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THE ANNALS
AND
MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY,
INCLUDING
ZOOLOGY, BOTANY, ann GEOLOGY.
(BEING A CONTINUATION OF THE ‘ MAGAZINE OF BOTANY AND ZOOLOGY, AND OF
LOUDON AND CHARLESWORTH’S ‘MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. )
CONDUCTED BY
Sir W. JARDINE, Barr., F.L.S.—P. J. SELBY, Esq., F.L.S.,
GEORGE JOHNSTON, M.D.,
CHARLES C. BABINGTON, Ese., M.A., F.L.S., F.G.S.,
J. H. BALFOUR, M.D., Prof. Bot. Edinburgh,
AND
RICHARD TAYLOR, F.L.S., F.G.S.
Ry
Ds eee eee
LONDON:
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY R. AND J. E. TAYLOR.
SOLD BY S. HIGHLEY; SIMPKIN AND MARSHALL; SHERWOOD AND CO.; W. WOOD,
TAVISTOCK STREET; BAILLIERE, REGENT STREET, AND PARIS;
LIZARS, AND MACLACHLAN AND STEWART, EDINBURGH:
CURRY, DUBLIN: AND ASHER, BERLIN.
1849.
“‘Oinnes res create sunt divine sapientie et potentie testes, divitiz felicitatis
humane :—ex harum usu bonitas Creatoris; ex pulchritudine sapientia Domini;
ex ceconomia in conservatione, proportione, renovatione, potentia majestatis elucet.
Earum itaque indagatio ab hominibus sibi relictis semper zstimata; a veré eruditis
et sapientibus semper exculta; malé doctis et barbaris semper inimica fuit.”—
LINNZUS.
pen eee ee eee ers VAVan powers
Obey our summons ; from their deepest dells
The Dryads come, and throw their garlands wild
And odorous branches at our feet ; the Nymphs
That press with nimble step the mountain thyme
And purple heath-flower come not empty-handed,
But scatter round ten thousand forms minute
Of velvet moss or lichen, torn from rock
Or rifted oak or cavern deep: the Naiads too
Quit their loved native stream, from whose smooth face
They crop the lily, and each sedge and rush
That drinks the rippling tide: the frozen poles,
Where peril waits the bold adventurer’s tread,
The burning sands of Borneo and Cayenne,
All, all to us unlock their secret stores
And pay their cheerful tribute.
J. Tayitor, Norwich, 1818.
ee
CONTENTS OF VOL. IV.
[SECOND SERIES. ]
NUMBER XIX.
I. Account of a Ribbon Fish (Gymnetrus) taken off the coast of ie
Northumberland. By Atsany Hancock and Dennis Emsteron, M.D.
CWith two Blates.) ......cccqdesccsccceccocccccscscesvcceccseustinedaus arse asnans.s 1
II. Ornithological Notes. By Joun Brackwatt, F.L.S, ............ 18
III. A few remarks upon a species of Zoophyte discovered in the
New Docks of Ipswich. By Mr. Epwtn Gites and Dr. W. B. CLarxe 26
IV. On Odontites rubra, Pers., and the allied forms, including a
notice of a new species. By Joun Baur, M.R.I.A. ........ceeceeeeeeeee 28
V. Contributions to the Botany of South America. By Joun Miers,
Bsq oy PehteSe5 Lisdawsat soeck sean cntesse Seivackictinahtsluatasssmssesercecners Romnncets 31
VI. On the Identification of a Genus of Parasitic Hymenoptera.
By J.O. WESTWOOD, F.L.S. — ..cesseesccecscececccscscscccccsvscesccccsasaces 39
VII. Descriptions of Aphides. By Francis Warxer, F.L.S. ...... 41
VIII. On the Animal of Kellia rubra. By Josuvs Axper, Esq.... 48
Proceedings of the Zoological Society ......... Semen se antec amen caatioas 56—73
On the Development of the Purkinjean Corpuscle in Bone, by Dr.
Leidy ; Mode of Progression with Animals, by W. A. Pike; De-
scriptions of new species of the genera Nyctale, Brehm., and Sy-
cobius, Vieill., by John Cassin; Description of a new species of
Salamander from Upper California, by Edward Hallowell, M.D. ;
The Pine Tree of the Tenasserim Provinces, by the Rev. F. Ma-
son ; Description of a new Helix and Streptaxis, from the Collec-
tion of H. Cuming, Esq., by Dr. L. Pfeifter ; Meteorological Ob-
servations and Table ........cescsscesasssccassoesscneseosssesssecees 74—80
NUMBER XX.
IX. A descriptive Account of the Freshwater Sponges (genus Spon-
gilla) in the Island of Bombay, with Observations on their Structure
iv CONTENTS.
Page
and Development. By H. J. Carrer, Esq., Assistant Surgeon, Bom-
bay Establishment. (With three Plates.) ............cssecsesees secant 81
X. Notice of a Bottle-nosed Dolphin (Delphinus Tursio, Fabr.) upon
Hegeutiolk coast: By Wi. .B, CoarKe, MoD. cssnnsessecssboccsessssecoenen 100
XI. On Entozoa found in the Lungs of a Sheep. By Joun Gray
Sanpiz, M.D., and Grorce Paptey, Esq., Liverpool. (With a Plate.) 102
XII. The Musci and Hepaticze of the Pyrenees. By Ricuarp
ERMC CESMDIN | oinonissisaessscieninclaaenes Sea pnrannde 1 aocoo dno anenescne aadesseeeesisess 104
XIII. Remarks on the Growth of Bambusa arundinacea in the large
Conservatory, Chatsworth. By Mr. RoBerr Scorr .......c.cseeeeeeeeee 120
XIV. On the Identification of the Parasitic Genus of Insects, dn-
thophorabia. By Greorce Newrort, Esq., F.R.S. & LS. oo... eee eoee 122
XV. Descriptions of four new Asiatic species of the genus Pupa of
Draparnand. By W. EH. Benson, Hsq. 1... ..cecccsecscercasetensecteesaues 125
XVI. On the Chemical Composition of the Fluid in the Ascidia of
Nepenthes. By Dr. A. Voevcker of Frankfort ............sc0cseesceeeees 128
XVII. Contributions to the Botany of South America. By Joun
Mims, cg: th ORes:; Sal tindsccwsssscdddsaccsvs cavecusesce tocnaeaeeeeeee 136
XVIII. On the Animal of Kellia rubra. By W.Ctark, Esq....... 142
Proceedings of the Zoological Society.........0...sscocossscarseeseees 146—152
The Effect of Iodine upon the Nectary, by Dr. R. Caspary ; On the In-
timate Structure of Articular Cartilage, by Dr. Leidy; Notice of
an Excavating Cirripede, by A. Hancock, Esq. ; On the Arrange-
ment of the Areolar Sheath of Muscular Fasciculi and its relation
to the Tendon, by Dr. Leidy ; Meteorological Observations and
MD yece ene cn pan seacsicaracneecs «onietabesias test ssaes crear eseesieens 152—160
NUMBER XXI.
XIX. On the Classification of some British Fossil Crustacea, with
Notices of new Forms in the University Coliection at Cambridge. By
Freperick M‘Coy, Professor of Geology and Mineralogy in Queen’s
College; Belfast... sectssspe enn iw ecanecceceuiaveaep asespseimesecueeeamts seria: 161
XX. On the Animals of Cecum trachea and C. glabrum. By Wit-
BEAM GGARK Fis. | 35. scec.asevevadesetinvessebepemerstssecotteanseteennase ste nee 180
XXI. Contributions to the Botany of South America. By Joun
Miers, Esq. /F.RiS., FLL. 5 cvs. siecsaeeads eosereepatcneievenaneeneare coves. 185
XXII. Characters of Diplommatina, a new genus of Terrestrial
Mollusks belonging to the Family of Caryehiad@, and of a second spe-
cies contained in it ; also of a new species of Carychium inhabiting the
Western Himalaya. By W. H. Benson, Esq. ......-.ssscsesees weose eas 193
XXIII. Descriptions of Aphides. By Francis Warxer,-F.L.S.... 195
CONTENTS.
Proceedings of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh ; Linnzean Society ;
v
Page
MBOLOSIGA SOCIOL NG | daca erst. cus oh snenineneasonsusscchuspearacsese 202—225
Descriptions of Owls presumed to be undescribed, by John Cassin ;
Descriptions of new Marine Shelis, by T. A. Conrad; Meteoro-
logical Observations and Table ..........sssesesescscsceteesees 2LI——202
NUMBER XXII.
XXIV. Description of two new species of Floscularia, with remarks.
By W. Murray Dosis, M.D., F.B.S.E., Member of the Royal Medical
aud Clinical Societies of Edinburgh. (With a Plate.) ....... cee sees
XXV. Observations on Mr. Hancock’s paper on the Excavating
sponges By JonmMornts,.FoG.Shd <adessiees <<accdestsecean dccps dseeseaes
XXVI. On the Branchial Currents of the Bivalve Mollusca. By
JGSHUAG MRD Hees LS Cay cess. eccosededecencacreecs seeders ssessesneeetsccasr sectors
XXVII. Description of three new Genera and Species of Snakes.
gem Bie Ga AMAR ES Qa ias occ vase netaducieiiso ss ctevews'sueose0 eu caine doceevenesdessees
XXVIII. Contributions to the Botany of South America. By Joun
AVN ese Clee Hic evesen SE cll s Seva dag nscev'e+s csnaceetecuateseniaetsvoescosecessaces.«
X XIX. On the extinct and existing Bovine Animals of Scandinavia.
By PE CO NIBSSON GM INING, 1. ..cccccccscecasodeacacsscresesecaes BAricdcconchsee
XXX. Observation of some of the Phases of Development of the
Trichodina pediculus (?). By J. T. Arxince, A.B., M.B. (Lond.),
Member and Student in Anatomy of the Royal College of Surgeons.
ROW leete EeLAGOd) lee at ceisicaicidsmaers caentiese’s avitgen pce ooseaseeesinasenesatiicn seaman
New Books :—The Rudiments of Botany: a familiar Introduction to
the Study of Plants, by A. Henfrey, F.L.S. &c. ....0.5.0.0200.0.0000
239
242
246
269
274
Proceedings of the Linnean Society ; Zoological Society ......... 275—296
On the Velvet-like Periostraca of Trigona, by J. E. Gray, Esq.; The
Tortoise-shell of Celebes; Notice of some Mollusca recently taken
by George Barlee, Esq., off Lerwick, by J. G. Jeffreys, Esq.,
F.R.S. ; Descriptions of new Freshwater Shells, by T. A. Conrad ;
Meteorological Observations and Table .........sssseeereeeeees 296—304
NUMBER XXill.
XXXI. Notice of the occurrence on the British coast of a Burrow-
ing Barnacle belonging to a new Order of the Class Cirripedia. By
ALBANY ELANCOCcK, Esq? / (With) two Blates.)) ot. oss.srs-0cecasesessveens eee
XXXIT. Note on the genus Siphonotreta, with a description of a
new Species. By Joun Morris, F.G.S. (With a Plate.) .......00...
315
vl CONTENTS. ~
Page
XXXIII. On the Animal of Dentalium Tarentinum. By Wititam
ROTATOR SOE veces ceveseseGes tions Spbuaddosoad obese eoeeeeeriats iisisls wcte'ssfelain cielseieins =r 321
XXXIV. On the Classification of some British Fossil Crustacea,
with Notices of new Forms in the University Collection at Cambridge.
By Freperick M‘Coy, Professor of Geology and Mineralogy in Queen’s
Watleoe sDCliAst. << Jucaacusacesvee acest arsse dehmnaguensciesaneet eo Sslsbhisate cakes Wath 330
XXXV. Supplementary Notices regarding the Dodo and its Kindred.
Nos: (6, 7, 8. By H. BE. Strickvanp, Maal, BAGS.) ciassmesesesecestess 335
XXXVI. Reports on the Progress of Physiological Botany. No. 5.
On the Phenomena accompanying the Germination of the Spores of
Ferns. By. Arraur Henrrey, POLS S&C. «.cscccesens dcvecsssotebarwsscnse 339
XXXVII. On the extinct and existing Bovine Animals of Scandi-
navia, By Prof. Nitsson of Lund .........0.ccccsccssecsscseroccecorseseese 349
XXXVIII. Observations on Mr. Morris’s paper on the Excavating
Sponges. By Anvany Hancock, Esqy ii... sciiccccsesc.eccctessercvotcese 355
XX XIX. Contributions to the Botany of South America. By Joun
Miers, Tisq., BisRisvy B's Ui250 eeassewanacsssinmsuen cs <cdverecte- scene Seuicouutectees 357
New Books :—Antiquités Celtiques et Antédiluviennes; Mémoire sur
l'Industrie primitive et les Arts a leur origine, avec 80 planches
représentant 1600 figures ......secccescsscscescecscccscereneveececsconss 363
Proceedings of the Linnzean Society; Zoological Society ......... 365 —382
Gallinago Brehmi; Mr. William MacCalla; Meteorological Observa-
CORTE O.0 PORE Rasen or asa snndeeenG Se pEooo ona ose aon 35505" 382—384
NUMBER XXIV.
XL. On the Primrose-leaf Miner; with notice of a proposed new
Genus, and characters of three Species of Diptera. By Mr. James
XLI. On the Classification of some British Fossil Crustacea, with
Notices of new Forms in the University Collection at Cambridge. By
Freperick M‘Coy, Professor of Geology and Mineralogy in Queen’s
College: Belfast «..-2e.csnhacuseestoseestaecerees Sp lelasnscissninoaiepiesaenseuuiescencees 392
XLII. On the extinct and existing Bovine Animals of Scandinavia.
By Profs Nuvsson of Lund:2.7. icc. .ccccosennaenenecseenesnesssereeeeseeaeieniene 415
XLIII. On two new species of Testaceous Mollusca, By Witt1Am
GHAR, LISQ> = Giricce reese sias ovedeascaseteane se osteo seoilterda sim eseeeeitetae meet. 424
XLIV. On the Botanical Productions of the Kingdom of Algiers,
followed by a short notice of the supposed Manna of the Israelites. By
Gines MuUNBY, UESqitn <5 ..i sh. :00a0e ssvandeabocbeameneeeaces eetecaenteseestes cise 426
CONTENTS. vil
Page .
XLV. Observations on the Synonymy of the genus Nomada of
Fabricius, belonging to the family of Cuckoo or Parasitic Bees. By
FREDERICK SMITH
New Books :—Principles of Scientific Botany ; or Botany as an Induc-
tive Science, by Dr. M. J. Schleiden, Extraordinary Professor of
Botany in the University of Jena. Translated by Edwin Lan-
Kestersp Mei Rehr ccCe ces ctertaecscccscm sarees de decatevedoivsaveetecs 442
Proceedings of the Zoological Society ; Botanical Society of Edin-
oes eater cena co seis acct sane scale nares ore celside eicaiesioitecinelsissivenaoaia 443—450
What is the best plan to be adopted for the destruction of the Cossus
Ligniperda and Scolytus destructor?, by C. J. Cox, M.D.; Dis-
covery of the wild state of Rye; Presidency of the Linnzan
Society; On the pulverulent matter which covers the surface of
the body of Zixus and other Insects ; Meteors ; Meteorological Ob-
Senvations:and: Table. ....<ses..-caceesconensvensceesnenoasasssacece 451—455
PLATES IN VOL. IV.
Tran Anatomy of Gymnetrus Banksii.
ITT.
IV. } Freshwater Sponges of Bombay.
v:
V. B. Entozoa from the Lungs of a Sheep.
VI. New species of Floscularia.
VII. New species of Siphonotreta.—Development of Trichodina pedi-
culus ?
ee } Alcippe lampas.
ERRATA.
Page 162, 4 lines from top, for Podopilumnus read Notopocorystes.
, 12 —
, for Notopocorystes read Basinotopus.
TE AINEN oe 1S
AND
MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.
[SECOND SERIES.]
(F , cecncscevseseaces per litora spargite muscum,
Naiades, et circdm vitreos considite fontes :
Pollice virgineo teneros hic earpite flores :
Floribus et pictum, dive, replete canistrum.
At vos, o Nymphe Craterides, ite sub undas ;
Ite, reeurvato variata corallia trunco
Vellite muscosis e rupibus, et mihi conchas
Ferte, Dez pelagi, et pingui conchylia succo.”
N. Parthenii Giannettasii Ecl, i,
No. 19. JULY 1849.
1.—Account of a Ribbon Fish (Gymnetrus) taken off the coast of
Northumberland. By Atpany Hancock and Dennis Eu-
BLETON, M.D.*
[ With two Plates. ]
ON the 26th of March, 1849, a fine specimen of a species of
Gymnetrus, or Ribbon Fish, was captured by Bartholomew Taylor
and his two sons, the crew of a fishing coble belonging to Cul-
lercoats. It was found at about six miles from shore, and in
from twenty to thirty fathoms water. The men having started
from their fishing ground to return homewards, observed at a
little distance what appeared to be broken water ; the old man
being struck with such a novelty directed his lads to pull towards
it; on nearing the spot they perceived a large fish lyimg on its
side on the top of the water. The fish as they approached it
righted itself, and came with a gentle lateral undulating motion
towards them, showing its crest and a small portion of the head
occasionally above water; when it came alongside, one of them
struck it with his picket—a hook attached to the end ofa small
stick, and used in landing their fish; on this it made off with a
vigorous and vertical undulating motion, and disappeared, Taylor
says, as quick as lightning under the surface. In a short time it
* Read at the Anniversary Meeting of the Tyneside Naturalists’ Field
Club, April 21, 1849.
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. iv. 1
2 Messrs. Hancock and Embleton on a Gymnetrus
reappeared at a little distance, and pulling up to it they found it
again lying on its side; they plied the picket a second time, and
struck it a little behind the head; the picket again tore through
the tender flesh by a violent effort of the fish, which escaped once
more, but with diminished vigour; on the boat coming a third
time alongside, the two young men putting their arms round the
fish, lifted it into the boat. Signs of life remained for some time
after the fish was captured, but no doubt it was in a dying or
very sickly state when first discovered by the Taylors.
It was exhibited the same day in Tynemouth, North and South
Shields, and brought to Newcastle next morning. In the after-
noon we first saw it; we found it much injured by the strokes of
the hook and by rough handling durimg its removals and the
examinations it had undergone. ‘The fins were a good deal torn,
but the fish evidently quite fresh.
Its colour was a uniform silvery gray all over, resembling bright
tin foil or white Dutch metal, except a few irregular dark spots
and streaks towards the anterior part of the body. On closer
inspection the remains of a bright iridescence were seen about the
pectoral fin and head, the blue tint predominating.
External description—tThe fish presents somewhat the form
of a double-edged sword blade, being excessively compressed ; its
ereatest thickness is decidedly nearer the ventral than the dorsal
border ; from the thickest part it slopes gradually to each border,
the dorsal bemg the sharper. The length of the fish is 12 ft. 3 in.,
the mouth not being projected forward ; immediately behind the
gills it measures 8} in. in depth; from this pomt it gradually
enlarges to a distance of upwards of 2 feet further back, where it
attains its greatest depth of 114 im.; this dimension remains
much the same for 1 ft. beyond; it then gradually but per-
ceptibly diminishes to the end of the dorsal fin, where the depth
is 3 in.
The thickness through the head at the gill-covers is 2 in., at
the part of greatest depth 22in.; Plate I. fig. 2 shows a section
at this part. Opposite the anus somewhat less ; it then gradually
diminishes to the end of the dorsal fin, where it 1s upwards of
Sths of an inch, fig. 3.
The fishermen state that when this fish was first taken it was
all over of a brilliant silvery iridescent hue, resembling in inten-
sity that of the fresh herring, which soon faded, and shortly
after we saw it, all traces of the iridescence except those already
mentioned had disappeared. The skin is covered over with a
silvery matter in which no scales are visible to the naked eye,
but which is most readily detached from the skin and adheres to
anything it comes in contact with. Submitted to the microscope
it is found to consist partly of minute convex scale-like bodies of
taken off the coast of Northumberland. 3
elongated pyramidal outline with the base rounded, PI. I. fig. 4,
which are formed of fine clear crystalline-looking filaments,
arranged side by side and radiating from the apex to the base
of the scale ; these filaments grow much finer towards the base,
where a number of minute granules are also observed. The
scales remind one of some of those seen on the wings of moths.
The bulk of the silvery matter of the skin, however, is made up of a
soft matter finely granular, and presenting numerous transparent
fragments of what have the aspect of acicular crystalline bodies.
We have not been able to detect the mode of arrangement of the
scale-like bodies on the skin. Round the posterior margin of the
preoperculum is a broadish dusky mark on the skin, and near
the top of the head above the eye a crescentic mark of a dark
iridescent blue colour ; besides these there are on the side of the
body several narrow, dusky black, slightly waved lines consider-
ably apart from each other and obliquely inclined from before
backwards ; of these eight or nine are above the lateral line and
of unequal ‘length ; below the same line they are more numerous,
diminishing in size on the whole till they end in mere spots at
some distance behind the anus. The lower series seems to cor-
respond in some measure to the upper. Interspersed among the
lines are a few irregular spots of the same hue towards the head.
The dorsal and ventral ridges are also dusky. The lateral line
was at first smooth and very distinct, but after the fish had been
a few days in Goadby’s fluid, elongated flat scales became appa-
rent on the line; it can be traced from the back part of the head
above and behind the eye, sweeping down gradually to within
34 in. of the ventral margin at 18 in. from the snout ; at the anus
it is 2 in. from the margin ; it thence runs backwards, still ap-
proaching the margin, to the caudal extremity.
Four longitudinal flattened ridges, each rather more than 1 in,
broad, extend from the head to the tail immediately above the
lateral line, which cuts them off very obliquely in front ; the up-
permost, which is the longest, running forwards almost to the eye.
The surface of the skin of the body is studded with very nu-
merous distinct and separate tubercles of bone; the smallest and
most depressed lie between the ridges and towards the ventral
and dorsal margins, the largest and most elevated upon the ridges,
some of these last being 4 in. in diameter. On the ventral
ridge are numerous, irregular, and prominent tubercles shghtly
hooked backwards. The tubercles present no regular arrange-
ment, they are imbedded in the skin, and it is difficult to say
whether or not they had been covered by the silvery matter of
the skin ; when we examined them, their apices were uncovered
by it. Some were observed to have a perforation at the apex
which was occupied by a soft papilla. The tubercles are replaced
1*
4 Messrs. Hancock and Embleton on a Gymnetrus
in the neighbourhood of the head by irregular depressed indu-
rations of the skin.
The head is small and short, measuring 9 in. from the snout
to the posterior margin of the gill-cover ; the outline of the lower
jaw is a wide arch convex below, and stretching forwards and
upwards to the mouth, which is placed in an elevated position
and opens upwards and forwards ; the mouth is small, nearly cir-
cular, and capable of being projected 2 or 3 in. forwards when
the lower jaw is depressed. The profile of the head from the
anterior end of the crest is at first suddenly concave, the conca-
vity facing forwards and upwards, and just behind the anterior
end of the curve exists the nasal chamber which is small, and
owing to the damaged state of the fish we could only find one
small aperture, which was longer than it was broad. Beyond this
concavity the premaxillary bones project nearly horizontally to
the mouth. The eye is 14 in. in diameter, the iris of a beautiful
silvery white, and rather broader than the diameter of the pupil.
The eye is situated 2} in. below the base of the crest and 13 in.
behind the frontal concave profile. There is a narrow imperfect
circle of a dusky colour round the contour of the eyeball. The
eye is very flat. The tongue is rather promment, but small,
smooth and fixed. There are no teeth. The interior of the mouth
is black.
The gill-covers are large in proportion to the size of the head,
prolonged backwards, their posterior angles considerably ele-
vated. The preoperculum has somewhat of a crescentic form,
the lower border convex ; the anterior horn is narrow and pro-
longed to its articulation with the lower maxilla, the posterior
border has an obtuse angle pointing backwards. This border
corresponds to and may rest upon the edge of the concavity
formed by the operculum above and the interoperculum below.
The operculum is on the whole broad and irregularly quadrate,
with the upper anterior angle prolonged forwards and upwards ;
the upper margin is smooth and slightly concave nearly as far as
the angle, it then curves suddenly downwards a little to the
angle which is rather obtuse. Below this is the posterior border,
which is somewhat sinuous and rather oblique from above down-
wards and forwards.
The inferior border is nearly straight, and directed upwards
and forwards corresponding to the interoperculum.
The remaining bone, which we take for the interoperculum, is
narrow and thin, prolonged almost to a point under the jaw and
widening gradually to its posterior end, which is rounded and
projects backwards beyond the preoperculum. Its lower border
is convex aud lies almost horizontally.
_ These are the only pieces observed as entering into the forma-
taken off the coast of Northumberland. 5
tion of the gill-covers. The above bones are exceedingly de-
licate and fragile, and present the radiating lines of development
with great prominence ; the silvery skin covering them is remark-
able for its delicacy.
The branchiostegal rays are seven in number; the uppermost
a broadish plate marked by radiating lines, the rest diminishing
successively in size having the ordinary characters of such rays.
The four branchial arches diminish in size backwards, and the
pharyngeal is less than the fourth branchial arch. ‘The rays of
the convexities of the branchial arches are very numerous ; the
concavities of these arches are beset with prominent blunt-
pointed tubercles which are studded with a number of short sete
or bristles, sharp-pointed but rather soft, which project inwards
towards the pharyngeal cavity. The first branchial arch has in
addition a row of short pale-coloured rays or plates, the inner
edges of which are also furnished with sete which project likewise
inwards. On the roof of the pharynx are two or three pairs of
short laminz (pharyngo-branchial) furnished with similar sete,
pointed backwards and downwards in the direction of the
entrance to the esophagus.
The dorsal fin extends from immediately behind the upper and
posterior end of the curved frontal profile to within 3 inches of
the tail of the fish. The anterior part of the fin, more prominent
than the rest, is composed of twelve rays, which were stated by
the captors to have been 12 or 14 inches in length when the fish
was taken, and to be each furnished with a membranous expan-
sion on its posterior edge, increasing in width upwards something
like a peacock’s feather.
The first ray is a pretty strong spe arising just within the
frontal curve, the three next are very slender, and much closer
together than the rest, and when we first saw the fish, united for
4 or 5 inches (their length at that time) by a membrane ; the
next is equally slender with the preceding, but rather farther
apart ; the three or four after this are nearly as strong as the
first, the rest diminish in strength and length, and become uni-
form with the rays of the dorsal fin.
It is difficult for us to say whether the twelve front rays con-
stituted a detached crest or formed merely the anterior continu-
ation of the dorsal fin, though after careful and repeated exami-
nations we found shreds of membrane m each interval between
them, and their bases also were connected with a continuous mem-
brane. In the interval between the twelfth and thirtcenth rays the
remains of a membrane were found connecting the bases of these
rays, and their shafts were ragged and woolly-looking, as if a
membrane had been torn off from them. We are therefore in-
clined to conclude that the crest was really a continuation of the
6 Messrs. Hancock and Embleton on a Gymnetrus
dorsal fin and not a separate structure, though it is probable
enough that the ends of its rays may have been for some distance
free and even furnished with a membrane on their posterior mar-
gin widening to the top, giving them the appearance of peacocks’
feathers as asserted by the fishermen. This probability is height-
ened by the fact of the head of the Gymnetrus from the Cornish
coast being provided with two long rays having broad membra-
nous expansions at their ends, which would justify a casual ob-
server in comparing them in form to the above feathers. It is
not unlikely besides that the second, third, fourth and fifth rays,
on account of their resemblance in delicacy to the ordinary fin-
rays, may have terminated differently from the rest. The rays
having been broken, we cannot say of ourselves whether they
were uniform in size or not; but from what we have learnt by
questioning those who saw the fish, we conclude that the middle
rays were the longest, those in front and behind them gradually
decreasing in length. The rays of the crest are more closely set
generally than those of the rest of the dorsal fin, which stand
about half an inch apart. Exclusive of the crest there are 268
rays in the dorsal fin. They termimate in fine pomts that pro-
ject a little beyond the margin of the very delicate connecting
membrane. This membrane was colourless according to the
fishermen, but was bordered by a pale red when we observed it.
The rays of the back are highest about the middle of the fish,
where they measure upwards of 3} in., and at the termination of
the fin are about | in. in height.
From the end of the fin the dorsal margin slopes rather rapidly
downwards to within about an inch of the ventral margin, and is
then prolonged to a rounded point at the caudal extremity. There
is no caudal fin. The skin at this part, it is true, was broken, but
on pressing together the broken edges they seemed to leave no
hiatus. The fishermen persisted that the part was at first entire,
and that there was no appendage whatever. At a distance from
this point of about 2 inches along the ventral margin there exists
a shallow notch. Both the margins of the fish at this part are
very thin. On carefully inspecting the surface of the body, some-
thing like a series of transverse marks corresponding to the
bodies of the vertebree can be discerned, and the number of these
has from this appearance been roughly estimated at about 110.
The pectoral fins are placed close behind the gill-covers, and
much nearer to the ventral margin than to the lateral line, which
is at least half an inch above the points of the rays of the fins ;
these fins are colourless, delicate, subtriangular, and the longest
rays measure 2 inches. They are eleven in number and a good
deal arched.
The ventral fins are represented: by a pair of yery strong and
taken off the coast of Northumberland. 7
straight spines, stated by the fishermen to have been 7 or 8 inches
long and as if broken at the end, and furnished along the pos-
terior edge with a delicate membrane about half an inch broad.
When we saw them they were about 4 in. long, and the mem-
brane was distinctly visible at their bases. These spines, which
at their root measure about 4 in. in diameter, project from each
side of the ventral ridge immediately behind the pectoral fins,
are inclined backwards, and capable of a limited lateral and back-
ward motion. We are assured by a gentleman who witnessed
the landing of the fish, that these spines were bright crimson
and resembling the feclers of a boiled lobster ; hence we conclude
that they must have been originally flexible towards the end,
and much longer than 7 or 8 in. as stated by the fishermen. The
same gentleman says that the rays of the dorsal crest were sim-
ple and unbordered by a membrane.
The whole fish is remarkably delicate and tender, and easily
broken when bent laterally, as shown by the injuries it has sus-
tained by being lifted in and out of the boat, &c.; the flesh is
white and fine.
Internal examination —On opening the fish, the abdominal
cavity, Pl. II. fig. 2, is found to be small, and the eye is at once
arrested by the bright pale orange vermilion colour of the liver,
the rest of the viscera presenting no peculiarity of tint.
The cesophagus, Pl. II. figs. 2 & 34, at first slightly funnel-
shaped, soon assumes a diameter of 1 inch, and then forms a gra-
dually increasing tube as far as the coming off of the duodenum
234 in. below the orifice, where it measures 2} in. in diameter.
Nothing like any cardia or line of demarcation between the
esophagus and stomach exists in this tract. The duodenum
comes off abruptly as a short tube 13 in. in diameter, inclining
forwards from the under surface of the stomach. The stomach,
fig. 3.6, is continued on beyond the duodenum as a straight
tube, gradually diminishing in diameter towards the posterior
end of the fish, measuring an inch across opposite the anus. At
this point it has the rectum or intestine lying below it, the ovaria
and ureter above, the oviduct and ureter running down to the
anus on its right side.
It is slightly contracted opposite to the anus, and a little be-
yond this enters a canal among the muscles, a continuation of
the abdominal cavity, situated at about 1} in. from the ventral
margin and with tendinous walls, to which it is pretty firmly
adherent throughout. It is enlarged shghtly after enterimg the
canal, and then diminishes gradually from the diameter of rather
more than an inch to the size of a crowquill. It can be traced
backwards to within 1 ft. 8 in. of the caudal end of the fish,
gradually approaching the ventral border and terminating im a
8 Messrs. Hancock and Embleton on a Gymnetrus
blunt blind extremity, Pl. II. figs. 2 & 3c. The canal in which
the cecal prolongation is lodged is prolonged for an inch or two
beyond the end of this latter, and contains several small blood-
vessels, and the cellular coating of the caecum arranged in cords,
the vessels being gradually lost by passmg backwards and out-
wards into the surrounding museular tissue, the cellular cords
being attached to the sides of the termination of the canal.
The anterior main part of the stomach, when laid open, was
quite empty, the inner surface of the cesophagus and stomach as
far as 2 in. below the pylorus perfectly uniform and smooth ;
from the point here indicated, the upper wall of the stomach
preserits the gradual beginnings of a few longitudinal plice, on
tracing which backwards they are found to increase in number
until at 5 in. m front of the anus the whole inner surface of the
tube is provided with them. They are continued on in the
stomachic caecum to within 2 or 3 inches of its termination. At
about halfway along this caecum: was found a small quantity of
the spawn of some fish partially digested, several of the ova being
still entire ; a little way in front of these was an angular bit of
cinder.
The pylorus, fig. 3d, coming off as above mentioned from the
most enlarged part of the stomach, extends for only 1} in., when
it becomes suddenly constricted and presents internally the usual
circular valve.
The duodenum, figs. 2 & 3e, beyond is a cylinder of about
1 in. in diameter and 1 ft. in length, perforated all round by
very numerous circular openings, the orifices of the pancreatic
ceca, which measure about } inch in diameter and 1 inch in
length, and completely mask the whole duodenum. This part
of the tube extends forwards, lying parallel to and beneath the
stomach, and overlapped by the posterior lobes of the liver fur
about 4 in., and then emerging as it were from the pancreatic
ceca is continrous with the remamder of the intestine, figs. 2 &
3 ff, which then is saddenly bent backwards and runs along the
lower border of the pancreas obscured by the ceca of the nght
side, and then keeping along the floor of the abdominal cavity it
passes on as a straight tube to the anus, figs. 2 & 3g, at the
front of which it opens separately. The diameter of the duode-
num is diminished one-half at its exit from the pancreas, and the
intestine continues of the same size to within an inch or two of
the anus, where it is gradually lessened to about 1 inch. The
length of the mtestine from duodenum to anus is3 ft. 5in. The
inner surface of the intestine below the duodenum presents a
very delicate honeyeombed texture, the lamine being fine, of
varying size, and crossing each other in all directions, the largest
standing up pretty high and taking a longitudinal course. This
taken off the coast of Northumberland. °
form of valvulze conniventes extends to within 3 or 4 in. of the
anus. A few inches below the end of the duodenum was observed
a delicate and transparent, but large and crescentic, membranous
valve projecting into the cavity of the intestine. There is no di-
vision into large and small intestine unless the above valve point
it out. No cecal appendage except to the stomach. The intes-
tine contained nothing but a quantity of pancreatic secretion.
Attached to the upper surface of that part of the intestine
which is opposite to the pylorus is the spleen, fig. 382, ovoid in
form, delicate and spongy in texture, 2 in. long by 3 in. broad,
and of a very pale reddish brown colour. Large blood-vessels
run along both the upper and lower borders of the intestine
below the duodenum.
The liver, figs. 2 & 37, is large, and extends 18 inches back-
wards from the anterior end of the abdominal cavity lying below
the cesophagus, somewhat pointed in front, and becoming more
bulky towards the posterior end, where it is truncated diagonally
from above downwards and forwards.
The upper surface has a deep fissure partially dividing it into
two unequal masses, the left being larger than the right; along
this fissure run the hepatic and pancreatic blood-vessels ; the gall-
bladder and the cystic duct lie also attached to it.
The gall-bladder, fig. 37, about 5 in. long and 12 in. broad, is
of an irregularly elliptical form, its long diameter corresponding
nearly to the length of the fish ; the cystic duct comes off from
its anterior end, and running backwards parallel to it and to the
hepatic duct, joins the latter just before coming to the posterior
border of the liver: the common duet, fig. 34, after this runs
backwards among the lower appendices pyloric of the left side,
and debouches into the duodenum on a small papilla upwards of
an inch distant from the pylorus. The gall-bladder contains a
small quantity of yellow olive-coloured bile. The texture of the
liver is so soft and fragile that it cannot be preserved.
The ovaria, figs. 2 & 37, lie directly above the stomach, are
about 3 ft. 3 in. long, and extend forwards nearly as far as the
middle of the liver. Their ends taper to points diverging slightly
from each other; traced backwards they gradually increase in
bulk to # inch in diameter at their middle; soon after this they
diminish in size, become more closely connected, and unite at
27 in. from their anterior points mto one body, which tapers
gradually to % im. in diameter, and then curving downwards to
the external orifice on the right side of the stomachic ceecum be-
comes rapidly smaller, and opens behind the intestine. On lay-
ing open the common tube or oviduct it is found for 2 or 3 in.
from the orifice quite plain ; above this, longitudinal folds of the
lining membrane appear small and irregular at first, but soon
10 Messrs. Hancock and Embleton on a Gymnetrus
larger, more projecting, and then occupying the whole inner sur-
face of the tube. These plicee, which become tortuous and col-
lected into rows of two or three together, are found to extend to
the ends of the ovarian cavities, and are studded throughout with
minute ova of unequal sizes in an undeveloped state.
The ureter, figs. 2 & 3m, a simple tube of the size of an ordi-
nary goosequill, runs from the external orifice, just within which
is a slight vesical dilatation, fig. 3, along the median line, lying
above and attached to the ovaria, and in contact with the roof of
the abdominal cavity, for a distance of 1 ft. 1] im., when it per-
forates the fibrous membrane separating the kidney from the
other viscera. It runs obliquely forwards and upwards into the
kidney, fig. 30, which, inclosed in its proper cavity, extends
from an inch behind where the ureter joins it as far as the cra-
nium, a distance of 2 ft., reaching farther forward than the di-
gestive cavity. The organ is partially and unequally cleft by a
median fissure, the left side being larger than the right, Its
tissue is reddish brown, spongy and friable. The posterior end
of the kidney tapers to a point. The anterior end also tapers a
little, but is rounded. The ureter enters the under surface of
the gland and terminates by openmg into the general cavity
which exists along the median line of the organ. Along the
upper angle of this cavity and elsewhere are the openings of
small canals bringing the secretion from the uriniferous tubules.
These last can be readily seen with a common magnifying glass.
The supra-renal glands, fig. 3p, are two small ovoid bodies,
much paler than the kidney, partially imbedded in that organ on
its upper surface at a distance of 2 inches from its posterior ex-
tremity. There is no trace of air-bladder.
The heart, which is double the size of that of an ordinary cod-
fish, occupies a spacious triangular cavity. Its ventricle is large,
firm and triangular. The bulb of the aorta is smaller than
that of the cod. The auricle is capacious and of irregular form.
The blood-vessels beyond were not examined, and we could not
investigate the nervous system.
In a little blood obtaimed from the heart, the blood-dises,
Pl. I. fig. 5, are found to vary much in size, and also in form
from subcircular to elliptical and even fusiform, having their ex-
tremities or poles somewhat pointed. The nucleus is generally
large and distinct, and presents several nucleoli of different sizes,
giving it in many instances a granular appearance.
General remarks.—Having referred to what we have been able
to find recorded respecting the genus Gymnetrus, we found that
the figures as well as the descriptions of the external parts were
very imperfect and the anatomy little known ; hence we thought
it desirable to make the above description fuller than otherwise
taken off the coast of Northumberland. ba
would have been necessary. Seven or eight species only have
been recorded. Cuvier and Valenciennes, in vol. x. p. 365 of
their ‘ Histoire Naturelle des Poissons,’ describe one species from
a manuscript in the library of Sir Joseph Banks, which is pro-
bably identical with ours, and to which they have given the name
of G. Banksit. It was thrown up at Filey Bay, March 18, 1796,
and taken to York market on the 21st. The description is as
follows :— La queue lui manquait aussi. Sa longueur était de
treize pieds, son épaisseur de trois pouces, la longueur de sa téte
de sept. Ses flancs étaient garnis de petites protubérances argen-
tées disposées en séries longitudinales. La dorsale, qui s’étendait
depuis la téte jusqu’A autre extremité, était rouge, et avait deux
cent quatre vingt dix et treize rayons (les treize rayons sont sans
doute ceux de la nuque) ; la pectorale en avait douze ; la ventrale
un seul. I] n’y avait point d’anale ; on ne voyait point de dents ;
Vintérieure de la bouche était noir; la distance de anus a la
bouche était de quatre pieds. Toutes circonstances qui, comme
on voit, se rapprochent beaucoup de ce que nous avons observé
dans nos Gymnetres de la Mediterranée*.”
This description, though not conclusive, is sufficient to war-
rant us in adopting the name given by the French naturalists,
and thus to avoid running the risk of adding uselessly to the list
of synonyms.
Another species is described in the same work, vol. x. p. 298,
under the name Gymnetrus Gladius, which very much resembles
our specimen ; besides however some minor differences, the upper
border of the operculum differs materially—in the former it is
convex, and presents three angular points; in the latter it 1s
smooth and concavet.
There are two Norwegian species which appear generally to
precede or accompany the shoals of herrings, and hence are
called “ King of the Herrings.” Of these, the Regalecus Glesne
of Ascanius (G. Ascanii of Shaw) seems to be the most nearly
allied to our fish, but it is distinguished from it by the following
marks. It is 10 ft. long and 6 in. deep; its length is therefore
to its depth as 20 to]. From the measurements given in the
former part of this paper, it will be seen that our fish is 13 times
longer than it is deep. This has 268 rays in the dorsal fin ;
that 120.
Again, the G. Ascanii is devoid of the transverse dusky streaks
* Tt has not been in our power to refer to the work here mentioned ; but
to the kindness of Mr. Adam White of the British Museum, who called our
attention to the above record, we are indebted for this extract, and also for
another relative to G. Gladius.
+ The G. Telum of the same authors is also different from our fish, this
having 268, that 398 rays in the dorsal fin.
1 Messrs. Hancock and Embleton on a Gymnetrus
on the anterior part of the body so characteristic of our species,
but is furnished with longitudinal rows of minute dusky spots, and
has moreover three broad dusky bands across the posterior part
of the body behind the anus, and its forehead is white ; it is also
described as having teeth ; the crest also probably differs, if the
figure given in the ‘ Encyclopédie Méthodique’ be correct ;. the
dorsal fin is continued round the caudal extremity for a little
distance along the ventral line, being somewhat elongated at the
extremity, forming a kind of caudal fin. The gill-membrane has
only four or five rays. Thus, though there is a striking general
resemblance, there are several important points of distinction
between the G. Ascanii and the G. Banksii.
The other Norwegian species named G. Grillit (Lindroth, Nou-
velles Mémoires de Stockholm, xix. pl. 8) is noticed in Griffith’s
‘Cuvier’ as being 18 ft. long, and having upwards of 400 rays in
the dorsal fin, and we conclude therefore that it also is distinct
from our species*.
Of the so-called Indian species, one, the Russellian, described
as a probable variety in vol. iv. pt. 2 of Shaw’s ‘ Zoology,’ is only
2 ft. 8 in. long, and has 320 rays in the dorsal fin, and differs in
several other respects.
The other is the Blochian Gymnetrus of Shaw, the G. Hawkenii
of Bloch, the figures of which are incorrect. This however in all
probability ought not to be considered as an Indian species. The
history of it, as far as we can gather, is as follows :—
It appears that on the 23rd February, 1788, a species of Gym-
netrus was drawn on shore in a net at Newlyn in Cornwall, and
all that is really known of it is obtained from a figure with notes
which was in the possession of the late Mr. Chirgwin of Newlyn,
who freely granted permission to Mr. Couch of Polperro to have
a copy taken of it. Through the kindness of Mr. Couch we have
been favoured with a reduced copy of the above figure made by
Mr. Thomas Q. Couch ; and in the letter accompanying the draw-
ing Mr. Couch states that Mr. Chirgwin assured him that his
figure was the only true original, the fish having been drawn ashore
not far from his house; that however they might differ, all
other figures were copied from his, and that the note written on
his figure is the only one originally made from the specimen.
Mr. Couch further says, that he has no doubt, from cireum-
stantial evidence, that the figure and account of the G. Hawkenii
were communicated to Bloch by a Mr. John Hawkins, brother
of the late Sir Christopher Hawkins, Bart. Mr. Hawkins him-
self, as Mr. Couch concludes from Mr. Chirgwin’s remarks, did
* We have since been informed by Mr. J. E. Gray that G. Grillii has the
same number of rays and the same dark cross bands on the anterior part of
the body as the Cullercoats fish.
taken off the coast of Northumberland. 13
not actually inspect the fish. The copier of the figure sent to
Bloch appears to Mr. Couch to have committed a great mistake
by attempting to correct one which he supposed to have been
made by the original draftsman, and the mistake consists prin-
cipally in his having removed the two filaments in front of the
dorsal fin to the situation of the ventral fin, thus making four
filaments there instead of two. The same mistake appears to
have been made with regard to the figure of the G. Hawkenii in
Yarrell’s ‘ Fishes,’ that figure being, as Mr. Yarrell informs our
friend Mr. Alder, incorrect as regards the number of ventral fila-
ments, and the addition of the caudal fin.
It appears therefore that the G. Hawkenii of Bloch is simply
the fish caught at Newlyn incorrectly copied. In the notes ap-
pended to the drawing sent us by Mr. Couch, and which are
copied from the original, are merely mentioned the date of the
capture as above and the measurements ; “its length without the
tail, which it wanted, was 8} ft., its extreme breadth 10} in., and
its thickness but 23 in.” |
Its proportions therefore, allowing the tail to be somewhat
deficient, come pretty near to those of our fish ; if the drawing
however is to be relied on, it differs from ours in having only two
filaments from the head with expanded feather-like extremities,
and in having the ventral processes like those of the head. The
fins also are crimson, and the body is marked all over by delicate
roundish spots, and has a few obscure streaks obliquely placed
below the lateral line.
On the whole then we are inclined to believe the Cornish spe-
cimen distinet from the G. Banksi, though, from the evident
want of knowledge of the draftsman, much reliance cannot be
placed on his details.
Notwithstanding the rarity of the genus Gymnetrus, there is
every reason to believe that specimens of it have been taken from
time to time off the north-eastern coast of England. It appears
by the ‘Annual Register’ that a fish was captured off Whitby,
January 22, 1759, closely related to, if not identical with our spe-
cies. The account, which may be interesting, we here reproduce.
It is by Lionel Charlton, author of a ‘ History of Whitby ?:—
“ Yesterday (Jan. 22) a very extraordinary fish was brought
here by our fishermen, which broke into three pieces as they were
hauling it into the coble. It was 11 ft. 4.1m. long, exclusive of the
tail, had a head like a turbot or brat, was about a foot broad near
its head, but not above 4 or 5 im. near the tail, and not anywhere
more than 3 in. thick. The thickest part was its belly, and it
gradually diminished away towards the back, which was sharp,
and had all along it one continued fin from the head to the tail. It
was covered with an infinite number of white scales which stuck to
14 Messrs. Hancock and Embleton on a Gymnetrus
and dyed everything that it touched; and might be said in some
sort to resemble the quicksilvered back of a looking-glass. It
appeared when laid on the sand like a long oak plank, and was
such a fish as nobody here ever saw before, which caused a vast
concourse of people round it the whole day.”
The breaking of the fish was owing to its great delicacy of
structure, and probably its little capacity for lateral motion. It
was necessary to take great care in removing the Cullercoats fish
for fear of fracture from the same causes.
We are informed by Mr. Stanton of Newcastle, that upwards
of fifty years ago a silvery fish resembling im its general cha-
racters the subject of this paper was exhibited here, and we have
been favoured by Mr. Robert Bewick with a copy of a hand-bill
relating to a fish shown in this town March 27, 1794, undoubt-
edly referring to the specimen seen by Mr. Stanton. It is as
follows :—‘ To be seen at Moses Hopper’s, Flesh Market, a most
curious fish taken at Newbiggen by the Sea, 10 ft. long, 1 ft.
broad, 2 in. thick, and is thought to be the greatest curiosity
that was ever seen in the kingdom before.”
This fish was sketched by our celebrated townsman Thomas
Bewick, but unfortunately the sketch has been mislaid.
We have lately been favoured with a letter from Mr. George
Tate of Alnwick respecting a fish of this genus, from which we
make the following extract :—“ A fish was exhibited in January
or February of the year 1845, similar in its general form to that,
a drawing of which you showed me when I was last in Newcastle.
One of the Preventive Service men observed this fish lymg in
a shallow pool in the sands about a mile south of Alnmouth,
where it had been left by the receding tide. Its great length
and unusual appearance at once raised the man’s curiosity and
excited his fears. On approaching it the creature bent itself
round so as to appear like the rim of a coach-wheel, and the man
supposing it was about to dart upon him drew his sword and
struck it on the head. The fish struggled much, but the man
striking it repeatedly at length succeeded in cutting off its head.
«This fish was 16 ft. long, 11 im. deep, and about 6 in. thick
at the thickest part, from which it very gradually diminished
both in thickness and depth. The eye was large, measuring
about 5 in. in circumference. The teeth very small and very
acute. The skin was smooth, and no pustulations or hard poimts
were observed, neither were any transverse streaks noticed ; but
there were a few longitudinal ridges or corrugations about half
an inch apart along the sides. The colour was a silvery gray,
and the skin was covered by minute silvery-looking scales or par-
ticles, which were in such great quantity, that in the course of the
struggles the creature made after being struck, the spot where it
taken off the coast of Northumberland. 15
was found was covered over with them. There were no pectoral
or ventral or anal or caudal fins, neither was any crest observed.
These however may have been broken off, as the head was much
injured by the blows which it has received. One fin, of a rich dark
crimson colour, extended uninterruptedly from the neck along the
back to within a few inches of the tail, which ended in an obtuse
point. The fish was very beautiful; the large eye, the rich, crim-
son, rayed fin cresting its back, and the bright silvery hue of its
body rendered it a striking and attractive object.” The fish thus
described by Mr. Tate, it will be seen resembles rather the Rega-
lecus Glesne in its having teeth and being devoid of the trans-
verse streaks.
The following account of the capture of two fish of this genus
has been taken down by us from the oral relation given by John
Blackett Anderson, of Walker near Newcastle. He states he re-
collects the taking of two fish about fifty years ago at the outer
Fern Islands. They were left by the tide in a shallow pool, and
a signal being made by the keeper of the lighthouse, a boat went
from the shore and brought them to Bambrough. They were
sick when taken. One was about 4 ft. longer than the other,
the larger specimen was 18 ft. long. It could not be less, for it
was as long as the breadth of a house-end which measured 18 ft.,
and against which it was laid out on a bench. The fish were
about a foot deep, and were flat ; their colour was silvery, hke a
silver fish, but not so white. There were four processes about
18 in. long from the head, of a red colour, like the feelers of
boiled lobsters ; they tapered gradually towards their ends, which
were enlarged to the form and size of a large button. Thinks
these specimens occurred in spring. They were kept till putrid,
and then thrown away. They excited much interest throughout
the neighbourhood. Recollects them well, for he was living then
on the spot. Has not seen the Cullercoats fish.
We have moreover learnt from a Norwegian captain who fre-
quents this port and has traded to Archangel, that in the White
Sea, fish closely resembling the Cullercoats one are occasionally
seen, the silvery colour, long attenuated form, and rapid undu-
lating motion being their chief characteristics. They are there
called Stone Serpents.
It has occurred at once to many here and to ourselves also on
first viewing this Gymnetrus, that it may possibly have been taken
for the famous Sea Serpent. The Archangel name of the fish
seen there, strengthens the idea that it may at times have deceived
the eye of some credulous mariner, from its rapid undulating
motion, linear form, and from its occasionally appearing at the
surface, and leaving a lengthened wake behind it, thus creating
an exaggerated idea of its extent.
16 Messrs. Haneock and Embleton on a Gymnetrus
On consulting however the accounts which have appeared of
the Sea Serpent, we find that they relate in most imstances to
creatures widely different from the Ribbon Fish, such as whales,
seals, sharks, &c. seen under disadvantageous circumstances or
impe@fectly observed. Still, though the Gymnetrus may not have
originated the idea of the existence of a marine serpent, we think
it not improbable that the oecasional appearance of this fish may
very materially have tended to keep up among the Norwegian
fishermen that faith which they are stated to hold in the exist-
ence of such a monster.
Of the habits of the Gymnetrus little can be said. The deli-
cate general conformation of the body, the smallness and tender-
ness of the mouth, the absence of teeth, the delicacy of the fins,
show clearly that it is a fish not organized for attack—the dorsal
crest and the ventral processes being obviously for the purpose
of balancing the body, and not for either attack or defence. Its
means of defence may consist partly in the bone-studded skin, but
chiefly in the adaptation for flight, evidenced in the compressed
forfn of the body and in the great length and power of the tail.
The small amount of half-digested food found in the stomachal
cecum goes so far to prove the non-rapacious habits of the Gym-
netrus, aud make it probable that its habitual food is confined to
the spawn of other fish, and the soft, small, and defenceless in-
habitants of the deep. The absence of air-bladder seems to indi-
cate the sea-bottom as the natural resort of this fish, where its
food would be most abundant.
The only evidence of its being indigenous on the north-eastern
coast rests in its having been observed six times since 1759. There
is little doubt of the remarkable circumstance that all the six have
been captured during the spring months.
In conclusion, we have only to state, that the fish 1s now in the
possession of Mr. Edward Whitfield of Newcastle, who kindly
granted us permission to make the necessary examinations, and we
are happy in being able to state that that gentleman has expressed.
his intention of presenting this rare fish to the museum of the
Natural History Society of Northumberland, Durham and New-
castle-upon-Tyne.
Since writing the above we have received a pamphlet entitled
“ An Account of the Rare Fish, Regalecus Glesne, caught off Cul-
lercoats,” &c. In it we find a copy of a figure of a Gymnetrus
taken at Newlyn in Cornwall on Saturday 23rd day of February
1788. This figure, with descriptive notes appended, is bound up
at the end of a copy of Pennant’s ‘ British Zoology’ in the Banks-
ian library. Mr. J. E. Gray supposes this figure and notes to
be the authority for the various descriptions and figures of the
taken off the coast of Northumberland. 17
Cornish specimen of G. Hawkenii. The Banksian figure, though
possessing a good general resemblance to a Gymnetrus, differs so
widely from the figure we have been favoured with by Mr.Couch,
that we believe neither of them to have been a copy of the other,
and the differences in the measurements that accompany the
figures are such as to strengthen this belief; the length of the
Banilesiaiis specimen is said ‘al be 8 ft. 10 in., Mr. Goucis 82 ft.
The depth of the former is 10 in., of the ‘latter 104 in.; the
thickness of the former 2+ in., of the latter 23 Sin. These dis-
crepancies could scarcely have arisen from errors of copying, but
are more likely to be the result of examinations by different ob-
servers. It would therefore appear that there must either have
been more than one fish caught on the Cornish coast, or else that
different drawings and descriptions have been made of the same
specimen.
The figure in the pamphlet does not appear to us materially
to elucidate the species of the Cornish fish ; indeed the details
both of the figures and descriptions are so imperfect that they
may quite as readily be taken for the G. Gladius as for the
G. Banksii; the spotting of Mr. Chirgwin’s drawing brings
strongly to mind the markings of the G. Gladius.
We are glad to be able, from a letter of Mr. Yarrell in the
above pamphlet, to add to the list of specimens now put on record
one which was cast on shore alive at the village of Crovie near
Macduff, after a severe north-easterly gale in March 1844. It
is thus described :—“ Length without the tail, which was want-
ing, 12 ft., greatest depth 12 in., greatest thickness 23 im. The
dorsal fin was 2} in. in height, and extended to the back of the
head to a point near the fail: Rays in the dorsal fin apart from
its anterior elongation on the head 264. Filaments rising from
the head 15 ; the longest measuring 27 inches. They were con-
nected at the base by a thin membrane similar in consistency to
that which connects the rays of the dorsal fin, and are evidently
a continuation of that fin. The pectoral fin is 23 in. long, the
rays 12in. The ventrals consisted of two filaments 3 ft. in length.
They were fringed with a thin membrane on two sides, and had
evidently been broken. The head was 9 in. long from the point
of the lower jaw to the end of the operculum. The whole body
was covered with a delicate silvery white membrane, under which
appeared a series of tuberculated and smooth bands extending
over the whole length of the body ; twelve of these bands occu-
pied the space above the lateral line. When the fish was in a
fresh state these bands did not appear distinctly, but when the
skin was taken off they appeared distinct enough. Behind the pec-
toral fins appeared a few narrow dark bands extending across the
fish ; these were quite distinct when the fish was in a fresh state,
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. iv. 2
18 Mr. J. Blackwall’s Ornithological Notes.
but the skin does not retain a trace of them. The dorsal fin had
an orange tinge, and the lateral line extended along the lower
third of the body. The distance of the vent from the end of the
operculum was 46 inches.”
We agree at once with Mr. Yarrell in pronouncing this to be
the same species as the Cullercoats fish, and it is confirmatory of
our opinion that the crest was really a continuation of the dorsal
fin. This Scotch specimen, like the English ones, was caught m
the spring, and makes the eighth British example of this fish,
which is therefore not so extremely rare as has been supposed.
We observe that in the last Number of the ‘ Annals’ Professor
J. Reid of St. Audrews has given a highly imteresting description
of what he believes to be the first British example of the Deal
fish, and we take the present opportunity of stating that in the
Newcastle Museum there is a specimen which was taken at New-
biggen on the Northumberland coast, June 18th, 1844. This
specimen is 5 ft. 5 in. long, and has 1 ft. maximum depth. The
body was of a silvery gray, the dorsal fin and tail red.
EXPLANATION .OF PLATES I. ann II.
Piate |.
Fig. 1. Anterior portion of Gymnetrus Banksii, the jaws being slightly pro-
truded ; the dotted lines on the crest and ventral processes repre-
sent these parts as they are believed to have been originally, the
continuous lines represent them as they were seen by us.
Fig. 2. Outline of section of body at part of greatest thickness, showing the
relative depth and thickness.
Fig. 3. Outline of section of ditto, showing ditto ditto at 3 or 4 in. from tail.
Fig. 4. Two of the radiated scale-like bodies from the silvery matter of the
skin.
Fig. 5. Different forms of blood-globules, some shown on edge.
Puare II.
Fig. 1. Side view of G. Banksii in outline.
Fig. 2. Side view of ditto, abdomen laid open, showing the viscera in situ :
a, esophagus ; ¢c, cxcal prolongation of stomach; e, pancreatic
czeca covering duodenum; f, intestine; g, anus; 2, liver; J, ova-
ria; m, ureter.
Fig. 3. Plan of viscera removed from body: a, cesophagus; b, stomach ;
ec, stomachic cecum ; d, pylorus; e, pancreatic ceca surrounding
duodenum; f, intestine; g, anus; /, spleen; 2, liver; J, gall-blad-
der; £, ductus communis choledochus; /, ovaria; m, ureter ; 7, ve-
sical dilatation of ditto; 0, kidney ; p, supra-renal bodies.
I].— Ornithological Notes. By Joun Buackwau1, F.L.S.
[Continued from vol. xix. p. 379. ]
Tue Great Gray Surike, Lanius excubitor.
REMARKABLE for the boldness and fierceness of its disposition,
this species of shrike is sometimes troublesome to birdcatchers
Mr. J. Blackwall’s Ornithological Notes. 19
py its daring attempts to carry off their call-birds. Early in
the spring, a young man, who was intent upon obtaining for
sale a supply of that minute but docile linnet the lesser redpole,
Linota linaria, which is a summer visitor in Lancashire, where
it breeds, proceeded to Gorton, near Manchester, and having
arranged the cage containing his call-bird, and placed his twigs
well-smeared with birdlime in the manner best adapted to attain
his object, he patiently awaited the result. After having suc-
cessfully followed his insidious occupation for a considerable time,
a gray shrike flew to the cage, most likely for the purpose of
devouring the decoy-bird, and perching upon the twig attached
to its summit became entangled in the viscid material which
covered it. The agitated bird made vigorous efforts to disen-
gage itself from the unpleasant situation in which it was placed,
but without avail; its struggles only tended to involve it more
completely in the tenacious toils with which it was encumbered.
At length it was secured and placed in a dark cage with the red-
poles which had been previously captured ; but the surprise and
mortification of the birdcatcher may be imagined, when, on his
arrival at home, he found that the shrike had killed all its com-
panions in captivity. A friend of mine, who was actively en-
gaged in collecting specimens of rare British birds, happened to
hear of the circumstance, and succeeded in purchasing the shnike,
which, when preserved and mounted, occupied a place in his
cabinet.
Though irregular in its visits to this country, and though
seldom seen except in the colder months, yet the gray shrike
has been observed, in more than one instance, to prolong its
stay among the mountains of North Wales till late m May, and
it is not improbable that it may sometimes breed in the princi-
pality. Like the cuckoo and birds of prey in general, this species
and the red-backed shrike, Lanius collurio, are occasionally pur-
sued and persecuted by small birds, which, from the excited
feelings they manifest, evidently have some cause for regarding
them as enemies.
Possessing greater compass of voice than is commonly sup-
posed, the red-backed shrike is capable of giving utterance to a
few low soft notes which constitute a short song; but let it not
be thought that they represent the calls or lays of other birds,
artfully acquired for the purpose of luring them to destruction,
as some persons have insinuated, for they are delivered by the
shrike in a subdued tone and without the least attempt at con-
cealment, the station usually occupied by it on such occasions
being the loftiest twig of a tall hedge or bush; and I have never
succeeded, by the most careful and prolonged observation, in wit-
k
20 Mr. J. Blackwall’s Ornithological Notes.
nessing the fascinating effects ascribed to the music of this ima-
ginary siren.
The red-backed shrike may frequently be seen to take insects
when on wing, like the Muscicapide.
The Whinchat, Sazicola rubetra.
In Denbighshire this pretty migratory bird arrives about the
end of April, when the song of the male, which is sometimes
delivered on the wing, may be heard repeated at short intervals.
After the female has hatched her eggs, both sexes commence
the call from which the species receives in Lancashire, where it
is abundant, the provincial name of vtick ; the accent falls on the
note supposed to resemble the first syllable of the word, and the
second note of the call is sometimes repeated ; thus,—ttick tick.
I have seen the whinchat pursue the red-backed shrike with
cries and gesticulations expressive of extreme animosity.
The Sedge Warbler, Sylvia phragmitis.
The late cold spring of 1847 exercised a very marked influence
upon the vocal powers of our migratory warblers ; the notes of
the sedge warbler, which were not heard in the neighbourhood
of Llanrwst till the 14th of May, were so defective in tone that
this species found it quite impracticable to execute its song,
being enabled by the most strenuous efforts to perform a few
passages only, and those in a very imperfect manner ; even the
high powerful strain of the black-cap, Sylvia atricapilla, and the
deep rich melody of the garden-warbler, Sylvia hortensis, were
reduced to a few short, abrupt, feeble sounds without any ap-
parent connexion or modulation ; our resident singing birds also
were sensibly affected by the severity of the season, all attempts
to deliver their lays with their accustomed vigour and facility
beimg totally unavailing. As the temperature increased with the
advancing year, a corresponding improvement was perceptible in
the wild music of the fields and woods, until the full flow of song
announced the pleasing intelligence that the summer was at last
confirmed. Now as it is evident, from the facts already stated,
that a relation must exist between the singing of birds and the
temperature of the atmosphere, I shall briefly advert to some of
the circumstances which appear to constitute that relation.
An idea seems to have been entertained by the Honourable
Daines Barrington that the periodical cessation of the songs of
birds may possibly be caused by. some physical impediment, as
indicated by the following paragraph extracted from the fifth
letter addressed to that gentleman by Mr. White in his ‘Natural
History of Selborne 2—* Your supposition that there may be
Mr. J. Blackwall’s Ornithological Notes. 21
some natural obstruction in singing birds while they are mute,
and that when this is removed the song recommences, is new
and bold. I wish you could discover some good grounds for this
suspicion.”
More than twenty-six years have elapsed since my attention
was first particularly directed to this interesting subject, and I
am inclined to believe that if the candid and intelligent natural
historian of Selborne had been made acquainted with tue re-
markable facts which then presented themselves to my observa-
tion, he would have ceased to view the suggestion of Mr. Bar-
rington merely in the light of a plausible hypothesis*.
It is a matter of general notoriety that very few of our feathered
songsters, in a state of liberty, continue their delightful warbling
beyond the end of July, or the beginning of August, the latter,
as Mr. White has remarked, being “the most mute month the
spring, summer and autumn through ;” but whether this silence
is constrained or voluntary can only be determined by a careful
examination of the evidence bearing upon the case.
Ornithologists almost universally attribute the singing of birds
to the excitement induced by the passion of love, regarding it as
an act of volition, which, without any absolute necessity, ceases
to be practised when the predisposing stimulus 1s no longer felt ;
but it cannot be denied that the songs of many species may fre-
quently be heard after they have done breeding, and that the
woodlark, redbreast, wren and dipper sing even during frosty
weather in winter when the sun shines brightly. Besides, per-
sons who have the management of birds in captivity are well-
aware that they continue to exert their musical powers much
longer than birds at large, and that those powers may be cir-
cumscribed, or called into full activity at pleasure by regulating
their supply of food and the temperature of their domicile ;
female birds also, when in high condition, are known, occasion-
ally, to assume a song somewhat resembling that of the male.
These circumstances, together with the early age at which young
birds begin to practise their songs, and the facility with which
some species may be taught in confinement to substitute an ar-
tificial tune for their natural notes, have led me to suppose that
a partial coincidence in the periods during which birds of song
exercise their reproductive and musical functions may have been
mistaken by ornithologists for a relation of cause and effect.
From observations and experiments made with the greatest
care on several species of British singing birds, I have no hesi-
tation in asserting that the song peculiar to each is the result of
* See the Memoirs of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Man-
chester, second series, vol. iv. pp. 312, note ¢, 465, 466, and vol. v. p. 261.
22 Mr. J. Blackwall’s Ornithological Notes.
an instinctive impulse, liable to be brought into operation by the
agency of various stimuli, combined with a suitable state of the
vocal organs* ; and this latter condition deserves especial atten-
tion, for most of our songsters manifestly become mute in autumn
from inability to continue their melodious strains; their perse-
vering but ineffectual efforts to prolong them, and the difficulty
they experience in recommencing them in spring, proving to
demonstration that their pleasing lays depend upon the energy
of those muscles which contribute to form the voice; an energy
which is influenced chiefly by food, temperature, health, and the
exercise of the reproductive function.
The moulting of birds speedily follows the exhaustion conse-
quent on the propagation of their species, and an attendant re-
laxation of the vocal organs, which renders them incapable of
obeying the dictates of the will, is, I conceive, the true cause of
the periodical silence of singing birds. To this state of things
succeeds a gradual reduction in the temperature of the atmo-
sphere and in the supply of animal food, so that, with a few ex-
ceptions already noticed, and those dependent in all probability
upon some constitutional peculiarity, the enfeebled organs of
voice do not recover their tone till the ensuing spring, when in-
numerable animated beings, excited to activity by the genial
warmth of the season, afford abundance of stimulating nutriment
_ to the feathered songsters, which, with the concurrent restora-
tion of their physical energies, enliven every copse with their
sweet and unsophisticated music. Such I apprehend is the real
nature of the connexion which subsists between atmospheric tem-
perature and the singing of birds.
Many birds are endowed with an extraordinary capacity for
imitating sounds, and under the careful tuition of skilful imstruct-
ors readily learn to pipe long and difficult tunes, to articulate
words, and even to repeat short sentences with surprising pre-
cision. Among our native species, the jay, magpie, starling and
bullfinch afford familiar instances of the truth of this assertion ;
but I am impressed with the belief that the spontaneous employ-
ment of this faculty by individuals which have never been re-
moved from their natural haunts is much more limited than is
commonly supposed. If the term “mimic” be strictly applicable
to any British bird im the wild state, the sedge warbler may be
thought pre-eminently to merit that appellation, and, indeed, its
song is usually described in ornithological works as being com-
posed, in a great measure, of passages borrowed from the lays of
other songsters ; yet I feel thoroughly satisfied that this reiterated
* For particulars consult an essay on the notes of birds published in the
Memoirs of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester, second
series, vol. iv. p. 289.
Mr. J. Blackwall’s Ornithological Notes. 23
accusation of plagiarism is erroneous, for those fancied imitations
are merely resemblances, and are common to the songs of the
entire species, which certainly would not be the case if they were
factitious. In short, from the general character of the localities
habitually frequented by the sedge warbler, it can seldom have
an opportunity of hearing some of the birds whose notes it is
supposed to mimic, while those of the black-headed bunting,
Emberiza scheniclus, which is frequently associated with it, are
never introduced into its song, that I am aware of, though from
their style and tone they appear to be perfectly well adapted to
its vocal powers and particularly easy of acquisition, being few
in number and often repeated.
When resident in Lancashire I enjoyed excellent opportunities
of minutely investigating the habits of the jay, the magpie and
the starling, species whose talent for mimicry is susceptible of a
high degree of cultivation, the last possessing this faculty in a
more perfect state of development perhaps than any other British
bird ; but, with the exception of individuals educated in captivity,
I never detected the slightest display of their imitative powers ;
and this remark applies with equal force to the bullfinch, which
has very few natural notes, can scarcely be said to sing at all,
and, while it retains its liberty, is not known to mimic any
sound whatever ; yet whose great docility, retentive memory and
flexibility of voice render the acquirement of artificial tunes an
easy task.
That persons of lively imagination should mistake the singu-
lar tones comprised in the song of the starling for imitations of
various inarticulate sounds ; the imperfect notes of the blackbird
for endeavours to rival the crowing of the domestic cock ; or one
of the spring-calls of the great titmouse for a successful effort to
counterfeit the noise made in sharpening a saw, may cease to
be regarded with surprise, when the attempts of some ornitho-
logists to convey to the minds of their readers ideas of the songs
of birds by the arbitrary arrangement of vowels and consonants
are taken into consideration.
A blackbird, after numerous unsuccessful endeavours to execute
its song, which it was prevented from domg by some organic
defect, abandoned the undertaking, and continued throughout
the entire season to repeat, at intervals, two notes in quick suc-
cession, the only musical tones apparently to which it was ca-
pable of giving expression. The bird usually took its stand on
a branch of a large Portugal laurel nearly opposite to my sitting-
room window, and the frequent recurrence of these two notes
soon suggested a familiar name to which they bore a resemblance
sufficiently close to excite a momentary suspicion that it might
be the result of imitation. That namé I shall abstain from
24 Mr. J. Blackwall’s Ornithological Notes.
writing, having no inclination to lay myself open to the sarcasm
contained in the well-known distich,
“As the fool thinks
So the bell clinks.”
The Gray Wagtail, Motacilla boarula.
This beautiful species, remarkable for elegance of form, nice
distribution of colours and graceful agility of movement, though
observed to remain in Denbighshire and Caernarvonshire through-
_ out the year, is certainly much more numerous in the summer
than in the winter. It usually constructs its nest on the banks
of brooks and rivers and the margins of pools and lakes ; but as
it does not appear to increase perceptibly in those counties, not-
withstanding the number of young birds brought up in them
annually, it is evident that many individuals which withdraw
from that part of Wales in autumn do not return to it; the in-
fluences which regulate the geographical distribution of birds
are, however, involved in much obscurity.
The yellow wagtail, Motacilla flava, so common in Lancashire
during the summer season, I have not yet seen in the valley of
the Conway.
The Goatsucker, Caprimulgus europeus.
White, im his ‘ Natural History of Selborne,’ letter xxi, ad-
dressed to Thomas Pennant, Esq., states that the goatsucker
sometimes makes a small squeak, which it repeats four or five
times ; and that he has observed this to happen when the cock-
bird has been pursuing the hen in a toying manner through the
boughs of a tree. He asserts also, in his ‘Observations in
various branches of Natural History,’ that when a person ap-
proaches the haunts of goatsuckers in an evening, they continue
flying round the head of the obtruder, and by striking their
wings together above their backs, in the manner that the
pigeons called Smiters are known to do, make a smart snap;
adding, that on such occasions they are probably jealous for
their young, and that their noise and gesture are intended by
way of menace.
My own observations mostly serve to confirm the accuracy of
those made by Mr. White ; nevertheless, | may remark that I
have heard this species utter its squeaking note when it was
alarmed for the safety of its progeny; and that I have seen the
male strike its wings together above its back, and by that act,
repeated several times in quick succession, produce a series of
snapping sounds, when it was in eager pursuit of the female, at
the commencement of the pairing season in the month of May.
The habit which the goatsucker has of frequently alighting
on roads in the dusk of evening is alluded to by Mr. Yarrell in
Mr. J. Blackwall’s Ornithological Notes. 25
his ‘ History of British Birds,’ and the cause of this occurrence
is conjectured to be the desire to rub itself in the dust, like the
Galline. That such may be the case [ will not dispute, but I
have never been able to detect the bird in the fact, though I have
watched it on such occasions with the closest attention, and I
have known it, in numerous instances, alight on a damp road
or a compact gravel-walk, where there was no dust, and after
having been repeatedly disturbed return to it again.
It is probable that the circumstance of nestling goatsuckers
having been mistaken for young euckoos by unskilful ornitho-
logists may have contributed in a considerable degree to promote
the erroneous opinion that the cuckoo sometimes takes charge
of its own offspring; the two species, however, may readily be
distinguished from each other, even when recently disengaged
from the egg, by the structure of the beak and feet.
With reference to its ordinary call, usually consisting of two
prolonged tremulous notes, the latter of which is the lower, the
Welsh have named this species ¢roel/wr or the spinner.
The Ring Dove, Columba palumbus.
In seasons when acorns are unusally abundant, the oak woods
in the valley of the Conway are resorted to by large flocks of
ring doves, comprising a very much greater number of indivi-
duals than have been bred in the neighbourhood, evidently at-
tracted to the locality by the plentiful “supply of food to be ob-
tained in it. Whence they come, and by what means they
acquire a knowledge of the fact that induces them to visit the
district, I am at a loss to conjecture, as they do not assemble
gradually, but arrive in large bodies almost simultaneously.
The autumn of 1844 was a remarkably favourable season for
the production of acorns, and ring doves were proportionately
numerous. In the winter, the-birds procured them by turning
over the fallen leaves nde which they lay hid; and some idea
may be formed of the immense consumption of nutriment of this
kind by the doves, from the circumstance that on opening the
craw of a specimen brought to me on the 26th of January 1845,
it was found to contain forty-five acorns of various sizes.
The Common Sandpiper, Totanus hypoleucos.
Sandpipers of several species, more especially the common
one, are prevented from increasing so rapidly as they otherwise
would in the county of Caernarvonshire, where numerous streams
and lakes constitute favourite resorts of those birds, by the
shepherds’ dogs, which habitually prowl about their haunts in
quest of their nests, and devour indiscriminately both eggs and
young.
26 Messrs. Giles and Clarke on a species of Zoophyte
I11.—A few remarks upon a species of Zoophyte which has been
discovered in the New Docks of Ipswich. By Mr. Epwin GILEs
and Dr. W. B. Crarxe.
To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.
GENTLEMEN, 14 Berners Street, Ipswich, Suffolk.
Tue Zoophyte which is the object of the following remarks was
discovered in the New Salt-water Docks of Ipswich in Suffolk,
and brought under my notice by Mr. Edwin Giles, who was then
in possession of several fine and vigorous specimens. The ani-
mal appears white, or of a delicate flesh-colour and semitrans-
parent ; of an obconical form ; from a quarter to half an inch in
length, exclusive of the tentacula, which are about three or four
times the length of the body. The base is furnished with a more
or less extensive dise for attachment; the tentaculiferous extre-
mity is circular and provided with from sixteen to twenty-one
long tentacles and a subquadrangular central aperture or mouth,
capable of rapid and very considerable expansion and contrac-
tion. The circumference of the disc is bordered by an apparently
roundish and slightly thickened margin from which the tenta-
cula proceed ; whilst the dise is furnished with four subovate
bodies, each placed diametrically opposite to another having an
orifice-like appearance and extending to the base of the tentacle
which is nearest to it: these bodies are also coincident each with
one of the sub-bifid lobes of the mouth, as seen in the woodcut.
These animals are extremely interesting from the elegance of
their form and the rapidity and peculiarity of their movements.
We had an opportunity of observing them whilst busily engaged
in securing their prey, probably consisting of infusorial animals,
which however were so small that we could not ascertain what
had passed within their influence ; but we repeatedly observed
a tentaculum rapidly contracted curved upon itself, and the ex-
tremity introduced into the mouth, as in fig. E, which had sud-
denly been expanded into its quadrangular form for its recep-
tion, and as suddenly contracted, so that the four bifid lips
grasped the introduced feeler, which remained a few seconds
within the stomach, and was then gradually withdrawn and
again extended to secure another victim. Not only was the ex-
tremity of the tentacle occasionally introduced; but when the
creature had secured an object by some of the lower discs, with
which the whole extent of its surface appeared to be furnished,
the feeler was doubled upon itself, as seen on the opposite side
of fig. E, the mouth suddenly and widely expanded, and the re-
duplication introduced into it, when it again closed upon the ten-
taculum, and, as in the first instance, it remained a few seconds in
the stomach and was then gradually withdrawn again: in these
movements the mouth so closely grasped the tentacle that it ap-
discovered in the Docks of Ipswich. 27
peared to strip off every extraneous body that might be adhering to
it. The above evolutions were continually exhibited whilst we
had it under observation, and in some instances two tentacles
were introduced into the mouth at the same time.
\
The figs. A. B. C. D. have been engraved on wood by Dr. Edward Clarke,
who very kindly offered his services in illustration of this paper. They are
taken from some beautiful little drawings made by Mr. Edwin Giles of this
zoophyte whilst living in his possession, —_
A. represents a considerably magnified view of the tentaculiferous disc
with the tentacles contracted.
B. is a side view, showing the spur-like gemmation with the young polype
proceeding from it.
C. is a side view of another
specimen showing the pistil-like
gemmation and destitute of the
polype.
D. is a front or upper view of
the zoophyte as it appeared when in
its dying state: the tentacles were
all incurved, and particles floating
over the disc, when in this con-
dition, were observed to have a
rotatory motion communicated to
them.
E. is a fig. also engraved by
Dr. Edward Clarke, and taken
from a little diagram showing the
position of the tentacles when in-
troduced into the animal’s mouth.
Subjoined is a note from Mr. Edwin Giles upon this beautiful
little animal. Believe me to remain, Xce.,
W. B. Crarxg, M.D.
23 Mr. J. Ball on Odontites rubra, with notice of a new species.
Dear Sir, Tavern Street, Ipswich, Suffolk.
We have in our Wet Salt-water Dock a species of Hydroid
Polype which [ have not met with in any publication that I have
had an opportunity of referring to. It differs materially from the
common species of our freshwater ponds in its body being less
capable of extension, and in its having when mature from six-
teen to twenty-one extensile tentacles around its disc, in the cen-
tre of which, and rising considerably above the surface, when
protruded, is a singularly and beautifully organized four-lobed
mouth: the instant adaptation of its opening to the incurving
tentacles, and its effective closmg thereon when they are intro-
duced into the cavity, are operations of the most interesting cha-
racter. Around the base of the mouth, and equidistant from each
other, are four oviform orifices, corresponding with the four pro-
jecting lobes of the mouth and extending to the base of the
nearest tentacle, giving to the disc somewhat the appearance of
a flower with a four-cleft corolla.
The incipient gemmation of this polype is spurlike and acute,
upon which the young polype is formed: in some instances this
spur or offshoot terminates in a little bulb, presenting the ap-
pearance of a simple pistil of a plant having its stigma at the
extremity and the germen at its base: upon offshoots of this
latter form we have not at present noticed any young.
I observed, previous to the death of this little creature, that
the tentacles became incurved, and, at such times, substances
floating over the orifice of the disc obtained a rotatory motion as
if operated upon by cilia.
Believe me to remain, &c.,
Epwin Giuzs.
TY.—On Odontites rubra, Pers., and the allied forms, including
a notice of a new species. By Joun Baur, M.R.L.A.
Tuts attempt to clear up the confusion which seems to exist as
to the forms of the group of plants which were known to the
older botanists under the name of Kuphrasia Odontites, L., is
subject to great disadvantage, bemg chiefly founded upon the
examination of dried specimens, from which it is very difficult
to determine the true form and structure of the corolla and
anthers, the organs from which the most important specific cha-
racters are derived. I may observe in the first place, that some
of the characters used by authors appear to me altogether falla-
cious ; thus I find the relative length of the floral leaves, and the
breadth of the segments of the lower lip of the corolla to vary in
all the forms of this group. I proceed to point out by brief
diagnostic characters the forms with which I am acquainted. -
Mr. J. Ball on Odontites rubra, with notice of a new species. 29
Odontites verna, Reich. (O. rubra, Pers. and Benth. in D.C.
Prod.)—Stem erect, branching, obsoletely tetragonous, hispid
with reflexed hairs, from 6 to 20 inches in height ; leaves ses-
sile, lanceolate, narrowed from near the base, and usually blunt-
ash, remotely serrate, lower leaves elongated, those of the secon-
dary branches and flowering spike with few—2—4—teeth, the
last remote from the upper extremity of the leaf ; flowers shortly
pedunculate, usually shorter than the floral leaves ; calyx seg-
ments equal to the tube in length, lanceolate, rather acute;
corolla about twice as long as the calyx, pubescent, upper lip
slightly convex, suberose, lower lip with three roundish ob-
long obtuse lobes, the middle lobe somewhat longer and broader
than the others ; filaments hairy, nearly equaling the length
of the corolla ; anthers transverse, with a few glandular hairs,
included in or slightly protruding from the upper lip of the
corolla ; capsule oblong, hairy, when ripe equaling or slightly
exceeding the calyx ; style filiform ; stigma minute, capitate,
hairy ; seeds oblong furrowed.
Common throughout Europe.
O. verna var. elegans, nobis. (QO. serotina, Reich. non Bert.)-—
Leaves narrowed at the base, almost linear ; flowers with longer
peduncles ; corolla rather smaller, lower lip with three linear-
oblong, nearly equal segments ; anthers slightly exserted.
I possess this form from Buda in Hungary, and from Persia
(Kotschy, Plantz Persize Borealis, 693). I gathered it on the
Wynd Cliff near Chepstow, on the 50th of August, 1848. From
the observations of Reichenbach it is clear that this and not the
following form is that mtended by him (Flora Exe. num. 2450).
It is probable that this is likewise the plant known to Mr. Ben-
tham : I altogether concur in the propriety of uniting it to the
preceding, as has been done by that eminent botanist (D.C. Prod.
x. 551).
Odontites Bertolonii, nobis. (Bartsia serotina, Bert.)—Stem as
in O. verna, seldom exceeding 12 inches in height, branches
usually more numerous and shorter; leaves very shortly petio-
late, much smaller than in O. verna, ovato-lanceolate, teeth more
acute and much more approximate; calyx rather less deeply
divided ; corolla with a rather shorter tube, lobes of the lower
lip nearly equal ; anthers slightly exserted ; ripe capsule much
smaller than in O. verna.
Though perhaps rather difficult to define by written charac-
ters, this form appears to me fully entitled to specific distinction,
in which opinion I am confirmed by the positive statements of
the accurate Bertoloni. The shape and size of the leaves, the
30 Mr. J. Ball on Odontites rubra, with notice of a new species.
denser and more uniform inflorescence, and the constantly smaller
fruit appear to supply constant characters. The exserted anthers
and the shorter floral leaves are sometimes found in O. verna var.
elegans above described. I have specimens from Tuscany, Um-
bria, Rome and Naples, the latter gathered by myself at the end
of September 1845 ; but I have never seen any other than Ita-
lian specimens, and the plant appears to be unknown in central
Europe.
In consequence of the confusion that exists as to the identity
of the forms which have borne the names EHuphrasia serotina, it
appears necessary to abandon that specific name, though highly
appropriate, and in that case the Italian plant cannot bear a more
suitable name than that of the only author who has clearly distin-
guished it from its allies.
Odontites rotundata (n. sp. ?), nobis.
About ten years ago I received from Professor Henslow a spe-
cimen marked Bartsia Odontites ? gathered near the Hague, and
about the same time I was favoured with an imperfect specimen
gathered on Bepton Common, Sussex, by Miss Plowden, and a
specimen marked Cambridgeshire without the name of the col-
lector. These plants appeared to me at the time to differ in many
respects from the common English plant, but I was unwilling to
describe them without a fuller acquaintance with the continental
forms. I am now induced with some hesitation to assign to this
form a distinct specific name, beg unable to identify it with
any of the described species. I subjoin a short description :—
Odontites rotundata.—Stem with numerous elongated branches
from near the base, (in my specimens) 6-9 inches in height ;
leaves sessile, lanceolate, crenato-serrate, teeth less acute and
fewer than in O. verna, floral leaves almost entire, equaling or
(in my English specimens) shorter than the flowers ; segments
of the calyx one-third of its length, broadly triangular ; corolla
rather shorter than in O. verna, upper lip broad, convex, in-
cluding the anthers, lower lip with three broadly rounded, nearly
equal segments ; filaments nearly glabrous ; anthers transverse
with scarcely any glandular hairs; style and stigma nearly
glabrous ; capsule broadly oval, almost rounded, when ripe
longer than the calyx.
Hab. England and Holland.
In my specimens the whole plant is less hispid, with a softer
pubescence than in O. verna. The form of the calyx and cap-
sules, and the nearly glabrous filaments, anthers, style and stigma
bring this form near to O. lanceolata, Reich. ; but that plant, of
Mr. J. Miers on the genus Acnistus. dl
which I possess specimens from Bonjean the original discoverer,
differs by its rigid habit, with prominent hispid nerves to the
leaves and calyces, by its erect anthers, and by the form and co-
lour of its corolla, which in the present species scarcely differs
from that of O. verna. As far as I can judge from dried speci-
mens, the seeds of O. rotundata are considerably broader than
those of O. verna: on the whole, the characters assigned appear
to justify me in proposing this well-marked form as a new spe-
cies, which like so many others must await the result of continued
observation and experiment before it can be finally adopted by
naturalists.
V.— Contributions to the Botany of South America.
By Joun Miers, Esq., F.R.S., F.L.S.
[Continued from vol. iii. p. 451.]
ACNISTUS.
To this genus, as defined on a former occasion (Lond. Journ.
Bot. iv. p. 835), I have to add another species. Subsequently
(ibid. vu. p. 838) I alluded to the great proximity which this
genus offers to Dunalia, and I may also add that it touches like-
wise upon the section Chenesthes of Jochroma on the one hand,
in a manner that renders it difficult to determine whether one
species of Acnistus belongs to this or to the former genus ; on
the other hand again it osculates closely upon Brachistus, so that
B. oblongifolius from the length of its corolla (being twice that
of its calyx) might almost be considered as an Acnistus : in this
latter case however, as the plant has very dissimilar geminate
leaves, a character peculiarly remarkable in most species of Bra-
chistus, and as it presents only two, rarely more flowers in each
axil, it cannot be considered as an Aenistus.
14. Acnistus confertiflorus (n. sp.) ;—ramulis glabris, striatis ;
foliis fasciculatis, oblongis, basi cuneatis, in petiolum longum
gracilem attenuatis, apice obtusiusculis, supra pubescentibus,
subtus fusco-tomentosis: floribus umbellato-fasciculatis, pe-
dunculis apice incrassatis, calyeeque pilosiusculis, corolla lutea,
glabra, lobis acutis, marginibus tomentosis, staminibus stylo-
que subexsertis.— Peruvia, v. s. in herb. Lindley (Lobb. n. 328).
In this species the leaves (including a petiole of 2 inch long)
are 21 inches in length and 2 inch broad ; the peduncle is 9 or
10 lines, the corolla 8 lines long: each axil usually presents four
to five or six flowers, fasciculated with two to three or four young
leaves, all growing out of the cicatrix of a fallen leaf of the pre-
32 Mr. J. Miers on the genus Dunalia.
vious year : it is probable therefore that the leaves grow to a much
larger size than are seen in the above specimen. “Tt comes very
near Acnistus cauliflorus.
DuNALIA.
Since the last species of this genus were described, I am glad
to have had an opportunity of seeing a new and very distinct
species belonging to the section Pauciflore, which I found culti-
vated at Kew, under the name of Lycium obovatum. It confirms
the views before taken of its structure, founded on an examination
of the dried specimens described in the ‘ Lond. Journ. Bot.’
vol. iv. p. 333, and vol. vu. p. 337.
7. Dunalia lilacina (u. sp.) ;—fruticosa, inermis, ramulis striatis ;
foliis in axillis fasciculatis, spathulato-oblongis, apice obtusi-
usculis aut vix acutis, in petiolum elongatum gracilem attenu-
atis, utriuque elaberrimis, margine revolutis, venis superne
immersis subtus coloratis ; floribus in fasciculis axillaribus so-
litariis, nutantibus, pedunculo gracili, 1-floro, calyceque brevi
campanulato 5-nervio glabro, dentibus 5, rotundatis, mucro-
natis ; corolla infundibuliformi, lilacina, caly ce 6-plo longiore,
extus vix puberula, intus superne glabra, imo pubescente,
limbo brevissimo, tomentoso, fere integro, dentibus 5-6, acutis,
cum alteris fere obsoletis glabris imterjectis ; stamimibus 5-6,
inclusis, quorum 3 paulo brevioribus, filamentis glabris, supra
basin insertis, appendicibus brevibus, utrinque bifidis, cano-
pubescentibus ; stylo glabro, incluso.—Patria ignota, v. s. in
hort. Kew. cult.
This species approaches very near to D. ramiflora: the inter-
nodes are closely approximated, with four to six leaves crowded
in each axil; the leaves are 17 inch long, tapering gradually
from near the apex into a slender petiole of 3 of an inch, bemg
altogether 21 inches in length, and they are 5 lines in breadthe
the peduncles are only } inch long, scarcely thickened at the
apex ; the calyx is 2 lines long; the corolla 1 inch in length, 2
lines in diameter from the base to the middle, whence it gra-
dually enlarges to nearly A lines in the mouth ; fhe Figmentes are
quite glabrous, arising from fleshy oblong cano-tomentose pro-
cesses, with fee margins, adnate to the base of the corolla for
the length of 14 line; the appendages, which are a continuation
of the free margins of the processes, instead of being single and
glabrous on each side of the filaments, as in all the other species,
are here each bifid, very cano-tomentose, and scarcely a line in
length ; the anthers are below the mouth of the corolla, as is also
the clavate stigma, which is crowned with two greenish viscid
glands.
5
£
5
Mr. J. Miers on the genus Phrodus. 33
PHRODUS.
Among the collections made by Bridges in the arid districts of
the province of Coquimbo in Chile, are three plants that bear
quite the aspect of some of the smgular Nolanaceons species
which I noticed on a previous occasion as belonging to the ge-
nera Alona and Dolium of Dr. Lindley. One of these same plants
was formerly described by me (Lond. Journ. Bot. iv. p. 501)
under the name of Alona microphylla, because it possessed the
same general habit, with flowers similar to those of Alona erici-
folia and other Nolanaceous plants from the same locality, and
being without fruit I concluded it must belong to that genus.
The plants now to be described, though evidently referable to
the tribe Solanee of Endlicher, do not correspond with any re-
corded genus: from Salpichroma they differ in having a more
tubular calyx, and a much shorter and broader corolla, which
does not become black im drying: they approach Dunalia in the
structure of their flowers, and somewhat in their Lycium-like
habit, but their filaments are simple and more exserted. They
greatly resemble at the same time many species of Lycium, but
they differ from that genus in having much larger and more cam-
panular flowers with a very different <estivation. The generic
name now proposed for these plants is derived from dpodédos,
evanidus, because of their shabby stunted habit.
Puropus (gen. nov.).—Calyx urceolato-tubulosus, usque ad me-
dium 5-dentatus, dentibus acutis, persistens. Corolla infun-
dibuliformis, tubo imo contracto, superne amphore, limbo 5-
partito, lacmiis oblongis vel rotundatis, expansis, estivatione
induplicato-valvatis. Stamina 5 , subinzequalia, longe exserta ;
filamenta filiformia, in coarctationem tubi adnata, imo villosa,
hine giabra; anthere ovatie, 2-lobe, sine connectivo apicifixe,
lobis adnatis, rima laterali longitudinaliter dehiscentibus. Ova-
rium ovatum, imo glandula annulari cinctum, 2-loculare, pluri-
ovulatum, placentis incrassatis dissepimento utrinque adnatis.
Stylus filiformis, longitudine stamimum. Stigma clavatum,
obsolete 2-lobum. Bacca globosa, apice conica, calyce distensa
arcte inclusa, 2-locularis, polysperma. Semina compressa, re-
niformia. Embryo in albumen carnosum teres, arcuatus, radi-
cula ad angulum basilarem spectante, cotyledonibus semitere-
tibus fere equante.—Fruticuli Chalenses ramosissimi ; folia mi-
nima, ericoidea, carnosula ; flores solitarii, axillares, pedunculatt.
1. Phrodus microphyllus. Alona microphylla, Lond. Journ. Bot.
iv. 501 ;—fruticulosus, nodoso-flexuosus, implexo-ramosus, ra-
mulis junioribus brevibus divaricatis, vel deflexis, abortu apice
seepe spinescentibus ; folus subsessilibus parvulis, subfascicu-
latis, spathulato-oblongis, carnosis, superne canaliculatis, sub-
Amn. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. iv.
ok Mr. J. Miers on the genus Phrodus.
tus convexis, utrinque glanduloso-pubescentibus, imo callo
tumido persistente suffultis, callibus agglomeratis et axillis
demum nudis hine nodosis ; floribus breviter pedunculatis.—
Chile, prov. Coquimbo, v. s. in herb. Hook. (Bridges, no. 1330),
in herb. Lindl. (Bridges, no. 1331*).
This appears to be a low bushy stunted shrub, with close,
short, flexuose, knotty branchlets, frequently spimescent at the
apex, or often reduced to a short spine: the older branches are
generally quite bare of leaves, but the younger ones are closely
invested with minute fleshy fasciculate semiterete leaves, scarcely
more than 1 or 2 lines in length, and barely half a line in thick-
ness ; these soon fall off, leaving the axils bare, the sterile appear-
ance of which is increased by the knotty accretions formed by
the persistent tumid bases of the fasciculate leaves ; the peduncle
is 2 lines in length; the calyx, 3 lines long, is somewhat cam-
panular, being 2 lines broad, cleft full one-third of its length into
five erect equal teeth: the corolla seldom exceeds 6 or 8 lines in
length, the portion within the calyx bemg cylindrical, but it
swells above and becomes funnel-shaped, with an expanded
border consisting of five obtusely triangular equal lobes; the
stamens are inserted in the contracted portion of the tube, where
they are very hairy, above they are quite smooth, slender, erect,
and extend 2 lines beyond the mouth of the tube; the style is
exserted to the same lengthy.
2. Phrodus Bridgesti (n. sp.) ;—fruticosus, ramulis elongatis,
teneris, subadscendentibus; foliis fasciculatis, spathulato-linea-
ribus, subcarnosis, superne canaliculatis, subtus convexis, utrin-
que viscoso-pubescentibus ; corolla calyce 3-plo longiore ; sta-
minibus subinzequalibus, longe exsertis, stylo zquilongis——
Chile ad Coquimbo. v. s. in herb. Hook. et Lindl. (Bridges,
no. 1382).
* There is evidently a confusion here in the numbers, which is not un-
frequent in many of Bridges’s Chile plants, in consequence of two or more
specimens having been distributed on the same sheet without attached labels.
Owing to this same cause, I have described his no. 1331 as the Dolia vermi-
culata; it should have been no. 1330, these numbers having been respec-
tively interchanged. Under no. 1332 two very different plants have been
distributed ; in Dr. Lindley’s herbarium that number corresponds with his
Alona baccata, and in Sir Wm. Hooker’s herbarium the same number refers
to a very distinct plant, which I have correctly described under the name of
Sorema acuminata, I may here also observe, that there exists another error
connected with some of Bridges’s plants formerly described by me, inasfar
as regards their locality : thus Sorema acuminata (Lond. Journ. Bot. iv. 370),
Sorema linearis (id. 499), Alona ericifolia (id. 501), and Dolia clavata (id.
508), are all from the neighbourhood of Coquimbo, and not from Concepcion,
as I found inscribed in mistake on the specimens referred to.
+ This plant with generic details will be figured in the ‘ Illustr. South
Amer. Plants,’ plate 42 A.
Mr. J. Miers on the genus Physalis. 35
The habit of this species is somewhat different from the pre-
ceding, the branchlets being much longer, straighter and more
slender ; the leaves are also larger and more linear, being 4 lines
long by 3 line broad, and after their fall the axils do not become
enlarged by callous knots, as occurs in the two other species ;
the peduncle is 4 lines long; the calyx, 5 lines in length, is
more funnel-shaped, and divided nearly halfway down into five
acute teeth ; the corolla is 9 lines long, spreading above to a
diameter of 6 lines, with a border of five short lobes, and is appa-
rently of a pale yellow or whitish colour ; both it and the calyx
as well as the peduncle, the stem and the leaves are thickly
clothed with short glandular pubescent down: the style, thickened
at its apex, is considerably farther exserted than the stamens :
the berry, closely invested by the calyx, is globular, with a conical
apex, and is 5 lines in diameter*.
3. Phrodus nodosus (n. sp.) ;—fruticosus, ramulis nodoso-flexu-
osis, subadscendentibus ; folis fasciculatis, spathulato-linea-
ribus, carnosis, evenus, superne canaliculatis, imo callo tumido
persistente suffultis, axillis hine demum nodosis: corolla ob-
scuriore, calyce campanulato duplo longiore, staminibus vix
exsertis ; stylo istis multo longiore.-—Coquimbo, v. s. in herb.
Hook. et Lindl. (Bridges, no. 1333).
The habit of this plant is intermediate between the two former,
the branches being flexuose and knotty as in the first species ; its
leaves are similar in size and shape to those of P. Bridgesii, but
the agglomerated persistent callous bases of the leaves, after they
have fallen, give to the branches, which are more flexuose and
crooked, the same knotty appearance as in P. microphylla, a cha-
racter quite wanting in the second species +.
PHYSALIS.
Having spoken so frequently of this genus in relation to other
approximate genera, it is desirable that its limits should be de-
fined with more accuracy than heretofore. Its distinction from
Saracha has been already marked by its inflorescence offering
always a solitary axile flower, by its greatly increased vesicular
reticulated calyx in fruit wholly inclosing the berry, and by its
more deeply campanular and less rotate corolla with a border not
so deeply cleft. In its enlarged vesicular calyx it offers much
analogy with the genera Nicandra, Cacabus, Thinogeton, Ani-
sodus, Withania and Hypnoticum, but the former has a longer
* This species will be figured in plate 41 of the ‘ Illust. South Amer.
Plants.’
t This plant will be shown in plate 42 B. of the same work.
8*
36 Mr. J. Miers on the genus Physalis.
and larger campanular corolla, with an erect almost entire mar-
gin, and a calyx with five deeply carinated angles, and five spur-
hike extensions at its base; the second has a more decidedly in-
fundibuliform corolla, resembling that of a Nolana, and an almost
transparent calvx marked with dark green lines; the third has
a still more tubular corolla with an enlarged thickened calyx :
Anisodus has a large deeply bell-shaped flower with rounded
lobes, and a vesicular thickened calyx with five large prominent
nervures which become woody: in /¥ithania the corolla is nar-
row and deeply cleft, and the fructiferous calyx is broad and not
contracted in its mouth: Hypnoticum has a small corolla with
an extremely short tube, and a small erect five-cleft border.
In Physalis, on the contrary, the corolla is broadly campanular,
with a spreading pentangular border more or less entire, and
generally with five large coloured spots at its base. All possess
a swelling calyx enveloping the fruit, and Hypnoticum agrees with
Physalis in having stellate or brachiate pubescence. The follow-
ing is its emended generic character :—
Puysatis (char. reform.).—Calya brevis, tubulosus, in lobis 5
acutis semifissus, tubo in fructu valde aucto vesiculoso 5-an-
guloso, persistens. Corolla late campanulata, sepissime ma-
culis magnis 5 colorata, imo breviter coarctata, limbo subro-
tato, 5-angulato, rarius in lobis 5 5 triangularibus partito, zsti-
vatione plicato-valvata. Stamina 5, imo corolle inserta, e
squamis 3-dentatis basi corollz adnatis et fere in annulum
sistentibus orta; fi/amenta teretia, erecta; anther oblonge, ba-
sifixee, circum stylum conniventes, loculis 2, parallele connexis,
rima marginali longitudinaliter dehiscentibus. Ovarium ova-
tum, imo disco carnoso impositum, 2-loculare, placentis e dis-
sepimento cruciatim partientibus, tunc bifidis, lunularibus,
undique Dr aUBERS Stylus simplex, longitudine stammum.
Stigma capitatum, 2-lobum. Bacca globosa, calyce vesiculoso,
membranaceo, reticulato, celata. Semina plurima, parva, in
pulpam midulannia, reniformia, testa scrobiculata. Embryo
intra albumen carnosum hemicyclicus, teres, radicula infera
hilo laterali evitante cotyledonibus semiteretibus duplo lon-
giore.—Herbz suffruticulose, radice perennente, totius orbis
undique indigene, procumbentes, dichotomo-ramose, pilose ; folia
alterna, vel gemina, ovata, integra, aut angulato-dentata, inter-
dum cordata ; flores pedunculati, solitaru, extra-axillares, se-
pissime nutantes.
Ail the species of Physalis are too well known and described
to require any observation, but for the sake of illustrating the
details of the genus, I have added a species that appears to be
unrecorded.
Mr. J. Miers on the genus Larnax. 37
Physalis gracilis (n. sp.) ;—caule gracili, substricto, pubescente ;
folus ovatis, acutis, petiolatis, seepe inzquilateralibus, crassi-
usculis, utrinque pallidis et pubescentibus, petiolo sublongo,
piloso; floribus axillaribus, subsolitariis, pedunculo gracili,
petiolo zquilongo, 1-floro, flore nutante ; calyce campanulato,
profunde 5-partito, lobis acutis ; corolla cyathiformi- -campa-
nulata, lutea, maculis 5 magnis violaceis notata, limbo 5-angu-
lato, angulis obtusis ; Seine oot corolla brevioribus, filamentis
brevissimis. —Real del Monte, Mexico, v. s. in heres Hook.
(Coulter, 1222).
The specimen is scarcely more than 8 inches long, with a
single, slim, straight, apparently erect and somewhat branching
stem ; the internodes are about 1 inch, the leaves 12 to 15 lines
long, '8 lines broad, upon a slender petiole 4. lines in length, they
are somewhat obtuse and unequal at base ; the more slender pe-
duncle is about 6-8 lines ; the calyx, 5 fee long, is half cleft into
five acute segments, and together with the peduncle i is hairy ; the
corolla is 8 lines broad and 4 lines deep, the filaments are 3 lines,
and the anthers nearly 2 lines long*.
LARNAX.
There exists a small group of plants in several respects ap-
proaching Physalis as defined in the preceding page, but which
differ in having fasciculate flowers, a corolla deeply 5-cleft,
and in being herbaceous, erect, not prostrate plants. They vary
from Cacabus and Thinogeton in the structure and colour of their
corolla. The type is the Physalis subtriflora of the ‘ Flora Pe-
ruviana,’ tab. 176, and two other plants described by Prof. Kunth
are evidently congeneric with it. They differ from Saracha in
their flowers being fasciculate, not decidedly unbellate, and in
their inflated calyx, which subsequently closes the fruit, as in
Physalis. They approach Margaranthus very closely, but they
do not accord with that genus in the form of their corolla. The
generic name proposed for this group is derived from XNdpva€,
capsa, because the fruit is encased by the swollen calyx.
Larwnax (gen. nov.).—Calyzx tubulosus, angulatus, tenuis, 5-den-
tatus, demum augescens et vesicarius. Corolla tubo brevis-
simo, campanulato- infundibuliformi, limbo 5-fido, lobis acutis,
subpatentibus. Stamina5, brevia, tubo inclusa, zequalia, fila
menta brevissima, anthere 2-loculares, loculis adnatis. Ova-
rium ovatum, 2-loculare. Stylus brevis, erectus, apice sub-
incurvus. Stigma sub-2-lobum. Bacca pisiformis, 2-locularis,
* A figure of this species will be given in plate 39 B. of the ‘ Illust. South
Amer. Plants.’
38 Mr. J. Miers on the genus Larnax.
ealyce globoso, urceolato, vesicario, membranaceo imcelusa.
Semina plurima, reniformia. Embryo ignotus.—Herbe Peru-
viane et Mexicane, annue, erecta, dichotome ramose; folia
alterna, solitaria aut gemina, petiolata; flores axillares, subsoli-
tarii, aut plurimi fasciculati ; pedunculi 1-flori, florifert erecti,
fructiferi cernui; corolla lutea.
1. Larnax subtriflora. Physalis subtriflora, A. et P. Flora
Peru. 1. 42. tab. 176 a ;—caule angulato ; foliis ovatis, acutis,
solitarus, vel geminis, venosis, utrinque villosis, pilis mollibus
articulatis ; pedunculis 2-3nisve, gracilibus, erectiusculis ;
corolla lutea, venosa; bacca pisiformi, lutescente.—Peruvia,
ad Obragillo.
This is an annual, growing to the height of 2 feet; the
leaves are represented as being 3 inches long, 1} broad, on a
petiole of 4 or 5 lines, they are somewhat unequal at base, and
covered with long soft pubescence ; the peduncles are from 6 to 9
lines long, the calyx scarcely 2 lines in length, the tube of the
corolla 2 lines long, campanulate above, and the lobes of the
border, of the same length, are somewhat patent.
2. Larnax Orinocensis. Physalis Orinocensis, H. B. K. ii. 12 ;—
caule herbaceo angulato, dichotome ramoso ; foliis ovatis, sub-
acuminatis, basi imzequalibus, et im petiolum decurrentibus,
supra glabris, subtus pallidioribus, nervo yenisque hirtellis ;
floribus ses, pedunculatis, pendulis; calyce urceolato-
globoso, piloso, 5-dentato, dentibus acutis, pilis articulatis ;
corolla infundibuliformi-campanulata, pilosiuscula, limbo 5-fido,
lacinus obtusis eequalibus ; bacca globosa, pisiformi, calyce ve-
sicario aucto reticulato teecta.—Orinoco.
Neither this plant nor the following, from their inflorescence
or general appearance, accord with Physalis, and so much was
Prof. Kunth impressed with this idea, that he adds respecting
them, “species anomal, an genus distinctum?’ They appear
to agree in all essential respects with the characters of the plant
last described. The leaves are from 3 to 33 inches long, 19 to
20 lines broad, on a pubescent petiole of 8 to 10 lines in length.
The flowers are 5 lines long; the peduncles 2 lines in flower,
4 lines in fruit. The stamens are included within the corolla and
are glabrous.
3. Larnax Xalapensis. Physalis Xalapensis, H. B. K. loc. cit.
p- 13 ;—caule herbaceo, angulato, subdichotome ramoso ; foliis
oblongis, acuminatis, basi angustatis et equalibus, integris,
ciliatis, pilis minutissimis utrique conspersis ; floribus plu-
rimis, subfasciculatis, nade tices pilosis, calyce, corolla, fruc-
tuque ut in prece , ad Xalapam.
‘
Mr. J.O. Westwood on a genus of Parasitic Hymenoptera. 39
This species differs only from the former in its more acuminate
leaves, equal at base and pilose on both sides, and in its fasci-
culate flowers. The leaves are from 4 to 5 inches long, 20 to
21 lines broad, on a petiole of 12 to 15 lines in length. The
flowers resemble those of the former species in size and shape ;
they are probably fasciculate, as in the first-mentioned species,
and not umbellate, a mode of expression often used by Professor
Kunth in that sense, which is the more evident, as he makes no
allusion to any general peduncle.
VI.—On the Identification of a Genus of Parasitic Hymenoptera.
By J. O. Wesrwoon, F.L.S.
To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.
GENTLEMEN, Hammersmith, June 5, 1849,
As I have neither leisure nor inclination to answer in detail
Mr. Newport’s reiterated attacks upon me, I shall merely ob-
serve—
Ist. That I again deny having expressed a single word of
doubt as to Mr. Newport’s having found the insects im question
in 1832, or that I asserted that his knowledge of them was de-
rived from my communications. I said that Mr. Newport must
have known from those communications that his insects were
identical with those reared by Audouin and exhibited by me.
2nd. The notices published by me in 1845 and 1847 are suf-
ficient to identify my insect and to distinguish it from every
known species of Chalcidide, and ought (even if Mr. Newport had
not been present when I exhibited my specimens and drawings,
and gave a vivd voce description of the insect) to have satisfied
him of their identity. My notices, although not drawn up in a
technical manner, indicate the chief essential peculiarities of the
insect, viz. lst, its minute size; 2nd, its parasitism in the nests
of mason bees and wasps; 3rd, the impregnation of the female
within the cell of the bee ; 4th, the habit of the female of using
her wings, and seeking other cells in which to deposit her eggs ;
5th, its position in the family Chalcidide ; 6th, the singular dis-
torted* antenne of the males ; 7th, the minute size of the wings
of the male, and 8th, the full size of the wings of the female.
drd. I reaffirm the identity of the insects, and having seen
Mr. Newport’s drawing made seventeen years ago, I do not hesi-
tate to state that his description has been drawn up from this
* The antenne of Elasmus, &c. are not distorted in form; they are sim-
ply furnished with long lateral branches.
40 Mr. J.O. Westwood on a genus of Parasitic Hymenoptera.
imperfect sketch, and that seven out of the nine generic cha-
racters given by him im the ‘ Gard. Chronicle,’ p. 183, are erro-
neous ; namely, Ist, the size of the head of the female ; 2nd, the
description of the female antennze ; 3rd, description of the wings
of the female ; 4th, description of the tarsi of the female ; 5th, de-
scription of the antennz of the male ; 6th, description of the eyes
of the male; 7th, size of the insects. Some of these characters,
namely the veins of the wings and the 5-jointed tarsi, neither
belong to the family nor subfamily to which the msect is to be
referred, whilst the possession of stemmatous eyes by the male is
disproved by every known species of winged insect, whereas it 1s
as essentially a character of some of the Ametabolous tribes.
Mr. Newport admits it to be possible, but not probable, that he
has made these mistakes (Gard. Chron. May 26th), and brings
forward his own and my descriptions of the male antennz to show
the improbability ; but on examining his drawing I find the space
for the joints he has overlooked indicated by an imereased length
of the base of the following jomt. The proper way to disprove
my assertions is to produce his specimens for the examination of
competent entomologists.
Ath. Respecting the physiology of Mr. Newport’s paper it is
to be observed, that finding two species of larvee im the nests of
Anthophora, both of which produced species of Chalcidide (a fa-
mily hitherto known only as insectivorous parasites), and finding
moreover on dissection that both these larvae possessed the same
forms of the digestive organs, Mr. Newport arrived at the con-
clusion that one was insectivorous, and the other pollinivorous !
Driven however from this ground by the direct observation of the
parasitism of Monodontomerus by Mr. F. Smith (who, notwith-
standing Mr. Newport’s attempt to deprive him of the credit
thereof, was the first who discovered the parasitic larve of that
insect, and directed Mr. Newport to the spot), Mr. Newport tells
us (Gard. Chron. p. 231), that “ what he had chiefly dwelt upon
in his paper was the circumstance of its beg an external feeder,
as proved by the hairs on its body, although he had advocated
the opinion that it fed on pollen; but as to whether this was the
case or not, he considered that it mattered but little with refer-
ence to the anatomical facts he had described :” in other words,
that it was immaterial whether the imsect were carnivorous or
pollinivorous, its peculiar anatomy being equally suited for either
condition! But even here Mr. Newport has arrived at a wrong
conclusion, for the hairs on the outside of the body of the larva
are not characteristic of external feeding parasite-larvee, since
those of Eulophus Nemati, which feed on the surface of the body
of the larva of Nematus intercus, are destitute of hairs.
As the paper which I read at the Linnzan Society on the
Mr. F. Walker’s Descriptions of Aphides. 41
ist of May last contains all that 1 have to say on this subject, I
shall not reply to any further comments which Mr. Newport may
think proper to publish unsupported by the production of the
specimens which he professes to have described.
I am, Gentlemen, your very obedient servant,
J. O. Westwoop.
VII.—Descriptions of Aphides. By Francis Warker, F.L.S.
(Continued from vol. iii. p. 304.]
66. Aphis Urticaria, Kaltenbach.
Aphis Urticaria, Kalt. Mon. Pflan. 57. 39.
This is a clustering species, and feeds on Urtica dioica, U.
urens, Rubus fruticosus, R. Ideus, and on Stachys sylvatica ?
The viviparous wingless female. It is small, dark green, ellip-
tical or oval, convex, and velvet-like, with a rim on each side:
the front is slightly convex: the feelers are black, dull yellow
towards the base, and hardly half the length of the body; the
first and the second joints are not angular; the fourth is much
shorter than the third ; the fifth is shorter than the fourth ; the
sixth is much shorter than the fifth ; the seventh is nearly as
long as the third, and much more slender than the preceding
joints : the mouth is dull yellow ; its tip and the eyes are black :
the nectaries are pale yellow with black tips, and about one-
twelfth of the length of the body : the legs are pale yellow; the
knees, the feet, and the tips of the shanks are black. When
young it is sometimes pale greenish or yellowish red, with white
limbs.
Ist var. The body is dark grayish red.
2nd var. Dark green mixed with pale green.
3rd var. Green, with a yellow head.
Ath var. Dark yellow.
5th var. Pale yellow.
6th var. Dark green, mottled with pale yellow and with black.
7th var. Very dark green, or almost black: the feelers are
rather more than half the length of the body: the nectaries are
dull green with black tips, and about one-eighth of the length of
the body.
8th var.? Dull green with a white bloom: the feelers are
brownish, pale yellow at the base, and not near half the length
of the body: the mouth is dark green: the tip of the abdomen
is almost black: the nectaries are very dark green, or almost
black, and one-eighth of the length of the body: the legs are
pale yellow ; the tips of the thighs are darker; the feet and the
4.2 Mr. F. Walker’s Descriptions of Aphides.
tips of the shanks are brown. On Stachys sylvatica at the end
of April.
The viviparous winged female. Is black : the abdomen is dark
green ; the segments have black borders: the feelers are much
shorter than the body: the mouth is paler towards the base : the
nectaries are hardly more than one-twelfth of the length of the
body: the legs are black; the shanks excepting their tips are
yellow : the wings are colourless and very much longer than the
body ; the wing-ribs and the rib-veins are pale yellow ; the wing-
brands and the veins are pale brown ; the second vein diverges a
little more from the first than it does from the third; the first
fork of the latter vein usually begins after one-third, and the
second long after two-thirds of the length of the vein ; the fourth
vein is moderately curved, and the angle of the vein whence it
springs is extremely slight. In the autumn.
Ist var. The mouth is dull green with a black tip: the nec-
taries are about one-sixth of the length of the body: the thighs
are yellow towards the base: the wing-ribs are pale green; the
veins are brown. At the end of May.
2nd var. The abdomen is very dark green: the feelers are as
long as the body: the mouth is dull yellow, but black towards
its tip: the nectaries are hardly one-sixth of the length of the
body : the fore-thighs are dark yellow towards the base. In the
middle of October.
3rd var. The body is black: the borders and the underside of
the fore-chest and the abdomen are dark green : the feelers are as
long as the body: the mouth and the nectaries are dull yellow
with black tips, and the latter are as long as one-fourth of the
body : the thighs are pale yellow at the base : the wing-veins are
brown.
Length of the body 3-3 line; of the wings 24-22 lines.
When it feeds on the bramble it is larger and paler than when
it feeds on the nettle, and is much resorted to by Formica fusca.
67. Aphis tetrarhoda, n.s.
The viviparous wingless female. This species feeds on the rose,
and when full-grown is deep green, oval, very convex and plump,
and covered beneath with a white bloom ; it is bristly and has
six rows of tubercles on the back, and the middle rows are very
distinct : the front is hardly notched: the feelers are nearly half
the length of the body: the eyes are dark red: the nectaries
have brown tips, and are about one-eighth of the length of the
body : the legs are dark green, and rather long ; the feet and the
tips of the shanks are brown. When young it is pale grass-green,
shghtly convex, and has a rim on each side, but its tubercles are
indistinct : the feelers are about half the length of the body.
Mr. F. Walker’s Descriptions of Aphides. 43
lst var. The body 1s red.
2nd var. The body is lilac.
drd var. The body is blackish.
The viviparous winged female. Unfolds its wings in the mid-
dle of May: it is black and rather stout: the abdomen is dark
green with a row of black spots on each side: the feelers are
rather thick, and a little shorter than the body : the first and the
second joints are slightly angular on the inner side of their tips ;
the fourth joint is but little more than half the length of the
third; the fifth is a little shorter than the fourth; the sixth is
about half the length of the fifth ; the seventh is as long as the
fifth: the tip of the mouth and the nectaries are black, and the
latter are as long as one-fourth of the body: the legs are long ;
the thighs are yellow towards the base : the wings are colourless,
and nearly twice the length of the body ; the wing-ribs and the
rib-veims are pale yellow; the wing-brands and the veins are
brown ; the second vein diverges much more from the first than it
does from the third vein; the forks of the latter usually have
their respective sources at one-third and at two-thirds of the
length; the fourth vein is much curved near its beginning, but
nearly straight in the latter part of its course ; the angle whence
it springs is slight.
Length of the body 2 line ; of the wings 23 lines.
68. Aphis Cerasi, Fabr.
Aphis Cerasi, Fabr. Ent. Syst. iv. 211.6; Syst. Rhyn. 295. 6 ;
Kalt. Mon. Pflan. i. 45. 31.
Cerasaphis, Amyot, Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr. 2™° série, v. 477.
It feeds on the wild and on the cultivated Cerasus Avius from
April till November, and its large swarms on the shoots of this
tree are sometimes injurious to the fruit ; it occasionally dwells on
the peach, and its colour is then rather paler, especially towards
the head.
The viviparous wingless female. The eggs are hatched in April,
and the young Aphides are red or reddish brown, but as they
grow they acquire a darker colour, and are convex, plump, and
shining, and have a brassy tint on the back : the limbs are brown :
the feelers are black at the base, and about one-third of the
length of the body : the eyes are dark brown: the suckers of the
mouth are red, and can be thrust out to some distance : the legs
are rather short and thick. When full-grown it is coal-black :
the body is exceedingly plump and nearly round; the punctures
on each side are very distinct : the feelers are yellow towards the
base, and nearly as long as the body : the nectaries are straight,
and as long as one-sixth of the body, and have sometimes pale
tips: the thighs at the base and the shanks except their tips are
44. Mr. F. Walker’s Descriptions of Aphides.
more or less yellow, and the latter are sometimes white. It
swarms on the young shoots, which may be easily cut off and
removed with all their inhabitants: the leaves which it infests
become twisted, curled, and glutinous, and are often shed. It is
infested by an Aphidius and by an Allotria. The front is nearly
straight with a very distinct tubercle on each side : the feelers are
sometimes about half the length of the body ; the fourth joint is
more than half the length of the third ; the fifth is much shorter
than the fourth ; the sixth is much shorter than the fifth, though
more than half its length ; the seventh is about thrice the length
of the sixth.
The viviparous winged female. This while a pupa is dark red :
the feelers, the feet, and the tips of the four hinder thighs and
of the shanks are brown; the feelers at the base and the legs
with the above exceptions are yellow. The wings are unfolded in
the beginning of June, and the insect is then black and shining :
the borders of the fore-chest are dark red: the abdomen is dark
brown : the feelers are as long as the body, and the nectaries are
equal to one-sixth of its length : the mouth is pale yellow with a
brown tip: the thighs towards the base and the shanks are yel-
low: the wings are colourless, and much longer than the body ;
the wing-ribs are pale yellow ; the wing-brands are pale brown,
and the veins are darker ; the second vein diverges more from the
first than it does from the third ; the first fork of the latter begins
before or at one-third, and the second fork at or after two-thirds
of its length; the fourth vem is much curved near its source,
but nearly straight in the latter part of its course; the angle
whence it springs is very slight. The wings are milk-white for
a while after they have been unfolded, and then the other limbs
are also white, and the body is pale reddish brown. The fore-
legs are considerably shorter than the hind-legs ; the shanks are
straight.
Variation in the wing-veins. The lower branch of the second
fork is wanting.
The oviparous wingless female. This occurs m the middle of
November: it is black, elliptical, and much smaller and narrower
than the viviparous female: the feelers are rather more than half
the length of the body ; the fifth joint is hardly shorter than the
fourth ; the seventh is nearly twice the length of the sixth: the
abdomen is slightly produced at the tip, and has two plates
beneath like those of A. Tilie: the legs are rather short and
stout ; the hind-shanks are not dilated. The glutinous matter
which covers its body when mixed with Canada balsam acquires
a delicate green colour.
The winged male. This resembles the winged female, but pairs
with the oviparous female in November. The sixth joint of the
Mr. F. Walker’s Descriptions of Aphides. 45
feelers is about half the length of the fifth ; the seventh is about
thrice the length of the sixth : the rib-vem begins to widen soon
after the middle of the length of the wing, and emits the fourth
vein near its tip ; the third vein 1s forked a little before one-third
of its length, and forked again just after two-thirds of its length.
Length of the body a line ; of the wings 23-3 Imes.
69. Aphis trirhoda, n.s.
This species, which has a very quiet disposition, abounds on
the rose in the spring, and having acquired wings in May, it
emigrates thence to the columbine, where it feeds equally on the
upper surface and on the under surface of the leaf, which often
becomes red or purple from its injuries. It continues on that
plant till the end of October.
The viviparous wingless female. It is elliptic, slightly convex,
not shining, whitish green, covered with a white bloom, and re-
markable for the peculiar softness and velvety appearance of its
skin: the front is straight: the feelers are white, and about half
the length of the body; the first and the second joints are not
angular ; the fourth is less than half the length of the third; the
fifth is shorter than the fourth; the sixth is much shorter than
the fifth ; the seventh equals the fifth in length : the eyes are dark
brown: the mouth is white with a brown tip, and hardly reaches
the middle hips: the tip of the abdomen and the nectaries are
white, and the latter are one-twenticth of the length of the body :
the legs also are white.
Ist var. Pale yellowish green.
2nd var.? ora distinct species. The body is elliptical, convex,
dull, grass-green, with a very slight white bloom : the feelers are
brownish green, and about one-fifth of the length of the body :
the eyes are black: the mouth is dull green with a black tip,
and does not reach more than half way between the fore and the
middle legs: the nectaries do not rise above the surface of the
body : the legs are dark brownish green, and rather short.
The viviparous winged female. This unfolds its wings at the
end of May: it is pale greenish yellow: the head and the discs
of the fore-chest, of ‘the middle-chest and of the middle-
breast are black : there is a large black spot on each side of the
middle-chest : some short confluent black bands form a large
irregular spot on the disc of the abdomen, on each side of which
there is a row of black dots: the feelers are black, and a little
shorter than the body : the mouth is pale yellow ; its tip and the
eyes are black: the nectaries are pale yellow, and one-twentieth
of the length of the body; the third joint is rather stout; the
fourth is very slender, and less than half the length of the third ;
the fifth is a little Bence than the fourth, ne the sixth flan
46 Mr. F. Walker’s Descriptions of Aphides.
the fifth ; the seventh is much shorter than the sixth: the legs
are also pale yellow; the feet and the tips of the thighs and of
the shanks are black : the wings are colourless, and much longer
than the body ; the wing-ribs are pale yellow; the brands and
the veins are brown, and the tips of the latter are slightly
clouded ; the second vein diverges much more from the first than
it does from the third; the first fork of the latter begins a little
before one-third, and the second a little after two-thirds of its
length; the fourth vein is moderately curved, and the angle
whence it springs is very slight. The pupa is pale yellow, and
the wings when just unfolded are milk-white as usual.
1st var. The body, the mouth and the nectaries are green : the
wing-ribs are pale green ; the brands are pale brown.
2nd var. The head, the dises of the fore-chest, of the middle-
chest and of the middle-breast are brown, and so also are the
spots on the middle-chest.
3rd var. The body is dark green.
4th var. The abdomen is without black dots.
5th var. The feelers are much shorter than the body.
6th var. Some of the latter joints of the feelers are pale with
black tips.
7th var. The nectaries are one-twelfth of the length of the
body.
8th var. The head, the dises of the fore-chest, of the breast, of
the middle-chest, and a large spot on each side of the latter are
brown: there are some short black confluent bands that form a
large irregular spot on the disc of the abdomen, on each side of
which there is usually a row of very small black dots.
9th var. Dark green : the head, the disc of the chest and that
of the breast are black: the mouth, the nectaries, the wing-ribs
and the wing-brands are green.
The winged male. It appears in the autumn and is much smaller
than the winged female: the third jomt of the feelers is rather
stout ; the fourth is slender, and less than half the length of the
third ; the fifth is a little shorter than the fourth, and the sixth
than the fifth ; the seventh is much shorter than the sixth.
Length of the body 3-1 line; of the wings 23-3 lines.
70. Aphis Brassica, Linn.
Aphis Brassice, Linn. Syst. Nat. u. 734. 12; Faun. Suec.
2205. 985 ; Fabr. Syst. Ins. 11. 888. 36 ; Ent. Syst. iv. 218. 41;
Syst. Rhyn. 300. 41 ; Gmel. ed. Syst. Nat. 1. 2209; Harr. Ex. 66.
pl. 18. f. 3-6 ; Frisch. Ins. xi. 10. t.3.f. 15; Berk. Syn. 1. 120;
Stew. El. 1. 110; Turt. i. 207; Swammerdam, Ins. v. 535;
Schrank, Faun. Boie. ii. 1. 119. 1228; Kalt. Mon. Pflan. i. 106.
Mr. F. Walker’s Descriptions of Aphides. 47
81; Harris, Ins. New Engl. 190; Curtis, Journ. R. Agric. Soe.
Wy ote. 1. 0, 6.
A, Raphani, Schrank, Faun. Boie. ti. 1. 119. 1229.
A. Isatidis, Fonscol. Ann. Soc. Ent. x.
A. Floris-Rape, Curtis, Journ. R. Agric. Soe. iii. 55. t. C.
£27, 9%
Cinara Raphani, Sir Oswald Mosley, Gard. Chron. i. 827.
C. Brassica, Sir Oswald Mosley, G. C. 1. 827.
Crambaphis, Amyot, Ann. Soc. Ent. 2™ série, v. 478.
This Aphis abounds on the cabbage, Brassica oleracea, from
the beginning of June to the beginning of November, and is
found both in Europe and in North America. The matriarchs
of the species dwell on wild plants, and their winged offspring
fly to the cabbage, repose there on the underside of the leaf, and
are soon surrounded by groups of wingless little ones.
The viviparous wingless female. This when very young is linear,
pale green, and slightly powdered with white; the limbs are white:
in the middle of June when full-grown it is pale yellowish green,
shghtly oval, very plump and convex, and most thickly covered
with white powder : the front is convex: the feelers are pale yel-
low with brown tips and much shorter than the body; the first
and the second joints are not angular; the fourth is less than
half the length of the third; the fifth is a little shorter than the
fourth ; the sixth is much shorter than the fifth ; the seventh is
longer than the fourth: the eyes are black: the mouth is pale
yellow with a brown tip: the nectaries are yellow, and hardly
more than one-twentieth of the length of the body : the legs are
pale yellow ; the knees, the feet, and the tips of the shanks are
black. It is extremely numerous and most abundantly powdered
in the beginning of July: the limbs are almost black, and the
nectaries are about one-twelfth of the length of the body: its
colour when it sheds its skin is soft fresh velvet-like green, but
it soon again assumes the dull dusty hue which harmonizes so
well with the underside of the cabbage-leaf. The part which it
infests becomes discoloured ; it often emits a colourless honey-
dew, is the prey of Aphidius (Trionyx) Rape, Curtis, and of an
Allotria, and is much infested by Leptus Aphidum.
Ist var. The body is dull olive-green, oval, short, and plump :
the feelers are white with black tips, and nearly half the length
of the body : the mouth is white ; its tip and the eyes are black :
the nectaries are black, and as long as one-twelfth of the body :
the legs are white and moderately long; the feet and the tips of
the shanks are black. In summer on Spinacia oleracea.
2nd var. The body is green, yellow towards the head, and
covered with a whitish bloom: the feelers are yellow with black
tips, and more than half the length of the body: the legs are
yellow ; the feet are black ; the hind-shanks are green.
48 Mr. J. Alder on the Animal of Kellia rubra.
The viviparous winged female. While a pupa it much resembles
the wingless female in colour, but is comparatively flat ; when the
wings are unfolded it is dark brownish green, and very often
slightly covered with white powder: the abdomen is pale green
with a very slight pearly tint on its disc; it has also a black line
across each segment, and a row of black spots on each side: the
feelers are black, and a little shorter than the body ; the third
joint is long and thick ; the fourth is less than half the length of
the third; the fifth is a little shorter than the fourth; the sixth
is shorter than the fifth ; the seventh is about twice the length
of the fifth : the eyes are dark brown: the mouth is dull yellow
with a brown tip: the nectaries are black, and as long as one-
twelfth of the body: the legs are black ; the thighs are pale green
towards the base: the wings are colourless, and very much longer
than the body ; the wing-ribs are pale yellow; the wing-brands
are very pale brown, and their tips are very slightly clouded ; the
second vein diverges more from the first than it does from the
third vein ; the forks of the latter usually begin respectively before
one-third and before two-thirds of the length of the vein; the
fourth vei is curved moderately and equally throughout its
length ; the angle of the brand whence it springs is distinct.
Ist var. Greenish yellow varied with brown.
2nd var. The feelers are as long as the body.
3rd var. The mouth is green with a black tip : the thighs are
wholly black.
4th var. The thighs and the middle shanks excepting the tips
are pale yellow.
Length of the body 1 line; of the wings 3 lines.
Most of the winged race die during the growth of their pro-
geny, and adhere to the leaf at a short distance from the groups of
the wingless insects. This species feeds also on Brassica Rapa, B.
campestris, B. Napus, Sinapis arvensis, S. alba, S. nigra, Crambe
maritima (on this plant, especially in a wild state, it occurs
in great profusion), Raphanus sativus, R. Raphanistrum, Capsella
Bursa, Diplotaxis tenuifolia, Lepidium sativum, Thalictrum minus,
Spinacia oleracea.
[To be continued. ]
VIII.—On the Animal of Kellia rubra.
By Josuua Axper, Esq.
To Richard Taylor, Esq.
Dear Sir, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 18th June 1849.
My remarks on the animal of HKellia rubra have unfortunately
brought me into a controversy with Mr. Clark, a gentleman with
whom it would have given me much greater pleasure to have
My. J. Alder on the Animal of Kellia rubra. 49
found myself in agreement. Our opinions, however, appear to
differ more widely that I at first expected.
In my last letter I ventured to lay down, perhaps more broadly
than usual, the theory of the branchial currents in the Conchifera
as generally received* ; and confirmed, as far as my experience
goes, by my own observations. This theory of ciliary currents,
received and expelled by separate apertures, Mr. Clark entirely
denies, and thinks, if I understand him rightly, that no apertures
are specially set apart for this purpose, but that the water for
branchial purposes flows in and out of all the openings of the
mantle indiscriminately ;—whether by ciliary action or not, is not
stated.
To enter into a review of this process as applied to the whole
of the bivalves would greatly extend a discussion already, I am
afraid, encroaching too much upon your pages; and as I do not
feel that I shall be able to throw any new light upon it from my
own observations, I shall waive the general subject for the pre-
sent and confine myself to the consideration of Mr. Clark’s ob-
jections to my views on Kellia rubra, which he thinks it not dif-
ficult to show are wrong. Let us, then, carefully examine the
arguments by which this position is to be established.
The first is thus stated :—“It must be borne in mind that the
mantle of Kellia rubra is open from the posterior branchial shit
to its anterior termination. The open fold in question is merely
a prolongation of that membrane; and when the animal opens
ats valves}, it must receive, like the Mactre and Veneres, or any
other bivalve with an open mantle, the currents of sea-water ; and
an closing them, a great part thereof, after bathing the branchie,
is ejected from the aperture of ingress, and only a portion of it
passes out of the posterior orifices.” This I admit to be the
natural effect of the opening and closing of the valves, but surely
Mr. Clark does not mean to say that the branchial currents are
produced by this means? According to my views this is an oc-
casional action entirely independent of the regular branchial cur-
rents, and should not be confounded with them, as these latter
go on when the valves are entirely at rest, and when consequently
no such effect as here described could possibly be produced by
them. As to the siphonal fold being merely a prolongation of
the mantle, this is the case with the siphons of all the Conchifera ;
the only difference being, that in the present instance the tube
is formed by a fold of the mantle, while in other genera, and in
* See Lamarck, Anim. s. Vert. 2nd ed. vol. vi. p.7; Grant, Comp. Anat.
p- 539; Owen, Lectures on Comp. Anat. vol. i. p. 282.
¢ These words are here put in italics, though not soin Mr. Clark’s letter,
to draw particular attention to them. I have taken the liberty of doing the
same in other places.
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. iv. 4
50 Mr. J. Alder on the Animal of Kellia rubra.
another species of the same genus, the walls are closed ; yet their
functions are surely analogous. A similar siphonal fold, though
less perfect, may be seen in some of the Modiole: but the case
most in point is the siphon of the zoophagous gasteropods, which
is a prolongation and fold of the mantle similar to this, yet no
one that I am aware of has argued that it cannot be for the sup-
ply of water to the branchiz because it is continuously open with
the other parts of the cloak*.
Mr. Clark thinks my views incorrect: “ As in those bivalves
with open mantles the currents of water enter by the great pedal
orifice or rima magna of the mantle to aérate the branchie, and
the greater part of the impure fluid is expelled by the aperture
of ingress, a small portion, as before stated, passes out by the
posterior siphonal apparatus.” Is this any more than a repetition
of the former statement, leaving out the opening and shutting of
the valves, and defining the purpose more distinctly to be, “ to
aérate the branchie” ? That it has reference to the same action
is evident from the words “as before stated.” ~ Mr. Clark must
therefore either think that the branchial currents are produced
by the opening and shutting of the valves, or he is confounding
two things that are distinct. If the pedal orifice is the principal
one by which the true branchial currents are received and ex-
pelled, of course my observations, and the views of almost every
author who has written on the subject must be wrong, but the
proof requires to be brought forward in some more definite form
than this.
Again, Mr. Clark says, “In the mollusca with nearly closed
mantles, only a small portion of the fluid can enter by the re-
stricted pedal orifices ; the far greater portion must be inhaled
by the posterior siphons ” (not necessarily by both), “ and is often
expelled simultaneously at both orifices, as I have observed in
Pholadidea papyracea, the most closed of all the bivalves.” This
fact of the occasional simultaneous expulsion of water at both
orifices seems to be the only one that Mr. Clark has satisfactorily
ascertained from observation in this species; he might perhaps
have added that it was accompanied by a closing of the valves ;—
at least such is the case with the allied Pholades as I have myself
witnessed. But this sudden ejection of water is only occasional,
and caused by other means than the regular ciliary currents. It
is probable that in the Pholades and some other bivalves with
* I am sorry to have misunderstood Mr. Clark with respect to the sense
in which he took the words branchial and anal. I did not say, however,
that he wsed the words, but that he appeared to take them (as used by
others) in too restricted a sense. My reason for thinking so was, that he said
the posterior opening had “ passed for the anus,” and took some trouble to
show that the true anus is distinct from it.
Mr. J. Alder on the Animal of Kellia rubra. Dil
long siphons (Mya, Lutraria, &c.), the branchiz, being situated
at a great distance from the apertures, may require from time
to time the assistance of muscular contraction for a thorough
cleansing out of the branchial cavity, and in this case the water
will be discharged out of both siphons from the stronger force
overcoming the action of the cilia*.
Mr. Clark takes some pains to prove that the water does not
make a circuit through the intestines, which position, being un-
disputed and apparently unconnected with the argument, I should
not have noticed but for the conclusion drawn from it ; which is,
“that the water therefore” (on account of not passing through
the intestine?) “for the branchiz and sustentation must pass
into the great branchial cavity, and issue therefrom by both the
ducts at which it entered.” Now is this ? The conclusion appears
to be a non sequitur: but possibly I may misunderstand the
meaning of the paragraph, though I have read it over carefully
more than once.
With respect to my statement of having seen, under the mi-
croscope, a continuous current of water flowimg into the anterior
tube of Kellia rubra, Mr. Clark observes, “ All must admit this
fact: as the fold is a part of the open mantle, no microscope is
here required, as in every open-mantled bivalve of adequate size
this action is instantly made apparent by a common lens, and is
the invariable result of the animal opening its valves.” In Mr,
Clark’s former letter he says, ‘ No currents, at least branchial
ones, enter therein or issue therefrom ; it is a fold merely sub-
servient to locomotion.” The flow of a continuous current into
this tube-like fold is now treated as an admitted fact, requiring
no microscope for its demonstration ;—but it is attributed to the
opening of the valves. It may be necessary therefore to state that
the operation goes on when the valves are perfectly at rest, and
cannot in that case be produced by their means. That I could
see a current passing out at the posterior aperture is however to
Mr. Clark a matter of the “ gravest difficulty,” only to be got
over by supposing that I was deceived by the “aberration and
well-known great deceptions involved in the use of high micro-
scopic powers.” It will be a satisfactory answer to this to state
that I was able to see it with the lowest power of my microscope,
where there could be no aberration. The advantage of a micro-
scope over a pocket-lens im this case is the greater facility it
affords in managing the light, which requires to be transmitted
* The internal surface of these siphons is usually (perhaps aiways) covered
with vibratile cilia, more minute than those of the branchiz, but acting in
conjunction with them in producing the currents. Mr.Cocks informs me that
he can see the cilia inside the anterior tube of Kellia suborbicularis, with a
lens of 41-inch focus.
4*
52 Mr. J. Alder on the Animal of Kellia rubra.
through the fluid to show the floating particles ; for it is the size
of these, and not that of the aperture, which enables an observer
to distinguish the direction of a current. Mr. Clark could see
the excrements pass out of this small opening. What then should
prevent our seeing other bodies, if sufficiently visible under the
microscope, float in or out ?
For argument, Mr. Clark would assume that the posterior slit,
as I state, shows no sign of an ingress-current. Yet no argu-
ment is founded upon it, for in the very next sentence the con-
trary fact is stated to be proved “by the contraction and dilatation
of the slit” (my dissent from this proof is already on record) ;
“especially,” that gentleman adds, “‘as I have shown that the
analogous tubes” (the anal ones ?) “of the close-mantled mol-
lusca . . . must of necessity receive and discharge the fluid neces-
sary for the branchial ceconomy.” Is this shown? and where ?
We have next an assumed case which is also called a proof,
put in these words: ‘ Suppose Kellia rubra, instead of bemg an
open-mantled animal, is one of the closed mollusca,—where, in
this case, is the entrance to the branchial currents?” All the
known closed mollusca have at least two if not three apertures.
A closed mollusk with a single aperture, if such did exist, would
be an anomaly, and its branchial arrangement might also be ex-
pected to be an exception to the general rule. But what argu-
ment can be founded upon this? That where there are two or
more apertures, they cannot be set apart for different purposes ?
Certainly not ;—any more than we could argue that because some
animals exist where the alimentary and excretory functions are
performed through the same orifice, that in other animals where
two orifices are found they cannot perform different functions.
“It may be asked,” says Mr. Clark, “ why has nature departed
from her usual scheme only in Kellia rubra and K. suborbicularis?”
The only way in which the usual scheme is departed from in this
genus, 18, not in giving the species a special inhalant siphon, but
in placing it before instead of behind: and perhaps for this some
reason might be found. Most bivalves live in sand, and they
require to have both tubes placed at that end of the shell which
usually communicates with the surface. The Kelle, on the con-
trary, never burrow in sand, but inhabit the sinuosities of rocks,
sea-weeds, and old shells: a simpler arrangement, by which the
water can be admitted direct to the mouth and anterior part of
the gills, is therefore not incompatible with its habits. But it
is added, “ We will now inquire into the ‘cui bono’ of this fold
of the mantle, considered as a branchial appendage. It is well
known that nature never acts by way of surplusage ; and having
given Kelia rubra an open mantle by which the currents can
enter, as in other analogous open bivalves, we must conclude
Mr. J. Alder on the Animal of Kellia rubra. 53
that she has not departed from her usual scheme, and that this
fold is not a special branchial organ, but is intended to fulfill
other functions.” Is this a legitimate conclusion to arrive at ?
Mr. Clark here argues as if the departure from the usual scheme
in Kellia rubra was in having a special branchial orifice ; but this
is not the point of difference, as I have before stated, and these
objections, if they have any weight, must apply equally to the
posterior branchial siphons of all the open-mantled bivalves.
They all have a pedal aperture through which the currents can
enter. What then is the use of the so-called branchial siphon ?
Or why are there three apertures performing the same function ?
Surely there is something very like surplusage here. The “ cuz
bono” may well be asked of Mr. Clark’s views, but not of mine,
as I assign a separate function to each orifice: the branchial one
being kept apart from the opening for the foot in order that the
currents may not be interrupted by the action of that member.
But Mr. Clark says, the foot does intrude itself occasionally
into the folded siphon of Kellia rubra; and this is the last and
“conclusive proof” by which I am to be put hors de combat.
“The animal very often thrusts its foot into the fold, and by the
withdrawal of which it is opened and the edges separated. How
then can a fold, whose form by this action is continually changing,
and is subject to momentary interruption, be the conduit of re-
gular, delicate, and uninterrupted currents ?” I would ask, does
not this objection tell more strongly against the true pedal
opening of this and other bivalves, which Mr. Clark wishes to
make out is the principal one for the entrance and exit of
branchial currents? Let any one look at this little animal with
its siphonal fold stretched out in front, and frequently expanded
almost into a cup-form, as if courting the entrance of the vivifying
stream, and then say whether the basal part through which the
foot is constantly protruded when in action, or the siphonal fold
into which it not unfrequently makes a momentary incursion, 1s
most free to supply the currents necessary for respiration and
food. Mr. Clark calls these currents “regular, delicate, and un-
interrupted.” I have said that they are continuous, and pretty
regularly sustained, but never contemplated asserting that they
were not liable to occasional or accidental interruption.
I shall now briefly advert to the curious use which Mr. Clark
has found for the siphonal fold as a prehensile organ, and the
no less curious terrestrial habits which he supposes this little
bivalve to possess. For both I think that gentleman is greatly
indebted to a lively imagination. Probably he will also find,
ona more careful examination, that its habitat beyond tidal range
has been rather overstated. I have never found it but withm
tide-marks, and cannot conceive how a bivalve mollusk, whose
54 Mr. J. Alder on the Animal of Kellia rubra.
structure disables it from procuring any food but what is floated
into its shell by the agency of water, can possibly live perma-
nently out of that element. It is true that oysters and several
other bivalves can endure a sort of torpid existence out of water
for some time when the valves are closed to prevent the evapo-
ration of moisture from the gills; but Mr. Clark supposes this
little Kellia able to walk abroad beyond tide-marks, notwith-
standing the desiccation of the branchiz which the opening of
the valves might cause.
Should I have succeeded in showing that the impossibility or
even improbability of my views being correct has not been esta-
blished, the following interesting letters from Mr. Cocks, de-
tailing a series of observations kindly undertaken at my request,
will go far to prove my original statement, that the anterior
siphon in Kellia rubra is the ingress channel through which
water is supplied to the branche and to the mouth. The mode
by which it makes its exit has not been so satisfactorily made
out, but I have great confidence that my views and observations
on this point will also ultimately be confirmed. However that
may be, if one fact has been established in the animal ceconomy,
something has been gained. Mr. Cocks’s observations appear to
have been more especially directed to the anterior siphon.
I am, dear Sir, very truly yours,
JosHua ALDER.
My DEAR Sik, Falmouth, June 8, 1849.
I have repeated the experiments on Kellia rubra and K. subor-
bicularis, and the results confirm my former statements*. I
witnessed the ingress of water, atoms, crustacea, &c., very di-
stinctly into the anterior siphon of both species, and also the ex-
pulsion of feces from the posterior siphon, but have failed in toto
to prove the current of water posteriorly in either, or the expul-
sion of water from the anterior siphon of A. rubra, although in
K. suborbicularis it takes place : viz. a K. suborbicularis that had
been confined several months in one of my experimental bottles,
was put into awatch-glass of fresh salt water. It sent forth the
anterior siphon : the orifice expanded, and the water, atoms, &c.
flowed freely into it for a few seconds: it then closed the aperture,
contracted in length, and with a slight convulsive jerk of the
animal and a partial closing of the valves, sent forth a jet of
water, apparently free from any admixture, through the anterior
tube. The operation was performed twice or thrice in a
minute.
* Mr. Cocks’s first letter is not inserted, as the contents of it are sufficiently
illustrated in the sequel.
} This action, aceording to Mr. Cocks’s description, appears to take place
more decidedly and frequently when the animal is removed from impure
Mr. J. Alder on the Animal of Kellia rubra. 55
May 31st.—I procured from Gwyllyn Vase several fine and
healthy specimens of K. rubra and K.suborbicularis. The K. rubra
protruded its siphons, and the ingress of water, &c. was very ap-
parent, as also the ejectment of feeces per posterior siphon, within a
few minutes after immersion.— KX. suborbicularis : ingress of water
per anterior siphon and egress of feeces per posterior siphon :—at
intervals a slight spasmodic twitch of valves, but unable to detect
a discharge of water per anterior siphon. [Here follows a re-
gister of observations daily made from the 1st to the 8th of
June with the same result, excepting that on the 7th, when the
water was changed, K. suborbicularis showed “a discharge of
water per anterior siphon.” 8th. K. suborbicularis: this action
“subdued—flow of water per (into) anterior siphon regular.” |
From the 4th to the noon of the 7th they were allowed to re-
main in the glass without changing the water: in the evening
of that day I put them into fresh water. The A. rubra absorbed
the water and its contents freely and ejected faeces ; and although
I employed powerful glasses, was unable to detect any (egress)
current either anteriorly or posteriorly. Not so with A. subor-
bicularis. It imbibed water freely and ejected feces sparingly ;
as well as passing a stream from the anterior siphon. I believe
that the operation of ejecting water anteriorly by A. suborbicu-
laris (with all my tact I have not been able to detect a current
from the anterior siphon of K. rubra) is performed by the ani-
mal in health with little muscular effort ; but when in confine-
ment, poorly supplied with food, and that not to its taste, it
becomes atrophized and feeble, consequently every effort of the
will is demonstrable.
The Lichina pygmea is very common with us on the rocks,
and is covered twice a day by the tide to the height of several
feet. It forms a good retreat for K. rubra and Turtonia minuta.
The Lichina confinis is also plentiful on our rocks, but is gene-
rally out of the reach of the waves, although it sips the spray
often. I have gathered a great deal of L. confinis, but never
found a univalve or bivalve shell attached to it or near it. The
Kellia rubra with us is found in situations within tide-marks,
covered twice a day with the sea.
I am, dear Sir, yours very truly,
J. Alder, Esq. W..P. Cocks.
My DEAR Sir, Falmouth, June 16, 1849.
The Kellia rubra and K. suborbicularis tmbibe water freely ;
and constantly by their anterior siphons. We have had with us
into fresh sea-water, and is probably a means of cleansing the branchial
cavity from the effete water and bathing those organs more completely in
the purer element.—J. A.
56 Zoological Society.
for the last three weeks Dr. Busch of Berlin, who is making a
scientific tour of Great Brita, with a view of pursumg anato-
mical researches among our marine animals. He left for Dublin
last night. His microscope was a magnificent machine. I
availed myself of its powers, and placed the bivalves under its
magic influence. The sight was delightful. I could see the
ingress of water into the anterior siphon of K. suborbicularis
and K. rubra, the ejectment of feces from both distinctly. The
alternate spasmodic action and forcing of water through the
anterior tube of K. suborbicularis free of any admixture was
distinctly seen. The power employed was very great. The
animal, one that had been in confinement for some time. This
creature was removed from the field and a K. rubra substituted ;
the same power being employed. The anterior siphon was in
constant motion; and the water, crustacea, and minute atoms
floating on its surface were distinctly seen to enter it : no regur-
gitation took place anteriorly. I kept my eye to the instrument
watching the creature’s movement until my retina was nearly
paralysed, without detecting the “placid stream.” I have daily
during the last six weeks examined a score of K. rubra, both
recent specimens and old prisoners, with lenses of different
powers,-—employed various contrivances with compound mirrors,
lenses, &c., without detecting the current of water passing out of
ats anterior siphon.
Believe me, my dear Sir, yours very truly,
J. Alder, Esq. W. P. Cocks.
PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES.
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.
June 13, 1848.—Harpur Gamble, Esq., M.D., in the Chair.
3. DESCRIPTION OF NEW SPECIES OF THE GENUS CYPR#A.
By J. S. Gasxoin, Esa.
1. Cyprawa ‘TuersitEs (High-backed Cowrie). Cyp. testd ovatd,
gibbosd, dorso elevato, basi latd plandque, saturate rufescente-fuscd ;
antice posticeque depressiusculd, aperturd angustatd, postice re-
curvd ; dentibus albis, distinctis, labii externi validis, columellari
minis prominentibus ; sulco columellari antice profundo, lato ;
extremitatibus valdé productis, canali antico pleno.
Shell ovate, very gibbous and high-backed, of a very dark, reddish-
brown colour, not uniformly equal in intensity; a curved whitish
mark exists over both the anterior and the posterior extremities, at
which places there is a depression, as though the mantle had not
deposited any substance there after it had begun to secrete the
colouring-matter, particularly that at the last whorl of the spire ;
Zoological Society. 57
aperture narrow, much curved at the posterior third of its length,
the other two-thirds nearly straight; teeth white, distinct, even,
about twenty-seven on the outer side, extending but slightly over
the lip; on the columellar side about twenty-four, broader at the
anterior end, while along the continued edge of the aperture to its
posterior extremity are mere indications of teeth; columellar sulcus
deep and broad, not extending beyond the more prominent teeth ;
base broad and flat, its entire circumference of an uniform dark,
reddish-brown colour, or spots of a similar colour, the colour lessen-
ing in intensity towards the middle portion of the base, which is
white, as is also the interior of the shell ; margins project, especially
that of the lip: extremities produced, the posterior forming sharp or
thin edges, and extending much upwards ; that on the columellar side
terminating at the apex of the spire; the anterior extremities also
thin, and the channel upright.
I have seen this shell only in the adult state. It has no general
characteristic in common with any known species; the extremities
however have much similitude to Cyprea Scottii; but it is a much
shorter, more gibbous, heavier and thicker shell.
Long, 2,75, ches; high, 155°; wide, 2.
Hab.
Cabinets of British Museum, Saul, Cuming, &c.
2. Cyprza MARGrINATA (Broad-margined Cowrie). Cyp.testd ovata,
antice subacuminatd, postice et mediane valde gibbosd ; colore floris
lactis, maculis fulvis, paucis irregulariter sparsis; basi valdé
pland et latd ; marginibus externis mediane fulvo-brunneo punctatis,
punctis discretis ; aperturd latd, subspirali ; columelld postice gib-
bosd, sulco parvo antico ; dentibus lateris columellaris circa viginti,
late distinctis ; lateris externi equalibus paululim extensis, antice
minoribus, circa viginti-novem ; extremitatibus, posticd productd,
pland, canalem latam sursum formante, anticd minis productd, con-
vergente, canalem brevem sursum formante ; spird valde conspicud ;
marginibus planis, tenuibus, valde extensis.
Shell ovate, anterior end rather pointed, the posterior and middle
very gibbous ; of a cream-colour, a few fulvous spots are irregularly
scattered over the entire back and sides of the shell, apparently the
commencement of the deposition of colouring-matter ; base flat and
very broad, on the outer edges are discrete fulvous brown spots, the
rest of the base, the teeth, and the interior of the shell are of a clear
cream-colour; aperture wide, spiral; columella gibbous posteriorly,
a slight sulcus at the anterior end; teeth form, on the columellar
side, a single angular serrated edge, about twenty in number, wide
apart and not very prominent; on the other side they are more
regular and even, extending, slightly prominent, half across the lip ;
they are smaller and more perfect towards the anterior extremity,
and about twenty-nine in number ; the extremities are produced, flat,
form a broad channel, passing upwards at the posterior end of the
shell, and terminate at the outer side of the apex of the spire; the
anterior extremities are much less produced, and converge, forming a
58 Zoological Society.
short channel running upwards; spire very prominent; margins flat
and thin, extending much outwards; the angle formed by the attach-
ment of the outer margin to the shell is of a light brown colour, from
which anteriorly radiate lines of the same colour over the upper
surface of the margin.
Differs from Cyp. Scottii in its short and gibbous form, in the re-
markable flat and broad cream-coloured base, in the very extended,
flat and thin margins: the posterior channel has much the form of
that of Scottii, but terminates at the apex, and not, as in Scoétii, at
the base of the spire.
Length, 290 inches; altitude, 1,2°; breadth, 155°.
Hab.
The only specimen I have seen of this peculiar shell is in the Bri-
tish Museum, and may not be an adult.
3. Cypr#a Bicotor (Two-coloured Cowrie). Cyp. testd pyriformi,
colore floris lactis ; fasciis latis, interruptis, brunneis, centrali
latiori ; basi latiusculd, rotundata ; aperturd subspirali, latiusculd ;
dentibus numerosis, prominentiusculis, columellaribus crassis, supra
sulcum columellarem extensis ; margine externo crasso, punctato,
punctis brunneis discretis ; extremitatibus brevibus, obtusis ; canali
antico pallidé rufescente-flavo.
Shell pyriform, when young more ovate, smooth and shining; of
a light cream-colour, having three broad, irregularly interrupted
bands of a brown or fawn colour, extending entirely across the shell,
the middle one being the broadest, the posterior the next so; base
broad, rather convex, pale cream-colour; aperture subspiral, rather
wide; teeth numerous, rather prominent, on the lip about thirty
curving round its edge, and extending about one-third over the lip ;
on the columellar side teeth about seventeen, extending from the
edge of the aperture over the columellar groove to end on its inner
ridge, diminishing on that ridge in prominence towards the posterior
extremity, where the denticulation is scarcely observable; the cclu-
mellar groove of equal width the whole length; margin, external
very thick and prominent (not crenulated), somewhat angular at its
outer edge, along which are many small brown distinct spots; simi-
larly coloured spots, but a little larger, are also on the columellar
side, where a slight margin exists, and which becomes prominent only
to form the anterior extremity ; extremities short, obtuse ; the anterior
channel has a very faint orange tinge.
Long, ;°°,ths of an inch; high, 55 ths ; ; wide, 5°35, ths.
Hab. Australia, New plinnd!
Cabinets of Metcalfe, Saul, Gaskoin.
Differs from the Cyp. piperita of Gray in not being cylindrical, but
of a pyriform shape ; in being very gibbous, and a much heavier and
thicker shell; in having only three bands, which are very broad and
conspicuous ; Cyp. piperita having four, which are generally narrow
and obscurely visible in the adult : shell, and on the later-formed part
of the shell uninterrupted.
Zoological Society. 59
4. Cypr#a Gracitis (Slender Cowrie). Cyp. testd oblongo-ovatd,
antice gradatim acuminatd, pallide flavescente-brunned, maculis
dorsalibus irregularibus pallideé brunneis, lateribus basalibus brunneo
punctatis, punctis paucis distinctis ; basi pallescente ; latere postico
columellari subgibboso ; apertura latiusculd, subspirali ; dentibus
labii externi prominentibus equalibus, circa octodecim, labii colu-
mellaris equalibus, anticis paululiim majoribus, pariter circa octo-
decim ; sulco columellari antico depresso, postico inconspicuo de-
presso; extremitatibus canalibus latisque prominentibus ; spird
conspicud, profunde umbilicatd.
Shell oblongo-ovate, gradually tapering towards the anterior end,
smooth and shining, of a light fawn-colour, with very light brown
irregular markings about the back, and a few distinct dark brown
dots on the edges of the base of the shell on both sides, bands
indistinct ; inside of shell milk-white; base somewhat lighter in
colour than the back; posterior half of the columellar side rather
gibbous, outer side of base somewhat depressed in the centre por-
tion; aperture subspiral, rather wide ; teeth of the lip prominent
and even, extending in no degree on to the lip (only denticulating
its edge), about eighteen in number, and about as many also on the
columellar side, which are larger anteriorly, even, terminating ex-
ternally in a line at the edge of, or rather just within the aperture,
and internally, proceeding straight across the columellar groove to
terminate at its inner edge the anterior half of the shell, and on the
columella in points, the posterior half, there being mere small pro-
jections indicating the continuance of the inner edge of the colu-
mellar groove, which extends the whole length of the columella,
diminishing in depth in the middle of the shell, and deepening at
the posterior end to form a part of the channel; margins slightly
prominent, thick on the outer side only, not crenulated ; extremities
of a light brown colour externally, much produced and thick; both
the anterior are marginated and flattened externally ; channels wide
and protrude beyond the body of the shell; spire visible, deeply um-
bilicated.
Long, ;86,ths of an inch; wide, ;°%ths; high, ;jths.
Hab. $
The only specimen I have seen of this elegant shell is in my col-
lection, and was brought to this country by Sir E. Belcher in the
‘ Samarang.’
The only species with which this shell has any affinity is the Cyp.
Sauli of Gaskoin ; and differs from it in the teeth being finer, and
in being rather within the aperture, in having a columellar groove,
in the absence of colour between the teeth, in being more ventricose,
the wanting the characteristic dark blotch on the dorsum of Sauli,
and difference of general coloration.
I have thought it proper to add to this description the following
note :—
“«My dear Sir,—I have carefully examined the little Cyprea
which you left with me yesterday, and which you proposed to name
Cyp. gracilis. It appears to me to be in perfect condition, and to
60 Zoological Society.
possess several characters by which it is most easily distinguished
from all other described species with which I am acquainted.
“Inits teeth, which are not elongated over the columellar side, in
the internal columellar groove, in its apical umbilicus, and in the
much-produced posterior extremities, as well as in other characters,
it differs essentially from Cyp. Walkeri of Gray; and it has not the
slightest appearance of malformation or monstrosity of form. I am
therefore of opinion it is a perfectly distinct species, and ought to
be described as such. “Yours, &c.,
“©G. B. Sowrersy.”
“ 30th March, 1848.”
“To J. S. Gaskoin, Esq.”
5. Cypraa opscura (Dusky Cowrie). Cyp. testd ovatd, albicante,
maculis duabus dorsalibus nigricantibus inconspicuis ; costellis
rudibus, prominentibus, ad dorsum concoloribus, ad margines et ad
basin albis ; dentibus labii externi circa viginti, labii interni di-
stantibus circa duodecim ; sulco columellari lato, margine interno
dentibus serrato ; extremitatibus albis, crassis, productiusculis.
Shell ovate, of a dingy white colour, having two remarkable small,
blackish, undefined spots or markings on the dorsum, one a little
less than a third the length of the shell from each extremity; ribs
coarse and prominent, on the back of the same colour as the shell,
but on the margins and base of a pure white ; they traverse the shell
from one side of the aperture to the other, having a slight curving at
the centre of the dorsum; on the outer side several terminate on the
side of the shell, fewer terminate on the columellar side, where some
float; base white, rather round; aperture straightish, curved at the
posterior end, rather narrow ; teeth even, formed by the coste, about
twenty on the lip and about twelve on the columellar side, where
they are distant and extend over a broad columellar groove to serrate
its inner ridge; margin on the outer side thick and white, none on
the columellar side; extremities white, thick, and somewhat pro-
duced. No dorsal impression.
Length, ;3¢,ths of an inch; altitude, 2°,ths; breadth, ;25,ths.
Hab. North-west Australia; Dupuch’s Island (under stones, low
water), collected by J. KE. Dring, Esq., R.N. Abrolhos Island (under
coral), by ditto.
Cabinets of Gaskoin, Saul, &c.
This shell is perhaps nearest in form to Cyprea pulex, Gray, but
cannot be confounded with any known species. I have had for
several years specimens of this shell, and the locality given me with
them was Senegal; but as Mr. Dring has lately brought others to
this country, I have thought it right to give so authenticated a habi-
tat as we have received from him.
This manuscript description having been written for a few years,
I send it for insertion in the ‘ Proceedings,’ although Kiener appears
to have described it in his work, ‘ Spécies Général,’ &c., under the
name of Cyp. Napolina, a name ascribed to Duclos; but Kiener does
not say by what authority, yet I conclude that that appellation
should stand. Kiener’s figures, pl. 53, figs. 3 and 3, are no repre-
Zoological Society. 61
sentations of his description. I was not aware until lately that this
shell had already been described, but my English characters of the
species may not be unacceptable, as they are more minute.
6. Cyrr#a sutcata (Grooved Cowry). Cyp. testd ovato-globosd,
ventricosd, albd ; basi rotundatd, apertura latiusculd, postice in-
curvd, canalibus profundis et latis ; dentibus equalibus, labii ex-
terni circa triginta, laterts columellaris viginti, supra columellam
continuis marginem internam serratam formantibus ; costellis
prominentibus plerumque ad impressionem dorsalem terminantibus,
pseudo-costellis ad utramque extremitatem circa decem; sulco
columellari lato, profundo, margine externo prominente, acuto ;
extremitatibus obtusis, crassis; spird conspicud ; impressione
dorsali conspicud.
Shell globoso-ovate, ventricose; entirely of a clear white colour ;
base convex, aperture rather wide, curved inwards at the posterior
end, channels deep and broad; teeth numerous and even, about
thirty on the lip and twenty on the columellar side, which traverse
the columellar groove to terminate at an inner serrated edge; the
ribs are continuations of the teeth, are prominent, and almost all
terminate at the dorsal impression, a few only on the sides of the
shell; false ribs at each end about ten, interstices between the ribs
minutely striated longitudinally ; columellar sulcus broad and deep,
the outer edge, sharp and prominent, occupies the anterior third of
the length of the columella, the other portion of the inner part of the
columella flat (not grooved); extremities obtuse, thick, those of the
lip longer than the body of the shell, the posterior one in a marked
degree, which, passing round to form the channel, ends somewhat
abruptly in a prominent sharp edge on the columella, which sharp
edge constitutes the inner extremity ; spire perceptible, the false ribs
pass over it; dorsal impression well-pronounced, extends the length
of the back to the false ribs at each end; margins none.
It is nearest in general form to Cyp. formosa of Gaskoin, but
differs from it in having a dorsal impression, much coarser ribs, in the
sharp outer edge of the columellar sulcus, the peculiar position and
form of the inner and projection of the outer posterior extremities,
in its pure white colour, &c.
Hab. Manilla.
Length, 54%,ths of an inch; width, ;32,ths; height, ;%° ths.
EU?) A010 : , > 100 > 100
Cabinets of Gaskoin, Cuming.
7. Cyprma virrea (Glass-like Cowry). Cyp. testa ovato-globosd,
albd, nitidd, semivitred ; basi rotundatd, apertura angustiori paulu-
lim incurvd, marginibus crassis ; dentibus equalibus, numerosis,
prominentibus, labii externi circa triginta, columellaris viginti supra
sulcum columellarem continuis ; sulco columellari lato, lengitudinem
aperture equante, margine interno subrecto, serrato; costis magnis,
equalibus, prominentibus, cum dentibus continuis ad dorsum ter-
minantibus; lined dorsali impressd ; extremitatibus obtusis, crassis
brevibus ; margine externo crasso ; spird inconspicud.
62 Zoological Society.
Shell ovato-globose, almost round, of an uniform, semivitreous,
shining, white appearance; base convex, aperture rather narrow,
slightly curved inwards its whole length, edges thick; teeth even,
rather thick, prominent, about thirty on the lip and twenty on the
columellar side, where they traverse the columellar groove and ser-
rate its nearly straight inner edge; the groove is broad and very
shallow, and nearly equal in width and depth the whole length of
the aperture; the teeth continue to form the ribs, which are large,
even and prominent, and terminate at the dorsal impression, with
the exception of two or three on each side; the false ribs all form
denticulations ; dorsal line impressed, extending from the apices
formed by the joining of the false ribs; extremities obtuse, thick and
short; margin very thick, none on the inner side; spire not per-
ceptible in the adult shell, being thickly covered by the false ribs.
Hab, Philippines.
Length, ;25,ths of an inch ; width, ;2),ths ; height, ,2°.ths.
Differs from Cyprea globosa of Gray in the anterior extremities
being of an equal length, aperture much narrower and less curved,
base rounder, its semivitreous shining appearance, &c.
Cabinet of Gaskoin.
8. Cyprza Granpo (Hail-stone Cowry). Cyp. testd ovato-globosd,
nitidd, nived; basi rotundatd, sine varice; aperturd latiusculd
antice latiori, subspirali ; sulco columellari longitudinem columelle
equante, lato et profundo; dentibus minimis, equalibus, labii
circa quadraginta-octo, columelle circa triginta-quatuor ; costellis
tenuibus et equalibus, e dentibus continuis ; interstitiis longitudi-
naliter tenuiterque crenulatis ; lined dorsali impressd ; extremitate
posticd valde productd ; spird prominente et flavescente.
Shell ovato-globose, shining, of a clear snow-white colour ; base
round, being a continued convexity with the body of the shell, there
being no margin on either side; aperture widest at its anterior half,
rather wide generally ; the columellar side spiral, edge of the lip but
very slightly so; columellar groove extends the entire length of the
columella, and is continuous at beth ends with the channels ; it is
broad and deep, particularly at the anterior half; its outer and inner
edges spiral, the outer edge angular and somewhat projecting;
teeth very minute, numerous and even, about forty-eight on the lip,
and about thirty-four on the columellar side, which traverse the co-
lumellar groove to notch its inner edge; the ribs delicate and even,
and are continuations from the teeth ; many terminate on the sides of
the shell (the teeth being so numerous, the outer portion could not
contain their prolongation), the rest end mostly in fine points at the
dorsal impression, alternately from either side; a few are united
with those of the opposite side; interstices between the ribs finely
crenulated longitudinally ; dorsal line impressed ; extremities, the
anterior very slightly, the posterior much produced; spire prominent
and tinged with a light yellow colour; margins none.
This shell differs from the Cyprea vitrea, just described, in the
minuteness and number of the teeth and delicacy of the ribs; in the
Zoological Society. 63
unequal width of the aperture, and the spiral form of its inner side ;
in the broad, deep and unequally wide columellar groove, prominent
apex, absence of margin, &c.
Length, ;2°,ths of an inch ; width
pep Manilla.
Cabinet of Gaskoin.
9. Cyprmm FLAVEOLS, varietas labro-lineata. Cypree flaveole
varietas, lineis brunneis e dentibus labii externi supra basin con-
tinuis.
Shell same form and size as Cyp. flaveola: differs from it in being
much paler in colour, and the white dottings are therefore less con-
spicuous; in the teeth being smaller and more numerous, and in
there being elevated lines of a brown colour on the lip, continued from
each tooth, and at the anterior end projecting beyond the margin; in
the anterior teeth of the columellar side being bifurcated, and in the
dark brown dottings of the margins being more numerous, and ex-
tending a little on to the base.
Cabinets of Cuming, Saul.
Hab.
10. Cypr#w# quaprimacuLat#, Gray—varietas pallidula (Palish
Cowry). Cyp. sine maculis nigris ; dentibus lateris columellari
majoribus, prominentioribus et paucioribus ; labii minoribus et nu-
merosioribus ; basi nitente.
This shell possesses characters, especially in colouring and general
form, much in common with the former shell, but is destitute of the
large black spots on the outsides of the extremities and on the spire ;
there is in some individuals a thin dark line across the outer surface
of the anterior channel; the teeth on the columellar side are larger,
more prominent, more even, and fewer in number; while those on
the lip are smaller and more numerous; it never attains the size of
quadrimaculata, the teeth and base of which are always dull, while
those of the variety are always polished (shining).
°ths; height, 1° ths.
> 100 ? 100
11. Cyprz#a putta.—The small “ Trivia” I described under that
appellation (Proc. Zool. Soc., March 10, 1846), I am enabled now to
state the habitat of;—the Galapagos Islands, and the Bay of Guaya-
quil; Cuming. When I named this shell ‘‘ pud/a,” I was not aware
it was a synonym of Cyprea adusta of Chemnitz and Lamarck, by
Gmelin,—Cyp. onyx of Gray; but as Chemnitz’s name ‘ adusta”
was the prior, and therefore the proper one, I do not consider it
necessary to alter mine.
12. Cyprm#a puLicaria.—Reeve, in his description of this shell
(Proc. Zool. Soc., March 10, 1846), remarks, that it differs from Cyp.
piperita of Gray in not being banded; but most of the specimens that
I have seen have four distinct, narrow, interrupted, light brown
bands, nearly equidistant. Nine individuals, of thirteen in my col-
lection, have these four very conspicuous bands; that described by
Reeve was one of the remaining four shells whose bands are covered.
I will take the liberty to add to the distinctions from Cyp. piperita,
the broad and projecting sulcus at the anterior portion of the co-
64. Zoological Society.
lumellar groove ; and the convergence of the anterior extremities,
rendering the channel so much narrower than in piperita.
13. Cypra#a nrvEA.—The shell described under that appellation
by Gray, the original type of which, pierced with its two holes, is now
before me, is a white variety of Cyprea turdus:—vide Gray’s Mo-
negraph (Zool. Jour. i. 511). The figures, however, of Cyprea
nivea of Gray, in Sowerby’s Conch. Illus. and in Reeve’s Conch.
Iconica, are representations of the Cyprea oryza of Gray (Zool. Jour.
iii. 369); this same error seems to pervade in the arrangement of
most of the collections I have seen. The Cyprea nivea figured in
Wood’s Supplement to the Index Testaceol. is a young Cyp. Hum-
phreysit of Gray.
14. Cypra#a Propucta.—I am able at length to refer concho-
logists to other specimens of this species than that described by
me December 22, 1836, in these ‘ Proceedings,’ which have been
brought to this country by Capt. Sir Edward Belcher, and collected
during the voyage of H.M.S. the Samarang. They are distributed
into the cabinets of Miss Saul, Messrs. Cuming, Gaskoin, &c. The
original shell, the type of this species, is well-represented in Sow-
erby’s Conchological Illustrations, fig. 155 ; in Reeve’s Conchologia
Iconica, pl. 24, fig. 187 ; and in Kiener’s Spécies Général, et Icono-
graphie des Coquilles vivantes, fol. 53, figs. 5 and 5 :—this last is
copied from Sowerby.
June 27.—William Yarrell, Esq., V.P., in the Chair.
1. On roe Hasits or CycturRA LOPHOMA, AN IGUANIFORM LIZARD.
By P. H. Goss.
The subject of the present paper seems to be as yet unknown to
science ; it may be thus described :—
CycLurA LopHOMA, mihi—(Aogos, a crest, and wpos, the shoulder).
Shields on the muzzle separated by small scales; muzzle with four
many-sided, convex, unkeeled plates on each side, the anterior and
posterior very large, the intervening two smaller, short, but wide.
General head-shields irregular in size, a largish one near the middle
of the head; lower jaw with one (posteriorly two) series of large,
rhomboidal, keeled plates, with none between them and the labial
plates. Dorsal crest high, continuous over the shoulders, inter-
rupted over the loins.
Length about 3 feet, of which the tail measures 21 inches. Colour
(in a dried state) greenish-grey, with obscure blackish spots, con-
fluent, so as to form a rude reticulation.
This very distinct species may be at once recognised by the num-
ber, form and arrangement of the plates of the muzzle, and particu-
larly by the serrated crest not being interrupted over the shoulders.
I have never met with it alivein Jamaica; the specimen from which
the above description is taken, now in the British Museum, was one
of many zoological treasures presented to me by my kind and valued
friend, Richard Hill, Esq., of Spanish-town. It is to the same gen-
tleman that I am indebted for the whole information, concerning the
Zoological Society. 65
economy of this Saurian, which I now submit to the Zoological
Society.
The following memoir from the pen of my friend was communi-
cated to me in the beginning of the year 1846; the animal, though
spoken of by the name Jguana, is the identical specimen above de-
scribed, and which Mr. Hill had noticed to differ from J. tubercu-
lata by its lacking the dentelations on the gular pouch.
“* Our Iguana is considered to be entirely herbivorous. It is found
only in particular parts of the island. The low limestone chain of
hills, along the shore from Kingston Harbour and Goat Island, on
to its continuation in Vere, is its ordinary haunt ; and it is not un-
frequently taken in the plains between those sea-coast hills and the
more inland mountains, being found in hollow trees in the pastures,
where they congregate, several of them together.
** The labourers in clearing and burning off some of the savannas
between Spanish-town and Passage-fort the other day (March 1844),
surprised in a hollow bastard-cedar tree (Guazuma ulmifolia) some
five Iguanas of the largest size. The one I sketched measured forty-
five inches long, and it was said not to have been the largest. It
was extremely fat and muscular. A russet-green, here and there
graduating into slaty-blue, is the general colour of the body and
limbs ; some oblique lines of dark olive-green are traceable on the
shoulders, and three broad dark triangular patches descend from the
dentelations of the back down to the belly, with zigzag spots of
dark olive-brown dispersed about. At very regular intervals, the
tail is alternately of a lighter and darker olive-green. A _ bluish-
green colour, more decided than on the body, prevails in the dente-
lations of the back, and on the legs... ...
** Succulent herbs, growing in the forests of the limestone hills I
have referred to, supply food for theIguana. These hills, however,
are so little suited for this sort of vegetation, that hardly anything
more than aromatic and resinous trees and balsamic plants grow
there. The lignum-vite (Guaiacum), the Acacia nilotica, and cactuid
plants,—particularly the torch and melon thistles (Cactus repandus et
peruvianus, et Cactus melocactus),—the lantana, and the varronia,
with many balmy mallows (Sida altheifolia, urens, capillaris, et vis-
cosa), and the vervain (Stachytarpheta), seem to comprise almost the
whole catalogue of trees, shrubs and herbs. These hills are, how-
ever, inhabited by several domestic animals, which have run wild.
Goats and hogs, derived from the common domestic breeds, have
become feral; and even the common domestic poultry, cocks and
hens, have taken to the woods as jungle-fowl, with the pintado.
Quails and doves find here a safe breeding-place. These hills are
also the special resort of the musteline thrush, the wood-thrush of
the North Americans, which more than divides with the mocking-
bird the credit of a songster. It has a louder and more brilliant
note, though its song be greatly less varied and melodious. The
fruit of the torch-thistle seems the great attraction of the wood-
thrush, but it is not easy to perceive the resource of the granivorous
birds. The aromatic herbs suit the wild goats; but the hogs can
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist, Ser. 2. Vol. iv.
66 Zoological Society.
find but few edible roots among rocks, but very thinly interspersed
with soil. In the occasional hollows a little mould has been col-
lected from decayed leaves, mingled with marl, extremely stony and
sterile; and here a little more succulent herbage may prevail, and a
few of the edible roots of the country may be found growing. The
rocks have numerous caverns, and the springs that break out at the
foot of the cliffs are an impure brackish water, though extremely
transparent. Yet this district is almost exclusively the haunt of
the Iguana, The occasional ones taken in the savannas are con-
sidered to be stray visitants from the neighbouring hills; they are
not permanently established in the plains in which they are found.
*«« T have noticed the particular kind of locality which the Iguana
inhabits in this part of the country, because it presents very different
features from the haunts usually assigned to this lizard elsewhere.
Forests on the banks of rivers, and woods around springs, where it
passes its time in the trees and in the water, living on fruits, grains
and leaves, are said to be the places i in which the hunters find it on
the American continent......
After referring to some “notes of Sir R. Schomburgk made in
Guiana, and to Goldsmith’s s graphic picture of noosing ‘the Iguana,
probably derived from Labat, which I do not here quote, because
they refer to an animal generically distinct from ours,—my friend
reverts to his own observations :—
«The gular pouch which hangs like the dewlap of a bull beneath
its throat can be inflated*, but it is not exactly known under
what circumstances, ordinarily, it has recourse to this power of in-
flation. When filled with air it would give breadth and buoyancy
to the body, and if its habits are as aquatic as some accounts make
them [those of Jguana proper] to be, it would afford to an her-
bivorous animal no unimportant aid while swimming and cropping
‘its flowery food.” When excited it assumes a menacing attitude,
and directs its eye to the object of attack with a peculiarly sinister
look. At this time it inflates the throat, erects the crest and dente-
lations on the back, and opens the mouth, showing the line of those
peculiarly-set white teeth, with serrated edges, so excellently made
to illustrate the remains of the gigantic fossil Iguanodon. The prin-
ciple of their construction is so precisely similar, as to leave no doubt
of the genuine connexion of the extinct with the existing herbivorous
lizard. ‘The adaptation of both is for the cropping and cutting of
vegetable food.
‘* In defending itself from attack, the Iguana conyerts its long
flexible tail into no unimportant weapon. The dentelated upper
edge, drawn rapidly over the body and limbs of an enemy, cuts like
asaw. The twisted attitude which it assumes when approached is
converted into a quick turn, in which movement the tail is nimbly
struck by an overblow from one side to another, and then jerked
* I believe my friend has fallen into a common error here. If I may judge
from analogy in the genera Anolis and Dactyloa, the gular pouch in the /guanide
is extensible but not inflatable, as I hope to show in a future paper on the habits
of these genera.—P.H.G.
Zoological Society. 67
round. I have observed the same application of the tail to purposes
of defence in the crocodile, and there can be little doubt that the
dentelated crest upon this part of the body of lizards is for the in-
fliction of serrated wounds. ‘The lacerations which dogs suffer in
attacking the Iguana are remarkably severe.
‘There can be no doubt that the Iguana voluntarily takes to the
water ; but whether it delights to refresh itself in that element, as we
should be led to suppose by the observation that it sports in it, I
cannot learn from any of our people here. The one kept in the
Zoological Gardens in the Regent’s Park was seen to enter and cross
a small pond, the fore-feet being motionless during the animal’s pro-
gress through the water. It is curious, however, that whilst the dry,
sterile hills near us abound with Iguanas, the banks of the Rio Cobre,
a river so near its haunts, are scarcely ever visited by them.”
After my arrival in England, the above notes coming under review,
in my study of the Saurians I had brought home, I was mduced to
make further inquiry of Mr. Hill, whether in describing the inflation
of the pouch, and the defensive action of the tail, he spoke from his
own observation. From his reply I extract the following remarks :—
Poe The purposes of defence, to which I represented it as
applying its long tail with its armature of pointed and triple-edged
scuta, were suggested to me by the negroes, who were present when
I was examining the specimen I mentioned as forty-five inches in
length. They warned me to stand out of the reach of its tail, for
they saw it was going to turn itself rapidly round to strike. I ob-
served a peculiar sinister look it had, derived not from the eye being
turned within the socket, so as to indicate the object it was regard-
ing, but from the peculiar turn of the head, as if listening and ob-
serving. The negroes remarked that in the position in which its tail
then lay, it was preparing to strike at me, and that dogs generally in
setting upon them received desperate punishment, from the gashes
and lacerations that were made into the thick muscles of the legs by
the rapid flinging round of the Iguana in defending itself. The sud-
den jerk with which it drew back its tail was said to enable it to rasp
the very flesh off the bone. The notion expressed about the infla-
tion of the gular pouch was the consequence of seeing two very large
Iguanas from Cuba, which distended this appendage, and let it col-
lapse again. The skin of these animals hung about them, as if they
had been fat, and were, at the time I saw them, emaciated.....
« An acquaintance has promised to supply me with notes of a pair
of Cycluras that inhabited a hollow acacia-tree in his fields (Proso-
pis juliflora) for some sixteen months. He supposed them male and
female, They differed in size and in tint; and were never, during
the whole period of his acquaintance with them, seen on the outer
tree both together. Like the pair of weather-indicators in the
Dutchman’s hygrometer, if one was out, the other was in. For a
certain time every morning, one or other would be seen on some
extreme eastern branch of the tree sunning itself, by basking at its
length in the slant sunbeams that shot within the foliage. ‘Their
size and the nimble movement of the tail gave them so much the
5x*
68 Zoological Society.
appearance of the ring-tailed monkey, when climbing, that a near-
sighted observer, like myself, would mistake them for some Sapajou
scrambling up the bark.”
The intelligence thus promised has just been communicated to me,
contained in the following letter from Stephen Minot, Esq., of Wor-
cester Lodge, to Richard Hill, Esq.
“ February 1848.
“Dear Sir,—In accordance with your request, I send you a few
particulars relative to the two Guanas that were seen during a period
of nearly two years, at Worcester Lodge, in the parish of St. Ca-
therine.
« About the beginning of September 1844, a friend of mine, riding
into the property, observed, as he thought, a large green lizard bask-
ing in the sun on a hollow cashaw-tree (Prosopis juliflora), close by
the road. He struck at it with his riding-whip, and immediately
the animal disappeared with great swiftness into the tree. For
several weeks after this it was occasionally seen, but was extremely
shy, always disappearing the moment any one approached the tree.
I gave orders that no one should, under any pretence, frighten it
again, as a servant who had seen it informed me it was a Guana.
By degrees it got tamer; and when I first saw it, it was, I should
think, from 10 to 11 inches long, including the tail. About a year
after this period it was always visible as soon as the sun became a
little warm, clinging to the bark of the tree, or crouching (if I may
use the term) along a small dry branch. I never saw it attempt to
catch flies, or ants, or any insects; and the only time I ever detected
it feeding was about this period. One day after heavy rain, the sun
having broken through the clouds, shining very bright, it was then
eating the guinea-hen-weed (Petiveria), growing about ten yards
from the root of the cashaw. I watched it a few moments, unper-
ceived, and observed it walk very slowly, moving one leg at a time,
—cropping, and apparently swallowing without any further process,
a mouthful of leaf; and leaving an indenture on the plant of the size
of his mouth. Immediately on seeing me, by a succession of rapid
springs, neither running nor walking, nor was it like the hopping
of the frog, it regained the tree, and in a second was out of sight.
The hollow part of the tree is about seven feet from the ground. It
evidently did not object to the water, as there was a small lodgement
of water close by where it was feeding, through which it bounded
without a moment’s hesitation, though it might have regained the
tree, if it had disliked the water, by going round the small swamp,
which was only say three or four yards in diameter. I mention this
circumstance of the water, as we had previously had dreadful dry
weather, and I often wondered how the animals of this description
lived for want of it ; and it was never visible during or immediately
after rain.
“« It was, as you are aware, foolishly shot, in my absence, by young
N , under the false impression that it ate chickens. I have
spoken of it in the singular number, as we were not aware there were
two, until Mr. N shot a second one on the same tree about
Zoological Society. 69
two or three hours after he killed the first. This discovery, that
there were two instead of only one, accounted for what had pre-
viously often surprised me, namely that sometimes the animal was
of a brownish-green hue, and when of that colour always appeared
larger than when it looked blackish. It therefore appears plain that
they must have been male and female; and, if that is correct, the
male was by far the larger and handsomer.
«The male, as I consider it, was the one I saw dead after it was
shot. It was about from 22 to 24 inches long, but the tail did not
appear so long in proportion, as it grew older, as it seemed when
first discovered. I opened the animal, and found it full of pieces of
guinea-hen-weed, some digested, some half-digested, and a large
quantity quite fresh, which is accounted for by its being early in the
morning, say nine o’clock, when it was shot. I may mention that I
put the carcass into three or four different sorts of ants’ nests,—the
common, the stinging black, and the large red ant,—not one of which
would touch it; and when I forced them into the carcass, and put
part of their nests in it, they ran away from it as quickly as possible.
I did this under the hope of getting his skeleton.”
To this last observation Mr. Hill has appended the following note :
—‘ This dislike for the flesh of the lizard may have resulted from
the odour of the guinea-hen-weed, on which it had recently fed.
The whole flesh would be imbued with the intolerable garlic-like
scent.”
2. DESCRIPTIONS OF TWENTY-THREE NEW SPECIES OF VITRINA, FROM
THE CoLLEcTIoN oF H. Cumine, Ese. By Dr. L. Preirrer.
1. Virrina Cumineu, Beck MSS. Vitr. testd depresso-globosd,
tenuissimd, subtiliter striatd, nitidd, albido-corned ; spird brevis-
simd, obtusd ; suturd levi, lined impressd marginatd ; anfractibus
4 vix convexiusculis, ultimo inflato, subdepresso, medio lined rufd
cingulato ; aperturd pariim obliqud, lunato-rotundatd ; peristomate
simplice, marginibus remotis, columellari subverticali, leviter ar-
cuato, superne reflexiusculo, perforationem punctiformem simu-
lante, supero antrorsum vie arcuato.
Diam. 20, altit. 12 mill.
Hab. The island of Bohol; collected by Mr. Cuming.
2. Virrina marcarita, Beck MSS. _ Vitr. testd depresso-glo-
bosd, tenuissimd, striatuld, nitidd, pellucida, carneo-hyalind ;
spird parvuld, planiusculd ; suturd lineari; anfractibus 33 sub-
planis, rapide accrescentibus, ultimo magno, inflato ; aperturd
obliqud, lunato-subcirculari ; peristomate tenuissimo, margine su-
pero antrorsum dilatato, columellari leviter arcuato.
Diam. 14, altit. 8 mill.
Hab. The island of Guimaras; collected by Mr. Cuming.
3. Virrina sMARAGDULUS, Beck MSS. Vitr. testd depressiusculd,
tenui, via striatuld, non nitente, diaphand, aureo-virente; spird
parvuld, planiusculd ; suturd leviter impressd, angustissime mar-
ginatd ; anfractibus 3} planiuscults, rapide accrescentibus, ultimo
70
Zoological Society.
utringue planiusculo, basi lato; aperturd pariim obliqud, rotun-
dato-lunari, latiore quam altd; peristomate tenui, subinflexo,
margine supero antrorsum dilatato, columellari vix recedente,
leviter arcuato.
Diam. 12, altit. 7 mill.
Hab. The island of Negros; collected by Mr. Cuming.
4.
Virrina BicoLor, Beck MSS. Vitr. testé subglobosd, tenut,
sublevigatd, nitidissimd, carneo-albidd ; spird brevi, converd, ob-
tusd ; suturd impressd ; anfractibus 34 rapide accrescentibus,
ultimo inflato, antic? hyalino, basi angustiusculo, membranaceo-
marginato ; aperturd vie obliqud, lunato-rotundatd ; peristomate
tenuissimo, margine dextro regulariter rotundato, columellari re-
cedente, perarcuato.
Diam. 18, altit. 10 mill.
(Body of the animal white, apex black.)
Hab. Isle of Guimaras; collected by Mr. Cuming.
5.
Virrina GuUIMARASENSIS, Pfr. Vitr. testd depresso-semiglobosd,
tenui, striatuld, subdiaphand, virenti-carned ; spird parvuld, pa-
rim elevatd; suturd marginatd; anfractibus vier 4 subplanis,
rapidissime accrescentibus, ultimo inflato, subdepresso ; apertura
obliqud, lunato-subcirculari, eque alta ac latd, intus submargari-
taced ; peristomate tenuissimo, margine dextro regulariter arcu-
ato, columellari recedente, perarcuato.
Diam. 15, altit. 8 mill.
Hab. Isle of Guimaras; collected by Mr. Cuming.
6. Virrina Becxrana, Pfr. (Vitr. peraffinis, Beck MSS.) Vitr.
testd depresso-globosd, circuitu ovali, tenuissimd, striatuld, pellu-
cidd, nitidd, pallidissime rubello-corned ; spird mediocri, brevi,
obtusd ; anfractibus feré 4 vie convewiusculis, celeriter accrescen-
tibus, ultimo subdepresso, bast lato; aperturd parim obliqud,
lunato-rotundatd, latiore quam altd; peristomate simplice, mar-
ginibus remotis, supero regulariter arcuato, columellari superne
reflexiusculo, basi recedente, perarcuato.
Diam. 16, altit. 8 mill.
Hab. The Philippine islands of Negros, Siquijor and Guimaras ;
collected by Mr. Cuming.
7. Virrina pouitissima, Beck MSS. Vitr. testa globoso-depressd,
soliduld, levigatd, politissimd, diaphand, corned, saturatius ra-
diatd ; spird mediocri, converd ; suturd impressd, submarginatd ;
anfractibus 4 convexiusculis, celeriter accrescentibus, ultimo de-
presso-rotundato, basi lato; apertura obliqud, lunato-rotundatd,
e@que altd ac latd; peristomate simplice, margine superiore an-
trorsum arcuato, columellari leviter arcuato.
Diam. 14, altit, 74 mill.
From the island of Zebu; collected by Mr. Cuming on the leaves
of small trees. The entire animal is black.
8. Virrina LeEyTensIs, Beck MSS. Vitr. testd depressd, circuitu
ovali, tenuissimd, levigatd, nitidissimd, lutescenti-carned ; spird
Zoological Society. 71
planiusculd, viv elevatd; suturd leviter impressd ; anfractibus 3
rapide accrescentibus, ultimo superne subplano, basi convexiore,
latiusculo ; aperturd pariim obliqud, rotundato-lunari, latiore quam
altd ; peristomate tenuissimo, margine supero partum arcuato, co-
lumellari superné refleviusculo, basi cum inferiore angulum obtu-
sum formante.
Diam. 13, altit. 7 mill.
From the island of Leyte. A larger variety, more opake, yellow-
ish-whitish, from Siquijor. Collected by Mr. Cuming.
9. Virrina gutta, Pfr. Vitr. testd depresso-globosd, tenuissimd,
glaberrimd, nitidissimd, hyalind ; spird vix elevatiusculd ; suturd
lineari, angusté marginatd ; anfractibus 35 planiusculis, rapide
accrescentibus, ultimo magno, depresso-rotundato, basi latiusculo ;
aperturd pariim obliqud, lunato-circulari; peristomate simplice,
undique regulariter arcuato, margine columellari intrante, supernt
reflexiusculo.
Diam. 11, altit. 6 mill.
From Sorsogon, isle of Luzon; collected by Mr. Cuming.
10. Virrina RuFEscENS, Pfr. Vitr. testd depresso-globosd, tenuis-
simd, plicatuld, nitidd, pellucidd, rufescente ; spird breviter conoi-
ded, obtusiusculd ; suturd impressd ; anfractibus fere 4 convexius-
culis, celeriter accrescentibus, ultimo ventroso ; aperturd vir obli-
qud, lunato-subcirculari ; peristomate tenui, subinflero, marginibus
remotis, supero regulariter, columellari leviter arcuato.
Diam. 18, altit. 8 mill.
From the isle of Mindoro; collected by Mr. Cuming.
11. Virrina crenutaris, Beck MSS. Vitr. testd depressd, tenu-
assimd, glabrd, nitidd, pellucidd, aured ; spird pland ; suturd levi-
ter impressd ; anfractibus 35 planiusculis, juxta suturam plicato-
crenulatis, rapide accrescentious, ultimo depresso, basi lato ;
aperturd obliqud, rotunduto-lunari, latiore quam altd ; peristo-
mate tenui, subinflero, margine supero antrorsum dilatato, colu-
mellari leviter arcuato, basali strictiusculo.
Diam. 13, altit. 7 mill.
From the Philippine islands of Negros and Zebu; collected by
Mr. Cuming.
12. Virrina REsILIENS, Beck MSS. Vitr. testd depressd, tenuis-
simd, subtilissimé et confertim plicatuld, nitidd, pellucidd, virenti-
stramined ; spird planiusculd ; suturd leviter impressd ; anfracti-
bus 34 subplanis, ultimo lato, depresso, basi fer omnind mem-
branaceo ; aperturd obliqud, lunato-ovali ; peristomate simplicis-
simo, margine columellari statim procedente, leviter arcuato.
Diam. 11, altit. 65 mill.
From Sibonga, island of Zebu. Found on leaves of small palms
in dark woods. ‘The body of the animal is white, the apex black
(H. Cuming).
13. Virrina papitata, Pfr. Vitr. testd depressd, tenui, levius-
culd, nitidd, pellucidd, pallide corned; spird planiusculd, medio
Zoological Society.
papillatd ; suturd profunde impressd, marginatd ; anfractibus 34
convexiusculis, prope suturam striatulis, ultimo depresso, lineis
obsoletis spiralibus interdum sculpto, peripherid rotundato, basi
latiusculo ; aperturd perobliqud, ampld, rotundato-lunari, latiore
quam altd ; peristomate tenut, margine supero antrorsum dilatato,
columellari recedente, perarcuato.
Diam. 10, altit. 5 mill.
From Calauang, isle of Luzon; collected by Mr. Cuming.
14, Virrina PLANULATA, Pfr. Vitr. testd depressissimd, subdis-
coided, leviusculd, nitidd, carned ; spird planiusculd ; suturd im-
pressd; anfractibus 3 via conveviusculis, rapidissime accrescenti-
bus, ultimo depresso, basi angusto; aperturd amplissimd, per-
obliqud, lunari, transverse dilatatd ; peristomate tenui, margine
supero antrorsum dilatato, columellari valde recedente, arcuato.
Diam. 1}, altit. 45 mill.
From Calauang, isle of Luzon; collected by Mr. Cuming.
15. Virrtna aperta, Beck MSS. Vitr. testd depressissimd, su-
perne convexiusculd, basi apertd, levigatd, subopacd, virenti-
albidd ; spird minutd, laterali; suturd levi; anfractibus 25 con-
vewiusculis, basi angustissimis, apertis, ultimo permagno, plane
fornicato; aperturd horizontal, auriformi, usque in verticem
apertd ; peristomate simplicissimo.
Diam. 11, altit. 3 mill.
From San Juan, isle of Luzon; collected by Mr. Cuming.
16. Virrina MontTicouta, Benson MSS.? Vitr. testd depressd,
tenui, striatuld, nitidd, pelluctdd, lutescenti-corned ; spird pland,
medio via prominuld ; suturd leviter impressd ; anfractibus 4 ce-
leriter accrescentibus, planiusculis, ultimo depresso, non descen-
dente; aperturd obliqud, rotundato-lunari ; peristomate simplice,
marginibus conniventibus, callo tenuissimo junctis, supero antror-
sum arcuato-dilatato, columellari cum basali angulum obtusum
formante.
Diam. 18, altit. 74 mill.
From Bengal, Landour, Himalayah, Almorah.
17. Virrina Benson, Pfr. Vitr. testd depressiusculd, tenui, stria-
tuld, nitidd, pellucidd, pallide corned; spird via elevatd, obtusd ;
suturd impressd, submarginatd; anfractibus 34 conveciusculis,
ultimo subdepresso, peripherid rotundato, basi lato ; aperturd. ob-
liqud, lunato-subcirculari ; peristomate simplice, subinflero, mar-
ginibus conniventibus, supero antrorsum subdilatato, columellari
recedente, perarcuato.
Diam. 12, altit. vix 6 mill.
In the Botanic Garden of Calcutta; collected by Mr. Benson.
18. Virrina nrans, Riippell MSS. Vitr. testd depresso-globosd,
tenut, striatuld, pellucidd, nitiduld, pallidé corned, strigis saturati-
oribus radiata ; spird parvuld, conoideo-convexd ; suturd impressd,
marginatd ; anfractibus 4 conveviusculis, rapide accrescentibus,
ultimo rotundato, busi lutiusculo ; aperturd obliqud, lunato-subcir-
Zoological Society. 73
culari ; peristomate simplice, marginibus convergentibus, columel-
lari subrecedente, leviter arcuato.
Diam. 24, altit. 12 mill.
From Abyssinia; collected by Dr. Riippell.
19. Virrina Ripreiiiana, Pfr. Vitr. testd subsemiglobosd, tenui,
arcuato-striatd, pellucidd, pariim nitidd, fulvd; spird brevi, ob-
tusiusculd ; suturd impressd ; anfractibus 3 convexiusculis, rapide
accrescentibus, ultimo ventroso, basi latiusculo ; aperturd obliqud,
lunato-rotundatd ; peristomate simplice, margine supero fer an-
gulatim antrorsum dilatato, columellari substricté recedente, basi
leviter arcuato ; margine interno anfractuum inconspicuo.
Diam. 18, altit. 10 mill.
From Abyssinia; found by Dr. Riippell.
20. Virrtna Sowersyana, Pfr. Vitr. testd depressd, subauri-
Sormi, arcuatim plicatuld, tenuissimd, nitidd, pellucida, brunneo-
Sulvd ; spird vir emersd ; suturd profundé impressd ; anfractibus
3, primis conveaiusculis, ultimo depresso, peripherid angulato,
basi convexiore ; aperturd ampld, perobliqud, lunato-ovali, mar-
ginibus conniventibus, supero vix dilatato, columellari perarcuato,
angusteé membranaceo-marginato ; margine interno anfractuum
inconspicuo.
Diam. 22, altit. 11 mill.
From West Africa.
21. Virrina Granpis, Beck MSS. Vitr. testd depressd, tenui-
usculd, radiatim subtiliter plicatuld, diaphand, non nitente, albido-
stramined ; spird brevissimd, vix emersd, subpapillatd; suturd
impressd ; anfractibus 35 rapide accrescentibus, subplanatis, ul-
timo depresso, peripherid obsolete angulato, basi lato, striatulo,
nitido ; aperturd pariim obliqud, latd, lunari; peristomate sim-
plice, margine supero antrorsum subdilatato, columellari subver-
ticaliter descendente, arcuatim in basalem abiente.
Diam. 18, alt. 8 mill.
From West Africa, Guinea.
22. Virrina aByssinica, Riippell MSS. Vitr. testd depresso-
ovatd, sublevigatd, diaphand, vix nitiduld, sordid? virenti-corned;
spird brevi, conveviusculd ; suturd leviter impressd ; anfractibus
25 convewiusculis, celeriter accrescentibus, ultimo peripherid ro-
tundato, basi latiusculo ; aperturd obliqud, rotundato-lunari, trans-
verse dilatatd ; peristomate simplice, margine supero subrepando,
columellari recedente, arcuato.
Diam. 10, altit. 55 mill.
From Abyssinia; collected by Dr. Riippell.
23. Virrina virENS, Pfr. Vitr. testd depressiusculd, subsemiovali,
subtilissimé striatuld, nitiduld, corneo-virente ; spird planiusculd ;
suturd vie impressd ; anfractibus 3 vix convexiusculis, rapide
accrescentibus, ultimo subdepresso-rotundato, basi anguste mem-
branaceo-marginato ; aperturd obliqud, lunato-subcirculari } peri-
stomate tenui, subinflevo, undique regulariter arcuato.
Diam. 16, altit. 8 mill.
Locality unknown.
74: Miscellaneous.
MISCELLANEOUS.
On the Development of the Purkinjean Corpuscle in Bone.
Schwann, in his ‘ Mikroskopische Untersuchungen,’ considers that
the Purkinjean corpuscle of bone is derived from the pre-existing
cartilage-cell, and that the canaliculi are prolongations, or protru-
sions of the cell-wall. Many later authors, among whom are Gerber,
and Todd and Bowman, express the opinion that it originates in the
nucleus of the temporary cartilage-cell, and Tomes entertains the
idea, that after the formation of the osseous tubes, in the process of
ossification, the latter are filled up by a deposit of osseous granules,
and while this deposit is going on, small cells are left, which are
the rudimentary Purkinjean corpuscles. Henle thinks them to be
the cavities of cells, the thickened walls of which are pierced by the
canaliculi. Hassall confirms the view of Schwann, by stating, “ the
bone-cells (Purkinjean corpuscles) are to be regarded as complete
corpuscles, the canaliculi of which are formed by the extension of
the cell-wall, which is proved by watching the formation and de-
velopment of bone.”
The opinion of Schwann and Hassall I can fully corroborate from
my own observations upon an ossifying frontal bone, from a human
embryo measuring 2 inches from heel to vertex. Each lateral
half of the bone is about 34 lines in diameter, and presents to the
naked eye the appearance of a delicate and close network, arising
from the numerous areole occupied by temporary cartilage. ‘The
frontal and orbital plates, it is worthy of incidental remark, at this
period are nearly on a plane with each other, or are connected to-
gether at a very obtuse angle along a central, transverse, crescentic,
raised line, the rudimentary supra-orbitar ridge.
The mode of development of the Purkinjean corpuscle, as noticed
upon the upper or posterior border of the os frontis, is briefly as
follows :—After the primitive ossific rete has been formed from the
deposit of the osseous salts, enclosing groups of cartilage-cells in
the areole, the further deposit takes place in a fibrous or line-like
course from the parietes of the areole of the primitive osseous rete,
in the interspaces of the cartilage-cells nearest to, or in contact with
the sides of the areole. At this period the cells shoot out or extend
their canaliculi between the fibrille just formed, and then the celi-
wall and continuous walls of the canaliculi fuse with the translucent,
homogeneous, or hyaline substance of the cartilage existing between
the cells and the osseous fibrillee, and with the fibrille themselves,
by the deposit of the osseous salts. The period of the formation of
the canaliculi appears to be quite definite, occurring during the de-
posit of the osseous salts, and not before. To such an extent is this
the case, that I noticed im several instances cells which had formed
their canaliculi upon the side which was ossified, while upon the
other side I could not distinguish any trace of them.
During the whole time of the formation of the Purkinjean cor-
puscle, the nucleus remains unchanged ; at least no change is per-
ceptible in it beneath the microscope ; and by applying tincture of
iodine to the preparation, which turns the nucleus brown, I was able
Miscellaneous. 75
to detect it within the perfected Purkinjean corpuscle, not only
corresponding to the nucleus of the remaining unossified cartilage-
cells in granular structure, but also in its measurements. After the
Purkinjean corpuscle has been formed a short time, the nucleus dis-
solves away or disappears.
The newly-formed Purkinjean corpuscle is about the same size as
the remaining unossified cartilage-cells, as indicated in the list of
measurements appended to these notes.
Size of cell of outa cartilage from the oes os frontis
of a human SE rsgg of an inch; nucleus of ditto, sy a5 of an inch ;
nucleolus, ;3'353 of an inch ; one corpuscle, >;/,> of an inch;
nucleus within the same, 35'35 of an inch.— Proceedings of the Aca-
demy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, vol. iv. p. 116.
MODE OF PROGRESSION WITH ANIMALS.
It has been noticed by nearly all naturalists, as one of the pecu-
liarities of the Giraffe, that it moves the two legs on the same side
of it together ; I have however noticed that most other animals walk
in that manner, although few run so; among others I will mention the
following as verifying my observations :—the Camel, the Lion, the
Tiger, and Leopard, and all animals of the Felidz, the Wolf, and
Hyena, and all the canine race.
Sometimes I have observed the same peculiarity in the Horse and
Ass, though rarely ; the Camel runs so; the other animals which I
have mentioned, I have never observed to walk in the usual manner.
WAS Pree:
Descriptions of new species of the genera Nyctale, Brehm., and Syco-
bius, Veil. By Joun Cassin.
Genus Nycraue, Brehm. Handb. Nat. Vig. Deuts. p. 111.
Nyctale Harrisii, nobis.
Front, face, nuchal collar, and under surface of the body yellowish
white, or buff colour.
Spot between the eye and the bill, and a broad occipital band,
black, the latter covering the greater part of the hind head.
Feathers covering the ear black.
Throat with a few black feathers, and many of the feathers of the
ruff on the front neck conspicuously tipped with black.
Upper surface of the back and wings deep reddish brown ; wing-
coverts with conspicuous round spots of white; all the quill-feathers
also irregularly marked and spotted with white on the edges of both
webs; scapulars largely edged with white and buff.
Upper tail-coverts brown, spotted with white. * Tail black, with
about three pairs of rounded white spots on every feather. arsi
thickly feathered to the toes, and with the whole under surface of
the body buff colour.
Total length of skin, from tip of bill to end of tail, about 74 in.
wing, 5 ; tail, 22.
Hab. South America?
The specimen now described was obtained from Mr. J. G. Bell,
76 Miscellaneous.
Taxidermist, of New York, who has no accurate recollection of its
locality, but is of the opinion that it came from South America.
I have named this singular and beautiful little species in honour of
Mr. Edward Harris, of Moorestown, N. J., Chairman of the Ornitho-
logical Committee of this Academy, and a distinguished naturalist.
Genus Sycosivus, Viezllot.
Sycobius scutatus, nobis.
do Upper part of the head and neck, broad pectoral band and
under tail-coverts bright crimson ; the crimson of the breast uniting
on the sides of the neck with that of the head.
Throat and ears black, which colour forms a large gular patch
extending to, but scarcely including the eyes.
All other parts of the body black.
Broad pectoral band and under tail-coverts crimson ; all other
parts, including the head, black.
Total length of skin, from tip of bill to end of tail, about 53 inches ;
wing, 33; tail, 23.
Hab. Western Africa.
Two pairs of this species now described were brought to this
country by Robert MacDowell, M.D., Surgeon attached to the
colonial government of Sierra Leone, who collected them in Western
Africa.
It bears a greater resemblance to the Sycobius rubricollis (Swain-
son), Vieill. Ois. Chant. pl. 43, than to any other species which I
have found described ; but from this and all others it may readily be
distinguished by its under tail-coverts being crimson, and also by its
broad pectoral band of the same colour.-—Proceedings of the Aca-
demy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, vol. iv. p. 157.
Description of a new species of Salamander from Upper California.
By Epwarp Ha.iowett, M.D.
Salamandra lugubris.
Sp. Char.—Head large ; eyes very prominent; tail rather longer
than the body, which is cylindrical. Head, tail, extremities, and the
rest of the animal dark olive above, lighter beneath; an indistinct
irregular row of yellowish spots on each side. Several small spots
of the same colour upon the neck and upper part of the tail and
posterior extremities.
Description.—Head large, swollen at the temples, depressed in
front; snout obtuse and somewhat rounded; eyes large, latero-
superior; nostrils latero-anterior, small and distant; the palate is
provided with two transverse rows of teeth (situated immediately
behind the posterior nares), which are incurvated internally and
meet posteriorly. There is also a longitudinal row of teeth, sepa-
rated from those described by an interval of half a line ; tongue long
and spatulate, very free at its edges, attached by a pedicle at its
anterior extremity ; neck somewhat contracted, without a gular fold ;
body and extremities slender, the posterior larger than the anterior ;
tail compressed, cylindrical, tapering to a point.
Colour. (From a specimen in spirits in the museum of the
Miscellaneous. ei
Academy.)——The animal above is of a uniform dark olive colour ;
an irregular row of small yellowish spots is observed upon the
sides of the body near the dorsum; several are also seen upon the
neck, the upper part of the tail, and also the posterior extremities
in the specimen examined. ‘The under part of the animal is light
olive.
Dimensions.—Length of head 64 lines ; greatest breadth 6 lines ;
length of neck and body to vent 1 inch 11 lines; length of tail 2
inches 1 line ; total length 4 inches 7 lines.
Hab. Monterey, Upper California. It is said to be abundant in
that region.—Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Phi-
ladelphia, vol. iv. p. 126.
The Pine Tree of the Tenasserim Provinces. By the Rev. F. Mason.
Some twenty years ago the residents of Moulmain were not a
little surprised to find, among the drift wood of the Salwen, a log
of some coniferous tree. This was the first intimation that any tree
of the pine tribe grew on the borders of these provinces ; but whether
it were of the genus Pinus, or Abies, or Lariz, a pine, a fir, or a larch,
did not appear. It was several years after this occurrence that one
of our former commissioners told the writer he had offered a hundred
rupees to any of the foresters who would bring down a spar of this
tree. Spars have been subsequently brought down; but it is be-
lieved that Captain Latter, the Superintendent of Forests in these
provinces, is the first European who has visited the locality where
the tree is indigenous; and from specimens of the foliage and fruit,
which he has brought away with him, it appears to be a new species
of Pinus, that may be characterized thus :—
P. Lattert. Arbor 50-60 pedalis, cortice scabro, foliis geminis 7-8
uncialibus caniculatis serratis* scabriusculis, strobilis 4 unciali-
bus ovato-conicis, squamis rhombeis inermibus.
Hab. In provincia Amherst: in convalli fluvii Thoungyeen.
Descr. A tree of from 50 to 60 feet high or more, and from 14
to 2 feet or more in diameter. Sheaths of the leaves arranged
spirally, tubular, membranous, 6 lines long. Leaves two from each
sheath, equal, from 7 to 8 inches long, acute with a sharp point,
convex on the back, slightly scabrous with eight rows, in pairs, of
very minute thorns which produce a striated appearance, hollow on
the under surface, serrated ; cones ovate-conical, nearly 4 inches long.
Scales rhomboid, unarmed.
The flower is unknown ; a single ripe cone that had cast its seeds
and a small branch being all the materials that have been furnished
for description.
Specimens of the wood that have fallen under the writer’s notice
contain more resinous matter than any other species of Conifer he
ever saw. It appears like woody fibre immersed in resin. The
Karens make tar from the wood by a very simple process; and large
* Lindley says of the order, ‘‘ Leaves entire at the margins;” but these
are certainly finely serrated; and I find P. excelsa described with leaves
“‘ toothleted.”
78 Miscellaneous.
quantities of both tar and pitch might be manufactured in the forests,
if a remunerative price could be obtained for the article.
This species has been named after Captain Latter, as the dis-
coverer, because all our acquaintance with the tree has been derived
from him, beyond the vague knowledge that a tree of the pine
family existed somewhere on the banks of the Salwen. He reports
it as growing with the Engben, which is a species of Dipterocarpus
that is met on the sandy shores of the province of Tavoy, side by
side with Casuarina muricata. 'This pine is not found west of the
Donaw mountains, a part of an unbroken range of granite mountains
that runs down from the falls of the Salwen to the old city of ‘Tenas-
serim, and which here separates the valley of the Thoungyeen from
the region watered by the Gyne and its tributaries. In a note to
the writer, Captain Latter adds :—“ In the valley of the Thoungyeen
it is found growing on the raised central plateau of sandstone, mixed
up with Engben trees; and in proportion as the elevation increases
the Engben disappears. In the Lower Thoungyeen, towards the re-
motest parts of the valley, it is found on ranges of hills west of
Theglar river. ‘These are its sites on the British side of the ‘Thoun-
gyeen. On the Shan side of the river it is said to be more abundant,
and appears to occupy the lower portion of the Toungnyoo range,
where the sandstone formation is more prominently developed.
From the accounts of Burmese foresters, who have seen the pine
forests on both sides of the river, the tree appears to be of a finer
growth on the Shan side than on the British, where trees are to be
found of zine feet in girth and proportionably tall. I should say
that on the British side of the valley the tree ranges at an altitude
of 1000 to 15,000 feet above the level of the sea, and that its lati-
tude is about 17° north.”
Possibly it may prove to be a known species; but it is not among
the twenty-two species described by Loudon as the denizens of Great
Britain, nor among the ¢welve species described by Michaux in his
‘North American Sylva,’ nor is it either of the Indian species de-
scribed by Roxburgh. Should it however be a species described in
some other work to which the writer in these “ outskirts of civiliza-
tion”’ has no means of access, some of the members of the Society
will probably be able to point out the identity; and though then
this note will be no contribution to science, it will still be a contri-
bution to our knowledge of the resources of the ‘Tenasserim pro-
vinces.—Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Jan. 1849.
Description of a new Helix and Streptaxis, from the Collection of
H. Cuming, Esq. By Dr. L. Prerrrrr.
1. Heurx Srraneet, Pfr. H. testd late umbilicatd, depressd, soli-
diusculd, superne confertim costulato-striatd, nitidd, castaneo-
corned, subpellucidd ; spird partim elevatd, obtusiusculd ; anfrac-
tibus 5 vix convewxiusculis, ultimo subdepresso, basi sublevigato ;
aperturd subobliqud, lunato-ovali; peristomate simplice, recto, te-
nui, marginibus conniventibus.
Diam. 24, altit. LO—11 mill.
From Brisbane Water, New South Wales (Mr. Strange).
Meteorological Observations. fi)
2. SrrepTaxis UBERIFORMIS, Pfr. Str. testd profundé rimato-
perforatd, subsemiglobosd, basi fere circulari, superne oblique et
confertim costulato-striatd, striis subtilissimis subdecussatd, tenut,
diaphand, pallid virenti-corned ; spird subconoided, obtusd ; an-
Sractibus 64 convexiusculis, ultimo deviante, basi subplanulato,
levigato; aperturd pariim obliqud, lunato-ovali, edentuld ; peri-
stomate simplice, breviter expanso-reflexo, marginibus remotis,
superné subconvergentibus.
Diam. 18, altit. 12 mill.
From the Brazils.—From the Proc. Zool. Soc. June 27, 1848.
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR MAY 1849.
Chiswick.—May 1. Cloudy. 2. Foggy: overcast. 3, Foggy: fine. 4. Very
fine. 5. Clear and fine: thunder, lightning, rain and hail in afternoon: cloudy
at night. 6. Overcast. 7, 8. Overcast and cold: fine: cloudy. 9. Fine: showery.
10. Overcast: slight rain. 11, Cloudy and cold. 12. Fine: overcast. 13. Very
fine. 14. Rain: fine. 15. Cloudy: fine. 16, Rain: cloudy. 17. Cloudy:
slight rain, 18. Overcast. 19. Cloudy and fine. 20. Rain throughout. 1.
Hazy. 22. Rain: fine. 23. Fine. 24. Very fine: densely overcast at night.
25. Cloudy: very fine. 26. Overcast: very fine. 27. Very fine: cloudy: rain.
28. Overcast: very heavy rain. 29, 30. Very fine. 31. Dry haze: overcast :
clear at night.
Mean temperature of the month ..... ......scceseescecseesseees 55°19
Mesanytemperature of May 1848; s.-...jerepssesascner ame osseesens 58 +12
Mean temperature of May for the last twenty-three years... 54 °22
Averazeamount Of rain in May; | 5..... 2. .jc0mt-ssesrasececseceses 1°82 inch.
Boston. —May 1. Cloudy. 2. Cloudy: rain early a.m. and late p.m. 3—5.
Fine. 6—9. Cloudy. 10. Rain: rain a.m.and p.m. 11,12. Cloudy. 13, 14.
Cloudy: raine.m. 15. Cloudy. 16. Rain: rain a.M.and p.m. 17. Fine:
rain a.M.and p.m. 18. Rain: raina.m.and p.m. 19. Cloudy. 20. Rain:
rain A.M. and p.m. 21. Cloudy: raine.m. 22, Cloudy: rain, with thunder
and lightning p.m. 23. Cloudy: raine.m. 24. Fine. 25. Rain: rain, with
thunder and lightning early a.m. 26. Fine. 27. Rain: rain early a.m. : rain p.m-
28. Cloudy: rain early a.m. 29. Fine: rain early a.m. 30, 31. Fine.
Applegarth Manse, Dumfries-shire—May 1. Remarkably fine day. 2. Dull,
but fair. 3. Fiery heat: dry and parching. 4. Fiery heat. 5, 6. Fiery heat:
heat less. 7. Fiery heat: a few slight drops of rain. 8. Fiery heat. 9. Mild
day : wind variable. 10, Mild day: shower on the hills. 11. Chill and piercing :
ungenial. 12. Mild and genial: rain at night. 13. Dropping day: most wel-
come rain. 14, Wet morning: bright afternoon. 15. Mild and damp: showers,
16. Heavy showers. 17. Wet morning: very fineand hot. 18. Slight showers:
fine cool evening. 19. Hot forenoon: blowing evening. 20. Heavy showers:
dull. 21, 22. Very fine day: damp evening. 23. Showers in forenoon: very
fine. 24. Fair, but dull. 25. Fair and ciear: cloudy p.m. 26, Fair and very
fine. 27. Beautiful day. 28. Beautiful day: still warmer. 29. Fine, though
cloudy: showers p.m. 30. Finé: clear bracing weather. 31. Slight rain: wind
high p.m.
Mean temperature of the month ..........c.sceeseeeeesees 50°°5
Mean temperature of May 1848 ..........s..sseceseseencee 52 °9
Mean temperature of May for twenty-five years ......... 51 :09
Rain in May for twenty years ........... .0- Aa SacoSa Ach) 1°69 inch.
Sandwick Manse, Orkney.—May 1. Fine: clear. 2. Cloudy. 3. Clear: fine.
4, Fine. 5. Cloudy: fine. 6. Cloudy: clear. 7. Cloudy: fine. 8. Cloudy.
9. Bright: cloudy. 10. Fine. 11, 12. Cloudy. 13. Rain: fine. 14. Fine:
drizzle. 15, 16. Cloudy: drizzle. 17. Cloudy: rain. 18. Drizzle: cloudy.
19. Clear. 20,21. Cloudy. 22. Cloudy: hazy. 23. Bright: clear. 24. Bright:
rain. 25,26. Bright: clear. 27. Cloudy: clear. 28. Bright: cloudy. 29.
Cloudy. 30. Bright: clear. 31. Bright: cloudy.
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THE ANNALS
AND
MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.
[SECOND SERIES.]
No. 20. AUGUST 1849.
IX.—A descriptive Account of the Freshwater Sponges (genus
Spongilla) in the Island of Bombay, with Observations on their
Structure and Development. By H. J. Carrer, Esq., Assist-
ant Surgeon, Bombay Establishment.
[ With three Plates. ]
Since my “ Notes” on these Sponges were published* I have
made many more observations on them, and have extended my
inquiries into their structure and development, so as to be able
to offer a more accurate account of them than I could formerly.
I have also ventured to name four out of the five species I have
described, because they either do not appear to have hitherto
been met with, or if before noticed, have not had their specific
differences described with sufficient minuteness for their present
identification. The only species which I think I have recognized
is Spongilla friabilis (Lam.), that kind so admirably described by
Dr. Grant}; but even here the point on which I have founded
my distinctive characters, viz. the form of the spicula round the
seed-like bodies, has not been mentioned with that minuteness
which renders my recognition of it entirely satisfactory. So far
as actual observation and the information I have derived from
the descriptions of others extend, all the species of Spongzlla
which have hitherto been described appear to be so amorphous,
that without a knowledge of their minute structural differences,
they are irrecognizable. Had this fact been formerly established,
the same course which I have pursued for thei specification
would in all probability have been adopted from the beginning ;
but with only two species, Spongilla fiuviatils and lacustris and
their varieties{, the genus appears to have failed from its insig-
* Trans. Med. and Phys. Soc., Bombay, No. 8. Reprinted in Ann. and
Mag. Nat. Hist. No. 4, April 1848.
+ Edinb. Phil. Journal, vol. xiv. p. 270.
+ Johnston’s Brit. Sponges, Synopsis, p. 250.
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist, Ser. 2. Vol. iv. 6
82 Mr. H.J. Carter on the Freshwater Sponges of Bombay.
nificance to have obtained that attention which would have led to
a description of the minute differences now required.
Not so with the nature of Spongilla,—that has been a disputed
point ever since it was first studied; its claims to animality or
vegetability with those of the other sponges have been canvassed
over and over again by the ablest physiologists, and yet remain
undecided ; still this subject does not appear to me to have been
viewed in a proper light, for late discoveries would seem to show
that there exists no line of demarcation between the animal and
vegetable kingdoms, but that on the contrary the one passes by
gentle and at last imperceptible gradations into the other. From
the existence of cells as the principal component parts and as the
elaborators of the most complicated forms of animal and vege-
table structures, and the intimate connection that obtains between
these little organisms in both kingdoms in their isolated and in-
dependent existences and in their simplest composite forms, of
which I take Spongilla to be one, the time appears to have arrived
for abandoning the question of the animality or vegetability of
Spongilla, for the more philosophical consideration of the position
it holds in that transitionary part of the scale of organized bodies
which unites the animal and vegetable kingdoms.
Hitherto only five species of Spongilla have been found in the
island of Bombay ; they are the followmg :—
1. Spongilla cinerea, nu. s.—Flat, surface slightly convex, pre-
senting gentle eminences and depressions. Vents situated in the
depressions, numerous, and tending to a quincuncial arrange-
ment. Colour darkly cinereous on the surface, lighter towards
the interior ; growing horizontally in cireular patches, which sel-
dom attain more than half an inch in thickness. Texture com-
pact, fine, friable. Structure confused, fibro-reticulate ; fibres
perpendicular, densely aggregated and united by transverse fila-
ments. Seed-like bodies spheroidal, about j;rd of an inch in
diameter, presenting rough points externally. Spicula of two
kinds, large and small; large spicula slightly curved, smooth,
poited at both ends, about ~ th of an inch in length; small
spicula slightly curved, thickly spiniferous, about 545th of an inch
in length. (Plate III. fig. 5.)
Hab. Sides of freshwater tanks in the island of Bombay, on
rocks, stones, or gravel ; seldom covered by water more than six
months in the year.
Observations—While the investing membrane of this species
remains intact, its surface presents a dark, rusty, copper-colour,
purplish under water. It never appears to throw up any pro-
cesses, and extends over surfaces of 2 and 3 feet in circumference,
or accumulates on small objects to the thickness mentioned. It
is distinguished from the other species by its colour, the fineness
Mr. H. J. Carter on the Freshwater Sponges of Bombay. 88
of its texture, and the smallness of its seed-like bodies and
spicula.
2. Sp. friabilis ? Lam.—Amorphous, surface irregularly con-
vex, presenting low ridges or emimences. Vents situated on the
latter, large, crateriform. Colour bright green on the surface,
faintly yellow towards the interior. ‘Growing in circumscribed
masses on fixed bodies, or enveloping floating objects; seldom
attaining more than 2 inches in thickness. Texture loose, friable.
Structure confusedly fibrous, reticulate, sometimes radiated. Seed-
like bodies spheroidal, about z'5th of an inch im diameter, pre-
senting smooth points externally. Spicula of two kinds, large
and small ; large spicula slightly curved, smooth, pointed at both
ends, about hth of an inch in length ; small spicula also slightly
curved, smooth, pointed at each end, about zo_th of an inch in
length. (Plate III. fig. 3.)
Hab. Sides of freshwater tanks in the island of Bombay, on
rocks, stenes or gravel ; or temporarily on floating objects ; sel-
dom covered by water more than six months in the year.
Observations.—The colour of this species is bright green when
fresh, but this fades after it becomes dry. It seldom throws up
projections much beyond its surface ; does not appear to be in-
clined to spread much ; and is matted and confused in its struc-
ture towards its base and round its seed-lke bodies. From the
other sponges it is distinguished by the smooth spicula which
surround its seed-like bodies and the matted structure Just men-
tioned. Its green colour combined with the smoothness of its
spicula, both large and small, is useful in distinguishing it from
the other species, but without the latter it is deceptive, because
Sp. alba and Sp. plumosa become green under certain circum-
stances. It appears to be Sp. friabilis, Lam., from no mention
having been made by Dr. Grant (in his description of this spe-
cies*) of the presence of any but smooth poimted spicula in it,
and the appearance of “ transparent points” studding the surface
of its seed-like bodies, which is not observable in any of the other
species, wherein the small spicula are spiniferous or stelliferous.
3. Sp. alba, n. s.—F lat or elevated, surface slightly convex,
presenting gentle eminences and depressions or irregularly formed
projections. Vents large, scattered. Colour yellow, growing
horizontally, in circumscribed masses or in irregular patches,
encrusting objects, seldom attaining more than an inch in thick-
ness. ‘Texture coarse, open. Structure reticulated. Investing
membrane abounding in minute spicula. Seed-like bodies sphe-
roidal, about 345th of an inch in diameter, presenting rough points
externally. Spicula of two kinds, large and small; large spicula
* Edinb, Phil. Trans. vol. xiv, pp. 274 and 279.
6*
84 Mr, H. J. Carter on the Freshwater Sponges of Bombay.
shghtly curved, smooth, pointed at each end, about =,th of an
inch in length; small spicula also shghtly curved, thickly spi-
niferous or pointed at each end; the former, pertaming to the
seed-like bodies, are about z1,th of an inch in length ; the latter,
pertaining to the investing membrane, are more slender and a
little less in length. (Plate III. fig. 4.)
Hab. Sides of the freshwater tanks in the island of Bombay,
on rocks, stones, gravel, or temporarily on floating objects. Sel-
dom covered by water more than six months in the year.
Observations.—This species is frequently found spreading over
the flat surfaces of rocks to a considerable extent (like Sp. cinerea)
without throwing up any processes ; on the other hand, it is also
found in circumscribed portions throwing up irregularly formed
ragged projections, of an inch or more in length. It surrounds
floating objects, such as straws, or binds together portions of
gravel, showing in this latter state a greater degree of tenacity
than any of the other species. In structure it is a coarse form of
Sp. cinerea, but differs from it m colour as well as im the size of
its seed-like bodies and spicula; possessing at the same time that
peculiarity which distinguishes it from all the other species, of
having numerous small spiniferous spicula in its investing mem-
brane, which, when dry, gives it that white, lacelike appearance,
which has led me to propose for it the specific term of alba.
4. Sp. Meyeni, n. s—Massive, surface convex, presenting
large lobes, mammillary eminences, or pyramidal, compressed,
obtuse or sharp-pointed projections of an inch or more in height,
also low wavy ridges. Colour yellow. Growing in circumscribed
masses, seldom attaining more than 3 inches in height. Texture
fine, friable, soft, tomatose towards the base. Structure fibrous,
reticulated, radiated. Seed-like bodies spheroidal, about 3th of
an inch in diameter, studded with little toothed disks. Spicula of
two kinds, large and small ; large spicula slightly curved, smooth,
pointed at each end, about ;,rd of an inch in length; small spi-
cula straight, sometimes slightly spiniferous, terminated by a
toothed disk at each end, about ;3,nd of an inch in length.
(Plate III. fig. 1.)
Hab. Sides of the freshwater tanks in the island of Bombay,
on rocks seldom covered by water more than six months in the
year.
Observations.—I have never observed this species either en-
veloping floating bodies, or growmg anywhere but on rocks, in
circumscribed portions. It varies like the other species in being
sometimes more, sometimes less firm im texture. No other spe-
cies resembles the officinal sponges in external appearance so
much as this when fully developed and free from foreign sub-
stances. It is distinguished from the foregoing by the regularity
Mr. I. J. Carter on the Freshwater Sponges of Bombay. 85
of its structure, its radiated appearance interiorly, the form of its
small spicula, and the manner in which its seed-like bodies are
studded with little toothed disks ; and from the following species
by the fineness of its texture and the spheroidal form of its seed-
like bodies. Probably it is the species alluded to by Dr. John-
ston* which was examined by Meyen from the kind and arrange-
ment of the small spicula round the seed-like bodies, which how-
ever in this species are not cemented together by carbonate of
lime as stated by Meyen, but by an amorphous siliceous deposit.
I have named it after Meyen, who has characterized it by the
description of its minute spicula.
5. Sp. plumosa, n. s.—Massive, surface convex, presenting
gentle eminences and depressions, or low wavy ridges. Colour
yellow. Growing in circumscribed masses, attaining a height of
2 inches. Texture loose, coarse, resistent. Structure coarsely
fibrous, reticulated, radiated, fibres fasciculated, spreading from
the base towards the circumference in a plumose form. Seed-
like bodies ovoid, about j,nd of an inch in their longest dia-
meter, studded with little toothed disks. Spicula of two kinds,
large and small; large spicula shghtly curved, smooth, pointed
at each end, about ;',th of an inch in length; small spicula
straight, sparsely spiniferous, terminated at each end by a toothed
disk, about z4,nd of an inch in length. (Plate II. fig. 2.)
Hab. Sides of freshwater tanks m the island of Bombay, fixed
or floating, seldom covered by water more than six months in the
ear.
: Observations.—This is the coarsest and most resistent of all
the species. As yet I have only found three or four specimens of
it, and these only in two tanks. I have never seen it fixed on any
solid body, but always floating on the surface of the water, about
a month after the first heavy rains of the S.W. monsoon have
fallen. Having made its appearance in that position, and having
remained there for upwards of a month, it then sinks to the bottom.
That it grows like the rest, adherent to the sides of the tank,
must be inferred from the first specimen which I found (which
exceeded 2 feet in circumference) having had a free and a fixed
surface, the latter coloured by the red gravel on which it had
grown. I have noticed it floating, for two successive years in
the month of July, on the surface of the water of one of the two
tanks in which I[ have found it, and would account for its tem-
porary appearance in that position in the followimg way, viz. that
soon after the first rains have fallen, and the tanks have become
filled, all the sponges in them appear to undergo a partial state
of putrescence, during which gas is generated in them, and ac-
cumulates in globules in their structure, through which it must
* Johnston’s British Sponges, p. 154.
86 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Freshwater Sponges of Bombay.
burst or tear them from their attachments and force them to the
surface of the water. Since then the coarse structure of plumosa
would appear to offer greater resistance to the escape of this air
than that of any of the other species, it is probable that this 1s
the reason of my having hitherto only found it in the position
mentioned. As Sp. alba, without its specific differences, is but
a coarse form of cinerea, so plumosa is, without its specific differ-
ences, only a coarse form of Sp. Meyeni. The point which di-
stinguishes it from all the other species consists in the form of
its seed-like bodies, which are ovoid. From Sp. Meyeni it is also
distinguished by its surface being more even, its projections less
prominent, and its tendency to spread horizontally more than to
rise vertically.
General Observations.—It should be stated that in all these
species except cinerea, their forms en masse are so diversified and
so dependent on accidental circumstances, that not one of them
can be said to possess any particular form of its own, or to be
distinguishable from the rest by it alone.
The measurements of the seed-like bodies and spicula are taken
from the average of the largest of their kind; they differ a little
from those mentioned in my “ Notes*,” but this is owing to their
having been the means of a larger number of measurements than
I had an opportunity of making im the first mstance. How-
ever great the number of measurements, it is probable that when
made at different times and from different sets of specimens, the
results will always somewhat differ ; but this is a matter of very
little consequence, as these points alone are not required for
distinguishing characters.
The large spiculum is of the same shape in all the species, and
is therefore of no use as a specific character. (Plate V. fig. 2.)
Structure and Development.
The freshwater sponge is composed of a fleshy mass, supported
on a fibrous, reticulated horny skeleton. The fleshy mass con-
tains a great number of seed-like bodies in all stages of develop-
ment, and the horny skeleton is permeated throughout with sili-
ceous spicula.
When the fleshy mass is examined by the aid of a microscope,
it is found to be composed of a number of cells imbedded in and
held together by an intercellular substance.
These cells vary in diameter below the +,/55th part of an inch,
which is about the average linear measurement of the largest.
If one of them be selected for observation, it will be found to be
composed of its proper cell-wall, a number of granules fixed to
its upper and inner surface, and towards its centre generally one
or more hyaline vesicles.
* Op. cit.
Mr. H. J. Carter on the Freshwater Sponges of Bombay. 87
The granules are round or ovoid, translucent, and of an eme-
—_ or yellowish green colour, varying in diameter below the
Tzb00 th part of an ‘inch, which is the average linear measurement
of as largest. In some cells they are so minute and colourless
as to appear only under the form of a nebular mass, while in
others they are of the largest kind and few im number.
The hyaline vesicles on the other hand are transparent, colour-
less and globular, and although variable in point of size like the
green granules, are seldom recognized before they much exceed
the latter in diameter. They generally possess the remarkable
property of slowly dilating and suddenly contracting themselves,
and present in their interior, molecules of extreme minuteness in
rapid commotion.
When living and isolated the sponge-cell is polymorphous, its
transparent or non-granular portion undergoing the greatest
amount of tr ansformation, while its semi- -transpar ent or eranular
part, which is uppermost, is only slightly attracted to this side
or that, according to the point of the cell which is in the act of
being transformed.
The intercellular substance, which forms the bond of union
between the cells, is mucilaginous. When observed in the deli-
cate pellicle, which, with its imbedded cells and granules, it forms
over the surface and throughout the canals of the sponge, it is
transparent ; but when a portion of this pellicle is cut from its
attachments, it collapses and becomes semi-opake. In this state
the detached portion immediately evinces a tendency to assume
a spheroidal form; but whether the intercellular substance partici-
pates in this act, or remains passive while it is wholly performed
by the habit of the cells which are imbedded in it, to approximate
themselves, I have not been able to determine.
Seed-like Bodies.—The seed-like bodies occupy the oldest or
first-formed portions of the sponge, never its periphery. They
are round or ovoid according to the species, and each presents a
single infundibular depression on its surface which communicates
with the interior. At the earliest period of development in which
I have recognized the seed-like body, it has been composed of a
number of cells united together in a globular or ovoid mass (ac-
cording to the species) by an intercellular substance similar to
that just described. In this state, apparently without any cap-
sule, and about half the size of the full-developed seed-like body,
it seems to lie free, in a cavity formed by a condensation of the
common structure of the sponge immediately surrounding it.
The cells of which it is now composed appear to differ only from
those of the full-developed sponge-cell in bemg smaller, in the
colourless state of their germs, and in the absence of hyaline
vesicles ; in all other respects they closely resemble the sponge-
88 Mr. H.J.Carter on the Freshwater Sponges of Bombay.
cells, possessing also a like but more limited power of motion.
[I do not however wish it to be inferred from this close resem-
blance, that I am of opinion that the seed-like body is but an
ageregate of separately developed sponge-cells ; on the contrary,
there are always present among the cells of a piece of sponge
which has been torn to pieces, many which contain within them
(developing from their upper an imer surface) a number of
transparent cells of various sizes, not unlike the hyaline vesicles
in appearance, but all adhermg together in a mass. It may
perhaps be one of these cell-bearing cells which becomes the
seed-like body. They are distinguished from the common sponge-
cell by the character I have mentioned, by their containing fewer
granules, and by their greater transparency, but in every other
respect they are exactly like the sponge-cell.] To resume how-
ever the subject of the development of the seed-lke body,—it
passes from the state just mentioned into a more circumscribed
form, then becomes surrounded by a soft, white, compressible
capsule, and finally thickens, turns yellow, and developes upon
its exterior a firm crust of siliceous spicula.
Thus matured, its cells (Plate ILI. fig. 6 6), which were ori-
ginally unequal in size, have now nearly all become equal, almost
motionless, and a little exceed the average diameter of the largest
sponge-cells ; while their germs (Plate III. fig. 6 a), which in the
first instance so nearly resembled the granules of the sponge-
cells, are now four or five times larger, and vary in diameter be-
low the =j5,th part of an inch, which is the average linear mea-
surement of the largest of their kind.
The capsule (Plate III. fig. 6f) has now passed from its soft,
white state into a tough yellow coriaceous membrane, presenting
in Meyent and plumosa a hexagonally tessellated appearance
(fig. 6c), on the divisions of which rest the asteroid disks (fig. 6e)
of the vertically-placed spicula (fig. 6g) which surround it.
In the two species just mentioned the spicula are arranged
perpendicularly to the surface of the capsule, and the interval
between them is filled up with a white siliceous, amorphous matter,
which keeps them in position. Each spiculum extends a little
beyond this matter, and supports on its free end a toothed disk,
similar to the one on its fixed end which rests on the capsule ; so
that the external surface of the seed-like body in Meyent and
plumosa is studded with little stellated bodies ; while in the other
species, where there appears to be no such regular arrangement
of these spicula, a number of smocth or spiniferous points 1s
presented.
Development of Spongilla——When the cells of the seed-lke
body are forcibly expelled from their natural cavity, under water,
they are irregular in form and motionless, but soon swell out (by
Mr. H. J. Carter on the Freshwater Sponges of Bombay. 89
endosmose ?), become globular, and after a few hours burst. At
the time of bursting, their visible contents, which consist of a
mass of germs, occupying about two-thirds of the cavity of the
cell, subside, and afterwards gradually become spread over the
bottom of the vessel in which they are contained. They are of
various diameters below the 5,4;5th part of an inch (PI. III. fig.6a),
which is the average linear measurement of the largest, and ap-
pear to be endowed with the power of locomotion in proportion
to their size; that is to say, that while the largest scarcely do
more than turn over now and then, as the globules of the blood,
the most minute are incessantly moving backwards and forwards,
here and there, and assembling in crowds around the larger
ones.
If a germ about the ;,),5th part of an inch in diameter be
selected for examination, it will be observed to consist of a dis-
coid, circular, well-defined translucent cell, which is green or yel-
lowish green at the circumference, but becomes pale and colour-
less towards the centre. This cell appears to be again surrounded
by a colourless transparent capsule, the nature of which is un-
known to me, and I am not altogether certain of its real exist-
ence.
The green colour is hardly perceptible in germs measuring less
than the zgggath part of an inch in dianieter; below this they
all appear to be colourless.
A few days after the germs have been eliminated, they for the
most part become parcelled out into insulated groups, and united
together by a semi-transparent mucilage. In this position the
contents of the largest, which resemble the endochrome of the
cells of Confervee, undergo a change, becoming nebulous towards
the circumference, pellucid in the centre, and then nebulous
throughout. The largest germs then disappear gradually, and
their disappearance is followed by a successive development of
proteans or active polymorphic cells. These proteans for the
most part do not exceed, in their globular or passive state, the
diameter of the germs which have disappeared, and a successive
development of them continues to take place from the contents
of the same seed-like body for two or three months after their
elimination. There are some proteans present, however, much
larger, exceeding even the ,i,th part of an inch in diameter,
which always make their appearance under the same circum-
stances, but they are not so numerous ; the most numerous are
those which average in diameter the =;\,5th part of an inch. The
form assumed by the latter when in a state of activity is that of
the diffluent protean (Plate IV. fig. 1 e), which in progression
throws out globular or obtuse expansions of its cells ; that of the
largest, the denticulated protean (fig. 1d), which in progression
90 Mr.H. J. Carter on the Freshwater Sponges of Bombay.
shoots out digital or dentiform processes ; and that of the small-
est, the vermiform protean (fig. 1), which progresses after the
manner of a worm.
They are all (like the cells of the sponge) composed of a cell-
wall, within which are round or ovoid, green, translucent gra-
nules, varying in size and number; and one or more hyaline
vesicles.
The green granules, although appearing to move over the whole
surface of the protean in its active state, are, nevertheless, when
it is in its globular or passive state, found to be confined to the
upper and inner part of its cell-wall. Sometimes these granules,
from their smallness, can hardly be recognized individually, and
only appear in the form of a nebular mass ; this is frequently the
case in the diffluent proteans and in those inferior to them in
size ; at other times they are few in number and all the largest
of their kind.
The hyaline contracting vesicle, of which there is seldom a plu-
rality in the smaller proteans, appears to be uninfluenced in its
presence or development by the state of the green granules, since
there is almost always one at least present, and in the enjoyment
of great activity.
Such are the changes in the contents of the seed-like body
which are witnessed, under this mode of development, with re-
ference to the germs; we have now to turn our attention to the
semi-transparent mucilage, which holds the germs together
their insulated groups, or binds them down singly to the surface
of the vessel in which they are contained.
This semi-transparent mucilage appears to be identical with
the intercellular mucilage of the sponge; it exhibits the same
phenomenon of ever undergoing a change in shape, but, as I
have said before, I am not aware of its possessing this property,
independently of the presence of the cells and minute germs
which are contained in it ; neither do I know how it comes into
existence, 2. e. whether it be the product of the germs themselves,
or whether it be eliminated with them, in a more elementary
transparent and invisible form, from the cells of the seed-hke
bodies. Be this as it may, threads of it soon appear in straight
lines extending over the surface of the watch-glass from portion
to portion (Plate IV. fig. 1 4), and from object to object starting
off from different points of an isolated germ—or from any point
of a thread of it already formed—sometimes disposed in a flat
reticulated structure over a spiculum, or on the surface of the
glass—occasionally as broken portions like the ends of threads
thrown together without union or order, and not unfrequently
bearing minute germs in their course either at irregular distances
from each other, or arranged like a string of beads.
Mr. H. J. Carter on the Freshwater Sponges of Bombay. 91
It might be as well to notice here that the yolk-like contents
of the dried seed-like body, with but slight modifications, undergo
the same changes as those of the fresh one. If the former be
divided with a sharp knife or lancet, and a portion of its contents
picked out on the point of a needle and put into water, it swells
out after a few days into a gelatinous mass ; its component parts,
i. e. its germs and semi-transparent mucilage, begin to evince
signs of active life,—a successive development of proteans follows,
and threads of the semi-transparent mucilage shoot over the sur-
face of the watch-glass in the manner I have just described.
So far the elements of the sponge are developed from the con-
tents of the seed-like body after forcible expulsion ; we have now
to examine them after having issued in their natural way.
If a seed-like body which has arrived at maturity be placed in
water, a white substance will after a few days be observed to have
issued from its interior, through the infundibular depression on
its surface, and to have glued it to the glass; and if this be ex-
amined with a microscope, its circumference will be found to con-
sist of a semi-transparent substance, the extreme edge of which
is irregularly notched or extended into digital or tentacular pro-
longations, precisely similar to those of the protean, which in
progression or in polymorphism throws out parts of its cell im
this way (Plate IV. fig. 2c). In the semi-transparent substance
may be observed hyaline vesicles of different sizes, contracting
and dilating themselves as in the protean (fig. 2d), and a little
within it the green granules so grouped together (fig. 2 e) as
almost to enable the practised eye to distinguish 7m situ the pass-
ing forms of the cells to which they belong ; we may also see in
the latter their hyaline vesicles with their contained molecules in
great commotion, and between the cells themselves the mtercel-
lular mucilage (fig. 2/).
If this newly-formed sponge be torn up, its isolated cells as-
sume their globular or passive form or become polymorphous,
changing their position and their locality, by emitting expansions
similar to the proteans or polymorphic cells developed after a
forcible expulsion of the contents of the seed-like body, and dif-
fering only from them in being more indolent in their move-
ments.
Habits of the Sponge-cell—tIn describing the habits of the
sponge-cell so far as my observations extend, I shall first confine
myself to those which are evinced by it in, or when torn from,
the fully-developed structure of the sponge, and subsequently
advert to the habits of the polymorphic cells or proteans, which
are developed from the contents of the seed-like body when for-
cibly expelled.
The sponge-cell when in situ is ever changing its form, both
92 Mr. H.J. Carter on the Freshwater Sponges of Bombay.
partially and wholly ; its granules also are ever varying their po-
sition with, or independently of, the movements of the cell, and
its pellucid vesicle or vesicles dilating and contracting themselves
or remaining passively distended, and exhibiting in their interior
molecules of extreme minuteness in rapid commotion. When
first separated from the common mass, this cell for a short time
assumes a globular form, and afterwards, in addition to be-
coming polymorphic, evinces a power of locomotion. During its
polymorphism it emits expansions of its cell-wall in the form of
obtuse or globular projections, or digital and tentacular prolon-
gations. If in progression it meets with another cell, both com-
bine ; and if more are in the immediate neighbourhood, they all
unite together into one common globular mass. Should a spicu-
lum chance to be in the course of a cell, it will ascend it and tra-
verse it from end to end, and, subsequently quitting it or assuming
its globular form, embrace some part of it and remain stationarily
attached to it. The changes in shape and position of the sponge-
cell and its intercellular mucilage are for the most part effected
so imperceptibly, that they may be likened to those which take
place in a cloud. Its granules however are more active ; but there
appears to be no motion in any part of the cell, excepting among
the molecules within the hyaline vesicle, which im any way ap-
proaches to that characteristic of the presence of cilia.
It should be understood however that these remarks are not
applicable to every sponge-cell, although fully developed, which
appears in the field of the microscope, but rather a statement of
what a sponge-cell may evince, than one of what every sponge-
cell does evince.
The polymorphic cells or proteans which appear in the watch-
glass after the contents of a seed-like body have been forcibly
expelled into it under distilled water, are much more active in
their movements. Their cell-walls frequently assume the most
fantastic figures, spheroidal, polygonal, asteroid, dendritic, &e.
Their green granules move backwards or forwards, to this side
or to that, with great activity, as the part of the cell to which they
are attached is attracted in one direction or another ; while their
hyaline vesicle or vesicles (in progression) appear occasionally in
every part, not only of the body of the cell, but in its tubular
prolongations. The contraction of the hyaline vesicle seems to
take place most frequently when it arrives at the posterior extre-
mity, that is, according to the direction in which the cell is pro-
gressing ; next in frequency at the sides, seldom in the anterior
or central part of the mass. When contraction takes place it is
effected more or less completely, more or less suddenly ; if com-
plete, a dark speck or opacity marks the original position of the
vesicle, in the centre of which, if watched, it may be observed to
Mr. H. J. Carter on the Freshwater Sponges of Bombay. 93
re-appear, and as it is carried forward in the movements of the
cell with the portion to which it is attached, it gradually regains
its original size, and returning in due course to the point from
which it started, again contracts as formerly.
In progression, some of the large proteans developed in the
way just mentioned appear to be conscious of the nature of cer-
tain objects which they encounter in their course, since they will
stop and surround them with their cell-wall. It is not uncom-
mon to see a portion of a spiculum in the latter position (Pl. IV.
fig. 3), the larger germs of the sponge itself, the body of a lori-
cated animalcule, the 545th part of an inch in diameter (fig. 4),
on which the pressure exerted by the protean may be seen by
the irregular form assumed by the animalcule the moment it has
become surrounded. I once saw one of these proteans approach
a gelatinous body, something like a sluggish or dead one of its
own kind, and equal to itself in size, and having lengthened itself
out so as to encircle it, send processes over and under it from
both sides (fig. 6), which uniting with each other, at last ended
in a complete approximation of the two opposite folds of the cell-
wall, throughout their whole extent, and in the enclosure of the
object within the duplicature. Even while the protean was thus
spreading out its substance into a mere film, to surround so large
an object, a tubular prolongation was sent out by it in another
direction to seize and enclose in the same way a large germ which
was lying near it. After having secured both objects the protean
pursued its course rather more slowly than before, but still shoot-
ing out its dentiform processes with much activity. It took about
three-quarters of an hour to perform these two acts.
Lastly, I have frequently seen it grapple with its own species ;
when, if the one it meets 1s near its own size, they merely twist
round each other for a short time and then separate ; but when
it does not exceed the sixth or eighth part of its size, then there
is much struggling between them, and the smaller one escapes,
or is secured by the aid of the digital prolongations of the larger
one, and enveloped as the object before mentioned in a fold of its
cell-wall.
On one occasion I witnessed a contest between two proteans,
wherein the large one, after having seized the smaller one with
its finger-like processes, passed it under its body, so as to cause
it to lie between itself and the glass. For a moment the small
protean remained in this position, when the cell-wall raised itself
over it in the form of a dome, in which so-formed cavity the little
protean began to crawl round and round to seek for an exit ;
gradually however the cell-wall closed m beneath it in the man-
ner of a sphincter, and it was carried up as it were into the inte-
94 Mr.H.J. Carter on the Freshwater Sponges of Bombay.
rior of the cell, securely enclosed in a globular transparent cavity
resembling a hyaline vesicle, but much larger (Plate IV. fig. 5) ;
it then attached itself to the upper part of this cavity, assumed a
globular form, became opake and motionless, and the larger pro-
tean took on its course.
Such are a few of the habits evinced by the sponge-cell, deve-
loped in its natural way and by the process I have mentioned.
Now, although no doubt may exist in the mind of the reader
as to the identity of the sponge-cells developed in the natural
way, and most of those developed from the contents of the seed-
like body when forcibly expelled ; yet it may be a question with
him, whether al/ the proteans developed by the latter method
come from the contents of the seed-hke body, and therefore whe-
ther the proteans whose habits I have just been describing, which
slightly differ from those of the sponge-cell, taken from its natu-
ral structure (only so far as this, however, that I have not seen
the like evinced by the latter), have not been developed from
some other source.
All that I can say in answer to this question is, that although
the proteans, which have evinced the remarkable habits I have
described, are larger than the sponge-cell, more active in their
component parts, more active as a whole, and appear to possess a
greater share of intelligence; yet their general aspect and com-
ponent parts being the same, their constant appearance in the
watch-glass with the other polymorphic cells in the progress of the
development of the contents of the seed-like body after forcible
expulsion, when they are nearly as numerous as any other form
of the protean cells then present, together with the fact, that the
sponge-cell itse/f frequently contains pieces of confervee within
duplicatures of its cell-wall, and other foreign matters, just as
these proteans include within the duplicatures of their cell-walls
the objects I have mentioned, leaves me no conclusion to come
to so reasonably, as, that the proteans or polymorphic cells so
developed are but a higher condition of the sponge-cell met with
in situ. How they obtain this condition, whether it be from the
peculiar circumstances under which they are developed, or whe-
ther it be the development peculiar to a particular class of cells
of the same animal, are queries for future inquiry to determine.
Next to the development of the fleshy substance comes that
of the horny skeleton and its spicula, of which httle more has
been made known to me by my observations, than has been pub-
lished by others who have already directed their attention to the
same subjects. I have not had time to continue my investigation
beyond the development of the fleshy substance, which is the
utmost to which the contents of the seed-like body when forcibly
Mr. H. J. Carter on the Freshwater Sponges of Bombay. 95
expelled reaches ; although from my “ Notes” it should appear
that it went farther, for I have therein stated, that I had seen
the semi-transparent mucilage take on an arrangement m form
and disposition like that of the spicula in the skeleton ; but this
was an illusion, for I afterwards found out that this appearance
had arisen from the semi-transparent mucilage having attached
itself to a series of minute scratches on the surface of the watch-
lass.
My impression however is, that both the horny skeleton and
its spicula are formed in the intercellular substance, and not
within the cells.
The spicula are membranous, and at an early period of their
development pliable ; they afterwards become firm and brittle. If
they be exposed to the flame of a blowpipe, many of them swell
out towards the middle or one end into a bulb, like that of a
thermometer. This is more particularly the case with spicula of
friabilis than with those of any of the other species. They are
hollow, and the form of their cavity corresponds with that of
their own form, being widest in the centre and narrow towards
each extremity. Sometimes they contain a green matter like the
endochrome of cells of Confervee.
Growth.—This only takes place during the time Spongilla is
covered by water, which in the tanks of Bombay is not more than
eight, or at the farthest nine nionths out of the year, but the
duration of its submergence of course again varies with the posi-
tion it occupies on the sides of the tank. Its mcrease however
appears to be most rapid in September and October, 2. e. about
two months after the tanks have become filled ; subsequently it
appears to go on more slowly. During the season of its growth,
or while it is under water, it may extend from a portion, not
more than a few lines in diameter, over a surface 2 or 3 feet in
circumference, or it may evince no disposition whatever to ad-
vance beyond its original bulk throughout the whole season. It
increases in size by successive additions to its exterior. To what-
ever extent this increase may reach, either vertically or hori-
zontally, during the first season (assuming that it commenced
from a central point or germ), but few seed-like bodies are deve-
loped in it, and these few, as I have before said, are found in the
centre or first-formed portion. The next year the development
of its fleshy substance appears to commence from these seed-like
bodies, which a few weeks after it has again become submerged,
pour forth their contents over the last year’s skeleton, and reach-
ing its circumference develope a new portion ; and in this way,
by successive additions, it gradually increases m bulk, while the
seed-like bodies accumulate about its centre, till at length it ke-
96 Mr. H.J. Carter on the Freshwater Sponges of Bombay.
comes based on a mass of them, the lowermost of which merely
consist of the refuse of those which have fulfilled the purpose for
which they were originally destined*.
Connected with the growth of Spongilla is also the following
fact, which presented itself to me and which is interesting, inas-
much as it seems to point out, that germs or full-developed cells
of it abound in the water of the tanks, independently of those
which exist imbedded in their natural structure: viz. one day I
observed a few fresh straws floating together on the surface of
the water of a tank which abounded with several species of Spon-
gilla; they had been accidentally thrown there, but before they
began to change colour from putrescence, and therefore but a
few days after they had been in the water, a growth of Spongilla
alba took place around each straw separately, which soon in-
creased to the thickness of half an inch. I do not remember to
have seen another instance of such rapid growth, and the fresh-
ness of the straw proved this rapidity, for in this country it
changes colour after a very few days’ immersion.
Although I was perfectly aware that Spongilla might be unco-
vered by water for many months in the year and still retain its
vitality, yet I wished to see if this would be the case after the
interval of more than a year. I therefore placed some portions,
which I had kept for this purpose, in tanks supported on bits
of cork, and others on stones from which they had been unde-
tached ; but from some cause or other, whether from the partial
putrescence which its dry fleshy substance subsequently under-
went, or from this bemg present in a larger quantity in sponges
taken out of the water in their living state and carefully pre-
served, than in those exposed to the sun and winds on the dry
rocks throughout the greater part of the year, or from both com-
bined, the shrimps and crabs were attracted towards the former
and devoured them with rapacity, while they left the latter un-
touched ; so that I was at last compelled to enclose a portion in a
gauze-wire case, which was kept 3 or 4 feet beneath the sur-
face of the water for several months. This portion was fixed on a
stone, in the position in which it had grown, and when the case
was taken up it was found to have exceeded by many times its ori-
ginal bulk, was covered with its natural pellicle, and in the active
performance of all its vital functions.
Colour.—This in all, excepting cinerea, appears to be yellow.
* Dutrochet has noticed the fact, that in a piece of Spongilla which he
kept in water for some months, and which contained seed-like bodies, all
the soft parts died, became putrid, and dissolved away during the winter,
and that in the following spring the fleshy substance became renewed.—
Mémoires pour servir &l'Hist. Anat. et Physiol. des Végétaux et des Ani-
maux, t. ii. p. 436.
Mr. H. J. Carter on the Freshwater Sponges of Bombay. 97
The contents of the dried seed-like body are yellow, and al-
though the new sponge when it first grows from them appears
to be white, yet, if its cells be examined under a high magnify-
ing power, their granules will be found to be translucent and
yellow, closely resembling, under transmitted light, the colour of
chlorine.
Sometimes the green colour of the yellow sponge is evidently
owing to the presence of numerous solitary spherical corpuscules,
at other times it is as evidently owing to the presence of an Osez/-
latoria or to Diatomacee, but more frequently it appears to de-
pend on the presence of some colouring matter in or about its
cells or granules themselves.
if some fresh cells of cinerea be examined under a high mag-
nifying power, they and their contents will present the gray or
lilac tint peculiar to the species, and in like manner the cells of
yellow sponges which have become green would seem to indicate
a similar position of their colouring matter, which in this instance
however generally appears to depend on an extra tint of green
added to the cell-granules only.
Undoubtedly the sun has the power of turning the yellow
sponges green when they are taken from the tank “and exposed
in a glass vessel to his rays. At the same time the greater part
of the sponges are exposed to the sun in their natural ‘habitations
throughout the whole year, and yet, with the exception of fria-
bilis (which i is always green, at least externally), it is only here
and there that you find a portion of the others taking on that
colour. Exposure to light again does not appear to have this
effect on the small pieces of sponge grown from the seed-like
bodies, if care has been taken not to admit the presence of other
organisms, for they retain their white cotton-like appearance,
although exposed to the sun for several days, 7. e. from the mo-
ment they have become perceptible, up to the time that they
perish from the want of nourishment in the distilled water in
which they have been brought into existence.
It is impossible therefore under these circumstances to say
without further research, if the green colour is owing to an ad-
ditional tint to the colouring matter of the cells or granules
themselves, or to the presence of some foreign organism. Bory
St. Vincent supposed it to be owing to the presence of Anabaina
impalpabilis*, but when it is due to an Oseillatoria or to Diato-
mace, or to solitary organic corpuscules, they are distinctly visi-
ble ; the green colour however is fr equently present when neither
can be observed.
Among other experiments I instituted a set to ascertain if each
species of Spongilla had its peculiar form of Proteus ; and for this
* Johnston, Brit. Sponges, foot-note, p. 156.
Am. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. iv.
98 Mr. H.J.Carter on the Freshwater Sponges of Bombay.
purpose I took small portions of the yolk-like substance from the
seed-like bodies of dried pieces of each of the sponges, and after
having placed them in separate watch-glasses with distilled water,
set them aside for a few days until the proteans made their ap-
pearance*. I then began to compare the latter with one another
in the different watch-glasses, but instead of finding that each
species of Spongilla had its peculiar form, I frequently found
that the kind of protean I had determined on as proper to one
species, was to be seen on the same or on the following day ina
watch-glass containing yolk-like substance from the seed-like
bodies of another species, and so on throughout all the glasses.
It therefore would appear, that in whatever the specific distinctions
of the different proteans consist, too much stress must not be laid
upon their external forms.
Respecting the position which Spongila holds among orga-
nized bodies, I feel incompetent to offer an opinion. All who know
anything about the subject are aware that it is closely allied to
both the animal and vegetable kingdoms, but it is for those who
are best acquainted with that part of the chain which unites
these two great conventional divisions, to assign to it its proper
link.
I might here state, however, that we are indebted to Dujardin
for the earliest notice of the resemblance of the sponge-cell to
the Proteus+. Ehrenberg’s name for the Proteus is Ameba ; he
has also applied the same name to the fifth family of his naked
Phytozoaria polygastrica, Sect. 3, Pseudopodia, m which is in-
cluded the genus Ameba.
Finally, I stated in the P.S. to my “ Notest,” that the Pro-
teus fed on its like after the manner of the Hydra. The fact
which induced me to make this assertion has been already
mentioned, but the subject requires further investigation be-
fore it can be considered conclusive. It is difficult to conceive
why the Proteus should enclose within its cell-wall one of its own
like, if it were not for the purpose of feeding upon it; added to
which the constant accumulation of refuse matter, which, issuing
from the fecal orifices, settles on the surface of the living sponge,
when kept in a horizontal position, shows that there is a con-
tinual elimination going on of material which is no longer useful
in its ceconomy, and in connection with the fact to which I have
alluded, would seem to point out the probability that such ejecta,
to a certain extent, consist of the cast-off parts of organisms from
which the nutrient parts have been abstracted.
* ‘Throughout all my experiments distilled water was used, and every
precaution taken to preclude as far as practicable the introduction of foreign
matter,
t+ Ann. des Se. Nat. n.s. x. p. 5. { Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. loc. cit.
Mr. H. J. Carter on the Freshwater Sponges of Bombay. 99
eaAgAAswonwRsr =
EXPLANATION OF PLATES III. IV. anp V.
Puate III.
. Section of Spongilla Meyeni, natural size.
. Small spiculum and seed-like body of the same, magnified.
. Section of Spongilla plumosa, natural size.
. Small spiculum and seed-like body of the same, magnified.
. Section of Spongilla friabilis? natural size.
. Small spiculum and seed-like body of the same, magnified.
- Section of Spongilla alba, natural size.
. Small spiculum and seed-like body of the same, magnified.
. Section of Spongilla cinerea, natural size.
. Small spiculum and seed-like body of the same, magnified.
As none of these species possess specific forms, it has been deemed advi-
sable to give sections of them, showing their average and relative thicknesses,
the form of the projections from their surface, and the peculiarity of their
internal structures respectively.
Fig. 6.
Magnified section of a seed-like body of Spongilla Meyeni, showing,
Jf, spicular crust ; g, coriaceous capsule ; /, internal cells, and 2, in-
fundibular opening.
a, Germs of cells magnified,—the largest 355th part of an inch in
gS
Fig. 1.
diameter.
. Cell of seed-like body containing germs, magnified.
. Portion of coriaceous membrane magnified to show hexagonal divi-
sions and transparent centres.
. Small spiculum of Spongilla Meyeni, magnified.
One of its toothed disks with central aperture, magnified,
Prate LV.
Disk to show the appearance which is presented on the surface of
the watch-glass a few days after the matter of the seed-like body
has been forcibly expelled into it under distilled water.
. Denticulated proteus in progression, showing its granules and hya-
line vesicles, magnified.
. Passive state of the same, magnified.
. Germs parcelled out in semi-transparent mucilage, magnified.
d, Denticulated proteus, magnified.
. Diffluent proteus, ditto.
Vermiform proteus, ditto.
. Animalcules about ;,4,5th part of an inch in diameter, which, to the
almost complete exclusion of all other kinds, were generally pre-
sent with the proteans, magnified.
. Threads of semi-transparent mucilage, ditto.
A magnified view of a newly-formed portion of Spongilla, grown in
distilled water from a seed-like body, as seen with Ross’s micro-
scope, under a compound power of 3th of an inch focus.
. Sponge-cell with its granules and hyaline vesicles magnified, taken
from the same portion.
. The same in a passive state, magnified.
. Marginal or thinnest portion of newly-formed Spongilla, ditto.
d. Form of its extreme edge, ditto.
. Hyaline contracting vesicles, ditto.
. Sponge-cells in situ, ditto.
. Magnified view of a denticulated proteus with a portion of a spicu-
lum in a fold of its cell-wall.
. Ditto, with a loricated animalcule and germ in ditto.
V*
100 Dr. Clark on the Capture of a Bottle-nosed Dolphin.
Fig. 5. Ditto, showing a small proteus attached to the side of a transparent
cavity in ditto.
Fig. 6. Ditto, in the act of surrounding a foreign body.
Fig. 7. Most striking forms assumed by proteans, developed from the matter
of the seed-like bodies (seen at various times), magnified.
Puate V.
Fig. 1. Remarkable forms assumed by proteans, developed from the matter
of the seed-like bodies, magnified.
. General form of large spiculuin, ditto.
. Magnified view of spiniferous spiculum.
Fig.
Fig.
Co bo
X.—WNotice of a Bottle-nosed Dolphin (Delphinus Tursio, Fabr.)
upon the Suffolk coast. By W. B. Crarxn, M.D.
A sPECIMEN of this Dolphin has been sent to the Ipswich Mu-
seum within a few days; it was discovered upon the beach at
Bawdsey, which is a village about fourteen miles from Ipswich.
The animal was stranded on the shore and left by the retiring
tide. There are many regular transverse marks across the anterior
edge of the dorsal fin, and across the back posterior to that fin :
there was also a deep wound in the underside of its throat, a little
anterior to the sternal region, apparently inflicted by a lance, and
also various marks upon several parts of the body, as if produced
by the blunt hook and point of a “ boat-hook.” By these I am
induced to suppose that the creature was entangled at sea, in the
net of some fishing vessel, the crew of which, upon finding it
there, exerted their best means of despatching it, and afterwards
turned it adrift.
Prof. Bell remarks (in his History of Brit. Quad. including the
Cetacea), ‘Considerable ambiguity appears to have rested upon
this rare species of northern Dolphin, which has been gradually
removed by Desmarest, G. Cuvier, and particularly by F. Cuvier,
in his admirable book already quoted (Fr. Cuv. Hist. Nat. Cet.
p- 141).” It now appears certain that the ‘‘ Nisarnak ” of Fa-
bricius and of Bonnaterre, and the first of the two Bottle-nosed
Whales figured by Hunter, are identical with the Delphinus
Tursio. Desmarest and G. Cuvier had at first considered them
distinct, but the latter distinguished naturalist afterwards cor-
rected the error, and his brother kas subsequently fully esta-
blished their identity.
The first account which we have of its appearance on our
shores is that of J. Hunter, in which he considers it as the com-
mon Dolphin, Delphinus Delphis. The specimen figured (Hun-
ter, Phil. Trans. 1787, p. 373. t. 18) was caught, says Hunter,
upon the sea-coast near Berkeley, where it had been seen for
several days following its mother, and was taken along with the
old one: the latter was 11 feet long.
Dr. Clark on the Capture of a Bottle-nosed Dolphin. 101
Mr. Jenyns mentions another instance of its occurrence in the
river at Preston, the length of which was 11 feet.
Col. Montagu apparently describes another taken in the river
Dart in Devonshire, the length of which was 12 feet.
Prof. Bell continues, “‘ The history and description of this ani-
mal are still deficient; it is probably a rare or local species,
and may be chiefly confined to the northern seas ;”’ he also believes
it probable, with Mr. Jenyns (Brit. Vert. p. 41), that Delphinus
truncatus of Mont. (Mem. Wern. Soc. i. p. 75. t. 3) may be
admitted as a synonym of this species. The one described by
Montagu as taken in the river Dart in Devon, about five miles
from the mouth of the river, was 12 feet in length and 8 in cir-
cumference at the largest part. When wounded it is said to have
made a noise like the “ bellowing of a bull.”
Our specimen is a female, 8 feet 4 inches in length and 4 feet
in girth. In colour it is black on the back, gray and purplish
gray on the sides, and white with tinges of dusky white beneath.
Forehead convex ; jaws produced, subrostral, lower a little longer
as 122 eae
than the upper. Teeth conical, = : 5).
In taking a general view of the creature I noticed the follow-
ing proportions, viz. the dorsal fin appears to occupy the middle
region between the point of the jaw and tip of the caudal fin:
then drawing an imaginary line perpendicularly down from the
anterior base of the dorsal fin, the pectoral fins appear to occupy
the middle region between this line and the point of the jaw;
whilst the cloaca occupies the middle region between the same
line and the base of the caudal fin.
There is a degree of beauty and elegance about the creature
with regard to its general colouring and form, the fins presenting
a series of ogee curves: the dorsal fin is ample and curves back-
ward ; the pectoral fins appear rather small in proportion to the
size of the animal ; the caudal fin, being the principal instrument
of propulsion, is ample. The compressed character of the caudal
extremity of the body is carried from the base along the middle
region of the depressed fin so as to produce a ridge both above
and below it, giving that part a peculiarly elegant form, and en-
suring the greatest amount of effect in its vertical action upon
the medium in which the creature is swimming.
The respiratory aperture is 1 foot 2 inches from the point of
the nose, and looking at the animal in profile appears to form
an isosceles triangle with the eye and point of nose, the short
side of which triangle is bounded by this aperture and the eye:
it is so completely closed by the valvular arrangement as to ap-
pear like a curved crescentic line with the ends or horns directed
forwards. The extremities of this aperture are one inch and three-
L02 Messrs. Sandie and Padley on Entozoa found
quarters apart, and the convexity of the curve three-quarters of
an inch, and when opened it presents a crescent-like form with
the horns still directed forwards.
The mammary orifices are inguinal, and lie one on each side of
the longitudinal folds or labia which conceal and are common
to the anal, vaginal and vesical orifices, and are equidistant from
its extremities : each is concealed within a small longitudinal fold
and about half an inch from the former.
The external auditory meatus is very small and puncture-hke,
surrounded by a delicate membranous ruffle about =;nd part of
an inch in height.
The following are some of the measurements :—
ft. in,
Whole lengthy c.ccts.cedesiss socsscaeeceeisascecanasystcdasaccwaastececmsterines 8 42
GGT Maa nconaishcensempsehswteens conte cee cesee ones bess ch caste ties sei vece emse 4 RS
Nose from the convexity of forehead to point ............eeeeeeeeeees 0. (4
Tiength of Mouth. 5.2<cces.n0sennsessetscasemactincesessn-enahaeseums estas 1 ieee)
NOSE OVEVE flown cots ateenosaistpnusanaepeapee paceiseetrGueNaanens haemaismenne ef Rt
Nose to respiratory aperture ...... eee ee een eesceenen ene sereeeusceeeees we = 2
INGsextOPECtaralcun) Varese scoters cue ovearsnccseraconseete senedee amie stones eee
Nose to dorsal fin ......... eioises Surat eriois tae acune deaskiee eas cei coess eee MD
Weneth/ of dorsal tin )-:.2...c...sccsceee sete ens shun Sowsiaeecsecckiese seonnren lags
Hier htiof dorsal Gin} <ocee0.02.cacecs staves 00a cbaees Soeteeeetweesceekose 0 an8
Breadthvoficaudalvinys, .cassaeewacvevesastseeoass sees soaae Sospeneuaasee ss 1.8
Length of pectoral fin, anterior slope ...........seeeseseeneee Seosesess | Fay
Length of pectoral fin, posterior Slope ......ceceessesssceeeesceeenseees 0 82
Breadth of upper jaw at the base of the rostrum .......0s....eeeeeeee 0 32
Breadth of under jaw at the base of the rostrum ............eeeeeeeee 0 32
Length of the fold or labia common to and concealing the anal,
vaginal and vesical orifices ..........sseeesees Sondescqosooncesasnodec 0 6
Length of vaginal orifice including the vesical ...........seceeeeees 0-3
MEET tPOL PETINGEUUL; , 5. ccccessecescscessercereecettesccre mtotee ener en Ay Woks
Length of the fold, including the mammary orifice or nipple ...... 0 03
Collapsed nipple! in ‘lengthy (<i. Je.teseascats ces banteesesas ce Goebah oes 0 2
Collapsed nipple in width at its base......eeeseeseeeee Seseshiusee Seemtines 0), |. 102.
14 Berners Street, Ipswich, Suffolk.
XI.—On Entozoa found in the Lungs of a Sheep. By Joun
Gray Sanpre, M.D., and Grorce Pap.ey, Esq., Liverpool.
[With a Plate. ]
Wuite passing along the street the other day, our attention was
drawn to the lungs of a sheep exposed for sale at a butcher’s
shop. As the animal had been killed but a few hours before, the
organ in question was quite fresh. From the middle to the base
of the antericr margin of the lung, a number of opake masses
were observed, the smallest of which was the size of a split-pea,
while the largest appeared to be as big as a hazel-nut. On cut-
ting into them two different kinds of matter were apparent, one
in the Lungs of a Sheep. 108
more opake and interspersed with numerous white specks, while
the other was semitransparent and resembled soft tubercle. The
exterior of all the masses lay immediately underneath the serous
membrane, and some of them penetrated the pulmonary tissue,
which was otherwise healthy, for about a quarter of an inch.
A thin section was placed beneath the microscope and examined
by reflected light, when a great many little objects, probably the
white specks just spoken of, resembling in colour and outline
grains of pearl barley, were seen distributed through the sur-
rounding tissue. But with the aid of transmitted hght and
lenses of greater magnifying power (+-inch focus), a number of
animalcules, such as represented in the annexed figure (Plate V.B
fig. 1), were seen coiled up and imbedded in a brownish mass
consisting of minute cells and granules. They were very abun-
dant in the opake portion of the section, and were very closely
aggregated together in spots probably corresponding to the specks,
whereas in the intervening portions as well as in the surround-
ing more transparent structure, comparatively few were to be
found. On making our first observation each imdividual was
inclosed in a transparent membrane, which upon a subsequent
examination was proved to be the wall of the ovum. We after-
wards found many that had escaped from this envelope lying free
in the morbid substance. Some were in the form of the letter S,
while others presented a more complex convolution. On scraping
a small portion from one of the tumours and mixing it with a
little water between two slips of glass, the animals were seen to
greater advantage, and their position in the pellucid covering
was better defined. On several occasions we saw the animal
liberate itself from the membrane in which it was encased ; this
was accomplished by the approximation of the head and tail,
which were subsequently separated, and driven against the sides
of the sae that had previously been elongated, with such force as
to rupture it and so set the animal at liberty. In its movements,
which were vermicular, the animal showed considerable activity.
As it lay extended when quiescent the head appeared of a conical
shape, and the tail presented a small, curved, flexible, fihform ap-
pendage which was very characteristic (Pl. V. figs. 1, 2,3). The
integuments being transparent the alimentary canal could be
distinctly traced, commencing narrow at the head, enlarging
somewhat and terminating near the tail. In some this canal was
empty (fig. 2), and the parietes of the tube clearly defined. In
others it was occupied with granular matter (fig. 3) having much
the appearance of the substance with which they were surrounded;
in some instances to such an extent as to fill completely the m-
terior of the animal.
These Entozoa resemble the Trichina spiralis found in mus-
104 Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees.
cular tissue more than any other parasite with which we are ac-
quainted, although differing from it in habitat, in having little
caudal appendage, and in being without, as far as we could dis-
cover, any distinct cyst, excepting that of the ovum before alluded
to. This is the first instance within our knowledge of Entozoa
having been found in the lungs. The Filaria bronchialis in-
habits the bronchial glands, and is moreover about an inch in
length.
We had an opportunity likewise of examining the ova of these
animals, and of observing them in several stages of development.
Some contained a simple oval granular mass (fig. 4) ; in others
this appeared to be contracting (fig. 5), and in various stages of
division and subdivision. In some there was a separation into
two parts (figs. 6 & 7) ; others presented a mulberry mass similar
to that found in the ova of other animals (figs. 8 & 9). Differ-
ent degrees of progressive formation were observed from this
subdivision up to the completion of the perfect animal coiled up
within its unruptured envelope (fig. 10).
XII.— The Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees.
By Ricuarp SPRvcE.
| Concluded from vol. iii. p. 503.]
Subtribus 2. JuNGERMANNIDEA, N. ab E.
5. Plagiochila, Nees et Mont.
8. P. asplenivides, L.; Hook. Br. Jung. t. 13 (sub Jung.) ;
Syn. Hep. p. 49.
Hab. Z)_3 in wmbrosis per montes totos. In Pyrenzis tres
preprimis formas innotavi : sunt—
1. minor; H. P. 6: caule gracili, squamis minutissimis (ne
amphigastriis dicam) in ventre adsperso vel nudo ; foliis subse-
cundis, margine dorsali valde reflexis et ex eo ad P. porelloidem
appropinquans.—Hab. in sylvis Pyren. centralium.
2. major; H.P. 7: foliis maximis, confertis, patulis; squamis
caulinis obviis, pleramque amorphis, nonnullis bifidis, nonnullis
lineari-digitatis.—Hab. in valle du Lys.
3. heterophylla, N. ab E.? Syn. Hep. p. 50; H. P. 8: caule
flagellifero, squamis minutis subulatis predito; foliis repandis,
retusis emarginatisve-—Hab. Val de Jéret et Bois de Gouerdere,
in rupibus umbrosissimis.
9. P. Pyrenaica, Spruce in Hep. Pyren. n. 9: caule horizon-
tali in planum ramoso ; foliis imbricatis, plano-distichis aut ad-
scendentibus, subconvexis, ovato-subquadratis, apice vartis, ob-
Mr. R. Spruce on the Musct and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. 105
lique unidentatis, truncato-bidentatis, denticulatis, retusis vel
obtusis omninoque integerrimis: involucralibus majoribus, sub-
verticalibus, arcte adpressis, ovato-linguzeformibus, repandis sub-
denticulatisve ; perianthio obovato-oblongo, compresso, incurvo,
ore spinuloso-dentato hinc plerumque fisso.
Hab. Z,_. ad rupes humidiusculas Pyren. centralium (Super-
bagnéres ; Grottes de Bédat prope B -de-Bigorre; V. de Gazos)
et occidentalium (Mont Goursi ; Gave de Valentin).
Caules intertexti, fertiles ''-1", steriles 2-3" longi. Folia ramo-
rum fertilium plerumque integra retusave, sterilium contra vario modo
incisa rarius integra et integerrima. Retis areole 6-angulares, sub-
contigue. Color viridi-olivaceus sicco statu in lutescentem vergens.
Perianthium superne ampliatum. Capsulas maturas non habui.
Florescentia monoica: perigonia spiciformia: folia lobulo involuto
spiuloso vel laciniato-dentato stamina obtegente preedita.
Plagiochila interrupta, N. ab E. Syn. Hep. p. 48, planta plerum-
que humilicr, folia semper integerrima et perianthium ore repando-
crenulatum habet. P. porelloides N. ab E., caulibus adscendentibus
et foliis gibbis, flaccidis, integerrimis, sat superque distincta.
Although I have lately had Dr. Gottsche’s sanction for retaining
Plagiochila Pyrenaica, | think it not improbable that it may one day
be proved a variety of P. interrupta, a striking one certainly, and
perhaps confined to the Pyrenees. The Plagiochile are so liable to
variation in the toothing of the leaves, that it is scarcely possible to
suppose all the generally received species genuine. I have seen no
specimens of P. porelloides which I can safely separate from P. asple-
nioides.
6. Scapania, Lindenberg.
10. S. compacta, Roth, Fl. Germ. 3. p. 375 (sub Jung.) ; Syn.
Hep. p. 63. Jung. resupinata, Hook. Br. Jung. t. 23.
“ Var. 1, foliis in duplicatura seepius alatis, ala repando-den-
tata, lobo ventrali convexo ;” H. P. 10.—Hab. Z, in Agro Syr-
tico circa St. Sever et Aquas Tarbellicas. “ Collines de St.
Pandelon, de Tercis ;” Grateloup in ‘ Cryptogamie Tarbellienne.’
“Var. 2, foliis ut plurimum inzequaliter bilobis, lobo ventrali
concavo ;” H. P. 11.—Hab. Z, P. ¢. in arenosis supra pagum
Gerde prope B.-de-Bigorre.
Possibly a distinct species from the foregoing. The segments of
the leaves are subtrapezoidal, quite entire, the sinus gibbous, the areo-
lation rather closer and subguttulate. I have, however, only the
sterile plant.
11. S. undulata, L. Sp. Pl. p. 1598 (sub Jung.); Hook. Br.
Jung. t. 22; Syn. Hep. p. 65; H. P. 12.
Hab. Z)_3 in umbrosis humidis ad saxa. Pont d’ Espagne.
Mt. Crabioules. V. de Courbettes (Philippe!). “In Agro Syr-
tico prope Dax” (Grateloup, /. c.).
106 Mr. R. Spruce on the Muscit and Hepatice of the Pyrenees.
12. S. nemorosa, L. Sp. Pl. p. 1598 (sub Jung.) ; Hook. Br.
Jung. t. 21.f. 1-4; Syn. Hep. p. 68; H. P. 13.
Hab. Zy_3 locis sylvaticis, frequens.
13. S. umbrosa, Schrad. Samml. 2. p. 5; Hook. Br, Jung.
t. 24; Syn. Hep. p. 69; H. P. 14.
Hab. Z,_, P. oce. ad saxa prope pontem dict. Pont d’ Espagne.
P. c. in monte Crabioules ad ligna putrida. E rarioribus.
14. S. apiculata, Spruce in Hep. Pyren. n. 15; caule brevi
simplice, infra perianthium innovante, e basi flexuosa repente
adscendente ; folis pallidis vel fuscescentibus, infimis minimis,
bidentatis, vix complicatis, superioribus majoribus, usque ad 4
bifidis, conduplicatis, lobis oblique rhomboideis, apiculatis, subre-
pandis, haud arcte adpressis, ventrali plerumque concavo, dorsali
paulo minori, convexo, margine tamen szepius reflexo, sinu de-
presso, guttulato-areolatis, collilig discretis ; involucralibus con-
formibus, deflexis; perianthio oblongo-clavato, compresso, sub-
deflexo, ore repando.
Hab. Z, supra ligna putrida in sylvis editioribus. P. oce.
Vallée de Béost. P.c. Cascade du Coeur prope B.-de-Luchon.
S. umbrosa, proxima, colore specioso albo roseove, caule subra-
moso, foliis homomallis, argute serratis, usque ad % bifidis, lobo
dorsali ventrali 3-4plo minori, diversa est. S. curta N. ab E.
foliorum forma, perianthio ciliato, &c. distinctissima.
7. Jungermannia, Linneus.
Obs. Of the Jungermannie observed in the Pyrenees, Jg. acuta and
Wilsoniana have their normal station on calcareous rock ; J/g. exsecta,
ventricosa, curvula, incisa, divaricata, reclusa, curvifolia and setacea
were gathered only on decayed wood ; the remainder are chiefly glareal
or viatical, and some of them were also occasionally seen on decayed
wood. It will be remarked that those species which in the Pyre-
nees occupy semiputrid trunks are the same which inhabit heaths
on the plains and hills of the north of Europe. The species which
approaches nearest the snow-line is Jg. julacea.
§ 1. Compricata, Syn. Hep.
15. J. albicans, Linn. Sp. Pl. p. 1599; Syn. Hep. p. 75.
Hab. Z,_, terrestris et rupestris, fere ubique.
16. J. obtusifolia, Hook. Br. Jung. t. 26; Syn. Hep. p. 76;
Hes 1G:
Hab. Zy)—» in viarum cavarum parietibus solo arenoso. P. oce.
St. Sever; Cauterets. P.c. B.-de-Bigorre ; Port de Portillon.
17. J. exsecta, Schmid. Ic. p. 241. t. 62; Hook. Br. Jung.
foe NVEIsELep: D.17 75) bie ae
Hab. Z, in truncis putrescentibus. Fructiferum legi in monte
Pic de Ger, P. oce.
Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. 107
The fructification in my specimens differs somewhat from the de-
scription in ‘Synopsis Hepaticarum’; it is as follows :—Involucral
leaves with very acute segments, otherwise not differing from the
cauline ones, with the exception of the innermost, which is rather
shorter and terminated by several unequal apiculate teeth : it is ac-
companied by a lanceolate very acute stipule. Perianth oblongo-
cylindrical, compressed, with four obtuse angles or plicz, the mouth
ciliate.
§ 2. Inrecrirotrz, Syn. Hep.
18. J. Schraderi, Mart. Fl. Erlang. Cr. p. 180. t. 6. f. 55;
Syn. Hep. p. 83; Sullivant! Musci Allegh. n. 235; H.P. 18.
Hab. Z, P. c. ad saxa in wmbrosissimis secus cataractam Cas-
cade du Ceur dictam.
19. J. hyalina, Lyell in Hook. Br. Jung. t. 63; Syn. Hep.
pro? HP. 21:
Hab. Z,-» P. ec. in rupibus secus rivulos, rarius ad terram.
Vallée de Castelloubon; Gorge de Labassére, &c.
202 Jnana, Nab W.; Syn. Hep.! p. 91; H. P..20!
Hab. Z,_; per Pyrenzeos occ. et centr. in viis cavis, sed nus-
quam copiosa. Col de Louvie; Bois de Lagaillaste ; Esquierry,
&e.
21. J. Genthiana, Hueben. Hep. Germ. p. 107; Syn. Hep.
p- 94. “J. crenulata, Sm., var. foliis caulium fertilium minus
compresso-contiguis, vix marginatis, perianthio (haud compresso)
obovato, submucronato, plicato-4-angulo, angulis papilloso-alatis ;”
MP1
Hab. Z,-2 P. ec. ad viarum parietes. Bois de Gerde prope
Bagnéres, pulcherrime! Port de Portillon, &c.
The characters quoted above from ‘ Hepaticze Pyrenaice’ correctly
indicate the differences of this plant from Jg. crenulata, and I am
now quite satisfied of their being specific.
22. J. crenulata, Sm.! EH. Bot. t. 1463 ; Syn. Hep. p. 90.
Hab. Z)_, in arenosis turfosisque Agri Syrtici et P. centr.,
rarior. St. Sever; B.-de-Bigorre.
23. J. spherocarpa, Hook. Br. Jung. t. 74; Syn. Hep. p. 93 ;
HeyPx 22:
Hab. Z,_, P. oce. et c. locis similibus ac Jg. hyalina (nu. 19).
Gorge de Cauterets ; Labassére ; Forét de Transoubdt (Philippe !).
The black crumbling schist at Labassére, on which Jg. sphero-
carpa and hyalina occur intermixed, is precisely of the same nature
as the alum-shale in Eskdale near Whitby, Yorkshire, and it is re-
markable that there also the same two species grow together in con-
siderable quantity.
108 Mr. t. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees.
24. J. cordifolia, Hook. Br. Jung. t. 32; Syn. Hep. p. 95 ;
H. P. 24,
Hab. Z,_3 P. c. in fontibus profundis secus ripas flum. Adour,
in pagi Asté conspectu; necnon in humidis montis Crabioules.
Dr. Gottsche informs me that this species does not differ from J.
tersa y. rivularis of German authors.
25. J. riparia, Tayl.! in Annals of Nat. Hist. xu. p. 88;
Syn. Hep. p. 97; H. P. 25.
Hab. Z,_3 in rupibus wroratis, rarius ad terram, frequens.
This species is often mixed with Jg. acuta, but it is not, like that
species, confined to calcareous rock.
26. J. pumila, With. Arrang. 3. p. 866; Hook. Br. Jung.
ti 17.
Hab. Z, P.c. ad saxa in sylva Bois de Sajust dicta: aliubi
haud visa.
I cannot distinguish authentic specimens of Jg. Zeyheri, Hueben,
from this. Both are remarkable for the perianth terminating in a
cone, which is not plicate, but has a furrow on each face, that on the
dorsal being most evident, and along this the dehiscence takes place
for the emission of the capsule.
§ 3. Bipentes, Syn. Hep.
27. J. acuta, Lindbg.; Syn. Hep.! p. 103. J. Muelleri,
N. ab E.; Syn. Hep.! p. 99; H. P. 26, 27, 28+.
Hab. Z,_. locis caleareis subhumidis terrestris et saxatilis, ra-
rius lignicola, per Pyrenzos frequentissima.
In ‘Hepatice Pyrenaice’ I gave three forms of this species,
scarcely differing from each other except in size; the third form
(No. 28) attains a length of 3 or 4 inches, and forms closely-tufted
patches on the nearly vertical faces of rocks watered by the spray of
rivulets in the upper part of the Vallée d’Ossau and the Gorge de
Labassére. I there considered Jg. Bantriensis, Hook. Mst., which
I gathered abundantly in Teesdale in 1843, as belonging to the same
species, but at Dr. Gottsche’s suggestion I have reconsidered this
opinion, and I now think that the two may in all cases be safely
distinguished. The differences are these :—in Jg. Bantriensis the
leaves are always more or less erect, and in the large form they are
secund, the two rows being contiguous by their upper surfaces, which
I have never seen to be the case in Jg. acuta; they are also less un-
dulate, the sinus not gibbous, though from the incurvation of the apices
there is sometimes the appearance of it. Perianth when young (and
in all stages when unfertile) pyriform or broadly clavate ; while the
perianth of Jg. acuta, in all states and at every age, even when quite
* Jg. acuta and Muelleri are now ascertained to be absolutely identical,
the former having the stipules nearly or altogether obsolete.
4
Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. 109
short and half-developed, is of equal width from a little above the
base to the summit, i. e. cylindrical*.
20: J. Lyon, Layl.! Trans. Bot. Soc. p. 116. t. 7; H. P. 29.
Hab. Z, sx). inter muscos ad saxa sylvarum, haud rara. Val
de Jéret, &e.
The authors of ‘Synopsis Hepaticarum’ had surely never seen
correct examples of this when they referred it to Jg. socia, N. ab E.,
and their description of it, ‘‘foliis laciniis obtusis,” is quite at variance
with specimens I possess from Messrs. Lyon and Taylor. It is sin-
gular that its near ally, Jg. barbata, Schreb., one of the commonest
species in our mountains, should never have been observed in the
Pyrenees. Dr. Grateloup indeed mentions it in his list as growing
at the extreme western angle, ‘‘ in montibus petrosis Cambo prope
Bayonam,” but without seeing his plant I dare not say that it is
different from Jg. Lyonit.
29. J. Wilsoniana, N. ab E.; Syn. Hep. p.103; H. P.30. J.
turbinata, Wils.! in BE. Bot. Suppl. t. 2744. J. inflata, EK. Bot.
t. 2512.
Hab. Z, in rupibus calcareis subhumidis. Gélos prope Pau.
B.-de-Bigorre.
30. J. ventricosa, “ Dicks.” ; Hook. Br. Jung. t. 28; Syn. Hep.
p- 108. J. porphyroleuca, N. ab E.; Syn. Hep. p. 109. “J. al-
pestris, Schleich. ;? H. P. 31.
Hab. Zz, ad terram et truncos putridos. P.c. Ruisseau d’ Ar-
dalos. P. occ. Val de Jéret.
I am doubtful whether Dickson meant this species by his Jg. ven-
tricosa, Fasc. 2. p.14. He gives no figure, but cites figures of Mi-
cheli and Dillenius, which are certainly little like our plant, and adds,
** Folia in nostra profundius fissa, quam in figuris Michelii et Dillenii
depinguntur,” which is still more at variance with the species as
figured by Hooker. Dr. Gottsche informs me that when this plant
grows on rotten wood, where it often assumes a purplish tinge (as in
some of my Pyrenean specimens), it is the Jg. porphyroleuca of Nees.
In ‘ Hepaticee Pyrenaice’ I had considered this form as possibly Jg.
* The plant alluded to at the close of my description of Jg. Bantriensis
(‘ Annals,’ 1844) as gathered by Mr. Ralfs at Dolgelley, is possibly distinct
from both the above. The three perianths in my possession are all subtri-
angular on the section, the dorsal face being the narrowest, and in one peri-
anth the two lateral angles are winged and toothea. If it must be referred
to one of the two, it will be to Jg. acuta, as it has the gibbous sinus of the
leaves characteristic of that species. Mr, Wilson, to whom I am indebted
for the specimens, has called it Jg. culearis.
+ Dr. Grateloup mentions in his list “Jg. setiformis, Ehrh. Hab. in
sylvis ad terram et ad arb, truncos. Dax. Lésperon. Saubagnac ;” but as
I searched for it in these stations without success, I cannot include it in my
enumeration. It would be indeed remarkable to find in the plains of the
south of Europe a species which grows most profusely in Lapland (Wahlen-
berg), and which when it extends farther south is uniformly alpine.
110 Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees.
alpestris, Schleich., but specimens of the latter from Dr. Gottsche
differ in having the leaves roundish-ovate (not quadrate as in Jg. ven-
tricosa), the sinus small, and the segments unequal, oblique.
Var. minor. “ Jg. excisa, Dicks. ? var. folus e basi cuneata
ovato-quadratis obovatisve, marginibus inflexis, sinu triangulari
lunatove, involucralibus bifidis, integerrimis ; perianthio oblongo,
ore obtuse plicato ;” H. P. 32.
I believe I am correct in regarding this a minute form of Jg. ven-
tricosa; the leaves are usually more deeply cloven, the sinus trian-
gular, the segments often divaricating; and yet stems of the large,
ordinary form may be found having the same characters.
31. J. curvula, N. ab E.; Syn. Hep. p. 115; H. P. 33.
Hab. Z, P. oce. in valle Combascou supra ligna putrida.
32. J. capitata, Hook. Br. Jung. t. 80; H. P. 34. J. excisa
8. crispata, Hook. l. c. t. 9. ff.2, 11,12. J. intermedia, Lindbg.
Hep. Europ. p. 83; Syn. Hep. ! p. 116.
Hab. Z)_2 P. oce. in arenosis Sti. Sever. P.c. in truncis pu-
tridis secus cataractam Cascade du Cour dictam: rarior.
I am quite of opinion that the original name of Hooker should be
retained for this species. Lindenberg was evidently not aware that
his own Jg. intermedia and Hooker’s Jg. capitata were forms of one
species ; from his description it is probable that he did not clearly
distinguish it from some forms of his Jg. bicrenata, as he cites for it
Hooker’s tab. Suppl. 2 (Synopsis, p. 11), which exactly resembles
Ekart’s figures of Jg. bicrenata, and agrees well with specimens of
the gemmiferous state of that species in my possession.
33. J. bicrenata, Lindbg. Hep. Eur. p. 82; Syn. Hep.! p.115;
H. P. 35, 36.
Hab. Z)_; m arenosis ad viarum parietes. St. Sever. Pau.
Bagnéres.
Dr. Gottsche has pointed out to me the remarkable scent of this
species, resembling that of Jg. acuta and Bantriensis, and quite want-
ing in Jg. capitata; by this character, by the deeply and acutely
cloven leaves, and especially by the guttulate areolation, Jg. bicrenata
may always be safely distinguished.
I fear Jg. excisa, Dicks. Crypt. 3. p.11. t. 8. f. 7, will have to be
entirely erased from the list of Hepatice. I have spent much
time in the attempt to ascertain what it really is, but without suc-
cess ; formerly I thought it might be Jg. bicrenata, especially as there
is a rude attempt in Dickson’s figure to represent the guttulate areo-
lation, characteristic of that species ; but the larger size, the branched
stem, and especially the zarrow shallow sinus of the leaves, seem to dis-
prove such a supposition. Very lately I consulted the Smithian her-
barium in the hope of finding an original specimen from Dickson,
but even the name does not seem to exist there. I have examined
a multitude of specimens from various parts of the British Isles, sent
Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. 111
under the name of ‘“‘ Jg. excisa:’”’ these belong in nearly equal quan-
tities to three species, viz. :
1. J. ventricosa, forma minor = J. excisa, Hook. t. 9 (excl.
var. 6).
2. J. bicrenata, Lindbg. = J. excisa gemmifera, Hook. t.
Suppl. 2.
3. J. capitata, Hook. = J. excisa B. crispata, Hook. t. 9.
ff. 2, 11, 12 = J. intermedia, Lindbg.
It is exactly the same with specimens of “ Jg. excisa”’ from the
continent of Europe, nor have I ever seen a specimen agreeing with
the descriptions that have been given of this species. Hooker says
of Jg. excisa, ‘ foliis profunde emarginatis ;” of Jg. ventricosa, “ foliis
obtuse emarginatis :” Lindenberg says of Jg. excisa, ‘‘ Differt.....
foliis minus profunde incisis :”’ lastly, the authors of ‘ Synopsis Hepa-
ticarum” describe Jg. excisa, ‘‘ foliis . . . sinu profundo obtuso excisis.”
From these and similar discrepancies, I cannot help concluding that
these distinguished hepaticologists had under their eyes small forms
of more than one of the three species above-cited when they drew up
their descriptions of the supposed “‘Jg. ewcisa, Dicks.” Dr. Gottsche
has even admitted to me that he is unable to determine Jg. excisa if
given to him without a name. He adds, ‘ what I have received from
my English and German friends under the name of Jg. excisa differ
so much from each other, that I confess not to know the species.”
34. J. incisa, Schrad.; Hook. Br.Jung. t. 10; Syn. Hep. p.118 ;
ek. Os.
Hab. Z)_» m truncis prostratis cariosis Pyrenzorum, frequens.
“ Ad terram humidam ac in rupibus muscosis circa Aquas Tar-
bellicas”’ (Grateloup, /. c.).
The leaves of this species are normally conduplicate ; the lowest
unequally bidentate with diverging segments, as in many Scapanie ;
the upper with very unequal lobes, the dorsal lobe triangular, undi-
vided, appressed to the stem, the ventral lobe bifid: both either entire at
the margins or with a few spinulose teeth. This is the typical struc-
ture, but, very rarely, the dorsal lobe is also bifid, and sometimes the
ventral lobe is not bifid, but cut at the margin into several unequal
spinulose teeth: sometimes it is trifid. In all cases the complication
is discernible, notwithstanding the thickness of the stem, and even
when the lobes are squarrosely spreading (as is seen also in some
true Scapanie, e. g. in varieties of S. nemorosa). Hooker’s figs. 3
and 4, tab. 10, show this quite distinctly.
35. J. minuta, Crantz; Hook. Br. Jung. t. 44; Syn. Hep.
p: 120; H. P. 38.
Hab. Z, P. oce. ad rupes, haud vulgata, locis Val de Jéret et
Montagne Verte.
§ 4. Brcuspives, Syn. Hep. (= Triconantuus, nob. in hb.).
Obs. This very natural group, resembling Lophocolea in the nature
of its fructification, may well constitute a separate genus, for which
112 Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees.
I propose the name Trigonanthus. Many of the species are stellatedly
branched, and, in all, the branches seem to have the same origin (e
dorso). In those species which have the stems exstipulaceous, there are
always involucral stipules present, e. g. in Jg. bicuspidata, where the
lowest stipule is lanceolate, the second obcordate, the third obcordate
with a deeper notch, the fourth (next the perianth) irregularly trifid,
and the perianth itself is composed of a fifth stipule connate with two
opposite leaves : hence its trigonous form and obvious affinity to that
of Lophocolea. ‘Vhe capsule is always oblong, and often remarkably so.
36. J. divaricata, Smith! in E. Bot. t. 719. J. Starkii, Hb.
Funck ; Syn. Hep. p. 184; H. P. 39.
Hab. Z, P. c. supra ligna putrida in sylva Forét de Transoubdt
dicta, non procul a B.-de-Bigorre.
I have examined the original specimen of Jg. divaricata, figured
in ‘ English Botany,’ from ‘‘ Heaths near Holt, Nov. 1798, Rev. Mr.
Francis’: it possesses very distinct stipules (!), and agrees in other
respects with what has been called Jg. Starkii by German authors,
and by Dr. Taylor Jg. stellulifera. My own herbarium contains a
great many forms, some stipulaceous throughout the length of the
stems, others only towards the apex, and some altogether without
stipules. Between all these I can draw no certain line of demar-
cation, and if there be more than one species there must be several.
In every form the leaves are nearly of the same width as the stem,
roundish in outline or a little quadrate, the segments mostly acute
and either diverging or connivent (when the leaves appear subcom-
plicate), the cellules mostly 4-sided with rounded angles and discrete
by narrow interstices. In all there is the same peculiarity of the
involucral leaves being united so as to form one or two exterior pe-
rianths ; all have these leaves toothed and the real perianth more or
less ciliated at the mouth.
37. J. Francisci, Hook. Br. Jung. t. 49; Syn. Hep. p. 133 ;
H. P. 40.
Hab. Z, P. occ. ad fossarum parietes in ericetis Agni Syrtici,
loco Landes de Mugriet.
38. J. dentata, Raddi in Mem. della Soc. Ital. di Mod. xix.
p- 32; Syn. Hep. p. 143.
Hab. Z, P. oce. St. Sever, in arenosis, socis J. bicrenata et
Trichostomo subulato.
This differs somewhat from the description in ‘Synopsis Hepati-
carum.’ ‘The stems are closely creeping, mostly simple, rarely with
one branch. Leaves brownish, crowded and capitate on the flower-
ing shoots, scarcely at all complicate, cloven mostly to below the mid-
dle, spinuloso-dentate, the cellules rather small but discrete (not with
such wide interstices as in Jg. Turneri). Stipules, on the lower part
of the stem, minute, irregular in form, usually lanceolate or subu-
late and toothed; towards the apex larger, those of the involucre
Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. 118
oval (= } leaf) and as well as the involucral leaves deeply toothed or
even laciniate.
The stems of Jg. Turneri, Hook., are much longer, more slender,
and branched as in J/g. bicuspidata; the leaves are smaller and more
complicate, and there are no stipules.
39. J. reclusa, Tayl.! m Annals of Nat. Hist. xi. p. 89;
HP. Al.
Hab. Z, in truncis putridis. P. oce. Pic de Ger. P. c. V. de
Castelloubon.
I consider this quite distinct from Jg. bicuspidata (with which
Dr. Gottsche unites it as var. ericetorum), and in some respects more
nearly allied to Jg. connivens. In 1846 Mr. Jenner showed me mag-
nificent patches of it, growing with Jg. connivens, &c., on sand-rocks
in Eridge Park, Tunbridge Wells.
40. J. bicuspidata, L.; Hook. Br. Jung. t.11; Syn. Hep. p.188;
H. P. 42.
Hab. Zo, ubique.
41. J. connivens, Dicks. Cr. fase. 4. p. 19; Syn. Hep. p. 141.
Hab. Z, P.c. loco Hourquette d’ Aspin, lignicola. Semel visa !
42. J. curvifolia, Dicks. ; Hook. Br. Jung. t. 16; Syn. Hep.
p. 142; H. P. 43.
Hab. Z, in truncis putridis, frequens.
§ 5. Aaurroxia, N. ab E.
43. J. setacea, Web. ; Hook. Br. Jung. t. 8; Syne Hep. p. 144;
H. P. 44.
Hab. Z,_3 supra ligna putrida, rarior. Val de Jéret. Mt. Cra-
bioules.
44. J. trichophylla, L.; Hook. Br. Jung. t.7; Syn. Hep. p.145;
EP. 45:
Hab. Z2_4 ad saxa, truncos putridos, inter muscos, &c., vulgata.
45. J. gulacea, Lightf.; Hook. Br. Jung. t. 2; Syn. Hep.
p. 146; H. P. 46.
Hab. Z;; 1 rupibus humidis. P. ec. Mt. Crabioules; Lac
Lehou. YP. or. “in convalle Eynes” (Montagne, /. c.).
8. Sphagnoecetis, N. ab E.
46. S. communis, N. ab E.; Syn. Hep. p. 148; H. P. 47.
Jung. Sphagni, Dicks. ; Hook. Br. Jung. t. 33.
Hab. Zo_; ine, ad arborum excisarum truncos cariosos in imis
Pyrenzis. ‘Daz, in paludibus spongiosis turfosisque inter
Sphagnum palustre” (Grateloup, J. c.).
9. Liochlena, N. ab E.
47. L. lanceolata, L. (sub Jung.) ; Hook. Br. Jung. t. 18;
Syn. Hep. p. 150; H. P. 48.
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. iv. 8
114 Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees.
Hab. Zy_» secus rivulos Pyrenzeorum, lignicola, rarius terrestris
rupestrisve, frequens ; necnon in Agro Syrtico loco St. Pandelon
de Dax. “In collibus umbrosis et ad rupes cretaceas Tercis ;
necnon rupibus ophiticis St. Pandelon prope Dax” (Grate-
loup, /. c.).
10. Lophocolea, N. ab E.
Obs. The species of this genus may all be considered rare in the
Pyrenees. LL. bidentata I did not once observe in the higher moun-
tains, though it occurred at the foot of the low hills near Pau, inter-
mixed with mosses; yet I can hardly persuade myself that it does
not ascend higher, and that, being reputed so common a plant, I
may have passed it by unnoticed. L. heterophylla, another species
equally frequent with us, I gathered but once in the Pyrenees,
48. L. minor, N. ab E. ; Syn. Hep. p. 160; H. P. 49.
Hab. Z, P. c. in aggeribus circa B.-de-Bigorre (3) et in valle
d Aure dicta.
49. L. bidentata, L. Sp. Pl. p. 1598 (sub Jung.) ; Hook. Br.
Jung. t. 30.
Hab. Zy_—; ing, P. oce. et c. circa Pau et Dax. In montibus
nusquam vidi !
50. L. heterophylla, Schrad. (sub Jung.) ; Hook. Br. Jung.
teal; Syn. Hep: p. 164; 1. Po 50.
Hab. Z, P.c. Cascade du Coeur supra ligna putrida: e rarioribus.
11. Harpanthus, N. ab E. (caractere extenso).
51. H. scutatus, Web. et Mohr, Taschenb. p. 408 (sub Jung.).
J. stipulacea, Hook. Br. Jung. t. 41.
Hab. Z, P. ce. in monte Crabioules ad truncos putridos, sociis
Scapania apiculata, Jg. Schraderi, &e.
The fructification of this plant is truly lateral (ramulo fertili e
ventre caulis exeunte), and not as described in ‘ Synopsis Hepatica-
rum,’ p. 101, ‘ perianthio terminali, mox dorsali,”’ for an instance of
which I have in vain searched perhaps a hundred fertile stems. The
involucrul leaves are normally two, with an interposed stipule, and the
uppermost leaf is concrete with the perianth for one-third of its
length. The perianth is very thick below (= 3-4 cellules), and should
perhaps be rather regarded in this part as a hollowing out of the apex
of the stem. The calyptra is concrete with the inner surface of the
perianth for more than half its length, as correctly represented in
Hocker’s figure, but not alluded to in ‘Synopsis Hepaticarum.’ All
these characters bring this species very close to Harpanthus Floto-
vianus, N. ab E. (Syn. Hep. p. 170), the sole tangible difference
being that in the former the perianth is obovate and in the latter
fusiform, while they separate it widely from Jung. acuta and Ban-
triensis. If we consult now the organs of vegetation, we find the
similarity quite as striking. The leaves of H. Flotovianus are biden-
Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. 115
tate in the same manner, only with a shallower sinus; the stipules
are proportionally narrower, but equally acuminate, falcate and
slightly twisted, and toothed on each side at the base just as in the
other. With so many points of agreement, and with the same ge-
neral habit (H. scutatus being only a smaller plant), I do not hesitate
to place these two species in the same genus, which will still remain
equally well distinguished from Jungermannia on the one side and
from Chiloscyphus and Lophocolea on the other.
12. Chiloscyphus, N. ab E.
52. Ch. pallescens, Schrad. Cr. Gew. 2. p. 7 (sub Jung.) ; Syn.
Hep. p. 187.
Hab. Z, P. c. ad terram in monte Lhieris.
53. Ch. polyanthos, L. Sp. Pl. p. 1597 (sub Jung.) ; Syn. Hep.
p-. 188.
Hab. Z3 P. ec. ad rivali ripas in monte Crabioules.
Var. 8. rivularis, Lindenb. Hep. Eur. p. 30; H. P. 51.—Hab.
Z, in fontibus profundis secus ripas flum. Adour, socio Jy. cor-
difolia (n. 24).
Subtribus 3. Grocatycea, N. ab E.
13. Saccogyna, Dumortier.
54. S. viticulosa, L. Sp. Pl. p. 1597 (sub Jung.) ; Hook. Br.
Jung. t. 60; Syn. Hep. p. 194; H. P. 52.
Hab. Z, P. oce. in rupibus ophiticis Sti. Pandelon prope Aquas
Tarbellicas. “Les rochers crayeux de Tercis, de Riviere ; les
foréts de St. Vincent, de St. Paul, de Narrosse ; les cOteaux de
St. Pandelon” (Grateloup, /. c.).
Subtribus 4. TricnomanorpE#, N. ab E.
14. Calypogeia, Raddi.
55. C. Trichomanis, L. Sp. Pl. p. 1579 (sub Mnio). Jung.
Trichomanis, Dicks. ; Hook. Br. Jung. t. 79. Calypogeia Tri-
chomanis, Corda; Syn. Hep. p. 198; H. P. 53.
Hab. Zy_, ubique : fructifera in sylvis prope Jurancon.
15. Lepidozia, N. ab E.
56. L. reptans, L. Sp. Pl. p. 1599 (sub Jung.) ; Syn. Hep.
p. 205; H. P. 54. Jy. reptans, Hook. Br. Jung. t. 65.
Hab. Zo» supra ligna putrida, vulgaris.
16. Mastigobryum, N. ab E.
57. M. deflecum, N. ab E.; Syn. Hep. p. 231; H. P. 55.
Hab. Z,_3 0 sylvis editioribus, haud rarum. Mee. Ver Lem Ve
de Castelloubon ; &c. Lac Lehou (Philippe !).
58. M. trilobatum, L. Sp. Pl. p. 1599 (sub Jung.) ; Syn. Hep.
p- 280; H.P. 56. Jy. trilobata, Hook. Br. Jung. t. 76.
Qk
116 Mr.R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees.
Hab. Z,_, P. oce. in arborum excisarum truncis cariosis SZ.
Pandelon prope Aquas Tarbellicas ; locis similibus Sti. Sever in-
venit cl. Dufour! P.c. Gorge de Labassére (Philippe !).
Subtribus 5. Pritipizam, N. ab E.
17. Trichocolea, Dumortier.
59. T. Tomentella, Ehrh. (sub Jung.); Syn. Hep. p. 237;
H.P.57. Jg. Tomentella, Hook. Br. Jung. t. 36.
Hab. Zo_2 locis humidis, frequens. “ In umbrosis humidius-
culis, in collibus et ad arb. truncos prope Dazx’’ (Grateloup, J. c.).
Subtribus 6. PLatrypHyiia, N. ab E.
18. Radula, N. ab E.
60. R. complanata, L.; Hook. Br. Jung. t. 81 (sub Jung.) ;
Syn. Hep. p. 257 ; H. P. 58.
Hab. Zo_, ad truncos et rupes.
19. Madotheca, Dumortier.
61. M. levigata, Schrad. ; Hook. Br. Jung. t. 35 (sub Jung.) ;
Syn. Hep. p. 276; H. P. 59.
Hab. Zy—»2 in rupibus : semper sterilem inveni.
62. M. platyphylla, L.; Hook. Br. Jung. t. 40 (sub Jung.) ;
Syn. Hep. p. 278; H.P. 60. M. platyphylloidea, N. ab EK. ;
Syn. Hep. p. 280. M. navicularis, N. ab E.? Syn. Hep. p. 277?
Hab. Zj_z im rupibus arboribusque, vulgatissima.
Subtribus 7. Jusutem, N. ab E.
20. Lejeunia, N. ab E.
Obs. The only species of this genus which attains the alpine re-
gion is L. serpyllifolia, but it is always unfertile there. L. ovata
finds in the Pyrenees its only continental station, and but the second
known, the first being the south-west corner of Ireland, around
Bantry and Killarney. LL. calcarea is confined to the rock indicated
by its name*.
* T did not observe Lejeunia minutissima in the Pyrenees, but it will not
be out of place to mention here that I had lately the opportunity of exami-
ning Sir J. E. Smith’s original specimens of this species, gathered in the New
Forest by C. Lyell, Esq. in 1806, and figured on plate 1633 of Eng. Bot.,
and that they agree as to the presence of stipules and every other essential
character with Hooker’s figure in ‘ Brit. Jungermannie,’t.52. Dr. Taylor
was therefore in error (as I have always suspected) in maintaining Sir J. E.
Smith’s plant to be the eastipulaceous species; but as my distinguished and
lamented friend was the first clearly to distinguish the latter, I propose that
it shall bear his name, and the amended synonymy will stand thus:
Lejeunia minutissima, Smith! in Eng. Bot. t. 1683 (sub Jung.) ; Hook.
Br. Jung. t. 52. Jungermannia ulicina, Tayl.! in Trans. of Edinb. Bot.
Soc. 1841, 1. p. 115. Lejeunia ulicina, Syn. Hep. p. 387.
Lejeunia Taylori, Spruce. Jungermannia minutissima, Tayl.! J. c. (non
Smith). Lejeunia minutissima, Syn. Hep. J. ¢.
Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. 117
63. L. serpyllifolia, Dicks. Crypt. fase. 4. p. 19 (sub Jung.) ;
Syn. Hep. p. 374; H. P. 61.
Hab. Zz in rupibus, arboribus imis, supra muscos, &c., fre-
quens.
64. L. ovata, Tayl.! mst.; Syn. Hep. p. 376; H. P. 62.
Hab. Z, P. oce. inter muscos in rupibus subhumidis faucis
Gorge de Cauterets dict. repens.
I have sedulously compared this with specimens of L. ovata
gathered in company with Dr. Taylor at Cromaglown, one of his
original stations, and cannot detect the slightest difference. It isa
rather larger plant than L. hamatifolia, Hook., from which it differs
essentially as follows: the leaves are more lurid and opaque (more
chlorophyllose) and never serrated, as they are most frequently in the
other; the larger lobe is oblique, trapezoideo-ovate, with the margins
convex nearly to the apex (while in the ovato-acuminate leaves of
L. hamatifolia the margins of the larger lobe are concave above the
junction with the involute lobe); the involute lobe is smaller, and
has not a projecting tooth near the apex as in L. hamatifolia.
65. L. calcarea, Libert ; Syn. Hep. p. 344; H. P. 63. Jog.
hamatifolia 8. echinata, Hook. Br. Jung. t. Suppl. 3.
Hab. Z, P. oce. ad saxa calcarea in regione media montis Pic
de Ger, ut et in valle Combascou.
21. Frullania, Raddi.
66. F. dilatata, L. Sp. Pl. p. 1600 (sub Jung.) ; Syn. Hep.
p- 415; Hook. Br. Jung. t.5; M. P. 64.
Hab. Z,_3; m arborum cortice.
67. F. fragilifolia, Tay]. ! in Annals of Nat. Hist. xu. p. 172;
Syn. Hep. p. 437; H. P. 65.
Hab. Z, P. oce. in arboris unice trunco prope pagum Gélos.
68. F. Tamarisci, L.; Hook. Br. Jung. t. 6 (sub Jung.) ; Syn.
Hep. p. 438 ; H. P. 66.
Hab. Zy_3 fere ubique, arborea et saxatilis.
Hemicyclum 2. Frondose.
Subtribus 1. Coponiea, Dumortier.
~ 22. Fossombronia, Raddi.
69. F. pusilla, L.; Hook. Br. Jung. t. 69 (sub Jung.) ; Syn.
Hep. p. 468; H. P. 67.
Hab. Z,_, in fossarum parietibus, haud vulgata. St. Sever.
Dax (Grateloup). B.-de-Bigorre.
Subtribus 2. HapLotanea, N. ab E.
23. Pellia, Raddi.
70. P. epiphylla, L.; Hook. Br. Jung. t. 47 (sub Jung.) ; Syn.
Hep. p. 488. ;
Hab. Z,_; in fossarum marginibus.
118 Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees.
71. P. calycina, Tayl.! in Mackay, Fl. Hib. Pt. 2. p. 55 (sub
Jung.) ; Syn. Hep. p. 490; H. P. 68.
Hab. Z,_ P. oce. et ¢. in rivulorum ripis udis circa Dax, Pau
et B.-de-Bigorre.
24. Blasia, Micheli.
72. B. pusilla, L. Sp. Pl. p. 1605; Syn. Hep. p. 491; H. P.
69. Jg. Blasia, Hook. Br. Jung. t. 82-84.
Hab. Z)_, P. oce. in rupibus ophiticis Sti. Pandelon prope Aq.
Tarbellicas. P. c. in humidiusculis montis Superbagneéres.
Subtribus 3. Aneurres, N. ab E.
25. Aneura, Dumortier.
73. A. pinguis, L. Sp. Pl. p. 1602 (sub Jung.) ; Syn. Hep.
p. 493.
Hab. Z, “in paludibus ac ripis, fontibusque prope Aq. Tar-
bellicas ” (Grateloup, /. c.).
74. A. multifida, L. Sp. Pl. p. 1602 (sub Jung.) ; Syn. Hep.
p- 496.
Hab. Z, “ad terram humidam prope fontes ac supra truncos
putridos arborum, circa Daz” (Grateloup, /. c.).
75. A. palmata, Hedw. Theor. Gen. (sub Jung.) ; Ekart, Sy-
hops. Jung. t. 13. £115; Syn. Hep. p. 498; H. P. 70.
Hab, Zy_3 i truncis putridis. Val de Jéret, &e.
Subtribus 4. Metzceries, N. ab EK.
26. Metzgeria, Raddi.
76. M. furcata, L.; Hook. Br. Jung. t. 55 et 56 (sub Jung.) ;
pyn. Hep.ip..b02, H. 2. 71.
Hab. Z)_3 14 saxis, arborum cortice, &e.
77. M. pubescens,Schrank ; Hook. Br. Jung. t.73 (sub Jung.) ;
Syn. Hep. p. 504; H. P. 72.
Hab. Z)_3 in rupibus umbrosis montium frequens, planitiei
rarior (Dax ; Grateloup).
Tribus 2. Marcuanties, N. ab EK.
Subtribus 1. Lununaries, N. ab E.
27. Lunuleria, Micheli.
78. L. vulgaris, Micheli, Noy. Gen. Pl. p. 4. t. 4; Syn. Hep.
p: D511; H., Ps 73.
Hab. Zo) in¢,i0 imis muris, viarum umbrosarum lateribus, &c.
Pyrenzorum humiliorum ut et Agri Syrtici, frequens.
Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. 119
Subtribus 2. Jecorariteas, N. ab E.
28. Marchantia, Linneus.
79. M. polymorpha, L. Sp. Pl. p. 1603 ; Syn. Hep. p. 522.
Hab. Z)_, locis exustis, &c., in planitie vulgatissime, in mon-
tibus rarius.
29. Preissia, N. ab EK.
80. P. commutata, N. ab E. Europ. Leberm. 4. p. lxv. et 117;
Syn. Hep. p. 589; H. P.74. Marchantia androgyna, Tayl.! in
Junn. Trans. 17. p. 380. t. 12. f. 1.
Hab. Z, in rupibus humidiusculis. Mont Lizé; Labassére, &c.
30. Dumortiera, Remwardt.
81. D. irrigua, Wils. in Hook. Eng. Fl. v. P. 1. p. 106 (sub
Marchantia) ; Syn. Hep. p.543; H.P.75. Hygropyla wrigua,
Tayl.! in Linn. Trans. xvi. p. 390.
Hab. Zy ing. P. ¢. B.-de- Bigorre, ad ripas rivuli qui ad thermas
dict. de Salut originem suam habet ; sociis Pellia calycina et Fe-
gatella conica.
31. Fegatella, Raddi.
82. F. conica, L. Sp. Pl. p. 1604 (sub Marchantia); Syn. Hep.
p- 546 ; H. P. 76.
Hab. Z,_, locis humidis.
32. Reboulia, N. ab E.
83. R. hemispherica, Raddi in Opuse. scient. di Bolon. i.
p. 357 ; Syn. Hep. p. 548.
Hab. Z, Dax, in humidiusculis ac umbrosis (Grateloup; BR. S.).
33. Fimbriaria, N. ab E.
84. F. fragrans, Schleich. Cent. exsice. 3. n. 64 (sub Mar-
chantia) ; Syn. Hep. p. 558.
Hab. Z, ‘ad margines fontium et fossarum ac in rupibus um-
brosis prope Daz” (Grateloup, /. c.).
Subtribus 3. Tarcioniem, N. ab E.
34. Targionia, Micheli.
85. T. Michelii, Corda in Opitz Beitr. i. p. 649; Syn. Hep.
p- 574. Targionia hypophylla, L. Sp. Pl. p. 1604.
Hab. Z, “ circa Dax” (Grateloup, L. c.).
Tribus 3. ANTHOCEROTES, N. ab E.
35. Anthoceros, Micheli.
86. A. levis, L. Sp. Pl. p. 1606 ; Syn. Hep. p. 586.
Hab. Z, “ad terram, in locis umbrosis humidiusculis, prope
Aq. Tarb.” (Grateloup, /. c.).
120 Mr.R. Scott on the Growth of Bambusa arundinacea.
87. A. punctatus, L. Sp. Pl. p. 1601; Syn. Hep. p. 583 ;
He Pe 7.
Hab. Z,_, locis humidis solo argilloso precipue. St. Pandelon.
St. Sever. Loucrup prope B.-de-Bigorre.
Tribus 4. Riccizr, Lindenberg.
36. Spherocarpus, Micheli.
88. S. Michelii, Bell.; Mont. in Ann. des Se. nat. ix. p. 39;
Syn. Hep. p. 595.
Hab. Z civea Dax. “Elle croit sur la terre humide de
quelques landes de Marensin, par Vancienne route de Bordeaua
2 Bayonne” (Grateloup, /.c.).
37. Riccia, Micheli.
89. R. glauca, L.; Syn. Hep. p. 599.
Hab. Z, “supra terram argillaceam in locis umbrosis Dax”
(Grateloup, J. c.) ; locis cultis Stz. Sever.
90. R. ciliata, Hoffm. ; Syn. Hep. p. 602.
Hab. Z, “ad terram madidam circa Dax” (Grateloup, /. c.).
91. R. fluitans, L. ; Syn. Hep. p. 610.
Hab. Z, “in fontibus Sti. Pandelon, &c.” (Grateloup, J. ¢.) ;
St. Sever (Dufour !).
92. R. natans, L.; Syn. Hep. p. 606.
Hab. Z, “in aquis stagnantibus Sti. Paul, prope Aq. Tarbel-
licas ” (Grateloup, J. c.).
XIII.—Remarks on the Growth of Bambusa arundinacea in the
large Conservatory, Chatsworth. By Mr. Rosrrr Scorrt*.
In the tropics the Bamboo not only grows with astonishing ra-
pidity, but attains a very great height,—im some instances as much
as 100 feet+. This, together with its feathery elegance, places it
in bold contrast to surrounding vegetation, and entitles it to rank
second to the noble Palm. But under artificial culture it is in-
deed seldom seen in anything like its native majesty,—the extent
of our horticultural structures not admitting of its full develop-
ment.
In some degree at least this defect is obviated here, the Bam-
busa being planted out in a border of rich loam, with plenty of
room for its roots, and the canes likewise, in most cases, having
ample accommodation. So situated the Bamboo seems at home.
* Read before the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, July 12, 1849.
+ Mr. John Gibson, who collected in India for the Duke of Devonshire,
has seen the Bamboo 100 feet high.
Mr. R. Scott on the Growth of Bambusa arundinacea. 121
On the 19th of August, 1846, I observed the crown of a cane
just showing itself above the surface of the ground. From its
appearance J was led to infer that ultimately it would attain to
a large size, and I resolved to watch its progress. The cane was
situated at the circumference of a group, and this circumstance
rendered the observation of its growth more convenient than it
would have been had the cane been situated in the centre.
On referring to notes then made, I find that on September Ist
the cane had reached a height of 8 feet from the ground. On
the 6th September it had attained the height of 19 feet; and
on September 13th it was 25 feet high: during the latter
seventeen days of September the growth was uniformly 1 foot
per day. Thus in forty-two days the cane had reached 42 feet
from the ground, making an average growth of 3 inch per hour.
The subjoined table may serve to place this matter in a clearer
hight.
1846. Average daily growth.
Aug. 19. Cane just appearing above ground.
Sept. 1. », 8 feet high. nearly 73 inches.
fe ” 19 ” 1 foot 10 inches.
43 lids 2D ge 1 foot.
3 a0. rp ep 1 foot.
Having attained the height of 4.2 feet, the top of the cane was
in immediate contact with the roof of the house. This cireum-
stance rendered an arrest of its progress necessary ; had it been
otherwise, in all probability the cane would have extended 8 or
10 feet more.
In December 1847, the subject of the preceding remarks,
along with the other canes forming the group previously alluded
to, was cut down. The following observations were then made :
Number of internodes, 32; circumference of the base of cane,
8 inches ; circumference of top, 14 inch. The greatest circumfe-
rence, 9 inches, occurred 8 ft. 3 in. from the base, and extended
over four internodes. The two longest internodes measured each
1 foot 6 inches. They occurred at 19 ft. 8 in. from the base, and
were each 8 inches in circumference. The shortest internode was
11 inches, and was the lowermost on the cane.
During the growth of the cane the temperature of the house
was,—maximum 87°, minimum 60°, Fahrenheit. (Average 732°.)
In Paxton’s ‘ Magazine of Gar dening and Botany’ for 1849,
p- 62, there are a few remarks on the subject of this notice ; but
some mistakes have been made in the figures there given.
The cane is now in the British Museum.
I may add, that the Bambusa arundinacea very seldom com-
mences to form its canes here until August and sometimes Sep-
tember, while the Bambusa nigra invariably makes its growth in
May. The latter species has this year produced canes 16 ft. high.
122 Mr.G. Newport on a new genus of Parasitic Insects.
XIV.—On the Identification of the Parasitic Genus of Insects,
Anthophorabia. By Georcr Newrort, Esq., F.R.S. & LS.
To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.
GENTLEMEN, London, July 1849.
Mr. Westwoon’s letter, inserted in your July number, in reply
to my remarks on the identification of Anthophorabia, obliges me
to trouble you with some further remarks on this subject.
I mentioned in my letter to you, that immediately after the
reading of my paper to the Linnean Society, on the 20th of
March, “the good faith of my statements (was) abruptly
questioned in some remarks addressed to the Society by Mr.
John Obadiah Westwood, who made it appear that my know-
ledge of the insect Anthophorabia must have been derived from
vivd voce statements made by himself at a meeting of the Ento-
mological Society in July 1847” (Annals, vol. in. p. 514). Mr.
Westwood now, after professing that he “ has neither leisure nor
inclination to answer in detail,’—which very probably he has
not,—says, “I agai deny having expressed a single word of
doubt as to Mr. Newport having found the insects in question in
1832, or that Z asserted that his knowledge of them was derived
from my cominunications.” Now I beg to say, that whatever
may have been the precise words employed, Mr. Westwood most
certainly did express doubt, and did impress, and did endeavour
to impress on the minds of those who were present, that my first
knowledge of the insect I had described must have been derived
from his observations at the Entomological Society in July 1847 ;
and he asserted, in the most positive manner, that I was in the
Chair at the time. The printed Proceedings of the Society prove
that Mr. Spence was in the chair! I may now further state,
that he succeeded, for the time, in injurmg me in the good
opinion of many who were present at the Linnzean Society, as I
have since been assured by several gentlemen ; as his imputations
seemed to be supported by the fact—which he still dwells upon,
with what object others may decide (Annals, p.39)—of my having
been present at the meeting of the Entomological Society when
he referred to an insect by the name of Melittobia Audouinii ;
although, to this very hour, I have never seen that insect or his
drawings of it. Further, I may mention that it was evidently
his object to question the accuracy of my statements in the paper
I read to the Linnzean Society which drew forth the spontaneous
evidence in my favour from Mr. Nash, as I have since been as-
sured by that gentleman, to whom I had shown drawings of my
insect in 1832. These identical drawings, which I made from
living specimens, and which I regard as some of the most care-
Mr. G. Newport on a new genus of Parasitic Insects. 123
fully finished I have ever made, were on the table of the Lin-
nean Society when my paper was read, on the 20th of March,
and also on the Ist of May; on which latter occasion they were
examined for a few minutes ouly by Mr. Westwood. Yet he
now makes the following assertion : “ Having seen Mr. Newport’s
drawings made seventeen years ago, I do not hesitate to state that
his description has been drawn up from this imperfect sketch (!),
and that seven out of the nine generic characters given by him
in the ‘ Gard. Chronicle,’ p. 183, are erroneous.” Indeed! Seven
characters erroneous !!_ Mr. Westwood’s former statement (Gard.
Chronicle, p. 295) was, that szz out of nine were wrong. But
now he discovers “ seven,’—size of the head, the antenne, the
wings, and the tarsi of the female, antennz and eyes of the male,
and size of the insect. Truly, here are seven. First then as re-
gards size. I have described my insect as being of the Lillipu-
tian dimension of one line. Mr. Westwood says, No, it is exactly
three-quarters. Many thanks for this, and the other equally
important corrections, if confirmed. I have said the head of the
insect is wider than the thorax. Mr. Westwood says it is not.
According to him, I have overlooked some joints in the antennee
and some peculiarities of the wings. Possible, certainly. But the
admission of the possibility is not an assent to the assertion,
without proof. In the tarsi, however, he thinks that I have
seen too much.
As to the male insect he asserts that it has no eyes whatever,
but that it has more joints in its antennz than I have described.
Yet in all this, while affirming the identity of his insect with
mine, he keeps out of view the fact that the one he refers to is a
native of France, and that which I have described is indigenous
to this country ; and that the middle portion of the antenna in
my insect is “large and globose,” while the corresponding part
in his, according to his description, is “ very small and suban-
nulose.” Nevertheless he “does not hesitate” to “ reaffirm ”’
the identity of two insects, one of which he has never sven! But
further, he “affirms,” and possibly may hereafter “ reaffirm,”
that some of the characters I have given for my insect, “namely
the veins of the wings and the five-jointed tarsi, neither belong
to the family nor subfamily to which the insect is to be referred,
whilst the possession of stemmatous eyes by the male is disproved
by every known species of winged insect, whereas it 1s as essen-
tially a character of some of the Ametabolous tribes.” | Accord-
ing to this lucid view, which seems to have been arrived at
through one of Mr. Westwood’s “ strikingly opposite analogies,”
if a winged insect has not compound eyes it cannot have eyes at
all. Now it was the peculiarity of my insect possessing stem-
matous eyes that led to the introduction of a description of it in
124 Mr.G. Newport on a new genus of Parasitic Insects.
my paper. With regard to the joints of the tarsi, it happens, un-
fortunately for Mr. Westwood, that he is in this instance, at
least, in the unenviable situation of bearing evidence against the
correctness of his own statements. Ten years ago he published
in his ‘Introduction,’ vol. ii. Generic Synopsis, p. 73, detailed
definitions of three genera of Parasitic Hymenoptera belonging
to the very family,—Chalcidide, proposed also by himself,—to
which my Anthophorabia belongs; and one of the characters
which he employs to indicate each of these genera,— Tetracnemus,
Agonioneurus,—which comprises thirteen species,—and Cocco-
phagus three species,—is, that their tarsi are “ five-jointed.”
Thus much reliance may be placed on the scientific accuracy
of Mr. Westwood’s statements. I have now but to notice one
other of his unnecessary assertions, of a more personal character,
and which I could have wished to have believed to be simply ac-
cidental. He says (Annals, p. 40) that Mr. F. Smith was the
first to discover the parasitic larva of Monodontomerus, and that
I have “ attempted to deprive him of the credit” of this discovery.
I regret much that this direct charge obliges me to state that
Mr. Westwood asserts in this what is extremely wide of the truth.
A short notice of the habits of the larva of Monodontomerus was
sent by Mr. Smith to the Linnean Society a fortnight after the.
reading of the first part of my paper on the 20th of March in
which I described this larva; and that notice was read on the
3rd of April, Mr. Smith the author of it, Mr. Westwood and
myself being present. Mr. Smith stated in his paper that he had
found his insects at Charlton in Kent, zn 1848. After this paper
had been read, I mentioned what I had already stated in my
paper on the 20th of March, that I discovered the larva of Mo-
nodontomerus on the 12th of September 1847 (at Gravesend),
“ that I had informed Mr. Smith at the time of the faci,” and that
“ some time afterwards, as I learned from Mr. Smith himself, who,
being present, could correct me if in error, he also collected larvee
of this insect in the same locality ” (see Gard. Chron. April,
p- 231). Mr. Smith offered not the slightest remark on, or ob-
jection to this statement, but tacitly admitted its correctness.
And yet Mr. Westwood having heard this public announcement
from my own lips, and knowing that it has appeared in print,—
as he quotes a portion of the identical paragraph,—and knowing
also that it cannot be refuted, has ventured to “affirm” the
contrary.
I remain, Gentlemen, yours very obediently,
Grorce Newport.
Mr. W. H. Benson on new Asiatic species of the genus Pupa. 125
XV.—Descriptions of four new Asiatic species of the genus Pupa
of Draparnaud. By W. HH. Benson, Esq.
In the ‘ Zeitschrift fiir Malakologie’ for 1846 Dr. Pfeiffer adverts
to the paucity of known species of Pupa from other countries
than Europe, North America, the West Indies, and the Cape of
Good Hope. In his ‘ Monographia’ he cites only Pupa bicolor,
Hutton, as inhabiting India as well as the Isle of Bourbon
(P. Largilherti, Philippi), giving but a simgle Indian locality
(Mirzapore) for it; and he quotes Pupa sulcata, Miiller, as a
Ceylonese shell. The latter species may possibly occur in the
station assigned to it, but it is also certainly a Mauritian shell,
haunting the woods around Curepipe, with P. Pagoda, Fer., ac-
cording to Sir David Barclay and Mr. Rawson. Pupa bicolor has
a very extensive range. Its beautiful vermilion and yellow tints,
similar to those of several Mauritian Pupe, attracted my atten-
tion to the animal in Bundelkhund as early as 1825 ; and I sub-
sequently took it m numerous localities*, but in no place very
plentifully, from the foot of the Himalayas in Rohilkhund down
to the neighbourhood of Calcutta. In 1847 I met with it at
Point de Galle in Ceylon, and Dr. Cantor found it, though rarely,
in Pulo Penang. It did not occur to me at the Mauritius, al-
though inhabiting its neighbour island.
I have now to make known four new Oriental species; one
from China scarcely yielding the palm of size to any of the genus,
the other three from India proper, all minute. Of these, two in-
habit the Himalaya and one Lower Bengal. Some other species
from India have been assigned to the genus Pupa, which, how-
ever, fall more correctly into the cylindrical division of the genus
Bulimus.
1. Pupa regia, nobis.
T. profundissime umbilicata, elongato-conica, subcylindrica, solida,
alba, laevigata, nitidiuscula, oblique et remote, obsoleteque plicato-
striata; spira superne sensim attenuata, apice vbtusiusculo; um-
bilico pervio; anfractibus undecim subplanulatis, ultimo antice
ascendente, validius plicato, ad basin compresso ; sutura lineari,
irregulariter crenata; apertura oblique truncato- ovata, sublaterali,
* Viz. Bhamoury, Moradabad, and Bareilly, in Rohilkhund ; Etawah and
Futtehpore in the Do-ab of the Ganges and Jumna; at Humeerpore in
Bundelkhund, south of the latter river; at Jounpore and Mirzapore in the
Benares Division, north and south of the Ganges ; and at Howrah, on the
west bank of the Hooghly river, near Calcutta. It shelters itself in the’
ground under loose stones, bricks, or wood, and comes forth in the rains of
July. At Bhamoury I got it by digging at the root of a tree. It was there
much dwarfed. The lower ranges of the Himalaya, within which it has
never been met with, rise immediately from that spot; and attain, in the
course of twelve miles, an elevation of 8000 feet.
126 Mr. W. H. Benson on new Asiatic species of the genus Pupa.
ab axe deviante, intus fulvida; plica columellari profunda, dupli-
cata, parietali elongata, remotiuscula; peristomate valde incras-
sato, reflexo, subtus latiori, marginibus callo junctis, columellari
expanso, superne sinuato, extus angulum efformante, dextro me-
dio antrorsum arcuato.
Long. 43 mill., lat. 23; aperture long. perist. incl. 18 mill. Lat. 9
millim.
flab. prope Nanking, China.
Brought by the late Dr. D. King, H.M.S. Cornwallis, and pre-
sented by him to Dr. Cantor, to whose kindness I am indebted
for the specimen. <A wire introduced into the umbilicus will
reach within a short distance of the summit.
2. Pupa Huttoniana, nobis.
T. rimata, ovato-oblonga, subcylindracea, hyalina, glabra, apice ob-
tuso; anfractibus 5 convexis; apertura ovato-rotundata, quinque-
plicata ; peristomate expansiusculo, marginibus callo tenui junctis ;
plica unica irregulari, sinuata, parietali, columellaribus duobus,
palatalibus duobus profundis.
Long. 14 mill., lat. vix 1 mill.
Hab, rarissime ad Simla montibus sub-Himalayanis occidentalibus ;
Hutton.
This species (unlike most of the smaller Simla species of land
shells) has not hitherto been taken in other parts of the Hima-
layan chain.
3. Pupa plicidens, nobis.
T. umbilicata, ovato-conica, subtrochiformi, glabriuscula, obscure
striata, cornea; anfractibus quinque convexis, ultimo ventricoso,
antice ascendente, ad basin tumido; sutura impressa; apice ob-
tuso ; apertura irregulari, subtriangulari, 9-plicata; peristomate
continuo, sinuato, expanso, marginibus callo appresso expanso
junctis ; dextro medio extus impresso, intus tuberculato-incras-
sato; plicis parietalibus 3, quarum 2 superioribus elongatis, colu-
mellari dentiformi, unica, palatalibus 5, quarum 2 sub-basalibus
minutis ; margine basali extus callo pradito ; umbilico angusto.
Long. 2 mill., lat. 15 mill.
Hab. ad Landour et Mussoorie, montibus Himalayanis.
The shell is very peculiarly formed, and seems to indicate the
transition from Pupa to Anastoma.
The animal has four tentacula, the superior pair bearing the
percipient points or eyes, the inferior very short. The foot is
hyaline, the tentacula and neck fuscous. The shell is carried
horizontally. It is very local, although tolerably abundant where
found. It creeps among moss, on damp rocks, generally in places
which are seldom or never visited by the sun, in some of the lofty
and precipitous glens of the mountains near Landour. It seems
to be a capricious species. On a rock on which J found it abun-
Mr. W. H. Benson on new Asiatic species of the genus Pupa. 127
dantly one year, I could not obtain a specimen at the same season
in the following year.
4, Pupa brevicostis, nobis.
T. rimato-perforata, cylindraceo-ovata, cornea, apice obtuso ; anfrac-
tibus 45, longitudine celeriter crescentibus; ultimo antice non
ascendente, 4 longitudinis teste zquante, superioribus convexis,
superne remote semicostulatis, ultimo et penultimo subplanulatis,
dimidioque inferiori ceeterorum sericeis, muticis; apertura rotun-
dato-ovata, 5—6-plicata; plica 1 angulari, brevi; secunda parietali
profundiore, obliqua; columellari unica; palatalibus 2-3 pro-
fundis ; peristomate expanso, subreflexo.
Long. 15 mill., lat. vix 1 mill.
Hab. ad Barrackpore, Bengal.
Taken by Dr. J. F. Bacon on the trunk of a tamarind-tree at
the Cantonment of Barrackpore, near Calcutta, during the rainy
season of 1848. Out of several individuals forwarded to me,
overland, by letter in a quill, two reached me alive, and creeping
about when supplied with moisture enabled me to verify their
affinities. The lower pair of tentacula is deficient or inconspi-
cuous, as in Vertigo ; the upper pair carry the eyes at their sum-
mits. The shell is often carried at an angle of 45°.
In 1834 Captain Hutton referred a small shell to the genus
under the name of Pupa cenopicta, which belongs strictly to Bu-
limus, as conjectured by Pfeiffer, ‘ Monogr.’ vol. 11. p. 82. It is
figured, no. 492, in that genus by Reeve. It is necessary to re-
mark that im the numerous specimens which I have examined,
the callous parietal tooth at the junction of the outer lip has
never been wanting. Yet this character was omitted by Captain
Hutton, and it is not noted either in Reeve’s figure or descrip-
tion. I first took the shell in Bundelkhund in 1826 ; specimens
received in 1835 from Captain Hutton showed how the tubercle
had been overlooked by him, the shells being still covered by the
dirt, from the presence of which he had named them. Subse-
quently I found the species abundant under stones and rocks at
Delhi, and Dr. Bacon met with it in great profusion at Kurnal
on mud-walls and under tiles. It has never occurred to me or
to my correspondents on the left bank of the Jumna nor of the
Ganges. Dr. Bacon found a specimen or two at Dinapore on the
right bank of the latter river, so that it has an extensive range
to the south and west of those streams.
The only locality hitherto given for the sinistral toothed Pupa
Pottebergensis, Krauss, from Southern Africa, is the Pottenberg
Mountain in Zwellendam, where Krauss found it, though rarely,
on plants. Sir Edward Belcher pointed the shell out to me as
occurring near the Round Battery in Simon’s Bay, among Me-
128 Dr. A. Voelcker on the Chemical Composition of the
sembryanthema ; and I found it subsequently at a distant point
of False Bay, near “the Strand,” and again at Hout Bay. In all
these places it was found among plants and bushes growing on
sandy dunes near the sea.
July 13, 1849.
XVI.—On the Chemical Composition of the Fluid in the Ascidia of
Nepenthes. By Dr. A. VoricKker of Frankfort*.
Tue watery secretions of certain plants belonging to the genera
Nepenthes, Cephalotus, and Sarracenia, have long attracted the
attention of botanists ; but whilst the secreting organs of these
plants have been minutely described, the chemical nature of the
fluid itself has been but very imperfectly exammed. That these
liquids have not met with the attention to which their importance
entitles them, may be accounted for by the circumstance that few
chemists have an opportunity of obtaiming the unaltered fluids,
and that even those who are fortunate enough to procure them,
seldom can command a sufficient quantity to enable them to inves-
tigate their nature. With the exception of Dr. Turner’s analysis
of the fluid in the ascidia of Nepenthes, I know of no other ana-
lysis of this fluid or of similar secretions. The botanists who
have given attention to the subject of the watery secretions of
the leaves of plants have found these secretions to consist in most
cases of nothing but pure water, and have only occasionally dis-
covered in them some vegetable matter. Treviranus for instance
observed a tasteless water in the corolla of Maranta gibba, which
he however did not further examine; the same gentleman ex-
amined the watery secretion of Amomum Zerumbet, and caused
Dr. G6ppert to subject it to chemical analysis, from which it re-
sulted that the fluid between the scales of the spikes consisted of
almost pure water, containing a small quantity of vegetable fibre
and mucus.
The most remarkable instance of a watery secretion from the
leaves of plants is recorded in the ‘Annals of Natural History ’
for 1848, in a paper by Mr. Williamson, who observed that the
leaves of Caladium destillatorium had the peculiar power of ex-
haling watery fluid from a point near the apex on the upper side.
Each full-grown healthy leaf, according to Mr. Williamson’s ob-
servation, produced about half a pint of water during the night,
which, on being analysed, was found to contain a very minute
portion of vegetable matter.
* Read before the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, July 12, 1849.
Fluid in the Ascidia of Nepenthes. Teg
It appeared to me highly improbable that these fluid sccre-
tions should consist of pure water with merely a trace of vege-
table matter, and no inorganic substances whatsoever. If they are
to be regarded as true secretions, we naturally should expect them
to contain some of the salts which we find in all juices of plants.
I was therefore anxious to examine this point, and I am glad that I
have an opportunity of bringing the results of my analysis of the
fluid in the ascidia of Nepenthes before the notice of the Bota»
nical Society. It is through the kindness of Prof. Balfour,
Mr. Evans of the Experimental Gardens, Messrs. Jas. Dickson and
Sons, and Sir W. Hooker, that I have obtained the materials for
the following analysis, and I consider it my duty to express here
publicly my deep sense of gratitude for the kindness and libe-
rality with which the above-named gentlemen have assisted me
in carrying on this inquiry. I have also to express my obliga-
tions to Dr. George Wilson for kindly allowing me the use of
his laboratory.
Linneus regarded the ascidia of Nepenthes as a natural reser-
voir for rain, and thought that the water found in them was intro-
duced from without, and was not secreted by the plant itself.
His opinion however has been contradicted already by many bo-
tanists, especially Treviranus, who observed that the water in the
pitchers of Nepenthes destillatoria is always clear, and that there
exists a distinct secreting apparatus. Treviranus says, In an ar-
ticle which appeared in the ‘ Edinb. New Philosoph. Journal ’ for
Oct. 1832—April 1833 :—“ The parietes of the leaf of Nepenthes —
destillatoria ave traversed by a multitude of proportionally large
anastomosing veins, which contain many true spiral vessels. The
upper half of its inner surface is covered with a blue rind, as parts
often are which require to be protected from the action of water ;
the under half is, on the contrary, shining and full of gland-like
eminences directed downwards, and having a hole almost visible
to the naked eye, which is uncovered by the cuticle which the
remainder possesses.” The watery secretion reaches generally
to the level of these glands in the middle of the ascidium, and he
thinks that they are true secreting organs. This peculiar struc-
ture alone gives a strong reason for thinking that the water in
the ascidia of Nepenthes is supplied by the plant itself, and the
circumstance that water is found in pitchers which have never
been opened is another argument against the supposition that it
comes from without. The subjoined analysis of the fluid more-
over leaves no doubt that it is a true secretion.
Before I enter into the particulars of my experiments I will
mention that I could not detect any oxalic acid in the fluid of
Nepenthes. It is stated in Lindley’s ‘ Vegetable Kingdom ’ that
Dr. Turner found this acid in combination with potash, and that
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. iv.
130 Dr. A. Voelcker on the Chemical Composition of the
he also detected a trace of organic matter, which caused the
watery fluid when boiling to emit an odour of boiled apples.
Though I have examined the water of many pitchers from four
different localities, and paid particular attention to the detection
of oxalic acid, I have failed in finding a trace of it, and I am
therefore inclined to believe that Dr. Turner, on account of the
minute quantity of solid matter which he must have got on eva-
poration of the water, was unable to subject the minute crystals
which he took for superoxalate of potash to a further examina-
tion, which would have shown him that the crystals were not
superoxalate of potash, but chloride of potassium. The propor-
tion of chloride of potassium which I found in the fluid is consider-
able ; it is deposited from the liquid after evaporation in the form
of minute but very regular cubes. The odour of boiled apples
which Dr. Turner observed I found very distinct when the water
was heated to the boiling-point. Besides chloride of potassium I
found malic and a little citric acid, in combination usually with
soda, lime and magnesia, and a small quantity of another orga-
nic matter which gave a yellow tint to the water during its eva-
poration. The quantity of the latter was too minute to enable
me to ascertain its chemical nature.
I will now proceed to describe the experiments with the dif-
ferent fluids in the ascidia of Nepenthes :—
1. Fluid from an unopened pitcher-plant grown in the Bota-
nical Garden, Edinburgh.
The water which I got on the 12th of June, 1849, was per-
fectly colourless and clear ; it had an agreeable, not very pro-
nounced smell and a refreshing taste. Though its taste was not
sour, litmus paper showed the presence of an acid or an acid salt
by the red colour it assumed when dipped in the water. When
heated it remained clear, and only assumed a slightly yellow
colour when the liquid became very concentrated. The residue
which remained on evaporation was cream-coloured, very bygro-
scopic, and dissolved entirely im a small quantity of distilled
water. Litmus paper plunged in this solution was turned red
immediately ; the acid which is present in the water therefore was
not volatilized during the evaporation.
The quantity of the water from one pitcher amounted to
17°41 grains,
which gave on evaporation
0:16 of dry residue, dried at 212° F.
100 parts of the fluid consequently contained
0:92 per cent. of solid matter.
2. Water from unopened pitcher-plants grown in the Botani-
cal Garden, Edinburgh, June 13th, 1849.
The physical characters.were the same as those of the preceding
Fluid in the Ascidia of Nepenthes. 131
liquid. Litmus paper likewise was turned red when dipped in
the water.
The behaviour of the water towards chemical tests was as fol-
lows :—
Ammonia produced no change.
Carbonate of ammonia produced no change.
Lime-water produced no change.
Chloride of calcium and ammonia produced no change.
Nitrate of barytes produced no change.
Nitrate of silver gave a white voluminous precipitate, inso-
luble in nitric acid, but soluble in ammonia.
Acetate of lead produced a white precipitate soluble for the
greater part in boiling water.
Basic acetate of lead gave a white voluminous precipitate in
the clear liquid filtered from the precipitate which was caused by
neutral acetate of lead.
Oxalate of ammonia produced a small white precipitate of
oxalate of lime.
Phosphate of soda and ammonia, added to the concentrated
liquid filtered from the oxalate of lime, gave a crystalline white
precipitate of phosphate of magnesia and ammonia.
Chloride of platinum, added to the water after having been
evaporated to a small bulk, produced a crystalline yellow preci-
pitate.
The residue left on evaporation of the water coloured the alco-
hol flame yellow.
These reactions indicate the presence of chlorine, potash, soda,
magnesia, lime and organic acids, and prove the absence of other
bases and of sulphuric acid, tartaric acid, racemic acid, oxalic and
phosphoric acid.
3. Fluid from unopened pitcher-plants grown in the Experi-
mental Gardens, Edinburgh, June 13th, 1849.
The water was perfectly clear and colourless, had an acid re-
action on litmus paper, and exhibited the same physical and che-
mical characters as the fluid from the pitcher-plants of the Bota-
nical Garden.
63°21 grains of water left on evaporation a residue which, dried
at 212° F., amounted to
0:58 grain.
100 parts of the fluid therefore contained
0:91 per cent. of dry residue.
Exposed to a red heat the residue (0°58 gr.) turned black, and
gave off pungent fumes, and left a white ash after all the char-
coal was completely burnt away, the weight of which was 0°42
of a grain.
The loss by burning therefore was 25-86 per cent.
Ox
182 Dr. A. Voelcker on the Chemical Composition of the |
The residue left on evaporation of this fluid was slightly co-
loured, and gave an almost colourless solution with water. A
portion of this solution was kept im a closed bottle. After the
lapse of a fortnight the water in the bottle became turbid and
depesited some hight white flakes. The acid reaction, which was
very distinct before, had now disappeared entirely.
4. Fluid from opened pitcher-plants grown in the Experi-
mental Gardens, June 14th, 1849.
The fluid in the open pitchers was coloured yellow, but other-
wise perfectly clear. The reactions with chemical tests were the
same as the preceding.
97°74 grains of water left on evaporation 0°85 of a grain of
dry residue.
100 parts therefore contained 0°87 per cent. of solid matter.
This residue was coloured yellow, but redissolved entirely im a
little water.
5. Fluid from unopened pitcher-plants grown in Messrs.
Dickson’s nursery, June 17th, 1849.
Fluid perfectly clear and colourless, reactions the same as above.
319-48 grains left a residue which, dried at 212° F., was found
to weigh 1°88 grain ; or
100 parts of the liquid contained 0°58 per cent.
6. Liquid from unopened pitcher-plants grown in Messrs. Dick-
son’s nursery, June 21st, 1849.
Physical and chemical characters of the hquid the same as
above.
193°82 grains of water left on evaporation 1:22 grain of dry
residue, or 0°62 per cent.
When burnt the 1°22 grain lost in weight 0°44 of a grain,
or 100 parts of the residue lost 36-06 per cent.
The solid matter of this liquid was very hygroscopic, and co-
loured more yellow than that of the Botanical and Experimental
Gardens. I found that the total weight of the solid matter in this
fluid was not so large as in that of the Experimental Gardens, but
that the proportion of organic matter in the residue was larger
than that in the residue of the fluid procured from the Experi-
mental Gardens.
7. Water from opened pitcher-plants grown in Messrs. Dick-
son’s nursery, June 24th, 1849.
This fluid was yellow-coloured and not quite clear. Litmus
paper was turned red when moistened with the water. The re-
actions were the same as above, with the exception that nitrate of
barytes produced a slight turbidity, indicating the presence of
sulphuric acid. As I found no sulphuric acid in the liquid from
the unopened pitchers of the same plants, nor in any of the
liquids I examined, I think the sulphuric acid which I found
Fluid in the Ascidia of Nepenthes. 133
must have resulted from the water with which the plants had
been watered which had found its way into the open _pitchers*.
In order to see if the liquid contained any volatile acid, I sub-
jected about half an ounce of it to distillation. The distillation
was continued till the residue in the glass retort was evaporated
to dryness, and the generated steam carefully condensed in a
glass receiver. The distilled portion was pertectly pure water,
and experienced no change by any reagent.
It results from this experiment that the liquid in the ascidia
of Nepenthes does not contain any volatile acids, such as acetic or
formic acid.
8. Fluid from unopened pitcher-plants grown in the Royal
Gardens, Kew. _
Having been unable to detect any oxalic acid in the above-
mentioned fluids, I was anxious to ascertain whether or not the
fluid of plants grown in other localities contained oxalic acid. I
therefore applied to Sir W. Hooker, who with great liberality di-
rected some liquid of unopened pitcher-plants grown in the Kew
Royal Botanical Gardens to be sent to me. The physical and
chemical characters of this fluid were precisely the same as those
of the previously examined liquids. The proportion of solid
matter it held in solution however was much smaller.
299°87 grains of the liquid left on evaporation only
0°82 of a grain of dry residue.
100 parts of the liquid therefore contained
0:27 per cent. of solid matter.
On burning, the 0°82 of a grain lost 0°27 of a grain, or
100 parts lost 32°92 per cent.
All the liquids from the different localities above-mentioned
which were left over I mixed together and evaporated the mix-
ture to dryness. One-half of the dry residue I exposed to a red
heat, and used the remaining white ash for the determination of
the inorganic salts of which it was composed.
The other half [ dissolved in water and precipitated with basic
acetate of lead, in order to obtain the organic acids in combina-
tion with lead. This precipitate I collected on a filter and washed
with cold distilled water. It was then removed from the filter
and suspended in water, through which a current of sulphuretted
hydrogen was passed. By this means I separated the lead as
sulphuret, and obtained the organic acids free dissolved in water.
This solution was colourless and very acid ; evaporated to a small
bulk in a water-bath it assumed a yellow colour, and dried at last
to a yellow crystalline mass, which deliquesced in the air and dis-
* The water in this instance was procured chiefly from the Water of
Leith.
134 Dr. A. Voelcker on the Chemical Composition of the
solved readily in water and alcohol, leaving behind a trace of a
brown organic matter.
Lime-water added in excess to a portion of the acid solution
produced no precipitate in the cold, but on boiling a small white
precipitate fell down which redissolved entirely in sal ammoniac.
Chloride of calcium and ammonium left the liquid unchanged
in the cold, but on boiling a precipitate was formed which was
soluble in sal ammoniac.
Acetate of lead gave a white precipitate insoluble in ammonia,
soluble in acetic acid.
Basic acetate of lead added to the liquid filtered from the pre-
cipitate caused by neutral acetate of lead produced another abun-
dant white precipitate. From these reactions it appears that the
precipitate with lime-water was caused by citric acid and not by
tartaric or racemic acid, the reactions of which acids are similar
to those of citric acid, for tartrate of lime is not soluble in sal
ammoniac, whilst tartrate of lead redissolves readily in ammonia.
Tartaric acid moreover is sufficiently characterized by the sparmg
solubility of its acid potash salt, and as the acid liquid did not
give rise to the formation of such a salt with potash, we have
another indirect proof of the presence of citric acid. A little
tartaric acid added to the liquid in which tartaric acid was sought
in vain, after a few minutes produced the sparingly soluble pot-
ash salt.
Racemic acid is thrown down both by lime-water and by a
solution of gypsum ; the acid liquid of Nepenthes remained un-
changed by either reagent, hence it cannot have contained any
racemic acid.
The precipitate caused by chloride of calcium and ammonia
and boiling was filtered hot, and alcohol and ammonia added to
the clear liquid. The addition of alcohol produced a voluminous
white precipitate, a reaction which indicates the presence of malic
acid. The quantity of this precipitate was much larger than that
of the lime precipitate which citric acid gave. The formation of
a precipitate, upon addition of aleohol to the hquid from which
the first had been separated by filtration, is characteristic of the
presence of malic acid, for no other lime-salts were present ; for
instance, no sulphate of lime was present which could have pro-
duced a precipitate. But I thought it nevertheless necessary
to examine the precipitate caused by the addition of alcohol
further. When burnt it turned black, gave off pungent vapours,
and was converted into carbonate of ime. The solution of chlo-
ride of calctum and ammonia used for the experiment remained
elear after the addition of alcohol; the acid liquid likewise re-
mained clear when alcohol was added ; both put together imme-
diately produced a white voluminous precipitate.
Fluid in the Ascidia of Nepenthes. 135
Basic acetate of lead, as already mentioned, throws down from
the solution a white precipitate. I could not observe that this pre-
cipitate melted below the boiling-point of water, as pure malate of
lead does, but it must be remembered that this reaction is di-
stinctly marked only when the malate of lead is pure ; admixtures
of other salts of lead prevent it altogether ; and as I have shown
the presence of citric acid and another organic substance which
is thrown down by basic acetate of lead, there can be no doubt
that this was the reason why the precipitate did not dissolve in
boiling water.
Though I have not been able to obtain a sufficient quantity of
the acids of Nepenthes for an elementary analysis, I think the above
reactions prove the presence of malic and citric acid. Oxalic acid,
which is readily detected, as the weakest solution of an oxalate is
thrown down by lime-water, I failed to discover; on the contrary, I
have shown that the water contained lime, which excludes the co-
existence of oxalic acid in a clear liquid. I have found that the
smallest quantity of oxalic acid immediately caused the water of
Nepenthes to become turbid. :
The second half of the residue left on evaporation of the mixed
fluids I exposed to a red heat in a platinum capsule. It turned
black, gave off pungent fumes, and left a white salt after all the
charcoal was burnt off.
On analysis this residue was found to consist of
Chloride of potassium. . . . . 76°31
Carbonate of soda’. 4. |. 16°44:
Uhntiee et ise wk Om
MOMENI A Lica ieeih Vesta oo. cn) Seen
100°63
The unburnt residue left on evaporation of the fluid in the
ascidia of Nepenthes therefore consists, if we take the average of
the loss of the three determinations at 31°61 per cent. and reject
the earbonic acid of the ash, of—
Organic matter, chiefly
Malic acid and a little citric acid . 38°61
Chloride of potassium . . . . 50°42
Oeler Meee! th. Se Bens Soe eG
Riirrtegys Freer men PSE ee 2°59
MIRC MIESIAS Weve: es. oc oe ee ee oo
100°57
It is remarkable that none of the fluids which I examined
contained any sulphuric acid, which acid has been found in all
juices of plants, and which I do not doubt also exists in the sap
136 Mr. J. Miers on the genus Margaranthus.
of Nepenthes. An ash analysis of this imteresting plant would
show the proportion of sulphuric acid at once; and as we are not
in possession of an analysis of the ash of Nepenthes, which in
other respects might be of interest, I take the liberty of asking
those gentlemen who are in the possession of Nepenthes’ plants
to preserve the clippings of branches, &c., which I shall be glad
to receive as materials for an ash analysis.
XVII.—Contributions to the Batany of South America.
By Joun Miers, Esq., F.R.S., F.L.S.
[Continued from p. 39. ]
MARGARANTHUS.
Amon the various collections of Mexican and South American
plants, I have not been able to find any specimen corresponding
with this genus, of which indeed nothing appears to be known,
except the description given of it by Prof. Schlechtendal, and
the figure drawn by that able botanist from living specimens
raised in Halle from seeds received from Mexico. On comparing’
this with Physalis and its allied genera, it will be seen to differ
from them in the smaller size and pale blue colour of its flowers,
and particularly in the great contraction of the mouth of the
corolla, which gives it a globular instead of a campanular form.
The calyx is more entire on its margin, and like Physalis en-
larges, becomes vesicular, and incloses a small globular berry
with aqueous juice, which becomes exsuccous. I have here
amended its character as contrasted with its allied genera.
Marearantuvs, Schl.—Calyx urceolato-tubulosus, 5-angularis
breviter 5-dentatus, persistens et accrescens. Corolla urceo-
lato-globosa, 5-suleata, imo attenuata, medio ventricosa, ore
valde contracta, margine dentibus 5 minutis instructa, mtus
villosula. Stamina 5, qualia, inclusa, corolle dimidio bre-
viora ; anthere conniventes, 2-lobze, dorso affixee, rima duplici
longitudinaliter dehiscentes. Ovarium globosum, 2-sulcatum,
disco carnoso annulari basi immersum, 2-loculare, placentis
multiovulatis, medio dissepimenti utrinque aduatis. Stylus
simplex, apice attenuatus. Stigma truncatum. Bacca sub-
stipitata, 2-locularis, exsucca, pericarpio membranaceo, poly-
sperma, calyce inflato, ovoideo, reticulato-venoso, dentibus ore
clauso laxe inclusa. Semina orbiculato-reniformia. Embryo
in albumen semipellucidum curvatus.—Herba Mexicana dicho-
tome ramosa, folis alternis, ovatis, vel ovato-lanceolatis, acutis,
petiolatis ; floribus axillaribus, solitariis, parvulis, pedunculatis,
nutantibus, sordide cerulescentibus.
t. Margaranthus solanaceus, Schi. (Hort. Halens. i. tab. 1) ;—
Mr. J. Miers on the genus Nectouxia. 137
vaide ramosus, foliis inferioribus obovatis, acutis, imo rotun-
datis, obsolete dentatis, utrinque fere glabris, venis subpilosis,
margineque ciliolatis, superioribus lanceolatis, petiolo canali-
culato sparse pubescente.—Mexico (Papantla, Schzede).
This plant appears to have very much the habit of a Physals ;
its lower leaves are 4 inches long, 2} inches broad, on a petiole
of } to 5 inch; the upper leaves are 24 inches long, 10 lines broad,
on a petiole of half an inch ; the peduncles are 1 line long; the
calyx 1 line, and the corolla 2 to 24 lines in diameter ; the calyx
increases to the size of half an inch, is globular in form, reticu-
late, and incloses a berry of 3 lines in diameter.
NECTOUXIA.
This genus appears to have been little known hitherto except
from the details given by Prof. Kunth (Nov. Gen. i. p. 10),
where a figure of Nectouxia formosa is given in plate 198 of that
work. On comparing a specimen of this genus im the herbarium
of Sir Wm. Hooker, I am led to conclude it to be a second spe-
cies, as I can hardly imagine that so accurate an observer could
have been mistaken. In this species the difference lies in the
calycine segments being much narrower, in the greater length of
the corolla, in the segments of the border being narrower, in the
lower insertion of the stamens, in the longer and more linear
anthers, and more especially in the singular expansion of the
upper portion of the filament, and finally m the exsertion of the
style. Kunth describes his plant as bemg herbaceous and not
higher than 8 inches, whereas this appears to be a much taller
plant. Nectouxia evidently approaches very closely to the
genus Salpichroma, and were it not for the remarkable peculiarity
of the promiment corona in the mouth of the corolla, it could
hardly be distinguished from that genus. Like Salpichroma it
possesses the character of its flowers becoming black im drying :
the expansion of its filament is also another distinguishing fea-
ture. I have not been able to examine its perfect fruit, but it is
evidently a berry: the form and structure of its ovarium quite
correspond with that of Salpichroma. The following is its
amended character :—
Necrouxia. Char. emend.—Caly# 5-partitus, lacmis sequa-
libus, erectis, linearibus, acutis, persistens. Corolla hypocra-
teriformi-tubulosa, tubo 5-nervi, 5-angulato, superne paulo
ampliato, calyce 2-plo longiore, limbo patente, 5-partito, laci-
nis «zqualibus, oblongis, acuminato-obtusiusculis, estivatione
induplicato-valvatis, fauce in coronam brevem urceolatam ex-
sertam 10-nervem 10-dentatam producta. Stamina 5, inclusa,
eequalia: filamenta brevia, supra tubi medium inserta, com-
138 Mr. J. Miers on the genus Nectouxia.
pressa, seepe (an semper ?) superne in laminam membranaceam
pandurzformem apice acutam subito dilatata : anthere lneari-
oblong, erectze, mucronulatze, medio dorsi affixee, 2-loculares,
loculis parallelis, usque ad medium disjunctis, rima longitu-
dinali antice dehiscentibus. Ovarium conicum, disco parvo
carnoso impositum, 2-loculare, placentis dissepimento utrin-
que adnatis, multiovulatis. Stylus filiformis, tubo corolle
excedens. Stigma exsertum clavatum emarginato-2-lobum.
Cetera ignota.—Herbee perennes Mexicane fwtide ; folia petio-
lata sparsa, superiora subgemina, cordata, integra. Flores so-
litarii, extra-axillares, pedunculati, cernui. Corolla flava, sicca-
tione nigrescens.
1. Nectouxia formosa, H. B. K. ii. 10. tab. 193 ;—herbacea,
caule angulato ; foliis cordatis, ovatis, acutis, hirtellis ; calyce
piloso-hispido, corolla flava, staminibus tubo haud superan-
tibus.—Mexico (Real del Monte).
This plant is described as being scarcely 8 inches in height
with a fusiform root: its leaves, sometimes geminate, are from 13
to 13 inch long, and | to 1} inch broad, upon a petiole 9 to 10
lines in length : the peduncle of its solitary axile flower is half an
inch long, its calycine segments 6 lines, the tube of its corolla
10 lines, the lobes of its border 7 lines and 33 lines broad.
2. Nectouwxia bella (n. sp.) ;—herbacea, caule striato ; folus cor-
datis, ovatis, acutis, utrinque sparse et mollissime pubescen-
tibus; flore cernuo, staminibus infra faucem corolle omnino
inclusis, filamentis superne in ligulam latam membranaceam
expansis.—Mexico (Real del Monte, Coulter, no. 1270 ;—cirea
Tolucam, Andrieux, no. 180).
Although found near the same locality, and in no way differ-
ing in the shape of its leaves, its herbaceous stem and tapermg
root, this plant offers many points of structure at variance with
the foregoing species, if we depend upon the usually accurate
descriptions of Prof. Kunth. It is double its height, and its
leaves are proportionally larger, being often geminate, 27 inches
long, 2 inches broad, upon a petiole 3 inch in length ; the pedun-
cle of its axillary flower is 1 inch long, its narrow linear acute
calycine segments are } to 3 inch, the tube of its corolla 1 inch to
1+ inch in length, and 2 to 3 lines in diameter at the mouth ; the
lobes of its border are lanceolate, oblong, very patent, and # inch
long; the corona, with ten obsolete teeth, protrudes 2 lines be-
yond the throat; the stamens, inserted somewhat above the middle
of the tube, are 3 lines long ; the ovarium 1s elongated and point-
edly conical, 3 lines long, 3 line at base, and is seated on a pro-
Mr. J. Miers on the genus Nicandra. 139
minent annular ring, and the style and stigma do not exceed the
extremity of the corona*.
NICANDRA.
This genus of Adanson, on account of its augescent vesicular
calyx, has been placed near Physalis, but it exhibits much dissi-
milarity in its habit, in the blue colour and estivation of its large
bell-shaped flowers, and in the structure of its fruit. There is
only one recorded species, well known to our gardens, the old
Atropa physaloides, Linn., which is manifestly related to Atropa
and Anisodus on account of the form and imbricate estivation of
its corolla and the nature of its fruit ; it differs however from both
these genera in the very peculiar character of its calyx, in which
respect it approaches Juanulloa, but it does not correspond with
that genus either in its habit, the structure of its corolla, or the
form of its embryo. It therefore takes its position in the tribe
Atropee (Ann. Nat. Hist. 2nd Ser. i. 166), and I annex an
emended character im conformity with my own observations
made upon the living plant.
Nicanpra, Adans. Char. emend.—Calyx magnus, 5-partitus,
lacinus sagittato-cordatis, acutis, erectis, longitudinaliter re-
plicatis, marginibus infra medium valvatim conniventibus, hine
pseudo-alatis, angulis basalibus in calcaria 5 uncinata acutis-
sima productis, persistens et augescens. Corolla magna, cam-
panulata, limbo brevi 5-partito, lobis latis, rotundatis, patenti-
reflexis, vstivatione imbricata. Stamina 5, sequalia, erecta,
corolle triplo breviora, filamenta basi tubie glandulis totidem
trigonis utrinque auriculatis lanato-tomentosis orta, hinc for-
nicata, erecta, et incurvata; anthere ovate, 2-loculares, imo
cordate, in sinu apicifixee, loculis parallele connatis, rima
marginali longitudinaliter dehiscentibus. Ovariwm obovatum,
disco carnoso crenulato insidens, 5-loculare, ovulis plurimis,
placentis incrassatis axi adnatis. Stylus brevis, longitude
staminum. Stigma quinquelobum, lobis obtusis, glanduloso-
papillosis, in capitulum aggregatis. Bacca subsicca, spheerica,
calyce globoso, membranaceo, valde reticulato, aucto, 5-gono
inclusa, 3—5-locularis, pericarpio tenuissimo fragili irregulariter
rumpente. Semina plurima, reniformia, /z/o in sinu lateral: ;
testa scrobiculato-favosa. Embryo teres, intra albumen car-
nosum spiraliter arcuatus, cotyledonibus semiteretibus, radicula
angulo basali spectante, hiloque evitante, duplo brevioribus.—
Herba suffrutescens Peruana, caulibus plurimis, ramosis, deci-
duis ; folis alternis, superioribus geminis, oblongis, acutis, sinu-
* A representation of this species, with sectional details, will be given in
plate 40 of the ‘ Illust. South Amer. Plants.’
140 Mr. J. Miers on the genus Nicandra.
ato-incisis, in petiolum longum decurrentibus, glaberrimis ; flori-
bus pedunculatis, solitariis, extra-axillaribus, cernuis, pedunculo
Sructifero elongato, erecto, apice recurvo.
1. Nicandra physaloides, Gaertn. u. 237. tab. 1381; Bot. Mag.
2458. Atropa physaloides, Linn. ; Jacq. Obs. iv. tab. 98. Phy-
salis datureefolia, Lam. Ency. i. 102. Calydermos erosus,
R.& P.ii.44. Alkekengi, Feullé, Obs. 724. tab. 16.—Planta
omnino glabra, radice fibrosa, perennante ; caulibus frondosis,
ramosissimis, annuis ; foliis glabris, oblongis, acutis, sinuato-
incisis, in petiolum longum decurrentibus ; calyce reticulato,
nitido, aucto; corolla magna, azurea, campanulata, fundo al-
bido, maculis 5 obscure ceeruleis notata.—Peruvia, v. v.
This plant is well known in most tropical countries, where it
has become almost indigenous ; it is cultivated in the open air in
Kew Gardens, from which source an ample opportunity has been
afforded of examining its structure in a living state. It grows
there to the height of about 5 feet ; in warmer climates it attains
a height of 6 or 8 feet ; its leaves are oblong, irregularly inciso-
sinuate on the margin, with an acute summit, cuneate at base,
and decurrent on the channeled petiole ; they are about 63 inches
long, upon a petiole of 13 inch, are about 4 inches broad, and
quite glabrous. The peduncle is pendent, about.% inch in flower,
growing to a length of 14 inch in fruit, when it becomes erect
and suddenly deflexed at its thickened apex: the calyx is 9 lines
long from its base to the point of its segments, or 1 inch long
including its basal lobes; the segments are erect, with their
margins undulated and connivent with the adjoming ones for
their lower half, salient, producing the appearance as if it were
5-winged ; in fruit it preserves the same form, becoming almost
globular and vesicular, and of very reticulated texture, with the
points of its segments conniving and wholly concealing the berry.
The corolla is about twice the length of the calyx, broadly cam-
panular, swelling gradually upwards from its middle ; the lobes
of the border are rounded, somewhat erect and overlapping each
other at the base, and suddenly revolute towards their apex, which
is very obtuse, with a slight emarginature on each side of a short
central point; the stamens are scarcely one-third of the length
of the corolla, arising from as many glands adnate to the base of
the tube, forming a kind of fornix about the ovarium, and clothed
with densely woolly brachiate hairs ; the filaments above are quite
smooth, erect, and incurved at the apex; the style is short, erect,
surmounted by a large, globular, woolly or papillose stigma, com-
posed of five segments closely connivent ; the ovarium is seated
upon a small crenulated yellow gland. The berry is quite glo-
bular, about 8 lines in diameter, with three to five cells of unequal
Mr. J. Miers on the genus Cliocarpus. 141
size, having slender dissepiments, and being filled with an aqueous
juice and numerous seeds attached to a large central placentation ;
the berry when fully ripe becomes dry with its pericarp of thin
and brittle texture, being easily ruptured by an irregular lace-
ration. The seeds are flattened, reniform and rounded, about
1 line in diameter.
CLIOCARPUS.
Among Gardner’s Brazilian plants I have noticed one, which
in the shape of its calyx, m the structure of its fruit, and espe-
cially in the form of its embryo, comes near Nicandra, but it dis-
agrees in having a woody stem and a wholly different habit ; its
calyx does not, as in Nicandra, become thin, membranaceous and
reticular, but is thick, somewhat fleshy, and densely covered
with stellate tomentum, approaching in its form more to that of
Juanulloa, although the shape of its embryo is that of the former
genus. Its flower is yet unknown, as the only specimens col-
lected were in fruit. On account of the structure of its seed I
have placed it for the present next Nicandra, but its exact posi-
tion cannot be known until we are acquainted with its floral cha-
racters. I have called the genus Cliocarpus from «delw, claudo,
Kap7ros, fructus, on account of its fruit being wholly concealed
within the enlarged enveloping calyx. The followmg may be
taken for its generic character until more ample details can be
obtained :—
Criocarrts (gen. nov.). Flos ignotus.— Calyz fructifer auctus,
5-partitus, laciniis lanceolatis, acutis, longitudinaliter subrepli-
catis, marginibus valvatim conniventibus, hine tubum ventri-
cosum sinuoso-5-angulatum, ore 5-dentato fere clausum, simu-
lantibus, angulis imo saccatis. Bacca omnino inclusa, globosa,
2-locularis. Semina plurima, placentis dissepimento adnatis
affixa, reniformia, compressa ; festa scrobiculata, hilo in sinu
lateral. Embryo teres, in a/bumen carnosum spiraliter arcuatus,
cotyledonibus semiteretibus, radicula angulo basali spectante,
hilo evitante, sub-3-plo brevioribus.—Frutex Brasiliensis, dense
stellato-tomentosus ; folus alternis, oblongis, integris, breviter
petiolatis ; floribus eatra-axillaribus, binis vel solitariis, pedun-
culo fructifero cernuo.
1. Chocarpus Gardneri (n. sp.) ;—folius obovatis, acuminatis, basi
obtuse rotundatis, crassiusculis, supra pubescentibus, subtus
dense cano-tomentosis, pilis stipitato-stellatis.—Brasilia, ad
Arraial das Mercés, Prov. Minas Geraés, v. s. in herb. Hook.
(Gardner, 5042).
This is described as a shrub 6 to 10 feet high; its branches
are woody and covered with yellowish tomentum ; the leaves are
142 Mr. W. Clark on the Animal of Kellia rubra.
oblong, acuminated gradually, and sharply attenuated at the
apex, rounded or subtruncated, and somewhat inzequilateral at
base, 3 inches long, 1% inch broad, upon a thick short petiole
of 2 lines in length. The flowers, sometimes in pairs, grow late-
rally at the base of the petiole ; the peduncle is refracted, = to
1 inch long, and covered with long glandular hairs mixed with
shorter stellate pubescence ; the calyx, also tomentose, is 8 lines
long, 6 lines across, inclosing a small globular berry 4 lines in
diameter.
XVIII.—On the Animal of Kellia rubra.
By W. Crark, Esq.
To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.
GENTLEMEN, Beacon Hill, Exmouth, Devon, July 5, 1849.
I ventuRE to trouble you with a few observations in reply to
Mr. Alder’s last paper, in the ‘Annals’ of this month, on the
subject of Kellia rubra, and then I hope to retire from the field.
I have had ample scope allowed; and though you have not in-
terrupted the discussion, by issuing the editorial veto,
“‘Claudite jam rivos, pueri, sat prata biberunt,”
still we ought to keep in mind the phrase,
“ Est modus in rebus.”’
Mr. Alder still contmues to rely on the point that the regular
ingress and egress of the branchial currents, and the regulation
thereof, in the bivalve mollusca, are produced by the action of
the vibratile eilia, which clothe the branchial lamin; I differ
from his views, and think this doctrine entitled to no confidence,
and that the cause is inadequate to the effect propounded.
The branchial cilia have very different functions ; their sole use
is to beat and subdivide the water, to facilitate the elimination
of the vital principle therefrom, after it has been admitted into the
branchial cavity by the opening of the valves of the animal, by
the relaxation of the adductor muscles, and from whence the im-
pure water is discharged by their contraction at the same points,
ventral or siphonal, or a combination of both, as the animal may
happen to be closed, or open mantled, at which it enters, and a
fresh supply of the pure element is received to fill the vacuum
caused by its expulsion.
Great misapprehension has arisen from confounding the func-
tions of two different sets of organs, attributing to the one the
uses of the other, the real functions of which have altogether
been unnoticed.
The assumed regularity of the admission and discharge of the
Mr. W. Clark on the Animal of Kellia rubra. 143
branchial currents is a sad mistake ; nothing can be more irre-
gular, capricious, and uncertain ; they depend entirely on the
volition, habits, and wants of the animal, and are often suspended
for weeks in Kellia rubra, and twice in every twenty-four hours
in the mussels and numerous Gasteropoda inhabiting the higher
levels of the littoral zone.
I positively dissent from Mr. Alder’s views, repeated in his
last paper, that the open fold of Kellia rubra is a special bran-
chial organ. That the water enters therein no one disputes, imas-
much as this fold is a simple continuation of the ventral portion
of the mantle, and the water must flow therein, as it does in
every other part of an open mantle. This sentiment is a repe-
tition of one in a former paper ; but it 1s necessary to keep it in
view, to show that the fold in question has no pretensions, as I
think, to be considered as a special branchial organ to supply the
want of one in the usual place nature is always accustomed to
fix it, and I am inclined to think that Mr. Alder will ultimately
find that she has not, as he states, placed the “ inhalant siphon ”
“ before instead of behind.”
This idea of inverting the invariable order of nature to account
for an anomaly in the structure of Kellia rubra is a stretch of
imagination, far beyond my conjecture, that the fold in question
may be to assist locomotion. But I shall not be surprised to find
that Mr. Alder and myself have mistaken the use of this fold in
Kellia rubra, and that it may minister to supply water to the
viviparous colony deposited in the ovarium of the animal of this
species, and also act as an oviduct and receptacle for the young,
until they are sufficiently developed for exclusion. This idea
arises from having seen, when examining some Kellia suborbicu-
laris in a saucer, several testaceous young ejected from the ano-
malous tube of one of the animals, which I find, as Mr. Alder
states, 1s entire, and not an open fold as in Kedlia rubra ; these I
immediately gathered up, and have them now by me. I men-
tioned some time ago this circumstance to Professor Forbes ;
but notwithstanding this fact, I have never been able to dis-
cover, in any of the very numerous ovaria of this species I have
examined, anything but ova, but it is exceedingly probable the
shells I saw ejected may have been deposited in the curious and
extraordinary appendage in this animal, and there received the
development in which I found them.
As to Mr. Alder’s other observations, on some quotations from
my last paper, I leave them as I find them. I really have some
difficulty in appreciating their scope, aim and applicability ; in-
deed some of them are so involved as not to be clear. I therefore
beg him to accept the following new demonstration of the fallacy
of the inhalant and exhalant branchial currents in the bivalves
144 Mr. W. Clark on the Animal of Kellia rubra.
having separate apertures, as an acquittance on account of those
parts of his observations which I have neglected to notice, and
which, if established, will I am sure be considered by that gen-
tleman as a sufficient answer.
I propose to demonstrate that the water for branchial, as well
as alimentary purposes, passes into the branchial cavity by both
the posterior siphons, in conjunction with the pedal aperture in
those animals in which the ventral range is sufficiently open, and
is expelled indiscriminately in various proportions from all the
apertures I have mentioned.
It appears entirely to have escaped Mr. Alder’s observation that
the posterior siphons of all bivalves have other functions besides
the conveyance of water to the branchie, and that they are also
furnished with most important organs of prehension, for pro-
viding for the animal’s sustentation ; these are the tentacular
cirrhi and cilia which clothe both the anal and branchial siphons
of a great majority of the bivalve mollusca, to entangle and cap-
ture the minute animalecul to be conveyed into the branchial
cavity: how, and by what means, is this operation to be accom-
plished? I answer, through both the posterior ciliated siphons,
by the agency of the currents of water, which enter and thus
enable them to deposit within the branchial walls the prey which
each cirrhigerous siphon has captured. We cannot suppose that
nature has furnished the siphons of the animals with organs for
taking their prey, without at the same time providing the means
of conveying it into the branchial cavity, and there cannot be
any other than the passage of the water through each siphon.
We have here irrefragable proof that both the posterior siphons
are subservient to provide the animal with water for branchial
and alimentary uses.
The Pectines, Anomie, and Ostree also indisputably prove the
fallacy of Mr. Alder’s doctrine of distinct apertures of ingress
and egress for the branchial currents, as im these genera the
animals have only one immense aperture, which extends nearly
throughout the periphery of the shell, consequently the water
can only enter into and issue from the same aperture.
The only other point I must notice is Mr. Alder’s assertion
that I have “ overstated ” the tidal range of Kellia rubra. What
I said with respect to the habitat of this species, was from the
recollections of fifteen years ago. I visited the locality a few
days since, and again this day, with a person well aequamted
with the coast, who called in to assist his judgement another in-
dividual, who informed me that the rock from which I took in
their presence Kellia rubra, is often not covered with water for a
fortnight at a time in calm weather: therefore, as I stated in my
last paper, the washing of the bases and sides of the rocks suffices
Mr. W. Clark on the Animal of Kellia rubra. 145
to supply moisture to prevent the desiccation of the branchi of
Kellia rubra, as well as those of the Littorina jugosa and petrea,
and of the Patelle and Mytili, which, in many situations, are not
submerged throughout the year; and I can affirm that I saw
hundreds of some of the animals I have named from ten to twenty
feet above the level of the highest spring-tide at any period of
the year. How these animals exist is a mystery ; it is possible the
saline particles in the air, and the fine spray carried by the winds
to the rocks on which these animals are found, may supply suft-
cient moisture for the branchize ; but can the animal from these
materials extract sustentation ? There is no appearance of their
descent to lower levels ; they appear to be fixtures ; and I am in-
formed they are to be found in the same situation in all seasons.
As for Kellia rubra, they exist in myriads in all the higher levels
of the littoral zone, but im the very lowest they are not submerged
for four hours during the twenty-four.
These facts invalidate the doctrine of the branchial currents by
cilia, and their having separate apertures of ingress and egress ;
for what can be the use of them in Kellia rubra, when they neces-
sarily must be interrupted for twenty hours out of the twenty-
four throughout the year? It seems strange, according to Mr.
Alder, that a special branchial orgau should be furnished by na-
ture for a bivalve, which can better dispense with such a specialty
than any other in existence.
With my best thanks for your liberal insertion of my papers
in the ‘ Annals,’
I remain, Gentlemen, your most obedient servant,
WitiiaM Criark.
Postscript.—To corroborate the conjecture stated above of
the real uses of the anterior tubes of Kellia rubra and Kellia sub-
orbicularis, | beg to add, that I have just examined a fine Kellia
suborbicularis. I placed it on the umbones ; it immediately ex-
serted and opened the tube, and by the aid of a powerful lens I ~
counted at its fundus fitecn largely developed ova, and I have
not the slightest doubt that these anomalous animals, as regards
reproduction, are furnished with these anomalous tubes to minister
thereto; and I have further to state, that on submitting this ani-
mal to my scalpel and to one of Mr. Ross’s best microscopes, I
received the fullest confirmation of my conjectures, having found
at the bottom of the ovarium resting on the fundus of the tube,
ova in all states of development and fully-formed testaceous young.
I have carefully preserved the shell and ovarium. Therefore
Kellia rubra and Kellia suborbicularis are undoubtedly vivipa-
rous; the only difference between the two is, that the young in
Kellia rubra are fully developed m the ovarium, and only require
the open tube-like fold for an oviduct, and to convey water to
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. iv. 10
146 Zoological Society.
the pulli, whilst Kellia suborbicularis requires the tube to be
closed, as it is for some time a nidus for the full development of
the testaceous young.
I am at this moment enabled to add, that I have just opened
a very large Kellia suborbicularis having the contents of the ova-
rium converted from its usual ova-like aspect into many thousands
of completely testaceous young further to be developed before
exclusion from the anomalous oviduct.
The reason why this state of the ova has so often escaped de-
tection is, that the ovarium has not been examined at the genial
season. To see it as I have stated; we must attend to the im-
junction of C. Lucretius—
“ JEtheris et terree genitabile querere tempus.”
I have on a card many thousands of the testaceous young taken
from the matrix of the individual above mentioned, a part of
which I shall have much pleasure in forwarding to any gentleman
who may desire it.
It gives me great pleasure that the question of the use of the
anomalous tubes is at length set at rest, and the discussion as to
them between Mr. Alder and myself is ended.
PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES.
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.
June 27, 1848.—William Yarrell, Esq., V.P., in the Chair.
DESCRIPTION OF FOURTEEN NEW SPECIES OF HELICEA, FROM THE
CoLuection oF H. Cumine, Ese. By Dr. L. PFEIFFER.
1. Hexix viretiuina, Pfr. Hel. testd angustissimé umbilicatd, de-
presso-globosd, superne minutissime decussatd, viw nitidd, fusces-
centi-vitellind ; spird breviter conoided, obtusiusculd ; anfractibus
54 conveviusculis, ultimo antice subdescendente, infra peripheriam
vix striato, juxta umbilicum contractum albo ; aperturd obliqud,
lunato-rotundatd ; peristomate simplice, marginibus remotis, colu-
mellari albo, incrassato-reflexo, superne subdilatato.
Diam. 29, altit. 18 mill.
Locality unknown.
2. Hexix cemMa, Pfr. (Vitrina suturalis, Beck MSS.) Hel.
testd subperforatd, conoideo-orbiculatd, tenui, levigatd, nitidd,
pellucidd, virenti-hyalind ; spird depresso-conoided ; suturd sub-
marginatd ; anfractibus 4 vir convexiusculis, sensim accrescentibus,
ultimo non descendente ; aperturd partim obliqud, rotundato-lunari ;
peristomate simplice, recto, margine columellari brevi, arcuato,
superne reflexiusculo.
Diam. 9, altit. 5 mill.
From the islands of Luzon and Camiguing; collected by Mr. Cu-
ming.
Zoological Society. 147
3. Hexix suprusca, Pfr. (Vitrina subfusca, Beck MSS.) Hel.
testd subperforatd, depressd, tenui, subtiliter striatuld, pellucidd,
corneo-fuscd ; spird vix elevatad; suturd levi, submarginatd ; an-
Sractibus 44 vix conveviusculis, celeriter accrescentibus, ultimo
peripherid rotundato, antice non descendente ; aperturd subobliqud,
late lunari; peristomate simplice, tenui, recto, marginibus conni-
ventibus, dextro subsinuato, columellari subverticali, superné viz
reflexiusculo.
Diam. 113, altit. 62 mill.
From Sorsogon, isle of Luzon; collected by Mr. Cuming.
4, Hexix vareasrana, Pfr. Hel. testd subobtecte perforatd, conico-
globosd, costulatd, opacd, cretaced, fasciis nonnullis obsoletis gri-
seis notatd ; spird conicd, obtusd ; anfractibus 53 convexis, ultimo
inflato, antice descendente ; aperturd lunato-rotundatd ; peristomate
simplice, margine supero et dextro rectis, basali breviter, columel-
lari latissimé reflexo, subverticali, perforationem fere tegente.
Diam. 13, altit. 84 mill.
From the island of Porto Sancto; collected by Count Vargas.
5. Hewrx catcarea, Pfr. Hel. testa perforatd, depresso-globosd,
striatuld, lineis impressis obsoleté reticulatd, opacd, calcared ;
spird breviter conoided, acutiusculd ; anfractibus 5 convexiusculis,
ultimo peripherid subcarinato, antice vix descendente ; aperturd
subverticali, laté lunari ; peristomate simplice, margine supero le-
viter arcuato, basali breviter, columellari paulo latius reflexo, declivi.
Diam. 15, altit. 10 mill.
From Porto Sancto ; collected by Count Vargas.
6. Heuix casta, Pfr. Hel. testd imperforatd, depressd, utrinque
subequaliter converd, carinatd, striatuld, nitidd, sub epidermide
decidua pallide lutescente alba ; suturd lineari, cretaced ; anfrac-
tibus 4 subplanis, ultimo juxta suturam et infra carinam obsolete
angulato ; columella brevi, declivi, excavatd, basi subtortd ; aper-.
turd subtrapezid ; peristomate expanso, albo, margine basali leviter
arcuato, cum columella angulum formante.
Diam. 47, altit. 23 mill.
Locality unknown.
7. Hewix anomata, Pfr. Hei. testa umbilicatd, depressd, carinatd,
solidd, utrinque convexiusculd, granulatd, violaceo-fuscd ; anfrac-
tibus 5 convexiusculis, ultimo undique soluto, antice subito descen-
dente, basi constricto, profunde 4-scrobiculato ; umbilico cylindrico,
aperto; aperturd horizontali, transverse pyriformi ; peristomate
crasso, continuo, hepatico, undique late expanso, margine basali
profundeé quadridentato.
Diam. 24, altit. 11 mill.
From Jamaica. Nearly allied to H. sinuata, but differing in the
umbilicus and the form of the mouth. Nevertheless it may possibly
be a monstrous variety of that shell.
8. Buxrmus imperator, Pfr. Bul. testd imperforatd, ovato-conicd,
solidd, striatuld, strigis nigris, fulvis et albidis alternantibus,
10*
148 Zoological Society.
interdum interruptis elegantissimé pictd ; spird elongato-conicd,
acutiusculd ; anfractibus 6, superioribus planiusculis, 2 ultimis
convezis, ultimo spird multd breviore ; columella subverticali, basi
extrorsum subdentatd, carneo-lividd ; aperturd truncato-ovali, intus
cerulescente ; peristomate late expanso, nigro-marginato, margine
dextro vix arcuato.
Long. 68, diam. 38 mill.
From the Philippine Islands.
9. Buximus monozonus, Pfr. Bul. testd imperforatd, conoideo-
ovatd, soliduld, longitudinaliter oblique plicatd, saturate castaned ;
spird conoided, obtusd ; anfractibus 54 convexis, ultimo spird pauld
breviore, ad peripheriam cingulo lato albo ornato ; columelld sub-
verticali, basi extrorsum subtuberculatd ; apertura lunato-ovali,
intus margaritaced ; peristomate obtuso, vix expansiusculo, margine
basali cum columella angulum obtusum formante.
Long. 52, diam. 32 mill.
From the Philippine Islands.
10. Buxtrmus Leptocuitus, Pfr. Bul. testd imperforatd, oblongo-
ovatd, soliduld, striatd et malleatd, sub epidermide olivacescente
castaneo-marmoratd ; spird elongato-conicd, obtusd ; anfractibus
6 vir convexiusculis, ultimo spiram vix superante ; columelld rece-
dente, obsoletissime plicatd ; aperturd oblongd, angustd ; peristo-
mate breviter expanso, simplice, tenui, pallide carneo, marginibus
callo tenuissimo junctis.
Long. 98, diam. 40 mill.
From La Baja, province of Pamplona, New Granada (Funck).
Nearly allied to Bul. Moritzianus, Pfr.
11. Buximus costatus, Pfr. Bul. testd vir perforatd, solidd, cy-
lindraceo-turritd, longitudinaliter subconfertim costatd, nitidd,
cinerascenti-carned ; spird elongatd, obtusa ; anfractibus 84 plani-
usculis, ultimo 4 longitudinis vie equante; columelld superneé
dentato-plicatd ; aperturd oblongd, intus fuscd ; peristomate bre-
viter expanso, margine dextro superné arcuato, tum strictiusculo,
columellari dilatato, reflexo, perforationem feré tegente.
Long. 18, diam. 54 mill.
From the Brazils.
12. Acwatrna Reeveana, Pfr. Ach. testd oblongo-turritd, tenui,
sublevigatd, sub lente spiraliter subtilissimé striatd, nitiduld, sub
epidermide fugace, lutescente albidd, luteo-bifasciatd ; spird sub-
turritd, obtusd; suturd regulariter crenulatd; anfractibus 73,
omnibus convexiusculis, ultimo 3 longitudinis subequante ; colu-
_melld tenui, strictiusculd, brevissime truncatd ; apertura truncato-
ovali ; peristomate tenuissimo.
Long. 48, diam. 22 mill.
From West Africa. Very similar to Ach. alabaster, Rang.
13. AcHaTiInA porToricensis, Pfr. Achat. testd turrito-oblonga,
levigatd, lineis longitudinalibus impressis irregulariter sculptd,
nitidd, pallidé corned, strigis saturatioribus ornatd ; spird elon-
Zoological Society. 149
gatd, obtusiusculd; anfractibus 8 planiusculis, ultimo 4 longi-
tudinis paulo superante ; columella antrorsum arcuatd, prope basin
aperture abrupte truncatd ; aperturd elliptico-semiovali ; peristo-
mate simplice.
Long. 20, diam. 7 mill.
From St. John’s, Portorico (under stones).
14. Cuavsiiia Srepoupt1, Pfr. Claus. testd arcuato-rimatd, fusi-
Sormi, solidd, confertim costulatd, vir nitiduld, corneo-fuscd ; spird
sensim attenuata, acutd ; anfractibus 10 convexis, ultimo penulti-
mum non superante, basi rotundato, obsolete gibbo; aperturd
magnd, pyriformi ; lamellis mediocribus, convergentibus ; lunelld
profundd, arcuatd, extus conspicud; plicd palatali 1 mediocri
subcolumellari inconspicud ; peristomate continuo, libero, albo, ex-
panso, reflexiusculo.
Long. 18, diam. 4 mill.
From Japan (Sieboldt).
July 1].—R. C. Griffith, Esq., in the Chair.
The following papers were communicated to the Meeting :—
1. On THE OccURRENCE AND HaBiTs oF VESPERTILIO EMARGINATUS.
By R. F. Tomes.
The specimen of a Bat, the habits of which I am about to describe,
was taken in Warwickshire, near Stratford-on-Avon, whilst flitting
around the tops of some high elms by the Avon-side on the 20th of
June, 1847. It was in company with several others when I suc-
ceeded in shooting it, which I found very difficult on account of their
exceedingly crooked, irregular mode of flight.
I believe I have never seen one of these flying in open places in a
straightforward manner, as the commoner species, the Noctule and
Pipistrelle, usually do; but they follow intimately and exactly the ex-
tremities of the top branches of high elm or ash trees, always in the
most sheltered and quiet spots, never appearing on the windward
side of a tree, even on the calmest evening. They seem of a much
more social disposition than any other kind of Bat, being usually in
parties of about half-a-dozen, and all of them most commonly hawk-
ing round the same tree for a few minutes, then moving off to the
next, and so on till all the trees of the group have been searched ;
and then a re-examination of the same trees takes place.
As above stated, their flight is never straight, even for a moment,
but is excessively vacillating and butterfly-like, though rather slow,—
performed, as I believe, with the head directed towards the centre of
the tree, so that they in fact fly in a sideward direction. From this
circumstance I conclude that they take their food, which consists of
very minute gnats, while resting on the outer leaves, or when about
to settle on them.
If watched very closely for a little time, they move on to some
other tree, appearing to shun observation very carefully.
Gilbert White, I think, remarked of the Noctule, that it usually
came abroad later than the Pipistrelle, which I can from personal
150 Zoological Society.
experience affirm to be the case. The species now under considera-
tion is even later than the Noctule, seldom being seen until the latter
has been abroad for an hour; so late that, excepting on very clear
evenings, there is little chance of either observing or obtaining spe-
cimens.
It is probable that they may be seen during the greater part of the
summer months, for I remember to have seen and particularly no-
ticed them for a long time before I thought of shooting one, and also
for a considerable length of time afterwards. They may at any time
be known by a person at all conversant with the method of flight of
the different species of Bats, by their unsubstantial, butterfly-like
appearance.
Both the specimens which came into my possession in the way
alluded to were females, and on dissection contained a single foetus,
about half an inch in length; yet even at this early age the mem-
branes were considerably developed, and all the parts bore nearly
the same relative proportion to each other as in the adult.
The auricle of the ear appeared to be nearly, if not quite fully
formed, and folded forward over the eyes, reaching almost to the end
of the nose. ~
When skinned and dissected this Bat was quite free from all un-
pleasant smell.
DIMENSIONS. ee te
hength oF the’ head and: body.) 2.0.0 00 Pin! of. [lai
Mehta Ol NEA as). UF eo eee cheater ae sh ote Soe aoe O72
MACHO CHG, Cer S08 e kU oct Sate hein owes lk ete ees oo 1 6%
menpenior the warmer: |! Cs Ps eee et ae eka 0 6
WVadth cos iditto ~ 03 hele OPS Re PS Ome aes 0 33
PCUPEN OF THE TTALUS ya's oe oct oie te see be aes eleleter: ere MOUs
WWSGENYOE ditto. UL 2 Cor Bietet ARs A oe ae aoe zs 0
Extent of wings s....) 89633 pe ecttes é Oe Tee 9 24
Heneth of the humerus! 2, bie F2 e. Poe wt LU ee
eng th ‘of the thumb) i. 4422). OU? ay eaters, Beak: 0 2
Length from the point of the under jaw to the angle of
the mouth, being the gape-liné...5.............. 0 83
DENTITION.
Sa Arathi Gor Gety 18
aye poe Bes ms total erik
Since the specimen obtained by Brongniart in the neighbourhood
of Dover, none are recorded as having occurred till the present time,
with the exception of a single specimen mentioned by Professor Mac-
Gillivray, from Winchester, and described by him in the ‘ Naturalists’
Library,’ vol. xvii. He there states that the ears have “a semi-
eircular lobe at the base of their outer side, and a wide and deep sinus
in their upper half,” which certainly is not the case with my speci-
mens, the notch being neither wide nor deep, nor the lobe at the base
at all distinctly marked. Neither is there any great resemblance to
Mr. Bell’s figure, taken from Brongniart’s; the ears in that being
much narrower in proportion to their length, with the sinus near the
Zoological Society. 151
top of the outer side. It agrees however very nearly with the de-
scription and figure given by the latter naturalist from the specimen
found by him near Dover, and there can be no doubt of its identity
with his specimen of Vespertilio emarginatus.
2. On THE SPECIES OF THE GENUS PLACENTA OF RETZIUS.
By J. E. Gray, Esa., F.R.S. eve. ETc.
Lamarck describes three species of this genus, depending on the
general outline and the waved or flat form of the shell, characters
which are liable to considerable variations, as may be found on the
mere inspection of any large number of specimens.
I have observed that the hinge forms a more permanent character,
and affords the means of dividing the species into two sections, and
furnishes characters which separate them from each other. In both
subgenera the right valve is the flattest, and bears the ridges of the
hinge.
Sect. I. Placuna, sp.Lamk.= Ephippium,Chemn.; Placenta 3, Schum.
Shell purplish, subopake ; hinge-ridges rapidly diverging from one
another at about the angle of 45 degrees. Muscular scar under
the centre of the hinge. The ridges of nearly equal length.
1. Placenta Sella.—Shell flexuous, outline rather rhombic, being
straight in front and rather notched behind; the ridges of the hinge
not longer than they are separate from each other at the base.
Anomia Sella, Gmelin, S. N. 3345, 1788.
Placuna Sella, Lamk. Hist. N. 2.
Ephippium anglicanum maximum, Chemn. C. viii. t. 79. f..714. cop.
E..M. t. 174. f. 1.
Placenta Ephippium, Retz. 1788.
Inhab. China, India.
fp. Shell nearly flat, subquadrangular.
Inhab. Australia. Brit. Mus.
2. Placenta papyracea; Placuna papyracea, Lamk. Hist. N. 2 =
Ephippium parvum, Chemn. Conch, viii. t. 79. f. 719. cop. E. M.
tol74. £52.
3. Placenta Lincolnii.—Shell flat, outline suborbicular, rounder
before and behind ; ridges of the hinge elongate, longer than they are
separate from each other at the base.
Inhab. Australia; Mr. W. Davison. British Museum.
I wish to name this species after my excellent friend Mr. Abraham
Lincoln, who kindly presented me with the specimen here described,
and who is well known for his fondness for conchology and the libe-
rality with which he allows persons to use his extensive collection.
Sect. II. Placenta; Placenta, Schum. Shell semitransparent, flat,
outline suborbicular ; ridges of the hinge very gradually diverging
Srom each other, the hinder ridge much the longest. Muscular scar
rather in front of the middle of the hinge.
1. Placenta orbicularis, Retz. ; Placuna placenta, Lamk. Hist. N. 3 ;
Anomia placenta, Linn. S.N. 1154; Chemn. Conch. vii. t. 79. f. 176.
cop. E. M. t. 173. f. 2.
152 Miscellaneous.
Shell colourless, semitransparent ; when young, pale purplish.
Inhab. China. N.W. Coast of Australia; Earl of Derby. Port
Essington.
The shells vary a little in the inequality of the hinge-ridges, but
the hinder is always the longest.
I may remark that Chemnitz gives the best character for the spe-
cies, and has observed the character furnished by the hinge, which
has been overlooked by Lamarck, and, as far as I am aware, by all
recent authors.
MISCELLANEOUS.
The Effect of Iodine upon the Nectary. By Dr. R. Caspary*.
WE consider the nectary as a peculiar organ, in a physiological
as well as in a morphologieal sense ; physiological, inasmuch as it
secretes a saccharine fluid, and morphological, inasmuch as its eells
are distinguished both by their structure and their contents from the
cells of the neighbouring parts of the plant. he cells of the nec-
tary are very small, globular or nearly so, and they contain a pecu-
liarly dense and granular matter.
One of the most important inquiries connected with the physio-
logy of the nectary is to ascertain, how the sugar which it secretes
is produced ?
This question is only, as we may consider, one special form of the
general question, how is sugar produced ?
Without entering minutely into the general inquiry, we will refer
only to two modes of the production of sugar, which probably have
a special bearing upon the case before us.
lst. Sugar is produced from starch by the presence of diastase,
which however cannot be prepared as an independent substance, and
the existence of which is consequently disputed. Its active element
appears to be nitrogen, so that we may say that sugar is produced
from starch by the presence of a body containing nitrogen.
2ndly. Sugar is produced from starch or cellulose by the presence
of sulphuric acid.
Frémy has made use of the latter mode of the production of sugar
in accounting for the sugar in fruits. He endeavours to demon-
strate that as starch or cellulose is converted into sugar by sulphuric
acid, so certain substances, present in fruits and taking the place of
starch or cellulose, are changed into sugar by the presence of free
vegetable acids, which act in a similar way to sulphuric acid. This
mode of the production of sugar has not yet been alluded to in ac-
counting for the sugar of the nectaries of plants.
The first mode of the production of sugar, according to which
starch is changed into sugar by the action of a body containing ni-
trogen, is employed by Liebig in his ‘ Chemistry of Agriculture and
Physiology,’ in illustrating the formation of sugar in the trunks of
trees, as in the maple. He however does not prosecute the subject
* From the ‘ Botanische Zeitung,’ Feb. 23, 1849. Translated and com-
municated by the author.
Miscellaneous. 158
to a great extent, and does not show by accurate observations or
experiments that starch is always present in this process, or if it is
not present, what substance acts in its place.
I have assumed the first mode of the production of sugar in ac-
counting for the saccharine secretion of the nectary in a little paper,
‘De Nectariis, Bonne, apud Adolphum Marcum,’ 1848, p. 45 seq.
I ought there to have demonstrated two things: first, the presence
of starch in the nectary, or at least of a substance deposited in it
and holding the place of starch; and, secondly, the existence of a
body containing nitrogen, which should act upon the starch or other
substance and convert it into sugar. I have endeavoured to demon-
strate that such a body containing nitrogen, the formation of which
takes place very near the nectary and which operates upon it, is to
be found in the pollen and in the ovules, 1. c. p. 35 seg., and p.48. I
shall now proceed in these notes to give additional proofs of the effect
of the substances containing nitrogen, which | conclude produce the
nectar. In my former work I have ventured the supposition, that
the variously-coloured granular substances deposited in the peculiar
and globular or nearly globular cells of the nectary are actually
starch, or at least hold the place of starch in the process. The
presence of starch in the nectary, or the question as to whether the
granular matter contained in the nectary be starch or not, is the sub-
ject of the following observations.
It is a well-known fact in chemistry and vegetable physiology,
that iodine colours starch blue, and that it is a very delicate test.
_In answering, therefore, the question as to whether the granular mat-
ter of the nectary be starch or not, we shall submit the nectary to the
action of iodine.
In the summer of 1848, I examined the nectaries of upwards of
two hundred plants which are indigenous to the county of Norfolk
in England. From the effect of iodine on the nectaries of those
plants I obtained the following results. But before proceeding, I
may be allowed to premise, that the iodine employed for the purpose
was dissolved in weak spirits of wine, for I found it the most easy
to manage in this form. If the iodine is dissolved in water, its
action is not sufficiently rapid. If dissolved in more concentrated
spirits of wine, it either colours too darkly, or on the addition of
water under the microscope, disturbs the observation by the secretion
of crystals.
The membrane of the cells of the nectary, like membrane in gene-
ral, takes a yellow or brown colour, more or less deep, on the appli-
cation of iodine. The nectary of Euphorbia Peplus, L., which has
naturally a yellow colour, is hardly visibly affected by iodine. Ina
general way iodine colours the nectary much more deeply yellow or
more deeply brown than the other parts of the flower, as the ovary,
the style, the petals and sepals. This is the case in Artemisia Absin-
thium, L., Lapsana communis, L., Filago germanica, L. (male flower),
Bellis perennis, L., Sonchus oleraceus, L., &c. In certain cases, in
which there is some doubt as to the true site of the nectary, I would
willingly be influenced by the effect of iodine, and assert, that that
organ is the nectary which takes the darkest colour on the application
154 Miscellaneous.
of iodine. I therefore conclude, in the case of Knautia arvensis,
Coulter, that the nectary is a small cylinder under the style, and in
Succisa pratensis, Meench., that it is a very peculiarly loose accumu-
lation of cells at the base of the corolla, under the greatest lobe ; and
I arrive at this conclusion because these parts are coloured the most
darkly by iodine, and because their structure is analogous to that of
nectaries in general.
With respect to the contents of the cells of the nectary, we must
carefully distinguish between the contents of the common cells and
those of the pores. The contents of the former usually consist of a
yellowish, greenish or uncoloured, transparent juice, and of a gra-
nular matter, the grains of which are sometimes so small that they
are scarcely visible, even with a magnifying power of 550, the whole
having the appearance of a mass of slime interspersed with traces of
grains. In most cases however the grains are clearly visible. Their
colour varies considerably, but is limited to the different shades of
yellow, green, gray, brown, and obscure violet, though the last is but
very rarely observed. It did not occur once in the two hundred
plants I examined last year. The colour of the grains is generally
the most readily detected when they are congregated one upon the
other in small clusters. The individual grains are generally colour-
less and transparent. Sometimes in addition to the above-mentioned
grains there are very large grains of the same globular form, but
entirely transparent and free from colour, as in Pedicularis palus-
tris, L. I need hardly mention, that there are also in the nectaries
of plants, crystals, air-vesicles, &c., which have no reference to the
present subject.
The grains contained in the cells of the nectary are also in most
cases coloured yellow or brown by iodine.
In eleven plants iodine obviously colours the grains blue, and thus
proves that they are starch. In four others it colours them a bluish-
brown or a brownish-blue: Armeria maritima, Willd., Hyoscyamus
niger, L., Hypocheris radicata, L., and Sinapis alba, L. ‘The eleven
plants the grains of which become blue by the application of iodine
are the following: Pedicularis palustris, L., Arenaria media, L.,
Mentha arvensis, L., Malva moschata, L., Malva sylvestris, L., Cli-
nopodium vulgare, L., Convolvulus sepium, L., Conv. arvensis, L.,
Lychnis sylvestris, Hoppe, Lychnis dioica, L., Bryonia dioica, L.
In the nectary of Pedicularis palustris only the above-mentioned
larger and transparent grains take the blue colour. The nectary
of Arenaria media, L., is the base of the sepals, where they abut
upon the filaments, and the epidermis only contains starch. The
nectaries of Lychnis sylvestris and dioica are on the gymnophorum
between the bases of the petals and their processes. In Lychnis
sylvestris I found evidence of starch only in the male flower, and in
L. dioica only in the female flower. The grains of starch vary very
much in size. The diameter of the largest is only about one-fourth
of the diameter of a common grain of potato-starch, and the smallest
grains are scarcely visible even with a magnifying power of 550.
The form of the grains is irregular, but more or less globular. ‘Though
coloured by iodine they remain transparent, and generally show a
Miscellaneous. 155
somewhat darker spot in the centre, which is probably a small hol-
low space, such as may often be seen in starch. Beside the dark
spot in the centre I observed layers in the starch of Clinopodium vul-
gare, but there were only two in the largest grains. Iodine some-
times does not act upon the grains till after the lapse of some minutes,
as in Convolvulus urvensis.
Before I speak of the effect of iodine upon the pores, I must pre-
mise, that the pores which are found in the nectaries of many plants
have, with but few exceptions, a row of globular grains on the ex-
terior margin, distinguished by their size, transparency, and freedom
from colour. I found no trace of these grains in the pores of four
of the plants I examined last summer, viz. Cakile maritima, Willd.,
Euphrasia officinalis, L., Statice Limonium, L., Sedum Telephium, L.
Iodine had a different effect on the grains of these pores, although
in their physical properties they appear to be identical. In seven
plants they became blue, and in fourteen brown, of a deep shade,
much browner than any other part of the nectary. But whether
they became blue or brown, the effect was always a sudden one, and
much more rapid than in the case of the grains in the other cells.
This may be well observed in Bryonia dioica, in which the rings of
the grains in the pores instantaneously appear on the change of
colour, which takes place immediately iodine touches the nectary ;
whereas the grains in the other cells gradually and slowly assume
the blue colour. All these grains, whether they take a blue or brown
tint, have no dark spot in the centre nor any trace of layers, but
consist of one uninterrupted mass of matter. The seven plants, the
grains in the pores of which are coloured blue by iodine, are the fol-
lowing : Bryonia dioica, L., Geranium Robertianum, L., Parnassia pa-
lustris, L., Sinapis alba, L., Cnicus lanceolatus, Willd., Scrophularia
Balbisii, Hornem., Rubus fruticosus, L. The fourteen plants, the
grains of the pores of which iodine colours dark brown, are the fol-
lowing: Campanula Trachelium, L., Carlina vulgaris, L., Calendula
officinalis, L., Centaurea scabiosa, L. (flower of the disc), Senecio syl-
vaticus, L. (flower of the disc), Sonchus arvensis, L., Circea lutetiana,
L., Cichorium Intybus, L., Reseda luteola, L., Samolus Valerandi, L.,
Helianthus annuus, L. (flower of the disc), Tanacetum vulgare, L.,
Hieracium pilosella, L., Helminthia echioides, Gaertn. In all these
cases, whether the grains of the pores are coloured blue or brown,
the grains of the other cells assume a yellow or brown tint, except
Bryonia dioica, in which they become blue, and Sinapis alba, L., in
which they take a brownish-blue tint.
The inquiry now presents itself, what is the granular matter in
the nectaries and their pores which is coloured brown by iodine ?
I cannot state established facts in reply, but only advance the hypo-
thesis, that it is a starch-like substance, from which the sugar of the
nectary might be easily produced. I am urged to this conclusion by
the following reasons :—
lst. The brown-tinted grains of the nectaries are in their physical
properties, such as form, magnitude, colour and situation, exactly
similar to the grains of the eleven or twenty-two plants,—as we include
in the number those four plants the grains of which take a blue-
156 Miscellaneous.
brown colour, as well as those seven the pore-grains of which assume
a blue tint,—which grains iodine proves to be real starch. It would
be remarkable indeed, if the substance in the former were not also
of a similar nature to starch,—if it were not in fact isomeric with
starch.
Qndly. It would also be most remarkable, if plants of the same
family, the nectaries of which agree with one another in situation
and structure, should in some cases contain starch in the nectary
and in others a different substance. Amongst the Labiate, for in-
stance, it is indisputable that the nectaries of Mentha arvensis and
Clinopodium vulgare contain starch. It would be extraordinary in-
deed if the contents of the nectaries of many other Labiate, as of
Stachys sylvatica and arvensis, Prunella vulgaris, Lamium album, &c.,
were not also starch, although they are turned brown by iodine, for
their nectaries are in all other respects exactly similar to those of the
first.
3rdly. The elements of starch (C!*, H'°, O10*) form also with the
same number of atoms three or four other substances, dissimilar in
their chemical and physical properties, viz. cellulose, inuline, dex-
trine, and lichen starch. Schleiden, however, in his ‘ Wissenschaft-
liche Botanik,’ 1846, does not consider lichen starch as a distinct
substance, although Mulder in his ‘Chemistry of Vegetable and
Animal Physiology,’ which I have before me only in an English
translation by Fromberg, without date, regards it as a chemically
distinct body. When will the time come when chemistry will state
results on these important substances which will meet with general
acceptance? It is certain, at all events, that the chemical combina-
tion of C!2 H!° O!° constitutes a most variable substance. Although
we may never be able by direct analysis to prove the identity of
the granular matter in the nectaries, which is coloured brown by
iodine, and the formula C2 H'° O'°, there is nothing to prevent us
from assuming the identity, and concluding that the contents of the
nectary, which are coloured brown by iodine, are isomeric with
starch. From this substance, therefore, and the nitrogen contained
in the pollen and ovules, the sugar of the nectar results.
Cringleford, near Norwich, April 1849.
On the Intimate Structure of Articular Cartilage. By Dr. Lxipy.
As is familiar to every anatomist, articular cartilages always
fracture in a direction perpendicular to their surface, the broken
edge presenting a striated appearance in the same direction. This
character the older anatomists ascribed to a fibrous or columnar
structure of the cartilage, like that of the enamel of the teeth, while
histologists at the present day consider it as dependent upon the
vertical arrangement of the rows of cartilage-cells, although it has
been suspected to depend upon some ultimate arrangement of the
matrix or intercellular substance not yet detected. in some late
observations upon the structure and development of articular carti-
lage, through means of an excellent microscope, made for me by
* I quote from Mulder’s ‘Chemistry of Animal and Vegetable Physiology.’
Miscellaneous. Gy:
Messrs. Powell and Lealand of London, I have been enabled to dis-
cover a definite structure in the intercellular substance. This con-
sists of an arrangement of exceedingly fine, transparent filaments,
nearly uniform in thickness, and having an average measurement of
the 55435 5th of an inch. An easy method of detecting this filamentous
structure, is to tear a fine fibre from the broken edge of an articular
cartilage which has been macerated in diluted muriatic acid, by
means of a fine-pointed forceps, and exposing it in the ordinary way
in water beneath the microscope, using the quarter- or eighth-inch
objective power. The fine filaments, partly detached, will be seen
in great numbers along the sides of the fibre. When these filaments
are viewed by very oblique light, they appear to have an indistinct
granular appearance, each composed of a single row of granules,
which of course, in the articular cartilage, adhere together with greater
tenacity in the direction of the length of the filaments than laterally.
When an articular cartilage is broken in a direction from the
under to the free surface, it is found that the fragments adhere by a
membranous layer, covering the free surface of the cartilage, which
by the older anatomists was considered as the extension of the
synovial membrane ; by the anatomists of our day, either as a homo-
geneous layer, or as nothing more than a stratum of the cartilage, the
rows of cells of which take a direction parallel with the surface, or
at right angles to those more deeply situated, and thus giving rise to
this distinct laminated condition. ‘hat it is a cartilaginous layer is
undoubtedly correct ; but instead of the rows of cells determining the
arrangement, I find it depends upon the filamentary structure of the
matrix, the filaments taking a course parallel with the surface of the
cartilage, in a direction at right angles to those forming the matrix
of the deeper part of the cartilage.
A straight fibre may be torn from the articular cartilage, and in
the act of tearing, should a row of cells be in the line of rupture, as
is frequently the case, (for although generally following the course
of the filaments, yet a number are oblique or even somewhat irregu-
lar,) it will be torn through, which in itself would be sufficient to
indicate that the fibrous arrangement of the cartilage did not depend
upon its rows of cells, and indeed they have but little or no influence
in this respect.
From the foregoing description of the structure of the intercellular
substance of articular cartilage, it can be readily understood that it
may determine the course of the rows of cells, which is really the
case. In the earliest period of the existence of the articular cartilage,
the cartilage-cells are single, isolated, and equally diffused through-
out a mass of hyaline substance, which latter in the progress of
development becomes indistinctly granular, and then for the first
time have I observed the appearance of the filamentary structure.
In the splitting up of the primary cartilage-cell and development of
others, they arrange themselves in the direction in which there is least
resistance, which would be of course in the direction of the filaments
of the intercellular matrix. Hence, in the deeper part of the articular
cartilage, the rows of cells are generally vertical to the surface, and
parallel to the same in its more superficial portion.
158 Miscellaneous.
In some of the articular cartilages sometimes there are peculiarities
of structure which I think have never been pointed out, and are
worthy of notice.
In the articular cartilage of the condyles of the os femoris, I have
occasionally noticed numerous minute lacune?, found in greatest
abundance near the surface of attachment, and gradually decreasing
in number until they entirely disappear in the superficial third of
the cartilage. They are elongated, compressed, and their long
diameter is invariably situated transversely, at right angles to the
filamentous matrix, or parallel with the surface of the cartilage.
The longest measure transversely yg'j9 of an inch, the shortest 4,5
of an inch, in the vertical direction z,5 of an inch. When well-
defined, they appear more transparent than the cartilaginous matrix
in which they are situated; when viewed a little within the focus
they appear deep black.
Fibres of bone are not unfrequently met with in the articular car-
tilages, especially in that of the head of the os femoris. They are
generally found near the surface of attachment, but are not the con-
tinuation of the bony structure upon which the cartilage is placed,
for they are always arranged in a direction parallel to the surface.
They are compressed cylindrical in form, and in transverse section
present an elliptical figure, the long diameter of which iz placed at right
angles to the filaments of the cartilage matrix. ‘They present a con-
centrically laminated and a radiated structure, resembling somewhat
that of the Haversian ossicle, but they neither present the canal nor
the Purkinjean corpuscles.—Proceedings of the Academy of Natural
Sciences of Philadelphia, vol. iv. p. 117.
NOTICE OF AN EXCAVATING CIRRIPEDE.
On the 8th of last June Mr. Albany Hancock communicated to a
Meeting of the ‘Tyneside Naturalists’ Field Club,” an account of
an excavating Cirripede which he had recently discovered on the
neighbouring coast. This animal possesses much interest, not only on
account of the peculiar habit of burying itself in the shell of mollusks,
but likewise for its remarkable deviation of form from all the known
types of the class. No part of the animal, though unprovided with
shelly plates, is exposed, except two lips which guard a small narrow
opening in the surface of the substance in which the Cirripede is
concealed.
On the Arrangement of the Areolar Sheath of Muscular Fasciculi and.
its relation to the Tendon. By Dr. Lerpy.
It is well known that the fasciculi of fibres of the muscles are
surrounded by sheaths of areolar tissue, but the arrangement of the
filaments of fibrous tissue forming the sheaths, and their relation
with the tendon, I think has not been properly pointed out. From
repeated observation, I have found that the filaments of fibrous tissue
cross each other diagonally around the muscular fasciculi, forming
a doubly spiral extensible sheath. None of the filaments run in the
direction of the length of the fasciculi, and but few are transverse.
Many of the filaments of a sheath form an interlacement in the same
diagonal manner with the filaments of the sheaths of neighbouring
Meteorological Observations. 159
fasciculi. This arrangement is readily distinguished, if several fas-
ciculi be drawn slightly from each other upon a plate of glass, and
the intervening areolar tissue be viewed beneath the microscope.
When the filaments reach the rounded extremities of the fasciculi,
they become straight, and in this manner conjoin with the tendinous
filaments originating at the extremities of the muscular fibres. The
importance of this arrangement can be readily understood: from the
diagonally crossing course of the areolar filaments, comparatively
inelastic in themselves, the sheath is rendered elastic, thus per-
mitting the muscular fibres freely to move without their action being
interfered with; while at the point of attachment of the fasciculi,
where any elasticity would be worse than useless, from the fact that
part of the muscular action would be lost in the mere extension of
an elastic substance, we find the filaments arrange themselves so as
to become part of the inextensible tendon.—Proceedings of the Aca-
demy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, vol. iv. p. 119.
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR JUNE 1849.
Chiswick.—June 1,2. Fine. 3. Fine: hazy: clear. 4. Very fine. 5. Sultry:
showery at night. 6. Uniformly overcast. 7. Fine. 8, Fine: overcast. 9. Fine:
rather cold: overcast: clear. 10—12. Overcast. 13. Fine: cloudy: clear.
14, Fine: slightly clouded. 15. Dusky haze. 16. Overcast: fine. 17, Fine:
dusky haze. 18. Fine. 19. Slight rain. 20. Very fine. 21. Fine. 22, 23.
Very fine. 24. Cloudless and very fine. 25. Overcast: very fine. 26—28.
Very fine. 29. Cloudy: rain. 30. Cloudy: clear and cold at night.
Mean temperature of the month ..... ...sesseecssoeecceseceeres - 59°30
Mean temperature of June 1848 ........seccccesssseseeseeceesses 59 58
Mean temperature of June for the last Repo te years... 60 °85
Average amount of rain in June ........-cececrscecereenrseececes 1°88 inch.
Boston.—June 1. Cloudy. 2—4. Fine. 5. Cloudy : rain, with thunder and
lightning a.m.: rainr.m. 6—9. Fine. 10. Cloudy: rain early a.m. 11. Cloudy.
12. Cloudy: raine.m. 13,14. Fine. 15. Fine: rainep.m. 16. Cloudy. 17,
18. Fine. 19. Fine: rain a.m.andr.m. 20. Fine. 21. Cloudy. 22. Fine.
23. Cloudy. 24. Fine. 25. Rain. 26. Fine. 27. Cloudy. 28. Fine. 29.
Fine: rain p.m. 30. Cloudy.
Applegarth Manse, Dumfries-shire. —June 1. Clear and bracing weather :
shower a.m. 2. Fine and growing: one shower p.m. 3, 4. Fair and fine. 5.
Fair a.M.: one shower p.m.: electr. 6,7. Fair and fine. 8. Fair, but chilly
from N.E. 9. Fair: air highly electric: thunder. 10. Fair and very droughty.
11. Fair and droughty : getting cloudy. 12. Fair and droughty: cleared away.
13. Fair and droughty. 14. Fair and droughty, but getting cloudy. 15. Fair
and droughty: cloudy: thunder. 16. Slight shower : much thunder. 17. Again
droughty. 18. Cloudy: a few drops of rain. 19. Heavy rain, night: shower,
day. 20. Frosty during night: shower p.m. 21. A few drops: very high wind.
22. Rain at intervals. 23. Fair and clear. 24. Light rain: very mild. 25.
Cloudy a.m.: slightly showery. 26. Slight shower r.m. 27. Fine: warm: fair
allday. 28. Fair. 29. Rain p.m., not heavy but soft. 30. Fair all day and
warm.
Mean temperature of the Month .......eeeeseessscsesees eo OS 9
Mean temperature of June 1848 ..........sss000 noncopo0n: aye Url
Mean temperature of June for twenty-five years......... Soe
iNaimantJwne! for twerlty years 2.-.c-csscovesecessenene meeee 3°16 inches,
Sandwick Manse, Orkney.—June 1, 2. Bright: clear. 3. Bright: cloudy. 4.
Showers: cloudy. 5,6. Bright: clear. 7. Hazy: clear. 8. Bright: clear.
9. Bright: snow-showers. 10, Cloudy. 11. Bright: clear, 12. Bright:
cloudy. 13,14. Bright: clear. 15. Cloudy. 16. Drizzle: rain. 17. Clear:
rain. 18. Rain. 19. Cloudy: damp. 20. Cloudy: rain. 21. Rain: clear,
22. Cloudy. 23. Rain: cloudy. 24. Bright: clear. 25. Bright: rain. 26.
Fog: drizzle. 27. Showers: hazy. 28, 29. Bright: clear. 30. Bright: rain.
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THE ANNALS
MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.
[SECOND SERIES.]
No. 21. SEPTEMBER 1849.
XIX.— On the Classification of some British Fossil Crustacea, with
Notices of new Forms in the University Collection at Cambridge.
By Freprricx M‘Coy, Professor of Geology and Mineralogy
in Queen’s College, Belfast.
Tue class Crustacea having received less attention from British
paleontologists than perhaps any other of similar importance, I
have put together in the following pages a few observations I
have been able to make on the examples in the collection of the
University of Cambridge, as well as on a great number of speci-
mens of the same species, for the most part finely preserved,
lent me by various friends to render my observations as perfect
as possible. I have given descriptions of some of the best-marked
new species, also of some new genera; I have endeavoured to refer
some others, hitherto improperly placed in recent genera, to the
various fossil genera established by foreign writers for cognate
forms, and have ventured a few suggestions on the classification
and systematic position of some of the groups.
Class CRUSTACEA.
Ord. PoporputHatmMa. Tribe Decapopa.
(Brachyura.)
Of this the most highly organized group of Crustacea, I believe
the following genera have been quoted from British rocks with-
out sufficient authority: viz. 1. Zantho (Leach); this has been
quoted with doubt by Desmarest, Bronn, &c. from the London
clay ; I have ascertained that the crustacea referred to are of an
extinct genus, more nearly related to Pzlumnus than to Zantho,
which I have named Zanthopsis. 2. Orithya (Fabr.): M. Des-
longchamps referred with doubt a crustacean originally disco-
vered by Sir Henry de la Beche in the greensand of Lyme Regis,
to this recent genus of natatory Brachyura ; I find however that
the species referred to (O. Labechii of Desl. Mém. de la Soc. Linn.
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. iv. 11
A
a]
162 Prof. F. M‘Coy on the Classification of is
de Normandie, Morris’s Catalogue, &c.), and some similar forms
from the gault, form a peculiar genus intermediate between Ho-
mola and Corystes, and belonging not to the Brachyura but to
the Anomura, for which I have proposed the name Podopilumnus.
3. Inachus : Desmarest (Crust. Foss.), Morris (Catal.), and seve-
ral other authors have quoted a species of this genus as found
fossil in the London clay :—the figures and descriptions which
I give below, from the abundance of perfect specimens which I
have examined, leave no room for doubt that the fossil in question
does not belong to the Brachyura but belongs to the Anomura,
and forms a particular genus allied to Notopus, Dorippe and the
like, to which I have given the name Notopocorystes. 4. Corystes ¢
(Latreille): the gault fossils referred to this genus in Morris’s
‘Catalogue’ belong to the same Anomurous genus as the so-
called Orithya.
Zanthopsis (M‘Coy), n. g.
Gen. Char. Carapace suborbicular or transversely oval, gibbous,
strongly arched from before backwards; gastric region very
large, tumid, depressed in the middle towards the insertion
Diagram of the genus Zanthopsis.
a. Entire animal as far as known; 0, view of the front from below, showing
the internal antennz lodged in their transverse fossze, and the position
of the outer pair in the inner canthi of the orbits ; c, abdomen of female,
nat. size; d, ditto of male, nat. size.
of the genital region, which is very small, pentagonal, and not
extending more than one-third the length of the carapace to-
wards the front, generally divided by a transverse depression
into two portions, the hinder of which is most prominent and
equal in width to the cardiac and intestinal regions, which are
longer than broad, and form together a tumid ridge of three
some British Fossil Crustacea. 163
obtuse oblong nodules (defined by a hollow along each side
smoother than the rest of the carapace) ; branchial regions with
four large tubercles, two before and two behind, the inner
posterior one elongate obliquely backwards and outwards ;
front four-lobed (including the prominent inner angle of the
orbit) ; orbits large, the two lateral and the inferior angles pro-
minent ; latero-anterior margin with about three tubercles or
spines on each side, the posterior pair largest, placed at the
greatest width of the carapace, and in a line with the sulcus
separating the genital and cardiac regions; surface minutely
and closely pitted; antenne as in Zantho (outer pair in the
inner canthi of the orbits, inner pair in deep transverse fosse
beneath the front) ; eyes on very short peduncles ; ¢azl of seven
distinct pieces in both sexes ; first pair of feet forming robust,
unequal chelee ; hand subecompressed, nodulated, with the upper
and inner edge tuberculato-dentate ; fingers short, with few
large obtuse teeth ; four hind pair moderate, subequal, slightly
compressed, smooth.
The Cancer Leachii (Desm.) may be looked on as the type of
this genus; it was referred to Cancer or Zantho by Desmarest
(Consid. sur les Crust. fos.) and to Cancer by Milne-Edwards
(Suites & Buffon), from the want probably of good specimens. It
is nearer to Zantho by its tuberculated carapace, few tubercles on
the latero-anterior margins, and position of the external antennze
at the mner canthi of the eyes, instead of between these and the
front; but it differs in the great convexity of the carapace, and
materially from both those genera in both sexes having seven
separate joimts in the tail, showing in this a closer relationship
with Pi/umnus, from which however the strong nodulation of the
hind part of the carapace and its oval, vaulted form, as well as
the quadrilobed front and great extent of the gastric region, di-
stinguish it. I only know the genus from the London clay.
Zanthopsis nodosa (M‘Coy).
Sp. Char. Carapace about one-seventh wider than long, very gib-
bous in the middle, sloping gradually to the sides, more rapidly
towards the posterior margin, falling most rapidly and with an
abrupt curve towards the fr ont ; anterior half broadly rounded,
each antero-lateral margin with three large, obtusely rounded,
nodular tubercles gradually diminishing towards the front ;
tubercles of the branchial regions very prominent as large ob-
tuse nodules ; gastric region tumid with a shallow depression
along the middle ; genital region small, prominent, strongly
divided by a wide transverse depression, posterior half most
prominent, obscurely bilobed ; hollow space on each side of the
mesial regional ridge remarkably smooth ; chele of the male
rather larger than of the female, the upper ridge of the right
PL
164 Prof. F. M‘Coy on the Classification of
(large) hand with six or seven conical tubercles, that of the
left with about four, outer side of each hand with two very
obscure small tubercles near the carpus, and one much larger
but less distinct near the origin of the fingers ; two blunt teeth
on the inner edge of each finger; fail of the female broad
ovate, of the male narrow hastate, terminal joint triangular,
about 1th wider than long, penultimate joint the same length
but a little wider, third jomt much wider than the others, but
shorter than the fourth or fifth. Length about 1 inch 9 lines,
width 2 inches.
Common in the London clay of Sheppey.
(Col. University of Cambridge and Mr. Bowerbank.)
Zanthopsis bispinosa (M‘Coy).
Sp. Char. Carapace transversely oval, about one-fifth wider than
long, gently convex, two posterior pair of tubercles of the an-
tero-lateral margin forming short, flattened, sharp spines, the
anterior one forming a small, very obtusely angular projection ;
crest of the large hand with four or five tubercles, outer side
with two strong elongate tubercles near the carpus, and one
large obtuse one near the origin of the fingers ; tail of the
female broad oval, the last and the penultimate joint of equal
length, the latter twice as wide as long, fifth jomt half the
length of the penultimate.
This is considerably wider and flatter than the Z. nodosa, and
the tubercles on the branchial regions and those formed by the
genital, cardiac and intestinal regions are much less prominent ;
the hollow space along each side of the ridge formed by the medial
regions is punctured almost as strongly as the rest of the carapace ;
the tubercles on the ridge of the hand are fewer, but those on the
outer side much more strongly marked; it is moreover easily
distinguished by the two hind pair of tubercles of the antero-
lateral margins forming depressed sharp spines in the one and
large obtusely rounded nodules in the other. Length of carapace
1 inch 9 lines, width 2 inches 3 lines.
Common in the London clay of Sheppey.
(Col. University of Cambridge and Mr. Bowerbank.)
Zanthopsis unispinosa (M‘Coy).
Sp. Char. Carapace suborbicular, length and width nearly equal,
evenly gibbous, sloping almost equally to the front and to the
back ; tubercles of the branchial and medial regions nearly
obsolete, flattened, obscurely defined ; antero-lateral margin
with the posterior tubercle on each side forming a strong,
short, depressed triangular spine, the two anterior pair almost
obsolete, each indicated by a faint wave in the margin. Length
of carapace | inch 6 lines, width 1 inch 8 lines.
“
some British Fossil Crustacea. 165
_ This rare species is distinguished from the common Z. nodosa
and Z. bispinosa by its more uniform convexity and by the orbi-
cular form produced by the length so nearly equaling the width,
as well as the single, angular, pointed spine on each side. The
different projections on the posterior half of the carapace are
much less strongly marked than in the other species, though
having the same form and position.
Rare in the London clay of Sheppey.
(Col. University of Cambridge.)
Of this genus (Zanthopsis) authors describe from the London
clay at Sheppey the Cancer Leachii (Desm.), which from the im-
perfection of the specimen described originally (even the mar-
gins of the carapace being absent), I do not think it is possible
to recognise with any certainty. Also belonging to it and from
the same locality is the Brachyurites hispidiformis of Schlotheim
(Nachtr. z. Petrefactenk. t. 1. f. 3), which for a wonder has
escaped insertion in my friend Mr. Morris’s elaborate ‘ Cata-
logue’; it has the exact form and strong nodulation of the Z. no-
dosa, but having the two posterior pair of spines even more pro-
duced and slender than in the Z. bispinosa.
Podopilumnus (M‘Coy), n. g.
Gen. Char. Carapace having the front and antero-lateral margins
forming a_semielliptical
curve, antero-lateral mar-
gins not compressed, tu-
mid, obtusely rounded,
with aboutthree small spi-
nose tubercles ; front nar-
row, slightly projecting,
deeply four-lobed (inclu-
ding the inner angles of
the orbits), with a shal-
low furrow extending a
short way on the back
from the middle notch ;
orbits large, oval, lower
margins denticulated, a
small fissure in the under ———
margin at the outer angle Diagram of the genus Podopilumnus.
(and a doubtful trace of @ Carapace, thighs and chele; 6, abdo-
one in the upper margin) : men of sie two last dotted joints
put in from their impressions on the
posterior lateral margin breast-piece ; ¢, profile of carapace
straight, longer than the showing the abrupt downward curve of
anterior, converging to- _ the front.
wards the truncated base; posterior half of the carapace flat-
166 Prof. F. M‘Coy on the Classification of
tened, anterior half abruptly sloped downwards towards the
front ; whole surface even and nearly smooth, the only regions
defined are the cardiac and intestinal, which are marked by
shallow furrows (P. Peruvianus) ; sides minutely granular ;
abdomen of the female broad oval (apparently of seven joints) ;
four hinder pair of feet subequal, shghtly compressed, very
long, the thigh (or third joint) alone equaling the posterior
lateral margin of the carapace in length; chele short and
strong.
So far as the imperfection of the specimen allows of examina-
tion, the most striking difference between the present genus and
the recent Pilumnus consists in the great proportional length of
the legs, which are rather longer and more slender than those of
the Galene Natalensis of Krauss (see his Siidafrikanischen Crust.
t.1. f.4), to which it bears some resemblance; the tail of the female
is more ample, and the tumid rounding of the antero-lateral mar-
gins and their small uncompressed spines contrast strongly with
the similar parts in the recent genus. The only two known spe-
cies are the following, and the so-called Portunus Peruvianus
figured by D’Orbigny in the geological volume of his great ‘ Voy-
age dans Amérique méridionale’ (t. 6. f. 17), of uncertain ori-
gin, but which he suspected to have come from the cretaceous
beds of the Cordillera ; a view I think confirmed by the geological
place of the second species of the genus, which therefore at pre-
sent would seem confined to the cretaceous system, and is I be-
heve the oldest of the genuine Brachyura known.
Podopilumnus Fittoni (M‘Coy).
As this is the only accessible species of the genus, it will be
sufficient, in addition to the above characters, to add the following
particulars :—Length of carapace 1 inch 5 lines, width 1 inch
9 lines, general surface smvoth, sides minutely granular ; hands
about 7 lines wide and 1 inch 1 Iine long, the obtusely keeled
upper edge with five or six obtuse tubercles, the outer surface
minutely shagreened and bearing three or four irregular longi-
tudinal rows of small tubercles ; fingers short, curved, rounded
on the outer edge, and with three or four blunt teeth on the inner
edge ; dail 61 lines broad, only the five proximal joints preserved,
but the fifth being about the same length as the fourth, it
is probable the remaining two were distinct, it being generally
at that part of the tail that anchylosis occurs in those genera
which have less than the normal number of abdominal or tail
segments.
Greensand of Lyme Regis.
(Col. University of Cambridge.)
some British Fossil Crustacea. 167
(Anomura.)
Basinotopus (M‘Coy), n. g.*
I propose this genus for the reception of a very common crus-
tacean of the London clay at Sheppey, originally figured and
Diagram of the genus Basinotopus (nat. size).
a. Male specimen seen from above; 6, profile of female specimen showing
the tumid pterygostomian region and the elevation of the two hinder
pair of legs over the third pair; c, abdomen of female, showing the tri-
angular intercalated pieces between the fifth and sixth joints.
described by Desmarest in his ‘ Histoire naturelle des Crustacés
Fossiles’ under the name of Inachus Lamarckit, but which I have
ascertained, from the examination of numerous finely preserved
specimens, not to belong to the genus Jnachus, nor even to the
Brachyurous division, but is truly Anomurous, retaining the little
triangular plate between the fifth and sixth joints of the tail, in-
dicatng the presence of a caudal fin in the young, and also
having the two hind pair of feet disproportionally small and ele-
vated as in Homola, Dorippe and Notopus, &c., from all of which
it differs in the large peculiar posterior or basal space behind all
the other regions on the carapace (from which the genus derives
its name), besides other less striking characters. As there is but
one species known, which never has been very fully described, I
subjoin a description comprising the generic and specific charac-
ters for the present.
* On recognizing at first the Anomurous nature of this fossil, I thought it
might be the generic type named Dromilites by Dr. Milne-Edwards in the
number of ‘1’Institut’ for August 1837 from Sheppey, but having lately had
the pleasure of showing him the specimens, I find that though closely allied
they are yet distinct.
168 Prof. F. M‘Coy on the Classification of
Basinotopus Lamarckii (Desm. sp.).
Syn. Inachus Lamarckii (Desm.).
Carapace broad ovate, very slightly longer than wide, gibbous ;
rostrum short triangular, deeply channeled, bent downwards
and with a small tooth on each side, a strong rough tubercle
on each side of the base forming the inner angle of the orbits,
another tubercle forms the outer angle, and from this to the
level of the base of the cardiac region the margin bears four
strong spinous tubercles ; the gastric region extends half the
length of the carapace, is strongly trilobed, the middle portion
(corresponding to the so-called genital region of many crabs)
tumid, subpentagonal, the pointed end extending to the level
of the orbits; it bears one large rounded tubercle at each side
of its base, and several irregular smaller ones between those
and its apex; the lateral portions of the gastric region are less
prominent and have an oblique ridge formed by the confluence
of two or three tubercles parallel with the converging sides of
the middle portion ; below those near the nuchal * furrow is a
large cleft tubercle, and sometimes between those and the orbit
two or three small granules; a slight hollow separates the
gastric from the small square hepatic regions, which correspond
on each side to the two anterior marginal spines, each bears
one tubercle in its middle ; pterygostomian regions very tumid,
mamumillated ; branchial regions very large, each divided about
the middle by a strong, prominent transverse ridge extending
from the cardiac region to the fourth (or last) great marginal
spine ; the anterior edge of this ridge is plicated, and the space
between it and the nuchal furrow bears two tubercles, the
anterior smallest ; the large, peculiar basal space behind these
ridges is continuous from side to side behmd the mtestinal
region ; it is closely pitted and rough with minute wrinkles ;
genital region forming a narrow transverse tuberculated ridge,
its length being only one-fourth of its width, which equals that
of the cardiac region, which is very gibbous, rotundato-qua-
drate, and bearing a large hemispherical tubercle on each side ;
intestinal region forming only a small mucro, imperfectly se-
parated from the cardiac, and not extending more than half-
way into the rough basal space towards the posterior margin ;
abdomen of six jomts, in the male narrow, with nearly parallel
sides, obscurely trilobed longitudinally, the first jot very
* T use this term to designate that most important and constant of all the
furrows of the carapace—namely that which runs transversely across the
back, forming the posterior boundary of the gastric and anterior hepatic re-
gions ; it is especially stvong, and frequently the only furrow, in the carapace
of the Macrwra, and corresponds on the back to the line of separation
between the cephalic and thoracic segments beneath—the neck as it were,
whence the name.
some British Fossil Crustacea. 169
small and smooth, second, third and fourth each with a pair
of tubercles on the elevated middle portion, fifth smooth, with
a smail triangular piece (remains of the embryonic tail-fin)
on each side between it and the sixth or last joint, which is
subpentagonal and rather more than twice the length of the
fifth ; tail of the female broad ovate, smooth, trilobed ; ante-
rior pair of feet forming short robust chele, with scattered spl-
nose tubercles ; the others small and smooth, the two hinder
pair abruptly smaller and elevated above the rest. Length of
carapace 10 lines, width 9 lines.
Common in the London clay of Sheppey.
(Col. University of Cambridge and Mr. Bowerbank.)
Notopocorystes (M‘Coy), n. g.
Ktym. voétos, dorsum, trovs, pes, and Corystes.
Gen. Char. Carapace longer than broad, ovate, depressed, with
scattered tubercles, anterior half broadly rounded and fur-
nished with a few strong marginal teeth ;
posterior lateral margins acute, straight,
rapidly converging towards the base,
which is narrow and deeply emarginate ;
front forming a short triangular rostrum,
depressed in the middle, and with a small
mesial ridge; orbits large, transversely
oval, complete below and above, with two
longitudinal fissures in the upper margin;
gastric region very large, rhomboidal, de-
fined posteriorly by a strong obtusely an-
gular nuchal furrow pointing backwards,
shghtly convex, extending nearly the width
of the carapace, leaving a very small ob- Back view and profile
scurcly defined hepatic region on each side; of Notopocorystes.
genital region very small, about twice as wide as long, not
dividing the gastric region ; cardiac region moderately large,
hexagonal, with a small deep lunate fossa on each side at its
junction with the genital region ; intestinal region narrow ;
branchial regions large, each divided by a shallow furrow pro-
ceeding from the base of the genital region to the lateral mar-
gin on each side, parallel with the nuchal furrow; plerygostomian
regions very tumid; first paw of feet short, robust, didactyle
spinulose ; fifth pair of feet disproportionally small and elevated
above the level of the others ; abdomen of the male narrow
(? six-jomted).
This little genus completes the chain of affinities between the
recent genera Homola and Corystes, rendering the transition per-
170° Prof. F. M‘Coy on the Classification of
fect from the Anomura to the Brachyura. In the general form
of the carapace, of the rostrum, in the completeness and form of
the orbits with the two fissures in their upper edge, it so exactly
resembles Corystes as to have even deceived Dr. Leach, the first
crustaceologist of his day (see Mantell’s Geol. of Sussex, p. 97).
I first suspected its anomurous nature from observing the faint
sulcus dividing the branchial regions as we so commonly see in
the short-tailed Anomura, and subsequently was gratified by the
Woodwardian Inspectors with the sight of a little specimen of
the N. Mantelli (M‘Coy) in the old cabinet left by Woodward
to the University of Cambridge, showing the chelz and bases of
all the feet, proving the posterior pair to be abruptly smaller than
the preceding ones and elevated above them, and completely
establishing the position of the genus: curiously enough, the
entry of this specimen in Woodward’s MS. Catalogue indicates the
same analogy with the recent form which Dr. Leach poimted out
so many years afterwards. This genus includes the “ Corystes”
of Leach and Mantell (Geol. Suss. p. 129. figs. 9 & 10), also the
species figs. 13, 15, 16 of the same plate, and the “ species of’ a
new genus allied to Arcania,” figs. 7, 8, 14 of the same plate,
which is also the Orithya Bechet of Deslongchamps (Mém. de la
Soc. Lin. de Normandie). Dr. Mantell in the above plate, fig. 15,
shows a large joint in the abdomen below the fifth large one ; the
specimen of the tail which I have seen is broken before the end
of the fifth joint, so that I have no independent authority for the
sixth joint or its mode of junction with the fifth, or whether the
supplementary side pieces occur between them.
Notopocorystes Mantelli (M‘Coy).
Sp. Char. Greatest width of carapace (at base of gastric region)
one-fifth less than the length ; three strong teeth on the an-
tero-lateral margin, the middle one largest, placed at the end
of the nuchal sulcus, the lower one between the first and the
end of the faint branchial sulcus, at the end of which a fourth
small tooth is found ; gastric region with a narrow mesial ridge
from the rostrum bearing three small tubercles on its posterior
half; each side of this region has a row of three tubercles
running parallel with the gastric or nuchal furrow, the space
between them being about equal to their distance from that
furrow ; behind the inner tubercles of each row is one rather
smaller ; the genital region bears one elongate tubercle in the
middle ; cardiac and intestinal regions with a mesial ridge, the
former bearing two large and the latter two small tubercles ;
branchial regions with an obtuse boss close to their upper in-
ternal angle, and two equidistant tubercles on each side in an
oblique line to the second marginal tooth close under the
some British Fossil Crustacea. 17]
nuchal suleus ; pterygostomian regions marked with large lon-
gitudinal furrows and a few rows of sharp granules ; surface
minutely granulated. Length from 9 limes to 14 inch.
I suspect that the figures in Mantell’s ‘ Geology of Sussex,’
t. 29. figs. 15 & 16, and possibly 9 & 10, may belong to this spe-
cies, though rather more elongate than the specimens I have
seen. The N. Bechei (Deslong. sp.) 1s broader, more quadrate,
and has vertical rows of tubercles on the branchial regions. I
have a sincere pleasure in dedicating this species to the indefa-
tigable geologist, who in one of the earliest of his many valuable
geological works, has given the only figures I believe extant of
all the species of the genus.
Not uncommon in the greensand of Lyme Regis and in the
gault of Folkestone.
(Col. University of Cambridge.)
Pagurus? platycheles (M‘Coy).
Sp. Char. Hands nearly equal, very much compressed, broad
ovate, width nearly three-fourths the length, the moveable
finger little smaller than the other; carpus trigonal, not so
long as wide ; surface closely covered with very obtuse granules
of unequal sizes. Length of left hand 10 lines, of right hand
8 lines ; width of left hand 7 lines, of right 5 lines ; length of
carpus 4 lines, width nearly 5 lines.
One interesting specimen in the collection at Cambridge shows
the two strong crustaceous hands zn situ, while all trace of the
body and abdomen -have disappeared, which could scarcely have
happened unless, as in the recent Hermit Crabs, those parts
were almost momberoue close under the right hand is a
clear sparry cavity apparently indicating the place occupied by
the soft perishable abdomen. The granulation of the surface
resembles that of an Hchinus. The species is remarkable for
the width and brevity of its hands and wrists.
Not uncommon in the great oolite of Minchmhampton.
In connection with the group Anomura I may say a few words
on a crustacean described and named Ammonicolax longimanus
by Mr. Pearce (see Annals for September 1842), which he sup-
posed to form a new genus of Hermit Crabs inhabiting the
Ammonites. It seemed to me very incautious to infer that the
Ammonicolaz lived in the Ammonites on no better ground appa-
rently than their co-existence m the Oxford clay at Christian
~Malford, and on recently examining two authentic specimens
presented by Mr. Pratt to the University collection at Cambridge,
I found that so far from being anomurous, the species had a well-
172 Prof. F. M‘Coy on the Classification of
developed abdomen, caudal fins, remarkably large false feet, and
all the characters of the Macrura, being in fact clearly referrible
to the genus Mecochirus of Germar, so abundant in the upper
oolitic schists of Bavaria, though not hitherto recognised in Bri-
tam. The five internal processes mentioned on each side are
merely the indications of the apodemata or internal partitions
between the gills, and present no peculiarities. As the specific
name longimanus would be peculiarly inappropriate when this in-
teresting little crustacean is placed in its true genus (nearly all
the species of which have longer hands), it might provisionally
bear the name of Mecochirus Pearcei.
(Macrura.)
In this group we find several fossil crustacea referred to recent
genera in British works, without, I believe, just reason :—thus in
Morris’s Catalogue we find Palinurus Seurti quoted from Leeds,
Yorkshire ;—if this muschelkalk fossil is found there, it should
be placed in the Triassic genus Pemphizx, formed many years ago
for it by Von Meyer, it having no relation to Palinurus. The
recent generic name Astacus has also been much used for fossils
of various ages, but I have not yet seen or heard of the real oc-
currence of that genus in the fossil state ; most of the species will
be noticed below under their respective genera.
Eryon Barrovensis (M‘Coy).
Sp. Char. Carapace subovate, about one-eighth broader than long
near the truncated posterior margin ; lateral margins set with
short tooth-like spines, two narrow incisions on each side, the
hind pair a little in front of the middle, inclosing between
them on each side a short rotundato-quadrate lobe ; front har-
rowed, concavo-truncate, with the lateral angles slightly pro-
duced outwards ; each of the inner pair of antenne having their
two sete deeply divided, the outer one of each slightly longest,
scale of the external antenne large, the sete scarcely thicker
than those of the inner pair ; abdomen exceeding the length of
the carapace by only one-third the length of the outer tail-
flaps, which latter are very broad and subquadrate at the end
(resembling those of the Eryon Hartmanni) ; each of the seg-
ments except the first bears a large, oblong tubercle m the
middle ; first pair of legs robust, short, hand and carpus to-
gether nearly one-fourth less than the length of the middle of
the carapace ; fingers very slender, both pointed, of equal
length, incurved at the tip, the moveable one most abruptly.
Surface minutely granulated, with larger granules on the me-
sial ridge of the carapace. Length of carapace 2 inches, width
2 inches 2 lines ; length of abdomen (to end of outer pair of
some British Fossil Crustacea. Les
tail-flaps) 2 inches 2 lines ; length of hand 1 inch 3 lines, of
carpus 4 lines, width of hand at middle 33 lines.
This is most allied to the only other liassic species which I am
aware of, namely the #. Hartmanni of Herman von Meyer (see
his “ Beitrage zu Eryon” in the 18th vol. of the Nova Acta Acad.
Ces. Leop. Carol. &c.), from which it differs m its much shorter
abdomen, a character which approximates it to the otherwise dis-
similar EH. subpentagonus (Mimst.) and LE. arctifermis (Schlot.)
of the Kelheim and Solenhofen lithographic slates. In all the
species described by Von Meyer and Miinster the hand and car-
pus taken together equal or exceed the middle of the carapace in
length ; this species 1s therefore most remarkably distinguished
by the comparative shortness of its chel as well as their greater
robustness.
Rare in the lias of Barrow-on-Soar.
(Col. University of Cambridge.)
Archeocarabus (M‘Coy), n. g.
Etym. apyatos, antiquus, and kapaPos, Aristotle’s name for the
Palinurus or spiny lobster.
Gen. Char. External antenne very thick and long, the sete of
very short fimbriated joints ; first pair of feet much thicker
than the others, the extremity of the penultimate joint dilated
on its inner side to a broad, subtruncate, subcompressed hand
as wide as the length of the curved terminal joint which is
inflexed on it ; four posterior pairs of legs slender, compressed ;
carapace semicylindrical, obtusely rounded above ; nuchal fur-
row very wide and deep, extending with a gentle backward
curve across the carapace in front of the middle ; cephalic por-
Diagram of Archeocarabus.
a. Portion of one of the outer antenne.
tion depressed, front wide, subtruncate toothed, the lateral
angles produced into large, flattened, slightly recurved spines
over the eyes, shell below the orbits prolonged forwards into a
thick spine; crust excessively thin and fragile, covered with
174 Prof. F. M‘Coy on the Classification of
coarse adpressed tubercles ; abdomen very thick, rounded, nearly
twice the length of the carapace, segments nearly smooth,
punctured, their extremities broadly falcate ; tail having the
crustaceous portion at the outer margin of the base of the two.
outer pair of fins long, elliptical, strongly serrated on their
inner edge.
In all the characters of generic importance which I have seen
in these fossils, they approach the recent Palinuri or spiny lob-
sters, with the important exception of the structure of the first
pair of feet, which in the recent genus are small, slender, and ter-
minated by a simple point for walking only, forming a strong
contrast with the present genus, in which they are powerful pre-
hensile organs, much more robust than the other feet, broadly
dilated towards the end, and terminated by a strong subcheliform
claw. I only know the genus in the eocene tertiary strata.
Archeocarabus Bowerbanki (M‘Coy).
Sp. Char. Carapace about 2 mches 4 lines long and 1 inch
9 lines wide, all behind the nuchal suleus marked with large
semioval flattened tubercles, their blunt apices directed for-
wards and encircled by a crescent of small pores ; the largest
tubercles are about the middle of the back, and have a few
small ones irregularly placed in the intervals, towards the side-
margins they become smaller and more equal; anterior or
cephalic portion more nearly smooth, having only small, sharp,
widely separated granules, one on each side of the middle near
the base and one or two in the median line near the front
much larger than the rest ; front margin with about three den-
ticles on each side between the middle and the broad com-
pressed horn-like processes at the angles, from each of which
latter a ridge extends backwards bearimg two or three strong
spines ; the anterior prolongation of the cheeks beneath the
orbit has also a row of a few large spines: abdomen to end of
caudal fins nearly twice as long as the carapace, semicylindrical,
nearly smooth, with few distant punctures, the ends of the first
five segments abruptly narrowed, thickened and _ falcately
curved backwards, sixth segment having articulated to each end
the two thick, elliptical, crustaceous outer marginal supports
of the two outer pair of tail-fins ; they are about three times
longer than wide, serrated on the inner edge: first pair of feet
larger than the others, compressed, penultimate joint dilated
towards the extremity into a flattened trigonal hand ; terminal
joint forming a strong, subcompressed, curved, moveable finger,
as long as the truncated end of the preceding joint, to which
it is opposed for prehension, the arm about as long as the leg
~
some British Fossil Crustacea. 175
of the second pair; carpus about one-third the length of the
arm and half the length of the hand, the width of which latter
at top exceeds half its ‘length; three next pair of legs compressed,
gradually diminishing in size ; fifth pair not seen. At about
9 inches from their bases the external antennz are one-fourth
of an inch in diameter.
I have great pleasure in dedicating this fine species to Mr.
Bowerbank, who has done so much to illustrate the fossil botany
and zoology of the London clay—his work on the former having
almost created the subject ; while the extraordimary extent and
beauty of the collections which he has made of the other fossils
of that formation are, I believe, quite unrivalled, and when fully
published will demonstrate a richness in the fauna and flora of
the eocene period in Britain for which few geologists are pre-
pared. I have especially to record my obligations to him for
sending mea large number of his choicest specimens of London-
clay crustacea of those species which I informed him I was about
describing from the Cambridge collection, but the specimens of
which at my disposal did not fully exhibit all the characters of
the species ; and having mentioned my anxiety to render my de-
scriptions of those as perfect as possible, without entering further
on the extensive subject of the Crustacea of that formation.
The present species is usually found with the abdomen doubled
close under the thorax, which latter is almost always crushed,
owing to the fragile delicacy of the crust.
Rare in the London clay of Sheppey.
(Col. University of Cambridge and Mr. Bowerbank.)
Hoploparia (M‘Coy), n. g
Etym. é7Aa, arma, and trapeva, gena.
Gen. Char. Carapace minutely granulose, oblong, tumid, slightly
Hoploparia.
compressed, a little deeper than wide, ending in front in a
strong sharp rostrum, the sides of which are strongly carinate
176 Prof. F. M‘Coy on the Classification of
and smooth, or with few very minute teeth ; beneath the orbits
the cheeks are prolonged forwards about half the length of the
rostrum, and usually strongly keeled and spinose, forming a
semicylindrical sheath over the base of the strong triangular
scale of the origin of the outer antennz, which reaches
as far as the rostrum ; nuchal furrow strongly marked across
the middle of the back, but not reaching the marginal third
of each side; cheeks* impressed by a deep A-shaped sulcus,
one portion of which extends upwards nearly parallel with the
nuchal furrow, the longer lower branch curves forward under
the projecting part of the cheeks, and the shorter branch
curves backwards under the end of the nuchal furrow ; abdo-
men subcylindrical, smooth or slightly punctured, the second
joint having broad, dilated quadrate ends, the third, fourth,
and fifth terminating in triangular or broadly falcate extre-
mities, the sixth having articulated to each end the two outer
pairs of large trigonal tail-fins, the outer one on each side divided
by a transverse suture rather less than one-third from the ex-
tremity ; seventh joint (or middle flap of the tail) oblong, sides
denticulated, extremity narrower than the base, and bearing a
small spine at each corner ; first pair of legs very long and
thick, unequal, the larger claw with large blunt teeth, the
more slender one with more numerous and equal smaller sharp
teeth ; the other legs slender.
In the general characters, so far as I have been able to ascer-
tain them, these crustaceans coincide with the hving genus Ho-
marus, but are constantly distinguished by the sheath-like pro-
longation of the strongly ridged and spinose cheeks, the nearly
smooth-sided rostrum, and the short distance which the nuchal
furrow extends down the sides, as well as the separate A-shaped
cheek-furrow on each side, and the size of the antennary scale.
There are several species common in the British eocene tertiary
and eretaceous rocks, only one of which has yet been noticed,
viz. the Astacus longimanus of G. Sowerby (Zoological Journal,
vol. ii. tab. 17) from the greensand of Lyme Regis, which I find
to belong to the present genus, and which should have the name
Hoploparia longimana (Sow. sp.).
Hoploparia prismatica (M‘Coy).
Sp. Char. Carapace (excluding the rostrum) 1} inch long, width
10 lines, subeylindrical behind, but having the section of
a five-sided prism towards the front from the strong pro-
jection of the large, acutely angular cheek-ridges, which bear 4
* Or sides of the carapace immediately in front of each end of the nuchal
furrow.
Ra
some British Fossil Crustacea. 177
about three large sharp teeth each ; rostrum large, deeply chan-
neled in the middle, sides rising to very prominent keels mi-
nutely serrated towards the end, one elongate tubercle on each
side of its base; nuchal furrow strong, ends curved forwards,
but only extending about halfway from the middle of the back
to the side margin ; beneath and in froxt of each of its ends a
very deeply marked -shaped sulcus ; surface very closely and
minutely granulated, punctured on the cardiac and intestinal
region ; ends of the abdominal segments broadly rgunded with
a small mucronate point directed backwards; the last two
joints with rough transverse scale-like sculpturing, the others
so finely granulated as to appear nearly smooth.
This species is remarkable for the size and prominence of its
sharply angulated cheek-ridges ; the surface, particularly of the
abdomen, is more nearly smooth than in the other species which
I have seen.
Common in the Speeton clay of Speeton, Yorkshire.
(Col. University of Cambridge.)
Hoploparia gammaroides (M‘Coy).
Sp. Char. Carapace averaging from the erbit to the posterior
side-margin 23 inches, depth 13 inch, minutely punctured on
the middle of the back, coarsely squamoso-punctate on the
gastric region, granulated on the sides, most strongly near the
front lateral margins ; nuchal furrow strong, but only reaching
halfway down the sides, its middle portion equally distant
from the edge of the orbit and posterior margin of the cara-
pace, or slightly nearer the former; A-shaped cheek-furrow
deep; rostrum strongly bicarinate, with a ridge-lke tubercle
about two lines long on each side of its base, and one small
tubercle at an equal distance below the first pair at the edge
of the orbit ; from a little behind the level of the orbit the
cheek is elevated into a streng keel with about three large
spinose tubercles, cheeks prolonged as a_semicylindrical
sheath to the outer antenne half the length of the rostrum :
abdominal segments very flat and smooth, the articular ante-
rior portion scarcely convex, and the sulcus dividing it from
the posterior portion not very strong, first segment closely
punctured like the middle of the thorax, the dorsal portion of
the others with the puncta slight and distant, flaps of the tail
coarsely squamoso-punctate ; chele very large, with a rude
seale-like sculpturing of the surface, broad one having the
hand as wide (14 inch) as from the carpus to the base of the
moveable finger, four large, short spines on the inner margin,
moveable finger longer than from its base to the carpus; car-
pus with several thick short spies; smaller hand as long as
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. iv. 12
178 Prof. F. M‘Coy on the Classification of
the great one, but about one-third less wide; other legs very
slender (third and fourth pair about 3 lines wide), subcom-
pressed, smooth.
This fine species much resembles our common recent lobster
at first sight, and has as large or even more robust claws, but
similarly armed: in by far the greater number of specimens the
characteristic prolongation of the cheeks, with its spinose keel
becoming fixed in the matrix, causes the entire front of the cara-
pace from a little behind the rostrum to be broken off, and so
leaving no trace of this part of the carapace, heightens the resem-
blance indicated by the specific name.
Common in the London clay of Sheppey.
(Col. University of Cambridge and Mr. Bowerbank.)
Hoploparia Belli (M‘Coy).
Sp. Char. Carapace averaging from the orbit to the posterior
side margin 1 inch, depth of side 9 lines, closely punctured
on the middle of the back, and very closely and uniformly gra-
nulated over the sides ; nuchal furrow considerably nearer the
posterior margin of the carapace than the edge of the orbit
(measured a little one side of the mesial line), its ends reach
two-thirds of the way from the mesial line to the lateral mar-
gin; A-like cheek-furrow strong ; sheath-like prolongation of
the cheeks obtusely rounded, the margins and lateral angles
much inflexed, about half the length of the rostrum, two or
three obtuse, undefined nodulations on the rounded promi-
nence which extends backwards from its contracted carinate
end towards the cheek-furrow ; bayonet-shaped antennary scale
narrow, extending as far as the tip of the rostrum ; one blunt
tubercle about twice its diameter from the median line on each
side of the base of the rostrum, and another similar one at an
equal distance below it on each side: abdomen thick, each seg-
ment having a gently convex smooth anterior articular portion
divided by a strong deep furrow from the rest, which is flat-
tened and very closely and strongly punctured ; epimeral ex-
tremities of the first jomt rudimentary, of the second broad,
subquadrate, rounded on the anterior and external edges, sub-
truncate behind, with the angle forming a short spine, third,
fourth, fifth and sixth terminating in broad triangular plates,
slightly falcate, the sixth rather longer than the preceding
ones, and having the posterior lateral angles produced back-
wards into a small spine on each side of the base of the seventh
jot or middle tail-flap, which latter is subquadrate, its length
and the width of the base being equal, narrowing towards the
end, which is rounded and terminates at each angle in a small
sharp spine; side margins thickened, minutely dentated : first
some British Fossil Crustacea. 179
pair of legs closely scabroso-punctate ; chelz oval, very slender,
about double the length of the carapace, not very unequal,
greatest width about half the length from the base of the little
finger to the carpus ; section subrhomboidal, outer angle ob-
tusely carinated, smooth, sides obtusely rounded in the mid-
dle, inner edge with two rows of about four large spiniform
tubercles arched forwards ; fingers about one-third longer than
the base, equal, subcompressed, rounded, straight and of nearly
equal width throughout, nearly smooth, with a raised line of
very minute teeth on the mner edge; carpus small, section
oval, scarce half the length from its tip to the base of the
moveable finger, finely punctured, and'with a few strong
spines ; arm compressed ; the other legs slender and nearly
smooth (third and fourth pair | line in diameter).
This species is much more common in the London clay than
the H. gammaroides (M‘Coy), which it resembles, although only
half the length ; it may be distinguished therefrom by the finer
and more uniform granulation of the sides, the greater length of
the nuchal furrow, and its being placed farther back towards the
posterior margin ; the cheeks, mstead of being strongly carmated
and spined, are only obtusely rounded and nodulated; the
chelz are more slender, and the segments of the abdomen differ
in the present species, having the anterior smooth portion of each
more convex and separated by a much deeper furrow from the
posterior part, which in the H. gammaroides is closely punctate
in the first segment only, the others being polished with compa-
ratively slight distant puncta, while in the H. Belli the hinder
parts of all the segments are equally rough with a coarse close-
set punctuation.
I dedicate this species to Prof. Bell, from whose able pen we
may one day expect an illustrated volume on all the crustacea of
the London clay, for which I believe the most ample materials
exist in metropolitan collections which will be at his disposal.
Mr. Morris, in the preface to his Catalogue, mentions in the ca-
binet of Mr. Bowerbank alone, the perfectly astonishing number
of twenty to thirty species from this formation. Upwards of a
dozen beautifully perfect specimens of this species were most
obligingly sent me by Mr. Wetherell, on our mutual friend Mr.
Yates mentioning that I was about describing the species from
the Cambridge specimens, but was very anxious to render my
specific description complete by the inspection of more perfect
specimens. Mr. Bowerbank also lent me charming specimens
with the same object.
Common in the London clay of Sheppey, Hampstead, Bays-
water, Primrose Hill, &c.
(Col. University of Cambridge, Mr. Bowerbank, Mr. Wetherell,
&e.)
12
ww
180 Mr. W. Clark on Ceecum trachea and C. glabrum.
XX.—On the Animals of Ceecum trachea and C. glabrum.
By Witiram Crark, Esq.
To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.
GENTLEMEN, Norfolk Crescent, Bath, June 28th, 1849.
In the year 1834 I discovered the animal of Cecum trachea, in
the coralline zones off Exmouth ; notes were then made on it,
but only communicated to a few friends, and I am not aware that
any author has mentioned the animal since that time, except in
doubt, as to its character and position. Having within the last
week, at the same place, examined many of this curious and
minute species, I am enabled to give a particular description
thereof, as well as some account of the still more minute conge-
neric species, Caecum glabrum, now seen for the first time.
The shells of these animals have, from their forms, long been
located with the Dentalia, but it will appear that im respect of
the animal they have little connection with them ; they have also
had other places assigned to them, and malacologists are still in
doubt with regard to their natural position. I therefore think
this account may interest some of your readers, and assist to
determine the proper “ locus standi” of these mollusca.
Cacum, Fleming.
Cecum trachea et imperforatum, Montagu.
Animal cylindrical, arcuated, externally pure white ; the mantle
is very thick and fleshy, fitting the shell closely, and not extend-
ing beyond its anterior margin ; the body is elongated and slender,
with a long flat head, which on all occasions is in advance of the
foot, and appears to assist in locomotion ; the fissure of the mouth
is vertical, and from the tenuity of the skin the pale red buccal
mass is distinctly visible, the corneous plates of which are of
light yellow and subelliptical form ; the tongue was not detected,
though, without doubt, one of the mvariable spmy character
exists.
The tentacula are short, rather thick, subcylindrical, setose,
and slightly clavate at the extremities ; the eyes are very minute,
black, not raised on any kind of pedicle or eminence, and placed
nearly in a line with the tentacula at a short distance from their
bases, and if there is a divergence therefrom the tendency is ex-
ternal.
The slender neck, as in most of the other Gasteropoda, is fur-
nished with longitudinal ridges, and in this species on each side
of its centre, there are two frosted, pale yellowish white, con-
tiguous raised lines forming a very decided canal or groove, the
points of which terminate anteriorly at the immediate base of the
eyes, and posteriorly at the furthest end of the neck, on the left
Mr. W. Clark on Ceecum trachea and C. glabrum. 181
side of which, at the usual point, may be seen a minute pale red
branchial leaflet which puts on the appearance of there being
two, a large and a smaller one, as in the canaliferous Gasteropoda ; ;
but here, ‘though we cannot vouch that there are not two, we are
inclined to “trols there is only one, with a divergence from its
base of a part of its surface ; the very marked canal seems neces-
sary for the entrance of ihe branchial water, im consequence of
the neck of the animal, when at rest, being so closely embraced
by the fleshy muscular circular mantle, but in marching order it
is protruded to an extraordinary extent.
The stomach was distinctly observed, and is an oblong bursi-
form organ, yellowish white and granular without, but on being
opened presents a dark lead- coloured cavity, fortified by strong
transverse muscular bands or fillets. From it arises a very long
convoluted intestine, and when extracted exhibited the usual fecal
matters ; it appeared to coast the liver and ovarium, amongst
the folds of which it makes a double, as is usual with the regular
Gasteropods, then progresses to the right side, where the minute,
elongated, oval, conically pomted pellets were observed to be
ejected.
The ovarium ts dark red-brown, aspersed with the most minute
darker points, like the finest sand, with its posterior extremity
fixed in the hollowed-out chamber of the terminal process of the
shell ; it then extends to the stomach accompanied by the liver
in alternate transverse portions ; this organ is a light greenish
mass formed of larger granules than the ovarium, and the con-
trast in colour of the two substances caused them to be observed
without difficulty
The neck admitted of a close examination, and did not exhibit
the slightest traces of external reproductive organs; it would
then appear that the animal must depend on its own influences,
but there are doubts; and from the concordance of all its organs
with a large class of the Pectinibranchous Gasteropods, it may,
like them, be unisexual, though the organs have escaped detec-
tion ; but in all the specimens ; examined the ovarium was present
in the usual place, and im no instance appeared to be replaced by
the testicle, but the discrimmations of such minute organs can-
not be depended on.
The foot is short, narrow, and truncate anteriorly when in ac-
tion, sloping posteally to an obtusely pointed or rather rounded
termination, on the upper part of which end is fixed the strong,
circular, corneous, black-brown operculum, smooth and conical on
the surface attached to the foot, concave without, and from its
centre seven or eight fine close-set spiral lines, not concentrical,
fill up the area.
The animal is not at all shy ; it shows itself in all directions,
182. Mr. W..Clark on Ceecum trachea and C. glabrum.
marches with great vivacity, carrying its shell sometimes with
the convexity upwards, resting on the posterior point, or on one
of the sides, frequently changing one for the other, by suddenly
withdrawing the head and body, by which action it is thrown on
the operculum at an elevation of 50° or 60° ; it then turns on the
side it wishes.
It thus appears that this minute creature has all the organs of
the Gasteropoda with entire apertures ; there are some modifica-
tions of them, and the animal is not spiral ; still in number, qua-
lity and purpose they are essentially the same as those of this
large class, and I think it is clear that the genus Cecum must
be placed with them, in the immediate vicmity of the Rissoe.
It is necessary to mention that the Dentaliwm imperforatum
and D. trachea, the types of the genus Cecum, are identical ;
this fact is I believe generally admitted ; I will however in cor-
roboration thereof observe, that in the same watch-glass of sea-
water I carefully examined each of the two forms of this species,
and their respective organs differed in no respect, except that the
colour of the buccal mass in C. trachea (Mont.) was somewhat
paler than that of C. amperforatum, in consequence of its ado-
lescence. I have made a second examination of the animals of
both forms with the same result.
The shell of Cecum imperforatum (Mont.) is never found other-
wise than adult ; this fact proves that C. trachea is the young
shell, of which I have seen hundreds of all sizes and gradations
of arcuation and tapering of the posterior extremities: these
shells, like some others of the Gasteropoda, particularly those of
the genera Aporrhais and Turritella, have as a provision of na-
ture the power to protect their delicate extremities by withdraw-
ing them from the posterior pomted ends of the shells, some
chambers of which they plug up; these being deprived of the
animal, fall off and decay, and it remains uninjured. This is
the case with Cecum trachea, which probably performs this
manceuvre more than once, until it arrives at the form C. imper-
foratum, with its adult constricted orifice, which it never has in
a young state; and even when the anterior part of the shell
is broken, the animal always repairs it with a somewhat fuller
cylinder ; but the new orifice will not be constricted until the
mutilated shell has arrived at the complete adult state, and it
is rarely seen in this condition. What is called the posterior
process of the shell is only one of the testaceous plugs with which
the animal from time to time closes the posterior extremity.
As to the specific appellations of ¢rachea and imperforatum,
though not quite contemporaneous, the more significant one of
trachea ought, I think, to be adopted, as that of imperforatum is
obviously improper.
Mr. W. Clark on Caecum trachea and C. glabrum. 183
The generic term Cecum appears to be somewhat objection.
able in point of significancy. On the discovery of the animal I
proposed to my friend Dr. Goodall, the late Provost of Eton, the
generic appellation of Dentaliopsis, which I think I also men-
tioned to Mr. Jeffreys of Swansea; but Dr. Fleming is in posses-
sion of the field, and has the undoubted priority, and I may say,
owing to my own neglect, in not launching the genus :
ar ELOSHE EO sere « feci, tulit alter honores.”
Caecum glabrum, Montagu.
After a research, in which I almost despaired of success, I have
had the good fortune to meet with two living vivacious specimens
of this species in the coralline zones of the Devonshire coast, off
Budleigh Salterton, six miles from the shore, in ten fathoms
water.
To describe the organs of this animal would only be a repe-
tition of what has been said on Cecum trachea; I will only reca-
pitulate them and notice the modifications thereof.
The brown ovarium, light green liver, and the rectum with its
contents of formed pale-brown pellets extending from the pylorus
to the doubling amongst the folds of the liver, were distinctly
visible through the transparency of the shell. The stomach,
body and neck were of the purest white; the lines forming the
canal or groove in the neck are less developed than in the former
species ; the buccal mass is of the palest blush colour, and the cor-
neous plates of the most delicate and lghtest green; the spiny
tongue was not seen ; the same default occurred in Cecum trachea,
probably from its white colour and extreme slenderness ; it doubt-
less exists; the mantle is thick, circular and muscular, closely
fitting the shell; the eyes are precisely fixed as in C. trachea;
the very minute branchial leaflet is of the palest rose-colour,
but the mantle must be removed to see it, owing to its extreme
tenuity.
I now come to those organs in which there are some variations :
the tentacula, as in its congener, are frosted white and setose,
but they appear to be proportionably longer, slenderer and more
clavate at the tips; these variations however are scarcely appre-
ciable. The foot is very short, truncate in front, rounded be-
hind, and carried much more laterally in this species than in
C. trachea ; and on its posterior upper part is the most differen-
tial point in the animals, the curious operculum, which is circu-
lar, and has six or seven spiral gyrations of a pale yellow, but
instead of being concave or flat without and conical within, as in
C. trachea, it isin both respects the reverse. Represent to yourself
the flat spiral circular operculum of the last species, pushed out
from its inner surface, or inverted, and thus forming a cone of
184 Mr. W. Clark on Ceeeum trachea and C. glabrum.
six or seven minute narrow terraces, one above the other,—you
may then figure to yourself the form of that in Cecum glabrum.
This creature marches, and in its course performs exactly the
same manceuvres as the larger species. I thought the Caecum
trachea very active, but it 1s far surpassed by this animal ; I put
one of each in a watch-glass of sea-water, and with a camel’s-hair
brush gave them a fair start, but the little one beat its compe-
titor hollow, and accomplished a space of 2 inches in 55 seconds ;
thus affording a proof, even in the Mollusca, that nature eompen-
sates for the small volume of the minute beings in giving them
greater energy, vivacity and quickness. This creature I found by
admeasurement to be j',th of an inch long, and ;3,th of an inch:
in diameter.
I have been thus particular, as it will fall to the lot of very few
malacologists to see this curious species alive.
I beg to mention that last week, in the offing at Exmouth,
six miles from the shore, I dredged in the coralline zone a very
small specimen of that rare species the Lucina orbicularis of the
British Mollusca, and Venus orbiculata of Montagu, testante
Laskeyo, whose figure is an exceeding faithful representation of
its shape. This species has been considered of very doubtful Bri-
tish origin, and we feel pleasure in adding it to our Indigena.
The general aspect of the shell is of the palest bluish white on
the outside and the same within, with a tinge of yellow at the
posterior extremity on both sides.
The longitudinal striz radiate from the very acute beaks to
the ventral margin, and are most evident at the sides of the shell ;
these are crossed by the strie of growth, giving it an irregular
cancellated appearance ; the margin is quite plain and acute.
There are in the left valve three primary teeth, and a conti-
guous anterior lateral one, and in the right valve, three primary
teeth with a receptacle for the lateral tooth of the left, and in
each valve there are faint traces of posterior lamine ; this is the
hinge of the genus Circe of the ‘British Mollusca,’ but the
twenty-four radiating longitudinal flattish costelle eminently
distinguish this species from Circe minima: I am inclined to
think Montagu’s shell should be styled Circe instead of Lucina
orbiculata; that excellent conchologist mentions only two pri-
mary teeth in each valve, but the third might easily escape de-
tection, as when he wrote imperfect instruments were in use,
and perhaps there was a less critical examination of objects than
in the present day. If this shell is not the Venus orbiculata of
Montagu, as we confidently think, it must be considered a new
species of Circe. The minute specimen is brilliantly fresh.
1 am, Gentlemen, your most obedient servant,
Wii1aM CLark.
Mr. J. Miers on the genus Marckea. 185
XX1.— Contributions to the Botany of South America.
By Joun Miers, Esq., F.R.S., F.LS.
[Continued from p. 142.]
MaRCKEA.
Or this genus no further information has hitherto been re-
corded beyond the short account first published by Richard, and
so little has its affinity been understood, that it was considered
by Endlicher as related to the Nicotianee. Its alliance however
is evidently with Solandra and Juanulloa, agreeing with the latter
genus in the structure of its calyx and fruit, and differing in the
hypocrateriform shape of its corolla, with broad, expanded and
almost rotate border, and in its scarlet colour.
From a plant in Sir William Hooker’s herbarium, with only a
single flower and fruit, I have been able to make the following
analysis, which in some respects is incomplete, as I was anxious
not to injure the specimen.
Marcxkera, L. C. Richard. Lamarckea, Pers.—Calyx 5-sepalus,
persistens, vix augescens : sepala lanceolata, acuminatissima,
imo angustata, primum ultra medium, marginibus ciliatis, in
tubum ‘pentagonum valvatim conniventia, hive superne lineari-
attenuata, erecta, libera, dein m fructu omnino sejuneta. Co-
rolla hypocrateriformis, tubo elongato, cylindrico, fauce sub-
inflato, limbo 5-partito, lacinus oblongis, rotundatis, rotato-
expansis, subreflexis, sestivatione imbricata. Stamina 5, equa-
ha, paulo supra basin corollie orta, basi lanata, filamenta erecta,
tenuia, anthere in faucem corolle incluse, 2, loculares , lineari-
oblong, lobis disyunctis, puncto medio affixis, rima marginali
longitudinaliter dehiscentibus. Ovarium 2-loculare, placentis €
dissepimento utrinque cruciatim tenuiter partientibus, hine in-
crassatis undique ovuligeris, ovulis angulo basali nexis, adscen-
dentibus. Stylus tenuis, longitudine staminum. Stig gma m-
tegrum? Bacca fere capsularis, exsucca, evalvis, pericarpio
tenui indehiscente, sepalis persistentibus tecta, oblonga, 2-sul-
cata, 2-locularis. Semina plurima, imbricatim disposita, ob-
longa, acuminata, imo gibba, hilo in angulo basali, adscen-
dentia, testa laxa. Hmbryo intra albumen parcum, carnosum,
axillaris, leviter arcuatus, radicula infera tereti, cotyledonibus
ovatis, compressis, incumbentibus, squilonga.—Suffrutices
Guianenses et Aniillani scandentes, ramis dependentibus ; folia
alterna, petiolata, elliptica, acuta, integra, glabra; vacemi aail-
lares ; corolla coccinea.
1. Marckea coccinea, L. C. Rich. Act. Soc. Hist. Nat. Par. 107 ;
A. Raich. Dict. Class. x. 168. cum icone. Lamarckea coccinea,
186 Mr. J. Miers on the genus Marckea.
Pers. Ench. 1. 218 ;—scandens, glaberrima ; foliis oblongis,
apice subito acuminatis, imo obtusis, uitidis, subcoriaceis ;
racemo longe pedunculato, paucifloro, corolla coccinea, calyce
2—3-plove longiore.—Guiana, v. s. in herb. Hook. (Surinam,
Hostman, no. 348).
This is evidently a scandent plant with slender branches; the
leaves are about 73 inches long, 27 inches broad, upon a some-
what slender petiole, somewhat thickened at base, } inch in
length ; they are quite smooth and of thick texture ; the peduncle
of the raceme 1s axillary, about 3} inches long, bearing a few
flowers, only one remaining in the specimen above referred tox
the pedicel 1 is about L inch in length ; the sepals are 14 inch long,
scarcely 3 lines broad in the middle ; the tube of the corolla is
13 inch long, 2 lines in diameter, swelling to half an inch below
the mouth; the lobes are 5 lines long, 4 lines broad, rounded,
veined, overlapping each other on their margins, and when ex-
panded, form a border about 14 inch in diameter ; the insertion of
the stamens is about half an inch above the base of the tube, the
filaments are very slender, nearly an inch long, and the anthers
are 3 lines in length ; the berry is 8 lines long, 4 lines in diameter,
apparently quite free of pulp, with a thin pericarp and slender
dissepiment, containing numerous divaricate, ascending, imbri-
cate seeds, each about 13 line in length*.
2. Marckea? longiflora (n. sp.) ;—scandens, ramulis glabris com-
pressis ; folus alternis, oblongis, apice repente acuminulatis, e
medio ad basin subattenuatis, breviter petiolatis, coriaceis,
glaberrimis, opacis; racemo sub-brevi, paucifloro ; corolla calyce
4—5-plo longiore, tubo supra medium cylindraceo-campanulato,
limbi laciniis ovatis, subreflexis, staminibus inclusis.—Trini-
dad, v. s. in herb. Hook. (la Laguna de Ora pouche, Purdie.)
This plant corresponds in its habit with Marckea, but the spe-
cimen above referred to presents only a single flower in a very
bad condition, so that it 1s impossible to determine with certainty
whether or not it belongs to this genus. The leaves are 7} inches
long, 33 inches broad, on a somewhat slender petiole thickened at
base, and half an inch in length ; they are quite coriaceous, opake
but not polished, though entirely glabrous ; they are marked with
strong prominent nerves; the peduncle of the raceme is appa-
rently about 12 inch long, the pedicel 8 lines; the calyx exactly
corresponds with that of the preceding species, the sepals being
nearly an inch long, including their suddenly contracted linear
apical points of 3 lines ; they are about 4 lines broad, with nearly
* A representation of this plant, with sectional details, will be given in
the ‘Illust. South Amer. Plants,’ plate 45.
Mr. J. Miers on the genus Juanulloa. 187
parallel margins, which are slightly connivent ; the tube of the
corolla is about 3 inecies in length, contracted at base for the
length of 14 inch to scarcely more than 13 line broad, and swell-
ing above to a diameter of half an inch; the lobes of the border
are about half an inch in length and 4 or 5 lines in breadth,
somewhat obtuse and patent ; the stamens appear to originate in
the contraction of the tube, with the anthers considerably below
the mouth of the border; the corolla is of much thinner texture
than that of MW. coccinea: in the form of its berry and enveloping
calyx, the arrangement, size, and shape of its seeds, its lax testa,
very thin albumen, and form of its embryo, it quite agrees with
the former species.
JUANULLOA.
This little-known genus of the ‘ Flora Peruviana’ was scarcely
understood by the botanists of our time, until the very interesting
account and excellent figure of a plant raised from seed in the
Botanic Gardens of Kew was lately published by Sir Wm. Hooker.
This proves to be a very different species from that figured by
Ruiz and Pavon, and although generically identical with the
Laureria mexicana of Schlechtendal, is again specifically distinct
from it. The genus approaches Solandra in its climbing habit,
large coriaceous leaves, and in the general structure of its flower
and fruit, agreeing with it also im having a calyx consisting of five
distinct sepals, conniving by their edges into an acutely pen-
tangular tube, but here they subsequently become quite separate ;
it is also dissimilar in the cylindrical form of its corolla, with a
small border of five rounded patent lobes, and with included
stamens. It likewise approaches Marckea in the structure of its
calyx, in which respect it resembles Nicandra and Cliocarpus,
with which latter genus it also agrees, in having stellate tomen-
tum. I have been able to complete from different sources the
following amended generic character :—
JUANULLOA, R. & P. Prodr. xxvii. tab. 4. Ulloa, Pers. Ench. 1.
218, Laureria, Schlecht. Linn. vii. 518. Brugmansia, Sp.
hortul.—Calyz coloratus, 5-sepalus, sepalis oblongo-acutis,
marginibus subreflexis undulatis valvatim conniventibus, tu-
bum inflatum 5-angularem ore coarctatum et 5-dentatum simu-
lantibus, dein liberis et persistentibus. Corolla cylindrico-
tubulosa, medio inflata, carnosula, fauce coarctata, limbo 5-lobo,
lobis brevissimis, rotundatis, patentibus, zestivatione imbricata.
Stamina 5, equalia, inclusa, erecta, fi/amenta in coarctationem
imam corollz imseyta, basi villosa, anthere sublineares, 2-lobz,
lobis parallelis, connectivo lmeari dorsali adnatis, intus longi-
tudinaliter dehiscentibus. | Ovarium conicum, disco carnoso 5-
Icbo impositum, 2-loculare, multiovulatum, placentis centra-
188 Mr. J. Miers on the genus Juanulloa.
libus incrassatis dissepimento utrinque adnatis. Stylus incku-
sus, apice crassescens. Stigma oblongum, sub-bilabiatum, lobis
carnosis, adpressis, intus glandulosis. Bacca ovata, sepalis
sejunctis cincta, 2- locularis. Semina plurima in pulpam nidu-
lantia, oblonga, vix reniformia, compressa, hilo infra medium
-laterali. Embry yo intra albumen carnosum, fere rectus, radi-
cula infera, tereti, paulo incurvata, cotyledonibus oblongis,
crassis, compressis, accumbentibus, rectis, duplo longiore.—
Suffrutices Peruviani et Meaicani ‘dependentes ; foha alterna,
oblonga, integra, coriacea, pube tomentosa stellata plus minusve
induta ; racemi terminales “penduli ; flores aurantiact, vel punicet.
Juanulloa parasitica, R. & P. Fl. Peruy. i. 47. tab. 185. Ul-
loa parasitica, Pers. Ench. 1, 218 ;—suffrutex epiphytica, ra-
mulis junioribus angulatis, glabris, epidermide tenul rimosa ;
foliis oblongis, paaeinaties coriaceis, nitidis, ruguloso-punctu-
latis, subtus albido vel flavido-furfuraceis, petiolo canaliculato,
tenui, limbo 4—6-plo breviore ; racemis terminalibus, pendulis,
dichotome ramosis; calyce magno, ovato, carnoso, colorato,
inflato, 5-angulato, lacimiis demum sejunctis ; corolla punicea,
cylindrica, calyce paulo longiore, medio subinflata, fauce
coarctata, lobis brevibus rotundatis, patentibus ; bacca cerasi
magnitudine punicea, sepalis erectis vestita—In Andibus
Peruvianis excelsis, Pozuzo, Prov. Tarme, v. s. in herb. Mus.
Brit. (Pavon).
The leaves in this species are 52 inches long, 24 inches broad,
with a thick channeled petiole of # inch in length; the raceme
is paniculate, 4—5 inches long, the pedicels } inch; the calyx,
almost glabrous, is 13 inch long, and # inch diameter ; the corolla
is 13 inch long, 4 lines in diameter in the middle, 3 lines at both
extremities, the ene of the border bemg scarcely 2 lines in size ;
the filaments are 5 lines long, the anthers of equal length, the
berry being 1 ae long and ? inch in diameter.
. Juanulloa Mexicana. Waureria Mexicana, Schlecht. Linn. vii.
513. Brugmansia floribunda?, Paxton, Mag. Bot. ix. 241.
cum icone ;—frutex orgyalis, ramis glabris, epidermide rimosa,
junioribus fulvido-tomentosis ; foliis ovatis, v. lato-lanceolatis,
utrinque breviter acutis, supra levibus, subtus preesertim in
nervis tomento molli stellato tectis, breviter petiolatis ; calyce
magno, e€ sepalis 5, lato-ovatis, imo anguste attenuatis, tertia
parte infimo in tubum 5 -gonum 5-alatum margine coheren-
tibus, demum sejunctis ; corolla calyce paulo longiore, tubu-
losa, sub-5-gona, extus stellato-tomentosa, intus glabra, car-
nosa, limbi laciniis brevibus, obtusis: staminibus imo tomen-
tosis, inclusis.—Mexico, La Laguna (Schiede) ; v. s. in herb.
Hook. (Tenampa, Proy. Vera Cruz, Linden, no. 50).
—_
Mr. J. Miers on the genus J vanulloa. 189
The leaves of this plant are described by Schlechtendal as being
from 4 to 6 inches long and from 2 to 3 inches broad, upon a
very short petiole of only 3 or 6 lines in length; the calyx is
14 inch long, increasing to 1} inch; the corolla i is a inch long,
the filaments beng 9 lines and the anthers 5 lines in length.
Linden’s plant above quoted, I have presumed to be the same
species : here the leaves are thick and coriaceous, quite smooth
above, clothed below with yellowish stellate down; they are broadly
ovate, shortly and suddenly attenuated at the obtuse emargimated
apex, 51 inches long, 33 inches broad, on a thick channeled pe-
tiole of 3 to $= inch in length ; the imflorescence is much longer
than in any other species, each dichotomous branch forming a
distinct raceme of 42 inches in length, bearing the articulations
of several flowers towards their apex, which have all fallen off.
3. Juanulloa Hookeriana. Juanulloa parasitica, Hook, Bot. Mag.
tab. 4118 ;—frutex subscandens, ramis glabris, incano-glaucis
epidermide rimosa, junioribus argenteo- “tomentosis: foliis el-
liptico-oblongis, utrmque subattenuatis, subcoriaceis, supra
leevibus, subtus alutaceo-pulverulentis, pilis stellatis subto-
mentosis, petiolo glabro, subtenui, canaliculato ; racemo brevi,
subpaniculato, terminali, pedicellis brevissimis, crassis ; calyce
magno, inflato, 5-angulato, breviter 5-dentato, angulis mox
alatis et undulatis, e sepalis lineari- lanceolatis, 3-nerviis, crasso-
coriaceis, aurantiaco-pulverulentis, margine cohzrentibus, de-
mum liberis et persistentibus ; corolla cylindracea, imo breviter
coarctata, calyce tertio longiore, limbi laciniis ovatis, obtusis,
patentibus ; antheris infra faucem arcte conniventibus.—Patria
ignota; v. v. cult. in hort. Kew.
The leaves of this species are 53 inches long, 22 inches broad,
on a petiole of 3 to $ mch in length ; the terminal inflorescence
branches into two or three very short few-flowered racemes, the
pedicels being 2 lines in length ; the thick fleshy sepals are of an
orange colour, 14 to 13 inch long, ¢ inch broad, forming by their
connivent edges a ‘long and somewhat ventricose pentangular ae
the angles appearing in some degree winged and undulating
the tube of the corolla is 13 inch long, 4 lines in diameter, very
thick and fleshy, of a deep orange colour, externally clothed with
fine floccose down, and smooth within, the segments of the bor-
der being rounded, barely 3 lines long, and 2} lines broad; the
stamens are fixed in the contracted portion of the tube, 3 lines
above the base, and are pilose at their origin, quite smooth and
terete above, erect, 11 lines long; the anthers, with somewhat
mucronate apex, are 4: lines loxg, 1 line broad, adnate to a linear
dorsal connective continuous with the filament ; the ovarium is
conical, seated upon a thick fleshy five-lobed gland, with emar-
190 Mr. J. Miers on the genus Sarcophysa.
ginated rounded lobes ; the style is erect, smooth, thickened and
hollow towards the summit ; the stigma consists of two oblong,
adpressed, semiterete fleshy lobes, lined inside with green viscous
glands.
A. Juanulloa Panamensis (n. sp.) ;—frutex subscandens, ramis
elabris, anguloso-compressis, epidermide rimosa ; foliis ellip-
tico-oblongis, utrinque attenuatis, coriaceis, supra lvibus,
subtus alutaceo-pulverulentis, pilis stellatis flavidis tomentosis,
‘petiolo glabro, subtenui, canaliculato; racemis brevissimis,
3-4, terminalibus, aggregatis, floribus sub-umbellatim con-
fertis : pedicellis calyce fere equilongis, demum in fructu apice
incrassatis duplo longioribus ; calyce breviore pseudo-angulato,
sepalis demum liberis, lanceolatis, acutis, basi latis, carnosis,
aurantiaco-pulverulentis ; corolla cylindracea, imo oreque co-
arctata, supra medium inflata, calyce fere 3-plo longiore, ner-
vis 5 prominentibus, limbi laciniis brevissimis, obtusiusculis,
staminibus inclusis ; bacca oblonga, stylo persistente apiculata,
sepalis coriaceis sejunctis cincta.x—Panama, v. s. in herb. Hook.
Veraguas (Seemann, no. 1200).
This species bears much resemblance in the form and size of
its leaves to J. Hookeriana, but its inflorescence is very different,
its calyx not half the size, the sepals less acuminate, the corolla
longer and more contracted in its lower half. The leaves are
5 inches long, 21 inches broad, on a petiole 3 to 3 inch in length ;
they have a silvery lustre beneath, although covered somewhat
more sparsely with yellow stellate or rather brachiate tomentum.
The racemes, almost fasciculate at the apex of the branch, are
scarcely more than 3 of an inch in length ; the pedicels are inch
long in flower, 1 inch long in fruit; the sepals are little more
than 4 inch long and 3 inch broad at base, and do not increase in
size, but remain erect, separated, coriaceous, and embracing the
ovate berry, 2 inch long, % inch diameter, crowned by the long,
slender, persistent style ; the seeds are 2 lines long, nearly a line
in breadth, and they have afforded the structural features given
in the generic character*.
SARCOPHYSA.
Among the plants collected by Goudot and Purdie in New
Granada, is one that nearly approaches Solandra, Juanulloa and
Marckea, not only in its scandent habit, with large coriaceous
leaves, but in the form of its corolla. It differs however from
those genera in having a large, ovate, fleshy, tubular calyx, which
* A representation of this species with sectional details, and an analysis
of the flower of J. Hookeriana, will be shown in plate 46 of the ‘ IIllustr.
South Amer, Plants.’
Mr. J. Miers on the genus Ectozoma. 191
is much inflated in the middle, with a remarkably contracted
mouth, bursting irregularly with the growth of the fruit, and not
divided into distinct sepals as in the other genera above- men-
tioned ; it is also distinguishable from Juanulloa by its long,
handsome, tubular corolla. Its name is derived from cdpé£, caro,
and dion, vesica, because of its fieshy inflated calyx.
Sarcopnysa (gen. nov.).—Calya magnus, coloratus, ovatus, in-
flato-tnbulosus, crasso-carnosus, ore coarctato, breviter 5 5-par-
tito, laciniis acutis, erectis, persistens, sed non augescens.
Corolla cylindrico- tubulosa, tubo medio subinflato, calyce 3-plo
longiore, limbo breviter 5- lobo, lobis acutis reflexis, staminibus
styloque inclusis. Bacca ovata, styli basi apiculata, calyce
coriaceo irregulariter fisso vestita. Ceetera ignota.—Suffrutex
scandens Nove Granade, folia alterna, ie, coriacea ; racemi
penduli, pauciflores ; corolla speciosa.
1. Sarcophysa speciosa (n. sp.) ;—ramis dependentibus, dense
tomentosis ; foliis ovatis, basi obtusis, apice breviter angustatis,
crasso-coriaceis, nervis profunde impressis, supra glaberrimis,
minute ruguloso-punctulatis, subtus flavido-tomentosis, pilis
stellato-brachiatis, petiolo crasso, reflexo, canaliculato, sub-
brevi; calyce magno, colorato ; corolla punicea ?, calyce duplo
longiore, extus subtomentosa ; baeca magna, calyce vix aucto,
fisso, zequilongo, inclusa.—Nova Granada, v. s. im herd. Hook.
(Quindiu et Palmas, Goudot ; Quindiu, Purdie).
This appears to be a scandent plant ; its leaves are quite smooth
above, with a finely rugulose or shagreened surface ; below they
are, as well as the petiole, covered with a dense orange-coloured
and short tomentum ; they are 4 inches long, 24 inches broad, on
a thick channeled petiole half an inch long ; the flowers appear
racemose ; the calyx 1} inch long, nearly an inch in diameter ; the
corolla is 21 inches in length, 8 lines diameter in the middle,
contracted at both extremities to 5 lines, with oblong triangular
teeth, 3 lines long; the berry unripe is 14 inch long, ¢ inch dia-
meter, surrounded by the persistent coriaceous calyx, which is
irregularly split on one side to the base ; the hairs 6f the tomen-
tum are distinctly brachiate*.
EcrozoMa.
In the Pavonian herbarium, preserved in the British Museum,
I have noticed a plant that offers much analogy with the fore-
going genera, agreeing with all the Solandree im its habit, its
coriaceous leaves, and terrinal paniculated inflorescence, and
* This species will be shown in plate 47 of the ‘ Illustr. South Amer.
Plants.’
192 Mr. J. Miers on the genus Ectozoma.
although its flowers are much smaller, they agree in having a
fleshy tubular corolla with five short lobes, which are imbricated in
estivation. They present the unusual character of the insertion
of the stamens upon a free perigynous ring, as in Triguera, but
with the peculiarity of being adnate upon its external face; hence
the derivation of its generic name, from éxros, extra, and fapa,
cingula. In most cases where the stamens spring from a perigynous
ring, the filaments originate from its inner face, as in Salpichroma,
or from its margin, as Sin Triguera ; but we have a somewhat ana-
logous case in Campanula medium, where the filaments are di-
stinctly adnate upon the back of the large, broad processes, that
form the fornix around the base of the style, peculiar to that
genus. Its generic features may be characterized as follows :—
Ecrozoma (gen. nov.).—Calyx campanulatus, brevis, crassus, sub-
eequaliter 5-dentatus, dentibus triangularibus, erectis. Corolla
breviter tubulosa, medio subinflata, crasso-carnosa, limbo 5-
lobo, lobis suborbicularibus, eestivatione imbricatis. Stamina 5,
eequalia, inclusa, filamenta brevissima, compressa, e dorso an-
nuli perigyni liberi tenuis margine ciliati orta. Anthere ob-
long, imo subcordatz, apice mucronulatz, lobis coriaceis con-
nectivo dorsali lineari parallele adnatis, margine longitudina-
liter dehiscentibus. Ovarium obovatum. Stylus erectus. Stig-
ma fere exsertum, globosum, sub-2-lobum. Fructus ignotus.—
Suffrutex Ecuador ensis, glaberrimus, subscandens? ; folia alterna,
ovata, vix acuta ; inflorescentia paniculata, ter minalise
Ectozoma Pavonii ;—glaberrima, ramulis compressis, suban-
gulatis, epidermide rimosa ; foliis late ovatis, basi apiceque ob-
tusiusculis, vix acutis, crasso-coriaceis, supra impresso-punc-
tulatis, venis insculptis, subtus pallidis, venis prominentibus,
petiolo crasso canaliculato ; racemis paniculatis, 2-3, termi-
nalibus; floribus breviter pedicellatis, calyce carnoso auran-
tiaco, piloso, pilis brevibus articulatis ; corolla carnosa, auran-
tiaca, glabra, limbi lacinuis crassiusculis.—Guayaquil, v. s. in
herb. Mus. Brit. (Pavon).
This plant bears much resemblance in its habit to Juanulloa
and Sarcophysa. Its branchlets are much compressed, covered
with a shining peeling bark; the leaves are 5 inches long, 33
inches broad, on a thick channeled petiole of half an inch in
length. Its paniculate branching raceme is about 2 inches long
each pedicel is 1 line long ; the calyx, 4 lines in length and 3 lines
in diameter, is very fleshy and rugosely pilose, and is divided to
one-third its length into five equal erect teeth; the tube of the
corolla is 3 lines long, and the circular lobes of its border 1 line
in diameter, the tube is somewhat narrowed at its base and in the
throat; the antheriferous free ring arises in the constriction of
—
Mr. W. H. Benson on the genus Diplommatina. 193
the tube. It is possible that in the specimen referred to, the
flowers are only in a young state, and that when fully grown
they may assume a somewhat greater development, but I give the
description in accordance with the specimen as it exists*.
XXII.—Characters of Diplommatina, a new genus of Terrestrial
Mollusks belonging to the Family of Carychiadee, and of a second
Species contained in it ; also of a new species of Carychium in-
habiting the Western Himalaya. By W. H. Benson, Esq.
At page 81, vol. ii. of Pfeiffer’s excellent Monograph of the
Helicide, there appears an erroneous reference to that family of
an anomalous shell, the animal of which must exclude it from
the position there assigned to it ;—I allude to the little Himalayan
species called by Capt. Hutton in MSS. Carychium costatum,
which Dr. Pfeiffer has described under the title of Bulimus folli-
culus. Capt. Hutton, referring to the situation of the eyes and
to their not being borne on the summits of the tentacula, asso-
ciated the form with Carychium. The shell alone, differmg in
the shape of the aperture and destitute of plaits or teeth, would
certainly be anomalous in that genus; but it formed the only
published type to which the species could be approximated. The
following is the recorded result of my own repeated observations
of the animals of both species.
Tentacula two only, originating from the upper part of the
head, long and filiform ; eyes situated on the posterior part of
the tentacula at their base, composed of two lobes: one lobe
deeply seated in the tentaculum and larger than the other lobe,
which is a small black point coming to the surface on the outer
side of the larger lobe ; foot short.
Had the animal been provided with an operculum, it might
possibly have been referred to the family of Cyclostomatid in
accordance with the position of the eyes, and the form of the
aperture of the shell. The differences observable in the latter,
as well as in its inhabitant, give countenance to a separation from
Carychium ; I therefore propose for the type the followimg name
derived from the peculiarity of the percipient points or eyes.
Diplommatina, nobis.
Char. Gen. Testa vix rimata, tenui, subovata; spira elongata; an-
fractibus convexis, costatis, ultimo subascendente ; apertura eden-
* A representation of this plant with details will be shown in plate 48 of
the ‘Illustr. South Amer. Plants.’
+ I believe I have the concurrence of the major part of the conchologists
of the present day in dissenting from Rang’s opinion, ‘qu’il n'est pas possible
d’établir des divisions fondées sur la présence ou |’absence d’opercule, ’—
Vide Rang’s Manuel, p. 198, Art. Litiopa.
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. iv. 13
194: Mr. W. H. Benson on the genus Diplommatina.
tula, subcirculari; peristomate duplicato, expanso; marginibus
callo parietali appresso junctis; operculo nullo.
Sp. 1. D. (Bul.) folliculus, Pfr. Monogr. vol. 11. p. 81-2. Cary-
chium costatum, Hutt. MSS.
Sp. 2. D. (Carych.) costulatum, Hutt. MSS.
Testa minima, subimperforata, cylindrico-ovata, minute costulata,
costulis obliquis regularibus, approximatis ; anfractibus 5, superio-
ribus celeriter decrescentibus ; ultimo angustiori, antice subascen-
dente; sutura profunda; apice obtuso ; apertura rotundata, con-
tinua, peristomate tenui, expanso, duplicato, labro secundo retro-
misso a costulis satis distincto.
Long. 2 mill., diam. vix 1 mill.
Hab. in montibus sub-Himalayanis occidentalibus.
It differs abundantly, in form as well as size, from D. folliculus,
Pfr., in which also the double lip, distinct from the ribs, is
strongly marked, although not noted in his characters. The
present species is less than two-thirds the length of D. folliculus,
and does not present the long conical spire of that species, de-
creasing more suddenly towards the apex.
It inhabits the same localities as the larger shell, abounding
in masses of decayed fallen leaves, and under stones, in damp
situations beneath trees, on the shady sides of the mountains,
at from 5000 to 9000 feet elevation, at Simla, Mussoorie and
Landour.
Pfeiffer has given Bengal as the habitat of D. folliculus. It
has never been met with in that province. Capt. Hutton dis-
covered it at Simla near the Sutlej, and I have taken it abun-
dantly at Landour, and still further eastward at Nynee Tal, and
on the Ghagur Mountain towards the head of the Sarjou. It
will probably be found in Nipal, or even further in the range,
when the attention of visitors to those quarters shall be attracted
to these diminutive animals, or perhaps the known species may
be there replaced by other allied forms.
In the same localities as Diplommatina, but less abundantly,
occurs a new species of Carychium proper, quite distinct from the
European species C. minimum and speleum, Rossm., as well as
from the American C. ewiguum, Say. The following are its cha-
racters :—
C. Indicum, nobis.
Testa minima, rimata, ovato-cylindracea, hyalina, nitida; anfracti-
bus quinque, superioribus convexis, ultimo et penultimo subpla-
nulatis ; apice obtuso; sutura impressa; apertura ovata, peristo-
mate incrassato, margine dextro intus medio callo dentiformi pre-
dito ; plica parietali unica, columellari 1 obliqua.
Long. 14 mill., diam. 2 mill.
Hab. ad Simla et Landour montibus sub-Himalayanis, foliis putridis
adherens. ‘
Mr. F. Walker’s Descriptions of Aphides. 195
I should have adopted Capt. Hutton’s MS. name “ bdidens,”
were it truly descriptive of the shell. The columellar plate ap-
pears to have escaped his observation from its minuteness and
its backward position in the mouth.
July 25, 1849.
XXITI.—Descriptions of Aphides. By Francis Wacker, F.L.S.
[Continued from p. 48. ]
71. Aphis Capree, Fabr.
Aphis Caprea, Fabr. Syst. Ent. 217. 33; Ent. Syst. iv. 221.3 ;
Syst. Rhyn. 294. 3; Schrank, Faun. Boic. u. 1. 104. 1179;
Gmel. Syst. Nat. 1. 2203 ; Stew. El. nu. 110; Turt. i. 703; Kalt.
Mon. Pfian. i. 109. 84; Ratz. Forst. Ins. iii. 218. 110.
Aphis Pastinace, Linn. Syst. Nat. 1. 1. 36. 31; Faun. Suece.
997 ; Fabr. Mant. Ins. 1. 315.13; Ent. Syst. iv. 213. 13 ; Syst.
Rhyn. 296. 13; Gmel. ed. Syst. Nat. 2202; Turt. 1. 703.
A. Aigopodu, Fabr. Sp. Ins. i. 387. 28; Ent. Syst. iv. 217.
33; Syst. Rhyn. 299. 33; Gmel. ed. Syst. Nat. 1. 2204; Stew.
El. iui. 110.
A. Podagraria, Scop. Ent. Carn. 399 ; Schrank, Faun. Boic.
is 2. LLO;
Agopodaphis, Amyot, Ann. Soc. Ent. 2™¢ série, v. 479.
This species feeds on Salix babylonica, S. caprea, S. amygdalina,
S. alba, Angelica sylvestris, A. archangelica, Afgopodium Poda-
graria, Cherophyllum temulum, C. sylvestre, Apium graveolens,
A. Petroselinum, Sium nodiflorum, Heracleum Sphondylium, Pas-
tinaca sativa, Conium maculatum, Anethum Feniculum, Peuce-
danum officinale, &e.
The viviparous wingless female. Pale green, especially on each
side, elliptical, flat, and rather small: the front is slightly con-
vex, and not notched: the feelers are pale green, and shorter than
the body ; their tips are black ; the first and the second joints are
not angular ; the fourth joimt is much less than half the length
of the third, which is rather thick ; the fifth is shorter than
the fourth ; the sixth is much shorter than the fifth ; the seventh
is very slender and much longer than the fourth: the eyes are
black: the mouth and the nectaries are pale green; the former
has a black tip, and the latter are very slightly spindle-shaped,
and. as long as one-fourth of the body : the legs are pale yellow ;
the tips of the feet are black. On the willow.
Ist var. Oval, shghtly convex, with two vivid green stripes
along the back: the feelers are about one-fourth of the length
13*
196 Mr. F. Walker’s Descriptions of Aphides.
of the body ; their tips are brown: the eyes are dark brown : the
tip of the mouth is brown: the nectaries are as long as one-
eighth of the body: the legs are pale green; the feet and the tips
of the shanks are brown. Abundant on Anethum Feeniculum in
the beginning of May.
2nd var. Small, grass-green, short elliptical, rather flat: the
limbs are green ; the tips of the feelers, the eyes, the tip of the
mouth, and the feet are brown: the feelers are not half the
length of the body: the nectaries are about one-sixth of the
length of the body. On Peucedanum officinale at the end of
May.
Sed var. The feelers are pale green, and little more than one-
third of the length of the body ; their tips are black: the eyes
are dark red. On Heracleum Sphondylium at the end of June.
4th var. The body is pale greenish yellow, and the head in-
clines to a buff colour: the eyes are dark red: the feelers are pale
yellow, darker towards their tips, and a little more than half the
length of the body: the mouth is pale yellow with a black tip:
the nectaries are pale yellow with black tips, and rather more
than one-fourth of the length of the body : the legs are pale yel-
low or greenish yellow ; the tips of the feet are black.
5th var. Green, shining: the feelers are pale yellow, and less
than half the length of the body; their tips are darker: the
mouth is pale yellow; its tip and the eyes are black : the nec-
taries are pale yellow, and as long as one-sixth of the body ; their
tips are black : the legs are pale yellow ; the thighs are pale green ;
the tips of the shanks and of the feet are dark.
6th var. The body is pale red varied with yellow: the feelers
are pale yellow, and about half the length of the body ; the tips
of the latter joints are darker: the mouth is pale yellow ; its tip
and the eyes are black: the nectaries are pale yellow with black
tips, and nearly one-fifth of the length of the body: the legs are
pale green ; the knees and the tips of the shanks are brown ; the
tips of the feet are black.
7th var. The body is dark green, or pale green with the head
and the limbs inclining to a white colour: the feelers are pale
green with brown tips, and rather more than one-third of the
length of the body: the nectaries are pale yellow with brown
tips, and are as long as one-sixth of the body : the mouth is very
pale green with a brown tip: the eyes are very dark brown: the
legs are very pale green ; the feet are pale brown.
8th var. The body is dull green: the feelers are black, dull
yellow at the base, and much shorter than the body; the joints
are rather thick with the exception of the last, which is slender :
the mouth is pale yellow; its tip and the eyes are black: the
nectaries are dark green, and as long as one-eighth of the body :
-
Mr. F. Walker’s Descriptions of Aphides. 197
the legs are dull yellow, and rather short ; the knees, the feet,
and the tips of the shanks are black.
9th var. Body pale yellowish green: the eyes are dark brown:
the feelers are pale green at the base, brown at the tips, and
rather less than one-third of the length of the body : the mouth
is pale green with a brown tip: the nectaries are pale green, and
nearly one-fifth of the length of the body: the legs are pale
green ; the feet are brown.
10th var. Body dark dull yellowish green; the head and the
limbs are still darker.
11th var. Body grass-green.
12th var. Body green, mottled with red.
13th var. Body pale red.
14th var. The tips of the nectaries and of the shanks are
brown.
15th var. The feelers and the legs are brown.
16th var. The body is pale whitish green: the limbs are dull
white or greenish white ; the former are nearly half the length of
the body : the eyes are dark red: the tip of the mouth is black :
the nectaries are as long as one-fourth of the body: the knees,
the feet, and the tips of the shanks are dark.
17th var. The seventh joint of the feelers is shorter than the
sixth.
The viviparous winged female. Green, and rather small: the
head, the disc of the chest, and that of the breast are black :
there is a large black spot on the back of the abdomen, and a
row of small black spots on each side: the feelers are black, and
a little longer than the body: the mouth is pale green ; its tip
and the eyes are black : the nectaries are dull green, and as long
as one-fourth of the body: the legs are pale yellow, and mode-
rately long ; the thighs, except the base, the feet, and the tips
of the shanks, are black: the wings are colourless, and much
longer than the body; the wing-ribs are pale green ; the wing-
brands and the veins are dark brown; the tips of the latter are
slightly clouded; the second vein diverges much from the first,
but is nearly parallel to the third; the situation of the forks of
the latter vein is variable, but the first is usually a little before
one-third and the second much after two-thirds of the length ;
the fourth vein is more curved towards its base than near its tip,
and the angle of the brand whence it springs is very slight. On
the willow in the middle of June.
Ist var. The abdomen is quite green: the thighs are green
with black tips.
2nd var. The abdomen is green, and there are black bands
across its back: the feelers are nearly as long as the body: the
198 Mr. F. Walker’s Descriptions of Aphides.
legs are pale green ; the feet and the tips of the shanks are black :
the wing-ribs are pale yellow.
3rd var. The back of the abdomen is black, and it is traversed
by green bands, one of which near the base is broader than the
rest ; the nectaries are as long as one-sixth of the body.
Ath var. The abdomen is green, and its back is traversed by
confluent black bands : the feelers are nearly as long as the body :
the mouth is pale yellow with a black tip: the nectaries are also
pale yellow with black tips, and as long as one-sixth of the body :
the thighs and the wing-ribs are pale yellow.
5th var. Like the preceding, but the borders of the fore-chest
and the fore-breast are dull yellow.
6th var. Black, shining: the borders of the fore-chest are
dark green: the abdomen is pale green at the base and beneath ;
the dise and the hind-part are almost black: the feelers are less
than half the length of the body: the nectaries are black, and
about one-seventh of the length of the body: the legs are dull
yellow ; the feet and the tips of the shanks are black : the wings
are nearly twice the length of the body; the wing-ribs are pale
yellow ; the wing-brands are pale brown, and very long ; the veins
are brown. On Anethum Feniculum, in the beginning of May.
7th var. Black: the base and the underside of the abdomen
and the mouth are green, and the tip of the latter is black : the
feelers are nearly as long as the body: the nectaries are about
one-sixth of the length of the body: the legs are pale yellow ;
the feet, and the tips of the thighs and of the shanks are black.
On Peucedanum officinale, at the end of May.
8th var. Black: the fore-border and the hind-border of the
fore-chest and the abdomen are green; the latter is sometimes
traversed by black bands: the feelers are much shorter than the
body : the mouth is green with a black tip: the legs are yellow ;
the feet and the tips of the shanks are black; the tips of the
thighs are sometimes brown.
9th var. Black: the abdomen is very dark green with a row
of black spots on each side; its underside is rather pale: the
feelers are rather shorter than the body, or sometimes about
half its length: the mouth is dark green with a black tip: the
nectaries are one-fifth or onetsixth of the length of the body:
the legs are dark dull green or dull yellow; the feet and the
tips of the thighs and of the shanks are brown or black: the
wing-brands are dark green or pale brown. On Cherophyllum
sylvestre, in the beginning of May.
10th var. While a pupa it is pale yellowish green, with two
vivid green stripes along the back : the feelers are full one-third
or sometimes more than half the length of the body: the nec-
Mr. F. Walker’s Descriptions of Aphides. 199
taries are about one-eighth of the length of the body: the rudi-
mentary wings are buff. This colour continues for some little
time after the insect acquires wings, which are milk-white for
a while after their development. The winged insect is black and
small : the feelers are more than half the length of the body : the
mouth is dull green with a brown tip: the abdomen is green, and
has a stripe of black spots on each side: the nectaries are black,
and about one-sixth of the length of the body : the legs are pale
yellow; the feet and the tips of the shanks are brown ; the four
hinder thighs are sometimes black: the wings are very much
longer than the body ; the wing-ribs are pale green; the brands
are pale brown ; the veins are brown.
11th var. Like the last, but the fore-border and the hind-
border of the fore-chest are green: the feelers are shorter than
the body: the mouth is pale green with a black tip: the nec-
taries are green, and as long as one-fifth of the body: the legs
are green; the feet and the tips of the shanks are black: the
wing-ribs and the rib-veins are pale yellow.
12th var. Like the 10th var., but the borders and the under-
side of the fore-chest are dull yellow: the tips of the fore-thighs,
the middle thighs from the middle to the tips, and the hind-
thighs excepting the base, are dull green : the wing-ribs and the
rib-veins are pale yellow; the veins are pale brown.
13th var. The body is black : the sutures of the segments are
dark green: the abdomen is green, and has a row of black spots
on each side: the feelers are very much shorter than the body :
the mouth is green with a black tip: the nectaries are green,
and about one-sixth of the length of the body : the legs are dull
yellow; the feet and the tips of the thighs and of the shanks
are black: the wing-ribs are pale yellow; the brands are dull
buff.
14th var. The body is black : the fore-chest is dull green: the
abdomen is pale grass-green ; the disc of its back is darker, and
there is a row of very small black spots on each side : the feelers
are black, and rather more than half the length of the body : the
mouth is green with a brown tip: the nectaries are black, and
about one-tenth of the length of the body: the legs are green ;
the feet and the tips of the thighs and of the shanks are black :
the wing-ribs are pale yellow ; the brands and the veins are pale
brown.
15th var. The body is black and rather small: the abdomen,
the fore-breast and the borders of the fore-chest are dull green :
the feelers are much shorter than the body: the mouth is dull
green with a black tip: the nectaries are dull green, and as long
as one-sixth of the body: the legs are dark green; the hind-
thighs, the feet, and the tips of the shanks are black : the wing-
200 Mr. F. Walker’s Descriptions of Aphides.
ribs are yellow ; the wing-brands are pale brown; the veins are
brown.
16th var. The body is black and very small : the feelers are as
long as the body : the mouth is dull yellow with a black tip: the
nectaries are as long as one-eighth of the body: the fore-thighs
are yellow at the Babes ; the shanks are dark yellow with black
tips : the wing-ribs are yellow; the brands are pale brown ; the
veins are elefrle: brown, and very distinct.
17th var. The body is black : the abdomen is green : the feel-
ers are a little more than half the length of the body : the mouth
is yellow towards the base: the nectaries are as long as one-sixth
of the body : the legs are black ; the fore-thighs at “the base, and
the shanks except their tips are yellow : the w ing-ribs are yel-
low ; the brands and the veins are brown.
18th var. The body is black: the borders of the fore-chest
and the abdomen are dark green ; the back of the latter is black :
the feelers are nearly as long as the body: the mouth is pale yel-
low with a black tip: the nectaries are black, and as long as one-
sixth of the body: the legs are pale yellow; the four hinder
thighs, the knees, the feet, and the tips of the shanks are black :
the wing-ribs and the rib-veins are pale yellow ; the brands and
the other veins are pale brown.
19th var. The fourth joint of the feelers is full half the length of
the third ; the fifth is shorter than the fourth ; the sixth is a little
longer than the fifth ; the seventh is a little longer than the sixth.
20th var. The fourth joint is nearly half the length of the
third ; the fifth and the sixth are slightly club-shaped, and are
each as long as the fourth ; the seventh is hardly longer than the
sixth.
21st var. The sixth joint is a little longer than the fifth.
22nd var. The third joint is as long as the three following
joints, and the seventh is about thrice the length of the sixth.
23rd var. While a pupa it resembles the wingless Aphis, but
the rudimentary wings are pale green: sometimes the body has
two lively green stripes along the abdomen, and the colour varies
to pale red which is sometimes varied with green and with brown.
When winged it is dull greenish yellow: the disc of the chest
and that of the breast are black: there is a brown band across
the fore-chest : the feelers are shorter than the body : the mouth
is yellow with a black tip: the nectaries are pale yellow with
black tips, and as long as one-fifth of the body: the thighs are
pale yellow.
24th var. While a pupa the body is pale green varied with
dark green, or pale red varied with yellow: the head and the
fore-chest. are pale red: the legs are pale greenish yellow ; the
feet are black.
Mr. F. Walker’s Descriptions of Aphides. 201
There are two varieties of this species on the willow, and they
differ in size; the black colour predominates in the smaller va-
riety, and in the larger the green extends more over the body and
over the legs. The pupze resemble the wingless insect in colour,
but the rudimentary wings and the dise of the chest are buff.
The oviparous wingless female. It appears at the end of Octo-
ber, and 1s elliptical, dark velvet-like red, and rather flat: the
feelers are white with black tips, and about one-third of the
length of the body: the mouth is white; its tip and the eyes are
black : the nectaries are white with black tips, and nearly one-
fourth of the length of the body: the legs are dirty white ; the
feet and the tips of the shanks are black; the hind-shanks are
broad and grayish black. It continues sometimes till near the
end of November.
Ist var. Bright red: the dise of the abdomen is black.
2nd var. The head is almost white.
3rd var. Greenish yellow : the tip of the abdomen is orange :
the legs are pale green ; the hind-shanks are dull green.
4th var. Orange colour.
5th var. The body is dull yellowish green, flat, oval, not
shining: there is a broad irregular black stripe along the chest
whereon it divides and passes along each side of the abdomen:
the feelers are pale yellow, black towards the tips, and very nearly
half the length of the body: the mouth is pale; its tip and the
eyes are black : the nectaries are white, and about one-twelfth of
the length of the body: the legs are dirty yellowish white; the
feet and the tips of the shanks are black.
The winged male. The body is small and black: the abdomen
is dark brown: the feelers are black, thick from their base till
near their tips, and nearly as long as the body: the mouth is
yellow with a black tip ; the nectaries are black, and about one-
sixth of the length of the body: the legs are black ; the shanks
except their tips are yellow: the wings are colourless and much
longer than the body ; the wmg-ribs and the rib-veins are yellow ;
the brands and the other veins are brown.
Ist var. The abdomen is broad, and rather dark yellow ; the
nectaries are as long as the body : the legs are yellow; the four
hinder thighs, excepting the base, the feet, and the tips of the
shanks and of the fore-thighs, are black.
2nd var. The abdomen is very dark red beneath, and covered
with white powder: the feelers are a little longer than the body :
the nectaries are as long as one-eighth of the body : the legs are
black ; the thighs are pale yellow at the base; the shanks ex-
cepting their tips are dark yellow: the wing-brands are pale
brown.
3rd var. The body is pale greenish yellow: the head, the disc
202 Botanical Society of Edinburgh.
of the chest and that of the breast are black: there is a broad
black stripe along the abdomen: the feelers are black : the nec-
taries are pale yellow with black tips, and less than one-fourth
of the length of the body: the legs are pale yellow ; the knees,
the feet, and the tips of the shanks are black.
Variations of the wing-veins. 1st var. The first vein, the lower
branch of the first fork, and (with the exception of its tip) the
upper branch of the second fork of the third vein, are wanting.
2nd var. The second vein has near its tip a fork which does
not join the border of the wg.
3rd var. The second fork of the third vein is close to the tip
of the wing.
[To be continued. }
PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES.
BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH.
June 14, 1849.—Professor Balfour, President, in the Chair.
Donations to the library were announced. Specimens of the va-
rious species and varieties of tea cultivated in Assam were presented
by Dr. Jameson ; and Himalayan ferns by Mr. Wyville Thomson.
The following papers were read :—
1. “ On Nostochinee,’ by Messrs. Ralfs and Thwaites. This
was a continuation of a former paper, being descriptions of the spe-
cies of Trichormus, Aphanizomenon, and Dolichospermum. It will
appear in the ‘Annals of Natural History’ and the Society’s
‘ Transactions.’
2. ‘Remarks on the Origin of Plants and the Physical and Geo-
graphical Distribution of Species,” by the Rev. Dr. Fleming. ‘The
author stated that it had been assumed as a first principle, con-
nected with an extensive series of speculations in botany and geo-
logy, that species had sprung from single centres, and that the indi-
viduals had ‘“‘ radiated from one point to greater or lesser distances
around it,” according to Dr. J. Hooker; or that all the individuals
of a species could be traced ‘‘ from a single progenitor, or from two,
according as the sexes might be united or distinct,’’ and hence the
origin of the phrase, ‘‘ specific centres.’”” In opposition to this view,
it was stated, that the history of the human race, traced to their
origin in a single pair, did not furnish an analogical argument of
any value; while the dependence of the carnivorous animals on the
herbivorous kinds, and the latter, along with man himself, on plants,
gave good grounds to conclude that many individuals, of grasses for
example, were requisite in the first instance, and were brought forth
abundantly. ‘These considerations rendered the assumption of ‘ spe-
cific centres”’ extremely improbable; but the occurrence of similar
species, in localities remote from one another, and even in opposite
hemispheres, over which, by no conceivable process, could dispersion
Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 203
from a single plant be reconciled with the phenomena, did, in the
opinion of the author, furnish a demonstration of its absurdity. Dr.
Hooker, while admitting the identity of the species of opposite hemi-
spheres, acknowledging about thirty antarctic forms as identical with
European plants, even after careful comparison and with the ablest
coadjutors, is inclined to consider the identity, not as indicating a
multitude of progenitors of a species, but as an anomaly, the ex-
planation of which must be sought for ‘7m some natural cause.”
Professor E. Forbes disposes of the anomaly in a more summary
manner, by an assertion, that ‘“‘species of opposite hemispheres,
placed under similar conditions, are representative, not identical.”
If this opinion be correct, then form and structure are vastly inferior
in value in the determination of species, to /atitude, a conclusion not
likely to be adopted. ‘The author concluded by recommending the
abolition of the term “specific centres of distribution,” a$ involving
an erroneous hypothesis, and the substitution of the phrase ‘‘ patches
of distribution.”
Dr. Fleming exhibited a specimen of Xanthorrhea hastilis, which
had been sent by Assistant-Commissary Neill from St. George’s
Sound, together with some implements manufactured by the abori-
gines, by means of the gum exuded from the bases of the leaves of
this plant.
July 12.—Dr. Balfour, President, in the Chair.
re following papers were read :-—
On Nostochinee,” by John Ralfs, Esq. “This paper comprised
descriptions of species of Spherozyga and Cylindrospermum, and will
appear in the ‘ Annals of Natural History’ and the Society’s ‘ Trans-
actions.’
2. **On the Chemical Composition of the Fluid in the Ascidia of
Nepenthes,” by Dr. A. Voelcker of Frankfort. (See p. 128.)
Dr. Fleming called attention to the fact, that the young leaves of
barley distil a clear fluid from their extremities. He was not aware
of any analysis having been made of it.
Dr. Balfour alluded to a similar phenomenon on the leaf of
Richardia (Calla) Aithiopica; and Dr. Cleghorn made some remarks
on the acid secretion (oxalic acid) of Cicer arietinum, the chick pea,
which he had often observed the ryots collecting in India.
3. “Notes of Excursions in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh,” by
Dr. Balfour. In these notes Dr. Balfour gave a short account of the
botanical trips which he had taken with his pupils this season to
Daimahoy, Arniston, Dysart, Prestonhall, Melrose, Gullane, Queens-
ferry and the Bass, and noticed some of the more interesting plants
which had been gathered.
4. Dr. Balfour exhibited specimens of roots which had entered
and choked up tile-drains ; viz. of an ash which had penetrated tile-
drains in Hampshire, filling them up completely for a great extent,
and causing serious injury, and stated that similar occurrences had
been observed in various parts of the country, more especially at
Muirkirk, the Carse of Gowrie and Prestonhall. ‘The plants, whose
204 Botanical Society of Edinburgh.
roots had penetrated the drains in different localities, were :—elm,
poplar, willow and ash, Polygonum Bistorta, Equisetum, and Tussilago
Farfara. ‘The Bistort had been very troublesome in the Carse of
Gowrie. Mr. Gorrie had found the roots of an alder penetrating
into an old mine full of water, and developed there in a remarkable
manner.
Dr. Neill stated that twenty years ago Mr. Riddoch of Falkirk
had transmitted to him a specimen of the root of Senecio Jacobea
that had entered a drain by a very small orifice, but afterwards ex-
tended itself, completely filling the drain for about 20 feet.
Mr. Wyville Thomson referred to an instance which had come
under his observation in Ayrshire, in which drains were completely
obstructed at a place where they passed through a larch plantation,
the roots of the larches having filled them up.
Sir John S. Forbes, in a letter addressed to Professor Balfour, gave
some interesting particulars as te the water-pipes which supply the
village of New Pitsligo, Aberdeenshire. Part of these tile- -pipes, 3
inches bore, were laid about forty years ago, overlapping 24 inches,
packed in clay throughout their whole length, and the ‘oints filled
with milled clay. The pipes are in general. placed 3 feet deep; but
in some instances they approach nearer the surface owing to the
levels, and at these points roots have entered. The roots proceed
from plants outside and never adhere to the tile. They run along
the inside for 6 or 8 yards, and then become matted together so as
to fill the pipes completely. The plants which have been observed
to send their roots into the pipes are species of Rumex and Carduus,
&c. The pipes require to be cleaned at least once in the season,
which is done by a long wire with a screw at the end, which is
twisted among the roots so as to break them up, and allow the
loosened matter to pass out at the lowest level. Sir John sent a
specimen of the root of a gooseberry bush which had entered the
pipes where they passed through a garden.
Dr. Fleming suggested the importance of ascertaining the probable
structural changes which enabled the roots of these plants to derive
nourishment directly from running water.
Dr. Balfour exhibited specimens of a peculiarly knotted stem of
an elm from Prestonhall. ‘The leading stem had been broken off, and
one of the side branches rising from a remarkably knotted base had
become erect, giving the tree a peculiar aspect. All the branches of
this new leader were covered with knots, while the other branches
were free from them. The peculiarity v was continued in plants raised
from slips taken off the branch.
Dr. Balfour also noticed the occurrence in Prestonhall grounds of
a mountain ash, from which a large limb had been broken, splitting
the tree so as to expose its centre, which is now covered with roots,
sent down from the branches above.
Dr. Balfour exhibited specimens of sycamore roots, taken by Mr.
Gorrie from very stony ground, which had become flattened and hol-
lowed so as to embrace large stones at different points. The roots,
when removed, carried the stones with them, and in some instances
Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 205
the stones were almost completely enveloped by the expanded con-
tinuous root.
5. “Remarks on the growth of Bambusa arundinacea,” by Mr.
Robert Scott. (See p. 120.)
Dr. Cleghorn of the Madras Army exhibited drawings of some in-
teresting plants from Western Mysore, India, a tract of country little
explored by botanists, where for some years he has been in a pecu-
liarly favourable position for acquiring information. The district he
represented to be singularly rich in natural productions: many me-
dicinal shrubs are found, yielding gums, barks and dyes, the value of
which is not sufficiently known or appreciated. ‘There were laid
before the meeting a specimen of Mysore gamboge, with figures of
Garcinia pictoria, Rox., which furnishes it, and other Guttifere ; also
Zanthochymus pictorius, Rox., &c. The analysis and researches of
Dr. Christison (with the opinion of the Bombay Chamber of Com-
merce) has fully established the intrinsic value of this gamboge,
whilst the concurrent testimony of several accurate observers prove
that the tree is found in abundance at an elevation of 2000 to 3000
feet along a great portion of the range of Malabar Ghauts. ‘The
coffee-planters, who propose trading in the new article, have been
seeking information, and it is expected that this hitherto neglected
production of the forest may become an export of commercial im-
portance from the western coast of the peninsula, rivaling Siam
gamboge in the London market. Attention was directed to Hntada
Pursetha (W. & A.), an immense climbing shrub which runs over
the tallest forest trees ; the legumes are often 3 feet long, and the
seeds are used as weights in the bazaars. Among other plants ex-
hibited were Hexacentris Mysorensis of Wight, Xanthoxylon triphyl-
lum, Juss., and Acrostichum flagelliferum of Wallich. ‘These draw-
ings of Mysore plants, executed with the aid of a native artist, amount
to 500 ; and the species collected by Dr. Cleghorn run up to 2000.
From various interruptions and delicate health, the greater part of
the collection remains unarranged. A sketch of the vegetation of
Mysore was promised for a subsequent meeting.
Mr. M‘Nab exhibited a peculiar gelatinous matter, which con-
tinues to increase in a solution of sugar, and forms it into vinegar.
In the course of a month the mass divides, forming two independent
masses, each of which has the power of carrying on the process of
converting saccharine solution into vinegar. The vinegar produced
is excellent, and is the only kind used by several persons in Edin-
burgh.
Mr. Evans exhibited Antennaria dioica and hyperborea, showing
the difference between the two plants, the leaves of the latter being
cottony on both sides, while those of the former are so on the under
side only. Mr. Evans also exhibited plants of the Silesian potato, a
small Ranunculaceous plant, whose tubers have been used for food.
Dr. Balfour exhibited male flowers of Pinus Lambertiana from
Mr. Spiers, with whom this pine is flowering; and stated that the
same plant has likewise produced fertile flowers, and is in course of
ripening seeds.
206 Linnean Society.
Mr. Stark sent specimens for exhibition of the following Algz
dredged in the neighbourhood of Lamlash, Arran :-—Bonnemaisonia
asparagoides, Halymenia ligulata, Polysiphonia parasitica, Delesseria
ruscifolia and Nicophyllum punctatum.
LINNZAN SOCIETY.
November 7, 1848.—Edward Forster, Esq., V.P., in the Chair.
A paper was read by F. J. Graham, Esq., F.L.S., “On the In-
juries sustained by certain Plants from the attacks of parasitic Fungi,
with particular reference to the Cause of the Potato Disease.”
In order to demonstrate the subject more clearly, Mr. Graham
exhibited drawings, with magnified figures of several species of para-
sites; and a great many specimens of different plants, both native
and exotic, presenting a healthy appearance on those parts which
were still free from the attacks of the different species of mildew to
which they were subject, but at the same time showing the most in-
disputable signs of disease on those parts which were infested by
tufts of mildew. The manner in which one plant in particular,
Shepherd's Purse (Thlaspi Bursa Pastoris, L.), was affected, was very
remarkable. Portions of the stems of this were covered, to the ex-
tent of two or three inches, with Botrytis parasitica, which caused
them to become gouty or swollen to three times their natural size ;
and eventually these parts assumed a brown colour and a moist pu-
trescent character, which could be traced down the stalks, and in
many cases killed the plants. ‘Transverse sections of these blotches,
compared with similar sections of a blotch on the potato stalk, ex-
hibited the same effects, the dark fluid having penetrated the tissues
of both to a considerable extent. Of all the species of parasitic mil-
dews which he has noticed, Mr. Graham considers those belonging
to the genus Botrytis to produce the severest injuries; and it is an
undisputed fact that the potato crops have been universally attacked,
during the last three seasons, by Botrytis infestans.
As to the manner in which these parasites acquire their destruc-
tive power, Mr. Graham considers that it arises from the natural de-
cay of their mycelium or internal filaments, which he has found tra-
versing the tissues of plants, beneath the external tufts of mildew.
That the tissues of plants are extensively permeated by this myce-
lium, has been frequently shown by the Rev. M. J. Berkeley and other
mycologists; but the important fact that these roots (as they may
be termed) die within the tissues of plants, along with their super-
structure, assuming a dark colour in decay and ultimately dissolving
into a viscous mass, has hitherto, Mr. Graham states, escaped the
notice of authors. Decaying matter being thus secretly introduced,
corrupts the adjacent tissues, and in many cases spreads over the
entire plant and kills it. Mr. Graham states that he has arrived at
this conclusion after repeated examinations under powerful micro-
scopes, but that the effects are visible in some cases to the naked
eye. Experiments made by enclosing tufts of mildew in the sap of
those plants on which it grew, also exhibited the results above stated.
“I
- Linnean Society. 20
November 21.—Edward Forster, Esq., V.P., in the Chair.
Mr. A. Adams, F.L.S., presented specimens of the habitations of
a species of Spider, collected by Captain Sir E. Belcher on the north-
west side of Majambo Bay, in the Island of Madagascar, and com-
municated by him to Mr. Adams, with the particulars of their history.
It appears that on this coast the north-east wind blows so constantly
and to such a degree, that it would effectually destroy the more usual
forms of web; to remedy which, the spiders of the locality collect
together a number of small even-sized grains of quartz-sand, of which
they fabricate a tolerably firm horn-shaped habitaculum, uniting them
together by means of a fine loose web, which they hang from the low
shrubs that grow upon the sand, and thus suspended defy the breeze
and ride out the gale in safety.
Mr. J. Clarke exhibited specimens of Filago Jussiai and Melilotus
arvensis, found near Saffron Walden, Essex.
Mr. J. Hogg, F.R.S., F.L.S., exhibited dried specimens of a plant
which he regarded as a double variety of Matricaria Chamomilla, L.,
found by himself on the sandy road-side near Whitburn, Durham, to-
gether with a coloured drawing of the natural size. He stated, ina
communication accompanying the exhibition, that he had never before
observed any similar variety of the species above named, nor could
he find any account of its having been known to vary with a double
flower. Sir J. E. Smith, however, in his ‘ English Flora,’ states of
Anthemis nobilis, that ‘‘ varieties with double flowers are common
in gardens ;”’ and in Smith’s own herbarium, in the Museum of the
Society, are two specimens of Pyrethrum inodorum, var. flore pleno,
the flowers of which very strongly resemble those exhibited. ‘These
were found in Norfolk by Mr. Crowe in 1799, and are mentioned in
the ‘ English Flora’ as ‘‘a double variety, having a multiplied ra-
dius and an obliterated contracted disk.” In the present example
Mr. Hogg states that ‘‘ the external white petals, or rather the florets
of the radius, are altogether larger and stronger; they are much
elongated, strap-shaped, less narrow, with their margins somewhat
folded inwards, and are rather more numerous than those in the ordi-
nary single flower, from which they also differ by being sometimes
bilabiate ; whilst the disk itself is greatly contracted and reduced,
and its tubular florets appear to have become very small and abor-
tive; thus apparently indicating that the florets of the radius have
become lengthened and enlarged at the expense of those of the disk.”
Mr. Hogg adds, that in general appearance these large double flowers
of Matr. Chamomilla resemble the common white double flowers of
the genus Chrysanthemum.
December 5.—E. Forster, Esq., V.P., in the Chair.
Read the conclusion of Mr. Huxley’s memoir on Physalia, com-
menced at the last Meeting.
The specimens of Physalia on which Mr. Huxley’s observations
were made, were collected on board the Rattlesnake, between the
25th of February and the 3rd of March, between lat. 25° and 37° S.
208 Linnean Society.
and long. 5° and7° W. They varied in size from } in. to 2 in. in the
long diameter of the float. ‘The author first describes the general
appearance of the specimens, of which he doubts whether the largest
were adult, and then proceeds to a minute examination of their de-
tails, dividing them for this purpose into the float or air-bladder, and
the appendages of greater or less length which depend from it when
the animal is in its natural position at the surface of the water. The
smaller specimens he states to be the best adapted for examination.
The float is described as consisting of an outer coat, an inner coat
and an air-sac contained within them, attached only to one spot of
their parietes, and there communicating with the exterior by a small
constricted aperture, which was always found on the upper surface.
The disposition of the appendages is very irregular, but the larger ten-
tacles are generally placed more externally, the smaller and nascent
organs more towards the centre. These appendages are of three
kinds, and consist of stomachal sacs, tentacles and cyathiform bodies,
Of each of these the author gives a detailed description in their more
perfect form, as well as in their undeveloped state as nascent organs ;
and then proceeds to inquire, first, what is the physiological import-
ance of the organs described, and secondly, what zoological place
should be occupied by an animal provided with such organs so dis-
posed.
Each of these questions the author treats at considerable length.
Of the function of the stomachal sacs in receiving the prey there can
be little question; but it may be doubted whether the digested nu-
tritive matter circulates in the ciliated water-carrying canals or is
absorbed into totally different channels. In the latter case the pur-
pose of the stomachal villi would plainly seem to be to absorb nutri-
tive matter and convey it through their central canal to the wide in-
terspace existing between the outer and inner membrane; but the
author states that he has never seen in this interspace any corpuscles
analogous to those described by Will as blood-corpuscles. He sug-
gests that the villosities noticed by Dr. Milne-Edwards in the sto-
machal sacs of Apolemia are the same organs, and not ovaries as Dr.
Milne-Edwards considers them; and observes that similar organs
exist in a Diphya (Eudovia), hereafter to be more fully described.
The function of the tentacles, both as prehensile and defensive
organs, admits of little doubt; and on this subject the author notices
an erroneous view of M. Lesson, who describes them merely as
ducts for conveying an (hypothetical) acrid fluid from an (hypotheti-
cal) poison-gland. He also controverts M. Lesson’s opinion that cer-
tain of the colourless tentacles are to be regarded as branchie ; being
quite convinced that there is no difference between these and the
ordinary tentacles except in the absence of colour. As regards the
function of the cyathiform bodies, he has no other than analogical
evidence to offer. The only organs in the Acalephe with which he
conceives them to have any resemblance are the natatorial organs of
the Physophore. But their little adaptation to a similar purpose, and
the entire absence even of their rudiments in young Physalia, dis-
courage this comparison; while on the other hand they bear a sin-
Linnean Society. 209
gular resemblance to the female generative organs of a Diphya, and
this resemblance extends even to the younger stages of both.
Mr. Huxley concludes by referring Physalia to the position as-
signed to it by Eschscholtz among Physophore, and near Discolabe or
Angela. In fact, he regards Physalia as in all its essential elements
nothing but a Physophora, whose terminal dilatation has increased
at the expense of the rest of the stem, and hence carries all its
organs at the base of this dilatation.
The paper was illustrated by pencil drawings of the structures de-
scribed.
Read also a translation * from the Swedish, of ‘‘ Almanac notes
for the year 1735, by Charles von Linné.
* Note by Dr. Wailich.—The Council of the Society did me the honour
at the end of last session to entrust the duty of translation to my care. It
has been made in the first instance from a communication by Joh. Aug.
Holmstrém, in *‘ Botanical Notices” edited by Al. Ed. Lindblom, No. 12 for
December 1845, pp. 210-218, with the following motto and preface. Mr.
Bentham having pointed out to me that there existed a German translation
by Dr. Beilschmid in the Flora for February 1847, pp. 97-104, I have gladly
availed myself of this additional aid. Nor have I altogether neglected to
consult the precious little relic itself, now in the Society’s possession, although
of course without any other result than that of verifying the fidelity of Mr.
Holmstrém’s edition. All the notes are his with very few exceptions, which
have been duly marked. I have taken the liberty of frequently leaving Lin-
nzeus’s abbreviations én statu quo, and very rarely indeed altered his ortho-
graphy.
“Parva hee quippe, et quanquam paucis percontantibus adorata, tamen
ignorantibus transcursa.”—Apuleius, I lorida.
Every, even the smallest memorial of a truly and through all ages
great man, possesses its value, and deserves to be secured from de-
cay and oblivion. It is on that account that I have thought it my
duty to publish these notes of the ‘ Princeps Botanicorum,’ which
have accidentally come into my hands. Although containing nothing
new, or of great importance, they furnish several valuable data con-
nected with, perhaps, the most remarkable year in the life of Linné ;
they exhibit, in various points, traces of the peculiar naiveté of his
style, and are therefore, in respect to character alone, not without
their value.
The annotations are written on ten pages, interleaved in an alma-
nac having the following title: «‘Almanach pa Ahret efter Jesu Christi
naderika Fodelse 1735. Til Skara Horizont, etc. Utreknad och steld
af Birger Vassenio, samt vidare fortsattjande af underrettelsen til
Retta Tanckar am thenna Synliga Werldennes Systemate, allar Sam-
manhang.—Skara, Herm. Arnold Miller.” 16mo. (Almanac for the
year 1735 from the gracious birth of J.C. For the horizon of Skara,
&c. Calculated and regulated by Birger Vassenius, together with
further instructions concerning right ideas of the system or structure
of this visible world. )
The volume is quite complete and well-preserved. It appears,
even during Linnzus’s lifetime, to have come into the possession of
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. iv. 14
210 Linnean Society.
strangers, and to have been taken into the country and used there,
through a succession of years, in lieu of a new almanac; for we
find, in three several places, remarks made by peasants’ wives on
sundry matters. One of its latest male or female owners has even
altered with ink the year printed on the title-page for that of 1765.
Thus the little brochure has passed into the possession of several
individuals, without any of them being aware, or caring, by whom
the many notes were added. These notes are numerous, and
constitute almost an entire diary, during the first months of the
year; after which they become less and less frequent, ceasing alto-
gether in the months of October and November. The complaint
of A. Afzelius (in Linné’s Eg. Ant.* pi. loc.,), that it is difficult to
decipher the handwriting of Linnzus, is often verified here. Yet I
think I have hit on the right meaning in most instances. With
respect to some of the most difficult places, Professor J. H. Schroder
has afforded me explanation with his accustomed sagacity.
The notes are now published with as much accuracy as was pos-
sible, even as to spelling and grammar. The words which have
been added by way of explanation are included within brackets.
Italics indicate that abbreviations have been filled upt. A few notes
have been subjoined.
(JANUARY.)
O! Ens entium miserere mei!
. Christmas dinner with alderman Dan. Moreus.
. called on Sara Lisa', in a Lapland dress.
. the same, absentibus parentibus.
. prepared a new edition of Systema Mineral.?
. Assessors Benzelstierna and Ko]meter$ called on me.
. Christmas party at alderman Anders Jers.
. dined with assessor Kolmeter.
. commenced writing Sponsalia plantar.*
continued.
10. called on S. L. M. and had a little fun.
11. tried Anders Jers’s well.
12. dined at Morbygden with B. Forsling.
13. called on S. L. M., and at Kongsgarden®, and on me assessor
Moreus.
14. Christmas party at Troilli’s, surveyor of mines.
— the provost’s at Fahlun with S. L. M.
* Linneus’s Personal Notes, edited by A. Afzelius.—N. W.
+ Except on the first mention of a name, I have thought it best to leave
the abbreviations unsupplied.—N.W.
1 Daughter of John Morzeus, town-physician (Stadsphysicus), brother of
the above mentioned. She was afterwards married to Linnzus on the 26th
June, 17388.
2 Probably a revision, in manuscript.
3 The future brother-in-law of Linnzeus, married to Anne Christina, the
younger daughter of John Morzus.
* Published as a disputation at Upsala, in 1746, 4to.
5 North- or Fahlu-Kongsgard.
COnNaak OW
D>
1
Linnean Society. 211
. dinner at secretary Neuman’s.
N.B. a day of immortal commemoration, of final settling
with S. L. M.
. wrote to baron Koskul, dean Sandel, magister Linder.
. dined with the lieutenant of the province (Landshofdingen).
. Lars Petter! dined at a party at engineer (Konstmister)
Trygg’s. Betted two tankards of rhenish wine, that there
will be a christening (barns6l) in 4 years.
. wrote to J. Morus, S.S.2 about S. L.M. Explicitly solicited
(her hand).
. wrote to S. L. M.
. called on — — —, gave annulum.
. reciprocation by mother-in-law.
. wrote to the Society $ cum lachesi Lapponica.
. remained quiet.
. noon‘ (at) alderman Lundstroém’s (with) Nasman, contrcller,
and Anders and I6ns Williamsons.
. received from J. Mor. responsio concerning 3 © * secundum
abitum. seven temptations !
. called on Troilli, surveyor of mines; Stromberg, controller ;
Trygeg.
. called on S. L. M. concluded Floram Dalekarlicam °.
. dined with the lieutenant of the province.
. wrote to Doctor Celsius, Spelin and Neander about employment.
(FEBRUARY.)
. attended a woman in childbirth.
. dined with the provost of Fahlu; in the evening (at) Schultze’s,
accountant.
- at the Kongsgard and (with) S. L. M. Gave obligatio scripta
fidei.
. was with a sick person at Morbygden.
. received letters from Celsius, Spelin, Neander, Liungwal (and)
Sophia Littorin.
7. wrote to Spelin, Liungwal, Tegnelin.
8. — — in the evening (with) S. L. M.
9. in the afternoon at a frolic at Morbygden.
10.
11
12
— — evening (with) S. L. M.
. with S. L. M. until X o’clock in the evening.
. paid visits with Browallius 7.
Quis? 2 Socero Suo?
3 The Society of Sciences at Upsala, which had defrayed Linnzeus’s re-
cent journey into Lapland (in 1732.—B.).
.
4 Probably dined.—N. W.
> Years. This stipulation is notorious. Miss Hedin, Minne (Souvenir) of
Linné, i. p. 47.
§ Not published.
7 “ At that time domestic chaplain and tutor in the family of Reuterholm,
lieut. of the province, afterwards professor and bishop at Abo.” —Linneus’s
Personal Notes, p. 22.
14:«
212 Linnean Society.
. paid a visit to F. Ehrenholm absente S. L. M. received letters
from Spelin, Osengius, Ahlgren.
. wrote to dean Sandel (and) Anna Maria Linnza'.
. dined with surveyor of mines Troill and parents-in-law.
. Surv. of min. Borgenstrém (and) Svaben called on me®.
. took leave of father-in-law.
. took leave of S. L. M., who wrote the oath’.
. at 10 oclock, left Fahlun with Clas Sohlberg.
. dined with Swedenstierna (at) Hégfors, arrived at Nya Elfsborg.
. dined with Lybecker, surveyor of mines, arrived at Nora.
\ remained at Knutsby with surv. of mines Christiernin.
. was at the suiphur mine at Dylta, arrived at Orebro.
26. left Orebro.
27. went through Askersund; at noon with pastor Tiselius.
28. through schenninge, arrived at Wislena.
(MARCH.)
1. went to schenninge, called (on) Menlos, pastor loci.
2. — ——_—, at church, dined at Wislena.
3. called on Mag. Knop. Dinner at Bishop Benzelius’s.
4. went to Wislena, called on professor Hermens.
5. remained.
6. went through Schenninge and Wastena, visited the church.
7. through Omberg to the end of Ostergiétland.
8. in Smaland through grenna, Skiersadd to Jénkiéping.
9. at church in Jonkidping.
10. dined at dean junbeck’s.
11. left; remained at Wrekstad.
12. came to Wexi0.
13. dined at assessor Rothman’s.
14. — general Koskul’s.
15. —— — Hoken’s‘.
16. —— — treasurer Bergman’s.
17. — assessor Rothman’s.
18. dined with treasurer Bergman.
~
wo
. went to stenbrohult.
. Browall’s letter dated the 72 March arrived.
. wrote to inspector Sohlberg, Brovall and 8S. L. M.
. we were at mockelsnas.
. Browall’s letter of 21 March arrived.
. Doctor Rothman called on me at stenbrohult.
(APRIL.)
. Rothman left; was at Dio.
. feasted at Moécklanas with Ekelund (and) Hok.
Linnzus’s sister, married to G. Hék, afterwards dean at Wiresta.
Surv. of mines Anton Svab. After this follow two illegible words.
See 3rd of this month. This reciprocal obligation by a written oath
was not known before. 4 Linnzeus’s brother-in-law.
3l.
Linnean Society. 213
. feasted at stenbrohult with brother-in law (and) Tornquist.
. feasted at Did with brother-in-law.
— Dito — —————— and Unner.
. Mag. Hok left us at stenbrohult.
. took leave of stenbrohult and its inhabitants, arrived at the Ry
iron mine at Unner’s.
at noon at grotteryd; arrived at the inn at Markary.
. arrived at Helsingborg.
. Day of prayers; went across the sound after evening prayer.
. embarked at Helsingor.
. sailed past Zealand (and) Copenhagen.
. got sight of german ground.
. S. L. M’s birth-day. 1716!.
. arrived at Lybeck.
. at church at Lybeck.
- went to Hamburgh.
. Inspected the town of Hamburgh.
. called on prof. Koul.
(MAY.)
- Prof. Koul called on me. visited Sprekelsons Hort.
inspected Nators cabinet and Hydram.
at the Resident’s?, and Sprekelson’s.
. dined at Schéning’s and entertained Kohl (and) Jenes’.
. (walked) with Sprekelson in hort. 1 ducat.
. at a dinner party at Sprekelsons.
. Carl Linnai birth-day*.
. wedding at Schénnings.
. 35 doler 7 ore silvercoin due to me?°.
. visited Anderson’s cabinet, drank 75 years old Rhenish wine.
. took leave of Hamburgh for Altona.
. at 9 oclock § © embarked.
. arrived at stéren, remained at wefwelsflyt.
. at church at wafvelsflyt, detained by contrary A’.
. the environs of groeningen in sight.
. Saw groningen.
. got sight of Wastfriesland. refreshment at Stiernkoog’®.
. remained right opposite Stiernkoog.
. went across the sea, saw omerland, an island? of 3 miles. very
near being wrecked.
at 5 oclock in the morning passed by Harlem! a small sea-
) By a singular conceit of Linnzeus (“ qvam sunt lusus pueriles amoris ” !),
the name and year of birth of his betrothed are written with reversed letters
and cyphers.—The pedigree in Personal Notes gives another day, namely
the 28th April.
2 Should this be the President’s, as Dr. Beilschmid translates it? —-N. W.
3 More correctly Janitsch, Gottfr. Jac., physician. Compare Personal
Notes, pp. 23 and 83; Hedin, i. p. 50.
* This entry, too, is made with larger, reversed letters.
5 Quis? 6 & daytime. 7 A wind.
8 Schiermonigkoog. ® Ameland. 10 Harlingen.
214 Linnean Society.
town; at noon (passed) Yorge. in the evening (at) Enkhysen,
situated on our left. At noon a terrible hurricane with rain,
wind, thunder, lightning. Haddervik to the eastward, we could
not see. Enkhysen was the first (pretty place!) of Holland.
(JUNE.)
1. obliged to continue off Enkhysen untill noon, on account of the
storm and contrary wind. afterwards on our right saw Horn, a
town.
2. arrived early in the morning at Amsterdam ; in the afternoon I
saw Hortum Medicum there.
3. called on prof. botanices Burman, and at his library.
4. inspected Seba’s incomparable dispensary.
5. dined at Burman’s, (in) the evening went to Hadderwik.
6. at 3 oclock in the morning arrived at Hadderwik. inspected the
academy. Heard prof. Lom’s introduction.
7. post Examen creatus fui Candidat. medic.
8. Recepi a Promotore Diss.? meam censuratam et typographo tra-
didi imprimendam.
a audivi Lectiones privatas Prof. de Gorter.
12. Linnzeus Doctor Creatus fuit Harderovici>.
13. left Hadderwik in the evening.
14. arrived at Amsterdam.
15. was at the plantations and saw crowds of people.
16. took 7 ducats, total 8 ducats+.
18. went to Leyden.
19. saw Hortum academicum.
20. called on prof. v. Royen.
21. saw the library.
27. Artedi’arrived at Leiden. saw the Arboretum of Boerhaave.
30. sent Systema Nature to the press®.
(JULY.)
14. (3. old style®) botanized on the sea-shore.
6. went to Amsterdam.
8. went to Leiden.
15. completed the Systema nat. 7
16. wrote to Rothman and my father.
17. went to Ytrecht. inspected Hort. Acad.
_
These very indistinct words are given conjecturally.
2 Nova hypothesis de febrium intermittentium natura. Diss. grad. Har-
derovici, 1735, 4to.
3 The 13th, according to Pers. Notes, p. 24. * Compare 5th May.
5 The printing commenced; see further on, the 15th July and 2nd (13th)
December.
6 This and some of the subsequent dates are according to the new style,
uoted in a separate column in Vassenius’ Almanac. In these cases I have
added the old style dates within brackets.
7 Finished the manuscript.
Zoological Society. | 215
18. went to Leiden with Gronov. and Mouschenbr.
22. went to Amsterdam, stayed with prof. Burm.
28. literee ad uxorem!.
29. sent to press Bibliotheca Botanica®.
(AUGUST.)
12. (1. old style) received a bill of exchange for 200 Dollar silvercoin
from Sohlberg.
13. (2. 0. s.) went to Cliffort.
14. (3. 0. s.) returned home.
17. (6. 0. s.) went to Leiden.
19. (8. 0. s.) arrived at Amsterdam.
(18.) Appointed Praefectus Horti Cliffortiani.
\9. wrote to Inspector Sohlberg, Browall (and) S. L. M.
(SEPTEMBER.)
13. took charge of preefecturam horti Cliffort.
at (16-17. 0. s.) hora 1 noctis Artedius was drowned at Am-
28. sterdam.
(DECEMBER.)
13. (2. 0.8.) Promotio cum Kappa Lugduni3, Concluded the
printing of Systema Nat.#
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.
July 25, 1848.—William Yarrell, Esq., Vice-President, in the Chair.
The following papers were read :—
1. DescriIpTION OF A NEW GENUS AND SPECIES OF SATYRID#,
By W. Hewirson, Esa.
The genus Corades, which Mr. E. Doubleday has named and kindly
characterized for me, comprises but few species of butterflies, most
of which are of recent occurrence. They are from the mountainous
districts of Columbia and Venezuela, where, like our European Hip-
parchias of the same family, they delight in the alpine districts.
They are remarkable for having the anal angle of the lower wings
more or less produced into a tail.
Genus Corapss, Boisd. MSS.
Head of moderate width, hairy; maxille about two-thirds the
length of the body, rather slender. Labial palpi porrect, ascending,
longer than the head, clothed with hairs and scales, the scales at the
1 Jocose ita dixit. Cic.
2 Left the press only in 1736 at Amsterdam, small 8vo.
3 Cappa (medieval Latin), doctor’s gown. See Du Fresne, Gloss. Lat. i.
p- 856, et Gloss. Gree. p. 584. Sperling ad Testam. Absolonis, p. 105.
4 The printing finished. This editio princeps, which is very rare in
Sweden, has the following title: Caroli Linnzi Systema Natura, sive Regna
tria Naturze, systematice proposita per Classes, Ordines, Genera, et Species.
Lugd. Bat. ap. Haak, 1735. Fol. maj.—14 pages. The original manuscript
is preserved at the Carolinska Institut, at Stockholm. Comp. Beckman’s
Minnen (Recollections), p. 112.
216 Zoological Society.
back of the second joint forming a tuft before the apex. First joint
short, subcylindric, curved, stoutest at the base. Second joint three
times the length of the first, subcylindric, slightly curved at the base,
incrassated towards the apex, which is truncate. Third joint slen-
derer than the second, about half its length, nearly cylindric, obtuse
at the apex. Eyes nearly round, not very prominent, smooth. An-
tenne less than two-thirds the length of the body, slender, grooved
below, thickening gradually into a slender obtuse club.
Thorax moderately stout. Anterior wings subtriangular ; the an-
terior margin slightly arched, the outer nearly straight, three-fifths
the length of the anterior; inner margin nearly straight, four-fifths
the length of the anterior. Costal nervule swollen at its origin, ter-
minating beyond the middle of the anterior margin; subcostal ner-
vure rather slender, throwing off its first nervule at a short distance
before, its second immediately before the end of the cell, the third at
a point about as far beyond the end of the cell as the origin of the
first is before it, its fourth about as far beyond the third as the origin
of this last is distant from the origin of the second. Fourth sub-
costal nervule terminating at the apex of the wing: upper disco-
cellular nervule very short ; middle and lower disco-cellular nervules
about equal, the former curved inwards, the latter outwards ; a rudi-
mentary discoidal nervule extending inwards from the middle disco-
cellular nervule: median nervure swollen at its base, its third nervule
bent at a considerable angle where it is joined by the lower disco-
cellular: submedian nervure stout, curved near the base: internal
nervure wanting. Posterior wings obovate, produced into a short
tail at the anal angle; the anterior margin nearly straight, the outer
much curved; the abdominal fold ample. Precostal nervule stout,
curved inwards: costal nervure rather stout, curved at its origin:
subcostal nervure rather stout, bent at a considerable angle where
the costal separates from it; its second nervule angular where the
straight upper disco-cellular nervule anastomoses with it. Discoidal
nervule extending into the cell: lower disco-cellular nervule straight,
longer than the upper, anastomosing with the discoidal nervure a long
way beyond the anastomosis of the upper disco-cellular. Third me-
dian nervule bent at nearly a right angle where the lower disco-
cellular anastomoses with it. Anterior legs of the male slender,
thinly clothed with scales and long delicate hairs; the femur rather
shorter than the tibia; the tarsus little more than two-thirds the’
length of the tibia, one-jointed, nearly cylindric. Anterior legs of
the female rather slender, clothed with scales and a few long fine
hairs. Femur and tibia of about equal length, the latter nearly cy-
lindric ; the apex slightly stoutest, thinly spiny both within and with-
out. Tarsus shorter than the tibia, five-joited, the first joint more
than twice the length of the rest combined; these all transverse :
first to fourth bispinose at the apex; second and fifth with a tuft of
hair on each side at the base. Middle and posterior feet with the
femora rather stout ; the tibie very spiny all round, their spurs stout ;
the tarsi densely spiny above, and, except the fifth joint, spiny below ;
the spines below arranged somewhat in two series, the first joint longer
than the rest combined, second about one-third the length of the
Zoological Society. 217
first, third three-fourths the length of the second, fourth rather more
than half the length of the third, fifth not quite so long as the third.
Claws curved, acute, grooved below; paronychia bilaciniate; the
outer lacinia slender, pointed, not so long as the claw; the inner
lancet-shaped, much broader than and nearly as long as the outer,
very hairy; pulvillus jointed, broad, not so long as the claws. Ab-
domen rather short, not robust.
This interesting genus, as remarked above, appears to be almost
confined to the eastern slopes of the Andes and to the great branch
of that mountain-range which runs along the northern parts of South
America. Nearly all the specimens of the five or six species belong-
ing to it existing in British collections were sent home by Mr. Bridges
from the eastern parts of Bolivia, and by Mr. Dyson from Caraccas.
The peculiar sexual scales on the disc of the anterior wings of the
males resemble those of the males of most species of this family in
being long, tapering to a delicate hair-like point, at the end of
which is a little plumelet.
In form this genus resembles the P. Actorion of Linneus, which
is the type of the genus Napho of Boisduval, but that insect belongs
to the preceding family of Morphide.
Coraves Enyo. Cor. alis omnibus, supra, chocoladinis, anticarum
apice obscuriore, fulvo-maculata ; subtus, anticis fuscescentibus
apice pallidiori, maculis tribus albidis notatd, posticis JSusco-gri-
sescentibus, lineis duabus transversis obscurioribus.
Exp. 24 unc. vel 65 mill. Hab. Caraccas.
Anterior wings, above chocolate-brown at the base, darker at the
apex and along the outer margin; between the cell and the apex is
a transverse band composed of three fulvous spots, the first of which
is divided by the subcostal nervure ; midway between the cell and the
outer margin a curved spot of the same colour, divided by the first
median nervule, and a rounded spot of the same colour near the anal
angle. Posterior wings with the anal angle considerably produced
into a tail, entirely chocolate-brown. Below, the anterior wings are
fuscous, the base rather paler, the apex ashy; the subapical spots
nearly white, the others as above; the posterior wings clouded and
freckled with ashy-grey and fuscous, having a slight silvery reflec-
tion ; a transverse band, commencing on the costa, crosses the middle
of the cell, and terminates before it reaches the inner margin; a
second similar band commences on the costa, and running along the
lower disco-cellular nervule, terminates at the tail.
Head, thorax and abdomen fuscous above, the two latter greyish
below; antennz fuscous; palpi fuscous above, pale below.
This insect was taken by Mr. Dyson in the mountains of Caraccas,
where it seems to be rather rare.
2. DescrIPTION OF A NEW GENUS OF NovroponTIpDZ&.
By E. Dovustepay, F.Z.S.
Genus Hytaora.
Head small, densely clothed with long hair-like scales, those at the
base of the antenne very long, forming two tufts, which meet over
the vertex. Eyes round, prominent. Maxille slender, short, scarcely
218 Zoological Society.
so long as the thorax. Labial palpi short, the first and second joints
densely scaly, the scales hair-like, the third joint clothed with short
scales : first joint much curved, broadest at the apex; second joint
one-half longer than the first, subcylindric, stoutest in the middle,
truncate at the apex; third joint small, oval, about one-third the
length of the second joint. Antenne of the male elongate, densely
bipectinate, each pectination beautifully fringed with hairs: of the
female long, setaceous, the inside set with short stiff hairs.
Thorax stout, crested, the crest much highest in front. Anterior
wings elongate, the anterior margin but little curved until near the
apex ; outer margin rather more than half the length of the anterior,
slightly dentate; inner margin nearly straight, rather longer than
the outer. Costal nervure extending about three-fourths the length
of the costa. First subcostal nervule thrown off beyond the middle
of the cell, terminating not far from the extremity of the costal ner-
vure ; second subcostal nervure thrown off shortly before the end of
the cell, curved so as to cross the subcostal nervure at some distance
beyond the end of the cell, terminating on the outer margin midway
between the fifth subcostal and the first discoida] nervule; third
subcostal nervule arising rather nearer to the end of the cell than to
the apex of the wing ; the fourth nearer to the third than to the apex,
this nervule terminating at the apex. First discoidal nervule appear-
ing at first sight to be a continuation of the subcosta] nervure, the
upper disco-cellular nervule being wanting. Lower about the same
length as the middle disco-cellular nervule, united to the third me-
dian nervule shortly after its origin. Posterior wings with the ante-
rior margin nearly straight, longer than the outer, which is rounded.
Inner margin about two-thirds the length of the outer. Cell closed.
Upper and lower disco-cellular nervule of about equal length. Dis-
coidal nervure very slender ; the basal portion, as far as the end of the
cell, atrophied. Legs with the femora and tibie densely hairy. The
anterior tibiz with a broad spur, nearly as long as the tibia itself,
composed of a flat, slightly curved lancet-shaped lamina, fringed an-
teriorly. ‘Tibize of the middle pair with two unequal spines at the
apex, those of the third pair with two before the apex, two at the
apex. Tarsi scaly, the first jot much the longest; claws small,
curved ; paronychia broad, very hairy, especially at the apex, shorter
than the claw; pulvillus jointed, the second joint very broad. Ab-
domen clothed with long hairs, elongate, longer in the male than in
the female.
Larva stout, tapering towards the tail, the back flat, with a cre-
nated ridge on each side.
Hyzizora evcatypti. Hy. alis anticis brunneis, nigro pallidoque
variis, maculd basali, alterdque geminatd marginis anterioris,
vittad pone medium valde angulatd, fascidque marginis exterioris
fuscis ; posticis rufo-brunneis.
Exp. alar. 33 unc.— 44 unc. vel 90-108 millim.
Hab. Australia.
I have not thought it necessary to enter into a detailed specific
character of this insect, as the accompanying figure will give a far
better idea of the species than the longest description. The noc-
Zoological Society. 219
turnal Lepidoptera are often almost impossible to describe, and it is
only by the most accurate figures, or by comparison of specimens,
that we can arrive at the determination of species.
I am indebted to Mr. Alfred Lambert of Sydney for the speci-
mens figured and for the drawing of the larva. ‘The following note
accompanies the specimen :—
‘The larva is figured in drawing No. 2. When I first found it I
concluded that it was a Cerura, as in its habits it resembles the larva
of that genus. It forms a strong cocoon, which is slightly attached
to the trunk of the tree just below the surface of the ground. In
form this cocoon is much like that of our common Saturnia, only
exteriorly it is covered with points of sticks, grass, &c. The larva feeds
on the Hucalypti, is found in January ; the imago appears in July.”
From this it will be seen that it is a winter insect.
8. DEscRIPTION OF TWENTY-NINE NEW SPECIES OF HELICINA, FROM
THE COLLECTION oF H. Cumine, Esa. By Dr. L. PreirFer.
1. Hexicrna acuta, Pfr. Hel. testd depresso-conicd, soliduld, ob-
lique confertim striatd et subgranulatd, opacd, luted, superne rubro-
unifasciatd ; spird conoided, acutd, mucronata ; anfractibus fere 6
planiusculis, acute carinatis, ultimo basi planiusculo ; apertura
perobliqud, subtriangulari ; columella subverticali, brevissimd, basi
angulatd, superne in callum basalem tenuissimum abiente ; peristo-
mate simplice, aurantiaco, margine supero subrecto, basali subin-
crassato.
Diam. 15, altit. 7$ mill.
From Sibonga, isle of Zebu; collected by Mr. Cuming.
2. Hevicina Apamsiana, Pfr. Hel. testd depressd, tenuiusculd,
sub lente seriebus confertis concentricis pustularum exiguarum
subasperatd, nitiduld, diaphand, rubelld ; spird brevissime conot-
ded; anfractibus 55 planiusculis, ultimo depresso, peripherid ro-
tundato, antice non scrobiculato ; aperturd obliqud, subtriangulari ;
columelld verticali, brevissimd, basi subangulatd, superne in callum
tenuem, circumscriptum dilatatd ; peristomate angulatim expanso,
reflexiusculo, margine supero breviter soluto, stricto, basali prope
columellam subdentato.
Diam. 8, altit. 44 mill.
From Jamaica.
3. Hezicina amana, Pfr. Hel. testd subsemiglobosd, solidiusculd,
oblique striatuld lineisque impressis concentricis distantibus sculptd,
nitiduld, roseo et luteo vel albo variegatd ; spird convexd, mucro-
nulatd ; anfractibus 54 vix conveviusculis, ultimo infra medium
carinato, basi subplano; aperturd obliquad, subtriangulari, intus
flavd ; columella brevi, verticaliter subrimatd, basi angulosd, re-
trorsum in callum tenuem, diffusum abiente ; peristomate simplice,
margine supero late expanso, basali reflexo.
Diam. 15, altit. 94 mill.
From Honduras.
4. Hexicrna Bescxet, Pfr. Hel. testa subsemiglobosd, solidd, sub-
tilissime striatuld, sublevigatd, opacd, citrind unicolore vel fascia
220 Zoological Society.
1 sanguined juxta suturam ornatd, vel omnino rubicunda ; spird
brevi, convexo-conoided, submucronatd ; anfractibus 5 subplanis,
ultimo ad peripheriam carind 1 acutd, pluribusque obtusioribus
munito ; aperturd obliqud, subtriangulari ; columella breviter rece-
dente, basi obsolete angulatd ; peristomate expanso, subincrassato,
margine supero strictiusculo, basali subarcuato ; callo basali tenuis-
simo.
Diam. 17, altit. 10 mill.
From Brazil (Bescke).
5. Hexicina campanvuta, Pfr. Hel. testd campanulato-conica, so-
liduld, levigatd, nitidd, citrind ; spird elevatd, converd, acuminata ;
anfractibus 6 planiusculis, ultimo pone aperturam subconstricto,
basi planulato ; aperturd obliqua, semilunari-subtriangulari ; colu-
melld breviter recedente, basi subtruncatd, callum nitidum, semi-
circularem emittente ; peristomate simplice, tenui, breviter expanso,
margine basali strictiusculo.
Diam. 83, altit. 7 mill.
From the island of Cuba.
6. Hexicina concenrrica, Pfr. Hel. testd depressé trochiformi,
tenuiusculd, striis longitudinalibus et obliquis sub lente subtilissime
sculptd, lineis concentricis elevatis utrinque munitd, acute carinatd,
nitiduld, carneo-fuscd, albido variegatd ; spird conoided, subpapil-
latd ; anfractibus 43 vix convexiusculis, ultimo utrinque convexiore ;
aperturd obliqud, subsecuriformi, latiore quam altd; columelld
subrimatd, breviter arcuatd, basi incrassatd in callum album sub-
circumscriptum retrorsum dilatatd ; peristomate simplice, breviter
expanso, margine basali immediate in columellam continuato.
Diam. 10, altit. vix 6 mill.
From Venezuela and New Granada (De Lattre) ; a larger variety
from Mirador, Mexico (Galeotti).
7. Hexicrna constricta, Pfr. Hel. testd parva, lenticulari, crassd,
sublevigatd, non nitidd, opacd, albidd, lineis undulatis rubris pictd ;
spird viv elevatd, obtusd ; anfractibus 44 planulatis, ultimo angu-
lato, basi subturgido, pone aperturam constricto ; aperturd obliqud,
subtriangulari, intus rubra; columella simplice, callum crassius-
culum albidum vel igneum retrorsum emittente ; peristomate sim-
plice, obtuso, latere dextro rotundato.
Diam. 6, altit. 35 mill.
From Otaheite and the Sandwich Islands.
8. Heticina convexa, Pfr. Hel. testd convexo-orbiculatd, solidd,
levigatd, nitidd, albd ; spird fornicatd, mucronulata ; anfractibus
44, ultimis 2 conveviusculis, ultimo obsoletissime angulato ; aper-
turd integrd, obliqud, semilunari ; columella breviter arcuatd, re-
trorsum in callum crassum, concolorem abiente ; peristomate in-
crassato, breviter expanso, margine basali a callo columellari inci-
surd levissimd separato.
Diam. 64, altit. 43 mill.
Locality unknown.
9. Hexicina Cumineiana, Pfr. Hel. testd subglobosd, tenuiusculd,
longitudinaliter et confertim plicatuld, carned, rubro punctatd et
Zoological Society. 221
variegatd ; spird brevi, conoided, obtusiusculd ; anfractibus 54
planiusculis, ultimo inflato, obsolete angulato ; aperturd subverti-
cali, semiovali; columelld basi dilatatd, antrorsum arcuatd, sub-
truncatd, retrorsum in callum basi crassum, superne diffusum
abiente ; peristomate subincrassato, breviter expanso, albo.
Diam. 21, altit. 164 mill.
Locality unknown.
10. Henicina Dysont, Pfr. Hel. testd orbiculato-conoided, soli-
diusculd, striatuld, nitiduld, carned, superneé fasctis 2 angustis,
saturatioribus ornatd ; spird elatd, obtusiusculd ; anfractibus 5 con-
veaiusculis, lente accrescentibus, ultimo basi subplanato ; aperturd
obliqud, semiovali, altiore quam latd; columelld brevi, basi sub-
truncatd, callum albidum, lined subimpressd circumscriptum emit-
tente; peristomate simplice, brevissime reflexiusculo, margine
utroque leviter arcuato.
Diam. 8, altit. 55 mill.
{. Minor, testd saturate carned, superne fasciis 2 angustis rubris
et ad peripheriam | albd.
y. Testd fulvo-rubelld, superné fasciis 2 angustis saturatioribus.
6. Minor, testd flavd, superne fasciis 2 angustis fulvis, ad periphe-
riam | albidd ornatd.
From Cumana, Honduras (Dyson).
11. Hexicina exicua, Pfr. Hel. testd minutissimd, conicd, tenui,
subtilissime punctato-striatuld, pellucida, pallide corned ; spird
conicd, obtusiusculd ; anfractibus 5 perconvexis, ultimo obsolete
angulato, basi planiusculo ; aperturd obliqud, lunari; columella
breviter recedente, callum exiguum emittente ; peristomate sim-
plice, tenui.
Diam. 24, altit. 2 mill.
From Honduras (Dyson).
12. Hexicina Funcki, Pfr. Hel. testd conico-subglobosd, tenuius-
cula, sub lente tenuissimeé oblique striatuld, vix nitiduld, flavidd,
roseo-nebulosd ; spird conoided, obtusiusculd ; anfractibus 54 pla-
niusculis, ultimo utrinque convexiore, obsolete angulato ; aperturd
obliqud, semiovali ; columella subarcuatd, lined impressd verticali
notatd, basi subnodosd, in callum sensim tenuiorem retrorsum
abiente ; peristomate late expanso, margine supero subrepando.
Diam. 134, altit. 9 mill.
From San Yago, New Granada (Funck).
13. Hexicrna Gonocuiza, Pfr. Hel. testd conoideo-subglobosda,
tenuiusculd, superne striis spiralibus obsoletis sculptd et punctatd,
nitiduld, fulvo-carned ; spird brevi, conoided, subacutd ; anfrac-
tibus 44 vix convexiusculis, ultimo medio subcarinato, luteo-cingu-
lato, basi convexiore, distinctius concentrice striato ; aperturd sub-
obliqud, triangulari-semiovali, alliore quam latd ; columelld subre-
cedente, superneé lineam impressam, brevem, curvatam emittente, basi
acute dentatd ; peristomate albo, rectangule late patente, margine
basali substricto, cum columelld angulum acutiusculum formante.
Diam. 10, altit. 65 mill.
From Venezuela.
2
22 Zoological Society.
14. Hexicina Gosse1, Pfr. Hel. testd depresso-globosd, solidd,
pustulis seriatis subasperatd, nitiduld, Suscidulo-rubrd ; spird con-
vexrd ; anfractibus 45 parum convexis, ultimo rotundato ; aperturd
triangulari-semiovali, intus carned, nitidd ; columella basi truncata,
retrorsum in callum crassum carneum abiente ; peristomate subin-
crassato, expanso, juxta columellam vix emarginato.
Diam. 19, altit. 133 mill.
From Jamaica (Gosse).
15. Hexicina Guitprnerana, Pfr. Hel. testd depressd, tenuiusculd,
sub lente subtilissimé granulatd, diaphand, stramined vel albidd,
infra suturam fulvo-unifasciatd ; spird brevi, convexa ; anfractibus
4 vix conveviusculis, ultimo subdepresso, basi vix convexiore ;
aperturd obliqud, subtriangulari-semiovalt ; columella brevi, exca-
vatd, antrorsum in denticulum desinente, retrorsum in callum tenu-
em, semicircularem, flavescentem expansd ; peristomate tenui, bre-
viter reflero, margine supero repando, basalt incisurd levi a colu-
melld separato.
Diam. 8, altit. 43 mill.
Locality unknown.
16. Hexicina Hanteyana, Pfr. Hel. testa globoso-conicd, soli-
duld, lineis concentricis, impressis, subdistantibus sculptd, vir
diaphand, nitidd, fulvo-carned ; spird breviter conoided, obtusius-
culd ; anfractibus 5 vix convexiusculis, ultimo rotundato, anticé
subdescendente ; aperturd parum obliqud, subsemicirculari ; colu-
melld brevissimd, extrorsum denticulatd, callum tenuem, albidum,
diffusum emitlente ; peristomate albo, vir expansiusculo, intus sub-
incrassato, basi in denticulum columelle abiente.
Diam. 73, altit. 54 mill.
From New Orleans (Mr. Salle).
17. Hexuicrna Kienert, Pfr. Hel. testd conoided, tenuiusculd, ob-
lique siriatd, lineis concentricis confertis subtilissimé decussatd,
albidd, fusco-violaceo marmoratd ; spird convexo-conoided, acutd ;
anfractibus 53 vix convexiusculis, ultimo compressé carinato, bast
convexiore; columella recedente, planatd, superné impressd, bast
incrassatd in callum basalem tenuem abiente ; aperturd obliqud,
integrd, semiovali, altiore quam lata ; peristomate simplice, tenut,
late expanso.
Diam. 16, altit. 11} mill.
Locality unknown.
18. Hexicrna Linpent, Pfr. Hel. testd globoso-conicd, tenuiusculd,
subtilissime striolatd et punctatd, subdiaphand, pallidé straminead
vel carned ; spird conicd, acutiusculd ; anfractibus 6 vie convex-
iusculis, ultimo inflato, obsolete angulato ; aperturd integrd, parum
obliqué, semiovali, altiore quam latd; columelld leviter arcuatd,
extrorsum in denticulum desinente, callum emittente exiguum, tenu-
em; peristomate breviter expanso, reflexiusculo.
Diam. 114, altit. 83 mill.
From Tapinaba, Mexico (Linden).
19. Hexicina Orsienyi, Pfr. Hel. testd depressd, sublenticulari,
Zoological Society. 223
solidd, striatuld, vix nitidd, fusco-carned ; spird via elatd; an-
Sractibus 44 planiusculis, ultimo depresso, subangulato ; aperturd
obliqud, semiovali, altiore quam latd ; columella brevi, basi antror-
sum dentatd, callum albidum, semicircularem retrorsum emittente ;
peristomate recto, subincrassato, juxta dentem columelle non
emarginato.
Diam. 74, altit. 4 mill.
From the island of Cuba.
20. Hexicrna Owentrana, Pfr. Hel. testd conicd, tenui, levigatd,
sub lente lineolis impressis, antrorsum obliquis subtilissime sculptd,
nitidd, pellucida, stramined, sursum saturatiore; spird conicd,
vertice obtusiusculo, castaneo; sutura lineari, albo-marginatad ;
anfractibus 6 planis, ultimo basi planiusculo ; aperturd subobliqud,
semiovali ; columelld brevi, verticaliter rimatd, callum tenuissimum
retrorsum emittente ; peristomate aurantiaco, angulatim patente,
reflexiusculo, margine utroque devissime curvato.
Diam. 9, altit. 74 mill.
From Chiapas, Mexico (Ghiesbreght).
21. Hexrcrna piicatuta, Pfr. Hel. testd depressé conoided, soli-
duld, oblique regulariter et elegantissime plicatd, nitidd, corned ;
spird brevi, conoided, acutiusculd ; anfractibus feré 5 convexius-
culis, ultimo superne impresso, peripherid obsoletissimé angulato ;
aperturd obliqud, semilunari; columelld brevissimd, simplice, in
callum tenuissimum diffusd; peristomate subincrassato, carneo,
margine supero sinuato, basali juxta columellam subdentato.
Diam. 5, altit. 3 mill.
From the island of Martinique.
22. Hexicina Reeveana, Pfr. Hel. testa conicd, soliduld, striis
incrementi distinctis et lineolis obliquis impressis confertissimis sub
lente clathratuld, nitiduld, albidd, rufo nebulosd et teniatd ; spird
elevatd, acutiusculd ; suturd impressd; anfractibus 6 convewius-
culis, ultimo angulato, basi vix convexiore ; aperturd subsemiovali,
intus castaned; columelld brevissimd, horizontaliter in callum
parvulum, album, expansd ; peristomate albo, angulatim patente,
margine basali leviter arcuato, cum columelld extus subangulatim
Juncto.
Diam. 83, altit. 6 mill.
From Cuba.
23. Hexicina Rourt, Pfr. Hel. testd conoided, crassd, striatuld
et submalleatd, opacd, vix nitiduld, stramineo-albida vel purpured,
albo-fasciatd ; spird conoided, acutiusculd ; anfractibus 44—5
planiusculis, ultimo superne turgido, ad peripheriam carind acuta,
compressd, prominente munito, antice deflero, basi vix convexo ;
aperturd obliqud, parvuld, semiovali, altiore quam latd ; columelld
subsimplice, basi obsolete tuberculatd, callum semicircularem album
retrorsum emittente ; peristomate recto, acuto, intus crasse albo-
labiato, margine supero emarginato.
Diam. 10, altit. 7 mill.
From the Marquesas Islands (Rohr).
224 Zoological Society.
24. Heticina san@uinea, Pfr. Hel. testd conoideo-orbiculata,
crassa, punctato-striatuld, opacd, sanguined ; spird brevi, conoided,
acutiusculd ; anfractibus 44 planis, ultimo utrinque conveviusculo,
medio subangulato ; aperturd obliqud, subtriangulari, altiore quam
latdé; columella basi antrorsum dentatd, cailum tenuem, semicir-
cularem retrorsum emittente; peristomate recto, intus sublabiaio,
margine basali strictiusculo.
Diam. 101, altit. 6 mill.
©
Locality unknown.
95. Hexicina (TROCHATELLA) SEMILIRATA, Pfr. Hel. testd conico-
globosd, solidd, opacd, flavidd, superne confertim albo-liratd ; spird
conicd, aculiusculd ; anfractibus 53 planiusculis, ultimo convexius-
culo, carinato, basi subtilissimé concentrice striato ; aperturd perob-
liqud, subtriangulari ; columella simplice, immediate in marginem
basalem abiente ; peristomate incrassato, angulatim expanso, mar-
ginibus callo tenuissimo junctis, supero sinuato.
Diam. 103, altit. 75 mill.
From Venezuela (Linden).
26. Hexicina Sowersiana, Pfr. Hel. testd depresse trochiformi,
tenuiusculd, lineis impressis spiraliter sulcatd, alba ; spird conicd,
acutiusculd ; anfractibus 6 planiusculis, ultimo subcarinato, basi
convexiusculo ; aperturd parum obliqud, subtriangulari ; columella
tenui, basi nodiferd; peristomate simplice, angulatim expanso,
margine supero sinuato ; callo basali tenuissimo.
Diam. 21, altit. 14 mill.
From Guatimala (De Lattre).
27. Hevicina TenurLasris, Pfr. Hel. testd subglobosd, solidius-
culd, sublevigatd, albo et cinnamomeo variegatd et subfasciatd ;
spird breviter conoided, acutiusculd ; anfractibus fere 5 planius-
culis, ultimo utrinque convexo, antice vie descendente ; aperturd
obliqud, semiovali, intus cerasind, pallido-fasciatd ; columella re-
cedente, angustd, retrorsum in callum tenuem dilatatd, basi imme-
diate in peristoma tenue, expansiusculum, abiente.
Diam. 10, altit. 7 mill.
Locality unknown.
28. Hexicina tenuis, Pfr. Hel. testa turbinatd, tenuissimd, vix
striatuld, pellucidd, corneo-albida, rubro obsolete trifasciatd ; spird
conicd, acutd ; anfractibus 6 vix convexiusculis, ultimo basi plani-
usculo ; aperturd fere verticali, triangulari-semiovali ; columelld
brevi, basi retrorsum subdentatd, superne in callum nitidum, cir-
cumscriptum, dilatatd ; peristomate tenui, angulatim expanso, mar-
gine basali cum columelle basi angulum formante.
Diam. 11, altit. 83 mill.
From Yucatan.
29. Henicina unipentata, Pfr. Hel. testd depressd, tenuiusculd,
liris concentricis alternatim validis, obtusis et minoribus cinctd,
diaphand, nitiduld, rubella; spird vix elevatd ; anfractibus 44
depressis, ultimo antice descendente, basi medio profunde excavato ;
apertura perobliqud, late lunari; columella simplice, retrorsum in
Miscellaneous. 225
callum albidum circumscriptum dilatatd ; peristomate expanso,
intus albo-labiato, margine basali prope columellam dente magno,
prominente, instructo.
Diam. 5, altit. 24 mill.
From Honduras (Dyson).
MISCELLANEOUS.
Descriptions of Owls presumed to be undescribed. By Joun Cassin,
Ephialtes sagittatus, nobis. Adult? Entire plumage above rufous
brown, inclining to chestnut ; plumage of the head with small pale
spots encircled with black, bordering the shafts of the feathers, and
near the tips assuming a hastate or sagittate form.
Plumage of the back with every feather having about three to five
spots of the same description, the arrow-headed shape and black
border distinct and well-defined, some of the spots nearly white ;
every feather also with very fine transverse lines, and minutely dotted
or freckled with black.
Wing-coverts with pale, nearly white, sagittate spots encircled
with black. Internal coverts of the wings pale fawn yellow, more
or less spotted with black, and with their tips broadly terminated
with black, which forms a conspicuous bar on the inferior surface of
the wing. Outer edge of scapulars nearly white with black spots.
External webs of primaries with alternate bands of pale and darker
rufous brown; internal webs much darker, with nearly black bands
alternating with others slightly paler, which (the paler) are mottled
with black towards the extremities of the quills. Exposed ends of
the secondaries rufous brown, with large pale spots on the shafts,
approaching the sagittate form, with their black borders extending
into transverse narrow bands. First primary shortest, fifth and
sixth longest.
Feathers encircling the eyes, and the long bristle-like feathers at
the base of the bill dark chestnut-brown, the latter freckled with
black; between the eye and the cavity of the ear whitish, with
transverse lines, and broadly tipped with deep rufous brown.
Feathers of the ruff white at their bases, with narrow transverse
lines of deep rufous, but presenting a broad subterminal band of pure
white, every feather terminated with a semicircular or lunular band
of bright rufous brown.
Front and superciliary region white, the feathers of the former
with their shafts and with some minute marks of very dark brown ;
superciliary feathers with well-defined tips of nearly black. Shorter
(or anterior) feathers of the ear-like tufts white, with minute trans-
verse lines and freckles of rufous brown; longer feathers of the tufts
brown on their external and white on their internal webs, trans-
versely lined and tipped with darker brown.
General colour of the under surface of the body very pale rufous
and sordid yellowish white, on the breast with every feather having
about five to seven very narrow transverse bands more or less di-
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. iv. 15
226 Miscellaneous.
stinctly defined, of blackish brown, and minutely and irregularly
dotted with the same colour. Abdominal region with the bands
less numerous, and many of the feathers having several irregularly
shaped, though rather rounded and sagittate spots of nearly black.
Tarsi covered to the toes with pale rufous whitish feathers. ‘Toes
naked.
Tail same rufous brown as the back, with alternate bands of darker
and paler shades; in some instances the paler band on the external
opposite to the darker band on the internal web.
Bill and feet yellow, claws long and slender.
Total length of skin about 10 anes wing 7, tail 44.
Very young. Upper surface of the head and body pale yellowish
and sordid rufous, every feather with several narrow transverse dark
lines. Breast and belly darker, with the spots more distinctly
rounded and occupying the whole breast and inferior surface.
Wings and tail more fully developed than the other plumage.
Hab. India?
One specimen of this species, without label, belongs to the R voli
collection; another, which is that of a young bird, labeled Malacca,
has been received from Mr. Edward Wilson, who obtained it in
Paris. I am acquainted with no species of Ephialtes with which this
can readily be confounded, and, in fact, it looks more like Dr. Hors-
field’s plate of Strix (Phodilus) badius, than any other which I have
met with, and is about the same size (as the figure), while in general
appearance, particularly in the colouring of the breast and belly, it
bears some resemblance to Strix (Lophostrix) cristata, Daud, (gri-
seata, Lath.). It is however a true Ephialtes, though an aberrant
species. ‘The sagittate spots distinguish it, and, as far as I know, are
peculiar.
Ephialtes Watsonii, nobis. Summit of the head black, with a few
very minute pale spots, more numerous on the front and eyebrows.
Shorter feathers of the ear-tufts black, others black also, but with
their inner webs spotted or mottled with white. A semicircle above
the eye extending to the ear-tufts black; rigid feathers at the base
of the bill black, with pale grayish terminations; feathers imme-
diately below the eye gray, mottled and broadly tipped with black.
Discal feathers grayish white, many of them speckled, and all
tipped with black, presenting a white and black semicollar or ruff
on each side of the neck. Plumage of the throat with fine alternate
bars of black and nearly white.
Neck above with a well-defined collar, the feathers composing
which are strongly fulvous, terminated with white and speckled with
black.
Back, rump, tail- and wing-coverts mottled and freckled with
grayish white upon a black ground, many of the feathers having
about three to five very irregular transverse bands of whitish; on
the wing-coverts and back some of the pale marks are almost cir-
cular with black centres, others are of irregular form also enclosing
centres of black.
External webs of the primaries black, with subquadrate nearly
white bars, nearly all of which have black centres, assuming also a
Miscellaneous. pepe Te
more or less: well-defined square form. Internal webs of primaries
with alternate bands of different shades of black.
Breast and entire inferior parts pale fulvous, every feather con-
spicuously marked on the shaft longitudinally with black, and with
very irregular transverse bands and irregularly mottled with black ;
the black markings most numerous and most irregular on the breast.
Many of the feathers on the breast with very pale nearly white spots,
having somewhat the appearance of being distributed in pairs.
Tail black, with about seven or eight narrow irregular grayish
bands, many of which have central lines of black.
Tarsi feathered to the toes, pale fulvous white, mottled with black.
Bill horn-colour at the base, whitish at the tip.
Total length (of skin) about 94 inches, wing 7, tail 34.
Younger? Plumage above paler, with small spots and minute
freckles of grayish white, scarcely assuming the appearance of bands.
Breast with the dark markings predominating, and tending to
form a broad pectoral band ; lower parts of the body bright fulvous
with black marks.
Hab. South America.
This species bears some resemblance to Ephialtes atricapilla (Natt.),
Temm. Pl. Col. 145, but is much larger, and has only one nuchal
collar. The general colour above is also much darker; the fulvous
colouring of the inferior surface of the body is also a striking dif-
ference.
One specimen of this species in the Rivoli collection is labeled
«‘Orenoque,” and another in the collection of the Academy is pro-
bably from South America.
I have named this bird in honor of Gavin Watson, M.D, of this
city, a gentleman of extensive knowledge of natural history, much
attached to the study of the American Raptores, and an especial
admirer of the Owls.
Syrnium albogularis, nobis. Entire plumage above deep umber-
brown, every feather more or less finely vermiculated and minutely
spotted with black; on the head also transversely lined and spotted
with pure white, especially in the region of the occiput, where upon
some feathers the white spots are disposed regularly in pairs upon
the opposite webs.
Feathers of the back and rump having also three or four irregular
transverse lines, and irregularly spotted with pale brownish nearly
white. Scapulars broadly barred and edged with white.
Lesser wing-coverts with irregular lines of pale brownish, and
with large white marks on their external webs. Primaries with their
external webs nearly black, with about eight to twelve square spots
or bands of fulvous. Internal webs of primaries plain black or with
obscure bands.
Eyebrow white ; a large semicircular segment of white covering
the jaws and throat, interrupted at the base of the under mandible
by a few brownish feathers; many of those white feathers conspi-
cuously tipped with black, forming a well-defined semicircular discal
collar or ruff.
Breast with a broad band of the same umber-brown as the back,
15*
228 Miscellaneous.
every feather irregularly lined and minutely spotted with black ; many
of the feathers also with subrounded spots of pure white, occasionally
disposed in pairs.
Abdomen, flanks and under tail-coverts fulvous, every feather
marked longitudinally with black, and about one to three transverse
marks of the same colour, assuming a partially lyrate form; these
marks less distinct on the flanks.
Tail umber-brown, with about eight to ten irregular pale brownish
white bars; under surface paler.
Plumage of the tarsi reaching nearly to the toes, pale reddish
fulvous ; tibial plumage darker, inclining to ferruginous ; toes naked.
Bill yellow.
Total length about 93 inches, wing 8, tail 49.
Hab. South America.
Two specimens of this bird in the Rivoli collection are without
label; a third, obtained in Paris by Mr. Edward Wilson, is labeled
«South America.”
I am acquainted with no species which in any considerable degree
resembles the bird now described, nor have I met with a description
applicable to it.
Syrnium virgatum, nobis. Plumage of the entire upper surface
dark umber-brown, every feather having about three to five irregular
transverse narrow bands of sordid yellowish white, most numerous
and distinct on the head and rump. Upper tail-coverts banded with
pure white.
Scapulars obliquely banded on their outer webs with fulvous, on
their inner webs more or less regularly banded with yellowish white.
Wing-coverts with broader bands, and also mottled and pointed at
their tips with whitish.
Primaries very dark brown, nearly black, external webs with about
seven square spots of grayish white, some of which enclose central
spots of dark brown, and all more or less dotted and mottled with
the same colour. These square spots less regular on the first and
second primaries; all the primaries with broad pale tips. Internal
webs with regular bands of dark and paler brownish black.
General colour of the face same as the head and back ; superciliary
plumage and discal circle nearly white, more or less spotted and
lined with deep brown.
Breast deep umber-brown tinged with fulvous, every feather
having about three very irregular transverse bands, which are
broader and paler than those of the back, though of the same cha-
racter ; on the lower part of the breast these bands are nearly white.
Abdomen pale fulvous, every feather with a longitudinal stripe of
black, and with one or two transverse irregular bands at the tip of
the same colour; ventral region and under tail-coverts pale fulvous
nearly white, with a trace of blackish spots.
Tarsi dark fulvous, mottled with brown ; feathered to the toes.
Tail black, tipped with white, and having about five bands, which
are brownish on the outer and white on the inner webs.
Bill horn-colour at the base, pale yellow at the tip: toes quite
naked.
Miscellaneous. 229
Total length about 14 inches, wing 105, tail 6.
Younger or different sex ? Pale bands on the superior surface of
the body broader, those on the wing-coverts, primaries and secon-
daries enclosing tolerably regular bands of black. Scapulars with
their outer webs fulvous and pure white.
Spots on the outer webs of the primaries and bands on the tail
nearly white ; secondaries broadly tipped with white, each terminal
spot enclosing a segment of dark brown.
Entire inferior surface of the body fulvous, feathers having lon-
gitudinal stripes only of dark brown; under tail-coverts nearly pure
white.
Younger? Bands on the back and rump almost obsolete, having
the appearance of spots only. Scapulars and some of the wing-
coverts broadly edged with pure white.
Entire under surface of the body nearly white, with but a tinge
of fulvous, the feathers having longitudinal bands only of deep brown.
Under tail-coverts and tarsi nearly white.
Total length about 14 inches, wing 94, tail 6.
Hab. South America.
This is a bird of which I have frequently seen specimens, and am
surprised that I have not succeeded in finding a description of it. I
am acquainted with no species intimately resembling it.— Proceedings
of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, vol. iv. p. 121.
Descriptions of new Marine Shells. By T. A. Conran.
The following new and interesting shells are from the coasts of
Lower California and Peru :—
SoLecarpiA, Con.
Shell bivalve, equivalve ; hinge with two diverging cardinal teeth,
and a linear oblique cartilage-pit between ; cardinal plate profoundly
grooved on each side of the teeth; muscular impressions 2, small,
rounded, remote from the margins, particularly from the base ; pallial
impression entire.
S. eburnea. Oblong-oval, equilateral, ventricose, thin ; extremities
nearly equally rounded ; basal margin arched ; valves white, shining,
minutely shagreened, towards the base minutely rugose, with fine
impressed radiating lines; concentric lines towards the base finely
waved, indenting the margin. 1 2-10: 8-10.
In this singular bivalve the pallial impression shows no junction
with the adductor impressions, but joins the extremities of the car-
dinal plate. ‘The muscular impressions are as distinct on the ex-
terior as on the interior.
PETRICOLA.
P. sinuosa. Subtriangular ; inflated anteriorly ; profoundly sinu-
ous posteriorly ; ribs radiating, prominent, acute, except towards the
anterior margin, where they are replaced by closely-arranged lines ;
basal margin profoundly sinuous; within brown, cavity of umbo
white ; cardinal teeth prominent, two in one valve, and one broad
one in the other, 8-10; 6-10.
230 Miscellaneous.
Family ANATENIDA.
Cyatuoponta, Con.
An inequivalved bivalve ; hinge with a broad, not very projecting,
cartilage-fosset, which is carinated near the margin; muscular im-
pressions rounded, indistinct ; pallial impression with a large rounded
sinus.
C. undulata. Subovate, inequilateral, very thin and fragile, with
obliquely concentric undulations, profound on the anterior side, and
suddenly becoming obsolete towards the posterior extremity, which
is truncated and direct ; posterior slope of the deeper valve obscurely
tricarinated ; cartilage-pit robust ; valves with minute, very closely
arranged, granulated radiating lines. 1 2-10: 1 nearly.
Family Pootapip2z.
Puoxapopsis, Con.
Inequivalved ; right valve produced posteriorly, left valve over-
lapping the opposite ; cartilage situated on a projecting callus.
P. pectinata. Ovate, very thin and fragile, profoundly gaping
posteriorly ; profoundly ventricose anteriorly ; valves with elevated
waved laminz terminating near a profound sinus, which extends
from beak to base; right valve undulated near the posterior end,
reflected, margin pectinated ; both valves have concentric lines.
PARAPHOLAS, Con.
P. bisulcata. Ovate-oblong ; anterior accessory valves or deposit
strong, shining, gibbous on the margin of aperture, and having
obscure decussated striz, the transverse ones a little raised ; anterior
side of the larger valves with numerous prominent crenulated radii ;
a slightly oblique sulcus extends from beak to base, and a slightly
impressed line runs from the beak to the posterior end of the closed
portion of the base ; between the two impressed transverse lines the
valves have closely-arranged, rugose, longitudinal lamine, and pos-
terior to these the laminz are remote and elevated. 23. i
PENITELLA.
P. Wilsonii. Ovate-oblong, very thin, profoundly ventricose ;
valves with a furrow from beak to base; the papyraceous anterior
valves very wide; anterior valves with numerous oblique waved
laminz and radiating acute ribs ; ligament margin sinuous ; posterior
side with concentric distant undulations ; two small accessory valves
behind the beak, which are reflected posteriorly ; membranaceous
appendage with a sinuous or concave margin where it joins the
shell, and a deep annular groove anterior to the middle. 24.
TRITON.
T. perforatus. Subpyriform; volutions 5 or 6; ribs revolving,
flattened, slightly prominent, wide and narrow alternately, with
narrow interstices, and an occasional revolving line; angle of body
whorl tuberculated ; spire scalariform, the angle of each whorl witha
tuberculated rib or carina; colour cinereous; epidermis brown, rough,
hairy, longitudinally ribbed ; aperture wide ; margin of labrum sinu-
Meteorological Observations. 231
ous above, profoundly ribbed; ribs about half an inch long, on an
ochraceous submargin ; columella with white folds and narrow, dark
brown interstices ; beak bent, umbilicated. 3 8-10: 25.
Ouiva.
O. propatula. Ovate-oblong, slightly gibbous towards the base ;
colour pale ochraceous, marked with a few longitudinal zigzag brown
lines, and with darker transverse hair-like lines and a few spots ;
columella patulous, deeply sulcated inferiorly ; deposit at the base
carinated in the middle. 2}: 1 1-10.—Proceedings of the Academy
of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, vol. iv. p. 155.
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR JULY 1849.
‘Chiswick.—July 1. Very fine. 2. Light clouds: very fine. 3. Cloudy: slight
showers, 4. Cloudy: clear at night. 5. Clear: very fine. 6,7. Very fine.
8. Very hot: clear at night. 9. Very fine: cloudless. 10. Dusky haze: clear.
11,12. Very fine. 13. Cloudy. 14. Very fine. 15. Overcast. 16. Very fine.
17, Cloudy: showery. 18. Very fine: cloudy: heavy shower 5 p.m. : showery.
19. Showery. 20. Fine: dense masses of low white clouds : showery. 21. Cloudy :
showery. 22. Very fine: overcast. 23. Rain: cloudy. 24. Cloudy: heavy
showers in forenoon : excessively heavy rain at night. 25. Fine: cloudy : showers
occasionally : heavy showers, with thunder in afternoon. 26. Fine: thunder
showers. 27. Overcast: very fine. 28. Very fine: cloudy. 29. Densely over-
cast. 30. Fine. 31. Very fine: cloudy.
WMeanteraperature ofthe) month | /Jsc.co-ssdesececsctsncsestccsseves 62°29
WMeanttemperature) of; July, 1848 /5.-...ccccorstecieccessoorcacesses 62 :09
Mean temperature of July for the last twenty-three years ... 63 °23
AV eraceramountOn rane S UlYicv.s.secsesdcceesescteresessccsasee 2°38 inches,
Boston.—July 1—6. Fine. 7. Fine: thermometer §1° from 2 p.M. to 6 P.m-
8—1Z. Fine. 13—16. Cloudy. 17. Cloudy: raina.m. 18. Cloudy: rain p.m.
19. Rain: rain a.m. and p.m. 20. Fine: raina.m. 21. Fine: rainp.m. 22.
Fine. 23. Rain: rain a.m. and p.M., with thunder and lightning. 24, 25. Cloudy :
raina.M. 26—28, Fine. 29. Rain; raina.m.andp.m. 30, Fine. 31. Cloudy.
Applegarth Manse, Dumfries-shire—July 1. Fine rain: high wind p.m. 2.
Rain during night: cleared and fine. 3. Heavy rain and strong wind. ° 4. Fine :
slight shower. 5. Fine: occasional showers. 6. Complete day of rain, 7, Very
heavy rain: high flood. 8. Fine and fair: pleasant air, 9, 10. Fine and fair.
11. Very fine summer day. 12. Very warm. 13. Warm, but cooler from east
wind, 14,15. Warm, 16. Warin, but getting cloudy. 17. Heavy rain at
night: clear day. 18. Rain. 19. Showers: occasionally fair and warm. 20.
Showers: heavy p.m. 21. Fineand fair. 22. Drizzly: showery. 23. Fine a.m.:
showery p.m. 24. Showery. 25. Heavy showers: thunder. 26. Warm: slight
shower: thunder. 27. Fair: cloudy: cleared p.m. 28. Fair a.m.: rain p.m.
29. Heavy showers. 30. Heavy showers: thunder. 31. Heavy showers, less
frequent : thunder.
Mean temperature of the month ..........sssseeesseeeesees 57°0
Mean temperature of July 1848 ..........0008- Seusodeonéds 56 °5
Mean temperature of July for twenty-five years ......... 58) <1
Rain in July for twenty years ........... Uacewanleapisteioetings 3°91 inches,
Sandwick Manse, Orkney.—July 1. Rain: drizzle. 2. Showers. 3. Rain. 4,
Bright: fine. 5. Clear: fine. 6. Cloudy: fine: cloudy. 7. Rain: cloudy:
showers: bright. 8, 9. Clear: cloudy. 10. Damp: cloudy. 11. Cloudy : fine.
12—14, Fine: fog. 15. Cloudy: clear. 16. Bright: rain. 17, 18. Bright:
cloudy. 19. Clear: damp. 20. Drizzle: cloudy. 21. Drizzle: damp. 22.
Fine: drops. 23, 24. Cloudy: drizzle. 25. Rain: clear. 26. Bright: damp.
27. Bright: showers. 28. Bright: rain. 29. Clear: showers: fine. 30. Clear :
fine. 31. Showers.
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THE ANNALS
AND
MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.
[SECOND SERIES.]
No. 22. OCTOBER 1849.
XXIV.—Description of two new species of Floscularia, with
remarks. By W. Murray Dostz, M.D., F.B.S.E., Member
of the Royal Medical and Clinical Societies of Edinburgh.
[ With a Plate. ]
WHILE examining various Rotifera in April this year (1849),
I met with two Floscularias which differ essentially from any
hitherto described. I propose in the present paper to charac-
terize and describe briefly these two species, to which the plate
has reference, and accompany the description with a few general
remarks.
Floscularia campanulata (mili). Pl. VI. fig. 3.
Sp. Char. Case diaphanous. Rotatory organ furnished with five
flattened lobes fringed with very long cilia. Body ovate, with-
out proboscis. Tail long and terminating abruptly in a trans-
parent filament spread out into a kind of sucker at the poimt
of attachment. Pl. VI. fig. 1.
Length , in. when extended. Egg with two red eye-spots,
contained in a large ovary.
Hab. Boggy Park pond, 83 miles from Chester. Found on
Ceratophyllum and Confervee.
Floscularia cornuta (mihi). Plate VI. fig. 4.
Sp. Char. Case short, diaphanous, and not very distinct. Rota-
tory organ furnished with five rounded lobes surrounded with |
extremely long and delicate cilia. A short, narrow, non-ciliated,
flexible process (cornu) is attached to the outside of one of
the lobes. Egg with two red eye-spots. Young animal with
vibratile cilia on head and rapidly locomotive.
Length 5 1. when extended.
Hab. Boggy Park pond. Found on Ceratophyllum.
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. iv. i6
234 Dr. W.M. Dobie on two new species of Floscularia.
The following table will serve to show the relation these new
species bear to the Floscularias which have been already dis-
covered.
Species. Lobes. Processes. Cilia.
Floscularia proboscidea 6. One large and ciliated.| Short.
OUMALAT Heecece cece 5-6 rounded. None. Long.
campanulata ...... 5 flattened. None. Long.
COMmUtages.c.ceessee 5. One narrow and non-|Verylong.
ciliated.
The usual length of the adult Floscularia campanulata is about
sith of an inch when extended, but I have met with specimens
larger than this. The case in this species is long, and not very
defined, its surface is granular, and it contains minute rounded
bodies in its substance.
The body of this Floscularia when fully contracted is com-
pletely inclosed within its case, which however is absent in the
young animal. The body in both species is hyaline or colourless,
except when coloured food has been received into the alimentary
canal.
The entrance to the alimentary canal in the Floscularia cam-
panulata resembles a large open cup, and may be termed the in-
fundibulum ; the edge of which, when the animal is expanded,
is divided into five lobes by a corresponding number of depres-
sions. Hach of these lobes is flattened or laminar, slightly
thickened at the margin, which is thickly fringed by long and
very delicate cilia or sete, except for a small space in the middle
of the depression. One of the lobes is rather larger than the
other four. Five bands, apparently muscular, are seen passing
to the centre of these depressions. Lines of a fainter description
run up the centre of each lobe to near its apex; these lines are
frequently observed to contain highly refracting bodies resem-
bling little globules of oil. See fig. 3.
The rotatory organ of the Floscularia cornuta differs from the
preceding ; it 1s divided by very deep depressions into five lobes,
each terminated by a kind of ciliated knob ; and to the back of
one of these lobes the flexible cornu is attached externally. The
infundibulum in both species is separated from the next cavity,—
which, following Dujardin, I call the vestibule,—by a rim en-
larged at certain points into little knobs, each of which is clothed
with cilia, not vibratile.
The next portion of the alimentary canal is the crop separated
from the vestibule by a diaphragm, in which is a slit-like open-
ing fringed with vibratile cilia, the motion of which gives rise in
Dr. W.M. Dobie on two new species of Floscularia. 235
my opinion to the peculiar serpentine movement always observed
at this point. See fig. 3d.
The cilia on the upper surface of this diaphragm and on the
edges of its aperture assist in carrying the food into the crop.
In both species the crop is ciliated throughout its interior.
The next cavity, or second cesophageal bulb, contains the jaws
and teeth—communicating above with the crop, and below with
the conical termination of the alimentary tube. The teeth and
jaws seem exactly alike in both the species I have examined with
care: each jaw contains a bifurcated tooth, greatly resembling
that of the Stephanoceros, only much more minute. See figs. 3,
4 & 5.
The ovigerous sac or ovary is large in both, containing several
large ova which seem to be discharged from the cloaca, which is
common to both the ovary and the alimentary canal. The red
points can be seen in the egg before it is discharged ; the move-
ments of the young animal within its case are quite perceptible
at this period. See figs.6 & 3A.
The eggs for some time before they are completely hatched
remain about the bottom of the case. I have been unable to
detect any male organs in either of the species.
The tail is long, and composed of non-striated muscular fibre
inclosed in a continuation of the general integument. In the
Floscularia campanulata it terminates in a homogeneous non-con-
tractile filament produced into a sucker-like expansion, by which
the animal attaches itself to Confervee or Ceratophyllum.
The muscular system consists of non-striated fibres. Those
composing the tail extend upwards and are lost upon the surface
of the body. In the F. campanulata five very distinct bands run
up the sides of the vestibule and infundibulum, and terminate by
bifurcating in the depression between the lobes. The body and
tail are highly contractile; the vestibule particularly so, large
animalcules being frequently forced through the aperture leading
into the crop by the powerful and continued contractions of its
walls.
No trace of a vascular system can be observed. The tremu-
lous gill-like organs found in some Rotifers are here absent.
With the exception of the eye-spots in the young animal, there
are no organs of special sense. The whole surface is acutely sen-
sible of tactile impressions, but the lobes of the rotatory organ and
the cornu are perhaps more sensitive than the general surface.
The cilia on these animals are of two kinds: the usual short
vibratile kind line the interior of the crop and alimentary canal,
and cover the lower part of the vestibule. The other variety of
cilia are extremely long and filiform, of uniform thickness, and
not vibratile under ordinary circumstances. They are slowly
16%
236 Dr. W. M. Dobie on two new species of Floscularia.
moved and spread out by the contractile substance of the lobes
of the rotatory organ.
When a solution of caustic potash is brought in contact with
the filiform cilia, a most violent vibratile action immediately com-
mences, and continues till the whole bundle is completely disor-
ganized. Violent mechanical stimulation seems to have a similar
effect, though in a less degree.
I may here notice more particularly the peculiar cornu or pro-
cess of the F. cornuia. The lobes of the rotatory organ of this
animal resemble very much those of the F. ornata, with this dif-
ference, that in the &. cornuta only five exist, while in the F. or-
nata there are six according to Ehrenberg. The cornu is attached
to the exterior of one of these lobes ; it is narrow and flexible ; the
animal seems never to move it. It is best seen when the animal
expands itself fully, for in the contracted state it is completely
retracted within the integument.
Immediately below the integument of the Floscularia cornuta
are groups and lines of very small granules continually in a state
of rapid molecular motion. In appearance they exactly resemble
the molecules in the cusps of the Closterium. Besides the mole-
cular they are subject to another motion ; for occasionally they
may be seen to move from one part of the surface to another m
currents not very distinct or persistent, and in no definite direc-
tion. I have seen them running in lines down the tail and col-
lecting into groups. This flowing movement occurs chiefly
during the contractions aud relaxations of the entire animal.
See fig. 4.
In the Flos. campanulata there are larger fived granules distri-
buted here and there throughout the body and tail ; these bodies
more nearly resemble globules of oil.
I am in much doubt as to the nature of these mimute bodies m
the F. cornuta. J think it probable they are connected with the
nutrition of the animal, and analogous to the free floating cor-
puscles in the abdominal cavity of the Hydatina senta, or the so-
called blood-corpuscles of the Tardigrada, so well desembed by
M. Doyere.
The Floscularia campanulata is gregarious ; sometimes as many
as eight or ten specimens ‘may be seen attached to a small por-
tion of Conferva. ;
The Flos. cornuta is found single ; there are seldom more than
two or three near one another.
The Flos. campanulata is a very active animal, expanding and
contracting itself with great rapidity. The Flos. cornuta is by no
means so strong and active: both species when satiated with food
remain contracted for a considerable time.
Ehrenberg regards the Floscularia described and figured by
Dr. W. M. Dobie on two new species of Floscularia. 287
M. Peltier* as identical with his Floscularia ornata. Both Dujar-
din and Peltier found the rotatory organ five-lobed in the species
observed in France. Admitting these descriptions to be correct,
we must either hold with Pritchard that the Ploscularia ornata
has sometimes five, at other times six lobes, or consider the five-
lobed species of Peltier and Dujardin} to be a variety of Ehren-
berg’s true Flos. ornata.
In no kind of Floscularia ornata has any cornu or process been
seen attached to any of the lobes. My friend Mr. Hallett, late
of the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, writes me that
he finds the Flos. ornata with a six-lobed rotatory organ and no
prccess.
M. Dujardin {, in describing his family Floscularia, observes as
follows on the masticatory apparatus of the genus Floscularia :—
“ The Floscularia has simple mandibles ; in the Stephanoceros the
mandibles are compound.” With this assertion of Dujardin I
do not agree ; the whole apparatus closely resembles that of the
Stephanoceros, only on a smaller scale. One thing I feel certain
of is, that the tooth is bifurcated and therefore cannot be simple.
In figure 5 I have endeavoured to represent the dental appa-
ratus of the Floscularia as I myself have frequently observed it.
I cannot vouch for its entire accuracy, as it is very difficult to
obtain a good view of them.
M. Dujardin § thus observes regarding the eggs: “ Les cufs
montrent un seul point rouge et non deux comme ceux qu’a re-
présentés M. Ehrenberg.” I must here also differ from M. Du-
jardm. In nearly all my examinations of the eggs and young of
the Floscularia, 1 have been able to make out ¢wo very distinct
red eye-spots; they appear in the egg when it has reached its
full size, but are best seen in the young animal.
Dujardin’s observations || differ from those of Ehrenberg im
another particular; I again quote from Dujardin’s work : “Ce
méme auteur (M. Eh.) leur assigne un étui membraneux, mais
ceux qui ont été observés en France manquent toujours de cet
étui.” My own observations comeide with Ehrenberg’s descrip-
tions ; the sheath is never absent except in the very young animal,
but is often so delicate as to escape superficial observation.
The two Floscularias described in this communication were
obtained from a pond situated in Trevalyn in the parish of
Gresford, Denbighshire, within a few yards of the boundary le
limiting the detached portion of Flintshire in Gresford. The
* Annales des Sciences Naturelles, 1838, t. x. p. 40, planche 4.
t+ Hist. Nat. des Infus. p. 610.
{ Hist. Nat. des Infus. p. 609, also at p. 611. ‘ Les machoires m’ont
paru unidentées. ”
§ Hist. Nat. des Infus. p. 611. || 7b. p. 609.
238 Dr. W.M. Dobie on two new species of Floscularia.
place is named the “ Boggy Park,” from an elevated quagmire
in the meadow abounding in Pinguicula vulgaris, Anagallis tenella,
Parnassia palustris, &e. It lies nearly two miles south of the
Rossett station of the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway, at the
base of the slope which descends from the table-land of Gresford.
This eastern declivity of North Wales commands, at an elevation
little exceeding a hundred feet above the level of the sea, a view
not to be surpassed for extent and beauty ;—on the north stretch-
ing over the peninsula of Wirral; and in some states of the at-
mosphere even to the southern mountains of Cumberland ; on the
south to the Wrekin far into Shropshire; eastward to the Peck-
forton, Delamere and Lancashire Hills ;—the towers of Chester
and to Beeston Castle over the Vale Royal ; in clear weather to
the mountainous district where Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Lan-
cashire unite—a distance not less than forty miles.
EXPLANATION OF PLATE VI.
Fig. 1. Sucker-like termination of the tail of Floscularia campanulata.
Fig. 2. Process on one of the lobes of Flos. cornuta. The cilia surrounding
the rounded knob-like extremity of the lobe are supposed to be
cut short.
‘tg. 3. Floscularia campanulata, magnified 270 diameters. The cilia are
represented on one lobe only.
. Granules resembling oil globules.
. One of the five muscles of the infundibulum.
. Rim separating the infundibulum and the vestibule.
. Diaphragm separating the vestibule from the crop with waved aper-
ture.
. Dental apparatus and sac.
. Termination of the intestine.
. Case (étui, Dujardin).
. Sucker-like termination to tail.
. Floscularia cornuta, magnified 200 diameters.
. Cornu or flexible process.
. Division between infundibulum and vestibule, with ciliated knobs
as in fig. 3.
. Minute granules in a state of molecular motion.
. Diaphragm.
. Dental apparatus,
. Two ova in ovisac.
. Termination of intestine.
. Case in outline.
. Dental apparatus isolated.
. a. Young Floscularia cornuta with vibratile cilia.
. Same, contracted.
aoowe
Fig.
Wa Pa. Nor
Fig.
Fig.
STOASBeSS AS
Mr. J. Morris on the Excavating Sponges. 239
XXV.— Observations on Mr. Hancock’s paper on the Excavating
Sponges. By Joun Morris, F.G.S.
In the interesting communication ‘ On the Excavating powers
of certain Sponges,” &c. which appeared in the May Number of
the ‘ Annals,’ Mr. Hancock appears to have overlooked a paper
published some time since by an Italian naturalist in which the
same facts are fully and clearly described. Had this paper been
more generally known, probably “the prevailing belief that Cliona
does not excavate the chambers in which it is found, but that
they are formed by worms or by decay,” &c., might have been
somewhat shaken, and ‘the matter which has remained up to the
present time in obscurity ” more clearly defined. It may there-
fore be interesting to some of the readers of this Journal to give
a short abstract of what was previously known on this subject,
not merely for advocating the priority of discovery, but as
strengthening the opinion as to the excavating power of these
bodies, so admirably illustrated by Mr. Hancock*.
Ten years have elapsed since Dr. Nardo communicated, in the
name of his brother, to the Scientific Congress held at Pisa in
1839, a paper “On a new genus of Siliceous Sponges, named
Vioa, living in excavations formed by itself im stones and in the
shells of marine mollusca, boring them in every direction.” This
sponge consists of numerous small very fine acicular siliceous
bodies arranged irregularly in a fleshy but not mucous substance,
of a yellowish, orange or purple colour, permanent or fugacious
according to the species. At certain periods of their growth,
these sponges emit small germs visible to the naked eye, which
transported by currents attach themselves to stones or marine
shells, and commence to form passages in their substance, rid-
dling them in every direction, so as even sometimes to destroy the
stone or shell, leaving the sponge isolated and free. Dr. Nardo
observed the following species all obtained from the Adriatic, and
named by him Vioa typus, coccinea, Clio, Pasitheay.
At a subsequent meeting of the same Congress held at Milan
in 1844, M. Michelin, whose attention had-been previously di-
rected to the point, read a short notice on the same subject, in
which he alluded to the traces of an organized zoophytic body
* It is but justice to Mr. Hancock to state, that his description of the
means by which these sponges perforate calcareous substances is both novel
and interesting.
+ Atti della prima riunione degli Scienziati Italiani tenuta in Pisa, 1839,
p- 161; Pisa, 1840. A fuller notice of this paper is in the ‘ Annali delle
Scien. del Reg. Lomb.-Venet.’ vol. ix. p. 221; see also Revue Zoologique,
1840, p. 27. In the same journal (p. 343) is M. Duvernoy’s description of
Spongia terebrans, inhabiting the valves of Ostrea hippopus, Lam.
240 Mr. J. Morris on the Excavating Sponges.
inhabiting the tubular and vesicular cavities in the shell of Pla-
cuna sella, but uncertain as to what family it really belonged.
The Prince of Canino, President, appointed a commission, con-
sisting of Drs. Ruppell and Nardo and Prof.Géné, to express their
opinions on the fact, and Dr. Nardo in their name made a report,
from which the following remarks are abridged. ;
The pecuharity described by M. Michelin consists in having
noticed between the two faces of the superior valve of Placuna
sella, on account of its transparency, a kind of arborescence with
dichotomous and anastomosing branches, having the inferior
branches thick and decreasing towards their extremities, which
are generally sharp and forked.
On the inner layer of the shell no pores were observed commu-
nicating with the branches, but on the outer layer are numerous
small perforations serially disposed and corresponding with the
articulations. These cavities have been produced by a perfora-
ting parasitic animal which has introduced itself into the sub-
stance of the valve, and which in consequence of a greater resist-
ance or hardness of the inner layer in contact with the animal of
the Placuna, has been compelled to extend itself horizontally, so
as to form the arborescence described. On some parts of the
surface may be observed a few attempts at perforation which have
been arrested by a new layer of solid matter. In the Milan city
museum is a fine specimen of Placuna having both valves per-
forated. The large size of the holes in this shell has allowed a
portion of the animal filling the cavities to be carefully examined.
It belongs to the class of sponges, and specially to the genus
Vioa, which Dr. Nardo first described in his memoir on the per-
forating sponges, published in the ‘ Annals of Science of the
Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom*.’ From the form and arrange-
ment of the siliceous spiculz, imbedded in the substance, sharp
at one end and rounded at the other, it should be arranged (ac-
cording to the system of Dr. Nardo) im the second order of sili-
ceous sponges, the ninth family Viotde, and the first subfamily
Vioina. This species appears to be distinct from all those pre-
viously known and described, and may therefore bear the name
Vioa Michelint. Dr. Nardo further adds as an important fact,
that it is not only the Placune which have been attacked by this
kind of sponge, but also univalve shells; and mentions a large
specimen of Voluta in the Milan museum, which 1s perforated
by a species of sponge distinct from the Vioa Michelini, as re-
gards its mode of development, which although serial and den-
dritic, has the vesicular and articulated cavities smaller and bored
on both sides.
Dr. Nardo concludes the report with some remarks relative to
* See the volume previously quoted.
Mr. J. Morris on the Excavating Sponges. 241
the genus Vioa, as well as to some inaccuracies of those authors
who have written after him. He mentions that Dr. Johnston has
not even suspected the Halichondria celata (which is a Vioa) to
be a perforating sponge; and also opposes the opinion of
M. Dujardin, who thought that the perforations in shells and
stones (which he, Dr. Nardo, had proved to be the work of a
sponge) were at first occupied by small species of Annelides, and
that the sponge subsequently inhabited their cavities. Dr. Nardo
does not think that the name Cliona ought to be preferred to that
of Vioa proposed by him, because Dr. Grant, in establishing his
genus, did not consider it to be a sponge, but a polype having
eight tentacula; and he consequently proposes that the Spongia
terebrans, Duvernoy, which M. Dujardin regards as a Cliona,
should be named Vioa Dujardinit, if however it is distinct from
the species already described *.
Since the publication of this report for 1844, M. Michelin has
observed a valve of Meleagrina margaritifera, Lam., and speci-
mens of the genera Conus and Fusus perforated by species of
Vioa, as well as a valve of the fossil, Trigonta Dedalea, Park.
M. Michelin has also noticed traces of the same genus on frag-
ments of fossil shells from the chalk of Orglandes and the supra-
cretaceous beds of Grignon (Revue Zoologique, 1846).
The following species of Vioa appear to be identical with two
of those described as Cliona by Mr. Hancock.
Vioa Nardina, Michelin, Rev. Zool. 1846, pl. 1. fig. 1.
V. dendritica, dichotoma, ramosissima, utriculis et tubulis compo-
sita; utriculis vel rotundis vel ellipticis in seriebus eleganter dis-
positis, inter se junctis per tubulos exiguos interne rugosos; tu-
bulis terminalibus, acutissimis, szepe furcatis.
Inhabits the upper valve of the Placuna placenta, Lam.
This species is identical with Cliona Fryeri, Hancock, Ann.
Nat. Hist. 1849, p. 338. pl. 14. f. 2; and that author described
it as imbedded in the same shell.
Vioa Michelini, Nardo, Rev. Zool. 1846, pl. 1. fig. 2.
V. dendritica, dichotoma, divaricata, utriculis et tubulis composita ;
utriculis numerosis, vesiculosis, subpolygonis, interne rugosis, ve-
tulis maximis, junioribus parvulis, elongatis, deinde subrotundis,
per minutissimos tubulos junctis et anastomosantibus.
Inhabits the upper valve of Placuna sella, Lam.
This species is the same as the Cliona spinosa, Hancock, Ann.
* Atti della sesta Riunione degli Scien. Ital. tenuta in Milano, 1844,
pp. 372, 428, and Revue Zoologique, 1846 ; see also Annali delle Scien. del
Reg. Lomb.-Ven. 1845, p. 11.
242 Mr. J. Alder on the Branchial Currents
Nat. Hist. 1849, p. 339. pl. 13. f. 5, and which he also found
in the valves of Placuna sella.
At the Scientific Congress held at Lucca (1843), Dr. Nardo
proposed a new classification of the Spongiade, dividing them into
five families, under the names of Corneo-spongia, Silico-spongia,
Calci-spongia, Corneo-silici-spongia, Corneo-calci-spongia, these
families containing thirty genera*.
XXVI.—On the Branchial Currents of the Bivalve Mollusca.
By Josuua Axper, Esq.
To Richard Taylor, Esq.
Dear Sir, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 16th August 1849.
Ir was not my intention again to have troubled you concerning
those points in the ceconomy of the Bivalves about which Mr.
Clark and I are at variance, but the concluding paragraph of that
gentleman’s letter, in which he claims to have set at rest the use
of the anterior siphon in the genus Ked/ia, demands a few words
from me, lest my silence should be taken as an acquiescence in
such a statement. Perhaps I am also entitled to a reply to the
two new arguments by which my opinions are attempted to be
disproved.
Mr. Clark has at length given us a distinct statement of his
views with respect to the admission of water into the branchial
cavity of the bivalves, which he attributes to the opening and
closing of the valves alone, and not to the action of cilia. Had
this been stated at first, some misunderstanding might have been
avoided. Undoubtedly a branchial current entering by a special
aperture, whether anterior or posterior, cannot be accounted for
by the opening and shutting of the valves. To explain such a
current the existence of ciliary action is required ; but I was un-
willing to believe that a gentleman of Mr. Clark’s information
could entirely have discarded it. However, instead of arguing
this point further, I shall take the liberty of giving the result of
some observations made upon two or three species of bivalves
since the publication of my last letter.
A small specimen of Modiola vulgaris, placed in a glass of
sea-water, gradually expanded the margin of the mantle beyond
the shell, and protruded the excretory siphon. When these were
* Atti della quinta unione degli Scien. Ital. tenuta in Lucea, 1843, p. 436.
The details of this paper have not I believe been published; a short notice
however of the three first families appeared about fifteen years ago in Dr.
Oken’s < Isis.’
of the Bwalve Mollusca. 243
extended to their full length, an action commenced in the sur-
rounding water which was very discernible with a common lens ;
but for its more careful examination I put the animal under a
low power of the microscope, and could then distinctly see that
a current of water was passing in at the lower side of the open
mantle, partly by the cirrigerous portion (as observed by Cuvier
and others in the common mussel), but more especially at the part
of the mantle just im front of the cirrhi, and between them and the
foot. At the same time a very strong current was flowing off by
the posterior siphon ;—so strong as to communicate a motion in
the same direction to the surrounding water and its contents.
These two currents continued while the mantle was expanded,
but on its withdrawal they ceased, and the animal became quies-
cent. During the whole of the time the valves remained sta-
tionary.
My next experiment was upon Modiola nigra, and with exactly
the same results. The mantle of this species has the margin per-
fectly smooth, and is extended in the posterior part of the large
opening so as to simulate a second siphon. The current, how-
ever, did not go in at the prolonged extremity of this siphonal
fold, but at the anterior part of it. The egress-current of the
anal siphon was very distinct.
A specimen of Mactra elliptica was some time in protruding
its siphons, which, as is well known, are long, and united to their
extremities. No distinct action of the water could be observed
until these were fully extended, and the hyaline valve exserted
from the anal siphon. A violent agitation then commenced in
the vicinity of the apertures, and, on looking carefully, I could
see a current containing floating particles, animalcules, &c. flow-
ing in at the branchial or inhalant siphon ; while an ex-current,
still more conspicuous, flowed simultaneously from the anal one,
sending the water to a considerable distance. At short intervals
during this operation a spasmodic contraction of the valves and
siphons sent off the water with a squirt ; probably at both aper-
tures, but this I could not distinctly make out. At such times
only was there any perceptible motion of the valves, which, while
the regular branchial currents were flowing, remained stationary
and were held a little apart. The water remained motionless
opposite the pedal aperture. The strong currents at the extre-
mities of the siphons induce me to attribute a more powerful
action to the cilia lining these orifices than I was at first inclined
to do, as they are generally much smaller and more difficult to
observe than those on the branchie.
The only other species I shall here notice is the Turtonia mi-
nuta. At first the water was observed to pass into the widely
open mantle of this little mollusk at all parts of the base of the
244 Mr. J. Alder on the Branchial Currents
shell. This was perhaps owing to the gradual opening of the
valves, as afterwards the current appeared to be confined to the
posterior portion, and while it was flowing in at that pomt, I
could distinctly see an opposite current passing off at the poste-
rior siphon. This simultaneous action of currents in contrary
directions, observed in all the instances mentioned, is surely suf-
ficient to prove the existence of some special motive power di-
stinct from the action of the valves*.
We shall now turn to Mr. Clark’s two additional ‘ proofs,’ by
which he “ proposes to demonstrate ” that the water passes into
the branchial cavity by both the posterior siphons, in conjunction
with the pedal aperture, and that it is eapelled indiscriminately im
various proportions by all. The argument is a little obscure, but
if admitted in its fullest extent could not demonstrate the whole
of this proposition. As far as I can understand it, it is this :—that
as “important prehensile organs ”—cirrhi and cilia—clothe both
the anal and branchial siphons “ to entangle and capture the
minute animalcules to be conveyed into the branchial cavity,”
therefore a current of water must pass into each siphon to carry
them forward to their destination. But the premises are as-
sumptions that require in the first place to be proved. Accord-
ing to my observations, the cirrhi that surround the apertures
are not prehensile but only tentacular ; their use apparently being
to guard the orifices from the intrusion of anything hurtful. The
cilia that clothe the interior of the siphons (which I presume are
what Mr. Clark alludes to) are neither prehensile nor tentacular,
but perform the office usual to these minute organs in assisting
to create a current. But why should the food be seized and
detained by these organs at so great a distance from the mouth,
when it could (and does) flow freely into the branchial siphon by
means of the same current that brought it to the aperture? The
hyaline valve of the anal siphon would obstruct the performance
of such a function by the cirrhi of that aperture. This argument,
therefore, instead of being ‘irrefragable,’ appears to me to prove
nothing.
The next argument rests on the literal meaning of the word
‘aperture.’ In those bivalves whose mantle is entirely open the
whole circumference forms only ove aperture, consequently in
these species there cannot be two apertures (ingress and egress).
True. But there may be nevertheless an ingress- and an egress-
current at different points of the open mantle without their n-
terfering with each other: and such is the case in Anomia, where
a current may be seen to pass in at the anterior base of the shell
* «The respiratory currents are occasioned by the action of cilia, and are
not dependent upon the opening and closing of the valves of the shell.”—
Owen’s Lect. Comp. Anat. vol. i. p. 283.
of the Bivalve Mollusca. 245
while another flows off posteriorly near the termination of the
branchie*.
I now come to the most interesting part of Mr. Clark’s letter,
where he informs us that he has ascertained that Kellia subor-
bicularis is viviparous,—a good discovery: but the supposition
that the anterior siphon is only intended as a marsupial pouch
for the further development of the ova after their extrusion from
the ovarium, is a conjecture not warranted by Mr. Clark’s own
observations, as he afterwards saw completely testaceous young
in the ovarium, thus doing away with the necessity of their
being further detained in the open siphon, which is ill-adapted
to the office assigned to it. Besides, if such had been the case,
it would most likely have been observed before, as from the
hyaline transparency of the tube and its wide aperture, it is
always easy to see to the bottom of it. That the young escape
by this aperture is probable, but this does not prevent its being
used for branchial purposes ; as in no instance that I am aware
of, either in a Bivalve or an Ascidian, is there a separate orifice
of the cloak set apart for the extrusion of the ova. All that can
therefore be admitted as proved by Mr. Clark’s observations, are
the viviparous character of the reproduction im Kellia suborbi-
cularis and the escape of the young (in one instance at least) by
the anterior siphon. May I not add,—it is also proved by equally
authentic observations, often repeated,—that both in Kellia rubra
and Kt. suborbicularis, a special current can be seen to go into
this siphon, and at no other part of the circumference of the
mantle ?
I remain, dear Sir, yours very truly,
JosHua ALDER
P.S. Since writing the above I have had an opportunity of
examining the currents in Pholas crispata, which I find to cor-
respond entirely with those of the species already mentioned.
As however Mr. Garner, in his excellent paper on the Lamelli-
branchiata, though agreeing in the general existence of ciliary
currents received and expelled by separate apertures, yet consi-
ders this and some other allied genera to be exceptions, I pur-
pose, with your permission, to treat this part of the subject a
little more at large in a separate communication.
* With respect to the range of Kellia rubra, Mr. Clark has ascertained
that he was right in stating that near Exmouth this species is found beyond
ordinary high-water-mark, and often, in calm weather, is only covered by
the sea at spring tides. If it has been also ascertained that “ thousands of
these animals pass their entire existence without perhaps being completely
in a condition to receive branchial currents of sea-water,” I shall agree
that I was mistaken in thinking the account in question overstated. ‘The
ordinary range of Kedlia rubra is within tide-marks.
246 Mr. J. EH. Gray on three new Genera and Species of Snakes.
XXVII.— Description of three new Genera and Species of Snakes.
By J. E. Gray, Esq.
THE greater part of the genera of innocuous Colubrine Snakes
have only a small number of shields on the sides of the lips, the
eyes being generally placed over the fourth, or the suture between
the fourth and fifth upper labial shields. In the very long-
headed genera, as Dryophis, the eye is over the fifth, and in one
species, D. Catesbyi, it is over the suture between the fifth and
sixth. Periops of Wagler and Chilolepis of Fitzinger, exhibit
the greatest number of these shields amongst the snakes hitherto
recorded; the eyes in them are placed over the fifth, sixth and
seventh shields, which are of small size. In the two general am
about to notice the shields are large, and the eye is placed over
the suture between the sixth and seventh shields.
1. Cynoruis.—Head moderate, elongate, rather compressed
on the sides; crown flat, shielded, frontal shields four, anterior
small between the nasals, hinder larger, bent down on the sides ;
vertebral elongate, narrower behind; superciliary shield narrow
in front, wider behind and bent down on the outer side; occi-
pital shields large, elongate, subtrigonal ; nostrils rather large,
lateral, between two shields, the hinder rather the largest ; loreal
shields moderate; one very large, squarish, five-sided, anterior
and a small posterior ocular ; temple with elongate shields, the
upper one linear, oblique, margining the occipital ; rostral shield
rather broad and high, subtrigonal, convex ; upper labial shields
rather large, the five front ones rather narrow and high, the sixth
and seventh broader, placed under and forming the lower mar-
gin of the orbit, the eighth, ninth and tenth rather large, subtri-
gonal, with the temporal shield above them ; the lower rostral
small, the first, second, third and fourth lower labial narrow, the
fifth and sixth much larger and broader, the hinder ones rather
narrow; chin shield two pair, elongate, strap-shaped. Eyes
rather large, pupil round. Body elongate, compressed ; back
rounded; belly flattened ; scales lanceolate, closely imbricate,
smooth, the lower series rather broadest; ventral shield rather
broad, flat m the middle, and rather angulariy bent up on the
sides. Tail rather short, slender, conical, tapermg; subcaudal
plates two-rowed, flat on the inner and somewhat bent up on the
outer sides.
This snake has somewhat the external appearance of a small
Boa.
Cynophis bistrigatus.—Y ellow, rather paler beneath ; a narrow
erect streak under the eyes on the suture of the sixth and seventh,
and an oblique one from the back edge of the eyes to the suture
of the eighth and ninth upper labial, a short broad streak on each
Mr. J. E. Gray on three new Genera and Species of Snakes. 247
side of the occiput, and an oblique streak on each side of the
neck, and four or six spots forming cross bands on the front of
the body black, a broad brown streak on the sides of the hinder
part of the body.
Inhab. Ceylon. Presented by R. Templeton, Esq.
'2. Atorpecopuis.—Head rather elongated, somewhat flattened
on the sides ; crown flat, shielded, frontal plates four ; anterior mo-
derate between the nasals, slightly bent down on the side, hinder
large, broad, bent down on the side; vertebral broad, narrower
behind ; superciliary large, broader behind ; occipital large, sub-
trigonal ; nostril lateral between two nearly equal plates; loreal
plate elongate, narrow ; anterior ocular very large, subtrigonal,
the upper edge forming part of the crown ; posterior oculars two,
the upper large, the lower very small ; temporal shields elongate,
the two upper edging the occipital plate; rostral shield very
broad, rather low, convex above ; labial of both jaws similar, mo-
derate and rather high, sixth and seventh upper rather larger,
under and forming the lower edge of the orbit, the tenth rather
elongate ; chin shield two pair, hinder smaller. Eyes rather
large, pupil round. Body rather compressed ; back rounded be-
neath flattened ; scales lanceolate, imbricate, smooth ; ventral
shield rather broad, flat, angularly bent up on the side. Tail
about one-third the length of the body, slender, tapering, sub-
trigonal, flat beneath, subcaudal plate two-rowed.
This genus chiefly differs from the former in the elongated
form of the loreal, the height of the anterior ocular, the two pos-
terior oculars, and in the greater equality in the labial shields.
Alopecophis chalybeus——Purplish brown, edge of the scales
rather darker ; lips and beneath paler, with a very narrow rather
darker line along the upper edge of the upper labial shields.
Inhab. Mauritius.
The third genus belongs to the tribe Elapsine, and is one of
the largest and most beautiful-coloured of that deadly tribe.
3. Mrca#ropnuis.—Head small, scarcely wider than the body,
rounded in front ; crown flat ; nostrils large, open, lateral. Eyes
lateral, large ; loreal shield none ; fangs distinct, maxillary teeth
few. Body triangular ; scales of the sides elongate, six-sided, in
oblique series five in each, of the vertebral series very broad,
transverse ; subcaudal plate entire.
This genus has the scaling of Bungarus and the small head of
Naja and Elaps.
Megerophis formosus.—Bluish black ; head, under side, tail, a
spot on each vertebral scale, and the upper edge of the lower
series of scales yellow.
Inhab. Borneo. Presented to the British Museum by Sir
James Brooke.
248 Mr. J. Miers on the genus Solandra.
This species has the colouring of Elaps bivirgatus, Miller, and
has most probably been mistaken for that species ; but it is of a
much larger size, and easily known by the large size of the ver-
tebral scales.
In the young specimen the spot on the back and sides forms a
nearly continued stripe, and the outer edge of the ventral shield
is clouded with black.
British Museum, August 21, 1849.
XXVIII.— Contributions to the Botany of South America.
By Joun Mrurs, Esq., F.R.S., F.LS.
[Continued from p. 193. ]
SoLaNDRA.
I nortce this genus, in order to confirm what has been already
advanced respecting it in the preceding volume of the ‘ Annals,’
p- 176, when I endeavoured to show that its relation is decidedly
with Juanulloa, Marckea and Sarcophysa, constituting with these
genera a distinct tribe of the Atropacee or Atropinee, and in no
degree related to Datura, with which it has been classed by all
botanists heretofore. It will be seen to approach Juanullea in
its large tubular calyx, which splits generally on one side, in
consequence of the growth of its large fleshy berry, in the struc-
ture of which there exists a considerable resemblance in both ge-
nera, but it differs from that genus, in its much larger and more
campanular corolla. It bears also great analogy with Brunsfelsia,
in its large, yellow, fleshy border, with five rounded lobes, greatly
fimbriated ‘on their margins, and deeply imbricated in eestivation,
and also in its large berry filled with pulp ; but it differs from this
last-mentioned genus, in its general habit and in the structure of
its stamens. It will serve to connect the Solandree with the
Brunsfelsiee, and in the lmear arrangement shown in the tabular
view, p. 176, as above quoted, it should have been placed below
Ectozoma, and immediately preceding Brunsfelsia. I have not
been able to examine its seeds or to find any analysis of its struc-
ture, any farther than that the embryo is said to be arcuate; in
this respect it will probably resemble Juanulloa, Marckea and
Franciscea, where it is terete, nearly straight or only slightly
bent, with short, ovate cotyledons. The following is offered as
an amended generic character :—
Sotanpra, Swartz. (Char. emend.)—Calyz 5-sepalus, per-
sistens ; sepala lanceolata, acuta, marginibus in tubum longum,
cylindraceum, 5-angulatum, mzequaliter et breviter 2-3-par-
titum, demum hine fissum, valvatim conniventia. Corolla
Mr. J. Miers on the genus Solandra. 249
magna, inferne valde coarctata, carnosa, cylindracea, 5-gona,
superne ventricoso- EH crassa, 5-nervis, venis anasto-
mosantibus, limbo 5-partito, lacinis revolutis subsequalibus
rotundatis margine inciso-crispatis, estivatione valde imbri-
catis. Stamina 5, qualia, ad constrictionem tubi inserta,
inclusa ; jfilamenta glabra, subulata, erecta, cum stylo decli-
nantia; anthere approximate, oblongze, basi subcordatz, sub-
4-gonee, apicifixe, 2-loculares, margine longitudinaliter dehis-
centes. Ovarium conicum, 2-loculare, placentis cum dissepi-
mento cruciformibus, hine in loculis centralibus, valde incras-
satis, lunulatis, undique seminigeris. Séy/us tenuis, sub-
exsertus, declinatus, superne subrecurvus. Stigma parvum,
sub-2-lobum, intus glandulosum. Bacca calyce fissa cincta,
ovata, apice conica, imo e placentis cum pee a demum
connatis breviter sub-4- locularis, superne 2-locularis ; semina
plurima, oblonga, compressa, reniformia, in pulpam arnosam
nidulantia. Embn ‘yo imtra albumen carnosum arcuatus.—
Frutices sarmentose Antillane et Mewxicane ; folia alterna, ad
apicem ramorum conferta, obovato-oblonga, integra, subcarnosa ;
flores terminales, solitarii, rarius 2- vel 3-ni, maximi, albido-
lutescentes, rubro-pictt.
Solandra grandiflora, Swartz, Act. Holm. 1787, 300. tab. 11 ;
Fl. Ind. Oc. 1. 887. tab. 9; Rehb. Fl. Exot. u. 41. tab. 184;
Jacq. Hort. Sch. 1. 21. tab. 45 ; Salish. Linn. Trans. vi. 100.
tab.6; Meen, Exot. Pl. Kew. tab. 6; Bot. Mag. tab. 1874; Tus-
sac, Fl. des Antilles, 1. 49. tab. 12. 8S. scandens, Wild. Reliq.
Rom. Sch.iv. 700. Datura sarmentosa, Lam. Encycl. vu. 463 ;
—viscido-pubescens, caule sarmentosa, radicante; folus alternis,
ageregatis, petiolatis, obovato- oblongis, acsiimnenoea ; floribus
fertnimalibis, solitariis, rarius 2-3 ageregatis, lacinus corolle
obtusissimis, crenato-laciniatis, antheris sublunatis, 4-cornibus,
apiculatis, basi parum fissis, genitalibus subexsertis.—Jamaica.
2. Solandra ntida, Zuccag. Cent. Roem. Coll. 128. no. 40. Port-
landia grandiflora, Hort. Batav. ;—caule arborescente, ramis
flexilibus, elongatis, divaricatis, cortice rimoso ; foliis glaber-
rimis, nitidis ; flore glabro, calyce 4-fido, corolla limbo 6-7-
fido, segmentis rotundatis, crenato-undulatis, revolutis ; an-
‘theris 2-cornutis.—Jamaica.
3. Solandra guttata, D. Don. Bot. Reg. tab. 1551; Tecomaxochitl,
Hern. Mex. 408. cum icone ;—frutex erectus, ramosus, ramis
foliorum lapsorum cicatricibus hispidis ; folis late elliptico-ob-
longis, acutis, subtus lanuginosis ; floribus terminalibus, soli-
taris; calyce tubuloso, 3-dentato, dentibus ineequalibus, acutis ;
corolla ampla, pallide lutea, fauci purpureo-maculata, tubo
longiori infundibuliformi, limbi laciniis latissimis, rotundatis,
erispato-undulatis.— Mexico.
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. iv. 17
pa)
250 Mr. J. Miers on the genus Dyssochroma.
DyssocHROMA.
A recent inquiry into the different species of So/andra, with
the view of determining the true limits of that genus, has con-
vinced me that a considerable difference of structure exists be-
tween Solandra grandiflora and S. viridiflora ; upon comparing
these carefully, we cannot fail to arrive at the conviction, that
these two species must be held to be generically distmet. In
the former mstance, the calyx has the shape of a large and cylin-
drical tube, irregularly cleft in the mouth into three unequal
rather short teeth; it does not increase in size, but, im consequence
of the growth of the fruit, splits on one side, by a longitudinal
fissure, to the base ; im S. viridiflora, on the contrary, the calyx
consists of five, very distinct, lanceolate divisions, all free to the
base, which at first are slightly connivent by their somewhat
thickened margins, but which are easily, and soon become, sepa-
rated into distinct sepals. The corolla in Solandra grandiflora is
much larger, more campanulate, of thicker consistence, of a yel-
lowish colour, with deep red nervures, and with a border of five
large rounded lobes, remarkably crenated or fimbriated on their
margin, and these are considerably imbricated in estivation, one
lobe being quite interior, and another altogether exterior: the
stamens are also very glabrous. On the contrary, in S. viridiflora,
the corolla, of a greenish lurid white, is deeply divided (half-way
down) into five equal, revolute, lanceolate, acumimated and entire
segments, which are quite valvate im estivation, and connivent
by their somewhat inflected tomentose margins: the stamens are
swollen and very sericeously pilose at their base ; in drying, both
calyx and corolla become black, which does not occur in the true
species of Solandra: in the latter genus the flowers are always
terminal, whereas in S. viridiflora they are solitary and axillary,
or at least grow out of several nearly terminal axillary fascicles
of leaves: there are some other minor pots of difference that
will be traced in the details of the characters described. From
these facts it will be seen that the new genus, of which the So-
landra viridiflora may be considered the type, must be referred
to the true Solanacee, and that it will belong to the Jaborosee,
serving to connect that tribe with the Jochromee, and closely
allied to Salpichroma and Nectouzia. I have called it Dysso-
chroma, from dvcco00s, eager, and ypasua, color, on account of the
lurid sickly green colour of its large flowers, which become black
as they wither, or lose their moisture in drying, a character com-
mon to all the Jaborosee. I have not been able to examine the
embryo of this genus, but we may expect it will prove very differ-
ent inform from that of Solandra. The following may be consi-
dered as its generic character :—
DyssocHROMA, gen. noy.— Calyx magnus, 5-sepalus, persistens ;
Me. J. Miers on the genus Dysscehroma. 251
J
sepala lanceolata, acuminatissima, primum marginibus in tu-
bum 5-angulatum conniventibus, semicylindrica, demum li-
bera, ered Corolla carnosa, tubo j imo cylindrico, angulato,
superne infundibuliformi, aut ventricoso-campanulato, 15-
nervi, limbo equilongo, 5-partito, laciniis «qualibus, longe
lanceolatis, acuminatissimis, mtegris, 3-nervus, circinato-revo-
lutis, sstivatione valvatis, ‘marginibus femientelie! subintro-
flexis. Stamina 5, iequalia, ad constrictionem tubi adnata,
erecta, longissime exserta ; fidamenta subulata, imo incrassata,
et sericeo- pilosa, superne glabra a; anthere lineares, apice mu-
cronulatz, imo cordate, in sinu dorsi affixee, 2-loculares, locu-
lis connective angusto parallele adnatis, intus longitudinaliter
dehiscentibus. S¢ylus erectus, staminibus longiusculus, apice
incrassatus. Scigma 2-lobum, lobis oblongis, adpressis, tus
et marginibus recurvis elanduloso- VISCOSIS. Onn conicum,
disco carnoso magno impositum, 2-loculare, placentis centra-
hbus dissepimento adnatis, multiovulatis. Bacca; cetera ig-
nota.—Suffrutices Brasilienses, scandentes, glabre ; folia al-
terna, in ramis laxa, in turionibus florentibus fasciculatis, ellip-
ticis, acuminatis : flores pedunculati, e fasciculis solitarni, cernur,
siccitate nigricantes ; corolla albido-viridescens.
1. Dyssochroma viridiflora. Solandra viridiflora, Sims, Bot. Mag.
tab. 1948; Link & Otto, Ic. Pl. sel. 101. tab. 47 ;—folis el-
liptico-oblongis, utrinque attenuatis, glabris, petiolatis, deci-
duis ; floribus magnis, solitariis, calyce glaberrimo, corolla tubo
viridescente, limbo fant do- Alice nan Darel Pr ov. Rio de
Janeiro, v. v. et s. in herb. meo et Hook. (Gardn. no. 502).
I found this plant growing at Tejuca and in the Organ moun-
tains: it is altogether glabrous: the stems are sarmentose, and
in the younger branches the leaves grow in dense fascicles, which,
as they fall off, leave them covered with crowded cicatrices, giving
them an areolate r ugose appearance ; these terminate in a straight,
angular, smooth stem, covered with a shining bark that readily
peels off ; the axils here are from 13 to 2 inches apart, and each
solitary petiole i is articulated in a projecting cup, from which a
sharp ridge becomes decurrent on the stem below it ; the leaves
are 43 inches long, 2 inches broad, on a channeled petiole 2 i to
3 inch in length ; the peduncle is 7 ‘inch long ; the calyx 13 inch
in length, 3 inch ‘diameter ; ; the corolla including the lobes, ‘at the
period of opening, is 4 inches long, and when ‘the segments are
coiled back, 23 inches long; the cylindrical portion of the tube,
3 inch long, is included within the calyx, from which point it
becomes gradually funnel-shaped, and a little below the mouth
is somewhat EINE and about 1 inch in diameter, the lobes
of the border bemg Linch i in length and 5 lines broad at base,
these are marked ‘by aes parallel nerves which are ANeontinned
17%
252 Mr. J. Miers on the genus Cacabus.
along the tube ; the stamens and style are exserted 14 inch be-
yond the mouth of the tube, the authers being 6 lines long and
a line broad ; the style thickens towards the summit, and is ter-
minated by a stigma formed of two adpressed lobes, lmed within
by a thick viscous gland; the ovarium is about 3 lines in dia-
meter and 3 lines in height, quite conical, and seated on a large
fleshy and coloured gland.
2. Dyssochroma longipes? Solandra longipes, Sendt. in Mart.
& Endl. Fl. Bras. vi. 159; Walp. Rep. vi..573 ;-—fruticosa,
glabra, foliis congestis, glabris, utrinque acutis, mtegerrimis ;
floribus nutantibus ; pedicellis calyeem subeequantibus, vel su-
perantibus, fructiferis valde elongatis : calyce 5-partito ; corolla
infundibuliformi, e basi sensim dilatata, limbo breviter 5-fido,
laciniis acutis revolutis : stigmate longissimo spatio in stylum
decurrente.— Brasilia australl.
The above is all the information I have been able to obtain of
this species : it will be seen to differ in no respect from the pre-
ceding one (as far as we may judge from the foregoing characters)
except in the shorter lobes of the corolla: the gradual dilatation
of the corolla, without any sudden ventricose enlargement, is
very often seen in D. viridiflora.
CaCABUS.
This genus was first proposed by Bernhardi for a Peruvian
plant of Dombey’s collection, which was many years before ac-
curately described and figured by L’Heritier (Stirp. Nov. Angl.
p- 48. tab. 22), under the name of Physalis prostrata, and which
appears to have since escaped farther notice: I find other spe-
cies allied to it, which are all distinguished by their inflated calyx,
generally of very delicate texture, remarkably reticulated, marked
by dark green lines and veins, and which, swelling after the fall
of the flower, eventually incloses the fruit, as in Physalis and
several other genera. They have all herbaceous stems, are of a
prostrate or straggling habit, and they bear a very striking re-
semblance to Nolana, especially in their fleshy flexuose branches,
often geminate leaves, large campanular blue flowers, with a
somewhat pentangular border, and marked with fifteen longitu-
dinal nervures, as in that genus: the stamens are also included
and somewhat unequal in size: mdeed so near is this similarity
in external appearance, in one species, that I have constantly
passed over, without suspicion, a specimen of Mathews’s collec-
tion, named by him “ Nolana spathulata, R. & P.,” which I did
not consider it necessary to examine, as it was not in fruit.
There exists in Sir William Hooker’s herbarium, a plant be-
longing to this genus, which appears to correspond well with the
description of the No/ana inflata of the ‘ Flora Peruviana,’ a spe-
Mr. J. Miers on the genus Cacabus. 253
cies which its authors neither saw nor examined, the drawing
and details there given having been furnished by their draughts-
man Tafalla, who probably never looked to the structure of the
fruit, concluding the plant to be similar to the other species of
Nolana there described: it is to be observed, that these species
are as yet quite unknown to modern botanists, except from those
descriptions, and may therefore be doubted as appertaining to
that genus.
In all the specimens I have examined belonging to the genus
Cacabus, the ovarium is 2-celled, with a slender membranaceous
dissepiment, along the axile line of which, the free placentz are
respectively attached at right angles; these are furcated and
fleshy, extending near to the walls of the pericarp, so that when
the fruit is cut open, the dissepiment being scarcely visible, the
placentations, with the attached seeds, appear disposed in a some-
what cruciform shape, seemingly as if the berry were 4-locular.
The fruit, according to L’ Heritier (doc. cit.), is a berry with an
aqueous juice, as in Nicandra, and which, upon becoming dry,
leaves a subcapsular, brittle, valveless shell, and which is bilocular
with a membranaceous partition : as in Physalis, this berry is in-
closed within a much larger ventricose calyx. Upon the summit
of the ovarium and of the immature berry is seen a small flattened
prominent gland, out of which the style originates: this bears
much analogy to the larger epigynous gland so conspicuous in
the ovarium of Hyoscyamus, and to which is attributable the
peculiar mode of dehiscence in the fruit of that genus; but in
Cacabus there is no such opercular dehiscence, although the
gland is visible in the apex of the cells after the openmg of the
pericarp ; a similar dise exists also in Thinogeton. I propose for
this genus the following character :—
Cacasus, Bernh. — Calyx ventricosus, urceolato-subglobosus,
membranaceus, inflatus, 10-angularis, 5-dentatus, dentibus
ineequalibus, acutis, erectis, angulis nervosis, persistens et ac-
erescens. Corolla campanulata, tubo imo breviter coarctato,
subito amphato, limbo campanulato, magno, margine explanato,
subintegro, sinuato-pentangulari, 15-nervi, nervis in angulis
ternatim parallelis, zstivatione ignota. Stamina 5, inclusa,
fere equalia ; filamenta ad coarctationem tubi adnata, filformia ;
anthere ovales, erectz, 2-lobz, lobis parallele adnatis, margine
longitudinaliter dehiscentibus. Ovarium ovatum, substipi-
tatum, apice glandulo parvo carnoso donatum, 2-loculare, pla-
centis dissepimento tenuissimo utrinque adnatis, cruciatim dis-
positis, et demum divaricatim 2-fidis, multiovulatis. Stylus
filiformis, longitudine staminum. Stigma elongatum, 2-lamel-
latum, lobis crassis subconniventibus intus stigmatosis. Bacca
intra calycem auctum, vesiciformem, venoso-membranaceum,
i.)
54. Mr. J. Miers on the genus Cacabus.
@
‘
reticulate pictum inclusa, subrotunda, exsucca, cortice fragil
evalvato, 2-locularis, dissepimento tenui, placentis subcruciatis
seminigeris. Semina numerosa, subreniformia, compressa,
testa rugosa, hilo laterali marginali. Hmbryo intra albumen
carnosum teres, subannularis, radicula angulo basali spectante
et hilo evitante, coty/edonibus semiteretibus equilonga.— Herbee
Americe meridionalis prostrate, subsuccose, pilose, Nolane
facie ; folia in axillis alterna, geminata, ovata, sinuato-angulosa,
petiolata; flores gemini, extra-axillares, pedunculat: ; corolla
violacea.
1. Cacabus prostratus, Bernh. Linn. xui. p. 360. Physalis pro-
strata, L’ Herit. loc. cit.; Jacq. Ic. Pl. Rar. Am. tab.38; Andrews,
Rep. tab. 75 ; Nees ab Esenb. Linn. vi. p. 480. P. Limensis,
Retz. Observ. v. p.22. Physaloides prostrata, Monch. Method. ;
—herbaceus, annuus, pilis articulatis patentibus vestitus, caule
prostrato ; ramulis dichotome flexuosis ; foliis radicalibus op-
positis, caulinis alternis, et geminis, altero minori, late ovatis,
sinuato- vel repando-angulatis, basi submeequalibus, obtusis,
supra glabris, subtus villosis, margine ciliatis, longe petiolatis,
petiolo canaliculato dilatato, ciliato, folio zquilongo: pedun-
culis solitariis vel geminis, in axillis lateralibus, floriferis
erectis, demum reflexis, elongatis ; corolla cerulea, imo albido-
radiata ; bacca globosa, glandulo parvo epigyno apiculata,
calyce membranaceo multo majori recondita.—Peruvia, in ma-
ritimis ? ad Chancay et Chorillos, Prov. Limee.—v. s. in herb.
Soc. Lin. (ex hort. cult.) ; in herb. Hook. (Palaria, ad sinum “los
Chorillos” dictum, MacLean).
It is unnecessary to offer any detailed account of this species,
as we find so excellent an account of it given by L’Heritier, who
described it from living plants, at that time growing in England ;
it seems however to have been long lost to our gardens, although
it was ~cultivated in Lee’s nursery grounds in 1793, accord-
ing to the specimen preserved in Sir J. E. Smith’s herbarium.
The leaves are from 2 to 2} inches long, 14 to 12 inch broad ;
they are finely reticulated, with a number of raised minute dots
in each areole ; the petiole is about 2 inches long, the flowers are
quickly fugacious ; the corolla is 1 meh long and 1 inch dia-
meter across the mouth, the contracted base of the tube bemg
3 lines in length; the filaments are 3 lines long, slender, and
hairy below ; the fructiferous calyx is white, and almost transpa-
rent, hairy, globose, contracted in the mouth, with ten longitudmal
nervures and anastomosing reticulations of a dark green colour,
and is half an inch in diameter ; the inclosed berry, when ripe,
is 3 lines in diameter, 2-celled, with bifurcate placente bearmg
a number of minute rugose seeds ; itis quite devoid of pulp; the
pericarp is membranaceous, mdehiscent, and its apex is marked
Mr. J. Miers on the genus Cacabus. 255
with a callous discoid process, resulting from the hardening of its
epigynous gland.
2. Cacabus Nolanoides (n. sp.) ;—herbaceus, molliter villosus, caule
striato, dichotome ramoso ; foliis geminis, altero multo minori,
ovatis, crassiusculis, undulato- vix sinuato-angulosis, margine
ciliatis, basi mzequalibus, utrinque glabris, mferne nervis pilo-
sulis, petiolo late dilatato, ciliato, folu longitudine ; floribus
solitaris, lateraliter extra-axillaribus, pedunculo florifero erecto,
fructifero retlexo, corolla czerulea : calyce inflato, membranaceo,
10-nervi, reticulatim picto.—Peruvia, v. s. in herb. varius
(Mathews, no. 839, sub nomine Nolane spathulata).
The leaves of this species are nearly oval, 4 inches long, 2+
inches broad, upon a fleshy dilated petiole, with winged ciliate
margins, 21 inches long and nearly 2 lines broad, subamplexicaul
at base. The peduncle im flower is 14 inch long, the calyx is
6 lines long and 4 lines broad, the corolla is 14 inch long, and
11 inch across its somewhat expanded and nearly entire border,
The peduncle in fruit is reflexed, 14 inch long ; the enlarged calyx
is 8 lines long and 7 lines broad, the inclosed berry measuring
3 lines in diameter. This plant, which so greatly resembles the
figure of Nolana spathulata in the ‘ Flora Peruviana,’ differs from
it in the size of its leaves, the length of the petiole, the shape of
the calyx, the size of its corolla, its more entire, not deeply-lobed
border, the shape of its stigma, its vesicular calyx, not fleshy and
subsequently bipartite, and finally by the very different structure
of its fruit. It agrees in many respects however with the de-
scription of the text*.
3. Cacabus? inflatus. Nolana inflata, R. & P. Flor. Perw. u.
p- 7. tab. 112. fig. a;—herbaceus, pedalis, prostratus, annuus,
foliis radicalibus confertis, oblongis, in petiolum longum imo
decurrentibus, caulinis geminatis, ovatis, subobtusis, basi m-
eequalibus, breviter petiolatis, petiolo dilatato ; floribus gemiis,
ex axillis lateraliter ortis, corolla speciosissima, albo-violacea ;
fructu calyce striato, ventricoso, incluso.—Peruvia (in arenosis
Prov. Arequipe).
From its inflated calyx, there is every reason to conclude that
this plant belongs to this genus, rather than to Nolana. It was
not seen by Ruiz and Pavon, being only known to them from the
sketch sent them by their draughtsman Tafalla; the fruit is not
described as consisting of distinct carpels, but as semina 4-locu-
laria,” which may have been construed from “fructus 4-locularis,”
which the fruit of Cacabus almost appears to be, from its project-
ing placente. It has a prostrate habit, is about a foot long, its
* A drawing of this species, with generic details, will be given in plate 49
of the ‘ Ilust. South Amer, Plants.’
256 Prof. Nilsson on the extinct and existing
radical leaves are 4 inches in length, 2 inches broad, upon a pe-
tiole 13 to 2 inches: the cauline leaves are 1} inch long, 1 meh
broad, on a petiole of 3 lines; the peduncles are 13 inch, the
calyx 8 lines long, swollen in the middle, 4 lines in diameter, and
10-nerved : the corolla is nearly 2 inches long, 1¢ mch diameter
across the mouth, which is obsoletely 5-lobed. In all the other
species of Nolana mentioned in the work above referred to, the
calyx is described as being deeply 5-cleft, with the divisions
sagittate or cordate at the base, as in our well-known garden
species Sorema prostrata ; but in the plant under consideration
the calyx is said to be distinctly ventricose and striated, which
agrees with the character of Cacabus.
XXIX.—On the extinct and existing Bovine Animals of
Scandinavia. By Prof. Niusson of Lund*.
Of the Ox kind (Bos, Linn.).
Head oblong with broad muzzle+ in which the nostrils project
forward, open; no lachrymal fosse ; the ears pretty long, oval.
Horns for the most part round, near the roots annular according
to their growth}, otherwise smooth ; with roots pomting out-
wards and curved in different directions, according to the
various races.
Body heavily built ; los angular, not round ; stout, short, not
high-boned, and broad. The female is provided with four
teats.
Tail long, pendent ; at the end it is furnished with a tuft of long
hairs.
Teeth, the grinders with the internal and external borders parallel.
Skull: no opening between the facial bones above or in front of
the orbits over the eyes, as in the Deer tribe. The lachrymal
bones flatter, not hollowed out. The spinal process of the
anterior vertebre particularly strongly developed, to serve as
attachment for the strong neck-muscles ,and lgamentum
nuchze which support the heavy head.
The animals belonging to this class, with few exceptions, are
the largest and strongest built of rumimating horned cattle. In
a wild state they always live in herds under the guidance of some
strong pugnacious bulls ; wandering from one track to another ;
at one time seeking the forests, at another the plains ; at another,
mountains and table lands; and at other times low and marshy
places. They seek grassy spots, for their chief food consists
* Translated from his ‘Skandin’s Daggdjur.’ 8vo,71848, pp. 536-574
+ The naked part where the nose ends is so called; it comprises the up-
per lip and that portion between the nostrils.
+ Whence the age of the animal is determined.
Bovine Animals of Scandinavia. 257
of grass: they often devour green leaves and young tender
branches, and these generally, besides the leaves of the pie and
mosses, are their principal food during the winter im cold di-
stricts. (1 am not here speaking of cattle that are housed.) They
live like all ruminating animals (perhaps with the exception of
the roe kind), and like their representatives among birds, viz.
gallinaceous domestic fowls, in a state of polygamy ; and like
these, congregate, particularly at pairmg-time, in flocks, when the
forests resound and the fields echo with their loud cries. During
this time, obstinate conflicts take place between the males, and
the strongest are those which perpetuate the breed. Their cry
is usually lowing, with some it is more grunting. They do not
breed more than once a year, and the female seldom brings forth
more than one calf at a time.
Before showing from whence our domesticated races and those
of other states of Europe are derived, I consider it more desirable
first to describe the wild species, the fossil bones of which have
been found in the turf-bogs in the south of Scania. These are
divided into those which have—
a. The forehead more long than broad, more or less flattened,
the horns growing from the extremity of the angle which divides
the vertex from the occiput ; the intermaxillary bone generally
reaches up to the nasal bones. To this class belong—
1. Uroxen (Bos Urus, Antiqu.* Bos primigenius, Recentiorum).
we
Bos primigenius, Recentiorum.
The forehead flat; the edge of the neck straight, the horns
* The denomination Urox is derived from that language which the Ger-
258 Prof. Nilsson on the extinct and existing
very large and long, near the roots directed outward and some-
what backward, in the middle they are bent forward, and towards
the points turned a little upward.
Synonymy. Urus, Jul. Cesar, Bell. Gall. vi. cap. 28. Plinius. Hist. Nat. ii.
cap. 37. Gesner, Hist. Animal. (Frankfort, 1620) i. p. 145 with fig.; 2bid.
p- 187 (skulls). Cuvier, Ossem. Foss. iv. p. 150. tab. 11. fig. 1-4 ; 12. fig.
3-8 (skulls). Retz. Vet. Akad. Handl. 1802, p. 282.
The Wild Ox, Griffith, Animal Kingdom, iv. p. 111. Bos primigenius,
Bojanus, Acta Acad. Cesar. Leopold. Carolin. tom. xiii. p. 422. pl. 11.
N.B. I have not this treatise at hand.
Description.—this colossal species of Ox, to Judge from the
skeleton, resembles almost the tame ox in form and the propor-
tions of its body, but in its bulk it is far larger. To judge from
the magnitude of the horn-cores, it had much larger horns, even
larger than the long-horned breed of cattle found in the Cam-
ania of Rome. According to all the accounts the colour of this
ox was black; it had white horns with long black points ; the
hide was covered with hair like the tame ox, but it was shorter
and smooth, with the exception of the forehead, where it was
long and curly.
The only specimens which we now possess of this extinet wild
ox, are some skeletons dug up, of which two are at present pre-
served here at the Museum of the University, where are also
preserved about a dozen skulls of earlier and later specimens.
Tue SxeLeron.—Skull.—The forehead smooth between the
manic race seems to have had in common in the earliest times, and signifies
forest ox, wild ox (Bos sylvestris): for Ur, or Or, signifies forest or wood,
wilderness, and is still used in many places in Sweden, Norway and Iceiand.
‘That the old word Ur or Urd was changed to Or, Ore, Ora, is shown by the
word Orrhéns, which by the common people in Scania is called Orhons, and
in many places in Norway it is called Urhéns. The stony and wild tracts
which surround the base of the mountains are called in Norway Ore, in
Iceland Urd. In Scania there still exist many old forests which bear the
name of Ora, and the peasants in some parts of the country say indifferently
kora till oran and kora till skogen, which is in both instances “ drive to the
wood.” Also in the older German, Ur signifies wood, forest, but has in
compositions of later times been changed into Auer; ex. gr. Auerochs, Auer-
hahn. The Romans, when in Germany, first heard the word Uroes, and
as they generally changed all names after the form of their own language,
turned it into Urus. The Uroxen which were conveyed to Rome, and highly
prized in the bull-fights of the cireus, were by the ignorant confounded with
the African Antelope Bubalis, wherefore the Urox sometimes by the Latin
authors is mentioned under the name of Bubalus,—an error which Pliny
notices.
By our forefathers in Scandinavia as well as in Germany this wild animal
is, however, not called Urox, but Ur or Ure, as in the poem of the Nibelunge,
v. 3762, thence Urahorn in our old Sagas. In certain provinces an angry
mad bull is still called Ure. The Canton of Uri in Switzerland takes its
name from this animal, and bears a bull’s head in its arms.
Bovine Animals of Scandinavia. 259
roots of the horns, but lower down more or less hollowed out.
Fig. 2.
The nasal bone
reaching up to the
line drawn between
the lower borders
of the orbits; the
lower part of the
lachrymal bones a
httle broader than
the upper; the di-
stance between the
orbits and the bases
of the horns is
double the diameter
of the orbit ; the oc-
cipital ridge straight
or rounded off back-
ward from the base of
one horn tothe other,
and hollowed out be- Bos primigenius.
low so that it forms an acute angle ; foramen occipitale somewhat
higher than broad; the horn-cores without pedicles, but with a
broad knotty ring round the root, are near the root directed out-
wards and somewhat backwards, in the centre curved forwards with
the points upwards*. The outer edge of the zygomatic process of
the temporal bone forms a right angle. A mght le drawn be-
tween the poimts of the horns falls over the roots of the horn,
between them and the orbits. At/as: its wings curved backwards,
oblique, much broader at the back, 10 inches 3 lines in breadth,
the upper arch convex, the lower with a compressed hump over
the hinder edge. LEpistropheus short, the processus spinosus a
high rising ridge, inclining backwards, whose outer edge is thin,
the anterior angle rounded: along the under side of the vertebra
is a ridge which passes backwards over the edge of the cup-formed
articular surface ; feramen medulle spinalis, i front round, back
above cylindrical, below flat. The arterial foramen oval.
The remaining bones in the skeleton resemble those of the
tame ox, with the exception of their magnitude, and hke this
species, the Urox has thirteen pairs of rib-bones and six lumbar
vertebre. As it would be far too diffuse to describe every single
bone, I will only give the dimensions of those which are dissi-
* Precisely such a direction have the horns of our tame oxen, quite
contrary to the assertion of Bojanus and many others, who, in the unlike
direction of the horns, choose to find a specific difference between the
Urus and the Taurus.
260 Prof. Nilsson on the extinct and existing
milar in the skeletons. The whole length * of the skeleton from
the nape to the end of the rump bones. (ossa ischit) 9 feet.
The length of the head from the anterior border of ft. in. lin.
the ossa intermaxill. to the occipital ridge...... Pee Gs) Gs
Thus the whole length of the animal about ...... 113 to 12
The height over the mane about............. Sees sae mtn Ox
The other dimensions.
The length from the horn-cores to the intermax-
illary bomre’s anterior die: ......cccrssccscnvsusses Nay aaa
The length from the orbit’ alae edge to ditto... Le PFS hae
3 is horn base to the OUbitSseeee. OF 16m
53 53 horn-core’s concave side ... a GS
. horn-core’s convex side ... DW Dean
The under j jaw from the angle to the point ...... es eal)
The molar series in the upper jaW............eeeees Oe
Breadth of the forehead between the upper part of
the crown of the horn......... Sechanceaeeedabiesscee 0%. Digeagh
Breadth of the forehead between the lower Bate
Ol dItton.see. eimaisrolsels Bootes cbc danssssancegrboceacso: ta, Oe ee
Breadth of the forehead between the orbit’ s upper
PaLbi tess .crelen PAIN elke he occcke natlne Sevaeeneet ate Pa OA RD
Breadth of the forehead hetween the orbit’s lower
THEPES dagadacc0gg dao jaugeqoneqse: Jogdopadneoacass00C Ocala) a:
Breadth between the intermaxillary bone’s upper
BAR bo bnaanpabocagsndoada Seieieialsiaiste aiseie elastin cies eoiaists OL. one
Breadth between the apertures of the ear in a line ] Oo 4
Distance between the points of the horn-cores ... 2. Veee V0
The circumference of the crown of the horn...... Liven
* I have at hand, in the Museum here, a complete and an incomplete
skeleton of this species; besides from ten to twelve skulls both of younger
and older; also many different loose bones from various parts of the body.
When I wrote the first edition of this work twenty-seven years ago, I had
seen skulls only of this colossal species; I came however to the conclusion,
upon comparing them with the skulls of tame oxen, that the animal must
have been about 113 feet long and 6 feet high, which comes the nearest
to the proportion, But I insert here the whole note :—
“From these measurements (of the skull of an Urox) an idea may be
formed of the magnitude of the Urox, which certainly far surpassed that of
all existing European animals. To judge from the proportions of the parts
to a tame bull, the head of the Urox shows that it must have been an animal
that from the nape to the root of the tail measured nearly 113 feet, and in
height over the mane about 6 feet. In the Museum of the Royal Academy
are fragments of the cranium of the Urox, which must have belonged to an
animal more than 12 feet in length and 63 feethigh. On one, the distance
between the base of the horns above is 94 inches, below 183 inches, the thick-
ness at the root 15 inches. The largest Scanian ox I have seen, and which
was of an unusually large size, measured in length from the nape to the root
of the tail 8 feet, and was 5 feet high over the mane. When we now con-
sider that bulls and cows never reach the size that castrated oxen do, and
that we ought to compare the bull or the cow with the wild ox kind, we shall
then easily perceive that this last-mentioned was much larger than the tame
ox, and perhaps he was even somewhat bigger in the southern regions, for
example in Germany, than here in Sweden.
“ Czesar’s account that the Urus was magnitudine paulo infra Elephantos,
was not so exaggerated as one has imagined,”
Bovine Animals of Scandinavia. 261
The body.
The length of the spinal column to the last dorsal ft. in. lin.
vertebra ..... slcivenileisisiensistesietinasicneccincsacts de cetionios Te eed:
The length of the spinaleolumn further in a right
line to the upper tuber ischii .................. Ole Po), ta)
The length of the neck from atlas to and with the
lastnecks Vertebray\}. sis socee ciccatasetssseoseenet< Ty od 1 2334
Greatest length of one of the middle ribs without
the cartilage......... SRE nooteSea concn se accasesican sss 2, ot 40
ISTOUGUH) weet ctectsescs<teocces pane caiges os cleseratceeeects 0) 2) a tore
= The extremities.
The length of shoulder-blade .............sseeeeeeees LSet 0
Breadth Olsits base .5 5: <enetecaastbeseonesecee eeiaieic i 00
The length of os humeri between the articulations i Milt? 8% 93 ()
3 A FACIUS setae cornet emer cette 1 Qk
" yur ulna*witholecranon) (235 secaccece: hy “eas
5 », Olecranon from the articulation... 9 7 0
5 i metacarpus between the articula-
GIONS sretciecis stesicisisietacte siete mesicsisisicisieisielelacivie sie sisleisicieinieleise OP Udy -@
The length of pelvis between the tub. ilii~and
TS NOL Sry te eo Aa cain Ue reer Need 25h 1a:
The breadth in a line between both tub. ilii...... Lia VEO
The length of os femoris between the articulations 1 7 O
5 Piige SUMDIALS tachi oe Ste Neat ae cab tain Uren Ge 1. or aeG
os sate BINLCLALATSUSiscc.csseiceicicetleieieieissisaciee csi OPI 0
Remarks.—This skeleton is the most perfect specimen we
have hitherto possessed; but the animal was not full-grown at
its death. In the museum there are several bones which indi-
cate somewhat larger individuals. Yet this species, as it came
in long after the Scandinavian boulder period, and therefore at
a much later time than that during which the same species lived
in England, has never attained to the same size here as there.
The skull which Prof. Owen gives in his pe tOny of British
Fossil Mammals,’ London, 1846, p- 498, fig. 208*, is in length
3 feet 1 inch, and the distance between the points ‘of the horn-
cores is more than 3 feet 6 inches, and the width of the forehead
is near 1] inches; os metacarpi about 10 inches 5 lines; os
metatarsi about 12 inches. At the Hunterian Museum in Lon-
don there is a horn from the same species of animal found under
turf in the marl, in which bones of the Cervus megaceros occur.
From this situation it may be concluded that it isa still older and,
in fact, much larger form than the preceding. It contains in
length, according to the upper curvature, 3 feet 2 inches, and
the circumference at the base is 1 foot 7} inches! With us
they neither occur so large nor from so early a period.
Place of abode.—This colossal species of Ox, which is no longer
* Since the foregoing was printed and after this (thirty-fourth) sheet was
set up, but not struck off, | made a journey to England, where I first ob-
tained the above-mentioned work, which [ was not able to quote before.
262 Prof. Nilsson on the extinct and existing
to be found on the earth in its wild state, was formerly widely
spread over the greater part of Europe, from the present Scania
to France and Italy, and from England to the northern and
western parts of Asia; as in all those places its fossil bones are
found in more recent strata. That great physical changes have
occurred in the position of places in Europe, during the long
time it sojourned here, is more than probable. South Scania has
separated itself from the German continent, by means of that part
of the Baltic which now lies between its shores and those of Pome-
rania; also from Denmark by means of the Sound; and England
has also been separated from the great European continent by the
Channel. Whether these straits—the Oresund, the Channel and
the southern part of the Baltic—were formed at the same time, we
do not know with certainty ; but from zoological reasons, which
shall hereafter be adduced, it will appear that Scandinavia was at
a much later period united to the European continent than En-
gland. In the present southern part of Scania, in the district
south of Séderas, which anciently appears to have formed the
northern boundary of the Germanic continent, this species was
found in vast numbers; and to judge from the fossil bones dug
up from our turf-bogs, they are found here in much greater
number than the Bison, which existed here contemporaneously
with it. During an equally long period, fifteen skeletons or skulls
of the Urus have been found in Scania and only three of the
Bison. According to these remains found, there must have
lived five times as many of the former species as of the latter.
However, although this proportion cannot be determined so ex-
actly by figures, it nevertheless shows that the Urus was found
here in much larger number than the Bison, and this same pro-
portion might hold good im the whole of the western part of
Europe* ; while on the contrary, the Bison appears to have been
far more numerous in its eastern parts, and far into west Asia,
where it is yet found in great numbers between the Black
and the Caspian seas. And that the Urus belonged to the
western tracts of Europe, which being thickly peopled and culti-
vated before the eastern parts, might also be a reason that it was,
as wild, extirpated or passed over into a tame race; while the
Bison of the east preserved itself much longer in East Prussia
and Poland, and is even now found in a perfectly wild state in
those countries most nearly bordering on Asia. This species
never could be tamed.
Julius Czesar describes the Urox in his time as being found in
* In Denmark a vast number of bones belonging to the Urus have been
found, but as yet not one of the Bison. The Bison skulls which I saw in
England belonged, if not toa totally different species, at least to a much older
form than ours.
Bovine Animals of Scandinavia. 263
the forests of the Hartz. He says that they in external form and
colour fully resembled the common ox, but in point of magnitude
they were little less than the elephant. They were both strong
and swift, at the same time so spiteful that they spared neither
man nor animal when they once caught sight of them. With
the chase of these animals the Germanic youth became hardened,
and the greater the number of horns of dead oxen they could
exhibit, the more highly were they esteemed. These horns,
which were larger than the common ox-horn, were frequently
edged with silver and used as drinking vessels at great festivals
(Jul. Cesar, Bell. Gall. vi. cap. 28). Also our forefathers and
other descendants of the Germanic race appropriated the horns
of the Urox to the same use. Pliny affirms that the northern
peoples (Barbari septentrionales) drank out of Urox-horns, which
were so large that one contaimed an urna* (Plin. Hist. Nat. u.
cap. 37). Solinus mentions, that this horn, on account of its
great capacity, was used as a drinking-vessel at royal feasts.
From the hide of the Urox our Germanic forefathers made
girdles, and the flesh was eaten as palatable and healthy.
Remarks.—The earlier existence of the Urox as a different
species from the Bison can no longer be doubted, seeing that we
possess not only the skulls but also entire skeletons of both ; but
in later times a violent contest has arisen touching the question
how far this animal existed in Europe during the age of history,
and how far it is this species that is alluded to by the Roman
authors under the denomination Urus (sometimes by them called
Bubalus), and by the German writers of the middle age by that
of Ure ; or, whether this name applied only to that one species of
Bison which German and our own middle-age writers call Wisent.
It is more especially Professor Pusch of Warsaw who in later
times has maintained the latter opinion. If the question be,
whether this colossal, flat-foreheaded species of Ox, which we
here call Urus, lived in Europe, and at various times and even in
Scania after the country had been inhabited by men, the answer
requires no learned historical or philological research, no wasting
of time and trouble which might be employed on more useful
objects ; it requires for such an object only to visit the Museum
at the University of Lund and to spect one of the Urox skele-
tons preserved there, which I had the honour of presenting to
the Museum, and which in the year 1840 was taken up under
* A Roman urna holds in Swedish measure 4,9, kans. Pliny’s account
seems rather exaggerated, partly because a drinking vessel that holds 4-5
kans was too heavy and too large even for the stoutest drinker; and partly
because a horn of the largest Urox-skull, among the Scanian ones which I
have before me, did not hold more (counting from the base) than about 14
kan,
264 Prof. Nilsson on the extinct and existing
my own eyes from a depth of 10 feet out of a turf-bog near to
Onnarp in the district of Wemmenshég in the south of Scania.
This skeleton affords an incontestable proof that the animal du-
ring its lifetime was in contact with man: it has on its back a
palpable mark of a wound from a javelin. Several celebrated
anatomists and physiologists of the present day, among whom
I need only mention the names of John Miiller of Berlm and
And. Retzius of Stockholm, have inspected this skeleton, and are
unanimous in the opinion, that this hole in question upon the
backbone is the consequence of a wound which during the life
of the animal was made by the hand of man, and therefore not
the least doubt can remain on this subject im the mind of any
competent judge who examines it. The animal must have been
very young, probably only a calf, when it was wounded. The
huntsman who cast the javelin must have stood before it. The
javelin, which entered at an extremely acute angle (which proves
a sharp-pointed instrument) on the external part near the edge
on the projection of the first lumbar vertebra, has pierced the
bone, passed out on the backward side, and pierced through the
projection of the next bone. The weapon, which probably re-
mained in the wound, had through suppuration ultimately fallen
out. The side of the opening where the javelin entered is more
round, surrounded by a callus, and in the inner part is a cavity
which shows there had been a great suppuration (Ur-invan. tab.
15. fig. 175). The opposite side of the aperture, which is more
oblong in a vertical direction, and shows the form of the weapon,
is surrounded by many projections of bone (Ur-inv. tab. 15. fig.
176-177), which manifests that the animal lived at least one or
two years after it had been wounded. It was yet young when it
died, probably not more than three or four years old, and not un-
likely was drowned by falling through the ice into the water,
where in after-times a turf-bog has formed over it. The skeleton
lay with its head downwards, and one of its horns had penetrated
deep into the blue clay which formed the bottom under the turf.
As it is thus practically shown that this species of Ox lived con-
temporaneously with man, and as it is equally certaim that the
same species of Ox lived here contemporaneously with the Rein-
deer and Elk (some of their fossil remains being not unfrequently
found together in our old turf-bogs) ; so it is more than proba-
ble that these animals, namely the Wild Ox with the flat fore-
head, the Reindeer and the Elk, also lived contemporaneously m
Germany, from whence they evidently came hither: and this is
so much the more certain, as bones of all three have also been
dug up from turf-bogs in Pomerania. But now Julius Cesar re-
lates (Bell. Gall. vi. 26-27), that among the animals which in his
time were known and found contemporaneously in the Hereynian
Bovine Animals of Scandinavia. 265
forest in Germany, and which (according to his meaning) were
not found in any other place, were Reindeer, which he describes
but does not name, together with the Alces and Urus, which he
both names and describes. The first-named was in form and the
varied colour of its hide like a goat, but in size rather ireey oat
had branching horns, and these were found with both male and
female ; they 1 were longer and more elevated than in any other
known "animal *.
That Cesar here means the Wild Reindeer is evident to every
zoologist. In another place (vi. cap. 20) he speaks of the halt-
savage Germans, in his time, as using the reindeer skin for
clothng+. Thus did the Reindeer at few exist in Germany in
the historic period, which has also been denied. The second
animal found in the Hercynian forest was the Alces, and the
third was the Urus. The last-mentioned (cap. 28) was, according
to Cesar, so colossal that it was only a little less than the
elephant; in its external appearance, colour and form, it re-
sembled the tame ox, but it had much larger horns, &c. It is
thus possible, and more than possible, that Ceesar’s third Hercy-
nian animal was the same as the three which formerly lived
contemporaneously in Scania. But to assume with Pusch, that
Cesar’s Urus was not the flat-foreheaded Urox, but the convex-
foreheaded Bison, would be to reject without reason what Cesar
expressly alleges of the likeness of the Urus to the tame ox,
both in outward appearance, form, and enormously large horns ;
for it is certain that the Bison never can be said to be, “ specie
et colore et figura tauri;” neither could a Roman, who was ac-
customed to see the large-sized, long-horned cattle in Ltaly, of
which we have representations even from Czesar’s period, find
the horns of the Bison so enormously large as Cesar describes
those of the Urus{ ; for the Bison, to judge from the cores on
the skulls that have been found among us, even in its wildest
state (at least im Ceesar’s time), could never have had such large
horns as the Italian tame ox. Besides, it is a fact which cannot
be disputed, that Roman writers who speak of the Urus (by some
called Bubalus ; which appellations were synonymous, according
to what Pliny expressly tells us, Hist. Nat. vi. 5) exactly cha-
racterize him by his large, wide, open horns, his strength and
swiftness, while the characteristic of the Bison is long hair on
the back, neck, or under the chin; and also that no one Roman
* It is quite evident that Czesar has confused his remarks on the Reindeer
and the £/k, so that at the same period he has inserted something that be-
longed to the one and something to the other of these species of animals.
t+ “ Pellibus . . . rhenonum tegimentis utuntur.”
+ “ Amplitudine cornuum et figura et specie multum a nostrorum bovum
cornibns differt,’ Czes. vi. 29.
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.2. Vol. iv. 18
266 Prof. Nilsson on the extinct and earsting
writer ascribes to the Bison wide horns, or to the Urus long
hair.
“Tibi dant varize pectora tigres,
Tibi villost terga bisontes
Latisque feri cornibus uri.”—Senec. Hippol. Act. 1. v. 63.
“Germania... gignit . . .jubatos Bisontes, excellentique vi
et velocitate Uri, quibus imperitum vulgus Bubalorum nomen
imponit.”—Plin. Hist. Nat. vin. cap. 5.
Both these animals were carried to Rome to be viewed by the
people in the Circus. Martial and others, who were present and
saw them, describe them as of different species.
“ [Ili cessit atrox bubalus atque bison.” —Martial, Spect. 23.
For my part, | am convinced, from all these combined reasons,
that our two largest species of fossil Ox were known to the Ro-
mans under the name of Urus and Bison. They are also spoken
of by German writers of the middle age. In the poem of the
‘ Nibelungen,’ v. 3761, a chase is described which took place in a
mountaimous and woody tract (v. 3775) in the neighbourhood
of Worms, where it is related that Siegfried killed one Visent
and four Uri :—
* Darnach schluch er schiere einen Visené und einen Elch,
Starker Ure viere und einen grimmen Schelch *.”
In Griffith’s admirable ‘Animal Kingdom,’ an English ela-
boration of Cuvier’s ‘ Régne Animal,’ to which I had not pre-
viously had access, is given in the 4th book, p. 416, an engraving
of the Bos Urus. The original painting, which was found in the
possession of a merchant at Augsburg, and copied for that work
by Hamilton Smith, is supposed to have been executed in the
beginning of the sixteenth century. This old painting, which is
upon a square piece, had in one corner the remains of a (noble)
coat of arms and the word Thur in gilt German characters almost
effaced. If the plate be a true copy of the original, it shows
plainly that it was made from a wild and not a tame animal.
Such an exterior and such horns no ¢ame animal has; but just
such horns and with just such a curvature and direction, to judge
from the length and direction of the horn-cores, our fossil, great,
flat-foreheaded Ox must have had. Asa further proof of this my
conviction, it may be added, that I possess a war-horn in bronze,
dug from a depth of 6-8 feet out of a turf-bog in southern
* Many have been the conjectures as to what animal is meant by Schelch.
Biisching has translated it by Brandhirsch; others are of opinion that it
was the now fossil Irish Cervus euryceros ; but all this is only conjecture. In
the same poem it is said (v. 8756), that Siegfried’s hound (Bracke) started
“ein ungefigen leuwen”’ which Siegfried shot, with bow and arrow, and
which made but three springs after being shot. But it is probable that by
Leuwen is meant Lo, the Lynx. Inv. 3755 is mentioned “ ein vil starchez
halpfwul,” by which probably is meant a Glutton or Badger.
Bovine Animals of Scandinavia. 267
Scania, which evidently belongs to that period when the inhabit-
ants there used bronze for their weapons. This war-horn in form
and curvature wholly resembles the horn-core upon the cranium
of an Urox, and has the same long, thin, upturned points, like
the ox in Hamilton Smith’s drawing. It is more than probable
that the inhabitants of the south of Sweden first used the horn
of the Urox for their war-horns, and at a later period made them-
selves horns of bronze in the same form as the former. To this may
be added, that Baron Sigesm. Herberstain relates in his ‘ Rerum
Moscoviticarum Commentar.’ of the year 1549, p. 33, that in his
time, about the latter half of the sixteenth century, there was
found in Massovia a species differing from the wild Lithuanian
Zubr, which in its native land was called Thur. They were not
found there in any large number, but were kept in some parks,
and there were certain burthens laid on the towns to preserve
and maintain them. In the same manner the Bison (Pol. Zubr)
is now kept in a large forest at Bialowieza in Lithuania, by
command of the Emperor of Russia* ; and, in like manner, a race
of wild oxen is still preserved in Scotland in some woody parks +
(Compare Bell, Brit. Quadr. p. 422): a stuffed specimen of one
of these animals is preserved in the British Museum f.
Again, the above-mentioned painting, which Hamilton Smith
copied, shows that the Urus was without mane, and had pretty
smooth hair over the whole body, with the exception of the flat-
(not convex) formed forehead, where it was longer and curly ;
the head was large, the neck thick, the dewlap small, the back
straight, and tail long, so that it reached to the middle of the
tarsi. The colour was entirely sooty black, the chin alone was
white ; the horns, which were straight-out, forward, and upward,
were whitish with long black points §.
* See the Note of M. Dimitri de Dolmatoff in vol. ili. of the New Series
of the ‘ Annals,’ p. 148; and Prof. Owen’s notes on the Anatomy of the
Bison at p. 288 of the present Number.—Ep. Ann. Nat. Hist.
+ Notices relative to the wild oxen of Britain will be found in the earlier
volumes of the ¢ Annals:’ see vol. ii. p. 274, and vol. ill. pp. 241 and 556.
—Ep. Ann. Nat. Hist.
t It has been said that this ‘‘ White Scotch Bull”’ was the last remnant
of the Urus in its half-wild state ; but such is certainly not the case. Our
large Holstein cattle come much nearer to the Urus, both as to the form of
head and the size and direction of the horns. In the Scotch, the horns are
curved upward, almost only in one direction ; the hair on the head and neck is
longer and curlier; the forehead is, however, smooth ; the colour white, the
ears a reddish brown, the head and neck with a gray-brown shade. There
is no race of wild oxen of this colour. It is a pity that no cranium has yet
been preserved of it; at least not one is to be met with in the Museums in
London.
§ Hamilton Smith adds in a note, that this painting agrees with a figure
which is found in the ‘Stone of Clunia’ with a Celtiberian inscription, and
which represents a huntsman and a wild ox.
18*
268 On tiie extinct and existing Bovine Animals of Scandinavia.
This figure I look upon as genuine, and the best now to be
found of the Urus in a wild state. The figure which Gesner (in
his History of Animals, Francof. 1622, lib. 1. p. 145) gives of
the Urus or Polish Thur is inferior to the former, yet in all
essential points they perfectly agree; the direction of the horns,
the long curly hair on the forehead, the short hairy covering of the
remaining parts, the length of the tail, &c., are in both the same.
Gesner assures us, after Wolfgang Lazius, that the communicated
figures of that and of the Bison are made from living animals,
through the care of Baron Herberstain ; and in the text he says :
“Urus. . . est forma bovis nigri, habet longiora cornua quam
bisons.”
It is almost inconceiyable how any one will reject so many
concordant testimonies, and from such widely different places
and times, that during the historical period there lived im
Europe an enormously “anes ox, of the form of the tame ox, of
a black colour and long spreading horns, quite dissimilar from
the Bison. This denial is so much the more unreasonable, as the
bones of just such an ox as described by the ancients have been
found in the earth, and they have also been found in the same
places with the bones of the Bison.
That this Wild Ox has contributed to produce the race of our
large, long-horned cattle, is more than probable.
When and where this colossal, flat-foreheaded, large- horned
Wild Ox first became tamed, we do not know; but certainly it
took place in remote antiquity and im a land far distant from us.
mong the copies taken from fresco paintings on the sepulchres
at Thebes, preserved in the Egyptian room of the British Museum,
are to be seen groups of cattle, among which we distinguish some
as the Zebu ; others have long horns “bent in different “directions,
and seem already to be tame descendants from the Urus. They
show a species of small growth, and have the horn-cores (s/eg/ar)
outward, upward, and bent in one direction. It appears to me
probable that the colossal smooth-foreheaded Urus was first
tamed either in the south or south-west part of Europe, or
already in Asia by some Celtic race ; but, nevertheless, long after
this it was often found in a wild or half-wild state in the forests
of central Europe, even till the beginning or middle of the
sixteenth century; that the tame race which sprung therefrom,
perhaps like all tame races, became gradually smaller than the
wild stocks, but yet larger than other tame races which spring
from smaller stocks; and it was this large breed of black cattle
which the Celtic races brought with them here to the north, and
which are spoken of in many passages of our Sagas as belonging
to the Jétens (giants). The tame race which sprang from the
Urus has reached us from the south and west of Europe. It
was found probably in Italy already in Ceesar’s time ; but in the
On the Phases of Development of the Trichodina pediculus (?). 269
interior of Germany quite a different race of tame oxen was found,
much less in size, with smaller horns, and often without any :
this will be treated of in the next article.
This same small race was, without doubt, found among the
Germanic tribes also here in Scandinavia, where the inhabitants,
accustomed to small cattle, looked upon those introduced by the
Jotens as so enormously large. That this race might exist at
one and the same time, and in the same country, both wild and
tame, is not more extraordinary than that the reindeer in Lap-
land and the swéne in the whole of south and central Europe should
yet exist in the same tracts both in a wild and tame state.
That the wild Urox from the earliest times was an object of chase
to the inhabitants here, is proved beyond contradiction by the
before-mentioned skeleton preserved in the museum at Lund.
This race of wild oxen has never lived m Scandinavia further
north than Scania, and even here the fossil remains occur for the
most part m the districts of Skytts, Bara and Wemmenhég.
Once only have I obtained a skull from Allerum in the district
of Luggude.
We perhaps may be astonished at the thought that so colossal
an animal as an ox of this race, whose natural food was grass,
could winter in a country such as this, where the snow covers
the fields often during five to six months of the year, and where
the grass during that period either failed or was imaccessible.
But our astonishment ceases when we see how the cattle support
life during the winter in the forest tracts ; with what avidity they
bite off and devour the tender branches with their buds, and the
catkins of birch, hazel, sallow and other species of willow. Those
places where the Urox wintered were certainly thickly grown
with the above-named trees, and from them it sustained life. It
is not more surprising than to see the Elk live and winter in
climates which are much more severe than that in which the
Urox existed.
[To be continued. }
XXX.— Observation of some of the Phases of Development of the
Trichodina pediculus (?). ByJ.T. Artipex, A.B., M.B. (Lond.),
Member and Student in Anatomy of the Royal College of Sur-
geons.
[ With a Plate. ]
In examining the contents of a bottle of water procured from a
pool in the swampy part of Hampstead Heath, in the past month
(July), and during the drought prevailing at that time, I en-
countered an animaleule which I determined to be, most pro-
bably, the Trichodina pediculus (Ehr.). Perceiving that the ani-
mal was disposed to remain in the same locality under the mi-
270) Mr. J.T. Arlidge on some of the Phases of Development
croscope, and possessed in its interior several globules about a
clear nucleus, indicating an aptness for ulterior changes, I deter-
mined to prosecute a further observation of it.
Occupying about the centre of the bemg was a distinct, clear
nucleus*, and around this were arranged six or seven granular
greenish globules, with mterspersed particles or granules. The
circumference was also furnished with a single row of long and
large cilia, which caused the animaleule to rotate on its own axis,
without altering its relative position (Pl. VII. B. fig. 1).
After observation had been continued a little while, most pro-
bably from a change of position of the creature, an interior, con-
tained circle came into view, eccentric to the outer one so far,
that an interval was left between the two for about half of their
periphery, whilst in the remaining half the two spheres were in
apposition. This interval left between the two had a rather
darker colouring, owing to its finely granular character, being
minutely dotted as in engraving (fig. 2).
These appearances were present about half-past one o’clock P.M.
Moreover, at the same time that the two circles came under no-
tice, the inner one was observed to rotate independently of the
outer one, and indeed in the contrary direction,—a result I believe
due (judging however from some slight indications only) to its
surface being clothed with delicate cilia. Thus, the cilia of the
external tunic bent themselves to the left+, producing a motion
from right to left, whilst the inner one revolved turning from
left to right. This contrariecty in the direction of the revolution
of the two spheres was very observable, being, at this period and
for some time afterwards, very active.
In process of time the motion of the contaimed circle waxed
more rapid than that of the external, and seemed to impede the
latter; at least, the rotation of the outer sphere became irre-
cular, and was altogether slower than when first witnessed.
Between two and three o’clock the number of included glo-
bules had decreased ; and instead of six or seven about the pellucid
nucleus, only four could be discovered, but these were of larger
size than those heretofore noticed. One of the four seemed more
eranular than the rest, and deeper seated ; another, of the largest
size, had one-half of its cavity clear, the other ‘occupied with
green granular matter. The remaining two were tolerably clear.
Scattered in the imterspace between the vesicles were some
rounded granular green masses about one-fourth the size of the
former, and, in addition, the common formless green particles
(fig. 3).
* This nucleus would, according to Ehrenberg’s ideas, be called the testis
or sperm-cell.
+ I speak here of the apparent directions assumed, viewed under the mi-
croscope : hence the real directions are just the reverse.
of the 'Trichodina pediculus (?). 971
At three o’clock a similar character prevailed; two, however,
of the vesicles having grown larger than the other two.
At four o’clock the selfsame two larger ones had attained to
double the size of the two others, and one of them execeded the
rest, and appeared to contain in its interior two rounded green
nuclei. The two smaller ones now hardly surpassed the rounded
green granules spoken of (fig. 4).
At five o’clock two large vesicles were visible, and one smaller
one of about one-fourth their size. The nucleus could still be
detected about the centre of the animalcule, by a delicate pellucid
outline, encroached upon and partly concealed by the peripheries
of the two developing cells of the mterior (fig. 5).
About six o’clock the two large vesicles had further augmented
in size, and occupied the greater part of the area of the entire
animal. One of these had in or upon it the two small granular
masses described. The outline of the origmal nucleus was still
perceptible.
The two growing cells had now nearly come into contact, and
every minute hastened the apposition which presently occurred,
and in about another half-hour the two vesicles had blended
together, a constriction only indicating the previous line of sepa-
ration. Rather to one side of this constriction, and engaged
within the periphery of the coalesced cells, thus occupying ne: arly
the centre of the animal, the outline of a third vesicle could be
seen, probably the original nucleus. Again, on the side opposite
to the last vesicle—on that, viz. in which the gap of the mouth
was perceptible,—was another sac, overlying slightly the margin
of the large constricted coalesced cell, at the point of constriction,
and contaming granules in its interior (fig. 6).
The original rotundity of the animalecule had become, to some
extent, alre eady interfered with by the development of the con-
tained cell; but this interference was destined to proceed ; for
now the outer tunic began to protrude at one pole, in the long
axis of the enlarging interior cell, that is, im the direction m
which the latter exerted its outward pressure. This tendency of
the animal to increase in one direction continued, and an oval,
and afterwards a pyriform figure was attained.
The two green masses, descr ibed in one of the now-coalesced
cells, occupied a position at the projecting part of the animalcule,
remaining distinct (fig. 7).
The great cell would seem now to have undergone some de-
gree of contraction on itself, for it became more globular, the
constriction almost disappearing, and left a larger interval at the
opposite end of the animal to that from which it protruded. In
the meanwhile, the sac described as existing on the same side
of the animalcule as the mouth, increased rapidly i in its dimen-
sions, so much so as to compress the larger one, forming for
272 Mr. J.T. Arlidge on some of the Phases of Development
itself a hollow in its wall (fig. 8). Moreover, the rotatory mo-
tion became very slow and feeble, and although the external
large cilia still flapped, bending towards the left, no motion oc-
curred in that direction, save a shght oscillation of the lower
half ; whilst the motion of the imner mass was irregular and
slow.
During the next quarter of an hour, the animalcule went on
enlarging where occupied by the growing cells, the primary one,
now spherical, protruding strongly : and, by reason of this cell
having now nearly equalled in size the original being, the whole
appear red like an animalcule in process of transverse fission (fig. 9).
The second cell, which previously had occupied rather a lateral
position with reference to the primary one, was now situated
almost entirely beneath it. This second and smaller cell also
was the only one which could be properly said to be meluded
within the parent form, the larger one being but an appendage.
The only portion which would seem to retain the latter in situ,
was one—containing granular matter and some globules like the
rest of the parent substance,—extending upwards for a short
distance as a lateral band.
The revolution of the animal seemed now to cease for a little
while, but presently was resumed feebly and irregularly ; the ex-
ternal cilia however only causing a jerking movement of the
lower part.
During the later changes, the cilia, which primarily fringed
the entire margin, were now seen on the lower one—that viz.
which remained of the original periphery—and also, owing to the
transparency of the animal, along a line behind and just below
that along which fission was about to occur (fig. 9).
At seven o’clock, the lateral band attaching the budding cell
to its parent had retracted to within a little distance of its base :
the growth of the second cell had much advanced, and by its
upward pressure against the primary sac, and the lateral pressure
of the walls of the parent animal, it had assumed an irregular
shape ; but its cavity remained quite diaphanous, excepting in its
Jower part, where a few fine granules were dispersed (fig. 10).
On one side of the two developing cells a small transparent
elobule existed, along with three or four others, and some amor-
phous particles, i in the substance of the parent bemg. ‘The cilia
had apparently decreased in size—or at least in distinctness and
energy, and at half-past seven they had disappeared, motion in
them having previously been arrested (fig. 10).
At about a quarter to eight o’clock p.m. the first-formed cell
had rendered itsclf almost independent of its parent, and was
bent to one side. The second sac had much increased in size
(fig. 11).
Having withdrawn my attention for a moment to complete the
of the 'Trichodina pediculus (?). 273
sketch of the animalcule at this stage of development, it happened
unfortunately, that, im the instant, the first vesicle had detached
itself and floated away, leaving the second free at the margin.
Moreover, it is to be noted, that, after the disappearance of
this first sac, two spherical granular bodies similar to those I had
thought to be present in it were still perceptible, occupying the
same relative position to one another (fig. 12).
Watching the progress of the second sac up to eight o’clock,
I saw it gradually make its way outwards, leaving more and more
of the parent-bemg free. The latter still presented numerous
small globules and greenish particles. Having subsequently
made compression, the process of detachment was hastened, and
at length completed, the second sac becoming independent. How-
ever, this interference with the natural progress of development
seemed to arrest its activity, for the detached bud showed no in-
dication to move away, and the parent animal was left broken
and misshapen, but still retaining its green globules and particles
(fig. 12).
Remarks.—The process of development above described may be
called one of internal gemmation, and is distinct from that of
spontaneous fission, as detailed by authors, although in some of
its phenomena and phases it may resemble it. M. Dujardin
would restrict the modes of propagation of the true Infusoria, or
so-called Polygastrica, to that by spontancous fission, and, occa-
sionally, by gemmation. But im the animalcule observed by me,
we certainly ‘find another mode in operation, more akin to gene-
ration by ova, which Ehrenberg considers to occur, although that
most able microscopist would seem to have founded his opinion
on other observed appearances, interpreted by Dujardin as due
to the process of ‘ diffluence.’
It would have been very gratifying to me to have been enabled
to follow the detached bud, and to have watched the changes it
might have undergone. I have since met with diaphanous vesicles
similar in character, devoid of any distinct nucleus, contaming
only some small particles of greenish matter, but have never been
able to discover a very decisive progress in thei development.
However, this fact is certain, that the product of the animalcule
observed did not partake of its distinctive characters, but was
merely a simple non-ciliated cell. Such characters truly might be
subsequently developed in it, or in another being derived from
it, in accordance with the phenomenon of ‘alternation of genera--
tion’ of Steenstrup, or with the truth-bearmg hypothesis of Prof.
Owen, of an active ‘ spermatic force.’
It beg much more my purpose in writing this paper to re-
cord an observation than to speculate upon it,—leaving the latter
to others more capable than myself,—I shall conclude by merely
274 Bibliographical Notices.
stating that most of the phenomena I have traced were also
observed by my friends and fellow-students at the College,
Messrs. Hulme and Hallett.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
The Rudiments of Botany: a familiar Introduction to the Study of
Plants. By A. Henrrey, F.L.S. &c. London, Van Voorst, 1849.
24mo. Pp. 249.
-
WE have often been asked to point out some book by which a
beginner might easily attain a knowledge of the more elementary
parts of botany, and have always felt much difficulty in giving a
satisfactory answer to the question. The above-named work has
now supplied the want, and in future we shall at once direct the in-
_quirer’s attention to it. It is written in simple language, so as to
be easily understood by those who are totally without botanical
knowledge, and nevertheless contains nearly all that preliminary in-
formation which it is requisite to obtain before approaching the more
elaborate ‘ Introductions to Botany,’ such as the ‘ Outlines of Bo-
tany’ by the same author, or Professor Balfour’s ‘ Manual.’ Those
who desire, as we hope all who have gone so far will do, to obtain
still more minute scientific knowledge, will then study Dr. Lindley’s
excellent ‘ Introduction.’ It is not however absolutely necessary, for
such as only contemplate attaining a knowledge of the names of
British plants, to extend their reading, at first, beyond the nice little
book before us, since they will find in it all that is absolutely requi-
site to enable them to use the books descriptive of our native plants.
We say absolutely necessary ; for we certainly do not believe that
those who have attained to that amount of knowledge will be satisfied
to remain ignorant of the many highly interesting subjects included
in physiological, not to mention the more curious and abstruse parts
of systematic, botany which are elucidated in the more elaborate
works, which, having got over the difficulties attending the attain-
ment of the rudiments of the science, they will then be enabled to
read with interest and ease.
We think that Mr. Henfrey has performed the task which he has
undertaken in a very satisfactory manner, nor have we any objections
to make to the plan which he has followed, but think that he will
be able in a future edition (for which we expect an early call) in
some degree to improve the language of his book: not that much
improvement is requisite, but such a book cannot be written in lan-
guage of too simple and perspicuous a character. In some few cases
an error in the punctuation has caused some slight ambiguity which
will be immediately detected by its author. There are also a few
typographical errors which require correction. ‘These ambiguities
and errors present no difficulty to the botanical reader, but may be
the cause of error or inconvenience to the beginners to whom the
book is addressed. For instance (p. 34), the wallflower, pink and
Linnean Society. 275
pear are instanced as illustrating the mode of growth in annual
plants ; (page 41) the holly is called a shrub ; (page 43) the snow-
drop is instanced as having a solitary flower on a stalk called a scape,
in which we think that we see two errors, since a scape often bears
more than one flower, and the snowdrop has several flowers. At
page 98, line 3, we fancy that “ figure” is put for “ Fig.”’ ‘ In the
different kinds of clover we meet with spikes, umbels and capitules ”’
(p. 99); we doubt the correctness of this statement. Sepals is put
for petals on page 131 at line 11. .
There are a few other similar instances of inadvertence, but their
very insignificance shows how little there is to which to except in
the book, which we cannot too strongly recommend to our readers.
PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES.
LINNAEAN SOCIETY.
Dec. 19, 1848.-—The Lord Bishop of Norwich, President, in the Chair.
Mr. Adam White, F.L.S., exhibited three curious species of He-
miptera beionging to the genera Scaptocoris and Petalochirus. He
made some remarks on fossorial insects in general, illustrating them
with specimens of a New Zealand Mole-Cricket and of a new genus
of Carabidae, allied to Scarites. He particularly described a new spe-
cies of Scaptecoris (S. Amyoti) from Northern India, remarkable in-
asmuch as it forms a second distinct species of a very striking genus
hitherto known to occur only in Brazil (S. castaneus, Perty).
Read a paper, entitled ‘“ Experiments and Observations on the
Poison of Animals of the Order Araneidea.” By John Blackwall, Esq.,
F.L.S. &c.
After referring to the fabulous accounts of the singular effects said
to be produced in the human species by the bite of the Tarantula, and of
the serious and sometimes fatal consequences attributed to that of the
Malmignatte, Mr. Blackwall proceeds to consider the validity of an
opinion prevalent among arachnologists of the present day, that in-
sects pierced by the fangs of spiders die almost instantaneously. He
states that in the summer of 1846 he commenced an experimental
investigation of the subject, the particulars of which he commu-
nicates, arranging his experiments under four distinct heads, corre-
sponding to the objects upon which they were made, namely the
human species, spiders, insects, and inanimate substances. The ex-
periments are detailed at length, and the following are the principal
results.
First, as regards the effect of the bite of spiders upon the human
species. ‘The species selected was Kpeira Diadema, and Mr. Black-
wall states the legitimate conclusion deducible from various expe-
riments to be, that there is nothing to apprehend from the bite of the
most powerful British spiders, even when inflicted at a moment of
extreme irritation and in hot sultry weather, the pain occasioned by
276 Linnean Society.
it being little if any more than is due to the laceration and com-
pression which the injured part has sustained.
Under the second head, the observations were made on a male
and female of Tegenaria civilis; on two females of Segestria senocu-
lata; twice on females of Ciniflo atrox and females of Lycosa agretica ;
on a female Hpeira Diadema and a female Celotes sazatilis; on two
females of Epeira Diadema ; and lastly on a female of Epeira Diadema,
which in a state of high exasperation bit itself. Extensive mechani-
cal injuries,-Mr. Blackwall states, commonly prove fatal to spiders,
whether received in conflicts with their congeners or otherwise ; but
no evidence supplied by his experiments indicates that the fluid
emitted from the orifice in the fangs of the Araneidea possesses a
property destructive to the existence of animals of that order when
transmitted into a recent wound.
Thirdly, as the result of numerous experiments on insects, made
with Epeira Diadema, Segestria senoculata, Epeira quadrata, Tegenqria
civilis, and Agelena labyrinthica, the author comes to the conclusion
that they do not present any facts which appear to sanction the
opinion that insects are deprived of life with much greater celerity
when pierced by the fangs of spiders than when lacerated mechani-
cally to an equal extent by other means. It is true however that
the catastrophe is greatly accelerated if the spiders maintain a pro-
tracted hold of their victims, but this is obviously attributable to the
extraction of their fluids, which are transferred by often-repeated
acts of deglutition into the stomachs of their adversaries.
Fourthly, in his experiments on inanimate substances, Mr. Black-
wall found that litmus-paper presented to spiders belonging to several
genera when in a state of extreme irritation, and moistened by the
transparent fluid which issues under such circumstances from the
fissure near the extremity of their fangs, invariably became red as
far as the fluid spread, clearly proving that this secretion, although
tasteless, is an acid. On the other hand, the fluid which flows from
the mouth, as also that contained in the stomach and that which is
discharged from wounds inflicted on the body or limbs, were found
by the same chemical test to be alkaline. ‘Turmeric paper was ren-
dered brown by the application of the fluids from the mouth and
stomach, and restored to its original colour by the agency of the
fluid secreted by the so-called poison-gland, thus affording complete
confirmation of the respectively alkaline and acid natures of these
several secretions.
Mr. Blackwall concludes his paper by proposing the name of
falces for the instruments by which spiders seize and destroy their
prey ; the term mandibles being obviously improper for organs which
do not, as Mr. W. 5. MacLeay has plainly shown, constitute any
part of the oral apparatus ; and that of chelicera, proposed by M. La-
treille, implying an hypothetical analogy to the antennz of hexapod
insects, from which they differ so widely both in structure and in
function. He adds, that he has observed the labrum in a low state
of development in species belonging to numerous genera, and that
it is attached by its base to the superior surface of the palate, but
Linnean Society. 200
that the extremity, which is free and usually round or somewhat
pointed, can be slightly elevated, depressed, extended, retracted and
moved laterally at will; and mentions that Professor Owen has de-
tected a rudimental labrum in spiders of the genus Mygale. To
apply the term mandibles to organs originating above the labrum,
and therefore not situated within the mouth, is evidently erroneous ;
and the author ventures to anticipate, upon anatomical consider.
ations, that future investigations will lead to the conclusion that the
mandibles of the Araneidea are confluent with the palate.
March 6, 1849.—R. Brown, Esq., V.P., in the Chair.
The necessary business of the Meeting having been disposed of,
the Vice-President in the Chair proposed, that, in consequence of
the recent death of Edward Forster, Esq., ‘Treasurer and Vice-Pre-
sident of the Society, and in consideration of his long connexion
with, and eminent services to, the Society and to Natural History,
the Meeting should adjourn; which was unanimously agreed to.
March 20.—The Lord Bishop of Norwich, President, in the Chair.
Read a paper ‘‘ On the Anatomy and Development of certain Cha/-
cidide and Ichneumonide, compared with their special economy and
instincts ; with descriptions of a new genus and species of Bee Para-
site.” Part I. By George Newport, Esq., F.R.S. & L.S.
Mr. Newport remarked that the parasitic Hymenoptera in their
larva state are among the most imperfectly organized forms of
Articulata, and yet, having passed through this stage of their exist-
ence, they become some of the more active and perfect of insects.
They are nourished by suction, and either are attached singly to the
external surface of the bodies of their victims, or reside in the same
cells with them gregariously, or infest them internally, according to
their species. In the whole of them, however, the general form of
body and of the digestive organs, at the earlier periods of growth, is
very similar, and the special development of each species is regulated
by the same laws. ‘They cast their tegument at different periods of
growth like other larvee, a fact which Mr. Newport has observed in
Paniscus, although in the apodal larve of Hymenoptera it has
heretofore escaped the observation of naturalists. Their digestive
apparatus at first is extremely simple, and has the form of a capa-
cious bag or sac, without any anal outlet. Consequently no feces
are passed until the larvee have acquired their full growth and ceased
to feed. After this period of assimilation the digestive cavity begins
to assume a new condition. It becomes perforated at its base, and
an intestine and anal outlet are formed, and feces are then passed.
One reason for this late completion of the alimentary canal seems to
be the necessity that the fluids of the insect preyed upon should be
preserved in a healthy state for the support of the parasite; and
another, that the food of the victim should not be contaminated. But
when the parasites are full-grown the necessity for these conditions
ceases, and the intestinal portion of the digestive apparatus is deve-
loped.
278 Linnean Society.
The following description of a new genus of Chalcidide found in
the cells of Anthophora was then given :—
Genus Antuornorasia, Newp.
Fem. Caput thorace latius; antenne 6-articulate, pilose, articulis 2%
3te 4to 5teque subzequalibus, 6° clavam elongato-ovalem efformante.
Thorax abdomenque longitudine zquales. Ale vend mediana bifida.
Tarsi 5-articulati. Mas: Antenne 4-articulate, articulo basali ar-
cuato, magnoperé dilatate, inferné excavato, 24° cylindrico, 3° magno
globoso, 4'° elongato-ovali, Oculi stemmatosi. _ Ale abbreviate.
ANTHOPHORABIA RETUSA (/em.). Aineo-viridis, capite magno, oculis
compositis nigris, abdomine nitido ovali, alis magnis rotundatis, pedibus
flavescentibus. (Jas) flavus vel saturate ferrugineus, capite magno ro-
tundato ocello utrinque unico tribusque in vertice instructo nigrescente,
pedibus robustis.—Long. lin. 1.
Mr. Newport found this species in abundance in the nests of An-
thophora at Richborough in Kent, while searching for the larve of
Meloé in August 1831, 1832 and 1834. The larva is apodal, sub-
cylindrical and slightly attenuated at each extremity, and formed of
fourteen segments, with a small head and short acute mandibles, and
there were usually from thirty to fifty specimens in each bee-cell. In
some instances they changed to nymphs and imagos at the end of
summer, but in others the change did not take place until the
spring, at which time the perfect insect comes forth.
The author states that he was unable to find any description of
this curious parasite in the works of entomologists; the only writer
who makes reference to an insect which, possibly, may have some
affinity with this, being Mr. Westwood, who refers to a species,
found by M. Audouin in France, under the name of Melittobia Au-
douinti, but without describing it; so that if the two insects should
prove to be identical, which Mr. Newport considers doubtful, this
name cannot beadopted. Reaumur and Degeer both found parasites
in the cells of Mason-bees, but their species have not been clearly
made out.
The author deduced conclusions with regard to the habits of
Anthophorabia from peculiarities in the anatomy of the sexes, and
expressed an opinion, from the absence of an ovipositor in the female,
from both sexes being found in activity in the closed bee-cell, and
more especially from the male possessing only stemmata, instead of
the usual compound eyes of winged insects, that impregnation is
effected before the female first quits the cell, and that she deposits
her eggs in new cells while these remain open and are being pro-
visioned. The difference of structure and function between compound
eyes and ocelliwas explained in support of these opinions, and thesexes
of Anthophorabia were contrasted with those of Stylops, as described
by the author in bis ‘‘ Memoir on Meloé,” read to the Society on the
19th of January 1847. These differences of structure in similar or-
gans were regarded as always indicatory of peculiarities in economy.
A second species of Chalcidide had also been found by the author,
in the larva state, in the nests of Anthophora, on the 12th of Sep-
Linnean Society. 279
tember 1847, at Gravesend, and which he at first mistook for the
larve of the species now named Anthophorabia. ‘hese larve after-
wards proved to be of a species which he named provisionally Mono-
dontomerus nitidus. ‘The general form of the larva and the armature
of its body were then described, and the question discussed as to
whether it was a carnivorous feeder, subsisting on the body of the
bee larva, or a pollinivorous, subsisting on its food. The armature
of hairs on the surface of its body showed that it was not an internal-
feeding larva, as the author has never yet found the internal-feeding
parasites of insects clothed with hairs. From the presence of hairs
on its body, and from an examination of the feeces, the author was
induced to regard it as pollinivorous.
The larve remained unchanged until the middle of May 1848, and
some time before passing into the state of nymphs, feeces were passed
for the first time, similar to those of the larva of Anthophora, which,
like its parasite, Mr. Newport has constantly found passes nothing
until it is full-grown and ready to undergo its transformation. The
digestive apparatus of the larva of Monodontomerus was then de-
scribed as occupying nearly the whole interior of the body in the
shape of an oval sac, or Florence-flask, with exceedingly thick pa-
rietes formed of masses or packets of cells, enclosed between a deli-
cate muscular envelope on the external and a granulated mucous
layer on the internal surface. ‘This capacious digestive stomach is
connected anteriorly with a short and narrow esophagus, and pos-
teriorly with an imperforated column of masses of cells, which are
continuous with those that form the chief portion of the walls of this
organ. After the larva has ceased to feed, the cells separate, and
the column becomes a tube, the separation proceeding from the
centre of the base of the sac along the axis of the column to the
anal outlet in the terminal segment, after which this intestinal por-
tion of the canal is further developed and the larva undergoes its
transformation.
The nymph state was assumed at the end of May, and the first
perfect insects appeared on the 27th of June, or about four weeks
afterwards. The author concludes that the female deposits her eggs
in the cell of the bee, after it has been closed, by perforating it with
her ovipositor.
Drawings of the sexes of Anthophorabdia and its larva, and of the
larva and nymph of Monodontomerus, with details of anatomy, were
exhibited.
April 3.—Robert Brown, Esq., Vice-President, in the Chair.
Read a paper ‘‘ On the Development of the Ovule in Orchis Morio,
L.” By Arthur Henfrey, Esq., F.L.S. &c.
The paper contains the results of a series of observations made in
May 1848, which Mr. Henfrey presents to the Society, partly be-
cause he believes that in the present state of the question all evidence
derived from careful observation is of some value, and partly because
he has succeeded in obtaining a more complete series of figures
illustrating the successive conditions of the ovule than has yet been
280 Linnean Society.
published ; Mohl, who gives the most complete account of the deve-
lopment in Orchis Morio, having given no drawings. In the first
stage, examined on the 3rd of May, the ovules of flowers which were
just opened and were without signs of pollen on the stigmatic sur-
face, were just curving over towards the anatropous position ; the
nucleus projected beyond the cells forming the single coat of the
ovule, and consisted of a large central cell (the embryo-sac) enclosed
by a layer of very delicate cells of small size, constituting a proper
coat of the nucleus. On the 9th, the ovules of fully-expanded
flowers were not much altered except in the much clearer definition
of the walls of the cells. The embryo-sac was filled with a clear
colourless fluid, in which floated minute black atoms. In some
flowers the stigma was smeared with pollen, which sent down nume-
rous tubes, about ;,4,,th of an inch in diameter and at most one-
fourth of the size of the smallest surrounding cells. On the 138th,
when the flowers were withered and the stigmas were covered with
pollen, a dense bundle of tubes lay in the midst of the lax tissue of
the canal leading to the cavity of the ovary. Some of the ovules
were completely anatropous, while others were about three-fourths
curved, the former being about ;1,th of an inch in length. The
two coats of the ovule were now distinctly evident, and the nucleus
was still covered by its own cellular coat, and still contained only
the clear colourless fluid with black points. On the 16th, the pistil-
lary cords extended nearly to the base of the ovary, presenting all
the characters of pollen-tubes, and apparently continuous with those
derived from the pollen on the stigma. Both coats of the ovules
had become considerably developed, and the inner had grown up far
beyond the nucleus; the embryo-sac had lost its proper cellular coat,
had acquired the aspect of a large ovoid sac attached by a pedicle to
the chalazal region, and contained opalescent mucilaginous matter
(protoplasm), in most cases accumulated at the ends, chiefly at that
next the micropyle. On the 20th, the last-mentioned appearance
continued ; and at the micropyle end, one, two or (usually) three
minute vesicles had been formed, always seeming to originate as
cavities in the mucilage, and not as if derived from the formation of
a membrane on the outer surface of a nucleus or cytoblast. These
vesicles soon took the appearance of distinct cells with exceedingly
delicate walls, and undoubtedly existed before the pollen-tubes en-
tered the foramina of the ovules. In those ovules which had been
penetrated by the pollen-tubes, these were traced by Mr. Henirey
through the wide mouth of the outer coat and the narrow canal of
the inner, as far as the apex of the embryo-sac, which however they
never entered, but generally appeared to be directed a little to one
side and to lie in contact with its outer surface, just over the place
where the minute vesicles lie within. On the 31st, the previous
observations were repeated and confirmed on specimens in various
stages of growth. At this period, in some of the embryo-sacs one
of the vesicles had become divided into two cells by a horizontal
septum, the upper cell dividing again and growing out through the
endosteme in a conical form to produce the confervoid filament de-
Linnean Society. 281
scribed by Mr. Brown, and which Mr. Henfrey believes Prof. Schleiden
to have mistaken for the pollen-tube. On the 3rd of June, the
author again satisfied himself that the vesicle within the embryo-sac
(the germinal vesicle) is the first cell of the embryonic body; it
generally exhibits a slight collection of protoplasm at its base, and
soon after the pollen-tube reaches the surface of the embryo-sac
divides into two cells, the upper dividing again and growing out into
the articulated filament, the cells of which are formed by the pro-
duction of septa in the same way as in confervas, hairs of phanero-
gamous plants, &c.; the mucilaginous layer (or primordial utricle of
Mohl) being rendered very evident by the application of iodine. At
the same time the lower part of the embryonic body enlarges and
soon perfectly fills the embryo-sac, the process of cell-formation by
which the embryo is produced varying apparently in different cases.
Generally the lowest cell enlarges very much and becomes filled
with dark mucilaginous matter, and then this is soon divided into a
number of cells by the formation of septa. In some cases two of the
germinal vesicles undergo development and two confervoid filaments
are produced.
From these observations Mr. Henfrey concludes that the embryo
is really produced by the ovule itself; that the germinal vesicle exists
within the embryo-sac before the pollen exerts its influence; that
the pollen-tube penetrates the coats of the ovule to reach the em-
bryo-sac; and that the passage of the pollinic fluid through the in-
tervening membranes impregnates the germinal vesicle and deter-
mines its development into an embryo. ‘The investigations having
beeri made with every precaution, and the results being in perfect
accordance with those of Amici, Mohl, Miller and others, he be-
lieves them to be a sufficient refutation of Schleiden’s views so far
as the plant in question is concerned. He regards, however, as
points requiring further investigation, the question whether the whole
of the pistillary cords are composed of filaments directly produced
by the pollen granules; whether there is any relation between the
application of the pollen on the stigma and the development of the
germinal vesicles ; and whether the production of the confervoid
filaments is a normal process, which is open to doubt when only ob-
served in ovaries containing such an abundance of ovules as those
of Orchis Morio.
Read also a notice of a species of Monodontomerus, parasitic in
the cells of Anthophora retusa, contained in a letter addressed to, and
communicated by, Adam White, Esq., F.L.S. &c.
Referring to the Monodontomerus described by Mr. Newport at
the last Meeting, of which an account will be found at page 279,
Mr. Smith remarks that it is identical with a species which he some
months ago showed to Mr. Adam White and Mr. Francis Walker,
the latter of whom then informed him that it was a new species of
Monodontomerus. He adds, that Mr. Walker, in whose hands he
placed specimens of both sexes for description, on learning a few
days afterwards that Mr. Newport had reared the same insect from
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. iv. 19
282 Linnean Society.
the nest of Anthophora, readily waived his right of description in
deference to Mr. Newport’s wish to describe the insect himself.
In the ‘ Zoologist’ for March of the present year, Mr. Smith inci-
dentally mentioned that he had bred two distinct species of Mono-
dontomerus from the cells of Osmia bicornis and those of Anthophora
retusa. Anxious, in the summer of 1848, to discover the larvee of
Melecta punctata, he procured from a colony of Anthophore at Charl-
ton in Kent a number of larve and pupe; but all the larve, though
differing much in colour, produced Anthophore only. While sepa-
rating the larve from the pupe, he observed in a cell partially broken
open, containing a pupa of the bee, a small larva by its side slightly
moving; and on removing the pupa, he found twelve more minute
larve feeding upon it, which they continued to do for ten or twelve
days, by which time they were fully grown. When first observed,
the pupa of the bee was about one-third consumed, and at last not
a vestige of it remained; all that the cell contained besides the larvee
being a small portion of yellow dust or small granules. They re-
mained in the larva state for several weeks, and then changed to
pupz, in which state they continued for about a fortnight, when
they became perfect and active insects. ‘The species of Monodonto-
merus bred from the cells of Osmia also fed upon the pupa, and un-
derwent the same process of development.
Mr. Smith concludes by referring to a statement of Mr. Westwood
in his ‘ Introduction to the Modern Classification of Insects,’ that he
had frequently observed Monodontomerus flying about and entering
the holes made in walls by Osmie, in which they were doubtlessly
about to deposit their eggs; and to his mention of a species com-
municated to him by M. Audouin, in which the males have rudi-
mentary wings; and suggests that it would be exceedingly inter-
esting to determine whether the species of Monodontomerus, and the
Anthophorabia also, might be identical with the insects observed by
Audouin and Fonscolombe.
April 17.—N. Wallich, M.D., in the Chair.
Read a paper entitled “Remarks on the genus Atriplex.” By
Joseph Woods, Esq., F.L.S. &c.
After observing, that, as far as the British species are concerned,
the genus Atriplex had remained till lately as it appeared in the
‘English Flora’ of Sir J. E. Smith in 1828, Mr. Woods proceeds to
notice the additions made to it by Mr. Babington. The first of these
is A. nitens (A. Hermanni of Moquii-Tandon), belonging to a divi-
sion of the genus in which some of the flowers are perfect and pro-
duce horizontal seeds. The author thinks the division a sound one,
though on one occasion he has found a few horizontal seeds, the
produce probably of perfect flowers, in A. littoralis. The second is
A. marina, introduced by Linneus as a plant found in England, and
distinguished from A. littoralis by its serrated leaves. Hudson ad-
mitted it under the name of A. serrata, but most of our later bota-
nists have considered it as a variety of A. Jittoralis, and it must be
placed among the doubtful species.
Linnean Society. 283
The next group, which has no perfect flowers, and a tendency to
produce hastate or triangular leaves, is the one which presents the
greatest difficulties. We find here, in the last edition of Mr. Babing-
ton’s ‘Manual,’ three new species, besides A. erecta of Hudson,
which, though adopted by Smith as a very rare plant, is, if Babing-
ton’s view be correct, one of the most common. ‘The surface of the
seeds and the shape and tubercles of the perigonium or enlarged calyx
covering the fruit seem to be a good deal relied upon in distinguishing
these species; but Mr. Woods states that several species, or at least
several forms, have two sorts of seeds. Those of the smaller calyces
are slightly depressed, smooth, black and shining; while those
formed in the larger calyces are much larger, so much so as to have
occasionally three times the diameter of the upper seeds; they are
considerably more depressed, of a dark chestnut colour, and wrinkled
or shagreened. The sepals are all at first smooth, and those in the
lower part of the plant frequently never become tubercled, This he
notes as particularly the case in A. angustifolia, of which otherwise
the perigonium is as distinctly tubercled as in A. erecta. Mr. Woods
is willing to admit as three common species—A. angustifolia, with
rhomboid leaves and all the seeds black and smooth; A. patula, with
triangular leaves, and all or nearly all of the seeds depressed and
shagreened; and 4d. deltoidea, with triangular leaves, and all or
nearly all the seeds thick, black and smooth. A. erecta he thinks
to be different from A. angustifolia, though he is unable to point out
any satisfactory character. With 4. prostrata and A. microsperma
he is not sufficiently acquainted to form any judgment. 4. rosea of
Babington is perhaps a good species, though nearly allied to some
of the maritime varieties of 4. patula, and perfectly distinct from
the 4. rosea of continental botanists. The latter is a self-supporting
plant, and not prostrate like the 4. rosea of Babington. Koch sepa-
rates A. laciniata and A. rosea from the other species by the lobes
of the perigonium, united to the middle; but this is often the case in
A. patula, and not always so in A. laciniata. They are however
hardened and of a pale colour. The author is disposed to rely more
on the uniform buff colour of the stem, which in 4. patula and its
allies is green with resinous stripes. The 4. laciniata of the south
of Europe is not our English plant. The former has its clusters dis-
posed in long naked spikes, the latter in short leafy ones. Ours is
probably the Linnean plant. The perigone in Atriplex varies from
ovate to rhombic, or to a square attached at the angle, and from that
to campanulate ; the latter form is so decided in all the specimens
of the continental plant with fully formed seeds within reach of Mr.
Woods, that he suggests the trivial name of 4. campanulata.
Read also the following Letter from Linnzus to the Rev. John
White, formerly Chaplain at Gibraltar, and brother of Gilbert White
of Selborne and of Benjamin White, then the principal English pub-
lisher of works on natural history. Communicated by John Gould,
Esq., F.L.S. &c.
os
284 Linnean Society.
Viro Reverendissimo et Venerando D"° J. Wuirte.
s. pl. d.
Car. Linné.
Accepi literas Tuas, ad calend. januarii datas, suo tempore et ad
eas regessi: accepi et datas d. 1 Martii, et 22 Aprilis. Accepi et
ante duos dies merces Tuas et dona vere aurea; pro quibus om-
nibus ac singulis grates imortales reddo, reddamq dum vixero.
Sturnus collaris Scop. ann. 1. p. 131. Fringilla Sordone Manett. orn.
t. 338. f. 1. Avis kyburgensis, Gesn. orn. app. 725. Muscicapa
gula fusco undulata, tectricibus alarum nigricantibus apiculo albo,
(collaris) mihi dicenda. Rostrum admodum parum est emargi-
natum, diversa a Turdo arundinaceo.
Turdum pygargum non antea vidi; erit equidem Turdus ; apex rostri
modice incurvus.
Pratincolam antea non vidi; ad Grallas spectat et proprii generis est.
D~° Lever ne desinas grates meis verbis agere pro egregie et pul-
cherrime conservatis aviculis, quibus me beare voluit.
Phytolithi Filicum eraut certe optimi
isti lapides qui referunt teenias non vidi; an radicum plantarum
aquaticarum rudimenta ?
ista impressio in schisto, ita refert Sertulariam quandam Ellisii,
ut nisi magnitudo vetaret, dicerem eam Sertulariam. ‘
alia foliis atris linearibus est Zostera.
quadrati politi, Quartzum coloratum y. Syst. nat. 3. p. 65.
Fuci rubri et pilosi impressiones rariores :
Lepadogaster Gonum in lagenula est certe Cycloplterus nudus meus
Syst. nat. 414. p. 2.
Attelabus calpensis : hunc etiam ab aliis accepi.
Tenebrio femoribus uncinatis (bispinosis) Tenebrio calpensis mihi di-
cendus.
Motacilla cauda albo nigrog maculata. a me non antea visa.
Myrmeleon formicarium nostrum habet in alis stigma album, habeo
jam insectum coram.
Formicalyn. lege Formicalynx.
Artedi opera non prostant apud nos, sed Leidz.
Gryllus umbraculatus ubi habitat ; quid agit cum umbraculo?
Te Datore optimo multa animalia habeo.
Tetrao tridactylus pedibus nudis tridactylis.
Hirundo rupestris nigricans, rectricibus subequalibus: 2, 3 ma-
cula alba.
Piscis thoracicus capite excoriato ; nondum nomen imposui.
Attelabus calpensis cerulescens thorace piloso, elytris rubris:
punctis 3 nigris.
Sphex mutabilis atra pedibus hirtis, abdomine maculis luteis ple-
rumque quatuor.
Sphex erosa nigra, capite thorace alis pedibusque ferrugineis.
Apis calpensis labio superiore acuminato inflexo, abdominis seg -
mentis punctis geminis nigris.
Linnean Society. 285
Cancer di@resis brachyurus, thorace levi linea transversa insculpto
marginibus serratis, chelis levibus.
Cancer brachyurus subhirsutus, manibus totis ciliatis.
Cancer ex squillarum prosapia 4 distincte ; nondum posui diffe-
rentias et numero plura, preter ultima, Te inventore, alleganda.
Literze excrescerent in infinitum, si simul et semel omnia responso
exponerem, nunc aliis negotiis implicitus reservo reliqua proxime
epistole.
Scripsi multa addenda vol. 1. Syst. nat. idq quotidie ; absolvi dimi-
dium tomum. Si Tuus frater edat, certus sum quod hoc prodeat
optimis typis, qui Anglis communis. Tam multa que quotidie
prodiere, post priorem editionem operis, et que allegavi multum
laboris expostularunt. Si vixero absolvam opus in autumnum.
Quid mihi offerat in sostrum? An poterit habere optimum cor-
rectorem typi?
Upsalize, 1774. d. 3 julii.
Viro Reverendo Domino Joh. White,
London.
Blackburn.
May 1.—The Lord Bishop of Norwich, President, in the Chair.
John Hogg, Esq., F.L.S., exhibited a portion of a large and re-
markable Wasp’s Nest, taken by himself last autumn, The portion
exhibited formed about one-third of the entire nest, which was built
in the inside of the roof of one of the wings of Mr. Hogg’s house at
Norton in the county of Durham, a part being fixed under the roof,
and the remainder to the side wall immediately below it. The hole
under the slates by which the wasps went in and out was originally
made by sparrows; and at this part, and among another portion of
the wasp’s nest, appeared the remains of the old bird’s nest, con-
sisting chiefly of straw with a few feathers. The entire wasp’s nest
bore the appearance of having been the fabric of several years, some
of it being apparently older and in inferior preservation to the rest,
as well as somewhat blackened. Externally the nest is beautifully
parti-coloured, the layers of the various substances used in the con-
struction presenting circular or curved lines or rings, which are
brown, buff, yellow, grey, dark grey, nearly black, &c.; altogether
exhibiting a very elegant shell-like structure, which Mr. Hogg has
not observed in any other British wasp’s nest. These layers he re-
gards as indicative of the mode in which the wasps carried on their
labours; one wasp, or set of wasps, having made use of the same
substance (such as wood, lichen, the bark of a tree, &c.), collected
from the same place, and of the same colour, to form one circular
layer or ring ; and then having been succeeded by another wasp, or
set of wasps, using other substances taken from another spot, and of
a different colour; and so on.
Mr. Hogg states that he has recently seen in the British Museum
a very similar nest sent from China by Mr. Say; but the species of
the Chinese wasp, or even its genus, is not stated. He had at first
hoped that his nest might have proved the work of the new wasp
286 Linnean Society.
taken by him in his garden at Norton some years ago, and described
by Mr. Frederick Smith, in his Memoir on British Wasps, under
the name of Vespa borealis; but on submitting to that gentleman
specimens taken alive from the nest, they were determined by him
to be neuters of the common wasp, Vespa vulgaris.
The author concludes by stating his intention to present the por-
tion of the nest exhibited to the British Museum, where, if deemed
worthy of preservation, it may be placed next to the Chinese nest,
which it so closely resembles.
Read in continuation a paper “‘ On the Anatomy and Development
of certain Chalcidide and Ichneumonide,”’ &c. Part Il. By George
Newport, Esq., F.R.S. & L.S.
The author first read a ‘‘ Postscript’”’ to the preceding part of this
paper, abstracted at p. 277, one object of which was to confirm his
statement, which had been questioned by Mr. Westwood, that he
discovered the insect, Anthophorabia, in 1831, at which time he had
made known the fact to D. W. Nash, Esq., now a Fellow of the
Society, who permitted him to make known the circumstance. The
author also corrected his view with regard to the nature of the food
of the larva of the second species he had discovered in the nest of
Anthophora, which he had named provisionally Monodontomerus
nitidus, but which is now believed to be Monodontomerus obsoletus,
which species had been suspected of infesting the genus Osmia,
although the larva had hitherto been unknown. Having carefully
examined the form of its mandibles since the first part of the paper
was read, he now finds that they are acute, slender, and fitted only
for piercing and not for comminuting food, and consequently he agrees
with Mr. Smith that the species is carnivorous, and not pollinivorous
as he had supposed. Further examination of this larva, therefore,
has tended to confirm the general views which he had maintained,
that structure when carefully and accurately investigated is an in-
fallible index to function and habits.
The second part of the paper on the Ichneumonide was then read.
This comprised a detailed account of the natural history of Paniscus
virgatus from the bursting of the ovum to the assumption of the
imago state. The egg, as noticed by Degeer in Ophion luteum, and
by Hartig in other species, is affixed by a pedicle to the skin of the
caterpillar on which the larva is destined to feed, and the larva con-
tinues attached to it during the whole period of growth. Mr. New-
port found the eggs of Paniscus virgatus on the full-grown larva of
the broom-moth, Mamestra pisi, on the 26th of September 1847,
They were black, shining, and of a pear-shaped form, and each was
attached by a pedicle inserted into the skin of the caterpillar. At
the moment of being hatched they were burst in front, by a vertical
fissure, like the eggs of the Julide, and the head only of the larva
was gradually protruded, so that at first these ova more resembled
the growing seeds of leguminous plants than animal organisms.
The anterior portion only of the body was afterwards slowly pro-
truded, but the larvee gave no evidence of sensation during the whole
Linnean Society. 287
of their growth, and scarcely even of vitality. Yet affixed by one
extremity to the shell, and by the mouth to the skin of the cater-
pillar, they grew rapidly until at from the 12th to the 15th day they
had acquired their full size, and measured half an inch in length, and
then for the first time became detached from the shell. The author
then described the form and motions of the stomach as seen through
the tegument on the second day of growth, and also the structure
of the head, the distribution of the trachez, and the mode in which
the larva changes its skin while still attached to the egg-shell: This
change was now seen for the first time in the apodal larve of Hyme-
noptera, as noticed in the first part of this paper, in these larvee of
Paniscus. It occurred at least three times in each larva before
quitting its shell. The skin is burst as in other insects along the
dorsal surface of the thorax, and is gradually carried backwards
chiefly by the effect of growth of the larva, but it continues to in-
close the caudal segments, which are also included between the two
halves of the shell. The fourth change occurs when the insect is
transformed to a nymph. It assumes this state inclosed in a leather-
like cocoon spun by itself after it has destroyed the caterpillar on
which it has fed, and while lying in the earthen chamber which the
caterpillar had formed for its own change under ground. The change
to a nymph took place in April, and to the perfect Ichneumon fly,
Paniscus virgatus, in May 1848.
The author then describes the mode in which the alimentary canal
is originally developed in the embryo of insects. The first developed
portions of the embryo are, first, the ventral, and then the lateral
parietes of the segments. The lateral grow from below upwards,
until their free margins ultimately approach along the future dor-
sal surface, meeting first of all in the cephalic, and then in the cau-
dal segments. The termination of the future alimentary canal in
the anal segment is the result of a fold on itself of a layer of the
first portion of the yolk included by the completion of the two cau-
dal segments, and is the commencement of the column of cells,
which afterwards becoming perforated when the larva is full-grown,
form the colon and intestine, and which retains the celliform struc-
ture to so late a period in the larva of Monodontomerus. ‘The re-
mains of the yolk are included within the body by the union of the
segments along the dorsal surface, and form the digestive cavity,
the last portion included being in the prothorax, at which point the
yolk enters the body in Crustacea, as pointed out by Rathke. The
mode in which the great digestive cavity, or stomach, and the dif-
ferent structures of the canal are formed is then described, and the
general configuration of the organ is shown to be very similar, during
the earlier stages of growth, in all embryos of insects. ‘This pri-
mary form is longer retained in the imperfect apodal larve, espe-
cially inthe parasites, than in other species, and hence the incom-
pleteness noticed in Monodontomerus. 'The structure is completed
earlier in Microgaster and Ichneumon ; but although in these a true
colon and intestine are formed, these continue closed, and no feces
are passed until the larva is matured. The appendages of the canal
follow the same laws of development. The glands which produce
288 Zoological Society.
the siik required by the insect for the formation of its cocoon, are
formed the earliest. The Malpighian vessels are completed at a later
period in these parasites than in the herbivorous larve, in which
they are well formed almost from the moment of leaving the egg.
In conclusion the author states, ‘‘ that in proportion to the more or
less early development of any structure or organ, the function or in-
stinct associated with that organ is more or less early evolved; and
that in proportion to the completeness of a tissue, such is the degree
of perfection of each special function or instinct in the animal.”
Read also a paper by J. O. Westwood, Esq., F.L.S. &c., entitled
“Description of Melittobia Audouinii, a Bee Parasite.’ The follow-
ing are the essential characters of this genus, which belongs to the
family Chalcidide and subfamily Kulophides.
MELITTosIA.
Antenne maris 9-articulatz ; articulo 1™° maximo subtus ad apicem ex-
cavato, articulis 4° 5'° et 6te minimis; foeminz simplices, 8-articu-
late ; articulis tribus apicalibus in utroque sexu clavam ovalem for-
mantibus. Mas cxcus. Femina oculis ocellisque instructa. dle
maris abbreviate, foeminz magnitudinis ordinariz ; ale vena ordinaria
Eulophorum typicorum instructe. Tarsi 4-articulati—Habitatio pa-
rasitica in nidis apum czementariarum.
Notices of this insect (first observed by the late M. Victor Au-
douin) had been published by Mr. Westwood in his ‘Introduction to
the Modern Classification of Insects’ and in the Journal of Proceedings
of the Entomological Society, and it was also considered by Mr. West-
wood as identical with the insect described by Mr. Newport in the
preceding paper under the name of Anthophorabia retusa, although
different from the description published of that insect by Mr. New-
port in the ‘ Gardener’s Chronicle’ in the major part of its characters,
some of which, as the possession of a furcate median vein and
5-jointed tarsi, are foreign to the family and subfamily to which it
belongs; whilst the asserted possession of stemmatous eyes by the
male was regarded as erroneous, there being no instance of such a
structure throughout the whole range of winged insects, whilst it is
essentially a character of some of the wingless tribes.
Mr. Westwood also exhibited specimens of the larvee of Eulophus
Nemati, which are parasites on the outside of the body of the larvee
of Nematus intercus, but which are nevertheless destitute of hairs on
the surface of the body, although the external parasitism of the larve
of Monodontomerus was considered by Mr. Newport as indicated by
the hairs on the surface of their bodies.
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.
Noy. 14, 1848.—Wm. Yarrell, Esq., Vice-President, in the Chair.
The following papers were read :—
1. Notes on THR Anatomy oF THE Mate Avrocus (Bison europaeus).
By Pror. Owen, F.R.S., F.Z.S. erc. eve.
It was with much concern that I received notice at the latter part
of September last of the sudden failing of health of the male Aurochs ;
Zoological Society. 289
the male of the pair munificently presented to the Zoological Society
by His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Russia, at the instance of
our distinguished scientific countryman Sir Roderick Impey Mur-
chison, G.C.SS._ The animal had refused its food ; it was prostrated
by impeded and frequent respiration and a general oppressive feverish
state, and died about a week after the first attack.
The morbid appearances, on dissection, were simple and conclu-
sive. The whole right lung had been the seat of active inflammation
and congestion ; most of the air-cells were filled with a bloody serum,
which was infiltrated throughout the connecting tissue. A mass of
coagulable lymph had been exuded from the whole exterior surface
of the organ, cementing its lobes to each other and to the surround-
ing parts, especially the pericardium. The mucous lining of the
bronchial tubes was of a deep livid red colour, and the same evidence
of inflammation extended throughout the trachea, and a little way
down the bronchi of the sound lung. Both the liver and spleen broke
down more easily under pressure than in the healthy common Ox ;
the texture of the kidney also was softer, and of a more fuscous
colour. The vessels of the pia mater were unusually gorged; but
these were probably the secondary consequences of the influence
upon the circulation, and the quality of the blood induced by the
primary and active disorganization of the respiratory system. The
exciting cause of the disease I take to be the influence of the raw
cold and heavy fogs, consequent on the undrained extent of clay-
ground in which the menagerie of the Society is placed, and by which
it is extensively surrounded. The effects of an atmosphere so loaded
on the mucous tract of the respiratory organs to which it is applied,
has long been manifested in various species of the exotic animals
attempted to be preserved in the Zoological Gardens ; and the records
of medicine bear testimony to similar ill effects upon those human
inhabitants of the Regent’s Park, whose habits and strength of con-
stitution do not enable them to control and overcome this pregnant
but happily remediable source of ill-health.
The male Aurochs, at the period of its death, was two years and
five months old. The following was the state of its dentition :—
23—3,cl—l,m os = 28; of which 2? 1 was permanent, 7 2, 7 3,
and ¢ were deciduous; the molars were d 2, 3 and 4, m 1 and 2.
I here use the formula explained in my communication to the British
Association at Swansea, the notation used conveying in the space
of one line the following facts: viz. that the animal had shed and
replaced the median incisors of the lower jaw, but retained all the
rest of its deciduous dentition, having gained in addition the first and
second true molars of the permanent series.
The tongue presented that deep leaden-bluish colour which Gili-
bert describes*, but is rough, as in the common Ox, and the inner sur-
face of the sides of the mouth is beset with the same kind of papille.
The scrotum and testes were much smaller than in the young do-
* Gilibert, Indagatores Nature in Lituania, De Bisonte Lituanico, pp. 30—49;
Vilne, 1781.
290 Zoological Society.
mestic Bull of the same age: the scrotum is rugous, sessile, not
pendulous with a constricted neck, as in the Bos Taurus.
As in most Ruminants, the principal viscus which presents itself
on opening the abdomen, is the capacious paunch covered by the
great omental sac: besides the paunch, some of the small intestines
appeared in the right iliac and in the pubic regions.
The paunch is firmly supported by its attachments on the dorsal
aspect to the crura of the diaphragm and part of the expanded con-
cavity of that muscle. The part of the serous membrane which
answers to the aperture or mouth of the great omental sac in Man is
attached to the upper and fore-part of the paunch, not to the lower
or greater curvature, so that a free fold of the omentum is spread
over the paunch between it and the abdominal muscles: the posterior
fold of the omentum is attached to the left side or contour of the
paunch, whence it is continued upon the fourth cavity, che duodenum
and pancreas, and so on to the right crus of the diaphragm, forming
one of the strong suspensory ligaments: the left lumbar attachment
is continued more immediately from the long intra-abdominal ceso-
phagus and back part of the paunch and reticulum.
The paunch is sub-bifid, or divided into two principal chambers.
The villi of its inner surface are intermediate in character between
those of the common Ox and those of the American Bison. ‘The
villi of the rumen of the Ox are comparatively large, coarse, flat-
tened, but pointed, except near the reticulum, where they assume
the form of laminz with irregular jagged margins. In the American
Bison they are longer, and for the most part filiform, and conse-
quently more numerous. In the Aurochs the villi are shorter than
in the Bison, and broader, being compressed and clavate, terminating
in an even rounded margin: they are smaller and more numerous
than in the common Ox. The relative position, size, and mode of
intercommunication of the four divisions of the ruminating stomach
offer no noticeable differences from that of the common Ox: but
the disposition of the lining membrane of the second cavity (reticu-
lum or honeycomb-bag) offers as marked a difference as that noticed
on the inner surface of the paunch. In the common Ox the cells of
the reticulum are deeper than in any Ruminant excepting the Camel-
tribe, and they are of two kinds in respect of their size: the larger
cells are disposed between broad parallel septa, and are formed by
narrower septa at right angles to these: the smaller cells are sub-
divisions of the larger or primary cells.
In the Bison only one kind of hexagonal cells can properly be re-
cognized, and their walls are of equal depth as a general rule: the
folds developed from the bottom of these cells are much narrower,
shorter, and more irregular than those that mark out the secondary
cells in the common Ox. The lamine of the third cavity (psalterium)
are of two kinds, large and small; the larger kind presenting two
sizes which alternate with one another; but between each of the
broader or larger kind of lamine one of the smaller kind intervenes :
their surfaces are papillose, but the papille are shorter than in the
common Ox, which presents a similar arrangement of the laminz.
eS
Zoological Society. 291
A thick epithelium lines the whole of the three cavities above-de-
scribed, as in other Ruminants. The lining membrane of the fourth
or true digesting cavity was rather more vascular than usual: the
almost smooth mucous membrane is produced into subparallel oblique
folds 14 inch in breadth at its cardiac half: these subside towards
the pyloric half, where the chief object is the valvular protuberance
which overhangs the aperture leading into the duodenum. The
duodenum bends backwards and turns down abruptly before gaining
the left lumbar region ; then bends upwards and towards the left side,
where it becomes free and carries out a complete investment from
the mesentery : in the previous part of its course it is closely attached
to the adjoining intestines. The principal mass of the small intes-
tines lies dorsal and sacral of the enormous stomach, disposed in
short coils upon the mesentery ; they measured 132 feet in length.
The ilium terminates in the cecum in the right lumbar region.
The cecum is a simple, cylindrical, non-sacculated gut, about twice
the diameter of the ilium ; it is bent upon the beginning of the colon,
to which it is attached.
The colon describes an arch at its commencement, ascending from
the right side, and curving over to the left behind the paunch, then
winding to the right again, and describing the series of subspiral
folds characteristic of this gut in the Ruminants. The rectum de-
scends nearly along the bodies of the lumbar and sacral vertebrz to
the anus. The total length of the large intestines was twenty-one
feet. The liver was proportionally small, and consisted chiefly of
one lobe, as in other Ruminants ; not extending into the left epigas-
trium. There is a small lobulus Spigelit on the right and posterior
border.
The gall-bladder, large and full, protruded from a fissure in the
right side of the liver: its duct receives four or five tributary ducts
before it unites with the proper hepatic duct, which brings the bile
from the left part of the liver. The ductus communis choledochus
enters the duodenum where it forms its first bend.
The pancreas lies below the liver, with its larger end across the
last dorsal vertebra, and its narrower prolongation accompanying the
duodenum ; the duct terminates in that intestine about eight inches
beyond the biliary inlet. The kidneys consisted each of about twenty
distinct lobes or renules. ‘The more compact suprarenal bodies also
miunifested a subdivided outer surface.
The above portions of the notes of the dissection of the male Au-
rochs include all that appeared to be in any degree characteristic
of the species, or affording any discriminative characters, as com-
pared with its nearest congeners. The thoracic viscera, as far as
their morbid condition permitted the comparison, were like those of
the common Ox. I do not remember to have been so much im-
pressed in former dissections of Ruminants with the beautiful adap-
tation of the parts exterior to the large and cumplex stomach, to its
support and the facilitating its movements. Much of what is ordi-
nary inelastic aponeurotic tissue in the abdominal parietes of many
292 Zoological Society.
other quadrupeds, e. g. the larger Carnivora, is metamorphosed into
the yellow elastic tissue—tissu jaune—in the Aurochs, as in the
common Ox, and in a still greater degree in the Rhincceros and
Elephant. By this change the abdominal muscles are proportionally
relieved or aided in the sustentation of the capacious and heavily-
laden digestive reservoirs.
In the Aurochs, as in the other Ruminants, the disposition of the
omental sac upon the sternal aspect of the paunch, interposed between
it and the abdominal walls, makes it perform the office of a serous
articular sac, two smooth and lubricated surfaces—the inner ones of
the sac—being apposed to each other, and easily and freely gliding
on each other; it is like a kind cf great ‘tunica vaginalis ’"—facili-
tating the spiral peristaltic movements of the paunch, and by the
layer of fat tending to preserve the warmth of the paunch.
The skeleton of the Aurochs has been well delineated by Bojanus,
in connection with an outline of the entire animal, and by Mr. George
Landseer separately. The general characters of the framework of this
rare species are very accurately rendered in both these figures. The
skeleton of the young male Aurochs showed the same characteristic
elevation of the spinous processes of the anterior dorsal vertebre,
and the same characteristic number of ribs—fourteen pairs—which
are shown in the above-cited figures, and which repeated examina-
tion has established as constant peculiarities of the species. With
regard to the lengthened spines, I shall only remark on this inter-
esting morphological peculiarity, that it contributes to illustrate the
artificial nature of that view of the part commonly called rib, or ver-
tebral rib, as a bone or element of the skeleton, apart from or be-
longing to a distinct genus from the other vertebral elements. This
view originally arose from the contemplation of the proportions of
the ribs or pleurapophyses and spinous processes as they exist in Man.
A long and slender form is associated with the idea of a rib as an
essential character. In the Aurochs we see that the vertebral ele-
ment called neural spine is longer than the pleurapophysis in the
second and third dorsal vertebree. But it is anchylosed to the other
vertebral elements, whilst the pleurapophyses retain their primitive
freedom, and the dorsal vertebrz are characterized as ‘ articulating
with the ribs.’ This, however, is a periodic, not an essential character.
At an early period of life the cervical vertebre also articulate with
ribs, 2. e. pleurapophyses ; but these become broad and remain short,
and coalesce with the centrums and diapophyses of their respective
vertebre ; and the anthropotomist then calls them ‘ transverse pro-
cesses, and distinguishes them as being perforated, the foramen
being the space included between the centrum, the diapophysis, and
the pleurapophysis.
Another remark is suggested by the skeleton of the Aurochs,
touching the true value of the character of its fourteenth pair of free
pleurapophyses. In the genus Bos proper there are only thirteen
pairs. In the American Bison there are fifteen pairs. According to
the artificial character in anatomy of the ‘ dorsal vertebrz,’ the above-
Zoological Society. 293
cited Bovide have been supposed to differ actually in the number of
their vertebre, whereas this is absolutely the same in each of them;
after the seven cervical vertebre there are nineteen true vertebrz,
2. e. nineteen vertebre between the last cervical and the sacral ver-
tebre. Inthe embryos of many Ungulates, rudiments of ribs (pleur-
apophyses) are found moveably attached to vertebrae, to which they
afterwards become anchylosed, and accordingly are called lumbar
vertebree. In the Aurochs these elements retain their freedom and
growth in one more vertebra than in the common Ox; in the Bison
two more vertebra have moveable pleurapophyses. Accordingly we
find that if the common Ox has but thirteen dorsal vertebre, it has
six lumbar vertebre; if the Aurochs has fourteen dorsal, it has five
lumbar ; and if the Bison has fifteen dorsal vertebre, it has but four
lumbar. But the unity of the numerical character of the true ver-
tebrze does not stop here ; for when we find, e. g. in the Dromedary,
the Camel, the Llama, and the Vicugna, only twelve dorsal vertebre,
the typical nineteen is completed by seven lumbar vertebre; and
this number is never surpassed in the Ruminants. Most of the species
agree with the common Ox in the number of the true vertebre that
retain their pleurapophyses in moveable connection. The Reindeer
and the Giraffe resemble the Aurochs in having fourteen dorsal ver-
tebre. But what perhaps is still more interesting and usefully in-
structive as to the true affinities of the hoofed quadrupeds with toes
in even number, is the fact, that besides their common possession of
a complex stomach and simple cecum, of a peculiar form of astra-
galus, of a femur with two trochanters, and of a symmetrical pattern
of the grinding surface of the molar teeth, they also agree, as I have
shown in my paper on the genus Hyopotamus, in having nineteen
natural segments of the skeleton, neither more nor less, between the
neck and the pelvis. The Babiroussa, the African Wart-hogs (Pha-
cocherus), and the extinct Anoplotherium, resemble the majority of
Ruminants in having thirteen dorsals and six lumbars; the Wild Boar
and the Peccari resemble the Aurochs in having fourteen dorsals and
five lumbars ; the Hippopotamus resembles the Bison in having fifteen
dorsals and four lumbars.
This constancy in the number of the true vertebrz in the Artio-
dactyle Ungulates is the more remarkable, and demonstrative of their
natural co-affinity, by contrast with the variable number of those
vertebre in the odd-toed or Perissodactyle group, in which we find
twenty-two dorso-lumbar vertebre in the Rhinoceros, twenty-three
in the Tapir and Paleotherium, and as many as twenty-nine in the
little Hyrax.
With regard to the vertebre of the trunk of the Aurochs, I may
remark, that the only accessory process in addition to the ordinary
zygapophyses and diapophyses is the metapophysis, which appears
as a stout tubercle above the diapophysis in the middle dorsals, and
gradually advances and rises upon the anterior zygapophyses in the
posterior dorsal and lumbar vertebree. This process is developed to
an equality of length with the spinous processes in the Armadillos.
294 Zoological Society.
It is commonly associated with another accessory exogenous process,
to which I have given the name ‘ anapophysis ’ in the Catalogue of
the Osteological Series in the Royal College of Surgeons. ‘his
process, which in most of the Rodentia rises, at first, in common
with the metapophysis, as a tubercle above the diapophysis, separates
from the metapophysis as the vertebre approach the pelvis, and in
the lumbar series the anapophysis is seen projecting backwards from
the base, or a little above the base of the diapophysis, its office being
usually that of underlapping the anterior zygapophysis of the suc-
ceeding vertebre, and strengthening the articulation, whence Cuvier
has alluded to it as an accessory articular process; but its relation
to the zygapophysial joint is an occasional and not a constant cha-
racter. The tenth dorsal vertebra of the Saw-toothed Seal, Steno-
rhynchus serridens, affords a good example of well-developed metapo-
physes; they are also large in most of the trunk vertebre of the
Tapir. The anapophyses are well-developed in the anterior lumbar
vertebra of the Hare and Rabbit.
I have been induced to make this digression at the request of some
of my anatomical friends, who have desired me to publish definitions
of the terms, or rather of the processes so termed.
Returning to the Aurochs, I shall conclude with some remarks,
which the opportunity of dissecting the recent animal enables me to
offer, respecting the true structure of the bones of the fore-foot (fig. 1)
and hind-foot (fig. 2). ;
The carpus (fig. 1) consists, as in other Ruminants, of six bones,
four in the proximal row, viz. scaphoides (s), lunare (/), cuneiforme
(c), pisiforme (p) ; and two in the second row, the magnum (m) and
the unciforme (wu).
The os magnum supports that half of the cannon-bone which
answers to the metacarpal of the digitus medius (11). The unci-
forme supports the other moiety which answers to the metacarpus
of the digitus annularis (1v). ‘The rudiment of the proximal end of
the metacarpus of the digitus index (11) articulates with a part of the
os magnum, which may therefore be regarded as a connate trape-
zoides. ‘The rudiment of the proximal end of the metacarpal of the
digitus minimus (v) articulates with the cuneiforme, and is applied
to the ulnar end of the unciforme.
The distal rudiments of the two abortive digits (11) and (v) are re-
presented by a middle phalanx (2) and ungual phalanx (3), supported
by fascize extending from the proximal rudiments of their metacarpals,
and also by ligaments attaching them to the large trochlear sesamoids
behind the metacarpo-phalangeal joints of the two normal digits
(111 and rv). These have each three phalanges (1, 2, 3) forming
almost symmetrical pairs, with a large sesamoid (s) behind the distal
joint.
‘ The hind. feet (fig. 2) are longer and more slender than the fore-
feet, the greater length being chiefly due to the coalesced metatarsals.
The tarsus includes five bones; it seems to consist of six, but the
ossicle (67) wedged between the tibia (66), caleaneum (c/), and astra-
Zoological Society. 295
galus (a), is the distal epiphysis of the fibula, and the sole represen-
tative of that bone. The astragalus and calcaneum conform to the
ordinary Ruminant type ; according to which, also, the naviculare (s)
and cuboid (8) are confluent. The ectocuneiform (ce) is a broad flat
bone supporting the moiety of the cannon-bone which answers to
the digitus medius (77): a small round sesamoid (s) at the back of
this joint has not sufficiently distinctive characters to carry convic-
tion as to its special homology. ‘The outer half of the cannon-bone,
or metatarsal of the fourth toe (iv), articulates with the cuboid part
of the scapho-cuboid bone. The second digit (#7) and fifth digit (v)
are represented solely by the rudiments of their middle and ungual
phalanges (2 & 3). There are two large trochlear sesamoids (s)
behind the metatarso-phalangeal joints of the two fully-developed
Bisel. Fig. 2.
Bones of fore-foot (Bison europeus). Bones of hind-foot (Bison europeus).
toes (aii & iv), and one sesamoid behind the last joint of the same
toes.
In most artificially-prepared skeletons of Ruminants, more or less
of the small bones, often regarded as accessory, are lost ; but they are
really for the most part beautifully indicative of traces of adherence
to the archetype, and I have on that account particularized them in
this notice of the anatomy of the Aurochs.
296 Miscellaneous.
Measurements of the Trunk of the Aurochs.
Inches.
Length of vertebral column from the atlas to the sixth caudal
vertebra, measured across the diapophyses .......... 81
Length of vertebral column over the neural spines ...... 88
Length of cervical region over the diapophyses.......... 17
Length of dorsal region GULEO | he Eset ns es eats 6 ree
Mength of lumbar resion),;, (ditto e-e2 fe welsh taieve ge = Peace 13
Length of sacral and six caudal ditto ................ 21
Wepth of spine of seventh, ceryieal fas. '5) eee else ae 8
Depth of spine of first, second and third dorsal, being the
three longest, (Cneh a aii). cies. ou sine attee = otal ae 11
eng th Ol frst TID yo. bl) cheysies: bis 1s ee ee eee ey eee 9
Length of ninth, or the longest 22.6 Saree snc eee 183
Seven ribs articulate by separate hemapophyses to the sternum.
Length of diapophysis of fourth lumbar, or the longest .. 43
Breadth of atlas across the neural arch................ 7
Extreme breadth across the spines of the ilia .......... 14
Extreme breadth across the pubis, from the inner edge of
eacmacetaDUlum jc, «o's es ya wine hata coco isleteieto Wee ean
MISCELLANEOUS.
On the Velvet-like Periostraca of Trigona. By J. E. Gray, Esq.
In my account of the species of the genus Trigona of Megerle, I
mentioned that several species were covered with a velvet-like
silvery coat hiding the surface of the horny periostraca.
When this coat is minutely examined, it is found to be formed of
numerous elongated spicula of a uniform length placed side by side
perpendicular to the surface of the periostraca, so as to form a pile
like velvet or plush. The length of the spicula, and consequently
the thickness of the coat, increases towards the margin of the shell.
This coat is generally rubbed off from the more convex part of the
specimens which have not been very carefully preserved, but in such
examples it is usually to be found near the edge of the valves, or on
the lunule and other sunken portions of the surface.
The Rey. Dr. Fleming has lately drawn my attention to the fact,
that these spicula are siliceous and similar to those of siliceous
sponges ; indeed Dr. Fleming is inclined to regard the velvet-like coat
as a species of Halichondria parasitic on the shell rather than as a
portion of the periostraca itself; and Dr. George Johnson of Ber-
wick, who examined Dr. Fleming’s specimen with me, is inclined to
take the same view of the question.
With these authorities opposed to my view I have reconsidered
the question, but I am still inclined to believe that I am correct in
considering the spicula as part of the shell formed by the animal as
it produces the periostraca on the edge of the shell, and offer the
following reasons in support of this conclusion :—
Ist. This kind of coat is found on several species of the genus
which inhabit different parts of the world.
Miscellaneous. 297
2nd. That the coat is uniformly spread over the whole surface of
the shell ; in all parts of the shell itis only formed of a single series
of spicula placed side by side parallel to each other and perpendi-
cular to the surface of the shell, and that the spicula gradually in-
crease in length, and consequently the coat in thickness, as the shell
increases in size and thickness.
3rd. That this velvet-like coat bears no resemblance to any spe-
cimens of sponge that have come under my examination ; the spicula
are not interwoven or felted together, but are placed parallel to each
other in a most uniform manner; and the coat always presents a
uniform and even surface, and never shows any inclination to form
prominences or branches on the surface, which is the habit of all the
sponges I have seen which envelope and are parasitic on shells or
other marine animals.
4th. Our previous knowledge of the ceconomy of Mollusca has
prepared us to believe that they can secrete siliceous bodies and
form appendages on the surface of the periostraca separate from the
body of the shell. Mr. Hancock has shown that the teeth on the
tongue of various Gasteropodous Mollusca are siliceous, and he has
shown that the surface of the foot and of various parts of the mantle
of different acephalous and gasteropodous Mollusca is studded with
siliceous granules, by which these animals are enabled to rasp away
the surface of different marine bodies.
Well-preserved specimens of Lucina pennsylvanica have each of the
concentric ridges which ornament the surface of the shell fringed
with a membranaceous or semicartilaginous expansion, which is
edged with a series of most beautiful, regular, thick, convex, pearl-
like pieces of shell, and the concentric ridges which cross the whorls
of the outer surface of the horny operculum of Liopa (Delphinula, sp.
Lam.) are fringed with beautiful regular subglobular pieces of shell.
I may further observe, that the outer surface of the periostraca of
many shells, both univalve and bivalve, is often covered with short
crowded hair-like processes forming a velvety outer coat, as is easily
seen in various species of Pectunculus, Buccinum, Triton, &c.
I am therefore inclined to believe that in these Trigone every layer
or line of periostraca which is added to the edge of the one before
deposited is furnished with a series of erect siliceous spicula, which,
in conjunction with those previously deposited, form the velvet-like
coat of the periostraca found in that genus of bivalve shells.
Though I am not willing to adopt the views of my friends Drs.
Fleming and Johnson, yet I think that the discovery of the velvet-
like coat of the Trigona being formed of siliceous spicula, is a most
interesting addition to our knowledge of the ceconomy of Mollusca.
THE TORTOISE-SHELL OF CELEBES™.
Amongst the more valuable of the commodities which the enter-
prising and industrious Bugis annually bring to us from Celebes and
* Translated from the ‘ Verhandelingen van het Bataviaash Genootschap
van Kunsten en Wetenschappen,’ vol. xvii. p. i.
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. iv. 20
298 Miscellaneous.
other eastern islands, tortoise-shell holds one of the first places. The
quantity imported into Singapore sometimes rises above 13,000 and
sometimes sinks below 7000 lbs., but the average, one year with
another, is about 10,000lbs. The following account by Mr.
Vosmaer of its collection by the Orang Bajo of the south-eastern
peninsula of Celebes will interest our readers.
The Orang Bajo distinguish four principal kinds of Tortoise, and
name them Kulitan, Akung, Boko, and Ratu. The first-named is
the kind which, on account of its costly shell, is the most prized. It
is the so-named Karet tortoise. The shell or back of this creature
is covered with thirteen shields or blades, which lie regularly on each
other in the manner of scales, five on the middle of the back and four
on the sides ; these are the plates which furnish such costly tortoise-
shell to art. The edge of the scale or of the back is further covered
with twenty-five thin pieces joined to each other, which in commerce
are known under the appellation of feet or noses of the tortoise. ‘The
value of the tortoise-shell depends on the weight and quality of each
head, under which expression is understood the collective tortoise-
shell belonging to one and the same animal, which is the article of
commerce so much in request both for the Chinese and European
markets.
Tortoise-shells which have white and black spots that touch each
other, and are as much as possible similar on both sides of the blade,
are, in the eyes of the Chinese, much finer, and are on that account
more greedily monopolized by them, than those which want this pecu-
liarity, and are on the contrary reddish, more damasked than spotted,
possess little white, or whose colours, according to their taste, are
badly distributed. ‘The caprice of the Chinese makes them some-
times value single heads at unheard-of prices, namely such as pass
under the name of white heads, which they also distinguish by pe-
culiar names. It is almost impossible to give an accurate descrip-
tion of these kinds, and of their subdivisions, for these depend on
many circumstances which remain inappreciable to our eyes. It is
therefore enough for me to remark on this subject, that such heads
as, possessing the above-named qualities, are very white on the
blades, and have the outer rim of each blade to the breadth of two
or three fingers wholly white, and the weight of which amounts to
24 catties (qualities which are seldom found united), may be valued
at one thousand guilders and upwards. The feet of the tortoise-shell
are only destined for the Chinese market ; whenever the two hinder
pieces are sound and have the weight of + catty or thereabouts,
which is very seldom the case, they may reach the value of fifty
guilders and more. The whole shell of a tortoise seldom weighs
more than three catties, notwithstanding it is asserted that there
sometimes occur heads of four and five catties. Tortoise-shells are
also sometimes found, of which the shell, instead of thirteen blades,
consists of a single undivided blade ; the Orang Bajos call this kind,
which very seldom occurs, Lojong.
The Akung alsq; furnishes tortoise- shell (Karet), but the shell
being thin, and of a poor quality, much less value is attached to it.
Miscellaneous. 299
The Boko is the same as that which is called Panju by the Malays.
It is the common sea-tortoise, which is of no other use than to be
eaten. To these sorts the Panjubui ought to be added, being the
common tortoise with a thick shell, like that of the proper tortoise,
but of poor quality and therefore of trifling value ; so also the Akung
Boko, which is. distinguished from the common Boko by its much
larger head.
The Ratu, lastly, furnishes a sort which is distinguished by its
peculiarly great size, the Orang Bajos asserting that it is usually
twice as big as the largest tortoise-shell tortoise, and therefore 5 to
6 feet long, and even more.
The usual modes by which the Orang Bajos catch the tortoise
are principally by the hadung, the harpoon and the net; to these we
add the simplest of all, namely falling upon the females when they
resort to the strand to lay their eggs. ‘This is also the most usual,
[ may almost say the only way, by which the inhabitants of the
coast catch this animal. They need nothing more, than, as soon as
they have got the creature, to turn it on its back, when, unable to
turn itself again, it remains lying helpless in their power. It some-
times also falls into the hands of the dwellers on the coast through
means of their fishing-stakes, into which it enters like the fish, and
from which it can find no outlet, but remains imprisoned in the
inner-most chamber.
Whenever the Orang Bajos have caught a tortoise, they kill it
immediately, by bestowing some blows upon the head. ‘They then
take its upper shield, or the back itself quite off, being the only thing
about the animal which is of value. ‘he tortoise-shell adhering so
fast to the shield, that, if they at once pulled it off, there would be
danger of tearing the shells, they usually wait three days, during
which time the soft parts become decomposed and the shells are
loosened with little trouble. When they wish to remove the shell
immediately after the capture, they separate it by means of boiling
water. They also often accomplish this object by the heat of a fire,
in the application of which, however, a danger is run of injuring the
shell by burning it, for which reason this mode is only adopted by
those who do not know its value. —Journal of the Indian Archipelago
and Eastern Asia, April 1849.
Notice of some Mollusca recently taken by George Barlee, Esq., off
Lerwick, and exhibited at the Meeting of the British Association for
the Advancement of Science, 17th Sept. 1849. By J. G. Jerrreys,
Esq., F.R.S.
Diphyllidia lineata, Otto. New to the British seas, but (according
to M. Milne-Edwards) only one-fourth the usual size.
Rissoa eximia, nov. sp. Shell oblong, rather solid, white. Whorls 5,
the last equal in length to all the rest, rather swollen and ribbed
longitudinally. The ribs are sharp, deep, and curved in the direction
of the spire. ‘There are about twelve of therm on the last or body
whorl. The two first whorls are destitute of ribs or any markings.
20%
300 Miscellaneous.
These ribs are crossed in the middle of each of the last three whorls
by other spiral ribs, of which there are three on the last, two on the
next, and one on the middle whorl. The spiral or transverse ribs are
only half the width and thickness of the longitudinal ribs. Base of
the last whorl smooth. Suture deep and distinct, giving the spire
rather a turreted appearance. Aperture oval, simple, contracted at
the upper angle and smooth within. There is a slight fold on the
pillar, forming behind it a small umbilicus. Length ~4, breadth {5
of an inch. Somewhat resembles Odostomia pupa of Searles Wood
in markings, and Rissoa Zetlandica in form.
Fusus Berniciensis. From the hooks on fishing lines in deep water.
Rostellaria Pescarbonis, Sow.
Scissurella crispata. Alive, adhering to stones like Hmarginula.
The shell has no operculum, but it is to be regretted that Mr. Bar-
lee did not observe the animal.
Tellina balaustina. One specimen, half-grown.
Descriptions of new Freshwater Shells. By 'T. A. Conran.
The following new freshwater shells from Georgia were kindly
lent me for description by J. Hamilton Couper, Esq.
Unio.
U. securiformis. Suborbicular, thick, compressed ; valves slightly
convex ; umbo flattened, marked with obtuse, narrow, divaricated
plaits ; plaits on the lower half of the valves obscure and interrupted ;
umbonial slope rounded; posterior slope with strong oblique plaits
towards the apex; beaks eroded; epidermis black; within white ;
cardinal teeth large, direct, profoundly sulcated. 14: 14.
Inhabits Flint River, Georgia.
U. stagnalis. Widely elliptical, ventricose, rather thin; towards
the posterior extremity very thin and fragile; anteriorly regularly
rounded ; posteriorly somewhat pointed, with an acutely rounded ex-
tremity; basal margin regularly curved; summits prominent, eroded;
posterior margin very oblique and nearly straight ; epidermis ochra-
ceous and olivaceous ; rays green, not very distinct on the middle
and anterior side, but more so posteriorly, some rather broad, others
linear ; posterior slope dark-coloured, rayed ; within white and highly
iridescent posteriorly ; cardinal teeth much compressed and oblique,
double in each valve; lateral teeth very slightly curved, finely gra-
nulated. 34.
Inhabits mill-ponds ; Ogeechee River, Georgia.
U. Ogeecheensis. Elliptical, thin, inflated ; posterior side some-
what pointed, extremity subangular ; valves slightly contracted from
beak to base; summits rather prominent, decorticated, slightly un-
dulated ; epidermis ochraceous with interrupted green rays, some of
them broad; within white, highly iridescent posteriorly; cardinal
teeth obiique, compressed ; lateral teeth rectilinear. 3.
Inhabits Ogeechee River, Georgia.
Allied to the preceding, but has a lighter-coloured epidermis with
Miscellaneous. 301
more distinct rays, and is proportionally longer ; the cardinal tooth in
the left valve is longer and less lobed, and the lateral teeth are
straight, without granules, and less oblique than in the preceding
species, which is a larger shell.
U. oratus. Widely elliptical, ventricose, gaping at both ends;
posterior gape wide; anterior extremity rather acutely rounded ;
posterior margin sinuous, extremity subangular ; basal margin form-
ing a nearly regular curve; summits prominent ; umbo and beak
eroded ; epidermis ochraceous, polished ; cardinal teeth compressed,
oblique; lateral teeth straight; within white, much stained with
waxen yellow. 3}.
Inhabits Flint River, Georgia.
This shell has the polished epidermis of U. cariosus, but is with-
out aray. It is longer in proportion than that species, with very
different cardinal teeth, which are much nearer parallel with the
margin aboye; the shell also gapes far wider in the only specimen
I have seen.
U. rosaceus. Widely elliptical, ventricose above ; posterior mar-
gin obliquely truncated, slightly sinuous; extremity subangular or
acutely rounded ; epidermis ochraceous and dark brown ; rays indi-
stinct, frequently broad, but composed of fasciculi of lines; surface
with fine radiating wrinkles; within deep rose-purple ; cardinal
teeth prominent, oblique, compressed, trifid, or three teeth in the left
valve. 3%.
Inhabits Savannah River.
Allied to U. ochraceus, Say.
U. contrarius. Elliptical, moderately thick; valves somewhat
flattened or plano-convex; umbo and beak not prominent, much
eroded ; umbonial slope acutely rounded; posterior margin straight
above, truncated, direct; epidermis deep ochraceous, with linear
radiating wrinkles, and obscurely rayed about the umbo ; within pale
flesh-colour stained with waxen yellow; cardinal teeth direct, thick,
sulcated, not very prominent; lateral teeth reversed, or the double
tooth in the right valve. 3 1-5.
Inhabits the Ogeechee River.
U. nucleopsis. Obtusely subovate, slightly oblique, thick, not
ventricose; umbonial slope rounded; posterior slope with a few
obscure plaits ; posterior margin subtruncated ; basal margin slightly
tumid near the middle ; epidermis ochraceous, with a series of green
spots along the umbonial slope ; posterior slope obsoletely striated ;
within bluish white; cardinal teeth thick, direct, single in the right
valve. 11.
Inhabits Etowah River.
U. limatulus. Subelliptical, convex; posterior side somewhat
pointed ; umbonial slope angular ; posterior slope subcarinated in the
middle ; posterior margin obliquely truncated ; extremity truncated,
direct; basal margin regularly rounded; beaks not prominent, eroded;
epidermis highly polished, dark brown and ochraceous, obscurely
302 ; Miscellaneous.
rayed; within flesh-colour or pale salmon; cardinal teeth oblique,
compressed, double in each valve; lateral teeth long, slightly
curved. 2.
Inhabits Savannah River.
U. aratus. ‘Trapezoidal, thick; valves flattened on the sides,
slightly contracted, marked with irregular arched, obtuse, inter-
rupted folds, extending from the beaks nearly to the base ; umbonial
slope angular; posterior slope plicated; beaks not prominent, pro-
foundly eroded; ligament margin elevated; posterior extremity
truncated obliquely inwards; basal margin contracted; epidermis
nearly black; within white, with a purple margin; cardinal teeth
direct, very thick, sulcated ; lateral teeth slightly arched.
Inhabits Flint River, Georgia.
Allied to U. Sloatianus and trapezoides, Lea.
Marearitana, Schum.
M. Etowaensis. Oblong-ovate, thin and fragile, widely contracted
from beak to base; umbonial slope ventricose, with a plano-convex
or flattened surface ; ligament margin rather elevated ; posterior sub-
margin slightly concave ; umbonial slope angular posteriorly ; beaks
eroded ; posterior extremity angular; margin rounded towards the
base ; basal margin subrectilinear ; within bluish and purplish, irides-
cent ; cardinal tooth in the right valve rather long, oblique, com-
pressed, curved, prominent ; in the opposite valve the tooth is widely
bifid, the posterior lobe pyramidal.
Inhabits Etowah River.
Allied to M. Raveneliana, Lea.
MELANIA.
M. celatura. Ovate-oblong, turreted ; volutions 6, with longi-
tudinal ribs and unequal prominent revolving lines, subnodulous
where they cross the ribs; the ribs on the body whorl do not reach
the middle; the colour ochraceous and brown; aperture narrow,
elliptical ; labium with interior brown bands; superior part of colu-
mella somewhat callous.
Inhabits Savannah River.
M. perangulata. Subulate; volutions 9 or 10, with an acutely
carinated angle onall except the body whorl, which is subcarinated ;
on each whorl of the spire is a revolving granulated line above the
carina; colour olive-brown.
Inhabits Savannah River.
M. nebulosa. Elongate-conoidal ; volutions 6 or 7, with revolving
raised lines; whorls of the spire carinated below the middle, above
which they are longitudinally ribbed, and have two or-three revolving
granulated lines; granules compressed; aperture widely elliptical ;
colour ochraceous, with brownish black stains. y
Inhabits Savannah River.
M. percarinata. Elongate-conoidal ; volutions of the spire with
a carinated line below the middle, and a revolving granulated line
above ; body whorl with a granulated revolving line near the suture,
Meteorological Observations. 303
and three carinated lines, the superior one largest, the lower one fine ;
colour dark olive-brown.
Inhabits Savannah River.
M. symmetrica, Subulate; whorls 9, slightly convex, with lon-
gitudinal, slightly curved, narrow ribs, interrupted near the suture
by a revolving granulated line ; ribs on the body whorl not extending
as far as the middle; margin of labrum profoundly rounded; colour
ochraceous and black.
Inhabits Savannah River.
Near the apex two or three volutions have a fine, granulated,
carinated line.
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR AUG. 1849.
Chiswick.— August 1. Very fine: clear. 2. Very fine: slight rain. 3. Slight
rain : overcast: cold at night. 4. Clear and fine. 5. Fine: cloudy. 6. Cloud~-
less: very fine. 7. Fine: overcast: rain. 8. Clear: very fine: lightning. 9.
Foggy: very fine: heavy showers. 10. Hazy: very fine: clear, 11. Clear:
cloudy: rain, 12. Overcast: clear: rain. 13. Showery. 14. Cloudy and fine.
15. Very fine. 16. Showery: very clear atnight. 17—19. Fine. 20. Cloudy.
21—23. Very fine. 24. Very fine: hazy. 25. Uniformly overcast: very fine.
26,27. Very fine. 28. Very fine: slight rain at night. 29. Overcast. 30.
Dry haze: rain at night. 31. Hazy: cloudy and fine.
Mean temperature of the month ..........ssssseseeeeseseees G2) ON
Mean temperature of Aug. 1848 ..........sceeeees eevecenaneet 58 °74
Mean temperature of Aug. for the last twenty-three years 62 *18
Average amount of rain in August ...... Moleeeesolgasieecinscees 2°41 inches,
Boston.— Aug. 1. Fine. 2. Fine: rain p.m. 3. Cloudy. 4. Fine. 5—7.
Cloudy. 8. Cloudy: rain early a.m.: thermometer 79° 3 p.m. 9. Fine: rain
pM 10,11. Cloudy: raine.m. 12. Fine. 13. Cloudy: rain p.m. 14. Cloudy.
15. Fine. 16. Cloudy. 17. Fine. 18. Cloudy: rain a.m. 19. Fine. 20—
23. Cloudy. 24—26. Fine. 27—29. Cloudy. SO. Cloudy: rain p.m. 31. Fine.
Applegarth Manse, Dumfries-shire—Aug. 1. Fair. 2,3. Fair: a few drops p.m.
4. Fair and warm. 5, 6. Fair: warm: cloudy p.m. 7. Frequent showers. 8.
Fair and fine: beautiful day. 9. Very warm: thunder: showers. 10. Heavy
shower: very warm. 11. Very heavy rain: thunder. 12. Rain: river flooded.
13. Heavy rain. 14. Showers a.m.: cloudy p.m. 15. One shower: dull and
cloudy. 16. Heavy showers: hail. 17. Wet a.m.: fine: thunder p.m. 18. Fre-
quent showers. 19. Fair: calm: cloudy. 920. Fair and fine. 2i. Fair, but
dull and cloudy. 22. Light drizzling showers. 23. Showers frequent, not
heavy. 24. Fair, but cloudy. 25. Shower during night: cleared. 26. Showers
A.M.: fine. 27. Fair and bracing: barvest day. 28. Fair, but dull: rain p.m.
29. Fair and fine all day. 30. Rain throughout. 31. Fair and fine: dull:
cleared.
Mean temperature of the month .........+6+. pabusungoconicHodk Se SEF)
Mean temperature of Aug. 1848 .........sccscecessescecsecsceees ss
Mean temperature of Aug. for the last twenty-five years ... 57 *1
Mean rainjin Aug. for twenty years.............0.+-sersorssese 3°60 inches,
Sandwick Manse, Orkney.—Aug. 1. Drizzle. 2—4. Drizzle: showers. 5. Fog:
cloudy. 6. Fog. 7. Cloudy. 8. Rain: fog. 9. Hazy:fog. 10. Hazy:
cloudy. 11. Cloudy: rain. 12. Clear: clear,aurora. 19. Bright: clear. 14.
Drizzle: rain. 15. Clear. 16. Bright: cloudy. 17. Showers. 18. Bright:
cloudy a.m. 19. Damp: cloudy. 20. Drizzle: damp. 21. Rain: fine. 22.
Rain: clear. 23. Clear. 24. Clear: cloudy. 25. Rain. 26. Bright: showers.
27. Bright: cloudy. 28. Cloudy: showers. 29. Drizzle: damp. 30. Bright :
damp. 31. Clear: fine.
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AND
MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.
[SECOND SERIES.
No. 23. NOVEMBER 1849.
XXXI.—Notice of the occurrence on the British coast of a
Burrowing Barnacle belonging to a new Order of the Class
Cirripedia. By AtBpany Hancock, Esq.*
[ With two Plates. ]
I HAVE recently procured a very curious little animal belonging
to the class Cirripedia, interesting not only on account of its
modification of form, but also from its habit of burying itself in
the substance of dead shells. The first individuals obtained
were concealed in a broken specimen of Fusus antiquus procured
by the Rev. G. C. Abbes from the fishing boats at Whitburn in
the county of Durham, and fortunately preserved on account of
the fine specimens of Cliona gorgonioides which it contained.
Since then I have got this Cirripede alive from the boats at Cul-
lercoats, also in Fusus antiquus: it has likewise occurred in Buc-
cinum undatum from the same locality. And on breaking an old
specimen of the former, which has been many years in my col-
lection, it was found to have been extensively attacked by this
novel parasite. Indeed almost every dead specimen of the large
Fusus brought m by the fishermen from deep water is more or
less affected by it; and the only wonder is that it should have
remained so long undetected. ‘This perhaps may be explained
by the fact that this animal only attacks dead shells, and always,
as far as I have yet observed, from the inside, so that it is
scarcely to be seen until the shell is broken. The columella is
the chief seat of the ravages of this creature, though the sides of
the whorls do not by any means escape, especially if the indi-
viduals are numerous. When quite young they enter the sound
shell, and as they grow enlarge their residence, which is always
of the exact size and form of the tenant.
It is interesting to remark how completely this animal, toge-
* Read at the Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of
Science held at Birmingham, Sept. 12, 1849. _
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. iv. 21
é
oe
306 Mr. A. Hancock on a Burrowing Barnacle
ther with Cliona, destroys the shells of the larger mollusks of
our coast. Cliona enters by the outer surface of the living shell,
and rapidly spreads over the whorls; but it is not until after
death that the inner surface becomes much affected by it. Then
this Cirripede commences its ravages on the columella, which it
soon deprives of more than half its substance, and afterwards so
reduces it and the inner surface of the whorls, that this once
secure retreat of the mollusk, losing all power to resist external
forces, speedily becomes a crumbling ruin.
Little is to be seen externally,—a small sht in the shell or
matrix marks the position of the head (Pl. VIII. figs. 1 & 2).
This slit, which is one-eighth of an inch long, is rounded and
gradually enlarged towards one end, and tapers to a tolerably
fine point at the other, which is generally a little bent. At this
extremity the shell is mostly stained of a reddish hue (PI. VIII.
figs. 1 & 2.a)—the stain being well-defined and of an ovate or
fan-like form, increasing in size for about 5;4ths of an inch back-
wards, and having a few pale radiating lines, which converge
towards the slit ; on these lines there are a few minute punctures
irregularly distributed ; but whether for functional purposes, or
merely accidentally resulting from the close approximation of
the animal to the surface, could not be determined : they are not
unfrequently partially closed up with calcareous matter.
The stain is caused by the animal appearing through, which
les immediately below the surface of the matrix. This must be
broken before the animal (PI. VIII. figs. 3, 4, 5) can be removed,
and then it is found to be ;4,ths of an inch long, and 52,ths of an
inch wide at the broadest part, of an irregular ovate form consi-
derably depressed behind, 6, where it expands into a broad circular
disc ; and narrow and compressed in front, a, forming a sort of
produced neck or head with a longitudinal slit, c’, on the upper
surface ;—the general form resembling considerably a Roman
lamp, the slit representing the orifice for the passage of the wick.
The produced portion or head corresponds to the valvular part of
the pedunculate Cirripede, and contains the body and arms or
feet,—the slit beimg analogous to the usual opening for the pas-
sage of these prehensile organs: there are, however, no shelly
plates whatever, the mantle being soft, fleshy and highly con-
tractile, having the surface distinctly marked with fine longitu-
dinal muscular fibres below; this part arches deeply into the
matrix, and joms rather abruptly the under surface of the de-
pressed disc-like portion of the animal considerably behind the
posterior end of the longitudinal slit. The margins of this slit
are perfectly straight, thickened, and have somewhat the appear-
ance of horn, but cannot be considered as forming distinct plates,
though they compose, as it were, two valvular lips (figs. 3 & 5 c),
Pas ys ee
belonging to a new Order of the Class Cirripedia. 807
which can be closed or opened at the will of the animal ; in front
they gradually blend with the mantle, behind they are deeply
notched, and each terminates in a projecting, slightly curved
point, d. The external surface of these valvular lips is furnished
with numerous, minute, irregularly disposed, rather stout, curved
spines, very transparent and of a crystalline appearance. The
circular, depressed, dise-like portion of the animal, corresponding
to the pedicle of the pedunculate Barnacles, is slightly arched
below, where it is pale, soft, fleshy, and as highly contractile as
the anterior portion or head: the upper surface is flat, and has
in the centre a broadly ovate, horny plate (figs. 3 & 5 e), most
distinct in old individuals, but never entirely covering the part,
the margins always extending beyond it. This plate is of a red-
dish horn-colour, and is generally furnished with a few indistinct
radiating ridges and tubercles corresponding to the radiating
lines and punctures seen on the surface of the matrix.
The animal, as before stated, lies immediately below the sur-
face of the matrix, and is entirely free except at a point just be-
hind the slit, g, and in front of the horny plate where there is a
strong muscular attachment to the upper wall of the chamber.
The longitudinal opening of the animal corresponds to the slit
on the surface of the matrix: this opening is kept pretty accu-
rately plugged by the thickened valvular lps of the animal, ex-
cept when it is in watch for its prey, at which time a slight
opening in front permits the passage of the prehensile arms
(Pl. VIII. figs. 3,6 &-7f, d& e, and Pl. IX. fig. 1). These
occupy the same position within the head or neck as they do in
the valvular part of the pedunculate Cirripedes, beg placed
immediately in front of the mouth. They differ however consi-
derably from those of all other Cirripedes. The arms of this
animal are only six in number ; they are short and set im a circle
on the extremity of a soft, fleshy, cylindrical pedicle (fig. 6 ¢),
which is undoubtedly a prolongation of the true body of the
animal; the circle opens a little behind in the direction of the
mouth. The arms are each composed of three articulations, the
first or lowest being much the longest, the last the shortest ;
they are all furnished with afew hairs on the margins and extre-
mities : the four arms next the mouth have attached to their m-
ner margins at the junction of the first and second articulations
an oval cushion-like body (Pl. VIII. fig. 9, and Pl. IX. fig. 1 6)
placed longitudinally, and wrinkled transversely, most probably
for thé purpose of prehension. Immediately behind the arms pro-
jects a large conical body (Pl. VIII. fig. 6 f and fig. 7 a) con-
taining the mouth (fig. 6 e & fig. 7 ), which is placed near the
base in front towards the circle of arms. The greater portion of
21%
308 Mr. A. Hancock on a Burrowing Barnacle
this body is composed of the upper lip, which differs considerably
from that of the other Cirripedes. In this it is delicate and
horny, being enormously developed and surmounted by a sort of
rostrum (figs. 6 & 7 g & h), which projects upwards and forwards
and terminates in a slightly produced obtuse point ; the dorsal
margin (fig. 7c) is carinated and minutely denticulated. There
are three pairs of mandibles as im the other Cirripedes : the outer
pair, f, are each apparently composed of three articulations, the
third or terminal one being much compressed, forming an irre-
gular oval plate, with the upper end terminating in a tooth-lke
process curved inwards; the two other articulations are much
narrower, but on account of their minuteness and delicacy their
form could not be determined with accuracy. Only two articula-
tions were observed in the second pair of mandibles, g ; the imner
or first articulation is long, thin and straight, with the extremi-
ties enlarged, and of an irregular form ; the outer or second joint
is very similar to that of the outer pair; it is however provided
with two incurved teeth or spine-like processes at the upper ex-
tremity. The innermost or third pair of mandibles, /, are rather
wide, squarish plates with three or four stoutish hairs on their
upper margin.
At each side of the mouth there is a stout arm or palp (fig. 6 /
& fig. 7 dd) which stands erect and reaches a little above the
ridge of the rostrum ; the anterior margin of these arms is a
little convex, the posterior a little concave; and they are fur-
nished with stout, rather soft pincers about half the length of
the arm, covered with numerous long hairs: at the root of the
pincers there is an articulation, so that they can be either bent
forward or carried erect ; there is also apparently an imperfect
joint at the point where the arm joins the side of the mouth, but
this could not be determined with certainty, as the horny mem-
brane of the limb is so delicate that it is impossible to say whe-
ther the occasional flexure at this part is owing to its flexibility
or to an articulation. It is difficult to say whether these arms
represent what Dr. Martin-Saint-Ange names the jaw-feet im
the pedunculate Cirripedes, or the two minute processes that
are closely attached to the sides of the mouth in these animals,
and which are considered palps by some writers. They seem to
occupy the place of the latter, though from their form they have
much the appearance of rudimentary anterior feet of the higher
Crustacea.
On each side of the rostrum, extending backwards and a little
way below the carinated ridge, there is a series of rather close-
set, transverse plates or hairs (figs. 6 & 777) which taper towards
their points, and are stout at their origin, where they are slightly
ae’ =
belonging to a new Order of the Class Cirripedia. — 309
bifid, and exhibit for some distance upwards the appearance of
two channels (fig. 8). There can be little doubt that these or-
gans are for branchial purposes.
The chamber in which the animal is lodged is partially lined
with calcareous matter secreted by the tenant ; this lining is very
thin, and principally confined to the side walls of that part in
which the anterior portion of the animal is lodged: here the
lining gradually thickens as it approaches the margins of the slit,
aud passes a little beyond them, particularly towards its poste-
rior termination. On looking down upon the slit this shelly
lining (fig. 2) is seen distinctly projecting imwards from the
margins, and exhibiting two or three longitudinal ridges mark-
ing periods of growth, narrowing the opening backwards as the
increase of the animal requires the advancement of the aperture
in front. Shelly granules, d, may also occasionally be seen filling
up the curved posterior extremity of the slit.
Notwithstanding the abundance of this animal I have not yet
been able to investigate the internal anatomy, many specimens
having necessarily been destroyed in making the external exami-
nations, and others suffered in attempts to remove them from
their abode. This important part of the description must there-
fore for the present be left almost untouched.
The cloak below is free for a considerable way backwards ;
above, immediately behind the slit, it is united in front with the
true body of the animal, and behind, where the broad disc-like
expansion is covered with the horny plate, it blends with a
thickish layer of parenchymatous matter. The stomach is long
and narrow, and passing downwards and backwards from the
mouth bends rather suddenly forwards, and gradually tapering
is continued into the cylindrical, fleshy pedicle which supports
the arms, near to which it probably terminates. No caudal pro-
longation of this part was observed similar to that which is com-
mon to all the other Cirripedes ; the generative organs are there-
fore probably modified in this animal.
Adhering to the parenchymatous matter beneath the horny
plate the eggs are found spread out into a leaf-hke expansion
co-extensive with this part of the animal; but whether or not
this is really the ovarium could not be determined. It may be
that the eggs have reached this position in some such way as
they are supposed by certain writers to arrive in the pedicle of
the pedunculate Barnacles. However, in this animal it is certain
that the ova are never arranged in lamin at the base of the arms
as in the other Cirripedes, but that they are hatched in the posi-
tion in which they have just been described. Of this I have had
ocular proof.
In the early stages of development the eggs (Pl. IX. figs. 5
310 Mr. A. Hancock on a Burrowing Barnacle
& 6) are of a yellow ochre colour, and the yolk is round and
much smaller than the shell ; the yolk gradually assumes an ellip-
tical form and soon fills the shell, it afterwards becomes a little
flattened on one side (figs. 7 & 8), and by-and-by (figs. 9 & 10)
three processes develope themselves from this part; these pro-
cesses are the rudimentary arms: about this time a black spot,
the eye, makes its appearance towards one end, and at the other
the tail is seen to be forming ; afterwards these parts enlarge and
gradually put on their perfect forms, while the egg mass assumes
a full rose-colour.
On examining an individual im which the eggs had been ex-
posed, they were all found to be in a high state of development ;
on applymg a powerful lens, I was delighted to find that nearly
all the little creatures were alive, and most of them struggling
for liberty. I soon had the satisfaction to observe several dis-
engage themselves, and launch forth into the surrounding fluidd—
free, natatory Crustaceans. In the course of a few hours nearly
the whole were hatched, and the wine-glass in which they were,
exhibited a most animated scene. On holding it up to the light
they were quite visible to the unassisted eye as white points ; but
with ihe aid of a magnifying-glass their motions could be accu-
rately observed, and they were seen to resemble some of the En-
tomostraca ; their large, smgle eye and general conformation show-
ing their relationship to the genus Cyclops. They hung as it were
suspended in the water, and every now and then dashed rapidly
upwards with a fluttering, jerking motion. They commenced
their ascent with great abruptness, and as abruptly became qui-
escent again ; and once more hanging in the water were seen to
descend slowly and gradually with their feet spread out above
and their back’downwards. They seldom or never moved hori-
zontally, their chief object apparently being to ascend either per-
pendicularly or diagonally, and always in an inverted position.
On placing a few of these minute beings (PI. IX. figs. 2, 3 & 4)
under the microscope, each was found to be provided with a tail,
the body being ovate, broad and depressed, having on the back
an ovate shield tapering a little backwards and with a broad in-
terrupted Jine (figs. 2 & 4a) of bright rose-colour towards the
margins: it is to this line chiefly that the general mass of eggs
has a rosy hue as they approach maturity. The eye is large and
placed in the centre of the forehead ; it is of a very deep rose-
colour,—almost black in some lights. The tail is more than half
the length of the body, and passes from below the shield, and
appears to be composed of two or three articulations: at first it
is very stout, but rather suddenly narrowing, tapers gradually to
a tolerably fine point and arches upwards ; on the under surface,
at the point of contraction, there is a small curved spine. There
belonging to a new Order of the Class Cirripedia. 311
are three pairs of natatory legs placed well forwards and indi-
stinetly articulated ; the anterior pair are simple and furnished
with a few long sete at their extremities ; the other two pairs are
bifid, the anterior portion being much the stouter, and marked
with several indistinct close-set articulations towards the extre-
mity ; each articulation bearing on its posterior margin a long
seta: the posterior branch of the limb is also furnished with sete
at its extremity. On each side of the head there is a stout pro-
cess a little arched backwards with the pot obtuse; these I am
inclined to look upon as antenne, for they appear to arise from
the head beneath the shield, though this could not be determined
with certainty. It is possible enough that they are lateral pro-
longations of the shield, similar to the “anterior horns ” of the
larva of the pedunculate Cirripedes. Whether so or not, the
larva of this new animal may at once be distinguished from that
of this division of the Barnacles by the absence of the long spine
projecting from the posterior margin of the shield. In other
respects it evidently shows a strong general resemblance to the
‘larva of these animals.
The larva, then, as well as the characters of the animal itself,
proves it to be a true Cirripede, while, in the former, we see a
confirmation of the relationship shown by Thompson to exist
between these creatures and the Crustaceans. Indeed this ani-
mal in several particulars exhibits a very close approximation to
them. The shape of the arms or palps by the sides of the mouth
resembles not a little the mandibles of the Nymphons or the ante-
rior feet of some of the higher forms ; and the horny shield over-
lying the expanded portion of the animal gives somewhat the
idea of a rudimentary carapace : the rostrated upper lip, too, and
setaceous branchiz have likewise a very crustacean appearance.
In these particulars our new animal differs from the typical
Cirripedes ; but not more than in general form, which is very
unlike that of either of the two great divisions of the class. The
prehensile arms or feet, too, are highly characteristic in this,
having, in fact, more the appearance of true feet than the cirri of
the other Cirripedes ; there are only six, or three pairs, while in
all the other Barnacles there are double that number, or six pairs.
In our animal the last or terminal joint is shortest and is simple,
having few and comparatively short setze: the arms or feet indeed
appear to be merely prehensile organs laying hold of prey by the
aid of the cushion-like swellings before described as attached to
their inner margins.
The cirrigerous feet of the other Cirripedes are also undoubt-
edly prehensile, but im a very different manner. In these each
terminates in a pair of slender, muclt-elongated and curled cirri
composed of numerous, minute articulations, furnished with a
312 Mr. A. Hancock on a Burrowing Barnacle
multitude of very long sete arranged in double rows along the
surface next the niouth. These sete diverge, so that when the
cirri are spread out, the tips of the sete of the adjoining cirri cross
each other, making a very complete net which the Cirripede is for
ever spreading out and sweeping through the water in the direc-
tion of the mouth. Its prey is thus secured, and nothing can
escape that comes withm the range of this simple and beautiful
apparatus. It is not then by currents produced by the cirri, as
usually asserted, that these creatures obtain their food; the feet
form a prehensile net of the most efficient nature, and the only
currents produced result from its action.
In habit, too, this animal differs from all known Cirripedes ;
none I believe but this species bury themselves in hard calca-
reous bodies: some indeed partially conceal themselves in foreign
substances, and all may be said in a certain sense to be parasi-
tical. Tubicinella and Coronula are well known to sink deep mto
the skin of whales ; but in both cases the whole of the valvular
or upper portion of the animal is exposed; and as both are well
protected by their shells, it is evident that this habit is not for
defence, the object apparently bemg to avoid that resistance of
the surrounding element occasioned by the rapid movements of
this huge animal, and the consequent difficulty there would be
of maintaining thew hold of its smooth, contractile surface.
Other genera, Prygona, Crusia and Acasta, are found concealed
in corals and sponges; none of them however excavate: these
bodies simply grow round the Cirripede, and as it augments in
size, which it does by increasing upwards, so does the coral or
sponge advance with it. Lithotrya is the only genus of the class
that has been described as actually excavating a habitation m
hard calcareous bodies; there is reason however to doubt the
fact, as we shall see by carefully examining Mr. Sowerby’s own
figures in his ‘ Genera of Shells.’ This creature is a pedunculate
Cirripede, and is stated to have at “the base of the peduncle a
shelly appendage.” For the moment granting this to be true,
it is evident that the holes it occupies, if made by itself, can only
have been formed by either this appendage, or by the base of the
pedicle before the shelly appendage was secreted. But on refer-
ring to the figures just alluded to, it would appear that neither
hypothesis is correct. In one of these figures there is very cor-
rectly delineated a couple of Serpule adhering to the under sur-
face of the basal appendage. Now it is pretty clear, that were
this appendage used as a rasping surface, no Serpule could exist
as represented ; and were the excavations effected before the for-
mation of this appendage, it must necessarily partake of the
shape of the base of the newly-formed chamber to which it would
be closely adherent, as in the parallel case of Hipponyz : it would
belonging to a new Order of the Class Cirripedia. 318
therefore be physically impossible for Serpule to develope them-
selves on the under surface of such appendage. It is probable,
then, that the basal plate of Lithotrya is nothing else but a broken
valve of either Clavagella or of some small oyster that has been
growing in the deserted abode most likely of Clavagella or
perhaps of Lithodomus*.
Chitia verruca, which is unprovided with a shelly base, cer-
tainly sinks slightly mto the shells to which it adheres ; but this
cannot be considered a burrowing Cirripede. -Alcippe lampas,
the name by which I propose to designate our new species, is the
only one of the class, which, according to our present knowledge,
can be so considered. It is the only one, at least, that entirely
conceals itself in chambers of its own making in hard calcareous
bodies.
I have not been able to examine into the method by which
the excavations are effected; a fresh and numerous supply of
specimens will be required for this purpose. I shall now only
observe on this interesting part of the subject, that in this Cirri-
pede we have a proof that an animal as highly organized as the
Mollusca can bury itself in hard caleareous substances without
the aid of shelly plates ; and that the walls of the burrow of this
animal exhibit in a peculiar manner the structure of the shelly
matrix. This however might result either from a solvent, or
from the application of minute cutting bodies on a highly con-
tractile, soft, and pliant surface.
From the above general review of the characters and habits of
this animal, we observe at once that it differs in so remarkable
a manner from both the Campylosomata and Acamptosomata,—
orders established by Leach for the accommodation of the two
great divisions, the pedunculate and sessile Barnacles,—that it
becomes necessary to form a new order for the reception of this
curious Cirripede. This order I propose to characterize as fol-
lows :—
Order Cryprosomata.
Animal naked, burying itself in some foreign substance, at-
tached by muscular adhesion to the upper wall of the chamber,
and communicating with the water by an orifice: arms or feet
six, composed of three articulations, the last simple: branchiz
setaceous, attached to the external surface of the upper lip.
Genus ALCIPPE.
Animal depressed and enlarged posteriorly ; anterior portion
compressed, with the mantle sht longitudinally on the upper
* Whilst this was passing through the press I have been assured by
Mr. C. Darwin, and his opinion on this subject is of the greatest value, that
the dorsal cup of Lithotrya is undoubtedly formed by the animal, and that it
has the power of enlarging the cavities in which the larva takes up its abode.
314 Mr. A. Hancock on a Burrowing Barnacle.
surface: the four arms or feet next the mouth provided each
with a prehensile cushion: palpi furnished with pmcers ; upper
lip rostrated.
A. lampas. Animal with the margins of the lips thickened,
each being furnished posteriorly with a curved point or process ;
posterior portion considerably depressed, rounded, and provided
with a horny plate on the upper surface: chamber in the shell
of mollusks, partially ined with calcareous matter secreted by
the animal; opening narrow, enlarged and rounded in front,
tapermg and curved behind. Length ;4ths of an inch, breadth
7aths of an inch.
EXPLANATION OF PLATES VIII. ann IX.
Prate VIII.
Fig. 1. A portion of Fusus antiguus exhibiting numerous specimens of
Alcippe lampas in the columella and sides of whorls: a, stain
caused by the animal; 3, slit by which it communicates with the
water.
Fig. 2. Much-enlarged view of the external appearance of the chamber of
Alcippe lampas: a, stain produced by the animal seen through the
shell, exhibiting pale radiating lines and punctures; 3, slit in the
matrix or shell by which the animal communicates with the water ;
c, calcareous layer partially lining the chamber, and projecting
beyond the margins of the slit; d, calcareous granules filling up
posterior extremity of ditto.
Fig. 3. Upper view of Alcippe lampas removed from its chamber: a, ante-
rior portion containing the arms and true body; 6, broad disc-like
portion corresponding to the pedicle of the pedunculate Barnacles ;
¢, valvular lips; c', the slit or opening; d, posterior terminal points
of lips; e, horny plate; f, arms partially exserted ; g, the point at
which the animal is attached to the chamber.
Figs. 4,5. Under and side views of the same: letters as in fig. 3.
Fig. 6. Anterior portion laid open to show the true body and arms: a, one
of the valvular lips; 6, the other cut across and laid back ; ¢, fleshy
pedicle supporting the arms d ; e, mouth; /, upper lip; g, rostrated
termination of same; h, arms or palpi by the sides of the mouth
furnished with pincers ; 2, branchie.
Fig. 7. Portion of the true body as seen in the compressor: a, upper lip ;
b, rostrated termination of same ; c, carinated margin of same;
d d, arms or palps by sides of mouth; ¢, prehensile arms; e!, the
mouth ; /, the outer or first pair of mandibles; g, second pair of
ditto ; 4, third or innermost pair of ditto ; 7, the branchiz.
Fig. 8. A few of the plates or sete of the branchie highly magnified, ex-
hibiting a double channel at the broad extremity which is bifid.
Fig. 9. Prehensile cushion of the arms.
Puate IX.
Fig. 1, The prehensile arms highly magnified : a, fleshy pedicle; 6 5, cushion-
like swelling of same.
Figs, 2,3, 4, Different views of the larva of Alcippe lampas: a, interrupted
rose-coloured line surrounding the dorsal shield.
Fig. 5. A mass of the eggs a little magnified. /
Figs. 6, 7, 8, 9,10. Eggs highly magnified, exhibiting different stages of
development.
Mr. J. Morris on the genus Siphonotreta. 315
XXXI.— Note on the genus Siphonotreta, with a description of a
new Species. By Joun Morris, F.G.S.
{ With a Plate.]
Amone the numerous interesting fossils collected by Mr. John
Gray from the Wenlock limestone and shale im the vicinity of
Dudley, is one which I feel convinced belongs to Siphonotreta
(de Vern.), a genus of Brachiopoda, hitherto considered peculiar
to the Silurian formations of Russia. The genus having been
previously unnoticed in this country, and presenting some pecu-
harities both as regards the structure of the shell and the mode
of attachment, it may not be uninteresting to offer a few gene-
ral remarks on the subject; more especially as this genus, and
some apparently allied forms, have been lately made the subject
of a special notice by Dr. Kutorga of St. Petersburg. In this
memoir* Dr, Kutorga has grouped together m one family (the
Siphonotretez) four genera, Siphonotreta, Acrotreta, Schizotreta
and Aulonotreta, which scarcely present any character in com-
mon, and have been in part considered by preceding authors
as belonging to different groups or distinct subfamilies of the
Brachiopoda.
Differing from Dr. Kutorga upon the relative value of the cha-
racters of these genera, as well as their arrangement or the
grouping of them in one family, and certainly objecting to that
pernicious system of coming new generic names without a sufli-
ciently valid reason, merely for the sake of introducing a more
euphonious terminology, I cannot at the same time but freely
acknowledge that paleontologists are indebted to him for his
elaborate memoir, containing descriptions of some new and in-
teresting forms, illustrated with many beautiful figures of the
different species.
Of the above-mentioned genera, two have been known for
about twenty years. One of them, remarkable for the immense
abundance with which it occurs in the Lower Silurian grits of the
north of Russia, its broken fragments disseminated in the plane
of stratification, giving the rock a micaceous appearance, was
first made known (1829) as a peculiar genus by Prof. Eichwald+
under the name of Obolus (Aulonotreta, Kut.) ; about the same
period (1830), Pander { gave the name Ungula to this fossil,
which L. von Buch § (1840) considered to be an Orthis. The other
* Ueber die Siphonotretez, von Dr. S. Kutorga, Verhandlungen der
Kaiserlichen Mineralogischen Gesellschaft fiir das Jahr 1847, p. 250,
St. Petersburg, 1848.
+ Zoologia specialis, 1829, vol. i. p. 274.
{ Beitrage zur Geognosie des Russischen Reichs, 1830.
§ Beitrage zur Bestimmung der Gebirgsformationen Russlands, 1840.
316 Mr. J. Morris on the genus Siphonotreta.
form was also first noticed by Eichwald in 1829 as a Crania (C.
sulcata, C. unguiculata), which he afterwards (18438) placed under
Terebratula* ; subsequently however M. de Verneuil, in the se-
cond volume of the great work on Russiat+, recognized the dif-
ferences which separated these fossils from Crania and Terebra-
tula, and gave them the very characteristic name of Siphonotreta,
describing two species, S. wnguiculata and 8. verrucosa. Since
the publication of the work on Russia, four additional species of
the latter genus have rewarded the researches of Hern. v. Vol-
borth and other Russian geologists, which are fully described, as
well as those previously known, in the monograph by Dr. Ku-
torga above alluded to, and from which is extracted the following
synopsis of the principal characters of the genera included by
Dr. Kutorga in the family of Siphonotretez.
S1PHONOTRETER, Kutorga.
A. With a tubular closed sipho.
a. The external siphonal opening passes from the apex towards the
anterior margin.
1. Siphonotreta, De Verneuil.
S. unguiculata, Eichw. sp. S. conoides, Kut.
S. fornicata, Kut. S. tentorium, Kut.
S. verrucosa, Vern. : S. fissa, Kut.
S. aculeata, Kut.
. The siphonal opening is directed from the apex towards the dor-
sal margin.
2. Schizotreta, Kutorga (Orbiculoidea, D’Orbigny).
Opening narrow, slit-like; no area, nor mark of deltidium.
Sch. elliptica, Kut.
3. Acrotreta, Kutorga.
Opening elongated, oval; area triangular and flattened, with a
deltidium-like furrow.
A. subconica, Kut. A. recurva, Kut.
A. disparirugata, Kut.
B. With a furrow-like sipho, opened on the whole hinge area.
4. Aulonotreta, Kut. (Obolus, Eichw.; Ungula, Pander).
A, polita = O. Apollinis, siluricus, ingricus, Eichw. ; Orthis un-
gula, Von Buch.
A. sculpta = O. antiquissimus ? Eichwald.
“The Siphonotretez are free, unattached Brachiopods ft, whose
~
* Beitragen zur Kenntniss des Russ. Reichs, 1843.
+ Russia and the Ural Mountains, by Sir R. I. Murchison, 1845, vol. ii.
p- 286.
{ Dr. Kutorga alludes to the shells not being solidly attached by either
of the valves.
Mr. J. Morris on the genus Siphonotreta. 317
chief character consists in a short, perfectly straight, perforated
beak, never bent towards the ventral valve. The walls of this
beak are very thick, and hence it does not appear, as for instance
in the Terebratule, hollow within, but solid and perforated by a
narrow sipho, which serves for the reception of a cylindrical
muscle of attachment.
“The beak presents two chief diversities of form: it is either
drawn away, in very different degrees, from the hinge-margin
towards the centre of the dorsal valve; that is, is placed at a
greater or less elevation above the hinge-margin,—or it lies ex-
actly in the same plane with the hinge-side of the dorsal valve.
In the first case the dorsal valve has properly the form of a cone
more or less inclined towards the hinge-side, and the sipho ap-
pears either as a perfect tube (Siphonotreta, Acrotreta), or as a
tube opened up externally for a portion of its length from the
apex of the cone (Schizotreta). In the second case the dorsal
valve represents only the half of a cone, in which the shorter
hinge or posterior part has been cut away from the apex to the
basis, exactly in such a manner that the external opening of the
beak is changed into a groove less than a semicircle in depth,
and the sipho into a semicylindrical groove open along the whole
length of the hinge-surface (Aulonotreta). See Pl. VII.
“In no portion of the shell of this group can we observe the
slightest indication of a predominance of development ; the cen-
tral part is not distinguished from the marginal portions ; hence
neither valve shows either a carina or a sinus ; the hinge-sides
form together an arch, and pass imperceptibly into the lateral
margins; there are no wing-shaped expansions of the hinge-
margins, and finally, neither the cardinal nor anterior margins
exhibit either folds, serratures, or excision.
“The anatomical structure of the shell of the Siphonotreteze
is this. The whole inner surface is covered by a continuous layer
which is so thin that it welds itself closely to, and takes the form
of, all the larger prominences and folds of growth. This layer,
from its position and colour, I shall call the nacreous-layer (Perl-
mutterschicht). The external surface of the shell is also covered
by a continuous, but considerably thicker, corneous epidermal-
layer, which is so much developed, and from its horny texture
has so great durability, that sometimes, even when all the other
layers are dissolved and vanished, it is still perfectly preserved—
a peculiarity which, in the whole family of Brachiopods, is found
only in this group and in the Lingule. This epidermal-layer also
covers the inner wall of the sipho in all its diversity of forms.
Lastly, the part between these two layers, and always the thickest,
is the proper calcareous shell.”
Any remarks upon the above characters must be considered
318 Mr. J. Morris on the genus Siphonotreta.
merely provisional, having had but limited opportunities of in-
specting specimens, and having seen but three of the four ge-
nera above described, and not any showing interior structure.
In the collection of Sir R. I. Murchison are specimens of Sipho-
notreta and Obolus which I have been kindly allowed to examine :
for the loan of Orbiculoidea, D’Orb., Tam indebted to Mr. J. Gray
of Dudley : with regard to Acrotreta, I have not seen the Russian
specimens which are included in that genus, but the excellent
figures given by Kutorga lead me to infer that they most pro-
bably belong to that section of the Spirifere constituting the
genus Cyrtia of Dalman, for the mesial furrow traversing the
depressed triangular area in two of the species figured (4. sub-
conica and A. recurva) indicates a more complex arrangement on
the hinge-lne than is found in the hingeless Brachiopods.
As to the peculiar structure of the shell of Siphonotreta, which
is a character of some value and at once distinguishes it from the
other genera, it is not a little remarkable that neither M. de Ver-
neuil nor Dr. Kutorga has figured it or alluded to it with suffi-
cient importance. De Verneuil describes the shell as subcorneous,
a surface chagrinée. Kutorga states the calcareous part proceed-
ing from the apex to consist of a number of very flat rings or of
many oblique cones truncated at the bases, whereas Sir R. Mur-
chison’s specimens of Siphonotreta exhibit, certainly a shell both
calcareous and corneous, but with a distinctly perforated struc-
ture, as if composed of a series of oblique tubular layers, the
perforated texture being larger than that found in the majority
of Terebratule, and resembling that presented in Ter. Capewelli
(Davidson), Ter. hamifera (Barr.), in the genus Trematis (Sharpe),
and in some species of Thecidea ; besides which the surface is
ornamented, in all the described species, with numerous tubular
spines, generally arranged in a very regular order, and leaving,
when broken off, slightly projecting hollow tubercles im their
place*. Neither of these characters are found in Orbiculoidea,
D’Orb. (Schizotreta, Kut.), and Obolus, Kichw. (Aulonotreta,
Kut.) ; their shells, although more solid and calcareous than the
recent allies, are probably formed somewhat as in Orbicula and
Lingula, and which are described by Dr. Carpenter as being
“ almost entirely composed of laminz of horny matter, which are
perforated by ninute tubuli, closely resembling those of ivory
in size and arrangement, and passing obliquely through the
laminee.”
The genus Schizotreta, Kut., is synonymous with Orbiculoidea,
D’Orb., and presents some, but probably only minor, characters
* The genera Chonetes and Productus are also furnished with tubular
spines ; in the former they are arranged along the cardinal margin of the
dorsal valve, and in the latter are irregularly scattered over the surface.
Mr. J. Morris on the genus Siphonotreta. 319
which separate it from the ordinary Orbicule ; the shell is gene-
rally more solid and calcareous, both valves are nearly equally
convex, and the passage for the muscle of attachinent, instead of
being through a longitudinal fissure as mm Orbicula, is consider-
ably “contracted, being confined to a small tubular perforation
situated at the marginal end of a rather deep closed furrow.
The pedunculated form assumed by the muscle of attachment in
Orbiculoidea must have allowed greater freedom of motion to the
animal, and may be the reason for the more conical development
of the lower valve in this genus, as distinguished from the com-
pressed form of the same valve in Orbicula. The contracted per-
foration in Orbiculoidea is well shown in the figure of Orbicula
Forbesii*, ‘Memoirs Geol. Surv. of Gr. Britain,’ vol. i. pl. 26.
f. 2, and is alluded to by Mr. Salter in his remarks on this spe-
cies. This shell appears to be the same as the Schizotreta ellip-
tica, Kutorga (1847), and is probably the older form of Patella
implicata, Sow. ‘Sil. Syst.’ t. 12. f. 14a, as well as identical
with Patella antiquissima, Markl. (His. Let. Suec. t. 12. f. 11,
and description), and is a type of D’Orbigny’s Orbiculoidea.
With respect to Obolus, which has not yet been recorded as
occurring im this country, I have, by the kind permission of
Prof. E. Forbes, examined the fine collection of Lingule pos-
sessed by the Museum of Practical Geology, without finding any
form distinctly referable to Kichwald’s genus. At present this
shell is peculiar to Russia, being there widely distributed, and
it appears to be one of the most ancient animal forms with which
we are acquainted, for the beds containing it are altogether at
the lowest limits of the fossiliferous deposits of Europe. It is
somewhat remarkable, as mentioned by M. de Verneuil, that
notwithstanding the extreme abundance of this shell in Russia,
it has never been found on the other side of the Baltic, either in
Sweden or Norway, where however exist grits of similar age to
those of Russia, below the limestones containing Asaphus eapan-
sus and Ilenus crassicauda. Nor has it been found in America :
it appears in that country, as in the British Islands, to be syn-
chronously represented by the genus Lingula, with which it has
the nearest affinity ; for Sir C. Lyell mentions that the lowest fos-
siliferous strata in the United States (those for instance near
Lake Champlain) contain abundant fragments of Lingula, giving
to the rock, as in the Obolite gvits of Russia, a‘ very micaceous
appearance.
In the Russian specimens of Obolus, I could not detect the
peculiar reticulated structure of Siphonotreta; the shell is cal-
* Mr. Gray of Dudley possesses beautiful specimens of this shell, from
which collection Mr. Davidson described it in the ‘ Bull. de la Soc. Géol. de
France,’ vol. v. 2nd ser. t. 3. f. 45.
‘the
320 Mr. J. Morris on the genus Siphonotreta.
careo-corneous, more solid than Lingula, but closely allied to it,
and differing from it in having one valve with a slight furrow for
the passage of the pedicle, as well as some modifications in the
interior structure of the valves.
The group of the Siphonotrete, Kut., are arranged by M.
D’Orbigny, under the families Lingulide and Orbiculidee, in his
first great division of Brachiopoda, with the following characters
(Comptes Rendus, vol. xxv. p. 267, Aug. 1847) :—
Lingulide. A pedicle or exterior muscle passing between the valves ;
shell corneous ; animal fixed.
The beaks of both valves hollowed with a furrow for the passage of
the muscle’. SNA tee ke CLMnguiG, Eaee
The beak of one valve only with a furrow for the passage of the
TTMUSCLE Fee te ees Sete eae eae yen Obolus, Eichwald.
Orbiculide. ‘The muscle passing out by the inferior valve; shell
free.
Shell testaceous, perforated ; muscle of attachment pedunculated,
placed at the summit of the beak.. Siphonotreta*, De Verneuil.
Shell testaceous, perforated ; muscle of attachment placed by the
side: of thevbeak’ ..)o4:. Ske. eee Orbicella +, D’Orb. ;
Shell corneous, not perforated ; muscle pedunculated.
Orbiculoidea, D’Orb.
Shell corneous, not perforated ; muscle not pedunculated.
Orbicula, Lam.
From the above general remarks, it will be evident that the
four genera above mentioned cannot properly be arranged in
the same family of which Siphonotreta is the type, and from
which the other three are readily distinguished ; im fact, as pre-
viously observed, they belong to four distinct groups ; Szphono-
treta being allied to Crania, Schizotreta to Orbicula, Aulonotreta
to Lingula, and Acrotreta probably identical with Cyrtia.
I shall conclude these notes with the following brief descrip-
tion of the new species of Stphonotreta :—
Siphonotreta anglica. Pl. VII. fig. 1 a-e.
Shell of a rather oblong-oval form, depressed, marked by the
fine lines of growth ; surface minutely but concentrically reticu-
* Mr. W. King places Siphonotreta in the family Craniide.
+ Orbicella, D’Orb. (Aug. 1847), is stated by Mr. Davidson, ‘ Bull. Géol.
Soc. France,’ n. s. vol. v. p. 315, to be identical with the genus 7’rematis,
Sharpe (June 1847). This can scarcely be the case, if both genera are cor-
rectly described ; for Orbicella is placed by D’Orb. among the hingeless Bra-
chiopods, whereas Mr. Sharpe describes 7rematis as having a hinge. The
two diverging plates in the xon-perforated valve of 7rematis are somewhat
remarkable, as, where they exist in other Brachiopoda, they always form
internally the margins of the deltidial area, partly protecting the passage for
the muscle of attachment, and forming the dental processes of the hinge.
Mr. W. Clark on the Animal of Dentalium Tarentinum. 321
lated, reticulation regular with quadrangular areole, and covered
with many slender linear tubular spines or their bases, somewhat
quincuncially arranged ; spines smooth, dilated at the base, a
little above which they remain of nearly uniform size throughout
or very slightly tapering, and are regularly and transversely sul-
cated or contracted, giving the spines a beaded or jointed ap-
pearance.
The general form of the shell and quincuncial arrangement of
the spines resemble S. aculeata, Kutorga, but as that author does
not figure or allude to any reticulated structure or the monili-
form spines*, this is considered to be distinct ; unfortunately
the specimen is much compressed, so that all the characters are
not fully shown, and I have provisionally given the name of
S. anglica until it can be compared with all the Russian species.
Locality. From the Wenlock shale near Dudley. Collection
of Mr. J. Gray.
EXPLANATION OF PLATE VII.
Fig. 1. Siphonotreta anglica. a. Shell, natural size. 6. Shell, magnified
view. c. Spines enlarged. d. Portion of ditto, magnified. e. Outer
surface of shell, magnified.
Fig. 2.a. Siphonotreta verrucosa, 6. Side view. c. Surface of shell, mag-
nified. d. Interior of dorsal valve.
Fig. 3.a. Schizotreta= Orbiculoidea, D’Orb., O. Forbesiz. b. Showing lon-
gitudinal furrow and contracted perforation.
Fig. 4. Acrotreta = Cyrtia? a. Dorsal valve. 6. Ventral valve.
Fig. 5. Aulonotreta = Obolus.
XXXIII.—On the Animal of Dentalium Tarentinum.
By Wiiii1am Cxrarg, Esq.
To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.
GENTLEMEN, Norfolk Crescent, Bath, Sept. 1, 1849.
Tue animal I am about to present to your notice exhibits a
series of characters of the highest interest, in its anatomy and
functional developments, some of which are so anomalous that
it must be considered one of the most singular of the testaceous
mollusca.
From my observations in the September Number of the ‘An-
nals,’ it appears that the minute species of the genus Caecum,
from their configuration, have generally been located with the
Dentalia, though it will be seen that there is little concordance
* The moniliform character of the spines may not be peculiar to this
species, but will probably be found to belong to the whole genus, when the
spines of the other species are carefully examined by a higher magnifying
power than that used by Dr. Kutorga.
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. iv. 22
322 Mr. W. Clark on the Animal of Dentalium Tarentinum.
between the animals of the two genera. I believe, with the ex-
ception of M. Deshayes’s monograph, nothing has been done to
elucidate this curious molluscum ; and as I think that eminent
malacologist has mistaken the uses of some of its organs, I am
induced, by the facility of obtaming live specimens of the Den-
talium Tarentinum, to review and augment what is at present
known of it: the present species inhabits the coralline zones of
the South Devon coasts, five or six miles from land, in twelve or
fifteen fathoms water.
Dentalium striatum, Montagu.
— Tarentinum, Lamarck.
Animal yellowish white, conically elongated, mantle circular,
anteriorly thick and fleshy, edge dentated, posteriorly of the
thinnest texture ; the penultimate and antepenultimate portions
of its margin are bounded by two intense white muscular elastic
cordons ; the united action of these has the power of completely
opening and closing the anterior aperture; when at rest, the
animal, including the foot, is entirely inclosed by the tougher
part of the mantle which supplies the place of an operculum.
The foot is a very long and singular organ, placed in the cen-
tre of the anterior end of the body, and from its position is ap-
plicable for use in every direction ; it is divided into three parts:
the anterior one is a pointed cone acting in some measure as a
tentaculum, and lies in the middle portion, which consists of two
lateral, simuated, symmetrical flaps or tenacula, that are usually
protruded simultaneously with the terminal portion, and are the
parts subservient to the animal’s very confined locomotion, to
turn from side to side by using the lateral appendages as points
d’appui, and also to climb and secure its food from the stems
of the foraminiferous polyparia; the third or basal section is a
long flattish pedicle deeply grooved on its upper and lower sur-
faces, extending to the base “of the stomach, into which it opens,
as it is hollowed out as far as the tenacular flaps, but there is no
passage to the exterior surface. I have failed to discover the
reason for this connection with the stomach: the hollow part is
filled with water, but from what source does not appear, though
I think it must come from the buccal aperture ; the use of this
singular structure is clearly to augment the flexibility of the
foot, as the animal frequently and suddenly doubles it up as the
elephant does its trunk ; and also to withdraw the two anterior
parts into the hollow portion : this retractile action is necessary
im consequence of the peculiar mouth of the animal and rigid
character of the anterior end of the mantle, to convey the sus-
tentation captured by the tenacula into the cavity of the mantle
within the reach of the very short foliaceous cirrhi at the buccal
Mr. W. Clark on the Animal of Dentalium Tarentinum. 323
orifice: from the foot an elastic fibrous ribbon runs, on each
side of the body, to the posterior terminus, and affords the ani-
mal the power of greatly contracting and dilating that end of it,
as may be seen by the creases of contraction, which in some
degree give the appearance of annulations.
At the base, and above the pedicle of the foot, if that surface
of the animal is upwards which lies in the concavity of the shell,
and vice versd, in the conyexity, is inserted a distinct light yel-
low tubular buccal appendage, without eyes or tentacula, which
can only be considered a kind of external cesophagus, and as re-
gards its accessories and form, has no pretensions to be styled a
head ; it is encircled by about eight or ten short dendroid ten-
tacular strands ; its cavity forms two extremely dilatable pouches
divided by a longitudinal septum, which become compressed
and merge apparently into one at the pot of passage into the
stomach ; these external receptacles invariably contain from ten
to forty, or even more, very minute Foraminifera, a convincing
proof of the voracity of these animals. I have never failed to find
in them either the Quinque-, Tri-, or Biloculine, or the Rotalia
Beccaru, the Lobatula vulgaris, Bulimina pulchella, Textularia
oblonga, Lagena amphora, ov the Robulina subcultrata, and more
rarely a minute bivalve, either the Kellia suborbicularis or Astarte
triangularis: this fact is another proof, if any additional ones
were necessary, that an animal inhabits the minute calcareous
forms which were formerly supposed to inclose Cephalopoda, or
to be inserted in their membranes ; they are not inhabitants of
the littoral, but of the coralline zones, and appear to be the sole
aliment of this decided zoophagous molluscum. These shells are
an transitu to be acted on by the appendage within the stomach,
which will be noticed shortly, and after having undergone its
action the rejectamenta are discharged anteriorly with other
mucal and fecal matters, and not at the posterior terminus
agreeably to M. Deshayes’s determination, and I shall presently
demonstrate that the posterior aperture is not for anal uses, but
to supply the branchize with water.
It is now necessary to mention the figure and situation of the
heart and branchiz ; these points must be carefully kept in mind,
as the demonstration I propose rests on a due consideration of
them. The heart is a subrotund minute ventricle with a linear
depression on its summit, and when opened shows the corre-
sponding ridge ; its surface is fortified with muscular raised lines ;
it is fixed centrally on the convex range at the posterior end of
the branchial cavity and base of the stomach, and in some trans-
parent animals may be seen in the pericardium ; in the very
young pellucid shells seven inspirations and as many nearly
isochronal expirations have been counted in a minute, and the
22%
324 Mr. W. Clark on the Animal of Dentalium Tarentinum.
corresponding ingress and egress of the water seen*. I have not
detected auricles on each side of the heart, nor near it, as might be
expected from the symmetry of the branchiz ; there are certainly
minute points on each side of that organ, but I demur to call
them auricles, and rather think they denote the valvular appen-
dages of the heart to prevent regurgitation into the branchial
veins. The blood of the posterior part of the body is brought
to the branchial artery which runs at the inner base of the
branchiz, by two longitudinal veins, which pass between the
branchiz on their convex surface, receiving tributaries ; I could
not trace those of the anterior part; the arterial blood is then
distributed imto the ramifications of the branchiz, and after
aération is passed by each principal vein, which coasts the edges
of those organs at their dichotomous points, to the heart, which
throws out a posterior and anterior short trunk, both of which
bifurcate into two smaller arteries, which supply veins infusing a
renewed vitality into all parts of the body, from whence the
blood is again returned to the arterial centre. Under the micro-
scope the blood of the tributary and superficial vems appears to
be in some individuals of a pale pink colour, and in others of a
purplish pale red cast. I have preparations to illustrate this order
of the organs.
The branchiz are two symmetrical, sublateral, and somewhat
post-centrally situated, dark greenish brown, elongated, suboval
organs, having their bases fixed on and hanging from the con-
cave surface of the animal with their points vertically parallel to
the bases ; the two branchiz are united at their inner surfaces
by a bridle of branchial strands arranged symmetrically.
The heart in the testaceous Gasteropoda, spiral and otherwise,
is always placed at the posterior end of the branchial cavity, or,
in other words, is fixed at that extremity of the branchiee furthest
from the entry of the aérating fluid: this statement of position
is of importance in coming to a conclusion as to the mode of
entry of the water. But if the position of the organs of Denta-
lium is examined under the view of the water approaching the
branchize under the mantle, as in the ordinary Gasteropoda, they
will be found to be the reverse of what I have stated to be the
usual natural position ; the heart will be found at the anterior
end of the branchial cavity instead of at the posterior, and near-
est to the entrance of the water instead of furthest from it: here
is a subversion of the order of nature im respect to the position
of these essential organs : how are they to be placed in harmony
with her laws ? The solution of this question 1s simple : we have
* Lamarck in the last ed. ‘ Anim. sans Vert.,’ Milne Edwards’s, 3rd vol.
p. 13, says, ‘Car, aprés les animaux vertébrés, la nature n’offre, dans aucun
Mr. W. Clark on the Animal of Dentalium Tarentinum. 325
only to consider that the water in this genus flows to the
branchiz by the posterior aperture instead of at the front ; this
view removes every difficulty, and may be regarded as a demon-
stration of this fact, which is satisfactory and decisive, because
it is founded on the organization which nature has conferred on
these animals.
I will state some facts in support of the conclusion that the
branchie in Dentalium receive the water posteriorly. I admit
that notwithstanding a constriction, it may possibly enter in
front under the mantle and be discharged posteriorly, and vice
versa ; but this action would be contrary to the natural position
of the organs and the evidence I shall now adduce. But first it will
be necessary to mention the mode of fixture of the animal to the
shell: this is not at the centre, as in the spiral Gasteropoda, but
at the posterior end, a little more than an eighth of an inch from
the terminus, where, on the inner surface, may be seen the strie,
in the hoilows of which the fine filaments issuing through the
mantle and proceeding from the longitudinal elastic ribbon
running from the foot are deposited, and together with the
strong sphincter of the posterior process, which is imbedded in
an indentation not visible from without, firmly secure, by con-
striction, that end of the animal to the shell. This is a striking
example of the admirable adaptations of nature of the organs of
animals to their wants and ceconomy ; for if this animal was fixed
to the middle of the shell as in the spiral ones, the contracti-
bility of the posterior part of the body would be destroyed, and
its vermicular motion to aid and accelerate the passage of the
branchial fluid and its expulsion through the comparatively nar-
row medial duct paralysed. I may state in corroboration of the
foregoing observations, that I have removed the posterior hyaline
process and enlarged the orifice as much as possible, and then
dropped therein some grains of fine sand to irritate the mem-
branous spoon-shaped process, when instantly pure water, with-
out the slightest admixture of fsecal substances, was ejected ; and
this result was invariable in all and many individuals. I have
stated that in young transparent specimens an uninterrupted but
slow action of systole and diastole might be observed, and was
apparent from the distinct ascent and descent of the water in the
branchial canal; but this action cannot take place in a merely
excretory tube ; it can only exist in a circulatory, or inhalant and
exhalant one. I have carefully dissected the body from the
animal, ces mouvements alternatifs et mesurés d’inspiration et d’expiration
du fluide inspiré,” &c.
On this point that great naturalist is in error, as in Dentalium Tarentinum
I have with a chronometer showing seconds, repeatedly marked nearly iso-
chronal inspirations and expirations of the aérating fluid, the two together
amounting to about twenty-six in a minute.
326 Mr. W. Clark on the Animal of Dentalium Tarentinum.
branchiz to its terminus, and submitted its substance to micro-
scopic powers without discovering a trace of an intestine, which
is usually the easiest organ to be detected by its colour and dis-
tension. I have carefully watched thirty dividuals at a time,
and never saw any rejectamenta from the posterior process ; but
in the same period frequent discharges anteriorly from the centre
of the mantle, of foraminiferous spoil enveloped in mucus. I
finally observe, that on the animal being removed from the shell,
the medial branchial canal is distended, but in a short time col-
lapses from the evaporation of the fluid, and exhibits a deep ca-
naliferous groove; and when the canal is not quite full, one or
two globules, precisely like those of a spirit-level, may be made
with the shghtest pressure to float backwards and forwards from
the posterior sphincteroid process to the branchie. Many other
circumstances can be added in proof of the posterior entry of the
branchial water, but I have already transgressed the limits of
conciseness, and it is time to take some notice of the nervous sy-
stem, salivary glands, the stomach and its contents, and the sub-
stances which fill up the body from the branchiz to the posterior
terminus.
At the base of the cesophagus is a cerebral mass of four mi-
nute, pale pink, subcircular, finely-punctured ganglions, in form
somewhat like the letter X, united by a nervous thread or collar,
which encircles the cesophagus at the pot where it passes at the
base of the foot into the stomach, and the fine filaments therefrom
are distinctly visible passing to the stomach, and throwing off
anastomosing lateral threads anteriorly to the foot, buccal orifice,
and the other front parts of the body.
The salivary glands are very large, coverig the base of the
foot and the cesophageal ganglions, and envelope the buccal
pouches so completely that they seem imbedded in them; they
spring from each side the base of the mouth, and are two thick
fasciculi, which consist of a multitude of very fine, long, light
yellow capillary strands ; their extraordinary volume is necessary
to produce a copious supply of fluid to lubricate the enormous
quantity of Foraminifera these animals swallow, especially of the
scabrous ones, as Bulimina pulchella, and the sharp-pointed La-
gena amphora.
The cesophagus, after emerging from the nervous collar, m-
stantly enters the stomachal cavity, which is composed of a mus-
cular membrane of a broad oval form, the anterior and larger
portion thereof bemg occupied by an extremely strong gizzard,
formed of a pair of subelliptical folding jaws with eighteen lamine
bent towards the points on each side, and studded with very
strong blunt teeth : this denticular frame is supported by fleshy
lobes encased in corneous plates, and appears to be an organ
nearly similar to the buccal mass of the ordinary Gasteropoda ;
Mr. W. Clark on the Animal of Dentalium Tarentinum. 327
it is not however placed, as in them, immediately at the anterior
orifice of a pharyngeal cesophagus leading to a stomach and
fixed thereto by strong elastic threads, but it is the stomach
itself most slightly attached to the membrane which envelopes
it. This powerful machine undoubtedly acts as a gizzard to
grind the testaceous food of this animal; it empties itself by
a very short scoop-shaped canal into an intestine of three or
four intricate gordian knot-like folds, which, strange to say,
often contain a dozen or more shells that have escaped the
action of the gizzard; the intestine does not entwine with the
liver, but is inclosed within the same cavity as the gizzard; it
pierces its inclosure on the right side, passes through the liver,
and discharges the rejectamenta at the base of the branchial ca-
vity under the mantle about the middle of the shell, from whence
they are passed by the deep groove of the foot, which the animal
can by the compression of its sides make canaliferous, as far as
the middle section of the foot, around which, when the animals
are fresh from the sea, they form repeated collars of mucus,
which in a short time, from frequent aggregations of matter,
become ponderous, break and fall off, and when examined are
found to be composed of the spoil of shells: this circumstance,
independent of all others, shows that the feeces are not discharged
posteriorly.
The liver is an extremely scanty light yellowish green organ
placed under the stomach, and is continued under the branchial
cavity, and then joins the ovarium, with which it becomes almost
imperceptibly amalgamated throughout its whole length. The
ovarium is very long and large, and fills up the whole of the poste-
rior part of the body from the branchiz ; it consists of from four
to six longitudinal rows of distinct granular yellowish white
masses of ova, with scanty interweavings of the liver, which ex-
hibit three stages of development ; the more forward ones become
broken into six portions, and when ready for exclusion these
again break into perfectly round, pale brown globules ; all these
phases vary in different animals according to the advancement
of fecundation. The oviduct is in the centre of the longitudinal
rows of ova formed by their junction, and the ova are undoubt-
edly discharged by the posterior spoon-shaped process, from
whence I have seen volleys of fifty or a hundred ejected with
considerable force in minute round pomts: these must not be
mistaken for fecal pellets, neither must the oviduct be con-
founded with the branchial canal, which is the cavity formed
between the mantle and the membrane of the ovar:um. The ho-
mogeneity of the masses of this part of the body m many con-
ditions, especially when fecundation is not far advanced, renders
the discrimination of organs of this character a matter of some
difficulty. I have not discovered any exserted organs of repro-
328 Mr. W. Clark on the Animal of Dentalium Tarentinum.
duction, and I think from various considerations that this ani-
mal is an hermaphrodite, but without congression. Under the
microscope, in the midst of the general mass, several small egg-
shaped globules, having at one of the axes a minute, apparently
tubular filament filled with a glary fluid, may be seen in some
individuals, but not in all, as I have sometimes searched m vain
for them ; these may be the virile fecundating organs, which are
perhaps only apparent at certain stages of gestation.
I have extended these observations to an unusual and almost
inconvenient length: the curious and anomalous structure of
this molluscum, and the multitude of interesting characters at-
tached to it, exhibit such modifications of the organs of the ty-
pical Gasteropoda as appear to give it a claim to be considered
as the point of transition from the bivalve mollusca to the great
change in figure and faculties which nature has produced in the
superior developments of the Gasteropoda ; and perhaps from a
review of this account of these organs, malacologists may be in-
duced to think that it will appropriately form one of the first, if
not the first link, in the chain of the Gasteropode. The symme-
trical subventral position of the branchiz, the posterior flow of
water to them, and the resemblance of the foot to that of some
of the bivalves, combined with the similar character of its action,
appear in a striking manner to show its connection with the Con-
chiferze ; whilst by its cesophageal cerebral ganghons and com-
pleteness of the circulation, it has established its claims as a
Gasteropod. There are also traces of alliance with some of the
inferior classes: the red blood and vermiform configuration of
the posterior part of the animal show some of the characters of
the Annelides ; but though we acknowledge these sources of its
origin, we cannot fail to see how clearly the animal of Dentalium
displays at various points the progress of advancement, and the
ameliorations nature has so beneficently effected in its animality.
I have only seen one live specimen of the Dentalium entalis :
the organs have the same characters as those of the present spe-
cies, but it is very distinct ; the colour is snow-white, and on com-
parison of two shells of the same size, the Dentalium entalis will
be found much more slender ; the branchiz are also of a paler
green, more scanty, thin and delicate.
I had written thus far when I received from Paris M. Deshayes’s
memoir on the Dentalia, which I had. not seen for twenty years,
and its contents had nearly passed from my memory ; on looking
it over I find that the differences between that gentleman and
myself are more important than I was aware of, but I am not
inclined to abandon my own views. I am also elad to find that
T am enabled to fill up many gaps as regards the functions and
habitudes of these animals.
This gentleman, in stating the anus in Dentalium to be pos-
Mr. W. Clark on the Animal of Dentalium Tarentinum. 329
terior, observes that it is the only molluscum that has it so situ-
ated ; but this anomaly, if it be so, I think I have disposed of.
Those organs which I consider to be the symmetrical branchiz
are termed by M. Deshayes the lobes of the liver, each pouring
into the stomach the bile by their biliary vessels. I cannot per-
suade myself that this view is correct ; I have submitted them to
the microscope, and in each principal strand I have seen the
leading vein distended with red blood as well as in the net-like
connecting ramifications ; | therefore consider what are called
the biliary vessels to be the branchial veins conveying the blood
to the heart instead of bile into the base of the stomach. M. Des-
hayes in his figure has omitted to mark the vein which runs at
the dichotomous points of his organ, which, when viewed under
high powers, is very visible, and which I take to be the branchial
vein.
What I term the salivary glands, are the branchiz with M.
Deshayes, combining the functions of tentacula: he does not
mention such glands. I must consider this assumption incorrect ;
and to support this opinion I state that the heart is separated
the whole length of the stomach from the bases of what M.
Deshayes terms the branchiz : this is a position without parallel,
as that organ is invariably in the closest contact with one end
of the br anchize. That naturalist certainly connects the two organs
by stating, as I think erroneously, that the heart sends great
and numerous vessels to the branchie. Now the heart never
transmits blood directly to the branchiz, but impels it into the
system by arteries and ves, from whence, as I have already
stated, it reverts to those organs.
The filaments in dispute I have submitted to microscopical
observation ; they only present the appearance of a complicated
mass without a trace of particular arterial and branchial vessels,
and they have nothing lke the symmetry of branchie ; I believe
them to be merely secreting glands, and may perhaps combine
tentacular functions.
M. Deshayes is, I think, in error in stating that the aliment
undergoes a second mastication: this idea has arisen from his
having divided the gizzard into two parts, one of which he de-
scribes as “ machoires,” and the other as an “ appareil dentaire
assez compliqués ;” the fact 1s, there are no hard parts in the buc-
cal pouch, which, when removed, there being no internal ceso-
phagus, exposes to view the anterior part of the gizzard, which
is likened to two spherical black pomts gaping like a small
bivalve : these are only part and parcel of a whole—the gizzard,
which may almost be called the stomach itself, as it fills the en-
tire stomachal membrane, with the exception of the convoluted
intestine at its base, consequently the aliment has no other mas-
tication but of one denticular apparatus.
330 Prof. F. M‘Coy on the Classification of
That there are no errors in these observations would be an
undue assumption ; for who, on such subjects and in the exami-
nation of these minute objects, can hope to escape from occa-
sional error? I invite malacologists to offer their corrections, if
I have differed on insufficient grounds from so eminent a natu-
ralist as M. Deshayes ; and I conclude with the evocation,
...... “Si quid novisti rectius istis,
Candidus imperti.”’
T am, Gentlemen, your most obedient servant,
WitriaM Crark.
P.S. I beg that the notice relative to the Venus orbiculata of
Montagu, in my paper on the genus Cecum, in the ‘ Annals’
for August, may be considered as cancelled.
XXXIV.—On the Classification of some British Fossil Crustacea,
with Notices of new Forms in the University Collection at Cam-
bridge. By Frenericx M‘Coy, Professor of Geology and
Mineralogy in Queen’s College, Belfast.
[Continued from p. 179. ]
Enoploclytia (M‘Coy), n. g.
Etym. évorrAos, armatus, and Clytia.
Gen. Char. Carapace fusiform, back rounded, sides convex,
gently compressed, posterior end shghtly narrowed and deeply
FILS
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notched for the insertion of the abdomen, much contracted
anteriorly, the front extended into a long, sharp-pointed de-
pressed rostrum, the sides of which are armed with three or
four strong spines ; one strong spine over the upper external
angle of the orbit; eyes on short, thick peduncles ; nuchal
some British Fossil Crustacea. 33]
furrow strong, slightly arched backwards, the ends reaching
each side margin at a pomt deeply notched by the abrupt nar-
rowing of the margin from thence to the front ; branchial fur-
rows double, inclosing between them a narrow, pointed ridge on
each side, which meets its opposite fellow at less than a right
angle (each meets the midline of the back at an angle of about
40°) on a point of the back about halfway between the nuchal
- furrow and the posterior margin ; abdomen (including the tail-
fins) shorter than the carapace, segments very weak, slightly
arched, their ends triangularly pomted (ends of the second one
not dilated), sixth longer than the preceding ones, giving origin
to the two broad, rotundato-trigonal pair of side-flaps of the tail,
which are very large, thin, and undivided by transverse sutures ;
seventh segment (or middle tail-flap) subtrigonal, thicker than
the others and tuberculated ; surface of carapace, legs and
chele covered with large spmose tubercles and mtervening
granules of very irregular size; first pair of feet or chele very
large, subcompressed, fingers slender, with a row of large
teeth on the inner edge, carpus very short, tumid, trigonal ;
three next pair of legs slender, compressed (? apparently ter-
minated by a blunt, trigonal, simple claw) ; fifth pair not
seen.
In the large, flattened, strongly toothed rostrum, rough spi-
nose legs, the small size of the abdomen, with the general form of
its little-arched, weak segments, and the undivided outer pair of
tail laminze, this genus approaches the recent Galathea more than
any other recent group, differmg im its peculiar branchial fur-
rows and ridges, meeting at an angle on the middle of the back,
&e. The long, dentated rostrum, large, rough, spinose tubercu-
lation of the carapace and chele easily distmguish those large cre-
taceous species from the diminutive genera Clytia and Glyphea
of the oolitic rocks with which they have been hitherto con-
founded. The type of the genus is the Astacus Leachu (Maiut.),
to which at least the figures marked f. 1 & 4. t. 29 of the ‘ Geo-
logy of Sussex’ refer (some of the other figures possibly belonging
to the E. brevimana, M‘Coy). The E. Leachiiis also well figured
and described by Reuss in his ‘ Versteinerungen der bohm.
Kreideformation,’ and by Geinitz in his ‘Char. der Schich. u.
Pet. des sachsisch-bohmischen Kreidegebirges.’ It is distin-
guished by the very long, straight, narrow fingers of the chele,
which are nearly twice the length of the basal part of the hand,
or from their base to the carpus, and set on their mner-edge
with a row of narrow cylindrical teeth their own length apart ;
the whole hand (or penultimate jomt and moveable finger)
nearly one-fourth longer than the carapace. A second species
of large size and remarkable form occurs in the chalk of Burwell
332 Prof. F. M‘Coy on the Classification of
and at Maidstone, several specimens of which I saw in the
astonishingly beautiful collection of chalk fossils belonging to the
Rev. Mr. Image, near Bury St. Edmunds: the hand in this
species is much compressed as well as the carpus and arm, and
all covered with large scattered curved spinose tubercles (largest
on the outer and inner edges of the hand, carpus and arm) with
an intermediate smaller tuberculation ; the basal part of the tand
is subrhomboidal, slightly longer than its width ; carpus small, its
greatest length and width equal, proximal end only half the size
of the distal end, abruptly formed by a deep sinus in the proximal
half of the inner margin (like that of the right arm of the recent
Callianassa subterranea); penultimate or immoyeable finger
straight, rapidly tapering to an obtuse point, its length only
equaling that of the hand from the base of the finger to the
carpus ; moveable or last finger a little longer, not tapermg so
rapidly, and incurved at the apex, each finger with a row of
blunt hemispherical tubercular teeth less than their diameter
apart. Average length of moveable finger 2 inches 6 lines,
from thence to the carpus | inch 9 lines, width at base of fingers
1 inch 9 lines, width of carpus 1 inch 1 line, width at distal
end 1 inch 3 lines. I have affixed the name of Hnoploclytia
Imagei to this, the largest and most mteresting of the mesozoic
Crustacea, to commemorate the zeal and taste of the amiable
owner, whose exquisite collection of cretaceous fossils would, if
more fully known, greatly increase our knowledge of the fossils of
this period.
Enoploclytia brevimana (M‘Coy).
Sp. Char. Carapace subcylindrical or slightly compressed, ave-
raging 3} inches long and | inch 9 lines deep ; rostrum strong,
pointed, with three or four large pointed teeth on each side,
margins of the orbits with strong spines; surface closely
studded with small tubercles and large scattered spines ;
hands short ovate, length little more than the depth of one
side of the carapace, length of the moveable finger about equal
to, from its base to the carpus, and a little longer than, the width
of the hand, both fingers incurved at the tip and set on the
inner edge with a row of blunt hemispherical teeth half their
diameter apart ; carpus subtrigonal, a little longer than wide ;
arm compressed, about one-third longer than wide ; surface of
hand and carpus with many large, curved, spose tubercles,
and an intermediate, close, smaller tuberculation ; length of
moveable finger 1 inch 1 line, from thence to carpus 11 lines,
width of hand 1 inch.
The very short small ovate hands easily distinguish this spe-
cies from the other two.
some British Fossil Crustacea. 333
Common in the lower chalk of Cherry Hinton, near Cam-
bridge. _
(Col. University of Cambridge and Rev. T. Image.)
(Fam. Thalassinide.)
Meyeria (M‘Coy), n. g.
Gen. Char. Carapace strongly compressed laterally ; nuchal fur-
row very deep, V-shaped, the lateral portions nearly straight,
SS ff 5) - )
~~ lll
J, aa
ee
Meyeria.
a. Side view. b. Carapace seen from above. c. Tail- flaps.
meeting on the back at an acute angle considerably in front of
the middle, and extending to the lateral margins at a point
deeply notched by the abrupt narrowing of the front from
thence to the sharp rostrum : branchial furrow forming a nearly
straight, delicate, impressed line from near the lower ends of
the nuchal furrow to the middle of each side of the posterior
margin (never meeting on the midline of the back); portion
m front of the nuchal furrow with a few longitudinal,
strong, denticulated ridges, rest of carapace rough with small
pointed granules : abdomen semicylindrical, large, segments
sculptured with rows of granules, the ends of the second
joint dilated, quadrate, of the others subtrigonal, penultimate
joint a little longer than the fifth, carrying the two outer pair
of ¢ail-flaps, which are strong, truncato-elliptical, with a mesial
ridge, ends fimbriated, the outer one on each side divided by
a transverse serrated suture about one-third from the end ;
middle tail-flap oblong, apex truncated, narrower than the
base ; legs slender, compressed, smooth, gradually diminish-
ing in size from the first, the lower edge minutely serrated.
The Astacus ornatus (Phil.) is the type of this genus, which,
from the great compression of the carapace, size of the abdomen,
character and direction of the branchial furrows, &c., seems to
334 On the Classification of some British Fossil Crustacea.
belong to the fossorial family in which I have placed it, the nearest
analogue being perhaps the recent Gebza which burrows under
the mud of Plymouth Sound: the fossils abounding in such a
state of perfection in the fine Speeton clay that they must have
lived in it and died in the exact spots we now find them, har-
monizes with this view of approximating them to those similar
little forms which live habitually buried in the mud. The sub-
stance of the crust, though very thin, and, in the following spe-
cies especially, often showing signs of considerable flexibility,
seems rather harder than in most of the fossorial types, and the
strong fringe of stiff hairs at the end of the tail-pieces is in the
fossil replaced by semi-membranous flaps, still however strongly
suleated. I have not seen the extremities of the feet ; but if, as
I suppose, the so-called Crangon Magnevilliz of Deslongchamp
(Mém. de la Soc, Lin. de Normandie, t. v.) belong to this genus,
the four hinder pair of feet would termimate in simple pointed
claws, and the first pair form subcheliform pincers, having the
hand dilated and truncated at the extremity, which is toothed
and has a small spiniform immoveable finger at one end, which is
met by the slender moveable finger inflexed from the other end ;
this also agrees with the general type of the fossorial Gebiz. The
carapace may be distinguished from Glyphea by the branchial
furrow in it being very delicate and extending obliquely to the
posterior margin without meeting its fellow of the opposite side,
while in Glyphea they are very strong and meet on the back
from opposite sides at an acute angle, without reaching the pos-
terior margin.
Meyeria magna (M‘Coy).
Sp. Char. Carapace about 2} inches long and 1 inch 2 lines
deep at the middle of the side; three strong tuberculated lon-
gitudinal ridges on each side of the cephalic part of the cara-
pace ; from about the middle of the deep nuchal furrow a row
of small tubercles extends halfway to the posterior margin,
and higher up (bordering the intestinal region) a similar row
on each side extends from the posterior margin nearly half-
way to the nuchal furrow ; rest of the carapace covered with
minute sharp granules, about four in a space of three lines at
the middle of the sides; rostrum short, pointed ; abdomen
about 34 inches long, each segment with about four irregular,
single, crowded rows of granules disposed longitudinally, the
broad intervening spaces nearly smooth ; a few irregular groups
of granules on the extremities; the last segment granulated
like the carapace ; tail-flaps broad, rotundato-trigonal, finely
fimbriated at the ends, each with a strong mesial ridge ;
transverse suture of the outer pair strongly marked, serrated ;
Mr. H. E. Strickland on the Dodo and its Kindred. 335
legs subcompressed (section oval), smooth, the lower edge
with a row of minute denticles directed forwards ; third joint
of the first pair nearly 4 lines wide, gradually decreasing to
the fifth pair, the third joints of which are about | line wide.
Very abundant in the fine Fuller’s earth of the “ Lobster beds ”
of the lower greensand of Atherfield, Isle of Wight ; also in the
Speeton clay of Speeton, Yorkshire coast.
(Col. University of Cambridge.)
Note.—As the Glyphea rostrata (Phil. sp.) (Astacus rostratus,
id., Geol. York) has been referred by Herman von Meyer (Neue
Gattungen fos. Krebse) and subsequent authors to the G. Miin-
steri, I may mention, that on comparing an authentic cast of that
species with the English one, I find the latter fully distinguished,
as a species, by the hind part of the thorax being much longer in
proportion to the depth, even slightly exceeding in this respect
the G. pustulosa (V. Mey.), which it exactly resembles in the
character of its branchial furrows and their associated lobes, dif-
fering however from it and agreeing with the G. Miinsteri in the
abrupt notch-like narrowing of the margin in front of the nuchal
furrow.
[To be continued. }
XXXV.— Supplementary Notices regarding the Dodo and its
Kindred. Nos. 6, 7, 8. By H. E. Strickianp, M.A., F.G.S.
(Continued from vol. iii. p. 261.)
6. On two additional bones of the Solitaire recently brought from
Mauritius.—We are indebted to the officers of the Royal Society
of Arts and Sciences of Mauritius for a valuable contribution to
Didine osteology. These gentlemen no sooner heard of the in-
terest which the history of the Dodo had excited in Europe, than
they undertook to search in Mauritius and the adjacent islands
for such parts of the skeleton of these extinct birds as were
wanting to complete our knowledge. Before proceeding to
excavate the alluvions and caverns of those islands in quest of
bones, they wisely commenced by searching the cabinets of their
own museum. ‘Two bones were here discovered, which tradition
referred to the Dodo, and these precious specimens the Society,
with the most praiseworthy liberality, have sent to Europe.
The bones now sent belong, not to the true Dodo, as was sup-
posed by the Mauritian naturalists, but to that longer-legged
species which inhabited the island of Rodriguez, and was deno-
minated the Solitaire. They are both metatarsal bones, and
consequently are so far only duplicates of portions of that bird
which already existed in Europe. But from their superior state
of preservation they supply some valuable information which was
3386 Mr. H.E. Strickland on the Dodo and its Kindred.
previously unattainable. The three metatarsal bones of the
Solitaire figured in the ‘ Dodo and its Kindred’ (plate 15. f. 2,
3, 4) are all more or less defective, one being incrusted with
stalagmite, the other two much decayed and broken. The two
additional bones now referred to supply in great measure these
defects. One of them indeed is incrusted with stalagmite, and
is evidently part of the same individual as the similarly incrusted
bones in the Paris Museum which are figured in plates 13, 14
and 15. This is evident, not only from comparison with its fel-
low bone (pl. 15. f. 3), but from the following label attached to
it by Prof. Bojer, Curator of the Mauritius Museum :—“ Tarsus
of the Dronte, being a remaining fragment of a more perfect
skeleton sent by M. Julien Desjardins to the Baron G. Cuvier.
The said skeleton was found in a cave at the island Bee by
M. Roquefeuille, inhabitant of Mauritius.”
The second metatarsal now sent is a remarkably pene bone,
‘the only defective portion being the posterior surface of the ecto-
calcaneal process. Being wholly free from stalagmite, and pos-
sessing its articular extremities uninjured, it enables us to make
many comparisons and measurements which were previously im-
practicable. This specimen was ticketed by M. Bojer—“ Tarsus
of a bird, presumed to be a tarsus of the Dronte, discovered by
Col. Dawkins in the same cave as No. 1, in 1831.” ’
This bone, though apparently belonging to an adult imdivi-
dual, is considerably smaller in its dimensions than any metatarsi
of the Solitaire which have been previously examined. In fact,
it is only half an inch longer than the same bone in the Oxford
specimen of the Dodo. But notwithstanding the smaller size,
it so precisely corresponds in form and proportions with the
figured examples of the Solitaire’s metatarsus as to leave not the
slightest doubt that they all belong to one and the same species.
The difference of size is not greater than is often seen to arise
from diversity of sex, age, or development, in other species of
birds. The following are its precise measurements :—
Right Metatarsus of Solitaire.
Length from lower border of middle trochlea to summit of inter- im.
in
5
Condwlordiitulbenclemss. \asecatdl ap ectlc abielcteals wneticielet sic vk els terme essences 57 48
Transverse diameter of; the/shalti eres o-coe.reisceistes setae ee osilessdae 0 6
Antero-posterior diameter of do. at the upper portion of articular
surface for posterior metatarsal ...........s.ssceeeeeeeee shasieeen scien 0 4
Transverse diameter of lower extremity .........csecseeeesecceceeeces | ates
Distance from upper border of posterior metatarsal articular facet
to internal intertrochlearnotch\..t.ccescc- tees oriccearseesssescnerit Lid
Length from external trochlea to external condyloid fossa ......... 5 13
» frominternal do. to internal Ong ccs sseseecoee cs Die ae
Breadth of upper extremity ...... dhuctodgoosechongacsedalpadoducddachons Ye 2
Antero-posterior diarheter of do. ......ccccscosccseccncsscesecs a okwart ee Lipide
53
Projection of.ento-calcaneal process .......0.snsvonscsoursecsssessoveces 0
Mr. H. E. Strickland on the Dodo and its Kindred. 337
The length of this bone bemg so nearly that of the Dodo’s
metatarsus, we are enabled to see at a glance those great dif-
ferences in its shape and proportions, which seem to justify us
in asserting the Solitaire to have been generically, as well as
specifically, distinct from the Dodo. The shaft of the bone is
longer, both absolutely and proportionally, more slender, and
less expanded at both extremities ; all which characters are in-
dicative of greater speed and activity. There are also several
minor distinctions which Dr. Melville has pomted out (Dodo
and its Kindred, p. 117), and which are beautifully exhibited in
the specimen before us. Yet notwithstanding these distinctions,
there is no disputing the very close affinity between the two
birds to which these osseous fragments belong. The metatarsi
of the Dodo and of the Solitaire are both distinguished by the
expansion of the trochlear extremity, the elongation of the inter-
nal trochlea, the form and development of the calcaneal processes
and of the buttress or ridge connected with them, with other
characters indicative of near affinity.
The characters alluded to moreover confirm in the strongest
manner the affinity of both these birds to the Co/lumbide or
Pigeons. If the bone before us were now discovered for the first
time, no comparative anatomist could hesitate in pronouncing it
to belong to a gigantic species of Pigeon. I need not repeat the
arguments which we have already adduced on this head, but wiil
merely point out the single character, peculiar to the Pigeons and
to the allied group of Péerocles, that the calcaneal canal which
transmits the tendons of the flexor perforans digitorum, passes on
the outside of the posterior ridge or buttress, whereas in Galli-
naceous and other birds it passes on the znszde of that ridge.
7. Dr. Cabot’s views of Dodo-affinity identical with our own.—
I gladly take this opportunity of doing justice to a short but able
article by Dr. Cabot, published at the commencement of 1848
in the ‘ Boston Journal of Natural History,’ vol. v. p. 490. This
paper has only lately come into my hands, and it is hardly
necessary to add, that Dr. Cabot’s conclusions as to the affinities
of the Dodo were arrived at quite independently of those simul-
taneously deduced by Dr. Melville and myself in this country.
Under these circumstances it 1s gratifying to find that Dr. Cabot,
although the data on which he reasoned were far less complete
than our own, having only seen casts of the external parts of the
Dodo’s head and foot, has arrived at precisely the same conclu-
sion as ourselves, viz. that “The Dodo was a gigantic Pigeon,”
and that it most nearly approached the genus Teron (Vinago).
If the coherence of independent witnesses be any test of truth,
we could hardly have had a stronger confirmation of the sound-
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. iv. 23
3388 Mr. H.E. Strickland on the Dodo and its Kindred.
ness of our views as to the affinities of the Dodo and its kindred
than is afforded by Dr. Cabot’s brief and unpretending memoir. —
Prof. Brandt of Petersburg, in a paper published in the ‘ Ver-
handlungen der Russisch-kaiserlichen Mineralogischen Gesell-
schaft,’ 1848, p. 201, still maintams the affinity of the Dodo to
the Plovers, but with this exception I believe that all naturalists
who have studied the subject are now disposed to regard the
Columbine characters of the Dodo as predominating over all
others.
8. Supposed existence of a gigantic Bird in Madagascar.—l
have received, through the kindness of F. R. Surtees, Esq., Her
Majesty’s Commissioner of Arbitration at the Cape of Good
Hope, the following curious statement, which I insert here, as it
may have some bearing on the subject of the Dodo or of its
kindred. I have already alluded in our published work, p. 60,
to the probable existence of some large brevipennate bird in
Madagascar, and though it has escaped the search of modern
naturalists, yet we have the positive testimony of Flacourt that
such a bird was known in the island two centuries ago. It
would therefore be unwise summarily to reject a story which,
however marvellous, may rest on a substratum of truth, and may
lead to the discovery of important and valuable facts.
It appears from the information collected and communicated
by Mr. Surtees, that in Oct. 1848, when H.M.S. Geyser was
cruising off St. Augustine’s Bay, Madagascar, a French gentle-
man named Dumarele, who was a passenger oif board, gave the
following account, which is extracted from the private journal of
Mr. John Joliffe, Surgeon of the Geyser :—“ After giving an ac-
count of some curious monkeys with white shining silvery hair,
M. Dumarele casually mentioned that some time previously,
when in command of his own vessel trading along the coasts of
Madagascar, he saw at Port Leven, on the north-west end of the
island, the shell of an enormous egg, the production of an un-
known bird inhabiting the wilds of the country, which held the
almost incredible quantity of thirteen wine quart bottles of flud\'!,
he having himself carefully measured the quantity. It was of
the colour and appearance of an ostrich egg, and the substance
of the shell was about the thickness of a Spanish dollar, and
very hard in texture. It was brought on board by the natives
(the race of ‘Sakalavas’) to be filled with rum, having a tole-
rably large hole at one end, through which the contents of the
egg had been extracted, and which served as the mouth of the
vessel. M. Dumarele offered to purchase the egg from the
natives, but they declined selling it, stating that it belonged to
their chief, and that they could not dispose of it without his
Mr. A. Henfrey on the Progress of Physiological Botany. 339
permission. The natives said the egg was found in the jungle,
and observed that such eggs were very very rarely met with, and
that the bird which produces them is still more rarely seen.”
The value of such a statement of course depends on the cha-
racter of the narrator, and on this head Mr. Joliffe observes—
“M. Dumarele is a French merchant of Bourbon, a very re-
spectable gentlemanly man, about sixty years of age, who has
for years been trading with his own vessels along the coasts of
Madagascar, and is well-acquainted with the different races of
natives and with the resources of the country. His very un-
assuming and quiet manner, and intelligent conversation, much
prepossessed us in his favour, and we believed everything he
told us to be worthy of credit as far as his judgement and good
intention went.”
Mr. Joliffe’s own opinion seems to be, that M. Dumarele was
imposed upon in some way by the roguery of the natives. He
judiciously adds however—“ M. Dumarele’s story should not be
despised or discredited in these times, when such extraordinary
discoveries are constantly made in every branch of science, but
publicity should be given to his statement, that persons visiting
Madagascar may, if possible, coliect fresh information on the
subject, and clear up the mystery. The sight of one sound egg
would be worth a thousand theories.”
It is a singular circumstance, if nothing more, that Marco
Polo refers the Roc, of Arabian-Night celebrity, to the island of
Madagascar ; but as the Roc, however gigantic, was decidedly not
brevipennate, a discussion of its history would be irrelevant to
our present subject.
XXXVI.—Reports on the Progress of Physiological Botany.
No. 5. By Arruur Henrrey, F.L.S. &c.
On the Phenomena accompanying the Germination of the Spores
of Ferns.
In the year 1842, Nageli discovered on the pro-embryo (the cel-
lular expansion fruit produced from the spore in germination) of
Ferns, peculiar organs which he considered to be analogous to
the antheridia of the other Cryptogamic plants.
In the account he published of these structures* he describes
them as gland-lke organs growing on the under surface, near
the margin, very rarely upon the upper surface. They frequently
appear as if composed of a single cell; but it may mostly be
* Bewegliche Spiral-faden (Saamenfaden?) an Farren; Schleiden und
Nageli’s Zeitschr. fiir Wiss. Botanik, Heft i. 168. Ziirich, 1844.
23%
340 Mr. A. Henfrey on the Progress of Physiological Botany :
recognized that the organ is a sac formed of a single layer of
cells. This sac is filled with contents which appear granular and
opake. It bursts at the apex and allows a quantity of minute,
round cellules to escape. These cellules move about actively in
water. Each contains a spiral fibre, which by tearing the mem-
brane of the cellule becomes free, and then exhibits a motion
similar to that of the spermatic filaments of the Mosses, Liver-
worts and Charas.
The course of development of these organs is detailed, and 1s
to the following effect :—Certain cells of the pro-embryo grow
out by their free surface ito processes which are gradually elon-
gated and become divided by transverse septa, so as to resemble
in some measure short and thick confervoid filaments ; the num-
ber of superposed cells varies from two to five. Then these cells
become multiplied by the formation of vertical septa, so that
each is divided into five cells, four forming a peripheral layer in-
closing one in the centre. The central cells of all the articula-
tions become confluent into a canal running up the middle of
the organ which thus becomes a sac, closed below by the cell of
the pro-embryo and above by the four cells of the uppermost.
articulation. This structure is usual, but slight modifications
occur, not only in the number of articulations formed, determi-
ning the length of the organ, but in the development of the par-
ticular joints, the uppermost and the bottom one sometimes re-
maining in the state of simple cells.
The organs when fully formed have the central cavity so
densely filled with the moving cellules, that they sometimes ap-
pear like mere double or even simple sacs, the cells forming the
walls being compressed by the internal expansion.
The central canal at first presents an opake granular appear-
ance ; subsequently the contents are converted into the above-
mentioned cellules. The mode of development of these is dis-
cussed by the author, and the analogous process in the anthe-
ridia of other Cryptogamia referred to; he concludes that it is
most probable that they are formed by a succession of develop-
ments from parent-cells, the central cell of the five of each arti-
culation being the primary parent-cells.
The organs containing the spiral filaments discharge their
contents when placed in water, even before they are fully deve-
loped. In an undeveloped condition they appear as round vesi-
cles ‘004: to ‘005 of a line in diameter, containmg homogeneous,
or finely granular, colourless mucilage. Sometimes chlorophyll
globules present themselves. Many possess a parietal nucleolus.
The perfect cellules contain only a spiral filament. This usually
has two turns ; sometimes only one and a half, sometimes two
and a half or three. The filament has one broad and obtuse end,
On the Germination of the Spores of Ferns. 341
while the other is attenuated. The author in some cases di-
stinctly detected a long filiform appendage, like that described by
Meyen in the Charas. The thickened end is sometimes quite
clavately thickened. When the filament is clearly seen, it is evi-
dently a band with a flat surface apphed against the w all of the
cellule. The bursting of the cellules allows the filaments to
escape, but sometimes the whole or a fragment remains adherent
to it and is carried about by it. While the spiral filaments are
contained in the cellules in which they are produced, the convo-
lutions are closely approximated ; as soon as they become free,
they generally extend themselves and become like the turns of a
screw.
When the cellules are evacuated from their sac, they often lie
from one to ten minutes unmoved; then some of them begin to
move. At first they turn around their own axes without change
of place. As yet nothing is seen of the emergence of the spiral
filament. By degrees they begin to move from their place, at
first slowly, then more and more rapidly. The cellule still con-
tinues to rotate on its axis. Next, a portion of the filament is
seen to protrude from the cellule, which then tears quite open,
and the filament thus comes in contact with the water in its en-
tire length. The motion is then considerably accelerated. The
cellules frequently begin to move directly they emerge from the
sac ; sometimes they rotate while still inclosed in it and before
it has opened; this happens when they are not in very close
contact.
M. Nageli describes five or six kinds of movement of the spi-
ral flbupeos which he endeavours to define mathematically, but
he states that besides these, the motion often appears quite irre-
gular, especially in being suddenly arrested, diverted to one side
or reversed. But he does not consider these ‘irregularities beyond
what may be accounted for by interfering influences occurring
in the fluid. He considers the motions as by no means volun-
tary ; being much too regular and mechanical for this. He says
also that a careful comparison of them with those of the Infu-
soria shows that they are totally different.
The fundamental type of the movement of the filament is the
revolution round the axis, as Schleiden (Grundz. der Wiss. Bot.)
has explained it in the rest of the Cryptogamia. That this revo-
lution round the axis is proper to it as a primary peculiarity,
free from the other motions, is shown by these round and closed
cellules, which, with their imclosed filament, revolve merely
around their axis in water, or even while still within the organ
of the plant. This peculiarity must, from the fact, be at once
attributed to the spiral filament ; all the other movements may
342 Mr. A. Henfrey on the Progress of Physiological Botany :
then be deduced from it. That there is an advancing movement
follows from the hehacal shape. That it exhibits various de-
viations from the straight line is quite as natural a result of the
inequilateral construction, since both the thickness of the fila-
ment and the diameter of the convolutions, as well as their di-
stance from each other in the same spiral filament, alter succes-
sively from one end to the other.
They differ in chemical composition from the spiral fibres of
the spiral tissues of plants, as they give with iodine the charac--
teristic reaction of mucilage (a compound which contains nitro-
gen) ; the membrane of the cellule remains uncoloured.
After a comparison of these organs with the antheridia of the
other Cryptogamia, from which the author arrives at the con-
clusion that they are to be regarded as identical in their nature,
he briefly discusses their import and probable function im the
following terms :—
“The antheridia have been compared with the anthers, a
misconception which is only applicable by an ignorance or mis-
apprehension of the morphology of the elementary organ. I
believe no refutation of this view is now necessary. The anthe-
ridia have not been compared with other organs of plants: they
do not exhibit even a distant analogy to any of them. The only
remaining analogy for the antheridia is with the male organs of
reproduction of animals. In favour of this speaks the similar
course of development of the spermatic filaments in plants and
animals, since even in many of the Mammalia, the spermatozoa
originate wound spirally in cellules ; further, the resemblance of
the motion of the filaments in plants and animals, and, finally,
the circumstance that in the Cryptogamia these spermatic fila-
ments are the normal elementary parts of an organ, which, from
its situation, must evidently have a relation to the reproduction.
These reasons certainly appear to me to have great weight ; and
if they do not absolutely warrant the assumption that the anthe-
ridia are the male organs of the Cryptogamia, they may yet ex-
cite further investigation on this ground.
“The most important objections are: 1. that no organ ana-
logous to the antheridia has been found in the Phanerogamia,
and that they are themselves wanting im certain Cryptogamia
with true spores; 2. that, as the preceding observations show,
the antheridia of the Ferns occur upon the pro-embryo ; so that
it is almost impossible to conceive what relation they can here
have to the spore-cells, which are formed not merely at a much
later period, but first make their appearance long after the pro-
embryo has altogether disappeared.”
The figures illustrating this memoir are taken from Aspidium
On the Germination of the Spores of Ferns. 343
augescens, Link, Asp. concinnum, Link, Asplenium dissectum,
Link, and other species not specified ; but the author states that
the phenomena are constant in all the Ferns he has examined.
Nothing further appeared on this subject until December
1847, ane Dr. J. Miinter communicated to the Berlin Natur-
forschende Freunde*, the observations of Count Leszezic-Su-
minski; in January 1848 Prof. Ehrenberg also laid these before
the Bean Academy, and in the same year they were published
in detail in a special memoir}.
These researches are in the highest degree curious, and if the
facts related prove to be correct, must importantly affect the
received views of analogies in the generative processes of plants.
As the account scarcely admits of compression, we will give the
important passages in the author’s own words :—
The Sexual Organs of the Ferns.
“Tn the year 1846 M. Nagelit made the interesting discovery
that the pro-embryo of Ferns exhibits analogues of the anthe-
ridia of the Mosses, Hepaticee and Charas. That observer de-
scribed these antheridia or spiral-filament organs accurately and
completely enough, but he was led away by a false principle in
his researches, and thus regarded as differences in the stages of
development what were actually different organs ; since both in
their anatomical structure and physiological import, they are to
be distinguished as two completely separate groups.
“Tn the earliest condition of the pro-embryo are found on
its under face, more rarely on the borders, peculiar gland-hke
cells projecting in a globular form from the surface. In more
mature age they increase in number, and occupy more particu-
larly the region among the radicle fibres. Some species, espe-
cially Péeris serrulata, ave remarkable for their great number.
These organs originate by a sac-like elongation of particular
cells of the pro-embryo, forming globular protuberances from its
surface. Each at first contains chlorophyll, but by degrees a free
cell is formed, the contents of which exhibit homogeneous mu-
cilage, transparent globules, or distinct nuclei with nucleoli. As
soon as this cell has increased in size sufficiently to fill up the
original projecting sac, it is parted by a septum from the cell of
the pro-embryo. Thus the organ becomes independent. A third
cell is often formed between these, flattened above and below,
constituting a kind of peduncle to the upper cell. The contents
* A report by Dr. Minter appeared in the ‘ Botanische Zeitung,’ Jan. 21,
1848, to which I shall allude presently.
+ “ Zur Entwickelungsgeschichte der Farrnkrauter ;” by Count Leszezic-
Suminski; Berlin, 1848. esc,
344 Mr. A. Henfrey on the Progress of Physiological Botany :
of this latter display, often at a very early period, new minute
cellules filled with a granular substance, occurring in an inde-
finite number and sometimes appearing very regularly arranged.
They become more and more distinct, and in the mature condi-
tion generally fill up the parent-cell, so that this appears lke a
sac distended with round granules. By reciprocal pressure they
acquire a parenchymatous aspect. When an organ of this kind
has reached the proper stage of maturity, it bursts spontaneously
at the apex and discharges an indefinite number of minute round
cellules enveloped in mucus. In some cases | have observed an
uniformly distributed, rhythmical motion of the whole discharged
mass. But the cellules usually exhibit a motion round their
axis very soon after their emergence ; each of them unfolds a spi-
ral filament, which generally remains connected with the deli-
cate cellule by its posterior extremity, and advances with an ac-
tive revolution round its axis.
“As Nageli has well described the very various movements of
these spiral filaments, it appears to me unnecessary to discuss
this subject here. But I must observe that I have seen on the
clavately swollen, anterior extremity of the spiral filament, de-
licate motile cilia of considerable length, which however are only
to be perceived distinctly with the help of the strongest artificial
illumination. They are best observed when the rapid revolution
of the filament is slackened. Then about six such cilia may be
observed on each, which after the cessation of the motion of the
spiral filament also gradually cease to move, and either stiffly
surround this or become in part so applied upon it that it is
almost impossible to detect them. The motion of the cilia en-
dures longer than that of the filament, and not unfrequently
shortly recommences. The form of the spiral filament cannot be
perceived distinctly either during active motion or after this has
ceased, because in the first case. the form is altered by the con-
tinual change of the convolutions and the motion of the cilia,—
im the latter by the cessation of the revolution, as the filament
then contracts in irregular curves. It is necessary therefore to
seek out a moment when the spiral filament, sufficiently mature,
_ still remains in its cellule, and occurs on a free space in the pre-
paration. In such cases it exhibits either two or three convolu-
tions, or appears wound in a semicircle with the swollen extre-
mity applied to the wall. The cilia are not then perceptible.
This position often gives a very well-defined figure. It is di-
stinctly seen that the spiral filament incloses a longish vesicle in
the above-mentioned clavate thickening of the anterior extre-
mity. The thick end diminishes gradually down into a filiform
tail which bears a slightly swollen knob at the end.
On the Germination of the Spores of Ferns. 345
“Tn addition to these spiral-filament organs, we find on the
under side of the pro-embryo near the notch of the border, on
the cellular protuberance lying in the middle of the frond, otber
larger and not less important structures. These are hollow,
ovate bodies, and consist of a papilla formed of ten to twelve
cells, while the other organs seldom exhibit more than one.
Their number is indefinite, since there are often only three upon
one pro-embryo, while upon another of the same species appear
eight or more. They differ from the above-mentioned organs
not only in these points, but m their mode of origin and their
structure. It is clear from the course of development that they
are not spiral-filament organs in a more perfect condition. In
the origin of these organs the cellular layer becomes thickened
by the formation of new cells; im the course of this process a
large globular intercellular space is formed having a contracted
orifice at the outer end. This latter is usually hexangular, and
is immediately surrounded by green, usually quadrangular cells.
The cells further from it are larger and contain less chlorophyll.
From the borders of this cup-like orifice arise four largish cells,
containing merely a clear fluid, often with nuclei, and arranged
in a circle; these leave a square intercellular space between
them varying in size. From each of these cells three more are,
as a rule, developed vertically one above another, so that the
square space becomes elongated into a canal leading to the inte-
rior of the organ. The cells at the apex are usually applied
together so as to close the orifice. The early origin of the canal
causes the still uncovered cavity to be rarely met with.
“These structures, so different in anatomical character, which
were formerly regarded as antheridia in a different stage of de-
velopment, also assume a distinct physiological import.
“‘ By continued observation I have succeeded in discovering in
them the sexual apparatus of the Ferns, hitherto regarded as
Cryptogamic. In the above-described hollow, ovate organs oc-
curring on the middle of the pro-embryo, I have recognized the
female apparatus; a circumstance, the establishment of which
claims for the spiral-filament organs the import of male appa-
ratus. The former, which is an ovule without envelopes, there-
fore a simple naked nucleus, is to be divided into two parts ; one,
the larger and upper portion projecting from the pro-embryo,
the nuclear papilla (mammitlla nuclei), and the other smaller, buried
in the pro-embryo, the cavity for the embryo-sac (antrum nuclei).
In the former we have again to distinguish: the orifice at the
apex, the foramen of the nuclear papilla (ossieulum mammille
nuclei) ; and the prolongation of it leading into the cavity for the
embryo-sac, the canal of the nuclear papilla (canalis mammille
,
346 Mr. A. Henfrey on the Progress of Physiological Botany :
nuclei seu nuclei). The orifice of the latter is directed toward the
base of the pro-embryo.
“ Before the formation of the nuclear papilla, there arises at the
bottom of the cavity for the embryo-sac a minute transparent
cell, the embryo-sac. This is seated like a tubercle on a parti-
cular point as its suspensor. Already at this period we find in
the cavity containing the embryo-sac from two to five, or even
more free spiral filaments, never inclosed in their cellules. For
at this period the spiral filaments move by the help of their cilia
from the burst spiral-filament organs to the cavity for the em-
bryo-sac, and penetrate into it. In this motion they are assisted
by the mucus evacuated with them, and by the moisture always
present on the under side of the pro-embryo. It requires some
acquaintance with the form and different positions of the spiral
filaments to recognise them in the cavity. The still wide open-
ing of the cavity at this period facilitates their entrance (the
borders of the organ scarcely project yet above the surface of the
frond). At this period of the impregnation it sometimes hap-
pens that we notice a quantity of dead spiral filaments around
the cavity of the nucleus; they then appear curved like an S, or
else wound circularly or spirally. But I have seldom observed
this phenomenon. As the embryo-sac grows and thus displaces
the spiral filaments, the canal of the papilla of the nucleus is
formed, in the manner above described, and receives into it one,
two or more, rarely several of them ; the rest decay in the bottom
of the cavity. Before their entrance into it they exhibit with ad-
vancing growth an evident expansion, which occurs especially in
those subsequently received into the canal. In the mean time
the embryo-sac, filled with blastema, has produced in its interior
a parenchyma composed of several cells (endosperm), appears
green, and has advanced so much in growth that it almost fills
the cavity in which it is contained. One of the spiral filaments
penetrates by one end into the part of the embryo-sac turned
toward the canal. The penetrating end is that at which the
smaller enlargement exists, which at the same time exhibits a
greenish tint ; the larger, clavate, granular end projects out into
the canal; this usually incloses a minute pyriform cellule. An
obstacle of no slight importance interferes with the observation
here also ; the delicate filiform connection of the two ends of the
spiral filament is usually torn by the pressure of the covering
glass upon the preparation, and thus we see only the separated
ends, one in the canal, the other in the cavity for the embryo-
sac, totally unconnected. As soon as the smaller expansion has
reached the middle of the embryo-sac, it separates from the
spiral filament and now forms a closed globule, the germinal
On the Germination of the Spores of Ferns. 347
vesicle, in the interior of the embryo-sac. The other end, pro-
jecting into the canal, dies away. This phenomenon must not
be confounded with the forcible tearing of the spiral filaments
just alluded to. Through the union of the germinal vesicle and
the embryo originates the embryonary globule, which is only
attached below to the bottom of the cavity contaiming the em-
bryo-sac by a very delicate filiform suspensor. With the growth
of the embryonary globule the colourless nuclear papilla dies,
dries up, and the canal in particular becomes coloured brown.
In this condition it persists for a long time upon the now ex-
panding cavity of the nucleus. Usually only one of the nume-
rous naked ovules produced upon the pro-embryo developes its
embryo. This need not appear wonderful, since similar examples
are not wanting in the vegetable world, as in many Palms one
alone of the three original cavities is regularly perfected. A spe-
cial reason may be looked for here in the minute size of the pro-
embryo, which does not afford sufficient nutriment for several
embryos. With the further development of the one embryo the
other rudimentary ovules die. In these the foramen of the pa-
pilla expands, and allows the dead spiral filaments and the rest of
the contents to escape. The canal, and especially the cavity for
the embryo-sac, then exhibit a brown colour. The latter may
be most distinctly recognized in this condition. In vegetating
ovules, on the contrary, this part can only be observed by a most
careful extraction of the single organ. For while on the one
hand it is covered by the still erect nuclear papilla, the detection
of it is on the other hand rendered impossible by the want of
any peculiar colour or otherwise distinguishing outlines. Of all
the species which I have examined, Polypodium aureum is, next to
Pteris serrulata, the best-adapted. The impregnation follows
exactly the above-described type in all families, gencra and spe-
cies ; an exceptional occurrence is the appearance, on the margin
of the pro-embryo, even in its earliest stage, of a spiral- filament
organ differmg somewhat in structure, as it loses its uni-cellular
aspect. Five or six parietal cells are formed which inclose in the
middle a space either filled with spiral filaments, cellules or hol-
lows. These structures must be regarded as monstrosities of the
spiral-filament organs, since they occur abnormally and on in-
dividuals which never produce an embryo. Such an infertile
pro-embryo either decays soon after its origin, or, passing into a
succulent state of growth, appears much larger than is natural.
In this condition it acquires a resemblance to a Marchantia, and
usually produces a great number of abortive ovules.”
This extract has reached such a length that we have not space
to give an account of the author’s description of the develop-
348 Mr. A. Henfrey on the Progress of Physiological Botany.
ment of the embryonary globule into an embryo. It must suffice
to state, that by the multiplication of cells it gradually enlarges
and acquires a definite form, producing a frond at one end and
a radicle at the other, bursts through the cavity in which it was
developed, and grows up, producing new fronds, into the charac-
teristic form of its species. These ulterior stages of the germi-
nation from the pro-embryo have been described by other au-
thors, although not so minutely, and our chief business is with
the new doctrine of the generation which has already been cri-
tically examined and contested.
It must be mentioned here that the terms of Dr. Minter’s
report * are rather different from the above, which is important,
as he gives the facts as witnessed also by himself and Prof. Link.
He says with regard to the act of impregnation :—“ Persevering
observations of these two essentially different organs gave the
following results. The spiral filaments emerged from the spon-
taneously opened hemispherical cells, two or three of them
moved rapidly toward the cup-lke cellular protuberance, pene-
trated through the orifice into the still very short blind canal,
and then were converted into a little heap of mucus (schleim-
kliimpfechen) after their motion had ceased. After ths (often-ob-
served) process the quadratic orifice closed, and it was seen that,
in the blind end, one of the cells lying on the inside of the wall of
the semi-canal enlarged, and in it new cells origimated.”
This cell is said to be the embryo, which, elongating in a di-
rection at right angles to the canal, breaks through in two places,
one end producing a frond, the other a root.
In the early numbers of the ‘ Botanische Zeitung’ for the
present year is contained a long memoir on this subject by Dr.
Albert Wigand, who, after extensive investigations, arrives at the
conclusion that the above-described process of impregnation does
not occur, and that the views of Count Leszezic-Suminski and
Dr. Minter are based on errors of observation. His criticisms
would occupy too much space for the present article ; I shall
therefore reserve them for a future notice, and add to them some
observations of my own.
In the ‘Annales des Se. naturelles’ for January 1849, M.
Thuret describes the antheridia or spiral-filament organs of Ferns,
but he does not appear to have detected the so-called ovules. He
also mentions that he has found similar spiral-filament organs on
the pro-embryo of the Kquiseta.
* Bot. Zeitung, Jan. 21, 1848.
On the extinet and existing Bovine Animals of Scandinavia. 349
XXXVII.—On the extinct and existing Bovine Animals of
Scandinavia. By Prof. Nrisson of Lund.
[Continued from p. 269.]
2. Ox with high occipital ridge (Bos frontosus, n. sp.).
Bos frontosus.
Gen. Char. The forehead convex at its upper part ; below smooth,
rounded, the ridge of the occiput rising high in the centre,
convex ; horns short, somewhat depressed at the roots, directed
outwards and backwards, then bent forwards.
Syn. Bos frontosus, Nilss. K. Vetensk. Akad. Ofversigt, d. 14 April 1847.
Description—This fossil Wild Ox, of whose skull the mu-
seum here possesses both an old and a young specimen, forms a
very different kind from any I have yet seen. It has however
some remote resemblance to the Bison, through its convex
forehead and its horn-pedicles. The old specimen, probably a
bull, whose cranium is here delineated in face and profile, has
the forehead between the horns convex ; below, where it is the
smallest, flat-rounded ; between the eyes broad, hollowed. The
ridge of the occiput thick, rounded, in the centre rismg and
strongly curved. The nasal bones seem to reach up to the line
drawn over the sockets of the eyes. The horn-cores, which rest
on longer pedicles than among any known species of Ox, are di-
rected outwards and backwards, also somewhat curved down-
wards in the same direction as the front of the forehead, above
which they do not rise. They have the back and front somewhat
flat-round, so that a transverse section would form more or less an
oval. The outer edge of the zygomatic process of the temporal
bone forms above the socket of the under-jaw nearly a right angle.
350 Prof. Nilsson on the extinct and existing
¢
The concavity of the temple is at the back transversely obtuse, in
Fig. 4.
front it is obliquely pointed ;
the hind part (as far as the
socket of the under-jaw)
twice as broad as the front
part; the foramen of the
occiput more high than broad.
Besides the two skulls of this
sort which the museum at
present possesses, and of
which also the younger is
represented below, I have Bos frontosus.
seen a third at the British Museum in London, which probably
also belongs to the same species.
An old Bull (?) A young specimen A rather young
from Djurmoss from a turf-bog in one in the Bri-
near Saxtorp in the district of Skytts tish Museum.
Scania. in southern Scania.
in. lin. in. lin. in. lin.
Length of frontal bones ...... 12 4
ELenGth Ob OFDItS ~s-c02s-0.-00- 3 0
Length between horn-crown
and orbits...... Aer ee) 2 4 2 4 4
Breadth between horn-crown
ADOVEH fesctcdessc cuss eonceeeeee 8 0 6 2 6 2
Between horn-crown below... 10 0 7 5 8 0
Breadth of forehead’s smallest
[PRE "contaandusodoagodancdbane 7 6 7 1 7 0
Breadth between the upper
edges of the orbits ......... 10 4 8 3 0 9
Breadth in the centre above
the orbits ...... A acrieniic 8 5 6 5
Thecircumference of the horn-
core near the roots ......... 8 6 6 6
The size of these skulls denotes a species of Ox, which, although
much less than the Bos pri-
migenius, is yet consider-
ably larger than the Bos
longifrons. It seems to have
been about the size of our
common cow; from which,
however, in form it totally
differs. In the museum
here are to be seen some
loose bones which seem to
have belonged to this spe-
cies. They are found in Bos frontosus.
turf-bogs under the Jaravall in southern Scania, and in such a
* In the series of remains of the skull and horn-cores of the Bos longifrons
preserved in the British Museum and that of the College of Surgeons, there
Bovine Animals of Scandinavia. 351
state as plainly shows they belonged to a more ancient period
than that in which tame cattle existed in this country.
Abode.—This species has lived in Scania contemporaneously
with the Bos primigenius and Bison europeus; that it has also
often been found in England, the above-mentioned cranium will
show, which is preserved in the British Museum. As with us,
it belongs to the country’s oldest postpliocene fauna: it, like
the before-mentioned Ox species, together with the Reindeer,
Wild-boar and others, came from Germany during that period
when the two countries were joined together. It must, there-
fore, also be found in a fossil state in Germany, although as yet
it has nowhere been observed. If it ever was tamed, and thereby
in the course of time contributed to form some of the tame
races of cattle, it must have been the lesser large-growth, small-
horned, and often hornless race, which is to be found in the
mountains of Norway, and which has a high protuberance
between the setting-on of the horns above the nape.
3. Dwarf Ox (Bos longifrons, Owen), figs. 6 & 7.
bist 6.
Bos longifrons.
Gen. Char. The forehead flattened, with a prominent edge stand-
ing up along the middle, and a smaller mdenting backward ;
the horns round, small, and directed outwardly upwards, and
bent in one direction forwards.
Syn. Bos longifrons, Owen’s History of British Fossil Mammals and Birds,
p- 508, fig. 211 (the forehead with horn-cores).
are intermediate gradations in the convex rising of the occipital ridge and
the length of the pedicles of the horns, which affect the value of those cha-
racters as specific distinctions between the Bos longifrons and Bos frontosus.
The specimen (fig. 5) would seem to indicate that the typical characters as-
signed by the learned Scandinavian naturalist to his Bos frontosus were simi-
larly modified or departed from in the specimens discovered in Scania.—Ep.
352 Prof, Nilsson on the extinct and existing
Description.—As far as we yet know, this is the smallest of
all the Ox tribe which lived in a wild state in our portion of the
globe. To judge from the skeleton, it was 5 feet 4 inches long
from the nape to the end of the rump bone, the head about 1
foot 4 inches, so that the whole length must have been 6 feet 8
inches. From the slender make of its bones, its body must
‘ather have resembled a deer than our common tame ox ; its legs
at the extremities are certainly somewhat shorter and also thinner
than those of a crown-deer (full-antler’d red-deer). The skull is
long and narrow, even more so than that of the deer; the fore-
head upwards (over the eyes) flattened, with an edge going along
the frontal seam, which is most prominent upwards, and ends
with a rounded indenting backwards ; between the eyes is a more
or less considerable depression, above which there is often a
rising, and beneath which lies the incision for the nasal bones,
which go right wp to the line, drawn between the lower borders
of the orbits. [Thus the frontal bones are not longer in this
species than they are in the Urus or Taurus.]| The horn-
cores small, cylindrical, short, curved only im one direction
forwards, sometimes, though seldom, downwards in the plane
of the forehead; the nasal bones in front two-pointed, with a
deep small intermediate cavity ; the lacrymal bones flat, broadest
in the middle, narrower in the orbital and nasal parts: there
is always a rhombal opening between the frontal, nasal, and
lacrymal bones. The form of the temporal cavity behind
transverse-obtuse, before oblique-pomted; its hinder part (to
the angle above the joint of the under jaws) only one-fourth
broader than the fore-part. N.B. Herein it resembles the tame
Ox, but differs visibly from the B. frontosus and Urus. The
anterior palatine apertures lancet-shaped, at the back oblique
inward-pointed, the back ones lie between the palate bones ;
the nape transverse, up-
wards with a vertical in-
denting, downwards with -_
a vertical edge over the
circular foramen of the
nape (fig. 7). The skull
Fig. 7.
of this species varies con- _Z\ YQ
siderably in size and even ‘oad AM \
something in form, ac- “WA
cording to its age and sex. UY
I have in my possession
the fragment of a fore-
head with horn-cores of a very old individual which secms
to have been a bull; the distance between the horn-cores
upwards is 5 inches 8 lines, and the circumference of the horn-
Bos longifrons.
Bovine Animals of Scandinavia. 3
cores near the roots 7 inches 1 line. Another I have measured,
whose breadth above the upper margin of the orbits was 7 inches
5 lines: this measured between the horns upward 5 inches 2 lines.
The length of the frontal bone 8 inches 4 lines. The horn-cores
are sometimes flat above, and rounded underneath. In a younger
specimen, probably a cow, the horn-cores are exceedingly small,
scarcely more than 3 inches lopg, and at the root 4 inches 2 ines
in circumference. This species is however always known by a
protuberance upon the upper part of the forehead in the front,
and an indenting behind. The usual dimensions of young speci-
mens are as follows :—
Length of the skull from the edge of the uate to the front ft. in. lin,
edge of the intermaxillary bones ......ccc.sssscecsscessess ido eee
Length from the roots of the horns to the upper edge oforbitts 0O 3 4
Pee EX OTLOTD ILS eset wie ciaictiew 3 cantene ds acdeatde ote steve hatnecod) Oy Ze.
», from the orbit to the end of the maxillary bone...... 0 8 4
», of intermaxillary bone’s front edge ..... ...ssssseseses 0: 10. 0
», from the ree of the nape to the incision of the nasal
DOMED east des sedteveccsere dees sodeusesstarerescses. edaccecsescce Ut t(D
Length of the horn-core’s gr eatest curvature (behind) vecoaa’ | | (Oh —<Geg,
PPO LLE MASAIDONCS seccerasasssnedecces:<cuideare nie. sesecsioestn 10) LOMmaKO
», of the row of molar teeth in the upper jaw ......... 0 5 2
ME MENEDUMOCT JAW -sa5ceasien.asoeriaesceaedterace caseumenae 1 Le 2
- Fd 5, to the back edge ‘of the condyloid
process in a line...... SS COURSE DE: DER UOC ECO ETC AELEEY. Me mie Shoah:
Breadth between the horn-cores upwards Perr ere rem, . We he (8
5, over the forehead’s narrowest part about ............ 5 64
WePe SOIMMNCUOCCIDICAL CONUVIES: cccnedcencasaevessvmacceess’ robe pig, Olen oes
» between the upper edges of the orbits nearly......... 0 7 0
», transversely over the centre 5in. Glin.,overthe chin O 4 = 653
», over the side projections of the nose ............ Ane ec Osta
over the nose ......... Ssdoseaencse causes FOCODOL CRN OUTEE A ae)
Height from the upper projection of the forehead to the base
of CHeeCramM-s cess scessosaees resasserecraees ARR a Set iabe eee ON) cme
Height from the upper projection of the forehead to the edge
of the foram. magn. ..... POO SUA SDUOUCIES cuss ddan sasteanien er 0.4740
Circumference of the horn-cores near the ToOt ...sseeeeeeeees Om (4S
The other parts of the Skeleton.—Allas in form like that of
the tame ox ; the edges of the wings a little reflected, and behind
a little broader ; the posterior articular processes small, short ; the
knob of the upper arch large, thick ; of the under arch more
compressed over the back edge. Avis like that of the tame ox,
but the canal in process. odontoid. not so roundly excavated ;
the spinous process. spinos. has the front edge angular. The
rest of the skeleton most like that of the tame ox, but each bone,
in proportion to the length, is more slender and thin. Aflas:
the breadth over the wings 4 inches 5 lines, under the length of
the curve 1:3; avis about 3 inches. The length of shoulder-
blade 11:4, breadth 6:1; from cay. glen. to spin. 1:7; os hu-
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2, Vol. iv, 24
354 On the extinct and existing Bovine Animals of Scandinavia.
meri 8:6; breadth of lower joint’s superficies 2:4. Radius
about 10 in. Metacarp. 7:3; breadth of lower articular surface
2in. The pelvis im a right line 1 ft. 2in. 2 lin. Foram. ob-
turat. oval, in front somevaliat narrower. Os femoris 11:4,
Tibia 11:4. Metatarsus 8:4. First toe-joint 2in., second 1:2;
the hoof 2:2
Abode.—This slender-built almost deer-like species of Ox has
existed wild contemporaneously with the forementioned animals
in the south and west of Scania; and, as it appears, was found
here in great numbers, probably m large flocks, in the vast
forests with which the land was everywhere covered. It is not
till within the last few years that our attention has been directed
to its fossil remains, and already I have obtained several both of
skulls and skeletons. In the Zoological Museum in Lund is pre-
served a skull which was taken up from a deep turf-bog near the
Cathedral in Lund; and the back part of the skull with the horn-
cores of a very old specimen was found, while digging a well, at the
depth of nine ells, likewise in Lund. Fr om a turf-bog in the ‘lige ict
of Skytts I have obtaimed a skull; and from a turf- “bog belonging
to the parsonage of Nobbel6f, in the district of Ljunit, two ‘ske-
letons of this species of Ox have been dug up during this summer.
At the close of the late meeting of Naturalists in Copenhagen,
Professor Steenstrup exhibited a recently dug-up skull belongmg
to this species found in aturf-bog in Seeland. In Ireland and
England several remains have been found in different places, and
in relatively older earth-beds. In England they have been found
together with the bones of the mammoth and rhinoceros (Owen,
p- 510) ; they have been found in earth-beds over which lay a
bed of marine shells, and over that a bed of freshwater shells
(p. 511): im Ireland they have been found in freshwater marl
under turf-bogs, together with the bones of the Cervus megaceros,
from which we can form an idea of thew great antiquity ; but
they have also been found in the same turf-bogs, whence Pro-
fessor Owen draws the conclusion that this species of Ox con-
tinued to live there even after the last-mentioned species of ani-
mal was already extinct. With us, in the south of Scania, it
lived contemporaneously with the Remdeer, Bos primigenius, and
Bos frontosus : it was certainly among the Herbivora that came
into the country after the ‘ period of destruction,’ when the fields
were again clothed with grass, bushes and forests. With us,
and, as far as we know, over all Europe, they were, as wild,
exterminated before the so-called historic period. That this
same species of fossil remains might be found in Germany also
is more than merely probable, although none as yet have been
noticed. How far this species of Ox in:former times has any-
Ou
Mr. A. Hancock on the Excavating Sponges. 355
where been tamed, and so as to form the stock now living of
any tame race, has not perhaps through any comparisons been
fully shown; but Prof. Owen supposes that the small-grown,
small-horned, often hornless cattle in Wales and in the High-
lands of Scotland descended from that race which he considers
was tamed before the invasion of the Romans, by the original
inhabitants; when, on the conquest of the country, they fled
with their herds to the woody mountain-tracts. If it exists
among us in any tame race of cattle, it would seem to be in the
so-called Finn cattle.
The forehead more broad than long, convex: the horns set
on anterior to the ridge which separates the forehead from the
occiput. The intermaxillary bones never reach up as far as
the nasal bones.
XXX VIII.— Observations on My. Morris’s paper on the Excava-
ting Sponges. By Autpany Hancock, Esq.
To Richard Taylor, Esq.
Dear Sir, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Oct. 15, 1849.
I nap much pleasure on reading im the last Number of the
‘Annals,’ Mr. Morris’s abstract of the papers published by
Dr. Nardo and M. Michelin on the Excavating Sponges, and
am only sorry that I was not aware of the investigations of these
naturalists at the time I drew up my own observations on the
subject. The access to scientific works im the country is very
limited, and those referred to by Mr. Morris I have had no op-
portunity of seeing.
When, in my paper read at the Swansea Meeting of the Bri-
tish Association, I first stated my belief that Cliona excavated
the chambers it inhabits, the assertion met with such general
opposition, that I must confess I am now somewhat surprised on
bemg informed that this subject had been so fully discussed
some years ago ; so far at least as relates to the question whether
or not these sponges make the holes in which they are found
concealed. Indeed it seems strange that there should ever have
been two opinions on this pomt ; for after the attention has once
been called to it, a simgle specimen, in good condition, is suffi-
cient to convince the inquirer that Cliona does really form its
complicated habitation. This appeared to me so evident on ex-
amining the first specimens I procured, that had this fact not
been disputed by naturalists of great eminence, I should never
have thought it necessary to have dwelt so long on it. At that
time I should have had great pleasure in quoting Nardo or Mi-
chelin m confirmation of this part of the argument, which was
24°
356 Mr. A. Hancock on the Excavating Sponges.
preliminary to the discussion on the mode by which the excava-
tions are effected ;—the principal object of my paper beimg to
show a similarity in this respect between Cliona and the excava-
ting Mollusca.
Dr. Grant, whose opinion I quoted in my paper, and who
wrote on the subject many years previous to the appearance of
Dr. Nardo’s memoir, seems to be the first to have asserted the pro-
bability of Cliona forming its own abode. He says, “ It may be
questioned whether the sharp siliceous spicula and constant cur-
rents of its papillz do not exert some influence in forming or en-
larging the habitation of this zoophyte.” Mr. Wm. M ‘Calla, too,
was quoted as having stated that Cliona was “very destructive
to the shells that: came within its reach.” And from the fact
that M. Duvernoy had named a species ferebrans, it was inferred
that he also was convinced that these sponges formed the cham-
bers they occupy, though I knew no more of what he had written
on the subject than appears in the ‘ Microscopic Journal. It 1s
therefore pretty evident that I had no pretension to the discovery
of the fact that Cliona has the power of burying itself in hard
calcareous bodies ; though I found it necessary to put this matter,
so far as I was able, beyond a doubt. In this respect the re-
searches of Nardo and Michelin are of the greatest value ; for
confirmation is still required, as it appears all are not yet satisfied
that a sponge can penetrate shell and stone. It would have been
well, therefore, if Mr. Morris had given the abstract at greater
length.
It may be questioned, however, how far the Italian naturalist
is Justified in discarding the name given to these sponges by
Dr. Grant, merely because that gentleman did not fully under-
stand the nature of the production he described. Were such a
principle to be admitted, nomenclature would be for ever fluctua-
ting, and hundreds of names used by the early writers might be
at once superseded. Dr. Grant’s description is excellent, full and
clear; so that even the species may be determined. Why then
should he be stripped of the honour of his discovery? Had
there been any obscurity,—any difficulty in determining what
was meant, then there might have been some plea for adopting
the generic appellation of a subsequent observer ; but even Nardo
himself does not appear to doubt that his genus is identical with
the Clona of Grant.
Neither can I at present assent to Mr. Morris’s opinion, that
my two species C. Fryeri and C. spinosa are identical with Vioa
Nardina and V. Michelini. This there is reason to doubt. I
have certainly not seen the figures referred to, but the descrip-
tions are not full enough for identification ; and indeed, so far
as they go, do not very well agree with my species. The charac-
~
Mr. J. Miers on the genus Thinogcton. 357
ters of the spicula however are not given, and without a know-
ledge of these, no very conclusive opinion ought to be formed on
the subject. In the abstract of Nardo’s report, we casually learn,
undoubtedly, that the spicula are “ sharp at one end and rounded
at the other” in V. Michelini; but in the C. spinosa, which
Mr. Morris considers identical with it, they are of ¢wo kinds;
one fusiform and bent in the centre, the other with a globular
enlargement at one end. It would therefore seem probable that
these two species at least are distinct. The fact of specimens
occurring in the same species of shell is not of much value in
determining their identity: I have already described six or seven
species procured from the same matrix.
I remain, dear Sir, yours truly,
ALBANY Hancock.
XXXIX.—Contributions to the Botany of South America.
By Joun Mtzgrs, Esq., F.R.S., F.L.S.
[Continued from p. 256. ]
THINOGETON.
Tus interesting genus was founded by Mr. Bentham upon one
of the plants collected on the coast of the Pacific, near Guayaquil,
during the voyage of the ‘Sulphur ;’ it is identical with Dictyo-
calyx, proposed by Dr. Hooker for a plant obtained by Mr. Dar-
win in one of the islands of the Gallapagos group. In many
respects its characters approach so closely upon Cacabus, that
some might feel disposed to consider them as congeneric; its
habit, however, is not so herbaceous, its stems are more strag-
gling, terete, and though fistulose, are more woody ; the petiole
is rounder, thicker, and grows te an unusual length (three or
four times that of the blade) after the full growth of the leaf ;
the corolla is less campanular, more infundibuliform, and after
the impregnation of the ovarium, coils up spirally as in Convol-
vulus, and remains attached to the calyx until the fruit is ma-
tured; the stamens are more unequal and shorter, the filaments
less slender and more arched at their origin than in Cacabus ; the
epigynous gland crowning the ovarium is much larger, more than
hemispherical, being gradually lost in the texture of the more
slender basal portion, while in Cacabus it is distinct, prominent,
and much smaller, rising on the summit of the germen, like a
small bulbular expansion of the style. A still more marked dif-
ference is seen in the calyx, which in the florescent state in Thi-
nogeton, is of much smaller diameter, quite tubular and invests
the contracted base of the corolla; it is of thicker texture, and
358 Mr. J. Miers on the genus Thinogeton.
marked by ten prominent fleshy ribs, tapering gradually into the
peduncle : in Cacabus, on the contrary, the calyx is at least three
times the diameter of the base of the corolla, is more or less
globular, of extremely thin and transparent texture, venously re-
ticulated, plicated and deeply 5-angular, the angles being saccate
at base; the peduncle in Thinogeton, after the impregnation of
the ovarium, becomes immediately deflexed, grows to four times
its former length, and is afterwards much thickened at its apex :
the teeth do not increase in size, but the tube, as in Physalis,
becomes somewhat vesicular, reticulated, and 10-ribbed ; expands
to three times its former length, and five times its breadth,
its texture remaining much thicker, when compared with the
greatly inflated and delicately membranaceous web, which encloses
the berry in Cacabus. The structure of the ovarium is similar
to that of the last-mentioned genus, but the furcated placentz
are again divided, and secrete an aqueous juice, in which the
seeds are nourished ; the dissepiment remains membranaceous,
but the placentz at length become hard and woody, and the cells
dry and capsular, while in Cacabus the pericarp, the placentz
and the dissepiment are all more or less membranaceous. The
fruit, though somewhat fragile, does not burst by an opercular
line, as in Hyoscyamus, because of the very gradual attenuation
and absorption of its epigynous gland into the substance of the
pericarpial membrane, not less than on account of the thickening
and indurescence of the dissepiment and placentze : for these rea-
sons, it does not open bya sharp horizontal le, asin that genus,
but remains a brittle, dehiscent putamen, with a tendency to
break by an irregular transverse line in its thinnest part.
Tuinoceron, Bth. Char. ampl.—Calyz tubulosus, 10-striatus
ad medium 5-partitus, laciniis acutissimis, erectis, subzequa-
libus, persistens et augescens. Corolla infundibuliformis, tubo
imo coarctato, dein gradatim amphito, 15-nervio, limbo 5-fido,
lobis brevibus subineequalibus, 3-angularibus. Stamina 5, mn-
clusa, inequalia, corolla 3-plo breviora ; filamenta in coarc-
tationem tubi inserta, hine fornicata, erecta, gracilia ; anthere
conniventes, oblong, apicifixee, 2-loculares, loculis parallele
adnatis, rima marginali dehiscentibus. Ovarium ovatum, 2-
loculare, dissepimento tenul, placentis cruciformibus utrinque
adnatis, in locellis fureatis, carnosis, undique ovuligeris. Sty-
lus leviter curvatus, filiformis, staminibus excedens. Stigma
spathulato-dilatatum, compressum, sub-2-labiatum. Bacca ex-
sicca, intra calyeem auctum vesiciformem, venoso-reticulatum,
10-costatum inclusa, subglobosa, cortice coriaceo, superne cras-
siore, inferne subfragil, evalvato, 2-locularis, placentis fur-
eatis coriaccis, seminibus plurimis gerentibus. Semina com-
Mr. J. Miers on the genus Thinogeton. 359
pressa, subreniformia, testa scrobiculata, hilo laterali, margi-
nali. Embryo intra albumen carnosum teres, subspiralis, ra-
dicula angulo basali spectante, hilo evitante, cotyledonibus se-
miteretibus paulo longiore—Herbze Americe intertropice pro-
strate, subpilose, subcarnose, Convolvuli facie; foliis alternis,
axillaribus, oblongis, acutis, sinuato-incisis, vel undulatis, lon-
gissime petiolatis, petiolo canaliculato, demum producto; floribus
solitaris vel binis, pedunculatis subsecundis.
1. Thinogeton maritimum, Bth. Voy. Sulph. 142 ;—viscoso-pu-
bescens, carnosulum ; folus Janceolatis vel lineari-oblongis,
sinuoso-lobatis, vel grosse dentatis, basi in petiolum alatum
angustatis, crassiusculis, longiuscule petiolatis, floralibus de-
crescentibus ; floribus solitarius vel geminis, lateralibus, axillis
approximatis hinc pseudo-paniculatis et terminalibus, corolla
sub-violacea.—Kcuador, ad Tumbez, in littoris maritimis; v. s.
in herb. Hooker (Lima, Cuming, no. 972).
This is a prostrate plant, with much the habit of a Nolana, its
branches measuring a foot and upwards. Its petioles and pedi-
cels are erect, and therefore are all somewhat secund: I have not
seen any cauline leaves, but the floral leaves are much smaller,
greatly narrower, and upon a shorter petiole than in the follow-
ing species ; the pedicels are 2 to 4: lies long, the calyx is 3 lines
long, and 1 line diameter, swelling afterwards to a length of 7
lines and a diameter of 5 lines: the corolla is 15 or 16 lines long,
and 10 to 13 lines broad across the border ; it is pubescent out-
side, is persistent, and on withering, coils up in a spiral form,
when the peduncle increases to a length of 9 lines and becomes
suddenly reflexed. The berry is 4 lines in diameter, enclosed
within the eularged vesiciform calyx.
2. Thinogeton Miersii. Dictyocalyx Miersu, Hook. fil. Linn.
Trans. xx. p. 203 ;—subpubescens, foliis ovatis, acutis, basi
inzequalibus, cordato-auriculatis, et i petiolum angustatis, ir-
regulariter sinuato-angulatis, angulis subobtusis, 83-5-nerviis,
crasso-coriaceis, utrinque pilis brevibus rigidiusculis articulatis
conspersis, longissime petiolatis ; floribus solitarius vel geminis,
lateralibus, corolla sub-violacea extus puberula, limbo vix expla-
nato, staminibus corolla brevioribus.—Ins. Gallapagos, v. s. in
herb. Hook. (Charles et Albemarle Islands, Darwin.)
This plant possesses a habit similar to that of the former spe-
cies. The branching stems of woody texture are fistulose, smooth
and terete. The leaves are from 2} to 3 inches long, 2 to 23
inches broad, on a channeled petiole 5 inches long, that is nearly
rectangular with the stem : they are almost smooth, or sparsely
covered with very short rigid hairs: the peduncles are slender,
300 Mr. J. Miers on the genus Thinogeton.
4 to 1 inch long; the calyx is 5 lines long, 2 lines diameter ; the
corolla is 13 inch long, contracted for the length of 5 lines to a
diameter of 1 line, and thence gradually swelling into a funnel
shape, is 1 inch across the mouth ; three nearly parallel nervures
extend along the middle of the lobes to the base of the tube ; the
stamens arise in the contraction of the tube, and the anthers,
which are double the length of those of the former species, are
connivent around the style in the middle of the corolla; the
flower on withering coils up in a spiral form, and the peduncle,
subsequently deflexed, increases to a length of 1} to 1? inch,
becomes thicker, and enlarges considerably at its apex ; the calyx
swells to an oblong oval form, nearly an inch long, 7 lines broad,
10-angular, with ten prominent costate ribs, vesiciform, with the
mouth closed by five short connivent teeth: it encloses a berry
7 lines long, 5 lines diameter ; the pericarp is almost a putamen,
the upper moiety being thick and coriaceous, the lower half
thinner and more fragile; the dissepiment, and especially the
lunated placentz, become thickened, coriaceous and almost lig-
neous; it is apparently void of pulp, enclosing several seeds scarcely
a line in diameter and much compressed, which are described
by Dr. Hooker as being large ; but that term is evidently used in
comparison with those of Nicotianum, with which this genus was
thought to hold a close relation ; they are on the contrary smaller
than in many other genera of this tribe*.
3. Thinogeton Lobbianum (n. sp.) ;—viscoso-pubescens, caule stri-
ato, flexuoso ; foliis ovalibus, irregulariter sinuato-angulosis
et dentatis, imo cordato-auriculatis, et in petiolum longius-
culum breviter attenuatis, 3-5-nervis, tenuioribus, utrinque
tomento brevi glanduloso subincano pubescentibus, petiolo
tenui valde tomentoso ; floribus geminatis, calyce pubescente,
corolla sub-violacea, extus puberula, staminibus meequalibus,
corolla 2-3-plove brevioribus.—Columbia et Peruvia; v. s. in
herb. Hook. (Columbia, Lobb. no. 299. Peru, Maclean.)
This species is evidently intermediate between the two fore-
going: the stem is much smaller, more striated, far more flexu-
ose, with much shorter internodes, and altogether more pubescent
than the last described; the leaves are 2 inches long, 13 inch
broad, on a petiole of 24 inches, but probably the lower leaves are
somewhat larger : the peduncles are 9 lines long, slender and erect,
but become suddenly deflexed on the withering of the corolla ;
the calyx is 4 lines long, 1} line diameter; the corolla 14 inch
long, 2 inch broad in the mouth ; the fructiferous calyx becomes
almost globular, 5 lines long and 4 lines in diameter, contracted
* A figure of this species, with generic details, will be given in plate 59
of the ‘ Illustr. South Amer. Piants.’
Mr. J. Miers on the genus Polydiclis. 361
in the mouth, with five erect teeth, and enclosing a nearly glo-
bular berry 4 lines in diameter.
PoLyDICcLis.
The Nicotiana quadrivalvis of Pursh, and the Nicotiana multi-
valvis of Prof. Lindley, have long been known as anomalous spe-
cies, which Don placed in his section Polydiclia of that genus,
and I propose to adopt that name, or rather its more correct de-
rivation, for a distinct genus, in order to embrace these plants,
which are distinguished from Nicotiana by the different struc-
ture of the fruit and other characters. The first-mentioned plant
is a native of Missouri, where it is said to be cultivated as tobacco ;
it was introduced into England in 1811 and figured in the
‘Botanical Magazine.’ The latter species was first cultivated in
England in 1826 and figured in the ‘ Botanical Register.’ They
both differ from Nicotiana mm their globular, three or more celled
ovarium, with placente projecting from the axis into the middle
of the cell, where they become thickened and ovuligerous. The
capsule is globular, often very large, umbilicate at the apex, three-
to eight-grooved, with as many corresponding septicidal valves,
which break away from the shriveled dissepiments. In Poly-
diclis multivalvis, which has a six- or eight-celled ovarium, the pla-
centz are often pluripartite i in each cell, and as they become in-
crassated, the fruit according to Dr. Lindley presents a series of
external spurious cells around the true seminal cavities. Its
generic name is derived from zroAvs, multus, diKALs, valva, on
account of the greater number of the valves and divisions of its
capsule.
Porypic cis (gen. nov.).— Calyx globoso-tubulosus, 10-16-nervis,
5-8-dentatus, dentibus valde acutis, ineequalibus, erectis, per-
sistens et augescens. Corolla tubo cylindrico, 15- vel pluri-ner-
vio, basi ventricoso, oe 2—-3-plo longiore, limbo late campa-
nulato, ad medium 5—6-fido, laciniis expansis, obtusiusculis, 3-
nervis, venisque anastomosantibus pictis. Stamina 5- 6, i in-
eequalia, inclusa, medio corollz inserta, filamenta tubo 3-plo
breviora, filiformia, anthere ovate, 2-lobe, lobis lberis, appo-
sitis, rima exteriori dehiscentibus. Ovarium globosum, disco
carnoso insitum, 3 ad 6-loculare, placentis ex angulis promi-
nentibus in centro loculorum incrassatis, multiovulatis. Stylus
erectus, inclusus. Stzgma clavatum, 3 ad 6-lobum, lobis ob-
tusis, expansis, glanduloso-papillosis. Capsula globosa, magna,
umbilicata, 8-12-sulcata, calyce aucto arcte cincta, 3-pluri-
loculari, 3-plurivalvis, valvis septicidalibus dissepimentis de-
mum solutis, seepe locellis aliis spurts exterioribus donata.
Semina plurima, parva, oblonga, compressiuscula, hilo laterali.
Embryo intra albumen carnosum leyiter incurvus, radicula te-
362 Mr. J. Miers on the genus Polydiclis.
reti, angulo basali spectante, cotyledonibus ovatis plano-con-
vexis duplo longiore.—Herbze Americe septentrionalis viscoso-
pubescentes, odore fetido ; folia alterna, ovato-lancedlata, ellip-
tica, utrinque acuminata; flores axillares, albidi, reticulato-
pret.
1. Polydiclis multivalvis. Nicotiana multivalvis, Lindl. Bot. Reg.
tab. 833; Don, Dict. iv. 466 ;—viscido-pilosa, foliis carnosis,
ovato-lanceolatis, breviter petiolatis, utrimque acuminatis, in-
tegris, margine undulatis, demum fere glabris ; floribus soli-
tariis, paucis, axillaribus ; corolla magna, limbo explanato, al-
bida, venis purpureis picta, 5—6-mera.—Columbia River, in
locis saxosis.
This plant is said to be of a strong hircose odour and viscid ;
the leaves of the specimens I have seen are 6 inches long, 24
inches broad, on a petiole not longer than 4 or 3 an inch, which,
together with the midrib, is fleshy, broad, and semiterete. The
peduncle is scarcely more than { inch long; the calyx about
5 inch in length, and 3 inch diameter in its broadest part, con-
tracted above, and divided into five, sometimes six very acute lan-
ceolate teeth, one-third of its entire length ; it has ten or twelve
prominent nervures with intermediate reticulations. The tube of
the corolla is cylindrical, somewhat swollen at the base, 13 mch
long, 4 inch diameter ; the border is very broad, expanded, ‘about
2 inches across, and divided to nearly half its breadth into five,
sometimes six triangular obtuse segments: it is of a whitish
colour, with anastomosing purplish lines. The stamens are equal
in number to the segments of the corolla, and the anthers rise
to the mouth of the tube. The berry is large, globular, 1} inch
diameter, marked with deep grooves, corresponding with the
number of cells, which vary from six to twelve ; it is umbilicate
at the summit, and crowned by the persistent style, its lower
half being closely invested by the swollen calyx.
2. Polydichs suateaneanns. Nicotiana quadrivalvis, Pursh, F/.
Am. Sept. i. 141; Lehm. Hist. Nicot. c. 45. tab. 4; Don,
Dict... 466 ; Bot. "Mag. tab. 1778 ;—viscido-pilosa, caule her-
baceo, ramoso ; foliis oblongis, utrinque attenuatis, integris,
superioribus lanceolatis, subsessilibus ; floribus 5-meris, ovario
3—4-loculavi, calyce pilosiusculo, corolla genitalibusque glabris,
stigmate 3—4-lobo.— Missouri.
The leaves of this species appear somewhat smaller than m the
foregoing species, and are slightly ciliate on the margin, with
jointed articulated hairs; the corolla is also much smaller, and
the globular, usually 4-celled capsule, wholly enclosed in the per-
sistent calyx, is about half an inch m diameter.
Bibliographical Notices. 363
The Nicotiana nana, Lindl. Bot. Reg. tab. 833, referred by
Don to his section Polydicla, cannot belong to this genus, as its
ovarium is bilocular, and as it corresponds in few respects. The
plant has certainly nothing of the habit of a Nicotiana, and it is
difficult, in the absence of a satisfactory specimen, to determine
to what genus it should be referred.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
Antiquités Celtiques et Antédiluviennes ; Mémoire sur U Industrie pri-
mitive et les Arts a leur origine, avec 80 planches représentant 1600
figures. Paris, 1849.
Tuts very curious and interesting work is the result of the labours
and researches of a gentleman of independent fortune, and of taste,
science and public spirit, residing at Abbeville. He has been from the
first commencement of the Société d’Emulation in that city its ac-
tive, liberal, and munificent President. During the last ten years he
has gone to the expense of ascertaining what remains of primitive
art could be discovered underneath the beds of peat, gravel and
other materials, which cover the bottom of his own valley, that of
the river Somme, and he has extended his inquiries also into the
valley of the Seine. The deposits which he has turned over have not
been simply alluvial in the strict geological sense of the word, but
have also presented those appearances, especially in their fossil con-
tents, which have always been considered as distinctive of diluvium.
In these deposits to a great extent and in numerous instances
M. Boucher de Perthes has found articles of bone, horn and flint,
evidently fashioned by human labour, and intended to serve the
purposes of arms, tools, utensils and symbols. He has discovered
these objects both in the midst of and several metres below the dé-
bris of elephants, mastodons, saurians, and other extinct species,
specimens of which, presented by him, are exhibited in the Museum
of Natural History at Paris. Collections of the rudely shaped, but
indisputably artificial objects so situated may be seen in the museums
at Abbeville and Amiens; and in addition to his ample relations of
his researches, the author has given outline figures of many hundreds
of them in the numerous plates which illustrate his volume. Such
is the importance attached to his labours by the best judges in his
own country, that the Académie des Sciences has at his request ap-
pointed MM. S. Cordier, Dufrénoy, and Elie de Beaumont as a com-
mission to investigate the subject in its relation to geology, and the
Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres has named another com-
mission, including MM. Jomard and Raoul-Rochette, to examine the
matter as archeologists (pp. v, vi, x).
The subject of this remarkable volume is one, in the treatment of
which archeology and geology join hands. It consequently em-
braces a great variety of considerations bearing upon history, phy-
siology, and other branches of science. The numerous questions
364 Bibliographical Notices.
thus arising are discussed by M. Boucher de Perthes with clearness
and elegance, with comprehension of mind, and with the calmness of
a philosopher and a lover of truth.
That among the author’s numerous speculations: there should be
some liable to objection was to be expected. We certainly dissent
from his novel hypothesis on the subject of Celts, the haches Cel-
tiques, or haches Gauloises of the French. In addition to the great
variety of suppositions which have been advanced concerning their
use, and which he disavows, M. Boucher de Perthes imagines, that
the Celts both of stone and metal may have been used as weights
and measures, and may have served as a medium of exchange.
For more than 150 years the objects called Celts have attracted
the attention of antiquaries; but whilst they have made extensive
and very curious collections of spear-heads, arrow-heads, and in-
struments resembling wedges, chisels or hatchets, which have been
wrought in stone, and exactly resemble those still used by North
American Indians, South-Sea Islanders, and other nations in a very
low state of civilization ; they have until very lately omitted to no-
tice those implements of still more simple construction, which are
to be discovered in similar situations. But undoubtedly there were
such tools, the use of which was adopted in the earlier stages of the
arts of life. A New-Zealander’s battle-axe, made of hard tough jade,
polished, and shaped with exact symmetry, could only be produced
by great labour, skill and perseverance ; and such weapons were
found by Cook and other navigators to be highly prized by their
possessors. Many ages before the rude savage could attain to such
a degree of perfection in the working of stone, he must have in-
vented easier and simpler methods of operation. If we do but strike
one nodule of flint against another, we produce fragments with points
and sharp edges, which only require to be fixed in handles of hollow
bone or horn in order to be of great service in the fashioning of
wooden implements of various kinds. Of this class are many of the
tools which M. Boucher de Perthes has collected, and he has pro-
duced them in the different stages of manufacture, showing the
transition from the splinters as they first flew from the block of stone
to the more exact shapes of spear-heads, arrow-heads, hatchets, chi-
sels, and other implements. But what were the quadrupeds which
fell before these weapons? Not the sheep or the goat. It appears
that they had not yet reached these western borders. But the ele-
phant, the mastodon, the rhinoceros, the aurochs, and the gigantic
Irish elk.
Dr. Mantell, in the first volume of his ‘ Wonders of Geology,’ has
mentioned various circumstances which show that the last-named
animal was the contemporary of man. Some further observations,
which have been made in Ireland, and which tend to establish the
same fact, have been recorded by Mr. Charlesworth. Professor
Ansted observes, that the mastodon may possibly have reached down
almost to the human period * ; and it will be remembered, that, when
the magnificent and complete skeleton of that animal, now preserved
* Picturesque Sketches of Creation, p. 301.
Linnean Society. 365
in the British Museum, was first shown in London at the Egyptian
Hall, its exhibitor asserted that Indian arrow-heads were found
among the diluvian bones.
We are anxious to call the attention of British geologists to this
subject, in order that we may concur in the pursuit with our French
neighbours, and under the impression that our own valleys and beds
of diluvian gravel will supply evidence of the same kind. Mr.
Wetherell of Highgate has a most beautifully formed and perfect
spear-head of flint, which was lately found by the workmen employed
in the parish of Hornsey on the Great Northern Railway. The ac-
count given of it was, that it was found in a bed of gravel 3 or 4
feet below the surface. How came it there? Many will say, that
after being placed on the surface of the ground, it had in the course
of ages worked its way downwards. We do not think such a change
of position possible. Not even a pebble could have travelled that
short journey, much less a long, thin, finely-wrought instrument,
with sharp edges. Wherever it was originally laid in the gravel,
there it must have rested for hundreds, nay thousands of years. We
ought therefore rather to suppose that, when that part of Hornsey
was a river-bed, perhaps 3000 years ago, a fisherman lost his spear,
and after the wintry floods had covered it with a load of gravel
brought down from the higher land, the wooden shaft and its
fastenings of cord or leather underwent decay, and were dissipated,
whilst the stone was preserved in its original state. But by further
attention we shall probably discover in the British Isles not only
those finished productions, which our antiquaries have hitherto col-
lected, but weapons and tools of a more primitive form, in an un-
finished state, and in all the stages of progress from the original
fragments of rock to the polished Celt; and it is by pursuing these
researches, as M. Boucher de Perthes has done, that we may carry
back British history to its earliest date, and re-establish the old title,
“Homo Diluvii Testis.” —J. Y.
PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES.
LINNZAN SOCIETY.
February 6, 1849.—E. Forster, Esq., V.P., in the Chair.
A series of specimens of the natural order Cycadeeé was exhilited,
and a portion of them presented to the Society, by James Yates, Esq.,
JD sad oad Bete Berson
In his catalogue of these specimens Mr. Yates followed the ar-
rangement and adopted the names of Miquel in his ‘ Monographia
Cycadearum,’ 1842, and of Brongniart in the ‘ Ann. des Sc. Natu-
relles,’ sér. 8. tome 5, 1846.
In the course of his communication the author offered the follow-
ing remarks :—
Genus Cycas.
Cycas revoluta.—Since the year 1799, when a female plant of this
366 Linnean Society.
species flowered at Farnham, as described by Sir James Edward
Smith in the 6th volume of the Linnean Transactions, a considerable
number of the same sex have flowered in this country. Five indivi-
duals might be mentioned, which are now in a flowering state. On
the other hand, only one male plant is known to have flowered in
our island. This was formerly at York, and is now in the Botanic
Garden at Sheffield. Its cone, or rather spike, nearly a metre in
length, is preserved in the museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical
Society, and exhibits in a very striking manner the affinity of this
genus to the rest of the Cycadee, whilst the female cone of Cycas
differs greatly from that of all the other genera.
Genus Macrozamia.
Macrozamia spiralis.—The genus Macrozamia, the scales of whose
cone, whether male or female, are distinguished by terminating in a
single spine, directed upwards, appears to be very closely allied to
the Dioon of Professor Lindley. It is difficult to distinguish the young
seedlings of these two genera. ‘The only perceptible difference is,
that in Macrozamia the leaflets are contracted at the base, and are
more remote from one another than in Dioon. Also in both of these
genera the leaves of the young plants differ most remarkably from
those of the same plants in the adult state. Macrozamia, as well as
Dioon, approaches Cycas in the circumstance, that the leaflets are
decurrent, whereas in the remaining genera, Hncephalartus, Zamia
and Ceratozamia, they are not at all decurrent, but are contracted at
the base and join the midrib of the leaf by a distinct articulation.
The decurrent leaflets of Macrozamia spiralis are especially apparent
in the young plants.
Genus ENCEPHALARTUS.
Encephalartus brachyphyllus.—A male plant flowered last year at
Chatsworth. The cone appeared early in May, and was full-grown
in two months.
Encephalartus Altensteinii.—There are at Chatsworth two splen-
did specimens of this species, which are labeled as such. Some of
their leaves are two metres long. One of these two specimens has
thrown out bulbs, producing offsets of considerable size. On com-
paring the leaves of the offsets with those of the parent plant, the
former are observed to be much more spinous and smaller than the
latter, the number of the leaflets also being much less. This indi-
vidual therefore affords a decisive proof that such diversities in the
leaves may depend upon the age of the plant, or upon other circum-
stances. Hence it may be inferred, that many individuals, which in
our conservatories are distinguished by other names, and especially
many of those called ‘‘Zamia pungens,” or ‘‘ Encephalartus pungens,”
belong to the Encephalartus Altensteinii of Lehmann and Miquel.
Lehmann assigned this name and made his description of the species
from the study of specimens directly imported from South Africa.
But if the view here taken be correct, the species was already com-
mon in Europe under other names. A plant called “ Zamia pun-
Lannean Society. 367
gens,” in the Botanic Garden at Birmingham, agrees exactly in ap-
pearance with Lehmann’s plate of HL. Altensteinii, in his ‘ Pugillus
Sextus’ (Hamburg, 1834). The history of two of these plants
called ‘‘ Zamia pungens”’ is remarkable. They are a male and a
female, of about equal size and similar appearance, and formerly
belonged to Lord Tankerville’s collection at Walton-on-Thames.
When they were sold, the male plant went to Kew, the female to
Chatsworth. Both have flowered, and the flower of each has been
represented. An engraving of the female with its cone, produced
in 1832, was published by A. B. Lambert, Esq. (see Buckland’s
‘Bridgewater Treatise,’ i. 494; i. plate 59), and Mr. R. Hors-
man Solly obtained a fine drawing of the flower of the male in
1839 (Proceedings of Linn. Soc. p. 52; Annals of Nat. Hist. v. 46).
This male cone is preserved in the collection of the Linnean So-
ciety, and a cone afterwards produced by the same plant is in the
museum at Kew. ‘This plant is now putting up a new crown of
leaves. Its fellow, the female at Chatsworth, has been in fruit many
months *.
* Of the cones of this plant and of the female hereafter mentioned of
Enc. horridus, Mr. Robert Scott of Chatsworth has furnished the following
measurements and observations taken at two different periods of their
growth. Thecone of Enc. pungens appeared on the 14th of June, and that
of Enc. horridus on the 13th of July 1848. ‘The measurements of October
were coincident with the perfect disengagement of the cones ; and although
Mr. Scott has made repeated measurements since those taken in December,
he does not find, up to the 9th of March (the date of his communication),
any further increase of size. They were then full-grown, and the scales
appeared likely to drop from the axis in a few weeks.
ENCEPHALARTUS PUNGENS.
Oct. 9, 1848. Dec. 25, 1848.
Length of cone, outside measure......... 18} inches ............. 2] inches
Circumference, 9 in. from top....... pddog, G28) m= uddanGOnODID, e418) —_
Circumference, 3 in. from base ......... 33 ==) sctesssiitene: (One —
Nf ber OR EPIL OS sa wstnakalseidelee acteeptsejsjosigaeh LO
Number of fertile scales in one spire ... 14 or 15
Number of barren scales in one spire... 8 or 9
Perpend. diameter of a fertile-scale...... 14 inch ......:..0.. I> —
Transverse diameter of a fertile scale... 2 — Soe ee a
Perpend. diameter of a barren scale ... O72, —— ccsceeseeeee 0% —
Transverse diameter of a barren scale... Ij — ...c0...08. 1445 —
Each spire performs one revolution.
ENCEPHALARTUS HORRIDUS,
Oct. 9, 1848. Dec. 25, 1848.
Length, outside measure ...,.......sss00.- NOMinches) wescsesseere 14 inches
Circumference at base ...... easecerdtecssyc; UE a ok sentsesera mmm
Circuinference, 3 inches from top ...... De ON ceseceseose, a lon A
Number of spires ..... su0pocqnoquadBondeT se0, ts
Number of scales in one spire ,............ 14
Perpend. diameter of one scale ......... 17 SS yetie ees Ae 13, —
Transverse diameter of one scale ...... Ly cee ee eee £) Vi =
Each spire performs one revolution.
There are no apparently barren scales.
368 Linnean Society.
Miquel observes, that this species was formerly cultivated in
European conservatories under the name of “‘ Zamia spinulosa,” or
“Z. spinosissima.” Both he and Lehmann assign the name of ‘“ Hn-
cephalartus pungens”’ to an entirely different species.
Encephalartus Caffer.—This species, which in Miquel’s arrange-
ment immediately follows H. Altensteinii, differs from it distinctly
in the form of the leaves. Also in both species the form of the
leaves, and more especially the obliquity with which the leaflets are
set upon the midrib, and which increases regularly from the base
of the leaf to its apex, may be traced to the imbricate vernation. In
all Cycadee the vernation affords important aids for. distinguishing
both genera and species, and these characters are the more deserving
of attention on account of the rare occurrence of the flowers.
The next species to Encephalartus Caffer, in Miquel’s arrange-
ment, is H. longifolius. He however represents these two species
as scarcely differing except in habit. ‘The plant in the great con-
servatory at Kew, named “‘ Zamia longifolia,” seems to me undistin-
cuishable from H#. Caffer. Specimens of the same may be seen at
Chelsea and at Chiswick, which in those gardens are called ‘‘ Zamia
elegans.” At Sion House there is a remarkably fine plant of this
species, called there ‘‘ Encephalartus Caffrorum.”
Probably no finer specimens of #. Caffer have ever been known
than two, which are at Chatsworth. They were sent to the Duke
of Devonshire’s collection by the late Baron Ludwig, from his own
garden at the Cape of Good Hope, together with all the Chatsworth
specimens of this genus, excepting that already mentioned, which
was brought from Walton-on-Thames. ‘These two plants cannot be
less than 100 years old.
On a close examination of the cicatrices, which are arranged in
spirals on their trunks, appearances present themselves which make
it probable, that not the leaflets only, but the leaves also are articu-
lated. Many of these cicatrices are concave, smooth within, but
showing the marks cf bundles of vessels, which have closed after
the separation of the petioles. Although, therefore, the longevity of
these leaves is certainly very great, as it is in all Cycadez, yet they
appear to have their natural term of life, perhaps ten years or more ;
after which they are thrown off by an effort of the plant resembling
that which in common cases takes place every year.
One of these two specimens is a female, and having recently borne
fruit, requires a more detailed description.
The cone made its first appearance in the spring of 1847. In the
following September it had attained so great a size, that it was
thought desirable to take a cast of it in plaster, and models, made
from this cast, are now in the museum at Kew, in the collections of
the British Museum and of the Linnean Society, and in other col-
lections both public and private. At the time when the cast was
taken, the prevailing colour of the cone was a dark shining green,
the pyramidal extremities of the rhomboids being of a lemon-yellow,
streaked with brown. ‘hese colours were afterwards blended or
changed, so that the surface of the cone assumed a pretty uniform
bronze colour.
fannean Society. 369
For a long time the cone was as compact as possible; but at the
end of the year a fissure might be discerned round the base of some
of the pyramids, especially of those near the top of the cone. The
cone had then become twice as large as it was in September. But
the rhomboids which terminated the scales, rising in the form of
truncated and tuberculated pyramids, had increased much less in the
upper part of the cone than in the lower. Accordingly the scales
in the upper part, extending a fourth of the way down the axis, were
afterwards found to be barren. Moreover, as the rhomboids in the
middle and lower part increased, they extended themselves laterally
much more than vertically, and there arose thus a remarkable swell-
ing or protuberance in the part of the cone below that, which con-
sisted of the barren scales. In this respect the cone assumed the
appearance of that of an Hncephalartus, which is figured in Jacquin’s
‘Fragmenta,’ plate 27.
Although the barren scales at the upper part of the cone became
gradually less close and compact, they continued firmly attached to
the axis until the following midsummer. Had a male plant been pre-
sent, it appears probable that under these circumstances fertilization
would have taken place. Although the Cycadee are classed as gym-
nospermous, their ovules, with the exception of the genus Cycas, are
so covered and guarded in the earlier stages of their development,
that it is difficult to imagine how the pollen can possibly obtain
access to them. But, after the barren scales at the top of the cone
have begun to separate, a shower of pollen, falling on it, would easily
make its way through the fissures between these barren scales, and,
going in the direction of the axis, would come into immediate con-
tact with the summits of the ovules, which are all directed towards
the axis and placed at a very short distance from it. In considering
the mode of impregnation, it is also important to observe, that,
whereas the male cone quickly comes to maturity, sheds its abun-
dant pollen, and decays, the female cone, being of much slower
growth, remains for many weeks in that state, in which the provi-
sion here described is made for the admission of the pollen.
About July 1848, all the scales separated from the axis, begin-
ning at the top of the cone. A coloured wax model having been
made of a scale with the fruit upon it in the mature state, copies of
it accompany the before-mentioned models of the cone.
The scales were arranged in eight spirals, each spiral consisting of
forty scales, and making two revolutions round the axis. The num-
ber of drupes, containing nuts, was probably about 400, two upon
each perfect scale. The scales were weighed as they fell from the
cone, and their entire amount was 46 lbs.
After all the scales had fallen, the axis was found to be supported
by a very short thick peduncle, not exceeding fifteen millemetres in
length, and covered with down. A section having been made across
the axis in its thickest part, the ceatre was observed to be pith, with-
out cells, vessels, or woody fibre. ‘This central portion was sur-
rounded by pith, abounding in cells and bundles of woody fibre.
The cells were filled with gum, and very different from the bundles
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. iv. 25
370 Linnean Society.
of woody fibre. These latter, being destined to supply the scales,
first pursued a course parallel to the axis, and then turned outwards
to the bases of the scales.
The following are the dimensions of this magnificent plant, ex-
pressed in metres and centimetres, one metre being equal to 39°371
English inches :—
Dimensions of the trunk. MI IG:
Length ....ccccsssecscsesseccescscccncscnceos rap nonddnapocadoneachaad 2 730
Girth at the narrowest part .....cscceeeseeeeceeerteeeeteerenenenes 1 2
Girth just below the leaves ......ssscssesecsecerenceeeneseeenes 1 8
Girth at the thickest parts, viz. at the ground and a little
e LG
above themmiddles cs. cecececies cee ceccseineeeccementcls Baan enlects
Dimensions of a large leaf.
Length of leaf, including foot-stalk — ...esesseeeseeeree eee Sea L- <0
Length of foot-stalk .......cccsececeeeseeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeneueaeenes 25
Length of largest leaflets .........sceeeeeeseeneeeeeeeeeeeeesensens 14
Greatestibreadth Of Gitta: s.. cscssniceeuate moet oeaetids ssfisicctesiieasans 34
Dimensions of the cone.
Length, including peduncle .........ccssseseeeceeeeeeeces eneeneens 58
From the apex to the base, measured outside .......s0sseeee 65
From the apex to the termination of the smaller rhomboids 17
Gixthmmithenmiddl Greeeasccccccccucecesocemacsieslethe sissies. sens 92
Girth at the base ......... Vacdncis cists eminee sobesacs cllpmrccaccemeat 50
Greatest girth of the axis..... SbacaqnosAccQuoSaNAddoonucdonduIG0d0¢ 26
Transverse diameter of a rhomboid .........+++.+- Seemecciancscees 5
Wertical diameter Ondittore: «cc. c.cenecacccetececcetnecceececeans 3
In relating the history of this plant, it is to be observed, lastly,
that some time before the scales began to fall from the axis, a set of
young leaves made their appearance on one side of its base. They
were invested with a thick, silky, olive-coloured pubescence. They
at first took a horizontal direction, but on the removal of the cone
their tendency was upwards.
Encephalartus horridus.—A male plant flowered in 1839 at Kin-
mel Park, the seat of Lord Dinorben, who presented the cone to the
Linnzan Society. (Proceedings, p. 9; Annals of Nat. Hist. S. 1.
vol. ii. p. 58.)
A female bore fruit at Chatsworth in 1846, and is now in fruit
again. Another female, formerly in the garden of the Horticultural
Society at Chiswick and now in Mr. Yates’s possession, has twice pro-
duced a cone supported by a short peduncle. Among the distinctions,
to which allusion has been made already, between the genus Cycas and
the other genera of the same Natural Order, it is remarkable that the
female cone of Cycas is sessile, and that after it has arrived at ma-
turity its scales diverge and assume a tendency to a horizontal di-
rection, corresponding with that of the leaves; after which the next
set of leaves rises from the centre of the cone. In other Cycadee,
the cone, whether male or female, is pedunculated, and the new tuft
of leaves appears by the side of the peduncle.
Zoological Society. 371
Genus ZAMIA.
Zamia furfuracea.—There are two fine old plants in the Botanic
Gardens at Cambridge and Chelsea, which are males, and bear cones
almost every year. Their stems are short and branched. In the
Botanic Garden at Liverpool is a female, which produced a cone in
1848. These three plants agree quite as well with Miquel’s de-
scription of ‘‘ Zamia muricata, var. angustifolia,” as with his descrip-
tion of Zamia furfuracea.
Zamia integrifolia.—A fine female plant in the Botanic Garden at
Cambridge produces a cone every year, and one is now appearing.
Five or six bulbs grow from the stem, some of them bearing leaves*.
Genus CERATOZAMIA,
Ceratozamia mexicana.—A male plant flowered at Chatsworth in
1847, and another of the same sex at Kew. The cone of the last is
preserved in the museum. ‘Two fine plants of this species are now
flowering at Kew, and there are two in the garden at Chiswick,
also in a flowering state. At Kew and Chiswick these plants
are called ‘‘ Dipsacozamia.’ In these gardens the plants differ
so much in the size and form of their leaves, that they may be pre-
sumed to belong to some of the four new species preserved at Am-
sterdam, which Miquel describes in the ‘ Tijdschrift voor de Wetten-
schappen,’ 1847, p. 38-43. The same observation applies to the
Ceratozamias in the conservatory of Mr. Loddiges at Hackney.
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.
Nov. 14, 1848.—Wnm. Yarrell, Esq., Vice-President, in the Chair.
DescriPTION OF A NEW Genus or AcEPpHALOUS MOoLLUSCA, OF
THE FAMILY PECTINACEA, COLLECTED BY CapT. Sir EDWARD
BELCHER DURING THE VoYAGE oF H.M.S. Samarane. By
Artuur ApaMs AND Lovett Reeve, FF.L.S.
Genus HEMIPECTEN.
Hemipecren Forsestanus. Hem. testd orbiculari, Anomieformi,
tenuissimd, hyalind, concentrice lineatd, linearum interstitiis eximieé
reticulatis ; valvd inferiore planulatd, postice auriculatd, auriculd
longitudinaliter radiata, sinu infra profundo, margine opposito
subtiliter denticulato; valvd superiore convead, extus interdum
decussatim rugosd, vix auriculatd; cardine edentulo, ligamento
angusto, marginali, cartilagine parvo solido in cavitatem centralem
superficiariam valvis ambabus ligamentum intersecante ; pellucido-
albd, valud superiore interdum rufo-aurantio radiatd.
Hab. Sooloo Archipelago, Eastern Seas.
The subject of the foregoing description, which constitutes an ex-
tremely interesting discovery in the acephalous family Pectinacea, is
an inequivalve shell, partaking of the characters of Pecten and Ano-
* Four Zamias of other species are now flowering at Kew.
25*
9)
372 Zoological Society.
mia. Like Anomia, it is a thin, hyaline substance, of which the upper
valve is a rude convex plate, distorted according to its situation of
growth, but slightly notched on one side. Like Pecten, the under
valve is characterised by a prominent auricle on the left side, the
sinus beneath being very deeply cut in the direction of the hinge-
margin, and furnished along the edge with a row of fine erect denti-
cles. The hinge, similar to that of Pecten, consists of a slight mar-
ginal ligament intersected in the middle byasolid triangular cartilage,
situated in the hollow of a superficial depression in each valve. Ap-
parently the nearest approximation to this shell may be found in some
of the fossil Pectens of the carboniferous limestone, distinguished
by a nearer relation with Anomia, of which it presents a reversed
condition of growth. ;
From the circumstance of one of the valves being perforated by a
deep sinus, of which there is no corresponding growth in the other,
it may be compared with Pedum, but there is no indication of the
umbonal area which characterises the hinge of that genus, and it
does not appear to be the production of an animal of the same pecu-
liar habits.
In texture and composition the valves consist of a transparent,
semipearlaceous lamina, exhibiting a series of closely-arranged con-
centric lines, the interstices between which are minutely rayed with
much finer lines. If any importance can be attached to the varia-
tions in the microscopic structure of shells for the purposes of classi-
fication, the observations with which we have been kindly favoured
by Dr. Carpenter on the genus, tend rather to show its affinity with
Pedum. There is some uncertainty in the result. ‘‘ The flat valve,”
says Dr. Carpenter, ‘‘in both specimens is permeated by copious
tubuli, a character in which the species agrees with Pedum and with
certain species of Lima, and differs from Pecten. This tubularity exists
also in the convex valve of the colourless specimen, but is absent in the
other (at least in the portion of it which the Bryozoon covering its
surface allows me to examine), and I would direct your attention to
the fact that the coloured shell possesses a rudimental sculpturing
over the whole of its visible external surface, which is totally wanting
in the other. Is not this sufficient as a specific difference?”
The two specimens here spoken of, collected during the voyage of
the Samarang, were dredged by Captain Sir Edward Belcher in the
Sooloo Sea, from a coral and stony bottom, at a depth of about four-
teen fathoms. The under valve of each is smooth, showing it to
have been attached; the upper valve, covered in part in both speci-
mens with particles of coral and parasitic shells, is in one individual
smooth and colourless, in the other decussately corrugated, delicately
rayed with reddish-orange. The two shells so entirely agree in all
other respects that we have not ventured to describe them as distinct
species.
Trusting that this interesting subject may assist the developmental
views of Professor Edward Forbes, we have the pleasure of distin-
guishing the species by his name.
Zoological Society. 373
November 28.—Professor Owen, Vice-President, in the Chair.
The following papers were read ;-—
1. DescriPTIONS OF SOME NEW SPECIES OF OVULUM IN THE COLLEC-
Tron oF Mr. Cumine. By G. B. Sowersy, Jun.
1. Ovutum umsBiticatum (Thes. Conch. pl. 101. f. 88,89). Ovud.
testd globosd, subpyriforme, alba, roseo pallidé tincto, dorso ad
extremitates rubro lineato, ad terminum posticum umbilicato ; aper-
turd subapertd; labio externo angustato umbilicato; aperturd
subapertd ; labio externo angustato intis crenulato postice labium
internum superante ; labio interno postice tumorem elevatum den-
ticulatum ferente, ad canalem tineari, antice bicostellatd, ad cana-
lem uniplicato.
Agreeing with QO. margarita in general appearance, but the outer
lip is thinner, the mouth wider, the upper callosity elevated and den-
ticulated. There is also a small urabilicus behind the posterior ter-
mination of the outer lip.
Hab. Ticao, Philippines; by Mr. Cuming.
2 Ovuxnum tancroratum (Thes. Conch. pl. 100. f. 35, 36). Ovul.
testa elongata, angustatd, minutissime striatd, aurantio-rubescente,
seu albidd, canalibus subproductis, emarginatis ; aperturd angus-
tatd ; labio externo planulato crasso, breviusculo, antice angulatim
flexuoso ; labio interno tumido rubro longitudinaliter marginato,
postice ad canalem producto, subtortuoso, antice intis longitudi-
naliter sulcato, uniplicato, ad canalem angusto, rectiusculo, acumi-
nato.
A remarkable shell, presenting the appearance of O. aciculare very
much lengthened. The aperture is narrow, excepting towards the
anterior, where the outer lip is bent out: the under surface is flat,
the inner lip edged with a reddish line. Collected by Mr. Cuming.
Hab. Sorsogon, Isle of Luzon, Philippines.
There is a white variety of this species (?) from Molucca.
3. Ovutum unipiicatum (Thes. Conch. pl. 100. f. 30, 31, 32).
Ovul. testd elongata, subcylindricd, pellucidd, minutissime striata,
aurantid, seu violaced, antice subacuminatd, postice subrotundata ;
dorso margine distincto ; aperturd subaperta; labio externo pau-
lulim incrassato, ad extremitates recedente, antice subangulato,
ad canalem emarginato ; tabio interno intis subdepresso, postice
spiraliter uniplicato, ad canalem tortuo, versus labium externum
deflecto, antice subtortuo acuminato.
Specimens of the pale violet variety were obtained by Mr. Cuming
from near Charleston, South Carolina; a darker one from Rio
Janeiro.
This species resembles O. aciculare, but is more acuminated at the
anterior extremity; it is rather more ventricose, and finely striated.
The spiral fold near the anterior canal is more decided and less ob-
lique, and the edge of the canal above it invariably leans towards
the outer lip.
374 Zoological Society.
4, OvuLuM pEFLExuM (Thes.Conch. pl.100. f.57,58). Ovul. testé
ovali-elongatd, levigatd, albida, extremitatibus deflexis ; aperturd
angustatd ; labio externo crasso, lato, complanato, antice arcuato,
breviusculo ; labio interno longitudinaliter tumido, complanato,
postice uniplicato, antice ad canalem acuminato.
Resembling O. aciculare, but with a broad, flattened outer lip, and
the extremities turned downwards. Brought from Ticao, Philippines,
by Mr. Cuming.
5. Ovunum puiLiprinarum (Thes. Conch. pl. 100. f.57, 58). Ovul.
testa elongata, gradatim rostratd levigatd, fulvd, subtis albidd ;
aperturd angustatd, ad canales truncata ; labio externo levi, albo,
rectiusculo, antice angulatim contracto ; labio interno levi, intis
antice subemarginato.
The contraction towards the extremities is more gradual, and the
outer lip straighter, than O. birostre, and the canals are truncated
at the extremities. The colour is pale fawn, darkened in the aper-
ture, and nearly white at the lips.
Several specimens were brought by Mr. Cuming from the island
of Capul, Philippines.
6. Ovutum suBrostRAtUM (Thes. Conch. pl. 100. f. 39,40). Ovud.
testd oblongd, levi, rubro-violascente, ad extremitates subproductd,
acuminatd ; dorso margine distincto ; apertura angustatd, antice
subangulatd ; labio externo levi, ad extremitates recedente ; labio
interno tumido, intis unicarinato, postice spiraliter uniplicato, ad
canales rectiusculo, producto.
Resembling O. secale, but with the extremities more produced and
straightened.
From Honduras Bay; collected by Mr. Dyson.
7. Ovutum simize (‘Thes. Conch. pl. 100. f. 28, 29). Ovul. testa
oblongd, ovali, spiraliter striata, fulvd; canalibus subproductis,
emarginatis ; labio externo crasso, levi, anticé subarcuato, utrinque
breviusculo ; labio interno tumido, posticé spiraliter uniplicato, ad
eanalem subtortuo, acuminato, antice subdepresso, intus longitu-
dinaliter unicarinato, ad canalem rectiusculo, acuminato.
Mr. Cuming’s collection ; locality unknown.
Resembling O. secale, but spirally striated.
2. DEscRIPTIONS OF SOME NEW SPECIES OF CANCELLARIA IN THE
Coxtztection or Mr. H. Cumine. By G. B. Sowersy, Jun.
1, CancELLaria unpuLata (Thes. Conch. pl. 92. f. 12; pl. 95.
f. 79). Cane. testd ovali, lineis undulatis paululim elevatis
cinctd ; costis crassiusculis subnoduliferis ; anfractibus subangu-
latis ; aperturd interné striata ; columella crassd, granulosd ; colore
Sulvo, fusco (precipue ad angulum anfractuum) interruptim fas-
ciato.
Hab. Van Diemen’s Land. Var. truncata, Philippines ; H. Cuming.
This species was originally included in the C. granosa, Sowerby,
Conch, Illustr., but the general aspect of the shell, especially the
Zoological Society. 375
banded variety, 1s so different, owing to the greater fineness of the
strie, that on examining a number of specimens I think they may
well be separated.
2. CanceLuaria THENIATA (Thes. Conch. pl. 95. f. 75, 76). Cane.
testd elongatd, turritd ; costis numerosis, transverse striatis, ad
angulum anfractuum acute angulatis ; spird acuminatd, apice mam-
melliferd ; apertura interne levigatd; margine acuto; columella
levi, biplicata ; colore pallide fulvo, fusco teniato.
Hab. ? Mus. H. Cuming.
3. CANCELLARIA MELANOSTOMa (Thes. Conch. pl. 95. f. 78). Canc.
testa ovali, longitudinaliter striis noduliferis et transverse striis
alternatis minute decussatd ; spird acuminatd, anfractibus paucis,
rotundatis ; aperturd ovali, magna, interne costatd ; labio externo
denticulato ; columella expansd, antice granulatd, triplicata ; colore
pallide fulvo, fusco late fasciato ; labio externo bimaculato, colu-
melld fuscd nigricante.
The smoothness of the decussating striz, the more oval form, the
peculiar dark colour and granulation of the columella, serve to di-
stinguish this species from the preceding.
Mr. Cuming possesses the only specimen which we have seen. Its
locality is unknown.
4. CanceLuaria ExcAvaTA (Thes. Conch. pl. 93. f.18). Cane.
testd ovatd, levi; spird acuminatd, turritd ; anfractibus ad sutu-
ram profunde excavatis; aperturd breviusculd, angulatd, labio
externo levi, interne costato; columella triplicatd, umbilicatd ;
colore nullo.
Hab. South Australia.
It resembles C’. spirata, but the aperture is shorter in proportion
to the spire, and the upper part of the whorls more deeply excavated.
The shell is umbilicated behind the columella, and of a white colour.
5. CANCELLARIA FovEOLATA (Thes. Conch. pl. 103. f. 30, 31).
Cane. testa oblongo-ovali, turritd, levigatd, obsolete striata ; spird
productd, anfractibus angulatis, ad suturam excavatis, ad angulum
subcoronatis ; apertura triangulari, levi; columelld triplicatd ;
umbilico mediocri; colore fusco, vel fulvo teniato.
From the sands in Algoa Bay. One specimen is of a uniform
brown colour, and the other beautifully lineated.
6. CancrLuariA sEMIDissuNcTA (Thes. Conch. pl. 95. f. 62, 63).
Canc. testd ovali, ventricosd, turritd, spiraliter sulcatd; anfrac-
tibus angulatis, ad suturam profundé excavatis, ultimo disjuncto ;
umbilico maximo, costato ; apertura triangulart, columella tripli-
catd ; colore fulvo, fusco longitudinaliter fasciato.
Collected by Mr. Cuming in sandy mud, at twenty-five fathoms’
depth, at Cagayan, Isle of Mindanao.
3. DEscRIPTION OF TWO SPECIES OF MAMMALIA FROM CARACCAS.
By J. E. Gray, Esa., F.R.S. ere.
The British Museum have lately purchased from M. Sallé, through
Mr. Cuming, a Monkey and a Squirrel, which appear to have been
376 Zoological Society.
hitherto unnoticed in the catalogues; I have therefore sent a short
description of them to the Society.
Mycertes patuiatus (Mantled Howler).
Black brown ; hair of the middle of the back and upper part of the
sides yellow brown, with black tips; of the lower part of the sides
elongate brownish yellow, forming a kind of mantle on each side.
Hab. Caraccas.
The hair of the forehead short, reflexed, forming a slight crest
across the middle of the head; of the back of the head rather longer ;
of the cheeks few, scattered, short and greyish; of the hinder part
of these rather longer than those on the rest of the head, and form-
ing a slight beard, which is more distinct in the males; the lower
part of the hairs on the shoulders is sometimes yellowish.
Scrurus porsatis (Black-backed Squirrel).
White, hairs black, with, more or less, long white tips; the eye-
brows, back of the head, nape and middle of the back brownish black,
forming a very broad, well-defined dorsal streak.
Hab. Caraccas.
The black of the hairs of the sides of the body and tail show through
the general white colour ; the black occupies all except the tip of the
hairs. The hairs of the lower part of the legs and feet are white to
the base; ears rounded, not bearded, and with scattered hairs.
This may be only a variety of some other American species, but
the two specimens which were sent home were exactly alike.
4. DescripTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF HERPESTES, FROM ABYSSINIA.
By J. E. Gray, Ese., F.R.S. src.
Mr. F. H. Hora having kindly presented to the Museum a specimen
of a male Herpestes which he lately caught in Abyssinia, and as it
is different from any of the species of the genus described by Dr. Rip-
pell in his Fauna of that country, original specimens of which are in
the British Museum collection, I have the pleasure of laying a short
description of it before the Society.
HerpesTEs ocHraceus (Ochraceous Herpestes).
Pale brownish yellow, very minutely mixed or punctated with a
darker tint; chin, throat and under part paler, not punctated ; end of
tail bright yellow, with an elongated black tip.
Hab. Abyssinia.
The hair of the back short, yellow, with a short blackish base and
a narrow dark brown subterminal band ; of the throat and under part
of the body longer uniform pale yellow, with a short dark band at
the base ; of the lower half of the tail longer pale yellow, with three
or four rather narrow, equidistant darker bands; of the end of the tail
uniform bright yellow, and of the hinder end all black, forming a
terminal tuft. Ears rather large, rounded, covered with short close-
pressed hairs. The soles of the hind-feet bald to the heels.
The skull is rather elongate and narrow ; the false grinders are 3-3,
Zoological Society. 377
the first being very small and conical; the third are subtriangular,
with a slight tubercle on the inner side : ; the orbit not quite com-
plete, but ‘with a short interr uption in the middle of the hinder side.
Length of skull 2,45 inches, width +} ; length of palate 1,4 inch ;
of face from front of orbit 53 lines; of lower j jaw 1 inch 33 ‘lines.
5. DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF CINCLOSOMA.
By J. Goutp, Esa., F.R.S. Erc.
CINCLOSOMA CASTANEOTHORAX, D. Sp.
Sp. Ch.—Crown of the head, ear-coverts, back of the neck and
upper tail-coverts brown; stripe over the eye and another from the
base of the lower mandible, down the side of the neck, white ; shoul-
ders and wing-coverts black, each feather with a spot of white at the
tip; all the upper surface, the outer margins of the scapularies, and
a broad longitudinal stripe on their inner webs next the shaft, deep
rust-red ; primaries, secondaries, and the central portion of the sca-
pularies dark brown; tail black, all but the two central feathers
largely tipped with white; chin and throat black; chest crossed by
a band of rich rust-red; sides of the chest and flanks brownish grey,
the latter blotched with black; centre of the abdomen white ; under
tail-coverts brown, deepening into black near the tip, and margined
with white; bill and feet black.
Total length, 84 inches; bill, 1; wing, 4; tail, 43; tars, 1.
Hab. Darling Downs, New South Wales.
Remark. -—Nearly allied to C. castanotus and C. cinnamomeum, from
which it is however ay distinguished by the colour of the chest
and back.
Dr. Macdonald communicated orally his ideas on the Vertebral
Homologies as applicable to Zoology, of which observations he has
furnished the following abstract :—
** Dr. Macdonald gave a short sketch of the characters of the typical
vertebra, as proposed by Professor Owen and several continental
zoologists and comparative anatomists, and then contrasted it with
one which had been the result of many years’ study, and which he
considered more in accordance with the vertebra and its auto-
genous and exogenous elements as traceable in the endoskeleton of
the Vertebrate classes, and also as showing its analogy in the Annu-
lose animals. ‘The table which he exhibited points out these, from
which it would appear that Dr. Macdonald considers the bodies of
the vertebre, as described by anthropotomists,—continued downwards
through the sacrum and coccyx to the top of the tail, and the basilar
process upwards to the sella turcica,—as so many portions or segments
of a central axis formed around a centrochord,—and not a notochord
as usually described,—from which the autogenous elements spring
and radiate to the periphery, and, converging mesially along the dorsal
aspect, enclose within the tunnel of the Neuro-Camera the whole
cerebro-spinal axis, of varying dimensions in the different regions,
and another set of radii meeting sternally, and forming the three
378 Zoological Society.
thoracic regions, having a costal region interposed. ‘The Rachedian
development from the sella turcica to the tail, with its mesothorax and
metathorax, is the longest, and forms the Rachal type; the anterior
towards the nose—the facial or proboscidian—is the shorter, and has
only one thorax, the cephalothorax, formed by the mandibular costz
and palatine sternum.
“This framework, like a large trunk, is enclosed by three cycloid
or segmental zones :—
1. The Temporal, formed by the squamo-temporal, zygoma and
malar bones, and supporting its membral or epicycloid ramus, formed
by the maxilla.
2. The Humeral or scapular clavicle and manubrium sterni, with
its epicycloid ramus, the brachium, cubit and carpodactyle portions.
3. The Cozal or ilio-pubic, with its epicycloid ramus, femur, crus
and tarso-digital portions.
«In so extensive a subject Dr. Macdonald restricted his present
communication to the consideration of a portion of the epicycloid
ramus of the metathoracic or coxal zone, and pointed out the strong
analogy which might be traced between the tarsus and the bones of
the arm in the human skeleton, in order to facilitate the examination
of the same organs in the lower classes, and more especially in the
osseous fishes, where, from an early prejudice, resulting from what
appears to Dr. Macdonald as the hasty observation of preceding ob-
servers, it has long been overlooked and considered as the homologue
of the pectoral limb. This great error has rendered the whole sub-
ject confused and complicated, and has given rise to many of what
Dr. Macdonald considers the extravagances of Geoffroy St. Hilaire
and his followers in the French school, and constrained them to mis-
take the true respiratory or humeral epicycloid ramus, and superadd
to this class the additional zone and membral ramus, under the vague
idea of its being greatly developed tympanic bones; whereas, had
they seen the analogy of the human tarsus and carpus, they never
would have mistaken the tibia for the scapula or brachia, or the calcis
for the ulna, and the scaphoid for the radius; and had they even
examined the higher or cartilaginous fishes, they would have seen the
opercular bones removed somewhat further down the trunk, and the
pelvic or coxal zone and epicycloid ramus more distant. This would
have led Professor Owen not to have considered the posterior extre-
mity or coxal zone and limb as the divergent appendages of the
occipital vertebra. As to the homologies of these parts, the Doctor
postponed the consideration of them till another opportunity, and
proceeded simply with the tarsus. This consists in Man and many
mammals of seven bones, which are arranged in two rows ; each row
has developed from it one or more digital phalanges when most de-
veloped ; with the first row the thumb or great toe is developed, while
the other toes having metatarsal and digital phalanges are connected
with the anterior row or distal end of the tarsus, where the tarsal bones
are fused or developed in a single bone. ‘This is beautifully seen in
many of the birds, especially the Cursores and Grallatores: in the
Apteryx, as figured in the ‘Zoological Transactions’ by Prof.
Zoological Society. 379
Owen, vol. ii. pl. 49, the tarsus is seen to consist of a single bone,
terminating in three distinct knuckles, for the articulation with the
metatarsal phalanges; while the thumb: is seen with its different
joints on the posterior and inner aspect, and in its natural position.
This part of the leg has long been mistaken by ornithologists : Prof.
Owen calls it tarso-metatarsal, and Dr. Melville views it as the meta-
tarsal, which Dr. Macdonald asserts is surely more erroneous than
even Prof. Owen’s view.
‘The thumb or great toe very often disappears in the endoskeleton,
but may sometimes be seen in the exoskeleton, as in the leg of the
Horse and some other mammals, where the metatarsus is fused into
a single or shank-bone, terminating in a single phalanx as in the
Horse, or double phalanx as in the Llama.
“* Dr. Macdonald also briefly alluded to the nomenclature adopted
by entomologists and other annulose zoologists, and maintained, that
if the nomenclature of the anatomist was to be appropriated by them,
they were bound to use the terms anatomically ; and then submitted
the following sketch of the homologies of the posterior leg :—
Coxa = Cotylon.
Trochanter = Femur.
Femur = Tibia.
Tibia = Tarsus and great toe.
Tarsus = Metatarsus and phalanges.
** These homologies are easily traceable in all the six legs of the
Entomoid classes, and-also in the thoracic legs of the Crustacea, and
are particularly well-marked in the large claw of the Crab, where the
lines and markings point out the metatarsal and digital phalanges,
terminating in the large claw ; where the thumb or opposable claw is
jointed to what may be viewed as homologous to the tarsus, while
the rest is the fused terminal phalanges.”
The communication was also accompanied with a verbal explana.-
tion of the several diagrams exhibited.
December 12.—R. C. Griffith, Esq., F.G.S., in the Chair.
The following papers were read to the Meeting :—
1. On THE HaBitTs OF A LIVING SPECIMEN OF NANINA VITRINOIDES
(Desu.). By H. E. Srricxzianp, F.G.S.
On the 2nd of December, 1847, Capt. W. J. E. Boys presented me
with three specimens of a terrestrial mollusk, named Nanina vitri-
noides, by Mr. Gray (P. Z.S. pt. 2. p. 58; Helix vitrinoides, Desh.).
Capt. Boys had procured them a considerable time before, certainly
not less than a year, in the district of Ajmeer in Upper India. The
animals still remained within the shells, but from the length of time
during which they had been kept dry they were greatly reduced in
bulk, and had almost wholly retired from the outer volution, as was
easily seen from the transparency of the shell. Like many of the
Helicideé of hot climates, especially those which are exposed to long
intervals of drought, the Nanina vitrinoides secretes a calcareous poma,
or deciduous operculum, every time that it retires into a state of
380 Zoological Society.
torpor. The specimens in question had formed two or three suc-
cessive pomata, one within the other, during the process of their
desiccation.
In hopes of restoring fhe animation, I placed them upon some
wet moss ina warmroom. ‘Iwo of them proved to be past recovery,
but the animal of the third was seen through the transparent shell
to be gradually enlarging in bulk by the absorption of moisture, and
at the end of a week it finally reached the door of its dwelling, threw
off the poma, and began to crawl. A morsel of boiled carrot was
presented to it, which it greedily devoured, and speedily increased in
health and vigour. I have now kept this interesting creature a
twelvemonth, and have often been tempted to exclaim with Oken,
«‘ What majesty is in a creeping snail; what reflection, what ear-
nestness, what timidity, and yet at the same time what confidence !
Surely a snail is an exalted symbol of mind slumbering deeply within
itself.”
Since its revival my Nanina has greatly increased in Size and has
added half a volution to its shell, which now measures 5% inch in
diameter. Its favourite food is boiled carrots and raw ees
It generally remains quiet during the day, but crawls forth and shows
considerable activity in the evening, and has never shown any incli-
nation to hybernate or become torpid for a lengthened period.
The shell of Nanina vitrinoides is brown, glossy and pellucid, and
in shape and colour closely resembles the shells of the eden
genus Zonites, from which, without examination of the animal,
seems to be generically undistinguishable. The animal however is
very different, and is more allied to, though quite distinct from, that
of the genus Vitrina. The foot, when contracted, is too large to be
withdrawn into the shell, except after a considerable period of desic-
cation. When expanded, and at full stretch, the foot is remarkably
long and narrow, measuring about two inches in length and + inch
in breadth. The hinder extremity is abruptly truncate, surmounted
by a short horn-like appendage, similar to that in the larve of certain
Lepidopterous genera. But the most peculiar character in the ani-
mal of Nanina is that of the two elongate pointed lobes or flaps which
project from the margin of the mantle, one on each side of the mouth
of the shell. These lobes possess a certain amount of lateral motion,
and a considerable power of retraction and expansion, but are always
kept in close contact with the surface of the shell.
The animal is in the frequent habit of performing the following sin-
gular operation, which, as far as Iam aware, has not before been no-
ticed in any terrestrial mollusk. Crawling to the top of its prison
(which consists of an inverted tumbler, with a small aperture for air),
it suspends itself to the glass by the hinder half of the foot, and twists
the anterior part round, so as to bring its lower surface into contact
with the shell. By the great length and flexibility of the anterior
half of the foot, it is enabled to twist in a variety of directions,
and thus to crawl as it were over every part of its own shell in suc-
cession, the hind-part of the animal remaining all the while firmly
attached to the surface of the glass. During this operation the
Zoological Society. 381
horns are partially contracted, and the mouth of the animal is applied
closely to the shell, and is seen to be alternately expanded and con-
tracted, as if in the act of suction. In fact the whole process closely
resembles the action of a cat when licking its feet and body, and is
performed with just the same appearance of systematic determination.
The object of this operation is no doubt the same in both animals,—
that of clearing their persons from extraneous matter, and producing
that aspect of cleanliness and beauty which is one of the laws of or-
ganic nature in its normal state. Hence that brilliant gloss which
distinguishes the shell of the mollusk here referred to.
It would be desirable to ascertain whether any analogous habit is
possessed by the allied genera Vitrina and Zonites. ‘The shells of
the British species of Zonites (Z. nitens, alliacea, cellaria, &c.) closely
resemble Nanina vitrinoides in form, colour, and glossiness of surface,
and their brilliancy must apparently be due to some polishing action
similar to that here described. On the other hand, it is difficult to
understand how the animals of Zonites and Vitrina, whose foot is
much broader and shorter than in Nanina, should be able to reach
every part of their shell and to purify its surface.
The animal of Nanina vitrinoides is of a deep cinereous, the mantle
yellowish, its lateral projecting lobes darker, the under surface of the
foot pale grey, with a yellowish stripe along each side.
2. DescrIPTION OF TWO NEW SPECIES OF Crustacea. By Abam
Wairs, F.L.S., Assistant Zoou. Derr. Brit. Mus.
Cancer (GALENE) DorsALis, White, n.s. C. pallide carneus he-
patico-rubris punctulis confertim sparsus, thorace maculd magnd
hepaticd dorsali, medid, antice angulatd, postice rotundatd ; thorace
parte posticd dimidiatd immaculatd ; pedibus carneolo-suaviter
variegatis ; pedibus penultimis longissimis ; chelis magnis, pallidis,
superne punctulis hepatice sparsis, subtus et infra immaculatis ;
fronte pland, medio duobus tuberculis, thorace, lateribus ante-
rioribus, tuberculis quatuor minime elevatis.
This singularly pretty species was sent home by Mr. John Mac-
Gillivray, the naturalist attached to Capt. Stanley’s expedition: its
beautiful dotted surface, the large liver-coloured mark on the middle
of its carapace, and the great length of the penultimate pair of legs,
as well as its semi-nodose, semi-crenate, latero-anterior edge, well
determine it.
SQUILLA MULTICARINATA, White, List of Crustacea Brit. Mus.
S. thorace, et segmentis abdominalibus, multis carinis, sepe paral-
lelis, carind singuld, postice producta in spinam brevem ; ordinibus
duobus carinarum utriusque lateris, pauld majoribus.
This species comes in the second section of M. Edwards, and in
his first subsection of it, in which the rostral plate does not cover the
ophthalmic ring: the very numerous nearly parallel crests on each
segment of carapace and abdomen, each crest produced slightly
behind into a spine, at once indicate its distinctness from all Squille
with the description of which I am familiar. ‘Two specimens were
382 Miscellaneous.
found in the Philippine Isles by Mr. Cuming (an indefatigable Fellow
of this Society), and one, but a very small and badly-preserved one,
was obtained on the voyage of H.M.S. Samarang, in Nangasaki Bay
in the Eastern Seas.
MISCELLANEOUS.
GALLINAGO BREHMI.
Two specimens of G. brehmi have been shot at Jardine Hall on the
9th and 10th of October, being the first time that this species has
been noticed as visiting our islands. We have no doubt that it has
hitherto been overlooked, but one distinction is very easily noticed.
On comparing the tail with that of the common snipe, it will be seen
that the outline of the latter is rounded, while in G. brehmi the outer
feather exceeds the length of the second. At this season of winter
migration we would invite sportsmen to attend to the finding of this
bird.—W. J.
Jardine Hall, Oct. 11, 1849.
MR. WILLIAM MACCALLA,
It is too often our painful duty to record the loss of some natu-
ralist who has shown himself well qualified to advance science, had
he been spared to us, but who is called away in the prime of life.
Such is now our position, since we have to announce the death of
Mr. W. MacCalla, the well-known young Irish naturalist. We had
the pleasure of forming an acquaintance with him many years since
in his native district of Conamara in the county of Galway, and then
recorded his promise of distinction in the journals of the day. At
that time he had only commenced his career by making himself ac-
quainted with the zoology and botany of that wild country, and we
believe that his first discovery of note was the heath afterwards
named, at the desire of Sir W. J. Hooker, Hrica Mackaiana, in com-
pliment to our distinguished friend Dr. J. T. Mackay, who was, we
believe, poor MacCalla’s first master in botany, and who had kindly
encouraged him in his early and otherwise unassisted course of
study.
We cannot do better than by adopting the language concerning
him of Dr. W.H. Harvey, who speaks of him as follows in his beau-
tiful <Phycologia Britannica’ (cclxiii.) when describing an Alga
(Enteromorpha Hopkirkii, MacCalla) named by him. His words
are—
“In now adopting Mr. MacCalla’s specific name I wish to record
the regret I feel, in common with all naturalists acquainted with his
merits, that death should so soon have closed a career which opened
with so much promise of future fame. The readers of the ‘ Phyco-
logia’’ must be well acquainted with the name of Mr. William Mac-
Calla, in connection with the habitats of many of our rarest Alge.
It is therefore almost superfluous to say that he was well acquainted
with the species, and had a most acute eye to detect a minute spe-
Meteorological Observations. 383
cies, and a most accurate judgement to discriminate one varying
form from another. But though Algz were the natural objects in
which of late he chiefly delighted, he had a very extensive know-
ledge of marine zoology, and has made large additions to the Irish
fauna. Born in very humble circumstances, imperfectly educated,
and always with narrow means, he had to struggle through life with
many hindrances to progress. ‘That he overcame many of these
hindrances is a proof of his talents and energy; that he did not
overcome all may well be forgotten by those who have not had to
struggle with any, and yet do not fear to criticize the short-comings
of others. Mr. W. MacCalla fell a victim to cholera in May 1849,
aged about 35.”
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR SEPT. 1849.
Chiswick.—September 1. Heavy rain: lightning, with fine rain 10 p.m. 2. Fine:
thunder and lightning, with rain 8 p.m. 3. Very fine: lightning, with rain at
night. 4. Fine: cloudy: very clear at night. 5. Hazy: very fine: clear. 6.
Clear and very fine. 7. Cloudy: very fine: cloudy. 8, 9. Fine. 10. Cloudy:
heavy showers in the evening. 11. Hazy: very fine: clear. 12. Heavy rain.
13. Overcast: rain: clear, 14—16. Fine. 17. Clear and fine. 18. Clear and
cold: cloudy. 19. Very fine. 20. Fine. 21. Showery: fine. 22. Fine. 23.
Dusky haze. 24. Foggy: very fine: clear. 25. Foggy: exceedingly fine.
26. Foggy: fine: clear. 27. Fine: rain at night. 28. Clear: very fine: over-
cast. 29. Overcast: fine: heavy rain. 30. Rain.
Mean temperature of the month .......... Sdascqbo0qm—5000 gens OME TG
Mean temperature of Sept. 1848 .cocesserecccccccecescerceeees 55 *96
Mean temperature of Sept. for the last twenty-three years 57 °23
Average amount of rain in Sept. ......s.sccessssecseecvecesoes 2°73 inches,
Boston.—Sept. 1. Cloudy: rain p.m. 2 Cloudy: rain early a.m., with thunder
and lightning. 3. Fine: rain early a.m., with thunder and lightning. 4. Cloudy.
5. Fine. 6. Fine: raine.m. 7, 8. Cloudy. 9. Fine. 10. Cloudy: rain a.m.
and p.m. 11. Cloudy. 12. Cloudy: rain a.m. and e.m. 13. Rain: rain a.m.
14,15. Cloudy. 16. Fine: raina.m. 17—20, Fine. 21. Fine: rain and hail
early a.m. 22, 23. Fine. 24. Cloudy. 25—27. Fine. 28. Rain: rain a.m.
29, 30. Rain a.m. and p.m.
Applegarth Manse, Dumfries-shire——Sept. 1. Dull a.m.: cleared : fine harvest
day. 2. Hail: thunder: rain a.m.: fine em. 3. Dew-like shower a.m.: fine:
sultry. 4,5. Beautiful harvest day: sultry p.z. 6—8,. Fine. 9. Showery all
day. 10. Very wet a.m.: cleared and fine p.m. 11. Fair a.m.: shower p.m.
and thunder. 12. Fair: dullr.m. 13. Fair: high wind. 14. Dull and threaten-
ing rain, but cleared and was fine. 15. Ashower: looking unsettled. 16. Heavy
rain early a.m.: thunder. 17, 18. Fine: very beautiful day. 19, 20. Fine:
cloudy: fine harvest day. 21. Fine: cloudy: bar. falling. 22. Fair still. 23—
26. Fair. 27. Fair: clear and cold. 28. Rain nearly all day. 29, Rain.
30. Storm of wind and rain.
Mean temperature of the Month .........ceesesssesesseseesees 5825
Mean temperature of Sept. 1848 ............cecceccesseesssens ys} C1
Mean temperature of Sept. for the last twenty-five years. 53 °O
Average amount of rain in Sept. for the last twenty years —_3'13 inches.
Sandwick Manse, Orkney.—Sept. 1. Cloudy: drops. 2. Damp. 3, 4. Fog.
5. Bright: cloudy. 6. Cloudy. 7. Clear. 8. Bright: cloudy. 9 Bright :
rain: aurora, 10. Bright: clear: aurora, 11, Cloudy: rain: aurora. 12. Rain:
drizzle. 13. Rain: clear: aurora, 14. Bright: showers. 15. Cloudy : clear:
showers. 16. Showers: aurora, 17. Clear: cloudy. 18. Cloudy: rain. 19,
Clear: cloudy. 20. Cloudy: fine: cloudy. 21. Fine: cloudy. 22. Damp:
cloudy. 23. Bright: cloudy. 24. Cloudy. 25—27. Bright: cloudy. 28.
Cloudy: damp. 29. Bright: cloudy. 30. Bright: drops: clear.
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THE ANNALS
MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.
A [SECOND SERIES. ]
No. 24. DECEMBER 1849.
XL.— On the Primrose-leaf Miner ; with notice of a proposed new
Genus, and characters of three Species of Diptera. By Mr.
James Harpy*,
Tue Primrose is perhaps the most popular of our native plants,
associated as it is with bright skies, the song of birds, and spring-
tide anticipations. What youthful bard has not attuned his lyre
to the inspiration of the pale features of
‘The ae flower, the ae first flower,
Springs either on moor or dale?”
and grave and reverend sages have written, experimented and
surmised, till the poor flower may be said to be put fairly out of
countenance. But although thus a theme of general regard,
and one in which most, simple or sage, at one time or another
have been interested, there is one portion of its history as yet
unassayed, or if touched, still left in conjecture and obscurity. I
allude to the curious and beautiful appearances, that every close
observer must have remarked, which many of the leaves of the
plant put on, long after the frail blossom that first drew willing
eyes has withered and passed away, and which still preserve for
it a claim on more than passing attention. On picking up one
of the leaves, sometimes the middle part of the upper surface will
be found of nearly a pure white, which, where it is limited by the
original green, presents a wavy and exceedingly fantastic outline ;
at other times small undulating bands issue from the colourless
central area, like streams
>
“‘ Devolving from their parent lakes :’
at times we have before us the representation of a serpent un-
twisting its many coils, and at others a congeries of minute
worms, inextricably intertwined, of which we can trace a general
* Read before the Berwickshire Naturalists’ Club, at their Meeting of the
17th October 1849.
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. iv. 26
386 Mr. J. Hardy on the Primrose-leaf Miner,
source, but whose terminations are quite a maze. On turning
up the underside of the leaf, however, none of these appearances
are perceptible; the tint being of a uniform green. On holding
it up to the light, we see in the mterior a number of dark
specks placed at widish intervals, generally following the several
windings, and like so many guide-posts stationed to indicate a
thoroughfare through the intricacies. Here then are characters
of no ordinary kind, tastefully designed, and evincing lengthened
operation ; how shall we decipher the legend? and by whom, and
with what intention was it inscribed? What a strange tale su-
perstition unfolds respecting these mysteries! June 1825. “In
some parts of Dorsetshire and Devonshire a species of blight or
grub * has settled on the blackberry [bramble] leaves, gnawing
them in a serpentine manner, so that the dead fibre shows
through the remaining green. This circumstance has produced,
in consequence of a certain prophecy, a great degree of alarm in
the minds of the lower classes residing on the borders of Dorset
and Devon. It has gone forth that a ‘ flying serpent’ will poison
the air, which, becoming impure, will cause the death of nmeteen
out of twenty; and that the time will be known by this parti-
cular appearance on the leaves, which the pseudo-prophet calls
the reflection of the serpent. The serpent whose pestilential
influence is to be felt, is Satan, whose period of bondage is ex-
pired. The deaths will take place principally among persons
under thirty years of age. Hundreds of individuals have paid
for charms to secure themselves from danger and infection.”
(Annual Register for 1825, Chronicle, p. 89.) But from the
ravings of folly, let us now turn to the explications of fact. In
Rennie’s interesting little work on ‘ Insect Architecture,’ vol. 1.
p- 223, 2nd ed., there is a short account of this phenomenon,
with a representation of one of its variable configurations. It is
there ascribed to the work of a mining caterpillar, which exca-
vates the pulp from beneath those parts of the upper membrane
of the leaf, which are left colourless. The small granular bodies
already referred to are its ejectamenta, and they follow, although
the author rather denies this, the track the miner has taken du-
ring its labours. ‘This is so far correct ; but from the connexion
of the statement,—the mining caterpillars of small Lepidoptera
being treated of, and the use of the word “ Caterpillar,”—one
would infer, that the author imagined that it belonged to some
minute moth; and such, till I recently had an opportunity of
investigating the subject, I always understood was the meaning
imphed. But this is a mistake, for the little miner is the maggot
or larva of a small, black, two-winged fly belonging to the genus
* This is occasioned by the caterpillar of a minute moth.
with notice of a new Genus of Diptera. 387
Phytomyza of Meigen, of which many of the species in their
early stage are known to feed on the parenchyma of leaves.
Having traced its states as larva, pupa, and at length a perfect
fly, I have been enabled to ascertain the characters of each ; and
these, as I am not aware of the field being pre-occupied, I shall
proceed to detail; and although description 1s often a barren re-
gion to travel through, some interesting features of its ceconomy
will occur at intervals to lighten the footsteps and reward perse-
verance.
The /arva is minute, of a pale glassy green, with the interior
darker from the colour of its food ; it gradually tapers away be-
hind and is truncate at the tip, but widens towards the front, and
is then rather suddenly brought to a pot; the segments are
regular, distinct, the edges rather elevated, crenulate ; about four
or five of the anterior ones are protuberant on the sides, the
third being the most prominent ; the first is provided with two
bent black oral hooks, which unite interiorly with an apparatus
connected with the muscles which put them in play ; [the two fore
spiracles have been omitted to be noticed, but they are probably,
as in other species, situated behind the head, above;] the pos-
terior end is shaped like the stern of a boat, and is furnished
above with two projecting, white spiracular processes, which are
barbed hke fish-hooks ; the anus is a slit at the tip, between two
tubercles. Length 2 line. It is by means of the hard oral
mechanism that it executes its pretty workmanship, which it
does, while lying like a true miner, on one of its sides, by a
rapid and continuous rasping or “raking” of the green matter
indispensable to it as food. I have not ascertained when it first
commences its proceedings, but on the 13th of August I could
only detect a single specimen in the larva state. Usually a leaf
is tenanted by only a single occupant; but there are instances
when two have obtained possession, and then the space from
which the colour is discharged is proportionally enlarged, and
the convolutions are considerably more tortuous. Upon ar-
riving at a condition suitable to a change of state, which de-
pends greatly upon the quantity and quality of the food that
remains to be supplied, the larva leaves the side of the leaf to
which it has hitherto been confined, cuts through the pulpy part
of the inferior membrane, till it has reached the lower cuticle,
through which it thrusts the tips of its posterior spiracles as well
as those of its head, and in this position becomes converted into
a small light-coloured pupa, the case being formed of the indu-
rated skin of the larva. It has the instinct almost invariably to
fix itself alongside of the midrib or one of the secondary fibres ;
perhaps being induced to this by the obstacles they present to
its progress in mining ; and the case being covered with the thin
26%
388 Mr. J. Hardy on the Primrose-leaf Miner,
hairy tegument of the leaf, is so like a portion of its substance,
as sometimes to elude even a very close inspection. The pupa is
of a light yellow or straw colour, with the seams of the segments
brownish, and sometimes it is entirely light brown ; slipper-
shaped, being rather tapered behind, a little swollen before the
middle, conic and somewhat abruptly contracted anteriorly, where
the edges of each of the wider segments overlap the one imme-
diately preceding it ; smooth ; convex above, although sometimes
rather compressed, suddenly sloping down in front ; segments
very distinct, considerably convex, the division lines crenulate,
scarcely continuous across the flattish underside, being indicated
by transverse punctures and abbreviated lines ; the brown sharp-
pointed fore-end projects a little beyond the line of the under
surface of the body, and is tipped with two longish slender bent
black spines, which approximate at their origin, but diverge out-
wardly ; these, in perfect specimens, have at their apices an ar-
mature like a fish-hook, both the barbs being reverted ; beneath
these on the under surface there is a brown or rufous spot ; the
last segment posteriorly has a channel down the middle with two
ridges to bound it, and externally to these two corresponding
depressions ; the apex is stern-shaped or subtriangular, with two
long projecting points, one on each side, above ; each of which has
a black spinous point, near the base of which a sharpened barb
branches out, directed towards the upper surface of the body ;
the apex is a tubercle halved by a fissure. Length 3 lme. The
object of the barbed hooks with which the fore and hinder spi-
racles are accessorily provided, and which are more distinct in
this than in any other species I have observed, seems to be to
insure the pupa-case from being separated from the leaf by or-
dinary accidents. The hooks mvariably project beyond the cu-
ticle, and are often snapped asunder and left behind in attempts
to disengage the pupa-case. On the eve of assuming its final
condition a breach is made in the case towards the anterior part,
through which the imprisoned inmate obtains access to the open
air; destitute of wings at first, but soon equipped with these ap-
pendages, that enable it to pursue its destinies under a new and
higher degree of development. The fly, whose early life and ul-
timate début we have thus traced, presents the following charac-
ters :—Black ; face black, but when alive gray in some lghts,
with a deeper shade of black round the eyes and down the face ;
front black, its edges gray, with a row on each of black bristle-
bearing dots; vertex also bristled’; a grayish patch above the an-
tenn, which as well as the bristle are black ; third joint large,
circular, flattened, finely griseous downy; trunk white, palpi
black ; thorax subquadrate, considerably convex, and as well as
the scutellum slaty black, with several lines of black bristles along
with notice of a new Genus of Diptera. 389
its surface, and two long ones at the apex of the scutellum ; ab-
domen shining black, its hairs also black, the hinder edges of its
segments narrowly lighter or subcinereous ; a white band along
each side when alive; beneath with a black, gradually widening
band down the belly, composed of a series of shining black spots
set in a whitish edging, the first square, the succeeding parallelo-
grammic, the last sinuated on the hinder edge, anal segment
black ; legs black, tip of the anterior thighs whitish, in the other
pairs less distinctly paler ; poisers white ; wings nearly hyaline,
with fine iridescent tints of purple, blue, green, orange and
brown ; their insertion whitish ; the costal cell has a cross nerve,
and is inclosed by two short curved nervures, the upper very
faint, the lower strong and black: there are five longitudinal
nervures, of which the two upper are strongest, and a faint sixth
or anal one that does not reach the lower edge of the wing; the
third has a small cross nerve betwixt it and the second before the
junction of the latter with the first, and is united with the fourth
by a small transverse line near the base of the wing; the fifth
springs from the root of the wing and unites with the sixth by
an arched cross line that runs to the short stronger one that
combines the third and fourth. Length 3-1 line. Expansion of
the wings 2 lines. The female is the larger, and has the abdo-
men ovate and sharp at the tip ; that of the male is more cylindric,
with the apex obtuse. When dried the white lateral lines of the
abdomen are generally obliterated, and the belly and upper sur-
face become of a uniform black. The first of these flies appeared
on the 15th of August, the day on which I gathered the pupe;
others came out on the 27th, and again on September 3rd. The
earliest period at which I have taken them in the woods was in
the beginning of April, when they frequented the trunks of some
recently felled birch-trees to feast upon the sap. The larva is
infested by a small parasitic Jehneumon that attacks several other
species, and must considerably diminish their numbers; those
that become pupz late in the season being almost as likely to
produce parasites as flies.
The fly belongs to the Acalypterate division of the Muscide,
and owing to the comparative imperfection of its organization
is placed near the termination of the series. Its position in the
arrangement is with the Heteromyzide : in the present instance,
however, the nervures of the wings present an exceptional cha-
racter ; the mediastine nerve being double, and not simple, as it
is said to be im this family. The species appears to be the Phy-
tomyza nigra of Meigen, Europ. Zweif. Insekt. vi. 191, which
he designates briefly as “ nigra; thorace cinerascente ; halteribus
genubusque albis ; alis hyalinis.’? The only doubt as to this,
arises from another species occurring, which, as a fly, it is almost
390 Mr. J. Hardy on the Primrose-leaf Miner,
impossible to separate from the present, but which, in its pupa
state, is very distinct; and the mode of mining adopted by the
larva supplies another diversity. It is probably the PA. obscu-
rella of Fallen (Phytomyz. iv. 8), which is char acterized in nearly
the same terms: “ nigricans; proboscide halteribusque albis ;
tibiis genubusve subpallidis.” Mr. Haliday bred PA. obscurella
from the holly (Ent. Mag. iv. 147), and I obtained my specimens
from pupz inclosed in the leaf of a honeysuckle, growing in the
shade of that tree. In addition, I may remark, that a species
supposed to be Ph. nigra was procured by Mr. Curtis (Brit. Ent.
fol. 393) from pupz found by a lady under the leaves of the
columbine ; and that Rennie observes that the leaves of the poly-
anthus are occasionally affected in a manner similar to those of
the primrose.
From the examination of several species of these miners in
their various states, I have been led to perceive that there are at
least two generic forms included under the term Phytomyza, and
which, although I do not find any tangible distinctive character
in the perfect insects, I propose to separate on account of differ-
ences in the pupa state, accompanied by a corresponding varia-
tion in habit. To those with slipper-shaped pupz, whose trans-
formations take place entirely within the leaf, I propose to apply
the name Chromatomyia (xpapa, color ; zvia, musca) ; while the
name Phytomyza may be retained for the species whose pupze are
barrel-shaped, and whose larvee enter the ground to pass the pe-
riod antecedent to their final change. The larva of one species,
Ph. lateralis, is said to live and undergo its mutations in the
interior of the heads of Pyrethrum inodorum (Curt. Brit. Ent.
fol. 393) ; but whether this departure from the general habit is
attended with a change of structure we are not informed. The
species, whose complete history has been ascertaimed, stand as
follows :—
Curomatomyta, Hardy MSS.
1. Ch. flaviceps. Phytomyza flaviceps, Macq. Dipt. (S. a Buffon)
ii. 616. Larva subcutaneous in the leaves of the honeysuckle.
2. Ch. nigra. Phytomyza nigra, Meg. vi. 191. Larva found in
the leaves of the primrose.
3. Ch. obscurella. Ph. obscurella, Fall., Meig. vi. 191. Larva
lives in shapeless blotches in the leaves of the honeysuckle.
4. Ch. cinereofrons, Hardy MSS. Nigro-cinerea ; hypostomate
albo-infuscato ; proboscide albida ; fronte cinerea ; margimibus
oculorum punctis nigris notatis ; ‘palpis, antennis, punctoque
verticis nigris ; thorace scutelloque cinereis, opacis ; abdomine
griseo- nigricante, nitido ; margine postico segmenti penultimi
with notice of a new Genus of Diptera. 391
arcte subalbido; vitta laterali parva albo-flavescente ; ventre,
plaga minime interrupta gradatim laxata nigra nitida, in-
structo ; pedibus nigris, genubus strictius albidis ; halteribus
albis ; alis hyalinis, ad bases exalbidis, nervo transverso sin-
gulo. Long. corp. lin. 3.
This is nearly allied to the next. The larva mines the leaves
of barley. Two examples of the fly have been obtained.
5. Ch. Syngenesie, Hardy MSS. Nigro-cinerea; hypostomate
proboscidegue albis ; fronte albo-flavescente ; margimum ocu-
Jorum punctorum serie, puncto verticis, antennis palpisque
nigris ; dorso thoracis, cumque scutello, cinereis, opacis, late-
ribus autem cinereo-nigricantibus; abdomine griseo-nigricante,
marginibus posticis segmentorum quatuor primorum, anguste,
quinti paulo amplius exalbidis; vitta laterali late alba; ventre
nitidy, incisuris albis, medio, plaga longitudinali macularum
nigrarum, ornato, quarum prima quadrata, relique parallelo-
grammice, margine postico quinte interdum circulatim sinu-
ato; segmento ultimo toto nigro; pedibus nigris, genubus
albidis ; halteribus albis; alis hyalinis, ad bases exalbidis,
nervo transverso singulo. Long. corp. lin. 3-1.
The larva subsists within the leaves of the groundsel (Senecio
vulgaris), of the ragwort (S. Jacobea), of the field-thistle (Cnicus
arvensis), and of the sow-thistle (Sonchus oleraceus). The wind-
ing galleries which it traces in such an elegant manner round
the edges of the leaves of the smooth-leaved maritime variety of
the plant last-mentioned, appear to be represented in the ‘ Hi-
story of Insects,’ 1. 298. fig. 1 (Family Library, no. 7) ; but the
figure scarcely gives any idea of their exceeding neatness. I have
it likewise from leaves of Cineraria, sent from Linlithgowshire.
The size is constant, which will separate it from the next, said
to be 14 line long; and the colouring of the head, halteres, &e.
appears to be much fainter than in Ch. nigricornis.
6. Ch. nigricornis. Ph. nigricornis, Macq. Dipt. (S. a@ B.) 1.
618. Larva lives in the interior of the leaves of cinerarias and
turnips. Curt. Gard. Chron. Feb. 22, 1845, p. 117.
7. Ch.? Ilicis. Ph. Wlicis, Curt. Gard. Chron. July 4, 1846,
p. 444. Larva found beneath the leaves of the holly. Curt. lc.
I have likewise obtained the pupz of a species from the leaves
of Holcus lanatus, but they proved abortive; and I have others
from the leaves of the holly, from which the fly has not yet pro-
ceeded.
Puytomyza, Fallen, Meig.
1. Ph. flava, Fall., Meig. vi. 196. Larva a miner of the leaves
of the buttercup (Ranunculus repens), of the bachelor’s buttons
392 Prof. F. M‘Coy on the Classification of
(R. acris, flore pleno albo), and of the lesser spearwort (R.
Flammula). Found by Mr. E. Doubleday in the leaves of the
hart’s-tongue (Scolopendrium vulgare). Ent. Mag. iii. 414,
415.
2. Ph. albiceps, Meig. vi. 194. Larva subcutaneous in the leaves
of the cow-parsnep (Heracleum Sphondylium), and the field-
thistle (Cnicus arvensis). Pupa-case black.
3. Ph. Aquilegieg, Hardy MSS. Nigricans; hypostomate sor-
dide subflavo, proboscide alba; fronte flava; antennis pal-
pisque nigris ; thorace brevi, subrotundato, convexo, nigro-
grisescente, subnitido, lineis dorsalibus longitudinalibus dua-
bus obscuris egre distinguendis, adumbrato; scutello conco-
lore; abdomine griseo-nigricante, nitido, meisuris interdum
stricte albescentibus ; vitta laterali parva alba; ventre nigro ;
pedibus nigris, genubus perobscurius pallidis ; halteribus albis ;
alis hyalinis, ad bases exalbidis, nervo transverso singulo.
Long. corp. prope lin. 1.
The larva forms blotches in the leaves of the common colum-
bine (Aquilegia vulgaris). It is closely allied to Ph. albiceps, but
is darker, with the thorax shorter and rounder, and the white
dashes before the wings not developed. The pupa-case is brown.
To these may be added others whose changes are still incom-
plete, found within the leaves of the bean (Vcia Faba), the bur-
dock (Arctium Lappa), the field-thistle (Cnicus arvensis), the wild
angelica (Angelica sylvestris), the red clover (Trifolium pratense),
the red hemp nettle (Galeopsis Tetrahit), the climbing buckwheat
(Polygonum Convolvulus), the quicken (Triticum repens), the mea-
dow-sweet (Spiraea Ulnaria), and the kidney-vetch (Anthyllis vul-
neraria).
Penmanshiel, by Cockburnspath, Oct. 13, 1849.
XLI.—On the Classification of some British Fossil Crustacea,
with Notices of new Forms in the University Collection at Cam-
bridge. By Frepericx M‘Coy, Professor of Geology and
Mineralogy in Queen’s College, Belfast.
[Continued from p. 335. ]
Ord. EprioPHTHALMA.
(Trib. Zsopoda.)
Archeoniscus Brodiet (M. Edw.).
As this interesting Wealden Crustacean (first I believe taken for
an oolitic Trilobite) has not yet been fully described, the follow-
ing notice may be acceptable :—
some British Fossil Crustacea. 393
Char. Oval, moderately convex; head semicircular, the angles
rounded, bearing two large oval or slightly reniform glo-
merated masses of minute round eyes ; thoracic segments seven,
broad, shghtly granulated, with obtusely rounded ends, each
extremity having a long triangular facet on its anterior mar-
gin (to facilitate rolling into a ball) ; abdomen of five segments,
the first three abruptly smaller than the thoracic rings, the
fourth a little larger, and the fifth forming a semicircular
caudal shield, rather smaller and more convex than the head,
bearing along its middle a narrow, defined, semicylindrical axal
lobe, its rounded termination not reaching much more than
halfway to the margin, the anterior end extending a variable
distance towards the thorax.
I have not seen any trace (after examining about fifty speci-
mens) cf the lateral notches in the caudal shield for the articu-
lation of lateral appendages, which Dr. Milne-Edwards says he
thinks he saw. The only known species averages 6 lines long
and 32 lines wide.
(Col. University of Cambridge.)
Ord. Enromosrraca.
(Trib. Pecilopoda.)
This group being distmguished from other Entomostraca by
having crustaceous, didactyle, ambulatory thoracic feet as well as
membranous, respiratory abdominal ones, is I think clearly the
place for those remarkable genera, Hurypterus and Pterygotus ;
{ cannot conceive why Dr. Burmeister should imagine the first
of those genera to have no shell, and overlooking the didactyle
structure of the larger crustaceous chelz, &c., place it in his group
Paleade (Dal.), which, as he observes (Organiz. Trilob., Ray ed.
p- 53), might be united with the Phyllopoda. The figure and
description given by Romer of the American species of Hury-
pterus in his paper in Dunker and Von Meyer’s ‘ Beitrige zur
Naturgeschichte der Vorwelt,’ powerfully favour this view of ap-
proximating the genus to Limulus. With regard to the second
genus, Pterygotus, M. Agassiz having renounced his original opi-
nion of its being a fish, has, in his work on the Fishes of the Old
Red Sandstone, referred it to the Entomostraca without indica-
ting any particular division. Some years before the appearance
of the ‘ Poissons fossiles des vieux grés rouge,’ I had an oppor-
tunity of examining some much more perfect examples of this
Crustacean than are there figured, which were brought before the
Geological Society of Dublin by Dr. Scouler under the name
Lepidocaris (from the scale-like sculpturing of the cephalic
shield) *, and except the enormous difference in size, and perhaps
* See Dr. Apjohn’s President's Address.
394 Prof. F. M‘Coy on the Classification of
a difference of superficial sculpturing, I see nothing in it different
from Eurypterus ; and when we bear in mind that the Idothea of
Scouler* is avowedly a Hurypterus, I cannot see how Pterygotus
is to be separated as a genus, at least on any better grounds
than the above. The tribe Pewcilopoda might be resolved into
two families: 1st, Limulide, having, besides the head, a second
shield formed by the anchylosis of all the abdominal segments
(Limulus) ; 2nd, Eurypteride, having all the abdominal segments
distinctly separated (Hurypterus, Pterygotus, Bellinurus). The
first division has not, I believe, been found lower than the oolites,
the Limuli quoted by several British geologists from the coal-
measures of Coalbrook Dale, &c. belonging clearly to the second
division, and should rather be referred to Bellinurus of Konig.
Pterygotus leptodactylus (M‘Coy).
Sp. Char. Large pincers having the hand about 5 lines wide,
sculptured with fine short, irregularly flexuous, elevated lines ;
the penultimate or immoyeable finger exceedingly slender,
compressed, about 2 inches 10 lines long, and only 2 lines wide
at base, gradually tapering to less than a lime towards its ob-
tuse point, nearly straight, or with a scarcely perceptible in-
ward curvature ; sides divided into ridges by three or four
longitudinal furrows, thicker towards the back; last joint
or moveable finger similar to the immoveable one, but rather
smaller; inner edges of both fingers destitute of teeth or
tubercles.
The pincers, instead of being excessively thick and strong, and
armed with great teeth on the inner edge as in the Pterygotus
Anglicus (Ag.), are perfectly unarmed, and so long and slender
as possibly to indicate a separate subgenus, which might be
named Leptocheles (NemTos, tenuis, yn», forceps). It strikes
me (judging from the figures) that the Onchus Murchisoni
(Ag.) is not an Ichthyodorulite, but the long finger of the
chelz of this Crustacean,—the size, form and sculpturing agree-
ing very nearly—while the base presents no trace of the abrupt
diminution for insertion into the flesh, which would occur in all
true Onchi. In the same bed with the long chele was found
a specimen of the terminal or moveable finger, and one’ per-
fect claw with both fingers in situ of a much shorter form than
the other; the hand being about 3 lines wide, the penultimate
immoveable finger about 1 inch long, and rapidly tapering from
23 lines wide at the base to the obtusely pomted apex ; it is lon-
gitudinally suleated like the longer one above described ; the last
jomt or moveable finger is very different, being perfectly flat, trian-
gular, 7 lines long, 14 line wide at base, and tapering rapidly to
* See Edinb. Journal of Science, vol. iii.
some British Fossil Crustacea. 395
a point, the inner edge being straight and simple, the outer edge
slightly convex. The hands of both kinds of chelz are similarly
sculptured with short, fine, sharp, irregularly curved, longitu-
dinal plice, proving their identity, and that thus, like the recent
Pecilopoda, more than one pair of feet were didactyle.
In the fine olive schists (of the age of the Upper Ludlow
rock) of Leintwardine.
(Col. University of Cambridge.)
Trib. Phyllopoda (= Branchiopoda, M. Edw.).
This tribe might be divided into the five following families,
all having membranous feet :—
1, Daruntav# (= Cladocera). Carapace oval, compressed, the
posterior portion bivalve, inclosing the body, the anterior end
forming a separate beak-shaped hood for the head. ye sin-
gle, semicompound*. eet, only four pair, foliaceous. An-
tenne, first pair small; second pair very large, branched and
bristled for swimming. (Type Daphnia, &c.)
The Daphnia? primeva (M‘Coy), Syn. Carb. Foss. Irel. t. 23.
f. 5, is the only probable example of this family I know in the
fossil state.
2. Brancuipopiapm®. Carapace none, all the body-rings di-
stinct and naked. (Type Branchipus.)
I know of no fossil example of this group.
3. Tritopitap& (= Paleade). Head and abdomen covered by
separate dorsal shields, thoracic segments naked, separately
moveable, generally trilobed by two longitudinal depressions.
Eyes two, large, semicompound, or absent.
This very extensive group is only known in the fossil state,
and apparently confined to the paleeozoic rocks. I will offer some
observations of detail below.
4. AvopiaAp&. Carapace a semi-oval, horizontal shield, not
covering the abdominal segments, which are distinct. Eyes,
one simple and two large semicompound ones. Feet, about
60 pair. (Type Apus.)
The carboniferous genus Dithyrocaris is I think referrible to
this group, though I have not yet detected the eyes. (See Syn.
Carb. Foss. Irel. t. 23. f. 2.)
* TI use this term to particularize that type of eye so common among the
Entomostraca, in which a mass of minute eyes are covered by one simple,
undivided, external cornea, being thus intermediate between the simple eye,
and the true compound eye in which the external cornea is faceted, and
divided into as many portions as there are eyes beneath.
396 Prof. F. M‘Coy on the Classification of
5. Lymnapiapm. Carapace a vertical, bivalve, oblong shell
inclosing the whole body. Eyes two, semicompound, either
separate or united in one medial mass. Feet 20 to 80 pair.
(Type Lymnadia, &c.)
(Fam. Trilobitade.)
Homologies of the ‘cephalic shield’ of Trilobites.—This has
been less attended to than almost any part of their structure.
The apparently anomalous nature of the facial suture has been
spoken of by Burmeister, who saw no clue to its nature ; the na-
ture of the parts outside the eye-line, or ‘ wings’ as they were
called, has also been alluded to as inexplicable ; while those who,
comparing the Trilobites with Branchipus, supposed the body of
the animal to occupy the axal lobe only, have expressed their
astonishment at the eyes being placed on the lateral lobes, or
‘cheeks.’ When we bear in mind that the carapace of a crab,
for instance, is a great backward prolongation of one of the rings of
the head, and is quite distinct from the posterior cephalic and the
thoracic segments which it covers, and which exist in a membra-
nous state beneath it, we are prepared to admit, that though the
segmental furrows on the glabella of many Trilobites indicate
cephalic rings, they by no means prove the cephalic shield to be
formed of the anchylosis of such rmgs, which may only exist be-
low, impressing it like the various regions on the back of a crab.
To determine of what rings it is composed, I started with the
main characteristic of the first ring of all Crustacea, which is, to
bear the eyes when they are present ; the second and third bear
the antenne, and the remainder of the cephalic rmgs bear the
parts of the mouth. The eyes of Trilobites, when they exist, are
always connected with the piece anterior and external to the eye-
hne; this piece is usually continuous from side to side at the
front margin, and I think is probably the first or ophthalmic
ring ; its lateral portions produced backwards, and bearing its
peculiar appendages, the eyes, with it: every ring being theoreti-
cally divisible ito six pieces, affords an explanation of the suture
which sometimes separates the two parts in front, and even of
the rostral shield of Calymene (if it belongs to this ring). On
this view the facial suture becomes at once intelligible as the
line of separation between the first and second cephalic rings,
analogous to the divisional line between one thoracic ring and
another. The piece within and behind the eye-line should on
this supposition be the second or antennary ring ; and as remark-
ably supporting this, I must refer to p. 42 of my ‘ Synopsis of
the Silurian Fossils of Ireland,’ where I announced the discovery
of the remains of antenne, as a deep pore on each side of the
some British Fossil Crustacea. 397
front of the glabella, in the furrow which surrounds it, and in
which, when clear of matrix, I have observed them in Trinucleus,
Acidaspis, Calymene, Ampyx, Griffithides, &e. We would thus
have the cephalic shield of Trilobites composed of an extension
of the two first cephalic rings. The protuberance called the glabella
probably contains the stomach, which is always in Crustacea large
and over the mouth ; the segmental furrows indicating the rigs
which bear the parts of the mouth.
After much labour in investigating the characters of Trilobites,
I venture to propose the following classification of the group,
founded in the first instance on a consideration of the variations
in structure of the pleure or lateral portions of the thoracic seg-
ments, which I find to afford definite characters, easily found in
all moderately well-preserved specimens. The two principal me-
thods hitherto proposed fall far short of a natural or satisfactory
classification ;—that of Dr, Burmeister taking as the principle of
division, the presence or absence of the power of rolling into a ball ;
and Hawle and Corda resting their great divisions on the integrity
or denticulation of the edge of the pygidium. The latter I be-
lheve to be of only specific importance ; and the former, though
of imperfect application as stated by the author, becomes m-
cluded in the following arrangement. An extended examination
of the subject will show that Quenstedt, &c. cannot be followed in
the attempt to base the primary divisions on the number of the
thoracic segments—I have satisfied myself at least that that cha-
racter loses among the Entomostraca the importance which it
bears among the other Crustaceans, and that in the present
family it is only of subgeneric value. In the following remarks
I introduce two new terms—“ facet” for the smooth, flat, trian-
gular space at the extremity of the anterior margin of the pleurse
of certain Trilobites—and “‘ pleural groove” for the shallow sulcus
which extends from the axis a variable distance towards the ex-
tremity of each of the pleure ;—it is to the under side of this lat-
ter, as suggested by Burmeister, that the gill-feet were probably
attached*. To facilitate the appreciation of those characters, I
subjoin sketches of the pleure of the more important genera, as
the needful information is not given in the greater number of
figures and descriptions of Trilobites hitherto published ; the nu-
merals prefixed to each figure mdicate the number of thoracic
segments in each genus.
I propose dividing the family of Trilobites into the five follow-
ing subfamilies :—1. Asaphine; 2. Paradoxine ; 3. Ogygine ;
* The term ‘fulcrum,’ as sometimes applied to a point on the anterior
edge of the pleurz, clearly conveys a false mechanical notion, besides being
synonymous with the already current term ‘knee’ used by Pander and
Portlock.
’
398 Prof. F. M‘Coy on the Classification of
Faceted pleure of Trilobites.
a, Calymene; 6, Ellipsocephalus ; c, Asaphus ; d, Phacops; e, Odontochile ;
f, Dysplanus; g, Illenus; h, Forbesia; 7, Homalonotus; 4, Trimero-
cephalus.
MM Hii IL a nig Tjene tS an 7
Thy
W
\||
|
i
\
12 tI
I eae
9 end \ ; le
SS
Non-faceted pleure of Trilobite s.
1, Ogygia; m, Lichas; n, Bronteus ; 0, Ampyx; p, Harpes; g, Conocepha-
lus; r, Paradoxides; s, Zethus; ¢, Crypheus; u, Acidaspis; v, Stau-
rocephalus; w, Olenus; x, Trinucleus; y, Ceraurus.
a
wm,
a il
4, Harpedine ; 5. Agnostine. The British genera would arrange
themselves as follows, and where the value of any of the groups
was not previously settled, I have added a few explanatory words.
Ist Subfam. AsaAPHIN-.
Pleurz bent down at the ends, each with a distinct trigonal facet
at the anterior edge.
These are the most perfectly organized Trilobites; they have
a compact ovate form, and from the deflexion of the margin are
of considerable depth ; they all, I believe, have the power of roll-
ing into a ball, and are the only Trilobites having the triangular
facets at the anterior edges of the ends of the pleura. The fol-
lowing are British genera and subgenera :—
Gen. 1. Puacops (in a wider sense than Emmerich). Lateral ce-
phalic angles prolonged backwards ; glabella wider in front
than at base ; sides with three large segmental furrows ; eyes
some British Fossil Crustacea. 399
largely faceted ; facial suture cutting the lateral cephalic mar-.
gin in front of the angles ; eleven thoracic segments.
Subgen. 1. Phacops (Em.). Pygidium with eight to twelve
joints in the axis; hypostome simple.
Subgen. 2. Odontochile* (H. & C.). Pygidium with twelve
to twenty-two joints in axis; hypostome dentated.
Subgen. ?3. Chasmops (M‘Coy). Eyes small, “ hiant ;”
middle pair of lateral glabellar lobes obsolete.
Subgen. 4. Portlockia (M‘Coy). Two anterior pair of lateral
glabellar lobes obsolete ; lateral cephalic angles rounded.
2. CaLyMENE (in a wider sense than Brongniart). Lateral ce-
phalic angles not prolonged, exactly bisected by the facial
suture ; eyes small, “ hzant;” glabella narrower in front than
at base ; thirteen thoracic segments.
Subgen. 1. Calymene (Br.). Axis of body strongly defined
from the lateral lobes ; three segmental furrows to each
side of glabella.
Subgen. 2. Homalonotus (Konig). Axis not defined from
lateral lobes ; no segmental furrows to glabella.
3. TRimERocePHaLus (M‘Coy+). General character of Port-
lockia, but without eyes or facial sutures.
4, Asapsus (in a wider sense than Brong.). Cephalic and cau-
dal shields nearly equal ; external cornea thick, smooth ; facial
suture cuts the posterior margin within the angles; eight
thoracic segments.
Subgen. 1. Asaphus (as restricted to the type of A. corni-
gerus, not British) = Hemicrypturus (Gr.).
Subgen. 2. Isotelus (DeKay).
Subgen. 3. Basilicus (Salt.). General character of [sotelus,
but with many simple segmental furrows to pygidium.
5. Inuanvs (Dal.). Head and tail nearly alike, axal furrows
only indenting their margins; facial suture cutting the poste-
rior margin ; pleurze with long, narrow, obscure facets and no
pleural grooves.
Subgen. 1. Llenus (Dal.). Ten thoracic segments, lateral
cephalic angles rounded.
Subgen. 2. Bumastus (Murch.). Resembling J//enus, but
the thorax not trilobed.
Subgen. 3. Dysplanus (Burm.). Like I//enus, but cephalic
angles prolonged and only nine thoracic segments.
6. Forsesta (M‘Coy). Glabella distinct ; facial suture cutting
the middle of posterior margin ; pygidium with articulated axis
* Dalmannia of Emmerich, not of Robineau-Desvoidy.
+ For characters see below.
400 Prof. F. M‘Coy on the Classification of
and duplicate lateral furrows; thoracic segments ten, pleural
grooves slightly oblique, facets large.
Subgen. 1. Forbesia (M‘Coy) = onia, Burm. Cephalic
angles produced; glabella with three pair of segmental
furrows ; ends of neck-segment forming large tubercles.
Subgen. 2. Pretus (Stein.). Cephalic angles not produced ;
no segmental furrows to glabella.
7. Purists (Portk., extended). General character of Forbesia,
but only nine thoracic segments. (Carboniferous.)
Subgen. 1. Phillipsia (Portk.). Base of glabella wide, sides
with three segmental furrows.
Subgen. 2. Griffithides (Portk.). Base of glabella contracted,
sides without segmental furrows.
2nd Subfam. Parapoxina”.
Head large ; pygidium diminutive ; thorax long ; pleure flat, not
bent down at the end, terminating m long spines; pleural
grooves straight ; no facets.
An easily recognized group of long-bodied, flat Trilobites with
large heads, the angles of which and the ends of the pleure are
produced backwards into sharp spines. None of these can roll
into a ball.
1. Parapoxipgs (not British).
Subgen. 1. Olenus (Dal.). Fourteen thoracic segments ;
pygidium small, with entire margin.
2. Ceraurus* (Green, emended by Hall). Glabella cylindrical,
reaching the front margin, with three pair of segmental fur-
rows ; facial suture cutting the outer margin considerably in
front of the angles; eleven thoracic segments ; pleurz each
with a short oblique pleural groove dividing its tumid origin,
ends flat, faleate ; pygidium moderate, the margin with six or
eight thick spines ; cephalic angles prolonged.
3. Crypuaus (Green) =? Eccoptochile (Hawle and Corda). Head
as in Ceraurus; twelve thoracic segments ; pleure wide, di-
vided by a long mesial pleural furrow not reaching the margin ;
ends thickened and each extended in a slender spine; pygi-
dium of three thin flat lobes on each side.
4, Spu#rexocuvs (Beyrich). Glabella hemispherical ; posterior
pair of segmental furrows very large, circular, two anterior
pair rudimentary or absent ; lateral angles rounded, divided
* Chirurus (Beyrich) is I think certainly a synonym of this genus; the
recently published figures by Hall (Paleontology of New York), of Green’s
original specimen of Ceraurus, showing all the characters of the Bohemian
genus.
some British Fossil Crustacea. 401
by the facial suture ; eleven thoracic segments ; pleure simple,
obtuse ; pygidium as in Ceraurus.
. Actpasprs (Murch.) = Odontopleura (Em.).
. STAUROCEPHALUS (Bor.*).
. Remopievripes (Portk.+).
. Zeruust (Pand., as defined by Volborth) = Cybele (Loven)
+ Atractopyge (Hawle and Corda).
on Dd o
3rd Subfam, Ocyeina.
Body flat, broad oval ; thorax about as long as the head ; pleure
flat, Plena, with a ‘pleural g eroove not reaching the rene gin ;
ends not bent down, nor produced into spines ; no facets; py-
gidium nearly as large as the head.
This group would include (so far as I know) all flat-sided Tri-
lobites not entering into the Paradoxine, but, unlike them, the
body is wide and short, the pygidium instead of bemg diminutive
1s nearly as large as the head, and the segments are : remarkably
few and never extend into spines. The eyes are small or absent.
1. Trrnuctevs (Murch.). Head surrounded by a wide, pitted
margin ; six body-rings ; no eyes, cheeks not diagonally cut by
the eye- line.
Subgen. 1. Tetrapsellium (H.& C.). Only four body-rings.
2. Treraspis (M‘Coy). Resembling Trinucleus, but the cheeks
divided by a diagonal eye-line, and with an ocular tubercle in
the middle; five body-rings. (See description below.)
3. Ampyx (Dal.).
4. Oayera (Brong.).
Subgen. 1. Barrandia (M‘Coy). (For characters, see below.)
5. Bronreus (Gold.).
6. Licuas (Dal.).
Subgen. 1. Trochurus (Bar.).
Subgen. 2. Acanthopyge (H. & C.).
4th Subfam. Harpepin&.
Head large ; pygidium very small; body long, rapidly tapering ;
pleurze abruptly bent down and obtuse at the ends ; no facets.
* I have recently noted the S. Murchisoni in the Rhiwlas limestone.
+ I suspect the thoracic segments in this genus are only six to eight in
number, terminating at the long spines of the 2. laterispinifer and R. dorso-
spinifer (Portk.), which [ think probably mark the origins of the pygidium ;
but not having access now to perfect specimens of those rare ‘Trilobites, I
can only offer these remarks as suggestions founded on analogy.
{ The genus Encrinurus seems closely allied in many respects to Zethus,
but differs by its simple, obtuse, thoracic segments; not however being quite
sure of the structure of those latter, I am unwilling to assign the genus a
place in the system.
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. iv. 27
402 Prof. F. M‘Coy on the Classification of
1. Harpgs (Gold.).
?2. Harpipetya (M‘Coy). See below.
?3. AmpHion* (Pand.).
5th Subfam. AGNosTIN”. °
Minute, blind ; only two thoracic segments ; head and abdomen
covered by nearly equal and similar rotundato-quadrate shields.
This subfamily includes both the families Phalacromides and
Battoides of Hawle and Corda, distinguished solely by the ser-
ration or smoothness of the margin of the tail,—a pomt in my
mind of generic value at most.
From the absence of eyes, and the very slight powers of loco-
motion argued by so small a number of thoracic, feet-bearing,
rings, it occurs to me that the Agnostzne may hold the same
position among the Trilobites that the Suctoria do among the
Crustacea generally ; that group being similarly distinguished from
its allies by the want of eyes, few body-rings, little or no powers
of locomotion, and abnormally and variously shaped bodies ;
being parasitic generally on fish. Bophyrus, the analogous group
among the Isopod Crustacea, is always parasitic on the gills of
the larger Crustacea, under their carapace ; and such I strongly
suspect were the habits and mode of life of the Agnosti, iving in
all probability attached to the gill-feet on the under side of Tri-
lobites, some of the largest known species of which accompany
those little animals.
1. Trinopus + (M‘Coy)= 4Arthrorachis (Hawle and Corda).
2. Acnostus (? British).
Subgen. 1. Diplorhina t (H. & C.).
* This genus and Encrinurus present some points of analogy, and may
serve to indicate the passage from this subfamily to the Paradoxine by
means of Zethus, but I unfortunately cannot refer to any specimens of the
body-rings of either Amphion or Encrinurus at present, and have therefore
some uncertainty about them. I may here remark on the great apparent
inequality of extent or numerical value of the five groups into which I have
distributed the great family of Trilobites, that it results chiefly from a pecu-
liarity of geographical distribution, and in great measure disappears when
the large number of recently described foreign genera are included: thus
the Harpedine and Paradoxine, which seem so meagrely represented in the
above list of British genera, acquire a prodigious development in the Silurian
rocks of Bohemia.
+ I originally defined this genus in 1846 in my ‘ Synopsis of the Silurian
Fossils of Ireland,’ and pointed out its differences from Agnostus ; subse-
quently Hawle and Corda have figured and described the group under the
title of Arthrorachis in their ‘ Prodrom.’ on Bohemian Trilobites, without
knowledge of what I had done, also pointing out its obvious differences from
Agnostus (or Battus),
i : have noticed the Diplorhina triplicata in the black Llandeilo shale of
Builth.
some British Fossil Crustacea. 4.03
(Descriptions of new genera and species of Trilobites.)
Chasmops (M‘Coy), n. g.
KEtym. yaspa, hiatus, and op, oculus.
Gen. Char. Cephalic shield subsemicircular, lateral angles pro-
duced backwards in triangular spines ;
glabella large, clavate, frontal portion
very wide, transversely oval, only two
distinct pairs of lateral segmental lobes,
the anterior pair very large triangular,
posterior pair small, middle pair obsolete
or reduced to a minute tubercle; neck-
segment strong: cheeks small triangu- Cephalic shield of
lar: eyes small, rounded, “ hiant,” corre- Chasunoye:
sponding in height to the middle portion of the first lateral
lobe of the glabella ; eye-lme encircles the front of the gla-
bella close to the margin, descends with an inward inclination
to the eye, extending from behind the eye directly outwards
to the lateral margin, which it cuts considerably in advance of
the angles ; thorax of eleven joints (fid. Hichwald) ; pygidium
obtusely rounded, posterior margin defiected, anterior margin
wider than the posterior ; axis of about ten ribs, lateral ribs
about two less, duplex.
The Calymene Odini of Eichwald may be looked upon as the
type of this genus. It differs from Calymene in the glabella beng
so much wider in front than at the base, in the anterior lateral
lobes being largest, in having but eleven (?) body-segments, and
in its eye-line cutting the external margin in front of the angles,
agreeing only in the structure of the eyes; these differences be-
come agreements when compared with Phacops, from which it
differs in the structure of the eyes. Of those organs in the pre-
sent genus and in Calymene nothing is known beyond that they
were of so tender and delicate a nature as readily to fall out after
death, and are never found in the fossil state, their position
being indicated by a hole, roughly filled by the matrix, forming
the “ hiant”’ eyes of systematists ; in Phacops, on the contrary,
the cornea is of extraordinary strength, and so firmly united to
the rest of the cephalic shield, that no matter how much crushed
the specimens may be, the eye always remains, and from its con-
stant presence, coarse reticulation and large lenses, gives an ap-
propriate name to the genus, and one which is in antagonism
with that I have adopted for the present group: Chasmops differs
besides from both those genera in the almost complete suppres-
sion of the middle pair of segmental lobes of the glabella.
27%
4.04. Prof. F. M‘Coy on the Classification of
Trimerocephalus (M‘Coy).
Etym. tpimepys, tripartitus, and xepary, caput.
Gen. Char. Elongate ovate: cephalic shield semicircular, with the
lateral angles obtusely rounded : glabella very broad, gently
convex, widely rounded and touching the
margin in front; sides straight, convergmg
to the narrow base ; neck-furrow strong, and
one fine, directly transverse, segmental furrow
a little above it across the base of the glabella ;
cheeks smaller than the glabella, triangular,
evenly convex, without eyes or facial sutures ;
limb almost wanting in front of the glabella,
forming a narrow margin to the cheeks, and
being rounded at the lateral angles forms the
thick posterior margin of the shield and neck-
segment ; thorax of eleven joints, lateral lobes rimerocephalus.
wider than the axis, bent down at their margin; each of the
axal segments with a strong tubercle at each end; pleure of
equal width throughout, blunt at their ends, which are bent
downwards and a little backwards, each marked along the
middle by a pleural groove, angularly bent backwards about
the middle, but not reaching the margin ; trigonal facets small,
narrow ; pygidium small, obtusely rounded, entire, axal lobe
distinctly rounded with about four or five segmental furrows ;
lateral lobes with about five flattened segments, each divided
by a furrow.
This genus has been confounded by Count Miinster, in his
‘Beitrage zur Petrefactenkunde’ for 1842 (only knowing the
head), with Trinucleus, from which the structure of the body and
tail, as well as the absence of the punctured border of the head,
remove it very far; and it has been referred by Prof. Phillips
(Paleozoic Fossils) to Calymene, from which the form of its ce-
phalic shield and glabella, want of eyes and facial suture, and
the different number of the body-segments, will I think suffi-
ciently distinguish it.
I only know the genus in the Devonian rocks, the type being
the Trinucleus levis of Miinster (Ca/lymene levis, Phil. Pal. Foss.,
not of Miinster, whose Calymene levis is a true Portlockia, M‘Coy).
It is perhaps most allied to Ellipsocephalus of Zenker, which has
however twelve body-rings, eyes at the sides of the cheeks, a
glabella pointed in front, and a little pygidium without segmental
furrows.
Illenus latus (M‘Coy).
Sp. Char. Cephalic shield more than twice as wide as long, mo-
some British Fossil Crustacea. 4.05
derately gibbous towards the base, but about one-half of the
front arched over to a vertical position (or at right angles to
the basal portion or plane of the body) ; aval furrows consider-
ably less than half the length of the head, width of the in-
cluded space, or glabella, equal to two-thirds the length of the
head ; eyes small, near the lateral angles, their own length in
front of the posterior margin, two-thirds the width of the gla-
bella distant from the axal furrows. Length of head 10 lines,
width 1 inch 9 lines.
This is only hkely to be confounded with the J. crassicauda
(Dal.), from Gothland specimens of which it differs by the greater
width of the head and less depth of the deflected front, and most
remarkably by the very small size of the cheeks, resulting from
the eyes being removed almost to the lateral angles; in the
I. crassicauda they are only half the width of the glabella distant
from the axal furrow, and the portion of the cheeks from the eye
to the lateral angles is nearly one-third more than from the eye
to the axal furrow, while in the present species the cheek beyond
the eye is little more than half the width of from thence to the
sides of the glabella. Heads of the Dysplanus centrotus (Dal.) sp.
differ in their much greater proportional length.
In the Lower Silurian limestone of Wray quarry, Upper Tweed.
(Col. University of Cambridge.)
Isotelus affinis (M‘Coy).
Ref. Isot. gigas, I. planus, and I. Powisii of Portk. Geol. Rep.
(omit synonyms) t. 6. f. 1, and t. 9. f.2 & 3.
Sp. Char. Axis of the body only slightly exceeding the pleure in
width ; pleure gently arched downwards at a very obtuse angle
from about halfway between the axis and the extremity; a
large pleural furrow reaches from the axis to about one-third
of the truncated extremity of each ; pygidium flattened, semi-
elliptical, or slightly trigonal from the straightness of the sides ;
axis narow, sharply defined, gently convex, reaching as far as
the concave space round the margin.
In general proportions this resembles the /sotelus gigas (DeKay),
from all the varieties of which it is distinguished, when speci-
mens of the same size are compared, by the much greater flatness
or depression of all its parts, the long, narrow, sharply defined
axal lobe of the pygidium, and the much greater length of the
pleural groove of the pleurz (nearly double that of the I. gigas),
as well as the distance of the knee from the axis, and slight degree
of deflection of the pleure (being bent nearly at right angles at
one-third from the axis in J. gigas). The pygidium differs from
that of the J. Powisii (Murch. sp.) by the absence of all seg-
406 Prof. ¥. M‘Coy on the Classification of
mental furrows, except the first, on the lateral lobes, and by the
more pointed outline and narrow margin.
Not uncommon in a Lower Silurian schist over the iron-works
at Tremadoc ; very similar in appearance to that at Pomeroy, co.
Tyrone, w hich afforded the species to Col. Portlock.
(Col. University of Cambridge.)
Griffithides meso-tuberculatus (M‘Coy).
Sp. Char. Cephalothorax 10 lines wide; glabella widely pyri-
form, broadly rounded in front, gently couvex and narrowing
posteriorly with concave sides, very minutely granulated, length
5 lines, width 4 lines; cheeks triangular, flat, smooth ; eyes
large, reniform, very minutely reticulated, with a large convex
eye-lobe * connected with the base of the glabella by a small,
oblique, oval nucleus ; limb broad, convex, with nine or ten
imbricating striz, two-thirds concealed in front of the gla-
bella, ending posteriorly in acute spies as long as the glabella ;
neck-segment broad ; pygidium 6 lines long and 73 lines wide ;
axal lobe 2 hnes wide, cylindrical, slightly tapering, of sixteen
rings, each ornamented with about ten lengthened oval tuber-
cles ; lateral lobes depressed, of ten broad, * flat divisions, each
having a fine impressed hne running close to its posterior
niargin, smooth to the naked eye, but with a strong glass one
or two rows of minute crowded granules are seen ; margm
wide.
The axal lobe of the pygidium being strongly tubereulated and
the lateral lobes nearly smooth, distinguish the species from all
other carboniferous Trilobites I know of. It is allied to the
G. calcaratus (M‘Coy) and G. longispinus (Portk.).
Common in the shales of the carboniferous limestone of Der-
byshire.
(Col. University of Cambridge.)
Crypheus Sedgwicku (M‘Coy).
Sp. Char. Cephalic shield subsemicircular ; glabella slightly cla-
vate, smooth, three segmental furrows on each side, the pos-
terior pair longest, turning backwards and inwards nearly to
the neck- furrow, inclosing a triangular space on each side
longer than w ide, the width rather less than that of the undi-
vided portion of the glabella between their bases, the two an-
terior pair of furrows shorter; cheeks broad, gently convex,
closely and coarsely pitted: thorax, axal lobe very convex, narrow,
shghtly tapering, nearly parallel- ‘sided, smooth, of twelve seg-
* Eye-lobe seems preferable to eye-lid for the lobe covering the inner and
irpper aspect of the eye.
some British Fossil Crustacea. 4.07
ments, tnree similar ones belong to the pygidium, the termi-
nal one being obtusely trigonal ; the side lobes are flattened,
and more than double the width of the axal lobe ; pleure nearly
straight, narrow, and for the greater part of their length flat-
tened, and having a broad, nearly mesial pleural sulcus deeply
punctured like the cheeks, dividing each into two parts, the
posterior largest and forming a thick, smooth, rounded ridge,
bent down and a little backwards in the distal third of its
length, swelling to a thick narrow ridge in the middle, the
sides and extremity expanding into a broad, thin, foliaceous
appendage; the pygidium terminates in six broad ovate, leaf-
hike, semimembranous flaps. Length of thorax and pygidium
2 inches 2 lines, width 2 inches 3 lines, width of axal lobe
6 lines.
This magnificent Trilobite can only be confounded with the
Eecoptochile clavigera (Beyrich sp.), from which it is distin-
guished by the much greater width of the lateral lobes of the
thorax, and the thin, flat, leaf-like appendages of the pygidium,
which in that species resemble thick pear-shaped clubs. A com-
parison with the old description and casts published by Green
induces me to place this Trilobite in his little-known genus
Cryphaus, and to doubt very much the propriety of separating
Eccoptochile of Hawle and Corda from it, the only difference
being the thickness of the marginal appendage in the Bohemian
genus.
The nearly entire specimen described was collected by Prof.
Sedgwick from the Wenlock shale two miles north of Builth.
(Col. University of Cambridge.)
Ceraurus octo-lobatus (M‘Coy).
Sp. Char. Pygidium transversely elliptical, twice as wide as long,
two first rmgs of the axis narrow, distinct, third or terminal
one large, terminating in four flattened elliptically pointed
lobes; two rather larger similar lobes on each side. Length
21 lines.
This curious little species differs from all of this and the allied
genera in having the terminal segment of the pygidium quadri-
lobate, so that the margin of the pygidium exhibits eight mar-
ginal pointed lobes in all.
It is figured in the ‘ Memoirs of the Geol. Survey’ from Sholes
Hook, under the same reference as the cephalic shields there called
Spherexochus juvenis (Salter)*, but not alluded to in the text.
In the limestone of Rhiwlas.
(Col. University of Cambridge.)
* Corrected to S. clavifrons (Dal.) in the list of plates prefixed to the
same work.
408 Prof. F. M‘Coy on the Classification of
Ceraurus Williamsi (M‘Coy).
Sp. Char. Cephalothorax semielliptical, length rather more than
half the width ; glabella semicylindrical, gibbous, rounded in
front, with nearly parallel sides, three nearly equidistant,
curved, segmental furrows on each side, the basal pair nearly
confluent at their ends with the neck-furrow, inclosing a
tumid ovate space on each side, separated by an undivided
space about one-fourth of the width of the glabella; thorax
twice the length of the glabella, axal segments large, two-
thirds the width of the pleurz, each of which has a very large,
diagonally cleft, oblong tubercle at its origin, beyond hich
there is a neck-like contr action of the margin, followed at one-
third from the axis by a hemispherical tubercle about half its
diameter distant from the first, beyond which the distal two-
thirds of each pleura is faiziformly dilated imto a thin, flat,
fin-like appendage, the anterior margin of which is very con-
vex, posterior margin slightly concave, extremity pointed ; py-
gidium small, the six marginal spmes small, all extending to
about the same distance backw ards, the anterior pairs there-
fore longest ; they are thick, triangular, and three or four times
wider than the others. Length of entire animal 1 inch 4 lines,
of glabella 5 lines, width about 9 lines.
The disconnected, broadly falcate, paddle-shaped pleure help
to distinguish this beautiful little species, which by its narrow
elongate form resembles a Remopleurides. One entire specimen
collected from the schists at Golen Goed, Myddfai, by Mr. Wil-
hams of Llandovery, and presented to Prof. Sedgwick by him.
(Col. University of Cambridge.)
Ogygia radians (M‘Coy).
Sp. Char. Pygidium nearly semicircular, slightly convex; axis
conical, undefined at the end, having three narrow segmental
furrows at the anterior end, lateral lobes with three broad ra-
diating ribs faintly divided at their axal ends by a small pleural
furrow ; margin tumid, entire. Length 4 les, width 7 lines.
I provisionally give this name to a small pygidium not unlike
that of the Barrandia Cordai, but, from the duplicate lateral fur-
rows, belonging more probably to Ogygia; probably confirma-
tory of this view I observe in the 2nd Decade of the ‘ Geol. Surv.’
t. 7. f. 5. a small eight-jomted true Ogygia from Builth, having
the pyg gidium almost identical with the present species, if, as I
suspect, the duplicating furrows have been accidentally omitted
(the figure alluded to is given as the probable young of the
Ogygia dilatata (Phil.), a trilobite which has not been found at
Builth, but abounds in the schist at Waterford).
some British Fossil Crustacea. 4.09
Not uncommon in the black Wenlock shale of Pen Cerrig,
Builth.
(Col. University of Cambridge.)
Barrandia (M‘Coy), n. g.
Gen. Char. Body ovate, depressed ; cephalic shield semicircular,
with the lateral angles produced backwards into
short spines; glabella widely clavate, the axal
furrow strong and nearly parallel at the base,
becoming obsolete towards the front ; eyes large,
narrow, reniform ; eye-line behind the eye cut-
ting the posterior margin about the middle, in
front of the eyes arching forwards, first out-
wards and then inwards; thorax of seven seg-
ments ; axis convex, nearly as wide as the pleuree, 2arrandia.
tapering towards the pygidium ; plewre flat, their ends slightly
faleate and bent backwards, no facets, a slightly oblique sub-
mesial pleural furrow not quite reaching the end; pygidium
semicircular, entire, having very few simple segmental furrows
placed near the anterior margin (one to three in number) ;
axis short, having one to three small segmental furrows.
This I conceive to be a subgenus of Ogygia, from which it
differs in its fewer thoracic segments, and having but very few
and simple ribs to the tail. The genus agrees with the deserip-
tion given by Hawle and Corda of their genus Alceste, with the
exception of this having seven thoracic rings and that having but
four; it is remarkable that A/ceste is figured by those authors
with three segmental furrows to the pygidium, while this has only
one, making the total number of segments visible the same in
both ; the number of the pygidial segments is however of course
liable to vary with the species, while the thoracic ones are sup-
posed to be constant. I know but one species, the following*.
Barrandia Cordai (M‘Coy).
Sp. Char. Length one-fourth more than the width, length of
* Since the above was written Mr. Salter has figured (2nd Decad. Geol.
Surv. pl. 7. f. 4) a species of this genus, with three segments to the pygi-
dium, which he gives without any apparent reason as the young of an Irish
species of Ogygia (O. dilatata, Phil., O. Portlochki, Salt.). My reasons for
dissenting from this view are, Ist, it is contrary to analogy of other allied
Trilobites to suppose that the young and adult differ in the number of their
thoracic segments ; 2nd, in the Cambridge collection, specimens of the Ogy-
gia Buchi, half an inch wide, have exactly the same number of segments
and other characters as an adult six inches long; 3rd, the supposed young
has only been found at Builth, where the Ivish species, his supposed adult
thereof, has never been found, being only known in the schists at Waterford,
where it abounds, but where the supposed young have not occurred.
410 Prof. F. M‘Coy on the Classification of
head, thorax and pygidium almost equal; cephalic shield
slightly more than twice as wide as long, lateral angles very
short; eyes half their length from the axal furrow; pygidium
depressed, length rather more than half the width, axis two-
thirds the length, conical, segmental furrows one on each side,
obtuse. Length 11 lines.
Black Wenlock shale of Builth.
(Col. University of Cambridge.)
Ampyzx latus (M‘Coy).
Sp. Char. Entire animal transversely ovate, length one-fifth less
than the width ; cephalic shield smooth, front margin regularly
curved, width three-fifths the length ; g/abella moderately tu-
mid, pyriform, having a narrow vertically elongate (? ocular)
swelling close to the middle third of each side, and two short,
minute segmental furrows at each side of the narrow base ;
thoracic segments five, pleurze of each side twice the width of
the axal lobe ; pygidium very obtusely and regularly rounded,
four times wider than long, axis with about seventeen minute
segmental furrows, sides with about eight. Length of entire
animal 33 lines.
This rare species is most allied to the A. parvulus (Forb.) and
the A. nasutus (Dal.), from both which the perfect animal is
easily known by its transversely oval form ; the regular curvature
and great width of the cephalic aad pygidial shields easily distin-
guish those parts when found separate ; the latter agrees nearly
in form with that of the A. parvulus, from which it differs equally
with the former in all the other characters of cephalic shield, &c.
Rare in the black Wenlock shale three miles north of Builth.
(Col. University of Cambridge.)
Tretaspis (M‘Coy), n. g.
Gen. Char. General characters of Trinucleus, but having only five
body-rings, the base of the glabella having
two short segmental furrows at each side,
and the cheeks being traversed diagonally by
a nearly straight eye-line, extending on each
side from the junction of the cheeks and Here
glabella in front, towards the lateral angles Cephalicahi qa
cutting the posterior margin a little within ing the eyes and
the angles, and usually exhibiting a small diagonal facial su-
ocular (?) tubercle in the middle. Types ‘es-
of the genus Trinucleus seticornis (His.) sp., T. Bucklandi
(Bar.), &e.
In my ‘ Synopsis of the Silurian Fossils of Ireland’ I pointed
some British Fossil Crustacea. 411
out the course of the eye-line in this genus, which separates it
at once from Trinucleus, and renders it probable that the small
tubercle in the middle of the cheeks in the 7. seticornis, T. fim-
briatus, &c. are true eyes. The furrows at the base of the gla-
bella also are distinctive for the genus*.
Trinucleus gibbifrons (M‘Coy).
Sp. Char. Cephalic shield nearly semicircular, length rather more
than one-third of the width; glabella pyriform, rounded in
front, gradually narrowing towards the base, compressed, ex-
ceedingly gibbous, its height above the cheeks nearly equaling
its width ; on each side of the neck-furrow (in casts) there is
a deep puncture and another similar a little in front of it, a
small spine on the middle of the neck-furrow ; cheeks sphe-
rical triangles, height and width about equal, moderately con-
vex; border of moderate width, three rows of punctures in
front of the glabella, and five rows in front of the cheeks, more
numerous at the sides, generally connected in front by radia-
ting furrows, forming an imperfect fimbriation. Usual length
of cephalic shield 3 lines. Surface very mimutely granulated.
This very common species is figured without a name by Col.
Portlock (Geol. Rep. pl. 1 B. f. 138 & 14). The fine granulation of
the lobes of the head, and the extreme prominence of the gradually
narrowing, pyriform, compressed glabella, separate this at once
from either the 7. Caractaci or T. latus, with which it seems to
have been confounded ; it is wider than the former, less so than
the latter. From the two little punctures on each side of the
base of the glabella, this strongly approximates the 7. scyllarus
(His.) as distinguished from 7. seticornis; but although with
abundance of specimens I cannot find an ocular tubercle or eye-
line in the midst of the cheeks as in Tretaspis, to which those
species belong ; those punctures indicate no doubt the existence
of the muscles of the jaws and their appropriate rigs, but are
not extended into transverse segmental furrows as in those last-
named species ; in the radiation of the border and number of
rows of pores in front it approaches shghtly the 7. radiatus
(Murch.), but is distinguished by the head being rounded, the
* The statement of Mr. Salter (Mem. of the Geol. Surv. vol. ii. pt. 1.
p- 335), speaking of Hawle and Corda’s work, that ‘* Tetrapsellium is distin-
guished from 7’rinucleus solely by a swelling in the axal furrow of the head ;
it is almost identical else with 7. seticornis’"—might mislead the English
reader with the idea that the present genus was identical with Tetrapsellium ;
the fact is however, in his stricture on the Bohemian authors, Mr. Salter
seems to have overlooked the grand character of their genus, namely its
having but four body-rings (“ vier Leibringe,” H. & C. Monog. p. 42.
8th line) ; it agrees otherwise with the common type of 7rinucleus,
412 Prof. F. M‘Coy on the Classification of
eheeks wider, and the border not being more than half the depth,
as well as being by no means so distinctly radiated.
Common in the lower Silurian limestone of Golden Grove ;
the schists of Tre Gil; and Caradoc sandstone of Alt y Anker,
Meifod ; also at Pen y Craig. A variety with a shorter shield,
the lobes of which are more spherical, perhaps from pressure, oc-
curs in the black Wenlock shale three miles north of Builth.
(Col. University of Cambridge.)
Harpidella (M‘Coy), n. g.
Gen. Char. Cephalic shield subtrigonal, surrounded by a thick,
narrow, flattened border; sides nearly. vertical, compressed ;
cheeks entirely surrounding the glabella in front, forming there
a narrow tumid border, widening backwards as they descend
into tumid, broad, triangular, nearly vertical wings, having
large prominent eyes near the middle of their posterior mar-
gin, and from them on each side an obscure impressed line
extends upwards and imwards to about the first third of the
glabella (perhaps indicating the eye-line) ; glabella very con-
vex, semiclliptical, obtusely rounded in front, surrounded by
a strong defining sulcus ; two segmental furrows on each side,
the first very strong, curving, from about the middle of the
sides of the glabella, inwards and backwards into the neck-
furrow, so as to include a large tumid ovate lobe on each side ;
a little above this, the very short and faintly marked anterior
segmental furrow curves in the same direction ; surface granu-
lated. (Type of the genus Harpes? megalops, M‘Coy, Syn.
Sil. Fos. Irel. t. 4. f. 5.)
The head alone of this genus is known, which differs from
Harpes (Gold.) im its small size, narrow unpunctured rim, ab-
sence of the ocular tubercle on the anterior part of the cheeks,
great size and basal position of the eyes, &c.
(Fam. Lymnadiade.)
Ceratiocaris (M‘Coy), n. g.
Etym. cepatior, siliqua, and xapts, squilla.
Gen. Char. Carapace bivalve, the dorsal line simply angulated
(? undivided), with a shght furrow beneath it on each side ;
sides semielliptical, much elongated from before backwards,
evenly convex, ventral margin gently
convex, posterior end abruptly trun-
cated obliquely ; on each side near the
anterior end considerably below the
hinge-line is an ocular (?) spot, some- Ceratiocaris.
times raised and distinct, in some spe- @ The ocular spot.
a“
some British Fossil Crustacea. 413
cies flat ; surface marked with fine, imbricated striz, obliquely
longitudinal.
In their pod-like form some of the species resemble such shells
as Solenocurtus and Solenimya, except in the abrupt truncation
of the posterior end; others resemble the Crustacean genus
Dithyrocaris, with which I think their affinity hes, though they
differ in form and want the peculiar ridges of that group. I[
conceive they were phyllopodous Crustaceans allied to Lymnadia ;
the peculiar texture and kind of lineation of the surface resemble
what we find in Crustacea allied to Apus rather than in Mol-
lusca ; the general pod-like form, large size, and posterior trun-
cation separate them from any of the large species of Cythere
or Cypridinia, and the two ocular spots separate them from all
others. I suspect from some of the specimens that the two sides
meet along the dorsal line at an angle of 45°, with probably little
power of motion. The ocular spots even when flat may generally
be recognized with care from the difference in their minerali-
zation ; they are often dark-coloured as if retaining some of their
pigment, and have a shghtly granular aspect, corresponding in
fact very closely, both in position on the shell and in apparent
structure, with the double-eyed Cypridinia of the Indian Ocean.
In one species there is a short sulcus extending on each side
from the medial lne behind the eye obliquely backwards and
outwards, reminding us of the perhaps somewhat similar nuchal
furrow of Apus. I only know the genus in the upper Silurian
rocks.
Ceratiocaris solenoides (M‘Coy).
Sp. Char. Sides meeting along the back at an acute angle, each
being nearly four times longer than wide, the ventral margin
nearly straight and parallel with the dorsal line ; anterior end
narrowed and truncate obliquely forwards and outwards from
the dorsal line; posterior end scarcely narrowed, truncated
obliquely backwards and outwards ; valves evenly convex, the
edge slightly thickened ; ocular spot a little depressed, close to
about the middle of the truncated anterior margin ; from the
internal (dorsal) anterior angles a small furrow extends a little
way obliquely backwards and outwards ; oblique longitudinal
striz very close and fine ; eyes two-thirds of a line in diameter ;
width of each side from dorsal to opposite margin 5} lines.
This much resembles a little So/en in form. The ocular. spot
is generally dark-coloured.
Common in the Upper Ludlow rock of Benson Knot.
(Col. University of Cambridge.)
Ceratiocaris ellipticus (M‘Coy).
Sp. Char, Each side longitudinally elliptical, evenly convex,
414 On the Classification of some British Fossil Crustacea.
about twice and a half longer than wide, greatest width of the
side and curvature of the margin about one-third from the
anterior end, which is elliptically pointed ; posterior end ob-
tusely rounded, the oblique truncation nearly effaced ; ventral
margin convex; ocular spot elevated like a small tubercle,
twice its diameter from the dorsal line, and about one-fourth
the length from the anterior end; I believe the striz of the
surface have the direction usual in the genus, but they are
very delicate. Length 1 inch 3 lines, greatest width of the
sides 6 lines.
The elliptical form, prominence of the eye-spot, and its distance
from the anterior end, mark the species well.
Rare in the Upper Ludlow rock of Benson Knot.
(Col. University of Cambridge.)
‘ytheropsis (M‘Coy).
Syn. Cytherina (Burm., not of Lamarck).
I provisionally propose this name for the little bean-shaped
bivalve Entomostraca of the paleozoic rocks, which were formerly
referred by myself and others to Cythere, but which Dr. Bur-
meister suggests should rather be referred to the Phyllopoda.
As apparently the same forms of carapace exist both in the Phyl-
lopoda and Lophyropoda, it is cleatly more logical to refer those
fossils to the former group, which we believe to have abounded
at the paleozoic period, than, by placing them with the analogous
types of the Lophyropoda, to quote the occurrence of that tribe
at those early periods without sufficient reason.
In M. Bosquet’s memoir on the Entomostraca of the Maéstricht
Chalk, he proposes to refer all the ornamented species which I
have described and figured in my Synopsis of the Mountain
Limestone Fossils of Ireland, to the recent genus Cypridina ; this
I suppose is on the supposition that the tubercles represent the
lateral eyes of that genus; but though the eyes were possibly
lateral also in the fossil group, there is no evidence of the fact,
nor reason for supposing they were not similarly placed in the
plain ones ; I therefore think the plain and ornamented species
should not be divided, and for the above reason think they are
both better placed with the Phyllopodes. It is singular that
Prof. Burmeister, in establishing this genus and stating that the
palzozoic limestones contained the only representatives of it,
should have applied to them the Lamarckian name Cytherina,
which is a mere double emploi of Latreille’s recent genus Cythere.
The carboniferous genus Bairdia (M‘Coy) is distinguished from
the above by its attenuated recurved extremities.
On the extinct and existing Bovine Animals of Scandinavia. 415
XLII.—On the extinct and existing Bovine Animals of
Scandinavia. By Prof. Nixsson of Lund.
[Concluded from p. 355.]
4. Bison Ox (Bos Bison, Linn.), fig. 8 & 9.
The Wisent or the Bison of the ancients; the Aurochs of the
moderns.
Fig. 8.
Bos Bison.
Gen. Char. The forehead convex, the distance between the crown
of the horns and the orbits a little longer than its diameter,
The horn-cores directed outward and somewhat backward,
also curved in a direction forward upward.
Syn. Bos Bison, Linn. Syst. Nat. xii. 1. p. 99; Gesn. Hist. Animal. i.
p- 128, with figure. Jubati Bisontes, Plin. viii. 15. Bisontes setosi, colla
jubis horrida, Solin. Villosi Bisontes, Senec. Bison, Gilbert Opuscul.
p- 70. Zubr, V. Jarocki, Versaml. der Naturforscher in Hamb. 1830,
with two figures. Bos Urus, Eichwald, Zool. special. i. p. 342, with
figures. duer, Eichw. Natur. Histor. Skizze, p. 241, with figures. Idem,
Urus (Zubr), Fauna Caspio-Caucas. p. 31. Aurochs, Cuv. Recherches
B. leposss fasd. ive po, L08e¢ seg... “Id>) pl. 9. fig: 1; 2; pla l0sigalkiae
pl. 12. fig. 6, 7. Aurochs des Allemands, Cuv. Régn. anim. i. p. 279.
Fossil: Cuv. Rech. iv. pl. 12. fig. 1, 2,4; pl. 9. fig. 5. Bison priscus, Owen,
Brit. Foss. Mam. p. 491. fig. 205. Urowe tjur, Retz. Vet. Akad. Handl.
1802, p. 280. In Lithuania: Zubr (Schuber). In Germany: durochs ;
Aurthier: in ancient times, Wisent or Wisund.
Exterior description——This colossal Ox of former times, of
whose form and locality we can judge, not from its fossil skeleton
alone, but also from its yet living descendants, was in many
416 Prof. Nilsson on the extinct and existing
respects unlike not only all the foregoing, but also our tame
cattle. The fore-part of the body was very thick and broad,
with a high hump over the shoulders, from which the back went
strongly sloping downwards ; the hinder part was on the con-
trary quite slender and thin, so that the same proportions were
far from prevailing between the fore and hind parts of the body,
as in the tame ox. The legs above the knees were thick and
strong, but on the contrary under the knees slender and lean.
On the front of the head and under the neck was long close
curly hair, which along the back of the neck formed a mane, and
under the under-jaw a long beard. All the rest of the hairy
covering was shorter. The head, which was carried low, was
shorter and broader than that of our common oxen; the muzzle
was less broad, and the nos- Fig. 9.
trils were more open at the _
sides ; the forehead between
the horns about 11 inches
broad and convex ; the horns
small, about 12 inches long ;
near the roots 12 inches in
circumference, their direction
outward and __ backward,
thence crescent - shaped,
curved forward in one and
the same direction, yet some-
times the pomts were turned
upward; in colour they are Bos Bison.
black, somewhat white-speckled. The colour of the animal dark
brown or sooty brown.
Remarks.—When one sees an ox of this species, of which well-
stuffed specimens are now to be found in most museums, it is
impossible to admit that Caesar could mean this animal by
his Urus, which he describes, specie et colore et figura tauri, and
is only distinguished from the common ox through its magni-
tude and amplitudo cornuum.
With respect to the fossil skeleton, it is thus: the forehead
convex, for the most part above, between the roots of the horns ;
the nasal bones short, broad (only 33 times as long as broad ; in
the Urus they are 5, in B. longifrons near 6, and in the tame ox
61 times as long as broad), going up to the line which is drawn
right over the sockets of the eyes ; these are produced into tube-
shaped processes. The lower, or front part of the lachrymal
bones, uch narrower than the upper ; the distance between the
orbit and the base of the horn a little longer than the orbit’s
diameter. The forehead upward, strongly shelving backward ;
Bovine Animals of Scandinavia. 4g
the border of the occiput lies about 33 inches behind the roots
of the horns ; at the back of this border the occiput is more trans-
verse and not so concave as in the foregoing species of true Bos.
The foramen of the occiput smaller towards the front, almost
triangular, with the front angle obtuse. The horn-cores, resting
on pedicles, are directed outward and somewhat backward, also
eurved in a crescent, in ene direction only, which is ipercedl and
somewhat upward. The temporal cavity very small in the
‘entre, the ends widened, the front somewhat broader than the
back. Atlas: the wings transverse, of equal breadth in front
and back, 8 in. 4: lin., with obtuse back lobes ; the upper curva-
ture strongly convex with a transverse knob in the centre ; ; the
lower with a round knob in the middle (somewhat more distant
from the front than the back margin). pistropheus short,
broad ; its process. spinos. forms a high ridge, which is highest
and most projecting towards the back (its hind margin broad),
and forms an angle towards the front projecting over the pro-
cess. odontoideus. Along the under side is a ridge, which does
not go backward past the margin of the concave posterior articular
surface. Foramen medulle spinalis in front three-sided, almost
heart-shaped. The process. transversi of the cervical vertebre
curved upwards. In other respects it differs from the Urus,
which in bulk it most resembles, through the spimous processes
of the anterior dorsal vertebre, which are longer in the Bison,
about | ft. 6-7 in., in the Urus about | ft. and a couple of inches ;
by its larger, and particularly longer shoulder-blades ; narrower
rib- bones, of which it has fourteen pairs, the broadest of which
is 2 in. (in the Urus quite 2:5); on the other hand it has not
more than five lumbar vertebree*.
Foram. obtur. oblong-oval. Extremities generally somewhat
higher and less stoutly built than in the Urus. In order
that we may form some idea of the magnitude of this extinct
animal as compared with the present, we will insert here the
measurement of some of the bones in that beautiful skeleton of a
Lithuanian Aurochs, which was killed a few years ago, and pre-
sented to the British Museum by the Emperor of Russia, and a
fossil skeleton of the ancient period, dug up from a turf-bog at
BjersjGholm, in southern Scania near Y stad, and now preserved in
the Zoological Museum in Lundy. (Compare further the
skeleton of the Bos primgenius, pp. 258-261.)
* The Reindeer has the same number of ribs and lumbar vertebra. The
Stag, on the contrary, has the same as the Urus,
+ This remarkable discovery from antiquity, the like of which, as far as
I know, no other museum in Europe can show, was sent as a present to
the University’s Museum in Lund in the year 1812, by the then possessor
of the estate Bjersjéholm, Major Cock,
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. iv. 28
418 Prof. Nilsson on the extinct and existing
(1.) (2:)
Fossil specimen in Recent spedmen
the Univ. Museum in the British
at Lund. Museum.
Length from the ridge of the occiput to the ft. in. lin. ft. in. lin.
intermaxillary bone’s anterior edge ...... 2) hits Vitor S4
Length from the orbit to the same place... 1 1 O near 1 O O
», between the roots of the horns and
EITERONDLGSI eso ses see sec eecic- eoogsoSosone Acct Oat OF ae
Length of the nasal bones .........+eceseeee O09 -0
,, of the horn-cores in the curve
IDOLE! GrongonebHonasrcupsadoasochncc ROCCE ll phe Ss eo)
Length of the horn-cores inaright line... 0 10 4 0). (Se wad
», of the under-jaw to the angle ...... Os I 4
Breadth between the upper border of the
LODES OF GHEMOLNS| < sc iis cele cmrceaeiss siskenniae tere 2 2h yo 0517-900
Breadth between the lower borders of the
roots of the horns ............. aatededese anes mers Sa te OP 100s
Breadth of the orbit upwards .............6. | RR Aetna: | alii itil |
» of the nasal bones, each ............ OF 2 ae
Circumference of the horn-core at the root 0 Ill 4
‘The line drawn between the points of the
horn-cores falls behind the roots of the
horns.
Atlas':'the wing’s breadth «...........+4s0=% Oh 1B ae OR ee BS:
Length of process. spinos. of the second
back-vertebra....s.cseseseees eaguadcadcodco dar hye sived LO) Le Ae
Length of process. spinos. of the foremost
lumbar vertebra.......... hopocbodddoanbandone Ov fo a2 (BE
Length of shoulder-blade................0000. LP ee 30 Le 6" 4
Its breadth Gpwards:..-cnodsbes soem seeestcsss 1 18 20
Distance between the spine and the gienoid
GENTRY onopannsoousanonndoqdas5OecIeagoe Oooo ndoS 0) 3) 40
Tength :/0s lumeri ..<:..<.sssce0e saletotacite sees Ne Sit ee geO
Pea eg BLE UIUSAi ce iecaccicc as venconsins seucenoeeets 1 2 6 ] ] 4
pi eINetaCal pus! a.scetmees Scoagsanboccdee OF Ses OF Dine
yi MPIIPICLVIS. Meh chcmcmcosbuetemannccsegsdeceene 2. a a nearieZ ORO
dite KOS LEMOS Se ccceites accor ss een beng. ol Se a0 1 6/%¢60
rie .pUDIAls scasecaescs Eonandbocaaadngosc eee 1 20 ose)
ING LALATSUS ier cteeicasecerisiseie ieee conse (0) mel OLegro 0 9) 96
Least breadth of metacarpus.......sscsceeseee Ov 2” 2
i 5) ‘ofmetatarsus).:..<2:.: asraktees Of a 7
If we now compare this measurement with that of the Urus,
(Bos primigenius) which will be found in p. 260, we shall there
see, that while all the other bones in the extremities are longer
in the Aurochs (Bison priscus) than im the Urus, this relation is
reversed with regard to the metacarpus and metatarsus ; for these
are certainly longer in the Urus. They are not only longer—
they are also thinner, although the whole skeleton in the re-
maining parts is stouter. When we consider the peculiar cha-
racter of these bones, namely that they are remarkable for their
uncommon length and slenderness in the swift-footed deer-
race ; and that the same bones also in the horse are much longer
than in the ox, IN proportion to the magnitude of the rest E of
Bovine Animals of Scandinavia. 419
the body ; we may hence, perhaps, with tolerable certainty con-
clude, that the Urus, although in general more stoutly built,
and therefore stronger than the Bison, was nevertheless much
swifter-footed*.
Remark: (1.)—Professor Owen has expressed a different
opinion, in his excellent work ‘On British Fossil Mammals and
Birds,’ p. 497, which, without doubt, is founded on the circum-
stance of the want as yet of a fossil skeleton of each species 1m
London.
Remark : (2.)\—If we measure the Bison skull, of which we have
here given a drawing, with the one Professor Owen has given
p. 491. fig. 205, and which he calls Bison priscus, we shall find
a great dissimilarity, particularly in the length and direction of
the horns; it does not however hinder us from seeing that it 1s
one and the same species, since we are convinced by many data
that the older the strata in which the fossil bones of the same
species occur, the larger are they. Compare the remarks on Bos
primigenius, p. 261.
Place of abode, &c.—This species of Ox, which in size formerly
vied with the Urus itself, was in ancient times spread over the
forests in almost all Europe, from Italy and France to the south
of Scandinavia, and from England far into Asia. In all these
places its fossil bones are found in the earth, but in most of them
the animal itself has already long been extinct. In Scandinavia,
the Bison lived contemporaneously with the Urus, yet, like
the latter, it has never been found in any other tracts than
in the southern parts of Scania, and there, even before the
historic period, it had ceased to exist. It is true, the monk
Adam of Bremen, who lived in the eleventh century, speaks
of two sorts of wild oxen, the Urit and Bubali, in the north
(Adam Bremens. Chorograph. p. 32) ; but his accounts are evi-
dently not to be relied upon ; he places them in Lapland’s north-
ern tracts, and in Sweden proper{, where it is certain they were
never found ; which shows that they were not met with in the parts
he visited and was acquainted with, and that his account either
was grounded on tradition, or derived from other places and times
long since past.
To conclude: from the few fossil bones hitherto found in
* Tt ought to be remarked, that the old Romans, who saw this colossal
animal in the arena at Rome, characterized the Urus not only for its superior
pee but also for its superior swiftness, “ excellenti vi et velocitate Uri.”
un.
+ It is to be remarked he makes the Uri to live in the water, like the
White Bear.
+ It is to be remembered that 4dam of Bremen never reckoned Scania as
belonging to Sveonia, but always to Dania: though he nowhere speaks of
wild oxen being found in his Dania—the only place in which it ever occurs
in the north. z
28%
420 Prof. Nilsson on the extinct and existing
Scania’s turf-bogs, the Bison was much less common there than
the Bos primigenius and Bos longifrons, whose fossil remains are
found in much greater number. The few fossil bones of the
Bison which have hitherto been noticed with us, consist of one
old and one young cranium, and also one skeleton, all which
have been dug up from a turf-bog in the districts of Skytts and
Herresta, therefore in the most southern districts of the country.
It ought also to be observed, that in Denmark numerous fossil
bones of the Urus have been found, but hitherto not one single
bone of the Bison has been discovered.
In a great part of Europe this colossal Ox has existed during
the historic period ; but in the English isles it appears to have
been extinct already at the time they were first known to history.
For in Cesar’s time, when the Roman legions traversed the
forests of France, part of Germany and Belgium, they there found
both the Bison and the Urus; but in no place is it mentioned
that the victorious Romans in England met with any species of
large wild ox ; which seems to show that both the Urus and Bison
were already extinct in that country. On the continent, where
they continued to be found in the large wild forests even long
after Cesar’s time, they seem to have disappeared by degrees,
through the increase of population and culture, first in the west
and afterwards in the more eastern tracts of the country. In
the Vosges and the Ardennes, wild oxen were found even in
King Gontram’s time; and history mforms us that he put to
death one of his chamberlains, the nephew of the same, and a
forester, because, without permission, they shot a Bubalus
(Wild Ox) in the Vosges (Cuv. Recherches, iv. p. 117). In
the Wilkina Saga*, hunts are described in the forest of ‘ Wals-
lunga’ (probabiy the forest of Thurmgia) and the ‘ Ungara’
forest, in which several young (ten), and one old and very large Vi-
sunt were killed. One sees by this whole account that princes
hunted these large animals in their forests, and were exceedingly
careful of them. In the old Leges Allemanorum (from the 6th
and 7th centuries) it is enacted, that if any one stole or killed a
Bison, Buffalo (Urus ?), or Deer, he should be mulcted in a large
sum of money (see Baer in Wiedem. Arch. 1839, p. 75). In
the poem of the Nibelungen from the 12th century, the Bison
is spoken of (Visent) as among the animals which were killed at
a hunt in the forest near Worms: Lucas Dawid relates in the
‘Preussens Kronik,’ that about the vear 1240 there was found
in the land much game, consisting of Uroxen, Visents, wild Horses,
Elks aud others (see Baer, ut sup. p. 71). The prince Wra-
* Peringskiold’s edition, Stockholm, 1715, p. 229. Peringskiold translates,
quite improperly, Visunt by Kronhjort (Crown-deer), which misrepresents the
meaning of the Saga.
Bovine Animals of Scandinavia. 421
tislaf V. killed, at a hunt in Hinter-Pomerania about the year
1364, a “Wysant,”’ which was stronger and larger than an Urus.
In East Prussia, between Liebau and Tilsit, the Bison was found
as late as the last century; and formerly it was found in the
whole of Lithuania, even in the neighbourhood of the city of
Wilna (Hichwald, loc. cit.). In the forest of Bialowieser in
Lithuania, Augustus IIT. king of Poland held a great hunt on
the 27th Sept. 1752, im which were killed forty-two Bisons (!)
and thirteen Elks. In ancient times the Bison was also found
in the north of Greece, Macedoma and Thrace. In Aristotle’s
“* Bonasos,” which is found in Peeonia, that part of Thrace now
called Bulgaria, we easily recognise the Bison (Cuv. /. c. p. 111),
which formerly was also found in Moldavia; and it is probable
that the. story of the giant-hke ox, which Philip of Macedon
killed at the foot of Mount Oreli, and whose hide he hung up
together with the horns in the court of the temple of Hercules,
belonged to this same species.
The Bison is now found on the wooded northern side of Mount
Caucasus, where it appears to exist in large numbers, and
is an object of the chase to the Tscherkesser and Abschaser, in
whose language it 1s called Dombei or Adompe. In Moldavia
and in the Carpathian mountains it is no longer found. Now that
it is no longer to be met with in Hast Prussia, it is more and
more confined to the forests of Lithuania. At the present time
it is only found in one large forest, Bialowesha, where in a wild
state it is enclosed and preserved by the command of the Km-
peror of Russia. As this colossal animal formerly lived also in
the forests of southern Scania, it may not be uninteresting to
know the nature of the place where it now lives and what
manner of life it there leads*.
Bialowesha-forest, which lies on a large level expanse, is sur-
rounded by plains, comprising 5 Swedish miles in length and
4-45 in breadth. The forest consists chiefly of fir and pine
trees interspersed with birch. Grassy pastures are there not
unfrequent ; but in many places the ground is: swampy, and al-
most a twelfth part consists of reedy fens. Here the Elk chiefly
takes up its abode ; but these fens are avoided by the Bisons, who
on the contrary seek high land with aromatic grass, also sharp
and bitter herbs ; they likewise gnaw off the young bark of trees ;
in the spring they consume the young leaves of the lime, poplar,
elm, and willow, but not the leaves of birch or oak, and least of
all the leaves of the pine. On the other hand they devour some
sorts of mosses: they always avoid places without trees or that
are cultivated; they never go into fields, but keep in thickly
* What I have here communicated is mostly taken from Eichwald’s Nat.
Hist. p. 241.
422 Prof. Nilsson on the extinct and eaisting
grown forests. In winter they rarely leave the pine forests ;
they lie still during the day, and at night go out im search of
food. They seldom seek water, sometimes not for a whole day ;
rarely they approach the small forest-rivulets, but usually drmk
out of the small puddles in the forest. If pursued, they can
swim easily. They live to the age of ten to twelve years in small
herds of twenty to forty ; the old ones separate themselves from
the herd and live apart. Durmg the rutting time they again
join the herd, and live with them all through the month of
August.
The Bison is more timid than bold; it is frightened at bright
colours, particularly red, and will run away from it. Only when
proveked willit attack man ; though not always the assailant who
has irritated him, but him who happens to be nearest. Its pace is
not lasting ; it cannot run more than from half to one verst (900
to 1800 ells) without being so tired that it must rest. The further
it is chased, the oftener it stops and stretches out its blue
tongue to get breath. Three wolves can kill him.
The scent of the Bison is extremely acute, and they scent a
man at a considerable distance. Far off, their stamping and
roaring may be heard, as they stand in the thick wood-land, and
as soon as they perceive any danger they flee into the forest with
a tremendous rush, throwing down or breaking numbers of trees
that stand in their way as they pass them. They run with de-
pressed head and tail raised. During the rutting time they are
very much given to frolic; thus they drive one of their horns
into the ground, and in that position run round a young tree
till it becomes loose and falls on their heads. In this manner
they will uproot trees of 4-6 inches in diameter; and as they
generally get their horns entangled in the roots, they run about
with this “nuptial wreath” on their heads, and thereby make a
great rattling and rustling in the forests. Where they have re-
mained for any time, they leave behind them a smell something
between violets and musk.
Their rutting time is in August, and lasts two or three weeks ;
during this period violent conflicts take place between the bulls,
and they often wound each other mortally*. Their offspring are
but few, for among forty full-grown animals one sees not more
than four or six of a year old. A natural enmity exists between
them and common cattle, and never willa Bison pair with a tame
cow. He runs away from her, or kills her with his horns. He
cannot bear her presence, while her exhalation is most repugnant
* The fossil skeleton of the Bison, which is found in our museum here,
shows that the animal during its lifetime had many ribs broken, probably
by being pierced with horns, but which by means of the callus had again
healed.
Bovine Animals of Scandinavia. 423
to him. Hence we may conclude that the Urus and Bison never
lived together in the same tracts; perhaps seldom in the same
forest. aed tesa
Having thus, from the fossil.bones which are found in our
post-phocene strata, given a short account of the Wild Ox, which
with us is now extinct, it remains to speak of our tame horned
cattle, of which several perceptibly different races occur with us ;
and, as far as we are able, to indicate from which wild species
each tame race chiefly derives its origin. These investigations
are however rendered particularly difficult by the circumstance,
that the tame races by crossings are so mingled, that their ori-
ginal stock is sometimes scarcely to be recognised.
As a begining we may notice, that it is solely from the di-
vision of the Ox family which have a flat forehead with the horn-
cores sitting at tle extremity of the edge between the forehead
and the nape, that our tame cattle spring; and that the ox with
a convex forehead, the Bison, which no one could ever make to
pair with a tame cow, has not in the least contributed to the
formation of any tame cattle. Besides, we can take for a given
and general rule, that the tame race is always less than the wild
species from which it springs.
We believe we come nearest to the truth in this difficult sub-
ject, if we assume—
1. That the large-sized lowland races, with flat foreheads, and
for the most part large horns, descend from the Urus (Bos pri-
migenius) and at length came mto the country with a race of
people who immigrated from the south and west.
2. The somewhat small-growth highland races, with high oe-
ciput and small or no horns, descend from the High-necked Ox
(Bos frontosus).
3. How far the small-grown hornless Finn ko race (Noring,
pp. 218-229) descends from the Dwarf Ox (Bos longifrons,
Owen), may be more fully determined through future investiga-
tions.
Notices of the Wild Oxen of Britain in the Historians of the
Middle Ages.
In the third volume of the ‘ Annals,’ p. 356, will be found, besides
the notice from a MS. record communicated by Sir P. Grey Eger-
ton, a passage also from the Lives of the Abbots of St. Albans by
Matthew Paris, in which he mentions the wild cattle of the forests
of the Chiltern district. ‘To these may be added the following :—
Fitzstephen, whose Descriptio nobilissime civitatis Londonie was
written about the year 1174, thus describes the country beyond the
suburbs: ‘‘ Proxime patet ingens foresta, saltus nemorosi, ferarum
latebre, cervorum, damarum, aprorum, et taurorum sylvestrium,”’
424 Mr. W. Clark on two new species of Testaccous Mollusca.”
Upon which passage Dr. Pegge, in his edition, observes: ‘‘ These
bulls were probably buifaloes; see King Cnut’s Constitutiones de
Foresta in Spelman’s Glossary, p. 241,’ [more correctly given in
Thorpe’s Ancient Laws of England, 8vo. vol. i. p. 429. c. xxvii.]
The passage is as follows :—‘‘ Sunt et alia quam plurima animalia,
quz quanquam inter septa foreste vivunt, foreste tamen nequaquam
censeri possunt, qualia sunt bubali, vacce, et similia.” Dr. Pegge
adds :—‘“‘ The forest of Middlesex was not deaforested till A. 1218,
Hen. III. ‘This forest is not mentioned in the Catalogue of forests
given us by Spelman in his Glossary ; Hnfield chace, however, 1s
thought to be a small remainder of it.” He also cites the following
authorities :—‘‘ Whitaker’s History of Manchester, p. 340. ‘The
wild cows and bulls of the country continued very frequent among
us in the 4th century, and even for several ages afterwards. These
were merely of the usual size, but all milk-white in their appearance,
all furnished with thick hanging manes like lions, and almost as fierce
and savage as they.’ Boétii Scot. Reg. Desc. fol. 6, and Leslzi Hist.
p- 18; and hence is the popular story of the fierce wild cow of
Dunsmore in Warwickshire, slain by Guy Earl of Warwick.”
Whitaker gives several passages from Roman authors relative to
the animals of Britain.
The Charter of Hen. I. recognises the right of the citizens of
London to hunt not only in Chiltern, but in Middlesex and Surrey.
Re T.
XLILI.—On two new species of Testaceous Mollusca.
By Wixiram Crark, Esq.
To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.
GENTLEMEN, Norfolk Crescent, Bath, Nov. 1, 1849.
I pre you to record the discovery, by myself, last summer, of
two new species of Testaceous Mollusca in the coralline zones of
the Devon coast, at Exmouth. I have submitted these disco-
veries to the ordeal of an examination by my friends Messrs. Jef-
freys and Barlee, to whom I believe every British shell is fami-
liar, and I have their united testimony that the shells in question
are entirely new to them: such a test, from gentlemen of the
highest authority in conchological statistics, affixes the impress
of almost certainty that these objects are novelties.
Skenea Cutleriana.
S. testa suborbiculari, albida, aliquantulum producta, anfractibus
tribus spiraliter exaratis; striis subtilibus, undatis, transversis,
hic et illic sparsis, notata; sutura simplex ; apertura subrotanda,
integra, superne in canalem brevissimam desinens; umbilicus
inconspicuus, margine columnari paululum obtectus ; animal et
operculum adhue latent. Longitudo et latitudo circa $ uncie.
At first view I thought that this elegant minute species might
Mr. W. Clark on two new species of Testaceous Mollusca. 4:25
be the Helix serpuloides of Montagu, at present involved in some
obscurity, but the completely striated condition of the volutions
forbids this idea. From Skenea divisa, which by some concho-
logists 1s considered synonymous with the Helix serpuloides ot
Montagu, it differs in its much more globular form, and in the
volutions being distinctly striated throughout ; it cannot for a
moment be confounded with the recently discovered Margarita
pusilla. As the animal and operculum of this new species have
not been observed, it may be either a Margarita or an Adeorbis,
or be referable to the Skenee, or to the so-called Trochus subca-
rinatus. I prefer to place it, ad interim, with the Skenee, as the
principal characters of that small group, though artificial, con-
sist in the aperture being suborbicular, and with an entirety
scarcely interrupted by the very short and small canal at its up-
per part ; for these reasons I consider the Margarita pusilla and
the Trochus subcarinatus to be Skenee or Adeorbes, or whatever
other appellation may be applied to them. The Trochide have
an invariable angularity in the aperture, which in them, as well as
in Margarita, is never entire, and has no trace of a canal. Ido
not know the Adeorbis; it is I believe a genus of the Trochide ;
if it partakes at all in the angular form of the aperture of that
family, it has no connection with the present species.
The Margarita vulgaris, M. pusilla, Skenea divisa, S. depressa,
S. bicolor, have light corneous opercula, of three or four lax vo-
lutions, which have nothing of the aspect of the numerous, com-
pact and close-set ones of the Trochide.
I have done myself the honour to attach to this new and ele-
gant object the name of a lady residing at Budleigh-Salterton,
Devon, whose services in the various walks of natural history
have been of great value: her retiring disposition would have
declined, if she had known it, even this small tribute of consi-
deration, and mention of qualifications of no ordinary stamp.
Fusus Branscombi.
F. testa elongata, pallide lutea, anfractibus octo repente attenuatis ;
varicibus validis novem striis spiralibus confertis perspicue celata ;
sutura simplici ; apertura subovalis, in canalem branchialem sub-
rectam producta, superne vix See animal ignotum ; oper-
culum? Longitudo , latitudo 4 uncie.
This species as to novelty rests on the same grounds as the
Skenea Cutleriana: I am at a loss to liken it to any congeneric
species.
I name it Fusus Branscomhi, as a memorial of the thirty years’
services of my dredger, Wm. Branscomb, avery honest man, “ ab-
normis sapiens,” “ ‘of mother wit, and wise without the schools.”
I am, Gentlemen, your most obedient servant,
WILLIAM CLARK.
426 Mr. G. Munby on the Botanical Productions
XLIV.—On the Botanical Productions of the Kingdom of Algiers,
Sollowed by a short notice of the supposed Manna of the Israel-
ates. By Gites Munsy, Esq.*
Since the occupation by the French in 1830 of the kingdom of
Algiers, but little has been done to advance the knowledge of its
natural-history productions, and, if we except the ‘ Travels ’of our
own countryman Dr. Shaw, who visited Barbary about a century
ago, and the ‘ Flora Atlantica’ of Desfontaines, no work has ever
been published devoted to the natural history of this country.
The vegetation of the coast of Barbary resembles in a great
measure that of the Spanish and French shores of the Mediter-
ranean; but although the general features of its flora are the
same, many species of plants are found in Barbary which are
unknown to the continent of Europe.
A botanist of the North of Europe is struck by the quantity of
prickly pears (Cactus Opuntia) and American aloés (Agave ame-
ricana), which, with a few date-palms scattered here and there,
give a tropical appearance to the vegetation. The same feature
is however observed on the Spanish coast near Malaga and the
southern provinces.
The dwarf palm (Chamerops humilis) is another plant common
to both regions, and in Algeria covers immense tracts of country,
resembling fields of grass or young corn, as this palm very sel-
dom produces a trunk. They sometimes rise to the height of
20 feet in the neighbourhood of some Marabout or Saint’s tomb,
which may probably depend on the care taken of them in such a
situation. ‘This plant is one of the most useful that the country
produces. The leaves are made into baskets, cords, fans, sacks,
sleeping mats, &c. The fibre which surrounds the stalks of the
leaves, spun with camels’ hair, serves to make the Arab tent.
The centre of the plant, consisting of the tender foot-stalks of
the leaves and the young flowers and their sheaths, forms one of
the principal articles of food for the Arabs during a certain sea-
son of the year, and I have seen wandering tribes going about
with their donkeys loaded with these roots and no other provi-
sion. The fruit ripens in autumn, and is eaten by jackals and by
the Arab shepherds ; but although sweet, its astrmgency renders
it unfit for a European palate.
The Cactus Opuntia, called in the country Kermous ensarah, or
Christians’ fig, is another plant which furnishes in due season
the Arab his nourishment. This fruit ripens in July and con-
tinues until the autumnal rains in September or October ; it is
* Communicated by the Author; having been read before the British
Association at the Meeting held at Birmingham, Sept. 12, 1849.
of the Kingdom of Algiers. 427
sweet and very nutritious, although it is apt to disagree with
European stomachs, bringing on severe constipation, not from
any astringency in the fruit, but probably from a mechanical
cause, namely the seeds, which are very numerous, lodging in
the colon.
The Agave americana serves to make hedges of, and the flow-
ering stem is much used in constructing huts, but ne part of the
plant is edible: the fibres of the young leaves make a very du-
rable cordage, and many objects of ornament and utility are
made from it by the condamnés militaires, or soldiers condemned
to hard labour for infraction of military discipline.
The brushwood which covers the hills in Barbary is princi-
pally composed of the following plants: Cytisus spinosus, Pista-
cia Lentiscus, Quercus coccifer, and many species of Cistus, the
most common of which are C. heterophyllus, C. monspeliensis, C.
salvifolius, and in certain localities C. ladaniferus and C. albidus.
Two species of heath are also common, Erica arborea flowering
in spring, and H. multiflora which covers the hills near Algiers
and flowers in October and November, Rhamnus Alaternus,
Arbutus Unedo, the fruit of which ripens in winter, and is very
good though not delicious ; Osyris quadridentata, Phillyrea lati-
folia and P. angustifolia, Asparagus albus, with occasionally, near
Algiers, some groups of Pinus halepensis. These plants form the
chief features of the vegetation of the uncultivated hills.
The natural meadows in the neighbourhood of Algiers, and
indeed all the hilly parts of Barbary, afford excellent forage, bemg
composed almost entirely of Leguminous plants, amongst which
the genus Medicago holds the first rank, and is very rich in spe-
cies. Different species of Scorpiurus, Astragalus, Ornithopus,
Hedysarum and Onobrychis complete the list of meadow plants as
far as Leguminous species are concerned. Hedysarum coronarium
deserves a special notice, as it grows in immense quantities in
certain districts, and is much relished by horses. This plant
grows several feet high, and bears a beautiful spike of scarlet
flowers: it is cultivated extensively at Malta, under the name of
Silla.
In the moist and marshy plains, such as that of the Mitidja,
the gramineous plants predominate, and the hay is not so much
prized. ‘The principal species are Phalaris cerulescens and Dac-
tylis glomerata, with many Junci and a few Carices in moist
places. The hay harvest begins towards the end of April, and
is succeeded by the cutting of barley in May, and the wheat is
got in in the month of June. The principal cereal crops are
barley and wheat, the former being of the variety called siz-
rowed; and the wheat is red wheat, which is better suited
for making the national dish of couscoussou. White wheat is
428 Mr. G. Munby on the Botanical Productions
only cultivated by Europeans, and even by them on a very small
scale, as all the fine flour used in the colony comes from Marseilles
or other French ports. Rye is also cultivated by the colonists,
but principally for its straw. A field of oats is a great rarity, as
barley is the only corn given to horses. In reaping the corn the
ear only is cut off, and ‘the straw left for the cattle : what is left
by them is burnt at sowing time, and the ashes afford the only
manure supplied to the land. ‘There is no preparatory tillage of
the ground before sowing: the grain is thrown on the sround
and ploughed im by a very simple plough drawn by oxen or
horses, and sometimes by a horse and a cow yoked together.
The furrows run in all directions, and by their frequently crossing
one another, leave sometimes small triangular spaces unploughed.
Maize or Indian corn is only cultivated in small quantities, as
it requires to be watered. The heads of maize are generally eaten
before they are ripe, by being roasted on hot cinders. Broad
beans are commonly cultivated in the open country. Peas and
potatoes are cultivated in inclosed gardens. Potatoes are planted
in September and are gathered in December; a second crop is
put in in March and taken up in June; and in gardens which
are easily watered, a third crop 1s planted i in June and gathered
in September. The European colonists sow large quantities of
haricots or French beans, which are eaten either green or ripe,
but only in the latter state by the natives: chick peas or gar-
bancos are principally cultivated by the Spanish colonists, but
the Moors and Arabs eat great quantities of them; they cook
them by roasting im an oven. Artichokes are very common in
the gardens, and are much used by the Moors both raw and
cooked: the Arabs, who have no fixed gardens (except in some
localities near springs of water), employ as a substitute for arti-
chokes the heads of Cynara Cardunculus, which is very abundant
in certain clayey soils of the Mitidja. Onions and carrots are
much used, and different kinds of lettuce.
Asparagus is abundant in autumn and spring; it is found in
the hedges, and is the produce of Asparagus albus and A. acuti-
olius : the former species produces larger turions, but they are
rather bitter to the taste; whilst those of A. acutifolius are as
sweet as the cultivated A. officinalis: this last-named species I
have discovered in the marshes of the plain of Mitidja, but I
never observed the turions.
Melons are not very abundant ; they are brought from Spain at
so low a price that no encouragement is afforded for their cultiva-
tion. Water melons are more common, and are a valuable fruit
in the warm summer months. Gourds of various kinds are cul-
tivated in great quantities by the Arabs in those gardens which
are situated near springs of watey. Cucumbers are also common :
of the Kingdom of Algiers. 4.29
the natives eat them as we would eat an apple, without any con-
diment.
A pot-herb much used in Barbary is the Hibiscus esculentus :
the tender seed-vessels are cut in small pieces and boiled, or
stewed with meat: it is a tasteless vegetable. Very different is
the Capsicum annuum, whose pods are used abundantly : the green
fruit of Capsicum grossum is eaten raw with oil and vmegar, and
forms a dish, either served alone or with slices of tomato or love-
apple: this last-mentioned plant is very extensively cultivated
both by natives and colonists.
A great many plants are used by the Arabs to season their
dishes, amongst which we may mention coriander, whose green
leaves have a strong smell of bugs; both leaves and seeds are
used. Parsley, basilic, sweet savory, chervil, fennel, mint, mar-
joram, are all in great demand. The Arabs he live in tents, and
have no gardens, procure their pot-herbs from the plains, which
furnish them with Cynara Cardunculus, Cynara acaulis, Atrac-
tylis gummifera (of this plant they eat the midribs of the
leaves), Ammi majus, Ferula communis, Borage, and a host of
other plants.
I will now mention the principal fruits properly so called :
they are not so varied nor yet generally so delicious as in Europe.
The apricot must hold the first rank : the tree grows without any
care or even pruning, and ripens its fruit in June. There are
several kinds of apricot, of which the best is one called Chachi :
it is very juicy, and the flesh adheres to the stone. The kind
called Boreulbi is considered very inferior ; it resembles the one
commonly cultivated in England. The peach and nectarine are
less abundant, although with only the care of properly pruning,
and the proper choice of varieties, they would be as good as in
Europe.
The fig-tree is a native of the country, and in certain districts
is cultivated to a great extent. The early figs, or bakhor, ripen
in June, and the second crop in August and September : it is
only this last kmd which is dried, the bakhor being too watery
for the purpose. There are many varieties of fig, and they are ail
good; one kind which ripens in September and October, called
Verdarola by the Spaniards, is much esteemed, as well for its
luscious taste as for its late ripening. Fig-trees are propagated
from branches about a yard long, stuck in the ground: these,
if they live, bear fruit about the third year. Pomegranates are
abundant, and the tree, when covered with scarlet flowers, is a
most beautiful object : the fruit ripens in September, and may be
kept through the winter. When of a good kind, it is a most
delicious fruit ; otherwise it is very insipid.
The jujube-tree is very common, and the fruit ripens in Octo-
430 Mr. G. Munby on the Botanical Productions
ber: it is seldom eaten by Europeans, but the colonists some-
times make of it an agreeable kind of cider. The tree has a very
remarkable appearance in winter, as most of the branches ter-
minate in thickened clubs, instead of gradually tapering towards
their extremities, like almost all other trees. These clubs ap-
pear to be reservoirs of elaborated sap, as from them proceed
small annual deciduous branches which bear the fruit, the grow-
ing part of the tree being covered with strong prickles, and these
branches taper like those of ordinary trees.
There are several vineyards in the neighbourhood of Algiers,
but the vine was more commonly cultivated by the Arabs m the
interior, as near Medeah, Milianah, Mascara, &e. As wine is for-
bidden to Mussulmen, the grapes were only used for eating, and
consequently in the same vineyard will be found grapes of all
kinds and colours. I have tasted wine made by the Jews before the
French occupation ; it was a dry white wine and very spirituous.
The French colonists, in the neighbourhoods of Medeah near
Algiers, and Mascara near Oran, have made a considerable
quantity of wine during the last few years; this wine is made
from the old vineyards of the Moors, which had been neglected
for many years, and become almost barren. The culture of the
vine has not been sufficiently practised by the French colonists :
as the plants do not produce fruit before three years, few could be
found who would hazard their money for so long a period, in a
country where 10 per cent. per annum is the legal rate of inter-
est, and as high as 30, 40, or 50 per cent. are often taken.
Vines, when trained on trellis-work, produce enormous crops,
and of very delicious quality. The usual price of grapes in the
market is about 2d., or 4: sous per lb., whereas in the South of
France $d. or 1 sou is a common price. Great quantities of
fresh grapes are brought from Spain, and in the province of
Oran, at least on the sea-coast, are the only ones to be had.
Near Algiers I have often eaten the fruit of wild vines which
climb the hedges, and they only differ from the cultivated grapes
by their size, the flavour being equally good.
We will now mention the orange-tree and its allied species.
In the immediate neighbourhood of Algiers, the bitter or Seville
orange-tree was almost the only kind cultivated by the Moors, as
the sweet oranges were brought from Blidah and the Mitidja, and
sold at the rate of a penny a dozen; whilst the bitter orange-
tree was cultivated for the sake of its flowers, which are much
better than those of the sweet orange-tree. There are not better
oranges in the world than those of Blidah, both for size and
flavour. The groves are yet very extensive, but an immense
number of trees were cut down in 1840 by order of General
Duvivier, as the Arabs concealed themselves amongst these trees
of the Kingdom of Algiers. 431
to fire on the inhabitants. The usual height of orange-trees is
about 30 ft., and a grove of them covered with flowers and
fruit at the same time, that is, in the month of April, is a
splendid sight. Lemon-trees are equally common, as are also
sweet lemons or bergamots. The citron (in French cédrat) is
much less common, and is only used for making preserves: the
rind is more than an inch thick, and is eaten raw by the Arabs.
Other varieties have been introduced by the French, such as the
Chinois, a very small kind used for preserves, and the Mandoline,
a very small delicious orange from Malta introduced by Mr.
St. John, English Consul in Algiers. 'The orange-tree is gene-
rally brought from Genoa, although some grafts are made in the
country; and I possess trees sown from seeds, which after ten
years’ growth produced delicious oranges without grafting, not
a flower having been produced before that period.
The silk mulberry-tree was not cultivated before the French
occupation, but has since been planted to almost an excess ;—I
say excess, because their leaves are left to dry on the trees instead
of being employed in the cultivation of the silk-worm. The silk
produced in Algeria has been acknowledged by a commission at
Lyons, appointed for the purpose of examining it, to be of a
superior quality, and fetches as high a price im the market as
some of the finest silks of the Cevennes. However, Algiers
possesses advantages in the rearing of silk-worms which are not
to be found in France. The mild temperature dispenses entirely
with artificial heat, and the leaves have not to dread the late
frosts which so frequently injure the trees in France. The black
mulberry is cultivated by the Moors for the sake of its fruit.
The caroub or locust-tree, Ceratonia Siliqua, is found wild on the
hills; its wood is considered imperishable, and the fruit is sold
in the shops, and eaten by the natives: in southern Spain this
fruit is used very extensively for feeding horses and mules. This
tree and the wild olive-tree are the largest in the country. The
wild olive is the most common tree in the neighbourhood of
Algiers; the fields are divided by hedges formed principally of
it: the olive it produces is very small, but makes excellent oil;
its small size renders it too tedious to gather, and it is left to fall
from the tree, or become the food of starlings which visit the
country in winter in immense flocks. The oil consumed in
Algiers is brought by the Kabyles from the mountains between
Algiers and Bougia, and is the product of the grafted olive-tree.
The most ordinary food of the Arabs is bread sopped in oil,
when they can get it. The sweet acorn, the product of the
Quercus Ballota, which grows to a very large size, is much used
as an article of food: when raw it has very much the taste of
chestnuts : it is either eaten in this state or boiled: the French
432 Mr. G. Munby on the Botancal Productions
have used it roasted to imitate coffee. Chestnuts are very rare,
as I have not seen a dozen trees in the country. Cherry-trees grow
wild in some of the shady ravines of Boujareah near Algiers, but
I never saw any fruit on them: the cherries consumed in Algiers
are brought from Spain. Plums are more common, but not of a
good quality. Apples are very poor, although in certain districts
near Algiers a small kind of summer apple is very common.
Pears are better, but there existed very few varieties until the
French occupation. The loquat, or fruit of Mespilus japonica,
ripens perfectly and is much esteemed ; it has rather the taste of
an English gooseberry: this last shrub is cultivated in a few
gardens as an object of curiosity, but I never saw the red cur-
rant, although many French colonists have imported the tree,
which seldom survives the first year. The service-tree, Sorbus
domestica, is rather common in gardens. Strawberries have
been introduced by the French, and produce fruit in gardens
which have a good supply of water: in such places they are to
be had at all seasons, even in December. The Moors call them
tout ensara, Christian mulberries.
There are very few gardens without a few banana or plantain-
trees : the fruit ripens perfectly, but always fetches a high price.
In certain parts in the interior, as Tlemcen, the walnut-tree 1s
common, but it is rare near the coast : the bark of the root is very
much used by the natives to dye their feet and hands on feast-
days. Almond-trees are very common ; they flower in January
and ripen their fruit in September. I can scarcely count the
myrtle as a fruit-tree, yet the ripe berries are much eaten, and
even brought from Spain; they have a sweetish but powerfully
aromatic taste, resembling juniper berries. Of the same flavour
are the berries of the lentisk-tree, which are eaten by both Moors
and Spaniards.
Many opinions have been given as to the fruit called Lotus,
described by Herodotus, Pliny, Theophrastus, and other ancient
writers, and which gave its name to a whole people, who were
called Lotophagi. Some believe it to be the fruit of the Celtis
australis common in the Mediterranean region ; this tree however
does not answer to the description of the lotus- tree, which was
described as being a low prickly shrub. nor does the fruit possess
the quality attributed to it, of making a man forget his country,
“tam dulci ibi cibo, ut nomen etiam genti terreque dederit, ni-
mis hospitali advenarum oblivione patrie, &c.” (Plin. 1.13. ¢. 17.)
Shaw and Peyssonel fancied that it was the Ziziphus Lotus or
Sidra of the Arabs: the description of the shrub agrees with that
of the real lotus ; but its fruit, which resembles very much that of
our common hawthorn in flavour, can neither by its taste nor
any other property, cause a man to forget his country. The date
of the Kingdom of Algiers. 433
is another fruit which has been thought by its luscious flavour
to be the lotus, but the sweetness of the date is the only point
which agrees with the description of the fruit in question. I
have received from M. Pelissier, Consul of France at Soussa,
near Tripoli, specimens of a plant called Nitraria tridentata : it is
a small prickly shrub agreeing in description with the lotus of
the ancients, and moreover the fruit is pleasant to the taste, and
has a slightly intoxicating property, quite sufficient to make a
man forget his country whilst under the influence of it: it is
called by the Arabs damouch. I think this plant has greater
claims than any other to be the lotus, both from the description
of the plant and fruit, and also from its geographical position,
the region of the Lotophagi, being to the eastward of the king-
dom of Algiers.
I shall only just mention the date-palm, as it is cultivated
rather as an object of curiosity, at least on the littoral, than of
utility: the date-eating people live many hundred miles in the
interior. Cotton has been tried with success, but the high price
of manual labour prevents its extensive cultivation. The sugar-
cane grows without care, but is not used in the making of
sugar: some of the colonists are in the habit of planting it to
serve as green food for the cattle in summer, when the meadows
and pastures are dried up. Tobacco is cultivated both by natives
and colonists: the French have lately introduced several varieties
of tobacco, and have drawn the attention of the settlers to the
cultivation of this plant. The variety grown by the Arabs is very
mild, and resembles im a great measure the Latakia or other
Oriental tobaccos. The French government have established an
Experimental Garden on a large scale near the town of Algiers ;
and here may be seen growing, without any artificial covering,
indigo, tea, coffee, sesamum, and a great number of ornamental
plants, which, under an English climate, would require the pro-
tection of a stove. The Bougainvillea spectabilis flowers against
a wall in February: Erythrina Crista Galli attains a height of
20 feet. Cassia tomentosa, the Guava plum, Lantana Cammara,
the bamboo cane, Sparmannia africana, Justicia Adhatoda, and a
host of other tropical plants, flower perfectly in the open air and
are left out all winter. Except the two native species of heath,
I never saw any plants of this tribe in Algeria.
The kingdom of Algiers has not any particular kind of vege-
tation to distinguish it from the Mediterranean region in general.
Its flora is almost identical with that of the South of Spain, and
of Andalusia in particular: the two species of Phelipea which
are found near Oran are remarkable by the immense size of their
fleshy stems. 'The richest harvest for a botanist is on the low dry
hills in early spring, as the meadows and plains often yield only
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. iv. 29
;
43 f Mr. G. Munby on the Botanical Productions
many of the common European species. The old Roman roads
which still exist in the immediate neighbourhood of Algiers are
rich’ in rare species: under the shade of the wild olive-trees
which overhang these roads are found Lycopodium complanatum,
Grammitis leptophylla, Asplenium palmatum, Trachelium caruleum,
Campanula dichotoma, Sedum heptapetalum, Scrophularia trifoliata
and mellifera, Allium triquetrum, many Ophryses, and other in-
teresting plants, whilst the trees themselves are festooned with
Clematis cirrhosa, which is covered with flower in December,
Smilax mauritanica, Convolvulus sepium, wild vine, Tamus com-
munis, Aristolochia altissima, Rosa sempervirens, and in some
parts Ephedra altissima and Equisetum ranosissimuin.
The province of Oran affords the richest harvest of rare plants,
both on the coast and in the interior. In the sandy plaims of
that province the Cynomorium coccineum is common, and in the
brackish water lakes are found Durigza helicophylla and Ruppia
trichodes, two new species of plants found by M. Durieu. Near
Saida is found the curious Otocarpus virgatus, a new plant of the
family of Cruciferae. This family has some very curious repre-
sentatives in this province, and which are not found except in
Algeria; such are Condylocarpus muricatus, Psychine stylosa,
Lonchophora Capiomontiana, and Bunias prostrata. The greatest
number of species of plants in Algeria may be reckoned in the
family of Leguminose. The neighbourhood of Oran furnishes
several new species of Genista, such as G. cephalantha,Spach, G.
Duriai, Sp., G. spartioides, Sp., G. numidica, Sp., G. ulicina, Sp.,
G. atlantica, Sp., G. erioclada, Durieu, all of which are figured
in the splendid work now publishing by the French government,
upon the labours of the Scientific Commission sent to Algeria a
few years ago to explore its productions in natural history. The |
family of Leguminose also presents us with a number of species
of Medicago, some of which are new, viz. M. corrugata, Dur.,
M. plagiospira, Dur., M. secundiflora, Dur., which are figured
the work above-mentioned. In the same family we have some
interesting plants amongst the pea tribe, such as Orobus atro-
purpureus, Desf., which covers the meadows in certain localities
on the plain of Mitidja near Algiers, and flowers in April. In
my catalogue of the plants of Algiers I have described a new
species of Lathyrus, under the name of L. luteus ; it climbs the
hedges near Algiers, and resembles very much L. sylvestris, L.,
but its yellow flowers and filiform stipules constitute it a distinet
species. . Lathyrus Clymenum and L. tingitanus, L., the latter of
which is commonly cultivated in our gardens under the name of
Tangier pea, are both very common in the hedges and brush-
wood.
Jt was my intention to have passed in review each family of
of the Kingdom of Algiers. 435
plants, and of pointing out the most remarkable species which
occur in Algeria, but I find that it would only draw out this
paper to an immeasurable length.
I cannot however pass over a new species of Stapelia, named
by Decaisne Boucerosia Munbyana, and discovered by me in the
neighbourhood of Oran, interesting in a geographical point of
view ; it is well known that the great seat of Stapelias (which is
a most distinct and perfectly natural genus) is at the Cape of
Good Hope, and until lately only one species occurred in Europe
as a representative of this genus; I speak of Stapelia europea,
which is found in Sicily and the southern coast of Spain. The
discovery of an allied species on an intermediate point 1s I con-
ceive very interesting, and will in all probability form the second
link in a chain which will connect the humble Stapelia europea
with the remarkable Cape species.
I shall conclude this paper by noticing a lichen called L, escu-
lentus, and which agrees, at least more nearly than any other
substance hitherto discovered, with the description of the Manna
on which the Israelites fed during their wanderings in the desert.
This lichen is found on the sand of the desert, which it covers
in some parts, and grows during the night, as do many mush-
rooms. The French soldiers during an expedition towards the
south of Constantine actually subsisted upon it for some days,
cooking it in various ways, and even making it into bread. I do
not pretend to explain the miraculous portions of the history of
the Manna, but it is very probable that if gathered when alive or
in a soft state, it would im a very short time ferment if placed in
a heap, and from the rapid development of animal life in that
warm climate, “breed worms and stink” in a very few hours.
Neither would I attempt to explain the double quantity gathered
on the sixth day. The description given by Moses is this : “Upon
the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small
as hoar-frost on the ground ;” and again, “ it was like coriander
seed, white ; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.”
There are a few characters in this account of it which disagree
with the substance I present to you, yet the discovery of a sub-
stance springing up in the short space of a night on the surface
of the sandy desert, and that substance capable of sustaining
human life, is, to say the least, a remarkable fact, and one well
worthy the examination and researches of botanists.
436 Myr. F. Smith on the Synonymy of the genus Nomada.
XLV.— Observations on the Synonymy of the genus Nomada of
Fabricius, belonging to the family of Cuckoo or Parasitic Bees.
By Frepericx Smiru.
Tue revision of the European species of the genus Nomada by
Dr. Herrich-Schaffer, published in Germar’s ‘ Zeitschrift,’ is by
far the most elaborate and complete essay on the genus which
has hitherto appeared, and is probably that to which the ento-
mologists of the continent would refer as the most correct no-
menclature extant. Our author has paid particular and careful
attention to the descriptions of Kirby, but in many instances has
arrived at erroneous conclusions: my office of Curator to the
Entomological Society of London, in whose collection are depo-
sited the original specimens from which Kirby drew his descrip-
tions, gives me a constant opportunity of examining and deter-
mining the species; and it is in the hope that my remarks and
emendations may prove of general utility which mduces me to
publish a revision of Schiffer’s paper. I have published elabo-
rate descriptions, with remarks on all the known British species,
in the second volume of the ‘ Zoologist,’ published in London
1844. A further inducement, if any were wanting, has been the
observations of Dr. Schaum in the ‘Entomologische Zeitung,’
where he expresses a desire that English entomologists would
set themselves to the task of studying individual families, so as
to bring about in them an agreement between English nomen-
clature and that employed on the continent. The almost exclu-
sive attention which I have for some years paid to the aculeate
Hymenoptera, more particularly our native species, will I trust
enable me to follow out with some success the objects so earnestly
advocated in the paper referred to. I follow for the sake of
convenience the arrangement of Herrich-Schiaffer, although it
separates In my opinion some closely allied species : an arrange-
ment founded on colour in so variable a genus as the present
must of necessity separate sexes of the same species in some in-
stances, and in others remove varieties from their legitimate
position.
Genus Nomapa, Fab.
Species 1. ferruginata, Linn.
Nomada ferruginata, Schiffer, Germ. Zeits. vol. i. p. 275. 1; Smith,
Zool. vol. ii. p. 600. 14; Nylander, Mon. Ap. Boreali, Acta Soc.
Scient. Fennica, p. 183.
Nomada Germanica (male), Fab. Syst. Piez. p. 394. 78; Panzer, Fn.
Ins. Germ. n. 72, tab. 17; St. Farg. Hist. Nat. Ins. tom. ii. 477
(male and fem.).
Apis ferruginata, Linn. Syst. Nat. ed. 12. p. 2779. 35; Vill. 3. 28;
Mr. F. Smith on the Synonymy of the genus Nomada. 487
Forst. Cat. 723 ; Kirby, Mon. Ap. Ang. vol. il. p. 218. 34. tab. 16.
fA:
There can be no doubt I think of the male of this species being
the Nomada Germanica both of Panzer and Fabricius.
Sp 2. pleurosticta, Schaffer, Germ. Zeits. vol. i. p. 276. 2.
Amongst a long series of Nomada ferruginata captured together
parasitic upon Andrena fulvescens, I have four examples which answer
exactly to Schaffer’s descriptions of pleurosticta; I am therefore in-
duced to consider it merely a variety of that species.
Sp. 3. Germanica, Panzer, Schaffer, Fab., St. Farg.
The male of ferruginata.
Sp. 4. argentata, Schaffer, Germ. Zeits. vol. i. p. 276. 4.
I am unacquainted with this species.
Sp. 5. lateralis, Panzer, 96. 20 et 21. Revis. p. 236; Schaffer, Germ.
Zeits. vol. i. p. 2. 277; Smith, Zool. vol. ii. 601. 16.
Schaffer is in error in supposing A. Hillana to be the male of this
species ; Hillana is a variety of ochrostoma: nor is the A. xanthosticta
_a var. of the female, but a good and distinct species which I possess
in my collection ; it is smaller than any example which I have seen
of lateralis.
Sp. 6. Fabriciana, Linn.
Nomada Fabriciana, Fab. Ent. Syst. Em. n.10; Piez. 397.10; Spin. 1.
154.4; MNlig. 26; Schaffer, Germ. Zeits. vol. i. pt. 2. 277. 6;
Smith, Zool. vol. ii. 598; Nylander, Mon. Ap. Boreali, p. 183.
Apis Fabriciana, Linn. Syst. Nat. ed. 12. p. 2794. 17; Vill. 3. 14.
Apis Fabriciella, Kirby, 2. 213. 29. tab. 16. fig. 3
Ap. 4-notata, Kirby (male).
Nomada 4-notata, St. Farg. Hist. Nat. Ins. vol. ii. p. 494. 26.
Sp. 7. furva, Panzer.
Nomada furva, Panz. Faun. Germ. 55. fig. 25 (male) ; St. Farg. Hist.
Nat. Ins. vol. ii. p. 495. 27 ; Smith, Zool. vol. ii. 599. 13.
Nomada minuta, Fab. Syst. Piez. 394. 19 (female) ?; Schaffer, Germ.
Zeits. vol. i. pt. 2. 278.7; Nylander, Faun. et Flora Fennica,
p. 184.
Nomada Dalii, Curtis, Brit. Ent. (male), vol. ix. 419.
Apis rufocincta, Kirby, Mon. Ap. Ang. tom. il. p, 216. 32 (fem.).
Apis Sheppardana, Kirby, Mon. Ap. Ang. vol. ii. p. 217. 33 (fem.).
Nomada vaga, Panz. 55. 22. var. male ?
Both Kirby’s species quoted are undoubtedly females of furva, but
the flavo-gutiata of that author is a distinct species, as is also the
A. leucophthalma, which is a small variety of N. ruficornis, male. This
species is parasitic upon Colletes, as well as upon Andrena nana.
Sp. 8. conjungens.
Nomada conjungens, Schiffer, Germ. Zeits. vol. i. pt. 2. 279. 8.
I must consider this species to be one of the numerous varieties of
438 Mr. I’. Smith on the Synonymy of the genus Nomada.
N. ruficornis ; the distinguishing characteristic of the male, the first
joint of the antenne yellow in front, and one-third of the joints
black behind, distinguishes the male of ruficornis; and the female,
distinguished by having the entire region of the eyes red, and the
yellow spots on the third and fourth segment of the abdomen di-
stinct, are usual characteristics of the female of ruficornis, which is
by far the most abundant species in the neighbourhood of London.
Sp. 9. ruficornis, Linn.
Nomada ruficornis, Fab. Ent. Syst. Em. n. 7; Syst. Piez. 390. 2 ;
Panz. Fn. Ins. Germ. Init. no. 55. tab. 18; Schaffer, Germ. Zeits.
vol. i. pt. 2. 279. 9; St: Farg. Hist. Nat.‘ Ins. vol. n. 498. 29;
Smith, Zool. vol. ii. 596. 9; Nylander, Mon. Ap. Boreali, p. 180.
Apis ruficornis, Linn. Syst. Nat. Gmel. p.2795. 34; Syst. Nat. ed. 12.
n. 34; Fn. Suec.-1707 ; Vill. Ent. Eur. 3. n..27 ; Geoffr. Hist. Ins.
Par. tom. ii. p. 381. 18; Kirby, Mon. Ap. Angl. vol. ii. p. 210. 27.
Nomada conjungens, Schaffer, no. 8 (male and fem.).
Nomada flava, Panz. 53. 31 (male); Fabr. Syst. Piez. 391.4; Kirby,
vol. ii. 186. 8; Schaffer, no. 18.
Apis leucophthalma, Kirby, vol. ii. 197. 16.
Probably the most variable species of the genus, particularly the
male. This insect is parasitic upon Andrena Trimmerana, tibialis, and
nigro-aenea.
Sp. 10. armata, Schiffer.
Nomada armata, Schaffer, Germ. Zeits. vol.i. pt. 2. 279. 10; Smith,
Append. Zool. vol. vii. p. 41.
This species I have described in the ‘ Zoologist’ ; it has hitherto
only been taken twice in this country in Devonshire. I have seen
examples from Nova Scotia, and also from Albania.
Sp. 11. rostrata, Schaffer.
Nomada rostrata, Schaffer, Germ. Zeits. vol. 1. pt. 2. 280. 11.
This species I think is without doubt the male of Kirby’s A. flavo-
guttata. '
Sp. 12. melanostoma, Schaffer.
Nomada melanostoma, Schiffer, Germ. Zeits. vol. i. pt. 2. 280. 12.
On examining a long series of N. lateralis, male, | feel satisfied
that this is only one of its varieties ; small specimens have sometimes
the labrum black as well as the clypeus, and the scutellum is black
in nearly all the males which I have seen ; these peculiarities are only
variations to which the species is subject.
Sp. 18. ochrostoma, Kirby.
Nomada ochrostoma, Schiffer, Germ. Zeits. vol. i. pt. 2. 280. 13;
Zetterst. Ins. Lapon. p. 470. 2; Smith, Zool. vol. ii. 596. 9 (male).
Nomada vidua, Smith, Zool. vol. ii. 602. 18 (female) ; Nylander,
Mon. Ap. Boreali, p. 179.
Apis Hillana, Kirby, vol. ii. 208. 25 (var. male).
This species is closely allied to N. lateralis, the males of the spe-
cies most closely resembling ; but the abdomen of ochrostoma is more
Mr. F. Smith on the Synonymy of the genus Nomada. 439
convex, and the basal joint of the antenne is entirely rufous: the
females are readily distinguished ; lateralis by having angulated ma-
cule on the abdomen, whilst those on ochrostoma are round. The
male is widely distinct from that of ruficornis.
Sp. 14. zonata, Panzer.
Nomada zonata, Panzer, Faun. Germ. 53. fig. 20; Schaffer, Germ.
Zeits. vol. i. pt. 2. 281. 14; St. Farg. Hist. Nat. Ins. vol. i. 491.
23: |
* This species has not to my knowledge yet been discovered in
England.
Sp. 15. pallescens, Schaffer, Germ. Zeits. vol. i. pt. 2. 281. 15.
This species is unknown to me.
Sp. 16. albeguttata, Schaffer, Germ. Zeits. vol. i. pt. 2. 282. 16.
I have frequently seen examples of this species from the conti-
nent, but it has not been found in England.
Sp. 17. modesta, Schaffer, Germ. Zeits. vol. i. pt. 2. 282. 16.
This species is unknown to me.
Sp. 18. flava, Schaffer, Panzer, Fab., Nylander, Kirby, &c.
This is the true male of ruficornis.
Sp. 19. Roberjeotiana, Panzer.
Nomada Roberjeotiana, Panzer, Fn. Germ. 72. tab. 18; Fab. Syst.
Piez. 391. 6; Schaffer, Germ. Zeits. vol. i. pt. 2. 283.19; Smith,
Zool. vol. ii. p. 603.19; Nylander, Mon. Ap. Boreali, p. 178. 7.
Nomada neglecta, Schaffer (male).
Some years ago I captured this species for the first time in En-
gland ; altogether I have not seen more than a dozen examples cap-
tured in this country: it is an autumnal species. ‘The N. neglecta
of Schaffer is I think the male.
g.
Sp. 21. basalis, Schaffer, Germ. Zeits. vol. i. pt. 2. 284. 21.
am unacquainted with this species.
Sp. 20. neglecta, Schaffer. The male of the preceding
—=
Sp. 22. fucata, Panzer.
Nomada fucata, Panz. Fn. Germ. 55. tab. 19 ; Fab. Syst. Piez. 890.
3; Schaffer, Germ. Zeits. vol. i. pt. 2. p. 284. 22; Smith, Zool.
vol. i. p. 595. 5 (male and fem.).
Nomada varia, Panz. Faun. Germ. 55. fig. 20 (male).
Apis varia, Kirby, Mon. Ap. Angl. vol. ii. p. 185. 7 (male).
I doubt very much if Schaffer was acquainted with the male of
this species, since he says it varies in having the spots on the collar
and scutellum obsolete. Although | have seen great numbers, and
once met with the species in profusion, I never saw the spot either
obsolete or partially so ; it is even more constant than in the opposite
sex.
Sp. 23. solidaginis, Panz.
Nomada solidaginis, Panz. Faun. Germ. 72. tab. 21 (male); Fab.
440 Mr. F. Smith on the Synonymy of the genus Nomada.
Syst. Piez. 392. 7 (male); Schaffer, Germ. Zeits. vol. i. pt. 2.
284. 23 (male and fem.); St. Farg. Hist. Nat. Ins. vol. 11. 472. 8
(male and fem.) ; Smith, Zool. vol. ii. 595. 8 (male and fem.) ;
Nylander, Mon. Ap. Boreali, p. 176. 3 (male and fem.).
Apis solidaginis, Kirby, Mon. Ap. Angl. vol. ii. 204. 22 (male and
fem.).
Apis picta, Kirby, Mon. Ap. Angl. vol. ii. 204. 22 (fem.).
Apis rufo-picta, Kirby, ditto 207.) ditto:
The colouring of the male of this species is very constant, whilst
that of the female varies greatly ; on the abdomen the colour ranging
from black to pale red. These varieties embrace the picta and rufo-
picta of Kirby.
Sp. 24. sexfasciata, Jurine.
Nomada sexfasciata, Jurine, Panzer, Faun. Germ. 68. 18 (male) ; Ili-
ger, no. 37; Schaifer, Germ. Zeits. vol. i. pt. 2. 285. 24; St. Farg.
Hist. Nat. Ins. vol. ii. p. 471.7; Smith, Zool. vol. ii. 258. 18.
Apis connexa, Kirby, Mon. Ap. Angl. vol. ii. 199. 19 (male) ; Schaff.
Icon. 81.7.
Apis Schefferella, Kirby, Mon. Ap. Angl. vol. i. 199. 18 (fem.).
This is the largest species of the genus found in England ; it is
very local, being parasitic upon Eucera longicornis, from the cells of
which I have extracted both sexes.
Sp. 25. Marshamella, Kirby.
Nomada Marshamella, Schiffer, Germ. Zeits. vol. ii. pt. 1. 285. 25 ;
Smith, Zool. vol. ii, 590. 3; Nylander, Mon. Ap. Boreali, 177.5.
Apis Marshamella, Kirby, Mon. Ap. Angl. vol. ii. 188. 10.
Apis alternata, Kirby, Mon. Ap. Angl. vol. ii. 182. 5 (var. male).
Schaffer supposes the A. cornigera and subcornuta to be varieties
of this species, but in this he is quite mistaken ; subcornuta is a va-
riety of cornuta, but the latter is a good and distinct species, having
a different male to Marshamella, and much more rare or local, and
not appearing so early in the season. ‘The A. alternata of Kirby is
merely a variety of the male in which the spots on the scutellum are
obsolete.
Sp. 26. affinis, Schaffer.
Nomada affinis, Schaffer, Germ. Zeits. vol. i. pt. 2. 286. 16.
I think this is undoubtedly a variety of the foregoing ; the slight
differences pointed out come within the range of variation to which
this species is subject.
Sp. 27. Jacobee, Panzer.
Nomada Jacobee, Panz. Faun. Germ. 70. fig. 20 (male) ; Schéffer,
Germ. Zeits. vol. i. pt. 2. 286. 27 ; St. Farg. Hist. Nat. Ins. vol. ii.
479. 15; Smith, Zool. vol. ii. 594. 7; Nylander, Mon. Ap. Boreali,
BG.)
Apis Jacobee, Kirby, Mon. Ap. Angl. vol. ii. 201. 20 (male).
Apis flavo-picta, Kirby, Mon. Ap. Angl. vol. ii. 202. 21 (fem.).
The Apis flavo-picta of Kirby is undoubtedly the female of Jacobea,
Mr. F. Smith on the Synonymy of the genus Nomada. 441
as I can assert, having frequently examined the original specimens
in the Kirbyan cabinet. With us it appears in the autumn, as do also
solidaginis and Roberjeotiana.
Sp. 28. interrupta, Panzer.
I am unacquainted with this species.
Sp. 29. nobilis, Schiffer.
Nomada nobilis, Schaffer, Germ. Zeits. vol. i. pt. 2. 278. 29.
I have seen specimens of this species from Albania; it has not
hitherto occurred in England.
Sp. 30. suecincta, Panzer.
Nomada succincta, Panzer, Faun. Ins. Germ. 55. tab. 21.
Very nearly allied to the Apis Goodeniana, Kirby, but I think
distinct, as the male of Kirby’s insect has neither yellow legs nor a
black spot on the posterior tibia, both strong specific characters.
Sp. 31. cincta, Schiffer.
Nomada cincta, Schaffer, Germ. Zeits. vol. i. pt. 2. 288. 32.
This is a species that is unknown to me.
Sp. 82. alternata, Kirby.
Apis alternata, Mon. Ap. Angl. vol. ii. 182. 5.
This is a variety of the male of Marshamella, in which the usual
yellow spots on the scutellum are obsolete.
Of the species which were unknown to Herrich-Schaffer, it may
be probably useful to offer a few cbservations, although the syno-
nymy will point out their true position.
First, the Apis capre of Kirby is only a small variety of A. cor-
nuta—the rufous fascia on the first abdominal segment reduced to
two minute rufous spots, the two yellow spots on the scutellum
obsolete, and the horn on the lip nearly so; the abdomen beneath
rufo-piceous, and not marked with yellow. The Apis lineola of
Panzer and Kirby is also a variety of A. cornuta; or rather I should
say, A. cornuta is the variety, Panzer’s name being the oldest.
Apis Lathburina: the A. rufiventris is the female of this species.
It is parasitic upon Andrena labialis.
Apis picta and rufo-picta are both varieties of the N. solidaginis of
Panzer, which varies so greatly in colouring, as I have already ob-
served.
Apis sexcincta, Kirby, is the male of N. lineola; it is very much
like the male of N. Marshamella, but is quite a distinct species ; the
most obvious differences are, that it has bright yellow tegule, the
legs mottled more or less with yellow, and the abdomen more con-
vex; it is also usually a larger insect, and is of much rarer occurrence.
4.4.2 Bibliographical Notices.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
Principles of Scientific Botany ; or Botany as an Inductive Science.
By Dr. M. J. Scuuerpen, Extraordinary Professor of Botany in
the University of Jena. Translated by Epwin Lanxesrer, M.D.,
F.R.S. &c. London, Longman and Co., 1849. Pp. 616. Wood-
cuts and 6 Plates.
Wuatrver may be the opinion as to the correctness of Professor
Schleiden’s views upon certain questions, in connexion with which
his name is best known in this country, there can be no doubt that
he ranks among the first original observers of the present day, and
this work is undoubtedly the most valuable systematic exposition of
the structural department of botany which has yet been given to the
world. ‘Ihe thanks of the botanists of this country are therefore
due to Dr. Lankester for the present translation, which although by
no means free from blemishes, may be received, on the whole, as a
fair average rendering of a work which is admitted to present con-
siderable difficulties.
We cannot afford space, supposing even it were desirable in
this place, to enter upon the discussion of the many points on which
Prof. Schleiden is at issue with many other celebrated botanists ;
Wwe must simply indicate that these are fully considered in this
work. An appendix contains some important changes given in a third
edition of the first part of the original, which appeared while this
translation was in the press. From this it will be seen that Prof.
Schleiden has greatly modified his earlier views on cell-development,
and now approaches to an agreement with his opponents.
The work is divided into four books :—1. The Chemistry of Plants,
on which subject the author goes into much greater detail than was
usual with botanical writers until the publication of this treatise.
2. On the Plant-cell, under which head all the forms of the ele-
mentary tissues are treated, as also the physiology of these struc-
tures. 3. Morphology, divided into general and special ; the second
comprehending a minute account of the organization of all the great
classes of plants, the Cryptogamic being examined separately and
successively, while the Monocotyledons and Dicotyledons are re-
viewed together under sections founded on their different organs.
This portion of the work is very rich in original observation, and is
particularly characterized by the peculiar views of the author, espe-
cially by the strict definition of azial and foliar organs, the views
entertained respecting placentation, the nature of ovules, and the
doctrine maintained concerning the origin of the embryo. The 4th
book is entitled Organology, by which we understand Physiology.
Sect. D. contains some very important matter on the subject of the
processes of Nutrition. While arguing strongly in favour of the
views of Liebig and others, that the chief portion of the carbon and
ammonia required by plants is received by them in an inorganic
condition, he admits the possibility and even the probability of the
absorption of organic compounds, as urged by Mulder: the possibi-
lity is evident from the physiology of parasitic plants, and the plants
Zoological Society. 443
peculiar to peat-bogs are instanced as cases where it is not unlikely
that organized substances are imbibed. Moreover, the author dwells
upon the fact that itis only the root-cells which really assimilate in-
organic substances ; he upholds the opinion that assimilation takes
place in the very act of the primary absorption, and that thus there
does not exist any which can be properly called crude sap; the
assimilated matter derived from the roots is modified by the various
organs into which it passes, according to their special character. He
rejects in toto the idea of a circulation of the sap, regarding the pass-
age of fluids through all plants as a mere distribution from cell to
cell, such as takes place in wholly cellular structures. It appears to
us that this hypothesis is too sweeping. ‘There can be no doubt that
the ducts or large tubular forms of the tissue frequently open into
each other after they have attained a certain age, thus forming
continuous canals, and it is equally certain that these occur in the
vascular bundles, especially in the wocd. There seems to be no
reason to doubt that mere capillarity will cause the fluids to ascend
in these ducts when a current is maintained by the evaporation from
the leaves. With respect to a descending current, there is great
likelihood that Profs. Schleiden and Mulder are right in denying it,
and asserting that all the phenomena supposed to result from it are
to be explained by the process of endosmosis, which is indeed the
principal cause of the ascending current. We can hardly imagine a
current upward and downward in the vessels; but in endosmosis
there is an interchange,—a passage in both directions with an ulti-
mate tendency to equilibrium. Careful experiments are still wanting
on this subject.
In the appendix to the translation are: A. Analytical papers ;
B. A list of old trees; C. The extracts from the third German edi-
tion of books 1 and 2 already referred to; and D. An article on the
use of the Microscope from the ‘* Methodological Basis ’’ prefixed to
the original work, but which is omitted in the translation in order to
diminish the bulk of the volume.
The volume is well illustrated wholly from the author’s own draw-
ings, a rather unusual circumstance, but of course greatly adding to
its value.
No one interested in scientific botany should be without the work.
PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES.
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.
December 12, 1848.—R. C. Griffith, Esq., F.G.S., in the Chair.
Dr. Melville communicated orally the first part of his paper
‘‘On the Ideal Vertebra.”” He commenced by defining this as ‘ the
most complete possible segment of the endo-skeleton,” or in the
words of his friend Mr. Maclise, “‘ the plus vertebral quantity ;”’ and
it was illustrated by a diagram showing the body, neural arch and
444. Zoological Society.
spine, and two concentric arches or circles below, the inner one con-
sisting of three elements, to which he gave the names hemapophyses
and hemal spine, and the outer one formed by the ribs and sternum.
He had arrived, he said, at this idea by observing the inner or true
hemal arch coexisting with the costo-sternal arch in many animals,
and referred especially to the skeleton of a lizard in the British Mu-
seum as illustrating his discovery ; and regretting that the laws of
that Institution prevented his exhibiting it at the Meeting, he showed
the hemapophyses in enlarged diagrams of the cervical and dorsal
vertebrae, and contrasted his ideal vertebra with diagrams of those
given by Geoffroy St. Hilaire and Professor Owen. ‘The bones,
which Dr. Melville stated Sir P. Egerton had rediscovered in the
Ichthyosaurus, and called ‘ wedge-bones,’ were the true hemapo-
physes, and he referred to a work by Camper, in which the cervical
hemapophyses had been previously described.
The bone which had been called the body of the atlas was the
heemapophysis of the occipital vertebra; and the ‘ odontoid process’
was the true body of the atlas. The bones which Professor Miller
had defined as the inferior transverse processes in fishes, and which
Professor Owen had called ‘ parapophyses,’ were the true hemapo-
physes, and the term ‘ parapophyses’ ought to be abolished, as it
had been applied to several distinct elements. ‘True hemapophyses
were sometimes autogenous, sometimes exogenous.
Adverting to the pleurapophyses or pleural elements of the ver-
tebrae, Dr. Melville alluded to Miller and Thirles’ discovery of these
in the lumbar and sacral region, where they had been called ‘ trans-
verse processes,’ and he exhibited the sacral vertebra of an ‘ iguano-
don,’ showing the articular cavity for the sacral rib.
With regard to the exogenous processes of the vertebree, which
Professor Owen had called ‘ diapophyses,’ Dr. Melville exhibited the
vertebral columns of some quadrupeds, showing that they sent off
a process backwards in the dorsal vertebra, and were continued into
the lumbar region by such posterior processes, and not by the pro-
cesses which Professor Owen had called diapophyses in the lumbar
region. Understanding that Professor Owen had proposed names
for these mere subdivisions of the diapophyses, Dr. Melville strongly
deprecated the overloading this difficult part of anatomy with unne-
cessary names. He also animadverted on Cuvier and M. De Blain-
ville for having neglected to describe these modifications of the trans-
verse processes. Dr. Melville pointed out in the vertebre of an
ant-eater and armadillo the processes which project forwards from
the anterior zygapophyses, and which he believed Professor Owen
called the ‘ epizygapophyses ’"—(the Professor here stated that he had
given that name to the superior articular processes in serpents, which
were not homologous with the processes alluded to by Dr. Melville,
and to which Professor Owen had assigned a distinct name). Dr.
Melville went on to demonstrate these anteriorly projecting processes,
and stated that the Edentata had no posterior or backwardly pro-
jecting processes from the diapophyses. With regard to the parts
called ‘ parapophyses’ by Professor Owen in the cranial vertebre,
Zoological Society. 445
Dr. Melville totally dissented from that author, and with regard to
the ‘ paroccipital,’ he stated that Rathké had proved it by tracing
the development of the bones of the skull to be a mere dismember-
ment of the petrosal. After eulogising the labours of Miller, Rathké,
Geoffroy, and other foreign authors, by whom the truths‘of that sci-
ence—sneered at in this country as ‘ Philosophical Anatomy ’—had
been discovered and established, Dr. Melville awarded praise to
Professor Owen for having first introduced them in a systematic form
in an English work, the value of which however was lessened by many
grave errors, which it was important to have corrected, and to effect
which was the chief object of his present communication. The
second part of this communication would be ready for the next
Meeting.
The Chairman proposed a vote of thanks for Dr. Melville’s paper
on the Ideal Vertebra, and called upon Professor Owen to reply, when
the Professor inquired whether Dr. Melville’s paper had been re-
ceived ; and the Secretary having stated that the paper had not been
received, as had been expected before the preparation of the Agenda,
Professor Owen remarked that the absence of such a document,
vouching for the precise nature and terms of Dr. Melville’s present
views, and the actual grounds of his objections, rendered him ayerse
to entering upon a refutation of those that had just been urged vivd
voce. So far, however, as the author’s views were represented by
the diagrams exhibited, he thought it due to the Meeting to offer a
few brief remarks on these.
Professor Owen then observed, hae if the modification of the ideal
vertebra now proposed had originated, as it might seem to those
present who were unacquainted with his work ‘ On the Vertebrate
Archetype,’ from the discovery of new facts by Dr. Melville, of which
Professor Owen had not had cognizance when he formed his con-
clusions on the nature of the typical vertebra, there might then have
been a primd facie probability of his idea needing some modification
in conformity with such alleged new facts. With the exception,
however, of the coexistence in nature of a second hemal arch in-
ternal to the costo-sternal arch, he had long been cognizant of the
parts called by Dr. Melville ‘ heemal arches’ and ‘ hemapophyses’ in
the cervical and dorsal regions of the species cited. Professor Owen
then inquired whether the lizard at the British Museum referred to
by Dr. Melville actually exhibited the perforated haemal arch beneath
the bodies of the cervical and dorsal vertebree, as shown in the dia-
gram, and Dr. Melville replied that it did not, but explained that the
subvertebral processes in the trunk being serially homologous with
the perforated hzmal arches in the tail, he was justified i in intro-
ducing such arch along with the costo-sternal arch in the diagram.
Professor Owen then resumed, that the main question turned upon
a difference of interpretation of known facts, and stated that even had
the structures adduced by Dr. Melville in support of his views been
new, it would not therefore follow that his interpretation of them
was the true one.
All those structures had, however, been described by Professor
4.46 Zoological Society.
Owen, and duly considered by him prior to. the publication of his
work ‘On the Archetype and Homologies of the Vertebrate Ske-
leton,’ 8vo, Van Voorst, 1848, from which he quoted the following
passages regarding their true nature and homologies. Viewing them
as processes from the cortical part of the centrum, Professor Owen
states : ‘‘ The centrum may develope not only parapophyses, but in-
ferior median exogenous processes, either single, like those of the
cervical vertebre of saurians and ophidians (which in Deirodon scaber
perforate the cesophagus, are capped by dentine, and serve as teeth*),
or double (atlas of Sudis gigas} and the lower cervical vertebree of
many birds); or the fibrous sheath of the notochord may develope
a continuous plate of bone beneath two or more nuclei of centrums,
formed by independent ossification in the body of the notochord, these
nuclei being partially coherent to the peripheral or cortical plate.”
(p. 96.)
To this view Professor Owen had been led chiefly by the coexist-
ence of these inferior exogenous processes in the anterior abdominal
vertebre of certain fishes with the true hemal arches, the nature and
modifications of which were so plainly demonstrated in the caudal
region of fishes. Besides the species cited in which these ‘ proces-
sus inferiores’ had been noticed by previous authors (Agassiz e. g. in
the case of Sudis gigas), Professor Owen had discovered other modi-
fications of the same nature, and referred to his description and figures
of the confluent subvertebral processes in the anterior trunk-vertebre
of the Bag ia tachypomus, a large siluroid fish (Vertebrate Archetype,
p- 92, pl. 1. fig. 8; Annals of N Jatural History, vol. xx. 1847, p. 217,
fig. 1):
He had shown in his memoir on the so-called wedge-bones of the
Enaliosauria, that the subvertebral processes in fishes were homolo-
gous with those autogenous wedge-bones, with the exogenous infe-
rior processes of the cervical and dorsal vertebre of ophidians and
saurians, and with the body of the atlas in anthropotomy ; and in his
work on the Archetype, Professor Owen had summed up his views
of their nature in the following words: “The continuous bony plate
supporting those centrums was perforated lengthwise by the aorta,
offering another mode of formation of a heemal canal (c A), viz. by
exogenous ossification in and from the lower part of the outer layer
of the capsule of the notochord. The carotid hemal canal in the
necks of birds seems to be similarly formed; and the neck of the
ichthyosaurus derives additional strength and fixation from appa-
rently detached developments of bone in the lower part of the cap-
sule of the notochord, at the inferior interspace between the occiput |
and atlas, and at those of two or three succeeding cervical verte-
bree}.
«The so-called ‘ body of the atlas’ in recent saurians, birds, mam-
mals and man, is the homologue of the first of these subvertebral
* Jourdan, cited in Cuvier’s Lecons d’Anat. Comparéé, ed. 1835, p. 340, and
Odontography, p. 179.
t Agassiz in Spix, Pisces Brasilienses, 4to, 1829, p. 6. tab. B. fig. 8
t Sir Philip de M. Grey Egerton in Geol. Trans. Bad Ser. vol. v. p.” "187, pl. 14.
Zoological Society. 447
wedge-bones, and represents only the inferior cortical part of such
body. The odontoid process of the axis is the central and main part
of the body of the atlas.” (pp. 92, 93.)
But in fishes these subvertebral processes coexisted with the par-
apophyses in the same vertebre (Archetype, pl. 1. fig. 4. pp. 3, 4,
5, 6, &c.), and likewise with the hemal arches in the tail, with which
Dr. Melville contended that they were serially homologous ; in other
words, the homotypes.
The caudal hemal arches in fishes were, however, manifestly
formed by other and true vertebral elements. Here Professor Owen
explained by diagramatic sketches the various ways in which the
heemal arch in the caudal vertebrae of fishes was formed, as he had
described in his work. ‘The best marked general character of the
vertebral column of the trunk in the class Pisces is that which Pro-
fessor J. Miller first pointed out, viz. the formation of the hemal
arches in the tail by the gradual bending down and coalescence of
the parapophyses; the exceptions being offered by the ganoid Poly-
pterus and Lepidosteus and the protopterous Lepidosiren. ‘The pleur-
apophyses are sometimes continued in ordinary osseous fishes from
the parapophyses, after the transmutation of these into the hemal
arches. ‘The dory, tunny anc salmon yield this striking refutation
of the idea of the formation of those arches in all fishes, by displaced,
curtailed and approximated ribs. In some fishes, however (e.g. the
cod), reduced pleurapophyses coalesce with the parapophyses to
form the hemal arches of the caudal vertebre.’’ (p. 90.)
‘* Thus the contracted hamal arch in the caudal region of the body
may be formed by different elements of the typical vertebra, e.g. by
the parapophyses (fishes generally) ; by the pleurapophyses (Lepi-
dosiren) ; by both parapophyses and pleurapophyses (Sudis, Lepido-
steus) ; and by hemapophyses, shortened and directly articulated with
the centrums (reptiles and mammals)*.”’ (p. 91.)
The last conclusion was that which was now called in question,
or rather the sense in which Professor Owen here used the term
hemapophyses was altered by Dr. Melville to the signification which
some anatomists expressed by the terms ‘ wedge-bones’ and subver-
tebral processes, and which Professor Owen expresses by the term
hypapophyses. Professor Owen had concluded that as the hemal
arches in the tail of fishes were formed by more or less of the modified
elements of the more expanded hzemal or costal arches in the abdomen,
the hzmal arches in the tail of batrachians, saurians and mammals
were also formed by modifications of more or less of the expanded
hemal or sterno-costal arches of the trunk.
The coexistence of the subvertebral or inferior processes of the
centrums (hypapophyses) with the true hemal arches in fishes,
proved that these arches could not be the homotypes of these pro-
cesses in the tail any more than in the trunk; and a conclusion so
established in fishes was good for batrachians, saurians and mammals.
* By a misconception of the sense in which Professor Owen uses the term
‘hamapophyses,’ M. Agassiz has applied it to the lamin of the inferior or hemal
arches in fishes. (Recherches sur les Poiss. Foss. tom. i. p. 95.)
4.48 Zoological Society.
Arriving thus at the demonstration, that the hemal arches in the
tails of the air-breathing Vertebrata were formed like those in fishes,
by a modification of the true hzmal arches of the trunk, the question
remained to be decided, which of the elements of such arches were
continued into the caudal region of reptiles, cetacea, &c. in order to
constitute those arches; and Professor Owen had shown that the
solution was given by the adult perennibranchiate batrachia and by
the immature crocodiles, in which diapophyses and pleurapophyses
coexisted with such hemal arches in the tail: the lamine of these
arches therefore must be the hemapophyses as defined in his diagrams
of the typical vertebra, and consequently they must be the homo-
types of those hemapophyses which had received in the trunk the
special names of ‘ischia,’ ‘ pubes,’ ‘abdominal ribs,’ and ‘ sternal
ribs.’ But the sternal ribs coexisted in the same vertebra with the
inferior exogenous processes from the centrum, to which processes
Dr. Melville proposed to transfer Professor Owen’s name of ‘ hem-
apophyses.’ Professor Owen had, however, proposed a proper name
for these commonly exogenous growths from the cortical part of the
centrum, as he had likewise found himself reluctantly compelled to
do for analogous exogenous processes from the neural arch, which
were independent of and superadded to the ordinary ‘ diapophyses ’
and ‘ zygapophyses.’ Professor Owen called the attention of Dr.
Melville to a series of drawings in which he had proposed to illustrate
his descriptions of these accessory processes, and alluded to his de-
scription of them in the Catalogue of the Royal College of Surgeons.
Professor Owen finally dissented from the definition of the ideal
vertebra, which Dr. Melville had adopted from his friend Mr. Mac-
lise.
Professor Owen considered that a typical structure might be de-
parted from hy excess as well as deficiency. Asan example of such
excess, he regarded those vertebrz which, in subserviency to muscular
attachments, developed hypapophyses, anapophyses, metapophyses
and diapophyses, or which in like adaptive subserviency to stronger
union developed epizygapophyses, in addition to the ordinary pre-
and post-zygapophyses; or which developed from the upper part of
the centrum epi-apophyses, which in the cranial vertebre had received
the special denomination of clinoid processes, and were for the spe-
cial protection of an appendage to the neural axis. In certain human
crania these latter exogenous developments actually formed a secon-
dary and minor neural arch internal to or concentric with the larger |
and normal neural arch; and Professor Owen drew a diagram of a
section of such a vertebra, showing the small neural canal close above
the centrum (basisphenoid) of the parietal vertebra, answering to, or
homotypical with, the small hemal canal formed by exogenous
growths from the under part of the centrum (basi-occipital) of the
occipital vertebra of the carp, and from the centrums of certain cer-
vical vertebrz of fishes and birds, and which Dr. Melville had trans-
ferred to his diagram of a thoracic vertebra, and made it to consist
of three distinct elements. Professor Owen stated that he had not
presumed to depart wholly from nature, either by addition or sub-
Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 449
traction, in the figures of the typical vertebre, in his work (p. 81,
fig. 14, p. 82, fig. 15) criticised by Dr. Melville; and that he knew
of nothing in nature which corresponded with Dr. Melville’s diagram,
showing distinct hemapophyses and a hemal spine coexisting with
vertebral ribs, sternal ribs, and sternum, in the same segment. On
the principles on which Dr. Melville had constructed his ideal ver-
tebra, viz. by the addition of mere adaptive processes of the centrum,
exaggerated and artificially subdivided, to true and constant vertebral
elements, such ideal vertebra might with a good reason be made
symmetrical by the addition of a second concentric neural arch, as in
Professor Owen’s sketch of the human parietal vertebra, to the true
expanded neural arch, and in his opinion such superadded internal
neural arch might, with as good reason, be viewed as the true neur-
apophyses and neural spine, and had as good title to be diagramati-
cally represented as subdivided into those three separate elements,
as the second internal hemal arch, which Dr. Melville had super-
added to his (Professor Owen’s) figure of the second form of the
typical vertebra (On the Archetype, &c., p. 82, fig. 15). Such an
‘ideal vertebra’ would then truly exhibit what Dr. Melville had de-
fined as ‘‘ the most complete possible vertebra,” and what Mr. Mac-
lise called “‘ the plus vertebral quantity.”
Dr. Melville rejoined by reiterating his conviction that his ‘ ideal
vertebra’ was the true one, and would ultimately be accepted as such
by all anatomists.
BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH.
Noy. 8, 1849.—Professor Balfour, President, in the Chair.
Numerous donations were announced.
The President, in taking the chair, made a few remarks on the
progress of botany since the Society last met in July. He alluded
especially to the encouragement afforded to the science in the new
Irish colleges, and to the great discoveries recently made in India by
Dr. Joseph D. Hooker and Dr. Thomas Thomson. He read a letter
from Dr. William Jameson of the Saharampore Gardens, giving an
account of his botanical researches, and stating that he was pro-
ceeding to survey the country between the Kelum and the Indus.
His botanical collections are very extensive, and will ere long be
transmitted to Europe. He mentions that Dr. Thomson’s collections
were ready for transmission, and that Major Madden had made some
interesting observations on the botany of the Himalayas. He states
that the catalogue of the Saharampore Garden will be published
soon. Dr. Jameson’s letter was accompanied with some seeds for
the Botanic Garden, and a few dried specimens.
ah following papers were read :—
. ‘ Notice of Plants found in the neighbourhood of Durham and
eee: by John Townley, Esq. In this communication, Mr.
Townley mentioned that he had noticed nearly 400 species of pha-
nerogamous plants and ferns in the neighbourhood of Durham.
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. iv. 30
4.50 Botanical Society of Edinburgh.
2. ‘‘ Notice of plants found in the neighbourhood of Lincoln,” by
Benjamin Carrington, Esq. Mr. Carrington noticed the occurrence
of Anacharis Alsinastrum in great abundance in Lincoln, and exhibited
specimens to the meeting. Among other plants noticed by him in
the district, and of which examples were exhibited, may be noticed
‘the following :—Thalictrum flavum, Ranunculus parviflorus, Nastur-
tium amphibium, Erysimum cheiranthoides, Camelina sativa, Vicia
tetrasperma, Lathyrus aphaca, L. Nissolia, and L. maritimus, Hippo-
crepis comosa, Onobrychis sativa, Cicuta virosa, Sison Amomum,
CGinanthe Phellandrium, and Q2. fistulosa, Sium latifolium, Orchis
Susca, O. pyramidalis, and O. Morio, Potamogeton rufescens, P. pectt-
natus, P. gramineus and P. prelongus, &c., Bromus erectus, Onopordum
Acanthium, Serratula tinctoria, Butomus umbellatus, Hydrocharis-
Morsus-rane, Gentiana Pneumonanthe, and Lysimachia Nummularia
and ciliata naturalized.
3. “ Account of Excursions last Autumn, with notices of localities
for some rare Scotch plants,” by Dr. Balfour. ‘This paper embraced
a short notice of an excursion made in August with botanical pupils
to Braemar and Clova, during which many of the rare alpine species
of Scotland were gathered on Lochnagar, Ben Aven, Ben-na-Muich-
Dhui, Glen Callater, Glen Fee, Glen Dole, &c. ‘The season was
stated to be very backward, there being much snow on the hills, and
many plants, such as Mulyedium alpinum, were not m flower. Dr.
Balfour also noticed the following plants as having been gathered by
him in the west of Scotland :—Jmpatiens noli-me-tangere in Castle
Milk Glen, near Glasgow; Hymenophyllum Wilsoni, near Dunoon ;
Raphanus maritimus and CEnanthe Lachenalii near Toward Point;
Elatine hexandra in Loch Fad, in Bute; and Hymenophyllum tun-
bridgense in woods in Bute. A growing specimen of Hlatine hexandra,
from Bute, was also shown.
Dr. Balfour showed a specimen of roots which had penetrated
drains, and remarked that the plant whose roots had entered drains
in the Carse of Gowrie was Polygonum amphibium, and not P. Bis-
torta, as stated at a former meeting.
Mr. John M‘Laren noticed the occurrence of Sedum album, S. re-
flecum, and Verbascum Lychnitis on the Castle rock at Stirling, and
Melilotus leucantha near Dunblane, besides many interesting plants
which he had gathered in Bute.
Dr. Balfour exhibited a specimen of Carduus eriophorus, gathered
in the vicinity of Muirhouse by Mr. Kelly, nurseryman.
A note was read from Mr. James Backhouse, jun., in which he
stated that he had gathered Carex /eporina abundantly in autumn,
on Lochnagar. He remarked—* Its till recently undisturbed tran-
quillity depends on the unlikely place in which it grows. There is
scarcely any company for it in the way of vegetation. Its scattered
tufts contrast almost alone with the granite rocks.” He gathered a
considerable quantity of Woodsia Ilvensis in Glen Fee; also Draba
rupestris, Poa montana, Gentiana nivalis, Juncus castaneus, and J. bi-
glumis, in Canlochan. Mr. Backhouse also stated that he had received
good specimens of Lychnis alpina from Hobcaster Fell, in Cumber-
Jand,
Miscellaneous. 451
MISCELLANEOUS.
What is the best plan to be adopted for the destruction of the Cossus
ligniperda and Scolytus destructor? ByC. J. Cox, M.D.*
Every person at all conversant with merely an outline of gardening,
must be perfectly aware how seriously trees are sometimes wounded,
and yet perfectly recover, but that the presence of a few obnoxious
insects, on the least derangement of the soil, inimical to its habits,
very speedily causes it to languish, sicken, and die; from the ac-
curate knowledge we possess of the habits of these insects, and from
the fact that a tree suffers comparatively nothing from a wound, we
have carried out, with most perfect success, the following method of
treatment to remove or destroy the larve of the Cossus.
Having ascertained that a tree is infested by these insects, and
knowing by their habits that they are sure to be more or less about
its base, we ought immediately to commence by removing the soil
from around it to the depth of at least a foot, scraping off all the old
and decayed bark above and below ; numerous perforations will appear
on its removal, these ought to be carefully examined—their character,
as regards size, colour, or depth; if small and fresh, the insect is
only a short distance in; it may be destroyed or extracted by inserting
a piece of wire; if the channel winds so that the wire cannot reach
it, it must be followed until the larva is killed, as the incision into
the stem is of less danger than the corrosion of the insect ; having
cleaned the wounds well by removing all refuse matter, a compost
of clay and cow manure ought to be inserted. The tree requires
watching for a week or fortnight to see if any yet remain; their
exuvie protruding from their channels being sure to lead to their
detection. To destroy the ova and very young’ larve, yet in the
crevices of the bark, treat the same as for the Scolytus.
To destroy the Scolytus, remove all the old infected bark ; the
entrance to the parent tubes is then exposed; as soon as we find the
parent channel, and knowing it always proceeds directly upwards,
and is always superficial, we must, wit the angle of the scraper, cut
out a small piece of bark; the lateral tubes are thus destroyed with
the young larve ; the tree must afterwards be washed with a strong
solution of lime-water, coloured by soot; the tree ought to be
watched for a fortnight. Should any of the parent insects have
escaped, the exuvial dust falling from their tubes on the stem will
lead to their detection.
By carrying out this plan in our gardens, we have saved the re-
mainder of our ornamental elm-trees ; and when we consider that
one man can partially bark eight or ten trees in the day, by means
of a double-handled scraper, similar to that used by coopers, it has
been a most inexpensive process ; thus, instead of gazing on a blighted
foliage and stag-horned trunk, the withered and sickly tinge has
given place to a most luxurious green and healthy appearance.
* From a paper read before the Royal Botanical Society of London,
Aug. 10, 1848.
ans
QU
452 Miscellaneous.
DISCOVERY OF THE WILD STATE OF RYE,
Both history and botany agree in rendering it probable that the
Cerealia (wheat, barley, rye, and oats) come originally from Asia,
especially from the western and central regions of that part of the
world. Unfortunately it is difficult to prove the truth of the hypo-
thesis by facts. This would require the discovery of specimens
apparently wild in such conditions that they cannot be suspected to
have escaped from cultivation, or to have been sown by travellers.
Michaux the elder found spelt (Zriticum Spelta) on a mountain
four days’ journey from Hamadan*. Oliviert, travelling with a
caravan from Anah to Latakia, on the right bank of the Euphrates,
says, ‘‘ We found near the camp, in a kind of ravine, wheat, barley,
and spelt, which we had already seen several times in Mesopota-
mia.” Linneeust gives as the country of summer corn (Triticum
estivum) the country of the Baschirs, apud Baschiros in campis, on
the authority of a traveller named Heinzelmann. I am not acquainted
with any other certain testimony as to the origin of the Cerealia.
M. Dureau de la Malle§ does not consider them sufficient, because
the travellers did not remain long enough in the country to distin-
guish with certainty the wild individual from the individual derived
from forsaken cultivation. I would however observe that the coun-
tries in question are mountainous, very sterile, and thinly peopled
by unsettied tribes. The assertion of Linneus, which is accompanied
by no details, is that which deserves the least confidence, the more
so as the country of the Baschirs has been frequently visited within
acentury. Link|| does not admit it. M. Loiseleur-Deslongchamps4 ,
in a modern and special work, does not bring forward any new facts.
He states, with reason, that the primitive country of these species
may have originally been very extensive, but that cultivation having
been early established in Sicily, Greece, Syria, &c., it has always
been difhieult to distinguish the wild specimens from those which
have escaped from cultivation. He adds, with still greater reason,
that if the Cerealia were different primitively from what they now
are—if, for instance, they had had the form of certain A’gylops or
Lolium,—man would never have had the idea of cultivating them.
The species must have been very much like what they now are to
have led to any being at the pains to sow them. Has any barbarous
people ever been observed to attempt the cultivation of A‘gylops or
of darnel (Lolium temulentum)? Naturalists may have the curiosity
to doso: the primitive peoples never had: it is much, indeed, that
they essayed to eat the grain of wheat, and to cultivate it, after
having ascertained its nutritious properties.
In all the works above quoted, rye is not mentioned unless to
* Lamarck, Dict. Eney., Part. Bot. 11. 560.
+ Voyage dans l'‘Empire Ottoman, iii, 460.
} Species Plantarum, 2nd edit. 126.
§ Recherches sur l'Histoire ancienne, l’origine et la patrie des Céreales,
Ann. Scien. Nat. Ser. 1. ix. 61.
| Die Urwelt und das Alterthum, &c. ed. 2. p. 407.
q Considératious sur les Céreales, 1843, p. 22.
Miscellaneous. 453
state that its country is unknown, but that from analogy it is pro-
bably Western Asia. ‘‘ Rye is supposed to come from the Levant,”
says M. Eude Deslongchamps, in the ‘ Dictionnaire des Sciences Na-
turelles,’ vol. xlviil. p. 310. According to M. Kunth* it is a na-
tive of the countries near the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea, but he
does not cite any proof. All this is as vague as the assertion of
other ancient and modern authors relative to the Isle of Crete. The
rye which Marshall of Biberstein found on the Caucasus, and which
he supposed to be common rye, is now found to be the Secale fra-
gile, a different species. M.C.Kochf, a traveller who has traversed
Anatolia, Armenia, the Caucasus and Crimea, now aflirms that he
has found rye under circumstances where it appears to be really
spontaneous and native. I quote verbally: ‘‘ On the mountains of
Pont, not far from the village of Dshmil, in the country of Hemschin,
upon granite, at an elevation of 5000 or 6000 feet, I found our com-
mon rye alongside my road (an Rdéndern). It was thin in the ear,
and about 1 to 24 inches long. No one remembered that it had
ever been cultivated in the neighbourhood ; it was not even known
as a cereal. I have received the same ears, thin and short, from
M. Thirke, at Brussa. If I am not mistaken, he had gathered them
on Mount Olympus or in the neighbourhood. I but seldom found
that rye was cultivated, for example in the countries of Kur, of Ar-
taban, &c.”
The question appears to be decided by the details given by M. Koch,
and in the way that history and botanical geography rendered most
likely. —A. DeCandolle in the Bibliotheque Universelle de Geneve,
June 1849.
PRESIDENCY OF THE LINNHAN SOCIETY.
The ‘ Atheneum,’ in noticing Mr. Robert Brown’s acceptance of
the unanimous invitation of the Council of the Linnean Society to
allow himself to be nominated for the presidency, favours the Society
with the following sapient suggestion :— It has not transpired
whether the invitation has or has not been received conditionally by
Mr. Brown. There is a strong feeling among the Fellows in favour
of a biennial election to the presidency.” We need hardly say that
this statement is wholly without foundation, and merely the impu-
dent assertion of the anonymous writer who has obtruded it upon
the public.—R. T.
On the pulverulent matter which covers the surface of the body of
Lixus and other Insects.
Several insects exhibit, on their surface, various pulverulent sub-
stances, very analogous to cryptogamic vegetations, but merely in
abnormal cases, which terminate in the death of the animal. ‘The
species of Lirus, and some exotic Coleoptera, exhibit, in their
healthy state, a quantity of a yellow powder on their elytra, which
is reproduced when artificially removed.
From the observations of MM. Boulbeéne and Follin it appears
that this powder presents sporules, filaments, and, in a word, all the
* Enumeratio Plant. vol. i. p. 449. + Linnea, vol. xxi. p. 427, 1848.
454: Meteorological Observations.
characters of a true mould. They are not reproduced at the death
of the animal. This substance differs moreover by its internal cha-
racters from the parasitic Cryptogamia, which are in other insects
signs of disease and of death.— Bibliotheque Universelle, June 1849.
METEORS.
On the 24th, about 84 p.m., I saw two fine meteors in a north-east
direction, one about ten minutes after the other. The former seemed
to burst like a sky-rocket and fall a little way ; the latter to shoot in
a north direction and fall to the horizon in pieces of blue colour.
On the 30th, a little before 7 p.m., a very splendid one was seen in
this parish and also in Kirkwall, which is nearly twenty miles off.
Here it appeared first near the zenith and travelled westward.—
Rey. C. Cirousron, Sandwick Manse, Orkney.
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR ocr. 1849.
Chiswick. —October 1. Drizzly: overcast. 2. Cloudy. 3. Constant heavy rain,
4. Heavy rain in the morning: showery. 5. Clear: fine: overcast. 6. Fine:
rain at night. 7. Hazy: cloudy: rain, 8. Cloudy and cold: clear: slight frost
at night. 9, Clear: very fine: frosty at night. 10, Dense fog: very fine: clear,
WW: Cloudy : clear. 12. Cloudy and cold: clear. 13. Rain. 14. Cloudy and
cold. 15. Fine: clear at night. 16. Foggy: hazy: overcast. 17. Cloudy and
fine. 18. Very fine: clear at night. 19. Slight fog: exceedingly fine: clear.
20. Very fine. 21. Hazy: clouds: rain, 22. Foggy: fine. 23. Cloudy and
fine. 24. Overcast: fine. 25. Showery. 26. Cloudy. 27. Drizzly. 28. Over-
cast: very fine. 29. Foggy: exceedingly fine. 30, 31. Very fine.
Mean temperature of the month ..........ceeeeeeeeeeeees weeee 49°58
Mean temperature of Oct. 1848 ........seeeeeeeee aaoosacbones 49 °59
Mean temperature of Oct. for the last twenty-three years 50 ‘51
Average amount of rain in October ...... Aapoheiouad 00 sda 2°58 inches.
Applegarth Manse, Dumfries-shire.— Oct. 1. Fair, but damp and raw. 2. Frost,
hard: clear and fine. %. Frost: rain p.m.: snow onthe hills. 4. Frost a.m.
5. Frost s.m.: shower p.m. 6. Frost still harder: thermometer 243°. 7. Frost
milder: windhigh. 8. Cold, but little frost: fine. 9. Frost hard again: shower P.M.
10. Frost hard: fine day. 11. Frost slight: a few drops. 12—14. Frost slight:
clear and fine. 15. Frost: cloudy. 16. Little or no frost: cloudy. 17. Frost
hard again: rain p.m. 18. Mild: rain: cleared p.m. 19. Mild: cloudy:
threatening rain. 20. Fair: variable: high wind p.m. 21. Showers, but mild.
22. Slight frost a.m.: heavy rain p.m. 23. Mild: rain during night: rain p.m.
24, Rain all day: flood. 25. Rainallday: fog: flood. 26. Fine: one shower:
cleared. 27, Rain again: thick weather. 28. Fine: clear. 29. Frost a.m. :
fine: cloudy p.m, 30. Dark and cloudy: rain p.m. 31. Showery all day: mild.
Mean temperature of the Month .........seesesceseceeeerceees soa 4420
Mean temperature of Oct. 1848 .......... SGbtonsbaccHDaSeHEOICDS 46 °5
Mean temperature of Oct. for the last twenty-five years ... 46 °6
Mean rain in October ...... ehccacubestes sucaseene seccaneieer se 3°25 inches.
Rain, number of days in which it fell, 15. Average rain
in Oct. for twenty years ......... bbs ous sis deeseseeeencee emer S56 ess
Sandwick Manse, Orkney.—Oct. 1. Bright : hail-showers. 2. Sleet-showers.
Clear: frost. 4. Showers: clear: frost. 5. Clear: showers. 6. Bright:
at frost. 7. Clear: aurora. 8. Clear: showers. 9. Sleet-showers: clear.
10. Fine: very clear: aurora. 11. Frost: fine: very clear: aurora. 12. Fine:
very clear. 13. Cloudy: aurora. 14. Bright: clear: aurora. 15. Showers.
16. Cloudy. 17. Bright: showers: cloudy. 18. Drizzle: cloudy. 19. Bright:
showers : cloudy. 20. Showers: cloudy. 21. Cloudy: showers. 22 Cloudy:
fine: showers. 23. Showers: clear: aurora. 24. Fine: aurora. 25. Rain:
fine: aurora. 26. Showers: clear. 27. Bright: showers. 28. Bright: showers ;
clear. 29. Rain:cloudy. $0. Cloudy: showers: aurora. 31. Bright: fine.
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456
INDEX to VOL. IV.
ACHATINA, new species of, 148.
Acnistus, observations on the genus,
with descriptions of new species, 31.
Adams, A., on anew genus of acepha-
lous mollusca, 371.
Alcippe, characters of the new genus,
313.
Alder, J., on the animal of Kellia ru-
bra, 48; on the branchial currents
of the bivalve mollusea, 242.
Algiers, botanical productions of the
kingdom of, 426.
Alopecophis, characters of the genus,
247.
Ammonicolax longimanus, notice re-
specting, 171.
Ampyx, new species of, 410.
Animals, mode of progression with,
75.
Anthophorabia, on the identification of
the parasitic genus of insects, 122,
278.
Aphides, descriptions of British, 41,
195.
Araneidea, experiments and observa-
tions on the poison of the, 275.
Archzocarabus, description of the ge-
nus, 173.
Archeoniscus, new species of, 392.
Arlidge, J. T., on some of the phases
of development of the Trichodina
pediculus (7), 269.
Atriplex, remarks on the genus, 282.
Aurochs, anatomy of the, 288.
Ball, J., on Odontites rubra and the
allied forms, with notice of a new
species, 28.
Bambusa arundinacea, remarks on the
growth of, 120.
Barnacle, on the occurrence of a bur-
rowing, on the British coast, 314.
Barrandia, descripiton of the new ge-
nus, 409.
Basinotopus, description of the new
genus, 167.
Benson, W. H., on four new species
of Pupa, 125; on the characters of
Diplommatina, a new genus of mol-
lusks, 193.
Birds, on the habits of some British,
18; descriptions of new, 75, 225.
Bison, account of the, 415.
Blackwall, J., on the habits of some
British birds, 18; on the poison of
animals of the order Araneidea, 275.
Bone, on the development of the
Purkinjean corpuscle in, 74.
Books, new :—Henfrey’s Rudiments of
Botany, 274; M. Boucher de Per-
thes, Antiquités Celtiques et Anté-
diluviennes, 363; Dr. Schleiden’s
Principles of Scientific Botany, 442.
Bos, new species of, 349.
Botanical Society of Edinburgh, pro-
ceedings of the, 202, 449.
Boucher de Perthes, M., Antiquités
Celtiques et Antédiluviennes, notice
of, 363.
Boulbéne, M., on the nature of the
pulverulent coating of Lixus and
other insects, 453.
Bovine animals of Scandinavia, ex-
tinct and existing, on the, 256, 349,
415.
Bulimus, new species of, 147.
aes observations on the genus,
252.
Cecum glabrum and trachea, on the
animals of, 180, 183.
Cancellaria, new species of, 374.
Cancer, new species of, 381.
Caprimulgus europzus, on the habits
of, 24.
Carter, H. J., on the freshwater
sponges of Bombay, 81.
Cartilage, on the intimate structure of,
156.
Carychium, new species of, 193.
Caspary, Dr. R., on the effect of
iodine upon the nectary, 152.
Cassin, J., on some new species of
Nyctale and Sycobius, 75 ; on some
owls presumed to be undescribed,
DIS.
Ceratiocaris, description of the new
genus, 412. y
Ceraurus, new species of, 407.
Chalcididee, on the anatomy and de-
velopment of certain, 277, 286 ; de-
scription of a new genus of, 278.
Chasmops, description of the new ge-
nus, 403.
INDEX.
Chromatomyia, new species of, 390.
Cinclosoma, new species of, 377.’
Cirripedia, on a new order of the class,
158, 305.
Clark, W., on the animal of Kellia
rubra, 142; on the animals of
Cecum trachea and C. glabrum,
180; on the animal of Dentalinm
Tarentinum, 321; on two new spe-
cies of testaceous mollusca, 424.
Clarke, Dr. W. B., on a supposed new
species of zoophyte, 26; on the
bottle-nosed dolphin, 100.
Clausilia, new species of, 149.
Cliocarpus, description of the genus,
141.
Cliona, on the species of, 239.
Cocks, W. P., on the animal of Kellia
rubra, 54.
Conrad, T. A., on some new marine
shells, 229 ; on some new freshwater
shells, 300.
Corades, characters of the new genus,
Bilas
Cox, Dr. C. J., on the best plan for
the destruction of Cossus ligniperda
and Scolytus destructor, 451.
Crustacea, on the classification of
some fossil, with descriptions of
new, 16], 330, 381, 392.
Cryphzeus, new species of, 406.
Cryptosomata, description of the new
order, 313.
Cyathodonta, new species of, 230.
Cycadez, observations on some speci-
mens of, 365.
Cyclura lophoma, on the habits of, 64.
Cynophis, characters of the new genus,
246.
Cypreea, new species of, 56.
Cytheropsis, notice of the genus, 414.
Delphinus Tursio, notice of the cap-
ture of a, 100.
Dentalium Tarentinum, observations
on the animal of, 321.
Diplommatina, characters of the new
genus, 193.
Diptera, notice of a new genus of, 386.
Dobie, Dr. W. M., on two new spe-
cies of Floscularia, 233.
Dodo, supplementary notices regard-
ing the, 335.
Doubleday, E., on a new genus of
Notodontide, 217.
Dunalia, new species of, 31.
Dyssochroma, observations on the ge-
nus, 250.
457
Ectozoma, observations on the genus,
191.
Embleton, Dr. D., on a species of rib-
bon-fish, 1.
Enoploclytia, description of the new
genus, 330.
Entozoa, from the lungs of a sheep,
observations on some, 102.
Ephialtes, new species of, 225.
Eryon, new species of, 172.
Ferns, on the phenomena accom-
panying the germination of the
spores of, 339; on the sexual or-
gans of, 343.
Fleming, Rev. Dr., on the origin of
plants and the physical and geogra-
phical distribution of species, 202.
Floscularia, descriptions of two new
species of, 233.
Follin, M., on the nature of the pul-
verulent coating of Lixus and other
insects, 453.
Fungi, parasitic, on the injuries pro-
duced by, 206.
Fusus, new species of, 420.
Gallinago Brehmi, note on the oc-
currence of, in Great Britain, 382.
Gaskoin, J. S., on new species of Cy-
preea, 56.
Giles, E., on a supposed new species
of zoophyte, 26.
Gosse, P. H., on the habits of Cy-
clura lophoma, 64.
Gould, J., on a new species of Cin-
closoma, 377.
Graham, F. J., on the imjuries sus-
tained by certain plants from the
attacks of parasitic fungi, 206,
Gray, J. E., on the species of the ge-
nus Placenta of Retzius, 151; on
three new genera and species of
snakes, 246; on the velvet-like
periostraca of Trigona, 296 ; on two
species of mammalia, 375; on a
new species of Herpestes, 376.
Griffithides, new species of, 406.
Gymnetrus, description of a species of,
taken off the British coast, 1.
- Hallowell, Dr. E., on a new species of
salamander, 76.
Hancock, A., on a species of ribbon-
fish, 1; on the occurrence on the
British coast of a burrowmg bar-
nacle, belonging to a new order of
the class Cirripedia, 158, 305; on
the excavating sponges, 355.
Hardy, J., on the primrose-leaf miner,
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. iv. 31
458
with notice of a new genus of Di-
ptera, 386.
Harpidella, characters of the genus,
412.
Helicina, new species of, 219.
Helix, new species of, 78, 146.
Hemipecten, new species of, 371.
Henfrey’s, A., Rudiments of Botany,
reviewed, 274; on the development
of the ovule in Orchis Morio, 279;
on the progress of physiological
botany, 339.
Hepaticze, of the Pyrenees, onthe, 104.
Herpestes, new species of, 376.
Hewitson, W., on a new genus and
species of Satyride, 215.
Hoploparia, description of the genus,
175.
Huxley, Mr., observations on Physa-
lia, 207.
Gti characters of the new genus,
217.
Hymenoptera, parasitic, on the iden-
tification of a genus of, 30, 122, 281.
Ichneumonide, on the anatomy and
development of certain, 277, 286.
Illenus, new species of, 404.
Insects, new, 39, 41, 122, 195, 215,
217, 390; on the nature of the pul-
verulent coating of some, 453.
Isotelus, new species of, 405.
Jardine, Sir W., on the occurrence of
Gallinago Brehmi in the British
Isles, 382.
Jeffreys, J. G., on some mollusca re-
cently taken off Lerwick, 299.
Juanulloa, observations on the genus,
187.
Kellia rubra, on the animal of, 48,
142, 245.
Koch, C., on the wild state of rye,
452.
Lanius excubitor, on the habits of, 18.
Larnax, observations on the genus, 37.
Leidy, Dr., on the development of the
Purkinjean corpuscle im bone, 74;
on the intimate structure of articular
cartilage, 156; on the arrangement
of the areolar sheath of muscular.
fasciculi and its relation to the ten-
don, 158.
Leszezic-Suminski, Count, on the sex-
ual organs of the ferns, 343.
Linnean Society, proceedings of the,
206, 275, 365; presidency of the,
7453.
Linneeus, almanac notes for the year
INDEX.
1735 by, 209; letter from the Rev.
John White, 283.
Lixus, on the nature of the pulveru-
lent coating of, 453.
MacCalla, W., notice of the late, 382.
“M‘Coy, Prof. F., on the classification
of some British fossil crustacea,
with descriptions of new forms, 161,
330, 392.
Macdonald, Dr., on the vertebral ho-
mologies as applicable to zoology,
iin
Manna of the Israelites, notice of the
supposed, 426.
Marckea, observations on the genus,
185.
Margaranthus, observations on the
genus, 137.
Margaritana, new species of, 300.
Mason, Rev. F., on the pine-tree of
the Tenasserim provinces, 77.
Mecochirus, new species of, 172.
Megzrophis, characters of the genus,
247.
Melania, new species of, 300.
Melittobia, characters of the genus,
288.
Melville, Dr., on the ideal vertebra,
443.
Meteorological observations, 79, 159,
231, 303, 383, 454.
Meteors, notice respecting two, 4¢4.
Meyeria, description of the new ge-
nus, 333.
Miers, J., on the botany of South
America, 31, 136, 185, 248, 357.
Mollusca, description of a new genus
of, 371; new species of, 125, 424;
bivalve, on the branchial currents
of the, 242.
Monodontomerus, notice of a species
of, 281.
Morris, J., on the excavating sponges,
239; on the genus Siphonotreta,
with descriptions of new species,
315.
Motacilla boarula, on the habits of, 24.
Munby, G., on the botanical produc-
tions of the kingdom of Algiers,
426.
Mycetes, new species of, 376.
Nageli, Dr., on the germination of
the spores of ferns, 339.
Nanina vitrinoides, on the habits of a
living specimen of, 379.
Nardo, Dr.,on the excavating sponges,
239;
DNR EX.
Neciary, on the effect of iodine upon
the, 152.
Nectouxia, observations on the genus,
ey7/-
Nepenthes, on the chemical composi-
tion of the fluid in the ascidia of,
128.
Newport, G., on the identification of
the parasitic genus of imsects An-
thophorabia, 122; on the anatomy
and development of certam Chal-
cididee and lehneumonidee, 277,286.
Nicandra, observations on the genus,
139.
Nilsson, Prof., on the extinct and ex-
isting bovine animals of Scandina-
via, 256, 349, 415.
Nomada, on the synonymy of the ge-
nus, 436.
Notodontide, description of a new ge-
nus of, 217.
Notopocorystes, description of the new
genus, 169.
Nyctale, new species of, 75.
Odontites, new British species of, 28.
Ogygia, new species of, 408.
Oliva, new species of, 231.
Orchis Morio, on the development of
the ovule in, 279.
Ornithological notes, 18.
Ovulum, new species of, 373.
Owen, Prof., on the anatomy of the
male aurochs, 288; on the ideal
vertebra, 443.
Owls, descriptions of new species of,
225.
Oxen, Wild, of Great Britain, notices
respecting the, 423.
Padley, G., on entozoa found in the
lungs of a sheep, 102.
Pagurus, new species of, 171.
Parapholas, new species of, 230.
Penitella, new species of, 230.
Petricola, new species of, 229.
Pfeiffer, Dr. L., on new species of
Vitrina, 69; on new species of He-
lix and Streptaxis, 78; on new spe-
cies of Helicina, 219.
Pholadopsis, new species of, 230.
Phrodus, observations on the genus,
Physalia, observations on, 207.
Physalis, observations on the genus,
35
Phytomyza, new species of, 392.
Pike, W. A., on the mode of progres-
sion with animals, 75.
4:59
Pinus, new species of, 77.
Placenta, on the species of, 151.
Plagiochila, new species of, 104.
Plants, remarks on the origin of, and
the physical and geographical dis-
tribution of species, 202; on the
injuries from the attacks of para-
sitic fungi sustamed by certain,
206 ; localities for rare British, 29,
203, 207, 449.
Podopilumnus, description of the new
genus, 1605.
Polydiclis, observations on the genus,
361.
Pterygotus, new species of, 394.
Pupa, new species of, 125.
Reeve, L., on a new genus of acepha-
lous mollusea, 371.
Ribbon-tish, account of a species of,
taken off the coast of Northumber-
land, 1.
Ring-dove, on the habits of the, 25.
Rissoa, new British species of, 299.
Rye, discovery of the wild state of,
452.
Salamander, new species of, 76.
Sandie, Dr. J. G., on entozoa found
in the lungs of a sheep, 102.
Sandpiper, on the habits of the, 25.
Sarcophysa, observations on the ge-
nus, 190.
Satyridz, on a new genus and species
of, 215.
Saxicola rubetra, on the habits of, 20.
Scapania, new species of, 106.
Schleiden’s, Dr. M. J., Principles of
Scientific Botany, reviewed, 442.
Sciurus, new species of, 376.
Scolytus destructor, on the best me-
thod of destroymg, 451.
Scott, R., on the growth of Bambusa
arundinacea, 120.
Shells, new, 56, 69, 78, 125, 146, 151,
193; 219, 229, 299, 300, 371, 373;
374, 424.
Shrike, gray, on the habits of the,
18.
Siphonotreta, note on the genus, 315.
Skenea, new species of, 424.
Smith, F., on a species of Monodon-
tomerus, 281 ; on the synonymy of
the genus Nomada, 436.
Snakes, description of three new ge-
nera and species of, 246.
Solandra, observations on the genus,
248.
Solecardia, new species of, 229.
460
Solitaire, on some bones of the, 335.
Sowerby, G. B., on some new species
of Ovulum, 373; on some new spe-
cies of Cancellaria, 374.
Sponges, freshwater, new species of,
31; structure and development of,
36; excavating, on the, 239, 355.
Spruce, R., on the Musci and Hepa-
tice of the Pyrenees, 104.
Squilla, new species of, 381.
Streptaxis, new species of, 79.
Strickland, H. E., on the dodo and
its kindred, 335; on the habits of
a living specimen of Nanina vitri-
noides, 379.
Sycobius, new species of, 76.
Sylvia phragmitis, on the habits of,
20.
Syrnium, new species of, 227.
Thinogeton, observations on the ge-
nus, 357. -
Tomes, R. F., on the occurrence and
habits of Vespertilio emarginatus,
149.
Yortoise-shell of Celebes, on the, 297.
Tretaspis, description of the new ge-
nus, 410.
Trichodina pediculus, observations of
the development of the, 269.
Trigona, on the velvet-like periostraca
of, 297.
Trilobites, on the homologies of the
INDEX.
bob
cephalic shield of, 396 ; descriptions
of new genera and species of, 403.
Trimerocephalus, description of the
new genus, 404.
Trinucleus, new species of, 411.
Triton, new species of, 230.
Unio, new species of, 300.
Urox, observations on the, 257.
Vespertilio emarginatus, on the oc-
currence and habits of, 149.
Vioa, new species of, 241.
Vitrina, new species of, 69.
Voelcker, Dr. A., on the chemical
composition of the fluid in the as-
cidia of Nepenthes, 128.
Walker’s, F’., descriptions of Aphides,
41, 195.
Westwood, J. O., on the identification
of a genus of parasitic hymenoptera,
39; on Melittobia Audouinii, a bee
parasite, 288.
White, A., on two new species of
crustacea, 381.
Woods, J., on the genus Atriplex, 282.
Yates, Jas., on some specimens of the
natural order Cycadew, 365.
Zanthopsis, description of the new
genus, 162
Zoological Society, proceedings of the,
56, 146, 371, 443.
Zoophyte, on a supposed new species
of, 26.
END OF THE FOURTH VOLUME.
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