from the water thus introduced, the body of the polype and its tentacula are forced be- yond the surface, and every organ fully displayed. Another portion of the water in the abdominal cavity passes into the tube continuous with it, fills it and the others in connection with it, and by means of holes in their parietes finds access into the intermediate capillary net-work, so that the whole mass is permeated with the fluid, and all and every portion distended to a bulk which may be more than double of that which it had previous to the introduction of the fluid, and which it resumes when, from the application ef irritants, the polypes contract themselves, and by their contractions force out all the imbibed water.—The tortuous filaments suspended from the base of the stomach have been generally taken for ovaries, but the observations of Dr Grant and M. Edwards seem to have disproved this opinion. The latter of these eminent naturalists believes them to be analogous to the biliary canals of insects. * The affinity in structure between the asteroid zoophytes and those which we name helianthoid, from their resemblance to some compound flowers, is evident, although in the latter there is a still further recession from the simplicity of polype anatomy. We find in them a mucous coat covering the surface,—beneath it a layer of transverse submuscular fibres, while the body is supported by nu- merous strong cartilaginous lamella arranged in longitudinal paral- lelism. Each of the lamelle is attached inferiorly to the circular layer which constitutes the base of the animal, and divides into three fascicles, one which goes to the stomach and to the rim of the oral aperture,—another to the roots of the tentacula,—and the third is prolonged to the outer labial border, where it is bent back to form its free margin.t The stomach has its distinct and proper parietes; there are special organs for the developement of the reproductive gemme; and even some traces, as is asserted, of a nervous system ; while the numerous tentacula are perforated like canals, in order that the water of respiration may be introduced into the interior, and the nutritive fluids more thoroughly influenced by its oxygen. It has been mentioned already that there is no proper circula- tion—no movement of a fluid analogous to blood in appropriate ves- * Ann. des Se. Nat. iv. 331; an 1835. + Blainville, Man. d’Actinologie, p. 68. 240 Natural History of British Zoophytes. sels—in any zoophyte, but in many of the hydroida it has been discovered that there is a continuous and uniform current of a fluid, containing granular bodies which have themselves a rotatory motion, within the tubular portions of the horny polypidom. Cavolini first detected this sort of circulation, which is very similar to what has been observed in the Chara and other plants, in the Sertularia ; and recently Mr Lister has confirmed this discovery, and ascertained the existence of the same phenomenon in almost all the genera of the order. The result of his curious observations is thus summed up by Dr Roget. “ In a specimen of the Tubularia indivisa, when magnified one hundred times, a current of particles was seen with- in the tubular stem of the polype, strikingly resembling, in the steadiness and continuity of its stream, the vegetable circulation in the Chara. Its general course was parallel to the slightly spiral lines of irregular spots on the surface of the tube, ascending on the one side, and descending on the other ; each of the opposite cur- rents occupying one-half of the circumference of the cylindric ca- vity. At the knots, or contracted parts of the tube, slight eddies were noticed in the currents ; and at each end of the tube the par- ticles were seen to turn round, and pass over to the other side. In various species of Sertulariz, the stream does not flow in the same constant direction ; but, after a time, its velocity is retarded, and it then either stops, or exhibits irregular eddies, previous to its re- turn in an opposite course ; and so on alternately, like the ebb and flow of the tide. If the currents be designedly obstructed in any part of the stem, those in the branches go on without interruption, and independently of the rest. The most remarkable circumstance attending these streams of fluid is, that they appear to traverse the cavity of the stomach itself, flowing from the axis of the stem into that organ, and returning into the stem, without any visible cause determining these movements.” * This sort of circulation is not to be confounded -with those aqueous currents which flow over the surfaces of the external or- gans of the ascidian polypes. | It has been already stated that in- * Bridgew. Treat. Vol. ii. p. 233. See also Tiedemann’s Comp. Physiol. p- 150. and Ent. Mag. Vol. iii. p. 174._Dr Sharpey appears to have discovered that the currents are produced by vibratile cilia.— Edin. New. Phil. Journ. for July 1835. + Dr Grant repeatedly asserts that the tentacula of the hydraform polypes are also ciliated, and I would not have dared to controvert this statement, although my own observations had long ago satisfied me of its incorrectness, had it not been at variance with the observations of others who have especially directed their attention to the subject. Raspail states that he was not able to discover Natural History of British Zoophytes. 241 numerable cilia or miniature lamella clothe the surfaces of their ten- tacula, and by their rapid vibrations drive a constant equable stream of water along one side, which returns along the other in an oppo- site direction ; and by this means the purposes of respiration are effected, and the nutrient fluid fitted for assimilation with the body. The cilia, to adopt the language of Professor Grant, “ are disposed and moved in such a manner as that the streams which they produce in the surrounding water are driven along the one side of the tentaculum, from the mouth of the polypus, and on the other side of the tentaculum always towards the mouth of the polypus. And we never find that direction of their motion reversed, or that direction of the currents changed, by which their respiration is ef- fected, and their food obtained. They are vibratile on the arms of most of the lower zoophytes, as sertulariz, plumulariz, serialaire, cellariz, flustree, aleyonia, which keep their arms stiffly out in a regular cam- panulate form, while the currents flow to their mouth. When we watch the sides of the tentacula of these animals with attention, and by the aid of powerful glasses, we see the extreme rapidity of the movements, and the remarkable regularity of the form, disposi- tion, and motions, of those singular vibratile bodies. From the num- ber of them, exceeding sometimes 400,000,000 in a single animal, it is not probable that their extraordinary movements are the result anything analogous to cilia on the tentacula of the Hydra ; (Org. Chem. p. 293,) and Dr Sharpey says, that in the form of polype “‘ which exists in most true species of Sertularia, Campanularia, and Plumularia, and in allied genera, the tentacula or arms are destitute of cilia, and incapable of giving an impulsion to the water.”—Cyclopedia of Anat. and Physiology, Vol. i. p. 611. Raspail maintains that there are really no cilia, but that the appearance of them is occasioned by currents of fluid aspired or drawn to and within the body, and expired or driven from it, and these currents are said to be produced by the difference of temperature between the fluid in the body and exterior to it. “ A happy conjecture led me to consider, these vibratory cilia as being mere- ly streams of a substance either inspired or expired, but at any rate of a diffe- rent density, and consequently of a different refractive power from the surround- ing medium.” P. 293.— The cilia of a respiratory organ are, then, the effect of a difference of density between the water expired, aud that in which the ani- malswims. Now there is no difficulty in admitting that, since caloric is disen- gaged in the respiration of animals of a superior order, it may also be disengag- ed, although, if we may so speak, in a microscopic proportion, during the act of expiration in the Infusoria and the Mollusc. The difference, then, between the density of the water expired and that of the surrounding water, proceeds from a difference of temperature.” P. 297. This explanation of Raspail’s is complete- ly disproved by the observations of Professor Grant on the Beroe; (Trans. Zool. Soc. i. p. 11.) and of Dr Sharpey on numerous animals.—Edin. New Phil. Journ. July 1835. 2492 Natural History of British Soophytes. of any spontaneous efforts of the animal, or are accompanied with any kind of perception or consciousness in these animals, which have never been found to present a single nerve in their bodies. The in- dependent nature of the motion of those minute respiratory organs is observed when we cut off the tentacula altogether ; and observe, that they still continue the rapid vibration of their cilia; and though severed from the polypus, the tentacula continue to move forward through the water ; the severed tentaculum of a flustra is seen to swim through the water like a worm. ‘The number of those organs varies much ; they are eight in Serialaria lendigera, and in Plu- mularia falcata, fourteen in Cellaria avicularia, twenty-two in Flus- tra carbasea. The effect of those motions of the cilia again is ob- viously to change the stratum of water constantly in contact with the most delicate fleshy parts of those zoophytes, with the highly organized soft irritable fleshy polypi. Thus they aerate the cellular texture of their body, at the same time that they bring the animal- cules—their ordinary food—within the grasp of the tentacula.”* All polypes—ascidian and hydraform—subsist on animal matter, and probably only feed upon it in a living state. The smaller spe- cies seize on worms and animalcules brought accidentally within reach, or carried into the vortex formed by the play of the tentacu- lar cilia: the larger kinds (Helianthoida) swallow small crabs and shelled mollusca, rejecting the shells after having sucked out the soft contents. The food, in the Hydroida, is dissolved and neces- sarily made chylous in the stomach, and directly absorbed from it ; but in the ascidian it is probable that: the process of chylification is not completed until the food has passed into the intestine. In the higher animals the chyle is mixed with the blood and exposed to the influence of atmospherical air before it is fitted for assimilation and growth ; and though bloodless this air is no less necessary to the growth and existence of polypes, which soon languish and die in ves- sels of unrenewed water. Hence the current within the tubes of some polypidoms which has been noticed: it is the movement of the nu- trient fluid which has found its way from the alimentary sac to the surface of the body, where it is subjected to that agent which alone can fit it for the purposes of life. * Lect. Comp. Anat. in the Lancet, 1834, Vol. ii, p. 959.—“ All the cilia ap- pear to commence and to cease their motions at the same moment. The con- stancy with which they continue would seem to exclude the possibility of their being the result of volition ; and they are, therefore, more probably determined by some unknown physical cause, dependent, however, on the life of the animal.” Roget, Bridgew. Treat. 1. 173. Natural History of British Zoopliytes. 243 Amongst zoophytes there is no distinction of sexes, but every in- dividual appears to be capable of producing reproductive buds or gemmules.* For the production of these there is, in the opinion of some good observers, a peculiar organ or ovarium in all the asci- dian tribes, and it is certain that their gemmules are always gene- rated within the polype cell. There are appropriate productive or- gans also in the Helianthoida and Asteroida, in the former situated between the ligamentous dissepiments which radiate from the mouth to the base, between the stomach and the skin ; and in some of the latter attached to the membranous dissepiments in the abdominal cavity, while in others the gemmules appear to sprout from every part of the abdominal cavity, and of the tube continuous with it. On the contrary, there is no local generative organ in any Hydroida— all are “ full of reproductive life :”’ in the Hydra germs, similar in all respects to the substance of the body, sprout indiscriminately from every part of the surface ; in the Tubulariade they pullulate from underneath the tentacula where they may frequently be observed in clusters, and, in both of these families, the germs are naked or unco- vered. Butinthe extensive family which embraces the Sertularia and all its subgenera, the gemmules, attached in general to a central pla- centa, (which is but a continuation of the fleshy central part of the stem,) are enclosed in vesicles of the same texture as the polypidom itself, and neither proceed from, nor have any immediate connection with, the proper body of the polype, being evolutions from the pith or flexy axis which connects the polypes together, and binds the va- rious heads into one whole.—Such is a brief summary of the facts ascertained on this head, but it behoves me to mention that it is, to a certain extent, at variance with the opinions of Professor Grant. He maintains, from his numerous observations on a great variety of zoophytes, that the gemmules by which these cae propagate are highly organized portions of the gelatinous substance of the parent, formed ‘in almost every known zoophyte,” and not merely in the Hydrazoa, as we have limited it, “‘ by the common connecting sub- stance of the animal, and not by the polypi, which appear to be only the mouths or organs of digestion. In Plumularis, Sertulariz, Cam- panulariz, horny Cellarie, Antennularia, the ova are formed in ve- * “These corpuscules differ from true ova and seeds, which are ripened by fe- eundation, inasmuch as the substance of which the new being is formed is not, as ova and seeds are, enclosed in a special envelope, which is separated from them at the moment of the developement of the germ, and inasmuch as the formation of the new individual is owing to the entire substance of the repro- ductive corpuscule.”——Tiedemann’s Comp. Phy. 42 244 Natural History of British Zoophytes. sicles which originate from the centre of the stem. In Flustre, eal- eareous Cellariz, and some others, the ova are formed in the cells, but eaterior to the bodies of the polypi, which disappear before the ova arrive at maturity. In the Lobulariew, Gorgoniz, Spongiz, Clione, &c. the ova are formed and matured in the common fleshy substance of the body before they advance to be discharged through the poly- pi, or the fecal orifices.”* The gemmules exhibit considerable variety in colour,——they are milk-white, yellow, red, pink or green, but sometimes the colour is not fully developed until near maturity. In all the ascidian polypes they are globular or have a tendency to that form, and appear to pre- serve it until after their discharge from the body ; but in the Hy- droida this is not the case, for although spherical in their earlier stages, “‘their shape alters on approaching maturity ; it elongates, becomes elliptical, next prismatic, and at length each corpusculum issues as a perfect animal from the orifice of the vesicle,” and exhi- bits in figure and in motion much resemblance to the little leech- like Planarie. (Fig. 5.+) The gemmules are all Fig. 5. clothed with vibratile cilia similar to those of the tentacula of the parents. Sometime pre- vious to their discharge from the polypidom (7) they are observed to be in a constant rota- tory motion, by which their birth seems to be facilitated ; and now at liberty in the water they move and swim about as if they were guided by volition and sense, whirling at the same time on their own axis.{ This freedom to move whither they list may continue for several hours, or even for two or three days, before a proper site for their permanent stay and future growth is found, when they begin to shoot up rapidly into those beautiful forms particular to each species, as the Supreme Being has ordered and determined. The transformation of the ova, says Dr Grant, * Edin. Journ. of Science, No. 14. + The figures represent the gemmules of Plumularia pluma. For the draw- ing I am indebted to my friend Dr Coldstream of Leith. + In reference to those of Flustra carbasea—and the observation appears to be very generally applicable—Dr Grant says—‘ they are very irritable, and are frequently observed to contract the circular margin of their broad extremity, and to stop suddenly in their course when swimming ; they swim with a gentle glid- ing motion, often appear stationary, revolving rapidly round their long axis, with their broad end uppermost, and they bound straight forward, or in circles, with- out any other apparent object, than to keep themselves afloat till they find them. selves ina favourable situation for fixing and assuming the perfect state.”Edin. New Phil. Journ. ii. 117. Natural History of British Zoophytes. 246 “from their moving, irritable, and free condition of animalcules, to that of fixed and almost inert zoophytes, exhibits a new meta- morphosis in the animal kingdom, not less remarkable than that of many reptiles from their first aquatic condition, or that of insects from their larva state.” One purpose of this mobility in the ova is obvious ;—it is a means ordained for their diffusion, for the parents being fixed immoveably to one spot, the reproductive germs would have dropt and sprung up at their roots, had they not, by some such mechanism as we have described, been carried to a distance, and spread over the bosom of the deep. The evolution of the gemmules, subsequent to their fixation, has been minutely traced by Professor Grant and Mr Dalyell. When the bud falls from the crested head of Tubularia indivisa, slight pro- minences, enlarged at the tips, pullulate from the under surface, and the “ nascent animal” elevating itself on these rudiments of the tentacula, as on so many feet, enjoys the faculty of locomotion. “ Ap- parently selecting a site, it reverses itself to the natural position with the tentacula upwards, and is then rooted permanently by a prominence, which is the incipient stalk, originating from the under part of the head. Gradual elongation of the stalk, afterwards con- tinues to raise the head, and the formation of the zoophyte is per- fected.”* So the worm-like embryo of the vesiculiferous Hydroida, a few days after its exclusion from the vesicle, becomes stationary and contracts into a circular or spherical spot which always retains its original colour. It is transparent and soft, but in a short time some opaque fleshy spots are visible within it, and are separated by a thin homogeneous transparent substance, which is to form the future polypidom. “ As yet it is exceedingly minute, soft, and gelatinous ; but in the progress of its growth, the soft, thin, homogeneous sub- stance of the exterior becomes more dense, embracing the first form- ed parts of the fleshy substance, indeed all parts, and the whole jelly, with its thin covering, and continues to advance and to radi- ate. Then we observe a stem beginning to rise from the centre of these radii of roots, which are, in fact, the first formed parts that the little round gemmule shoots out. So that the gemmule is be- come, not a polypus but a root. It begins then to rise from the cen- tre of the roots, and at length to divide; so it will at length form on its branches a cell, at the bottom of which cell will gradually be developed a polypus.”t In the Flustra and other ascidian zoophytes the process is very similar, but in these, instead of the rootlets and little embryo stalk, a cell is the part jirst formed, in which a po- * Dalyell, in Edin. New Phil. Journ. xvii. 412. + Grant, in the Lancet, 1854, Vol. i. p. 229. NO. III. R 246 Natural History of British Zoophytes. lype quickly and almost coetaneously developes itself ; and this ori- ginal cell and polypus is as large, as perfect, as fit for every pur- pose to which it is destined as any of those which are in rapid suc- cession evolved from its sides and apex, for age adds only to the number of individuals in the polypidom, and nothing to their per- fection. ADDITIONAL NoTEs. 1. Raspail’s Description of the Structure of Polypes. “ T have pointed out that the polypus is nothing but the continuation of its ease, which becomes bony or cartilaginous in the lower part, in proportion as the upper part is developed. Consequently its tube, or rather its involucrum, instead of being a shapeless transudation from its body, is formed by successive additions of epidermoid membranes applied over each other in proportion as they are successively ossified. I have pointed out also that these polypi are merely microscopic fixed Cephalopodes, having, like the large species of this genus, a bag which is contained within the tube, an excrementitial funnel, ovaries, an intestinal canal with similar curvatures, and a head with all its accessories equally corresponding ; so that, if the Sepia, for example, instead of having the dorsal part of its large bag ossified, had undergone the same change over the whole external circumference of this organ, and if its base had been fastened by an adhesive substance to a rock, it would have been exactly a gigantic polypus.” —New System of Org. Chem. p. 281-2. Obs. The species on which Raspail made these curious observations are not mentioned in the work from which the extract is taken: they seem applicable only to the ascidian polypes. 2. Dr Grant’s Account of the Ova of the Flustre. “ Although the ova of Flustree have been often observed, no one appears to have hitherto examined either their mode of formation within the cells, or their mode of developement after expulsion, so as to determine the real nature of these globular bodies, and the erroneous conjectures of naturalists respecting them have greatly perplexed the history of this genus. The ova of the F. carbasea make their first appearance as a small yellow point, a little below the aperture of the cell, and behind the body of the polypus; they are unconnected with the poly- pus, and appear to be produced by the posterior wall of the cell, in the same man- ner as the axis, or common connecting substance of the polypi, produces them in other zoophytes. In this rudimentary state, they are found in the same cells with the healthy polypi, but, before they arrive at maturity, the polypi of such cells perish and disappear, leaving the entire cavity for the developement of the ovum. There is never more than one ovum in a cell, and it occupies about a- third of the cavity, when full grown and ready to escape. When first visible it has around or slightly oblong and regular form; when mature, it is ovate with the small end next the aperture of the cell. The ova do not appear in all the cells at one time, nor is there any discernible order as to the particular cells which produce ova, or the part of the branch which contains them. Cells con- taining ova are found alike on every part of the branches, from the base to with- in two or three rows from the apex, occupied only by young polypi. Some- times we find half a dozen or a dozen of contiguous cells all containing ova, sometimes two or three only ; and often such cells occur singly, at short and On the Pollan of Lough Neagh. 247 wregular distances from each other. We find the ova in all stages of maturity, on the same branch at the same time; and we seldom observe a specimen of the F. carbasea, during the months of February, March, and April, which does not contain numerous ova. The ova have a lively yellow colour; and when they occur abundantly on a specimen or a part of a branch, they cause it to ex- hibit the same lively hue, which is very different from the dull spotted brown appearance which the branches present at other seasons. Cells are often ob- served on different parts of the branches, containing neither polypi nor ova ; but the fewness of these, and the great number of cells still containing only polypi at the season of generation, render it probable that polypi are regenerated in the empty cells after the escape of the ova. In the empty cells from which the ova have escaped, we frequently observe a few remains of the former polypus, lying at the place where the body of the polypus bifurcated, and where the prin- cipal connection seems to exist between the polypus and the axis; we likewise perceive numerous monades and other animalcules busily employed in consum- ing the remains of the dead polypus. The ovum, even before arriving at ma- turity, exhibits very obvious signs of irritability, frequently contracting different parts of its surface, and shrinking backward in its cell; the cilia on its surface are likewise observed in rapid motion within the cell, as in the ciliated ova of other zoophytes. The mature ova are often found with their small end pro- jecting from the opening of the cells, and their final escape is aided by the in- cessant vibrations of the cilia covering their surface, by the ova contracting them- selves in their lateral direction, by the waves agitating the branches of the flus- tra, and by the same incomprehensible laws which regulate the formation and growth of the ova, and the whole economy of this zoophyte.” Edin. New. Phil. Journ. iil. 116-7. (To be continued. ) TWI.—On the Pollan (Coregonus pollan, Thompson,) of Lough Neagh. By Wiiui1am Tuomeson, Esq., Vice-President of the Natural History Society of Belfast. «© In September last a comparison of the Lough Neagh Coregonus with the Vendace of Lochmaben, (whence I procured specimens 248 On the Pollan of Lough Neagh. through the kindness of Sir William Jardine, Bart.) proved to me that these species are distinct. The disagreement of the former with the Gwyniad or Coregonus of Wales, as described by Pennant, was at the same time very obvious ; and from the examination of an in- dividual of the latter species, (lately favoured me by Mr Yarrell,) and specimens of the Lough Neagh fish, I am fully satisfied that they are specifically different. ‘“ From the Gwyniad, the Pollan or Lough Neagh Coregonus differs—in the snout not being produced ; in the scales of the la~ teral line; in having fewer rays in the anal fin, and in its posi- tion being rather more distant from the tail ; in the dorsal, anal, and caudal fins, being of less dimensions ; and in the third ray of the pectoral tin being longest, the first being of the greatest length in the Gwyniad. “‘ From the Pollan, the Vendace or Lochmaben Coregonus differs ‘So essentially in its lower jaw being the longer, as well as in its be- ing turned upwards, as to render further comparison unnecessary. “‘ The pollan is very uniform in size, its ordinary length being about 10 inches ; none that I have ever seen exceeded 12. The relative length of the head to that of the body is as 1 to about 33 ; the depth of the body equal to the length of the head; the jaws equal, both occasionally furnished with a few delicate teeth ; the tongue with many teeth: the lateral line sloping downwards for a short way from the operculum, and thence passing straight to the tail ; nine rows of scales from the dorsal fin to the lateral line, and the same number thence to the ventral fin ; the row of scales onthe back, and that of the lateral line not reckoned: the third ray of the pectoral fin the longest. D. 2412. P. 16. V.1 1). A.24]11. C.19. B.9. Vertebre 59. “‘ Colour to the lateral line dark blue, thence to the belly silvery ; dorsal, anal, and caudal fins towards the extremity tinged with black ; pectoral and ventral fins of crystalline transparency, except- ing at their extremities, which are faintly dotted with black. Iri- des silvery, pupil black. «« As not one of the Coregoni, of which I can find descriptions, agrees with the Lough Neagh species, I am induced to consider it as new, and venture to propose for it the name of Coregonus pollan,* * Although the pollan accords not with any Coregonus yet described, it was with much hesitation that I bestowed on it a new name, being fully aware that the same species is often very differently described by different authors, and un- der the impression that it may eventually prove identical with some of the con- tinental Coregoni, with which I had not the opportunity of comparing it,—the ac- On the Pollan of Lough Neagh. 249 as by this trivial appellation it is invariably known in its native dis- irict.;” The above description of the Pollan was read before the Zoolo- gical Society of London on the 9th of June last. The following particulars I then looked forward to publish in a paper on the fishes generally that inhabit Lough Neagh, but, until this can ap- pear, the present contribution towards the history of a species which is certainly distinct from the Gwyniad and Vendace, (the only other Coregoni known with certainty as British at the present time) may even, in this incomplete state, possess some interest. The earliest notice of the species that I have seen is in Harris’s history of the county of Down, published in the year 1744, where, as well as in the Statistical surveys of the counties of Armagh and Antrim, it has subsequently been introduced as one of the fishes of Lough Neagh, under the name of Pollan ; but, as may be expected in works of this nature, little more than its mere existence is men- tioned. fF The habits of this fish do not, with the exception of its having been in some instances taken with the artificial fly, differ in any marked respect from those of the vendace and gwyniad, and are in accordance with such species of continental Europe as are confined to inland waters, and of whose history we have been so fully inform- ed by Bloch. The pollan approaches the shore in large shoals not only during spring and summer, but when the autumn is far advanced. The usual time of fishing for it is in the afternoon, the boats return- ing the same evening. On the days of the 23d, 24th, and 25th of September 1834, which I spent in visiting the fishing stations at Lough Neagh, it was, along with the common and great lake trout, (Salmo fario and S. ferox,) caught plentifully in sweep-nets, cast at a very short distance from the shore. About a fortnight before this time, or inthe first week of September, the greatest take of the pollan ever recollected occurred at the bar-mouth, where the river Six-mile- water enters the lake. At either three or four draughts of the net, 140 hundreds (123 individuals to the hundred) or 17220 fish were taken ; at one draught more were captured than the boat could with safety hold, and they had consequently to be emptied on the neigh- tual examination of specimens being the only true criterion by which to judge of such closely allied species as this genus presents. * Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London for 1835, p. 77. + In Harris’s “ Down,” and Coote’s “ Armagh,” it is supposed tobe the same as the shad. In Dubourdieu’s “ Antrim,” the scientific appellation of Salmo lavareius is given in addition to its provincial name. 250 On the Pollan of Lough Neagh. bouring pier. They altogether filled five one-horse carts, and were sold on the spot at the rate of 3s. 4d. a hundred, producing L. 23, 6s. 8d. From 3s. 4d. to 4s. a hundred, has been the ordinary price this season at the lake side, or directly from the fishermen; some years ago, it was so lowas 1s. 8d. a hundred, butat that time the regu- lar system of carriage to a distance, as now adopted, did not exist. At the former rates, they are purchased by carriers, who convey them for sale to the more populous parts of the neighbouring country, and to the towns within a limited distance of the lake. They are brought in quantities to Belfast, and when the supply is good, the cry of *¢ fresh pollan” prevails even to a greater extent than that of “ fresh herring,” though both fishes are in season at the same period of the year. In the month of June 1834, 50 hundreds (61500 individuals) of pollans and 125ibs. weight of trout were taken at one draught of a net, at another part of the lake, near Ram’s island, which was the most successful capture made there for twenty-four years. In 1854, this fish was more abundant than ever before known. Like the gwyniad and vendace, the pollan dies very soon after being taken from the water,* and likewise keeps for a very short time. It is not in general estimation for the table, but is, I think, a very good and well-flavoured fish. Though permanently resident, the pollan is very far from being generally diffused throughout Long Neagh, and, unlike the herring, shows but little caprice in the parts of the shore it periedically ap_ preaches, rarely appearing in places bordering its chief haunt, and which offer to our view in every respect a similar character. An ex- ample of this is afforded by a comparison of the beach, between the river Mayola and Toome, where it rarely occurs, and that from the Six-mile-water to Shane’s Castle, its favourite resort. A few houses contiguous to the latter locality were, so long as they existed, dig- nified with the name of Pollan’s Town ; but within the last few years, they have been pulled down to make way for “ the park’s ex- tended bounds.” ; In the months of November and December, this fish deposits its spawn where the lake presents a hard or rocky bottom. On the 4th of December 1835, a quantity of the largest pollans I have seen were brought to Belfast market. Several which I obtained for ex- * Pennant states this of the gwyniad, and Sir William Jardine of the vendace, (Edin. Journ of Nat. and Geog. Science.) Dr Knox, however, says of the lat- ter species, “ that they live as long as most fishes on being removed from the water.”-—Trans. Roy. Soc. of Edin. Vol. xii. p. 505. + Shane’s Castle Park, the seat of Karl O'Neill. Descriptions of Exotic Coleopterous Insects. 251 amination were 13 inches in length, and all on dissection proved to be females. Most of them were in full roe, (the ova from ;,th to Zth of an inch in diameter,) but some had partly shed it ; one of the former was in total weight 93 oz. the roe alone weighing 2 oz. In the others, the proportion of roe was similar. On the 11th of the same month, several male specimens of full size that I procured, and which contained milt most prominently developed, measured but 114 inches. Thus showing, that in maturity the female fish ex- ceeds the male in length, in the proportion of 13 to114. Its average weight when in season is about 6 oz. One specimen, mentioned to me as the largest taken within the last ten years, weighed 23 lbs. The only food that I have, without resorting to the microscope, detect- ed in the stomach of the pollan was a full grown specimen of the bivalve shell Pisidium pulchellum. A pebble of equal size was also found along with it. In one which I had the pleasure of sending to Mr Yarrell, he met with a species of Gammarus. * (Yarr. Brit. Fishes, Vol. ii. p. 88.) The Buddagh, or great lake trout, is occasionally taken in night lines baited with the Pellan ; for which purpose the perch, divest- ed of its spinous dorsal fin, is also used. The lesser black-backed gull (Larus fuscus, Linn,) which frequents the lake in considerable numbers, is, in consequence of being believed to subsist on this fish, called there commonly by the name of Pollan Gull. As yet the Pollan is known to me only as inhabiting Lough Neagh. In Harris’s “ Down” (p. 238.) it is stated, “ that Lough Earn, in the county of Fermanagh, has the same sort of fish, though not in so great plenty.” This is probably correct, as Lough Erne is of very considerable extent, ranking amongst the lakes of Ireland as the second in size; being inferior only to Lough Neagh. IV.—Descriptions of some new species of Exotic Coleopterous Insects from the Collection of Sir Patrick Walker. By J. O. Wxesrwoon, F.L.S., &c.—Plate VII. Order—COLEOPTERA. Section—PENTAMERA, (GEODEPHAGA ADEPHAGA. ) Fam.—Cic1NDELID. DISTIPSIDERA, genus novum. Corpus elongatum, abdomen capite cum oculis vix latius: caput * June 10, 1836. On opening the stomachs of six pollans, I found them all filled with food, consisting chiefly of mature individuals of Gammarus aqua- ticus, aud the larve of various acquatic insects ; some shells of the genus Pisidi- um, one of the fry of the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus,) and a few fragments of stone also occurred.—W. T. 252 Descriptions of some new species of magnum, subovatum, transverse et irregulariter rugosum: oculi magni, valde prominuli: anxfenne quam caput et thorax vix lon- giores, graciles, versus apices paulo crassiores, articulo lmo crasso, subcurvato ; 2do minuto ; 3tio omnium longissimo, curvato, ad api- cem crassiori ; reliquis Svis longitudine fere equalibus, at sensim pau- lo crassioribus : labrum maximum, mandibulas obtegens, oblongo- ovatum, antice emarginatum, dente parvo in parte centrali emar- ginato, dentibusque quatuor magnis lateralibus setis paucis elon- gatis submarginalibus instructum: mandibule valide, curvate, ad apices acute, dentibus duobus internis prope medium armate, aliisque duobus basalibus: mawille elongatx, intus valde setose, apicibus unco mobili armate, palpi externi breves, 4-articulati, articulo Imo brevissimo, 2do crassiori, reliquis duobus gracilibus, ulti- mo ad apicem paulo crassiori, subtruncato: palpi interni gracillimi, 2-articulati: mentum brevissimum, transversum, lobis duobus magnis lateralibus, et in medio, dente vix conspicuo armatum : labiwm (seu higula) ormmnino occultum : palpi breves, 4-articulati ; articulo 2do brevissimo ultra marginem anticum labrorum lateralium haud pro- truso ; 3tio maximo valde inflato, et lateraliter setis rigidis erectis armato; 4to, Imo longitudine equante, gracili, levi: thorax capitis (absque labro) longitudine, antice et postice constrictus, medio con- vexus, lateribus rotundatis: elyira oblonga, subparallela, thorace latiora, rugosa, rugis postice transverse coalitis : pedes elongati, tarsi antici (in individuo viso) simplices. This new genus exhibits the characters of several of the groups of Cicindelide. From Cicindela it is distinguished by the large size of the labrum, the unarmed mentum, the large labial palpi, the short antenne, &c. The same characters also remove it from Odon- tocheila Laporti, of which it has considerably the external habit, but a different thorax. From Therates, which it also much resem- bles, it is removed by the large labial palpi, simple fourth joint of the tarsi, and by having an internal maxillary palpus. From Dro- mica its peculiar form and labrum remove it. It appears most nearly allied to Euprosopus and Iresia, agreeing with the former in the structure of the labial palpi, but differing in the labrum and mentum, and resembling Iresia in the form of the body, and in the peculiar style of punctation on the elytra, but having very different palpi. Sp. 1. DistrpsrperA unpuxata. Fig. 1. Subcupreo-nigro, labio luteo lateribus nigris, elytrorum humeris et apicibus, faseiis duabus undulatis in medio interruptis, albidis. Exotic Coleopterous Insects. 253 Long. corp. lin. 74.—Habitat in Nova Uollandia ? In Museo P. Walkeri, Eq. Nigra, «neo et cupreo perparum tincta : caput magnum, impres- sione verticali in qua linea transverse elevata irregulariter striatum striis gracilibus, cum oculis parallellis, at versus verticem conjunctis, et quasi circulos irregulares efformantibus : labrum luteum, lateri- bus nigris : antenne nigre, articulis apicalibus brunneis : mandibule lutex, dentibus nigris: maaile fusce, dentibus rufis, palpis nigris : mentum nigrum, palpis albidis, apicibus articuli 3tii 4tiique nigris : thorax cum capite concolor, transverse striatus et punctatus: ely- tra ejusdem coloris, apices versus paulo magis cuprea, magis rude punctata, punctis ultra medium elytrorum in striis transversis, con- fluentibus, ad humeros macula parva albida, et cum fascia 1ma un- dulata, et in medio interrupta convexa ; fascia 2da ejusdem coloris, paulo pone medium elytrorum ad latera dilatata, at versus discum tenuior et angulata, at in medio interrupta, denique macula apicalis triangularis ejusdem coloris: pedes nigri, trochanteribus apicibus- que femorum 4 anticorum et femorum posticorum, basi luteis. Obs.—The details are lettered alike throughout with the initials of their respective names, h, head ; a, antenne ; m, mandibles ; max, maxille ; m, p, maxillary palpus; /, 1, upper lip (labrum ;) J, 2, under lip (labium ;) cl, clypeus ; ch, chin (mentum ;) J, p, labial palpi ; sc, scutellum ; ¢, tarsus ; f- 1.2.3. Ist, 2d, or 3d leg; (T.) 1, prosternum. A fixed series of names of this kind would be very serviceable, and far more easy than the kind of references adopted by Savigny. (MacrosteRni.) Fam.—BuPrestIp&. BupPRESTIS DECIPIENS. (Fig. 2.) Lete fulva, opaca, macula frontali, linea thoracis media, alterisque duabus lineatis lateralibus, elytrorum apice, antennis et pedibus nigro-czruleis, metasterno et abdomine viridi-ceruleis nitidis- simis. Long. corp. lin. 74, lat. elytr. lin. 3.—Habitat in Nova Hollandia. in Museo Patr. Walkeri, Eq. Testaceo, fulva-opaca, thorace subnitido: caput fulvum, macula parva frontali, alterisque duabus minutis versus basin antennarum apiceque clypei nigris, linea tenui impressa inter oculos, oculis mag- nis lateralibus, capite ante oculos in rostrum parvum productum : mandibule parve, triangulares, dente parvo acuto terminali, altero- que interno, armate : mavzille graciles, bilobatz, lobis pilosis, inter- mo parvo: palpis maxillaribus, lobo externo haud longioribus, 4-ar- 954 Descriptions of some new species of ticulatis, filiformibus, articulo 1mo minuto vix distinguendo ; 2do reliquis longiori, duobus ultimis parvis subequalibus : labrum trans- verse subquadratum, margine antico ciliato fere recto: mentum punctatum, transversum, antice truncatum, lateribus rotundatis, membrana transversa antice instructum: Jabiwm porrectum, mem- branaceum, ciliatum, palpislabialibus brevibus, filiformibus, articulis 3tiis subequalibus : antenne cyanee,'articulo 2do minori, 3tio et 4to oblongis, 4to obtrigono, reliquis acute et interne productis: thorax (seu pronetum) transverso-quadratus, antice quam postice paulo augustior, lateribus rotundatis, margineque postico trilobato, testa- ceus, punctatus, linea longitudinali dorsali, maculisque duobus luna- tis, lateribus cyaneo-nigris : scutellum parvum, transverse cordatum: elytra elongata, parallela, thorace latiora, costata, et pone media paulo dilatata, lobo utrinque in partem thoracis postice inciso porrecto, munito e quo cost tres producuntur, costis duobus alte- ris lateralibus ; punctatissima et lineis 8 punctorum majorum, cos- tas marginantibus elytrorum, apex fere rotundatus, dente parvo, utrinque versus suturam, et coloris cyanei, qui in suture dimidium extenditur : pedes graciles, nigro-cyanei, femoribus anticis in me- dio fulvis, tarsis dilatatis, articulo 4to cordato, et articulum ultimum versus basin ejus emittenti: prothorax subtus fulvus, in medio com- planatus, et in metasterno (antice bifido,) postice receptus ; mezo- sternum, metasternum, coxa postice et abdomen viridi cerulea, ni-< tidissima punctata, abdomen 5-articulatum, articulis transversis fere zqualibus, ungues simplices versus basin, snbtus paulo angulati. The appearance of this beautiful species of Bupestris does not at all coincide with that of the family to which it belongs, its opaque costated elytra, rich fulvous colour and pectinated antennex, giving to it much more the character of an Elater or Lycus. The characters upon which the recently established genera of this family have been constructed, are in many cases so slight, that I cannot ascertain to which of them the insect in question belongs ; indeed, I should rather suppose that it will constitute a distinct form in the family. The presence of a scutellum places this insect in Solier’s second division. From Chalecophora Bupestris and Polycesta it differs in the posteriorly lobed thorax, and hence it must belong to the second subdivision, approaching nearest to Colobogaster, Sphenoptera, and Pecilonota, but differing from all these in various parts of the mouth. (ApRostTERNI.) /am.—CEBRIONIDE. CLADOTOMA, genus novum. Corpus ovatum, subsericeum: caput parvum, deflexum, sub tho- 3 Exotic Coleopterous Insects. 255 racis marginem anticum productum fere absconditum: ocul: mag- ni, laterales: antennw 11-articulate, corporis fere longitudine, in- ter partem inferiorem oculorum insertz, articulo lmo ovali; 2do minuto; 8vis proximis, ramum elongatum, compressum, singulatim emittentibus ; llmo elongato, compresso: labrum parvum, trans- versum, angulisanticis lateralibus rotundatis, lobominuto, triangulari, membranaceo, in medio instructum : mandibule valide, cornes, acu- tee, curvate, dente acuto infra apicem internum ; extus pilosis : maxille membranaceex, lobis ducbus instructs, lobo externo magno, et in quatuor filamenta pilosa et in longitudine decrescentia diviso, lobo interno gracili piloso, setisque decumbentibus, in medio in- duto: palpi maxillares, breves, crassi, 4-articulati, pilosi, articulo Imo brevi, 2do et 4to ejusdem lengitudinis, hoc elongato-ovato, apice subtruncato: mentum brevissimum, coriaceum, labrum in fila- mentis 4 gracilibus, quorum intermedia longiora et pilosa, divisum ; palpi labiales breves, crassi, 4 articulati, articulo 2do brevissimo; 3tio et 4to subequalibus, hoc elongato, apice subtruncato: tho- rax semicircularis, margine antico deflexo, et supra caput quasi cucullato ; angulis posticis subacutis, et ad basin elytrorum arcte applicatis, margineque postico in medio paulo producto: elytra ob- longo-ovalia, convexa ;scutellum parvum, subrotundatum: prosternum simplex, inter pedes anticos haud protrusum, pedes breves, graciles, tarsis 5-articulatis, articulo 3tio bilobo, 4to minutissimo versus ba- sin articuli pracedentis insito, 5to elongato, pulvillis nullis. This is a very interesting genus, which, if we were to admit the tarsal system in an unlimited manner as our guide in the distribution of the Coleoptera, it would be necessary to place in the section Te- tramera, with some species of which, as the Galerucidz, it has in- deed considerable analogy. Its chief affinity is however, Atopa, with which it agrees in several particulars, but the structure of the tarsi and antenne remove it from that genus, and indeed from the little group in which Atopa is placed by M. le Comte de Castelneau in his Memoir upon the Rhipiceride, in which he has given the character of antennz not branched as that of the Atopw. The structure of the lower jaws and lower lip is very beautiful, and Mr Curtis has represented a somewhat similar structure in Atopa, whilst De Geer has figured the maxille of Leptura 4-fasciata, (Mémoires, Vol. v. pl.4, fig. 13,) which very closely resembles that of Cladotoma, and which De Geer considers serviceable in collecting the honey of flowers. Sp. I. Chaporoma ovauis. (Fig. 3.) Fusca, elytris fulvis, basi et thorace cbscurioribus, sutura albida. 256 Descriptions of Exotic Coleopterous Insects. Long. corp. lin. 6.—Habitat in Brasilia. In Museo P. Walkeri, Eq. Ovalis, fusca, tenuissime punctato, sericie grisea induta: caput cum oculis nigrum, mandibule ad apices nigra, antenne fusce, ramis fulvis: thorax fuscus, subnitidus margine antico et postico (in me- dio) fulvo, scutellum et sutura elytrorum albidis: elylra subelevata convexa, lineis nonnullis longitudinalibus, fulva versus basin, ob- scuriora marginibus lateralibus, sericie alibicantibus: pedes fusci, sericii, corpus subtus fuscum griseo-sericeum. (LAMELLICORNES.) Fam.—ScaRaBHIDm. Hypoma carinata. Fig. 4. Nigra, obscura, thorace in medio valde elevato bicarinato, elytris in mediis et versus apices tuberculis acutis curvatis instructis. Long. corp. Lin. 7.—Habitat. in America Meridionali. In Museo Patr. Walkeri, Eq. Nigra subopaca, sub lente fortissimo punctis circularibus undi- que notata: caput magnum, planum, deflexum antice, lobo parvo centrali bifido armatum, et ad latera ante oculos utrinque incisum : oculi lunati, (seu potius margine laterali capitis antice intranti :) antenne fusex, 9-articulate : thorax magnus, ad latera angulatus, dorsoque valde elevato et bicarnato, carinis postice connexis, scu- tellum obsoletum: elytra planiuscula subquadrata, pone medium paulo dilatata, disco subundulato, carina elevata, acuta, humerali, tuberculisque duobus centralibus, curvatis et acutis in singulo, alte- risque quatuor in singulo versus apicem form ejusdem, margo la- teralis inflexus: pygidiwm nudum deflexum: pedes graciles, inter- medii ad basin valde remoti, tibiz anticee marginibus externis ser- ratis,-et ad apicem 3-dentate, tarsi antici, minutissimi sed distincté 5-articulati, tibiae intermediz 2-calcaratz, postice longiores curvati, l-calcarate simplices, tarsis ad apicem tibiarum insertis. Fam.—GEOTRUPIDE. GEOTRUPES LETHROIDES. (Fig. 5.) G. niger, latissimus, capitis cornu erecto, thorace impressione magno antico, postice elevato, elytris semiglobosis. Long. corp. lin, 94, lat. lin. 6..—_Habitat in America Meridionali. In Museo Patr. Walkeri, Eq. Niger, subopacus, et sub lente forti tuberculis minutissimis undi- que obtectus: caput transversum, clypei margine antico rotundato, in medio cornu brevi erecto armatum: labrum transversum, mem- branaceo-marginatum, setosum, mandibule oblonge, extus obtuse Comparative elevation of Testacea i the Alps. 257 cornuto, et ad apicem dentibus duobus acutis, alteroque infero trun- cato, armate, intus ciliate : maxille et organa labialia ut in Geotru- pidibus typicalibus: antennw longiores, 11-articulate, articulis 2, 3, A, subqualibus: thorax magnus, transversus, lateraliter et postice elevatus, depressione magna subrotundata, partem anticam thoracis occupanti, in qua ad marginem anticum, tuberculum parvum longi- tudinale exstat ; margo ipsius partis depressus ad latera, subacutus, postice vero depressus ; angulis posticis thoracis productis subacutis : elytra semiglobosa, valde convexa, nec striata nee oculo nudo punc- tata, tenue marginata: pedes robusti, tibiis anticis 6-dentata. The remarkable outline of this insect, with its dentate mandible, subelongated antenne, carinated head, singularly depressed thorax, and smooth gibbous elytra, seem to be characters of higher value than those indicating a species. I have not, however, ventured to separate it generically from Geotrupes, but have figured the essen- tial organs for comparison. ' G. latus of Leach, figured by Sturm in his Catalogue, and said by Dejean to be from Barbary, seems to be allied to this species, but wants the remarkable characters ex- hibited by the head and thorax of G. lethroides. V.—On the Comparative Elevation of Testacea in the Alps. By Epwarp Forges. Tue influence of elevation on the distribution of plants is at pre- sent a popular theme with the botanist, whilst the same influence on that of animals is comparatively neglected, though (among the invertebral tribes particularly) many important results may be ex- pected from researches on that subject. The following data, though few, may yet have their use in showing how far such an influence affects the species of shell-bearing mollusca. The stations at which the observations were made are the Pass of the Gemmi, and the mountain of Faulhorn in the Swiss Alps, during the month of July 1835. The highest part of the Gemmi is that beside the Dauben- see, marked by Keller at 6360 feet. The summit of the Faulhorn is 8200 feet above the sea-level. In the absence of accurate mea- surements, I have marked the distribution by the characteristic plants of the elevations at which the species were found. I. The highest Testacea occurred at the edges of glacial masses by the Dauben-see, and on the Faulhorn at about 7000 feet. Vege- tation that of “the Glacial Zone :” Soldanella alpina and minima, &e. 258 Comparative elevation of Testacea in the Alps. VirRINna, nov. sp. V. glacialis, Mihi. Testa hyalina, supra plana, spi- ris duobus ; apertura patentissima, — zg ovato-oblonga. Long. + poll. Lat. ©) 4. Animal nigrum ; capite, caudd, éentaculisque obtusis. I found this beautiful and very distinct species of Vitrina in con- siderable plenty under stones on the hich elevations referred to, and only there. Ferrussac figures two alpine species, the V. annulata, « Venetz,” and the V. pyrenaica, both of which appear to be varie- ties of V. pellucida, and far removed from the V. glacialis, the nearest ally of which is perhaps the V. elongata of Draparnaud : but the animal of V. elongata is grayish-white, a distinction suffi- ciently specific, independent of the comparative characters of the shells. The V. glacialis seems to have escaped the observation of the Swiss conchologists Thomas and Studer, neither of whom refer to any other species in their catalogues, besides V. pellucida and V. elongata. Few indeed would think of searching for shells in such an icy habitat as that of the V. glacialis. Helix arbustorum, var. alpina, Ferr. This dwarf variety is found abundantly at about the same elevation with the Vitrina, and ceases in the following zone. II. At Swaribach on the Gemmi and similar elevations, never very close to the snow masses. Plants—Nigritella angustifolia, Polygala chamaebuxus, &c. Bulimus (Cionella) lubrica, var. alpina. A very pretty and curious variety of this species, distinguished from the normal form by its dwarf size, more contracted mouth, and whitish colour. Pupa secale, Drap. cylindrica, Ferr. marginata, Drap. Clausilia with the shell tapering, almost smooth: mouth with a single primary tooth and an obsolete secondary fold. Var. of C. minima, Pfeiffer ? Helix rupestris, Drap. crystallina, Drap. bd trechilus, Mont. (fulva, Mull.) nitida, Mull. In springs on the Faulhorn at the same elevation I found Lym- nea fossaria, 6. minuta, Drap. an Cyclas (Pisidium) obtusale, Pfeiff > IiI. The dwarf pines appear. All the species mentioned under II. are found in this and the following zone, with the exception of Bi Structure of Flowers of Adoxa moschatellina. 259 the alpine form of Bulimus lubricus and the Clausilia above-men- tioned. Helix hispida, 6, (an Helix concinna, Ferr ?) rotundata, Mull. (radiata, Mont.) IV. The following species were plentiful in the first pine forests : Helix villosa, Drap. pomatia, Lin. personata, Drap. obvoluta, Mull. Clausilia bidens, Dr. rugosa, Dr. perversa, Pfeiff. --—_—— solida, Drap. Bulimus montanus, Drap. — (cionella) lubrica, Mull. In the lowlands of Berne the Testacea are those of the north of Europe and Germany, but in the Vallais the conchology assumes a more southern character. The trunks of the chestnut trees about Sion are often covered with the Helix sylvatica, Drap. and under stones we find Bulimus radiatus, Pupa quadridentata, and Pomatias maculata. VI.—On the Structure of the Flowers of Adoxa moschatellina. By the Rev. J. S. Henstow, M. A. Professor of Botany in the Uni- versity of Cambridge. Tus flower of Adoxa moschatellina, as is well known, are: ar- ranged in ahead, and are so placed that oneis terminal, and four others lateral. They are composed of four whorls; but the number of the parts in each is usually different in the terminal and in the lateral flowers. In speaking of the subordinate parts of the two outer whorls we shall consider them as sepals and petals, which cohere to forma gamosepalous calyx and gamopetalous corolla, In this sense then, the terminal flower more usually Fig. 1. contains 2 sepals, 4 petals, 8 sta- mens, and a 4-celled ovarium, which may be considered as com- pounded of 4 carpels, while the lateral flowers contain 3 sepals, 5 petals, 10 stamens, and 5 carpels (Fig. 1.) Such is the ordinary view taken of the structure of these flowers. They are, however, very subject to vary in the number of their parts, and we propose to exa- mine each whorl in detail. 260 Structure of Flowers of Adoxa moschatellina. 1. The calyx. This whorl varies both in the terminal and lateral flowers, with 2, 3, or 4 sepals. In the latter case 3 of the sepals were observed to alternate with 4 petals, and the fourth sepal to be opposite a fifth petal. De Candolle does not consider this whorl as atrue calyx, but calls the corolla a calyx. This reduces the sepals to bractex, and as these are combined, the whorl must be considered as an involucrum. In this case we have the tube of the involucrum combining with the lower half of the ovarium, and also uniting with the calyx and sta- mens. ‘There seems to be no sufficient reason for admitting such an anomaly, and the view usually taken appears to be preferable. 2. The Corolla. This is always composed of either 4 or 5 petals, which cohere by their bases and to the upper edge of the calyx, where it becomes free from the ovarium. Some of the petals are sometimes opposite and sometimes alternate with the sepals, which they exceed in number by I, 2, or 3 parts. 3. The Stamens. These are placed very evidently in pairs, a sin- gle stamen of each pair standing on either side of the sinus formed by the union of two contiguous petals. Fig. 2. De Candolle asserts that half are oppo- site, and halfalternate, with the petals. This view must be ascribed to a desire | to obviate the apparent anomaly of their ce Vy being neither opposite nor strictly alter- “ ee nate with the petals, but it is decidedly ry _— inadmissible. He has not observed that the anthers consist of a single lobe, nor can I discover that this fact has been previously noticed by any author except Dr Hooker, who in his Flora Scotica has the following remark: “ Stamens united in pairs, or they may be considered as 4 or 5 forked stamens, each ramification terminated by a single cell of an anther, and all spring- ing from a fleshy ring that surrounds the germen.” I was ignorant of this observation, but was led to make the same remark last spring, by reflecting in Fig. 3. what way it would be possible to re- = GANS S 7} i) <= Cin ON uy duce the anomalousstructure of this \} } 7 Gy CS flower to some normal condition, in ] which the parts of the several whorls fe would be arranged agreeably to the / generally established rules of morphology. De Candolle’s view ap- peared to be quite untenable. Upon examining a great number of specimens, I observed in many instances a very decided tendency : ) Z Structure of Flowers of Adoxa moschatellina. 261 in the filaments to combine in pairs. Following up the hint which was thus afforded, I found that the anthers were composed of a single cell ; and that it was in those cases only where two contiguous fila- ments had become completely united, that we ever have a perfect sta- men crowned by a two-lobed anther. Thisat once solved the difficulty, and reduced the structure of the flower within the usual conditions. Dr Hooker has not decided which structure should be adopted, and has followed the arrangement generally adopted of classing this plant under Octandria. The fact of the frequent coherence of the filaments in the contiguous stamens, combined with the regularity thus introdu- ced into the arrangement of the several parts ofthe contiguous whorls, singularly strengthens the conjecture he had hazarded from the con- sideration of the anthers being one-celled, and may indeed be con- sidered as affording as direct a proof of the normal condition of this flower as the subject will admit. It may therefore be stated as con- taining 4 whorls of 5 parts each, the parts alternating in the suc- cessive whorls,—a structure eminently characteristic of a dicotyle- donous plant, and probably exhibited in greater perfection in the genus Crassula than in any other. In the present case, the devia- tion from the normal character in the lateral flowers consists in the ordinary suppression of 2 or 3 parts in the calyx, sometimes of 1 only ; and in the terminal flower in the suppression of one part in all the whorls as they are usually exhibited in the lateral flowers. Among the numerous specimens which I Fig. 4 examined, some had the stamens partially con- verted to leaves ; two small ones being placed facing each other and occupying their usual position on the corolla. (Fig. 4.) In some cases a supernumerary petal of small dimen- sions was accompanied by a thick filament bearing a three-lobed anther, a monstrosity which apparently originat- Fig. 5. ed in a complete and super- numerary stamen having if been also developed, and united with the half sta- = men to which it was con- \ me tiguous. In other cases, | os the contiguous filaments mou were united, and one part foliaceous, the other .— DW 7) antheriferous, recalling the structure of the sta- —/ . y Wf mens in a Canna. rE ( NO. III. TA [ 262 | REVIEWS AND CRITICAL ANALYSIS. 1.—Flora Hibernica, comprising the Flowering Plants, Ferns, Cha- racee, Musci, Hepaticw, Lichenes, and Alga of Ireland, arrang- ed according to the Natural System, with a Synopsis of the Gene- ra according to the Linnean System. By James TowNsEND Mackay, M.R.I. A. &c. 8vo. Dublin, 1836. AN Irish Flora has been long felt to be a desideratum. While Great Britain was glutted, as it were, with descriptions of its vege- table productions, no attempt was made even to enumerate the plants of Ireland, until 1824, when the worthy author of the pre- sent volume gave to the Royal Irish Academy, his Catalogue of the Phenogamous Plants and Ferns which he had then ascertained to be natives of the country. This catalogue was, he informs us, the result of twenty years observation, and in the preface he an- nounced his intention of extending it into a complete Flora. Such a work has been therefore looked for at his hands, and although it is somewhat of the latest in its appearance, we receive it with a cordial welcome. It seems from a paragraph in the intro- duction that, “in 1833, a small volume appeared entitled the Irish Flora, containing short descriptions of most of the Phenogamous Plants and Ferns of Ireland that were known up to that time.” This work we have never seen. The Flora Hibernica is arranged according to the Natural System, and is divided into three parts ; the first containing the flowering plants and ferns ; the second, the Musct, Hepaticw, and Lichenes ; and the third, the Algw. In regard to the first part, (which is pre- ceded by a synopsis of the genera according to the Linnean method,) the best idea we can give of the manner in which it is executed is to say that, with the exception of the arrangement, the whole is constructed on the model of the British Flora. We must not be un- derstood as bringing any charge of plagiarism against Mr Mackay, for he candidly informs the reader that his descriptions both of ge- 3 Mr Mackay’s Mora Hibernica. 263 nera and species, are generally adopted from the British Flora, as well as the etymologies of the generic names. We are convin- ced that the work has not lost any practical value in so excellent a guide having been followed as Sir W. J. Hooker ; but at the same time, our friend Mr Mackay will allow us to express a regret that, in the first respectable Flora of such a country as Ireland, a little originality should not have been exhibited. We are sorry also not to see a few observations upon the geographical distribution of Irish plants, as compared with England and Scotland; but this most interesting subject will probably increase the value of a second edition at no distant period. * The plan adopted by the author, of treading for the most part in the steps of Hooker, leaves little scope for critical remarks. He has naturally enough followed the example offered by the Floras of Eng- land and Scotland, of admitting various doubtful plants into his list ; but there are two which we consider as more than usually guestionable ; viz. Dianthus plumarius, and Lythrum virgatum. A * Tn addition to remarks on the geographical distribution of plants hinted at by our contributor of the above article, we should like to see embodied in a new edition, which we sincerely trust is already called for, a little more distinction, marked either by type or otherwise, between the plants which are really indige- nous and those of spurious rank ; the localities more decidedly pointed out, and the places of growth stated with more precision, and “ with a steady eye to their mineralogical characters,”—and surely it is indispensable to have the proviucial names noted in the native Irish. Ireland has ever been to us a favourite coun- try, and we have looked upon it as affording peculiarities remarkably enticing to the faunist or florist. It is of sufficient extent to be itself a province, has va- riety of hill and dale, of wide-spreading lakes and noble rivers, of waste and woodland, of sea-coast and of alpine ranges. It is separated from its sister isle, (from which the annexed table will show it to vary curiously in its botani- cal productions,) only by a narrow strait, from the continent of Europe by a wider space, while on another side it is open, and exposed to the storms and surge of the ocean. It would be curious to trace the influence of the nearest lands on its animal productions, and on its flora. The vegetation of the west coast might be contrasted with that of the east and north. The influence which the greater moisture and less severity of her winters had on the habits and phy- siognomy of the vegetation, or in clothing her hills with mossy and saxifragous plants, might be carefully marked and compared. This, we know, would be a task difficult and tedious, though to some delightful ; but the Florist’ of Ireland, independent of his scientific acquirements, must catch the spirit of the clime ; he must learn to love the green isle and its every beauty ; he must add some tincture of the poet and a love for the olden time, a taint of the learning and eccentrici- ty of the antiquary ;—before commencing he must invoke the manes of Linnzus and of Wahlenberg. 264 Mr Mackay’s Fora Hibernica. more interesting plant is a curious heath, named by Mr Babington Erica Mackaiana. We wish it may be truly distinct, but it is very nearly allied to EL. tetraliz, whichit resembles in its flowers and awned anthers, while in its leaves it approaches FE. ciliaris.* Itis found in Cunnamara, the country of L. Mediterranea, and Menziesia polyfolia. Saxifraga geum, 6. of Hooker is raised to the rank of a species, un- der the name of S. elegans ; the author states that it has retained its distinctive characters in cultivation since 1807. The Irish whin, lex strictus of the catalogue of Irish plants, is reduced to a varie- ty of U. Europeus ; but we confess we are as much in doubt re- specting that peculiar-looking plant, as Sir W. J. Hooker, who ad- mits that he is at a loss whether to refer it to U. Europeus, or na- nus, or to consider it as a species. But surely the same scruple need not exist in regard to the Florencecourt yew, the Tazus fastigiata of Lindley’s Synopsis. Individuals exist in Ireland of fifty years growth. In some few instances Mr Mackay differs from Sir W. J. Hooker ; for example, the genus Conopodium of Koch is preferred to Bunium for the common earth-nut ; and Helosciadium of Koch adopted by Hooker for Szwm nodiflorum, repens and innudatum is re- jected. Calamintha officinalis is also still included in the genus Thy- mus. He has fallen into the same error as Sir W. J. Hooker in describing Habenaria chlorantha both under that name, and also under the denomination of H. bifolia, but there is reason to believe that Mr Mackay had not seen the true H. bifolia of Linneus, which is probably not a native of Ireland. The three common Primule are kept up with an observation that many botanists consider them as only varieties. There seems to be a delicate for- bearance exercised by almost all writers of floras towards the “ pale primrose,” the “ freckled cowsilip,’ and their supposed hybrid the oxlip. Linnzus believed them to be the children of one parent. Professor Henslow brought the question to the test of direct ex- periment, and raised them all from the same root. Hooker ob- serves, “ They are rarely found intermixed, and in Scotland the two last kinds (P. elatior and veris) are scarcely known.t Mr H- F. Talbot found upon the summit of a high mountain near the lake of Thun, in Switzerland, P. elatior in abundance, while P. veris was confined to the base of the hill, and P. vulgaris was not found * See Mr Babington’s characters at page 201. + This is a mistake as far as regards P. veris, which is by no means unfre- quent. We have seen whole fields as thickly dotted with cowslips in Scotland as in England. Mr Mackay’s Mora Hibernica. 265 within fifty miles of it.” This is a highly curious fact; but sup- posing the plants to be varieties, it only proves their characters to be singularly constant. If it is an ascertained fact that they are really varieties, they ought to be acknowledged as such, and a scien- tific truth recognized. It is very remarkable that Primula farinosa has not been found in Ireland.* _ The second part of the volume is from the pen of Dr Taylor, the able coadjutor of Professor Hooker in the well-known Muscologia Britannica. 'The acute observer is manifest in every page, but es- pecially in the descriptions of the Hepatic, which evidently exhi- bit the result of a long series of observations upon the living plants. A new genus (Hygrophila) is established to receive the Marchan- iia irrigua of Wilson t (in Brit. Fl.) and we have two new species of Jungermannia ; one hitherto confounded with J. epiphylia; the other parasitic upon Hypnum loreum, and so minute as to be only visible under the microscope. Among the Muscz we have a recent acquisition (Gynostomum tortile, Schw.) a near species of Glyphomi- trion, and anew species of Bridel’s genus Zygotrichia. Ireland seems to be exceedingly rich in lichens. Besides a host of species already known as inhabiting the British islands, Dr Taylor has de- scribed forty-three new species belonging to various genera, eleven * There is one other point well worthy of attention,—and yet but slightly noticed in this work,—we mean the bog-timber of Ireland, more particularly the pine tribe. Mr Mackay appears to have satisfied himself that not more than one species of pine is. found in the bogs, and that that is identical with the Pinus sylvestris, for he says under that head, (p. 259) “ this tree appears to have been abundant in Ireland, as trunks of very large dimensions are often found in the bogs,” and expresses no doubt of their identity with the Scotch fir. Any person reading this observation would suppose that the point was settled, yet, indeed, there still remains great doubts on the subject, for apparently at least two different kinds of deal exist in the bogs. One has a stem spirally twisted in a very marked manner, is very inflammable, gives out a fine perfume when burned, and is used in the place of candles and torches by the peasantry in many parts of the island. One of them also, we believe the latter, has the root far larger in proportion to the timber, than it is found to be in the Scotch fir. It is more than a speculative point to determine the species, for since a fir once grew to a very large size in the wetter of the Irish bogs, it might do so again could we succeed in obtaining the same species of tree ; and there is no way to come to the desired information, excepting by a careful and microscopical exami- nation of the structure of every kind of bog-timber. + Ord. Hepatica. Genus Hycrornita.—Male receptacle pedunculated, hir- sute, with short scattered hairs. Female receptacle pedunculated, hirsute, with short scattered hairs. Calyx none. Loculi univalved, carnose, opening at tle top with a vertical short fissure. (Frond without pores. ) 266 Mr Mackay’s Flora Hibernica. known species introduced for the first time into our Flora, besides a new genus called Syncesia, constructed to receive a rather obscure plant allied to Arthonia.* Dr Taylor has performed his share in the Flora Hibernica admirably ; and we are only disposed to complain of his having adhered too rigidly to the genera of Acharius after they have been, by universal consent, more or less modified. The last division of the work, devoted exclusively to the Algae, has been contributed by Mr Harvey, whose intimate acquaintance with the order is sufficiently shown in Hooker’s British Flora. It is a department as full of interest, as the objects themselves are of- ten graceful and beautiful. Mr Harvey has done his part well and carefully, The Alga Britannice of Dr Greville has to a considerable extent served him as a guide, and he has adopted verbatim, with due acknowledgement, that author’s description of the Diatomacee, as contributed to the British Flora. But Mr Harvey is no copier,— he plainly investigates and thinks for himself ; and his portion of the Flora Hibernica contains much valuable information. All the Irish Algez he has arranged into three grand divisions, which, from the colour of the seeds, hedenominates MELANOSPERME®, RHODOSPER- ME, and CHLoRosPERME®. In the first division we find the tribe Ectocarpee placed between Dictyotew and Chordariew ; and in the second division, Glotocladew, the first tribe, containing the genera Mesogloia, Gloiosiphonia and Chetospora, precedes the Gastrocar- pee. Such an arrangement exhibits new and ingenious views re- specting the affinities of Eclospermee and Gloiocladew. In order to add some degree of interest to this article, we have drawn up a table, which exhibits at one view the relative Floras of England, Scotland, and Ireland, in regard to the total number of ge- nera and species in each natural order ; as well as a list of those British genera in which the Irish Flora is deficient. * Ord. LicHENES. Genus Syncresta.—Thallus crustaceous. Apothecia ob- longo-elongate, stellato-radiata, aggregated and immersed in scattered thallodal verruce. Perithecium none. Lamina prolifera pellucid, supported on opaque vertical layers. _ Ou co bo a ORDERS. . Ranunculacee, . Berberidee . Nympheacee, . Papaveracee, . Fumariacee, . Crucifere, . Resedacee, . Cistiner, . Violariese, .. Droseracez, - Polygalez, . Frankeniacee, . Elatine, . Caryophyllez, . Liner, . Malvacez, . Tiliacia, . Hypericines, . Acerinez, . Geraniacez, . Balsaminee, - Oxalidez, . Celastrinez, 24. . Leguminose, Rhamnee, . Rosacez, - Pomacee, . Amygdalez, . Sanguisorbee, - Onagrarie, . Haloragee, - Ceratophyllez, . Lythrarie, . Tamariscine, . Cucurbitacee, . Portulacee, . Paronychiew, . Crassulacez, . Grossulariez, . Saxifrages, . Umbellifere, . Araliacee, . Cornee, Mr Mackay’s Flora Hibernica. England. | Scotland. Gen.| Sp.|Gen.| Sp 13 | 33 | 10 | 26 Ble Wied |) 2 2 3 | 2 3 4/10] 4] 6 2 Ou Wi Dell ee 30 | 69 | 26 | 62 1 3 1 2 a es) 1 1 1 Seal ans 1 ila 3 1 1 1 1 Hele ae Ue Hea aie i 12 | 50 | 12 | 49 BN SN Pe 3} 6] 3] 5 1 el ee aM ye 2/10} 2} 12 Leal yay lia 2/16} 2/15 ] ] 1 1 Dt Qh a iS SA 2 i Toy UW Ogi al 2 17 | 65 | 17 | 48 11 | 50 | 10 | 45 Sa ALOw 2 aro ines (ed leel (aes 3/ 5] 3] 6 4/12}; 2) 11 3/ 6] 3] 4 1 PN Ul 1 Dial yee |r| 1 1 BT le eed 1 ] 1 1 Arai Yip (63 5] 16| 4] 10 Ge eo 2) Aas Dea ez 40 | 62 30 | 47 PA | ture of the country. No. of zones species. 2d, |From 28° to 34°) 19 |From 5,000 to 11,000 £| 9 |Arid& shrubby plains} 19 3d, |From 34° to 45°| 17 |Upwards of 11,000 feet.| 9 |Elevated mountains.| 16 It may be asked why the greatest. number of rapacious birds in- habit warm regions, and particularly places in which marshes occur and detached tufts of wood. The reason is, that the majority of South American birds of prey do not feed solely on small birds and quadrupeds, like the greater part of European species, but likewise on land and aquatic reptiles which abound in such situations, as well as on fishes and even insects. In America the falcons are the only Raptores which habitually pursue birds and mammifere ; all the others eat animals of every description ; a circumstance which made Azara * suppose that the American birds of prey might share the characteristic indolence of the inhabitants of this quarter of the world. They are in reality much less active than those of Europe, with the exception of the Falconide, which every where exhibit * Voyages dans l Amérique Meridionale, Tom. iii. p. 5. / 354 Observations on the their characteristic vivacity. This, indeed, is easily accounted for from their mode of life, for they are obliged, more frequently than others, to perch at the margin of waters or on the outskirts of woods, in order to watch the egress of a frog, a lizard, or an insect, which they immediately seize and devour on the ground. They are there- fore seldom seen hovering after the manner of our “ Jean le Blane,”’* or our eagles ; for even the Aguia Eagle and the Buzzards, which hover most, are observed to do so only for a short time in the day, especially in the morning. We have noticed among many kinds of American birds of prey a sociable instinct wholly unknown to those of Europe, which, with the exception of vultures, never unite in flocks. The vultures of America are as sociable as those of Europe. ‘They assemble in order to devour dead bodies ; and the caracaras, their faithful imitators, congregate like them on the same carcases, with a like degree of familiarity and confidence ; but in these associations the caracaras are probably more influenced by the desire of obtaining a kind of food common to both, than by any really sociable feelings. The case is different from those assemblies of birds of the same species belonging to other tribes, which move from one place to another in flocks, alight tegether on the margin of the same lake, perch on the same tree, or even the same bush, in the vicinity of waters and in wooded plains, and rarely separate, at least during their movements over the country ; for we are yet ignorant whether they congregate for an annual migration. However this may be, the birds posses- sing this property are the Cymindis with hooked bills (genus Ros- tramus, Less.) which in this manner continue in company at least for three months in the year, as we assured ourselves by actual obser- vation on the frontier of Paraguay. The leaden coloured Buzzard (Falco plumbeus, Lath.) has the same habits. We have seen them in the skirts of woods resting in large flocks on the same dead tree for a whole day together, some of them pursuing birds and others reposing, the latter taking wing when their companions returned to their perch. It is surprising to meet with this social instinct among birds whose mode of life seems calculated to render them jealous, quarrelsome, and solitary: and, indeed, with the exceptions just mentioned, rapacious birds always live alone without experiencing any of that attraction which brings animals into companionship with others of their kind. Even in the season of love, these voracious birds scarcely remain together in pairs for more than two months, when they again separate and take no further notice of each other. It is true that, during this interval, * F. brachydactylus, Wolf. Raptores of South America. 855 in submission to the law which regulates every sentient being, they appear to become as loving as they are at other times fierce, and share with each other in the toil of rearing their nest ; but from the moment the young are sufliciently strong to seek their own food, the couple separate, and appear as selfish and ferocious as before. The more carnivorous they are in their habits, the less does their mode of life dispose them to society ; and on no occasion are they seen to live together during greater part of the year, as habitually takes place with many of the Incessores, the Gallinacez, Grallatores, and the Palmipedes. Another kind of union, purely fortuitous, takes place in the im- mense savannahs of America. The inhabitants are accustomed to set fire to the fields every year, in order to renew the herbage. This conflagration proves destructive to a numerous host of peaceable crea- tures, which believe themselves secure in their rich plains, from the destructive talons of their mortal enemies. Small mammifere, reptiles, and innumerable insects flee in all haste, from these tor- rents of flame, beyond which myriads of rapacious birds, whose habits usually keep them remote from each other, but which a com- mon instinct of voracity brings together for a short time on this theatre of destruction, are eagerly on the watch. The caracaras, in particular, more numerous, clamorous, and impatient than their companions, dart intothe midst of the crackling flames and clouds of dense smoke, while the Buzzards, intimidated by the fire which the caracaras disregard, hover slowly round it in search of their prey, which is often auda- ciously carried off by the light falcon of more rapid flight, at the very moment they are about to seize it. Nothing can be more remarkable than this spontaneous assemblage of birds, advancing before the ra- pid progress of the flames, and eagerly disputing for some feeble vic- tim, which already subdued and alarmed, escapes from one calami- ty only to be overwhelmed by another. When the fire has ceased, all the birds disperse, and each commences for itself a pursuit more easily followed but not less destructive. They run over the burned surface while yet covered with ashes, in order to seek out the half- burned carcases of reptiles and small mammalia, which were unable to escape from the flames ; but now, resuming their natural character, they shun the approach of their kind, carrying off their prey in their talons, in order to devour it in some solitary spot, and even then, although entirely removed from their companions, they are seen to look around them from time to time with suspicion and fear, lest others should come to share their bloody feast,—an apprehen- sion from which they are not freed till it be wholly consumed. In a country where the greater number of birds of prey feed on rep- Sue) Observations on the tiles and insects, it is curious to see birds belonging to other orders, likewise become carnivorous. Domestic birds are, for the most part, fed with flesh, of which hens and ducks are extremely fond, and it is not merely wild birds which leave grains and insects, their ordi- nary food, to feed on the flesh which the inhabitants hang out to dry in the sun. We have seen the finches, Icteri, and flycatchers search for this kind of food with a voracity and eagerness which are not natural to them in a wild state, and which can only be attribut- ed to the extreme facility with which they procure it. The partial comparisons which we have been able to make either of genera or species, show that in the old and new world birds of prey lay a similar number of eggs, and follow the same ge- neral mode of constructing their nests, and we do not hesitate to af- firm that the markings of the eggs are of the same form, and are ge- nerally distributed in the same manner. In their mode of walking, rapacious birds differ much among the different tribes. Thus the slow and measured pace of the caracaras and vultures distinguishes them well from the leaping of the fal- cons and buzzards. The birds of the two first series willingly alight on the ground ; some of them remain there continually, perching only at intervals, and then upon rocks; while others, although oc- casionally cbserved walking, love to pass nearly their whole life in solitude upon trees. The eagles and the falcons, for example, very rarely light on the ground. They advance to the object of their search by suc- cessive leaps: but most commonly they seize their prey on the wing, carry it off in their talons, and go to devour it at a distance. They remain only for a short time on the ground, resume their flight, and perch while digesting their food on the low or elevated branches of trees in the skirts of woods. The manner of flight likewise differs much in the different tribes. Even among’ the vultures it varies so much that it would be difficult to assign it a general character. Most frequently, however, the flight is high, rapid at intervals, but rather slow for the greater part of the course. It is among the vultures, and not among the eagles, as Buffon supposed, that birds of the most lofty flight are to be found ; for the condor disappears from the sight above the plateau of the An- des, at a point more than 2000 toises above the sea, and at least an equal height may be allowed from the point of its departure ; an asto- nishing elevation, as will be admitted by every one, but which must appear still more extraordinary to an observer who becomes the vic- tim of the rarefaction of the air in regions from 16,000 to 17,000 feet above the sea. Some other birds have a singular habit of whirling about in a particular spot, at a prodigious elevation, from which they Raptores of South America. 357 allow themselves to drop down like a ball, making a noise like the whistling of an arrow flying through the air ; on approaching the earth they again resume their usual flight. ‘The vultures are in ge- neral (for a few species are exceptions to the rule) the only birds which hover at a very great height above the surface of the ground. Some kinds of eagles rise rather high into the air, but they continue there only a short time, preferring the more temperate regions. The buzzards hover in thé same manner as the Falco brachydattylus, without, however, traversing a considerable extent of country before reposing, as they do in Europe, which is probably owing to the greater facility with which they obtain their prey. The rapacious birds, which in other quarters of the world are always distrustful, restless, and little accustomed to live in the vicinity of man, seem to shew a disposition to approach him in America. The Cathartes and the Caracaras are never seen in desert places, unless they are drawn thither by troops of large mammiferous animals, such as the Otariz on the coast of Patagonia. These birds are become the faith- ful companions of the savage tribes in their migrations, and, as has been already mentioned, they are useful neighbours to the inhabi- tants of towns, who in some instances have framed special laws for their protection. The Falconidz are generally wilder ; but some of the typical spe- cies take up their abodes in a house or a church, on the summit of which they are seen to alight for an instant, and then dart away to explore the neighbouring country, without appearing to be dis- turbed by the presence of man. The Buzzards, and in general all the ignoble birds of Cuvier, or the Aquilinx, are comparatively less sociable, always remaining at a distance from inhabited places, and even flying off at the first ap- proach of the enemy of all animals, from natural instinct rather than any real apprehension. These birds, however, are much less fierce than the European species, which can be taken only by surprise ; they fly toa much smaller distance from man; but tlie suspicious character peculiar to all carnivorous birds continually manifests it- self in all the species of this series. The nocturnal birds of prey follow the same laws as those of Europe with respect to the instinct which leads them to approach our species. The owls of America, (that is, those constituting the modern genus Strix,) like our own, live in buildings, and in the midst of towns, while all the others con- ceal themselves in thickets during the day, from which they issue in the night to obtain an abundant supply of food in the recesses of the deserts. We think that we have noticed in the case of certain American birds of prey, a much less striking disproportion between the size NO. IV. Aa 358 Observations on the Raptores of South America. of the male and female, than in those of Europe; a disproportion sometimes so remarkable, that were they not seen paired, an obser- ver might be tempted to consider them distinct species. This dis- proportion is particularly notable in Nisus hemidactylus, Temm. but in most of the other species, it is reduced almost to nothing, and in some instances entirely disappears. The falcons, properly so called, for example, and some buzzards, differ but very slightly in size. We have observed another modification of form in birds of prey, resulting from difference of age. We allude to the greater or less length of the tail in the young and the adult. It is well known that among passerine birds and the Gallinacez, for example, the young are entirely destitute of an ornament which is so conspicuous in the adult male ; and reasoning from analogy, the tails of rapacious birds ought likewise te be much longer in the adult than in the young. Observation, however, has continually presented us with the con- trary appearance, which may be regarded as a character peculiar to birds of prey ; the fact being, that among them the tail of the young is always longer than in the adult, the only example of the kind oc- curring among birds. A single observation will complete all that we have to offer of these general notices. Buffon, not without some appearances to justify him, classed the Shrikes among birds of prey, because, although without many of the characters of the tribe, they partly resemble them in habits, since they eat flesh, and even sometimes kill smail birds. Azara, on the other hand, thought he had a similar authority for placing the Toucans among birds of prey, because at one season of the year they seek for nests in order to devour the eggs and even young. With accu- rate views of these improper alliances, Cuvier detached the Shrikes and Toucans from the group of rapacious birds, as belonging to a dif- ferent series, and reduced it to the subjects which rightly compose it, and which will probably always continue to belong to it. In these circumstances, we cannot fail to express our surprise at seeing our skilful colleague, M. Lesson, place the Cariama or Sa- riama in this group, merely because it eats reptiles and particularly serpents. May we not object to this arrangement, that the stork, as well as the Sariama inhabits lofty places, and feeds on serpents, although no one has ever thoughé that it should therefore be placed among the birds of prey? We have carefully studied the manners of the Sariama ; and, not to mention its long naked legs, the want of hooked talons, and a beak very unlike that of birds of prey, we can assert that it certainly belongs to the series of Grallatores, of which it possesses all the characters, and among which it was formerly placed. The detailed description which we shall give of this species in its Descriptions of British Diptera. 359 proper place, will satisfy every one as to the accuracy of this state- ment. The following table presents the general division of birds of prey according to our ideas of it, restricted, of course, to the American species. Sarcoramphes. Cathartes. Rancancas. {lre Sous-famille: Caracarides. } Phaleobnes Caracaras. { Rostrames. Circaétes. Aigles-pecheurs. OtsEaux | Ile Famille: | Harpies. DE 4 Falconidees. 4 2c Sous-famille: Aquiléides, Aigles-autours. PRoIE. Falco, Lin. 4 Autours. Milans. | Cymindis. { Ire Famille: Vutrurrprrs. Vultur, Lin. ......... } Buses. | | Busards. | Eperviers. | 8e Sous-famille : Falconides. Falco. Strix. | lle Famille: Strizidées. Strix, Lin................ Ducs. Cheveches. Scops. Vi.—Characters and Descriptions of the Dipterous Insects indige- nous to Britain. By James Duncan, M. W. S8., &c. &c.—(Con- _tinued from p. 145.) Famity TABANIDZ. ANTENN porrected, approximating at the base, generally three- jointed, the third joint ringed, without any style or seta at the ex- tremity ; proboscis and palpi salient and conspicuous; abdomen consisting of seven segments ; halteres half-covered by large wing- lets ; wings extended horizontally on each side of the body ; tarsi with three distinct pulvilli. The insects of this family are well known for their blood-thirsty propensities, which instigate them not only to attack many of the larger quadrupeds, but even man himself. In this island they are happily not so numerous as in many other countries, but, owing to the prevalence of a few species, the annoyance they occasion to cat- tle is by no means inconsiderable. Of the six genera found in Europe, three only have hitherto been detected in Britain. These may easily be distinguished by the following modifications in the structure of the antennae. Two lowest joints of the antennae somewhat 5-ringed...... TABANUS. cup-shaped and unequal ; third joint........... 0 4-ringed...... HasMATOPOTA. Two lowest joints of the antennae cylindrical and equal......... CHRYSOPS, 360 Descriptions of British Diptera. Genus TABANUS. Antennae as long as the head, approximating at the base curved outwards anteriorly, three-jointed ; first joint thick and cup-shaped, second, small and depressed, third, large and thick, imperfectly crescent-shaped at the base, and narrowing gradually to a point, the upper portion divided into four distinct rings, (Fig. 2 ;) trunk horizontal in the male, perpendicular in the female: palpi con- spicuous and exserted, two-jointed, first joint short and clothed with long hairs, second capitate in the male, long and attenuated in the female, (Fig. 1, a) ; labium large, fleshy, and cylindrical, termi- nating in two long hollow lobes, (Fig. 1. g.) ; labrum long, lanceolate, acute, (Fig. Ist. 6.) mandibles and maxille (the latter wanting in the male,) lanceolate and slender (Fig. 1.c. and d.) ; tongue narrow and pointed, (Fig. 1 e.) ; head transverse, as broad as the thorax, rounded anteriorly, but flattened and somewhat concave behind, and attached to the thorax by a short slender neck : ‘eyes contiguous in the male, a little remote in the female; the facettes largest on the ‘upper side in the former sex: ocelli wanting; thorax ovate qua- drate ; abdomen inclining to conical in the male, wider and de- pressed in the female ; wings half-open when at rest, furnished ‘with three discoidal cells ; winglets large and circular: tarsi with the radical joint longest, the pulvilli conspicuous, and distinctly three-lobed. The Tabani are known in this country by the names of Breeze and Horse-fly. They appear to be the insects called Cstrus by ‘the Greeks, and Asilus by the Romans, and are frequently alluded to under these names by the ancient poets on account of the terror they occasioned among cattle. They are of strong and robust forms, generally somewhat above the middle size, one of the species being the most bulky of the European Diptera. The prevailing colours are somewhat obscure, with the exception of the eyes, which are of great brilliancy, and often ornamented with rays and spots of crim- son and purple. They first appear in the month of June, but are seldom in full force till the middle of autumn. They delight in warm and sultry weather ; are most active on the wing during the Descriptions of British Diptera. 361 heat of the day, and are therefore most troublesome to cattle and beasts of burden where they stand most in need of repose. They are particularly excited and eager for blood when the atmosphere is in a warm and humid state, such as it usually is after a thunder shower. It is invariably observed to be the females that attack animals, the males being usually found on flowers from which they extract the juices ; * both sexes, indeed, have been known to feed on a saccharine liquid. ‘The quantity of blood which they can gorge is much more considerable than might be supposed from the size of the body, as the latter, after a full meal, becomes dilated beyond its usual dimensions. Several of them attack indiscriminately many different kinds of the larger quadrupeds, especially the ruminants, but others, like the Cistri, more particularly attach themselves to certain species. Thus, the rein-deer has a winged parasite appro- priated almost exclusively to itself; and it is not improbable that a more extensive knowledge of the history of these flies would make us acquainted with others equally restricted in the choice of their victims. The oral organs of the Tabani are very highly developed, consti- tuting an apparatus for extracting the blood, of a somewhat com- plex structure, but admirably adapted to the purpose. It resembles a case of lancets, having all the parts so formed and adjusted to each other, that they serve at the same time to pierce the skin, and to form a tube for the passage of the fluid. Although so dissimilar in shape, these parts are found to correspond in number and situa- tion to the oral appendages of the Coleoptera. The concave lobes of the lip probably enable the insect to attach itself firmly, and to render the apparatus steady ; while the palpi are useful in divid- ing the hair, and form a kind of protecting sheath for the other parts when they are unemployed. In substance the pieces are so stiff and horny, that they easily make their way through the hard- est and coarsest hide. These insects deposit their eggs in the earth. The larva of one of the species, (7°. bovenus) has been figured and minutely described by De Geer. It is long, cy- lindrical, and rather slender, narrowing at the head into an elongated cone, and bear- ingmuchresemblance tothose of some of the larger Tipuli- dz which live in the earth. * The same fact has been noticed in relation to the respective sexes of ya- rious Culices, and some other sanguisugous species. 362 Descriptions of British Diptera. The body is divided into twelve rings, the anal one being very minute and resembling a tubercle, (Fig. 1.) The head is pro- vided with two short antenne and several minute organs, among which the most conspicuous are two scaly hooks, which it employs in opening a passage for itself in the earth, and in aiding its mo- tions. The latter, however, are chiefly accomplished by means of numerous retractile tubercles placed on a dark-coloured band encircling most of the segments, which, by their pressure against the plane of position, preserve the space gained by the elongation of the rings. With the exception of the bands just mentioned, the colour is dirty white, the head brown and shining. The pupa is nearly cylindrical, of a greyish-brewn colour, the segments fringed on the posterior margins with grey hairs (Fig. 2.) The anal seg- ment is small, and armed with six sharp scaly points, (Fig. 3.) which seem to enable the pupa to push its head above the surface of the soil, as it is always observed to do, while the lower portion remains imbedded.* The species of this genus hitherto recorded as British, form but a small proportion of such as are known to inhabit corresponding latitudes on the continent, and it may therefore be expected that considerable additions will yet be made to them. Meigen de- scribes forty-two. TaBANUS BovINUs. (s.) Tab. bovinus, Linn. De Geer, vi. 219. pl. 12, fig. 10 and 11; Fabr. Meigen. ii. p. 43. Wood’s Illus. pl. 60. Ground colour brownish-black ; eyes brassy-green during life ; antennae blackish at the tip, and inclining to ferruginous at the base ; hypostome, forehead, and all the oral organs, except the la- bium, greyish-yellow: thorax with several depressions on the sur- face, clothed with yellowish-grey hairs, and having indistinct dark- coloured longitudinal stripes: scutellum and abdomen of the same colour as the thorax: hinder edge of the abdominal segments with a reddish-yellow band, variable in breadth, and a whitish tri- angular spot in the middle of each: under side covered with cinere- ous pubescence inclining to yellow, each abdominal segment with a rather large semicircular black spot in the centre, and a narrow oblique black line on each side of it: thighs and tarsi blackish : tibie yellowish-white, more orless dusky at the apex: wings brown- ish, the costal and discoidal nervures yellowish-brown ; winglets and halteres brown. Length 10—124, breadth 4—4? lines. * De Geer, Vol. vi. 214. 3 Descriptions of British Diptera. 363 This conspicuous insect, by far the most bulky of our native Dip- tera, is found occasionally in moorland and uncultivated districts, apparently in most parts of Britain. In Scotland it seems to be of more frequent occurrence in the Highlands than in the southern counties ; although numerous specimens have been obtained from the latter. <‘‘ Sutherlandshire,” James Wilson, Esq. ‘“ Glen Clova,” HH. C. Watson, Esq. ‘‘ Cardoness, Kirkcudbrightshire.” ‘ Monks- wood, Hunts,” Charles C. Babington, Esq. ‘“ Not uncommon in Cambridgeshire,” Rev. Leonard Jenyns. “ Ireland,” d. H. Hali- day, Esq. TABANUS AUTUMNALIS. Linn. Fabr.—Tab. bovinus, Harris’ Expos. 27. pl. vii. fig. 1.; Geoff: ii. 460. pl. 17, fig. 2.; Meig. ii. 39. Considerably less than the preceding, seldom exceeding eight or nine lines: hypostome and palpi light grey, the forehead of the fe- male nearly white with a black line down the middle, dilated be- neath into a shining callosity : antenne black; eyes in the male with a dark line in the middle: thorax pretty thickly clothed with hairs, brownish-grey, with four dark brown longitudinal lines: ab- domen greyish-white, with reddish brown reflexions in the male, the first segment brown, the others marked with four series of dark quadrate spots placed obliquely ; underside of the abdomen light-grey, inclining to red in the male, with a broad central black stripe, and the segments edged behind with white: thighs black ; tibiz brown, with the base white, nearly all white in the female ; tarsi dark-brown ; halteres and winglets brownish-grey, the former with the knob white: wings light grey, the nervures dark brown. 3-9 lines. Of occasional occurrence in many parts of the country. ‘ Near London.” Stephens’s Catal. ‘‘ Cambridgeshire, but less abundant than Tabanus bovinus.” Rev. Leonard Jenyns. TABANUS MICANS. Meig.—Tab. austriacus, #ab.—Tab. niger, Donovan. xvi. pl. 564. Black ; hypostome with grey pubescence ; palpi and antenne pitch- brown ; eyes green, with three purple bands, at least in the female ; the forehead of the latter grey, with a black spot at the base and vertex, and a longitudinal line of the same colour between them: thorax blackish, with very indistinct light coloured lines, the surface thinly clothed with greyish pubescence: abdomen black both above and beneath, with bluish reflexions ; the surface of the first segment with a white pubescent spot on each side, the following segments like- 364 Descriptions of British Diptera. wise with a white spot on each side, having a faint bluish reflexion, and a white triangular point in the centre ; the hinder margin is like- wise narrowly edged with white: legs black; the anterior tarsi of the male with fascicles of rather long hairs on the outer side ; hal- teres nearly the colour of the abdomen; winglets paler; wings greyish brown, the anterior margin, stigma, and transverse nervures somewhat darker. 7 lines. A scarce species ; it has been found in the London district. TaBANUS VITTATUS. Fab. Meig. Zwei. ii. p. 40. Prevailing colour dusky brown ; antennw grey at the base, the terminal joint rufous ; hypostome greyish ; forehead likewise of that colour, the vertex pale brown : thorax thickly covered with yellowish grey pubescence, slate-grey, with a wide brown line in the centre extending over the scutellum, and another on each side somewhat interrupted in the middle ; sides of the scutellum slate-grey, the surface pubescent like the thorax : abdomen blackish-brown, clothed with short yellowish pubescence, and two greyish-white stripes, ex- tending from the base to the apex : underside ash-grey, the abdo- minal segments narrowly edged with yellow: thighs cinereous, ti- biz and tarsi yellowish : wings greyish, with dark-brown nervures ; halteres grey, with the stalk yellow. 5 lines. The only notice of the occurrence of this species in Britain which we have seen is that sent us by Mr Babington, who states that he found it in Monkswood, Hunts, June 17, 1828. TaBANUS TARANDINUS. (8S?) Hypostome brownish-yellow, with a shining black point in the centre : antenne rufous, the palpi rather paler, with the apex brown : forehead of the female rufescent, having a black spot on the crown, a larger one in the middle, and three others over the base of the an- tenne: ground colour of the thorax black, the surface clothed with reddish-yellow hairs: abdomen deep black, with a band of golden- yellow hairs across the hinder margin of each segment, the bands widening gradually on the hinder segments till they nearly cover the surface ; underside of the abdomen likewise with yellow bands, but narrower than those of the surface, the first segment entirely black: halteres brown ; winglets yellowish ; wings pale brown, the anterior margin and nervures brown, the latter margined with a paler colour: legs rufous, the thighs almost entirely brown. 9 lines. The native country of this species is Lapland, where it is said to Descriptions of British Diptera. 365 be very troublesome to the rein-deer. It has been long included in our British catalogues, but we have never seen any particular loca- lity cited for it. It is most likely to occur in the north of Scotland. TABANUS BROMIUS. Tab. maculatus, De Geer.—Tab. autumnalis, Harris’ Expos. pl. vii. fig. 4. Blackish ; palpi, hypostome, and forehead nearly white, the lat- ter in the female with a square glabrous black spot at the base, and a line of the same colour in the centre ; the crown black; antenne testaceous, the apex more or less dusky ; eyes green with a trans- verse band of bright purple: thorax marked with five whitish lines, the hairs grey on the back, but inclining to yellow on the sides ; ab- domen with three series of yeliow or greyish spots, the dorsal spots triangular, the lateral ones rhomboidal or oval, and placed near the hinder margin of the segments ; the latter with a white edging ; underside of the abdomen greyish-yellow with a broad black band, the hinder margins of the segments paler: thighs grey ; tibiz tes- taceous with the extremity dusky ; tarsi black ; wing slightly ting- ed with grey ; halteres white at the extremity, the rest black. 6-7 lines. Of occasional occurrence in many parts of the country. “ Near London,” Steph. Catal. ‘ Monkswood and the neighbourhood of Bath,” Charles C. Babingion, Esq. TABANUS MONTANUS. Meig. Zwei. u. 55. ‘© Hypostome and palpi yellow ; forehead nearly ferruginous, with a shining black semicircular callosity, a black line above it, and a shining point of the same colour on the crown ; the space between this point and the line linear and of a reddish-brown colour : anten- ne black, the first joint cinereous, the third inclining to testaceous at the base: thorax blackish-brown, with indistinct greyish lines ; sides of the breast ash-grey : abdomen brownish-yellow both above and below with a broad black line in the centre, which on the up- per side bears a series of yellow triangular spots, and beneath is sometimes mixed with yellow ; the hinder margins of the segments are also faintly edged with yellow: eyes with three purple arches, the uppermost extending across the middle: winglets brownish ; halteres brown, the apex nearly white: wings clear, with the ner- vures reddish-brown : fore-legs with the thighs black, the anterior half of the tibiz ferruginous, the hinder part brown: tarsi black ; hinder legs with the thighs grey, tibie ferruginous with the tip brown, tarsi dark brown. 73 lines.” 366 Descriptions of British Diptera. In the want of specimens of this insect, the above translation has been given of Meigen’s description. It appears to be everywhere a scarce species, but it has been taken in different parts of England. Mr Stephens indicates it in his Catalogue as inhabiting the vicinity of London. TABANUS LURIDUS. (s.) Fallen, Dipt. Suec. 5,4.—Meig. Zwei. ii. 55. Palpi and hypostome greyish-brown, inclining to yellow in the female ; eyes brassy green, with three purple bands, the upper one abbreviated and placed near the middle ; forehead of the fe- male greyish, with a shining callosity at the angle of the eye, a smaller one on the crown, and a short black ridge in the space be- tween them ; two lowest joints of the antenne blackish, the third ferruginous, with the tip black: thorax and abdemen shining black with dark-ccloured pubescence, the former brownish on the sides, the latter having a ferruginous spot, with whitish reflexions, on each side of the three first segments, the anterior ones generally largest, and two or three faint triangular dorsal marks, the hinder margin of the posterior segments narrowly edged with white: un- derside of the abdomen ferruginous, the base and anus black ; hal- teres dark-brown, the knob white ; wings pale brownish-grey ; some of the costal nervures edged with brown: thighs and tarsi black, the tibie testaceous with the tip dusky, the posterior fringed ex- ternally with black hairs. 6-7 lines. Not of unfrequent occurrence. “‘ Near London,” Stephens’s Catal. «* Sutherlandshire and vicinity of Jardine Hall, Dumfries-shire,”’ Sir William Jardine, Bart. TABANUS SOLSTITIALIS. Meig. Zwei. ii. 56. This species approaches so closely to the foregoing as to afford reason for supposing that it is merely a variety. ‘The prineipal dif- ferences consist in the colour of the antennz, which are rufous with a small portion of the tip black, and in the under side of the abdo- men, which has the first four segments entirely rufous, and the re- mainder black. The rufous marks on the sides of the abdemen are rather large, pale reddish-yellow, with a whitish play of colour: legs dark brown, with the tibiee reddish-yellow, the apical half of the anterior pair brown. 54 lines. Has been found in the London district, but no notice has appear- ed of its occurrence elsewhere in Britain. Descriptions of British Diptera. 367 TABANUS TROPICUS. (s.) Linn. Fabr. De Geer vi. pl. 12, fig. 15-22. Samouelle’s Comp. pl. 9, fig. 4. Meig. Zwei. ii. 61. Harris’ Expos. pl. vii. 2 ¢. Palpi and hypostome dark grey in the male, yellowish-grey in the female, the forehead of the latter yellow, with a black callosity at the base, a narrow black line in the middle, and a shining point of the same colour on the crown ; antennz ferruginous, the apex dark brown : eyes green, with three transverse rays of purple : tho- rax shining dark brown, with indistinct dorsal grey lines, the pu- bescence in the male nearly black on the back, and brown on the sides, but entirely ferruginous in the female ; abdomen black, the four first segments widely fulvous at the sides, with whitsh reflex- ions in the male, the centre with a dark stripe variable in breadth, sometimes bearing traces of a pale triangular spot at the hinder edge of the segments ; the latter edged with fulvous ; belly fulvous, dusky behind, the hairs round the sides black in the male, fulvous in the female: thighs dark brown ; tibie ferruginous, the anterior brown before the middle, the others generally somewhat dusky at the apex, the intermediate pair with divergent hairs in the male ; tarsi black ; winglets yellowish-brown, halteres dusky, the extremity of the knob white ; wings pale brownish-grey, the anterior margin and nervures yellowish-brown. 73—8 lines. This handsome species, which is one of the most common belong- ing to the genus in many of the more northern parts of the conti- nent, is found occasionally throughout Britain, but is probably more plentiful in Scotland than in the southern districts of the island. «< Near London,” Stephens’s Catal.“ Cramond, near Edinburgh,” Rev. William Little. “ Near Berwick,” Dr Johnston. «*« Roxburgh- shire, and Pentland Hills,’ Mr Duncan. “ Cardoness, Kirkcude brightshire.” TABANUS RUSTICUS. (S.) Fabr. Gmelin, Panzer, Fauna Germ. xiii. 21. ; Meig. Zwei. ti. 60. Male: blackish, covered with yellowish-grey hairs ; hypostome and palpi light yellowish-grey ; antennz pale ferruginous, with the apex dusky ; eyes of a uniform pale green colour ; thorax and ab- domen densely clothed with whitish-grey hairs, sometimes inclining to yellow ; breast and anterior portion of the belly light slate-grey, the hinder part of the latter dull yellow : thighs grey, black at the extremity ; tibiz yellow ; anterior tarsi black, the hinder pair yel- low with the apex black ; wings hyaline, the exterior border tinged with yellow. Female: forehead light yellowish-grey, with two shining black points, the upper one near the middle, and sometimes prolonged be- 368 Miscellanea Soologica. hind into a short line ; eyes with an indistinct arched band near the inner side ; abdomen marked with four series of dark brown spots ; thighs entirely grey. 53—7 lines. One of the most common species inhabiting this country ; it is scarce, however, in Scotland. “Common in Cambridgeshire,” Rev. Leonard Jenyns. TABANUS FULVUS. Meig. Zwei. ii. 61.—Tab. alpinus, Shrank, Fauna Boica ; Curtis Brit. Ent. ii. 7-8, @.—Tab. sanguisorba, Harris’ Expos. pl. vii. fig. 3. About the size of the preceding or a little larger, brown, the whole body densely clothed with golden-yellow hairs ; palpi and hypostome ochreous, inclining to pale grey ; forehead of the fe- male yellow, with a minute black spot near the middle ; antenne entirely ferruginous ; eyes greenish, darker on the under side ; tho- rax and abdomen dusky brown covered with thick-set shining gold- en-yellow hairs, the abdomen with a fulvous spot on each side, ex- tending from the first segment to the posterior margin of the third ; under side of the abdomen greyish-yellow ; legs fulvous ; anterior tarsi and apex of the tibiz black, posterior tarsi dusky towards the extremity ; halteres ochreous: wings yellow at the base and anteri- or margin, the sub-marginal cell with a rudimentary nerve. 63-7. (Woodcut, Fig. 3.) Has not been frequently noticed in this country, but as it is rather common in the northern parts of France, it may yet be found in some plenty. “ Two females were taken last autumn (1825) by Captain Blomer near Bideford, North Devon.”—Curtis, 1. c. “ Nor- wich,” J. L. Brown, Esq. (To be continued.) VII.— Miscellanea Zoologica. By Grorcre Jounston, M. D. Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. “« Si Commentariolos spectes, pro viribus egisse me Lectori facile persuade- bo. Nec laborem huncce meum defectibus laborare negabo. Modo ad augmen- tum Sciéntiz naturalis quedam notatu non indigna neque lectu injucunda con- tulisse dicar. Et hac ni fallor gloriola me exuet nemo. Descripsi quedam, et in posterum describam, apud auctores jam obvia, vel quia leviter adtigerunt illi, vel quod nova addenda habeo. Incognitarum tamen rerum pars major erit. Et in istis etiam que, nota prius, retracto, fere sine eorum que apud alios occurrunt repetitione, nisi ea ad rem necessaria sit, ago.” —Pallas, Misc. Zool. pref. ix. I,—An attempt to ascertain the British Pycnogonide. The resemblance which the individuals of this family have to the long-legged or “shepherd” spiders ( Phalangium ) ledthe earlier na- Miscellanea Zoologica. 369 turalists to classify them in one and the same genus, and it is suf- ficiently close to justify usin calling them Sea-spiders, were an En- glish name necessary for their identification. They are characte- rized by having a crustaceous slender body, not much thicker than the limbs, and which may aptly enough be compared to a short vertebral column, each segment representing a vertebra with its prominent lateral processes. This column is divided into five seg- ments only, which are so far anchylosed that their joints appear to admit of no motion upon one another, either to a side or perpendicu- larly : the anterior is rather the largest, and on its vertex there is a tubercle or small wart surmounted by four simple eyes placed in a square, but which are very difficult to detect in some of the spe- cies, if they are not actually wanting. I believe that this anterior segment is formed by the confluence of two—a cranial and thoracic, and in the Pycnogonum, the evidence of this division may be faint- ly traced. The cranial portion is sometimes lengthened out into the form of a neck and head, terminated with a short proboscis, but in others the proboscis springs directly from the truncate front into which it is inserted as in a socket. It is a tubular organ, of a crus- taceous texture, of extremely limited motion in a vertical direction, and with a simple round or trifid aperture at its apex, but in most of the genera the inferior sice is divided into two equal halves by a longitudinal line or plain suture. * Generally at the base of this proboscis we find a pair of mandibles formed of two joints, the ulti- mate armed with a pair of claws or pincers, one of the claws only moveable ; and in one genus there is in addition to these a pair of filiform articulated organs, which have been named the palpi. All these belong to the cranial segment, if it is allowable to speak of this as distinct. The thorax consists of four segments, including the cranio-thoracic ; and each of them supports a single pair of legs, articulated with the protuberant sides of the segments. The legs are all alike in form, and calculated solely for creeping ; they are eight-jointed, + and the tarsus is provided with one or two strong * Savigny says that in the terminal mouth we can scarcely perceive some traces of a lip and jaws,—and the manner in which the sentence is worded in- duces the belief that he could not discover any. Mém. sur les Anim. sans Vert. i. 55. The proboscis of a large species of Phoxichilus, from the Cape of Good Hope, appeared to be composed, says Latreille, of a lip, ofa tonguelet, and of two jaws, the whole soldered together. Hence the palpi belong to the jaws. —Cuvier, Rég. Anim. iv. 276. + The three basal joints constitute the core, the next the thigh, the two fol- lowing the tibia, the other two the tarsus, but this nomenclature is objection- able in as far as it isfounded onsome very doubtful analogies between the parts so named, and the corresponding parts of vertebrate animals. 370 Miscellanea Zoologica. claws, sometimes aided by smaller subsidiary ones moving in the same direction. The fifth segment is small or rudimentary, cylin- dric, without appendages of any sort, but perforated at the end with the anus, which is an oval perpendicular aperture with tumid lips: this segment is all that remains of the abdomen, which meets with its extremest reduction in this tribe of crustaceans. The Pycnogonidz are all marine animals. They conceal them- selves among sea-weed and corallines between tide-marks ; under stones within the lowest tide-line ; and they are occasionally dredg- ed from deep water. ‘Their motions are remarkably slow, and as it were painful to our apprehension ;—hence it is obvious that their prey must be either dead animal matter, or living animals as habe- tous and defenceless as themselves, an inference which is confirmed by the conformation of the oral organs. We are told that they live principally on the fish of bivalve shells,* which they insidiously enter as these lie gaping in their usual fashion when no danger threatens. Some assert that the Pycnogonum is parasitical on the whale, but perhaps the resemblance which this animal has to the Cyamus ceti + may have deceived the observers, and given rise to the remark, for it is certainly common on our shores where there are no whales; and Fabricius mentions that in Greenland it is found under stones on the shore, just as with us. The females are appa- rently fewer in number than the males, or are at least much seldomer met with: they are distinguished, as Baster first of all ascertained, by having a pair of spurious legs in addition to those common to both sexes, which originate from the inferior anterior margin of the first thoracic segment, and are appropriated to the purpose of helding and carrying the eggs. These are collected into globular masses en- veloped with a thin skin or membrane, each mass firmly adherent to the spurious or oviferous leg, and consisting of a congeries of nu- merous round ova. ‘There are several masses of these eggs in all the genera excepting Pycnogonum, in which the eggs form a single broad square membrane laid under the body. The changes which the individual may undergo from its birth to maturity are un- known. * “ Mytilorum testasque penetrat et exhaurit. J. G. Konig,”in Lin. Syst. Nat. 1025. Of his Pycnogonum grossipes, O. Fabricius says, “ Vescitur insectis et vermibus marinis minutis ; quod autem testas mytilorum exhauriat, mihi igno- tum est, dum nunguam intra testam mytili illud inveni, licet sit verosimile sa- tis.”—Faun. Groenl. 231. + This resemblance misled Fabricius when he put the Cyamus and Pycno- gonum in the same genus. Miscellanea About the size of the preceding species, or somewhat larger: hy- postome and forehead yellow, with black spots, as in C. cecutiens ; 456 Descriptions of British Diptera. antenne black, with the base yellow ; palpi testaceous: thorax and scutellum greyish, the former with three black lines on the back, and the sides yellow: abdomen yellow, the first segment black in the centre, the second with two connivent black spots of a triangu- lar shape, the remainder black, with a yellow posterior border, which is dilated in the middle and on the sides ; under side dull yellow, the base of the segments suffused with brown: thighs dark brown ; tibie rufous, the anterior with the upper half brown; tarsi like- wise rufous, the whole of the anterior pair and the apex of the joints in the rest dusky. Rather a scarce species, at least in the more northern parts of the country ; it is common in the north of France, and will pro- bably not be rare in some of the southern counties of England. «Occurs in Cambridgeshire, but is much less common than C. cecutiens.” Rev. Leonard Jenyns. “ Cambridge,” Charles C. Bab- inglon, Esq. ‘ Near Londen,” Stephens’s Catal. “Ireland.” A. HA. Haliday, Esq. CHRYSOPS PICTUS. 'Meig. Zwei. ii. 70. Macquart, Dip. du Nord de la France, 166.—Chry. viduatus, Var. Meig. Klass. i. 158, 2. Very similar to the foregoing, but differing in several important characters. Hypostome and forehead greyish-white, with several glabrous black spots, as in the other species ; palpi and antennae testaceous ; the terminal joint of the latter dusky, except at the base: thorax shining black, with three longitudinal greyish lines, the sides reddish ; scutellum black: abdomen with the first seg- ment yellow on the sides, and black round the scutellum; the second yellow, with a small triangular, or rather slightly lunate black spot on its middle; third yellow, with a transverse black fascia broadest towards the middie, but having its centre emar- ginate behind ; the remaining segments black, with the hinder mar- gin yellow: legs yellow, the thighs and last joints of the tarsi black. The wings do not differ much from those of C. cwcutiens, but the dark clouds are less opaque, particularly the apical one, and not covering so much of the wing. 44 lines. For a notice of this species, which we have now the pléasure to describe, for the first time, as a British insect, we are indebted to Charles C. Babington, Esq. who met with it in Monkswood, Hunts, June 23, 1829. The above description applies to the female only, the other sex does not appear to have hitherto been noticed by en- tomologists. Descriptions of British Diptera. 457 Genus HAXMATOPOTA, Meig. Antenne longer than the head, radical joint rather long and pu- bescent, elliptical in the males, subcylindrical in the females; se- cond joint short, cup- shaped, and pubescent ; third naked, elongate and tapering, divided in- to four rings, the first of which is longer than all the rest taken together, (Fig. 1;) palpi two- jointed and pubescent ; first joint short, second long and conical ; labrum narrow and pointed, nearly as long as the labium ; hypostome with an impressed cross line fust beneath the antenne, and a vertical one on each side ; eyes of the male meeting above, the forehead of the female very wide, (Fig. 4 ;) ocelli wanting ; thorax with a cross suture in- terrupted in the middle ; abdomen somewhat conical in the male ; winglets small, not covering the halteres ; tibia in the intermediate pair of legs, with two small spines at the tip ; wings lying along the body, and forming a kind of roof over it ; second submarginal cell, with the rudiment of a nerve at the base; the anal cell ex- tending to the inner edge, (Fig. 5.) The port of the wings, and their speckled appearance, distinguish these insects at first sight from the rest of the Tabanide. Very few kinds are known, and it is even probable that some of those now regarded as species, are not entitled to such a distinction. The fe- males are even more blood-thirsty than the rest of their tribe, and are often extremely troublesome both to men and cattle, particular- ly in warm showery weather, a circumstance which has caused the name pluvialis to be applied the most common species. The males are seldom seen, and their numbers seem to be remarkably few in proportion to those of the other sex. They appear to subsist en- tirely on the juices of flowers, and in conformity with their in- noxious habits, the oral organs are found to be much less deve- loped than in the female. The natural history of these insects in their early states is unknown. Fabricius states that the larve live in dung. H#&MATOPOTA PLUVIALIS (s.) Tabanus pluvialis, Zinn. Fabr. De Geer, tab. 13, fig. 1,2. Hemat. pluvialis, Meig. Latr. Fallen.— Reaumur, iv. pl. 18, fig. 1. Tab. hyeomantis ¢ Shrank. Female: eyes green, with transverse undulating purple-brown 458 Descriptions of British Diptera. bands ; antenne black, the base of the terminal joint sometimes yellowish, the two lower joints not very hairy, and varying some- what in their relative proportions:* palpi and hypostome light ash- grey, the latter with black points at the sides, and four remote black spots towards the middle, two of them deeply impressed, and placed at the lower end of the vertical line; forehead grey, with a smooth shining-black space just over the antenne, two velvety-black round- ed spots behind it, and a smaller one in the middle; the latter sometimes obsolete : thorax blackish-brown, with greyish-white lon- gitudinal lines, some of them having a whitish spot near the mid- dle; sides of the breast ash-grey, hairy : abdomen dark brown, the hinder margin of the segments, a dorsal line, and a series of faint spots on each side, light grey ; on each segment, beside the lateral spots, there is a short oblique line of small impressed points: un- der side brownish-grey ; thighs grey ; tibie black, reddish-yellow at the base in the anterior legs, and encircled with two broad rings of that colour in the others ; tarsi black, the radical joint reddish- yellow at the base, except in the fore-legs: halteres yellowish- white, the knob with a brown spot: wings greyish-brown, with a dark stigmatic spot, the surface variegated with numerous whitish spots and undulating lines, many of them circular, and one of them forming a short transverse band near the apex. (fig. 3.) Male: eyes greyish-green, the lower part purplish-brown, with undulating yellowish lines: forehead consisting of a small triangu- lar space, on which there is a callosity, and a grey dot: thorax and abdomen with similar markings to those of the female, the three first segments of the abdomen spotted at the outer side with tawny yellow. This insect occurs in great plenty throughout Britain and Ire- land. In Scotland it is called the Cleg, or Gleg,a term derived from the Danish word klaeg. It is by far the most troublesome of the Ta- banidz, both on account of its numbers, and its persevering and incessant attacks. The great variations in the proportions of the joints of the antenne, have been thought to indicate distinction of species, and several have accordingly been established. But this circumstance alone is obviously insufficient, in this instance, to be assumed as a satisfactory proof of specific difference, for the varia- tions seem to be almost without end. Thus, the H. equorum of * The radical joint has frequently a constriction towards the apex, sometimes so strongly marked as to present the appearance of a separate articulation. | It was no doubt this circumstance that deceived Reaumur, and led him to represent the antennae as 4-jointed.— See Vol. iy. pl. 18, fig. 2. Contributions to the Natural History of Ireland. 459 Fab. has assigned as its characters the thickness of the lower joints of the antenne, with the addition, “ nigricans, abdominis segmen- tis tribus anticis lateribus rufis, alis albo-punctatis ;” properties which are common to nearly all the males of H. pluvialis. A small and dark-coloured variety has been named by Mr Curtis H. hirsuta, in regard to which, however, it is worthy of remark, that both sexes have occurred, a female having been taken by Mr Dale near Loch Rannoch in July 1825. H. Jtalica, figured by Mr Curtis, from its superior size, looks more distinct ; it was taken at Southend, Mer- sey Isle, Essex, by Mr Churchill. Numerous other modifications in the appearance of this fly might be mentioned ; but it is better to consider this tendency to variation as part of its specific cha- racter, than to indicate the varieties as essentially and permanently distinct. It might be worth while, however, to examine the eyes in living specimens, as any marked dissimilarity in the colour and markings of these organs would afford more distinctive and satisfac- tory characters than any hitherto detected. (To be continued.) 1X.— Contributions to the Natural History uf Ireland. By Wi- LIAM ‘THompson, Esq. Vice-President of the Natural History Society of Belfast. No. I. Sterna stolida.—Larus Sabiniu.—Cygnus Benickii. * STERNA sTOLIDA, Linn. In March 1833, when looking over the’ collection of Irish birds belonging to Thomas W. Warren, Esq. of Dublin, I perceived, to my great surprise, amongst them (though passing merely under the name of Black Tern, on account of the dark hue of its plumage,) a specimen of the Sterna stolida. On being informed that this bird ‘had been received as Irish from William Massey, Esq. of the Pi- geon-House, and that his collection contained a second specimen, I waited on this gentleman to make inquiry respecting them. In May 1834 he informed me, that in the summer about four years since, he was favoured with the two specimens in question by the captain of a vessel, who stated that they had been shot in his pre- sence a few days before, between the Tusker Light-House, off the coast of Wexford, and Dublin Bay. That only a few days had ‘elapsed since these birds were killed was apparent, not only to Mr Massey himself, (who, from occasionally preserving birds for his * Part of a paper read before the Linnean Society of London on April 15 and June 3, 1834. 460 Contributions to the own collection, is conversant with such subjects,) but te Mr Glen- nan, the bird-preserver, by whom they were set up. Their having been skinned by an unskilful person, who left some of the flesh ad- hering to the skin without applying any preservative to it, proved their comparatively recent state to more than one sense. The history of these birds, as just given, was related to me when I first saw them ; but I did not feel myself warranted in thus bring- ing it forward, without having the direct testimony of Mr Massey. Both specimens are in mature plumage. This is, I believe, the first record of the occurrence of the S. stolda in Europe. Larus SABINII. On the present occasion I have not only the high satisfaction of enriching the British Fauna, by adding to it the beautiful Larus Sabinii, so lately discovered, but of describing the species in the plumage of the first year, in which attire it has never come under the inspection of the ornithologist. ‘The bird now exhibited was shot in Belfast Bay, on the 18th September 1822, by the late John Montgomery, Esq. of Locust Lodge, who carefully preserved it, under the impression that it was an individual of the closely allied species Larus minutus, by which name it was distinguished, when presented in April 1833 to the Natural History Society of Belfast. Mr Montgomery informed me, that from the diminutive size, &c. of this bird when first seen by him, he had no doubt of its rarity. It was so unwary as to alight once or twice within twenty yards of him ; but, to avoid disfiguring it, he fired from so great a distance, that it was only at the third shot eventually obtained. That the species is regardless of the report of a gun, was witnessed by Cap- tain Sabine in its breeding haunts, within the arctic circle, as he states, that “‘ when one bird of a pair was killed, its mate, though frequently fired at, continued on wing close to the spot where it lay.” Although the Larus Sabiniu closely approximates the Larus mi- nulus in general appearance, the plumage of the first year, as well as that of maturity, being very similar in both species, the superior size of the L. Sabinii, its tail being forked to the depth of an inch, and the comparatively greater length of its tibia and tarsus, may always (even in a preserved state) afford sufficient specific distine- tion. In the form of the tail, the L. Sabini approaches the typical species of Sterna more nearly than its congener, the L. minutus. The latter, however, resembles that genus more in the form of the bill, and in the dimensions of the tarsus and tibia. In this specimen of the L. Sabinii, in the autumnal plumage of the Natural History of Ireland. 461 first year, the forehead, space immediately above the eye, and be- tween it and the bill, (with the exception of the narrow line of greyish-black closely encircling the front and lower part of the eye,) upper part of the throat, and sides of the neck are white ; crown, nape, and back of the neck, blackish-grey ; back, scapulars, greater and lesser wing-coverts, blackish-grey, tinged with yellowish-brown, the extremity of every feather varying from greyish-white to white, as it approaches the tail ; under part of the throat and upper part of the breast, pale ash-colour ; lower breast and all the under plum- age, white ; shafts of the first 6 primaries brownish-black at base, becoming gradually darker towards the extremity, where they are black in the first 3, but in the 4th, 5th, and 6th assimilate in co- lour to the feather at that part, which is white ; the entire of the outer webs of the first 5 black ; the inner webs, with a broad edging of white, to within from one to two inches of the end, which part is black in the first 3, but tipped with white in the 4th and 5th ; in the 6th the inner web is white, the outer black, excepting for three or four lines from the tip, where it is white, and again, at about an inch from the end, where a white spot of an oval form ap- pears. * Feathers of the tail 12 in number, white, with black tips ; in the two shortest the latter colour extends upwards of an inch from the end, in the outer web especially ; of the other feathers, the black prevails in a less degree as they increase in length ; upper and under tail-coverts white. Length, (total) - - - 12 inches. 0 lines. of tail, = a : 4 wing from carpus to end of Ist quill, J bill from forehead to point, - bill from rictus to point,’ - - 0 0 1 tibia bare of feathers from the tarsal joint for 0 tarsus, - - = 1 1 1 0 0 1 — onmpnom ey pOoerooe © middle toe and nail, = te outer toe and nail, = és inner toe and nail, = & hinder toe + and nail, = s Depth of fork of tail, = 2 de ol we In the museum of the Royal Dublin Society, I lately observed, * This marking of the 6th primary is just the opposite of that observed by Mr Sabine in some mature specimens, in which its prevailing colour was white, “* with sometimes a black spot near the end.” Dr Richardson has remarked, in the Fauna Bor. Amer., that this primary is subject to variation. + This is placed so high that the point of the nail does not reach within 11 lines of the ground. 4.62 — Contributions to the without having any label attached so it, a second specimen of Larus Sabina. Upon inquiry from Mr Wall, the very obliging curator (who treasured the bird as a rarity, though he had not ascertained its species,) I learned that it had been shot by himself in Dublin Bay, near to Kingstown, a few years before, but he could not recol- lect at what season. ‘The stage of plumage, however, affords sufli- cient evidence that it was killed in autumn, being a bird of the first year, and similar in appearance to the specimen in the Belfast Museum. The occurrence of only two specimens of this Gull within the Eastern Hemisphere, has hitherto been recorded, both of which were obtained by Captain Sabine at Spitzbergen. Cyenus Bewicku, Yarr. In the winter of 1629-30, a specimen of the Cygnus Benicki, shot, I believe, in Lough Neagh, was brought to Belfast market. ‘It was purchased for the Natural History Society of that town, and set up for their museum, the sternum, trachea, &c. being carefully preserved. In February 1830, a flock containing seven of these swans alighted in a flooded meadow near Belfast, when they were shot at, and two of them so disabled by the one discharge, as to be after some difficulty secured. They were bought by my friend William Sinclaire , Esq. ; and on their wounds being found so trivial, as merely to incapacitate them from flight, were placed in his aquatic mena- gerie, where, in company with many other species of wild fowl, chiefly Anatidw, they have ever since remained. On March 13, 1830, another specimen of C. Bewicki appeared in our market, and met with a purchaser in my friend Richard Langtry, Esq., who has it preserved in his collection. On a comparison of the first mentioned individual, with the de- scription of Cygnus Bewickiit by Mr Yarrell,* Mr Selby, + and Sir William Jardine, { I found the internal structure to agree, but in the external characters, there was one important difference, the number of tail-feathers being 20 instead of 18, as specified by these distinguished ornithologists. The result of this discrepancy induced me in February last to examine Mr Sinclaire’s birds, which I did, with the assistance of that gentleman. These individuals differed from the descriptions above referred to in the following * Linnean Transactions, Vol. xvi. p. 445. et seq. + Illustrations of British Ornithology, letter-press to, pro tempore, p. 119. { Jardine and Selby’s Illustrations of British Ornithology, part 6. Natural History of Ireland. 463 characters:—In the number of tail-feathers, which in both birds amounted to 20;* in the irides, those of both birds being blackish instead of orange-yellow. The feathers on the forehead and region of the eyes were white, though the plumage of these parts was of arust colour when the birds were captured. The two preserved specimens also have this rust colour about the head, but do not, like the immature birds described by Mr Yarrell, exhibit the least ap- pearance of it on “ the under surface of the belly.” This part of the plumage being white, hence we may conclude, that the speci- mens under consideration were older than those so described by that gentleman, and that the head of the C. Bemicki retains the reddish plumage for a longer period than the under parts. Mr Yarrell has correctly remarked, that the plumage of the C. Bemicku is “ ul- timately pure white ;’ but Sir Wm. Jardine and Mr Selby have as- sumed that the ferruginous markings on the head are permanent, as they are thus described in their specific characters of this swan, «« fronte genisque ferrugineo maculatis.” In one of the living birds there is not even, up to the present time. the slightest appearance of a tubercle or knob at the base of the upper mandible. This swan seems to be a female ; her neck, whether on land or water, is always borne in such a manner as to appear much shorter than that of her companion: the yellow of her bill also is of a pale lemon-colour, whilst that of the other bird is orange: there are also such other differences observable as serve to distinguish the sexes of swans and geese in a living state. In conclusion, I shall only remark, that these swans were similar in length and breadth, each being 3 feet 10 inches from the point of the beak to the extremity of the tail, and 6 feet 4 inches across the wings: that the tubercle on the bill of the assumed male has not during four years increased in size ; and that this ridge of the upper mandible in the assumed female is black from base to point, a small patch of pale-yellow, irregular in outline, appearing on the sides only of that mandible, about 3 lines from the base ; the yellow colour is indeed differently disposed on the bills of all the four specimens. Mr Sinclaire informs me, that every spring and autumn since he has had these swans, they have regularly, about the months of March and September, become very restless, and for the period of at least three weeks, have wandered from the enclosure within which they are contented to remain all the rest of the year. In disposi- * In the Fauna Bor. Amer. part 2, p. 465, a specimen killed at Iglvolik is described as having 18 tail-feathers, and the irides of an orange colour. 464 Contributions to the tion, they are timid and extremely gentle, and never attempt to molest any of the wild fowl confined in the same pond with them, though all of these are their inferiors in strength and size. Their call, chiefly uttered at the migratory periods, is a low deep-toned whistle, once repeated. On the water, the carriage of the Cygnus Bewickii is intermediate in its character between that of the mute swan and common goose ; but if these birds exhibit not the grace and majesty of the former on this element, they appear to much more advantage on the land, where, by choice, they spend the greater portion of their time. The Museum of the Royal Dublin Society contains a specimen of the Cygnus Bewicki (though not so labelled) which was shot in November 1830, on the west of Ireland. it exhibits the rust-co- lour on the head, indicative of immaturity. In the collection of William Massey, Esq. of the Pigeon House, Dublin, I recognized another individual of this species, in the immaculate plumage of maturity. This was, along with a second specimen, killed by Mr Massey, out of a flock of five, in Dublin bay, on the 18th December 1829. The Cygnus Benickit has not before been recorded as oc- curring in Ireland. I subjoin the following notes, made subsequent to June 3, 1834, when the last part of this paper was read : Larus SABINII. « A third specimen of this bird occurred last autumn in Ireland. It was shot on or about September 15, 1834, on the shore of Belfast Bay, near Claremont, the residence of Mr Clewlow, in whose pos- session it now is. It is a young bird of the year, and in plumage similar to the other two individuals of this species, which I had the satisfaction of announcing to the Linnean Society, last year, as having been obtained in Ireland.”* The dimensions of this bird, taken in the same manner, and compared with those of the indivi- dual above described, exhibit but one difference at all worthy of notice ; its first quill being longer than the second, though the se- cond slightly exceeds the first, in the latter specimen. Cyenus BEWICKII. June 1834. On a fine sheet of water, in the demesne of the Marquis of Sligo, at Westport, county of Mayo, I observed a swan * Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London for 1835, p. 83. Natural History of Ireland. 465 of this species, in mature plumage, but could not learn any parti- culars of its capture. January 5, 1836. William Sinclaire, Esq. informs me, that he heard of two “ strings” of wild swans, consisting of twenty-eight birds, having been seen yesterday at the bog-meadows, near Belfast ; and that he to-day saw a string of nineteen, flying with extreme slowness, from the direction of Belfast Bay, to the same place: from their call, though somewhat hoarser, being like that of the individuals in Mr Sinclaire’s possession ; and from their ap- parent similarity in size, he was fully satisfied that they were the Cygnus Benichir. Dublin, February 5, 1836. In a letter to me of this date, Ro- bert Ball, Esq. mentions having recently got three specimens of Cygnus Benickii ; two of which were shot in the county Fermanagh, and a third he bought in Dublin market ; along with the last, there was another exposed for sale, but he could not ascertain where they were killed. March 17, 1836. I examined a specimen of Cygnus Bewickii, which was shot at Lough Beg, adjoining Lough Neagh, on the 12th instant. Its length is 3 feet 9 in.; tail feathers 20; knob in bill very small ; feathers on forehead deep rust colour ; on sides of head tinged with pale rust-colour at their extremities ; tips of feathers on breast and entire under surface of belly of a rust-colour, so ex- tremely pale, as to have the appearance merely of being soiled ; bill pale orange on the ridge, as far as nostrils: on the sides, this colour advancing a little farther, thence to tip black. On dissection, it proved a female. Its stomach was filled with minute seeds and gra- vel. As I have, during the last two months, heard of flocks of wild swans being frequently seen on Lough Neagh, there is little doubt that they have been there since first observed in January, and that they will most probably remain until the period of their vernal mi- gration. The five remaining birds of the flock, out of which Mr Sinclaire’s specimens were obtained in 1830, went off in the direc- tion of Lough Neagh, and a similar number, presumed to be the same individuals, were a few days afterwards seen in the flooded meadows, where they had been fired at. This is mentioned, simply to show their continuance in the neighbourhood. Although the Cygnus Bemickii is considered to visit England less commonly than the Cygnus ferus, it is certainly of more fre- quent occurrence than this species in Ireland. 466 Description of two new species of Opuntia. X.— Description of two new species of Opuntia ; mith remarks on the Structure of the Fruit of Rhipsalis. By Rev. J. S. Henstow, M, A. Professor of Botany in the University of Cambridge. Sp.1. Opuntia Darninit,—prostrata, articulis globoso-ovatis, aculea- rum validioribus elongatis tricuspdiatis, floribus magnis solitariis. Plate XIV. Fig 1. Tur terminal articulation (the only one seen) globoso-ovate, with distant areole beset with short tomentum, and those towards the anterior extremity with four to six stiff spines of various lengths, of which the stoutest are one and a half inches long, evidently formed out of three combined, and whose points are free, so that the compound spine appears compressed and tricuspidate. They most- ly point forward,‘ but some spread in all directions. Flowers soli- tary, larger than the articulations which they terminate, yellow. Perianth of six whorls, each of five parts, gradually passing from the form of small fleshy bracteal scales to membranous petaloid seg- ments ; spirally arranged at somewhat more than the fifth of a cir- cle asunder, so as to form five distinct secondary spirals, correspond- ing to as many, formed by the areolz on the fleshy tube investing and surmountingtheovarium. These areole are placed upon slight tuber- cular elevations, each bearing a small fleshy bracteal scale, in whose axil’is a tuft of yellow tomentum, and those on the upper extremi- ty are also furnished with about half a dozen stiff acicular spines. The’segments of the perianth pass gradually from the ovate-apicu- late bracteal form of those in the outermost whorl to the cuneato- obcordate, and slightly mucronate petaloid form of those in the in- nermost, (Fig. 6.) Stamens numerous, covering the inner paries of the fleshy tube, (Fig. c.) Style remarkably stout, cylindrical, with nine thick ra- diating stigmata, reaching above the fleshy tube, and a little beyond the uppermost stamens. Ovarium, a’small cell, the width of the style, surrounded by the very thick fleshy walls of the lower part of tube or floral receptacle. The character of the herbage appears to agree with that of Caclus moniliformis, Lin., which De Candolle places in his division Opuntiacee of the genus Cereus; and of which division he says, “‘ An genus proprium inter Cereos ef Opuntias medium?” The flowers of our plant, however, are strictly those of an Opuntia. In assigning the character of “ tubum supra ovarium nullum” to Opuntia, De Candolle must consider the whole of the fleshy tubular portion of the receptacle to which the stamens are at- 4 Description of two new species of Opuntia. 467 tached as part of the evarium, which, inceed, it appears to be, when seen from the outside of the flower, but in a transverse section (Fig. c.) is evidently prolonged above it. /T have named this interesting Cactus after my friend C. Darwin, Esq. who has recently returned to England, after a five years ab- sence, on board his H. M.S. Beagle, whilst she was employed in surveying the southernmost parts of South America. The speci- men figured was gathered in the month of January, at Port Desire, lat. 47°. S.in Patagonia. He recollects also to have seen the same plant in flower as far south as Port St Julian in lat. 49°. S. It is a small species growing close to the ground on arid gravelly plains, at no great distance from the sea. The flowers had one day arrest+ ed his attention by the great irritability which their stamens mani- fested upon his inserting a piece of straw into the tube, when they immediately collapsed round the pistil, and the segments of the pe- rianth soon after closed also. He had intended to procure fresh specimens on the following day, and returned to the ship with the one now figured, but unfortunately she sailed immediately after- wards, and he was prevented from obtaining any more. ‘The geo- graphical position of this species is beyond the limits hitherto as- signed to any of the order, which are not recorded as growing much south of the tropic of Capricorn. The climate is remarkably dry and clear, hot in summer, but with sharp frosts during the winter nights. He found Cacti both abundant and of a large size, a little further to the north at Rig-Negro in latitude 41°. 8S. | Sp. 2. Opuntia galapageia.—articulis compressis (saltem junioribus) obovato-rotundis, aculeis setiformibus, longis, penicillatim dispo- sitis, lanugine supra ovarium densa. Plate XIV. Fig. 2. I am also indebted to Mr Darwin for this second Cactus, of which he brought home in a dry state the specimens here figured. He found it at the Galapagos islands, where it attains to the form of a tree, averaging from six to ten feet high, and about a foot in diame- ter, perfectly cylindrical or very slightly tapering. The bark is pale-coloured, and in old trees hangs in a ragged manner upon the trunk, which is covered with very strong sharp spines, five to ten of which are set in each fasciculus, in a radiatory manner. From the summit of the trunk numerous branches spread on all sides, somewhat in the manner represented by Fig. f,, taken from a very rude sketch of Mr Darwin’s. He states these branches to be composed of com- pressed, rounded, oval articulations, each of which is about one foot in length, wholly without the true spines found on the trunk ; but 468 Description of two new Species of Opuntia. with numerous scattered fasciculi of long elastic bristles strongly resembling hogs’ bristles. Flowers solitary small, like those of O. Hernandezii, a few toge- ther on the edges of the articulations, (Fig. 6 ) red, with the lanu- go in the areola on the ovarium dense, especially towards the upper parts, and with a dense tuft also surrounding its base. Outermost segmentsof the perianth somewhat scarious, cuneato-obcordate, with an apex, theinnermost membranaceous petaloid obovate, emarginate, with a slight mucro. Stamens very numerous and crowded, covering the whole inner surface of the tube. Style cylindrical, stout, (flex- uous ?) with eight stigmata, which are thick, erect, and closely ap- pressed. This species grows in the lower regions of James’s Island, one of the Galapagos, where the soil is extremely arid and rocky, and where it is the only plant of sufficient magnitude to afford any shade, the next in size forming nearly leafless bushes. The want of water is very great, and the succulent branches of these trees are eagerly devoured by the large tortoises from which the islands have received their name, by large lizards which also abound, and by va- rious other animals. Mr Darwin considers that they are occasionally furnished with a supply of this food from branches broken off by the wind. He found that lizards four feet in length were easily enticed, whenever he threw them a piece of a branch, and small birds would come within a few feet of him and peck at the one extremity, whilst the lizard was eating at the opposite end. Another Cactus was observed in these islands with the habit of Cereus peruvianus, but which does not attain to more than two or three feet in height. It is the first plant that takes possession of the newly formed beds of lava. Not finding it in fower, Mr Darwin did not preserve a specimen. Explanation of the Figures. Fig. I. (a) an articulation with a flower; (6) a petal; (c)a longitudinal section of the flower, shewing the position of the sta- mens, &c. All of the natural size. Fig. II. (a) part of a large articulation, with a young one at- tached to it ; (6) four flowers, one expanded, and three in bud, seated on the edge of an articulation ; (c) a longitudinal section ot a flower bud enlarged ; (d) a sepal or outer segment of the pe- rianth ; (e) a petal or inner segment ; (f) a rough sketch of a tree. All, except c and f, of the natural size. 3 Remarks on the structure of the Iruit of Rhipsalis. 469 On the Structure of the Fruit of Rhipsalis. The fruit of Rhipsalis has been considered to possess a different structure from that of all other Cactex, in having placentz in the axis of the -berry instead of on the paries, and the berry itself has also been considered as probably trilocular, whilst those of all other genera in the order are unilocular. Hence De Candolle has placed it in a separate tribe, his Rhipsalidew, expressing, however, some doubts about the accuracy of the observations upon which he has founded his arrangement. In his last memoir on the Cactee (1834,) he separates Rhipsalis salicornioides from the rest, under the generic name of Hariota ; and in that species he states that he had ascer- tained the ovary to be unilocular, and the placentz parietal. I have lately had an opportunity of examining the fruit of Rhipsalis cas- sytha in all stages of its growth, and can safely assert that both suppositions, of its beimg trilecular and having central placente, have originated in a mistake. When the fruit is ripe, the seeds are nestled in the midst of a very liquid pulp, and are no longer attached to any part; but in earlier stages of its growth, they are found to adhere in double rows upon three placentx, disposed lon- gitudinally on the paries. At first sight there is a deceptive ap- pearance of three dissepiments, or at least of three inwardly pro- jecting placentz, to the innermost extremities of which the seeds are attached ; but further examination shews this to arise, mere- ly from the close agglomeration of the funicular chords (see Fig. A,) which stretch from the paries towards the axis, and from whose extremities the [ ovules are suspended in a reversed position. The | placente themselves scarcely form any projection on the paries, as is very evident in some cases where many of the ovules have become abortive ; A and, indeed, several are so in all cases, and then appear as small brown spots attached to the paries. It seems to me likely that the watery pulp in which the seeds are nestled in this and other genera of the order is derived from the swper-developement of the cellular tissue of the funicular chords. The whole coat of the berry, form- ed by the union of the calyx tube and pericarp, is very succulent, but the intericr pulp is much more so ; and this does net appear any way connected with, or to originate from the inner coats of the pericarp, but in the way here suggested. Be this as it may, it is sufficiently evident that the ovary and fruit of Rhipsalis are strictly unilecular with parietal placenti, as in all other Cacteex, and, con- sequently, it is necessary that the tribe Rhipsalidew should be sup- pressed. NO. V. oh [lO sess REVIEWS AND CRITICAL ANALYSIS. Histoire Naturelle des Iles Canaries.—Par MM. P. BarKkeEr- Wess et SaBIn BERTHELOT. 4to. avec Atlas in Fol. Livs. i. vil. Paris, 1836. Tue Canary Isles are so frequently the first extra- European land which is visited by a traveller, either in the pursuit of commerce, or to explore the riches of nature, that we do not wonder at the delight and enthusiasm with which naturalists have landed on their shores, and enjoyed the few days which the farther pro- gress of the voyage would allow them to devote to their examina- tion. ‘To such feelings we are indebted for the glowing description which M. Humboldt has given us of his six days residence there, on his way to the sterner, and more stupendous scenery of the Andes ; and to such more lately, the rapture of D’Orbigny, while travers- ing their ravines before proceeding to the same regions. These is- lands have also been a favourite theatre for the experiments of many men well versed in the physical sciences, or attached to the history of the laws affecting the geographical distribution of plants. Their geography and history have received able contributions from Fuillée, George Glass, Bory de Saint Vincent, Cordier, and others ; while the short visit of Humboldt, and the residences of Broussonet and Von Buche, produced a mass of information of the utmost impor- tance, both to the above-mentioned branches and to their natural history. But the works of all these able men are scattered, and seem to have been severally conducted with no view to any general plan. The authors of the work whose title we have just quoted, on the other hand, possessed of all the knowledge which the researches of their predecessors could give, have undertaken a series of obser- vations, which time has enabled them to complete, and of which the commencement is given in the livraisons now before us. M. Berthelot arrived in Teneriffe towards the end of 1829, and, dur- ing a residence of ten years, explored the riches of the island, while at the same time he endeavoured to perfect the management of an accli- 4, : Histoire Naturelle des Iles Canaries. 47} matory garden, which he had been requested by the Marquis Villa Nueva del Prado to superintend. ‘This important object was frus- trated by an ill-natured jealousy and the spirit of party, which, though it rendered his attempts for that purpose unavailable, per- mitted him more leisure, which was profitably employed in researches through the island, In 1628 he was joined by Mr Webb, and the two following years were spent in exploring Teneriffe, and the ad- jacent Canaries. The plan of Webb and Berthelot’s, “ Histoire Naturelle des Isles Canaries,” is as tollows :—The work will form three quarto volumes, with figures on a similar scale, accompanied by a folio atlas, con- taining from twenty-five to thirty plates, and the whole number of plates engraved or lithographed will be about 300. The first volume (to be sold separately,) will contain a kind of historical mis- cellany,—the History of the Conquest of the Canaries, Statistical tables, &. The second volume will comprehend the Geography, Geology, and Zoology ; while in the third will be given the general Flora of the Canaries, their botanical geography and phytography. Fifty livraisons will complete the work, and two numbers are pub- lished monthly. It is with the zoology and botany that we feel most interested. The first we cannot now enter on, no part of the letter-press having yet appeared, and only one plate of the illustrations being publish- ed, a figure of Fringilla Teydea, w. and B. male and female; a lovely finch, and so far as we can judge from the well-executed fi- gures, joining the finches to the Tanagers by means of the birds al- lied to Tanagra episcopus. In the botanical portion we shall first speak of the plates of the phytographic department, or the figures of the species which have been thought worthy of illustration. (None of the descriptive letter- press has yet appeared.) These are engraved upon stone by M. Vielle of Paris, in a style of sharp boldness which could not be improved by the graver, while the details and characters are execut- ed with decision and botanical accuracy. The colouring is slight, but sufficient and clean, and as figures they will rank with the per- formances of masters of the science and the art. The Cistinew, Cru- cifere, Frankeniacee, Resedacee, Hypericinee, Malvacew, and Zygophyllew, have been already partly illustrated. The phytostatic branch of the work, to us the most interesting as perhaps comparatively the most novel, is much more diflicult, and requires a union of talent for its execution, which is not always to be found combined. We are happy, however, to think that some 472 MM. P. Barker Webb et Sabin Berthelot, travellers are following the hints which were given by Martius in his “‘ Palms,” and in his interesting plate of the “ interior of a Bra- zilian forest.” D’Orbigny has commenced this plan in his great work though only one plate has yet been given ; and in the publication before us we have already six views of some of the most prominent regional vegetations. There is something peculiar in the vegetation of every clime and country which stamps the landscape for its own, The deep and sombre gloom of the European pine forests, or the grander character of those of the new world. The “ gray old trunks that high in heaven mingle their mossy boughs,” the peculiarity of the carpet underneath, ‘‘ Beauty such as blooms not in the glare of the broad sun,” would form pictures strong in contrast with the rich and broad foliage of the tropics, their profuse blossoms and their’ gorgeous hues ; and which would show even a wider change if com- pared with the low vegetation of the far north ; clothing a view often boundless in extent with a uniformity of colouring, dark green and gloomy, or brown and sombre, and interrupted only by some pin- nacle of cold grey rock, or the icy glance of some distant water. In these landscapes, however, the general characters would be at once felt and caught, and the distinction could not fail to be marked ; but when the zonal plants of an island have to be characterized, the short and peculiar growth of the coast contrasted with those of higher regions, we find the artist at a loss and hampered, and the aid of the botanist required. Hence it is, that such views as we have now be- fore us, are of most diflicult execution, for while the vegetation must be the prominent feature in the landscape, it should not be such as to affect the harmony of the whole. This it never does in nature, and it is only when transferred to the canvass that the inferiority is per- ceived, and the difliculty of its execution ascertained. In the phytostatic views already published, though a great deal is sacrificed, and properly so, to the botanist, there is in some of them considerable merit as pictures, and no over obtrusion of the vegetation. We like No.1 and3 best. The first is a view of a mountainous coast, the rocks tufted with Euphorbia Canariensis and piscatoria, Kleinia neriifolia, whose rather stiff appearance is reliev- ed by the Plocama pendula. No.2, Vue dun Baranca, something in the same style of mountain and precipice, is curious, but not so much to our taste. It is a stiff landscape. But No. 3, “ Vue de grand ravin du Badajos,” with a little more force, would make a grand pic- ture, while the introduction of some wild animals, or the soaring of an accipitrine bird, (if such in reality abide there,) would give ex- Histoire Naturelle des Iles Canaries. 473 pression to the solitariness. he other three are interesting, but want force as landscapes ; and in No. 4, the interior of a forest, there is a want of richness as well as force, which we are certain the ori- ginal would admit of ; the great mass of vegetation in the centre is quite undefined. But we have another series of plates belonging to this part, and which are useful ; they are termed “ Facies,” and re- present small groups of plants on a considerable scale, illustrating their natural characters when growing together. These two series of views in combination give all that is desired, and we would only recommend to the artist to use a little more decision. Of the letter-press belonging to the botanical portion of this work, two chapters have been published, of which the first, devoted to the general vegetation of the Canary isles, “‘ Aspect général de la vegetation dans les Iles Canaries,” has been already well translated in Dr Hooker’s Botanical Miscellany, and will be found worthy of perusal where the original cannet be procured. We transcribe the opening paragraph, which will both exhibit a specimen of the style of the authors and explain some of the views which are entertained of the botany of the group. « Les Iles Canaries, par leur proximité des tropiques, se tiennent situées sous une des latitudes les plus favorable a la végétation ; leur climat se ressent a la fois de l’énergie de la zone torride, et de la fraicheur de la zone tempérée. La chaleur du soleil s'est combinée avec le principes le plus actifs pour feconder cette terre que les vol- cans semblaient avoir frappée de sterilité placées dans d’autres con- ditions d’existence, de nouveaux germes se sont développés ; se sol vierge s'est couvert des produits d’une flore spéciale, et plus tard les influences climatériques sont renues se préter a la naturalisation des planies des deux hemisphéres. Les espéces aborigénes qui appa- rerent spontanément dans ces iles Atlantiques, appartiennent la plu- part a des genres d’Europe, mais elles sont plus vivaces, plus lig- neuses, et souvent arborescentes. I] en est aussi d’autres qui ont d’autres formes et un autre aspect; plusieurs sont des monotypes de genres qui n’ont pas encore d’analogues, tandis que d’autres con- stituent des groupes d’espéces endémiques d’un facies remarquable. Parmi ces végétaux divers, ceux-ci sont empreints d’un caractére, Africain, et ceux la, quoique’n plus petit nombre, laissent déja en- turois quelques traits de la vegetation d’Amerique. Ainsi la flore Canarienne parait établir le passage des plantes des nos pays tem- pérés & celles des contrées intertropicales. Si lon a égard a la quantité des espéces locales, a la nouveauté de leurs formes a letran- geté de leur port, caractéres d’autant plus frappans qu’ils appartien- A474 MM. P. Barker-Webb et Sabin Berthelot, nent a la masse des plantes dominantes, l’archipel des Canaries merite bien le titre de Région bolanique.” In very many instances do these islands present most interesting subjects for the researches of the botanist and vegetable physiolo- gist. The mixture of species from a temperate clime with those of the tropics, as mentioned in our quotation, is important, but every island in the group presents something curious in the general as- pect of its vegetation; each may be said to possess a miniature Flora of its own; and there are in all, species, which are either peculiar, or are remarkable for their abundance in only one or two stations ; while the more that an advance is made towards the centre of the Archipelago, the richer does the Flora become in Canarian species. The western group of these islands differs very markedly from the eastern, and possesses some species quite exclusively. A new species of a Cape genus, Manulea Canariensis, w. and B., is esta- blished in the ancient crater of Bandama, and Commelina Canarien- sisis only found on the banks of the rivulets around Cuidad and Ter- ror. At Palma, the Umbilicus Heylandi, w. and B.,is found only in the pine woods of Barlavento. The Sempervivum Goochie, w. and B., grows only in the ravines of the eastern coast, while the Bethen- courtia Palmencis is almost concealed in the immense depths of the Caldera. The existence of these plants, and of many others in so- litary stations, seems quite inexplicable, and appears to be much in- fluenced by local circumstances of scil and atmosphere. “ Les lois de la repartition des germes sur la surface du globe, peuvent seul don- ner l’explication de ces bizarres anomalies: Mais ces lois se lient, aux causes premieres par lesquelles la nature agit secretement ; ce sont de principes qu'elle ne nous a pas réveles, et de long-temps, peut-etre, nous ne pourrons pas plus penétrer le mystere de ces crea- tions spontanées que celui de leur stabilite ou de leur migration.” The littoral aspect of Teneriffe, as well as that of Canaria, Palma, Gomera, and the “isle de Fer,” present as it were a bulwark of cliffs. ‘The plantsin these districts take root in the chinks, clothing the slopes and flats that surmount them. They are for the most part species with fleshy leaves, which imbibe the vapours of the atmo- sphere, or the exhalations from the sea-breeze. They belong to the Ficoidew, Chenopodee, Euphorbie, Crassulacee, &c., and though these sometimes overrun the slopes of the valleys, and the sides of the ravines, they cannot exist far from the influence of the sea. On a little higher range we have another tribe of succulent plants, Sem- pervive, but which are not so dependent on the same circumstan- ces of exposure. ‘hey are a numerous class, and grew on old walls or mural precipices, where the moisture, though abundant, does not lodge or remain long at atime. Rising above these cliffs the Histoire Naturelles des Iles Canaries. 475 ‘country stretches into plains, which again rise towards the centre of the island, and are rent into valleys and ravines. Here the vegeta- tion is characterized by naked trunks, and pale glaucous foliage, and assumes an African character ; Euphorbia Canariensis prevails, mixed with Kleinie and Plocame. But in the valleys intersecting this maritime expanse, a much more anomalous mixture is present- ed, for the introduced species, the date, papaw trees, orange, peach, and banana, mingle with the Dracaena, Bosea, and Ardisia. The ra- vines in these islands also affect a peculiar character; they are com- monly like large fissures radiating from the centre, with precipitous basaltic walls on each side, often 800 feet in height, and sometimes so near and narrow, that the plants on either side weave a canopy above. At their entrance, the vegetation of the coast is prevalent, but it changes with rich luxuriance, and ultimately assimilates with the character of the woods, and exhibits scenes of grand and pictur- esque beauty. ‘Thus they lead to the region of the forest, where the laurels prevail over all the other woody plants, and where the four Canarian species, L. Canariensis, Indica, barbusanaand Per- sea fetens, mingle with the heaths, Visnee, Ilex, and Arbutus. Next rise the wasted plains where vegetation, at first luxuriant, becomes gradually more thin and scattered, and at last is restricted to bushes of Cytisus and Pieris, which spreadin masses to the boundaries of the pine woods. The Canary pine, in general form and appearance, re- sembles the species of Europe, and this region calls to mind the ap- pearance of our alpine forests. It grows on the steep slopes, and more elevated descents of the mountains, but seldom surmounts the crests of the ridges. Underneath these gigantic trees, the soil is dry and light, and the number of nemoral plants is comparatively limit- ed. Ascending still higher. the pinnacles which surround the peak, when seen at a distance, appear bleak and barren, but even here there are several plants which cannot be elsewhere gathered, such as Carlina xeranthemoides, Cheiranthus scoparius, or the Plan- tago Teydea; a single shrub Rhamnus coriaceus grows only on the summit of Guaxana; the Juniperus cedrus crowns the cone of Cedro, while the Rose of Armida, and a variety of Pyrus aria inha- bit exclusively two spots considerably apart from each other, the mountain of Rosal, and the Tiro del Guanche of the Canadas,—and above this elevation, when the traveller reaches the peak itself, the ‘ Teyda,” the vegetation ef these wild regions is found to be alto- gether original. Cylisus proliferus is the first shrub which is seen on entering the gorge of the Canadas, then Adenocarpus frankenioides and Cytisus nubsgenus ; lastly, Selene nocteolens,and Viola cheiranthi- folia, appear on the peak itself, among masses of pumice, the last of A476 MM. P. Barker-Webb et Sabin Berthelot, the flowering plants. Lichens and a few minute mosses mark a farther but now nearly exhausted state of vegetation; and at 11,424 feet Weissia verticillata springs in the crevices, heated by the constantly exhaling vapours. Such is a very rapid sketch of the manner in which the plants rise from the coast to the nearly barren summits. In the second chapter, the ‘‘ Distribution Phytostatique,” the distribution of the plants, taken according to the mass of species which prevail in certain ranges, from the shore to the summits of the peaks, with the relation between the vegetation and the cli- mates, have served IMM. Webb and Berthelot for the basis of their tables. These differ considerably from those of their predecessors in research: Humboldt selecting Teneriffe as possessing the greatest range of elevation, and placing a height of 10,500 feet as the limit of vegetation, divided their altitude into five zones, viz. the zone of Vines; of Laurels ; of Pines; of the Retamas; and of the Graminee. Our authors, in dissenting from this division, observe, that the first zone is inaccurately defined, for the vineyards occupy but a small space in the whole, and do not reach to the sea, while they cease before attaining the elevation marked for the commencement of the second region. The Quercus Canariensis, (Brouss.) which is noted as indicating the zone of Laurels, is thought to be only the Q. pu- bescens, introduced by the first settlers after the conquest of Tene- riffe, and now ina state modified by climate. The Juniperus cedro, (Brouss.) which is placed in the third zone among the pines, accord- ing to the researches of our authors, ought to occupy a much higher station. The zones of the Retamas and Graminew, placed at an elevation analogous to the highest ridges of the Pyrenees, should only include the last ; two species of grasses only presenting them- selves on the highest range ; but our naturalists, at the same time, are unwilling to admit any zone of grasses at all, considering that M. Humboldt must have been deceived by false accounts, and stat- ing, that none of the Cerealia are now cultivated beyond a height of 4,800. ; The distribution of Von Buch is also differed from ; here the same island is divided into five zones, characterized by elevation and temperature. 1, La region subtropicale ou des formes Africains, : 1.200. cl. Egypt and Barbary. 2. La region Mediterranienne, ou des cultures Europeans, 2.580. cl. France and Cent. Italy. 3. La region tonjours verte, ou celle des forets, : : 4.100. cl. Lyons and Lombardy. 4, La region du pinar, ou des pins des Canaries, : i 5.900. cl. France, Scotland, N. of Germany. Histoire Naturelle des Iles Canaries. 477 5. La region des cumbre, ou celle des Retamas blancas, - 10.380. cl. N. Scotland, Drontheim. The first zone is considered to be too restricted, and that it should have extended at least 400 feet higher. The second is not sufti- ciently defined, from the variable circumstances which influence the distribution of the Cerealia and cultivated plants. The third zone, or that of the forests, is liable to the same objection, a want of suffi- cient definition ; while the indications of the temperature, and the comparison of it with the climates of Europe, do not give an exact idea of the state of the atmosphere in each region, because there is no proportion of time between the seasons of heat and those of cold. The olive, indigenous to the Canaries, and growing at an elevation of 2,109 feet, has never been naturalized in the basin of the Po, a fact at variance with the stated resemblance of this zone to the cli- mate of Lyons and Lombardy. Neither can the clime of the fourth region be compared with that of Germany or Scotland. In those countries Pinus Canariensis can never be kept alive out of the green- house. In fixing their own divisions of the vegetation of Teneriffe, MM. Webb and Berthelot have taken almost every local circumstance into consideration. From numerous observations on the tempera- ture, made at different heights, and kept simultaneously in various stations, the following results have appeared. To the height of 1,500 the temperature continues very equal, varying only from one to two degrees, according to the direction of the openings of the valleys, or as it may be influenced by the exposure, nature of the soil, or proximity to wooded hills. According to the same local circumstances, its variation above a height of 1,500 to about 4,000 is from two to eight degrees ; but in this region clouds and vapours almost constantly rest on the hills and slopes, and afford a supply of moisture most favourable for vegetation, and the plants are thus found here, growing luxuriantly, and distributed in large masses. From 4,000 to the summit of the peak there is not the same mois- ture furnished by vapour, while the temperature diminishes pro- portionally to the ascent, and taking a line along the slope of 8,000, a difference is perceived of. from nine to seventeen or eighteen de- grees below the temperature of the coast. Upon these deductions, and allowing for variation from locality and the state of the atmo- sphere, our authors have divided Teneriffe into three great climates, and have given three tables, which, while they completely explain their views, are otherwise so extremely interesting, that we are in- duced to copy them. 478 MM. P. Barker Webb, et Sabin Berthelot, PREMIER CLIMAT. (INFERIEUR.) EXPOSITION DU NORD. Limites. Depuis le niveau de la mer jus- qu’a 1,500 pieds au-dessus. TEMPERATURE CHAUDE, Maximum de la chaleur sur la cote, au ni- veau de la mer. : Gg. Nir 30° Minimum. . lditet Id. 16,1 Différence de température avec celle du ni- veau de la mer, suivant laltitude des sta- tions de ; 9 apie 1 a 2° Etat de atmosphere. Brises régulieres va- riant du! N.—N.-O. alE-N.-E. Ciel presque toujours sans nuages. Quelques averses de novembre en jatvier. Terrains. Tufs volcaniques, basaltes, sco- ries et nappes de lave en décomposition. Ire classe. Gréves bordées de falaises ; co- teaux maritimes coupés par des ravins. 2me classe. Ravins profonds souvent par- courus par des torrens ; berges escarpées. VEGETATION. REGION DES EUPHORBES DANS LES TERRAINS DE LA PREMIERE CLASSE. PLANTES DOMINANTEsS: Euphorbia Ca- nariensis, E. piscatoria, Kleinia neritfolia, Plocama pendula. EspECES EPARSES qui appartiennent aux genres Conyza, Atzoon, Sta- tice, Artemisia, Prenanthes; Achy- ranthes, Chrysanthemum, Astyda- mia, Kochia, Periploca, Frankenia, Crithmum, Forskalea, ete. VEGETAUX NATURALISES. Palmiers, Nopals, Fignuiers, Agaves, Bananiers, Mariers, Orangers, etc. REGION DES PLANTES RUPESTRES DANS LES TERRAINS DE LA DEUX- IEME CLASSE. EsPECES EPARSES appartenant aux genres Hypericum, Bystropogon, Echium, Lavandula, Digitalis, Sonchus, Messerschmidia, Thymus, Tanacetum, Teucrium, Sempervi- vum, Stachys, Salix, Sisymbriun, Solanum, Pyrethrum, Datura, Ci- neraria, Anthemis, Asparagus, Athamantha, Canarina, Globula- ria, Rumezx, Bosea, Peucedanum, Phyllis Crambe, Camyglanthus, Carlowizia, Bryonia, Cyperus, Dactylis, Drusa, Lavatera, Adian- thum, etc. EXPOSITION DU SUD-EST. ET DU SUD-OUESY. Limites. Depuis le niveau de la mer jus~ qu’a 2,500 pieds au-dessus, et méme plus plus haut dans certaines localités. (Ex- emp. vallée de San-Jago.) TEMPE: ATURE TRES CHAUDE. Maximum de la chaleur sur Ja cote, au ni- veau de la mer. 9 5 33°,3 Minimum. . Id. sae alias 18,8 Difference de température avec celle du ni- veau de la mer, suivant l’altitude des sta- tions de. ; ; é Fares Etat de Patmosphére. Calme, parfois inter- rompu par des vents d’Ouest ou de Sad— Kst. Ciel presque toujours sans nuage. Pluies fort rares, méme en hiver. Terrains. Nappes de lave, tufs voleaniques, basaltes, scories et ponces en décompesi- tlon. lre classe. Gréves, plages sablonneuses, fa- laises et coteaux maritimes coupés par des ravins. 2me classe. Ravins nombreux et trés—pro- fonds, rarement parcourus par les tor- rens, berges escarpées. VEGETATION. REGION DES EUPHORBES DANS LES TER- RAINS DE LA PREMIERE CLASSE. PLANTES DOMINANTES. Euphorbia balsamifera, HE. Canariensis, E. aphylla, Cneorum pulverulentum, Zygophyllum Fontanesii, Prenan- thes spinosa. ESPECES EPARSES appartenant aux genres Ceropegia, Gnaphalium, Heliotropium, Salvia, Linaria, Lo- tus, Lycium, Mesembryanthemum, Reseda, Aloe, Artemisia, Notoce- ras, Paronychia, Physalis, Jasmi- num, Saccharum, Sempervivum, Sida, Gymnocarpus, etc. VEGETAUX NATURALISES. Nopals, Agave, Figuiers, Amandiers, ete. REGION DES PLANTES RUPESTRES DAN LZS TERRAINS DE LA DEUXIEME CLASSE. ESPECES EPARSES appartenant aux genres Cheiranthus, Euphorbia, Salvia, Lotus, Dracena, Helian- thenum, Hypericum, Bystropogon, Etchium, Juniperus, Lavatera, La- vandula, Convolvulus, Asparagus, Pyrethrum, Rhamnus, Rubia, Side- ritis, Sonchus, Cineraria, Conyza, Saliz, Bosea, Forskalea, Justicia. Bupleurum, Cyathea, Roccella. Histoire Naturelle des Iles Canaries. 479 SECOND CLIMAT. (INTERMEDIAIRE.) EXPOSITION DU NORD. Limites. Depuis 1,500 pieds @altitude jusqu’a plus de 5,000 pieds. Temperature humide. Différence de la température avec celle de la cote, suivant laltitude des sta- tions, de 2 a 8°. Etat de atmosphere. Brises traiches va- riant du N.-N.-O. aV E.N.E. Ciel pres- que toujours couvert denuages, surtout pendant le jour. Brumes et bruines fréquentes en été. Orages et fortes pluies en hiver. Observation. la neige, qui, dans la sai- son hivernale arrive parfois jusqu’a la limite supérieure de ce climat, s'y fond presque aussitot. Terrains. Vallées et montagnes ; sol ar- gilo-volcanique chargé d’humus. Laves décomposées. VEGETATION. REGION DES LAURIERS ET DES PLAN- TES NEMORALES. EsPEcEs DoMINANTES. Laurus Ca- nariensts, L. Indica, L. Barbu- sano, Persea fatens, Myrica Fa- ya, et autres especes éparses ap- partenant aux genres Arbutus, Ardisia, Bekmeria, Cerasus, Ce- lastrus, Erica, Ilex, Myrsine, Olea, Pittosperum, Rhamnus, Viburnum, Visnea. ARBRES NATURALISES. Castanea vesca, Quercus pubescens. PLANTES NEMORALES des genres Adenocarpus, Cineraria, Con- volvulus, Dracocephalum, Exa- cum, Fragaria, Genista, Festuca, Geranium, Hedera, Luzula, Myo- sotis, Origanum, Ranunculus, Rubus, Ruscus, Scrophularia, Sempervivum, Smilax, Solanum, Viola, ete. Foucrres. Diverses especes des genres Adiantum, Asplenium, Blechnum, Cyathea, Davallia, Gymnogramme, Trichomanes, Woodwardia, etc. Mousses et LICHENS. REGION DES BRUYERES ET DES CISTES. Erica arborea, E. scoparia, Cis- tus vaginatus, C. candidissimus, C. Monspeliensis, Helianthemum guttatum. Fouceres. Pteris Aquilina, No- thochlena Marante et N. vellea. EXPOSITION DU SUD-EST ET DU SUD-OUEST. Limites. Depuis 2,500 pieds jusqu’a en- viron 4,000 et quelquefois moins, sui- vant les localités. Température. Chaude et séche. Différence de température avec celle de la cote, suivant l’altitude des stations de 3 a 6°. L£tal de Vatmosphére. Calme, parfois in- terrompu par des vents de 3.-E. trés- chauds. Ciel presque toujours sans nuage ; seulement quelques brouillards dans les vallées boisees. Pluies rares, orages instantanés en hiver. Observation, 1.4 nzige descend rarement jusqu’a la limite supérieure de ce cli- mat et s’y fond assuitot. Terrains. Vallées et montagnes presque généralement dépourvues de foréts lau- riferes, sol la moins substantiel, pentes plus rapides. VEGETATION. Seulement quelques petits grou- pes de Lauriers, d’ Arbousiers et de Bruyeres dans les gorges les plus anfractueuses du Sud-Est et du Sud Ouest. Les Cistes en plus grande masse. Observation. De ce cote les Cistes sont rarement accompagneés par les bruycres; ils occupent, le long de la bande méridionale de Vile, un espace beaucoup plus large que sur l’autre versant et s’étendent depuis Valtitude de 1,800 pieds jusque sur la lisiere des bois de Pius (4,000 pieds). Les principales espéces de la ré- gion des Cistes sont le C. vagi. natus, le C. Candidissimus, le C. Monspeliensis et ? Helianthemum guttatum. Le Cistus vaginatus est toujours Pespece dominante, le C. candidissimus est fort rare ; on rencontre ordinairement le C. Monspeliensis dans les stations plus rapprochéees de la cote. Quant al Helianthemum gutta- tum, il croit un peu partout, mé- me dans la région des Pins. 480 MM. P. Barker-Webb et Sabin Berthelot, TROISIEME CLIMAT. (SUPERIEUR.) Observation préalable. La distribution phytostatique n’est plus modifiée ici par lexposition ; les nuages restent ordinairement stationnaires au-dessous de la zone dans laquelle le troisieme climat se trouve compris, et les brises de mer exercent peu Winfluence a cette hauteur. Limites. Depuis TF p00 pieds du pote du Sud ea la cime du Pic (11,424 5,000 pieds du coté du Nord § pieds.) Température. Assez chaude et séche pendant le jour, froide et parfois humide pen- dant la nuit. Difference de température avec celle de la cote, suivant l’altitude des stations, de 9 a 18°. Etat de atmosphere. Vent faible et chaud pendant le jour sur tous les plateaux supeérieurs et les cretes des montagnes ; calme pendant la nuit, mais cet état de quiétude est souvent trouble, au moment du lever du soleil, par les bourrasques subites et passagéres qui se manifestent au sommet du Pic (1.) Ciel sans nuage, air trés-rarcfié, soleil brilant, nuits froides, pluies trés-rares en été, orages instantanés en hiver. Observations. La neige s’amoncelle sur les hautes cimes de ile de Palma, dans le cirque des canadas, a Téneriffe, et sur lescrétes des alentours; mais le plus souvent elle s’y fond de suite ou disparait balayée par les vents. Elle n’est per- manente que sur le pic de Teyde pendant deux mois environ ; plusieurs hivers se passent méme sans qu'elle y reste plus de deux ou trois semaines. La glace ce maintient tout el’année dans la grotte de la Nieve a 9,312 pieds d’élevation au- dessus du nivea dela mer. [1 géle quelquefois dans la nuit vers la fin de decembre et dans le mois de janvier, sur les rochers isolés et a ]’ombre mais ces sortes de cas sont rares et ne se manifestent presque jamais au-dessous de 7,000 pieds. Terrains. Talus trés-rapides, plateaux et sommets culminans, mornes escarpes et pics volcaniques. Sol presque entiérement envahi par les éruptions, roches tra- chytiques par grandes masses, tuffs, scories et torrens de lave de différente nature. VEGETATION. REGION DES PINS. ESPECE UNIQUE. Pinus Canariensis. PLANTES NEMORALES. Helianthemum guttatum, Lotus angustissimus, Festuca Myurus, Erigeron viscosum, Thymus Calamintha, Asphodelus ramosus, Pteris Aquilina, etc. (A Palma, Umbilicus Heylandit N.). REGION DES LEGUMINEUSES FRUTESCENTES ET DES PLANTES ALPINES. EsPECES DOMINANTES. Cytisus nubigenus, Adenocarpus frankenioides (et Cytisus proliferus dans des stations inférieures ). PLanTEs aALPINES. Eparses a Teneriffe parmi les legumineuses du grand plateau ou cirque des Canadas. Centaurea aynaroides, Chrysanthe- mum Broussonetii, Echium Auberianum, N., Nepeta Yeydea, N., Po- lycarpe aristata, Scrophularia glabrata, Pteris Aquilina, ete. Ip. sur la crete des montagnes centrales a Tenéritle. Arabis albida, Carlina x°ranthemoides, Cheiranthus scoparius, Juniperus Cedrus, Ephedra monostachya, Festuca lara, Pimpinella Cumbre, P. Den- droselinum, N., Pyrus Aria, var, Rhamnus coriaceus, Rosa Armide, N., Satureja tenuis, Bethencourtia Palmensis, Tolpis lagopoda, Thy- mus Bentham, N., etc. Ip. a Canaria, Satureja lanata, S. tenuis, Genista microphylla, ete. Ip. a Palma. Juniperus Cedrus, Arabis albida, Cerastium strictum, var, Viola Palmensis, etc. Sur les pentes du Pic de T:nériffe. Silene nocteolens, N. et Viola cher- ranthifolia, depuis Valtitude de 7,500 pieds jusqu’a 9,850. A la cime du Pic, sur les bords du cratere (11,424 pieds). Weissia verticillata, var, et Scytonema myocrhus. * Ce yent, qui oblige souvent les voyageurs d’abandonner cette station, souffle presque toujours dans une direction contraire au vent de mer. Histoire Naturelle des Iles Canaries. 481 In these « climates” our learned authors remark, “‘ Nous n’avons valu présenter que la repartition des plantes sous le rapport des es- péces qi’on rencontre par grandes masses en suivant une meme ligne de pente; le régions que nous indiquons ne sont point des zones de végétaux toujours régulicrement superposées les unes aux autres, mais seulement de groupes partiels et isoles.” And those tables of the geographical distribution of plants, divid- ing them into defined limits, are considered as much too restricted, and so lose their greatest value, unless the effects of local circum- stances, exposure, &c. come to be taken into the account. In fact, that altitude and temperature are not the only circumstances which have to be considered. or that the sort of established rule, ‘ that every 100 feet of height would lower the temperature 1° Reaum., and was equal to 1° of distance from the pole,” would depend in many, if not in most instances, upon modifications entirely local. In illus- tration of this, we may quote a paragraph which soon follows the remarks on zonal vegetation. ‘ Lorsqu’ apres avoir parcouru les vertes forets qui couvre une partie des versons du nord de Tene- riffe, on tourne l’isle par la pointe la plus occidentale, les bois des lauriers ne se retrouvent plus que dans le fond des etroites vallées comprises entre le Cap de Zeno et le port de San-Jago. Quelque groupes d’arbres forestiers garnissent encore, de ce cdté, les an- fractuosités les plus humides; tandis que partout ailleurs ce ne sont que pentes arides et nues. A mesure qu’on s’avouer sur le re- vers meridional, le pays est encore plus dévasté: la, plus de brises rafraichissantes, plus de nuages ; mais le climat de la Mauritanie meridionale avec la secheresse desesperante et son atmosphere de feu.” But amidst the varied vegetation of these islands, there are some plants which defy a rule of confined distribution, “ plantes vaga- bondes,” as they are graphically termed, which seem to delight in no peculiar zone, and to belong to every climate. Among these stragglers in Teneriffe, Pteris aquilina, Hypericum grandiflorum, and Erigeron viscosum, are widely scattered ; the two first appear at from 1000 to 1500 feet of elevation, and are met with as high as 7000 feet. Some plants which grow at a low elevation, are not found for a long space, but appear again suddenly at some height, thus Pancratium Canariense, growing on the shore of the Val-de Guerra, appears again on the plateau of Trebejo, after an interval of 3800 feet. Among the plants introduced to the Canaries, our authors are unwilling to include the Dracena draco. This plant, supposed to be 48 2 Bibliographical Notices. a native originally of the East Indies, is found in the Archipelago of the Canaries, as well as at Madeira and Porto Santo. It abounds on the volcanic slopes of the Bréna, in the island of Palma; at Teneriffe, some aged specimens are found in the valley of Ora- tava, and in the Ravin de l’Enfer ; adorning the basaltic pinnacles of the eastern slopes. Pistachus lentiscus, and Olea Europea are profusely distributed over the great Canary, but in Teneriffe and Palma, they have given way to the culture of the vine, though the names, still existing in the hills and valleys, shew that they were once abundant. There are many other remarks and observations which might be taken from this department, but in noticing them all, we should have in reality to transcribe the chapter. We unhesitatingly recom- mend the work for perusal to botanists ; they will find much informa- tion and much useful criticism upon the histories of Humboldt and Von Buch, &c., which have the additional merit of being candidly and modestly expressed, do full justice to the labours of these dis- tinguished individuals, and we feel convinced will be read by them with pleasure, and without any of that feeling of asperity which the remarks of one traveller upon the works of his predecessors so frequently calls forth. BiBLI0oGRAPHICAL NOTICEs. Hymenopterorum Ichneumonibus affinium monographie, Genera Europea et Species illustrantes. Scripsit C. G. Ngrs ap Esey- BECK. 2 vols. Svo. This work, though one of importance, is known to be merely an extract from a much more voluminous one, still in MS., consisting of ten volumes in quarto. It is preserved in the museum of Bonn, to which the author was formerly attached, prior to his settlement at Breslaw. He had there formed a collection of 25,000 insects, among which are contained all the Hymenoptera described in the work above named. M. Nees d’Esenbeck is a noted botanist, and successfully combines the study of two departments of natural his- tory, the practical pursuit of each of which so well accords with the other. ‘This work may be regarded as a supplement to or rather a completion of M. Gravenhorst’s Ichneumonologia Europea, publish- ed in three very thick volumes in 1829. These authors worked with a mutual understanding of each others labours, and while the latter undertook and completed the [chneumones, properly so called, Forest Insects. 483 the former, with equal skill and assiduity, has illustrated the /ch- neumones adscilt. Forstinseckten, &c. Forest Insects. The Natural History of Insects nhich prove injurious to Woods. By Professor E. A. Rossmzs- steR. 1 Vol. 8vo. (100 pages) with a lithographic plate. Leip- sig, 1834. This compendious work is one of the few which treats the sub- ject to which it is devoted in a systematic manner. It consists of 25 paragraphs, containing observations on the generalities, the clas- sification, the retreats, the nourishment, and the mode of distinguish- ing insects injurious to trees ; likewise descriptions of the species in their different states, and a detailed account of the injuries they occasion. ‘The author confines his remarks to the species which at- tack forest trees, in strict consistence with the title of his work, al- though it would have added both to the interest and importance of his labours, had he extended them tothe fruit department. He ar- ranges his insect species (only twenty in number) in reference to the trees which they attack :—as follows. A. CONIFER. I. Pinus abies. a. The young plants: Curculio abietis. 6. The old trees: Bostrichus typographicus ; Hylesinus piniper- da; Bostrichus chalcographus ; Rhagium inquisitor (less hurtful than the others) ; Sirex gigas. II. Pinus silvestris. L. a. The young plants: Tortrix turiona ; Tortrix Buoliana ; Cur- culio abietis. 6. The old trees. Bombyx pini; Bombyx monacha ; Geometra piniaria ; Noctua piniperda ; Tenthredo pini ; Bostrichus pinastri. III. Pinus picea. L. Bostrichus abietiperda. IV. Pinus larix. L. Bostrichus laricis. B. LEAFY TREES. Melolontha vulgaris and solstitialis ; Bombyx processionea ; Bom- byx salicis. ; 484 Transactions of the Soological Society of London. TRANSACTIONS AND PERIODICALS.—Dritish. Transactions of the Zoological Society of London. Vol. ii. Part i. Longman and Co, London. Printed for the Society. 4to. 1836. Wiru this part a second volume of these beautiful Transactions has been com. menced ; a publication unrivalled in the masterly execution and accuracy of its illustrations, and doing much honour to the important society by which it is pub- lished and patronised. I. On the quails and Hemipodii of India. By Lieut. Col. W. H. Sykes. In the introductory part of the paper, remarks are made on the value of characters, specific and generic, a subject which has long been fruitful, and does now furnish more than the usual material for criticism. We may observe at once, that we dis- like sections in a genus ; if they are very marked, they deserve a more decided se- paration, if not, they do net require to be sectioned ; and it must always be recol- lected, that if the typical form of a genus is properly selected, in other words, if the genus really deserves that rank, these variations will always mark its correct- ness, and some species will always be seen with characters called aberrant, unit- ing them with the genera which stand on either side. We fully coineide with Colonel Sykes when he says, “ I have long thought, and daily experience tends to confirm my opinion, that the researches of present and future naturalists, will deprive discoverers of many of their honours in esta- blishing new species of birds ;” at the same time what can they do so long as no authentic system exists. Colonel Sykes considers that the quails and partridges should be united, that the former are in reality only “ dwarf partridges.” The characters of Cotur- nix are remodelled, but the structure of the wing is omitted in the generic cha- racter, while three sections are formed, two of which depend on “ alis acumi- natis,” and “ alis rotundatis.” Perdix and Franeolinus are also considered hardly sufficiently separated, and H. Ponticerianus is instanced, but this is just one of the specimens which will stand almost on the confines of either, and will point out their alliance. Five species of Indian quails are described, three of which are named as new. They are beautifully represented by lithographs from the pencil of Mrs Gould. C. dactylisonanis, specimens from India, are considered identical with the bird of Europe, and with those from the Cape, and we agree in the wide distribution given to the species ; we know that it stretches nearly over the whole of the old world. C. textilis is abundant in Bengal, Madras, and the Dukhun ; and it is remarked here, that “ so abundant are the different species of quails in the Dukhun, that in April 1829, 517 brace were killed in nine days by four guns.” C. erythrorhyncha, N. S. met with only in the valley of Karleh in the Ghats, frequenting the same ground with the Perdix picta.—C. argoondah, rock-quail of the Dukhun, N. S., found in the level country amidst rocks and low bushes, rising in coveys of from ten to twenty or more. There is a bird fromthe Himalaya closely resembling some of the varieties which Colonel Sykes notices, being without the black mark- ings, and nearly similar in plumage to the female, having the strong bill and slight- ly graduated quill feathers. The white streak above the eye, however, extends through it to the bill.—C. pentah, mountain quail, N. S., met with only on the mountains, seems a very variable species, and specimens from Himalaya, exhibit considerable distinctive marks. We here remark that we dislike the specific names which have been given to the two last, as wellas toa Hemipodius, (BH. Taigoor) ; Transactions of the Seolagical Society of London. 485 we allow the difficulty of finding appropriate names, but these have nothing to recommend them. Three Hemipodii are noticed, H. pugnax, Dussumerii, and H. Taigoor, N. S., differing from H. pugnax in its more slender bill and white chin and throat. IL. Descriptions of a, few invertebrated animals obtained at the Tsle of France. By Ropert TempLetoN, Esq.—Four animals are described, illus- trated by a well-finished plate. Ill. On a remarkable species of Pteropine bat. By E. T. Bennet, Esq.—On several of the bats there seems to be cavities and pouches connected with a glandular apparatus ; and in the one now described, there is a patch of long white hairs on each side of the neck, which Mr Bennet suspects is connected with some similar arrangement. This patch is about one inch in diameter ; the hairs are longer than those on the rest of the body, and they spring in tufts from a common centre, diverging to either side. In one or two other species, tufts somewhat similar have been observed, but in the pre- sent animal the greatest developement of it appears; while in most of them we also have a modification of the form, and a difference in the number of the grinders, which may ultimately be made the basis of characters for a separate genus. This animal has been named Pteropus Whiteii, and two plates are de.. voted to it, one to a figure of the bat itself, another to the appearance of the fur, taken from different parts of the body, greatly magnified. IV. Some ac- count of the Crustacea of the Coasts of South America, with descriptions of New Genera and species, founded principally onthe Collections obtained by Mr Cum- ing and Mr Miller. By Tuomas Bei, Esq.—A valuable paper, continued from page 335 of Vol. I. but too long to be slightly noticed here. The first paper was devoted to the illustration of thegenus Cancer brought home by the above named collectors, and three new species are figured and described, The pre- sent communication is devoted to the Oxyrhynchi. ‘They are illustrated by five plates, containing representations of twenty-two species. V. Some Observa- tions on the Economy of an Insect destructive to Turnips. By WiLLIaM YARRELL, Esq.—Observations on the Athalia centifolia, which has, during the last year, committed so much damage to the turnip crops both in England and Scotland. We regret, however, that the range of this pest has not been more decidedly pointed out. We do not know how far it has extended either to the south or north; and it also appears to have passed, as it were, over some districts, and again appeared. On the Border counties of England and Scotland it was abundant, and committed severe depredations. Figures of the perfect insect, and its different stages, by Mr Westwood, accompany this paper. VI. Mémoire sur une Nouvelle espéce de poisson du Genre Histiophore, dela mer Rouge. Par M. E. Ruppeny, M. D. Membre Externe de la Société Zoologique.—The description of Hist. immacu- latus, Rupp., which that gentleman considers distinct from the three previously known species of the genus. The colours of this fish are of a uniform dull blue above, changing to silvery on the lower parts; the upper fins are blackish blue, the lower greyish and all spotless, with the exception of a dark mark on the pectoral at its lower part. The formula of the fins is— P.1 + 19 V.3+ 0, D. 47+ 0,0 + 7.4.10 +0,0+7.C.5+17 +5. M. I8.7. VII. On the genus Ocrovon, and on its relations with Crmnomys, Blain. and PorrHacomys, F. Cuv. including a Description of a New Species of Ctenomys. By E. T, Bennet, Esq. F. L. S. &c.—An excellent paper, entering in Mr Beunet’s own manner, into the relations of the genera mentioned above, and illustrated by good figures of Octodon Cummingii, and Ctenomys Magella- NO. V. I 1 486 Annales des Sciences Naturelles. nicus. One thing we would remark of the very beautiful figures of animals which have from time to time appeared in these Transactions, the effect of the picture is destroyed by the introduction of the skulls and details of anatomy be- side the figure; they would be much more efficient for reference, as bold wood-cuts, perhaps, not more expensive. The skull in the plate of Macropus Parryi is quite an outrage. TRANSACTIONS AND PERIoDICALS— Foreign. Annales des Sciences Naturelles. Zoologie, MM. Aupourtn et Mitne-Epwarps. Botanique, MM. Ap. BronentartT et Guit- LEMIN. Crochard and Co. Paris, Mai, Juin, 1836. (Continued from page 413.) 1. Zoology. THE few first pages in the Number for May are occupied with the conclusion of Lesson’s memoir “ sur les Béroides.”—Ravius Observations anatomiques sur les Fanons, sur leur mode @insertion entre aux et avec la membrane palatine. These observations were made on a specimen of the Balena rostrata, forty-two feet in length and twenty feet in circumference, which was cast dead upon the shore of Cayeux, near Saint Valery. A figure of the species is given, as also several illustrations of the anatomical details of the jaws and their remarkable appendages. VANBENEDEN’S Memoiresur l'anatomie de l' Helix algira. The differences between it and H. pomatia are summed up in the following particu- lars: 1. There are two ganglions representing the brain in H. algira, and four ganglions underneath ; there is only a nervous ring without distinct ganglions, excepting perhaps a superior and inferior, in H. pomatia. 2. The real number of filaments issuing from the nervous ring is much more considerable, and the filaments more slender in H. algira than they are in H. pomatia. 3. The sali- _ vary glands surround the cesophagus in H. algira, and the stomach in H. pomatia. 4. The upper jaw or tooth is crenulate in H. pomatia, while in H. algira there is a single medial prominence. 5. The appendix of the penis, as well as the duct of the urinary bladder (so we translate “a vessie du pourpre,”) is much longer in H. pomatia. 6. There is no “love dart” in the algira, and the bag which should contain it becomes a passage to the female organs. 7. The mul- tifid vesicles are represented by a glandular body, without any appendix in the H. algira. 8. The urinary bladder is free and floating at the end of its canal in H. pomatia, and adheres to the oviduct in the H. algira. DESHAYES sur lestimation de la température des périodes tertiaires en Europe, fondée sur le con- sideration des coquilles fossiles. An ingenious application of conchology to the determination of some interesting points in geology. Deshayes, as is well known, arranges the tertiary formations in three groups, deposited in successive periods ; and his investigations in the present paper lead to the conclusion that in the first of these periods—the Eocene of Lyell—the temperature of the globe was equatorial, and probably several degrees warmer than that of the present equator ; that during the second, or Miocene period, of which the deposits occupy the centre of Europe, the temperature was like that of Senegal and Guinea, while the temperature of the third or Pliocene period, at first a little more ele- vated than ours in the Mediterranean basin, became latterly as low as that which now exists. Hopeson sur les Chévres et les Moutons sauvages del’ Hyma- Annales des Sciences Naturelles. 487 laya. AQ translation from the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Rusconi sur les changemens que les wufs des Poissons eprouvant avant quwils aient pris la forme d’embryon. A translation from the Bibliotheca Italiana, and already noticed in our analysis of the Archives of Muller. Note additionnelle au memoire de M. DuveRNoy sur quelques particularités du systeme sanguin ab- Analyse des travaux anatomiques, physiologiques et zoologiques, préséntes a Académie des Sciences pendant le mois de Mai 1836: viz., Marion DE Proces sur l Orang : Bassi sur la Muscardine, a disease of the silk-worm, produced by the vegetation of a species of fungus (Botrytis Bassiana) which germinates in the living cater- pillar, and invariably proves fatal in its developement: BLarNnvILLE sur les em- preintes trouvées dans le grés bigarré : JacquEMIN sur lanatomie des Oiseaux : Bourcery et Brain sur la structure des poumons : Observations sur les Fausses- Galles par M. Vator. The June Number contains only one original paper, viz.—Memoire sur la vie intra-branchiale des petites Anodontes, par M. A. DE QUATREFAGES, who traces, with minute and scrupulous care, the changes which the ova undergo, from the period of their entrance into the branchiz, until the young Anodontes are en- tirely separated from their parent. It has been long a disputed question, by what passage the ova, on their issuing from the ovary, got access to the branchie, for no anatomist was able to discover any ducts or pores indisputably appropriate to such a purpose ; and no wonder, since M. De Quatrefages appears to have as- certained that the ova are first expelled from the body through the anal tube, and again sucked in by the stream of water which flows in between the branchial lamellze for the purpose of respiration. This stream deposits them in the folds of the external lamelle, which are the first to receive the water. Here the ova insinuate themselves (it is not mentioned how) into the locule or cells of these organs, which are loaded with them disposed in regular series, while very few, or more commonly none at all, are to be found in the internal branchial lamelle, or in the cloak. A moderately sized Anodon will lay, it is calculated, rather more than 14000 ova, and a larger individual not less than 20000. They are ex- pelled at intervals of half and three-quarters of an hour in small clusters, and the process of oviposition may last for twenty-four hours at least.— Without trans- lating the author, who is unusually concise, it would be impossible to communi- cate to our readers a correct idea of the changes which the ova experience in their developement, and which are carefully described and delineated, as these were observed from day to day ; but the omission at present is less to be regretted, for we shall probably give a translation of the paper in a future number. We can now only remark, that the embryo young appear to remain about 125 days in the branchiz when the mother delivers herself of her numerous progeny. The delivery occupies four or five days.—The rest of the number is filled with a translation of Mr OwrEn’s paper on the Entozoa, from the Transactions of the Zoological Society ; and of a paper, by Messrs Fatconer and CANTLEY, on a new genus of fossil ruminant from the Himalaya mountains, named Sivatherium giganteum. The original will be found in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. In the analysis of the proceedings of the ‘“ Academie des Sciences pendant le mois de Juin 1836,” there is a letter from M. D. Nervaux, in which he says he had seen a pair of Nightingales (Rossignol) remove their eggs from the nest when this was threatened to be inundated, and that the eggs, placed in dominal et du canal alimentaire de plusieurs Poissons cartilagineux. 488 Annales des Sciences Naturelles. a new nest, were afterwards hatched. The anecdote is exactly similar to one recorded of the Water-hen, by Mr Selby, in the proceedings of the Berwickshire Naturalists’ Club. There is also a long extract from a Memoir of Grorrroy Sarnt-HILamrE on the Orang-Outang, written in a spirit which we greatly dis- like, and with views strongly coloured by his favourite hypothesis (if he will allow us to call it so) of the unity of organization throughout the animal king- dom. This theory so fully possesses him, that it is almost impossible not to look on his observations and facts with a certain degree of suspicion ; and in the conclusion to which he has been led, in the present instance, we can by no means concur. The Orang-Outang is with G. Saint-Hilaire neither man nor monkey,— a mixture of both,—and man must be classified in future with the Quadrumana. GuERIN has observed under the abdominal segments of the Machilis poly- poda some little membranous sacs, which he is of opinion are organs of respira- tion analogous to those which are found under the abdomen of many Crustacea, and which are placed at the base of the false abdominal feet. This view of the use of the sacs in the Machilis appears to be strengthened by the fact, that La- treille could discover no stigmata in his dissections of that insect, which this pe- culiarity of structure may perhaps prove to be the type of an osculant group, connecting the classes Insecta and Crustacea.—The Number contains, lastly, a short notice of Cuvier’s Lecons d’ Anatomie Comparée, of which new edition three volumes are published ; and of FrrpERIc Cuvirer’s Histoire Naturelle des Cétacés, already reviewed in this Magazine. I].— Botany. Memoire sus les Clostéries, par M. Cu. Morren.—An essay of much interest and sterling value, but we feel that any analysis, however minute, would give a very indistinct and scarcely intelligible view of it, unless we had the aid of the numerous figures with which it is illustrated. The learned professor embraces in his essay a history of all that has been done towards a kowledge of the tribe, which has been placed among infusorial animalcules by some, by others among the alg, while others have maintained its mixed nature—the species being ani- mals in their origin and vegetables in their mature and old age. Morren enter- tains no doubt that all the true Closteria are vegetables, allied to Zygnema, but he says that infusory animalcules have been mixed with them ; and of the real Closteria the species have been erroneously multiplied, by Ehrenberg in particu- lar, from inattention to the varied forms and aspects they assume in the course of their developement. The phenomena presented during this course are mi- nutely traced and delineated in highly magnified figures; the bearing which these appearances, and the structure of the productions, have on various intri- cate questions in vegetable physiology is indicated with learning and ingenuity ; and the errors of his predecessors corrected. One of these relates to the red- dish points observable on the extremities of the frustula regarded by Ehrenberg as eyes, but which are, we may say, proved by Morren to be vesicular granules, probably connected with the propagation of the species. MonTAGNE sur les ' plantes cryptogames récemment découvertes en France. Animadversiones bota- nice nonnulle, novorumque generum et speciorum diagnoses, auct. F. KE. L. FiscHER et C: A. MEYER. Extraits du Botanical Magazine pour Pannée 1835. Duvont sur les caracteres génériques du Gypsophila saxifraga. Juin. Mogren continues his admirable “ Memoire sur les Clostéries.” In one Magazine of Natural History. 489 chapter he explains how these interesting algw are propagated by gemmules analogous to the buds of more perfect plants; and another is occupied with a detail of observations, which prove that they also produce seeds or at least semi- nal bodies, the result of a union between two or more individuals which con- nect themselves in the same way that the Zygnemz have been long known to «lo. It seems that these lowest plants have their seasons too of semination,— the reproductive unions occurring only at two seasons of the year, viz. in April and June, but it is probable that the time will depend on the annual temperature of the place which is made the scene of observation. The gemmules are nume- rous and small, while the seeds are very few in number and large, so that were the Closteria to be left dependent on the latter solely for their diffusion or existence, they would speedily become extinct, ¢wo individuals being required to produce one fertile seed. No single Closterium can form aseed of itself; a pair is necessary, and yet each element of this pair, enclosing all the organic con- ditions necessary to reproduction, is in fact an hermaphroditical being. In each there are two utricles with reddish spherules—the male organ,—and two masses of chromules—the female organ. If it remain single, the spherules fe- cundate the divisions of these parenchymatous masses, which become then the gemmules ; if it unites itself to another individual, the spherules fecundate the whole and undivided masses of the same chromule, which, by a force acting from the circumference to the centre, is raised to the condition of a seed. Morrencon- cludes his paper with the following corollaries—“ 1°. Il y ades étres chez les- quels les organes de la nutrition forment seuls et a-la-fois les organes reproduc- teurs et les étres reproduits.”—‘“ 2°. La formation des embryons végétaux, dans les algues, depénd d’une concentration de la matiére organisée.”—“ 3°. Les embryons végétaux chez les algues, se formant sous linfluence d’une force or- ganisatrice qui procede de la circonférence an centre.”——MonTAGNE sur les plantes cryptogomes récemment découvertes en France. Spacu, Conspectus Monographie Hypericacearum. The following table exhibits a distribution of the British species according to Spach’s views : Tribus DEsMosTEMONEA:—Sectio ELODEINES. Genus Elodes ; sp. E. palustris. Tribus HypericE“—Sectio HypERINE&. Genus Hypericum: sp. * Holosopalum—H. humifusum. H. quad- rangulum. + * Milleporum—dH. perforatum. H. dubium? * * * Adenosepalum—H. pulchrum. H.montanum. * * * * Droso- carpium—H. Carbatum. Tribus HyrericE%—Sectio ANDROSEMINE. Genus Androsemum sp. A. officinale. Genus Eremonthe: sp. E. calycinum. The remaining articles of the number consist of short reviews and extracts from the “ Flora,” and do not require in consequence to be indicated in this place. The Magazine of Natural History. Conducted by J. C. Loupon. Vol. ix. Nos. for Nov. Dec. (Continued from p. 403.) I. Zoology. Westwoop on the Nomenclature of Natural History, p. 561. We are at the very antipodes with Mr W. on this subject, which it appears to us has been A90 Entomological Magazine. anything but elucidated by the recent discussions to which it has given rise in England. N. Woop’s Reply to C. J.’s Remarks on the “ British Song Birds,” p. 566. On the Habits of the American Flying Squirrel, (Pteromys yolucella, Cuv.) by D. W. C. p. 568. A very pleasing paper. BERKELEY on the Occurrence of Dreissena polymorpha, Vanbeneden, in Northamptonshire, p- 572. BiytTH on the Birds observed, during the last four years, in the Vicinity of Tooting, Surrey ; with Remarks on their comparative Numbers and Distribution, p. 622. Crarker’s Remarks on Lepas anatifera, p. 638. Inneither Numberis there any original Botanical communication, excepting what is to be found among the “ Short Notices,” which are as various and numerous as hitherto. Ofthese, there is none we have read with so much pleasure as the Anecdotes of the late Mr Purton, author of the Midland Flora ; and we do hope that, in the New Series of this Magazine begun with the present year, an effort will be made, by the industrious Editor, to supply us with similar, or rather more copious, notices of such lovers of Natural History as may be annually sum- moned to that bourne whence no traveller returns. Entomological Magazine. London, October 1836. The contents of this number are less interesting than usual, and the first eight pages are filled with a continuation of the “‘ Wanderings and ponderings of an Insect Hunter,” which, however, have nothing to do with Entomology. Art. 11. Essay on Parasitic Hymenoptera. By A. H. Hatrpay, M. A., conti- nued from page’59. 12. Some’ Scraps by the author of the Delta letters. 13. Notes on Diptera by Francts WALKER. These record the habitats of several rare British species. 14. Researches on the insects injurious to the vine, known to the ancients and moderns, and on the means of preventing their ravages. By M. Lz Baron WALKENAER, extracted from the Annales de la Société Entomo- logique de France. ‘The first section only of this essay, containing the critical examination of the names given by the ancients to insects injurious to the vine> is given ; the remainder to appear in a subsequent number. 15. Additional notes on the order Thasynoptera. By A. H. Hattpay, M. A.— 16. Notes upon Diptera, and characters of some undescribed species of the family Muscide. By A. H. Hatipay, M. A. 17. Verses on Spring. 18. Thoughts on the Study of Entomology. 19. A list of rare insects taken at Darenth Wood. By Members of the Society of Practical Entomologists, from June 20th to July 11th, 1836. 20. Description of the Genera and Species of the British Chrysidide. By H. E. Suucxarp, M. E. S. 21. Notes on the Butterflies questionably British. 22. Observations on the circulation of blood, and the distribution of the Trachez in the wings of Chrysopa perla. By J. S. BowERBANK. An interest- ing paper, accompanied by a plate of the wing of the insect and its blood-vessels. 93. Proceedings of the Entomological Club. 24. List of captures at Lyndhurst and Ryde. By Sir Joun Licuton, and the Rev. G. T. Rupp. Among the Coleoptera are three distinct new genera of Staphylini, and Cicindela Germanica, &c. 25. Pith of Periodicals. [ 491 ] INTELLIGENCE. ZOOLOGICAL. Hersilia, Savigny.—This genus of spiders is remarkable, 1st, for having three joints in the tarsus, which is an anomalous fact in its class, and 2dly, for the -smoothness of the claws, for the claw of every other known spider is toothed or pectinated. These curious deviations from the ordinary structure are un- doubtedly accompanied with corresponding peculiarities in the habits of the spe- cies, but with these habits we are unacquainted. Three species are known, one a native of Egypt (Cairo,) the others of India, haying been sent from Bombay, and the coast of Malabar.—Guérin, Mag. de Zoologie. Pleurotuchus, nov. gen.—Characterized at p. 142.—Mr J. E. Gray informs us that this is synonymous with his genus Cicigna in Griffith’s edition of the “ Ani- mal Kingdom,” and with the Pteropleura of Weigmann.—Enits. Upupa Epops.—A beautiful specimen of the Hoopoe was shot near Coylton in Ayrshire on the 16th of October 1836.—P. W. Maclagan. Falco rufipes.—A fine mature male was shot on the Durham coast between South Shields and Marsden rocks, in the middle of last October. It was in com- pany with another, which unfortunately escaped. The stomach was filled with coleopterous insects. — Albany Hancock. Motacilla neglecta. —A male specimen of this interesting species was shot a little west of Newcastle on the Ist of last May. It was with another, probably a female; and from the lateness of the season it is likely they might have bred in the neighbourhood. When my brother was in Norway he met with seyeral individuals of this species, but procured only one. It appears to be the common bird of that part of Europe, and is so perhaps over the whole continent, the neglecta being the species described by the continental writers as the flava of Ray.—Albany Hancock. Regulus ignicapillus.—An individual of this beautiful little bird was taken on the rigging of a ship five miles off the Norfolk coast in the early part of last Oc- tober.—Albany Hancock. Larus minutus. —A specimen of this bird, in the first plumage, was killed at the mouth of the river Tyne last September.—Albany Hancock, Noy. 21, 1836. Hipparchia blandina.—Five specimens were captured about the 21st of Au- gust 1836, at the foot of Whernside in Craven, Yorkshire, by Abraham Clap- ham, Esq., a pair of which were presented by him to the museum of the Leeds Phil. and Lit. Society, and one to myself.— Henry Denny. Luminosity of the Sea and Cholera.—From 1810 M. Surivay had observed 492 Roology. the phosphorescence in our seas to be exhibited with the same characters every year during the summer season, but it was interrupted in the waters of the channel (De la Manche) when the cholera morbus prevailed at Havre and its vicinity in the month of May, June, and July 1834." Several naturalists of the French capital, who are in the habit of visiting our harbour from season to season, and who had been observant of the phenomena, confirm this remarkable fact ; and the whole city is witness to the sudden and yery general mortality of the fishes kept in our preserves of brackish water which then occurred. All the eels and flat fishes came to the margins and died. M. Surivay examined with the microscope some drops of the water become a little putrid, and he ascertained that its slight blood-tinted colour depended on the increase of different kinds of infusory ani- malcules. The diffused phosphorescence observable in our seas during the summer, M. Surivay attributes to the prevalence of a minute species of medusa (JVoctiluca miliaris, ) which he has described and figured in Guerin’s Mag. de Zoologie. Parmacella, Cuvier—MM. Webb and Vanbeneden have attentively examined the American mollusea reputed to belong to this genus in the rich collection of the late Baron de Férussac, and the result is the establishment of a new genus (Peltella) for their reception, the organic differences between them and those of the old continent being so considerable as to justify their separation. This divi- sion besides has the advantage of fixing in a precise manner the geographical dis - tribution of the two genera. The Parmacelle appear to belong more particularly to Northern Africa, one species only having been met with at the western extre- mity of Europe, and in one of the warmest regions of the Iberian Peninsula. We may then presume, that when the Zimacide of the north of Africa are better known, the group to which they (the Parmacelle) belong will present a series of species similarly conformed, and replacing in those climates the slugs of our tem- perate regions. The European species is minutely described and figured in a late No. of Guerin’s Mag. de Zoologie. 1t was found on the hills of Alcantara be- hind Lisbon, feeding on the young shoots of Cochlearia acaulis, and is charac- terized as follows : Parmacella Valenciennii, corpore toto fulvo, reticulatim rugoso ; concha scu- tello obvoluta, tenui, diaphana, fragilissima ; spire rudimento instructa, basi mo- taria amditu sinuata.— Webb and Vanbeneden in Mag. de Zoologie. On the sexes of some Crustaceans.—It is to be observed that, in regard of sex, the Cancroidea differ not only in being male and female, but there are also bar- ren or spurious females, of which the broadly-trigonate abdomen is narrower than in genuine females, although broader than in the males. These are not to be con- founded with young females whose abdomen, as in the Majacee, is flatter than in the adults, for of several species there are both barren and fruitful individuals of the same age. The Cancroidea and Matutoidea are hitherto the only families in which these sterile females have been noticed. Portunus (Neptunus) pelagicus, sanguinolentus ; (Amphitrite) gladiator, hastatoides; (Charybdis) miles, 6-den- tatus ; (Thalamita) truncatus ; Ocypode (Macrophthalmus) japonica ; (Helice) tridens ; Grapsus (Erischeir) japonicus ; (Grapsus) marmoratus have afforded * The exact year, as well as the name of the author’s place of residence, is omit- ted in the essay from which this notice is extracted. xooloyy. 493 specimens of them. ‘The form of the abdomen of the spurious females is trigo- nate in all the Portuni, but in P. sexdentatus the joints are arched on the side, and constricted at the apex and base ; in Oxypode and Grapsus, differing from the former, it is wider than the half of the breadth of the sternum, while of a ge- nuine female it occupies the whole breadth, and the apical joint is trigonal not dilated. The ovigerous appendages, or, as their use would warrant us in calling them, the spurious feet, are fringed with long hairs in the females, but on the con- trary in the neuters they are either smooth or very shortly hairy. The organs of the body agree mostly with those of the females, but Portunus miles offers a dif- ference in the claws, and-P. truncatus both in the claws and front.— W. De Haan in Siebold’s Fauna Japonica. Crustacea, Part ii. p. 36. Arvicole.—M. Edm. de Selys-Longchamps has published a short monograph of the species of Arvicole found in the vicinity of Liege, and has given the cha- racters of two species which he considers new and distinct. We add the de- scriptions in his own words, to serve for comparison with the species of Britain. “ Campagnol souterrein, A. subterraneus, Longch.— Oreilles médiocres, entourées aleur base de poils qui se font paroitre cachées quand l’animal est en vue. Yeux tres-petits (une fois plus petits que ceux du Mus arvalis, Lin.) Queue d’une longeur égale au tiers du corps; bicolore, cest-a-dire noir en dessus et blan- chatre en dessous (du moins dans les individus adultes, ) pieds couverts de poils courts dun gres noiratre, pelage d’un gris noiratre plus ou moins foncé en des- sus, d’un gris blanchatre en dessous. Dens incessores d'un jaune foncé chez les vieux. Longeur du corps2 po. 9 1.; de la queue 1 po. 21. ; totale 3 po. 111. 15 Vertebres ala queue; 13 paires de cotes—Ce campagnol se trouve sur la bords du Geer, de Ourthe, &c. Il frequente les jardins a legumes, situes dans les terrains un peu humides peut-etre aussi les prairies. Il vit toujours souter- Tain. “ Campagnol roussatre, A. rufescens, Longch.—Queue d’un longeur egale a la moitie du corps ; bicolore, cest-a-dire* noiratre en dessus, blanche en dessous. Yeux prominens. Oreilles assez longues, pieds blanchatre, pelage d’un roux ferrugineux assez vif sur le dos. gris cendré sur les cétes, blanchatre en dessous. Longeur du corps2 po. 9 1.; de la queue 1 po. 43 1.; totale 4 po. 31.—16 ver- tebres ala queue, 13 paires des cotes—cette description n’a été fait que d’apres 2 individus pris dans un petit bois a Longchamps sur Geer.”—L’Instit. 16 Novr. 1836. ; Bones of the Camel found in a fossil state.—M. de Blainyille has announced to the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris, that he has learned from an indivi- dual who has lately returned from India, that the fossil remains of the camel have been found in the deposits of the lower ranges of the Himalayan mountains. The remains alluded to consist of a cranium, which was found in a very hard sandstone about two miles from Ramghur, and six from Pingon. This head, almost entire, appears to have belonged to the Dromedary, or single-humped camel. There has been also discovered in the same locality, the anterior part of the head of an animal intermediate between the Anoplotherium and Paleo- therium of the Paris Basin. And the tooth of a species of Mastodon, allied to “ Mr Bell quotes this as synonymous with A. pratensis, Bail.; A. riparia, Yarr. 494 174-187 Camel, fossil bones of, - 493 Cyclops, 309 ; Cy. castor, 324 ; che- Cameleon cristatus, - 573 lifer, 328 ; depressus, 3313 fur- ‘ Canaries Iles, Histoire Naturelle catus, 330 5 minutus, 326; qua- des.’ noticed, 108; reviewed, 470 dricornis, 321 ; stromii, = 330 Caoutchouc, properties of, - 303 Cyclostomata, arrangement of, 405 Carex Buxbaumii, - = 107 Cygnus Bewickii, = 462; 464 Carey, Rev. Dr, 419 Cypris, 514; C. detecta, 525 ; pu- Carlisle Literary and Philosophical bera, - - 524 Society, - 111 Cercocebus, comparative meters of, 437 Daubeny, Dr, on the action of Light Cetonia aurata, : - 294 upon Plants, and of Plants upon Chalcites, 437 the atmosphere, = 205-6 Chara vulgaris, on ihe reproductive Deccan, Fruits of the, - 303 organs of, = 383; 592 Dickie, G., on the Reproductive or- Charadrius morinellus, - 104 gans of Pilularia globulifera, and Chelones, distribution of, 198 the Globules of Chara vulgaris, 382 Chili, Leeches and Repiles ap 414 Distipsidera, 251; D. undulata, 252 Chionis, = - 589 D’Orbigny on the Raptores of S. Chizerhis zonurus, 277 America, - - 347 —359 Chloromyia, 164; Ch. flavicornis, 165 D’Orbigny, Voyage dans l’ Amerique formosa, 1645 polita, 165 Meridionale, noticed, - - 108 Chrysopelea, 144; Ch. Boleil, 144; Doubleday, H. en the Hawfinch, 448 Capensis, 145 Douglas, D. notice of, = 578 Chrysops, 453; Ch. emedens, 454; Drosera filiformis, = = 267 pictus, 4563 relictus, - 455 Duclos’ Mongereps of the ¢ Oliva,’ Cladotoma, 254 ; C1. ovals, - 255 noticed, ~ - 108 ; 284 Clavaria juncea, 511 Dumeril, M. C. and Bibron’s ‘ Er- Clitellaria, 154; Cl. poeniua 155 petologie Generale,’ noticed, 285 Closteries, Morren on the, - 488 Duncan, J., Characters and Descrip- Clupea alba, 50; 294; Cl. sprattus, tions of the Dipterous Insects’ of 2; harengus, - - 54 Britain, 145-167; 359-368 : 453-6 Coccothraustes vulgaris, - 448 Colobus guereza, - 276 Edinburgh Zoological Garden, 107 Comparative Anatomy, its use in Ehrenberg on the Luminosity of the zoology, = = 14,15 Sea, - a 409 Conops nigra, - 105 Elaphomyces granulatus, - 499 Cooper’s, D., ¢ Flora Metropolitana,’ Enneapterygius, - 278) noticed, - - 281 ¢ Entomological Maguzine,’ no- Coregonus pollan, = 247 ticed, - 192 ; 288 ; 490; 576 Corythaix leucotis, - - 277 Eniomological Society mire Couch, J., on the exuviation of the of, - 109.10 common crab, - 341-4 Entomology of Rainburgh, additions Couch, J., on tne exuviation of to, - 494 Shrimps and Lobsters, - 170-3 Entomostraca, British, the ister Crab, common, the exuviation of, 341 of, 35-41 ; 309-333 ; 514-526 Crocus aureus, - - 495 Epacris microphylla, - 287 Crossbill, = - 103. Erica Mackaiana, = 201 Crustacea, on their metamorphosis, 11, 12 Crustaceans, sexes of, - 492 Cuckoos, natural history of, 213-225 ; 430-7 Cuculide, natural history of, 213 ; 430 Cuculine, = = 430 ‘ Erpetologie Generale’ by Dumeril and Bibron, noticed, - 285 Erythrophrys, - - 436 Eschares,; Edwards on the, - 588 Esenbeck, C. G. Nees ab, ‘ Hymen- Index. opterorum Ichneumonibus affi- nium Monographie,’ noticed, 482 Eudynamys, - - 437 Kyton, T. C., his History of rare British Birds, noticed. 400 Eyton, T. C. on the Anatomy of the genus Cercocebus, - 437-9 Falco rufipes, = = 491] ‘ Fauna Japonica,’ notice of, 205 Fauna, Lucal, importance of, 42] Ferns, on the Germination of, 333-441 Ferns, Structure of, 2 412 Férussac, Baron de, his death, 112 Festuca duriuscula, = 141 Fishes British, Yarrell’s History of, reviewed, 6 = 384 Flora of Ayrshire, contributions to, 498 ¢ Flora, The British,’ reviewed, 93-8 ¢ Flora, The English,’ reviewed, 93-8 ¢ Flora, Hibernica,’ reviewed, 262 Flora, Local, on the construction of, - - 424, 430 ‘ Flora Metropolitana,’ noticed, 281 ¢ Flora The Northern,’ reviewed, 396 Flustre, the ova of, - 246 Forbes, K.. on the Testacea of the Alps, - 257-9 Fungi, British, notices of, 42-9 : 507-13 Galloway, Botany of, - 295 Gasterosteus semiarmatus, - 201 Gazza, = 279 Geotrupes lethroides - 256 Golden Kagle, digestive organs of, - "129-134 Gould’s < Synopsis of the Birds of Australia,’ noticed, - 571 Gould’s Birds of Europe, - 072 Gould’s * History of Birds,’ an- nounced, - 1038 Gould, J., on the Sent Paradoxor- Nis, - 62-4 Gould’s Monograph of the Rham- phastide reviewed, - 187, 192 Graham’s, Prof., Botanical Excur- sion to Galloway, - 295 Grant on the Ova of Flustre, 246 Greville, R. K. on the Entomology of Edinburgh, - - 494 Haliocherus griseus, = 302 Hawfinch, Notes on the, 448 Hematopota, 457. 4H. pluvialis, 457 Helianthoid Polypes, = 239 Helix algira, 486; seatbiteensiss 201 Helvella elastica, 418 Henderson, J. on the g germination of Ferns, - - 333-34 | Henslow, J. S., on the disunion of contiguous Layers in the wood of 599 Exogenous Trees, 32 5 on the re- quisites for the advance of Botany, 1)3; on the Flower of Adoxa moschatellina, 259; on two new species of opuntia, with remarks on the fruit of Rhipsalis, - 466 Henslow’s Catalogue of British Plants, reviewed, - 393 Herbarium Willdenowian, = 417 ‘ Herpetologia Mexicana,’ noticed, 401 Herring, The, - . 54 Herring, Garvie, - - 52 Hersilia, - - 491 Hieracium, nov. sp. ? - 137 Hipparchia blandina, - 105; 49] Histiophorus immaculatus, - 465 Honey-Bee, - 57 Hooker, Sir W. 7) his ‘ British Flora,’ noticed, 93 his ‘ tcones Plantarum,’ 418 : the * Compa- nion to the Botanical Magazine,’ 289; 403 ; 578 Hyboma carinata, - 256 Hybrids between the Grouse and Pheasant, - - 450 Hydra viridis, > - 936 Hydraform Polypes, - 235 Hygrophila, - - 265 Hypericum, - - 489 Peo Eye British, Contributions 526..8 Teiiey lows Bs the Firth of Forth, 50-57 ; 344-7 * Iconographia della Fauna [talica,’ reviewed, - - 82-93 Ilex Paraguayensis, - 207 * Indes Orientales, voyage aux,’ re- viewed, - 269 Insects, Dipterous, of Britain, 145- 167; 359-368 ; 453-9 Ireland, Contributions to the Nat. History of, * - 459 Isaria brachiata, 495; citrina, - 49 Jameson on the Birds of Northern India, - - 209 Jardine, Sir W., and P. J. Selby’s © {llustrations of Ornithology,’ noticed, - - 573 Jenyns, l.. on the study and present state of Zoology, = 1-31 Johnston, G., . Zoophytes, 440-8 ; History of British 64-81 ; | 225-247 ; Miscellanea Zoologica, 368-382 3 529, 538 ¢ Journal, American, of Sciences and Arts,’ noticed, - * Journal, the Edinburgh New Phi- losophical,’ analysis of, 99 ; 286; - 402; 574 102 600 Jungermannia Mackait, 296; pusil- la, 592; Woodstii, = 107 Jussieu, his death, - 419 Labrus rupestris, - 70 Larus minutus 4915; Sabinii, 460, 464 Larve, parasitic, = - 295 Lea, J. ‘ on the genus Unio,’ no- ticed, = - 284 Leach, Dr, his death, > aly Leathes, G. R., his death, - 112 Leeches of Chili, - 414 Leontodon taraxacum, - 138 Leucojum estivum, - 499 Lichens, new British, = 297 tink on the structure of Kerns, 412 Linnean Society, Transactions of, noticed, : s 573 *: Linnea,’ analysis of, S 587 Lobster, on the Exuviation of, 170-38 Loxia curvirostra, 3 103 {ucanus camelus, - 302 Luminosity of the Sea, 409-12 ; 491 Lutjanus rupestris, - 167 Macgillivray, W., on the Digestive Organs of Birds, ° 125 Machilis polypoda, - 488 Mackay, J. T. ¢ Flora Hibernica,’ reviewed, - = 262 Macquart’s * Dipteres,’ noticed, 567 Macrorampus griseus, - 104 * Magazine of Natural History,’ ana- lysis of, 100; 2873; 402; 489; 575 Mangel Wurtzel, - - + 301 Marsiliacee, 496 Medico- Botanical Sonet i 1105 2073 306; 5003 592 Melancomium bicolor, ° 49 Monochirus minutus, - 527 Moscow, Memoires de Ila Soc. Imp. des Naturalistes de, noticed, 583 —Bulletin de la Soc. - 584 Mosses, new British, 296 Motacilla neglecta, = 200, 491 Murray, A. his ‘ Northern Flora,’ reviewed, - - 396 Myxinoidee, the anatomy, of, 404-9 Nemertes, 529; WN. gracilis, 554; lactiflorea, 534; melanocephala, 5353; octoculata, 5373 olivacea, 536 ; pulchra, 535; purpurea, 5375 quadrioculata, 5353; rufi- frons, - - - 537 Nemotelus, 158; N.. brevirostris, 160; nigrinus, 159 ; pantherinus, 159; uliginosus, a 158 Neritina fluviatilis, 5 201 Newcastle-upon-Tyne, state of Nat. Hist. in, - ~ 203 Noctuada, Nerthambrian, 415 Index. Nymphon, 376; N. femoratum, 380 ; gracile, - 380 See ye 15L; O. argentata, 152; felina, 153; hydroleon,153 ; Nita en 1535 ornata, 152; ti- grina, L545 vinidales - 154 Opuntia Darwinii, 466; galapageia, 467 Orithya, 376 ; O. coccinea, 378 ‘ Ornithologist’s Text Book,’ no- ticed , = 281 Oxycera, 155; O. analis, 158; for- mosa, 157; muscaria, 157; pul- chella, 156; terminata, {5735 tri- lineata, = - Oxylophus, - - 156 436 Pachygaster, 166; P. ater, 166; Leachii, - - 167 Palzenion serratus, = 171 Pallene, 376 ; brevirostris, 580 Paludine, - = 201 Paradoxornis, 635 flavirostris, 64 Parmacella, = 492 Parnell, R. on the Ichthyolog y ot the Firth of Forth, 50-7 ; 344-7; Contributions to British Ichthyo- logy, 4 ~ 526-8 Parr, ‘Vhe, notice of, = 287 Peat, formation of, 305 Perdix melanocephala, 278 ; Eick- ellii, - ¢ Perrequets, Collection de,’ by St Hilare, announced, S Persoon, M. death a - 595 Peziza fusarioides, 463; rose, 46 ; sanguinea, = ze 46 Phascidium coronatum, - 513 Pheenicura tithys, - 104 ‘ Philosophia Botanica,’ announced, 417 Phlebia vaga, - 511 Phoca vitulina, 5 = 103 Phoce, the habits of, > 539 Phoxichilus, 376 ; spinosus, 377 Physarum metallicum, - 49 Physis fureatus, t 104 Pilularia globulifera, 306 ; 591; 3 OD the reproductive organs i, 382; 497 Pleurotuchus, 142 ; 49). Pl. Des- jardinii, 143 5 typicus, - 143 Poinsettia, = = 99 ‘ Poissons, Histoire Naturelle des,’ noticed, - - 283 Polan, The, - 247 Polyangium vitellinum, 47 Polypes, structure of, 2 246 Polypidoms, formation and _ struc- ture of, - : 440 Polypodium calcareum, 141 Polyporus cinctus, - 43 Pristurus, = - 279 Index. Pritchard, Dr, on Species?) 305 Eeeudaciromis: 279 Psiloma arundinis, - 49 Pteropus Whiteii, - 485 Ptilonorhynchus albirostris, 277 Pycnogonidz, British, 368-375 Pycnogonum, 376 ; littorale, 376 Pyronema marianum, - 45 Quadrupeds, British, Bell’s History of, noticed, - Questions de lgAleadeehie Royale des Sciences de Berlin pour 1837 et 1839, 202 Raniceps trifurcatus, 104; 201; 344 Raptores of S. America, 347-359 Raspail on the structure of Polypes, 246 Regulus ignicapillus, - 49] Reptiles of Chili, - 414 Reptiles, South African, two new genera of, - - 141-5 Rhipsalis, on the structure of the fruit of, - 469 Richardson, Dr, on the 7 oology of N. America, - 298 Rossmeessler’s ‘ Rersansrekten,” no- ticed 483 Royal Society, Edinburgh, Proceed: ings of - - 110 Royle on the properties of Caout- chouc, - 303 Rubus, = - 296 ¢ Rumphia,’ by Blume, noticed, 280 Ruppel, Ed. 109 Ruppel’s ‘ Neue Witbelthiere,’ re- viewed, = - 2795 Rusconi on the ova of Fish, = 586 Sabine, J. his death, = 595 Salmon, food of, - 300 Sargus, 160 ; cuprarius, 16] ; flavi- pes, 162. infuscatus, 162; niti- dus, 162; Reaumuri, - 163 Sceptranthes, - 99 Sclerotium cornicola, 511; medul- lare, 47 ; truncorum, 511 Scolopax major, - 415 Seal, habits of, = 103, 539 Selby, P. J. on the Lutjanus ru- pestris of Bloch, 167—170 ; on the importance of a Local Fauna, 421-4 Shrimps, the Exuviation of, 170=3 Siebold’s ‘ Fauna Japonica,’ no- ticed, - 205 Silene otites, C 495 Sitta europza, 103 Smith, Dr. 10935 his characters of two new genera of S. African Rep- tiles, 4 141-5 Smith, Sir J. EZ. his ¢‘ English Flora’ reviewed, - Society, Belfast, Nat. History, Society, Botanical, of Edinb. 106; 601 308 416 Society, Botanical, of London,415 ; 500-92 Society, Medico-Botanical, 207, 306, 500 Society, Royal 205 Society, Royal of Edinburgh, 208 Society, Shropshire and North Wales Natural History and Antiquarian, 210 Society, Tweedside Physical and An- tiquarian, 2 307 3 564 Spartina glabra, - 499 Sparus auratus, - 294 Spheria angelice, 48 ; arundinis, 48; decedens, 47 ; detrusa, 47 ; fava- cea, 47; herpotricha, 485 hypo- derma, 47 ; microstoma, 47 ; pan- therina, 47 ; rubiginosa, 47 ; san- guinea, 48 ; velata, 47; xanthos- troma, 47 Spheronema blepharistoma, 512 Spiranthes autumnalis, 499 Spirula Peronii, - 414 Sprat, the - = 52 Sterna stolida, = 459 Stilbospora angustaia, - 49 Stilbum anomalum, 49; piliforme, 49; rigidum, 4S Stratiomyde, - 146 Stratiomys, 146; S. chameleon, 148 ; furcata, 150; potamida, 149; riparia, 150 ; strigata, 15) Swainson, W. on the natural history and Relations of the Cuckoos, 213, 225, “ + 430-7 Swainson’s Natural Histories in * Lardner’s Cyclopedia’ reviewed, -545-566 Sykes, Col., on the fruits of the Dec- can, 303; On the Quails and He- mipodii of India, = 484 Syncesia, - - 266 Tabanide 309 Tabanus, 360; T, autaninaliat 363 ; bovinus, 362 ; bromius, 365 ; ful- vus, 368 ; Taridus, 366; eionti: nus, 365 ; micans, 363 ; rusticus, 367 ; solstitialis, 366 ; tarindinus, 364; tropicus, 367 ; vittatus, 364 Tadpole Fish, - - 344 Taraxacum dens-leonis 137 Tea, ‘ 195 Tea, Paraguay, 207 Teale on Alcyonella stagnorum, 293 Temminck ‘ Monographies et Re- cueil de Planches coloriées,’ no- ticed, . 108 Testacea of the Alps, 257 602 Thelephora arida, 45 ; puteana, 44 ; spadicea, Thompson, W. on i Hybrids: 450 ; contributions to the Nat. History of Ireland, 459 :—on the Polan of Loch Neagh, 247 Tozer, J. his death, 112 Trees, exogenous, the structure of, 32-5 511 Tremella foliacea, 46 Trigla cuculus, 403 ; Taicerna, 526 Tringa pectoralis, 200 Twizel, Fauna of, 421-4 ¢ Unio,’ Lea on the genus, noticed, 284 Upupa epops, : 491 Valenciennes’ ‘ Histoire Naturelle des Poissons,’ noticed, é 283 Vitrina pellucida, 258 Watson, H. C. on the construction of a Local Flora, Webb, P. Barker, et Sabin pperitie® lot’s ¢ Histoire Naturelle des Iles 424 Index. White bait, Wi egmann’s $ Herpetologie Mexi- cana,’ noticed, F Willdenowian Herbarineas = Wilson, J. on the Habits of the Scotch Phoce or Seals, Wood’s, N., ‘ British Song Birds,’ noticed, 4 b Wood’s, N., ‘ Ornithologist’s Text- Book,’ noticed, Woodcock, Xenodon, “ - Yarrell, W., ‘ History of British Fishes,’ reviewed, 384 ; on an In- sect destructive to Turnips, Yew-tree, Longevity of, - Zoology, Remarks on the Study of, on its present state, - ——— of North America, 2 Zoological Garden in Edinburgh, Zoological Society of London, the Canaries,’ reviewed, 470 ‘ Transactions’ of, noticed, - Wernerian Society, proceedings of, Zoophytes, British, the History of, 0; 209 64-81 ; 225-247 ; 440-8—Their Westwood, J. O. Descriptions of orders defined, - 5 Exotic Coleoptera, ‘ 951-7 ERRATA. Page 167, line 29, for southern, read northern. — 168, 4, for Barncleugh, read Bamburgh. —— 169, —— 10, for first, read for it. —— 200, —— 21, for Stoke-Maryland, read Stoke-Nayland. ——. 200, —— 26, for Mr Anderson, read Mr Audubon. —— 250, —— 13, for 61500, read 6150. 289, 10, for Thuckard, read Shuckard. Plate VIII ought to be Plate IX. ix VIII. For Plate XII, at page 376 et seq., read Plate XIII. EDINBURGH : PRINTED BY JOHN STARK, OLD ASSEMBLY CLOSE. 484 484 PE AE re) Whitebatt. Herring. Stewart del& Zool: & Bot Mag. eeir PLATE Lx Ranteceps Erifurcatis. - Tadpole fish. Zool. & Bot Mag. PLATE 2 i) eed ae | antes Wi Mi My H i b d aaa) Look: X Bot: Mas. oO, PLATE 5. Lig: fig. 8. b Zool: & Bot: Mag. PLATE Iv. if Mac Gillvray Delt ny Wg ~ mi = aS Mii — ((( teen \ Ss (Q wes ni ff \b Lntestinal Canal of Aquila chrysactts. “Zook: & Bot. Mag. IPI ETD WW ae par AY (\\ & R < a i yl an Wt: MKC AA = ed ud } Yy \ nN nk ‘ WG | WMaeGillvray Delt Intestinal Canal of Luteo vidgaris SBI 30 GB :J007 PP GPS TT ‘OS SUMVALT SLLSIANL STAQUTUALZ mi i) Hl EAN \\\ i \\NN Ne ill I\ lh it IN ‘7 Pa il Han i gg SES Yi 1// ; I o> Zool:& Bot Mag. a oe i? ee | es PSEA anol Fig le. Fig.l. Fig 20. Fug], Fig.99. Fig.25. Fig. 24. Fig. a , ES Zool: & Bot: Mag. et ere c Vi EN e) a iy Me frye i a PLATE 13 Zoal. & Bot. Mag~ Tezais So P. XIV, AANA) Ao * y AS \ \ of \ es Z = SH = CS SESS WEES ZS <\ QO. galap agela 7S Henslow del! SFL SE SS PRS ae Zool. & Bot. Mag. TSN ree) | MS Berkely Dele PLATE 15. Zool: & Bot: Mag. ag Fig: # oF v 4 E A k E ‘ PLATE AVI. N?°2. Vol. page 26. JY tz Za JY fl, La MM 6 fp ty Ly (jp fh “a ui 4. 333329324: ~~ fh / 7 . Dingle TUE (sanren d ) i) Sony fred bapla. HW oriscturen mun . == = nO Mf Sal! ied, Jol . 3 Se dermell bit 2 dea fi Ly) thay, 5L Bela 13. fori lft TY wud ght He . Zool. & Bot. Mag. ~\ é. 7 as Pl ae ta “lh vs ie, Phi Sayre ee ey ‘yn in Gs Belg PLATE 16 Lizars se Zool. & Bot.Mag- PEATE 17. | Fig. 5. ; Fig. 1 ( Fig. 1. 7 é qf =e syhes ert © \ eeSive ’ aoteres Fig 3. —— \\\ CJohnston delt : Zool. & Bot. Mag. WH Lizars 4a PLATE 18. Fig/* Fig. d. ZooL& Bot. 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