Skip to main content

Full text of "The Annals and magazine of natural history; zoology, botany, and geology"

See other formats 


iat See RA OS Roeser nee one 
- - 


OES ears 


Ne aah COR 
tl vA ait} 
\ ay 


Vi 


ey 
# ; 


Wi see ae $i o 
(i Se a nee 


\ 


A 


WEN Ty 
AR fo a ARR AAS 


‘a 


Dal oh 


Dies 
, af ai ; 


THE ANNALS 


AND 


MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY, 


ZOOLOGY, BOTANY, ann GEOLOGY. 


(BEING A CONTINUATION OF THE ‘ANNALS’ COMBINED WITH LOUDON AND 
CHARLESWORTH’S ‘MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. ) 


CONDUCTED BY 


PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY, Ese., F.1.S., 
CHARLES C. BABINGTON, Ese., M.A., F.B.S., F.LS., F.G.S., 
JOHN EDWARD GRAY, Ph.D., F.RB.S., F.LS., V.P.Z.S. &e., 

AND 


WILLIAM FRANCIS, Ph.D., F.L.S. 


VOL. XJIV.—THIRD SER 


Senn 
Cees E a 


/ a \ 
\ 242105 }) 
S<Stional Musev Y 
LONDON: a 
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS. 


SOLD BY LONGMAN, GREEN, LONGMAN, ROBERTS, AND GREEN ; SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, 
AND CO.; PIPER AND CO.; BAILLIERE, REGENT STREET, AND PARIS: 
LIZARS, AND MACLACHLAN AND STEWART, EDINBURGH: 

HODGES AND SMITH, DUBLIN: AND ASHER, BERLIN. 


1864. 


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


“Quel que soit le principe de la vie animale, il ne faut qu’ouvrir les yeux pour voir 
qu’elle est le chef-d’ceuvre de la Toute-puissance, et le but auquel se rapportent 
toutes ses opérations.”—BruCKNER, Théorie du Systéme Animal, Leyden, 1767. 


oie Wis! (oll le) el tette -e ee Dheisyilvani 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. Taytor, Norwich, 1818. 


CONTENTS OF VOL. XIV. 


[THIRD SERIES. } 


NUMBER LXXIX. 


Page 
I. Outline of the Geology of the Maltese Islands, by Dr. Lerru 
ADAMS, of the 22nd Regiment; and Descriptions of the Brachiopoda, 
by Tuomas Davipson, Esq., F.R.S., F.G.S. &c. (Plate I.) ...... 1 
II. Contributions to an Insect Fauna of the Amazon Valley. 
CoLreoprerA: LoncicorNnes. By H.W. Bares, Esq. ............ 1] 
III. Histological Researches on the Formation, Development, and 
Structure of the Vegetable Cell. By Prof. H. KARSTEN  .......00.0. 24 
IV. Descriptions of Seven new Species of East-Indian Spiders 
received from the Rev. O. P. Cambridge. By Joun BLAcKWALL, 
JD SLUBS ne d@as vhosneRogno shoo cteondotooscaddeocseccaumbencnarn Adanesiguswastarstgealed vias 36 
V. Diagnoses of new Forms of Mollusks collected at Cape St. Lucas 
by Mr. J. Xantus. By Puiuip P. Carpenter, B.A., Ph.D. ......... 45 
VI. On the Menispermacee. By JoHN Miers, F.R.S., F.L.S. &e. 49 
VII. Observations on Raphides. By Grorce Guuuiver, F.R.S, 53 
VIII. Notes on the Hydroida. By Professor ALLMAN, F.R.S. 
(HEIEUE gs Ranaattcticonstacdciconde d Ucn Con ACoSORTAUDCEDD cieeeeciceeracendects cent 57 
New Books :—British Conchology, or an Account of the Mollusca 
which now inhabit the British Islands and the surrounding Seas. 
Vol. Il., by John Gwyn Jeffreys, F.R.S., F.G.S. &c.—The 
School-Manual of Geology, by J. Beete Jukes, M.A., F.R.S. &e. 
—A Guide to Geology, by John Phillips, M.A., LL.D., F.R.S. &e. 
64—70 
Proceedings of the Zoological, Society .2...-<ecde.saresasseeeseaneat 70—78 


Migration of Lemmings, by the Rev. Edward Gillett, M.A.; Examina- 
tion of the Structure of the Hair-follicle in Man and in the 


lv CONTENTS. 


Page 
Rabbit, by Dr. Wertheim; On Independent Movements of Em- 
bryonal Cells observed in the Ova of the Frog (Rana temporaria), 
by Dr. Stricker; On globular Cell-thickenings in the Envelope of 
the Roots of some Orchidee, by Dr. H. Leitgeb ; Notice of a new 
Squirrel from Natal, by Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c. .........00. 78—80 


NUMBER LXXxX. 


IX. Observations on the various Species of Glyptodon in the 
Public Museum of Buenos Ayres. By HERMANN BURMEISTER, 
MED Ae PHA S GcCe es cossecinertiscuesine csdsuicecesmencotices sgsleaeubacenceoneceaeeemens 81 


X. On the Menispermacee. By Joun Miers, F.R.S., F.L.S. &e. 97 
XI. On the Metamorphoses of the Prawns. (First Memoir.) By 


DrehRitZ NbULEER of Desterro. (Plate DV-))) fe.cccscenseneeceeeseecees 104 
XII. Catalogue of Chrysomelide of South Africa. By the Rev. 
PAE Ts OEAR KK, MACH Ss vaacesscscae seus cescissaloceccenaccaccinceseses 115 
XIU. Histological Researches on the Formation, Development, 
and Structure of the Vegetable Cell. By Prof. H. KarsTemn......... 124 
XIV. Description of a Species of Dolphin found in the Orkney 
Islands. By Avex, R. Ducuip, M.D. (Plate TIL.)  ..s.cccceccsceeaee 133 


XV. On a new British Species of Rissoa. By E. WALLER, Esq. 136 
Proceedings of the Zoological Society ..........+. seesbaseicuse aces 138—150 


On the Anatomy and Histology of Branchiostoma lubricum, Costa 
(Amphioxus lanceolatus, Yarrell), by M.J.Marcusen, of St. Peters- 
burg; Recent Discovery of Fossil Human Remains near Abbe- 
ville; Discovery of Fossil Stone Implements in India, by Prof. 
Oldham; On the Present State of Malacological Nomenclature, 
by Philip P. Carpenter, B.A., Ph.D.; On Hermaphrodite Bees, 
by Professor von Siebold; On the Aerial Roots of the Orchidez, 
by H. Leitgeb ; Description of a new Mustela from Quito, by 
Drees b Gray, WIR Ss Cre .secreocss cons onncieeseaeedereeseeener 151—160 


NUMBER LXXXtI. 


XVI. A Description of some Fossil Corals and Echinoderms from 
the South-Australian Tertiaries. By P. Martin Duncan, M.B. 
(Lond.), F. & See. Geol. Soc. &e. (Plates V. & VI.) © ..cccccsrscenceses 16] 


XVII. Catalogue of Chrysomelidz of South Africa. By the Rey. 
HAMLET CuaRrkK, M.A., F.L.S. ......... waialaice guia sulsice dlp one meinen eee nate 169 


CONTENTS. 


XVIII. Notice of Spiders, indigenous to the Salvages, received 
from the Bar‘o do Castello de Paiva. By Joun Buackwatt, F.L.S. 


XIX. Descriptions of Twenty-six new Species of Australian Land- 
Shells. By James C. Cox, M.D., Sec. Entomological Society of 
News South Wales: ...ccsas0-csocceassescaceesenss/ Appooebodtictade Bedielicismoete cle 


XX. Histological Researches on the Formation, Development, 
and Structure of the Vegetable Cell. By Prof. H. Karsten ...... 


XXI. On a new Generic Type of Fishes discovered by the late 
Dr. Leichardt in Queensland. By ALBERT Gintuer, M.A., M.D., 
Does (Ltr WRe) act.c circa stetens Cneea sas risa ceticarsiotcindasesins vaselesatise el 


XXII. Description of a new Species of Callionymus from Australia. 
Bypui reat Bioeds CulUN DEER | Voevenacaace seca rc ccaccsemene Recess ses sdaqavnsicne 


XXII. On the Structure of Antipathes. By M. Lacaze- 
POA EM EME Ste cretaeths cients aliases salstiigajataiera'asaeresids seq setnnescuahearmseales seer 


XXIV. On Clays, containing Fossils, near St. Andrews; with 
Remarks on some of the latter. By RoBERT WALKER ...........000e 


XXV. Some Remarks on the Succession and Development of 
Animal Organization on the Surface of our Globe, in the Different 
Periods of its Existence. By J. VAN per Hoeven, Professor of 


Vi 


Page 


174 


180 


185 


200 


Zaolory, University Of Leyden .s.c..csnsuns+carcscaspeccacevecsssacecees Scones 240M) 
Proceedings of the Zoological Society .........++ seas ralstuieaeansls ss 221—232 


Species of Mollusca obtained in Corunna Bay, by R. M‘Andrew, F.R.S., 
F.L.S., and H. Woodward, F.G.S., F.Z.S., in May 1863; On 
Arachnactis brachiolata, a Natatory Actinia, discovered near 
Nahant, Massachusetts, by Alexander Agassiz; The Great Auk, 
by Robert Champley, Esq. ; Some Observations on the Genus 
Amoria, with Descriptions of some new Varieties, by Dr. J. E. 
Gray, F.R.S. &c.; On the Motory Phenomena of the Sponges, 
by N. Lieberkihn; On the Geographical Distribution of the 
Annelida, by A. de Quatrefages; On a new Species of Turacus, 


yg Grn, Fu OIAY vcvaadsccecanceseesn sora comive titan rerccaatecnteres 232—240 


NUMBER LXXXII. 
XXVI. On the Antipatharian Genus Gerardia. By M. Lacaze- 


DUTHIERS ......... BOB Oc SROCOR COCR ESTAS COCR EE TRST EAE A EER CaSC RATT ae Sa inE ene 941 


XXVII. Descriptions of new Species of Fluviatile and Terrestrial 


Opereulate Mollusea from Trinidad. By R, J. LEcuMrersr Guppy . 243 


XXVIII. On the Asserted Occurrence of Flint Knives under a 


vi CONTENTS. 


Page 
Skull of the Extinct Rhinoceros hemitechus, in an Ossiferous Cave in 
the Peninsula of Gower. By H. Fatconer, F.R.S, &e. ........20.000 248 
XXIX. Observations on Raphides and other Crystals. By GEoRGE 
(Grid Riaob rey: bal esis: | Maptingebeeooddddasoddndosec asucadeehdlecanawevomeceerontees 250 
XXX. On the Menispermacee. By Joun Miers, F.R.S., F.L.S. 
Sas) den dbbootipedhi@nondoodbodiacsason pepe cadae sabignncnahudoonondsaoboucncsnene des. 252 
XXXI. Descriptions of Genera and Species of Hispide. By J.S. 
PVAUAY: cvewacsestestsisas anesaireilanciosce se cnoscualed sais tase caeaamen tee eeaeneeeeeeetee 261 


XXXII. On the remarkable Means by which certain Species of 
Parasitic Crustacea effect their Conservation. By M. EuGrkne 


EES Sintec ceawansceeeevece Went ceuhicdemenecoeneostece Brie Moe aponadecoaceodeee oo SHA 
XXXIII. On the Fossils of the Hunstanton Red Rock. By 
Harry Sere ey, F.G.S8., Woodwardian Museum, Cambridge......... 276 


XXXIV. On the Influence of the Nervous System on the Respira- 
tion of Insects. By Ex BAU DELOT <cose2..ccecnseactieseasansectmedecseeeaes 280 


XXXV. On Museums, their Use and Improvement; and on the 
Acclimatization of Animals: being the Address delivered to the 
Zoological and Botanical Section of the British Association, at the 
Bath Meeting, by Dr. J. E. Gray, President of the Section............ 283 


New Books :—Transactions of the Tyneside Naturalists’ Field-Club. 
Vol. VI. Part I1.—The Physical Geology and Geography of 
Great Britain: Six Lectures to Working Men, delivered in the 
Royal School of Mines in 1863, by Prof. A. C. Ramsay, F.R.S. 

BEC ra ncaaee ecleeeanecasigansewansiiewessaeicencemcacendascilsacmnicci een 297—304 


Proceedings of the Zoological Society ........sssesessoessssereveees 304—315 


Notice of a new Genus (Silurana) of Frogs from West Africa, by 
Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &e.; Note on Lepas anatifera, by R. 
Dyce, M.D., F.R.S.E.; On the Anatomy of the Balanophorez, 
as regards the Characters which it furnishes for the Classification 
of those Plants, by M. A. Chatin; Notice of a Skeleton of the 
Great Auk found in Guano near Newfoundland, by Dr. J. E. 
Gray, F.R.S. &c.; Second Note on the Anatomy and Histology 
of Branchiostoma lubricum, Costa, by M. J. Marcusen; Note on 
the Great Auk, by Dr. P. L. Sclater, M.A., See. Z.S. &e. ... 315—320 


NUMBER LXXXIII. 


XXXVI. Remarks on Stilifer, a Genus of quasiparasitic Mollusks; 
with Particulars of the European Species S. Turtoni. By J. Gwyn 
URWERE YS; Lie Wsccssetce coustacccuers sauccue tans eentete cence ee naan ame 321 


s 


CONTENTS. Vil 


Page 
XXXVII. Descriptions of new Genera and Species of Hispide. By 
eS AL Vix csssoece Det m eh eect snaMehsen ilddsteieassogs wadedene¥aseeurestedarndel 334 
XXXVIII. Notes on the Whalebone-Whales; with a Synopsis of 
the Species. By Dr. JooN EpwarpD GRAY, F.R.S. &.....ceceeeceees 345 
XXXIX. On New Mammalia from the Red Crag. By E. Ray 
IGANIGHS TER (Plate Villy). ccccscenscncseesrssiitciscesie sce eeeticeriaciesinene 353 
XL. Note on the Gibbon of Tenasserim (Hylobates Lar). By 
Ape Oly SS Eel LEKEN.) costes pconsiseeetsn cies gapiacc das sereeetslacesmr asset 360 
XLI. On the Menispermacee. By Joun Miers, F.R.S., 
MES aus Caserta isc teelca cece atnceesedcssigsmarsetanearetewatccessndcsieresyers 363 
XLII. Deseriptions of three new Species of Fishes in the Collection | 
of the British Museum. By Dr. ALBERT GUNTHER ......+eceesseeeee 374 


New Book :—Physical Geography for Schools and General Readers. 
by M. F. Maury, LL.D. &c. .......008 eigen cecievscasptuevae commesacy eee 376 


Proceedings of the Zoological Society .......:....sesecseeeeveeseees 378—393 


On the Gare-Fowl, or Great Auk (Alcea impennis), by A. von Pelzeln ; 
Observations on the Structure of Ameba and Actinophrys, by 
Dr. J. Wyman and Prof. H. J. Clark; On the Writings of C. S. 
Rafinesque, by Lovell Reeve; On Psalidostoma, a new Genus of 
Fishes of the Family Characini, by Professor Kner; Observations 
on the Development of Rata Batis, by Jeffries Wyman, M.D., 
Hersey Prof. of Anat. in Harvard College; On Dimorphism in 
the Hymenopterous Genus Cynips, by Benjamin D. Walsh, M.A. 
393—400 


NUMBER LXXXIV. 
XLIII. New British Lichens. By the Rev. W. A. LeE1cuTon, 


Beer beGs ba | (Etta UX) Oy handctannes stainties vase veesinctiiten cthiadeeasteeus 401 
XLIV. Memoir on the Pranize and Ancei. By M. Evchne 

ERIS Ee ols caicaidesico ss eaiseoeassiedinasas TsleeridsecacsGeacesodessh daciecssecaacencesae« 405 
XLV. On the Fecundation and Development of Marsilea. By 

WD BEMAUNIG IRENE actress's citisiaicreic:s cos ste joie weitis olsicivisciarneloersaicis srctaiaigs wisiecchelee'ss onnne. 2ll7/ 
XLVI. Diagnoses of new Forms of Mollusca from the Vancouver 

District. By Pari P: Carpenter, B.A., Ph.D.........ccc0cesaxesee 423 
XLVII. Description of a new Species of Eublepharis. By Dr. 

SAAR Rg ex UNDER EG tAae aie Cialeale seeiaare wee orla ey ans os 0a onieCc\alesiuaneedlerieeasie vos 429 


XLVIII. On some peculiar Structures in the Seminal Fluid of 
Lantana. By Dr. Frivrz MUnuER of Desterro  ....0.0..2cseccessecnese 430 


vill CONTENTS. 


Page 
XLIX. Descriptions of new Genera and Species of Phytophaga. 
By J.S. BALY ccoscscace SpECARHAccHipaccbose nndssoendconrotonncGcarinas ssasveves. 400 


L. On the Cocoa-nut of the Seychelles Islands, or Coco-de-Mer, 
By Mr. G. CLARK ceeecesesenscesccensceeeeneceeccrenensceascesscenssenesascoenes 442 


Proceedings of the Zoological Society .........+++++- mee sacivasiecissei 451—461 


On the Naturalization of the White Hare in Faroe, by Sir W. C. 
Trevelyan; Description of Lophogaster typicus, by M. Sars; 
On a Peculiarity in the Venation of the Leaves of the Genus 
Fagus, by Professor A. DeCandolle ; On the Development of the 
Flowers of the Composite, by Professor Wolfgang; On the 
Remains of Plants found beneath the Swiss Lake Dwellings, by 
Professor O. Heer; On some Norwegian Crustacea, by M. Sars. 

461—467 


Mya LSPs asec visrs ciecotares crores ciaysbavcheterotel ot etetare elotelaieielaleleteraiaiove shasta de Meee eae omer eohien ee eeeeeEn 468 


PLATES IN VOL. XIV. 
Piate I. Maltese Miocene Brachiopoda. 
II. Heterocordyle Conybearei. 
III. Lagenorhynchus leucopleurus. 
IV. Metamorphoses of Prawns. 


ae } corals and Echinoderms from the South-Australian Tertiaries. 


VII. Scleropages Leichardti. 
VIII. New Mammalia from the Red Crag. 
IX. New British Lichens. 


ERRATA. 


Page 213 line 4 from bottom for Maesfeldt read Mansfeldt. 
5 PAD 5 NO a » for Zeitmuscheln read Leitmuscheln. 


THE ANNALS 


AND 


MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 


[THIRD SERIES. } 


ee heceeusnessatecns ss per litora spargite muscum, 
Naiades, et circdm vitreos considite fontes : 
Pollice virgineo teneros hic carpite flores : 
Floribus et pictum, dive, replete canistrum. 
At vos, o Nymphe Craterides, ite sub undas ; 
Ite, recurvato variata corallia trunco 
Vellite muscosis e rupibus, et mihi conchas 
Ferte, Dez pelagi, et pingui conchylia succo,” 

N. Parthenii Giannettasii Ecl. 1. 


No. 79. JULY 1864. 


I.— Outline of the Geology of the Maltese Islands, by Dr. Lritu 
Apams, of the 22nd Regiment; and Descriptions of the Bra- 
chiopoda, by Tuomas Davinson, Esq., F.R.S., F.G.S. &c. 


[ Plate I.] 


'THE Maltese Islands run from north-west to south-east ; their 
long axis, including the intermediate channels, does not exceed 
twenty-nine miles, Malta, the most southern of the chain, is 
seventeen miles long by nine miles broad. Comino is two miles 
long by one in breadth ; and Gozo, the most northern, is nine 
miles in length, with a breadth of about five miles. All the 
islands belong to one series, and, according to the latest re- 
searches, are to be considered portions of an early Miocene equi- 
valent to the Hempstead beds in England *, and of the middle 
Tertiaries of the south of France, north of Italy, Doberg bei 
.Biinde in Westphalia, and the Urchin-beds of Bonifacio and 
elsewhere in Corsicat. 

The formations are sedimentary and marine, with a horizontal 
stratification, and are all conformable. The greatest thickness 
of the deposits equals nearly 800 feet above the sea-level. The 


* Prof. E. Forbes, Proc. Geol. Soe. vol. iv. p. 232. 
+ Wright, on Fossil Echinodermata of Malta and Gozo, ‘Ann. & Mag. 


Nat. Hist.’ vol. xv., 1855. 
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. xiv. 1 


2 Dr. L. Adams on the Geology of the Maltese Islands. 


dip runs from about north-east to east north-east, submerging 
the lowermost bed, which, on the opposite coast-line, rises fully 
300 feet above the sea-level. The inclination is im a line with 
the Apennines and Sicilian range from the Val di Noto to 
Talizyi. Indications of great disturbances are shown by five 
great faults, four of which run in a transverse direction and 
parallel with one another. The most extensive downthrow 
traverses the entire breadth of Malta. The remaining fault 
proceeds in a north-west and south-east direction. There are, 
besides, local sinkings; and ancient sea-levels are apparent in 
several situations. 

The mineral deposits arrange themselves, from the sea-level 
upwards, in the following order :-— 


Lower Limestone. 
Caleareous Sandstone. 
Marl. 

Sand. 

Upper Limestone. 


rao SU ee 


The Upper Limestone, Sand, and Marl beds have been eom- 
pletely denuded for the eastern half of Malta and the south and 
north-western portions of Gozo. 

The Lower Limestone varies in colour and mineral consistence, 
being either compact and semicrystalline, almost amounting to 
a variegated marble, of a cream-colour, and commonly known as 
“Gozo marble,” or a white, coarse, open-grained rock, contain- 
ing hard rounded nodules, simulating an oolitic grit. On the 
south-west coasts of Malta and Gozo, the Lower Limestone at-_ 
tains a height of 300 feet above the level of the sea. A few of 
its fossils seem peculiar to the bed, but the majority range up- 
wards, and many throughout the entire series. Casts of a 
gigantic Conus, Terebratula minor, Thecidium Adamsi, together 
with Seutella subrotunda, Operculina complanata, an Orbitoides, 
&c. have as yet been met with only in the Lower Limestone and 
point of transition between this bed and the Caleareous Sand- 
stone. Among the other organic remains common to the above 
and superincumbent beds may be mentioned bones of Cetaceans, 
teeth of Carcharodon, Diodon, Myliobatis, and Pycnodont fishes, 
several species of Pecten, Ostrea, Echinus, and Cidaris, &c. 

The Calcareous Sandstone is granular, and not crystalline, in 
texture; the particles are minute, and evidently held together 
by the combined force of cohesion and pressure. The Lower 
Limestone passes into a white freestone, the latter mto a hght 
fawn-coloured rock traversed by a band of irregular-shaped 
horn-coloured nodules, which are firmly cemented together. 
Abundance of Mollusca, chiefly belonging to Pecten, are strewn 


Dr. L. Adams on the Geology of the Maltese Islands. 3 


about among the nodules. This variety soon passes into a soft 
pale-coloured freestone, characterized by its disposition to split 
up into fragments: it contains rounded masses and bands of 
chert. The second nodule-bed passes through the centre por- 
tion of the deposit. The nodules are not so large as those 
already mentioned, and present a green colour externally, have 
an earthy fracture, and often contain portions of the fossils 
common to the bed, as if they were hardened portions of clay *. 
Although usually seen in bands of from 1 foot to 18 inches in 
thickness, these nodules may be met with in detached groups or 
strewn irregularly throughout this portion of the bed. The 
third seam of nodules, upwards of 10 feet in thickness, overlies 
the pale-coloured variety. It is the most extensive and fossili- 
ferous of all the nodule-seams, and so loosely bound together 
as often to present the consistence of a gravel. The nodules 
are all more or less rounded, and seldom of large size. Bones 
(chiefly ribs) of Cetaceans are very common. It was in this bed 
that the teeth of the Zeuglodon were first found. A new species 
of Phoca was also lately discovered by the author. Prof. Owen 
has named it P. rugosidens. There are, besides, abundance of 
teeth of upwards of nine species of Squale, including the great- 
toothed shark, Carcharodon megalodon. Single specimens of the 
teeth of this fish have been discovered measuring 6,3, and’7 inches 
at their longest side. As usual, among the Mollusca the Pecten is 
the most common form. Among the Brachiopoda, Terebratulina 
caput-serpentis is sometimes found, and 7. ampulla or T. sinuosa, 
Brocchi; but neither are by any means common in any portion 
of the Caleareous Sandstone. Casts of a Pteropod of the genus 
Fyalea, of the size of a small pea, are very common, not only in 
the nodule-beds, but throughout the deposit. The Echinodermata 
are well represented by abundant remains of species belonging 
to Hemiaster, Schizaster, Spatangus, &e., all which have been 
described by Dr. Thomas Wright, F.G.S.+ 

The pale-coloured variety of the Calcareous Sandstone is the 
most extensive portion of that bed: it is overlain by a reddish 
fawn-coloured sort, with a fourth nodule-bed about halfway. 
The same fossils are met with, including two beautiful Scalarie. 
Nodules of iron in the form of peroxide, or, what are more com- 
mon, hollow masses containing a coating of sulphur, are strewn 
in abundance throughout this portion of the deposit. The 
average thickness of the Calcareous Sandstone is fully 200 feet. 
It forms the surface-rock of nearly one-half of Malta and the 
south and south-western portions of Gozo. The transition 


* The nodules have not been chemically examined. 
t+ Ann. and Mag, Nat. Hist. ser. 2. vol. xv. 
1* 


4, Dr. L. Adams on the Geology of the Maltese Islands. 


from this bed into the Marl is not so gradual as im the other 
deposits, forming often an abrupt line of demarcation between 

the reddish-yellow freestone and the loose clay. The latter bed 

varies in thickness: in the island of Gozo it is well developed, 

where often a thickness of from 40 to 50 fect is discernible; in 

other situations it thins out to a few feet. The fossil remains 

of the Marl are apparently not so numerous or so well preserved 

as in the other formations. Casts of shells are common, and 

often incrusted with iron, which, in the same form as just de- 

scribed, strews the bed in great abundance, together with quan- 

tities of lamellar gypsum. The Marl is a grey or drab-coloured 
clay, more or less tenacious, with lighter-coloured bands running 
horizontally throughout the bed. Passing upwards, we find a 
gradual passage into the Sand-bed, which is composed of a black 

or green-grained glistening sand, intermixed with grey-coloured 

caleareous particles or a reddish sand; the latter is at once cha- 
racterized by the enormous numbers of the littke foraminiferous : 
shell Heterostegina depressa, which is met with in great abund- 

ance throughout this bed and the lower part of the one above it. 

The thickness of the Sand-bed, like the last, is very variable. 

In Gozo cliff, sections of 50 feet in thickness are not uncom- 

mon; but on the south-west coast of Malta it seems to thin out 

to a few feet. The fossils of the Sand-bed are both numerous 

and very well preserved. Teeth, bones, &c., of Delphinus are 

common. The Squali are well represented. Among the Mol- 

lusca, beds of Ostrea Virleti and O. Deshayesti are common ; 

also beds of Terebratula ampulla, var. sinuosa, Brocchi, and 

Megerlia truncata. Among the Echinodermata, Clypeaster altus 

and C. marginatus are very common. 

The passage from the Sand-bed to the Upper Limestone is 
usually gradual; sometimes it merges into a red- and black- 
grained Sandstone (i.e. Heterostegina-bed), then into a red or 
white limestone abounding in Corallines and characterized more 
or less by the quantities of Rhynchonella bipartita, Terebratula 
ampulla, var. sinuosa, and Argiope decollata. The last-named 
variety usually passes into a white calcareous sandstone, either 
compact or soft and porous, but always abounding in casts of 
Pecten, Trochus, Arca, Haliotis. The upper portion of this bed 
is usually an open-grained coarse rock, containing fissures and 
cavities lined with calcareous incrustations. The absence of the 
Squali from the middle and upper parts of the Upper Limestone 
we have repeatedly remarked; whereas such Echinoderms as 
Brissus latus, Brissopsis Duciei, and Clypeaster Redii have been 
hitherto only met with in this bed. 

The thickness of the Upper Limestone varies; its average is 
calculated at 100 feet; but some portions far exceed that mea- 


Mr. T. Davidson on the Brachiopoda of the Maltese Islands. 5 


surement, and, considering the amount of degradation and denu- 
dation to which its surface has been exposed, the average here 
given is perhaps far under the original thickness of the deposit. 


Description of the Brachwopoda. 
By Tuomas Davinson, F.R.S., F.G.S. &c. 


Some short time ago, Dr. Leith Adams, who has devoted 
three years to the careful study of the geology of the Maltese 
Islands, forwarded for my examination and description a very 
interesting series of the Miocene Brachiopoda he had been able 
to assemble, which, I believe, may be referred to the following 
seven species :— 


ie sae en Vv 
o : 8 3 
Se rede e  Nabcar es 
ag =I | e 8 
Ba | a Soa ass 
1. Terebratula sinuosa, Brocchi (perhaps 
a variety of T. ampulla) ........ * * * * 
2. Terebratula minor, Philippi (perhaps 
a small variety of T. vitrea)...... * k 
3. Terebratulina caput-serpentis, Linn. . * 
4. Megerlia truncata, Linn. .......... * * 
5. Argiope decollata, Chemnitz........ * 
6. Thecidium Adamsi, Macdonald...... * * 
7. Rhynchonella bipartita, Brocchi ....|  * 


Of these seven species, four (nos. 2, 3, 4, & 5) are also found 
recent in the Mediterranean. 

In ‘ The Geologist’ for December 1862, I described and figured 
(pl. 24. fig. 19), under the denomination of Waldheimia Gari- 
baldiana, a very fine new species which Mr. Etheridge assures 
me he had received from Malta; but, as not a trace of this shell 
has been discovered in that island, it will not be reproduced in 
the present paper. Through the kindness of M. Michelotti of 
Turin, Prof. Meneghini of Pisa, and Prof. Sequenza of Messina, 
I have been able to compare our Maltese specimens with those 
found in formations of a similar age in Italy, and am also in- 
debted to those gentlemen for much interestg information in 
connexion with their local distribution *. 


* Several British paleontologists are at present engaged in the study of 
Maltese Miocene fossils. Dr. Wright has prepared a valuable memoir on 
the Echinodermata. Mr. Rupert Jones has published an interesting account 
of the Foraminifera m the April (1864) Number of ‘The Geologist,’ 
wherein much valuable information will be found; and I am moreover in- 
formed that the Bryozoa and Corals will be shortly published. 


6 Mr. T. Davidson on the Brachiopoda 


1. Terebratula sinuosa, Brocchi, sp. PI. I. figs. 1-7. 


Anomia sinuosa, Brocchi, Conchiologia Fossile, vol. ii. p. 468 (1814), and 

We Bruguiére, Encyclopédie Meéthodique, tab. 239. fig. 3a, b 

Sp. char. Shell ovate, longer than wide, greatest width towards 
the middle; valves almost equally deep, uniformly convex from 
the beaks to about the middle of the shell, after which the dorsal 
valye becomes more or less prominently biplicated, with a sinus 
separating the two rounded ribs. In the ventral valve, a more 
or less apparent median elevation is margined by depressions or 
grooves of greater or less depth, and which correspond with 
the median sinus and ribs of the opposite valve; lateral mar- 
ginal line forming a gentle and regular curve, which becomes 
more or less biplicated in front. Beak rounded, incurved, and 
truncated by a large circular foramen, which is partly margined 
by a concave deltidium ; beak-ridges distinct only in the conti- 
guity of the foramen. Surface smooth, marked only by con- 
centric lines of growth. In the interior of the dorsal valve there 
is a very short simple loop, not much exceeding a fourth of 
the length of the valve, and confined to the posterior portion of 
the shell: this loop is attached by its crura to the hinge-plate, 
the two riband-shaped lamellz being soon united by a transverse 
lamella bent upwards in the middle. Shell-structure punctured. 
Proportions very variable: a large specimen measured in length 
3 inches, width 2 inches 7 lines, depth 1$ inch. 

Obs. It is exceedingly difficult to specifically discriminate be- 
tween some of the many biplicated Terebratule which occur so 
abundantly in the Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Tertiary formations ; 
and I must admit that it would be impossible for me to find 
words wherewith to distinguish the shell under description from 
certain allied forms which occur in the above-named formations*, 


* T have seen and possess several examples of T. perovalis, T. inter- 
media, T. biplicata, Sow., &e., which, although im all probability specifi- 
cally distinct, agree very closely in external form with some examples of 
T. ampulla and T. sinuosa. Nor will it be out of place to remark that 
many specimens of T. sinuosa from Palazzo in Tuscany do exactly agree 
im size and shape with Brocchi’s description and figure of T. biplicata; 
and we should have felt disposed to consider them synonymous had not 
MM. Saemann, Triger, and E. EK. Deslongchamps assured us (in a paper 
read before the Geological Society of France on the 16th of December 
1861) that the original specimen upon which Brocchi had founded his 
T. biplicata was derived from the Jurassic period. I, however, quite con- 
cur with what M. KE. E. Deslongchamps subsequently stated, at p. 136 of 
his excellent monograph of the Jurassic Brachiopoda of France, viz. that 
the imperfect preservation of the beak of Brocchi’s original (?) example of 
T. biplicata, as well as the uncertainty connected with its origin, makes it 
desirable that the terms T. biplicata and T. indentata, as applied by 
Sowerby, should be retained, and that the nomenclature should not be 


of the Maltese Islands, 7 


Our difficulties do not here terminate; for, if we open Bronn’s 
‘Index Palontologicus,’ we find T. grandis, Blum., T. gigan- 
teus, Schloth., A. ampulla and A. sinuosa, Brocchi, T. Pede- 
montana, Lik., T. fragilis, Kon., T. spondyloidea, Smith, T. per- 
forata, Det., T. variabilis, Sow., T. Sowerbyana, Nyst, and 7. bi- 
sinuata, Lk. (all from the Tertiary formation) given as synonyms 
of a single species, for which Blumenbach’s name “ grandis”? is 
retained. It is quite evident that, if all the shells above named 
are not mere modifications of a single very variable species, they 
are at any rate very nearly related forms, and have not yet been 
distinguished in a satisfactory manner. 

M. Meneghini of Pisa and Prof. Sequenza of Messina, who 
have both had ample opportunities of studying the shell under 
description, would feel disposed to consider it specifically distinct 
from T. grandis and T. ampul!a, but at the same time are ready 
to admit that it is at times difficult to separate certain forms of 
T. ampulla and T. sinuosa. Brocchi himself describes a variety 
of T. ampulla in the following words :—“plicis eminentioribus, 
margine inferiore sinuata,” which shows that one variety or 
modification in shape of his 7. ampulla was, according to that 
naturalist, biplicated. Both the learned Italian Professors above 
named are, however, of opinion that 7. grandis and T. ampulla 
are more uniformly convex and globose, and that they differ also 
slightly from 7. sinwosa in the details of their loop (?). 

It is, however, very possibie, and even probable, that 7. sinuosa 
is nothing more than a biplicated variety of 7. grandis or of T. 
ampulla; and it was registered under the last-named denomina- 
tion by the late Prof. E. Forbes and by Capt. Spratt in their 
descriptions of the geology and fossils of Malta. The reason why 
I have here retained the term 7. sénwosa in preference to 7. am- 
pulla is, that, having examined a large number of middle-aged 
examples from Tuscany as well as from Malta, I found them all 
so extremely biplicated, that they differed in this respect so 
materially from similar specimens of 7. grandis and T. ampulla 
I have been able to examine, as to have made me question the 
propriety of at present classing them all under a single denomi- 
nation. It will remain also still to be determined whether the 
parent form may not have existed in the Cretaceous or Jurassic 
period ; but we may at any rate assert that we are not acquainted 


thrown into fresh confusion by taking away the term beplicata from the well- 
known Cretaceous shell and giving it to the equally well-known T. inden- 
tata, to which Brocchi’s imperfect shell is supposed to belong. Brocchi’s 
name in connexion with T. biplicata should therefore in future be com- 
pletely expunged, and Sowerby’s well-known term biplicata be preserved 
for the Cretaceous shell. 


8 Mr. T. Davidson on the Brachiopoda 


with a single recent species which could be referred to the shell 
under description. 

T. sinuosa is a very common fossil in the Miocene strata of 
the island of Malta, and was found by Dr. Leith Adams in-the 
“Upper Limestone” (No. 1), the “ Sand-bed” (2), and the “ Marl- 
bed” (3), but most abundantly among the Coralline portions of 
the Upper Limestone. The shell is generally gregarious, and is 
met with in regular beds, but attains its greatest size and per- 
fection in bed No. 1. It is very rare in the nodular vein of the 
“‘Calcareous Sandstone” (4), and Dr. Adams has not yet met 
with it in the “ Lower Limestone” (5). 

In Italy 7. sinuosa has been found very abundantly by M. 
Meneghini in the Middle Miocene of Palazzo in Tuscany, and 
its occurrence in beds of a similar age in Piedmont has been 
noticed by M. Michelotti of Turin. In Sicily it has been found 
by M. Sequenza in the Miocene beds of Messina; and I be- 
lieve I have seen specimens from Algeria. 


2. Terebratula minor, Philippi. PI. I. fig. 8. 


T. vitrea, var. minor, Philippi. 
T. minor, Suess, Ueber die Wohnsitze der Brachiopoden (1859), and Dav. 
Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. for July 1861. 


Sp. char. Shell small, ovate, nearly straight in front. Valves 
almost equally deep, uniformly and tumidly convex, without fold 
or sinus. Surface smooth, marked only by concentric lines of 
growth. Beak small, incurved and truncated by a small circular 
foramen ; deltidium small, proportions variable. Length 5, 
width 4, depth 3 lines. 

Obs. The correct determination of this small shell is subject 
to some difficulties. It exactly resembles a Sicilian Pliocene 
example of T. minor sent to me by M. Michelotti of Turi, and 
bears the greatest resemblance to Prof. Sequenza’s T. affinis. 

The specific value of Philippi’s Terebratula minor has, however, 
been differently viewed by some naturalists. Prof. Suess con- 
siders 7. minor to be distinct from T. vitrea (it is, according to 
my learned Viennese friend, smaller, with stronger valves and 
blunt margins), and that Philippi has pointed out the differences 
between the two. M. Sequenza, on the contrary, seems to 
consider Philippi’s 7. minor as nothing more than a smaller race 
of 7. vitrea, and assures me that in the last-named shell and in 
T. minor the loop is exactly the same, that is to say, short and 
simple, the two riband-shaped lamellz bemg soon united by a 
transverse lamella bent upwards in the middle. 

The Maltese specimens I have been able to examine have all 
the external shape and character of small examples of 7. vitrea ; 


of the Maltese Islands. ny 9 


and we cannot be very far wrong, I think, in leaving it with 
T. minor. 

I am informed by Dr. Adams that this species (in Malta) is 
peculiar, seemingly, to the point of transition between the 
* Lower Limestone” (5) and the “Calcareous Sandstone”? (4), 
and occurs there along with Thecidium Adamsi. It has also been 
recently found by Dr. Adams in great abundance im the “ lowest 
Limestone” in Gozo. Dr. Adams informs me also that this is 
no doubt the small Terebratula referred to by Capt. Spratt, in 
his valuable memoir on the geology of Malta and Gozo, as having 
been discovered by Karl Ducie when studying the geology of 
Malta for his geological map of that island. 

T. minor occurs in the Miocene, Pliocene, and Pleistocene 
deposits of Sicily; and both it and 7. vitrea live near the shore 
_of that island. 


3. Terebratulina caput-serpentis, Linn. sp. PI. I. fig. 9. 
Anomia caput-serpentis, Linn. Syst. Nat. p. 1153. 


I can perceive no difference between the Maltese Miocene shell 
and those which occur in the Mediterranean. Dr. Adams informs 
me that the shell under notice is found (although rarely) in the 
“ Caleareous Sandstone” (4). In Piedmont and Tuscany it 
occurs in the middle and upper Miocene, and in the Miocene, 
Pliocene, and Pleistocene of Sicily. I may also here mention 


that the British Museum possesses specimens from the Miocene 
of Gibraltar. 


4. Megerlia truncata, Linn. sp. Pl. I. fig. 10. 
Anomia truncata, Linn. Syst. Nat. p. 1152. 


This species occurs along with Argiope decollata in the upper- 
most bed of the “‘ Upper Limestone ” (1) as well as in the “ Sand- 
bed ” (2) in the island of Malta, and is also found recent in the 
Mediterranean. 

M. truncata is a common species in the middle and upper 
Miocene as well as in the Pliocene and Pleistocene of Italy and 
Sicily. It occurs also in the Miocene of Gibraltar. 


5. Argiope decollata, Chemnitz, sp. PI. I. figs. 11, 12. 


Anomia decollata, Chemnitz, Conch. Cab. vol. viii. p. 96, pl. 78. fig. 705, 

a to d. 

Anomia detruncata, Gmelin. 

Perfectly characterized specimens, agreeing with the recent 
species now living in the Mediterranean, occur along with Me- 
gerlia truncata, in the “ Uppermost Limestone” (1 8) and “ Sand- 
bed” (2) of the Island of Malta. It is evidently the species 
named Orthis detruncata by Prof. K. Forbes in his “ Note on the 


10 Mr.T. Davidson on the Brachiopoda of the Maltese Islands. 


Maltese Fossils” (Proc. Geol. Soe. vol. iv. No. 97), and appended 
to Capt. Spratt’s memoir on the geology of the island. 

A. decollata is also common in the middle and upper Miocene 
beds of Piedmont and Tuscany, but is rare in the Pliocene of 
Sienna; it occurs in the Pleistocene beds of Messina. 


6. Thecidium Adamsi, Macdonald. PI. I. fig. 18. 


Thecidium Adamsi, J. D. Macdonald, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soe. vol. xix. 

p. 517 (1863) ; Davidson in Longman’s Geol. Mag. for July 1864. 

As this interesting little species has been recently correctly 
described and figured in detail by myself in ‘ Longman’s Maga- 
zine,’ all we need now repeat is that the shell occurs in great 
abundance in the upper portion of the “ Lower Limestone” (5), 
and it is usually associated with Orbetoides, Cidaris, Echinus, 
Scutella, and other forms characteristic of the situation, and 
apparently never found in any of the superincumbent beds. 


7. Rhynchonella bipartita, Brocchi, sp. Pl. I. fig. 14. 


Anomia bipartita, Brocchi, Conchiologia Fossile, vol. ii. p. 466, pl. 10. 

fiz. 7 (1814). 

, Def. Dict. Sci. pp. 156, 182; Philippi, Enumeratio Mollus- 

corum Siciliz, vol. ii. tab. 18. fig. 5. 

Terebratula incurva, Vou Buch, Ueber Terebrateln, tab. 2. fig. 40 (1834). 

Sp. char. Shell of a somewhat globosely triangular shape, 
eenerally rather wider than long, while at times the length 
slightly exceeds the width. Dorsal valve deeper and much more 
convex than the opposite one; mesial fold wide and apparent 
only towards the front. Ventral valve moderately convex, with 
a wide, square-shaped, shallow sinus beginning towards the 
middle of the valve and extending to the front. Beak acuminate, 
acute, incurved, leaning considerably over the umbo, with an 
elongated foramen extending from under the extremity of the 
beak to the umbo, and almost entirely surrounded by a delti- 
dium. The surface is usually smooth, but on some specimens 
a few short ribs appear towards the frontal and lateral margins, 
while concentric lines of growth cover the surface. Length and 
breadth about equal. One Maltese specimen measured 10 lines 
in length and breadth, 7 in depth ; but it attains larger propor- 
tions in other localities. 

Obs. This very variable shell is stated by Dr. Adams to be 
common enough, along with Megerlia truncata and Argiope de- 
collata, in the “ Upper Limestone” (1), but is difficult to obtain 
entire. In Italy it occurs abundantly in the upper Miocene 
and Pliocene of ‘Tuscany. In the island of Sicily it is common 
in the Miocene of Palermo; but, according to Prof. Sequenza, 
is less abundant in that of Messina. 


Mr. H. W. Bates on the Longicorns of the Amazon Valley. 11 
EXPLANATION OF PLATE I. 


Figs. 1 to7. Terebratula sinuosa, Brocchi; different ages and variations 
in form. 7. Interior of the dorsal valve of a small specimen. 

Fig. 8. Terebratula minor, Philippi. 

Fig. 9. Terebratulina caput-serpentis, Linn. 9 a. Enlarged illustration. 

Fig. 10. Megerlia truncata, Linn. 10 a. Enlarged. 

Figs. 11, 12. Argiope decollata, Chemnitz. 11a. Enlarged figure. 
12. Enlarged interior view of the dorsal valve. 

Fig. 13. Thecidium Adamsi, Macdonald. 13 a, 6. Enlarged figures. 

Fig. 14. Rhynchonella bipartita, Brocchi. 


Il.—Contributions to an Insect Fauna of the Amazon Valley. 
CoreorrerA: Loneicornes. By H. W. Bares, Esq. 


[Continued from vol. xiii. p. 164.] 
Genus Hy Lrrrus, nov. gen. 


Body elongate-oblong, more or less depressed, free from setz. 
Head, as in all the allied genera, much narrower than the thorax, 
with the antenne approximated at the base; muzzle short and 
obtuse; lower lobe of the eyes subquadrate. Antenne greatly 
elongated, sparingly furnished beneath with short bristles. 
Thorax uneven on the surface ; lateral tubercles prominent and 
placed near the middle of the sides. Elytra without smooth 
lateral keels proceeding from the shoulders. Sterna simple. 
Terminal abdominal segment in the males with both dorsal and 
ventral plates notched or emarginated. Ovipositor of the female 
elongated, tubular; dorsal plate pointed, ventral truncated. 
Legs moderate ; thighs clavate, thickly so in the males; basal 
joint of the posterior tarsi as long as, or longer than, the two 
following taken together. Fore and middle tarsi in the male 
dilated and fringed with hairs. 

The chief character which distinguishes this group from Nys- 
sodrys is the dilatation and ciliation of the anterior and (in less 
degree) of the intermediate tarsi in the males. Some of the larger 
species of Nyssodrys have the male anterior tarsi much broader 
than those of the hind legs, but in none of them are they fur- 
nished with the marginal fringe of hairs. The Hy/etti: are some- 
what larger insects than the Nyssodryes, and the shape of their 
thorax is somewhat different, the lateral spines being in the 
form of large or distinct tubercles, and placed near the middle 
of the sides. The genus approaches Acanthocinus and Graphi- 
surus (groups characteristic of North America and Europe) 
nearer than any we have yet passed in review. 


Hylettus cenobita, Evichs. 
Leiopus cenobita, Erichson, Consp. Ins. Col. Peruana, p. 145. 
‘I, fuscus, dense cinereo-tomentosus, supra flavo irroratus, scutello 


12 Mr. H. W. Bates oa the Longicorn Coleoptera 


nigro cincto: elytris puncto infra scutellum maculaque transversa 
atro-tomentosis, flavo cinctis, apice emarginatis, spina brevi termi- 
natis. Long. 53-8 lin.” of @. 


The examples which served Erichson for his description were 
obtained by Von Tschudi in Eastern Peru, in the same forest 
region where, further east, at Ega, | met with it in abundance. 
The elytra are sinuate-truncate at the apex, and it is only in the 
inale that the outer angle of the truncature is produced into a 
spine ; in the female both angles are acute. The thoracic tuber- 
cles are rather small, but stand out distinct from the sides of 
the thorax. 

The Adilis griseofasciatus of Serville (Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr. iv. 
p. 33), a common South-Brazilian insect, belongs to the present 
genus, and there are doubtless many other tropical American 
species yet to be added to it*. 


Genus PALAMEg, nov. gen. 


Body oblong, narrow ; elytra clothed with short sete. Head 
not much narrower than thorax or elytra. Antennz moderate 
in length, setose both above and beneath. Thorax with lateral 
spines extremely small and placed near the hind angles. Elytra 
free from ridges and lateral keels. Terminal abdominal seg- 
ment with the ventral plate in the males sharply notched ; ovi- 
positor in the female not prolonged, the apical segment being 
only a little longer than that of the male, with the ventral plate 
convex and truncated, and the angles of the truncature pro- 
duced. Legs stout; fore and middle tarsi dilated and fringed 
with hairs in the male; coxe and under surface of body also 
densely hairy in the same sex. 

In many points (for example, the setose elytra and antenne, 
shape of thorax, and style of coloration) the curious insect 
forming this genus shows a near degree of relationship with the 
Sporeti, especially with S. seminalis. It exhibits, however, an 
almost equally close approximation to the Colobothea, showmg 
that, notwithstanding the great amount of apparent difference 
between the elongate Colobothee and short flattened Levopz, 


* Hylettus decorticans, nu. sp. Oblongus, subdepressus, griseo-fulvus, 
brunneo variegatus. Caput griseum. Antenne rufescentes, articulis 
apice obscurioribus. Thorax ineequalis, griseo-fulvus, tuberculis 
lateralibus magnis conicis, mox pone medium sitis. Elytra oblonga, 
postice sensim attenuata (3), apice oblique truncata, supra passim 
punctata, punctis basalibus granulis elevatis adjunctis, fulvo-grisea, 
utrinque maculis lateralibus tribus fuscis, prima elongata, obliqua, 
pone basin suturam fere attingente, secunda latiore pone medium, 
tertiaque interrupta prope apicem. Corpus subtus griseum. Pedes 
rufescentes, tibiis apice tarsisque nigricantibus. Long. 6 lin. ¢. 
Hab. Venezuela. Coll. Bakewell., Bates. 


of the Amazon Valley. 13 


from which the Sporeti differ little, the two extremes are in 
reality closely bound together by connecting links, and, notwith- 
standing the almost endless multiplication of specific forms, 
have not diverged widely from a common plan of structure. 
The genus Palame is readily distinguishable from all allied 
genera by the hairy coxe and sterna of the male, and the 
absence of ovipositor in the female. 


Palame crassimanus, n. sp. 

P. oblonga, subcylindrica, nigro-olivacea, sericea : thorace vittis quin- 
que cinereis: elytris late subsinuato-truncatis, plagis cinereis 
nigro maculatis. Long. 33lin. ¢ Q. 

Head black ; forehead with three ashy lines, and outer orbits 
of the eyes ashy. Antenne black, bases of joints paler, those 
of the fourth to the sixth joints ashy. Thorax convex, above 
silky black, with five ashy vitte, the two lateral ones on each 
side, in some examples, being interrupted, and in others con- 
fluent. Elytra slightly narrowed from base to apex; apex 
broadly subsinuate-truncate, angles of the truncature obtuse, 
surface silky olive black, and with large ashy patches speckled 
with black; sides speckled with ashy tomentum: besides the 
setiferous punctures over the whole elytra, the basal part has 
a number of simple punctures. Body beneath ashy. Legs 
black, with ashy pile; tarsi and under surface of body naked in 
the female ; in the male the fore and middle tarsi are dilated and 
fringed with hairs, and have fulvous brush-like palms, the coxz 
and middle of the breast and abdomen being thickly clothed 
with brownish hairs. 

Generally distributed throughout the Amazons region, on both 
sides of the river. It is found on slender branches of fallen 
trees in the forest. The terminal segment of the abdomen of 
the female is scarcely visible beyond the tips of the elytra. 


Genus Toron £US, nov. gen. 


Body oblong, somewhat convex. Head and thorax of nearly 
equal breadth, and much narrower than the elytra. Antenne 
greatly elongated ; joints long and slender, sparingly furnished 
with setze both above and beneath. Thorax with a slight pro- 
tuberance on the sides a little behind the middle, in place of the 
lateral spies. Elytra without sete, and free from ridges and 
lateral carme. Terminal segment of the abdomen in the males 
with both dorsal and ventral plates more or less notched at the 
tip. Ovipositor of the females greatly elongated, and generally 
exserted beyond its sheath, tubular; dorsal plate of the terminal 
abdominal segment (constituting the sheath) slender and pointed, 
ventral deeply cleft at the apex. Legs moderately slender ; 


14 Mr. H. W. Bates on the Longicorn Coleoptera 


thighs clavate; tarsi undilated and simple in both sexes; basal 

joint of posterior tarsi as long as, or longer than, the three suc- 

ceeding taken together. 

This genus is distinguished from all the preceding by the 
cleft or deeply notched apex of the terminal ventral segment in 
the females; in this it agrees with Graphisurus of Kirby*, 
which, again, is connected by intermediate species with Acantho- 
cinus, a group containing the well-known A. edilis, or carpenter- 
beetle, an inhabitant of the wooded parts of our own island. 
Thus all the numerous genera of Acanthocinite are closely linked 
together ; for species of Nyssodrys (e.g. N. signifera) exhibit to 
a slight extent the character of a cleft apex of the terminal ven- 
tral segment, and this genus leads on without any sharp line of 
demarcation to Leiopus,—showing that the European genera 
Leiopus and Acanthocinus, which appear to us so far asunder, 
are connected together by insensible gradations of form. The 
typical species of Toroneus (namely those which have no thoracic 
spines) are easily distinguishable from Graphisurus ; but if the 
bounds of the genus be extended a little, so as to embrace a few 
closely allied species which have small thoracic spinest, the only 
difference between the two genera will be one of general form, 
the Graphisuri being much flattened, with comparatively short 
antennal joints, whilst the Toronai have convex shapes and very 
slender antenne. 

1. Toroneus figuratus, n. sp. 

T. oblongus, convexiusculus, nigro-castaneus, capite thoraceque vitta 
centrali ochracea: elytris litura humerali, macula magna com- 
muni ante medium antice et postice per suturam excurrente, 
fasciaque lata inflecta prope apicem cinereo-cchraceis. Long. 
4=5 line “6°: 

Head dark brown, sides of forehead and cheeks each with a 
yellowish streak, vertex with a broad central yellowish stripe. 
Antenne slender, twice the length of the body in both sexes, 
reddish, tips of joimts dusky, and bases of third to sixth joints 
whitish. Thorax not much broader than the head, and with a 
slight protuberance on each side about the middle, but no trace 


* This genus comprehends the followmg North-American species :— 


1. G. fasciatus, De Geer, Mém. v. p. 114, t. 14. f. 7. 
, Kirby, Fauna Boreali- Americana, Ins. p. 169. 
2= Lamia mixta, Fabr. E. S. Suppl. 144. 26. 
2. G. obsoletus, Oliv. Col. iv. p. 130, t. 13. f. 90. 
= Astynomus levicollis, Dj. Cat. 
3. G. pusillus, Kirby, Fauna Bor.-Americana, p. 169. 
Acanthocinus atomarius (¥.), of Europe, is also probably a Graphisurus. 
+ Such as Eutrypanus tessellatus, White, Cat. p. 372 (= E. variegatus, 
Dej. Cat.), and others, not found in the Amazons region. 


of the Amazon Valley. ji 15 


of spine or tubercle; above dark chestnut-colour, silky, sides 
and a central vitta continuous with that of the head yellowish. 
Scutellum ochreous. Elytra in both sexes very slightly narrowed 
to three-fourths of their length, then abruptly narrowed in a curved 
line to the apex, which is subsinuate-truncate; surface punc- 
tured, except near the apex, dark brownish chestnut ornamented 
with marks of a yellowish-ashy hue; there is a small spot on 
each side of the scutellum, an angulated streak under each 
shoulder, and a large common spot a little before the middle 
extending along the suture both towards the base and apex, and 
connected with an angulated streak which touches the side on 
each elytron ; this patch has a small blackish speck in its mid- 
dle over the suture ; besides these marks, the apex has on each 
side a flexuous streak enclosing a tooth-shaped spot of the 
ground-colour of the elytron. Body beneath hoary white. Legs 
reddish, with ashy pile; apex of thighs, tibie, and tarsi black. 

3d Terminal abdominal segment feebly emarginated at the 
apex. 

2 Ovipositor greatly elongated and exserted beyond its sheath, 
apical dorsal plate of its sheath pointed, ventral deeply cleft. 

I met with this elegantly marked insect only at Obydos, on 
the Guiana side of the Lower Amazons, where it was abundant, 
im March 1859. It has been found also in the interior of 
Cayenne by M. Bar, and exists in French collections under the 
names of Hutrypanus figuratus and E. elegans, the former of 
which I have adopted. 


2. Toroneus suavis, n. sp. 

T. oblongus, convexiusculus, nigro-castaneus, capite thoraceque vitta 
centrali ochracea: elytris litura humerali, fascia obliqua pone 
medium, linea arcuata laterali prope apicem, suturaque postice 
cinereo-ochraceis. Long. 33-53 lin. ¢ @. 

Head dark brown, sides of forehead and cheeks each with a 
yellowish streak, vertex with a broad central yellowish stripe. 
Antenne slender, reddish, tips of joints dusky, bases of third 
to sixth joints pale. Thorax not much broader than the head, 
and with a shght protuberance on each side about the middle, 
but no trace of spine or tubercle ; above dark chestnut, silky, 
sides whitish, the middle traversed by a yellowish stripe con- 
tinuous with that of the head. Scutellum ochreous. Elytra in 
both sexes gradually narrowed from base to apex, the latter 
sinuate-truncate ; surface punctured, except towards the apex, 
dark brownish chestnut ornamented with yellowish-ashy marks ; 
there is a small spot on each side of the scutellum, a patch be- 
neath and a curved line above the shoulder, an oblique stripe 
beginning about the middle of each side, and extending to the 


16 Mr. H. W. Bates on the Longicorn Coleoptera 


suture, connected with a lighter streak on the disk, and, lastly, 
a distinct arcuated yellowish line on each side near the apex ; 
the suture near the base and apex is also bordered with yellowish 
ashy. Body beneath hoary white, breast and base of abdomen 
on each side with dark oblique stripes: abdomen sometimes 
reddish. Legs reddish; apical halves of tibize and tarsi black ; 


basal joints of tarsi ashy. 
$ Terminal abdominal segment with dorsal and ventral plates 


rather deeply notched. 

? Ovipositor greatly elongated and exserted beyond its sheath, 
apical dorsal plate pointed, ventral deeply and narrowly cleft. 

This pretty species, which differs from T. figuratus by the 
more tapering shape of its elytra, and by the markings on the 
surface of the wing-cases, was met with at various places on the 
southern side of the Lower Amazons, and on the banks of the 
Tapajos, but never in abundance. 


3. Toronaeus perforator, n. sp. 

T. oblongus, convexiusculus, fuscus, nigro fulvo canoque variegatus : 
elytris apice cinereo marginatis et fasciatis ; foeminz stylo elonga- 
tissimo. Long. 23-53 lin. ¢ Q. 

Head velvety black, cheeks ashy, vertex with a short yellow 
line. Antenne slender, more than twice the length of the body 
in both sexes, reddish testaceous, all the joints except the first 
and second with a pale ring at their bases. Thorax very little 
broader than the head, the sides in the middle with a slight 
protuberance, surface dark brown, with blackish spots on the 
disk and fulvous spots on the sides, a curved ashy streak below 
the lateral protuberance. Scutellum black. Elytra oblong, not 
narrowed until near the apex, at which point they are suddenly 
narrowed to the tip, which is obliquely truncated; surface 
thickly punctured, except near the apex, dark purplish brown, 
sides with greyish marks, and disk spotted with black, some- 
times varied also with obscure greyish and fulvous streaks and 
spots, a more distinct but short oblique pale line existing, in all 
examples, on each elytron a little before the middle near the 
suture ; the apical margin, both sutural and external, has a neat 
ashy border, which, being joined to a preeapical fascia of the same 
hue, encloses a transverse blackish spot. Body beneath clothed 
with silky grey pile. Legs more or less reddish, with ashy and 
black rings. 

g Terminal abdominal segment with dorsal plate semicircu- 
larly notched at the tip, ventral with a shallower notch. 

2 Ovipositor greatly elongated, the sheath extending. more 
than two lines beyond the tips of the elytra; dorsal plate finely 
pointed, ventral cleft at the tip. 


of the Amazon Valley. 17 


A widely distributed insect in the Amazons region, being 
found on the banks of the Tapajos and near Ega on the Upper 
Amazons. The species has also been met with by M. Bar in the 
interior of French Guiana. Cayenne examples agree precisely 
with those found at Ega; but those brought from the Tapajos 
are much lighter in colour, and have many tawny spots on the 
upper surface of the thorax and elytra, which are wanting in 
those of other localities. 


4. Toroneus terebrans, n. sp. 


T. oblongus, conyexiusculus, fuscus : thorace antice maculis quatuor 
fulvis in serie transversa dispositis: elytris nigro griseoque nebu- 
losis, medio macula communi cinerea, ante apicem linea transversa 
fulva. Long. 4 lin. ¢. 


Head velvety black, cheeks ashy, vertex with a short ashy line. 
Antennz reddish testaceous, bases of joints (except the basal 
two) pallid, apices dusky. Thorax very little broader than the 
head, the sides in the middle with a distinct conical protuber- 
ance ; surface blackish, sides streaked with ashy, fore part with 
a transverse row of four distinct tawny spots, an obscure oblique 
line of the same hue extending from the base towards the disk 
on each side. Elytra oblong, not narrowed until near the apex, 
at which point they are suddenly narrowed to the tip, the latter 
obliquely truncated ; surface thickly punctured, except near the 
apex, purplish brown, varied throughout with pale bluish grey 
and patches of a black colour, apical part clear brown (including 
the margins), but crossed by a thin yellowish line from lateral 
margin to suture. Body beneath silky ashy. Legs reddish, 
ringed with grey and black. 

6 Terminal abdominal segment with dorsal plate semicircu- 
larly notched at the tip, ventral with a shallower notch, 

Found only at S. Paulo, Upper Amazons. 


5. Toroneus virens, n. sp. 
T. oblongus, convexiusculus, fusco sericeus, viridi micans: elytris 


plaga magna ante medium cinerea, apicibus canis utrinque macula 
transversa fusca, Long. 3}-4} lin. ¢ Q. 


Head sooty black, cheeks yellowish ashy. Antenne reddish, 
bases of third to sixth joints pallid. Thorax very little broader 
than the head, the sides in the middle with a conical protuber- 
ance, surface dark brown, becoming green in certain lights ; 
disk speckled with tawny ashy, sides ashy, with a brown streak. 
Elytra oblong, obliquely truncated, surface punctured, except at 
the apex; dark brown, with a large patch before the middle, 
and the apical region ashy, the apical spot enclosing a transverse 
curved blackish streak: the whole surface has a silky green 

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist, Ser. 3, Vol. xiv, 


18 Mr. H. W. Bates on the Longicorn Coleoptera 


lustre in certain lights. Body beneath ashy. Legs blackish, 
ringed with ashy. 

¢ Terminal abdominal segment with both dorsal and ventral 
plates deeply notched. 

2 Ovipositor projecting one line and a half beyond the tips 
of the elytra; ventral plate deeply notched. 

A common insect on branches of fallen trees in the forest, 
both on the Upper and Lower Amazons, 


Genus CALLIPERO, noy. gen. 


Body elongate, narrow; head and thorax of nearly equal 
width, and narrower than the elytra. Muzzle short, lower lobe 
of the eyes short, and narrower below than above. Thorax with 
a slight protuberance behind the middle, but free from lateral 
spines or tubercles. Elytra without lateral keels, clothed with 
short sete. Sterna simple. Antenne moderately elongated ; 
third to seventh joints thickened (the seventh thicker than the 
rest), and densely clothed on their under surface with short 
set, besides the usual longer bristles which exist on all the 
joints (except the first) both above and beneath. Ovipositor of 
the female not exserted; terminal abdominal segment elongated 
and conical, with the dorsal plate pointed, and ventral truncated. 
Legs moderately elongated ; thighs clavate; basal jomt of pos- 
terior tarsi as long as the three following taken together. 

This genus differs from all the genera of Acanthocinite known 
to me by the shape and clothing of the third to the seventh 
joints of the antenne. In shape of body and style of coloration 
the species composing it might easily be mistaken for Ceram- 
bycideous insects of the genus Rhopalophora. 


Callipero bella, un. sp. 
C. elongata, capite .thoraceque chalybeis, azureo vittatis: elytris 


purpureis, sutura azurea, maculis duabus basalibus aurantiacis : 
corpore subtus azureo. Long. 5 lin. 9. 


Head steel-blue, forehead dusky, cheeks grey, a pale blue 
vitta extending from the middle of the front to the occiput. 
Antenne black. Thorax steel-blue, a narrow central vitta, and 
on each side a broad lateral one, pale blue. LElytra elongated, 
broader than the thorax, tapering to the apex, and broadly trun- 
cated ; surface inthe middle with three faint, smoothed, raised 
lines, thickly punctured towards the base, and covered with finer 
punctures, each emitting a longish, erect, black bristle; dark 
blue, changing to purple, suture and apical margin bordered 
with light cobalt-blue; base of each elytron with a large orange- 
coloured spot. Body beneath pale blue. Legs black, with grey 
pile. : ; 


2 


of the Amazon Valley. 19 


I met with one example only of this most charmmg species, 
at S. Paulo on the Upper Amazons, where it was found sunning 
itself on a leaf on the banks of one of the brooks which run 
through the virgin forest. 


Genus Cosexura, Erichson. 
Erichson, Conspectus Ins. Coleop. Peruana, p. 149. 


The founder of this genus likened it to Colobothea, mention- 
ing as the only characters which distinguish it the depressed 
body and tumid mesosternum. Cobelura, however, differs from 
all the genera of the group Colobotheine in wanting the acute 
prominent shoulders and sharp lateral carinz of the elytra which 
are characteristic of the group. The genus is more nearly allied 
to Nyssodrys and Hylettus, differmg from both chiefly m the 
elongate-elliptical shape of the body (which assimilates the spe- 
cies to the Colobothee), unarmed sides of the thorax, tumid 
mesosternum, and small size of the lower lobe of the eyes. The 
only species described by Erichson is the C. lorigera, inhabiting 
the forest region of Eastern Peru, which differs greatly from the 
following in colours and markings. 


Cobelura proliza, u. sp. 

C. elongata, subdepressa, postice paulo attenuata, olivaceo-grisea : 
thorace vitta lata mediana fusca, nigro marginata : elytris maculis 
irregularibus discoidalibus alteraque laterali majore triangulari 
ante apicem fuscis, leviter tricostatis. Long. 7} lin. ¢. 


Head clothed with tawny pile. Antenne reddish, bases of 
the joints pallid or ashy, apices dusky. Thorax much broader 
than the head, and much narrower than the elytra, convex and 
rounded on the sides, the broadest part being the middle; sur- 
face olivaceous or tawny ashy, the middle occupied by a broad 
dusky vitta bordered by black lines; there is also a dusky vitta 
on each side below the lateral dilatation. Elytra elongated 
and rather depressed; shoulders prominent, but obtuse; apex 
obliquely sinuate-truncate, with both angles of the truncature 
produced (the external one most so), sides destitute of carine ; 
surface of each with three smooth cost, the imnermost only 
strongly pronounced, covered with minute punctures, each bear- 
ing a short bristle; dull greenish ashy, with small dark-brown 
specks and a larger triangular dark-brown spot on the sides 
near the apex. Body beneath obscure tawny ; middle of breast 
and abdomen, and terminal segment of the latter, blackish. 
Legs greenish tawny ; tibize and tarsi ringed with black. Meso- 
sternum with a very large rounded tubercle. 

$ Terminal abdominal segment with both ventral and dorsal 
plates deeply notched. 

9 


20 Mr. H. W. Bates on the Longicorn Coleoptera 


I met with a few examples only of this species in the dry 
woods near Santarem, at the mouth of the Tapajos. 


Genus XYLERGATEs, Nov. gen. 


Body oblong, robust. Antenne stout, moderately elongated, 
sparingly furnished with short bristles beneath. Thorax tuber- 
cular on the disk; lateral tubercles large and placed near the 
middle of the sides. Elytra much broader than the thorax, 
their deflexed sides broad and vertical, but not separated from 
the dorsal surface by smooth keels; surface costate and rough- 
ened by small tubercles surmounted by short bristles ; apices 
truncated. Sterna narrow. Terminal abdominal segment in 
the males with dorsal and ventral plates notched. Ovipositor 
of the females moderately elongated, conico-tubular; dorsal 
plate obtuse, ventral truncated. Legs stout; thighs thickly 
clavate ; fore and middle tarsi dilated in the males; first jomt of 
the hind tarsi about equal to the two followmg taken together. 

The robust forms and tubercular thoraces of the species com- 
posing this genus give them a strong general resemblance to 
the Acanthoderes ; they are distinguished, however, by the elon- 
gate gradually thickened basal joint of the antenne, the closure 
of the anterior acetabular sutures, the ovipositor of the females, 
and other characters. The genus is very closely related to 
Eutrypanus, no constant mark of difference existing other than 
the absence of smooth lateral keels proceeding from the shoul- 
ders of the elytra. From Acanthocinus it is distinguished by the 
high vertical sides of the wing-cases, the tuberculose surface of 
the body, and the dilated anterior and middle tarsi of the males, 


Xylergates lacteus, n. sp. 

X. oblongus, supra planiusculus, postice sensim attenuatus, brunneo 
sericeus : elytris strigis curvatis lacteis plagas griseas includentibus, 
apice sinuato-truncatis, angulis exterioribus productis. Long. 63- 
fline= SQ. 

Head tawny brown. Antenne ringed with grey and black. 
Thorax with large obtusely conical lateral tubercles near the 
middle of the sides, and with two obtuse tubercles on the fore 
part of the disk, besides three other smaller ones on the poste- 
rior part; surface purplish brown, silky, sides below the tuber- 
cles ashy. Elytra broad and straight at the base, thence gradu- 
ally narrowed to the apex, which is somewhat broadly sinuate- 
truncate, the external angles of the truncature produced; de- 
fiexed sides (towards the base) thickly granulate-punctate ; sur- 
face with numerous small punctures towards the base, and with 
four or five interrupted rows of acute blackish tubercles sur- 
mounted by short bristles, the middle ones lying along the faint 


of the Amazon Valley. 21 


dorsal carinze ; the colour is silky purplish brown, with (on each 
elytron) a curved milk-white streak from the shoulders to near 
the apex bending towards the suture, and two obliquely transverse 
similar streaks near the apex, all enclosing patches of a lght-grey 
colour and shorter milk-white streaks, the anterior curved lateral 
lines being connected across the suture by a thin straight hne 
of the same hue. Body beneath tawny ashy. Legs grey, with 
dusky rings. 

3 Middle of breast and coxe thickly clothed with brown 
pubescence. ‘Terminal abdominal segment with ventral and 
dorsal plates deeply notched, the angles of the ventral notch 
acute, of the dorsal obtuse. Fore and middle tarsi dilated and 
fringed with hairs. 

2 Breast, coxe, and tarsi simple and naked. Ovipositor pro- 
jecting the length of a line beyond the tips of the elytra; dorsal 
plate broad and obtuse at the tip. 

This elegant and rare species occurred only at Ega and S, 
Paulo, Upper Amazons. It has since been found also in the 
interior of French Guiana by M. Bar *. 


Group Colobotheine. 
Genus Eurrypanvs (Dej. Cat.), Thomson. 
Thomson, Classif. des Cérambye. p. 13. 


Char. emend. Body oblong or subelongate, above somewhat 
plane. Thorax with stout lateral spines or tubercles placed near 
the middle of the sides, above tubercled or convex. Elytra 
much broader than the thorax, their deflexed sides broad and 
vertical, and separated from the dorsal surface by a sharp keel 
proceeding from the shoulder; surface furnished with sete, 
apices truncated. Prosternum narrow; mesosternum broad, 
nearly square. Terminal abdominal segment in the males more 


* The following common South-Brazilian insect belongs to the genus 
Xylergates :— 

Xylergates asper,n. sp. Oblongus, supra convexiusculus, postice ro- 
tundatim attenuatus, cinereo-fulvus, sericeo-brunneo plagiatus. Caput 
sordide fulvo-cinereum. Antenne robustie, breviuscule, cimeree, arti- 
culis apice fuliginosis. Thorax supra inzequalis, trituberculatus, fulvo- 
cinereus, disco plaga obscura brunnea, tuberculis lateralibus magnis 
acutis. Elytra oblonga, postice (¢ 2 ) rotundato-attenuata, breviter 
oblique truncata, supra punctata, utrinque quadricostata, costis ante 
apicem abbreviatis, tubercula nigra hispida gerentibus; fulvo-cinerea, 
plaga indistincta scutellari alterisque duabus apud medium lateralibus 
angulatis sericeo-brunneis. Corpus subtus fulvo-cinereum. Pedes 
cinerei, fusco annulati. Maris pectore nudo, segmento ultimo abdo- 
minali fortiter inciso, tarsis anticis intermediisque dilatatis, nec ciliatis. 
Foemine stylo modice elongato, segmento ultimo dorsali subacuto. 
Hab, in Brasilia mevidionali. 


22 Mr. H. W. Bates on the Longicorn Coleoptera 


or less notched at the tip. Ovipositor of the females short, pro- 
jecting but slightly beyond the tips of the elytra, and subconical 
in form. Legs stout; thighs strongly clavate; fore and middle 
tarsi of the males slightly dilated ; basal joint of posterior tarsi 
longer than the two following taken together. 

The species selected by M. Thomson as the type of this genus 
is the E. nitidus of White (Cat. Long. Col. Brit. Mus. p. 371, 
pl. 9. fig. 4), which he has redescribed in the ‘ Classification des 
Cérambycides’ under the name of H. Venezuelensis. A con- 
siderable number of species will be found to associate with EL. 
nitidus, the principal generic feature of which (omitted in M. 
Thomson’s definition) is the sharp lateral keels proceeding from 
the shoulders of the elytra. This distinguishes the Hutrypani 
well from Xylergates, to which some of the species (e. g. E. 
ellipticus of Germar) are otherwise closely related. There is not, 
however, any positive character whereby to distinguish Eutry- 
panus from Colobothea; for some species, by their elongated 
shapes, might almost be mistaken for Colobothee, and the aber- 
rant forms of the latter genus have lateral thoracic tubercles and 
fore tarsi in the males not differmg from those of the inter- 
mediate legs, as in the Hutrypani. The best distinguishing 
character is probably this :—in Eutrypanus the lateral outlines 
of the head and thorax are not continuous, and therefore the 
fore part of the body has not that conical form which gives so 
‘peculiar a facies to the Colobothee. A less trenchant point of 
difference is presented by the elytra, which in the great majority 
of the Colobothee are nearly straight to the apex, but in Hutry- 
panus are curvilinearly attenuated before the apex. 


1. Eutrypanus nobilis, n. sp. 

E. oblongus, robustus, brunneus: thoracis lateribus late ochraceo 
vittatis: elytris maculis trilobis duabus communibus ochraceis, 
una apud medium suturali, altera majore subapicali: spinis tho- 
racicis acutis, retrorsum spectantibus. Long. 7 lin. ¢. 


Head dusky, with scant tawny pile. Antenne twice the 
length of the body (3), brown, tips of all the joints blackish, 
bases pallid. Thorax widened from the front to the tips of the 
thoracic spines, which are large, acute, and oblique, and placed 
behind the middle of the sides ; surface convex, slightly uneven, 
dark brown, with a broad ochreous vitta on each side margined 
with black. Elytra broad at the base, gradually narrowed to 
near the apex, thence more abruptly narrowed ; apex transversely 
sinuate-truncate, both angles equally and moderately produced ; 
lateral carina extending beyond the middle of the elytra, acute, 
but not smooth; whole surface thickly punctured, punctures 
setiferous, colour dark brown mixed with tawny ; over the suture 


of the Amazon Valley. 23 


near the middle is a trilobed ochreous spot, and near the apex 
over the suture is a much broader but similar spot, the two con- 
nected by an ochreous sutural line. Body beneath tawny ashy. 
Legs moderately long; thighs abruptly and strongly clavate, 
dusky, with ashy pile ; two basal joints of the tarsi grey. 

¢ Terminal abdominal segment with dorsal and ventral plates 
very slightly emarginated. Fore and middle tarsi broader than 
those of the hind legs. 

Obydos, on the Guiana side of the Lower Amazons; rare. 


2. Eutrypanus assula, n. sp. 

E. oblongus, brunneus: thorace nigro vittato, elytris nigro cinereo- 
que strigosis: spinis thoracicis brevibus, conicis, pone medium 
sitis: elytris breviter oblique truncatis. Long. 43 ln. Q. 
Head brown, vertex with two black spots. Antenne dull 

reddish, bases of jomts greyish. Thorax with small and conical 
lateral tubercles placed :a little behind the middle, disk uneven, 
brown, the middle part with two black vitte, the sides above the 
tubercles each with two short black lines, below the tubercle a 
broad black streak. Elytra moderately broad and convex, curvi- 
linearly narrowed from near the base to the apex, the latter 
briefly and obliquely truncated ; lateral carinzee moderately acute 
and smooth, and reaching beyond the middle of the elytra ; 
surface: and sides scantily punctured towards the base, brown, 
with many black and ill-defined longitudinal streaks, besides a 
broad indistinct ashy streak beginning at the shoulder, bending 
towards the suture, and then continuing, parallel to the suture, 
to the apex ; the mode of coloration gives to the insect a striking 
resemblance to a small chip of bark. Body beneath dusky, with 
scant ashy pile. Legs reddish, rmged with ashy. 

2 Ovipositor projecting very slightly beyond the tips of the 
elytra; dorsal plate obtusely rounded at the tip, ventral trun- 
cated. 

Banks of the Cupari, a branch of the river Tapajos. 


3. Hutrypanus incertus, n. sp. 


&. elongatus, subangustatus, fulvo-griseus, nigro vittatus et macu- 
latus : spinis thoracicis parvis, conicis, pone medium sitis : elytris 
postice attenuatis, apice breviter truncatis, nec dentatis. Long. 
4i-6lin. CS. 

Head blackish, orbits of eyes fulvous. Antenne black or dull 
red, third to sixth joints ringed at the base with grey. Thorax 
not much broader than the head ; lateral tubercles small, placed 
a little behind the middle; disk slightly uneven, ashy tawny, 
with six black vittz, the two outermost of which are below the 
lateral tubercles. Elytra elongate, gradually narrowed to near 


24 Prof. H. Karsten on the Formation, 


the apex, thence more abruptly narrowed, apex briefly and ob- 
tusely truncated ; lateral carinz sharp and smooth, surface faintly 
punctured towards the base, and covered besides with minute 
setiferous punctures, clothed with tawny pile, much spotted and 
patched with black, the apical region on each elytron being 
occupied by a large clear black spot margined with ashy. Body 
beneath ashy tawny. Legs blackish, with scant tawny clothing ; 
tibize ringed with ashy ; tarsi with the two basal joints grey. 

6 Coxe and breast densely hairy, as also (in well-developed 
examples) the middle of the abdomen. Terminal abdominal 
segment with ventral plate sharply notched, dorsal moderately 
so. Fore and middle tarsi dilated and fringed with hairs. 

Also found on the banks of the Cupari. M. Bar has since 
met with it in the interior of French Guiana. The species, 
although having an elongated form of body lke the Colobothea, 
does not offer the peculiar facies of that genus, owing to the 
different shape of the apex of the elytra. 


[To be continued. | 


III.—Histological Researches on the Formation, Development, 
and Structure of the Vegetable Cell. By Prof. H. Karsren. 


[Continued from vol. xiii. p. 485, in which volume the PLATE will be found. | 


§ VIL 


Conditions of growth of Spirogyra.—Endogenous cell-tissue of the joint- 
cells, consisting of chlorophyll-vesicles and colourless secretion-cells.— 
Celluline present in the latter as well as in the mother cell, but con- 
sumed in the course of vegetation. 

Tue species of the genus Spirogyra are usually adduced by the 

supporters of Mohl’s theory of cell-development, together with 

Cladophora glomerata, as indubitable examples of cell-multiplica- 

tion by constriction. 

The difficulties attending the cultivation of these plants, to- 
gether with the great delicacy and ready destructibility of the 
membranes of their endogenous cells, are without doubt the rea- 
son that hitherto, notwithstanding the very simple and regular 
structure of the plants, the presence of these cells has not been 
recognized ; and still less has a complete knowledge of their 
course of development and of the production thereby of the 
septal walls been attained, as these cells, on account of the 
great sensibility of the plant to slight changes in the influences 
of external agents, can usually be observed directly in their 
growth only for short periods. 

Moreover the Spirogyra, like many, if not all, of their allies, 
are apparently incapable of assimilating pure inorganic matters 


Development, and Structure of the Vegetable Cell. 25 


alone : they appear to require for their nutrition soluble organic 
compounds. 

If a Spirogyra be allowed to grow for a considerable time in 
pure water, free from organic compounds and from dead or dying 
organisms, and its jomt-cells be measured from time to time, 
these are found to undergo an unusual increase in length, and 
sometimes a certain augmentation also in width. At the same 
time the circular bands of chlorophyll diverge and become more 
oblique ; their extremities, which were situated in the vicinity of 
the septum, or even bent inwards towards its central poit, are 
gradually removed more and more from the septum. These ex- 
tremities, and at length the chlorophyll-bands in their whole 
length, lose their spiral direction and become almost straight. 
The number and size of their component vesicles appear at first 
to augment, but subsequently they decrease, and in the end 
completely vanish. The same happens also with the nucleus. 
The other contents of the joimt-cells grow more transparent and 
hyaline. 

But if a small quantity of the mucilaginous juices of the same 
species or of some other Conferva be added to the water wherein 
the starved Spirogyra is placed, a new vital energy manifests 
itself, and many or all the joints are found in a short time di- 
vided by a tranverse septum into two; or, at least, this fission- 
process 1s in operation (PI. VII. figs. 58-61 exhibit this condition 
after the action of endosmotic fluids). This process is repeated 
again and again, when the necessary supply of nitrogenous organic 
matter is afforded. The spiral bands of chlorophyll in the joint- 
cells also pursue a Jess oblique direction, and are so closely ap- 
proximated and compressed that it is difficult to follow their 
course. 

Nevertheless it would seem that these plants can be sub- 
mitted to starving only to a certain degree, and afterwards be 
capable of renewing the act of cell-formation—a process which is 
evidently completely arrested when azotized matters are absent 
from the water in which they grow. Under this latter condition 
no growth proceeds, save in the membranes of the already ex- 
isting joint-cells, their interior becoming simultaneously de- 
prived of all secretion-matters, and especially of such as are 
nitrogenous in character. The chlorophyll-bands, which are 
stretched out quite straight when all the endogenous cells are 
absorbed, take on a more and more crooked direction between 
the inner surface of the mother cell and the outer wall of the 
daughter cells in proportion as the latter, departing from an 
ellipsoidal, approximate to a spherical figure. 

. An increase or a decrease in the number of bands of chloro- 
phyllis not caused by the change of the nutrient fluids, although 


26 Prof. H. Karsten on the Formation, 


they are not quite constant in adjoining joints of the selfsame 
individual plant when in a normal state of nutrition; nay, even 
in the same joint-cell of Spirogyra quinina, one half is occupied 
by one and the other by two bands of chlorophyll. 

The structure of these chlorophyll-bands, however, varies, 
as well as their disposition on the cell-wall. It is also de- 
pendent on the nature of the nutritive material and on the 
phase of development of the joint-cell, in the same way as the 
other organized contents of its interior. 

The contents of the joint-cells of Spirogyra are commonly 
described as a fluid matter surrounded by spirally twisted 
bands of chlorophyll, to which, at the centre of the cell, a 
nucleus is suspended by means of mucous threads. 

This interpretation of the structure of Spyrogyra labours 
under the same defects as the one heretofore entertained with 
respect to Cladophora, as a few experiments will prove. 

In the joint-cells of Spzroyyra we find, even with more 
distinctness than in those of Cladophora, secretion-cells of dif- 
ferent sorts, some filled with colourless fluid occupying the 
central space of the cell, and others containing a greenish 
mucus deposited on the surface in the form of the so-called 
chlorophyll-bands. 

The spiral bands, which are usually channelled, sometimes 
furnished with a median rib or keel and often with a dentate 
margin, are produced, according to Kiitzing (Phycologia Gene- 
ralis, 1843, p. 275), by the laceration of a gonimic substance at 
first deposited on the tender growing cell in a homogeneous 
manner, the laceration being due to a rapid extension and growth 
of the cell. 

Mohl (Vermischte Schriften, 1845) likewise attributes the 
spiral hands of Spirogyra to the division of formless chloro- 
phyll composed of a delicate green jelly-like substance. 

My first investigation (Wiegmann’s Archiv, 1843) of the 
production of these chlorophyll-bands in the elongated extre- 
mities of the cells of Spirogyra led me to believe that they 
originated from cells the membranes of which became condensed 
around a mucoid yellowish mass, enclosing a nuclear vesicle, 
and that the cells so formed proceeded to elongate, whilst their 
mucoid contents acquired a green colour and arranged them- 
selves with the existing spiral bands. The former part of this 
hypothesis is erroneous, partaking as it does of the erroneous 
views respecting cell-formation then prevailing. A year afterwards 
I pointed this out, and maintained then, as now, that the mem- 
brane did not form around the mucus, but was present from the 
first, investing the colourless and rather turbid mucus, which, as 
the cell-wall increased in thickness, acquired first a yellow and 


Development, and Structure of the Vegetable Cell. 27 


subsequently a green hue, a new vesicle in the mean time being 
developed in the centre of the cell. 

Kiitzing’s hypothesis receives support from, and was probably 
based upon those varieties in development in which the chloro- 
phyll-bands are in close apposition and not very oblique in di- 
rection, as seen in figs. 69 and 70, representing the Spirogyra 
orthospira, Nageli (?) (S. majuscula, Kiitzing ?). In these ex- 
amples the recognition of the limits of the several bands, and 
of the untenability of this view, is difficult, but it may be 
attained by the observation of the further development. 

On cutting through a joint-cell, as shown in figs. 70 and 72, 
and observing the contents as soon‘as possible after the water 
first begins to act upon them, we see, according to the phase of 
development of the joint-cell, the extrusion from the interior of 
a number of larger or smaller hyaline cells; the chlorophyll- 
bands usually break up into several elongated or spherical cells, 
which swell up more or less rapidly, display one or several very 
thick-walled starch-vesicles imbedded in the green mucoid con- 
tents, and, on fully emerging from the joint-cell into the 
water, suffer collapse. On the contrary, the mucoid mass 
which invests the hyaline cells resists the solvent action of the 
water. 

Some of the colourless cells are usually very much larger 
than the rest, two or four such being, as a rule, present in each 
joint-cell, one or two lying on either side of the cell-nucleus. 
Betwixt these, surrounding the cell-nucleus, are placed the 
smaller and similar cells. These structures are, in rarer in- 
stances, found at the ends of the cells near the septum (fig. 72). 

In those species in which the nuclear cell multiplies simul- 
taneously with the formation of new joint-cells, as in Spirogyra 
nitida, S. orthospira, &e., only one of these non-nuclear endo- 
genous cells is enlarged on either side of the cell-nucleus ; 
whilst in those other species, where the nucleus is little deve- 
loped, two such endogenous cells are mostly to be seen on either 
side of it. 

In fig. 72, one of these large colourless cells has been de- 
stroyed in making the section through the uppermost joint-ceil 
in the vicinity of the septum ; but the second has been consider- 
ably extended, and the smaller hyaline cells, which originally 
occupied the centre of the joint-cell, have been displaced 
by it. 

The water also acts similarly, although more gradually, upon 
the cell next to that which has been cut through, no doubt by 
penetrating through the exposed septum (figs. 71 and 72). In 
the corresponding cell (fig. 72) one of the two large colourless 
cells has protruded itself at each side of the joint near the sep- 


28 Prof. H. Karsten on the Formation, 


tum from beneath the chlorophyll-bands, which previously con- 
cealed them; the chlorophyll-bands are accumulated in the 
middle of the joint-cell, and indeed broken up into distinct 
small cells containing starch and chlorophyll-vesicles. 

In the next joint-cell beneath, still almost unchanged, the two 
colourless cells (vesicles) are seen to be scarcely more distended 
than in the normal condition ; the cell-nucleus lies between 
them, surrounded by smaller hyaline colourless vesicles. The 
chlorophyll-bands are unchanged. A similar phase is shown 
in fig. 64, in Spyrogyra princeps (S. nitida, Kiutzing). 

In Spirogyra? orthospira, the chlorophyll-bands are always 
more delicate than in most other Spirogyre, and are, under si- 
milar conditions, more easily broken up into their component 
parts. In the other species, one of these bands not unfrequently 
continues entire, and, whilst more or less outstretched, swells 
up in a saccular form, the keel-shaped thickened portion 
spreads out, and the starch-corpuscles, that have heretofore 
appeared only to adhere to the chlorophyll-bands, are then 
seen to be contained within the interior of the cylindrical sae 
so produced. 

These phenomena suggest the inference that the common 
envelope of the chlorophyll-layer of S. orthospira is very thin- 
walled and breaks down in water, whilst the enclosed vesicles 
and cells possess a membrane that can resist the destructive ac- 
tion of the water for a longer period, and by endosmosis undergo 
great expansion; that, on the other hand, in other species of 
Spirogyra, in S. decimina, S. princeps, S. quinina, &e., the 
secretion-cells are enclosed by a stronger and more resistant en- 
velope united with the chlorophyll-sac. These bodies contained 
within the chlorophyll-sae undergo, like a tissue-cell, the most 
varied endogenous development: at first only chlorophyll- 
vesicles, but at length thick-walled starch-corpuscles, of which 
in many cases only the outer enlarged envelopes finally remain, 
are aggregated together in the sacs like Conferva joint-cells. 
This intimate study of the cycle of forms these chlorophyll-sacs 
of the species of Spirogyra pass through is a necessary prelimi- 
nary investigation towards a thorough apprehension of the mode 
of development of joint-cells. 

The membrane of the secondary joint-cell is not apparent in 
the example shown in fig. 72; it would seem to have swollen up 
and to have melted away in the water at the cut end; perhaps 
it was in that stage of chemical metamorphosis which precedes 
the thickening (lignification). In the specimen represented in 
fig. 70, it is seen contracted upon the enclosed cell-structures ; 
the one small twin-cell still existing here is thus covered by 
the chlorophyll-sacs, and hangs as bya thread to the septum of 


Development, and Structure of the Vegetable Cell. 29 


the cell, where the primary cell-membrane is still adherent to the 
secondary. 

If a vigorously growing Spzrogyra, after the first operation of 
the diosmotic fluid has effected the complete separation of the 
secondary cells from the membrane of the primary, be laid in 
pure water, the secondary cells, with their contained tissue of 
cells, appear to regain their former position. 

If the diosmotic fluid be allowed to effect a complete contrac- 
tion of the secondary cells, and the surrounding liquid be then 
rapidly replaced by pure water, the secondary cells do not again 
expand (either from the entire exosmosis of their contents or 
from the rupture of their walls), but the non-nuclear daughter 
cells (vesicles) then break through the membrane of the second- 
ary cell and progressively expand, the larger of them usually 
again entirely occupying the cavity of the mother cell, and 
proceed to form a septum at the middle by the juxtaposition of 
their walls. 

In this case the same phenomena occur as mechanical effects 
which have been observed as the normal process of growth in 
the continuously developing daughter cells of Gidogonium. If 
the experiment be made with Spirogyre in a state of vegetative 
repose, in which the endogenous cells are less developed and do 
not entirely fill the mother cell, then, during the exosmotie con- 
traction of the secondary cell, its membrane is torn completely 
across in the middle of the two enclosed daughter cells, together 
with the portion of the chlorophyll-sac which is here situated. 

Under such circumstances, moreover, the daughter cells, after 
the addition of the water, protrude from the spiral sac and those 
portions of the envelope of the mother cell that covered them, 
and proceed to expand in the manner described, constituting 
that condition which has hitherto been erroneously supposed to 
originate from fission of the secondary mother cells (figs. 78 & 
79, from S. guinina). 

These different diosmotic reactions exhibited by the several 
nested cells within a joint-cell are probably dependent on the 
different nature of their membranes, as indicated by their dif- 
ferent degrees of thickness and firmness, and probably also on 
the varying quantity of their component elements, which are 
cognizable by no chemical distinctions. 

Both the primary and secondary cells of a joint-cell, and also 
the non-nuclear transparent daughter cells, contain a material 
which is coloured blue like starch by an aqueous solution of iodine, 
after maceration not only with dilute solution of sulphurie acid 
or chloride of zinc, but also with a neutral solution of chloride 
of calcium. In this state it is commonly more or less slightly 
turbid, hike finely divided starch. The contents of the primary 


30 Prof. H. Karsten on the Formation, 


cell are often to be seen, soon after the action of the aqueous 
solution of iodine, precipitated upon the membranes, upon the 
other cellular contents, and separated from the wall of the 
primary cell by a colourless hyaline fluid; but by-and-by the 
gummy-looking substance diffuses itself through the whole fluid 
intervening between those membranes. 

The colourless and non-nuclear daughter cells (vesicles) seem 
to contain this substance, which is coloured blue by iodine, in 
the most concentrated form; they are always quite filled with 
it. Both in them and in the gum-like contents of the mother 
cell, coloured blue by iodine, we may distinguish, when chloride 
of calcium has been employed for maceration, delicate vesicles of 
about the size of the large starch-vesicles which occur in the 
chlorophyll-sac. 

This existence of organized forms as the contents of endo- 
genous cells is of great importance for the right understanding 
of the nature of this material, which is in some degree similar 
to cellulose ; for, were these vesicles not present (and they are 
moreover not unfrequently to be distinguished without the pre- 
paration above described, particularly within the colourless 
daughter cells), we should be entitled to assume that the matter 
interposed between the primary and secondary mother cells was 
an adherent layer, swollen up and chemically modified by the 
corroding substances, upon the internal surface of the former or 
on the outer surface of the latter. 

Moreover, if it were impossible to recognize the delicate mem- 
brane of the secondary cells within the limits of the contracted 
chlorophyll-sac &c. after the blue colour fades by the evapora- 
tion of the iodine, the blue-coloured mucilaginous mass between 
the chlorophyll-sac and the primary cell-membrane might be 
regarded as the membrane of the daughter cell modified in the 
same way, with some of the vesicles apparently adherent to the 
chlorophyll-band intermixed with it. 

These circumstances favour the notion that these vesicles en- 
veloped in the gummy substance, for which I propose the name 
celluline, outside the secondary cells, are the remains of the 
contents of the primary joint-cell. 

It is probably to the larger or smaller quantity of these con- 
tents of the primary cell, as well as to this change in the condi- 
tion of aggregation of the membrane of the secondary cell, that 
we must attribute the circumstance that the latter, during the 
action of diosmotic fluids, such as glycerine and chloride of cal- 
cium, often separates with difficulty from the membrane of the 
primary, and appears to be glued to this as if by a tenacious 
mucilage. 

In many stages of development, however, the membrane of 


Development, and Structure of the Vegetable Cell. 31 


the secondary cell appears indeed to have lost its delicate 
though firm consistence. In such cases the chlorophyll-layer 
is found to be surrounded by a thick, almost gelatinous, but 
viscous layer, capable of being drawn out in threads, which it is 
often difficult to separate by endosmotic agents from the mem- 
brane of the primary cell. In this layer, which hkewise ex- 
hibits the reaction of celluline, the contracting chlorophyll-sacs 
leave behind them the impression of their forms as furrow-like 
depressions (figs. 65 & 66). 

This state of aggregation of the membrane of the secondary 
cell appeared to me to prevail especially among plants whose 
joint-cells were in process of multiplication. 

The Spirogyra dubia (Kutzing), represented in fig. 62, had been 
immersed for some time in carbonic-acid water, when the mem- 
branes of the secondary cells contracted by the action of a watery 
solution of iodine, but appeared altered, almost corroded, and in 
many cells ruptured at the ends during the contraction, by 
which means the endogenous cells (a) were enabled to escape 
from them. These cells contained a great abundance of the 
above-described celluline, which acquires a red colour by treat- 
ment with glycerine and iodine, and, in the course of the further 
growth of the plants m water containing carbonic acid, appears 
to be absorbed. 

In those specimens of Spirogyra which have grown for a long 
time in pure water destitute of nitrogenous compounds, the de- 
licate membrane of the secondary cell is completely contracted 
with much facility by the action of a dilute solution of chloride 
of calcium, and is seen to contain no endogenous cells except 
the chlorophyll-sacs. Moreover no celluline is discoverable, 
although the chlorophyll-sac still usually contains the well- 
known large starch-vesicles. 

The membranes of the several cells are not coloured blue by 
the reagents above mentioned ; and I observed a cellulose re- 
action in them, as well as in those of Cladophora, occasionally 
only, and as the exception, and then without being able to detect 
the circumstances upon which this condition of the cell-mem- 
brane depended. 

It follows distinctly, from what has been stated, that the hy- 
pothesis that the joimt-cells of Spirogyra are filled with a tissue 
of endogenous cells is perfectly well founded; for mere va- 
cuoles in a mucilaginous material would not at one time enlarge 
and at another contract by diosmotic agency, nor would they 
possess special contents, and in these again contain cellular 
structures. 

With respect to the nature of the two sorts of cells existing 
within the joint-cells of Spirogyra, and also with respect to 


32 Prof. H. Karsten on the Formation, 


their relative position, there is an analogy with the cells of 
Cladophora; in these latter, however, the distinction is less 
marked. 

In the case of Spirogyra no transitional forms are discover- 
able betwixt the central colourless cells and the peripheral cells 
or vesicles filled with chlorophyll and aggregated into or con- 
tained in a sac. Moreover these two kinds of secretion-cells 
are met with in all the other Confervaceze and Desmidiez, and it 
is upon their disposition in the mother cells that the peculiar 
marking of these organisms, which frequently serves for charac- 
terizing the genera and species, depends. 

But further, these two varieties of secretion-cells occur not 
only in the tissue-cells of these simple plants, but also in the 
complex tissue of higher plants, where they take part in the 
assimilation of nutrient matter derived from without—the one 
variety, frequently colourless, containing hydrocarbons, the 
other, usually coloured, filled with nitrogenous compounds. 


§ IX. 

The structure and development of the nucleus (nuclear cell): its multipli- 
cation by endogenous cells.—Circulation of the cell-juices between the 
secretion-cells from the walls of the mother cell to the nucleus. 
Particular attention has always been devoted to the cell- 

nucleus in the centre of the joint-cell of Spirogyra, and in this 

case, as elsewhere, a particular function in the multiplication of 
the cell has been ascribed to it. 

The production of the cell-nucleus, which, in general, like 
that of the cell itself, is referred to the division of preexisting 
nuclei and to their new formation from the contents of the 
mother cell, and which is supposed constantly to precede the 
production of the membrane of the developed cells (whether this 
takes place by constriction of the wall of the mother cell or by 
free-cell formation in the cell-juice), is ascribed, in the case of 
Spirogyra, to the division of the preexistent nucleus of the 
mother cell. 

As regards the notion of the division of the cell-nucleus, in 
the first place, the same error prevails in this as with respect to 
cell-multiplication itself. The existing nucleus is divided neither 
by the sudden appearance of a delicate membrane stretched 
across the radius of the nucleus nor by folds growing inwards 
from its membrane, but by the production of new cells by the 
side of its endogenous cell, the nucleolus, which under these 
circumstances itself contains a nucleolar corpuscle, and thus 
becomes the nucleus of the nuclear cell. 

Soon after the first appearance of the daughter cells produced 
in the lentiform or discoid cell-nucleus, these are found at the 


Development, and Structure of the Vegetable Cell. 35 


side of the original cell-nucleus, arranged in correspondence 
with the transverse diameter of the joint-cell. In the next 
stages of development they take up a position in accordance 
with the longitudinal axis of the cell within the nuclear cell, 
which has now become globular. A glance at figs. 81 & 83-85 
will render this condition quite clear. These are nuclear cells 
of Spirogyra nitida, Kg., such as often occur in cultivated ex- 
amples of this species, with their membranes distended by the 
action of water containing carbonic acid. 

Fig. 84 shows very distinctly that the new cell-nuclei, which 
here contain no nucleoli, are enveloped by the outer membrane 
of the cell-system produced by the development of the cell- 
nucleus. 

In fig. 85 these two new cells (the daughter cells of the entire 
cell-system) are still more expanded within their mother cell, so 
that they surround the nuclear cell lying between them, and 
enclose it with their contiguous membranes (as also in fig. 81). 

The nuclear cell, however, still exists uninjured between 
them, as in fig. 84 (and fig. 83 shows another similar state of 
development seen from the side), although its absorption now 
generally begins, and at the same time a secondary cell is _pro- 
duced in each of the daughter cells. The daughter cells, dis- 
tended by carbonic-acid water, here represented contain as yet 
no cellular structures, such as are ordinarily present in norm- 
ally developed cells at this stage of development. 

In fig. 81 a normal case is represented; a cell-nucleus is 
situated in the daughter cell on the wall directed towards the 
centre of the new joint-cell, as is the rule in Spirogyra, and 
therefore on the side opposite to the original cell-nucleus. 

This cell-nucleus of the young daughter cell usually appears, 
in its earliest grades of development, in the form of a spherical 
accumulation of mucilage. In this mucilage, however, in other 
cases, a vesicle may be seen imbedded, and, a little later, one or 
rarely several nucleoli may be detected. 

That the external membrane of the cell-nucleus (which, as 
already stated, is frequently seen, in some Spirogyre, to be com- 
posed of several endogenous cells, and therefore developed into 
a complete cell-system) may attain, just as in Gidogonium, to 
the full size of the mother cell is shown by states such as that 
represented in fig. 80, which are met with occasionally, although 
rarely, in cultivated plants of Spirogyra. (Fig. 80 is drawn 
from a specimen which had lain for some time in carbonic-acid 
water ; and this certainly assisted somewhat in the distention of 
the cell-membrane, as it also caused the primary membrane of 
the joint-cell to become particularly prominent.) 

Not unfrequently, in a disproportionately long cell, two cell- 
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist, Ser.3. Vol. xiv. 3 


34 Prof. H. Karsten on the Formation, — 


nuclei occur in the position usually occupied by them when the 
septum is half or completely lignified, although there is no trace 
of any such structure. In the middle between these two nuclei 
the third nucleus, belonging to the system of the mother cell, 
frequently occurs, all three enclosed within the very long and 
apparently nearly gelatinous membrane of their common mother 
cell (the original cell-nucleus), which is distinctly recognizable 
in a nearly round form in the conditions represented in figs. 
83 & 84. This elongated nuclear cell, with its three nuclei, is 
also apparently attached by mucoid filaments. 

This occurrence of several nuclei is to be explained by the 
deficiency of nitrogenous compounds in the water furnishing 
their nourishment, as appears from the phenomena of the deve- 
lopment of the septum, to be referred to immediately. 

In the so-called mucoid filaments which are so distinetly 
recognizable in many Spirogyre, as for example S. princeps 
(nitida and jugalis, Kg.), | have observed a movement proceed- 
ing slowly from the periphery towards the central nucleus, and 
this in individuals which had been lying for a short time in 
water containing carbonic acid, and also in the extremities of 
strongly vegetating plants. 

The mucoid filaments are therefore not solidified cords of 
plasma, excrescences from the membrane of the secondary cell, a 
framework for the support of the cell-nucleus floating in the 
middle of the cell, but a mucilaginous granular fluid, the true 
cell-juice, the fluid contents of the cell, in and from which the 
other cellular structures, both the nucleus and the vesicles con- 
taining secretion-materials, are developed. 

These fluid cell-contents certainly occupy the smallest part of 
the cavity of the cell, which is almost completely filled by the 
above-described colourless vesicles (p. 27) (fig. 72), so that they 
are limited, in the form of a fluid intercellular matter, to the 
spaces left between them by the latter in cells engaged in rapid 
vegetation. 

Schleiden saw this movement of the cell-juice in the extre- 
mities of Spirogyra, and supposed that the same took place in 
the mucoid filaments, in which it was subsequently observed by 
Nageli; Kiitzing, on the contrary, threw doubt upon it in both 
cases. 

The cause of this circulation of the juice of many vegetable 
cells is very probably to be found in the concurrent lively but 
chemically different assimilative energy of the membranes of these 
tissue-cells and of the secretion-cells (the so-called vacuoles) 
contained in them. 

That the latter are true cells, and not mere water-filled cavities 
of the mucilaginous cell-juice, I have already endeavoured to 


“Development, and Structure of the Vegetable Cell. 85 


prove by their development (De Cella vital, 1843, pp. 80-84 ; 
Bot. Zeit. 1843, p. 457, and 1849, p. 3861), and have here de- 
monstrated, I think, as regards those occurring in the Conferve. 

The evident function of these cells, which are constantly 
engaged in a brisk exchange of materials and in rapid develop- 
ment, is the conversion into new and higher organic com- 
pounds, both of the material secreted inwards by the assimi- 
lating membrane of the tissue-cells to which they belong, and of 
that mechanically admitted from the surrounding medium by 
this imbibitory and diosmotic membrane. In favour of this 
supposition is the- fact that the different vesicles which are 
enclosed within a single cell contain very diverse materials, 
usually all quite different from the fluid contents of the cell. 

I have already called attention to this circumstance in my 
memoir ‘ De Cella vitali’ with reference to the development of 
those vesicles which contain colouring-matter, starch, oil, &c., 
the cellular nature of which, however, is generally recognized. 

But why should the vesicles which contain colourless matters, 
partly in aqueous solution (sugar, mucilage, dextrine?, cellu- 
line, &c.), be regarded as something different from cells? 
Their membrane has physical properties similar to those of re- 
coguized cell-membranes ; its development is the same; and it 
increases in size in the same manner, a mutual relation of its 
proper augmenting substance to its contents being recognizable. 

We are not justified in giving the name of a cell only to those 
elementary organs whose membrane in a. certain state of develops 
ment exhibits the reaction of cellulose, as indeed is proved by 
the Confervze just referred to, even if we leave out of considera- 
tion the cells of the animal organism. The idea of the cell is 
anatomical, and is to be deduced from the mode of development 
of the organization, and not from the chemical nature of the 
material of which its membrane is composed. 

The transitory cells contained in the tissue-cells undoubtedly 
serve for the elaboration of all the constituents of the cell-juice 
(their intercellular substance), which they are capable of assimi- 
lating ; and when they have fulfilled this task, they are them- 
selves in turn liquefied and used as nutriment by other neigh- 
bouring similar organizations, or even by the membrane of their 
mother cell. This product of the solution of these secretion- 
cells is also carried out from the cell by exosmose (?), and con- 
ducted, in the general nutritive fluid, which imbues the inter- 
cellular spaces, the outermost membranes in process of resorp- 
tion, and the intercellular substance of the tissue-cells which is 
produced from this, into distant parts of the organism, to serve 
there for the formation and development of new elementary 
organs. 

3% 


86 Mr. J. Blackwall on new Species of East-Indian Spiders. 


When we see all these various simple organizations engaged 
in rapid development and progressive growth at the expense of 
the fluid cell-contents, we are led to the supposition that, under 
such conditions, this cell-juice cannot be of exactly the same 
nature in the different regions of the cell, but that the fluid 
occupying the periphery of the cell-cavity, and secreted by the 
assimilative cell-membranes, will be physically and chemically 
different from that surrounding the vesicles which assimilate the 
nitrogenous compounds, and, again, that it will be differently 
constituted in the vicinity of those which appropriate compounds 
rich in carbon. 

It is only by this supposition that a movement of the cell- 
juice appears to be explicable. This is the movement which was 
discovered by Corti in 1774, and which we must still regard as 
wonderful so long as we do not recognize the true nature of the 
cell-contents, but believe that the cell-juice separates into a 
denser and a thinner portion, that the latter is diffused through 
the former in the shape of drops, and that the denser muci- 
laginous fluid circulates between the watery drops without 
mixing with them! This would be to transfer to the cell 
Grew’s notion of the structure of the tissue of plants, which, 
after the lapse of 200 years, has fortunately been overthrown. 

There is, however, no doubt that the mucoid filaments by 
which the nucleus appears to be suspended are the fluid and 
frequently granularly mucilaginous contents of the tissue-cell, 
moving gently among colourless, non-nucleated cells. The form 
of these filaments is therefore equally variable with that of the 
cells themselves. With the increasing enlargement of the two 
daughter cells produced in the cell-nucleus, or of the two large 
colourless secretion-cells from the ends of the cell towards its 
middle point, this system of filaments changes continually, and 
thus indicates the changes which are taking place in the other- 
wise recognizable cells of which they occupy the interspaces. 


[To be continued. | 


1V.—Descriptions of Seven new Species of East-Indian Spiders 
received from the Rey. O. P. Cambridge. By Joun Buack- 
waLL, F.L.S. 
Tribe Octonoculina. 


Family Lycosipa&. 
Genus Spuasus, Walck. 
Sphasus lepidus. 
Length of the female 4rd of an inch; length of the cephalo- 


Mr. J. Blackwall on new Species of East-Indian Spiders. 37 


thorax }; breadth ;1,; breadth of the abdomen +; ; length of 
an anterior leg 22; length of a leg of the third pair 3. 

The cephalothorax’ is somewhat compressed before, rounded 
on the sides, glossy, convex, particularly in the posterior region, 
with a slight indentation in the medial line, and some short, 
strong, black hairs on each side of its base; it 1s of a yellowish- 
red colour, a fine black line extending from each eye of the an- 
terior pair to the frontal margin, which has a dark brown spot 
on each exterior angle. The falces are powerful, subconical, 
and vertical; the maxille are long, obliquely truncated at the 
extremity, on the outer side, and slightly inclined towards the 
lip, which is broader towards the extremity than at the base, 
and truncated at the apex; the sternum is heart-shaped, and 
thinly clothed with short, light-coloured, and long, erect, brown- 
ish hairs; the legs are slender, and provided with hairs and 
long spines; the first pair is the longest, then the fourth, and 
the third pair is the shortest ; each tarsus is terminated by three 
claws ; the two superior ones are curved and pectinated, and the 
inferior one is inflected near its base; the palpi are short, and 
have a curved pectinated claw at their extremity. These parts 
have a dull yellowish hue; a black line extends along the infe- 
rior surface of the femoral joint of the legs, those on the femora 
of the posterior pair being the least conspicuous ; and a fine 
longitudinal line of the same hue occurs on each falx in front, 
which lines appear like a prolongation of those on the frontal 
margin. The eyes are seated on black spots on the anterior 
part of the cephalothorax; the four posterior ones form a 
strongly curved transverse row, whose convexity is directed 
backwards, each lateral eye being placed on a minute tubercle; 
the other four describe a trapezoid whose shortest side is be- 
fore; the posterior eyes of the trapezoid are the largest, and 
the anterior ones much the smallest of the eight. The abdomen 
is oviform, somewhat pointed at the spinners, convex above, 
and projects a little over the base of the cephalothorax ; it is of 
a yellowish-grey colour, finely reticulated with pale brown; a 
brown band extends along the middle of the upper part to the 
anus, having a minute point on each side, near its anterior ex- 
tremity, which is the darkest ; the sides are marked with oblique 
dark brown lines, more or less confluent, which are most con- 
spicuous on their posterior half; and a broad band of the same 
hue, having whitish scale-like hairs on each side of it, extends 
along the middle of the under part, and tapers to the spmners ; 
the posterior margin of the sexual organs, which are well deve- 
loped, is prominent, but obtuse, and their colour is brownish 
black, that of the branchial opercula being dull yellow. 


38. Mr. J. Blackwall on new Species of East-Indian Spiders. 


Family THomisip#&. 
Genus THomisus, Walck. 
Thomisus tuberosus. 


Length of the female 2ths of an inch; length of the cephalo- 
thorax 3, breadth 3,; breadth of the abdomen }; length of an 
anterior leg 44+; length of a leg of the third pair }. 

The abdomen is somewhat depressed, broader at the posterior 
than at the anterior extremity, rather pomted at the spinners, 
and projects over the base of the cephalothorax; the upper part 
is of a pale olive-brown colour; the sides are marked with 
brownish black, which extends to the upper surface near its 
middle and anterior extremity; the under part is of a dull yel- 
low hue, and is marked with four longitudinal rows of minute 
punctures, the two intermediate ones, which converge towards 
the spinners, being the most conspicuous; a broad, brownish- 
black mark, trifid at its extremity, and sending off a lateral 
branch immediately below each branchial operculum, occupies 
the middle space ; the sexual organs are minute and of a dark 
reddish-brown hue, that of the branchial opercula being brown ; 
on the upper part, sides, and front, there are about forty glossy 
tubercles, which differ in size and colour; three, situated on 
each side of the medial line, are disposed in pairs, the two inter- 
mediate ones being the largest and lightest-coloured ; and im- 
mediately behind those of the anterior pair, which are oval and 
of a dark reddish-brown hue, there is a conspicuous pair of de- 
pressed spots; the largest tubercles constitute two pairs, united 
at their bases, situated on the upper part of the posterior half of 
each side, and below them there are two small ones of a dark 
reddish-brown hue; the prevailing colour of the tubercles is 
yellow-brown. The cephalothorax is large, convex, glossy, 
slightly compressed before, rounded on the sides, broadly trun- 
cated im front, depressed in the anterior and abruptly so in the 
posterior region, and is provided with minute tubercles in the 
medial line and on the sides; it is of a brown colour, a broad 
space extending along the middle having a yellowish tinge; the 
lateral margins and an irregular mark on each side of the medial 
line of the posterior slope have a yellowish-white hue. The eyes 
are disposed on the anterior part of the cephalothorax in two 
transverse curved rows, forming a crescent whose convex side is 
before; the lateral eyes, which are seated on tubercles, are 
larger than the intermediate ones, those of the anterior row 
being the largest of the eight. The falces are short, strong, 
cuneiform, and vertical; and the maxille are inclined towards 
the lip, and somewhat, pointed at the extremity. These organs 


Mr. J. Blackwall on new Species of East-Indian Spiders. 39 


are of a yellow-brown colour, the former, which are the paler, 
having an irregular, transverse, yellowish-white spot near their 
base. The lip is triangular, but rounded at the apex, and, with 
the heart-shaped sternum, is of a dark brown colour. The legs 
are provided with hairs and spines, two parallel rows of the latter 
extending along the inferior surface of the tibiz and metatars1 
of the first and second pairs, which are much longer and more 
robust than the third and fourth pairs; the first pair is rather 
longer than the second, and the third pair is the shortest ; each 
tarsus is terminated by two curved pectinated claws ; the coxz 
have a dark brown hue; the femora, genua, and base of the 
tibize of the first and second pairs are of a pale yellowish-white 
colour, the femora of the former being marked on the upper 
surface, and those of the latter on the upper and under surfaces, 
with dark brown ; the femora, genua, and base of the tibice of 
the third and fourth pairs have a yellow-brown hue, with a few 
dark brown marks on their upper and under surfaces ; the an- 
terior part of the tibize and the metatarsi of all the legs are of a 
brownish-black colour, and the dark brown tarsi have a yellowish- 
white hue at their base. The palpi are short, and have a small, 
curved, pectinated claw at their extremity; the humeral and 
cubital joints are of a yellow-brown colour, their under part and 
extremity having a yellowish-white hue; and the radial and 
digital joints are of a brown colour, the former being much the 
palest at its base underneath. 


Genus PasttHea, Blackw. 


Pasithea elegans. 


Length of the female } an inch; length of the cephalothorax 
1, breadth 3, ; breadth of the abdomen ;1,; length of an anterior 
leg ®,; length of a leg of the third pair {5. 

The eyes are unequal in size, encircled with pale yellow hairs, 
and are disposed in three transverse rows on a slight black pro- 
minence situated at the anterior part of the cephalothorax, high 
above the frontal margin; two, constituting the anterior row, 
are much the smallest of the eight, and near to each other, but 
not in contact; the two largest form the intermediate row; and 
the other four constitute the posterior row, which is curved 
and has its convexity directed backwards ; the entire group de- 
scribes a sector of a circle whose radii converge towards the 
frontal margin. The cephalothorax is convex, broadly truncated 
in front, compressed before, and somewhat rounded on the sides, 
which are marked with slight furrows converging towards a 
narrow longitudinal indentation in the medial line; it is of a 
red-brown colour, and is clothed with brown-red and yellowish 


40 Mr. J. Blackwall on new Species of East-Indian Spiders. 


hairs intermixed, and a dark brown spot occurs on each exterior 
angle of the frontal margin. The falces are long, powerful, 
subconical, inclining to cuneiform, and vertical; the maxille 
are enlarged where the palpi are inserted, truncated at the ex- 
tremity on the outer side, and inclined towards the lip, beyond 
which they extend considerably ; the lip is long, somewhat tri- 
angular, and notched at the apex; the sternum is heart-shaped ; 
the legs are long, slender, and provided with hairs and long 
spines; the first pair is the longest, then the second, and the 
third pair is the shortest; the tarsi are terminated by three 
claws; the two superior ones are curved and pectinated, and 
the inferior one is inflected near its base; and the palpi, which 
are short, have a curved pectinated claw at their extremity. 
These parts are of a pale red-brown colour; the falces are the 
darkest, and the femur of each leg has two longitudinal brown 
lines on its inferior surface. The abdomen is long, slender, 
somewhat cylindrical, tapering to the spinners, and projects 
slightly over the base of the cephalothorax ; it is densely clothed 
with short hairs, and the upper part, which is of a yellow-brown 
colour, bordered laterally by a red-brown line, is marked with 
numerous pale yellow streaks and spots symmetrically arranged, 
and disposed on similar streaks and spots either of a dark brown 
or of a red-brown hue ; the colour of the under part is yellowish 
white ; a large black band extends along the middle, whose an- 
terior part comprises a short, longitudinal, yellowish-white 
streak ; the sexual organs are highly developed, nearly circular, 
and of a dark reddish-brown colour, that of the branchial oper- 
cula being yellowish brown. 


Family Erriri2. 
Genus GASTERACANTHA, Latr. 
Gasteracantha frontata. 


Length of the female 4th of an inch; length of the cephalo- 
thorax +; breadth 4,; breadth of the abdomen %; length of a 
posterior leg 7; length of a leg of the third pair 5%. The ab- 
dominal spines are not included in the measurement. 

The cephalothorax is somewhat quadrate, the sides being 
slightly rounded ; the anterior part is thinly clothed with short 
hairs, abruptly elevated throughout its entire breadth, and has 
on its summit two glossy protuberances which are separated by 
a longitudinal furrow; and the posterior part is depressed, with 
a large indentation in the medial line; it is of a dark brown 
colour faintly tinged with red, the middle of the posterior part 
having a yellow-brown hue. The eyes are small, and situated 
immediately above the frontal margin; the four intermediate 


Mr. J. Blackwall on new Species of East-Indian Spiders. 41 


ones nearly form a square, the two anterior ones, which are 
seated on a slight protuberance, being larger and rather nearer 
to each other than the posterior ones; the eyes of each lateral 
pair are placed apart on a tubercle, and are distant from the in- 
termediate ones. The falces are short, subconical, very powerful, 
convex in front, vertical, glossy, and armed with teeth on the 
inner surface; the maxille are short, straight, and greatly en- 
larged and rounded at the extremity; the lip is semicircular, 
but pointed at the apex; and the sternum is heart-shaped, with 
prominences on the sides, opposite to the legs, and terminates 
in a point. These parts are of a dark brown colour faintly 
tinged with red, the extremities of the maxille and lip and a 
large spot at the anterior part of the sternum having a yellow- 
red hue. The legs are short, moderately robust, provided with 
hairs, and of a dark brown hue tinged with dull red, particu- 
larly at the base of the joints; the fourth pair is the longest, 
then the first, and the third pair is the shortest ; each tarsus is 
terminated by claws of the usual number and structure. The 
palpi, which are short, resemble the legs in colour, and have a 
curved pectinated claw at their extremity. The abdomen is 
more than twice as broad as it is long, and has a transversely 
narrow oval form, with somewhat sinuous margins, and six 
strong, conical, horizontal, rugged, hairy, dark brown spines, 
two of which are situated at its posterior margin and two at 
each extremity of the firm, glossy, transversely oval dorsal shield 
or carapace; the two anterior spines are the smallest, and the 
two intermediate ones the largest of the six; between the two 
anterior spines there are ten depressions, constituting conspi- 
cuous red-brown spots, the four intermediate ones, which are 
the smallest, and nearly equal in size, forming a straight, trans- 
verse row, somewhat in advance of the rest ; four similar spots 
in the middle are disposed almost in a square, the two posterior 
ones being the largest and rather the widest apart ; between the 
two intermediate spines there are nine red-brown depressed 
spots; five, smaller than the rest, form a straight transverse 
row somewhat in arrear of the others, the intermediate one being 
much the smallest; the colour of the carapace is brownish 
yellow, and there is a spot between the two posterior spines, and 
a smaller one at the base of each, of the same hue; the under 
part is very convex, corrugated, marked with numerous depres- 
sions, and of a dark brown colour spotted with reddish yellow ; 
the spinners are encircled by a prominent rim, and are of a 
dark brown colour; a bold conical prominence of the same hue 
occurs immediately before them, and there is a small, obtuse, 
glossy, yellow protuberance near the base of each branchial 
operculum. 


42 Mr.J. Blackwall on new Species of East-Indian Spiders. 


Gasteracantha helva. — 

Length of the female ;3,ths of an inch; length of the cephalo- 
thorax ,3,; breadth 4; breadth of the abdomen 37; length of a 
posterior leg 2; length of a leg of the third pair 4. The abdo- 
minal spines are not included in the measurement. 

The abdomen is rather broader than long, and has somewhat 
the form of a trapezoid, the posterior side being the longest, and 
the anterior side much the shortest; it is provided with six 
strong, pointed, rugged, hairy, glossy, blue-black spines, each 
having a reddish-yellow streak on the under side extending from 
the base nearly half its length ; two of the spines are situated at 
its posterior extremity, and two on each side of the carapace ; 
the two anterior spines, which are the smallest and conical, are 
directed outwards and slightly upwards; the two intermediate 
ones, which are the largest, and nearly cylindrical, except at the 
point, are directed obliquely outwards and upwards; and the 
two posterior ones are conical and extended horizontally; the 
carapace is firm, glossy, and of a deep reddish-yellow colour ; 
ten oval depressions, forming dark brown spots tinged with red, 
constitute a curved row near the lateral and frontal margins, 
the two lateral ones being the largest, and the two intermediate 
ones the smallest ; four similar spots, but smaller and rounder, 
are situated in the middle, and almost describe a square, the 
two posterior ones being rather the widest apart ; between the 
two largest spines there are ten depressions; the six mterme- 
diate ones form a slightly curved row whose convexity is directed 
forwards, and the two intermediate ones of the six are very mi- 
nute and little conspicuous; the base of each posterior spine 
and the space between them have a deep reddish-yellow hue ; 
the under part is very convex, greatly corrugated, marked with 
numerous depressions, and is of a dark brown colour spotted 
with deep reddish yellow ; the spinners are encircled by a very 
prominent rim, and have a dark brown hue, and the sexual 
organs have a small, prominent, depressed, yellowish-brown 
process directed backwards from their posterior margin. The 
cephalothorax is somewhat quadrate, the sides being slightly 
rounded; the anterior part is abruptly elevated throughout its 
entire breadth, granulated, glossy, thinly clothed with whitish 
hairs, and has a longitudinal furrow in the middle; and the 
posterior part is depressed, with a large indentation in the me- 
dial line, and a smaller one on each side of it ; it is of a brownish- 
black colour, the middle of the posterior part having a yellow- 
brown hue. The eyes are small, and situated immediately above 
the frontal margin ; the four intermediate ones, which are seated 
on a protuberance, nearly form a square, the two anterior ones 
being larger and rather nearer to each other than the posterior 


Mr, J. Blackwall on new Species of East-Indian Spiders. 43 


ones ; the eyes of each lateral pair are placed apart on a tubercle, 
and are distant from the intermediate ones. The falces are 
short, very powerful, subconical, remarkably convex in front, 
protuberant near the base, towards the inner side, vertical, glossy, 
and armed with teeth on the inner surface; the maxille are 
short, straight, and greatly enlarged and rounded at the extre- 
mity; and the lip is semicircular, but pointed at the apex. 
These parts are of a brownish-black colour; the falces are the 
darkest, and the extremities of the maxille and lip have a yellow- 
brown hue. The sternum is heart-shaped, with prominences on 
the sides, opposite to the legs, and terminates in a point; it is 
granulated, supplied with long black hairs, and of a brownish- 
black colour, a transverse bar at its anterior part, two spots on 
each side, and one on the posterior point having a yellow hue. 
The legs are short, slender, provided with hairs, and of a red- 
dish-yellow colour, with brown spots and streaks on the under 
surface of the femora, the upper surface of the genua and base 
of the tibize, and an annulus of the same hue at the base of the 
metatarsi and tarsi; the fourth pair is the longest, then the first, 
and the third pair is the shortest ; each tarsus is terminated by 
claws of the usual number and structure. The palpi are short, 
of a brown-red hue, and have a curved pectinated claw at their 
extremity. 


Genus Nepuita, Leach. 
Nephila ornata. 


Length of the female {ths of an inch ; length of the cephalo- 
thorax 7; breadth $; breadth of the abdomen 3; length of an 
anterior leg 2; length of a leg of the third pair 4. 

The eyes are seated on black spots on the anterior part of the 
cephalothorax ; the four intermediate ones nearly form a square, 
the two anterior ones, which are on a protuberance, being 
smaller and rather nearer to each other than the posterior ones ; 
the eyes of each lateral pair are placed obliquely on a prominent 
tubercle, and are near to each other, the anterior ones being 
much the smallest of the eight. The cephalothorax is com- 
pressed before, rounded on the sides, slightly convex, with an 
indentation in the medial line; it is of a brown colour, and is 
densely covered with short haus having a silvery lustre. The 
falces are powerful, conical, vertical, armed with teeth on the 
inner surface, and have a dark brown hue. The maxille are 
straight, and are enlarged and rounded at the extremity, which 
has a brownish-yellow hue, that of the base beg dark. brown, 
The lip is semicircular, but pointed at the apex, and is of a pale 
yellow colour. The sternum is heart-shaped, with very conspi- 
cuous prominences on the sides, opposite to the legs, and termi- 


44 Mr. J. Blackwall on new Species of East-Indian Spiders. 


nates in a point; it has a pale-yellow hue, with dark brown 
lateral margins. The legs, which are long, slender, and pro- 
vided with hairs and a few spines, were so greatly mutilated, 
with the exception of those of the first and third pairs, that their 
relative length could not be satisfactorily determined; the tarsi 
are terminated by claws of the usual number and structure. 
The palpi are short, of a yellow hue tinged with brown, and 
have a curved pectinated claw at their extremity. The abdomen 
is of an oblong-oval form, moderately convex above, projecting 
a little over the base of the cephalothorax, and is somewhat pro- 
minent at its posterior extremity, above the spmners ; the upper 
part, for more than a third of its length from the anterior ex- 
tremity, is of a yellowish-white colour finely reticulated with 
brown, and is crossed by three transverse, slightly smuous, dark 
brown bands, the intermediate one being rather the shortest and 
narrowest ; these bands are succeeded by a broad, sinuous, dark 
brown band, of an orange-brown hue at its posterior margin, 
and comprising white spots of a silvery lustre, disposed trans- 
versely ; a whitish band follows, having near its anterior margin 
a shorter, transverse, soot-coloured line; the posterior part, 
which has a dark brown hue, comprises white spots of a silvery 
lustre, and is crossed by two rather obscure, narrow, orange- 
brown bands, and a greatly curved, irregular, whitish one above 
the spinners ; all the bands, with the exception of the second 
from the anterior extremity, are in contact with a fine, irregular, 
dark brown line extending along the upper part of each side ; 
the sides have a yellow-brown hue, freckled with dull yellowish 
white, and spotted with dark brown in the posterior region ; 
the under part is of a dark brown colour, with an irregular, 
longitudinal, whitish band, finely reticulated with brown, on 
each side; the space included between these bands, which is 
broadest and darkest at its posterior extremity, comprises in its 
anterior part six whitish spots disposed in pairs ; the spmners 
have a reddish-yellow hue. 

Though the specimen from which the foregoing description 
was made had not arrived at maturity, yet there can be little 
doubt of its specific distinctness. 


Genus TeTrRaGNaTHA, Latr. 
Tetragnatha decorata. 


Length of the female 7,ths of an inch ; length of the cephalo- 
thorax ;',; breadth ;4,; breadth of the abdomen 4. 

The abdomen is robust, subcylindrical, with an obtuse pro- 
tuberance on each side of its anterior extremity, which projects 


greatly over the base of the cephalothorax, and terminates in a 


Dr. P. P. Carpenter on new Forms of Mollusks. 45 


large, obtuse, conical protuberance, slightly curved upwards, 
that extends considerably beyond the spinners; it has a bright 
silvery lustre; a black band extends along the middle of the 
upper part to the posterior conical protuberance, and is crossed 
at its anterior extremity by a broad strongly curved black band, 
within whose curvature there is a short transverse line of the 
same hue; on each side of the medial band a shorter, nearly 
parallel black band occurs; these bands, which commence near 
the extremities of the curved band, are connected anteriorly by 
a transverse black bar, laterally by four oblique lines of the 
same hue, diverging in pairs from the medial band, and poste- 
riorly by converging till they meet ; irregular longitudinal bands 
and short oblique streaks on the sides, and a space round the 
spinners, have a black hue, the last comprising four silvery spots 
disposed symmetrically about the spinners; the sexual organs 
are moderately developed, and of a dark reddish-brown colour, 
that of the branchial opercula being yellowish brown. The 
cephalothorax is small, slightly convex, glossy, compressed be- 
fore, rounded in front and on the sides, with a large indentation 
in the medial line; the falces are short, powerful, very convex 
in front, rather divergent at the extremity, and armed with a 
dark, red-brown fang, and a few teeth on the inner surface ; the 
maxille are divergent, and increase in breadth from the base to 
the extremity, which is somewhat angular on the outer side ; 
the sternum is heart-shaped, with small prominences on the 
sides, opposite to the legs ; the legs are long, slender, and pre- 
vided with hairs and spines: those of the specimens from which 
the description was made were mutilated ; but, from the relative 
length of the femora, it is evident that the first pair is the 
longest, then the second, and that the third pair is much the 
shortest; the palpi are short and slender. These parts have a 
yellow-brown colour. The lip is semicircular and prominent at 
the apex, which has a yellow-brown hue, that of the base being 
dark brown. The eyes are nearly equal in size, and are seated 
on black spots on the anterior part of the cephalothorax ; the 
four intermediate ones form a square, and those of each lateral 
pair (which are placed on a minute tubercle near to each other, 
but not in contact) are rather the smallest of the eight. 


V.—Diagnoses of new Forms of Mollusks collected at Cape 
St. Lucas by Mr. J. Xantus. By Puiuip P, Carpenter, 
B.A., Ph.D. 

[Concluded from vol. xiii. p. 479. | 
37. Mangelia subdiaphana. 


M, testa parva, subdiaphana, albida, interdum rufo-fusco pallide 


46 Dr. P. P. Carpenter on new Forms of Mollusks 


‘tincta; satis turrita, marginibus spires parum excurvatis; anfr. 
nucleosis iii., leevibus, diaphanis, apice mamillato ; norm. iv., satis 
excurvatis, haud angulatis, suturis impressis ; fascia super spiram 
pallide fusca, alteraque candida contigua; costulis radiantibus 
Xlv.—xviil., acutis, subrectis, distantibus, interstitiis undatis; tota 
superficie minute et creberrime spiraliter striata; basi producta, 
striis magis expressis; apertura subelongata ; labro ad dorsum 
incrassato, postice distincte emarginato, intus haud dentato ; labio 
tenuissimo; columella recta, antice late canaliculata. Long. ‘19, 
long. spir. ‘1, lat. :06 poll., div. 30°. 


38. Drillia appressa. 


D. testa parva, compacta; rufo-fusca, interdum supra costas palli- 
diore; marginibus spire excurvatis; anfr. norm. vi., planatis, 
suturis indistinctis ; costis tuberculosis radiantibus cire. xiv., antice 
et postice obsoletis; striolis spiralibus creberrimis; costa spirali 
irregulari postica, tuberculosa, super suturas appressa; area sinus 
parvi vix definita; basi satis prolongata; apertura subquadrata ; 
labio distincto. Long. *3, long. spir. +17, lat. 12 poll., div. 40°. 


39. Cithara fusconotata. 


C. testa parva, satis turrita, tenui, albida; postice linea, seu serie 
macularum, rufo-fusca, interdum altera peripheriali ornata; mat- 
ginibus spire rectioribus; anfr. nucl. ii., rotundatis, apice mamil- 
lato; norm. vi., in spira rotundatis, suturis impressis ; basi satis 
rotundata; costis radiantibus circ. ix., acutis, distantibus, antice 
et postice subobsoletis ; tota superficie spiraliter sulcata, sulculis 
subdistantibus, undatis, costas superantibus ; apertura subovali, 
satis elongata, postice valde sinuata; labro acuto, dorsaliter costu- 
lato, intus haud dentato; labio tenui. Long. °36, long. spir. °18, 
lat. 16 poll., div. 40°. 


40. Obeliscus variegatus. 


O. testa O. hastato simili; nitidissima, striolis incrementi exilissimis ; 
livido et castaneo varie nebulosa; prope suturam canaliculatam 
lineis albidis picta; hic et illic callositate alba interna; peripheria 
circa basin insculpta, unicolore; columella truncata, triplicata ; 
plica superiore acuta, exstante, circa basim continua ; plicis anticis 
parvis, spiralibus. Long. °44, long. spir. *3, lat. *15 poll., div. 23°. 


41. Odostomia (Evalea) equisculpta. 


O. testa parva, ovoidea, alba, subdiaphana; marginibus spire sub- 
rectis; vert. nucl.?...., normaliter truncato; anfr. norm. iv., 
parum arcuatis, suturis impressis ; tota superficie costulis spirali- 
bus cire. xiv., quarum vi. in spira monstrantur, latis, planatis, 
eequidistantibus; interstitlis parvis; basi rotundata; apertura 
ovata; peritremate haud continuo ; labro acuto; labio subobsoleto ; 
plica juxta parietem conspicua, acuta, transversa ; columella arcuata, 


collected at Cape St. Lucas. 47 


-rimulam umbilicalem formante. Long. -07, long. spir. ‘04, lat. 
‘03 poll., div. 40°. 


42. Odostomia (Evalea) delicatula. 


O. testa tenuissima, alba, diaphana, nitente, elongata; margini- 

_ bus spiree eleganter excurvatis ; vert. nucl. levi, globoso, decli- 
viter immerso ; anfr. norm. iii., subplanatis, suturis impressis ; 
liris subacutis, spiralibus, quarum v. in spira monstrantur ; inter- 
stitiis latis, undatis, creberrime decussatis ; basi elongata ; aper- 
tura oblonga, peritremate haud continuo ; labro tenui; labio vix 
conspicuo; plica juxta parietem exstante, declivi. Long. *075, 
long. spir. ‘04, lat. °03 poll., div. 30°. 


43. Chrysallida angusta. 


C. testa parva, satis elongata, nitida, alba, sculptura minus expressa; 
marginibus spires parum excurvatis; vert. nucl. parvo, subito 
immerso, dimidium truncationis tegente ; anfr. norm. v., planatis, 
elongatis, suturis minus impressis; costis radiantibus circ. xiii., 
plerumque lineis continuis marginibus utrinque parallelis, circa 
basim productam obsoletis; lirulis spiralibus angustis, in spira 
circ. y., interstitiis decussantibus, supra costas haud nodulosis ; 
apertura ovali; peritremate parum continuo; labro tenui, trans- 
lucido ; labio tenui; plica juxta parietem parva, obtusa. Long. 
"095, long. spir. °065, lat. ‘028 poll., div. 20°. 


44, Kulima fuscostrigata. 


E. testa minore, gracillima, albida, striga latiore Mhfo-fusca supra 
peripheriam ornata; basi quoque rufo-fusca, valde prolongata, 
regulariter excurvata; anfr. nucl. ii., tumidioribus; norm. viii., 
planatis, suturis haud conspicuis; varicibus nullis; apertura valde 
elongata ; labro vix sinuato; labio vix calloso. Long. °17, long. 
spir. ‘12, lat. ‘05 poll., div. 20°. 


45, Opalia crenatoides. 


O. testa turrita, alba, marginibus spire rectis; anfr. nucl.?....; 
norm. vi., compactis, attingentibus ; costis radiantibus circ. x., in 
spira plerumque obsoletis, ultimo anfractu validioribus, latis, haud 
exstantibus, attingentibus, spiram lineis fere rectis ascendentibus ; 
suturis inter costas altissime indentatis ; carina obtusa basali, su- 
turee continua; inter costas radiantes undique, ut in suturis, in- 
dentata ; costis interdum, propter lirulas spirales subobsoletas, sub- 
nodosis; columella haud umbilicata ; basi antice levi. Long. °54, 
long. spir. 38, lat. °23 poll., div. 30°. 

Additional specimens may connect this with the Portuguese 

O. crenata. 

46. Truncaria eurytoides. 

T. testa parva, turrita, gracili; albida, seepius fascia circa peripheriam 

maculis fusco-aurantiacis picta; anfr. nucl. mamillatis, levibus ; 


48 Dr. P. P. Carpenter on new Forms of Mollusks. 


norm. v., effusis, subplanatis, ultimo paulum constricto ; costulis 
radiantibus cire. xx., aperturam versus evanidis; apertura sub- 
quadrata ; labro haud incrassato, interdum intus subtiliter striato, 
haud dentato; labio appresso; columella abrupte truncata. 
Long. *3, long. spir. *2, lat. *11 poll., div. 23°. 

Variat basi fusco tincta, seu tota superficie ut in Nitidella eribraria 
picta. 

47, Sistrum (? ochrostoma, var.) rufonotatum. 


S. testa S. ochrostomati simili, sed minore, angustiore, vix tabulata ; 
alba, linea punctorum rufo-fuseorum subperipheriali, interdum 
lineis spiralibus, interdum ejusdem coloris maculis, ornata; vert. 
nucl, mamillato, anfr. iil., leevibus, vix tumidis; norm. v., plus 
minusve elongatis, in medio nodoso-angulatis, postice planatis, 
suturis ad angulum yalde obtusum conspicuis ; seriebus nodulorum 
spiralibus iii., quarum postica major, secundum costas radiantes 
obsoletas cire. vi.—vili. ordinatis ; seriebus anticis inconspicuis ii. ; 
interdum costulis spiralibus intercalatis; canali brevi, rectiore, 
aperto, angusto; apertura subovali, vix subquadrata, intus pallide 
aurantiaca; labro acutiore, dorsaliter subvaricoso, postice seepe 
sinuato, intus obscure vi.-dentato ; labio conspicuo, interdum ex- 
stante. Long. 5, long. spir. *23, lat. *32 poll., div. 60°. 

Variat testa obesa, nodulis validis. Variat quoque testa acuminata, 
nodulis subobsoletis. Long. °52, long. spir. °23, lat. *25 poll., 
div. 42°. 

48. ?.Nitidella millepunctata. 

2N. testa parva, nitida, livida; spira exstante, anfractibus subpla- 
natis, suturis distinctis ; anfr. nucl. leevibus, adolescentibus obso- 
lete radiatim lirulatis, adultis leevibus; zona alba postica, suturam 
attingente, aurantiaco maculata ; tota praeter zonam superficie au- 
rantiaco puncticulata, punctis minimis, creberrimis, in quincunces 
dispositis ; apertura subquadrata ; labro incrassato, intus vi.-den- 
tato; labio exstante, a lirulis circa basim spiralibus indentato. 
Long. *3, long. spir. ‘17, lat. +15 poll., div. 40°. 

Differs from Columbella albuginosa, Rve., in its peculiar and 


constant painting. 
49. ?Nitidella densilineata. 


?N. testa ?N. millepunctatam forma et indole simulante, sed omnino 
nitida, anfractibus planatis, suturis indistinctis, striolis cirea basim 
minimis ; livida, lineolis aurantiaco-fuscis divaricatis, seepe ziczac- 
formibus, densissime signata. Long. *25, long. spir. °15, lat. *1 
poll., div. 35°. 

The opercula of these two species being unknown, their 
generic position remains doubtful. The same is true of the two 
following. 

50. ?Anachis tincta. 


?4, testa parva, turrita, albida, rufo-aurantiaco supra costas tincta ; 
anfr, nucl. levibus; norm. iv.-v., subplanatis, suturis valde im- 


Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermace. AD 


- pressis ; costulis x. radiantibus, et liris spiralibus transeuntibus, 
in spira iii. supra costas conspicuis, unaque in sutura, dense in- 
sculpta; interstitiis alte celatis; apertura subquadrata; labro in 
medio incrassato. Long. *19, long. spir. °12, lat. :08 poll., 
div. 30°. 

51. ?Anachis fuscostrigata. 


?A. testa parva, turrita, livida, nitida ; zonis rufo-fuscis, subspiralibus, 
in Spira cire. lil., interdum, maxime ad basim, confluentibus, con- 
spicue cincta; lirulis radiantibus subobsoletis, circ. x., prope su- 
turam se monstrantibus ; ; apertura subquadrata. Long. - 13, long. 
spir. ‘095, lat. -045 poll., div. 20°. 


52. Pisania elata. 


P. testa minore, valde turrita, Latiroidea; alba, rufo-fusco antice et 
postice varie maculata seu strigata; anfr. nucl.?....; norm. vi., 
convexis, suturis impressis; costis radiantibus vi.—vili., obtusis, 
interstitiis undatis ; lirulis spiralibus distantibus, in spira plerum- 
que iii., aliis minoribus intercalantibus; canali angusto, sub- 
recurvato ; apertura subovata; pariete postice dentata; columella 
parum contorta. Long. ‘68, long. spir. *37, lat. +29 poll., div. 38°. 


VI.—On the Menispermacee. 
By Joun Mrers, F.R.S., F.L.S. &c. 


[Continued from vol. xii. p. 491.] 
9. ANAMIRTA. 


This genus was proposed in 1819 by Colebrook for the typi- 
eal species, of which he had only seen the male plant: the male 
and female plants were afterwards described, with more pre- 
cision, and figured by Dr. Arnott: but there are some few inac- 
curacies in those details; for the anthers in the male flower are 
aggregated upon a scarcely elevated receptacle, not raised upon 
a stipitated column, as is there shown, and in the female flower 
the monadelphous ring of 10 sterile stamens is altogether over- 
looked, as is likewise the 5-lobed raised gyneecium. Anamirta 
resembles Parabena in the aggregation of its numerous stamens 
upon a receptacle, their number varying in different species 
from 15 to 55. It is stated by Dr. Arnott, as well as by the 
authors of the ‘Flora Indica,’ that the female flower bears 3 
ovaries; I have found constantly 4 or 5, and have never met 
with a smaller number in the many flowers I have examined. 
The normal number would seem to be 5, judging from the pro- 
portion of the sterile stamens that surround them, these being 
invariably 10, in a single series, united in an annular ring (not 
9, as stated by those authorities). The number of sepals is in- 

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. xiv. 4. 


50 Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermaceze. 


constant in the same panicle of flowers, varying from 7 to 12, 
including 3 minute basal bracts, which also vary in number and 
size; they are much imbricated. There are no petals. The 
drupes are fleshy and gibbously oval, the persistent stigma 
being very excentric, and much nearer the base than the apex : 
here the gynecium by subsequent growth is converted mto a 
stout cylindrical carpophorum *, which becomes divided at its 
summit into 2, 3, or 4 forks, answering to the number of drupes 
perfected, leaving cicatrices corresponding with the number of 
abortive ovaries—a development similar to that I have described 
in Tiliacora and Sciadotenia. The putamen is oval, with a short 
reniform sinus on its ventral face; it is of a thin corneous tex- 
ture, its smooth surface is grooved in anet-like form, the grooves 
being filled with capillary fibres, from which it may be inferred 
that in a fresh state its mesocarp consists of aggregated masses 
like those observed in Anomospermum ; on the side of the reni- 
form depression of the putamen, there are two small circular 
apertures leading into two distinct chambers of the large sub- 
globular condyle, which projects far into the centre of the cell, 
and the integuments of the seed enter into the deep groove along 
its face, and are there firmly attached along the line of the 
raphe. The structure of its seed quite corresponds with the 
rest of the Heteroclinieew, but the fissures of the ruminated albu- 
men do not penetrate so deeply as in many genera: the coty- 
ledons are extremely divaricated, and enclosed in distinct cells of 
the albumen. 

The authors of the ‘Flora Indica’ acknowledge only the ori- 
ginal type, but A. lemniscata from Java, as well as others to be 
described in the ‘ Contributions to Botany,’ are distinct species ; 
they do not admit A. flavescens, which appears to me correctly 
referred here by Wight and Arnott, and they regard the Ceylon 
species, A. ¢oxifera, as being identical with the type; but the 
grounds on which they are considered distinct will be stated. 
Concerning A. Bauerana of Endlicher, I can learn nothing: it is 
figured in his ‘Atakta ’—a book I have not been able to consult, 
nor can I find in any botanical work a description of the species. 


Anamirta, Coleb.—Flores dioici. Mase. Sepala 7-12, imbri- 
cata, quorum 2-4 exteriora minora, ovata, concava, submem- 
branacea. Petala nulla. Stamina 15-55, receptaculo parvo 
sessili, pluriseriatim in globum aggregata: jilamenta fere ob- 
soleta: anthere 4-lobee, sub-4-locellatz, rima transversa 2-val- 


* It would be well to confine the use of the term Carpophorum to those 
kinds of development resulting from the growth of the torus, leaving the 
word Carpodium to designate the stipitate support where it is an mere- 
ment of the fruit itself. 


Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermaceze, 51 


vatim hiantes.—Fem. Sepala ut in masc. Petala nulla. 
Stamina sterilia 10, brevissima, carnosula, compressa, apice 
emarginata, effoeta, imo in annulum brevem circa gynecium 
coalita. Ovaria sepius 4 vel 5 supra gynecium breviter cylin- 
dricum imposita, erecta, gibba, glabra, 1-locularia, ovu/o unico 
in angulo ventrali appenso. Stylus brevissimus, crassiusculus. 
Stigma validum, subito reflexum, deltoideum, convexum, papil- 
losum. Drupe 1-5, ovate, subcarnosee, stigmate valde ex- 
centrico notate, carpophoro longiusculo lignoso incrassato 
cylindrico apice furcato suffulte, furcis tot quot drupis, iisdem 
articulatis : putamen ovatum, ad ventrem reniformi-excavatum, 
tenuiter osseum, 1-loculare, sutura peripherica, sub-2-valvare, 
indehiscens ; condylus omnino internus, majusculus, globosus, 
2-cameratus, ultra medium loculi protensus, foraminibus 2 
collateraliter sejunctis externe apertis instructus. Semen loculo 
conforme, meniscoideum, facie ventrali valde cavum, et hine 
ad condylum affixum: infegumenta tenuissima, per raphem 
linearem ventralem sulco condyli intrusa:; embryo paulo con- 
vexus, intra albumen copiosum fere 2-laminare ventre rumi- 
natum inclusus : cotyledones tenuiter foliacez, lineari-oblonge, 
lateraliter valde divaricatz, in locellis sejunctis sepulte, radz- 
cula brevi tereti supera axin versus inclinata et ad stylum spec- 
tante multoties longiores. 

Frutices scandentes Indie orientalis et Insularum incole, sepius 
glabri, cortice suberoso; folia majuscula, late ovata, sepe cor- 
data, integerrima, subcoriacea, longe petiolata ; panicule race- 
moseé, supra-axillares, elongate, pendule; flores pedicellati, 
pedicellis basi et medio 3-bracteatis. 


Anamirta paniculata, Coleb.;—India Orient. 
flavescens, nob. ;—Molucea. 

toxifera, nob. ;—Ceylon. 

populifolia, nob. ;—Timor. 

lemniscata, nob. ;—Java. 

luctuosa, nob. ;—Java. 

jucunda, nob. ;—Java, 


a ta 


The details of these species will be given in the ‘ Contributions 
to Botany,’ vol. i. 


10. PaARABANA, 


This genus was proposed by me in 1851 for the Cocculus 
sagittatus and C. oleraceus, Wall. These were considered by Dr, 
Wallich as distinct species. They are climbing plants, natives 
of India and Ava, with oblong, extremely cordate or sagittate 
leaves, either entire or deeply and sinuously dentated. The 
genus agrees with Anamirta in having its anthers aggregated in 

4* 


52 Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermacez. 


a globular head, not sessile as in that genus, but borne on the 
apex of a long slender monadelphous column as in Cissampelos. 
It has 6 sepais, obsoletely saccate or swollen at base, as in Jateo- 
rliza, imbricated in 2 series, and 6 distinct petals. The sterile 
stamens of the female flower are arranged in an annular whorl 
round the stipitate gynecium, on which 3 unilocular ovaries 
are seated. The putamen, as in Rhigiocarya, is covered with pro- 
minent, obtusely hooked, echinated spines, arranged in longi- 
tudinal series, the dorsal middle row terminating in a long apical 
tooth. The condyle is formed as in Odontocarya and Aspido- 
carya; but, for want of perfect specimens, the shape of the 
embryo is not known. 


PARABENA, nob.—Flores dioici. Mase. Sepala 6, oblonga vel 
spathulato-oblonga, 2-seriata, imo carnosa et subsaccata, 3 
exteriora angustiora et paulo breviora, extus sericea, estiva- 
tione imbricata. Petala 6, parva, spathulato-oblonga, extus 
dorso carinata, imo carnosa, erecta. Stamina monadelpha: 
filamenta in columnam teretem gracilem centralem coalita ; 

_ anthere 6, subglobose, supra columnam 2-serialiter arcte 
ageregatz, 4-sulcate, 4-locellate, rima transversali 2-valvatim 
hiantes.—Fem. Sepala et petala ut in mase. Stamina sterilia 
6, gynecium ambientia, summo glanduloso-4-loba. Ovaria3, 
gynzecio brevi imposita, libera, erecta, gibba, glabra, 1-locu- 
laria, ovu/o unico ad angulum internum medio appenso ; stylus 
brevis, teres ; stigma dilatato-recurvum, suleatum. Drupe 3, 
ovate, subcarnosze, stigmate persistente subexcentrico apicu- 
latee: putamen osseum, suborbiculare, compressum, ventre 
subplanum, ad dorsum convexum, spinis obtusis hamatis in 
seriebus longitudinalibus exasperatum, serie centrali promi- 
nentiore, et hinc in dentem longum apiculatum: condylus 
medio faciei ventralis, ovatus, extus concavus, intra loculum 
convexus; semen loculo conforme, summo condyli affixum ; 
cetera ignota. 

Frutices scandentes Indie orientalis; folia oblonga aut ovata, 
apice repente attenuata, cordata, vel angulato-hastata, 5—9- 
nervia, integra, aut sinuato-dentata ; panicula axillaris, petiolo 
sublongior. 


1. Parabena sagittata, nob. ;—Ind. Orient. 
Described in the ‘ Contributions to Botany,’ vol. ui. 


1]. AsprpocaRYA. 
This genus, established by the authors of the ‘ Flora Indica,’ 
is one of much interest ; its stamens are monadelphous after the 
manner of Cissampelos ; the shape of its extremely flattened puta- 


a ee 


Prof. G. Gulliver on Raphides. 53° 


men, with pectinated margins, is a modification of that of Caly- 
cocarpum, and its condyle is nearly evanescent as in Tinomis- 
cium: the form of its embryo with divaricated cotyledons, im- 
bedded in distinct cells of the albumen, places the genus among 
the Heteroclinice. 


Aspipocarya, H. & Th.—Fores dioici. Mase. Sepala 12, in 
seriebus ternatim imbricata, 6 interiora obovata, concava, sub- 
membranacea, glabra, 3-nervia, 6 exteriora gradatim minora et © 
angustiora, margine ciliata. Petala 6, eequalia, sepalis dimidio 
breviora, rotundata, breviter unguiculata, marginibus infra 
medium auriculatim inflexis, nervis 3 ad medium protensis et 
illine arcuatim nexis. Stamen unicum centrale ; filamentum 
tenuiter columnare, sepalis xquilongum ; anthere 6, bilobe, 
ad oram connectivi peltato-disciformis connate, margine rima 
transversa dehiscentes.—FV. fem. Sepala et petala ut in mase. 
Stamina sterilia 6, clavata. Ovaria 3; stigma subcapitatum, 
sec. cl. auct. Drupe 3, oblongo-ovate, pulpose: putamen 
subosseum, subovatum, lenticulari-compressum, utrinque 
paulo convexum, facie dorsali carina elevata apice basique ex- 
currente cristatum, utroque margine in aciem sinuato-pecti- 
natam vel truncato-dentatam late expansum, 1-loculare ; con- 
dylus obsoletus, nisi in striam Jongitudinalem discessus ; semen 
loculo conforme, ovatum, valde compressum: integumenta 
tenuiter membranacea, facie ventrali linea obscura longitudi- 
nali et raphe notata, et hine ad striam condyli adherentia : 
embryo intra albumen carnosum fere 2-laminare simplex in- 
clusus ; cotyledonibus foliaceis, oblongis, acutis, valde divaricatis, 
in locellis sejunctis utrinque positis, radicula supera tereti 
multo longioribus. 

Frutex scandens Indie orientalis ; folia ovato-oblonga, subcordata, 
acuta, et subito attenuata, submembranacea, 5-nervia, subglabra, 
in nervis pubescentia,longe et tenuiter petiolata; panicula race- 
mosa, supra-axillaris, folio subequalis; flores parvi, viride- 
scentes. 


1. Aspidocarya uvifera, H. & Th. ;—Sikhim. 


Particulars of this species will be given in the ‘ Contributions 
to Botany,’ vol. i. 
[To be continued. | 


VII.— Observations on Raphides. 
By Grorce Guiuiver, F.R.S. 
[Continued from vol. xiii. p. 511.] 
Practical Applications.— At present, these will be confined to 
Dicotyledones, and, like all my former observations, entirely to 


54: Prof. G. Gulliver on Raphides. 


the British Flora, unless when expressly extended beyond it. 
Of every order in Prof. Babington’s ‘ Manual’ I have examined 
at least one species, often more, and sometimes the whole or 
nearly the whole; and whenever raphides were found in any 
order, all or the greater part of its species were manytimes dili- 
gently searched, as well as those of the orders between which the 
raphis-bearing one might happen to stand. But as it was fre- 
quently difficult for me to procure more than one specimen of a 
plant, and still less easy to get every species of an order, and to be 
sure of avoiding errors, these practical applications will be now 
described provisionally, and yet not without a belief that their 
utility and naturalness are likely to remain after a much more 
complete series of valid tests than I have been able to apply. 
The subject, even as limited in this paper, is so extensive as 
to require for its full elucidation the cooperation of many 
labourers in different parts of the kingdom; and any botanist 
who may choose to try the reality of the raphidian character of 
such an order as Onagracer may quickly and easily do so in 
some of the most common plants throughout our country. 

In the last communication, additional evidence was given of 
the validity and practicability of this character in Galiaceze, and 
that it is at least as remarkable in Balsaminaceze and Onagracez. 
Now these three are the only orders of our Dicotyledones that 
can yet be truly characterized as raphis-bearers,—a fact which 
I have already found very useful in cases where no other bota- 
nical diagnosis was available. And hence, until this raphidian 
character be proved either defective or more extensive, whenever 
a British plant of that class be found abounding in raphides, it 
must be referred to one or other of those three orders. 

But this conclusion will appear so paradoxical, rejecting the 
raphis-bearing character of many trees and shrubs which are 
commonly cited by authors as special examples of it, opposed 
also to the current views on the subject generally in our best 
works on phytotomy and to the neglect of it particularly in those 
of systematic botany, that a few explanatory remarks may here 
be repeated. 

When Schleiden states that “the needle-formed crystals, in 
bundles of from twenty to thirty in a single cell, are present in 
almost all plants,” we can only certainly say that they must 
be very difficult to detect, if ever present at all, in many entire 
orders of British plants, and that, though the conclusion of such 
an eminent observer is not to be lightly treated, it cannot yet 
be reconciled with the facts so often disclosed in the course of 
the present communications. 

Other statements, apparently coinciding with that of Schleiden, 
when carefully examined both by their context and by the light 


Prof. G. Gulliver on Raphides. 55 


of nature, are more easily explicable. Thus when, under the 
article “ Raphides ” in the last edition of the valuable ‘ Micro- 
graphic Dictionary,’ we are told that there are few of the higher 
plants which do not contain them, and that they abound in 
Euphorbiacee, Cactacex, and Polygonacee, and in the roots of 
Umbelliferee and the sepals of Geraniacez and Orchidacez, it is 
certain that spheraphides and other crystals are confounded 
with raphides, and that these last are by no means limited to 
the calyx in Orchidaceze. Of Euphorbiaceee my examinations 
have been confined to our indigenous species, in which I have 
not yet seen bundles of raphides, and suppose that the starch- 
sticks in the latex of this order (‘ Annals,’ March 1862) may 
have been originally described by Rafn as saline crystals, and 
the error often copied since; but with his observations I am 
only acquainted at second hand. And while spheraphides and 
other crystals are so common in our trees and shrubs, I have 
never found these plants characterized by raphides; so that this 
department alone still affords an interesting field of research *. 
Again, the minute single crystals which I have described in the 
ovaries of British Composite and in the leaves of Gentiana 
acaulis are not true raphides. As to systematic botany, the 
value of raphides as natural characters seems never to have been 
at all recognized,—certainly not in our best English works. 
Nor indeed was it likely to be while the statements of Schleiden 
and others, already alluded to, remained current ; and the pau- 
city, confusion, and uncertainty of the facts made them utterly 
insufficient and unavailable for the purpose. And this is the 
more remarkable after such an illustrious botanist as Lindley 
(Intr. to Bot. 3rd ed.), with the excellent assistance of Edwin 
Quekett, had long since perceived the interest of raphides in 
connexion with organography, and pointed out their presence in 
certain Nyctaginaceze, Orchidacez, and Aracezx. 

Of the practical applications a few more instructive examples 
may be added. In gardening operations, I have always found 
it easy, and often very useful, to pick out, simply by the raphi- 
dian character, seedlings of the many exotic Onagracez, now so 
commonly cultivated, from seedlings of other orders. And some 


* Tf our Societies would offer prizes to young persons for inquiries of 
this kind, instead of temptations to the extirpation of our rare native 
plants, some good might result ; for numerous observations with a definite 
aim, and such as may be easily made with a cheap microscope, are much 
required ; and they are calculated to elevate the taste to a perception of 
the importance of the life of the plant-cell, and to open a wide field of 
rational amusement and instruction for families in the country. As to 
species, those of such genera as Carex and Salix, Rosa and Rubus, would 
be well fitted to try the knowledge and industry of students. 


56 Prof. G. Gulliver on Raphides. 


Mesembryez, which had been sown in pots and got confused 
with other pots containing seedlings of exotic Crassulacez, were 
all as easily and quickly distinguished by the same character. 
The raphides in all these instances, though smaller than in 
_ adult plants of the same species, were very plainly seen collected 

into bundles in the seed-leaves and infant stems and plumules. 
And the practical application of the raphidian diagnosis may be 
equally simple and sure in old plants at every period of their 
existence ; for, besides the evidence formerly given, it was found 
particularly serviceable in the absence of any other botanical 
character. Thus in a reserve bed containing several species or 
varieties of Ginothera, and many Phloxes, Campions, Rockets, 
and other plants, intended for removal when required, all the 
Onagracez were readily identified by the abundance of raphides 
in their roots and subterranean leaf-buds, before growth had 
revived, in the early spring. But there was a tough creeping 
root with stem-buds, certainly not an Cfnothera, and yet abound- 
ing in raphides. What could this be? As we were here puzzled, 
it was put into a pot for further observations, and soon became 
a good specimen of Asperula odorata, a plant of the Tapes 
bearing order Galiaceze. 

Finally, as to the opmion of Link and E. Quekett that ra- 
phides in plants are, like calculi in animals, ‘ nothing more 
than accidental deposits,” the sum of my experience, on the 
contrary, is that they are really such an intrinsic effect of the 
plant-life, from the cradle to the grave, of the species in which they 
abound, as to be quite as fundamentally and universally present 
therein as any other speciality or single diagnostic whatever, 
and moreover surely expository of an essential part of the very 
nature of those species. And, although, on a subject so novel 
and extensive, the results obtained by a single observer can only 
be offered provisionally, it appears to me that the present prac- 
tical applications are sufficient to prove the importance of raphides 
as natural characters; that their precise value in this point of 
view requires further and very extended researches, more espe- 
cially as regards the flora of the world; and that, so far as con- 
cerns the class Dicotyledones of the British Flora, the orders 
Balsaminacee, Onagracez, and Galiaceze are eminently entitled 
to be characterized as raphis-bearing plants. 


Edenbridge, May 30, 1864. 


[To be continued. } 


Prof. Allman on the Hydroida. 57 


VIII.—Notes on the Hydroida. By Prof. Atuman, F.R.S. 
i 


Note, supplemental and corrective, to a Synopsis of the Genera 
and Species of Tubularian and Campanularian Hydroids, published 
in the ‘Annals and Magazine of Natural History’ for May 1864, 
p. 350. 

[Plate II. | 


Perigonimus vestitus, Allman, n. sp.* 


Trophosome.—Hydrocaulus composed of numerous stems, 
from half a line to two lines in height, becoming greatly dilated 
towards the summit, simple or occasionally with one or two 
short lateral branches, and connected by a delicate creeping and 
retiform hydrorhiza; periderm yellowish brown, with adherent 
particles of sand. Polypites with from six to ten tentacles, 
which are roughened by irregularly annular groups of minute 
thread-cells, and in extension are usually held with the alter- 
nate ones elevated and depressed ; a delicate continuation of the 
periderm extends over the whole of the body of the polypite 
beyond the tentacles, and almost to the margin of the mouth ; 
this peridermic covering, however, is not continued over the 
tentacles, but becomes lost on their roots. 

Gonosome.—Gonophores elevated on long peduncles, which 
spring from the hydrocaulus and occasionally also from the hydro- 
rhiza, the peduncle for about its proximal half being invested by 
a continuation of the opake chitinous periderm. Medusa, at 
the time of liberation, oviform, the cavity of the umbrella being 
very deep, and the umbrella-mouth (“ codonostome”) much 
contracted ; umbrella-walls very thin and with minute scattered 
thread-cells immersed in them; two opposite marginal tentacles 
with non-ocellated bulbous bases, the intervening radiating 
canals terminating each in a smaller bulb, from which no tentacle 
has been developed; manubrium with four shallow lips. 

Perigonimus vestitus was met with in the Firth of Forth in 
June, growing upon an old Buccinum-shell, where it was asso- 
ciated with Hydractinia echinata. In the continuation of the 
periderm over the body of the polypite, as well as in general 
habit, it comes very near to the Perigonimus (Atractylis) palliatus 
of Wright, from which, however, it differs, judging from Dr. 
Wright’s description and figures, in its more developed hydro- 
caulus, in the position of the gonophores—which are here borne 


* With the exception of Perigonimus vestitus and Tubularia humilis, 
which are now recorded for the first time, all the species here described 
will be found under their respective genera in the Synopsis, where, how- 
ever, they are simply enumerated, without any description. 


58 Prof. Allman on the Hydroida. 


almost exclusively on the hydrocaulus, only an occasional one 
being here and there developed from the hydrorhiza, while in 
P. palliatus they are confined to the hydrorhiza,—and in the form 
of the medusa, whose contracted codonostome gives to the um- 
brella, at the time of liberation, an oviform shape which is very 
striking and peculiar, while in P. palliatus the umbrella does not 
become contracted towards the codonostome, and is accordingly 
nearly cylindrical in form *. 

In meduse now about the tenth day since their liberation, 
and still alive in my tanks, the form has undergone considerable 
change, the umbrella having become nearly spherical, thus pre- 
senting a further departure from the medusa described by Dr. 
Wright as proceeding from P. palliatus. No increase, however, 
has taken place in the number of marginal tentacles. 

Bougainvillia fruticosa, Allman, n. s. 

Trophosome.—Hydrocaulus rising to the height of about two 
inches, much branched, with the main stems composed of aggre- 
gated tubes, branches subalternate, periderm of the smaller 
branches marked by shallow transverse corrugations, which 
become obsolete on the larger branches and main stems: poly- 
pites im extreme extension nearly cylindrical, with the periderm 
continued for a short distance over the posterior part of their 
body as a thin pellicle, which in extreme contraction appears as 
a membranous corrugated cup, into which the polypite has 
become withdrawn for about its posterior third. 

Gonosome.—Gonophores pyriform on distinct peduncles spring- 
ing from the upper side of the ultimate ramuli, along which they 
extend nearly from the origin to the termination of the ramulus. 

I met with B. fruticosa in September, growing in abundance 
on a large piece of floating timber in the mouth of the Kenmare 
River, coast of Kerry. 

Bougainvillia fruticosa, though closely allied to B. ramosa, Van 
Ben., differs from it in the more cylindrical and slender form of 
the extended polypite, in the less extent to which the polypite is 
invested by the membranous dilatation of the chitinous periderm, 
and in the disposition of the gonophores. While in B. fruticosa 
the polypites in extreme retraction have the tentacles and nearly 
two-thirds of the body exposed, the contracted polypites of B. 
ramosa are almost entirely concealed within the dilated periderm. 
In B. ramosa, moreover, the gonophores, instead of being borne 
along the whole of the upper surface of the ultimate ramuli, are 
confined to their distal extremity, where they occur singly or 
in a pair consisting of two opposite gonophores, or else in an 


* See Dr. Wright’s description of Atractylis pallida, in Ann, Nat, Hist. 
for Aug. 1861, p. 129, pl. 4. figs. 6 & 7. 


Prof. Allman on the Hydroida. 59 


imperfect verticil of three or more. Between the medusa of the 
various species of Bougainvillia whose trophosome has been 
observed I cannot discover any difference which could be ad- 
vantageously employed in the diagnosis. 


Heterocorpyte, Allman *, 


Gen. char.: Trophosome.—Ccenosare consisting of a simple or 
branched hydrocaulus, which arises from a creeping filiform and 
anastomosing hydrorhiza, the whole invested by a chitinous peri- 
derm. Polypites fusiform, with a single verticil of filiform ten- 
tacula round the base of a conical metastome. 

Gonosome.—Gonophores adelocodonic, borne by gonoblastidia 
which are developed (solely ?) from the hydrorhiza ; sporosacs 1n 
the form of simple fixed sacs destitute of tentacles and cilia. 


Species unica: H. Conybearei, Allman. Plate II. 


Trophosome.—Hydrocaulus consisting of numerous much- 
branched stems, along with short simple ones, all crowded on the 
creeping hydrorhiza, the longest stems attaining a height of 
about four lines; periderm transversely corrugated, slightly 
dilated at the base of the polypites, ash-brown. Polypites with 
about twelve tentacula, usually held straight on extension, with 
the alternate ones depressed when partially contracted, the tenta- 
cles present a slightly clavate outline at their extremities. 

Gonosome.—Gonoblastidium springing out of a short tubular 
process from the upper surface of the hydrorhiza, club-shaped, 
its distal extremity thickly set with thread-cells; gonophores 
numerous, on very short peduncles, densely crowded, commen- 
cing a little behind the distal extremity of the gonoblastidium, 
and thence extending to within a short distance of its base. 

H. Conybearei was obtained last autumn in considerable abun- 
dance in the Harbour. of Glengariff, co. Cork, investing old 
univalve shells which had been taken possession of by hermit 
crabs. In habit it exactly resembles Dicoryne conferta, and with- 
out the aid of a microscope might be easily mistaken for this 
species ; but the structure of the gonophores, which are simple 
sporosacs, entirely resembling those of Clava, must remove it by 
a wide interval from Dicoryne. 

I have much pleasure in calling the present species after an 
ardent and scientific worker with the microscope, a member 
of a family whose name is already inseparably united with the 
progress of natural science in these islands, Henry Conybeare, 
Esq., in whose company, during a dredging-expedition in the 

* T have already given in the Synopsis a diagnosis of this genus, unac- 


companied, however, by a figure or by a description of the only known 
species. 


60 Prof. Allman on the Hydroida. 


beautiful Harbour of Glengariff, this very distinct hydroid was 
obtained. 


Tubularia humilis, Allman, n. sp. 


Trophosome.—Hydrocaulus attaining the height of about one 
inch, simple or sparingly branched, the main stems springing 
at distinct intervals from the creeping ramified stolon; periderm 
with nearly obsolete transverse corrugations : polypites supported 
on collar-like expansions of the ccenosarc, they measure in full- 
sized specimens about two lines from tip to tip of the extended 
proximal tentacles, and have about twenty proximal and fifteen 
distal tentacles ; body of polypites scarlet, periderm light yellow. 

Gonosome.—Gonophores (male*) borne on very short branch- 
ing peduncles, forming erect clusters of scarlet sporosacs, usually 
about three in each cluster; summit of gonophore with three 
rather large tentaculiform tubercles. 

I obtained 7. humilis during the autumn, attached to the 
rocks close to the level of low-water spring tides near the mouth 
of Kinsale Harbour. It resembles 7. ellis in its mode of growth 
and in the shortness of its hydrocaulus; but is at once distin- 
guished from this species by the absence of distinct annulation, 
and by the smaller size and less-appressed form of the polypite. 


Tubularia attenuata, Allman, n. sp. 


Trophosome.—Hydrocaulus attaining the height of three or 
four inches, slender, obscurely corrugated, very irregularly 
branched, with the branches given off at a wide angle: polypite 
supported on a collar-like expansion of the ccenosarc; distal 
tentacles about one-third as long as the proximal ones ; body of 
polypite deep vermilion between the two tentacular verticils, and 
thence becoming paler coloured towards the enlarged base, peri- 
derm light straw-colour. 

Gonosome.—Gonophores (male+) borne on short erect 
branched peduncles, with usually five to eight in a cluster ; ten- 
taculiform appendages of gonophores long, in mature individuals 
nearly equalling in length half the height of the gonophore. 

T. attenuata is 2 deep-water species; I have dredged it from 
about 15 fathoms in the Firth of Forth, and from about 50 
in the Shetland seas. It differs from 7. coronata chiefly in its 
more diffuse habit and the short erect peduncles of its clusters 
of gonophores, while from the 7. simplex, Alder, it is easily 
distinguished by its branched hydrocaulus and by the greater 
length of its distal tentacles. 


* All the specimens examined were males. 
+ Only male specimens have been examined, 


Prof. Allman on the Hydroida. 61 


Campanulina repens, Allman, n. sp. 


Trophosome—HUy drocaulus springing from a creeping stolon- 
like hydrorhiza, and consisting of numerous short simple stems, 
each terminated by a polypite, and, along with these, other more 
developed stems with alternate branches; hydrothecz conical, 
with the margin continued by a membrane which is cut into 
deep acute segments, forming an operculum which closes over 
the orifice of the hydrotheca when the polypite is withdrawn or 
absent ; the hydrocaulus is distinctly annulated, but the hydro- 
rhizais smooth. Polypites very extensile, with about sixteen ten- 
tacula, rendered nodulose in extension by irregular clusters of 
thread-cells ; the tentacles during extension are held with the 
alternate ones elevated and depressed, and are united at their 
base by a very shallow web. 

Gonosome.—Gonangia large, borne upon the creeping stolon, 
and occasionally also upon the hydrocaulus, about three times 
the length and breadth of the hydrothecz, in the form of an in- 
verted cone slightly gibbous at one side near the proximal end, 
and supported on the summit of a very short annulated pedun- 
cle. Gonophores phanerocodonic ; meduse at the time of libera- 
tion with four very extensive marginal tentacles, which are 
nodulated by clusters of thread-cells. 

C. repens was found investing the surface of Sertularian Hy- 
droids dredged from about 5 fathoms in the Firth of Forth. It 
differs from C. acuminata, Alder, in the hydrotheca being 
crowned by long, acute, converging segments, which on the re- 
treat of the polypite form a true operculum, while the hydro- 
theca in C. acuminata is merely continued by a delicate collap- 
sile and undivided membrane—as well as in the much slighter 
development of the scarcely apparent web which unites the 
bases of the tentacles, and in the fact that the medusa at the 
time of liberation has four well-developed marginal tentacles, 
while the medusa of C. acuminata has only two. Some of these 
characters may possibly be regarded as pointing rather to a 
generic than to a merely specific difference. (See my Synopsis of 
the Campanularian Hydroids, ‘Annals, May 1864, p. 376.) 


In my Synopsis of the Tubularian Hydroids (p. 359), I pro- 
posed the establishment of a new genus, under the name of 
Heteractis, for the Corymorpha annulicornis of Sars. I had un- 
fortunately overlooked at the time the fact that this name had 
been already employed by the botanist for a genus of composite 
plants—an inadvertence to which one of my pupils, Mr. W. R. 
M‘Nab, has since called my attention. 1 would accord- 
ingly now propose that the new zoological genus, instead of 


62 Prof. Allman on the Hydroida. 


bearing the name of Heteractis, should be designated by that of 
Heterostephanus (€repos, dissimilar, and oréhavos, a crown), a 
name which will entirely express the character which originally 
suggested that of Heteractis. 

I find also that I have, by an oversight, omitted from the 
Synopsis the genus Cionistes of Dr. T. S. Wright. This is a 
genus of Tubularian Hydroids discovered by Dr. Wright on the 
Scottish coast. I have never seen a specimen; but Dr. Wright 
gives the following diagnosis of the genus :— 

“ Polypidom retiform; alimentary polypes sessile, minute, 
white, with a single row of short tentacles ; reproductive polypes 
columnar, thickened towards the apex, not terminated by a clus- 
ter of thread-cells bearing many generative capsules ”’*. 

Though the above diagnosis contains some characters which 
I cannot consider as of higher than specific value, there are still 
a sufficient number on which to found a valid genus, which will 
take its place in the. family of the Eudendride. Dr. Wright 
records, though without description, a single species of the genus, 
namely, C. reticulata, Wright. 

Under the genus Diplura, Greene, I have also inadvertently 
omitted to give the only species which has been traced to its 
trophosome, namely, 

Diplura fritillaria, Steenstrup (sp.), = Coryne fritillaria, 
Steenst. ° 

Mr. Alder, in a letter which I have received from him, reminds 
me that I have omitted to enumerate among the species of Cam- 
panularian Hydroids the Sertularia gelatinosa of Pallas, and the 
Sertularia longissima of the same author, both of which are 
placed by subsequent authors under the genus Laomedea. The 
omission of these species from my Synopsis was entirely acci- 
dental. I have no personal knowledge of their gonosomes ; but 
Mr. Alder informs me that it is his belief that both species give 
off medusze. If so, it is most probable that the medusa is of the 
Obelia type, and the two species will then go into the genus 
Obelia as defined in the Synopsis. 

I have also accidentally omitted the Campanularia fastigiata 
of Alder, which is, in all probability, a Calycella. Mr. Alder is 
himself of this opinion, and is moreover convinced that his C. 
fastigiata is identical with Sars’s Lafoéa plicatiis. It must 
therefore be enumerated among the species included under the 
genus Calycella, while the subsequently described Lafoéa plicatilis 
of Sars must be removed from the genus Lafoéa, and must take 
the place of a synonym of Calycella fastigiata. 

In introducing Sars’s genus Myriothela into my Synopsis, I 


* T.S. Wright in Ann. Nat. Hist. for August 1861, p. 123, 


Prof. Allman on the Hydroida. 63 


followed Agassiz in restoring to this remarkable hydroid the name 
of Candelabrum, proposed for it by De Blainville. More mature 
consideration, however, has induced me to return to the name of 
Myriothela. De Blainville found that a species of this genus was 
described by Fabricius under the name of Lucernaria phrygia, 
and it was plain to him, as it would have been to any zoologist 
of that day, that Fabricius’s hydroid was no Lucernaria ; hence 
his proposal of a new generic name for it. 

The laws of priority, if rigidly enforced, would certainly justify 
the suppression of Sars’s name in favour of De Blainville’s ; but 
it is evident that De Blainville was utterly ignorant of the ani- 
mal for which he proposes the generic name of Candelabrum: 
he asserts that it “certaimement n’appartient pas au type des 
Actinozoaires,” and he concludes his allusion to it by affirming 
its affinity with Sipunculus. 

Under these circumstances I cannot but agree with my friend 
Mr. Alder in feeling that De Blainville’s name has no claim to 
take the place of Myriothela, given to this hydroid by the emi- 
nent Norwegian zoologist, who was well acquainted with it, and 
to whom we are indebted for the first legitimate zoological de- 
scription of it. 

I have never had the good fortune to meet with a specimen 
of Myriothela ; but I now learn from Mr. Alder (to whom I am 
indebted for drawings of the M. arctica, in its young and adult 
states), that the young leave the adelocodonic gonophores of 
this hydroid in a condition which closely resembles the free 
state of Tubularia; and he further suggests the probability of a 
close affinity between Myriothela and Acaulis. With this view, 
which would place Myriothela in the family of the Tubularide 
rather than in that of the Corynide, I am well inclined to agree. 


IT. 
The Medusa of Zanclea implexa, Alder. 


Some years ago I described the remarkable medusa of the 
Zanclea (Coryne) implexa of Alder, to whose singular peduncu- 
lated capsules, filled with thread-cells, and set along the whole 
length of the marginal tentacles, I called special attention *. 

At the end of April last I dredged, off the Forfarshire coast, a 
colony of the Zanclea, which, after remaining for about a fort- 
night in a jar of sea-water, threw off its medusz. On examin- 

* Notes on the Hydroid Zoophytes, in Ann. Nat. Hist. for July 1859, 
p- 54. The hydroid is there named Coryne Briareus ; I, however, agree 
with Mr. Alder and Dr. T. 8. Wright in referring it to the previously 
described C. implexa of Alder, a hydroid which I further think must be 


now referred to the genus Zanclea of Gegenbaur. (See the Synopsis 
of Tubularian Hydroids, p. 357.) 


64. Bibliographical Notices. 


ing these with a hand-lens as they floated in the water, I was 
struck with the appearance of a Mucedo-like growth with which 
many of them seemed to be invested. That this, however, was 
something very different from what it appeared to be, soon be- 
came evident; for if the little medusa was touched with the 
point of a needle, the whole of the flocculent mass would in- 
stantly vanish. 

It needed, however, a higher power of the microscope to 
reveal the true nature of the phenomenon, and show that the 
apparently parasitical growth consisted of the enormously elon- 
gated peduncles of the thread-cell-bearing capsules, each of 
which, as it now proved, had the power, while still carrying the 
capsule on its extremity, of extending itself to a length which 
considerably surpassed that of the longer or vertical diameter of 
the umbrella. 

While the medusa continued to float undisturbed through the 
water, the peduncie would remain projected in a straight line 
from the tentacle, becoming at the same time amazingly at- 
tenuated ; but on the least disturbance it would become suddenly 
shortened to less than the one-twentieth part of its length when 
extended, drawing the capsule back with it in its contraction. 

During the extended condition of the peduncles, they were 
seen, with their capsules, to be in a state of constant vibration. 
This was found to be due to a pencil of long, fine vibratile cilia, 
which, by the aid of a high magnifying power, could be detected 
on the summit of every capsule. 


EXPLANATION OF PLATE II. 


Fig. 1. Heterocordyle Conybearet, of the natural size, growmg upon an 
empty Buccinum-shell. 

Fig. 2. A portion of a colony, magnified: a, a, gonoblastidia loaded with 
gonophores and extended; 6, gonoblastidium contracted; c, po- 
lypite with the tentacles partially contracted, showing that, when 
in this state, the tentacles assume a clavate form. 

Fig. 3. A female gonophore still further enlarged. 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 


British Conchology, or an Account of the Mollusca which now in- 
habit the British Islands and the surrounding Seas. Volume II. 
By Joun Gwyn Jerrreys, F.R.S., F.G.S. &c. Van Voorst. 


**SincE the publication of the first volume of this work I have made 
two more dredging excursions to the Shetland Isles, a district which 
is by far the most interesting that I know of for the further investi- 
gation of the British Mollusca. In the interval I revisited the south 
of France, and also went to the Hanse Towns, Denmark, Sweden, and 


Bibliographical Notices. 65 


Norway, for the express purpose of examining public and private 
collections of European shells, and especially the types of species 
described by O. F. Miller and subsequent writers on Scandinavian 
conchology. Every naturalist will appreciate the advantage of such 
an undertaking, being aware that our own fauna and flora cannot 
be properly studied apart from that of the rest of Europe. These 
preliminary remarks are offered to explain the cause of delay in the 
appearance of the present volume, and likewise to express my grateful 
acknowledgments for the kind welcome and aid which I received 
from all the le@ding zoologists in the countries above mentioned.” 

Such are Mr. Jeffreys’s opening words in the preface to the second 
volume of ‘ British Conchology,’ which we have the pleasure of in- 
troducing to our readers. The work which the author has under- 
taken is to him a labour of love, and he is determined to spare neither 
trouble nor expense in order to make it a complete history of the 
Mollusca of Great Britain. There is no cause to regret the interval 
of two years which has elapsed between the publication of the first 
and second volumes. It is evident that that time has been profitably 
spent in the accumulation of additional knowledge respecting the 
shells of our coast; and as we have read we have not failed to re- 
cognize repeated instances of the value of the results of the author’s 
visit to Scandinavia and his extended dredging in the deep waters of 
the Shetland Seas. 

The volume before us embraces the Brachiopoda (here rightly 
separated as a distinct class from the Conchifera) and the Conchi- 
fera from Anomia to Scrobicularia, and contains descriptions of 130 
species. At the present rate of progress, therefore, we must expect 
that at least two more volumes will be required to complete the work. 
The generic and specific descriptions are worked out with great care, 
and the latter will be found to be both more methodical in arrange- 
ment and more concise and clear in definition than those of Forbes 
and Hanley. The descriptions in this latter work labour under the 
disadvantage of being too long; and thus, from the prolixity with 
which minor and comparatively unimportant details are enumerated, 
the student often finds himself perplexed to discover the chief cha- 
racteristics which distinguish the species from its allies. 

The revised list of the portion of the British Mollusca here de- 
scribed shows considerable diversity from that presented to us, ten 
years since, by the authors of the ‘ British Mollusca.’ In the interval, 
Mr. Jeffreys has from time to time published in our pages papers 
entitled “Gleanings in British Conchology.”” In these papers were 
first made known as British many of the species which he now more 
fully describes in his present work. He has acted wisely, however, 
in reconsidering the grounds upon which he inserted many so-called 
species in those ‘‘ Gleanings,” and in reducing them again to the 
level of varieties; but we venture to think that, having in some instances 
previously gone to one extreme in species-splitting, he is now showing 
a tendency to the opposite extreme in striking out of our fauna 
several well-marked specific forms. The following lists will show the 


Amn, & Mag. N. Hist, Ser. 3. Vol. xiv. 5 


66 Bibliographical Notices. 


differences between the species described by Jeffreys in his second 
volume and those of Forbes and Hanley :— 


Species added. Species excluded. 
Argiope decollata, Chemn. Hypothyris psittacea, Chemn. 
capsula, Jef. Anomia aculeata, Mill. 

Pecten Testze, Bivona. striata, Lov. 

Lima Sarsii, Lov. Pecten niveus, Macg. 
elliptica, Jeffr. Nucula radiata, F. & H. 

Limopsis aurita, Brocchi. Astarte ellipticas Brown. 


Arca obliqua, Phil. crebricostata, Forbes. 
Lepton sulcatulum, Jef. arctica, Gray. 
Axinus Croulinensis, Jef. Mactra elliptica, Brown. 
Cardium papillosum, Poli. Tellina proxima, Brown. 


Three of the additions made to our fauna—Argiope decollata, 
Lepton sulcatulum, and Cardium papillosum—are Mediterranean 
species, which have hitherto only occurred in the extreme south of 
the British Islands, off Guernsey; on the other hand, Lima Sarsit, 
Arca obliqua, and perhaps Limopsis aurita are Scandinavian forms 
which have now been met with in Shetland; while the four remain- 
ing shells have more extended range on our coasts. 

The especial attention which has been paid of late years by geo- 
logists to the more recent deposits of our islands, and especially to 
those contemporaneous with and subsequent to the glacial epoch, 
has led to a great advance in knowledge respecting the connexion of 
our present fauna with that of the latest periods of geological time ; 
nor have these investigations been confined to the land. The dredge 
has made known to us the fact that on the sea-bottom all round our 
shores there are lying, mixed with the dead and living examples of 
our present fauna, the shells of various Mollusca, often remarkably 
fresh in appearance, which have apparently ceased to live in our 
waters. It is often a matter of extreme difficulty to determine 
whether a species dredged only in a dead state be recent or fossil ; 
and hence it happens that Hypothyris psittacea, Astarte crebri- 
costata, A. arctica, and Tellina proxima, together with Mya Udde- 
valensis, Margarita cinerea, Margarita (Skenea) costulata, Natica 
elausa, Astyris Holbdllii, Trophon scalariformis, &c., have been in- 
troduced among our Mollusca, but are now believed to be extinct 
representatives of more northern existing species, which once lived 
associated with our recent Mollusca, but gradually died out as the 
temperature of the waters which surround our coasts increased, and 
are now no longer to be found living in a latitude so far south. 

Most conchologists will also be ready to acquiesce in the suppres- 
sion of Anomia aculeata and A. striata as distinct from A. ephip- 
pium and A. patelliformis; but what shall we say to Pecten niveus 
being merged in P. varius, Nucula radiata in N. nucleus, Astarte 
elliptica in A. suleata, and Mactra elliptica in M. solida? In 
writing on the first of these changes, Mr. Jeffreys says :—‘‘I fear 
that some of my conchological friends will be terribly shocked at my 


Bibliographical Notices. 67 


innovation in uniting P. niveus with P. varius ; but I feel constrained 
to take this bold step, even at the risk of not being soon forgiven. 
I had for a long time great misgivings on the subject.’’ We greatly 
regret that his misgivings did not last longer, and can assure him 
that he was quite justified in his fears, and that his ‘ conchological 
friends” are “terribly shocked” at his merging the four shells 
named in their allied species. It is no mere individual opinion 
we express, but we believe it to be the opinion of all our leading 
British conchologists, that Mr. Jeffreys has been guilty of a most 
barbarous murder in the slaughter of these little imnocents. Are 
not the grounds on which these species are reduced to the rank of 
varieties untenable? It is to this general question that we shall 
address ourselves, because the limits of a brief review do not per- 
mit of our extending our observations to the discussion of the claims 
of the individual forms to specific rank. There has been an 
gxiom put forward, originating, if we mistake not, from Mr. Alder, 
that, ‘if two nearly allied forms live together under the same cir- 
cumstances, without showing any intermediate forms, the presump- 
tion is that they are specifically distinct.’’ This is a sound argument. 
But the converse of this by no means holds good. It is a most false 
argument, that, if two nearly‘allied forms do not occur together, this 
is to be received as proof of their specific identity. Yet this is the 
chief ground on which Mr. Jeffreys relies in his amalgamation of the 
above-named species. Pecten niveus occurs throughout the Hebrides, 
but P. varius is wholly absent from the district ; Nucula radiata is 
found in Milford Haven, but ‘‘always in separate parts of the bay. 
from P. nucleus.” Astarte elliptica has never beeu met with by the 
author ‘on the same ground” with A. sulcata; and Mactra elliptica 
is regarded as a deep-water form of M. solida. Now we are not 
prepared to deny—very far from it—the existence of races; but 
most certainly these cannot be cited as instances of this kind of 
variation. The allied species in qnestion, if we except P. niveus, are 
found constantly in the same locality, if not actually on the same 
ground, with the species with which Mr. Jeffreys would unite them ; 
and they are thus associated over a considerable portion of our own 
seas, as well as northward or southward of them. These, we repeat, 
are no instances of races, which are synonymous with local varieties. 
Had it been true that 4. elliptica, N. radiata, and M. elliptica- 
oceupied a totally different area of distribution from their allies 
A. sulcata, N. nucleus, and M. solida, then such a fact might be 
received as an argument that the allied forms were two races of one 
species. But this is not the fact. The cases before us are examples 
of nearly allied species which constantly coexist in the same limited 
area.. The fact that they do not live together upon the same ground 
and have not the same Aadits must surely be regarded as an evidence 
in favour of, rather than against, their specific rank. Another point, 
which it appears to us that Mr. Jeffreys has lost sight of in dealing 
with these species, is that a number of minor differences become in 
the aggregate equal to a single more marked character. 

In the formation of genera, we find that Crenella has been limited, 

5x 


68 Bibliographical Notices. 


and receives only the clathrated forms C. rhombea and C, decussata, 
while the remaining section is placed in Modiolaria, Beck. Similarly 
Lucina has been divided, and its species distributed among the genera 
Loripes, Poli, Lucina, Brug., and Axinus, J. Sow. These changes 
appear to be for the better; but we are at a loss to understand why 
the same author who adopts these genera unites Modiola with My- 
tilus, Artemis and Cytherea with Venus, and Syndosmya with Scro- 
bicularia; for the four genera which he condemns are founded 
upon equally valid grounds with those which he adopts. 

There are two changes in specific nomenclature which appear 
especially to call for remark. The English Pinna, which has already 
been so frequently renamed, comes before us once more with a new 
title, as Pinna rudis. The author has given us no reason for the 
adoption of this name, which is remarkable, since another species 
has hitherto been considered to be the Pinna rudis of Linnzeus. 
Venus Gallina, Linn., is adopted instead of V. striatula, D’Orb.; 
but Mr. M‘Andrew has found these two species in company on 
several parts of the Spanish coast, each preserving its distinctive 
characters. Indeed the form of V. striatula from the same localities 
in which V. Gallina is found shows a greater divergence from that 
species than do the majority of examples of the same species as 
collected on our own coast. 

We have now freely handled the second volume of ‘ British 
Conchology,’ and called attention to points on which we are compelled 
to dissent from certain views which the author has adopted. Mr. 
Jeffreys can afford to challenge such criticisms. Indeed we have 
seen that he anticipated them. His work has too much sterling 
merit in it for him to fear the discovery of a few subjects of difference 
between the opinions of himself and those of his brethren of the 
dredge. We rejoice that a large class of persons who have hitherto 
been debarred from pursuing conchology by the expensive nature of 
the only descriptive work on the Subject will now find a standard 
authority brought within their reach ; while no experienced concho- 
logist will be able to dispense with Mr. Jeffreys’s work, or to take it 
up without finding its pages full of new and interesting matter. 


The School-Manual of Geology. By J. Berrr Jukes, M.A,, 
F.R.S. &c. Edinburgh, 1863. 362 pages. 

A Guide to Geology. By Joun Puitures, M.A., LL.D., F.R.S. 
&e. 5th edition. London, 1864. 314 pages. 


Both of the authors of the hand-books before us have supplied 
students with larger manuals, full of sound information in the chief 
branches of geology; and these more complete works have passed 
into two or more editions, keeping up with the progress of the 
science. Here, then, we have geologists, of great experience and 
good culture, expounding and illustrating the elements of their fa- 
vourite science, at large for advanced and special students, and in a 
less elaborate manner for the amateur and the beginner. This is as 
it should be. There are differences, however, in these little text- 


Bibliographical Notices. 69 


books that characterize them as the works of different thinkers ; and 
there are peculiarities that may interfere with the fulfilment of their 
intended usefulness. 

Mr. Jukes’s ‘School-Manual’ takes a three-part view of the 
science, namely :—Ist. Dynamical geology, or geological operations 
now in action, prefaced with a chapter descriptive of the earth as a 
whole, and comprising, in the chapter on igneous rocks, a brief ac- 
count of the chief rock-substances ; 2. Descriptive geology, or some 
of the facts observable in the crust of the earth; 3. Theoretical or 
historical geology—the history of the formation of the earth’s crust, 
deduced from the facts observable.in it, as interpreted by the opera- 
tions now going on. This is a philosophical treatment of the sub- 
ject, and is very well carried out to the extent intended by the au- 
thor, except in one particular. Chapter 17 treats of the three later 
Paleozoic periods—the Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian pe- 
riods; but whilst the last two are described and illustrated, the first 
is replaced by seven pages of technical argument as to whether the 
**Devonian” strata should have a place in the geological scale or 
not, geologists not having yet fully examined these beds in Devon, 
Cornwall, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and elsewhere. Still the strata 
and their peculiar fossils do exist; and whether the divisional lines 
between them and the Silurian, and between them and the Carboni- 
ferous strata, are more or less distinct is of minor importance in a 
little book like this, where the well-known “Old Red”’ Fishes of 
Scotland and the wide-winged Spirifers and peculiar Clymenie of 
the Rhenish rocks should have had their woodcuts like other cha- 
racteristic fossils. Although the author’s chapter on the ‘ Devonian 
Period” (which he does not admit) reminds one of the famous Hiber- 
nian chapter ‘On Snakes,” and a chapter ‘On Oolite”’ in a work 
on the Plymouth Limestones,—the non-existence of oolite being the 
briefly stated fact, yet the pressing interest of an earnest and honest 
writer’s own views and special work must be taken as an excuse for 
his rather pointing out difficulties in theoretical geology, in this in- 
stance, than following the usual routine of “Old Red”’ and ‘ Devo- 
nian.” We think, however, that a notice of the special fossils and 
sections, with a warning allusion to the doubts entertained as to the 
exact relationships of the beds, and of their value in geologic time, 
would have fulfilled the requirements of the case, and thus left the 
book free of the blemish which all schoolmasters and college-teachers 
must now feel that it possesses. 

In spite of this, however, the ‘School-Manual’ is admirably 
adapted to attain the chief object for which it was written—namely, 
to impart sufficient rudimentary knowledge to excite and guide the 
faculty of observation with regard to rain and snow, glaciers and 
rivers, sea-shores and ocean-beds, hot springs and volcanos, lavas 
and strata, minerals and fossils, so that the young student may get 
hold of the groundwork of geology, and the grown-up amateur may 
gain from it a fair general notion of the scope and nature of the science. 

Professor Phillips’s ‘Guide to Geology’ first appeared nearly 
thirty years ago, when elementary treatises by Brande, Bakewell, 


70 Zoological Society :— 


De la Beche, and Lyell were its associates, all honestly endeavouring 
“to seek the proper end of philosophy, by arranging multifarious 
and seemingly discordant facts into a chain of natural links.” (Bake- 
well.) The speculative geologists had not, at that time, ceased to 
strongly influence the rising science ; and Prof. Phillips, one among 
the best of observers, kept “the hypothetical aspects of many a well- 
ordered series of facts fully in view; and now even, in his manual 
for beginners, instead of describing the actual composition and state 
of the material of which he is treating (for instance, the atmosphere, 
p- 17, &c.), and giving the student useful practical information about 
it, he rather enters into a disquisition upon what he considers it was 
ages ago. Thus certain long-cherished hypothetical views as to the 
original conditions of land, water, and atmosphere are here as un- 
necessarily presented for the consideration of juvenile students as 
the “‘ Devonian”’ question is in Mr. Jukes’s little manual. 

In his account of geology, in the ‘Guide,’ Prof. Phillips first 
treats of the mass of the globe; 2, the crust of the earth, and its 
structure; 3, land and sea; 4, climate; 5, the series of life; 6, lapse 
of time; 7, succession of rocks in the crust of the globe, wie many 
useful little tables; 8, lithology. He does not figure the fossils in 
this little book, and indeed the woodcuts of manuals are of no use 
for the identification of species; but he judiciously illustrates his 
chapter on lithology, in which all the chief rock-substances and 
common minerals are clearly and concisely described according to 
their associations. 

There is no doubt that Professor Phillips’s ‘ Guide’ is fully trust- 
worthy, being very good, though occasionally rhetorical, and often 
apt to deal with problems that the philosophy of geology rather 
dreams of than understands. ‘The author, however, clearly states 
that he intends this little work to help, first, those inquiring what 
geologists think probable as well as certain in the history of the 
globe, and what the facts and reasonings are on which these suppo- 
sitions and conclusions are based; and secondly, the more earnest 
order of inquirers—real students of nature, desirous of adding to 
the facts, advancing the reasonings, perfecting the conclusions, and 
taking part in the actual progress of geology. 


PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 


: ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
Nov. 10, 1863.—E. W. H. Holdsworth, Esq., F.Z.S., in the Chair. 


Descriptions or THREE New GENERA OF MARINE FisHEs 


OBTAINED AT MaperrA. By JAMES YATE JOHNSON, Corr. 
Mem. Z.S. 
Order ACANTHOPTERYGII. 


Fam. Caraneip#, Giinther. 
DiRETMUS, gen. nov. 
Body much compressed and elevated, covered with small spinous 


Mr. J. Y. Johnson on new Fishes from Madeira. rie 


‘scales. Abdomen prominent and keeled. Mouth large, non-pro- 
tractile ; minute pointed teeth in the jaws, none on the palate ; a pair 
of large tooth-like bony processes projecting from the anterior ends 
of the maxillaries, and entering the mouth between the vomer and 
the premaxillaries. Head, opercular pieces, and mandibular bones 
bearing numerous thin bony crests. Eyes large. A single dorsal 
fin commencing about the middle of the body over against the anal 
fin, both being continuous. Perfect thoracic ventral fins, with a free 
bony appendage at the upper angle of their roots. Pseudobranchia 
present. Branchiostegal membrane with seven rays. No lateral line. 

The small but highly interesting fish upon which this new genus 
has been established appears to be allied to fishes belonging to genera 
some of which have been placed by Dr. Giinther amongst the Scom- 
bride, others amongst the Carangide—families distinguished by him 
on account of differences in the number of the vertebre. I have 
been unwilling to open the single specimen obtained with a view to 
the determination of this point, but place the genus provisionally 
amongst the Carangide on account of its many resemblances to dn- 
tigonia. It may be entered in the synopsis of the genera of that 
family (Cat. Brit. Mus. Coll. p. 418), in sect. 6 of the first group, 
Carangina, thus :— 

Ventrals with a free bony appendage. 

These appendages, the tooth-like processes of the maxillaries, and 
the crests about the head present an assemblage of characters quite 
sufficient to separate this form distinctly from all other known 
Acanthopterygian genera, 


DIRETMUS ARGENTEUS, Sp. n. 
Re eiNcaes Fs lbe, Va10? C. 19. M.B.7,. 


The body is much compressed, and so elevated that without the 
tail and its fin it is subcircular. The height to the total length is 
about 1 to 12. The abdomen is prominent and keeled, and the nape 
is trenchant. It is of a silvery-grey colour, with darker grey near 
the dorsal and anal fins. The skin, when the scales are removed, 
is fuscous. The whole body is clothed with small, somewhat deci- 
duous scales, having four or five broad teeth at the edge and some 
minute spines on the exposed surface. ach scale is constricted at 
the middle ; the posterior portion is rather larger than the anterior, 
and marked with curved transverse striee. The head is large, being 
contained in the total length only about 22 times. It is remarkable 
for the numerous crests of thin bone, many of which are minutely 
denticulated. The cheeks are scaly ; but the opercle and maxillary 
are without scales. The eye is round and large, its diameter com- 
pared with the length of the head being as 1 to 21. It is placed 
high up, a diameter and a half above the throat, but does not quite 
reach to the profile, and a space equal to less than half the diameter” 
intervenes between it and the muzzle. A thin bony crest is placed 
behind it, and another in front of it, the latter forming a funnel- 
shaped cavity below the rather large nostril. Between the eyes there 
are three low crests without serratures, the middle one of which di- 


72 Zoological Society :— 


vides behind. The muzzle is short and obliquely truncate; the 
lower jaw remarkably deep, and projecting beyond the upper, with 
an acute boss at the symphysis. The upper border of the mouth, 
which is strongly oblique, is formed entirely of the slender premaxil- 
lary, carrying a double series of minute teeth which are sharp and 
slightly curved, and reduced in front to a single series. Similar 
teeth are placed in a single row in the lower jaw. The small tongue, 
the palatines, and prominent vomer are toothless; but from the 
upper ends of the maxillaries there projects into the mouth a pair of 
large tooth-like bones that are compressed, somewhat falcate, and 
blunt at the tips. The tongue, pharynx, and inner sides of the gill- 
covers are deep black. The maxillary is extremely broad below, and 
reaches to within a quarter of the diameter from the vertical from 
the posterior border of the eye. The dilated portion has numerous 
radiating crests, which are minutely denticulated. The mandibular 
bones also carry denticulated crests. The seven-rayed branchio- 
stegal membrane is completely concealed by the gill-covers. There 
are no toothed processes on the cesophagus, nor any folds of skin on 
the palate. ‘The opercle is high, the width, from back to front, 
being less than one-third of its vertical length. There is an elevated 
crest at its anterior margin, which is minutely toothed; and the rest 
of its surface is furnished with numerous simple crests that radiate 
from a point high up near the anterior margin. The free edge of 
the opercle is even. ‘The preopercle is narrow, and its lower margin 
is denticulated ; some of its crests are also denticulated. The inter- 
opercle is large, and projects beyond the throat ; it bears numerous 
crests, that are denticulated and form small sharp teeth at the mar- 
gin. ‘The gill-openings are wide; pseudobranchiz are present ; the 
first free pair of gills carries a series of spiny rakers of moderate 
length. 

The single dorsal fin is moderately long, and commences over the 
vent, somewhat in front of the middle of the back. It appears to be 
higher in front, and to be destitute of scales. All the rays, except 
perhaps the last two or three, seem to be simple spines. They are 
stout, closely set ; and the first five are compressed, with minute teeth 
at their edges; the remaining spines of the fin have also teeth at 
their edges. It terminates at the end of the curve of the back, 
where the parallel-edged tail abruptly commences. The anal fin is 
rather shorter than the dorsal fin; their terminations are in the same 
vertical. ‘The rays seem to be of the same structure, with spinous 
edges; but it seems not to have been higher in front. The pectoral fin 
is rather long (about one-third of the total length), rounded at the tip, 
and inserted below the middle of the height on a level with the bot- 
tom of the opercle. The first ray is less than one-third of the second; 
_ the fourth ray is slightly the longest; the rays begin to shorten 

rapidly with the seventh. All except the first two are branched, and 
these are denticulate on their anterior edges. Several of the others 
are also denticulate at the sides. The thoracic ventral fins are placed 
slightly behind the root of the pectoral fins. They reach back at 
least as far as the commencement of the anal fin, but are apparently 


Mr. J. Y. Johnson on new Fishes from Madeira, 73 


not elongate. Some of the rays have denticulate edges. At the 
upper base of each fin there is a free white ovate appendage of bone, 
nearly seven times as long as wide, resembling in shape the wings 
of some insects. The surface is obliquely striate, and the sharp 
edge of the anterior margin is set with a few distant minute teeth. 
At its base there is a small process directed backwards. The vent 
is in front of the middle of the total length, and the anal fin begins 
immediately behind it. The ¢ai/ is compressed, and a little longer 
than high. The caudal fin is forked. 

There is no lateral lme. A series of about sixty scales may be 
counted between the opercle and the caudal fin, and about fifty in 
- the height. 

The individual was obtained in the month of January. The ver- 
tical fins appeared to have suffered damage, and nothing can be 
positively asserted in regard to certain points which it is desirable 
to know, such as the height and outline, and the structure of the 
rays. Neither could it be ascertained whether they had been covered 
with scales ; but it may perhaps be inferred, from the spinous sides 
of the rays, that this had not been the case. The rays of the ventral 
fins seemed to be ten; but whether these were really only five rays 
split to their bases I could not make out with any degree of certainty. 
No connecting membrane was to be seen between the first five spines 
of the dorsal fin, but it may have been removed by accident. The. 
fish had fed on animal food. 

The following table shows the dimensions of the principal parts 
of the specimen,-which has been sent to the British Museum :— 


inches. 
Total length (caudal fin somewhat mutilated) .... 3,8; 
Length to commencement of tail .............. 2,5. 
tech sph grits dant doce tebe ld ein a afure Suh ois Coes 253, 
Mineknessat:shouldey’.s . .iicw sh dence eveseece ds i 
HieHd lenet li) taatiita nts Sere! sede vues S's beatae 14 
Mouth-cleft, depth sad .0n. Mats odds de avd se 3 
————_—,, width, nearly.................... zf0 
Bremaxillary, lengthy wate ca sete dads ce evinn, ity 
Mosallary)j width oflower'end.).4/5 2: ‘sary «As oso Py 
Bea GUATRELED RS sarciov ard he Heros dileds ck a ablee eels fy 
Opercle; heichtyn sheds aba ~ ested Siete sits tonto Amt 
Worsal; distancefrom. muzzle 255. 255 Sees Ss 1,5 
Ss length of base 229. vos «wae atded. seek: » les 
Peccorale, Jeteth’ 4 's% it woe oee kde ocd ae tag wees 12 
=, distance from muzzle ............<06. 153 
Ventrals, distance of their roots from roots of pec- 

ROE AIMeore ere aS wey ihe ces Salsa eeeaees a 5 
Appendage of vertical fins, length .............. qb 
———— — —,, width, rather more than aly 
mnals lengthnot base. 5 cleats <i. 26s a5 ave sd cree Be 135 
Maillon tive winch et esc aa ss CMs Seldatee qn 
ee BCI irdeto «vse le Beil s wos aa algh te’ Py 
Caudal fin (mutilated)... ............040. Cece a 


74 Zoological Society :— 


Order MALACOPTERYGII. 
HALOSAURUS, gen. nov. 


Body elongated, clothed with cycloid scales; belly rounded ; tail 
compressed and tapering toa point. Snout projecting much beyond 
the mouth, which is non-protractile and of moderate size, with the 
upper border formed by the premaxillary and maxillary bones, the 
former small, the latter of moderate size and not reaching beyond 
the eye, both dentiferous. ‘Teeth in villiform bands, in the jaws and 
on the vomer, palatines, and tongue. A short dorsal over the space 
between the abdominal ventrals and the long anal, which is coales- 
cent with the caudal, the latter consisting of very few rays. Large 
gill-openings. Branchiostegal membrane with numerous rays. Sto- 
mach cecal; pyloric czeca in moderate number ; a large air-bladder. 

No pseudobranchie, no barbel nor adipose dorsal. 


HALoSAURUS OVENII. 
Dalle Poli. Ve 10,- Ac 19l! C225) MB 14 Se sealeston 
lateral line about 170. 


Body elongated, compressed, attenuating in both directions from 
the neighbourhood of the dorsal fin, the tail becoming filiform ; the 
belly rounded, except in the neighbourhood of the ventral fins, where 
it is flattened. Clothed with cycloid scales of a moderate size. The 
height compared with the total length is as 1 to 143. The back and 
sides are brown, the middle of each scale being bluish grey with mi- 
nute black dots. The belly is grey. 

The head has something of the aspect of that of a Macrourus or a 
Coilia, the mouth being on the underside. Compared with the total 
length it isas1to 7}. It is unarmed, scaly, slender and depressed, with 
a projecting snout. At the back there is a transverse narrow scaleless 
groove, which curves forwards slightly. The lateral eye is oval, with 
an angle before and behind. Compared with the length of the head 
itisas 1 to 5. . It reaches to the profile, and is distant from the snout 
nearly two of its longer diameters; and the space between the eyes 
is less than one of such diameters. The snout is curiously formed ; 
it is much depressed and narrows forwards, but the extremity is 
rounded. There is an undulating crest near each edge above, and 
another at each side below, with a mesial keel underneath. It is 
scaleless, and covered with a soft gelatinous skin. There is a crest 
across the cheek below the eye, and a groove extends forwards from 
the inferior margin of the orbit at each side of the snout. 

The moderate-sized mouth does not reach nearly to the tip of 
the snout. Neither jaw is in the least protractile. The anterior 
portion of the upper border is formed by the premaxillary, the re- 
mainder by the maxillary, and both bones are set with a band of 
minute sharp villiform teeth. There is a crest along each border of 
the maxillary ; and that at the posterior margin projects as a tooth, 
which reaches to the orbit. The maxillary is simple, not composed 
of three pieces as in the Clupeide. 'The mandible is set with teeth 
similar to those before described. There are no teeth on the vomer; 


Mr. J. Y. Johnson on new Fishes from Madeira. 75 


but the short palatines (which come into contact in front) bear minute 
teeth, and in a line with them behind are the entopterygoids or 
pterygoids with narrow bands of minute teeth. The rakers of all the 
branchial arches carry similar teeth. On the hinder part of the 
tongue, which is black and free at the tip, there is an ovate patch of 
minute teeth. The mouth is black, as well as the inside of the gill- 
covers. The gill-openings are large, and the gills consist of four 
pairs. The subopercle is thin, scaleless, and striate; it projects 
backwards considerably beyond the operele, which is scaly, with a 
rounded even edge. The margin of the preopercle is concealed in 
the scaly skin. The two orifices of each nostril are small and near 
together. There is a small cuticular tag at the margin of each ori- 
fice. 

The triangular dorsal fin is placed over the space between the 
ventral fins and the vent. There are scales on the membrane be- 
tween the rays. The second and third rays are the longest, and are 
about twice as long as the base of the fin. The first ray is unbranched, 
and is only half as long as the two next. The pectoral fins are 
scaleless, pointed, and longer than the ventral fins. They are in- 
serted in the upper half of the height, and have narrow bases. The 
abdominal ventral fins are distinct, but inserted close together ; they 
are scaly, truncate, and the first two rays are unbranched. At the 
outer angle of the base there is a thin pointed scale. The vent is 
placed in the anterior half of the total length of the fish, and has no 
papilla near it. The anal fin is high throughout, but is higher in 
front than behind. The first three rays are unbranched ; the base 
is scaly, and the fin extends with numerous rays up to the caudal, 
which is represented by two hair-like rays. 

The lateral line is very low down, and commences at the lower 
angle of the subopercle. It follows a straight course until it reaches 
the lower edge of the body, where it is lost. About 170 scales may 
be counted in the length of the body between the opercle and the 
tip of the tail. In the height of the body there are twenty-two 
scales, of which five are below the lateral line. 

The single individual obtained was caught in the month of Feb- 
ruary. It was a female with eggs, which lay in two masses side by 
side, 54 inches long, uncovered with a sac. The caecal stomach was 
small, and contained nothing but a little much-digested matter. 
There were twelve small pyloric ceeca, which increased in length 
backwards. The air-bladder had a delicate silvery coat, and was 
5 inches long. The liver had a length of 1} inch. The intestine 
was straight. The peritoneum was black anteriorly ; posteriorly 
there were patches of black lines on a pale ground. 

The following are the dimensions of the specimen, which is now 
in the British Museum :— 


inches. 
pig ilene thirty twee = steeds ceil a sie.0 5 ofaletae Ore 18-35 
Height between dorsal and ventral.............. 145 
EAN ee Mee nig -p vik Sita s A ajessdia & @anw Rae ian 245 


76 Zoological Society :— 


inches. 
Eye, distance from tip of snout ,.....sseesseeug 4f 
EGVies, OIStANGE ABATE. «ci. 2% wie om +e ois he ofeaien meee 35 
Dorsal, length of base.......... neh ce oh ee) = ey 
- ALE LS AG operaie opereie,\8ie.o, ote: opshhahege sheer ee 17 
=, distance 1FOMmm@SnOUt, . <4 a5 45 us ctae cies ey 52 
Pectorals, leneth: 0). ost m on weet ee teeta ie 
» WIOGM Of DASE. sevtetreveree ic ta a 
=, Gistance {rom SHOUtts. v- soehe = oe ed 25 
Wentralsslenctlt (0 j-se.t a iolekie seahtlie otsiwler cues 1 
SWUIStANCE ATOM), SNOUL Ss ticseik. oa eehoe 4,8, 
Vent wistamce:coml SuOUn cos .s. ae, ener soon Ue 
Anal, height of fourth and the neighbouring rays.. + 
Carel al wo Vays on ois iateleiaioye Wake iste tos oes ie oer eee 


This species is dedicated to Professor Richard Owen, Superin- 
tendent of the Natural History Departments of the British Museum, 
whose investigations in regard to the skeleton of fishes are not the 
least valuable part of his many contributions to zoological science. 


CHIASMODON, gen. nov. 


Body naked, elongate, with two perfect dorsal fins, one anal fin, 
simple thoracic ventral fins, and distinct caudal fin. Head unarmed 
and exappendiculate. Snout short, truncate. Cleft of the mouth 
very long, extending much beyond the eyes. Acute teeth in two 
series in the premaxillary and the mandible, those of the inner series 
being moveable. Hooked teeth, and teeth that cross each other 
from opposite sides of the mouth in the upper jaw. Teeth on the 
palatines, but not on the vomer. Eyes lateral. Gill-openings large; 
four pairs of gills. Seven branchiostegal rays. No pseudobranchiz; 
no anal papilla. An air-bladder. 


CHIASMODON NIGER, sp. n. 
ist:D al) 2nd D, 13. (AS 17.49 P1 2.1 V2.6, -C/14 5 avi 


Body black, naked, moderately elongate, compressed, and slender. 
Head unarmed, thick, subcubical, depressed, with a wide groove 
between the eyes, and two low ridges which meet in front of them. 
Cheeks flat ; opercle rounded behind, with a notch at the junction 
of the subopercle and interopercle. Eyes lateral, nearly round, 
placed about a diameter from the muzzle (in front of the middle of 
the upper jaw) and about the same distance apart, with the orbit 
taking part in the profile. The hinder nostril, which is the larger, 
is placed very near the orbit. Muzzle short, truncate, subemarginate; 
the under jaw somewhat longer. Mouth-cleft slightly oblique, long, 
extending much beyond the eyes; the upper border formed entirely 
of the slender premaxillary, the toothless maxillary being a little di- 
lated at the ends. Two series of subulate teeth in each jaw, those of 
the inner series being longer, but fewer in number. At the fore end 
of the upper jaw are two long immoyeable hooked teeth, which are 
inclined towards each other and nearly meet. At the base of each 
is a minute sharp tooth. Next to the hooked pair is a pair of cur- 


Mr. J. Y. Johnson on new Fishes from Madeira. 77 


ving teeth, which cross one another from opposite sides of the mouth; 
these are moveable, and are the longest teeth in the upper jaw. At 
the fore end of the lower jaw there is a pair of very small teeth in 
front of a larger pair of immoveable teeth, which curve outwards. 
Next to these are two pairs of still longer moveable teeth, the hinder 
pair being the longest in the mouth. The other jaw-teeth are much 
smaller. On the palatines there is a series of small pointed teeth, 
and the middle line of the tongue is serrate. The vomer is promi- 
nent, but toothless. The tongue is grey, narrow, and free near the 
tip. There is no barbel, nor are there any pseudobranchiz. 

The anterior dorsal fin has eleven weak unbranched rays. It 
commences over the posterior edge of the opercle; and its base is 
rather less than half the length of the head, its height being about 
the same. The second dorsal fin is separated from the first by a 
space equal to about one-third the length of the head. It has a 
trapezoidal shape, and a longer base than the first dorsal. Its height 
in front is rather more than half the length of the head. The fourth 
and fifth rays are rather longer than their neighbours. 

The pointed pectoral fins are inserted in a line with the eyes, and 
reach back to the commencement of the second dorsal fin. 

The thoracic ventral fins are only about half as long as the pec- 
toral fins ; their apices are truncate, the first ray being the shortest. 
All the rays are weak, and none are detached. 

The anal fin commences about the middle of the total length of 
the fish, under the fifth or sixth ray of the second dorsal fin. The 
length of its base is equal to about two-thirds of the length of the 
head. It becomes low behind. The first ray is short; the second 
only half as long as the third; the sixth and seventh are the longest. 

The caudal fin is furcate, and equal in length to two-thirds of the 
length of the head. There are about fourteen principal rays, with 
a few small ones at each side. ' 

The lateral line is oblique in the pectoral region, but for the 
greater part of its length is straight along the middle of the body. 

An air-bladder of moderate size is present. No anal papilla was 
observed. 

A single example of this new genus of Malacopterygian Fishes 
was taken in the month of March, and has been deposited in the 
British Museum. Its stomach contained the doubled-up body of 
an entire fish nearly twice its own length. The latter proved to be 
a specimen of Gonostoma denudata, Bp. (Faun. Ital. iii. 138), as 
stated in one of my papers on rare Madeiran Fishes, printed in the 
‘Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist.’ 1862. The stomach of the fish now 
described was so much injured that some points of its structure 
could not be made out. ‘The greatest height of the fish could not 
be accurately determined, nor could the precise situation of the vent 
be ascertained. The stomach appeared to be capable of great ex- 
tension. The rays of the first dorsal fin were unconnected by any 
membrane, which, however, may have disappeared through rough 
treatment. The teeth forming the outer series in the upper jaw 
were about twenty-four on each side, exclusive of the longer teeth 


78 "Miscellaneous. 


in front; of the inner series only two or three could be counted, 
others had probably been present. The outer row in the lower jaw 
consisted of about sixteén teeth on each side, without counting the 
long ones in front. 

The following are the dimensions of the specimen :— 


inche 
Total len Bi ety se 5 Sie CO eo oe eee He HH HEE DO 34/5 
Height over middle of anal, rather more than a 
Head, lengthy « aconiyisguer ae ace geet ach RS «0 nec] ee 
{MENS OGL seca ceive de had <pysye Padaaale aeedte 74 
Wye, GISBICLEE Friis fae aievsxta ay tr cr + 
Maxillary. .. vf oases afi fin. sous canedinan ott ene aang 
Teeth, length of fourth pair under jaw .......... 3% 
First dorsal, height and length of base .......... 10 
, MESCANCEMTOUY MIUZZIE: cs enc ceases ces fen 
Second dorsal, distance from muzzle . . = 1,45 
“ , distance from first dorsal.......... zo 
ed x length Of base sins. onic nse geney | ee 
yp RCHE ING 2 Bia teyeiairate tacais nr ek ae baad OM <0 
Pectorais, len gia esa ity tie an Fwimw a wetenny wee ae i 
S WOTCLGHOL DASE srcrehhcouie ais mine ROLE © ney ty 
S MIStAMee: [TOM MUZZIC.< cas we ssid acres 
Nehtrals, length 4.20 0 ae esices sen 4 4a ee. eee 
Anal, distance from muzzle..........e0ence sss bey 
PLCHOLD OL DESGi ey hes (ex ace cenasssics 4 ER AEE ify 
geleht In frome: cops c 4 ni as «04 sis aged aera IO 
Caudal, lengli ison Ga geet. nai oak wera ear ih 
Bur-biadderv lengths, a wy. cyte eee vigie scam on 4 
MISCELLANEOUS. 


Migration of Lemmings. 
To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History. 


GENTLEMEN,—In a recent Number of the ‘Annals and Magazine 
of Natural History,’ the subject of the migration of Lemmings was 
discussed, and some causes of it, propounded by M. Guyon, mentioned, 
none of them being quite satisfactory. 

I have discovered that rats in England frequently abandon good 
quarters, where they have plenty of food and are unmolested by man 
or carnivora, and that the cause of their doing so is that they are 
plagued with insect vermin—fleas, lice, and ticks. 

Knowing that insects are a plague to man in Lapland, I beg to 
suggest the question whether the occasional migrations of Lemmings 
may not be caused by the unusual abundance of insect vermin of the 
above-mentioned or other kinds. 

Perhaps I may mention here something I have observed about 
Dormice. In some parts of Suffolk they are very numerous, and 
are called Sleep-meece by the labourers. In other parts, if turned off 
in woods equally abounding in oaks and hazel, they seem not to in- 


Miscellaneous. 79 


crease, and finally disappear. In the woods in which they abound 
I have found the earth-nut (Bunium flecuosum) very common, and 
have observed that its tubers are frequently scratched up and de- 
voured by some small animal in the latter part of spring. I suspect 
(for I have not seen them in the act, nor indeed is it likely that a 
erepuscular animal would be seen at work) that this is done by 
-Dormice, and that there must be plenty of earth-nuts, as well as 
of acorns and hazel-nuts, for the Dormice to be numerous. 
I am, yours truly, 
Epwarp Giuuett, M.A. 
Vicarage, Runham, Filby, Norwich, Vicar of Runham. 
May 20, 1864. 


Examination of the Structure of the Hair-follicle in Man 
and in the Rabbit. By Dr. WERTHEIM. 


The author’s investigations of the structure of the hair-follicle in 
man and in the rabbit have led him to the conclusion that the 
follicle is not a blind sac embracing the hair, but a calyciform 
structure which is borne upon a peduncle of considerable length, 
so that its similarity to the cup and stalk of a flower is very 
striking. The peduncle finally passes over into one of those fibres 
which run in great numbers through the reticular part of the 
corium and the subcutaneous areolar tissue in a more or less hori- 
zontal direction. Observations made upon series of parallel trans- 
verse sections show clearly that this structure is a normal one, and 
common to the hair of all parts, and that it is not identical with that 
long since described by Professor Langer, and regarded by him as 
standing in close relation to the change of hair. In a transverse 
section of the peduncle three concentric layers are observed ; these 
are described by the author as the pith, sheath, and cortical layer of 
the hair-peduncle. 

In conclusion, Dr. Wertheim states that for the purpose of harden- 
ing organic tissues, especially the skin and the preparations referred 
to in his memoir, he has employed aniline, and that he has found 
this substance very advantageous in several respects.—Bericht der 
Akad. der Wiss. zu Wien, 28 April, 1864, p. 74. 


On Independent Movements of Embryonal Cells observed in the 
Ova of the Frog (Rana temporaria). By Dr. Stricker. 


When examined in a fresh state, without the addition of reagents, 
and under circumstances which protect the preparation from evapo- 
ration, the embryonal cells of the ova of the Frog exhibit peculiar 
movements. They send forth processes, and retract them again ; 
sometimes they become elongated, and then again round. These 
changes implicate the whole cell-mass, and last only for a few mi- 
nutes; then the well-known structureless humps protrude them- 
selves, which were formerly regarded as diverticula of the cell-mem- 
brane caused by diffusion. As, however, no reagent was employed, 
the author considers that diffusion has nothing to do with the pro- 
duction of these humps, which he regards as also manifestations of 
the life of the cell, Dr. Stricker adds some observations on seg- 


80 Miscellaneous. 


mentation, which induce him to adopt the notion of M. Schultze, 
that segmentation is due to a contractility of the vitellus.—Bericht 
der Akad. der Wiss. zu Wien, 28 April, 1864, p. 75. 


On globular Cell-thickenings in the Envelope of the Roots of some 
Orchidee. By Dr. H. LeirGes. 

The cellular stratum beneath the envelope of the aérial roots of 
tropical Orchideze always consists of two kinds of cells—namely, 
elongated and usually thick-walled cells, and shorter ones which are 
always thin-walled. The walls of the cells of the root-envelope adja- 
cent to this stratum are always thickened in a peculiar manner, and 
the structure of these strata of thickening, again, is usually different in 
the walls situated upon the thin-walled cells and in those adjacent to 
the elongated cells. On the former several superimposed strata may 
not unfrequently be recognized ; and these, in some plants belonging 
to the genus Sobralia, acquire so great a development as to form 
pretty large spherules, often occupying nearly the whole cell. Oude- 
mans, who first mentioned these spherules, regarded them as foreign 
bodies ; but, from careful anatomical investigation, as also from their 
behaviour with reagents, they must be regarded as accumulated 
thickening layers—a view which is also established most indubitably 
both by the history of their development and by comparison with 
other similar structures. From the circumstance that these spherules 
are produced by the superimposition of several thickening layers, 
each of which proves to be a network formed of numerous inter- 
crossing fibres, we must ascribe to them a porous character, and it 
is probably in this property that their physiological significance 
consists. Thus, as porous bodies, they have the power of taking up 
the water condensed by the envelope of the root, and of retaining it 
for a considerable time, so as to furnish it gradually to the subjacent 
conical (thin-walled) cells; in this way they acquire, to a certain 
extent, the function of reservoirs of water, which are necessary for 
these plants, as they do not grow in moist primeeval forests, but in 
the open ground, and throw out their roots upon the surface of the 
sandy soil.— Bericht der Akad. der Wiss. zu Wien, 10 March, 1864, 
p. ol. 


Notice of a new Squirrel from Natal. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.RS. &e. 
ScIURUS ORNATUS. 


Back dark blackish grizzled ; hairs red, with a broad black sub- 
terminal band and a white tip. Head, legs and thighs, underside, 
and tail very bright red-bay ; the hairs of the head, limbs, and belly 
red to the base; the hairs of the tail very vivid and dark red for 
more than half their length; the base, especially of those near the 
lower end of the tail, black, with two broad greyish bands. 

The red colour of the female not quite so bright and dark, and 
the base of the tail grizzled, with shorter red tips to the hairs. 

Hab. Natal (W. Fosbrooke, Esq.). 

This species is about the size of the Common European Squirrel. 
—Proc. Zool. Soc. Jan. 12, 1864. 


THE ANNALS 


AND 


MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 


[THIRD SERIES. ] 


No. 80. AUGUST 1864. 


IX.—Observations on the various Species of Glyptodon in the 
Public Museum of Buenos Ayres. By Hermann BuRMEISTER, 
M.D., Ph.D. &e.* 


Tue soil of the province of Buenos Ayres is one of the richest 
deposits of fossil bones on the surface of the globe. Considering 
that the existing specimens, of intrinsic and of scientific value, had 
almost all been transferred to European museums, and that it 
would be an easy task to found a more precious collection in 
Buenos Ayres, if the national administration should interest 
itself in the preservation of the natural treasures, I accepted 
the invitation which, through the medium of the Prussian Mi- 
nister, Herr von Gulich, the Supreme Government sent to me 
during the time of the administration of Senor Sarmiento. 
As Director of the Public Museum, I resolved to devote myself 
exclusively in future to the study of the natural productions of 
Buenos Ayres and of the other Argentine provinces. During the 
two years that I have been occupied in this new employment, 
the Museum of Buenos Ayres has completely changed its con- 
tents: I have arranged them in the European manner, as the 
collections exist in that part of the world; and I have, up to 
this time, introduced so many new specimens of fossil bones, 
that, withont exaggeration, it may be said that no European 
museum is more rich in these than that of Buenos Ayres. To 
prove the correctness of this statement, I shall publish, from 
time to time, notices and scientific descriptions of the principal 
specimens, commencing with our skeleton of Glyptodon, which, 


* Translated from the ‘ Revista Farmacéutica de la Sociedad de Farmacia 
nacional arjentina,’ 1863-64, by C. Carter Blake, F.G.S., F.A.S.L. [The 
translator has had the advantage of a copy in which Dr. Burmeister has 
introduced many manuscript corrections into the original Spanish printed 
text, and of illustrative photographs and pencil drawings of the specimens. | 


Ann. & Mag. N, Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. xiv. 6 


82 Dr. Burmeister on the Species of Glyptodon 


up to the present time is unique in the museums of the civilized 
world. Sefor Don David Lanato having presented this precious 
specimen to the Public Museum, I set it up myself, during the 
first months of my direction (1860), with the assistance of some 
friends and skilled workmen, who helped me in the steel- and 
iron-work, I myself superintending their manual labour. To 
clearly explain the parts of this antediluvian animal which are 
new to science, and those which are already known, I must give 
some historical notices of previous publications on the same 
subject. 

The first notice of this animal will be met with in the work of 
the celebrated Cuvier*, in which that author states, in a note, 
that Sefior Damaso Larrafiaga, of Montevideo, discovered in 
Banda Oriental the shell of a gigantic animal, which probably 
belonged to Megatherium. The Prussian traveller Sellow was. 
the first who (in the year 1825) sent specimens of this shell to’ 
Europe, where they were described by the celebrated mineralo- 
gist’ Weiss, in the Transactions of the Berlin Academy for 1827, 
without a knowledge of the zoological affinities of the animal to 
which they belonged, the author being, however, disposed to 
regard them as the’armour of Megatherium—an opinion which, 
some years after, was directly accepted and published by the 
English author Clift. Buckland, in his ‘ Geology’{, expressed 
the same opinion. With the specimens of the shell which were 
then obtained, some parts of the skeleton were also sent to 
Berlin, and, with those which were examined by my friend and 
colleague in the University of Halle, Dr. D’Alton, this celebrated 
anatomist published, in the Transactions of the Berlin Academy 
for 1833, the description of the incomplete forearm and some 
foot-bones of this animal, he calculating that it bore an affinity 
to the Armadillo, but that, until the entire form was discovered, 
it would be futile to assign to it a specific name. The celebrated 
English anatomist Owen coincided in this judgment, five years 
after, when he described the shell and some portions of the 
skeleton which had been recently sent to London by Charles 
Darwin and by the English Minister in Buenos Ayres, Sir 
Woodbine Parish§, and gave to it the new name of Glyptodon 
clavipes, derived from the carved [or fluted] form of the teeth 
and the thick form of the feet. To the description of these 
parts the author has made several additions in his work on the 
fossil bones in the collection of the College of Surgeons of Lon- 


foo ne sur les Ossemens Fossiles, &c., vol. v. part 1. p. 191, ed. 
t N otice on the Megatherium, Trans. Geol. Soc. 1835. 
t Bridgewater Treatise. 8vo, London, 1837. 
§ Trans. Geol. Soe. vol. vi. p- 81; Zoology of the Beagle, vol. i. 


in the Museum of Buenos Ayres. 83 


don*, and also introduces three new species, which he terms 
Glyptodon ornatus, G. tuberculatus, and G. reticulatus, founding 
the specific differences on the varied form of the plates of the 
surface of the shell. But as the foot of the animal described in 
the last publication of Owen was incomplete, Miiller,the celebrated 
physiologist of Berlin, published a fresh description of the entire 
foot in the Transactions of the Academy of Berlin for 1846. 

All these descriptions were founded on specimens discovered 
in the province of Buenos Ayres or in the Banda Oriental. 
There are undoubtedly remains of the same animal in other 
parts of South America, but in no other part of the world. In 
Brazil, a Danish naturalist, the learned Dr. Lund, occupied him- 
self for a long time in the study of the fossil bones discovered 
in the natural caverns of Minas Geraes. Amongst these, remains 
of the Glyptodon were discovered by him; but as he was not 
aware of the works recently published in Europe, he described 
the animal under a new name, terming it Hoplophorus, from the 
“strong shell,” and signalized three species, Hoplophorus Sel- 
lowii, H. euphractus, and H. minor+. <A year afterwards, he 
published in the same ‘Transactions’ (vol. ix. 1842) the de- 
scription of new fragments, and amongst others the teeth, and 
the five sacral vertebre in one piece. 

Such was the state of the scientific knowledge of Glyptodon 
before the publication of the work of M. Nodot, Director of the 
Public Museum of Dijon in France, to whom a French resident 
had transmitted from Buenos Ayres many portions of the Glyp- 
todon and an almost complete shell. This work has not yet 
fallen into my hands, and for this reason I am ignorant of its * 
contents excepting from the notices in scientific journals, which 
state that its author recognizes fourteen species of Glyptodon, 
dividing them into two divisions, Glyptodon and Schistopleurum, 
founded respectively on the Glyptodon clavipes and the Glyptodon 
tuberculatus of Owen. To the Glyptodon belong twelve species, 
which are again subdivided into two groups by the form of the 
tail, which in some is short and conical, and in others is long 
and cylindrical. 

Finally Prof. Huxley, of the College of Surgeons of London, 
has published some notices on an incomplete skeleton presented 
to the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons by Sehor Don 
Juan Nepomuceno Terrero, of Buenos Ayres; and the brother 
of this gentleman, Don Federico Terrero, has published a trans- 
lation of Huxley’s description in the ‘ Nacion Argentina’ of the 
Ist of July of the current year, to which he has added some 


* Descriptive Catalogue of the Collection of the Royal College of Sur- 
geons, vol. i. London, 1845. 
+ Trans. Royal Academy of Copenhagen, vol. viii. 1841. 
6* 


84. Dr. Burmeister on the Species of Glyptodon 


supplements in the same periodical of the 25th of July, referring 
to the general description of the specimen in our museum, pub- 
lished by me in the ‘ Nacional’ of last year, No. 3140. 

Entering now upon the description of the specimens in the 
Public Museum of Buenos Ayres, it appears to me necessary to 
keep in mind that the number of species in our formations are 
not more than three, which are distinguished by the structure 

f the plates on the surface of the shell, and even by the general 
form of the shell itself. These plates form regular hexagons in 
the centre of the buckler, changing at the sides into prolonged 
hexagons, and very often into pentagons at the edges. In the 
same manner the hexagonal figures are arranged on the surface 
of each plate. There are seven on each plate, one (the largest) 
in the centre, and six on the six sides, which are in contact with 
the contiguous plates to form other hexagons on the joints be- 
tween them. These figures are separated by grooves, and in 
these are discerned, in the corners of a median hexagon, small 
apertures to receive ‘the roots of the long hairs which pass through 
the shell of the living Armadillo. The surface of each hexagon 
is rough hike a file; and upon this asperity a smooth horny 
shield existed, as in the existing Armadillos. But the size of 
these hexagons of each plate varies in the different parts of the 
shell, those in the centre being relatively more equal, and the 
peripheral portions more unequal, in such manner that the cen- 
tral hexagon of the plates occupies more space towards the 
centre of the shell, whilst these proportions diminish towards 
the edges. It results that the last plates at the edge of the 
shell form large, nearly circular hexagons, and in the circum- 
ference alone are some very small figures which form the half 
of the peripheral hexagons. In this way the collocation of 
the loose plates in the whole shell can be ascertained; but in 
no way are we able to constitute specific differences on the form 
of the entire plates or the figures on their surfaces. 

The same difference between the size of the central figure 
and the peripheral ones of each plate may also be recognized i in 
some existing Armadillos, as in the Mulita, which possesses the 
same structure of the shell—a fact which is demonstrable on 
the smooth horny scutes which cover the hexagonal pattern of 
the plates. 

These existing animals are to be met with in South America 
alone, like the antediluvian Glyptodon of other times, and are 
divisible into two principal classes. One, which naturalists term 
Dasypus, comprises such species as the Peludo (D. setosus), the 
Mataco (D. conurus), and the Pichy (D. minutus), with plates 
almost equal in all the parts of the shell, and covered with 
smooth horny scutes of the same pattern and size. If some, 


in the Museum of Buenos Ayres. 85 


like the Peludo, have large hairs on their shells, these hairs issue 
from the junction of the plates. The others, which are termed 
Praopus, such as the Mulita (P. hybridus), have plates more 
or less unequal, covered with two classes of horny scutes, one 
large one in the centre on each side, and six smaller at ‘the 
junction of the plates. In these, the hairs which issue from the 
shell do not proceed from the joints, but from the same plate in 
the circumfererice of the central scute. 

The description of the shell of Glyptudon demonstrates that 
this antediluvian animal was constructed on the same principle, 
but that it resembled Praopus more than Dasypus ; nevertheless 
there is a difference between Glyptodon and Praopus, in con- 
sequence of the absence of the moveable rings in the middle of 
the shell, which the living Armadillos possess in varied number 
in the different species. 

There is an important difference in the surface of the shell be- 
tween Glyptodon tuberculatus and other species, G. tuberculatus 
not possessing the large hexagonal figures in the plates common 
to the other species. In G. tuberculatus the surface of each plate 
is covered equally with small irregular figures, upon which, 
without doubt, were placed concomitant horny plates, so that 
the superficies of the shell exhibits the same appearance. Some 
small holes amongst the small figures demonstrate also the ex- 
istence of hairs in the shell, but they are more sparse, although 
each plate also, in its original formation, appears to have pos- 
sessed six small apertures on its surface. On the edge of the 
shell are seen large hemispherical or conical tubercles, externally 
very rough, and covered with a smooth horny shield of the same 
form. The size of these tubercles varies according to their 
position in different parts of the edge, increasing in size towards 
the posterior part. On the shoulders chiefly these tubercles 
are more conical and sharp than those on the head and sides, 
where it appears to me there are some smaller and more conical 
moveable tubercles, below the edge of the shell and upon the 
legs. I have many of these tubercles in the Museum, but I am 
ignorant of their collocation on the body of the animal; never- 
theless M. Nodot states that his Schistopleurum had moveable 
rings at the side of the shell, which he has not recognized in 
any Glyptodon of the Museum, unless in the above-mentioned 
smaller tubercles. These, by the form of their basal parts, de- 
monstrate that they are placed on the same cutis, and are united 
to other parts of the shell. 

As a general character of the whole shell, it may be observed 
that the central plates become in time united in an entire piece, 
whilst those of the side are separated and united one to the 
other by joints. This separation of the plates continues until 


86 Dr. Burmeister on the Species of Glyptodon 


the adult state of the animal, and for this reason the shells are 
generally fractured or broken on the edges. Complete shells, 
with all the parts and tubercles on the edges, are very scarce, 
and rarer in proportion to the youth of the animal. 

As regards the specific differences between the Glyptodons of 
this country, I cannot distinguish amongst our rich collection 
of Buenos Ayres more than three—G. clavipes, Owen, G. tuber- 
culatus, Owen, and a species which I provisionally name G. spine- 
caudus, for want of the original works which describe other 
species. 

The most abundant amongst these three species is the last, of 
which we have in the Museum an almost entire shell, a complete 
skeleton, and more or less important remains of three individuals. 
The species is distinguished easily by its short and conical tail, 
having seven rings of large conical tubercles ; and for this reason 
I have given it the name of G. spinicaudus. Probably the G. 
ornatus is identical with this species. As the shape of the tail 
is the most important feature, we shall begin with its descrip- 
tion. 

It is 22 inches in length, 14 in width at the base, and 
A at the apex, which is obtuse and round. At the base are 
seen six rings of conical tubercles, which are more or less narrow. 
Each ring is composed of three bands of plates, the last one 
being formed of the great tubercles, whilst the two preceding 
ones are smooth, and almost wholly covered by the anterior 
rings. The first ring is the largest, and of a transversely ellip- 
tical shape, having twenty-three tubercles on the posterior edge, 
the nine lower ones being smooth, and the upper ones more 
elevated into a conical point according as they approach the 
middle of the dorsal surface. The second ring is of an almost 
circular figure, and with eighteen tubercles on the edge, the 
inferior surface being smooth in almost all the lower rmgs. In 
the same manner, the third ring has fifteen, the fourth eleven, 
the fifth nine, the sixth seven tubercles; and the extreme por- 
tion is formed by a ring of five, including amongst them three 
at the apex itself. Of all these tubercles, those of the middle of 
the dorsal surface are always the largest, and prolonged into a 
conical point. The shell of this species is in its general form 
more spherical than that of some of the others. Its length, follow- 
ing the curve, is about 34 yards (varas), and its width about 24; 
only the posterior part near the tail is a little uncovered; the 
longitudinal diameter is 54 feet, and the transverse diameter is 
about 34. The surface of the plates is very rough, much more so 
than in the other species, and the size of each plate smaller. The 
central hexagon of the dorsal plates of the shell is smaller than in 
G. clavipes, and for this reason the difference between the central 


in the Museum of Buenos Ayres. 87 


figure and those of the periphery is little or nothing: all the 
hexagons of this central part of the shell are of equal size. 

Also the tubercles of the edge of the shell are smaller and 
different in shape; these tubercles have, in G. ciavipes, a low 
conical elevation on the external surface, which is wanting in 
G. spinicaudus. In this species are seen about sixteen tubercles 
at the posterior edge of the shell over the tail, and about twelve 
on the anterior edge over the head. The lateral tubercles are 
almost wholly wanting, and for this reason I do not know its 
exact shape; only, upon the shoulders, these large conical tu- 
bercles may be seen to be a little curved above, and are of the 
same sort as those of which we have before spoken. 

The head bore also on its superior part a shell of plates much 
smaller and irregular, but of the same construction as those of 
the shell. It is not in my power to describe it in detail, in 
consequence of that which we have in the Museum being broken. 
The* same applies to the feet—without doubt well armed with 
plates like those of the living Armadillo, and having at the end 
of the toes large claws, of which there are four long ones on the 
anterior and five wide ones on the posterior extremities. There 
are a great quantity of small plates, very diverse in form and 
size, preserved in the Museum, which show by their construc- 
tion that they were derived from the same skin. These plates 
probably belong to the feet and to some of the small joints, 
where the existing Armadillos have equally small plates, of 
partly formed shell. 

The second species from the Buenos Ayres soil is G. clavipes, 
of which there exist in the Museum an imperfect shell and two 
tails. Undoubtedly it is larger than the first, although, as it is 
broken, we are not exactly aware of its dimensions; but the 
larger size of this animal is not alone demonstrated by the greater 
size of the loose plates of the shell, -but by that of the bones of 
the skeleton which we have in the Museum. At the same time, 
it appears to me much more narrow and elongated than G. spi- 
nicaudus. The specific difference is very clear in the side plates 
of the shell,—the central hexagon being larger than the peri- 
pheral hexagons, and the structure of the surface being finer, less 
elevated, and less rough. The tubercles of the edge of the shell 
appear less convex, and the centre of the external superficies is 
a little elevated, as we have said above, compared with the tu- 
bercles of G. spinicaudus. 

- But the most distinguishable character of this species is the 
existence of a peculiar semicircular border below the tubercles 
of the edge, covered with rhomboid figures. This border does 
not exist in Glyptodon spinicaudus. The tail is very different, 
being long, thin, almost cylindrical, with some rings at its base 


* 


88 Dr. Burmeister on the Species of Glyptodon 


and a curved tube at its posterior portion. How many rings 
there were I do not know, as all the tails met with up to this 
time are broken; but it is very probable that the number of the 
rings of the tail were equal in all the species, that is to say, six. 
Each ring bears two or three bands of plates much finer than 
those of the shell, and of oblong form, each one presenting an 
elliptical scute in the centre and angular ones in the peri- 
phery. The figures here are almost smooth, and are deficient in 
the superficial rough structure of the shell. The posterior part 
of the tail forms an almost cylindrical tube a little curved, and 
thicker at the base than at the obtuse point. The surface 
of this tube has the same elliptical figures as the rings at the 
base, and between them a band of other, angular and much 
smaller figures. At the sides of this tube the ellipses change 
more or less into circles, and on the side itself is formed another 
band of much larger ellipses, which augment in size gradually 
to the point of the tail, the two immediately at the end being 
the largest. 

The third species from Buenos Ayres is G. tuberculatus, 
which M. Nodot has erected into a separate genus—Schisto- 
pleurum*, The different form of the plates on the surface of 
the shell above described easily distinguishes this group from 
the others. It is the largest of the three, and is double the size 
of G. spinicaudus. We only possess in the public Museum some 
pieces of the shell, and the posterior portion of the tail, of the 
general form of which we are consequently ignorant. M. Nedot 
states that at the edge of the shell there are some bands of 
moveable plates, and that for this reason he has separated this 
species from the others to form a particular group. There are in 
the Museum some plates of oblong form, with a large elliptical 
figure on the surface, and other smaller and irregular ones on the 
periphery. These plates form a kind of large ring, which is proba- 
bly one of the moveable parts of the side of the shell. But it 
appears to me that it belongs to the posterior edge of the shell 
from which issues the tail, for ming between the poster ior cylin- 
drical part of the tail and the shell some moveable rings, as in 
the other species. How many rings there were I do not know; 
but it is permissible to believe that there were six. The posterior 
portion of the tail of the animal which we have in the Museum 
is complete, and is 1 yard in length and 5 inches in breadth ; 
its superficies is covered with the same small irregular figures 
as the shell; but between them we can see large ellipses 2 as In 
the rings described. These ellipses are very different in pattern 


* [Now well known in England by Mr. Gregory’s excellent restoration. 
—TRANSL. | 


in the Museum of Buenos Ayres. 89 


and size, forming in the beginning of the tube two circles of 
eight small ellipses in each, and at the side three other bands of 
other and larger ellipses; the ellipses of the median band are 
much larger and more extended towards the point of the tail, 
where are to be seen two of a longitudinal diameter of 8 inches. 
But a large part of the tail of the same species in the Museum, 
recently discovered by me on the banks of the river Salado, is 
twice as long, which demonstrates that this animal was capable 
of attaining a truly gigantic size. The distinction between the 
three species is easy, as the foregoing description proves ; but it 
is not easy to know whether the other species already described 
are well founded. Mr. Owen has further accepted two species, 
which he terms G. ornatus and G. reticulatus. Of the first he 
says that it is smaller than G. clavipes—a character which ap- 
pears to indicate its identity with G. spinicaudus ; but, without a 
knowledge of the shape of the tail of G. ornatus, it is not possible 
to know whether the two are really identical or different. Of 
G. reticulatus the author says that it is of the same-size as G. 
clavipes, but different in its structure, which is reticulate on the 
surface of the shell-plates—a character which might apply to 
the plates of G. tuberculatus which are situated in the centre of 
the shell. 

The three species of Hoplophorus, founded by Dr. Lund, I 
only know by the description of some parts which the author 
has given in the work already cited. They show a great simi- 
larity to the Glyptodons of Buenos Ayres ; but, without an exact 
comparison of the objects themselves, it is impossible to know 
whether they are identical or different. 

The accounts which I have read of the work of M. Nodot state 
that the author has established fourteen species, without specify- 
ing their differences; and for this reason we cannot arrive at 
any judgment whether they are well founded or not. It appears 
that we have accepted all the species already enumerated by 
different authors ; but in this case the number of fourteen ap- 
pears to be exaggerated, as can be proved by an examination of 
the three different species from Buenos Ayres. 

Let us now pass to the examination of the skeleton. 

For some time the feet, the tail, and the head of Glyptodon 
have been incompletely known. The same statement applies to 
the vertebral column and to the pelvis, recently described by Mr. 
Huxley, as the skeleton which was in his hands was very defee- 
tive, which has consequently rendered his description very in- 
complete. 

In the Museum of Buenos Ayres there is a nearly complete 
skeleton, known up to the present time by a photographic figure 
made by the able artist Sefor Aldanondo (Calle Florida, 129), 


90 Dr. Burmeister on the Species of Glyptodon 


and the more or less important remains of five more individuals; 
amongst which we have met with some specific differences from 
the two principal species from the soil of Buenos Ayres. Let us 
first describe the skeleton in general. i 

The skull is very thick, and, comparing it with the acute skulls 
of existing Armadillos, is very short and obtuse. The nasal bone, 
the forehead, and the vertex being in the same plane with the 
occiput, form a flat surface of 11 inches in length by 54 in width 
between the eyes. This short figure depends principally on the 
shape of the nasal bone, which is so short that the point of the 
lower mandible by far surpasses that of the upper, which latter 
was in this animal much longer in the living state, as there then 
existed a broad and strong cartilage in this organ somewhat pro- 
minent from the head. It is probable that the living animal might 
have had a thick and strong snout, to grub up the earth, and 
seek its food in this manner, as the Armadillos do at present. 
It is not very evident up to what point the cranial bones ex- 
tended, from the want of sutures of the skull, since it is entirely 
in one piece, and destitute of any suture, without any vestige of 
the primitive bones of the young animal. Neither can the frontal 
bones be distinguished from those of the vertex nor from those 
of the occiput, because they are all united in one capsule. The 
perpendicular part of the occiput is very low, and the foramen 
occipitale is of a transversely elliptical shape, which is not met 
with in any other mammal. The internal cavity of the cranium 
is of a surprising smallness, as was also the brain; and these 
characters indicate that this was an animal exceedingly stupid 
and sluggish—qualities which are also indicated by the size of 
the lower mandible and the great extent of its grinding-portion. 

There is no other animal which has so descending a palate 
(ste in orig.) nor such projecting teeth as the Glyptodon. Above 
all, the ascending ramus of the inferior mandible is very high, 
in such a proportion that no animal equals it in this respect. 
The anterior inclination of this ramus, which forms with the 
horizontal ramus an angle smaller than a rectangle, is a character 
peculiar to the Glyptodon; and this inclination indicates a 
powerful grinding-apparatus, which surpasses that of other 
Mammalia, even that of the Elephant. The symphysis is pro- 
duced, like the spout of a jug (la boca de un.cdntaro), this part 
being toothless ; there are eight teeth on each side of the inferior 
and superior mandibles, more or less alike in form; but those 
of the upper mandible are a little larger, and those of the fore 
part of each jaw slightly narrower. 

Each tooth is formed by the conjunction of three rhombic 
prisms, which have on each side deep excavations between the 
prominent points of the three prisms. This form may be com- 


in the Museum of Buenos Ayres. 91 


pared with that of the teeth of the Carpincho: it is peculiar to 
the Glyptodon, because no other animal equally large possesses 
teeth of this form. The zygomatic arch of this animal, besides 
being thick, was provided with a perpendicular prolongation 
which descended from underneath the eye, giving us a proof 
that it ground hard substances. This prolongation is only dis- 
covered in antediluvian animals, such as the Megatherium, Mylo- 
don, or the Scelidotherium *. 

As we only intend to describe the principal parts, I shall here 
conclude the cranium, and shall give.a description of the differ- 
ences in the teeth of the various species of the animal, they being 
the only parts which can be compared one with another. 

I have in my possession portions of three lower mandibles, 
two of which belong to G. clavipes, and the other (which is com- 
plete) to G. spinicaudus. The general form and the relations of 
the teeth are the same; but the form of the prisms in each tooth 
is a very little different. The sides of each rhombic prism of 
G. clavipes are a little curved into the interior of the prism ; but 
those of G. spinicaudus have a slight external elevation ; and for 
this reason the dental prisms in the former species appear to be 
thinner and more acute at the corners, and those of the second 
thicker and more obtuse. In the work of Dr. Lund (second 
part, tab. 35. f. 2,3 & 4) there are figures of two teeth which 
appear to exhibit a slight difference, as regards the form of the 
prisms, from those of my two species, demonstrating that there 
was a slight difference between the Brazilian species and those 
of Buenos Ayres. These teeth are from the upper jaw,—fig. 2 
being the first, and fig. 3 the last tooth on the left side. 

The neck of the Glyptodon comprises seven vertebree, as*in 
other Mammalia ; but only the first and the last are moveable, 
the other five being united into one solid mass; hence it results 
that the neck is very short and powerful. The first, or atlas, is of 
considerable size, and of the form occurring in other Mammalia; 
its two wings are laterally compressed, ascend posteriorly, and 
have three smooth and even slightly concave excavations for their 
articulation with the second vertebra. This (the axis) is short 
and united with the four following ones in one piece, which de- 
velopes in front a small tuberosity for its articulation with the 
atlas. At each side of this bone there is a strong prolongation 
inclined backwards, and before it four foramina for the trans- 
mission of nerves, which indicate the five united vertebre. 
There is another prolongation on the top of the arch above the 
vertebral column, which is also inclined backwards, and is ter- 
minated by three points. This particular bone is already known 


* [It is also visible in the existing Sloth.—TRANsL. | 


92 Dr. Burmeister on the Species of Glyptodon 


by a description and a drawing in the second part of the work 
of Dr. Lund (tab. 35. fig. 1). 

The seventh vertebra is moveable and free, but maintains 
almost the same form as one of the four which are united with 
the axis.” It is a very small bone, transversely elongated, with a 
large, almost triquetral perforation in the centre, and three pro- 
cesses—the upper one short, and the other two strong ones at 
the sides. The lower portion, which in other Mammalia con- 
stitutes the rather thick body of the vertebra, is a very delicate 
plane, of scarcely any thickness in the centre, and half an inch 
in breadth. 

The vertebral column, or spine, appears to me to be the most 
remarkable part of the ‘animal, it being a solid arched canal, 
without division into separate vertebree in conformity with the 
rule in other mammals. This vertebral canal is bent, as the 
form of the animal requires, and is armed in its superior part 
with three crests, of which the middle corresponds to the spinous 
process [neural spine, Owen], and those of the sides to the 
transverse processes [or rather to the metapophyses, Owen] 
of each vertebra in other Mammalia. But of the body [cen- 
trum] of the vertebra, which in Mammalia is generally very 
thick, nothing is seen; and the lower part of the canal, which 
corresponds to the bodies of the vertebrze, is most fine and thin 
in all its circumference. The canal alters in shape a little: 
towards the fore part it is wide and low; and towards the 
back, little by little, narrower, but higher, and in this way the 
three crests meet. The whole of the vertebral canal is divided 
into three parts, of which the two anterior correspond to the 
dorsal vertebra, and the third to the lumbar vertebree. 

The first part of the canal is the smallest ; beneath, in the 
lower part, it is about 24 inches long, and 4 inches above. Its 
width in the middle is about 7 inches. It is composed of 
three united vertebree—the first small, nearly of the same 
size as the last cervical vertebra, and the other two larger, 
demonstrated by the holes in the sides, from which issue the 
nerves of the myelon. The upper surface is smooth, and exhi- 
bits a high and thick backward prolongation, which rises con- 
siderably at the sides of the bone. Here we see two other pro- 
longations, which correspond to the transverse processes of the 
three vertebre : the first is very strong, prolonged in an antero- 
posterior direction backwards, and corresponds to the first two 
vertebrae ; the second is very short and thin, but also broad. 
On these processes we see the articulations of the first three 
ribs—the first im the anterior part of the first prolongation, 
the second in the posterior part, and the third in the exterior 
part of the second prolongation. This first, trivertebral part is 


in the Museum of Buenos Ayres. 93 


joined with the following bone of the vertebral canal by means of 
a very moveable articulation, so as to raise itself and retract itself 
on the neck. In the same manner the head moves itself by the 
operation of this trivertebral bone enabling it to enter more or 
less into the interior cavity of the shell, anal to protect itself in 
this retired position from the attacks of other animals, in the 
same manner as the existing Armadillo. If it were not for the 
presence of this bone, the head of the animal could not move 
itself out of the shell, or, at will, retract itself within. 

Mr. Huxley, who very well describes this bone as a piece 
composed of three vertebra, supposes that the great mobility of 
this bone was necessary for the respiratory motion of the thorax, 
the ribs not being sufficiently moveable at their articulation with 
the vertebral tube. I cannot participate in this opinion ; on 
the contrary, the true function of this trivertebral bone is to 
facilitate the motion of the head both forwards and backwards, 
as I have already explained. There is no difficulty in the mo- 
tion of the ribs on their articulations, notwithstanding that 
there is a remarkable difference between their conformation and 
that of other Mammalia, as is proved by the form of the arti- 
cular excavations at the side of the vertebral canal. 

The second part of the spinal canal is the longest; it is 
17 inches in length in its curvature, and about 34 inches in 
breadth forwards, gradually dimimishing to 2 inches. The 
anterior part is smooth, with the first and inferior of the three 
crests ascending gradually higher on the upper side, having ten 
round foramina on each side of the canal, for the transmission 
of the nerves of the myelon, which proves that this part of the 
canal was composed of eleven united vertebre ; but there is no 
vestige of external separation on the surface. Besides, we see 
on each side, outside the lateral crests, eleven articular impres- 
sions of a peculiar form, like a 30, for the ribs which unite by 
them with the spimal canal. 

The third part of the spinal canal unites with the end of the 
second part, not by an articulation, but by a cartilaginous and 
moveable juncture, which anatomists term synchondrosis. It is 
by this that the edges of the canals which are in contact slightly 
extend towards the sides. The part of the vertebral column 
which follows is also different in form, being a little broader, 
and, on the dorsal surface only, armed with a very high median 
crest, but without transverse processes on either side, in conse- 
quence of the absence of the ribs. 

But there is in the begmning of the canal, and on each side 
of this high dorsal crest, a process which projects forwards, and 
is in contact with the end of each lateral crest of the second part. 
In this process there is also the half of the articular excavation. 


94. Dr. Burmeister on the Species of Glyptodon 


which receives the ribs. But below the lumbar canal, there are’ 
on each side some rather large foramina for the nerves which- 


issue from this part of the myelon. I have counted in the two 


lumbar canals which are in the Museum, belonging to Glyptodon. 
clavipes, six of these foramina, and in the same canal of the G. 


spinicaudus seven, which proves that the number of vertebrz 
united in this canal are six in the first species and seven in the 
second. There are probably corresponding differences in the 
anterior part of the vertebral canal of the two species, that of 
the G. clavipes being much larger and consequently more 
numerous in the vertebra. The last part of the lumbar canal 
immediately unites with the sacrum without any articulation ; 
the two appear to be the same bone. 

The os sacrum is formed of nine vertebre united in one solid 
mass, which is broad and thick at the commencement, thin, long, 
and high in the centre, and thick with two long prolongations, 
one on each side, at the end. The first part is composed of 
three rather short vertebrae, which unite forward with the pelvis, 
and constitute with it a very high crest, on which the shell of 
the animal is supported. The second part is composed of five 
rather long vertebre, and is in the figure of a curved tube, with 
a high crest on its upper part. Five foramina on each side of 
the tube, for the nerves of the myelon, indicate the number of 
vertebrz in this part of the sacral bone. At the end, it extends 
at its base into a solid and thick mass, which assumes the form 
of the body of a vertebra, and is actually the last vertebra of 
the sacral bone. On each side of it a horizontal prolongation 
extends, smooth and broad, which corresponds to the transverse 
process of the vertebra, and by this prolongation the os sacrum 
unites for the second time with the pelvis. Another small pro- 
longation of the penultimate vertebra also unites with this hori- 
zontal branch. The sacral bone of the Armadillos is formed in 
the same manner, especially that of the Mataco. 

The pelvis is the largest part of the skeleton, and is of a very 
peculiar form. Its thickness is caused by the fact that the whole 
weight of the shell of the animal is superimposed on it, as-it is 
the only bone which unites immediately with the shell. For 
this reason the pelvis extends forward and backward into two 
eveat perpendicular ale which gradually augment into very broad 
and strong crests, armed with many obtuse tuberosities, which 
impinge upon other similar ones on the inferior surface of the 
shell, having between them large cushions of an elastic cartila- 
ginous substance, to sustain the weight of the shell more easily, 
and to permit its more facile elevation during the movement of 
the body. The anterior prolongations are placed across the spine, 
and belong to that part of the pelvis known by the name of the 


a a ee 


in the Museum of Buenos Ayres. 95° 


iliac bone ; those of the back part are placed longitudinally, and 
parallel to the median crest of the os sacrum, belonging to the - 
ischial bone of the pelvis, and rising towards the place to which 
are joined the lateral prolongations of the last sacral vertebra. 
The two posterior ale are distant from each other, but the 
anterior ones unite in the centre of the animal, and, with the 
high crest of the first three vertebre of the os sacrum, form 
a cross below the centre of the posterior and heaviest part of 
the shell. The iliac bone descending from this spot inclines 
a little inferiorly, forming at its lower end the articulation for 
the thigh termed the acetabulum, into which enters the hemi- 
spherical head of the femur. The direction of that part of the 
principal posterior ramus of the pelvis, termed the ischium, runs 
almost horizontally towards the place of the posterior ascending 
ala, which is a subcylindrical and very thick bone, extending 
inferiorly into a long perpendicular and slightly inclined plate. 
The os pubis, on the contrary, is very slender, similar to a small 
rod, which extends a little at the lower end, unites with the 
ischium, and forms a symphysis pubis, which until now was not 
known in the Glyptodon, as it is absent in all the pelves dis- 
covered. For this reason, we must calculate that it was very 
slender and delicate, being perhaps a little open in the centre, 
and merely united by cartilaginous substance, which is also the 
ease with the Peludos and with the Matacos of the present 
day. 

We perceive behind the pelvis the vertebral column of the 
tail, which is rather strong and composed of loose vertebra of 
different number in different species. Hach vertebra possesses 
a thick cylindrical part below, and a vertebral arch above, from 
which issue three perpendicular prolongations anteriorly and one 
horizontal one, with two obtuse points posteriorly. Of these 
the central one is the spinous process, and the other four the 
oblique processes. There issues from each side of the body of 
the vertebra, and between these processes, a transverse process 
with an elevation at its extremity. All these parts gradually 
diminish in a posterior direction, the last vertebra being a conical 
body without any arch or process on its surface. Generally the 
three vertebre at the base of the tail are not only the largest, 
but also differ by their more extended transverse processes; in 
the following ones this process is shorter, and at the end more 
reclinate, because it is these vertebrze which are connected with 
the caudal rings, and the three basal ones are not. 

I am only able to state with exactitude the number of the cau- 
dal vertebrae of G. spinicaudus ; they are ten, of which six are 
met with in the caudal rings. According to ‘the specimens ex- 
hibited in the Museum, we can calculate with exactitude that 


96 Dr. Burmeister on the Species of Glyptodon. 


G. clavipes had at least thirteen or fifteen and G. tuberculatus 
seventeen or eighteen of these vertebre. 

The ribs of the Glyptodon are very slender, and broader than 
thick. Each one has a rather long head, with an articular surface 
on the two sides, adapted to the two articulations, which are 
almost united, like a 30, in the excavations of the external side > 
of the lateral processes of the spinal canal. Immediately behind 
the head they are delicate, then gradually expand and assume a 
cylindrical form. They unite with the sternum by the medium 
of strong sternocostal bones, of which there are five pairs, and 
some loose ones ; but, as the sternum is wanting, I cannot exactly 
describe this part of the skeleton. Probably it was very delicate, 
and has been broken in consequence. Neither have I seen, up 
to this day, the clavicle of this animal, which it ought to have, 
as is demonstrated by the analogy of the existing Armadillos. 

The general number of ribs of the G. spinicaudus is fourteen 
pairs, of which three pairs unite with the first, trivertebral bone 
of the vertebral canal, and eleven pairs with the second bone. 

The form of the scapula is very peculiar, as it is a very slender 
and long plate of a rhomboidal form, rather short and round in 
the anterior portion, but very long and acute posteriorly. There 
arises from the external surface, a little before the centrum, a 
crest, low at the commencement, which descends down to the 
articular cavity for the arm, to which it prolongs itself i a very 
strong, flattened, and curved process, like a pothook, which is 
the acromion. Behind this is found the rather narrow articu- 
latory cavity for the arm, a little concave and elongate, and with 
a short protuberance on the fore part of its inner side, which is 
termed the coracoid process. 

The bones of the arm and of the leg are very robust, especi- 
ally those of the latter. The humerus has the form of a 
. mashorca, a little curved inferiorly, and the two bones of the 
forearm are united in such a manner that the pronation and 
supination of the hand is impossible ; the hand appears to have 
possessed little power of rotation. The carpus comprises seven 
small bones, but wants the os unciforme of the hand of Man. The 
form of the os pisiforme is very peculiar, as it is a long and broad 
bone, of the form of a small tongue, united articularly with the 
ulna. The largest bones of the interior of the hand are the meta- 
carpals, with the exception of the thumb, which is small, and is 
prolonged downwards into a small round head. The thumb is 
destitute of phalanges, excepting one small ungual phalanx, which 
is connected with the metacarpal. The other three toes have 
two very short phalanges on each, and a very large ungual bone. 

MM. D’Alton and Huxleyhave described the hand of Glyptodon 
as possessing five digits, the first taking the fourth toe for the 


Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermacee. 97 


fifth, and the second placing the thumb in the place of the fifth 
toe, calculating that the animal most resembled Dasypus, which 
has five toes on the hand, and not Praopus, which possesses only 
four. But the construction of the armour, especially of its horny 
covering, demonstrates that the Gl, yptodon was more similar in 
its constr uction to Praopus than to Dasypus. . 

The leg is very strong: undoubtedly the femur is the strongest 
of all the bones of the skeleton. At its head there is no cavity 
for the ligamentum teres, and from the outer side of the head arises 
avery prominent trochanter major. We also see a corresponding 
prolongation on the outer side of the external inferior condyle. 

The tibia and the fibula are united into one bone largely per- 
forated in the middle ; and the foot is very thick, high, and short, 
with a calcaneum rather prominent posteriorly, which proves 
that the animal was plantigrade, like the Armadillos. The bones 
of the tarsus are complete; but those of the fore part are very 
short, like the metacarpals of the five toes. These have the 
general configuration of those in unguiculated animals, as the 
ungual bones are very broad and strong. 

We shall finally conclude this description with the notice of 
the fact that in the hand as well as in the foot there are peculiar 
bones, which are the sesamoid bones. There are three similar 
bones in the hand for the three toes next the thumb, which are 
developed below the phalanges beyond the ungual bone. But 
in the foot there are ten sesamoid bones, one in each toe, ex- 
cepting the “hallux,’ and below the second anterior ungual 
phalanx, and two on the inferior part of the metatarsal bones of 
the three median digits. These last have a very peculiar form, 
as they are divaricated, to permit the principal digital tendons 
to pass through them. There is another bone of a very peculiar 
form in the centre of the hand, to which the tendons of the toes 
are attached. A similar bone also exists in some existing Ar- 
madillos, and is described by Cuvier in his work ‘ Recherches sur 
les Ossemens Fossiles,’ tom. v. p. 128, tab. 2. figs 12 & 13. 


X.—On the Menispermacez. 
By Joun Miers, F.R.S., F.L.S. &c. 


[Continued from p. 53. | 
12. OponTocaRYA. 


Tuis is the only South-American form, as Calycocarpum is the 

sole North-American genus, of the Heterocliniee hitherto known, 

all the other eleven genera of this tribe belonging to Asia or 

Africa. The plant on which this genus was established was 

found by me in the Organ Mountains as far back as 1828, and 
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.3. Vol. xiv. 7 


98 Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermacee. 


again in 1837, but only in fruit; this enabled me to ascertain 
its peculiar carpological structure—an investigation that after- 
wards led me into an examination of the whole family. In 1845 
my son sent me, from nearly the same locality, an imperfect 
specimen of another plant, which, from the similar form of its 
leaves and petioles and the structure of its flowers, appeared 
like a male species, and accordingly, in my “ Notes on Meni- 
spermacee,” in 1851, I alluded to it under this belief; for its 
floral parts, though in quinary numbers, presented the usual 
biserial arrangement of alternate sepals and ten stamens, the 
outer five being quite free, with the same number of fleshy 
scale-like petals at their base, while the five internal sta- 
mens were monadelphous for half their length. This so far 
appeared to correspond with Coscinium, Chasmanthera, and Pse- 
lium, except in the number of its parts; but, as I had met with 
the number five in other genera, the whole structure seemed 
conformable with Menispermacee. It is true that I found an 
occasional flower which, with a similar arrangement, presented 
the addition of a single 1-celled, l-ovular ovary in the centre ; 
but I had observed a similar occurrence in Anomospermum and 
Tiliacora. A more careful examination of the stem of the plant 
afterwards convinced me that it was not Menispermaceous, but 
a species of Jatropha, with occasional hermaphrodite flowers. 
The fact is worth recording, as it offers another comcidence in 
the resemblance of the male flowers of some Euphorbiacee 
to those of Menispermacee, as St. Hilaire long before poimted 
out in the case of some species of Phyllanthus. The authors of 
the ‘ Flora Indica’ (p. 171) have made some valuable observa- 
tions, showing several points of resemblance in the floral struc- 
ture of these two families; and the case above cited affords a 
strong proof of the truth of their remarks. The authors of the 
new ‘Genera Plantarum,’ in excluding Odontocarya from the 
order, and referring it to Euphorbiacee, probably had the cir- 
cumstance above mentioned in their recollection; but they for- 
got at the same time that the genus maintains its ground upon 
the unquestionable organization of its seed, upon the habit of 
the plant, and upon the structure of its wood. The chief pecu- 
liarity of the genus consists in its putamen, which has a scuti- 
form condyle as in Calycocarpum, Aspidocarya, Jateorhiza, Para- 
bena, and Rhigiocarya, and it is covered with a matted, short, 
papillose coating, imbedded in the fleshy pulp of its mesocarp, 
as in Jateorhiza, Burasaia, and Hematocarpus. Most of the 
species resemble Tinospora in their habit and in their cordate, 
glabrous, membranaceous leaves upon long petioles; the inflo- 
rescence is in slender racemes, longer than the petiole; the 
fructiferous racemes are somewhat longer, and, in the typical 


——s 


Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermacez. 99 


species, bear drupes of the size and colour of grapes, enclosing 
an osseous putamen, with three teeth at each extremity (whence 
the generic name) ; in the structure of its seed it corresponds with 
the rest of the Heteroclinee. Belonging to this genus, there is 
a group of plants which I formerly referred to Chondodendron, 
R. & P. (Ann. Nat. Hist. ser. 2. vil. 44), in consequence of their 
resemblance to Péppig’s drawing of his Chondodendron convolvu- 
laceum; but when I met with the typical species of that genus, 
collected by Pavon, I saw at once the error. Subsequently I was 
able to identify the group alluded to with Odontocarya, from 
specimens in flower and fruit from Panama:-these are all more 
slender plants, with smaller leaves than in my typical species ; 
but they all possess the same habit and a similar floral and 
seminal structure. 


OpontocarRya, nob.—Flores dioici. Masc. Sepala 9, quorum 
3 exteriora dimidio minora, angustiora, et bracteiformia, 6 in- 
terlora majora, 2-serialia, zequalia, cuneato-oblonga, tenuiter 

- membranacea, nervosa, «stivatione valde imbricata. Petala 6, 
subzequalia, sepalis opposita et iis paulo minora, ovata, tenuiter 
membranacea. Stamina 6, petalis opposita, iis ‘zequilonga, imo 
in columnam brevem coalita, superne libera ; filamenta latius- 
cula, complanata, tenuiter membranacea, apice rotundata, 
antheras sepe excedentia; anthere 2-lobe, lobis oblongis, 
parallele sejunctis, filamento immersis, rima marginali dehis- 
centibus. Ovaria rudimentaria nulla.—Fem. Sepala et petala 
ut in masc. Stamina sterilia 6, forma marium, sed multo 
minora, antheris effcetis glanduleformibus terminata, circa 
gynzecium stipitatum inserta. Ovaria 3 , oblonga, extus gibbosa, 
apice tenuiora, glabra ; stylus nullus; stigma sessile, deltoideo- 
acutum, subito deflexum, radiato-incisum ; ovulum unicum, ex 

angulo ventrali appensum. Drupe ovate, 3, vel abortu soli- 
are mucilagineo- carnose : putamen osseum, ovatum, sub- 
compressum, lees convexum, tuberculis serialibus scabridis 
rugulosum, apice imoque 3-dentatum, extus pilis_papillosis 
ereberrimiis tectum, 1-loculare, intus leve, nisi ad ventrem 
lineis paucis tr ansversalibus prominentibus notatum ; condylus 
ad faciem ventralem, scutiformis, extus concavus, intra loculum 
convexus. Semen loculo conforme, meniscoideum, e summo 
condyli funiculo brevissimo appensum ; integumenta tenuis- 
sima, facie ventrali raphe longitudinali signata: embryo fere 
rectus, intra albumen copiosum carnosum fere 2-lamellosum 
latere dorsali tenue, ventrali crassum, fissuris paucis transver- 
salibus ruminatum, radicula supera, tereti, ad stylum spectante, 
cotyledonibus ellipticis, membranaceo- foliosis, 5-nerviis, late- 


raliter valde divaricatis, et in locellis sejunctis utrinque positis. 
- 
7* 


100 Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermacee. 


Frutices scandentes, ramis lignosis, verrucosis, cortice tenui, resi- 
lente, ramulis teneribus, subfistulosis ; folia alterna, longe pe- 
tiolata, sepius palata, ovata, cordata, acuminata, submembra- 
nacea, glabra aut subpubescentia, 5-7-nervia; racemi graciles, 
axillares, pedicellis subfasciculatis, 1-floris; drupe pulpose, 
uviformes. 


The following species will be described in the ‘ Contributions 
to Botany,’ vol. i. :— 


1. Odontocarya acuparata, nob. ;—mont. Organenses. 


2. macrostachya, nob. ;—Cissampelos vitis, Vell. Fl. Flum. 
x. tab. 137 ;—Brasilia. 

3. convolvulacea, nob. ;—Chondodendron convolvulaceum, 
Popp. N. Gen. i. tab. 190 ;—Chondodendron tomentosum, 
Benth. (non R. & P.) ;—Peruvia. 

4, tamoides, nob.;— Cocculus tamoides, DC.; — Rio 
Janeiro. 

5 sagittata, nob. ;—Demerara. 

6. hederefolia, nob. ;—Chondodendron hederzfolium, nod. 
olim ;—Chondodendron tomentosum, Benth. (non R. & P.) ; 
—Brasilia, Guiana, et Panama. ; 

7. scabra, nob. ;—Chondodendron scabrum, nob. olim ;— 


Chondodendron tomentosum, Benth. (non R. & P.) ;—prov. 
Piauhy (Gardn. 2473). 


' 18. RaIGiocaRyA. 


Among the plants collected in the Niger Expedition by Mr. 
Barter is one that presents much the habit of a Chasmanthera : 
the structure of its putamen is sufficiently remarkable to make 
it the type of a new genus. The plant has a climbing Cissoid 
habit, with large, cordate, oblong, membranaceous leaves, sup- 
ported on a rather lengthened petiole. It has an axillary simple 
fructiferous raceme, longer than its elongated petiole, with a 
somewhat flexuose rachis, having alternate fructiferous pedicels ; 
the drupes are oval, slightly gibbous, fleshy, about ? inch long, 
containing an oval and somewhat compressed putamen, covered 
along its sides and over its dorsal face with crowded, erect, 
stoutish spines, truncated at their apex, and terminated by a 
short tuft of fibrous hairs; the ventral face is smooth, formed 
by a large convex raised condyle, of an oval shape, with a long 
linear foramen down the middle, opening into a large hollow 
chamber which protrudes far into the cell. The seed is oval, 
meniscoid, slightly hollow on its ventral side, showing a longi- 
tudinal raphe the length of the delicate integument which covers 
a simple albumen ; the embryo, of the shape usual in the Hetero- 
cliniee, has its cotyledons imbedded in distinct cavities in the 


Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermacez. 101 


albumen. The whole plant is glabrous, but neither its male nor 
female flowers are known. In many of its characters it ap- 
proaches Aspidocarya, Parabena, Odontocarya, and Jateorhiza, 
but differs from all of them in having a very large 1-locellate 
chamber in the condyle of its putamen. Its name is derived from 
piytov, horrificus, capva, nuz, in allusion to its hystricoid putamen. 


Rurciocarya, gen. nov.—F lores det 2ignoti. Drupa ovoidea, 
pulposa, uviformis ; putamen ovoideum, compressum, osseo- 
testaceum, 1-loculare, crista lamelliformi apiculata lateribus 
et dorso undique crebriter echinata, spinis rectis apice trun- 
catis, singulis fascicula pilorum terminatis ; condylus faciem 
ventralem fere totam occupans, scutiformis, prominens, sub- 
convexus, levis, extus meatu lineari longulo perforatus, ample 
l-cameratus, et intra loculum seminis valde intrusus: semen 
loculo conforme, meniscoideo-ovatum, facie ventrali concavum, 
extus convexum; integumenta tenuissima, raphe ventrali longi- 
tudinali notata; embryo paulo convexus, intra albumen carno- 
sum simplex inclusus, cotyledonibus tenuiter foliaceis, late- 
raliter valde divaricatis, in locellis albuminis sejunctim positis, 
radicula tereti brevi supera ad stylum spectante ter longioribus. 

Suffrutex scandens Africe tropice occidentalis, glaberrimus ; folia 
magna, late oblonga, valde cordata, 5-nervia, submembranacea, 
petiolo elongato; racemi fructifert supra-axillares, solitarit, 
glaberrimi, petiolo longiores, pedicellis simplicibus ; drupe uvi- 
formes, pulpose. 


The typical species will be described in the ‘ Contributions to 
Botany,’ vol. iii. :— 


1. Rhigiocarya racemifera, nob. ;—fluv. Quorra. 


14. ANOMOSPERMUM. 


The type of this genus is a scandent shrub which I found in 
the Organ Mountains in 1837; other species exist in Guiana 
and Northern Brazil. They have all oblong, stiff, glabrous, 
subcoriaceous leaves, sometimes reticulated, with rigid petioles 
articulated on the branch in a prominent cup. The inflorescence 
is in axillary racemes issuing from a hairy tuft a little above the 
petiole. The male raceme, in some species, is the length of, 
or longer than the leaf, its alternate branches bearing one to 
three flowers, or sometimes the inflorescence is reduced to a 
solitary pedicellated flower in each axil. The female raceme is 
much shorter and few-flowered. The flowers are of similar size 
in both sexes, measuring, when expanded, 2 or 3 lines in dia- 
meter: they consist of six fleshy sepals, alternate in two series, 
the outer three being much smaller and bracteiform ; they have 


102 Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermacee. 


six petals, also 2-serial, smaller than the inner sepals, rounded, 
extremely fleshy, the edges folded inwards so as to embrace and 
almost conceal a stamen fixed on its claw; each filament bears 
two small anther-cells half imbedded in its substance. A single 
sterile ovary is sometimes seen in the centre of the male flower, 
being columnar, somewhat ventricose, and terminated by a 
fungiform stigma: this I found of usual occurrence in the 
typical species, but I have not met with it m the few flowers 
examined of other species. In the female flowers, the petals 
are divaricated, less fleshy ; and the six sterile shorter stamens 
stand erect and free round three gibbous ovaria, supported on a 
short gynecium. In the typical species, the fruit is gibbously 
oval and somewhat compressed, about an inch long, having its 
stipitate enlargement near the middle of the ventral side, at 
some distance from the persistent stigma: it 1s covered by a 
coriaceous indehiscent husk, of a yellowish colour, that becomes 
dark in drying; between this and the putamen is a yellowish 
mesocarp, having the consistence of an arillus, and apparently 
formed of rounded masses aggregated together, corresponding 
in size to the large areoles indicated by the grooved lines on the 
surface of the putamen: it dries into a horny substance insoluble 
in water or alcohol. In the Guiana species, the fruit is cylin- 
drically oblong, with a laterally basal support, and with the 
remains of the stigma in its apex, the putamen being quite 
cylindrical, and the embryo straight. The peculiar structure of 
the putamen and seed has been already noticed in the diagnosis 
of the tribe Anomospermee : one of its chief peculiarities consists 
in the form of its condyle, which is a laminiform and longitu- 
dinal osseous plate, projecting from the ventral face of the 
putamen to near the centre of the cell, and upon which the seed 
is folded and attached ; several other short transverse plates 
project across the dorsal face of the cell, which penetrate into 
the sinuosities of the albumen, after the manner of many Ano- 
nacee ; these, however, are only adventitious processes. The 
lamellarly ruminated structure of the albumen much resembles 
that of Tilacora, and the embryo, either straight or uncinately 
curved, is equally elongated and slender; but the radicle is 
relatively much shorter, and the cotyledons are accumbent im 
the one, and incumbent in the other. 

Mr. Bentham, in his ‘ Notes on Menispermaceae, in accordance 
with the system he has so extensively adopted, considers all the 
plants of this genus reducible to a single species. It is impos- 
sible to concur in this opinion, which is absolutely incompatible 
with the facts here registered. 


ANOMOSPERMUM, nob. — Flores dioici vel rarius polygami. 


Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermacez. ' 106 


Masc. Sepala 6, biseriata, quorum 3 exteriora minuta, bractei- 
formia, 3 interiora multoties majora, alterna, orbiculata vel 
oblonga, concava, carnosa, petaloidea, glabra, zstivatione 1m- 
bricata. Petala 6, eequalia, sub-2-seriata, sepalis paulo bre- 
viora, suberecta, vel arcte congregata, interdum unguiculata, 
gibbosa, concava, carnosa, apice truncata, marginibus valde 
inflexis, hinc stamina amplectentia. Stamina 6, petalis equi- 
longa et opposita, cum is inserta ; filamenta sigmoidea, car- 
nosa, subcompressa, apice incrassata ; anthere 2-lobe, in- 
trorse, imo divaricate, semiimmersz, utrinque rima laterali 
dehiscentes.—F/. hermaphr. Sepala, petala et stamina ma- 
rium : ovarium unicum, sterile, centrale, cylindricum, stigmate 
clavato coronatum. — FV. fom. Sepala et petala marium. 
Stamina 6, breviora, antheris minutis, effoetis.  Ovaria 3, 
libera, obovata, gibba, supra gyncium pilosum insita, sepalis 
interioribus opposita, 1-locularia, ovudo unico parieti ventrali 
affixo. Stylus brevissimus, excentricus, crassiusculus. Stig- 
ma ligulatum, acutum, canaliculato-recurvam. Drupe 3, 
vel abortu 1, majusculz, oblongz, vel gibboso-ovate, plus 
minusve excentrice stipitate; pericarpium nitens, crassum, 
coloratum, styli vestigio apice vel longe a basi notatum, inde. 
hiscens ; mesocarpium mucilaginoso-pulposum, translucidum, e 
glandulis plurimis angulatis, arcte cohzrentibus confectum ; 
putamen cylindrico-oblongum, vel reniformi-ovatum, sub- 
osseum : condylus internus, ad faciem ventralem, laminiformis, 
longitudinalis, fere ad centrum loculi protensus, hine semi- 
septum mentiens. Semen loculo conforme condylo utrinque 
plicatum : albumen copiosum, loculum implens, carnosum, in 
fissuris numerosissimis undique profunde ruminatum, integu- 
mentis 2 tenuibus fissuras penetrantibus arcte cinctum ; em- 
bryo elongatus, tenuissimus, teres, fere rectus, vel imo arcuatus, 
in centro albuminis situs, cotyledonibus tenuibus, radicule brevi 
tereti ad hilum spectanti eequilatis et multoties longioribus. 


Frutices scandentes, Brasilienses et Guianenses, glabre ; folia al- 


to 


terna, elliptica, subcoriacea, 3-nervia, valde reticulata, petiolata; 
racemi supra-axillares. 


The following species will be described in the ‘ Contributions 
Botany : ’=— 


Anomospermum nitidum, nob. ;—mont. Organens. 

ovatum, nob. ;—Brasilia. 

oblongatum, nob. ;—Rio Janeiro. 

Schomburgku, nob. ;—Guiana Brit. (Schomb. 833). 

lucidum, nob. ;—Cayenne (Melinon, 115) ; Demerara 
(Anderson) ; Panuré Rio Uapés (Spruce, 2563). 

Hostmanna, nob. ;—Surinam (Hostmann & Kappler, 1298). 

[To be continued. ] 


104 Dr. F. Miller on the Metamorphoses of the Prawns. 


XI.—On the Metamorphoses of the Prawus. (First Memoir.) 
By Dr. Frirz Miuuer of Desterro*. 


[Plate IV.] 


Mitne-Epwarps indicated, as probably the larva of Peneus, a 
small Crustacean which had previously been referred to the 
Schizopoda as forming the genus. Cryptopus of Latreille. I ob- 
served several species of small Crustacea approaching still more 
closely to the Schizopoda, and agreeing with Cryptopus and 
Peneus in the possession of three pairs of cheliform feet, and 
have been able to trace them back to Mysis-forms destitute of 
chele, thence to the form of a Zoéa, and one species still further 
to a Nauplius-form, and consequently to that fundamental young 
form which unites the Rhizocephala and Lerne with the Cirni- 
pedes and the numerous group of the Cyclopide. 

Of the Zvéa-form five different species were observed, and 
some of them pretty plentifully during the whole summer ; the 
unaltered Nauplius-torm, probably the same in which the animal 
escapes from the egg, came under notice only once (on the 18th 
December) +. 

The body of this youngest larva (PI. IV. fig. 1) is destitute of 
segments, pyriform, 0-4 mill. in length, rounded, and 0-2 mull. 
in breadth in front, and diminished behind to 3th of the length 
of the body, truncated, and slightly emarginated. Near the 
anterior margin stands a small, black, sharply defined eye. The 
posterior margin bears on each side a strong straight bristle, of 
half the length of the body, and near this a short spine. From 
the lower surface of the body spring six slender feet, furnished 
with long sete, of which the anterior and intermediate attain 
four-fifths and the posterior about half the length of the body. 
The anterior are placed close to the frontal margin, the inter- 
mediate pair immediately behind these, and the posterior about 
the middle of the body. The anterior are simple, the intermediate 
and posterior biramose ; the posterior branch appears to be the 
immediate continuation of the stem, and is stronger and, in the 
hinder feet, also much longer than the anterior branch. -No 
distinct joints are to be detected in the feet, but indications of 
four or five jomts may be seen in the posterior branch of the 
intermediate feet. A strong bristle, as long as the body, stands 
with some shorter ones at the apex of the anterior feet ; the inter- 


* Translated by W.S. Dallas, F.L.S., from Wiegmann’s ‘ Archiv,’ 1863, 
p- 8. 

+ This proves that, at least at the breeding-season, the parents do not 
reside in the vicinity of the shore, as otherwise the youngest larvee must 
have been the most abundant. A species nearly allied to Peneus Caramote, 
which is frequently eaten here under the name of Camarao occurs sparingly 
in the market in summer, and scarcely ever above the middle size. 


ee 


Dr. F. Miiller on the Metamorphoses of the Prawns. — 105 


mediate feet have two bristles at the apex of the anterior branch, 
and six on the anterior margin and apex of the posterior branch ; 
and each branch of the posterior feet has two bristles at its apex 
and one below this point. 

The little animal is rather opaque, and of a brownish colour, 
which is more strongly marked at the apices of the feet. The 
structure of the mouth and of the internal organs was not ob- 
served, 

The somewhat flexible feet, with their few long bristles, form 
no very effective motory apparatus. A man floating perpendi- 
cularly in the water, with widespread arms and slender willow- 
branches in each hand, striving to work himself upward, would 
furnish a notion of the peculiar movement by which this Nauplius 
and the Zoéa proceeding from it may be recognized at the first 
glance amongst hundreds of other small Crustacea*. 

In a rather larger larva (0°5 mill. in length), taken on the 
13th of January, which agreed in the general form of the body, 
in the structure of the feet, and in colour with the preceding 
one, the posterior extremity was drawn out into two thick conical 
processes, at the apices of which stood the two long caudal 
bristles, each accompanied on the inside by two and on the 
outside by three shorter and partly spiniform bristles. The 
number of bristles on the ‘intermediate feet had also increased. 
As the first indication of the carapace, a transverse fold ran 
across the back, nearly in the middle of the body. The poste- 
rior feet were placed more anteriorly and nearer the median 
line, towards the mouth, which is situated between them ; be- 
‘fore the mouth, between the intermediate feet, was a large helmet- 
shaped upper lip. The short stem of these feet had become 
thickened almost into a globular form; some new part was 
evidently being formed in its interior, the outlines of which, 
however, were not yet distinct. Behind the mouth, and filling 
the median third of the body, four pairs of long and plump 
lobes had sprouted from the ventral surface, and, inclining 
backwards, had applied themselves to the body. In the form of 
the first two pairs the future lower jaws could already be re- 
cognized. 

This larva is closely approached by four others, probably be- 
longing to the same swarm, which were taken at the same time 
(24th of January). In the swelling at the base of the posterior 


* From this peculiar movement, observed with the naked eye, I recog- 
nized the little animal just described as the larva of Peneus ; microscopic 
examination made this opinion appear, if not erroneous, at least extremely 
improbable. A month later, intermediate forms occurred which showed 
the naked eye to have been right, im opposition to the microscope; the 
latter alone would probably never have led me to suspect the true nature 
of my Nauplius. 


106 —Dr. F. Miller on the Metamorphoses of the Prawns. 


feet (fig. 2), the outlines of the future upper jaw may be dis- 
tinctly recognized ; the living contents are more or less com- 
pletely withdrawn from the posterior ramus ; the anterior ramus 
is still pretty well filled, but we may already see that it will be 
destitute of bristles after the change of skin. Of these feet, 
therefore, besides the stem which becomes converted into the 
upper jaw, only a short bristleless stump will remain. (An organ 
of this kind, rendered very striking by its dark brownish colour, 
was in fact observed once [on the 3rd of January] in a very 
young Zoéa; but even this soon disappears completely). Be- 
tween the origins of the anterior feet two ganglia of considerable 
size, contiguous in the median line, may now be distinguished. 
In the anterior angle between these two ganglia the eye is situ- 
ated, surrounded by numerous small orange-coloured globules 
(oil-drops ?). Over the eye, and concealing it from above, a 
turbid finely granular tissue has been formed; from each side 
of this springs a small transparent button, projecting in a hemi- 
spherical form beyond the frontal margin. The intestine, liver, 
and heart are already present, of the same form as in the younger 
Zee. 

It is probable, as shown by their bristles being already indi- 
cated, that at the next moulting the rudimentary feet become 
effective, and the Nauplius becomes converted into a Zoéa, to 
the appendages of which the names in use for those of the ma- 
ture animal may be applied with less wresting of their meaning. 
I therefore henceforward indicate the first two pairs of feet of 
the Nauplius as antenne, and the third as upper jaws; and of 
the four new pairs the two anterior as lower jaws, and the hinder 
as footjaws. 

In the Zoéa-form (figs. 3-7) our larva was observed from 0°8 
to 1°6 mill. in length. During this life-period the two eyes are 
developed, ten or eleven new segments are formed, with a pair 
of feet on the first, and rudiments of feet on the five following 
rings, and, lastly, the lateral caudal appendages are produced. 
These new parts are of course met with in very variable form ; 
in other respects the animals undergo no important changes, 
even in size; for their increase in length proceeds almost ex- 
clusively from the gradual extension of the eleven new seg- 
ments. 

The carapace, 0°4 to 0°5 mill. long, is at first almost circular 
and flat, but it soon bends downwards and covers laterally the 
parts of the mouth and the basal joints of the feet. Posteriorly 
it exhibits a shallow sinuosity where it lies over the body. 
Whilst, at its first appearance, it separates from the body behmd 
what are now the upper jaws, the separation is now effected be- 
hind the second pair of footjaws, and the carapace projects 


Dr. F. Miiller on the Metamorphoses of the Prawns. 107 


freely over two or three of the newly formed segments. Anteriorly 
it is at first covered by the contiguous eyes (fig. 3) ; when these 
subsequently separate, it covers the interspace and the base of 
the ocular peduncles with a triangular process which runs out 
into a spine reaching a length of 0°12 mill. (fig. 6). The cara- 
pace has no other spiniform processes. 

Beneath this anterior part of the carapace and the paired eyes 
is situated the single eye ; the entire space between the origins 
of the anterior antenne (01 mill.) is oceupied by two large 
ganglia which meet in the median line; their anterior surfaces 
are strongly convex, and over both of them the integument is 
extended in a nearly semicircular form. From the depths of 
the free space thus left between the ganglia and the skin a 
clavate bacillus (“ crystalline cone”) rises until it nearly reaches 
the skin; at its lower part it is surrounded by black pigment- 
granules. The skin appears to me in this species to be destitute 
of lentiform thickenings. 

The antenne still form the chief instruments of locomotion ; 
whilst in all other Zoée (of the Stomapoda, Crabs, Porcellane, 
Pagurt, and the Prawns which quit the egg in the Zoéa-form) 
they have nothing to do with locomotion. 

The anterior (inner) antenne (0-4 mill. in length) now appear 
to be divided into four joints, the first of which occupies nearly 
half the length ; the longest of the three strong apical bristles 
is nearly twice as long as the antenna. Close to the apical 
bristles and outside of them, stand one or two delicate bacilli, 
0-09 mill. in length; there are one or two more of these a little 
below the apex on the outside of the terminal joint. The pos- 
terior (outer) antenne are now close beside the inner ones, and 
attain only about two-thirds of their length; their thick stem 
shows two, their inner (anterior) branch three, and their outer 
(posterior) branch as many as ten joints. As before, the inner 
branch is but little shorter, although much weaker, than the 
outer one. The outer branch has as many as ten plumose 
bristles, of which four stand at the apex and the others at the 
ends of the six preceding joints. 

The large upper lip (fie: 41) is very much in the form of the 
helmet of a Prussian soldier, which has only to be imagined rather 
broader and with its peak considerably enlarged and emarginated 
in the middle. The helmet, of which the point is directed for- 
wards, is immoveable, and from it muscles pass to the moveable 
peak which covers the mouth and a part of the upper jaws. 

In the examination of the uninjured animal from below, the 
only part of the powerful upper jaws (fig. 4 111) that is seen is a 
long tooth with two or three points, which projects far beyond 
the more deeply seated masticatory surface, which is beset with 


108 Dr. F. Miiller on the Metamorphoses of the Prawns. 


small ridges and tubercles. At the base of the tooth, towards the | 
masticatory surface, there are several stiff bristles, beset with 
short spinules (fig. 7). The upper jaws are destitute of palpi. This 
appears to be a peculiarity in which all Zoée agree with Insects, 
and which is in this case doubly remarkable, because not only 
does the perfect animal possess mandibular palpi, but even the 
younger larvee have at this place biramose feet, from which the 
mandibles are produced., 

In the lower jaws (mazille, fig. 4 1v, v) we distinguish—1. the 
peduncle with projections on its inner side, which have almost the 
appearance of joints, and are beset with strong bristles, partly 
spimiform and partly toothed or plumose; 2. a multiarticulate 
apical portion (inner branch ?), which bears longer and more 
delicate bristles on its inside and at its apex; and 3. a small, 
elongated, lamelliform appendage (outer branch; fouet, Milne- 
Edwards, fig. 4a a), on the margin of which are placed a few 
delicate setee. In the first pair of maxille (1v) the peduncle has 
two long, and in the second pair (v) four shorter processes ; 
the apical portion has in the former three, and in the latter five 
joints. 

The footjaws (vt, vit) or macillipeds appear to assist but 
little in locomotion. They consist of a thick peduncle (thickest 
in the first pair), a long 4-5-joimted inner branch, and a shorter 
inarticulate outer branch. Besides the apical sete, there are 
bristles of various lengths upon the inner margin of the peduncle 
and of the inner branch, and also upon the outer margin of the 
outer branch. The first pair is longer and more powerful than 
the second. 

The two branches of the ¢adl project, separated by a semicir- 
cular notch, nearly at a right angle to each other; they appear 
to be rounded off at the apex, and twice acquire a new bristle on 
their inner margin, so that the number of these rises first to 
seven and then to eight on each branch. The oldest bristle 
continues to be recognizable by its greater length (0°4 mill.) ; 
the outermost bristle (the spine which is present even in the 
youngest Nauplius) continues to be distinguishable from the rest 
by its bemg smooth, whilst the others are rendered plumose by 
short spinules and longer hairs. 

The alimentary canal presents no peculiarity ; the anus, which 
is at first situated at the apex (PI. IV. fig. 3), afterwards moves 
forward on the ventral surface nearly to the middle of the last 
segment (fig. 6). The diver, of a yellowish colour, consists of 
three pairs of wide tubes (one pair anterior and superior, one 
pair lateral, and one pair posterior and inferior), and does not 
differ in its structure from that of other Zoée. 

The heart (fig. 3 h) occupies the usual position at the end of 


Dr. F. Muller on the Metamorphoses of the Prawns. 109 


that section of the body which is amalgamated with the carapace ; 
with the progressive extension of the carapace the heart likewise 
moves its position further back. Thus, in the older Nauplius, it 
is situated above the third pair of feet (upper Jaws), but now 
over the sixth and seventh (footjaws). The structure of the 
heart, however, differs remarkably from that of the older ani- 
mals, and indeed of the other larve of Decapods. It resembles 
the foremost dilated section of the younger Stomapod larvee 
recently described by me. The intercrossing trabecule of the 
interior are wanting, and there are only two fissures for the en- 
trance of the blood, situated on the lower side of the posterior 
part of the heart. These two fissures are unusually striking ; 
and I think I may state with positive certainty that they are the 
only ones. I have frequently and for a long time traced the 
course of the blood-globules through the heart and in its vicinity, 
and never seen them enter anywhere but here: I have sometimes 
seen blood-corpuscles coming from the fore part of the body 
glide along close by the heart, in order to reach these posterior 
orifices. Moreover the other fissures, which are subsequently 
easily distinguishable notwithstanding the internal apparatus of 
trabeculz, could hardly now be overlooked in the simple sac. One 
vessel originates at the anterior extremity of the heart, and a 
second below its rounded posterior extremity. Valves were 
seen at the origin of the former. Other vessels seem to be 
wanting. A great part of the blood returning from the anterior 
part of the body takes a circuitous course through the carapace, 
as in other Zoée. 

The above are the parts which remain nearly unaltered during 
the whole of this period. 

Of the new parts which make their appearance, the paired 
eyes are to be regarded as the first in order of time; for their 
earliest traces were already recognizable in the oldest Nauplius. 
They form a mass of considerable size, lying above the anterior 
part of the carapace, and projecting beyond the frontal margin 
(fig. 3). Near their external posterior angle a black pigment- 
spot makes its appearance, from which radiating lines may soon 
be traced to the surface of the future true eye. Before and 
within this the thickened visual nerves may be distinguished, 
behind which there remains a free space, subsequently traversed 
by a muscle. The eyes, which are at first quite contiguous, now 
rapidly become separated, so that the central eye and the whole 
breadth of the ganglia between which it is situated again become 
visible from above. 

Peculiar structures, the signification of which I do not know, 
and which appear to be deficient in other species observed, are 
the two hemispherical transparent buttons which project from 


110.~——~Dr. F. Miller on the Metamorphoses of the Prawns. 


the frontal margin even in the oldest Nauplius. They appear at 
first as delicate, nearly globular, limpid vesicles (fig. 30), but 
subsequently as minute, firmer, and more opake mammiform 
appendages to the anterior margin of the ocular peduncles 
during the whole period of larval life (fig. 8 0). 

The new segments, on which the thoracic and abdominal feet are 
afterwards developed, form at first an unjointed, soft, short zone, 
which, however, soon becomes elongated. Before this zone at- 
tains the length of the section of the body lying behind it, a 
division into eleven segments may be detected, although at first 
this is not very distinct. At first these segments are of nearly 
equal length, or the anterior ones may even be longer and more 
distinctly separated ; but towards the end of this period the five 
posterior ones form about one-third of the entire length of the 
body, whilst the six anterior scarcely constitute one-ninth of it, 
the remainder of the length being half before and half behind 
these new segments*. The five posterior new segments (abdo- 
minal segments) acquire a short spine at the hinder margin in 
the middle of the back, and the last of them also one on each 
side. Of internal parts, only the intestine is at first clearly 
distinguishable in these new segments; the ganglionic chain 
is afterwards developed, and it is only towards the end of this 
period that the muscles become separated into sharply defined 
bundles. 

The new appendages sprout from the ventral surface of the 
corresponding segments at first in the form of simple lobes, 
which, however, soon show a longer external and shorter internal 
branch. At first, and indeed when the separation of new seg- 
ments just begins to be perceptible, the third pair of footjaws 
and the lateral lamine of the caudal fan are produced; at a 
much later period the five pairs of thoracic feet make their ap- 
pearance at once. Before the conclusion of this period, the 
branches of the footjaws acquire fully developed sete, but still 
remain unjointed ; the thoracic feet continue rudimentary and 
destitute of sete. The lateral caudal lamin which are attached 
directly (without a joint) to the basal joint, acquire a few short 


* Whether the first of these eleven rings is already present (as I believe 
to be the case) at the commencement of this period—in other words, 
whether all the eleven, or only ten, segments are really to be indicated as 
new—I must leave undetermined. In the latter case, we should have,— 
in the first period (Nauplius) five original segments (antenne, mandibles, 


tail) and the formation of five new ones (for the maxille and footjaws) ; ~ 


in the second period (Zoéa) the formation of 2 5 new segments, of which 
some (thoracic segments) acquire rudimentary feet in this period, and the 
others (abdominal segments) only in the third period (Myszs-form). This 
simple relation, however, so far from applying generally, would not even 
suit all the species of the genus Peneus. 


_ ee 


Dr. F. Miller on the Metamorphoses of the Prawns. 111 


bristles, especially the apex of the longer external lamina; the 
long plumose setz of a later period are still wanting. By the 
sprouting forth of the caudal appendages on the ventral surface, 
* our animals are distinguished not only from the Porcellane, but 
also from those Prawns which quit the egg in the Zoéa-form, 
and in which, as in Porcedlana, these lateral caudal lamin are 
produced within the broad caudal fin. 

The gradual changes which the appearance of the animal 
undergoes in consequence of the development of the paired eyes 
and the new body-segments and their appendages, are followed, 
when it has attained a length of about 1°6 mill., by a new 
fundamental and sudden metamorphosis—the change into the 
Mysis-form (fig. 8). The antenne cease to serve for locomo- 
tion; they are replaced by the setigerous thoracic feet and by 
the long abdomen, which, having been hitherto painfully 
dragged along like a useless burden, now, by means of its power- 
ful muscles, impels the animal rapidly with a jerking move- 
ment. 

The carapace, with its frontal process still undenticulated, has 
acquired two short teeth on each side of its anterior margin— 
one over the eye, the other on the inferior angle. It soon en- 
tirely covers the thoracic segments, of which some at first re- 
main uncovered, at least above. 

The anterior antenne have lost their long sete. The first 
three joints now appear as a peduncle, a second branch, at first 
unjointed and running out into a simple seta, being developed 
inwards from the fourth bacilligerous joint. 

The exterior branch of the posterior antenne has become con- 
verted into the scale of the antenna of the Prawn, namely, into 
an unjointed leaf, the outer margin of which is furnished with a 
short tooth, whilst the more prominent apex and the inner 
margin are fringed with long plumose sete. Close to this la- 
mina, within and below it, there is a short, bristleless, unjointed 
lobe, from which the flagellum of the antenna is subsequently 
produced (figs. 811, 9). Whether this lobe is developed from the 
inner branch of the antenna of the Zoéa, or whether it is a new 
formation, whilst that inner branch entirely disappears, I must 
leave undecided: the latter appears to me most probable; and 
I think that the flagellum of the Prawn’s antenna is to be re- 
garded as the median branch (palpe, M.-Edw.). 

The feet already existing in the Zoéa have undergone no parti- 
cular change. The third pair of footjaws now resembles the two 
preceding ones. The five new pairs of feet are at first all of 
the same structure; the unjointed peduncle bears a short and 
likewise nnjointed inner branch with two terminal sete, and an 
outer branch, of twice the length of the other, annulated in its 


W142 Dr. F. Muller on the Metumorphoses of the Prawns. 


apical half, and beset with long bristles; this is almost con- 
stantly in a whirling motion. 

In the ¢ai/, the lateral plates are now moveably articulated 
upon a short basal joint and beset with long plumose set; the 
middle piece (the seventh abdomina] segment) appears to be 
longer and narrower, as though the two divergent branches had 
been pressed together to almost complete amalgamation; the 
‘sete of the Zoéa are retained in their full number, but coutracted 
into short spines. The anus is situated at the base of this last 
segment., 

About the same time a considerable alteration of the heart 
takes place ; it acquires four new fissures for the entrance of the 
blood, and internal muscular trabeculee. 

In this Mysis-like form our larva was observed from scarcely 
2 mill. to 4°5 mill. in length. During this period the auditory 
organs, the pincers, and ambulatory feet are developed, and the 
rudiments of the mandibular palpi, abdominal feet, and branchize 
make their appearance. 

The flagella of the antenne become elongated and divided 
into joints; in animals of 4 to 4°5 mill. in length the two flagella 
of the inner antenne are three-jointed ; the outer one, which is 
somewhat shorter, bears about seven bacilli; the flagellum of the 
outer antenna attains nearly the length of the scale. 

In the basal joint of the inner antenna the auditory apparatus 
is formed. The lower third of this jot becomes inflated ex- 
ternally, the swelled portion having a crescentiform anterior 
margin. In the interior of this inflation an elongated ‘cavity is 
soon observed (in animals of 3 mill. in length). A little later 
there appears in the cavity a globular, strongly refractive otolith, 
and in the crescent-shaped anterior emargination three or four 
short, plumose sete, bulbous at the base (fig.9). The otolith 
does not appear to lie freely in the cavity, but (as is the case in 
the tail of Mysis) to be supported by delicate filaments, which 
issue from a ganglion situated inwards from the cavity. 

The extended spine of the upper lip begins to disappear, but 
is still recognizable as a minute point in animals of 4°5 mill. in 
length. The palpi make their appearance on the mandibles, 
about the time of the formaticn of the otoliths, in the form of 
small mamille, which are soon elongated, but remain unjointed 
and destitute of sete. 

The pincers (chele) are indicated, even in animals of 2°8 mill. 
long, by the still unjointed inner branch of the corresponding 
three pairs of feet acquiring a small process on the inner margin 
a little below the apex. In animals of 3:5 mill. in length, these 
feet are already divided into joints as in the mature animal, and 
this process (the immoveable finger) attains two-thirds of the 


Dr, F. Miller on the Metamorphoses of the Prawns. 118 


length of the apical joint (the moveable finger) which still bears 
its terminal bristles. In the fourth and fifth pairs of thoracic 
feet also, the inner branch is now divided into four joints, and 
already somewhat exceeds the outer one in length. In animals 
45 mill. long, the fingers of the chelz are of equal length; on 
the fourth and fifth pairs of feet an acute process (the claw) is 
visible beside the terminal sete, and, especially in the fourth 
pair, the length of the true leg considerably exceeds that of the 
outer branch. 

The abdominal feet are recognizable as small mammille even in 
animals of 2°8 mill. in length; they are at first simple, and, as 
in the case of the thoracic feet, it is the outer branch that is 
first developed. In animals of 4°5 mill. in length, they are 
already of considerable size, but still without joints or sete, and 
the inner branch appears only as an insignificant appendage to 
the outer one. 

The first rudiments of the branchie are recognizable, in ani- 
mals below 4 mill. in length, in the form of small roundish 
excrescences at the base of the footjaws and chel, and subse- 
quently also on the fourth pair of thoracic feet. 

From the Mysis-like larva of 4°5 mill. in length there is but 
a small step to the Prawn-form. ‘The youngest animals ob- 
served in this form were 5 mill. long. Their frontal process had 
three teeth above. The antenne had undergone no change. 
The eyes no longer had any appendage: the median eye had 
become very indistinct. The upper lip had entirely lost its 
spine, and the mandibular palpi had acquired two jomts and 
short sete. The two anterior pairs of footjaws had approached 
close to the mouth, and become much shorter than the third 
pair. The outer branches of the thoracic feet, which are re- 
tained throngh life (as the so-called palpus flagelliformis) in 
many species of Peneus, had entirely disappeared. The abdo- 
minal feet had acquired joints and bristles (on the outer branch). 
The central plate of the caudal fan was diminished posteriorly, 
and bore on its straight posterior margin ten spines, of which 
those at the angles were the longest; on each lateral margin 
there were three shorter spines. The branchize (one over each 
fourth thoracic foot, and two over each of the preceding ones) 
were still elongated lamine with entire margins (they are 
plumosely cut in animals 9 mill. in length). The liver had 
begun to acquire a more composite form by the formation of 
new sacs and the ramification of the old ones. 

The animal was not observed more than 9-10 mill. in length. 


A second larva is readily distinguishable from the preceding, 
in the later Zoéa-form, by the fact that the anterior margin of 
Ann. & Mag. N, Hist, Serv.3. Vol. xiv. 8 


114 ~=Dr. F. Miller on the Metamorphoses of the Prawns. 


the carapace has, besides the median spine-like process, a shorter 
one on each side, which is directed obliquely forwards and out- 
wards. Moreover, when at the same grade of development, it is 
larger, and was seen as a Zoéa as much as 2°3 mill. in length. 
Younger Zoée, which still want the processes of the carapace, 
are so like those of the former species, that it was not without 
trouble that I learnt to distinguish them by the structure of the 
antenne &c. Upon the median eye of this second species the 
skin usually forms two lentiform thickenings at the sides of the 
bacillus ; once I saw a single larger one opposite to the bacillus. 
Between the two nervous cords of the ventral chain, a minute 
median filament may be distinguished running from ganglion 
to ganglion (this can hardly be wanting in the other species, 
but has not yet been distinctly seen in them). Notwithstanding 
its remarkable similarity to the former species, the course of 
development is somewhat different, the third pair of footjaws 
and the caudal appendages appearing not before, but simulta- 
neously with the thoracic feet. 

A third species was traced from young Zoée 1:2 mill. in 
length, in which the new segments were still of equal length, 
and the first rudiments of the third pair of footjaws and of the 
caudal appendages had just been formed, up to Mysis-like forms, 
3 mill. long, furnished with three imperfect pairs of chele and 
abdominal feet. It is characterized by its bemg abundantly 
armed on the carapace and the segments of the abdomen with 
spinous processes; the median lamina of the caudal fan is also 
produced, in the Mysis-form, into two long pomts. The course 
of development appears to be precisely like that of the first spe- 
cies; the form of the basal joint of the inner antenna in the 
oldest observed larvee (fig. 10) indicates that here also an ear is 
formed similar to that of the first species. 

Of two other species whose Zoée closely approach the three 
preceding in the structure of the antenne, of the spinose upper 
lip, of the multiarticulate second maxilla, of the tail, heart, &c., 
one was only traced to the non-cheligerous Mysis-form ; the other, 
however, which acquires three pairs of chelz, departs so widely 
from the rest in its mode of development, that I postpone the 
history of its metamorphosis for the present, in order to describe 
it separately. 


EXPLANATION OF PLATE IV. 


The figures of the animals are magnified 45 diameters; fig. 2, 180 dia- 
meters; and the rest, 90 diameters. he Roman numbers 1.—XIX. indicate 
the appendages corresponding with the nineteen pairs of the mature ani- 
mal: g, flagellum of the second pair; a, outer, i, inner branch of the 
appendages; L, upper lip; /, heart; J, liver; J’, anterior, 2’, median, 


Rey. H. Clark on the Chrysomelide of South Africa. 115 


i", posterior sacs of the liver; 0, appendage to the eye, of unknown 
import; s, median frontal process; ¢, orange-coloured oil-drops. 


Fig. 1. Young Nauplius of a Peneus, from the sea of Santa Catharina ; 
from above. 


Fig. 2. Foot of third pair of an older Nauplius, with the rudiment of the 
mandible: a, from below; B, from the side. 
Fig. 3. Young Zoéa of the same, from above. 
‘ig. 4. Parts of the mouth of the same Zoéa, from below. 
Fig. 5. Eyes of a somewhat older Zoea. 
"ig. 6. Older Zoéa of the same, from below. 
Fig. 7. Mandible of an older Zoéa. 
Fig. 8. Young Mysis-form of the same species, from the side. 
Fig. 9. Part of the basal joint of the inner antenna, with developed audi- 


tory apparatus, from a larva 4 mill. in length. 
Fig. 10. Frontal process and imner antenna of the third Mysis-like larva, 
from above. 


XII.— Catalogue of Chrysomelide of South Africa. 
By the Rev. Hamurt Crark, M.A., F.L.S. 


Eacu of the three great regions in the southern hemisphere 
possesses a fauna (as we might expect) peculiarly its own: in 
the beautiful Coleopterous group the Chrysomelide, this fauna 
is represented in South America by the special genus Dory- 
phora (which is the subject of the excellent monograph by 
Dr. Stal), in Australia by several special genera, Phyllocharis, 
Australaca, Chalcomela, &c. (which have been well and fully 
studied by Mr. Baly in his papers in the Entomological Society’s 
Transactions), and especially by Paropis; and in South Africa 
by certain genera which have a nearer affinity to European forms 
than any of the preceding, but the species of which have never 
yet been critically examined. This I propose to attempt. By 
the kindness of my friend Mr. Baly, I have the advantage of 
access to his rich collection; and so I am encouraged to hope 
that the comparatively few South-African species may be with- 
out much difficulty determined. 

The species of this paper includes the representatives of the 
two MS. genera Atechna, Chev., and Centroscelis, Chev. (De- 
jean’s Catalogue, ed. 3, p. 427): I can discover no real difference 
between them; they both are united by Hope (Coleopterist’s 
Manual, pt. 3. p. 164) under the name of Polysticta: his dia- 
gnosis is too brief, and not quite accurate ; but it is clear that 
these are the forms which he had before him (“the majority of 
the species are remarkable for the number of the guttz or spots 
with which they are adorned”’) ; and hence it is right that his 
name should be preserved. The following analysis of the genus 


will explain the arrangement of the species. 
gx 


116 “Rev. H. Clark on the Chrysomelide of South Africa. 


Group Chrysomeline. 
Genus Potysticta, Hope, Col. Man. pt. 3. 164, 


A. Elytris flavis vel testaceo-flavis; nigro notatis. 


1. nigro-signata, Bhi. 5. 24-signata, Thunb. 

2. striata, lad. G. macularis, Dej., n. sp. 
3. subcruciata, n. sp. 7. nigro-fasciata, n. sp. 
4. eburnipennis, n. sp. 8. pulchella, n. sp. 


B. Elytris nigris vel rufo-nigris. 
a. Unicoloribus. 
9. levigata, n. sp. 1]. nigra, n. sp. 
10. nigro-zenea, n. sp. 
b. Plagis longitudinaliter (plus minus irregulariter) signatis. 
12. Marshalli, n. sp. 15. alternans, abr. 


13. picturata, n. sp. 16. soluta, n. sp. 
14. lineolata, n. sp. 


c. Guttis sat equalibus distinctis circularibus notatis. 


17. 14-guttata, Fab. 20. 10-pustulata, Thund. 
18. 20-guttata, Chev. 21. 20-maculata, n. sp. 
19. guttata, Lab. 


d. Guttis inequalibus, vel confluentibus vel irregulariter diffusis. 
( J d 
22. notata, Fab. 29. 18-punctata, n. sp. 
23. modesta, n. sp. 30. figurata, De., n. sp. 
i Bu os oD 
24. multifida, De. Cat. 31. difficilis, n. sp. 
da, De 
25. consimilis, n. sp. 32. clathrata, Dej., n. sp. 
3 “} +s 
26. simulator, n. sp. 33. Hebe, n. sp. 
27. elegantula, n. sp. 34. flavo-sparsa, n. sp. 
28. rufo-picta, n. sp. 35. vulpina, iad. 


1. P. nigro-signata, Bhn. 


P. ovalis, satis ampla, obsolete punctato-striata, rufa vel flavo-rufa, 
maculis nigris circularibus notata; capite inter oculos transverse 
arcuato-foveolato, impunctato, rufo ; oculis oblongo-ovalibus : tho- 
race transverso elytris angustiore, lateribus parallelis subtiliter 
marginatis antice rotundatis, disco subtiliter punctato, ad latera 
autem fortiter et crebre, rufo, maculis 5 circularibus ornato, 
4 mediis (serie transversa ordinatis), 1 antice ad medium (hac in- 
terdum obliterata) : scutello leevi, nigro; elytris sat convexis, striato- 
punctatis, interstitiis subtilissime etiam aliter punctatis, rufis, 
maculis plurimis nigris, circularibus, ineequaliter dispositis, ali- 
quando confluentibus, interdum 20, interdum etiam 26, iterumque 
maculis confluentibus et vittas obliquas formantibus ; corpore sub- 
tus pedibusque rufis ; antennis rufo-fuscis, basi flavis. 

Long. corp. lin. 3-4; lat. lin. 23-33. 


As will be evident from the above diagnosis, the species before 
us (assuming the examples from which it is taken to consist of one 


Rey. H. Clark on the Chrysomelide of South Africa. 117 


species) is very variable both in size and markings. I have three 
examples—two from my own cabinet (from the Chevrolat and 
La Ferté collections) and one from Mr. Baly’s ; and each of these 
three differs materially from the other two. The circular black 
markings in one are insular, in the others are more or less con- 
fluent, and in none are they disposed according to any arrange- 
ment common to either of the other examples. I have no doubt 
that they constitute one species, although obviously | am unable 
to record its typical pattern or its limits. 

Chevrolat’s example is labelled with the name “ nzgrosignata, 
Bohn.” : I have adopted it, although I am unable to discover 
any published description of M. Boheman’s of the species. 

Port Natal. 


2. P. striata, Fab. Ent. Syst. 1.321. 65; Syst. El. i. 426. 21. 


P. ovalis, minus convexa, distincte punctata; capite eneo-nigro ; 
thorace elytris angustiore, lateribus rotundato-angustatis, angulis 
anticis distinctis, ad latera dense et subfortiter, ad medium sparsim 
punctato, zeneo-nigro ; scutello levi, eneo-nigro ; elytris obovatis, 
thorace latioribus, distincte et regulariter punctato-striatis, rufo- 
flavis, sutura tenuiter fusco-nigra; corpore subtus eeneo-nigro ; 
abdominis segmentis ad apicem rufo-marginatis ; pedibus antennis- 
que eeneo-nigris. 

Long. corp. lin. 3; lat. lin. 2}. 


This species can only be confounded with the following, 
P. subcruciata, from which it is readily separated by its imma- 
culate thorax and by the well-defined and distinct stria-like 
punctures on the elytra. 


From South Africa; but IT am uncertain of the exact district. 
In the cabinets of Mr, Baly and the Rev. H. Clark. 


3. P. suberuciata, n. sp. 


P. ovalis, minus convexa, subtiliter punctata, stramineo-flava ; capite 
nigro, inter oculos macula longitudinali (ad medium divisa) stra- 
minea; thorace lateribus ad basin parallelis, antice rotundatis, 
angulis anterioribus acutis, lateribus dense et fortiter punctatis, 
disco impunctato, antice nigro-marginato, maculis quatuor sub- 
quadratis (duabus ad latera, duabusque ad medium positis) ad 
basin etiam marginato, maculis tribus, una undique inter scutellum 
et latus (his transversis), tertiaque ad medium minuta longitu- 
dinali; scutello plano: elytris thorace admodum latioribus sat 
rotundatis, leviter punctato-striatis (striis juxta latus confusis), 
interstitiis impunctatis; stramineo-flavis (ad margines laterales 
vitta pallidiore), sutura maculisque tribus nigris, sutura tenuiter 
et inzequaliter nigra, infra medium macula undique communi tri- 
angulari striam quartam attingente, maculisque alteris duabus 
minutis, una ad medium latus undique transversa alteraque juxta 


118 Rev. H. Clark on the Chrysomelide of South Africa. 


apicem longitudinali: antennis nigris, ad basin rufo-nigris vel 

rufis: corpore subtus pedibusque nigris. 
Long. corp. lin. 33; lat. lin. 23. 

It is impossible to say, from the single example before me, 
whether the markings on the elytra of this species are constant ; 
it is probable that one or other of them may be entirely obli- 
terated ; at all events, the species, whatever may be the degree 
of markings, is amply different from all others of this paper. 
The peculiar markings of the thorax (very much resembling 
those of P. guttata, Fab.) and the almost obsolete punctures on 
the elytra sufficiently distinguish it. 

A single specimen from the Cape, taken by Drégé, I received 
in M. Chevrolat’s collection. 


4. P. eburnipennis, Chev., un. sp. 

P. ovalis, lente punctato-striata, pallide testacea; capite minute et 
sparsim punctato, inter oculos transverse striato, nigro; thorace 
lateribus antice rotundatis, apud margines valde, ad medium leviter 
punctato, nigro; scutello subtriangulari, levi, nigro ; elytris tho- 
race latioribus, subrotundatis, punctis nigris minutis irregulariter 
ordinibus dispositis, pallide testaceis, seriebus macularum trans- 
versis tribus, prima ad basin maculas quatuor magnas longitudi- 
nales continente (3% et 4“ juxta latus confluentibus), secunda ad 
medium maculis minoribus tribus instructa, tertiaque juxta apicem 
maculis minutis 6 (vel forsan 4 vel 5 plus minus confluentibus), 
ad apicem undique macula minuta; maculis, sutura, marginibus- 
que nigris; corpore subtus nigro ; antennis nigris (articulis 3 vel 


4 ad basin rufo-flavis) ; pedibus nigris, tarsorum art. ultimis pal- 
lide flavis. 


Long. corp. 37 lin.; lat. lin. 23. 


The above description is Se on two specimens—one from 
the collection of Mr. Baly, and one which I received from M. 
Chevrolat. The species differs entirely from P.24-signata, Thunb., 
both in punctuation, in arrangement of the three transverse 
rows of macule, and also in the colour of the thorax. I can 
conceive that in its maculations the species may be subject to 
some variation. 

This is the only species known to me that agrees with the 
short description given by Fabricius (Ent. Syst. Supp. 86. 26 ; 
Syst. El. 1. 432) of P. ebroéa. I have no means, however, of 
verifying it. 

From the Cape of Good Hope. 


5. P. viginti-quatuor-signata, Thunb. (teste Chev. coll.). 


P. ovalis, sat gibbosa, fortiter punctato-striata, rufo-ferruginea, ni- 
tida; capite distincte punctato, inter oculos bidepresso, nigro, 


‘acti i basa Ma i se Seg lt: Ti AES 


ee eS eS see 


Rev. H. Clark on the Chrysomelide of South Africa. 119 


fronte transverse flavo maculata; thorace lateribus subparallelis, 

antice sat rotundato, sparsim subtiliter, ad latera fortius punctato, 

maculis tribus indistinctis fuscis vel fusco-nigris, una ad medium 
minuta (interdum vero suffusa juxta basin) alteriaque undique 
obliqua, vel minuta vel basin attingente; scutello subtriangu- 
lari, nitido nigro: elytris fortiter punctato-striatis, punctis ordi- 
natis approximatis, maculis undique 12; 3, 4 (obliquis et ma- 
joribus), 3, et ad apicem 1 ; maculis nigris, plerumque rectangulis, 
oblongis, et striis macularum circumscriptis; corpore subtus 
rufe-fusco vel fusco; abdominis apice et pedibus antennisque 
rufo-flavis. 

Long. corp. 3 lin.; lat. 23 lin. 

One of the more common species, and apparently subject to 
but slight variation: the markings on the elytra are almost 
constant, being very seldom indeed confluent; the thorax is 
subject to greater modification of colour. 

I adopt the name which I find appended to this species, 
although I cannot discover the reference to any description by 
Thunberg in ‘Act. Reg. Soc. Ups.’ vii., where he published 
several, but very insufficient, descriptions of Cape insects. 


6. P. macularis, De}. Cat., n. sp. 


P. ovalis, crebre et sat fortiter punctata, rufo-flava, nigro tristriata ; 
capite valde punctato, nigro, antice et ad medium longitudinaliter 
flavo; thorace angulis anticis subrotundatis, lente et sparsim punc- 
tato, rufo-flavo, maculis 4 irregularibus (aliquando distinctis sub- 
circularibus, aliquando magnis, longitudinaliter dispositis); scu- 
tello subcordiformi, levi, nigro, nitido; elytris sat fortiter punc- 
tatis, ordinibus macularum transversis duabus, hac ad basin plagis 
tribus, illa pone medium maculis (minoribus) tribus instructa ; 
maculis nigris, etiamque aliquando tenuiter sutura marginibusque ; 
corpore subtus nigro, abdominis segmentis rufo-flavis ; antennis 
pedibusque rufo-flavis. . 

Long. corp. lin. 22; lat. lin. 2. 


A common species at the Cape, and one that, being subject 
to some variation of pattern, has been provisionally recorded by 
collectors under different names, as P. lineolata, P. pulchra, &c. 


-It certainly is entirely distinct in all its patterns from P. notata, 


Fab., with which it has been confounded, as being a permanent 
variety. The thorax varies as to pattern, in different examples, 
from rufo-flavous, with four isolated subcircular markings, to 
black, the sides and a medial line only being flavous; and the 
elytra in some specimens before me have the two series of 
markings continued into each other: in all examples, however, 
these longitudinal markings terminate a little behind the middle, 
leaving the apex broadly rufo-flavous. In pattern the species 
approaches P. eburnipennis ; the latter insect, however, besides 


120 Rey. H. Clark on the Chrysomelide of South Africa. 


differing in colour of thorax, is much broader medially; its 
thorax also is more rounded in front. 


7. P. ngro-fasciata, n. sp. 


P. ovalis, penitus rotundata, punctato-striata, flavo-rufa, nitida ; ; 
capite nigro-ceruleo ; thorace transverso antice rotundato, angulis 
anticis distinctis, lateribus tenuiter marginatis, disco sparsim 
punctato (in medio leviter, ad latera fortius), nigro-ceeruleo ; scu- 
tello levi, nigro-ceeruleo ; elytris brevibus, sat amplis, punctato- 
striatis (punctis confertis distinctis zequalibus), flavo-rufis ; sutura 
(tenuiter), vitta media (lata, marginem versus ampliore) alteraque 
juxta apicem (inter striam 7 et suturam, indeterminata) zeneo- 
nigris; corpore subtus, antennis pedibusque nigris. 

Long. corp. lin. 23; lat. lin. 2. 


A very distinct and beautiful species, of which a single ex- 
ample is in my cabinet, from the Chevrolat Collection, labelled 
from the Cape of Good Hope. It differs from P. puichella i 
having the medial band extended to the margin, and the apical 
marking not well defined as in that species, but indeterminate 
and merging anteriorly into simply black punctures. 


8. P. pulchella, n. sp. 


P. ovata, sat convexa, punctato-striata, rufo-flava ; capite transverse 
arcuato-foveolato, nigro: thorace transverso, latitudine fere dupla 
longitudinis, lateribus ad basin parallelis, ad apicem rotundatis ; 
disco subtilissime punctato, rarius sed fortiter ad marginem ipsum, 
eeneo-nigro: scutello triangulari, levi: elytris sat rotundatis, 
punctato-striatis, punctis equalibus, minutis, ad apicem obsoletis ; 
colore rufo-flavis, maculis quibusdam nigris, ]. a medio basi (haud 
suturam attingens) oblique ad striam ie indeque per striam 
10™™, apicem versus sed haud attingens ; 2. transversa, antemedia, 
lata, a sutura usque ad striam 6", et inde macula 1™ confluens ; 
3. altera postmedia, brevis, obliqua apicem versus, striam 4“™ attin- 
gens (hanc juxta undique, inter strias 4“ et 5" macula parva, 
insulata) ; 4. apicalis, inter strias 4°" et 5%", subcircularis ; sutura 
etiam (latior) et margines (subtilissime) nigrini apparent : corpore 
subtus, pedibus antennisque nigris. 

Wongvcorp. lm. 235 dlat. lin. 2: 

A beautiful species, and apparently quite distinct from others : 
to be distinguished from P. nigro-fasciata (inter alia) by the 
narrowness of the antemedial and the presence of a postmedial 
transverse fascia. 

In the cabinet of Mr. Baly, to whom I am indebted for the 
opportunity of describing it here with its congeners. 


9. P. levigata, un. sp. 


P. ovalis, sat rotundata, subtiliter punctata, rufo-nigra, nitida ; capite 
inter oculos triangulariter depresso, nigro; thorace lato, lateribus 


Rev. H. Clark on the Chrysomelide of South Africa. 121 


antice sat rotundatis, etiamque leviter marginatis, sparsim et 

subtiliter punctato; scutello minuto, triangulari; elytris sub- 

rotundatis, subtiliter et subremote punctatis ; corpore subtus, ab- 
domine, antennis pedibusque rufo-fuscis. 
Long. corp. lin. 4; lat. lin. 3. 

This species is peculiar among the others of this paper by being 
the only one in which the punctures are not arranged in striz, 
but are scattered without arrangement over the whole surface 
of the elytra. 

I received a single specimen from the collection of the Marquis 
La Ferté, taken at the Cape. 


10. P. nigro-enea, n. sp. 

P, ovalis, punctata, nigro-zenea, nitida ; capite inter oculos transverse 
et subcirculariter depresso, brevi; thorace lato, lateribus parallelis, 
antice rotundatis ; angulis anticis haud acuminatis, lateribus te- 
nuiter marginatis, subtiliter et sparsim punctato; scutello tri- 
angulari, leevi, nigro ; elytris fortiter punctatis, punctis sat con- 
fertis, vix striis dispositis; corpore subtus, abdomine, pedibus 
antennisque rufo-nigris. 

Long. corp. lin. 37; Jat. lin. 24. 

With the exception of P. /evigata, this is the only species 
that I know that is absolutely and entirely concolorous. From 
that species it differs by its much smaller size and the arrange- 
ment of the punctures on the elytra; there is something like 
the stria-like rows which generally obtain, though these are very 
uneven and irregular. 

A single specimen from the collection of M. Chrevrolat. 


ll. P. nigra, n. sp. 

P. ovata, sat rotundata, punctato-striata, nigra; capite fovea iuter 
oculos armata transversa, rufo; thorace elytris angustiore, lateribus 
ad basin parallelis, antice rotundatis, disco sparsim et subtiliter 
sed apud latera fortius punctato, rufo, margine basali late nigro ; 
scutello levi, nigro ; elytris thorace latioribus, punctato-striatis, 
punctis zequalibus, haud apicem versus obsoletis ; corpore subtus 
tusco-nigro; antennis pedibusque rufis vel rufo-fuscis. 

Long. corp. lin. 3; lat. 24. 

I register this as the typical pattern of a new species, although 
it is possible that it may ultimately be proved to be but a dark 
variety: it has no such relationship, however, to any of the 
species before me. 

The only example that I know was received by my friend 
Mr. Baly from Port Natal, and is in his cabinet. 


12, P. Marshath, n. sp. 


P. ovalis, punctato-striata, nigro-zenea, nitida; capite inter oculos 


122 Rev. H. Clark on the Chrysomelide of South Africa. 


transverse et subcirculariter depresso, leviter punctato ; thorace 

sat parvo, lateribus haud parallelis, apicem versus distincte an- 

gustatis et rotundatis, angulis anticis haud acutis, ad latera fortiter 

et confertim, ad discum leviter et rarius punctato, nigro-zeneo, 

lateribus late rufis; scutello subtriangulari, leevi, rufo-fusco ; 

elytris seriatim punctatis, basi, marginibus plagisque longitudina- 

libus 3 rufis ; corpore subtus, pedibus antennisque fusco-nigris. 
Long. corp. lim. 23; lat. 12 lin. 

The longitudinal markings in this species may perchance be 
subject to variation: in the single example before me they are 
ranged—(1) between the 2nd and 3rd striz, from the basal 
colouring to the middle; (2) between the 3rd and 4th strie, as 
a small medial spot of rufous; (8) between the 4th and 5th 
striz from in front of the middle to the apex; (4) between the 
6th and 7th striz, and here subdivided into three markings,— 
a, from the basal markings to before the middle; 8, a post- 
medial, shorter, and more obscure marking; c, a subcircular 
spot near the apex. It is quite possible that, in some examples, 
markings 1, 2, and 3 may be confluent, and also that those 
under 4 may be continuous. 

I know of one specimen only of the species, which I received 
from the collection of M. Chevrolat. In naming it, I desire to 
testify my sense of obligation to my friend the Rev. T. A. Mar- 
shall, who is undertaking the Herculean task of systematizing 
the Eumolpide, and who already gives ample encouragement for 
us to believe that success will attend his labours in a field con- 
fessedly most difficult, as well as at present unmeasured in 
extent. 

13. P. picturata, Chev., n. sp. 


P. ovalis, punctata, nitida, nigro-zenea; capite leeviusculo, nigro ; 
thorace ad latera rotundato, immarginato, nigro-cyaneo, ad medium 
disci rarius, ad latera fortiter et frequenter punctis adsperso; scutello 
triangulari, nigro, levi: elytris sat latis, punctato-striatis, punctis 
intervallo distantibus ; nigro-zeneis, notis quibusdam flavis; inter 
strias 1. et 2., 3. et 4., 5. et 6., 7. et 8., vittis longitudinalibus, 1™ 
a basi, penitus ad medium, 2“* a basi ad apicem, 3° a basi, sed 
apicem haud attingente, 4" media, nec basin nec apicem pertin- 
gente ; vitta 1. et 2. maculis duabus connexis, 2. et sutura una ma- 
cula pone medium, 2. et 3. una, juxta apicem, 3. et 4. tribus, ad 
medium et undique ad terminum, 4. et margine duabus, media 
et postmedia, marginibus ipsis ate flavis ; corpore subtus, pedi- 
bus antennisque (harum baseos articulis rufo-fuscis) nigris. 

Long. corp. lin. 3; lat. lin. 2. 

At first sight this species nearly resembles P. ineolata, the 
longitudinal markings being generally similar; over and above 
the contrast, however, which, on examination, will be apparent 
in the patterns, the species before us may readily be separated _ 


Rev. H. Clark on the Chrysomelide of South Africa. 123 


by the punctuation of its striz; the punctures are separated, 

with an interval between them of four or five times their own 

breadth, whereas in P. lineolata they are much closer. 

A single example from M. Chevrolat’s collection, from the 
Cape. 
14. P. lineolata, n. sp. 

P. ovalis, leviter punctata, zenea vel zneo-nigra, flavo maculata, ni- 
tida; capite obscure et sparsim punctulato; thorace antice rotun- 
dato, apud discum ad medium leviter, ad latera confertim et for- 
titer punctato; scutello elongato triangulari; elytris sat rotun- 
datis, leviter sed confertim striato-punctatis, striarum interstitiis 
flavo vittatis, interstitio 1™° inornato, 24° omnino flavo, 3° vittis 
3 brevibus (ad basin, ad medium et longius apud apicem) flavis, 
4° omnino vel ex magna parte flavo, 5° omnino vel ex magna 
parte eneo-nigro, 6" flavo (intervallo ad medium excepto), 7™° 
geneo-nigro (vittis parvis duabus flavis), 8Y° et 10™° omnino flavis, 
9”° zeneo-nigro, macula una ad medium flava; corpore subtus, 
pedibus antennisque (articulis basalibus exceptis) nigris. 

Long. corp. lin. 3; lat. lin. 2. 

This species, in the form and pattern of its markings, entirely 
differs from P. picturata, Chev. ; and, independently of its mark- 
ings, may readily be recognized by the close arrangement of 
striated punctures on its elytra. 

A single example from the collection of M. Chevrolat. 


15. P. alternans, Fab. Ent. Syst. iv. App. 44:7. 65* ; 
Syst. El. 1. 426. 22. 


This pretty species may be briefly characterized as zeneo-piceous, 
with four darkly rufous bands on the elytra between alternate 
strie: it seems to vary somewhat in size, but not in pattern, 
and to be not uncommon at the Cape. I have received it from 
the Continent, and also from Mr. Stevens. 

In Mr. Baly’s collection, that of Mr. Wilson Saunders, and 
my own. 

In Fab. Syst. El. this species is inaccurately registered as 
from the American islands. 


16. P. soluta, De}. Cat., n. sp. 


P. ovalis, sat convexa, punctato-striata, eeneo-nigra, vittis 6 flavis ; 
capite nigro; thorace latitudine dupla longitudinis, lateribus rotun- 
datis et tenuiter marginatis, disco subtiliter (margines versus for- 
titer) punctato, zeneo-nigro ; scutello leevi, zeneo-nigro ; elytris for- 
titer punctato-striatis (punctis crebris, ordine dispositis et sat pro- 
fundis), seneo nigris, vittis tribus undique flavis (1™* inter strias 2. 
et 3. a basi ultra medium, et inter strias 3. et 4. a medio ad apicem, 
2nd inter strias 6. et 7. ab humeris ultra medium, et inter strias 7. et 
8. a medio juxta sed haud attingente apicem, 3"* ab humeris inter 


124. Prof. H. Karsten on the Formation, 


striam 10. et marginem usque ad apicem), basi quoque (a seutello 

ad humeros) flavo; corpore subtus, pedibus antennisque nigris. 
Long. corp. lin. 24; lat. lin. 2. 

A species which may at once be recognized by its four flavous 
bands, each of which is broken, and, as it were, overlaps itself 
medially. 

From the Chevrolat collection; received from the Cape of 
Good Hope. 


[To be continued. | 


XIII.—Histological Researches on the Formation, Development, 
and Structure of the Vegetable Cell. By Prof. H. Karsten. 
[Continued from p. 36. | 
§ X. 

Formation of new joint-cells by the internal development of tertiary cells, 
and of the daughter cells contained within the secondary cells.—Folds 
im the wall of the mother cell. 

In the different species of the genus Spirogyra the distinctness 

with which the changes just described as undergone by the 

endogenous cells may be recognized is very variable, and it ap- 
pears even to differ in the same species at its different periods of 
development, or under different conditions of nourishment. 

Although I observed a great number of Spirogyra, it was 
especially in S. natida and S. orthospira that I saw the development 
of the nuclear cell of which I shall here endeavour to give a 
general picture ; and although this may be subject to modifica- 
tions in detail for the different species, or their particular condi- 
tions of development, it nevertheless gives the certain result 
that in these plants also the cell-multiplication is effected by 
endogenous cell-formation, as indeed was to be expected. 

If we trace, in the first place, the changes which are to be re- 
cognized in the cell-nucleus with its daughter cells, we have in 
the developmental condition represented in Plate VII.* fig. 85 
an indication of the production of the septum in the mother cell 
by the flattening of the two daughter cells which enclose the 
nucleus of the mother cell between them. 

The further development of this cell-system takes place usu- 
ally as follows :—Simultaneously with the absorption of the 
nucleus of the mother cell new cells are produced in the daughter 
cells ; the latter expand either in breadth, and then in the region 
of their central, contiguous and flattening walls, or in length; 
and at the same time their mother-cell membrane (the original 
membrane of the nucleus) seems gradually to disappear. The 
new nuclei of the two daughter cells are situated on their walls 


* The Plate here referred to will be found in the June Number. 


Development, and Structure of the Vegetable Cell. 125 


which are directed towards the extremities of the mother cell ; 
between these and the septum produced by the mutually opposed 
membranes of their primary cells a system of mucilaginous 
filaments makes its appearance in the direction of their radu, 
indicating the formation in them of secretion-cells similar to those 
of the mother cell. These cells may be brought into sight by 
the action of dilute solution of tannin and of some other 
endosmotic fluids. 

Upon the different directions of growth of the two daughter 
cells (2. e. whether they extend themselves more in the first or 
the second of the indicated directions) depends both the greater or 
~ less removal of the nuclei of the daughter cells from the median 
line of the mother cell at the appearance of the septum, and also 
the modifications in the mode in which this septum becomes 
visible at the surface of the joint-cell. 

If the daughter cells at first follow especially the first indi- 
eated direction of growth, 7. e. if they increase most in breadth, 
their central flattened walls attain the surface of the joint-cell, 
whilsttheir free peripheral portions directed towards the extre- 
mities of the mother cell scarcely form a hemispherical surface. 
These mutually flattened walls appear, on coming into contact 
with the wall of the mother cell, as the new septum. 

The membranes of the secondary cell of the joint-cell, as also 
the chlorophyli-sac applied to their inner surface, cover the 
outer circumference of the septum, and even conceal it when 
a starch-vesicle or an opake chlorophyil-vesicle lies. immediately 
upon it. 

If, however, the daughter cells extend at first less in this 
direction than in the direction of their length, so that their free 
surface, instead of becoming hemispherical, approaches more or 
less to a spherical form, those phenomena occur which have 
hitherto been usually observed and described as the normal 
process. 

In this state (in which the small secretion-vesicles surround- 
ing the cell-nucleus are in process of absorption, and therefore 
collapse readily by any diosmotic process) the secondary ‘cell, 
with the adherent chlorophyll-sacs, readily sinks down upon the 
more or less spherical daughter cells, which, however, always 
have a part of their surface flattened against each other, forming 
the depression which is frequently observed and regarded as a 
preliminary of the septum-formation. 

That this fold-like depression is not essentially connected 
with the formation of the septum, but that it occurs only in a 
less complete and not perfectly regular course of development, 
appears from the circumstance that it is met with chiefly in cul- 
tivated plants, or in those which have grown in their natural 


126 Prof. H. Karsten on the Formation, 


habitat when these have been long upon the slide, and brought 
into contact with different kinds of water. 

A less degree of this depression appears, however, to occur even 
in plants growing in a natural state; and this is of interest here, 
because it induces the fold-formation which was formerly re- 
garded as the cause of cell-multiplication, when the depression 
occurs at the precise period at which the two more or less sphe- 
rical daughter-cells, touching the large secretion-cells with their 
peripheral surface, and hampered by these in their rapid growth, 
bring the previously free parts of their central surface into 
complete contact, and thus enclose this impressed membrane 
between them. The depth to which the folds of the secondary 
cell is enclosed in the septum in course of formation depends 
upon the greater or less extent of contact of the central surfaces 
of the daughter cells at the time of this process. 

By acurvature or depression of one or the other of the chloro- 
phyll-sacs, the side of the joint-cell is already perceptible, on 
which the liquefaction of the small secretion-cells situated about 
the nucleus takes place more rapidly than the enlargement of 
the neighbouring young joint-cells, which usually occurs simul- 
taneously with it. 

Newly formed septa not unfrequently occur, which on one 
side do not enclose the smallest trace of a fold of the mother cell 
between them, but show the well-preserved chlorophyll-saes 
distinctly at their circumference (as represented in fig. 58 a, 
in S. nitida), whilst on the other side of the periphery of the 
mother cell a fold of this kind is engaged, more or less deeply, 
between the two plates of the septum. 

These enclosed folds of the membrane of the secondary cell, 
which are no doubt subsequently absorbed, are at first thickened, 
reminding us of the folds of Cladophora, described at pp. 420 
and 425 (vol. xii.), as well as its peripheral portion, whilst the 
chlorophyli-saes appressed to them are immediately absorbed. 

The thickening of the membranes of the daughter cells, which 
takes place immediately, and their amalgamation with those of 
the mother cell commence in the portions forming the septum 
even before the completion of the absorption of the chlorophyll- 
sacs which surround them. 

When the absorption of these secretion-materials is much de- 
layed, the new, half-thickened septum may be seen, in certain 
positions, already united on each side to the membrane of the 
mother cell, after the joint-cell has been treated with endosmotic 
fluids, whilst it is still free beneath the chlorophyll-saes. Figs. 
74 and 75 show this in one sac. 

But phenomena do occur which seem to show that in the 
Spirogyre the development into new joint-cells does not always 


Development, and Structure of the Vegetable Cell. 127 


belong exclusively to the cell-nuclei as above described, but that 
the two large secretion-cells (figs. 61 and 72) may constitute the 
foundation of the new joint-cells; in many species these show 
their relationship to the tissue-cells by their enclosing two large 
and often many smaller cells. 

These two secretion-cells, which gradually become so much 
enlarged that at length they fill the whole cavity of the joint- 
cell (the other equivalent cells diminishing at the same time), 
consequently represent the two colourless, rapidly enlarging 
daughter cells, which become developed into new joint-cells, 
and which, in Gidogonium, may be recognized as being of this 
nature by direct observation throughout all their stages of 
development. 

This, however, has not hitherto been possible in the case of 
the very fragile Spirogyra, and hence we are compelled to com- 
bine many observations of details in order to obtain a connected 
picture of their mode of development; and in this errors are 
all the more likely to creep in, as the investigation of the de- 
velopment of the colourless cells in the interior of the joint-cells 
must be assisted by reagents, the mode of action of which is 
not yet satisfactorily ascertained. 

Let us first consider those species in the elongated joints of 
which cell-nuclei are present, but do not appear to produce any 
daughter cells. If this be really the case, the new joint-cells in 
these species would be normally formed within the secondary 
cell of the joint-cell. 

Fig. 74 represents a joint-cell of S. Weberi, which is divided 
into two halves by the newly formed, delicate, and still flat 
septum, whilst the chlorophyll-sac, completely coherent, is still 
closely applied to the inner surface of the mother cell, as has 
already been described in S. princeps. If this condition be 
observed for a few hours, we may see distinctly how the sub- 
stance of the chlorophyll-sac, at its point of contact with the 
septum, loses its green colour, and finally becomes completely 
absorbed ; in from four to five hours this process has advanced 
to the condition represented in fig. 76, in which the chlorophyll- 
sac is divided into two perfectly separate portions. At this 
time the septum does not yet exhibit any indication of the 
annular fold which is subsequently formed. 

No doubt, during this absorption of the secretion-material 
of the mother cell, corresponding new formations take place in 
the daughter cells, but these cannot be observed here as in 
Cdogonium. 

A phenomenon which is probably repeated in most young 
tissue-cells is, that the organized secretion-materials, and espe- 
cially the starch and chlorophyll, adhere during their growth to 


128 Prof. H. Karsten on the Formation, 


the inner wall of the membrane of the secondary cell, which is’ 
then likewise engaged in development. But afterwards, when a 
more active assimilative energy is acquired by the previously 
resting nuclear cell for the purpose of its progressive or retro- 
grade metamorphosis, or when daughter cells are developed by 
the side of it, the secretion-vesicles separate from the wall of 
the secondary cell, and either float in the cell-juice or sink 
down upon the endogenous cells which are in a state of ab- 
sorbent activity, and in the fluid contents of which new secre- 
tion cells are produced, at first floating in the cell-juice, but 
subsequently adhering to the inner surface of the secondary 
cell-membrane. 

The vesicles in the products of decomposition of the con- 
tents of the mother cell and daughter cells, mentioned at 
p- 30, indicate the occurrence of such a regeneration of the 
secretion-cells, simultaneously with those of the endogenous 
tissue-cells. The vesicles containing chlorophyll, however, can 
never be proved with certainty to be at. the same time con- 
tained in both the mother celi and the daughter cells. Under 
the conditions assumed, it seems to me that they would clothe 
the outer and inner surfaces of the membranes of the daughter 
cells in such a manner as to correspond with each other. 

Moreover some phenomena seem to show that, simalta- 
neously with the absorption of the chlorophyll of the mother 
cell, it is again re-formed in the enlarged daughter cells, which 
completely fill the mother cell (figs. 74 and 76); but these 
do not prove the fact quite satisfactorily. 

Thus, simultaneously with the absorption of the chlorophyll- 
sac over the new septum (fig. 74), a new formation of chloro- 
phyll is perceived near this spot, and, by this, a prolongation 
of the separated extremities is produced, of such a nature that 
the one extremity grows more to the right, and the other more 
to the left at the periphery of the new septum. This newly 
formed chlorophyll is always of a lighter green colour than the 
old sac, and of course does not contain the large starch-vesicles. 
That these are newly formed parts is evident, but it cannot be 
determined whether the appearances are due, as seems probable, 
to the prolongation of a new sac situated within the daughter 
cell beneath the old sac, or to the direct prolongation of the 
partially absorbed sac itself. 

By the action of solution of glycerine or chloride of calcium 
upon cells in course of septum-formation (figs. 74 and 76), 
phenomena are produced very similar to those observed in the 
cell before division (figs. 78 and 79), but very different in their 
nature. 


In the case represented in figs. 78 and 79, the delicate 


Development, and Structure of the Vegetable Cell. 129 


secondary cell, with its internally adhering chlorophyll-sac, is 
contracted upon the two daughter cells as described at p. 29 ; 
it is finally ruptured between them in the middle, in common with 
the chlorophyll-sac, which is here likewise drawn out into a 
thread-like form. ; 

In the developmental condition shown in fig. 75, it is the 
daughter cells, converted into new joint-cells (with their 
endogenous cells still nearly undeveloped and of equal size), 
that separate from their primary cell-membranes and contract 
upon the entire solid contents, their fluid contents being at the 
same time evacuated by exosmose. 

The septum is quite uniformly thickened, and only per- 
forated at the point where the chlorophyll-sac is situated,—not, 
however, in the centre of the septum, as must have been the 
ease in accordance with the notion of septum-formation by an 
annular fold of the membrane of the mother cell constricting 
its contents, but, in correspondence with the position of the chlo- 
rophyll-sac before the action of the reagent, at its periphery. 

This is seen very distinctly when the septum, formed by the 
mutual apposition of the endogenous cells, touches the chlo- 
rophyll-sac at the point where it contains one of the large 
thick-walled starch-vesicles, which requires a long time for its 
absorption. For if the septum strikes the chlorophyll-sac at a 
thin spot between its more solid contents, the sac is usually 
torn, during the action of the reagent, by the pressure exerted 
by it upon the membrane to which it adheres, the appearance 
being then as represented in fig. 77. 

The thickening of the primary membrane of the daughter 
cell, which commences at the same time with the formation of 
the septum, as also that of the secondary membrane of the 
mother cell, advances from the septum towards the ends of the 
mother cell; and in consequence of this the remarkable pheno- 
menon occurs, that the chlorophyll-sac at the ends distant from 
the septum is covered by a membrane (figs. 75 & 77), whilst 
near the septum (before its absorption) it lies freely upon the 
surface of the contracting endogenous cells. 

This is probably explained by the fact that the secondary 
membrane of the mother cell, as also the primary membrane of 
the daughter cell, is no longer contracted by the above reagents 
in the immediate vicinity of the septum, as they have passed 
here from the soft and viscous into the compact and resistant 
condition ; at some distance from the septum this contraction 
takes place, and therefore the membranes are ruptured at the 
limit between these two states of aggregation. 

The soft and viscous state of the cell-membranes appears to 
me to be characteristic of the period of development which pre- 

Ann. & Mag. N, Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. xiv. 


130 Prof. H. Karsten on the Formation, 


cedes the thickening of the cell-membrane. Before this transi-’ 
tion-state the cell-membrane is more delicate, but more elastic ; 
it then loses its elasticity, becomes thicker, appears to be swelled 
up and nearly gelatinous, and finally becomes again condensed 
and solid. 

When the absorption of the chlorophyll-sac is completed above 
the new septum, it then probably advances towards the ends of 
the mother cell (the alteration of the membranes of the neighbour- 
ing cell-membranes and the production of new chlorophyll in the 
interior of the daughter cells going on simultaneously), and the 
contraction of the unthickened membrane of the daughter cell, 
in consequence of the action of dilute diosmotic fluids, exhibits 
the customary appearance, the separation of the membranes of 
the septum taking place at length, not in the centre, but in the 
periphery (figs. 76&77). It then presents a great similarity to 
those in which the mother cell is still undivided (figs. 78, 79). 
But in the former case the contracting membrane of the mother 
cell tears in the middle between the two contracting daughter 
cells; in the latter, if a rupture takes place, it is im the vicinity 
of the ends of the mother cell. 

In order to explain this mode of formation of the septum by 
fold-formation, we should have to assume here that the fold of 
the membranes of the joint-cell grows through the cavity of the 
cell from one side to the other, commencing always from the 
side opposite to the chlorophyll-sac, and terminating at the 
opposite wall by applying itself closely thereto (figs. 74, 75). 

In opposition to this supposition, 1 may state that I have 
never yet seen an ingrowing fold of this kind in the long and 
thin-jointed species which I have observed, but that I have very 
frequently watched the formation of the septum in all its stages, 
from the first moment at which it is recognizable as a delicate 
and scarcely measurable membrane stretched transversely across 
the cavity of the cell, with the perfectly continuous chlorophyll- 
sac passing close beside it as above described, up to the com- 
pletion of the absorption of the latter at the boundary of the 
septum, which has in the meantime been increasing in thickness. 

This mode of septum-formation by means of daughter cells of 
the secondary joint-cells occurs also in those Spirogyre which 
contain several chlorophyll-sacs in their joint-cells, and perhaps 
quite as frequently as the one above described (p. 124) by the 
daughter cells produced in the nuclear cell. 

In both cases the presence of several chlorophyll-sacs enables 
us to determine with perfect certainty whether, simultaneously 
with the production of the septum by endogenous cells, a fold- 
formation of the mother cell has or has not taken place. Even 
when the daughter cells of the secondary joint-cells formed the: 


Development, and Structure of the Vegetable Cell. 181 


new tissue-cells, I have frequently seen that all the chlorophyll- 
sacs lay completely continuous over the new septum. 

In this mode of multiplication of the joint-cells the nucleus 
of the mother cells appears to be always absorbed, whilst new 
nuclei make their appearance in the new joit-cells. 

I observed this mode of development chiefly in S. decimina 
and S. nitida. SS. orthospira is less adapted to this purpose, on 
account of the delicacy of the walls of its chlorophyll-sacs. For 
my investigations I employed slides of very thin glass, so that 
by turning them over I could examine the object on both sides, 
with high powers, without disturbing its position. 

Figs. 59-61 represent different states of S. nitida during this 
septum-formation. 

In fig. 61 the two daughter cells, still destitute of nuclei, are 
~ somewhat contracted by dilute solution of glycerine, and covered 
by the membrane of the secondary mother cell, which is lke- 
wise contracted. The chlorophyll-sacs, which at this period 
frequently, although not always, lie parallel to the septum at 
the point of contact of the two endogenous cells, are here, after 
the contraction of the daughter cells, coiled up together over 
the nucleus of their mother cell. 

In fig. 59 the nucleus of the ntother cell was seen at a in 
course of absorption, and fixed in the new septum, which was 
surrounded on all sides by the chlorophyll-sacs. 

Fig. 60 shows a somewhat more advanced stage of develop- 
ment: the new septum is here separated by the prolonged 
action of water containing carbonic acid, into two lamine, the 
thickening of which had commenced, not from the whole peri- 
phery, but from one side. After the maceration of these cells 
in solution of chloride of calcium, the portions of the primary 
cells which were not yet thickened became much swelled, and 
acquired a deep violet-blue colour with iodine. 

In the same specimens, as also in those cultivated with them, 
in which I detected, in this way, with perfect certainty, the 
multiplication of the joint-cells by endogenous cell-formation, I 
likewise frequently observed internal annular folds of the wall of 
the joint-cell, and with far greater distinctness than in the cases 
described in p. 125, as the folds here could be in general more 
readily distinguished, from their considerable thickness, which 
usually increases towards the central margin. 

When this folding existed in the lowest degree, the non- 
nucleated daughter cells were developed in about the proportion 
shown in fig. 61; between them the wall of the secondary mem- 
brane of the joint-cell sank in, together with the unaltered and 
regularly adherent chlorophyll-sacs, so far as to form a fold of 
equal depth and breadth. 

gx 


132 Prof. H. Karsten on the Vegetable Cell. 


The other extreme of this fold-formation is represented in 
fig. 82, from a plant which had lain for some time in water con- 
taming carbonic acid; hence the thickening of the primary 
membrane of its joint-cells. The endogenous cells were here 
in complete apposition, forming a perfect septum. Squeezed in 
between them 1s a fold of the wall of the mother cell, which in 
this case did not grow regularly from the whole periphery into 
the cavity of the cell between the daughter cells, but only pro- 
jected far into it in a part of its extent, whilst another portion 
of the circumference remained unaltered. 

At this part, which was not affected by the folding, the 
chlorophyll-saes, which were elongated simultaneously with the 
formation of the fold, are seen bent and crooked, as if they had 
been acted upon by a mechanical constriction. Others are 
separated into fragments, as in the normal formation of a 
septum. <A joint-cell of this kind, seen from the side on which 
the fold is perfect, may readily be regarded as completely 
divided ; and this illusion may be incre eased by the position of 
the new cell-nuclei, when, as in the case figured, they are large 
and filled with oranular mucilaginous matter, situated in each of 
the new cells, not in the middle, as in the examples described at 
p- 125, but close to the new septum, and when seen in a parti- 
cular direction appear like a cell-nucleus cut through by the 
fold. 

It is rarely that, as in Cladophora, these folds appear to pro- 
ject freely to a greater or less distance into the cell-cavity ; 
nevertheless T have repeatedly observed this on apparently per- 
fectly healthy plants, especially of S. orthospira. 

In diseased and dying plants, the joint-cells of which are 
often disproportionately ‘short, the folds of the membrane are 
usually more developed, so that it would almost appear that 
the development of the two parts stands im a certain mutual 
relation. 

These folds may be most readily seen when Spirogyre are 
allowed to lie for a long time in water containing carbonie acid 
until all the endogenous cells of the joint-cells are destroyed. 
By the action of dilute endosmotic solutions, the membrane of 
the secondary cell then readily retracts itself, together with its 
still adherent chlorophyll-sacs, from the folded primary cell- 
membrane, producing appearances which would certainly appear 
well fitted to confirm the constriction-theory, if we were not 
undeceived by developmental history and analogy. 

These folds, which occur in all degrees of breadth and differ- 
ence of form, are, however, not destined to effect a multiplica- 
tion of the joint- “cells by the growing together of their central 
margin, any more than those of Cladophora, many of which 


Dr. A. R. Duguid on a Species of Dolphin. 133 


I observed unaltered for months together. This, unfortunately, 
cannot be done with Spirogyre, some of which, however, I have 
been able to watch for several days before the death of the cell, 
without detecting any change of the fold. 

For this reason it 1s quite inadmissible to regard the folds of 
the cell-membrane as abortive septa, at least as long as the pro- 
duction of such a septum by the amalgamation of the central 
margins of a true fold has not been demonstrated in a single 
instance, but, on the contrary, it has rather been observed that 
incompletely developed folds occur only as accompanying an 
endogenous cell-development taking place not altogether without 
disturbance, whilst in the normal development of the latter the 
newly formed septa are unmistakeably recognizable as endo- 


genous productions. 
[To be continued. ] 


XIV .—Description of a Species of Dolphin found in the Orkney 
Islands. By Avex. R. Dueurp, M.D. 


[Plate II. ] 


For many years I have heard the fishermen in this neighbour- 
hood speak of a species of Whale, with white spots or stripes, 
which they frequently met with when in pursuit of the Phocena 
melas, or Caaing Whale. The facility with which the latter is 
driven on shore is well known: hence the specific name which 
has been applied to it by some naturalists—deductor. But of 
the capture of the former species, though frequently chased, I 
have never heard of an instance till recently. 

On the 21st of August 1858, several fishermen were pursuing 
their avocation in Scapa Bay, near Kirkwall, when, a shoal of 
whales making its appearance, al] the boats went in pursuit. 
On approaching the whales, they were discovered to be the 
spotted or streaked species; and some of the pursuers desisted 
from all further efforts, expressing their opinion, from past ex- 
perience, that it would be of no use attempting to capture them. 
Some of the boats, however, persevered, and having succeeded 
in getting a part of the shoal nearer to the beach, all again 
resumed the chase with renewed and vigorous efforts, and at last 
landed twenty small whales, which were speedily put to death 
by means of fishermen’s knives and other lethal weapons. 

I saw the whales on the evening of their capture. I knew 
them to be of a species which I had never seen before; but it 
was too dark to make an examination of them. I saw them 
again on the 23rd of August, and, having selected a specimen 
which was the least injured by the knives of the captors, I shall 


134 — Dr. A. R. Duguid on a Species of Dolphin 


now describe it. The length of all the animals varied from 6 to 
9 feet. Of this one, the length was 7 feet 2 inches, circum- 
ference 4 feet; length of dorsal fin 17 inches, and 8 inches high. 
From snout to dorsal fin 2 feet 9 inches. From dorsal fin to 
middle of tail 3 feet 4 inches. ‘Tail 1 foot 8 inches broad, and 
cleft in the middle to the extent of 1 inch. Upper jaw 9 inches 
long, decidedly beaked for 3 inches ; lower jaw 94 inches, pro- 
jecting 3 an inch beyond the upper. Pectoral fin, or swimmer, 
124 inches long; base of it 15 inches from the extremity of the 
lower jaw. The eye oval, ;$;ths of an inch in its longer diameter, 
and 3 an inch in its shorter, situated in a horizontal line with 
the mouth ; the pupil dark brown. Teeth in both jaws the same 
in number, 29 on each side, conical. When the mouth is shut, 
the teeth of one jaw fit into the interstices between the teeth of the 
other, like the teeth of a trap. Two double teeth in the upper jaw 
on both sides at the back ; but this was not observed in other spe- 
cimens. The colours and markings were precisely the same in all 
the specimens, without the smallest perceptible variation. The 
back was black, and the belly pure white, without grooves. There 
was a streak, of a dark yellow or clay-colour, commencing under 
the anterior part of the dorsal fin, and running nearly to the tail, 
nearly in the middle of the side, and about 33 inches in breadth. 
Another streak of dazzling white commences some distance be- 
hind the eye, running towards the tail, partly underlapping the 
yellow streak, but not extending so near to the tail. Under 
these there is a dusky streak, running all the way from the nose 
to the tail, with a very irregular outline. The white streak was 
from 4 to 5 inches broad. The blow-hole is crescentic in shape, 
with the convex side backwards. (Pate III.) 

I am favoured by a friend with the following description of 
another specimen :—From tip of snout to the middle of the tail, 
along the back, 8 feet 3 inches; the same, in a straight line, 
7 feet 8 inches. Tip of lower jaw to anterior of pectoral fin 
1 foot 4 inches; from the same to the posterior of saine 1 foot 
9 inches; from the same to genital organs 4 feet 10 inches ; 
from the same to anus 5 feet 9 inches. Distance between pec- 
toral fins below, 64 inches ; the same, above, 2 feet 9} inches. 
Length of pectoral fins, in curve, 1 foot 43 inches; length from 
centre of base to tip 1 foot 1 inch. Expansion of tail 2 feet 
1 inch. Width of flaps of tail 9 inches. Length from snout to 
dorsal fin 3 feet 1 inch. Length of dorsal fin in curve 1 foot 
7 inches; length of the same from centre of base to tip 1 foot 
1 inch; breadth of the same at middle 7 inches, at base 1 foot 
34 inches. Length of upper jaw, in a straight line, 10 inches ; 
of lower jaw 11 inches. Girth, at dorsal fin, 4 feet 3} inches ;- 
at pectoral fin, 3 feet 10 inches; at anus, 3 feet ; at 1 foot from 


found in the Orkney Islands. ete 135 


middle of tail, 1 foot; at 8 inches from tail, 6 inches. Girth of 
head at blow-hole 2 feet 64 inches. Tip of snout to blow-hole 
1 foot 1} inch. Length of beak 2} inches. Height of dorsal 
fin 9 inches. These measurements were from a male. There is 
a dark mark around the eye, about # of an inch broad: The 
eye is small, and the form of the pupil is crescentic, with the 
points upwards. The blow-hole is situated between the eyes ; 
its form is crescentic, the concave side being forward, and there 
is a slight depression around the blow-hole. An auditory meatus 
is present (not to be found in several) above and rather behind 
the eye, and over the anterior portion of the pectoral fin. Its 
opening would admit a No.1 shot. The head is sharp and 
beaked ; the lower jaw a little longer than the upper. The 
number of teeth is 2 2; they are largest in the middle of 
the jaw, and gradually diminish in size towards each end, those 
at the anterior extremities of each jaw being the smallest. 
There are no teeth at the symphysis of either jaw for the space 
of nearly an inch. In form they are conical, being slightly in- 
curved at the back, and nearly straight in front; those in the 
lower jaw are most incurved. While the teeth in the upper 
jaw point forwards, those in the lower jaw point backwards; 
so that when the mouth is shut, they lock ito each other very 
closely, and the points of the teeth are lodged in little fosse 
in both jaws: these fosse appear to be only in the mem- 
brane of the gum. The palate is smooth and spotted. The 
tongue is not free, but, the frenum being large, it admits of 
great movement; it is black at the centre, and white at the 
margins. At the symphysis of the lower jaw the lip turns up- 
wards, and has two slight elevations, which fit into two corre- 
sponding notches in the upper lip. There is a regular pro- 
labium in the upper lip, so as to give it a pointed appearance. 
The colour of the back is jet black. There is a long streak to- 
wards the tail, of a dirty yellowish colour. About the middle of 
each side there is a very conspicuous obloug white streak, under 
which the sides are dusky. The belly is of a beautiful clear 
white. The pectoral and dorsal fins are black. The tail is black, 
with a very little white underneath. 

From this animal being shortly but decidedly beaked, I as- 
sume that it belongs to the genus De/phinus ; but I can find no 
description of a species in the works of Bell, Fleming, and Jar- 
dine which agrees with it. It seems to come nearer to the de- 
scription of the Delphinus Tursio of Fabricius than to any other ; 
but I have no doubt it will be found to be different. The sym- 
metry of its form, and more particularly the great beauty of the 
colours, when contrasted with each other, with the streaks and 


1386 = Mr. E. Waller on @ new British Species of Rissoa. 


markings exactly alike in every individual of the shoal, would 
indicate with tolerable certainty that it had never been observed 
before ; for, had it been otherwise, these peculiarities, being so 
very striking, could not possibly have been overlooked. But 
this I leave to more profound naturalists to determine. 


Kirkwall. 


[There is little doubt that this Dolphin is Lagenorhynchus 
leucopleurus of my Catalogue of Cetacean Animals in the British 
Museum, published in 1850, p. 97, which Mr. Knox (under the 
name of Delphinus Tursio) describes as found at the Orkneys in 


May 1885. The skeleton of this specimen is in the Museum of 
the University of Edinburgh.—J. E. Gray. | 


XV.—On a new British Species of Rissoa. 
By E. Water, Esq. 
To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History. 
GENTLEMEN, 


Having accompanied my friend Mr. Jeffreys in several of his 
late excursions to the Shetland Islands, I have had the oppor- 
tunity of seemg, on their first capture, many of the novelties 
added to our fauna in those distant and difficult dredgings. I 
know his unwillingness to anticipate the interest properly re- 
served for his ‘ British Conchology,’ now in course of publica- 
tion, by a previous description of any of the new shells; but I 
am tempted to infringe, with his permission, on this rule in one 
instance. In the home examination of sand obtained to the 
north of the Island of Unst, at a depth of 85 fathoms, I found 
a Rissoa which appears to have been hitherto undescribed and 
unnamed. I wish to couple with it the name of Mr. Jeffreys, 
whose persevering and long-continued labours have added so 
largely to our knowledge of British conchology. I would there- 
fore feel obliged by your publishing in the ‘ Annals’ the follow- 
ing description of Ressoa Jeffreysi, one of the novelties announced 
in the Report to the British Association (1863) on the Shetland 
dredgings. 

I remain, Gentlemen, 

Lissenderry, Aughnacloy, Your obedient Servant, 

June 29, 1864. Epwarp WALLER. 


Rissoa Jeffreysi, n. sp. 
Shell conical, moderately strong, somewhat glossy and semi- 
transparent. 
Colour white. 


Mr. E. Waller on a new British Species of Rissoa. 137 


Whorls 5-6, sloping from the suture to the second ridge, and 
‘well rounded thence to the lower suture; the last whorl 
exceeding half the length of the shell, and obliquely 
rounded at the base. 

Sculpture: on the penultimate whorl four rather slender but 
well-defined spiral ridges, the lower three of which are 
stronger than the highest one, which is on the upper slope 
of the whorl. The ridges are crossed by about twenty- 
eight perpendicular ribs, not so much elevated nor nearly 
so strong as the ridges, and forming with them square 
cancellations, the intersections of the ridges and ribs being 
scarcely raised, but slightly nodulous. The apical whorls 
are marked with spiral rows of close angular punctures. 
In each succeeding row the punctures lie below the ridges 
separating those of the preceding row. The base of the 
lowest whorl has 5-7 spiral ridges, for the most part un- 
crossed by the ribs, which generally terminate at the line 
of the upper part of the mouth. 

Suture deeply defined and somewhat excavated. 

Mouth roundish oval. 

Outer li smooth inside, and strengthened outside by a broad 
and strong rib. , 

Inner lip smooth and reflected on the pillar, making the peri- 
stome continuous. 

Umbilical chink very small. 


Length 0°10 inch, breadth 0:07 inch. 


Its nearest ally is Rissoa cimicoides, Forbes (Rissoa sculpta of 
F, & H., but not of Philippi); but it differs from that species 
in being of smaller size and of thinner texture, in having the 
whorls more rounded and with a rapid slope from the deep 
suture to the second rib. The general outline is decidedly less 
conical ; and while the longitudinal ribs are much the stronger 
in R. cimicoides, the transverse ones are stronger in R. Jeffreysi, 
and the nodules at the intersections are much larger in the 
former than in the latter shell. In the present species the 
sculpture is infinitely more delicate than in its ally. The throat 
is crenulated in R. czmicoides, but smooth in R. Jeffreysi.  R. 
cimicoides is yellow, with purplish-brown blotches; R. Jeffreys: 
is porcelain-white. 

Its habitat is mm sandy ground, in from 80 to 85 fathoms ; 
and it has been taken in two localities at about eight miles and 
thirty miles from Unst, the most northern of the Shetland 
Islands. 

Mr. Jeffreys informs me that, when in Scandinavia, last year, 
he saw two or three specimens in the Museum at Upsala, col- 


138 Zoological Society :— 


lected by Professor Lilljeborg on the coast of Norway, and about 
the same number at Stockholm, taken by Professor Lovén on 
the same coast. In both cases those shells were separated, as 
distinct from described species, but not named. Reference 
being made to Mr. Jeffreys, he recognized them, and mentioned 
my intention of describing the species and naming it after him, 


PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 


ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
Nov. 10, 1863.—EK. W. H. Holdsworth, Esq., F.Z.S., in the Chair. 


REMARKS ON THE ExuiBiTion oF A Naturat Mummy oF 
ALCA IMPENNIS. By ALFrepD Newron, M.A., F.L.S., F.Z.S. 


For the last twenty-one years, since the appearance of the part of 
Mr. Yarrell’s ‘History of British Birds’ containing his account of 
Alea impennis, wherein was cited M. Audubon’s statement that that 
species bred on an island in the neighbourhood of Newfoundland, 
the attention of ornithologists in this country has been more or less 
directed to that colony, in the hope of obtaining thence specimens 
of this rare and curious bird. Mr. John Wolley, with his usual 
sagacity, applying the knowledge he had culled from his extensive 
researches among the works of our older naturalists, not only soon 
made out the truth of Willughby’s supposition, “ Penguin nautis 
nostratibus dicta, que Goifugel Hoieri esse videtur’’ (Ornithologia, 
Lond. 1676, p. 242), but found that the name was still persistent 
among those who were yet engaged in the Cod-fishery in the New- 
foundland seas. Among his various memoranda I find one, appa- 
rently written about the year 1850, to this effect :— 

“In Newfoundland, Funk or Penguin Isle is 170 miles north of 
St. John’s, and about thirty-six miles north-east by east from Cape 
Freels, the north headland of Bonavista Bay. There are also Pen- 
guin Isles two or three miles from shore; Penguin Islands, too, in 
the middle of the south coast of Newfoundland.” 

This note was evidently written after making a careful examination 
of the map; and I well remember, in February 1856, going over a 
chart of the North Atlantic with him, in which he had previously 
marked the various places known as “‘ Penguin Island,”’ “‘ Bird Rock,” 
and the like. To the best of my recollection, he also told me, either 
at the same or some former period, that in the course of his reading 
he had come across various notices of “ Penguins,’’ contained in the 
narratives of ancient voyages to that part of the world. All this 
time, however, I had not, been altogether idle in the way of collecting 
(or at least seeking for) information on the subject. In the summer 
of 1853, as I have elsewhere stated*, a boatman at Torquay, then 
about seventy years of age, and by name William Stabb, told my 


* * Zoology of Ancient Europe,’ London and Cambridge, 1862, p. 30. 


“ 


Mr. A. Newton on Alca impennis. 139 


brother Edward and myself that in former days he used to follow 
the Newfoundland Cod-fishery, and that he had seen Penguins off 
that coast. He added that they used to resort by hundreds to some 
islands there to breed, but were destroyed for their feathers, being 
driven up in a corner by people in boats. This practice, however, 
must have nearly or altogether ceased in his time; for he stated 
that he had never seen but two or three birds himself, and never a 
dead one. I mention these facts merely to show that Mr. Wolley’s 
determination to work out the history of the Gare-Fowl, or Northern 
Penguin, was formed prior to his acquaintance with Professor Steen- 
strup’s valuable discoveries, and to their publication in the elaborate 
and excellent article (Vidensk. Meddelelser, 1855, pp. 33-116) on 
this bird to which it always gives me so much pleasure to refer. 
When Mr. Wolley, later (in 1856), became aware of what that illus- 
trious naturalist had ascertained, he was more than ever bent upon 
prosecuting his researches; and, acting upon the information I received 
from him, I at once set about doing what I could to further them*, 
Believing at the time that no example of the bird’s skeleton existed in 
any of the European museums, and having great confidence in the 
trustworthiness of Herr Stuvitz’s statements, as given by Professor 
Steenstrup (doc. cit.), that there were still many of its bones to be 
found on Funk Island, I began to address letters of inquiry respect- 
ing them to almost every one I could hear of in Newfoundland who 
seemed likely to be able to give assistance’ I need not here go into 
details. For a long time I could get no response from any of those 
to whom I wrote; some of my epistles were returned to me through 
the dead-letter office ; and occasionally I almost despaired of calling 
attention to the subject in that colony. At last I had the great 
pleasure of receiving from the clergyman of the Island of Fogo, the 
Rev. Reginald M. Johnson, a reply which in the most obliging terms 
promised me his valuable help in the matter. Still the chances of 
procuring specimens of bones that would really be serviceable towards 
determining the osteology of A/ca impennis were not good. Though 
when Stuvitz, in 1841, visited Funk Island the bones were in quan- 
tities (i Mengde), many causes during the time that had since elapsed 
might have scattered or destroyed them. The locality, as I have 
before shown, was a distant one and, like all resorts of the Gare-Fowl 
as far as I know them, not easy of access. Stuvitz stated there were 
but two landing-places, and these only to be attained by a hazardous 
leap (kun ved et voveligt Spring). These latter particulars were 
confirmed by Mr. Johnson; and in the last letter which I had from 
that gentleman (only a few weeks ago) he told me he had come to 
the gallant determination to make the expedition himself, as without 
him he was sure all endeavours to obtain the bones would fail. 
Meanwhile the Bishop of Newfoundland, in the course of one of his 
visitations, had been shown by Mr. Johnson my letters, enclosing 
sketches of the principal bones and other papers relating to the 
subject, and most kindly volunteered to give me all the aid in the 
matter which his high position afforded. When the members of 
* Cf. ‘The Ibis,’ 1861, p. 397. 


041 Zoological Society :— 


this Society know the result, I think they will congratulate me on 
my good fortune in having excited his lordship’s interest. After 
several other friendly letters, I had three days ago the great plea- 
sure of receiving one in which the Bishop informed me his success 
had surpassed anything I could have anticipated ; for his lordship 
had done no less than secure me what may be not inaptly called 
the “mummy” of an Alea impennis, which, having come into 
my hands yesterday, I have now the honour of exhibiting to the 
Society. 

It appears that the Colonial Government have recently conceded 
to a Mr. Glindon the privilege of removing the soil from Funk 
Island ; for this soil, beg highly charged with organic matter, is 
consequently valuable as manure when imported to Boston and other 
places in North America. The Bishop, through Mr. N. R. Vail (a 
gentleman of the United States, well informed on scientific subjects, 
and therefore aware of the interesting nature of the research), made 
application to the lessee of Funk Island, who ordered his men em- 
ployed there to use their best endeavours to obtain for me bones of 
the Penguin. They appear to have done their work very effectually ; 
for I hear that they “ brought away many puncheons of bones and 
other remains’’—of course not all necessarily ‘‘ Penguins ’’—which 
I believe are now on their way to New England, where they will 
doubtless be readily bought up by the farmers, though I trust some 
may be rescued from ignoble uses by the American naturalists. 
This mummy, however, the Bishop tells me, was ‘*‘ found four feet 
below the surface, and under two feet of ice.”’ I need scarcely point 
out to the Society what an advantage it is to have obtained so many 
bones undeniably belonging to one individual bird. Though the 
skeleton is not perfect, it is plain that we have here at least one side 
of the entire vertebral column. ‘The extremities of the limbs are 
altogether wanting on either side; and though this is greatly to be 
regretted, it is‘some consolation to think that a knowledge of what 
these parts are like in Alea impennis may be, with a little trouble, 
supplied from almost every one of the sixty-three or sixty-four 
stuffed skins at present known to exist*. I do not, however, mean 
to prolong these remarks by making any observations on the osteo- 
logical structure of this bird. That I have reason to hope may be 
fully described by a far more able pen ; for it is my intention to place 
the specimen I now exhibit in the hands of Professor Owen, trusting 
that he will make it the subject of one of those monographs which 
have so materially enriched our series of ‘Transactions.’ I have 
but to say in conclusion that, so far as I know, my ‘‘mummy” is, 
with one exception, the only approach to a complete skeleton existing 
in Europe. That exception is the specimen, nearly perfect, in the 

* Mr. Blyth, just six and twenty years ago, exhibited to this Society some 
bones which had been left in a preserved skin of this bird (P. Z. 8. 1837, p. 122; 
and Ibis, 1861, p. 396, note). Within the last year, Mr. John Hancock extracted 
from his own beautiful specimen, and from the very ancient and interesting ex- 
ample in the Newcastle Museum, every bone they contained, without doing the 


slightest damage to the skins, as might be seen at the late Meeting of the British’ 


Association (Cat. of Exhibition, nos. 180 & 185). 


ae 


Dr. Shortt on the Pteropus of India. 141 


Osteological Gallery of the Museum of the Jardin des Plantes at 
Paris; for the remains of the two Gare-Fowls killed on Eldey in 1844, 
which were sent to Copenhagen, and are still preserved in the Phy- 
siological Museum of the University there, have been dissected with 
a view to show the different systems of organs; they are therefore 
even less available to determine the general osteology of the bird 
than are the various loose bones which, through Stuvitz’s labours, 
exist in the Museums at Christiania and Copenhagen, that of our 
Royal College of Surgeons, and in my own collection. 


Nov. 24, 1863.—John Gould, Esq., F.R.S., in the Chair. 


The Secretary read the following letter from Dr. J. Shortt, F.Z.S., 
relating to the fishing-propensities of the Pferopus of India:— 


© S1r,—At about 6 p.m. on the 30th of April last, when at Con- 
leeveram, my attention was attracted to a tank next the Dispensary, 
which, owing to a light shower of rain that had just fallen, literally 
seemed alive with small fish gambolling and jumping about in the 
water. There was nothing new in this; but my attention was drawn 
to a number of large birds with a somewhat heavy flight, hovering 
over the water and seizing with their feet the fish, with which they 
then made off to some tamarind-trees on the bund of the tank, to 
devour them at their leisure, I suppose. 

«On a closer examination, I discovered that what I had imagined 
mere birds were none other than Flying Foxes, the Pteropus edulis. 
After watching them fishing for some time, I had to leave, owing to 
the darkness of the evening. I returned to the tank the next evening 
half an hour earlier, and again witnessed the same occurrence. 

“T then got my assistant, Mr. Watson, to bring his gun and shoot 
some, so that I might satisfy myself as to the identity of these ani- 
mals. Mr. Watson shot some two or three whilst in the act of 
seizing their fishy prey, and on examination I found them to be 
actually Flying Foxes. During a second visit, on the 5th and 6th 
of June, I observed the same thing occur again. 

“Tam not aware of the fishing-propensities of this animal ever 
having been noticed, for | find no account of them in any work on na- 
tural history that I have had opportunities of consulting on the sub- 
ject. This habit of the Flying Fox appearing new to me, I send 
you this communication, as there may be others who have witnessed 
the same thing ; and if made known, this would, I am sure, prove of 
interest to the naturalist. 


“ Chingleput, June 12th, 1863.” 


The Secretary also read the following extract from Dr. Bennett’s 
latest letter (dated Sydney, Sept. 19th), respecting the Kagu of New 
Caledonia (Rhinochetus jubatus) :— 


“My young friend Mr. Ferdinand Joubert thus writes to me from 
‘Kai,’ in the interior of New Caledonia, August 2nd, 1863 :— 
“*«T see in the ‘ Sydney Herald’ your article on the Kagu. I will 


142 Zoological Society :— 


send you some of the birds as soon as I can procure them, and also 
some nests and eggs, if pipes and tobacco can induce the natives to 
bring me some. The Kagus are rather plentiful here, on the side of 
the ‘Boh’? Mountains, and the natives catch them to eat. Their 
way of doing this is by making a slipknot on a strong string; and 
having discovered a place frequented by these birds, they fasten the 
string in such a way that the birds when running along pass their 
heads or legs through the noose and are thereby captured. There 
are two kinds of Kagus, one very different from the other. The 
largest Kagu you last received from Dr. Segol is a female of the 
«* Bush-Kagu,”’ and, as you have remarked, much handsomer than 
its fierce friend the smaller Kagu, which is the one with the dark 
stripes on the wings and tail (and generally of darker plumage). 
This is the ‘‘ Grass-Kagu.”’ ‘These two kinds of Kagu do not asso- 
ciate together on good terms; and during the time I had them they 
were always fighting one with the other, the ‘‘ Grass-Kagu”’ invari- 
ably getting the worst of the battle. 

*«« J will endeavour to procure a male and female of each species, 
and send them to you as soon as I can.’ 

«This fighting-propensity may in some degree account for the 
death of the little pugnacious Grass-Kagu soon after its arrival. It 
was found in a miserable half-starved condition when dissected; whilst 
the larger, elegant, and more peaceful ‘ Bush-Kagu’ was in fine plu- 
mage, plump, and altogether in a healthy state, which continues to 
the present day. 

**T have since written to Mr. F. Joubert, requesting him to send 
meas soonas possible a pair of skins of each species, male and female, 
properly labelled, and living specimens in pairs, as soon after as they 
can be procured, when I will transmit them to you immediately, so 
as to decide this interesting doubt on the subject of the existence of 
two species of this singular bird.” 


Description oF A New Species or Fiexiste Cora BE- 
LONGING TO THE GENUS JUNCELLA, OBTAINED AT MADEIRA. 
By James YATE JoHunson, Corr. Mem. Z.S. 


Fam. GORGONIDA. 
Sect. GoRGONELLACEA, Val. 
JUNCELLA FLAGELLUM, Sp. nov. 


Simple, elongated, slender, flexible, slightly twisted on its own 
axis, and tapering upwards. Bark calcareous, white, smooth, and 
impuncturate, enveloping a hard grey axis, which has a somewhat 
polished surface marked with straight strie. This axis is so highly 
charged with carbonate of lime that it effervesces in muriatic acid. 
The coral is quadrangular in section, and has on each of the two 
narrower sides two series of closely set papille, having the eight 
lobed orifices of polype-cells at their apices. These papillee are ob- 
pyriform or ovate ; and in dried specimens they are turned upwards 


Mr. J. Y. Johnson on a new Species of Flexible Coral. 143 


and adpressed to the stem. Near the base of large specimens the 
papillee are in three somewhat irregular rows. The other two sides 
of the stem are free from papillz, but there is a slightly elevated line 
along the middle. The base spreads out to a moderate extent upon 
the object to which it is attached. The spicula, of which the bark 
is composed, are tuberculated staves two or three times as long as 
broad, the tubercles having a tendency to collect at the extremities. 

_ The longest example of this coral which I have seen, measured 
about 7 feet in length; and it was without its basal portion. The 
greatest thickness was three eighths gf an inch ; the largest papillee 
were the tenth of an inch in length, and about the same across. In 
another example, 5 feet in length, the base spread out to the size of 
ashilling; and the papillae commenced about 3 inches above this basal 
expansion. The smallest specimen that has occurred was 31 inches 
long; and this has been sent to the British Museum. In the col- 
lection of that establishment there is a large stone with numerous 
specimens of this coral upon it, alongside examples of Callogorgia 
verticillaris, Gray (Primnoa verticillaris, M.-Edw.). These were 
brought from St. Michael’s, one of the Azores, and presented to the 
Museum by Mr. M°Andrew. 

I have ventured to assign this coral to the genus Juncella, Val., 
although a naturalist for whom I entertain the highest respect con- 
siders it to be the Scirpearia mirabilis of Cuvier. There is, how- 
‘ever, so much doubt as to what the coral so named by the illustrious 
Frenchman really is, that I hesitate to ascribe mine to that species, 
the more especially as it clearly falls within the definition of the 
genus Juncella (as it appears in the ‘ Histoire Naturelle des Coral- 
liaires ? of Milne-Edwards, vol. i. p. 186), forming a member of the 
section of Gorgonellacee which is made up of Gorgoniad corals 
having a smooth bark and a sublithoid axis containing so much car- 
bonate of lime as to effervesce in muriatic acid. From Juncella 
juncea, Esper, and J. vimea, Val. (species found at the island of 
Bourbon), it would seem to be distinguished by the large size of the 
cup-bearing papille ; from J. elongata, a Mediterranean species, by 
its being simple, not branched. J. hystrix, J. surculus, and J. ca- 
liculata appear to be names without descriptions. 

- As to the difficulty of identifying Scirpearia, the following passage 
from M. Milne-Edwards’s work, already referred to, may be quoted: — 

**The Alcyonarian described and figured by Linnzeus under the 
name of Pennatula mirabilis seems to be very little connected with 
Virgularia mirabilis as some have suggested. It has a slender stem, 
attenuated at the two extremities, and bearing at each side a simple 
series of widely separated polypes. Cuvier formed of it the genus 
Scirpearia, which has been adopted by Ehrenberg. Lamarck placed 
it in his genus Funiculina, near Pavonaria, under the name of F. 
cylindrica. Fleming thought that the species was not distinct from 
Virgularia ; and Blainville affirmed that it was nothing but a Gor-° 
gonia. None of these opinions seem to me admissible. It is too 
imperfectly known to have a place assigned to it in a scientific clas- 
sification of corals.” —Hist. Nat. Corall. i. p. 214. 


144 Zoological Society :— 
Dec. 8, 1863.—E. W. H. Holdsworth, Esq,, F.Z.S., in the Chair. 


On THE SysreMATIC PosITION OF THE CRESTED SCREAMER 
(PALAMEDEA CHAvARIA). By W. K. Parker. 


Many years ago, at a time when the only collection of foreign 
living creatures seen by me was contained in Wombwell’s travelling 
menagerie, my observations on the structure of birds were necessa- 
rily confined, for the most part, to our native species. I am glad of 
this now, as they are nearly all of pure types; and from childhood 
their life and conversation yielded me a pleasure nearly equal to that 
derived from communion with bipeds of the plumeless kind. 

If the structure of the pure or unmixed types had not been stu- 
died by me first in such a way as to make the most definite mind- 
images, there would have been for me no good firm ground to stand 
upon whilst contemplating the structure and relationships of such 
birds as the Trumpeter (Psophia), the Cariama (Dicholophus), and 
the Palamedea. Any study, however, of the Bird class which should 
go no further than its own border-line would be fruitful in bringing 
to light difficulties and even paradoxes: a physiologist might as 
well study the functions of one class of organs to the total neglect of 
the rest of the body, the beautiful whole. I have for some time 
past held to the belief that the birds should not be termed a class, 
as though they formed a group equal to that of the Mammalia; I 
find that Professor Huxley holds the same views. 

If that is the case, we have some explanation of the great unifor- 
mity of the feathered tribes ; for it is a fact that the remotest forms 
in the group are really not far apart in nature, and the smaller groups 
are closely intertwined one amongst another. 

There are two principal conditions of nearness to the Reptilia in 
the great Bird group: first the combination of mammalian and of 
reptilian characters with what is truly ornithic, as in the Ostriches ; 
and the second is when the aberrant characters are only reptilian, 
and for the most part lacertian*. 

Now it is with /acertian characters, rather than with what we find 
in the Crocodile and the Chelonian, that we have to deal in such birds 
as the Palamedea and other mixed forms which are not far from it in 
actual nature, but are striving, as it were, to attain to the full typical- 
ness of other groups than that to which the Palamedea really belongs. 

The discovery of such a marvellous creature as Von Meyer’s dr- 
cheopteryx must of necessity give the scientific mind a thirsty long- 
ing to know more of the relations, and of the true causes of the rela- 
tions, of these mid vertebrates, the reptiles and birds,—cold-blooded, 
scaly, slow, and often loathsome on one hand; on the other warm, 
intensely active, and endued with the highest locomotive powers, and 
beautiful beyond the power of words to express. 

There are two very beautiful groups of birds, rich in species, with 
very clearly defined characters, both standing at about the same 


* The skull of every bird known conforms, on the whole, not so much to the 
crocodilian as to the lacertian type; their horny jaw-sheaths, large symmetrical 
sternum, and almost fixed ribs are chelonian in their nature. 


Mr. W. K. Parker on Palamedea Chavaria. 145 


“ornithic” height above the Ostriches, and ina very similar contiguity 
to the Lizards: these are the true ‘“Gallinee”’ and the true “ Ana- 
tine.” In the latter family we have all the birds from the Spur- 
winged Goose (Plectropterus) to the Goosander, inclusive; in the 
former, the “ Phasianinze”’ and the “ Tetraoninee’’—the typical and 
subtypical Fowls. The Flamingo is truly lamedlirostral; but its 
anatine characters are confused and mixed up with those that are 
derived from the Ibis and the Crane. Again, in the Fowls, we have 
carefully to keep the ‘‘ Cracinze,” the ‘‘ Hemipodiine,”’ the ‘“‘ Mega- 
podiinze,”’ and the ‘ Pteroclinee’’ in separate circles, because the 
woof of their nature is one thing, and the warp another; they are not 
zoologically pure, not wholly Gallinaceous. The parts first formed 
in the embryonic skull—those which are most central, and least and 
most slowly affected by the causes that fit each creature for its place 
and work in nature—these are strangely alike in both the “ Sifters” 
and the “Scrapers’’; and for a long while this fact has been a 
mystery and almost a paradox to me. I care very little for the webs 
between the toes; their absence or presence may suffice to separate 
between genus and genus, but not between family and family, still 
less between order and order. 

The water-birds may, however, be divided very easily into two 
groups by the presence or absence of two very curious membranous 
spaces appearing in the occipital plane. These fontanelles separate 
the auditory from the superoccipital cartilage,—and are scarcely open 
at all in the true ‘ Ardeine,” the ‘ Ralline,” the “ Podicipine,” 
and the “ Pelecaninz ’’; nor do they appear in the Land and Tree 
groups of birds. 

In the ‘ Ibidinz,’’ the ‘‘ Lamellirostres,’’ the Gruine, Pluvialine, 
and Tringine groups, they are large and persistent ; in the “ Larinee”’ 
they soon fill up with bone, and so they do in Gdicnemus, and ap- 
parently in the Bustards. Nowthe great embryological distinctions 
between the skull and face of the Geese and Fowls are, first, that in 
the latter the space between the periotic mass and the supercccipital 
cartilage is a mere chink, in the latter a persistent oval space; and 
secondly that the anterior parts of the face, viz. the preemaxillee, pre- 
vomers, and dentaries are small and compressed in the Fowls, large 
and outspread in the sifting birds. The body of the tongue par- 
takes of the general expansion of the face in the Geese ; the descend- 
ing part of the lachrymal suffers from the general contraction of the 
parts in the face of the Fowl. Moreover the true Fowls (‘‘ Phasia- 
nine ”’ and “ Tetraonine”’) have the head of the os quadratum less 
bifid at its joint with the skull, and therefore nearer the Ostriches 
and reptiles in its structure than the same bone in the Goose-tribe. 
It is highly worthy of remark, however, that the Sand-Grouse, He- 
mipodii, Megapodes, and Curassows all agree with the Geese and 
their allies in having a subornithic condition of this famous bone ; 
and its upper articular crura begin to be quite distinct representatives 
of the legs of the mammalian ‘‘incus.”’ This, be it noticed, makes 
the four groups of mixed ‘‘ Gallinee”’ correspond, not only with the 
Lamellirostres, but also with all those puzzling border-birds which 

Amn. & Mag. N. Hist. Serv. 3. Vol. xiv. 10 


146 Zoological Society :— 


must be studied in connexion; such as Psophia, Parra, Cariama, 
and Palamedea. 

Now the Rail-tribe, to which Palamedea has been supposed to 
belong, has been for a long time burdened (on paper) with a very 
false army-list. Everything alive that has had the misfortune to be 
possessed of large unwieldy feet has been added to this feeble- 
minded, cowardly group, until it has become a mixed multitude, with 
discordant voices, and with manners and customs having no conso- 
nance or relation. In a former paper I had the assurance to disband 
the Cassowaries and Megapodes; in the present I shall permit all 
birds having much of the nature of the Plover (such as Parra), and 
all those which have in them the nature of a Goose, to depart from 
the Rail-tribe: I shall retain the Psophia as an outpost, notwith- 
standing that it is more than half a Crane. 

A very large number of the genera of birds partake of a structure 
and nature which may very appropriately be called Passerine ; and 
another very large group, both of genera and families, may also be 
called Pluvialine,—the common Golden, Grey, and Dotterel Plovers 
being typical of these groups, which run up through the Sandpipers 
and Curlews to the Ibises in one direction, through the Lapwing and 
Stone-Plover to the Bustards and Cranes in another, and through 
Chionis and the Pratincole to the Petrels and Gulls. Still this does 
not exhaust the pluvialine birds; for the Geese and their allies are 
related on one hand to the Ibises through the Flamingo, and on the 
other to the Cranes, although the proper connecting link in this case 
is doubtful, Palamedea lying obliquely, not directly, between them. ~ 
The Megapodes, Hemipodes, Sand-Grouse, and Tinamous also 
have no little proportion of the Plover in their nature. The Jacanas 
(Parra) are essentially Plovers, although they have something of the 
Rail in them, especially in their skull ; and they are united to the typi- 
cal forms by other Spur-winged Plovers (Pluvianus spinosus, Gould). 
Now, looking at the anatine birds as a great division of specialized 
forms parallel with, and intimately related to, the pluvialine birds, we 
begin to see how they can be related to the mixed ‘“ Gallinacez,” 
which have so much of the Plover in their essence. But we had much, 
at starting, in common between the typical and pure Fowls and the 
Duck and Goose tribe; add to this the fact that the Mound-makers 
and Curassows come much nearer to the “Anatine,” and then sup- 
pose an anatine bird in which the horny denticles are feeble, but abun- 
dant, and the jaws compressed, stout, and trenchant, the same bird 
having the occipital region in harmony, not with the Geese, but with 
the Fowls,—put all these things together, and we shall be supposing 
what really exists in the Palamedea. Then we can calmly look at 
the fact that those Geese which have spurs in their wings, like those 
of the Palamedea (viz. Chenalopex and Plectropterus), have their 
legs longer, more grallatorial, and better under them than the typical 
forms, and that the Spur-winged Goose (Plectropterus) has a pelvis 
exactly intermediate between that of a typical Goose and that of a 
Palamedea. It is worth while to notice the thick down that covers 
the Palamedea, the height of the bare tract on the tibia, and the reti- 


Mr. W. K. Parker on Palamedea Chavaria. 147 


culated tarsi, like those of the Goose, and not like those of the Cranes 
and Rails, which have them scutellate in front. Whilst removing 
the viscera, I saw that the trachea and inferior larynx were truly an- 
serine ; for there are no inferior laryngeal muscles, the contractors 
of the trachea ending one-third of an inch above the bifurcation, and 
only a delicate fan-shaped fascia going to the half-rings. Moreover 
the trachea itself, from being flat and cartilaginous, becomes round 
and then compressed and osseous an inch above the bronchi, so that 
it cannot be mistaken for the trachea of any other than an anatine 
bird. There is nothing whatever in the digestive organs, which are 
extremely voluminous, to separate the bird from the Geese; yet the 
gizzard is not so strong as in the types, and the ceca coli are shorter 
and wider. I have at present only hinted at the osteology of the 
Palamedea. It diverges from the Goose in all this part of its com- 
position, just as much as it converges towards the Curassow and the 
Talegalla ; but it is not only more galline than the true Geese (we 
have seen that both Geese and Fowls have much in common), it is 
also plainly more lacertine. It will require a goodly memoir to do 
it justice ; but in this short notice I must mention one or two things. 
Its large sofé tongue, which has not the papillee horny, has in it the 
cerato-hyals, ossified from separate points as in the Goose and Hen, 
much nearer the former than the latter ; but the free thyro-hyals are 
flattened from above downwards, and cannot be mistaken for those of 
any other but an anserine or anatine bird. All the skull and face, 
except at the two ends, conform to the lamellirostral type. Point by 
point, process by process, lamina for lamina, all else is truly and 
distinctly that which belongs to the Sifter, and to no other bird..: 
It may be said indeed that this bird is not a Sifter ; it is, however, 
a browzer and a grazer; and being of Lincolnshire descent, and 
familiar with the fens, I am well acquainted with the grazing habits 
of the typical Goose*. There is a little of the Crane in the sternum ; 
but, on the-whole, the skeleton may be said to belong to a very lacer- 
tian Goose. This is cautiously said ; for have we not four fore claws 
in the wing, extremely long sprawling toes, and the ribs perfectly 
destitute of the nearly universal tie-bones or appendages? This 
deficiency is unique amongst birds; and the Crocodiles possess these 
appendages: I consider this a /acertian character, as their occasional 
presence. in Lizards is as exceptional as their absence in birds. Now. 
amongst the rib-like benes in the fossil skeleton of the Archeopteryx 
I see nothing like an appendage starting from any one of them; nor 
has Professor Owen figured anything of the kind in his beautiful 
memoir in the ‘ Philosophical Transactions.’ Let it be added that, 
although several genera of birds have spurs to their wings, these 
birds all lie nearly on the same ornithic plane as the Palamedea, 
—the Syrian Blackbird (Merula dactyloptera) (see Professor Owen 
on Archeopteryz, p. 39) being the only exception. The Megapode 
is also mentiened by Professor Owen (ié7d.) ; but that is a great 
help to me, and comes in well. 

* 66 


the cackling goose, 
Close-grazer —-- .”’—Philips’s Cyder. 
10* 


148 Zoological Society :— 


So we see that the birds with nails in their wings are (with one 
or two exceptions) all aquatic types, the more unspecialized forms of 
which are for the most part possessed of dorsal vertebree conjoined 
by a cup-and-ball (opisthoccelian) articulation, and are very far below 
the typical tree-birds in their structure and in their habits. 

But the digit-claws appear in other birds which have not out- 
standing spurs. Professor Owen (247d. p. 39) mentions the Apteryx 
has having the mid digit terminating in a joint, which supports a 
curved claw ; the Emeu and the Cassowary have the same structure ; 
and the Rhea has an ungual phalanx covered with a claw added to 
the index-finger, which is generally composed of one joint in birds. 
The Swan, as well as the Chaja (Pa/amedea), have the same, and they 
both have the mid-finger series complete, the last joint being most 
perfect in the Swan (Cygnus olor). The furculum of the Palamedea 
is more like that of that great pluvialine the Bustard (Otis tarda) 
than that of a Goose; but it is very much more solid: its only coun- 
terpart for relative size is that of the Archeopteryr. The coracoids 
are strong bony tubes, open below by a large scooped hollow. The 
sternum of this bird differs from that of the Goose or Swan by just 
so much as the sternum of the Short-winged Rails, especially Bra~ 
chypteryx, differs from that of the ordinary types. It is narrower 
behind, and the episternum is gone from the front: yet it is tho- 
roughly anserine in character, for the keel does not reach the end ; 
and, indeed, it is in this respect intermediate between what we see in 
the Geese and what occurs in the “ Totipalmatz.’’ Eight ribs reach 
the sternum by heemapophyses, as in the Swan; there are seven in 
the Goose, Psophia, and Serass Crane. On the right side there are 
a pair of floating heemapophyses (reptilian), and these answer to the 
fourth and fifth so-called sacral vertebree. Inthe Swan these hzema- 
pophyses are better developed, and the penultimate has a long rib 
reaching it from the sacrum on both sides. And this brings me to 
say that the sacrum in birds, although actually of great length, has 
superadded to it a number of dorso-lumbar vertebre in front, and 
often several true caudals behind. 

Professor Owen (did. pl. 3. fig. 5) makes the first postfemoral 
joint in the young Ostrich to be the first true caudal. I cannot 
agree with him here; for I think that the sacrum in birds is long 
as a prolepsis of that of the mammal, but that it is an exaggeration 
of the mammalian sacrum. In the Archeopteryx there are four 
vertebrze behind the acetabula before we come to those marked caudal 
by Professor Owen (cdid. pl. 4. fig. 1 ec, d@). This has led me to 
run over the birds’ pelves in my own collection and drawings; and 
the following table, which gives the number of vertebre, closely 
embraced and tied together by the extension backwards of the iliac 
bones behind the acetabula, in different birds, is the result of my 
observations. I shall remark upon the bearings of these facts after- 
wards, 


Corvus frugilegus. . 


| 

| 

ie Gymnorhina tibicen.... 
Turdus merula........ 
| 


Estrelda phaéton ..... 
Pyrrhula vulgaris. 


Linaria chloris ...... 
Pyranga rubra 
Loxia cardinalis 

Muscicapa grisola 


Pratincola rubetra 
Motacilla Yarrellii 
Sylvia cinerea 


Birds built on the Passerine type. 


Hirundo urbica 
rustica .. 
Sitta europea 


| | 


‘aprimulgine. 
Caprimulgus europzeus 
Alcedo ispida 
_ Alcedinide. | epops 
Dacelo giganteus .. 


| Trochilide. 
Bucerine. 
Cuculus canorus 


Corythaix Buffoni 

Zygodactyles. 
Agapornis pullaria 
Psephotis multicolor 

\ Psittacus erythacus .. 


esalon 


Accipiter nisus .. 

Buteo vulgaris .. 

Accipitres d Milvus regalis 
diurne. 


cimeraceus 
Elanus melanopterus 
Aquila chrysaétos.... 
Haliaétus albicilla 


Vulturine. 
Ulula aluco 


nocturne. | Asio otus 


j 

if 
 Accipitres 
| 

. Pigeons. 
| 


Cracinz. 


Crax globicera ... 
Dendrortyx 


| Phasianin . ; 
‘| Gallus domesticus 


Emberiza citr “alls Sans 


Budytes Rali.......... 


Phyllopneuste trochilus .. 
TEEWDEL AE 55 So phono uC 


[ { Lanius collurio.......... 
Cypselus apus .......... 
Podargus humeralis...... 


Trochilus colibris........ 
Buceros ruficollis........ 


IPICUSAVITIGIS «a. os se 


Ramphastos toco ........ 


( Falco peregrinus ........ 


tinnunculus........ 


Circus cyaneus’.. 5.2... .. 


\ Dicholophus cristatus .... 
Neophron perenopterus .. 


Strix fammea 2.......- 


| Athene noctua .......... 
Columba livia .......... 
fae palumbus.......... 
{ Oreophasis Derbyanus.. .. 


Mr. W. K. Parker on Palamedea Chavaria. 


149 


TABLE. 


He 4 Co 


~~ 


OWL POOPED ERA AA BRE BROBRARE ABROAD AA 


CUS OLS St Ot O9 G9 G9 G8 St St Gr St PW G9 C9 & 


G9 09 C2 G2 CO He He 


* Anseranas melanopterus, a very Gruine Goose, has only 6. 


Herodias garzetta . . 
Nycticorax ardeola ... 
Tigrisoma leucolophum 
Eurypyga helias 


Ardeine. 


Tetraonine. Lagopus scoticus ........ 
Hemipodiins. Hemipodius varius ...... 
Pterocline. Syrrhaptes paradoxus .. 

Megapods. Talegalla Lathami ...... 

@rex' pratensis! -........ 

. Ocydromus australis 
Ralline. |S chloropus...... 
Fulica atra ...... 30 A008 
Botaurus minutus ...... 
Ardea'cinerea..%.°..- -- 
purpurea)... 5... - 
4 


eel ae. W\e) «6 


Cancroma cochlearia 5 
\ Baleeniceps rex . . D 
Leptoptilus argala ...... 4 

uJ 
Ehidsncs BaD anaaee sete eens 4 
areskiornis eethiopicus .. 5 
Platalea leucorodia ...... 6 
Pheenicopterus antiquorum 5 
Palamedea chavaria...... + 
Plectropterus gambensis* . 7 
. ; Anser palustris.......... 9 
saan) Oyen OlOVI Rrcrcitel cers orere 1] 
| Dafila caudacuta ........ Ti 
| ADEE) HOGI oo no scncsc0 
\ Mergus albellus ........ 8 
Gruinz. Psophia crepitans........ 4 
Otinee - Otisitardar yet - 12 5 
ie CEdicnemus crepitans .... 5 
Plovers. ) Vanellus cristatus. . 4 
| Charadrius hiaticula oO 
Hematopus ostralegus.... 4 
Long-billed } Himantopus melanopterus ae 
Plovers. ) Numenius arquata ...... i) 
Motanus tuscus ter) te 4 
Snipes. { Scolopax gallinago 4 
gallinula SoOoapene 
Jacanas. = JACAINA) eyetalcee siele 5 4: 
Dromaius ater .......... til 
one Sr camelus elton 
Apteryx australis ........ 4 
Tinamus robustus........ 8 
{ Glareola torquata........ 4 
Gulls. ; Gavia ridibunda ........ 4 
| Marusicanus) .... 9. 4 
Bemele! Puffinus brevicauda ...... 5 
Diomedea exulans ...... 5 
Grebes. Podiceps rubricollis...... 9 
Totipalmatz. Phalacrocorax carbo...... 9 
Colymbus septentrionalis . 11 
Diverss4Uria) Uroilesteytsstsers 9) + 5 
| Allcastordalremetesn sfetes «sie 4 
Penguins. Spheniscus demersus 3: 


150 Zoological Society. 


This table is large enough for all reasonable purposes ; and its re- 
sults are very striking, and cannot have had their extreme uniformity 
caused by chance. If we leave out all those birds which, for swim- 
ming and especially diving purposes, have the sacrum extremely long 
and much anchylosed, such as the Sifters, Grebes, Loons, Cor- 
morants, and also the Ostriches (excluding the Apteryx), we shall 
have four post-acetabular joints as the medium number. A large 
proportion of all birds have exactly four vertebree in rear of the 
thigh-bones; many have only three, and about as many more have 
five. Asarule, the small birds of a group have the tendency to drop 
a joint occasionally ; thus the little Hstre/da has one less than the 
other Finches, the Dotterel one Jess than the other Plovers, and the 
Crake one less than the other Rails. The medium-sized rapacious 
birds, both nocturnal and diurnal, have only three. Now, if we con- 
sider that all the vertebree above four in the posterior part of the 
Duck’s pelvis really belong to the tail, then, as I long ago found, the 
ploughshare-bone is composed of ten segments, as four of the ap- 
parently sacral bones are really caudal ; and as there are eight inter- 
mediate vertebrze, the large number of twenty-two is obtained—one 
more than the Archeopteryx possesses according to Professor Owen’s 
method of enumeration. 

Also in the Palamedea two of the anchylosed bones belong to the 
tail; there are six free bones, the last having had a rather late ad- 
dition in the penultimate joint, so that it may be considered as 
eleven : this gives us nineteen caudal vertebree for the subject of this 
paper—only two less than in the Archeopteryx. The same method 
gives us twenty-four for the Swan, sixteen for the Emeu, and twenty- 
two for the Cormorant. 

That five of the so-called sacral vertebree of the Palamedea belong 
to the dorso-lumbar region is evident, because the first three have 
heemapophyses reaching the sternum, and on the right side there 
are two more sternal ribs in a rudimentary condition. There are 
seventeen vertebree fused together, five of which must be supposed 
removed from the front part and two from behind, thus leaving ten 
proper sacral vertebree. 

In small birds and in birds of the higher types with short pelves, 
the number of true sacral vertebrae will be only about seven on an 
average—a common number among the large herbivorous Mammalia. 

As I have only touched upon the points of interest in this skeleton, 
when I have acquired a fuller knowledge of it and of its congeners, 
and of the bearings and relations of the feathered tribes generally, 
I hope to take it up again. Certainly amongst living birds there 
is not one possessing characters of higher interest; none that I am 
acquainted with come nearer, in certain important points, to the 
Lizard ; and there are parts of its organization which make it very 
probable that it is one of the nearest living relatives of the marvel- 
lous Archeopteryx*. 

* The cup-and-ball joints in the dorsal region of many water-birds and of the 
Parrots must be looked upon as a general reptilian character; so also the single 
head of the “ os quadratum’”’ in the Ostriches. The very simple palatines of the 


latter birds and of the Palamedea, the very long free toes and the simple ribs of 
the Screamer, all these are more properly Jacertian. 


151 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


On the Anatomy and Histology of Branchiostoma lubricum, Costa 
(Amphioxus lanceolatus, Yarrell). By M. J. Marcusen, of 
St. Petersburg. 


Ir might be thought that, after the investigations of Johannes 
Miller and Quatrefages, there would be little to discover in the ana- 
tomy and histology of this curious animal. But as it is now nearly 
twenty years since these naturalists published their memoirs, and as 
since that time the means of research have been greatly improved, 
during my residence at Naples I submitted the Branchiostoma to a 
new examination, which has led me to the discovery of many facts 
unknown to my predecessors, and enabled me to rectify several of 
their results. 
VERTEBRAL SYSTEM. 


1. Dorsal Chord.—This is composed, as is well known, of a sheath 
and contents. The latter were described by Goodsir and Muller as 
consisting of a fibrous mass separable into disks. Quatrefages has 
denied the existence of the latter, and declared that the dorsal chord 
is composed of juxtaposed cells, of which he has given figures. 
According to my investigations, the cells do not exist; and Max 
Schultze has also been unable to discover them. The dorsal chord 
separates so readily into disks that they may be recognized even in 
the living animal, but the separation is not complete. The disks are 
very thin, their thickness being only 545th mill., and they are 
wnited on the two sides by a very delicate substance, whicn issues 
from the two surfaces at a great many points, so that in separating 
one disk from its neighbour the uniting membrane is torn, and its 
débris present a net-like appearance upon the surface of the disk, 
giving the latter an aspect of being composed of cells. In reality, 
however, there is only a smooth disk, of which the surface is covered 
with shreds of the uniting substance. Sometimes we may see in the 
substance of the disk itself several perfectly transparent nuclei. 
Perhaps the network of the uniting substance may represent the 
remains of cells; but otherwise there are no cells in the dorsal chord 
of the Branchiostoma. 

2. Buecal Cartilage.—This cartilage, as well as its processes 
which form the skeleton of the buccal cirri, is also composed of a 
mass which separates readily into disks ; but here the cells of which 
these are composed have not entirely disappeared, for nuclei of larger 
or smaller size are seen granulated into an intercellular mass. 
-Quatrefages saw this; but he believed he saw cells without nuclei, 
with their outlines contiguous—which do not occur. 


NERVOUS SYSTEM. 


Quatrefages has the credit of having described the distribution of 
the nerves better than his predecessors; and it is also to him that 
“we owe the interesting observation that the central nervous system 
‘is composed of a series of inflations corresponding with the origin of 


152 Miscellaneous. 


the nerves; this I have been able to confirm. He has, however, 
left us in doubt as to the origin of the nerves; and with regard to 
their terminations his observations are very imperfect, which I at- 
tribute to the inferiority of the microscopes of 1844 as compared 
with those of 1862. 

The central nervous system consists of cells and fibres. The cells 
are very delicate, transparent, round, and filled with granulations, 
and their diameter is from 0:02 to 0:05 mill. ; their little nucleus is 
only 0:006 mill. in diameter. In the living animal I could not 
ascertain their presence ; and I could only see ‘them after placing the 
whole animal in a weak solution of chromic acid. The sheath of 
the central nervous system, discovered by Quatrefages, exists; but 
the nervous fibres, denied by him, also exist; they are very deli- 
cate, straight, and covered with small granulations. 

Besides these two elements, there is a great quantity of capillaries 
in the central nervous system. Quatrefages discovered “ that beyond 
the last inflation the medulla spinalis is produced into a delicate fila- 
ment, which becomes dilated and forms a sort of very distinct am- 
pulla on the level of the extremity of the dorsal chord.” The ob- 
servation is correct ; but the ampulla and the whole of this terminal 
filament are nothing but capillaries, a loop of which forms the 
ampulla. 

The spinal nerves spring from the upper part of the sides of the 
medulla spinalis, as I saw in transverse sections. From this the 
roots start in the form of a comparatively thick trunk. There are 
not two roots; but in the interior of the root we find very delicate 
primitive fibres (cylindraxes), which reach it from different sides. 
The roots are surrounded by a sheath, in which capillaries may be 
detected. After its issue the nervous trunk becomes swelled ; and I 
once succeeded in seeing in this swelling a ganglionic cell with its 
nucleus. It is only behind the swelling that the trunk divides, as 
described by Miiller and Quatrefages. I believe that the swelling 
represents the spinal ganglion of the vertebrata. 

Termination of the Nerves.—Of this, Quatrefages saw two modes: 
in one he saw and depicted a nervous filament, ‘‘ terminating in some 
small ovoid vesicular organs, with proportionally thick walls, which 
are probably muciparous crypts;’’ in the other he saw the nerves 
terminate in transparent homogeneous filaments, which at their very 
extremity ‘‘ spread out to form an irregular cone, cr a small ma- 
milla applied against the inner layer of the integuments.” The 
structures described by Quatrefages exist, but he observed only the 
beginning of the end. The little vesicular organs do not constitute 
a termination, but they are placed in the course of the last ramifica- 
tions of the nerves. There are two kinds of these bodies—large and 
small. It is especially in the upper part of the head that I have 
seen them; in the lower part and in the margin of the fin they are 
much fewer. But these bodies, which at the first glance have the 
form of a nucleated cell, are only loops of the nervous fibre; that 
is to say, the fibre, instead of running straight onwards, turns round 
upon itself. Sometimes the arrangement is repeated, so that the 


Miscellaneous. 158 


same fibre presents several points at which there are these bodies. 
Where they are large (having a diameter of from 0°012 to 0:020 
mill.), the nerve upon which they occur is large. Besides the large 
bodies, there are smaller ones, only 0°006 mill. in diameter. Large 
and small loops are found upon the same nerve ; but the small loops 
occur sometimes before and sometimes beyond the large ones. The 
terminations of the nerves are not in these loops. 

In the Branchiostoma we have the great advantage of being able 
to examine the nerves from their origin to their extremities. The 
space traversed by them in the head is very small. Thus, if we take 
one of the three nerves which issue from the anterior extremity of the 
central nervous system, and which, running from above downwards, 
distributes itself in the lower part of the head, its length from its 
origin to its termination in the lower margin of the head is only 4 mill. 
At the origin the trunk is not more than =)—,/5 mill. in thickness. 
At 5% mill. from the origin this nerve divides into three branches, 
each of which is =, mill. indiameter. At 5% mill. further on, each 


; 5 

branch again@divides, and each division is about J; mill. m thickness. 
At j< mill. further, there is another division into several filaments, 
each ++, mill. in diameter. From this the residue of the divisions 
has still to traverse a distance of ;% mill. to the lower margin of the 
head. The thickness of the nerves diminishes to 51, mill.; and from 
these very delicate filaments the terminations arise, although some have 
already originated from the anterior trunks. The final terminations 
are very short branches—little cylinders, which issue from the two 
sides of the terminal trunks in great quantities, and which measure 
soo mill. in diameter and a little more in length. Up to this point, 
and including the terminal cylinders, the nerves have a transparent 
sheath with granular contents, which prevent our seeing the primi- 
tive nervous fibres which were readily detected in the roots of the 
nerves. In some places indeed something like fibres may be seen, 
but this is rare. But at the extremities of the cylinders we see issu- 
ing from their midst the terminal nerve-fibres, which are transparent, 
greyish, without the least trace of granules, and without a sheath. 
It is only with a power of 450 to 500 diameters that they can be 
clearly seen. But im order to trace their ultimate distribution a 
power of 750 diameters is necessary. The terminal fibre, a cylin- 
draxis, measuring 0°0005, 0°0008, and 0:001 mill. in diameter, di- 
vides afresh, and becomes a little dilated on issuing ; from these 
inflations, which contain neither nucleus nor granules, issue fibres 
which run to other small inflations, and so on. In this manner is 
formed a network, which [ at first believed to be terminal ; but some- 
times, on slightly moving the screw of the microscope, I have seen 
starting, from what I thought to be the end, other filaments which 
I could trace no further. 

I have said that the cylindraxes divide after issuing from the ter- 
minal cylinders; but the primitive fibres of the trunks must also di- 
vide. At the origin there are only from five to seven primitive fibres. 
In forming the terminal cylinders, of which the number amounts to 
twenty, thirty, or even more, the primitive fibres must subdivide. 


154 Miscellaneous. 


Retzius, Miller, Kolliker, and Quatrefages speak of two eyes ; 
Schultze only found a single one. By examining numerous indi- 
viduals we find that some have two eyes, whilst others have only one. 
—Comptes Rendus, March 7, 1864, p. 479. we 


Recent Discovery of Fossil Human Remains near Abbeville. 


The ‘ Abbevillois’ of the 19th July contains a long account of 
recent discoveries of human remains in the valley of the Somme, not 
by the questionable intervention of the labourers, but by the personal 
exertions of M. Boucher de Perthes and his friends. At Moulin- 
Quignon, where the celebrated jaw was found, M. Boucher de Perthes 
has obtained numerous bones of men and animals from depths of 
from 2 to 4 metres in undisturbed beds; and on the 24th-of April in 
the present year, Dr. Dubois and he found numerous fragments of 
bone in the yellowish-brown bed, 2 metres from the surface; and 60 
centimetres lower down Dr. Dubois caught sight of an imbedded bone 
which proved to be a human sacrum. In the sable aigre in another 
part of the quarry, a bed so hard as to render the pickaxe necessary, 
a human tooth was seen fixed in its sandy matrix, and was extracted 
by M. Boucher de Perthes. 

On the Ist of May the same gentleman found, at a depth of 23 
metres in the ferruginous bed, three fragments of a cranium in very 
bad condition, but probably human. The grey bed furnished, with 
some other bones, a fragment of a human tooth. On the 12th of 
May, M. Hersent-Duval, in company with MM. Boucher de Perthes 
and Dubois, extracted a fragment of a human cranium from its place 
at a depth of 2°30 metres. 

On the 17th of May the party was joimed by M. Martin and the 
Abbé Dergny, when they found and extracted a human cranium, 
which is said to be remarkably depressed at the summit. None of 
the party doubted that this bone had occupied the position in which 
it was found ever since the formation of the bed. 

On the 9th of July the examining party was increased in number 
by several members of the Société d’ Emulation of Abbeville, and 
again several fragments of human bones were seen in place and ex- 
tracted. On the 16th a still larger body, including M. Buteux and 
M. de Mercey (the latter having come on purpose from Paris), pro- 
ceeded to the scene of operations ; the digging was continued down 
even to the surface of the chalk, and several human bones were found, 
one of them at the very bottom of the deposit, upon the chalk itself. 

Among the human bones found are two fragments of the upper 
jaw and an almost entire lower jaw; the latter was obtained at a 
depth of 4°30 metres, and 22 metres from the resting-place of the 
jaw found on the 28th of March 1863, which the newly discovered 
bone is said to resemble in its form. 


Discovery of Fossil Stone Implements in India. 


At a recent meeting of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal, Pro- 
fessor Oldham exhibited a small collection of stone implements 
which had very recently been discovered by Messrs. King and 


Miscellaneous. 155 


Foote, of the Geological Survey of India, near Madras. These 
were all of the ruder forms, so well known as characterizing the 
flint implements which have excited so much attention within the last 
few years in Kurope. They were all formed of dense semivitreous 
quartzite—a rock which occurred in immense abundance in districts 
close to where these implements had been found, and which formed 
a very good substitute for the flints of north Europe. This was the 
first instance in which, so far as he knew, such stone implements had 
~ been found in India in situ. True celts, of a totally different type 
and much higher finish, and in every respect identical with those 
found in Scotland and Ireland, had been met with in large numbers 
in Central India, but never actually imbedded in any deposits. They 
were invariably found under holy trees or in sacred places, and were 
objects of reverence and worship to the people, who could give no 
information as to the source from which they had been originally 
gathered together. A single and very doubtful fragment of a stone 
implement had been found by Mr. W. Theobald, jun., in examining 
the deposits of the Gangetic plains near the Soane river. This oc- 
curred in the Kunkurry clay of that district ; but, with this excep- 
tion, he was not aware of any stone implements of any kind having 
previously been noticed im sifu anywhere in India. Those now on 
the table had been collected partly by himself, from a ferruginous 
lateritic gravel-bed, which extended irregularly over a very large 
area west of Madras. In places this was at least 15 feet below the 
surface, cut through by streams, and in one such place, from which 
some of the specimens on the table were procured, there stood an 
old ruined pagoda on the surface, evidencing that, at least at the 
time of its construction, that surface was a permanent one. This 
bed of gravel was in many places exposed on the surface, and had 
been partially denuded ; and it was in such localities, where these 
implements had been washed out of the bed, and lay strewed on the 
surface, that they were found most plentifully. 

Mr. Oldham remarked on the great interest attaching to such 
a discovery, and on the probable age of the deposit in which they 
occurred. Another point of interest connected with the history of 
such implements was the remarkable fact that while, scattered in 
abundance over the districts where they occurred, were noble re- 
mains of what would by many be called Druidical character-circles 
of large standing stones, cromlechs, kistvaens, often of large size 
and well preserved, all of which were traditionally referred to the 
Karumbers, a race of which there still existed traces in the hills, 
still all the weapons and implements of every kind found in these 
stoné structures were invariably of iron. No information whatever 
regarding these stone implements could be obtained from the pea- 
santry, who had been quite unaware of their existence.—Journ. of 
the Asiatic Society of Bengal, No.1. (1864). 


On the Present State of Malacological Nomenclature. 
By Puicip P. Carpenter, B.A., Ph.D. 


At a time when the British Association are about to revise their 


156 Miscellaneous. 


« Rules,” it may be worth while to collect the experience of workers 
in different branches of science. 

The nomenclature of Mollusca is not only in a most unsettled con- 
dition, but there seems no hope of bringing leading writers to an 
agreement on any first principles. Dr. Gray, whose contributions 
to malacology are second to none, and whose position at the head 
of the department in the British Museum would alone give the 
greatest weight to his example, has systematically ignored the 
principles on : which the British Association Rules are based. 'The 
Messrs. Adams in England, Morch in Copenhagen, many of the Ger- 
man and most of the rising American naturalists take the same 
course. In France the influence of Lamarck has restrained the 
modern antiquarian innovation. 

Existing writers may be divided into two classes—(1) those who 
profess the absolute law of priority, and (2) those who accept it 
with limitations. 

The advocates of “ mere priority ”’ claim that their rule is the only 
one which admits of fixed application. It is granted that, if limita- 
tions are once allowed, there will be differences of opinion as to their 
amount: but does the refusal of limitations produce uniformity ? 
Putting aside the variations of opinion as to the greater or less divi- 
sion of genera, how can authors be brought to agree as to wherein the 
naming of a form consists? Those who compare Dr. Gray’s ‘ Guide’ 
with Ndaane? ‘ Genera,’ or Dr. Gray’s generic names at one date with 
his names at another, will find that the mere-priority rule is thoroughly 
uncertain in its application, principally in consequence of the very 
loose definitions, and probably loose ideas, of the early writers. A 
modern author ¢hinks that Klein or Link meant by a certain name a 
genus existing in his own mind, which he accordingly calls Tatts, 
Klein. But a second author thinks (and is quite sure he is right in 
thinking) that Taxis, AJein, means what is now considered a differ- 
ent genus, and alters the first author’s series of names accordingly. 
Perhaps Klein meant neither the first, nor the second, nor both ; 
but had a vague idea which it is now only confusing to endeavour to 
reproduce. ‘The mere-priority writers often judge of the old authors 
by their types or figures; but even the Linnean genera cannot thus 
be understood, and many authors place their typical species in the 
middle of the series. 

Once more, among the mere-priority writers, some accept a name 
only if published with description or figure; others, if the name be 
printed in a list or catalogue ; others, if the name be written in a 
public, and others, even in a private collection. But perhaps the 
namer has only spoken the name, or merely thought it; according 
to the strictest law of priority, might not even these claim precedence ? 

If the principle of limitation be once allowed, questions of detail 

can be debated and settled with tolerable ease ; and if one author 
calls his species Gray?, another grayi, and a third Gr ayana, we all 
know what is meant, and that may suffice. But if a modern author 
quotes a Cyclas, a Capsa, or a Siliquaria, who knows what is meant ? 

Nomenclature clearly is for usr, not for honour or fancy. That 

is the best which (1) expresses what it means, and (2) cannot mean 


Miscellaneous. 157 


anything else. That moreover is publication, in the highest sense, 
which is found to be in universal use. If in property there is a 
statute of limitations, and a given number of years’ undisturbed 
possession is tantamount to a right, is there not the same reason for 
limiting property ina name? Why should not long-accepted La- 
marckian names be regarded as much sacred as are considered those 
of Linneeus ? 

If such are the difficulties of settling the language of the past, not 
much less are those of the present. In old times a Buccinum, a 
Bulla, a Mya, meant almost anything. In Lamarckian times, a Chi- 
ton, a Cerithium, a Pleurotoma meant what would now be called a 
family. If a writer describes under these genera, we know at least 
in what large division to search for his species. But if he describes 
a Rissoa, a Modelia, a Truncatella, we have a right to suppose he 
means what he says, and cannot be expected to look for his species 
in another suborder. If his Rissoa proves to be a Chrysallida, his 
Modelia a Lacuna, and his Truncatella a Hydrobia, is he entitled 
to priority if his successor, anxiously desirous to make out his 
species, has been compelled though necessary ignorance to redescribe ? 
Very often neither the diagnosis nor the figure represent the real 
shell. If an author, seeing one object before his eyes, which he calls 
his type, describes another, and sends a third to the Cumingian col- 
lection to represent his species, for which must his name stand? 
Does it not really belong to the ¢dea in his own mind which is em- 
bodied in his diagnosis, or (if an artist) in his figure, rather than to 
the shell which is not represented by either one or the other? A 
truthful name therefore, even though second or third in time, may 
be more useful to science than a false one given first. 

Space only allows us to point out one more difficulty in modern 
nomenclature. In old times a species (and even a genus) was sup- 
posed to be clearly defined. ‘The Darwinian theory offers a satis- 
factory explanation of some facts in nature, to many who are not 
prepared fully to accept it. very worker among large series finds 
forms which may or may not prove conspecific with others, the evi- 
dence not being as yet conclusive ; he describes these as doubtful 
?varieties. Does not the careful naming and description of a form 
establish a claim for priority, whether by succeeding writers that form 
be regarded as a variety, a species, or even a genus? 

It depends much on habit of mind whether authors prefer to work 
by large or by minute divisions. When we speak of Callista undu- 
lata, it is a matter of little consequence whether Calista be regarded 
as a subgenus of Cytherea or a separate genus, whether undulata 
be regarded as a variety of planulata or a distinct species. What 
is of consequence is, that all the scientific world should have the 
means of knowing at once what group of forms are included in Ca/- 
lista, what kind of individuals in wadulata. First, then, we need 
accurate descriptions, then these descriptions condensed into useful 
nomenclature. Science being a republic, there is no chance of even 
the forthcoming Rules of the British Association being considered 
obligatory. But many persons who will not allow themselves to be 
ruled, against what they consider a principle, may yet be brought to 


158 Miscellaneous. 


make concessions. The Academicians had great success in fixing the 
French language. Why should there not be a congress of malaco- 
logical authors*, undertaken in a spirit of mutual respect, who 
should fix such names to existing genera as in each case should prove 
most useful because most widely or easily understood? If travelling 
is dear, postage is cheap. At present, to teach the science is almost 
hopeless : to labour in it is fraught to each worker with the unneces- 
sary sacrifice of most valuable time. All considerations of supposed 
honour to individuals, whether dead or living (which often is equi- 
valent to dishonour, because evidence of work done badly), ought to 
give way to the manifest benefit, we might almost say necessity, of 
using words to express a given meaning mm science, as we do in com- 
mon life. 


On Hermaphrodite Bees. By Professor von StrBoLD. 


An intelligent apiarian at Constance, M. Engster, was struck, four 
years ago, by the abundant production of hermaphrodite bees in a 
Dzierzon hive inhabited by Italian bees. Similar monstrosities have 
already been occasionally mentioned. At the commencement of 
this century aschoolmaster of thename of Lukas, described them under 
the name of “ Sting-drones”’ (Stacheldrohnen) ; but his discovery 
was regarded as fabulous, and it is only of late that MM. Deenhoff 
and Menzel have recognized some hermaphrodite bees. It is fortunate 
that so competent an observer as Professor Siebold has been able to 
investigate the abundant supply of these monstrosities furnished by 
M. Engster’s hive, as Deenhoff ascribes perfect male generative organs 
to the individuals dissected by him, whilst Menzel always found 
those organs atrophied. 

Professor Siebold differs from both his predecessors, having found 
among the hermaphrodite bees a mixture of sexual characters not 
only in those organs which are not directly connected with repro- 
duction, but also in the generative apparatus itself. The mixture of 
these characters varies greatly in different individuals. It is mani- 
fested sometimes only in the anterior, sometimes only in the posterior 
part of the body ; sometimes in all parts of the body, and sometimes 
only in a few organs. Some individuals present the characters of a 
drone on the right side, and on the left those of a worker; others 
are drones in front, and workers behind. The intercalation of dif- 
ferent sexual parts sometimes takes place very curiously. Lastly, in 
some individuals the hermaphroditism is limited to the borrowing of 
the characters of a single organ (jaws, eyes, antennee, or feet) from 
the other sex. 

The internal organization presents anomalies of the same kind, 
but the hermaphroditism of the generative organs is rarely related to 
that of the external parts. The sting, with its vesicle and poison- 
gland, is well developed in the hermaphrodites with the abdomen of 
the worker ; it is soft and deformed in those in which the abdomen 
resembles that of the drone. The oviduct is often furnished with 


* This was proposed, for naturalists in general, by Dr. Stimpson : vide 
*Silliman’s Journal’ for March 1860, pp. 289-293. 


Miscellaneous. 159 


a seminal receptacle, which is always empty. The ovaries are com- 
posed of a few tubes, always destitute of ova. In those herma- 
phrodites of which the abdomen presents exactly the form peculiar 
to the drones, the copulatory apparatus exists in as complicated a 
form as usual ; the vas deferens and the testes are also well formed, 
and the latter are full of spermatozoids. 

A frequent form of hermaphroditism consists in the simultaneous 
presence on each side of a few testicular coils and ovarian tubes, 
whilst the epididymis and male copulatory apparatus are well deve- 
loped, and an imperfect poison-apparatus is also present. In this 
case spermatozoids are formed, but no ova. 

It is interesting to note that these hermaphrodites are seized by the 
workers at the moment of their issuing from the cells, and thrown 
pitilessly out of the hive. Their integuments being still soft, they 
cannot fly, and consequently soon perish. The queen of the hive 
which furnished these hermaphrodites is of the pure Italian breed, 
and five years old ; she presents no abnormal appearance externally. 

Professor Siebold, although unable positively to explain the mode 
of production of these hermaphrodites, does not consider that they 
present a phenomenon incompatible with the parthenogenetic theory 
of Dzierzon. In other animals the semen givesthe impulse to the 
development of the egg; the result of the influence of the semen of 
the drone is to impress the female character upon the ova, which, 
if not fecundated, would produce male individuals. The author 
thinks that we may assume a certain minimum quantity of semen to 
be necessary for the fecundation of an egg. In most animals a 
quantity of semen inferior to this minimum, of course, exerts no action, 
and the egg is not developed ; but in bees, whose ova are capable of 
development without fecundation, things must go on differently. 
Normally fecundation transforms the male egg of the bee into a fe- 
male egg. This conversion probably requires the action of a certain 
number of spermatozoids; but if some accidental circumstance prevents 
the necessary quantity of spermatozoids from penetrating the vitellus, 
the ege, without being completely converted into a female one, will 
nevertheless be disturbed in its development in such a way as to pro- 
duce a mixture of the characters of the two sexes.—Siebold and 
Killiker’s ‘ Zeitschrift, 1864, p. 73. 


On the Aérial Roots of the Orchidee. 
By H. Leirers. 


The cellular tissue forming the outer layer of the aérial roots of 
tropical Orchidez, and described by Schleiden under the name of 
the “‘root-envelope,” is neither placed above the epidermis, as sup- 
posed by Schleiden and Chatin, nor, as asserted by Schacht and 
Oudemans, the outer part of the primary bark, and therefore covered 
by the epidermis, but a cellular structure in the epidermis. The 
root-envelope is not developed from a cellular tissue already deposited 
beneath the epidermis by the primitive parenchyma of the vegetative 
cone, but subsequently and directly from the epidermis by the divi- 


160 Miscellaneous. 


sion of its cells, by which means the epidermis itself ceases to exist 
as such. 

Consequently the outermost layer of cells on the surface (of a 
root-envelope consisting of several layers of cells) is not the epidermis, 
but is to be regarded, from its mode of production, as equivalent 
to all the other “layers. The cells of this layer may grow out into 
radical hairs in all plants, but these are frequently produced only 
when the roots adhere to foreign bodies. The hairs are often rami- 
fied and variously thickened, and may be unrolled, in many plants, 
in spiral bands. 

In every root-envelope many cells are perforated when old. This 
may be proved anatomically in many cases, and may always be de- 
monstrated by injection with insoluble colouring-matters. 

The layer of cells situated beneath the root= -envelope, and called 
the “ endodermis”’ by Oudemans, cannot, in accordance with its 
developmental history, be regarded as epidermis. Fissure-like ori- 
fices are never seen in it; and when such have been supposed to be 
seen, this depends upon an illusion produced by the section, The 
endodermis is present in the aérial roots of all Orchideze, and never 
lies on the surface. It always consists of two kinds of cells—namely, 
elongated cells the outer walls of which at least are thickened, and 
shorter cells which are always thin-walled. The latter always have 
a remarkably large nucleus; the walls of the cells of the root-enve- 
lope adjacent to them are usually thickened in a different manner 
from those which cover the elongated cells of the endodermis. When 
the root-envelopes consist of but few series of cells, there is over 
these a group of variously formed cells which may be described as 
covering-cells (Deckzellen). 

The cortical parenchyma, the thickened ring, and the medulla 
present peculiarities in the mode of thickening of their cells which 
we do not meet with in the aérial roots of plants of other families. 

The aérial roots of many Aroideze likewise possess a root-envelope 
agreeing precisely, both in structure and development, with that 
occurring in the Orchideze. The aérial roots of the Cactez, on the 
contrary, are destitute of a root-envelope.—Bericht der Akad. der 
Wiss. zu Wien, May 12, 1864, p. 87. 


Description of a new Mustela from Quito. 
By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c. 


Mr. Gould has transferred to the British Museum the skin of a 
small Mustela, received from Quito, which is very distinct from any 
we have previously seen. Itis about the size of the European Weasel. 


MustTELA AUREOVENTRIS. 


Dark brown; chin and side of the throat white; throat, chest, 
inside of fore legs, and belly golden yellow; whiskers black; tail 
rather tapering, as long as the body ; the soles of the hind feet hairy ; ; 
the pad of the toes bald, callous, hairy on the sides; ears rounded, 
hairy. Length of body and head 6 inches, of tail 44 inches. 

Hab, Ecuador, Proc. Zool. Soc. Feb. 9, 1864. 


THE ANNALS 


AND 


MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 


[THIRD SERIES. ] 


No. 81. SEPTEMBER 1864. 


XVI.—A_ Description of some Fossil. Corals and Echinoderms 
from the South-Australian Tertiaries. By P. Martin Dun- 
can, M.B. (Lond.), F. & Sec. Geol. Soc. 


[Plates V. & VI.] 


THE interesting simple Corals about to be described came from 
Muddy Creek and the Murray beds, and the Echinoderms from 
the latter locality *. The forms are more interesting, as yet, 
zoologically than geologically ; for very little can be determined 
from them concerning the age of the beds whence they were 
derived. The great Australian Tertiary formation is not of one 
age, but the fossils from Muddy Creek and the Murray give part 
of it a synchronism with the Upper Miocene and older Pliocene 
of Europe, and with the latest Miocene Coral-beds of the West 
Indies. Very probably the Tertiaries of Java, described by 
Mr. Jenkins +, and those whose Echinoderms have been studied 
by Herklots{, are of the same relative age. 


List of Species. 

1. Caryophyllia viola, n. sp. 8. Trochoseris Woodsi, n. sp. 
2. Flabellum Victoriee, n. sp. sess 
3. Gambierense, n. sp. 9. Cell Gambi ae 
A Caadeanum: Hvwnrds . Cellepora Gambierensis, Bush. 

&§ Haime. ECHINODERMATA. 
5. Placotrochus elongatus, n. sp. 10. Hemipatagus Forbesi, Woods 
6. deltoideus, n. sp. § Dune. 
7. Balanophyllia Australiensis, 11. Clypeaster folium, var., 

n. sp. Agassiz. 


* Most of the specimens were sent to me by the Rev. J. Woods, of 
Penola, the learned author of ‘ Geological Observations in South Australia ;’ 
several were already in the cabinet of the Geological Society. 

+ Quart. Journ. Geol. Soe. vol. xx. p. 45. 

{ Echinoderms (Leyden). 


Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. xiv. 11 


162. Dr. P.M. Dunean on Fossil Corals and Echinoderms 


1. Caryophylla viola, nobis, n. sp. PI. V. fig. 1. 
Turbinolia viola, Woods, MS.* 


The coral is cuneiform and very compressed at the base, 
which is rounded inferiorly. The calice is elliptical and shallow. : 
The septa are delicate; the principal are exsert and rounded, 
having large lateral spiny granules. There are six systems of 
septa, and four cycles. The three first orders are nearly equal ; 
but the septa of the fourth and fifth orders are small, curve 
towards and touch the tertiary. The pali are tall rounded lobes 
on the tertiary septa; they are stout, larger than the end of the 
septa, and are sparsely granular. The columella is long and 
papillary. The costz are visible to the base, are slightly wavy | 
in their course, are separated by distinct grooves, and are of 
different lengths, those of the higher orders joining the others 
which reach to the base. All are visibly crenulate and faintly 
granular. 

In form the coral resembles a Sphenotrochus, the papille 
on the columella resemble those of Brachycyathus: the single 
row of pali and the distinct costee determine it to be one of the 
Caryophyllie ; but the absence of an epitheca is remarkable. It 
is a very beautiful form, and, without its calice, would be taken 
for an Eocene Turbinolian. 

Height 54, inch; length of calice =3, inch, width of calice 
25 inch. 

Locality.—Violet Creek, near Muddy Creek, South Australia. 


2. Flabellum Victoria, n.sp. PI. V. fig. 2. 


The coral presents a large basilar erosion, the result of the 
breaking-off of the peduncle: it has a sharp lateral spine on 
either side, which projects outwards and downwards, and which 
is situate immediately above the erosion. The coral is tall, 
compressed more below than above; its sides are slightly con- 
cave, and it is furnished with an epitheca which has faint trans- 
verse markings. The sides of the coral, were they produced 
towards the attachment, would form an angle of about 20°; 
they are rounded off, and only present the spine already noticed. 
The calice is elliptical ; the plane of the smaller axis is slightly 
higher than that of the larger ; the fossa is shallow, but centrally 
deep, narrow, and long, and the wall is thin. The septa are 
delicate, not exsert, are very slightly rounded, marked by large 
granules in series, and are unequal. There are four cycles in 
six systems, the primary and secondary septa being equal. 
There is no columella. The coste are not represented by the 


* The specimen was thus labelled by the Rev. J. Woods. I have not 
seen the MS, 


from the South-Australian Tertiaries. 163 


rounded longitudinal markings beneath the epitheca, but the 
septa are continuous with the furrows between. There are 
therefore no cost, but the intercostal spaces are developed: into 
rounded ridges. 

Height =, inch; length of calice 38; mch, breadth of calice 
<7 Inch. 


Locality.—Muddy Creek, South Australia. 


3. Flabellum Gambierense, n.sp. PI. V. fig. 3. 


The coral is tall, faintly curved, has a long tapering pedicel, 
concave sides, and neither crests nor spines; it is compressed, 
has a strong epitheca, whose folds are arched and finely linear, 
and a calice oval-elliptical in shape. ‘The septa are in six sys- 
tems of four cycles ; the primary and secondary are equal, stout, 
granular, and enlarged internally, where their ends form a rudi- 
mentary parietal columella. The other septa are smaller and 
granular. The coste are but slightly developed. ‘ 

Height of coral =; inch; length of calice ;4; inch; width of 
calice =3, inch. 

‘Locality. Tertiaries of Mount Gambier, South Australia. 
Coll. Geol. Soc. 


4. Flabellum Candeanum, Edwards & Haime. 


This species, now existing in the Chinese seas, is found fossil 
in the Murray Tertiaries of South Australia. Coll. Geol. Soc. 


5. Placotrochus elongatus, n. sp. PI. V. fig. 4. 


The coral is very tall in relation to its breadth, straight, 
greatly compressed, especially inferiorly, finely pedicellate and 
cuneiform. The sides are rounded, slightly swollen out here 
and there, and form an angle of about 15°-20°. The anterior 
and posterior surfaces are flat. The calice is small, elliptical, 
and rounded at the sides; it has slightly exsert septa, which are 
rounded, thin, delicate, unequal, and in six systems of four 
cycles. The fossa is central, deep, and long; the columella is 
seen at the bottom of it as a distinct, straight lamella: the co- 
lumella is stout in the body of the coral, and is thinner at its 
free edge; laterally it is marked by distinct papille, which mark 
the junction of the principal septa, and it is “essential.” The 
lamellz of the septa are delicate, highly granular, and are often 
wavy at the inner margin. The small axis of the calice is slightly 
higher than the longer. The cost are faintly marked, The 
epitheca is in strong curved folds. 

Height =3; inch; length of calice ;3; inch, breadth of calice 
+2; Inch, 

Locality. Muddy Creek, South Australia. 

11* 


164 Dr. P.M. Dunean on Fossil Corals and Echinoderms 


6. Placotrochus deltoideus, n. sp. PI. V. fig. 5. 


The coral is conical, finely pedicellate, greatly compressed 
inferiorly, less so superiorly, has a rugged, sharp, not very pro- 
minent costal projection on either side, but is not spined. The 
calice is large, elliptical, with rather acute ends ; apparently, the 
smaller axis is higher than the longer; its wall is thin, and the 
fossa is shallow, except centrally, where it is deeper and presents 
the thin lamellar columella. The septa are numerous, unequal, 
the larger touching the columella and joining it by small pro- 
cesses, the smaller reaching but a little distance inwards. There 
are six systems and five incomplete cycles. The septa are not 
exsert, are feebly arched, and are very delicate; the lamine are 
granular, and their internal margin is often wavy. The colu- 
mella is very sharp, thin, faintly papillate, and distinct. The 
coste are small, except the lateral crests. The epitheca is 
_ strongly developed, being in arched ridges. The costz are often 
chevroned beneath it. The lateral crests form an angle of 60°. 

Height of coral 1 inch; length of calice ;=% inch, breadth of 
calice ;4, inch. 

Locality. Muddy Creek, South Australia. 

Variety: Bursarius, with the lateral crests forming convex 
ridges inferiorly. 


7. Balanophyllia Australensis, un. sp. PI. VI. fig. 1. 


The corallum is pedicillate, free, long, cylindrical, tapering 
and occasionally curved. The calice is elliptical, the fossa is 
shallow, the septa are not exsert, and the columella is large. 
There are five cycles of septa in six systems, the smaller septa 
joining others very close to the wall of the calice, which is thin. 
The coste are numerous, equal, and consist of fine laminz, each 
of which has two rows of delicate dentations connected trans- 
versely. The epitheca is seen near the base. 

Height of coral 14 inch; width of calice =45 inch. 

Locality. Muddy Creek, South Australia. 


8. Trochoseris Woodsi, n. sp. PI. VI. fig. 2. 


The coral is fixed by a small pedicel, above which it expands 
at first irregularly, and then largely. The wall is covered by a 
pellicular epitheca, which shows traces of subequal coste. The 
calice is widely open, irregularly circular, with a thin edge and 
a small central fossula. The septa are not exsert, are crowded 
and delicate, there being not much difference in the size of those 
of the principal cycles; in six systems of five cycles, with half 
a sixth in each. The smaller septa very generally join the 
larger, and the larger reach the central fossula, The lamine 


from the South-Australian Tertiaries. 165 


are delicate, straight, and well marked laterally by the synapti- 
cule. The columella is small. 

Height =2; inch; breadth of calice 5; inch. 

Locality. Muddy Creek, South Australia. 


BRYOZOON. 
9. Cellepora Gambierensis, Busk. 
Locality. Muddy Creek, South Australia. 


ECHINODERMATA,. 


10. Hemipatagus Forbesit, Woods & Duncan. PI. VI. fig. 3. 
Spatangus Forbesi, Woods. 
Hemipatagus Hoffmanni, Goldf. sp. (Sturt). 

This common Echinoderm has been confounded both with the 
Hemipatagus Hoffmanni, Goldf., of Biinde, and with the Hemi- 
patagus Griynomensis, Agass., whose synonym, SpatangusOmalii, 
Galeotti, will be recognized as denoting a form described by 
E. Forbes in the Belgian Eocene. The Rev. J. Woods has called 
it Spatangus Forbesi; but I cannot find any description of it, 
although it is figured (p. 75, ‘South Australia,’ Woods). The 
species is clearly not H. Hoffmanni, and Sturt’s mistake was cor- 
rected by Mr. Woods. Mr. Woods having figured the species, 
I append his name with my own. 

Test depressed, rather cordiform, nearly as broad as long,rounded 
and sulcated in front, rather angular laterally and truncated pos- 
teriorly. It is highest posteriorly, where it is roof-shaped; and it 
slopes gradually anteriorly. The ambulacral summit is nearly cen- 
tral. Inferiorly the test is slightly concave and irregular; the 
plastron is smoother than the rest ; the peristome is transverse, 
semilunar, and there is a prominent posterior lip. The anterior 
sulcus is broad, shallow, and rounded. The ambulacral areas are 
lanceolate, the anterior being wide apart. The poriferous zones 
are sunken and broad ; the pores are conjugate ; the interpori- 
ferous zones are slightly raised, and are faintly tuberculated. 
There are four generative pores, the anterior pair being closer 
than the posterior. There are no large tubercles in the posterior 
interambulacral space or in the posterior third of the central 
space ; they are large and few in the rest of the interambulacral 
spaces. The very small tubercles of the posterior space are very 
crowded. The large tubercles which are seen inferiorly also are 
nearly cylindrical, perforate, but not crenulate; the scrobicula 
is deep, and the tubercles are often in contact with one part of 
the scrobicular circle. 

Height of specimens 4 inch, length 1 inch. 

Locality. The Murray, Mount Gambier, South Australia. 
Coll. Geol. Soc. 


166 Dr. P.M. Duncan on Fossil Corals and Echinoderms 


The species is closely allied to H. Hoffmanni, Goldf.; but it 
has non-crenulate tubercles, which have a tendency to touch the 
scrobicular circle. It is easily distinguished from the Javan 
Tertiary species, and from the Hemipatagus Grignoniensis. 


11. Clypeaster folium, Agassiz. 


Var. with a marginal periproct. 
Locality. Muddy Creek, the Murray, South Australia. Coll. 
Geol. Soe. 


Remarks on the Species. 


The Caryophyllia viola is readily distinguished by the structure 
of its coste, the rounded and compressed base, the papillary 
columella, and the tall pali. At first sight it resembles the 
Pleurocyathi of the German Oligocene, but a careful examination 
determines its genus readily. The new species has no resem- 
blance to the Caryophyllia of the Sicilian Pliocene, and it has 
not any recent allies. The generic name of Cyathina appears to 
have met with little favour of late; and the species formerly 
classified under that name are now termed Caryophyllia by M. 
Milne-Edwards, the old Caryophyllia becoming Lithophyllia. 

The three species of the genus FV/abellum are remarkable: one 
is known to exist. at the present day on the Chinese coast, and 
the others are new to zoology. FF. Candeanum and the new F. 
Victorie are the first instances of fossil Flabella truncata. The 
species included in this section of the genus have as yet been 
found as recent Corals in the Chinese, Oceanic, and Australian 
waters. It was to be expected that some of them, or some ex- 
tinct members of the section, would be found in the Tertiaries 
of Australia. 

The F. Gambierense is a pedicellate species, with a low septal 
number; and its nearest species (remote, however) is #. Galla- 
pagense (Miocene). 

The Placotrochi are also remarkable; for either both the spe- 
cies indicate that the lamellar columella is an insufficient ge- 
neric distinction, or they afford an extraordinary example of 
mimetism in two closely allied genera. The genus Flabellum 
does not differ from the genus Placotrochus, except that it has 
no essential and lamellar columella; but there are parallel spe- 
cies of both genera with the columellar distinction alone. That 
is to say, there are pedicellate Flabella and Placotrochi—some 
compressed, with lateral crests, numerous septa, and wide calices, 
others without crests, and some are cuneiform: there are trun- 
cate species of both genera, and in Jamaica (Miocene of Bowden) 
there is a section im which both genera are costulated and 


from the South-Australian Tertiaries. 167 


without epitheca. The species P. alveolus (nobis), from the 
West-Indian Miocene, is unique. 

The first species of the genus were described by MM. Milne. 
Edwards and Jules Haime*—the P. levis of the Philippines 
and P. Candeanus of the Chinese seas. The next species were 
described in my Essay on the Fossil Corals of the West-Indian 
Islandst. The P. Lonsdalei resembles the Flabellum avicula in 
many respects; but the P. alveolus is unlike any other species 
m its general shape. Lately some fossils from the Jamaica 
Miocene have been described by me; but they are not yet pub- 
lished: amongst them are P. costatus and the Flabellum which 
is mimetic—the Flabellum exaratum, Dunc. MSS. The group 
then stands as follows, with its mimetic Flabella :— 


Pedicellate Placotrochi. Pedicellate Flabella. 


Placotrochus Lonsdalei, Dune. Flabellum avicula, Mich., sp. 
deltoideus, n. sp. Siciliense, #. § H. 


elongatus, n. sp. cuneiforme, Lonsdale. 


Truncate Placotrochi. Truncate Flabella. 


Placotrochus Candeanus, Z. § H. | Flabellum compressum, Lamk.,sp. 
levis, L. § H. crenulatum, 2. & H. 


Placotrochus without epitheca. Flabellum without epitheca, 
Placotrochus costatus, n. sp. Flabellum exaratum, n. sp. 
Anomalous. 


Placotrochus alveolus, Dune. 


The truncate Flabella are all recent, except in the instance 
now noticed ; and, until the discovery of Placotrochus Candeanus 
in the Muddy Creek, the truncate Placotrochi were the recent 
forms: all the others belong to the Miocene age. There is no 
more than a generic relation between the West-Indian and the 
Australian Tertiary Placotrochi. 

The new Balanophylia has only a generic affinity with B. 
Cumingui, EK. & H., of the Philippines, and is more closely allied 
to the B. prelonga, Michel., sp., of the Turin Miocene : it belongs 
to the same section of the genus as the Italian form, and they 
have several peculiarities in common. The new species is no- 
thing like our Crag species. 

The Trochoseris Woodsi has only a generic affinity with the 
T. Stokesi, EK. & H., from the Philippimes, and is very distinct 
from the Hocene forms. 

Cellepora Gambierensis, Busk, is a characteristic fossil of the 
‘Mount-Gambier Tertiaries. 


* Hist. Nat. des Corall. vol. ii. p. 98. 
+ Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xix. 


168 Dr. P.M. Duncan on Fossil Corals and Echinoderms. 


Hemipatagus Forbesi appears to be a common fossil in the 
South-Australian Tertiaries. The genus is separated from Spa- 
tangus by Desor*, on account of the defective fascioles and of 
the absence of large tubercles in the posterior interambulacral 
area. The European species are found in Eocene and Miocene 
strata, and H. Hoffmanni, the nearest alliance of the new form, 
is from Malta and Biinde. The species from the Java Tertiaries 
are not closely allied to the Australian +. 

The flat Clypeaster, which is also a common fossil, so closely 
resembles C. folium of the Maltese bed (No. 2) as to merit the 
title of a variety ; and this opinion is not weakened by the exist- 
ence of a Schizaster in the Adelaide Tertiaries, which (although 
defective specimens alone are in my possession) is not distin- 
guishable from S. Parkinsoni, Defrance, of Malta. 


EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES. 


PLATE V. 


Fig. 1. Caryophyllia viola: a, front view, natural size; 6, magnified 4 dia- 
meters ; c, costee magnified 6 diam.; d, septa, pali, and papillary 
columella, magnified 4 diam. 

Fig. 2. Flabellum Victorie : a, front view, natural size; b, calice, magnified 
2 diam.; ¢, erosion, magnified 2 diam.; d, costal arrangement, 
magnified 4 diam. 

Fig. 3. Flabellum Gambierense: a, front view; 5, calice, magnified 2 
diam.; c, epitheca, and d, enlarged ends of septa, magnified 
4 diam. 

Fig. 4. Placotrochus elongatus: a, front view, natural size; 6, the same 
of another specimen ; ¢, side view, part of coral removed to show 
the columella; d, calice, and e, columella, magnified 4 diam. 

Fig. 5, Placotrochus deltoideus: a, front view; 6, columella, magnified 
4 diam.; c, variety Bursarius, front view. 


Puate VI. 


Fig. 1. Balanophyllia Australiensis: a, front view, natural size; 6, part 
of a coral, natural size; c, septa, magnified 4 diam.; d, coste, 
magnified 4 diam. 

Fig. 2. Trochoseris Woodsi: a, corallum, natural size; 5, septa in calice, 
magnified 2 diam.; c, septa, magnified to show synapticulz. 

Fig. 3. Hemipatagus Forbesi: a, upper view; 6, side view; ¢, posterior 
view; d, under side (all natural size); e, apicial summit, genera- 
tive pores, f, pores and ambulacral tubercles, g, large tubercles, 
magnified 4 diam. 


* Synopsis des Echinides, p. 416. 

+ Since the completion of this paper, I have received Karl A. Littel’s 
‘Fossile Mollusken und Echinodermen aus Neu-Seeland.? The Hemipa- 
tagus tuberculatus therein described, and decided to be specifically distinct 
from H. Forbesi, is very closely allied. 


Rev. H. Clark on the Chrysomelide of South Africa. 169 


-  - XVII.— Catalogue of Chrysomelide of South Africa. 
By the Rev. Hamer Crank, M.A., F.L.S. 


[Continued from p. 124. | 
17. Polysticta Clark, Baly, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1864. 


Two examples of a most beautiful species have just been re- 
ceived from Dr. Livingstone’s expedition, the exact locality of 
which was unknown, but in or near the Zambesi country: the 
species (the largest in the genus) is described in a paper read 
by my friend Mr. Baly at the last meeting of the Entomological 
Society, which will shortly be published in the ‘ Transactions.’ 

In the cabinets of Mr. Baly and the Rev. H. Clark. 


18. P. 14-guttata, Fab. Ent. Syst. Suppl. 85. 28; 
Syst. El. 1. 432. 55. 


One of the most common of the South-African Chrysomelas. 


19. P. 20-guttata, n. sp. 


P. ovalis, penitus rotundata, punctato-striata, nigra, maculis 20 cir- 
cularibus flavis; capite subtilissime punctato, ad medium longitu- 
dinaliter foveolato, rufo, labro interdum nigro; thorace elytris 
angustiore, lateribus penitus parallelis, tenuiter marginatis, disco ad 
latera crebrius et fortiter, ad medium leviter punctato, nigro (ma- 
cula rufa interdum undique ad latera, interdum ad medium trans- 
verse apparet et magnitudine et facie quam plurimum varians) ; 
scutello subtriangulari, levi, nigro; elytris sat convexis, fere 
rotundatis, seneo-nigris, maculis undique 10 flavis, circularibus, 


insulatis, fere eequalibus; corpore subtus nigro, pedibus rufis, 
antennis rufo-fuscis. 


Long. corp. lin. 33-33; lat. lin. 24-3. 


I register this as a separate species with much doubt : it is 
decidedly more round, less oblong, than P. 10-pustulata, Thunb., 
and the punctures on the striz seem to be a trifle more minute 
and more separated than in that species. It represents a form 
that is very common at the Cape. 


20. P. guttata, Fab. Ent. Syst. i. 313. 28. 

P. pardalina (Coccinella), Fab. Syst. El. i. 386; Ent. Syst. i. 291.115. 

P. 20-guttata, Oliv. (teste Chev.). 

P. 10-pustulata, Thunb. Mus. Nat. Acad. Upsal. iv. 44.4; Act. Reg. Soc. 

Upsal. vii. 182. 

A remarkable black variety of this common species has been 
sent home by my friend Mr. Trimen. The elytra are black, the 
apex being generally obscurely rufous ; the thorax of a bright 
yellow colour, with the usual markings of fuscous. 


21. P. 20-maculata. 


-P. ovalis, sat gibbosa, punctato-striata, rufo-ferruginea ; capite punc- 


170 Rev. H. Clark on the Chrysomelide of South Africa. 


tatulo, nigro (interdum fovea media obscura longitudinali) ; tho- 
race lateribus parallelis (et leviter marginatis), angulis anticis 
acutis, frontem versus fortiter excavato, ad latera distincte, ad 
discum lente punctato, zeneo-nigro, maculis tribus obscuris (peni- 
tus aliquando obliteratis) rufis, media brevi, ea undique obliqua, 
his scutellum juxta sese attingentibus ; scutello leevi, nigro ; elytris 
rotundatis, punctato-striatis, rufo-ferrugineis, maculis undique 
decem eequalibus, subcircularibus, et sequo intervallo distantibus, 
seriebus 3 ordinatis, prima (maculas 5 continente) inter suturas 

2. et 4., secunda (maculis duabus) inter suturas 5. et 7., tertia 

(maculis tribus) inter suturas 8. et 10.; corpore subtus pedibusque 

nigris; antennis rufo-fuscis, ad basin rufo-testaceis. 
Long. corp. lin. 37-33; lat. lin. 23-22. 

A common species, apparently, at the Cape and in most collec- 
tions. After a careful examination of a series of examples, I 
believe that the form here described is specifically distinct from 
others noticed in this paper: it is more globose in general form 
than, as well as different in coloration and in markings from P. 
guttata, Fab. ; the thorax, as well as the head, is more distinctly 
punctured, and the legs are rufous and the elytra rufo-ferrugi- 
nous instead of black. It more nearly approaches in form P. 
20-guttata, and in fact only seems to differ from it by the ob- 
scurer and almost obliterated markings on the thorax, the much 
smaller size of the markings, and the difference of the coloration 
of the elytra. I have considered, however, that the species are 
distinct, inasmuch as in the series before me I can trace no 
appearance of an intermediate pattern. 


22. P. notata, Fab. Ent. Syst. 1. 8321; Syst. El. i. 487: 
Oliv. Entom. v. 534. 


A very common species at the Cape and all through the south 
of Africa, and which would seem to be subject to little variation 
in pattern. M. Deyrolle has sent it to me from Lake N’gami. 


23. P. modesta, un. sp. 


P. ovalis, sat robusta, punctato-striata, nigro-eenea, maculis rufo- 
flavis, nitida; capite sparsim et ineequaliter punctato; thorace 
lateribus haud parallelis, rotundatis (et leviter marginatis), angulis 
anticis subacutis, ad discum medium lente, ad latera fortiter et 
crebre punctato; scutello levi, nigro; elytris distincte punctato- 
striatis, maculis quibusdam flavis (in seriebus 4 transversis dispo- 
sitis) ornatis, serie 1™* ad basin a scutello usque ad latus, utraque 
latiore ad medium tenuiore, 2“ante medium, maculas2 circulares, sat 
magnas(hance inter strias 1.et 4.,illam inter strias 6.et 7.) continente, 
3"* post medium maculas etiam duas continente (interiorem inter 
strias 2. et 8., exteriorem inter striam 8. et marginem) hance ad 2%™ 
apud marginem, illam ad 4™apud suturam confluentem; 4"maculis 
quoque duabus (ambabus margine et sutura ad apicem connexis), 


Rev. H. Clark on the Chrysomelide of South Africa, 171 


interiore inter strias 3. et 6. subtriangulari, exteriore inter striam 7. 
et marginem ; margo ipse ab humeris ad apicem flavescit ; corpore 
subtus, pedibus antennisque nigris. 

Long. corp. 2¢ lin., lat. 2 lin. 


The above diagnosis will separate this species from all others 
that have come before me; from several it is clearly separated 
also by its form (not rotundate, but subparallel) and its size. 
Its markings may be thus concisely expressed :—(1) humeral, 
continuous from the suture, round the shoulder, to the margin ; 
(2) antemedial, two distinct, circular, isolated, equidistant, and 
equal spots; (3) postmedial, two spots, not equal, not isolated, 
not circular, placed somewhat obliquely, the external being in 
front of the interior; (4) apical, two spots irregular in form, 
smaller than the preceding, each of them confluent with a flavous 
apex (but not reaching the apex), and the inner one confluent 
also with the inner postmedial marking; the surface of the 
thorax also, which is tolerably equally punctate throughout as 
to the arrangement of the punctures, separates the species clearly 
from some of its allies. 

A single specimen from M. Chevrolat’s collection from the 
Cape. 

24, P. multifida, Chev. (Dej. Cat.), n. sp. 


P, ovalis, sat robusta, punctato-striata, eneo-nigra, nitida; capite 
subruguloso, interdum etiam fovea obsoleta transversa, nigro ; 
thorace lateribus obliquis et antice rotundatis (leviter marginatis), 
angulis anticis sat acutis; disco ad medium lente et regulariter, ad 
latera fortiter et confusim punctato; scutello levi, nigro ; elytris 
lateribus parallelis, punctato-striatis, maculis flavis ineequalibus 
undique ornatis, macule hoc ordine dispositee sunt—serie prima 
(ad basin) macula una, magna, circularis, scutellum penitus at- 
tingens inter strias 1. et 5.; secunda ante medium litura una, 
subquadrata, inter strias 4. et 7.; tertia post medium macule due, 
hee interior, inter strias 2. et 7. transversa, irregularis (juxta su- 
turam latior, marginem versus attenuatior), illa exterior inter strias 
8. et 10. marginem attingit ; quarta subapicali macule duz dis- 
positee sunt, inter strias 2. et 6., iterumque inter strias 6. et 10., sub- 
confluentes, forma irregulares, heec juxta suturam cum vitta flava 
connectitur ; margo etiam ipse omnino flavus est : corpore subtus, 
pedibus antennisque nigris. 

Long. corp. lin. 33; lat. lin. 23. 

Not far removed in pattern from A. szmulator, with which it 
has been confounded in cabinets: it is, at first sight, like it in 
general markings; but the thorax is narrower and less parallel, 
the size is larger, the colouring is ceneous black (not black), and 
the markings themselves are larger in size, greater in number, 
and somewhat differently arranged. I have drawn up the above 
description from two specimens in my cabinet (from Thom- 


172 Rey. H. Clark on the Chrysomelide of South Africa. 


son’s and Chevrolat’s collections), which are absolutely similar 
in size and form of markings; both of these were registered as 
from the Cape of Good Hope, under Dejean’s name, A. multi- 
fida, which I am glad to be able to preserve. 


25. P. consimilis, n. sp. 


P. ovalis, sat convexa, punctato-striata, nigra, rufo-flavo notata ; 
capite rufo, thoracis lateribus parallelis, antice rotundatis, margi- 
natis, ad medium rarius et sparsim, ad latera (et basin versus 
juxta angulos posteriores) fortius punctato, leete rufo, basi et (an- 
guste et suffuse) margine quoque anteriore nigris ; scutello subcordi- 
formi, lzevi, nigro, nitido ; elytris sat rotundatis, punctato-striatis 
(punctis distantibus et hand ad apicem obsoletis), nigris vel zeneo- 
nigris, maculis quibusdam flavis,—1° duze ad basin, juxta scutellum 
et ad humerum (circulares, insulate) ; 2° una ante medium inter 
strias 4.et 7. (transverso-circularis); 3° una post medium fascia trans- 
versa a sutura usque ad marginem (heec fortasse aliquando in tres 
vel quatuor maculas divisa); 4° duze apicem versus, heec inter 
strias 3.et 6. circularis, insulata, illa juxta et ad marginem confluens; 
5° una apicalis et margine confluens: corpore subtus nigro; pedi- 
bus rufis, genibus nigris ; antennis rufo-fuscis, ad basin rufis. 

Long. corp. lin. 3; lat. lin. 24. 


In pattern this species is almost identical with P. multifida, 
inasmuch as the slight differences that exist might reasonably 
be attributed to variation; nevertheless the species appears to 
me to be distinct: the size is much smaller; the colour of the 
elytra is different—black, instead of zneous black; the thorax 
and head entirely differ in colour, and in the former the lateral 
punctures are not nearly so coarse and deep: the punctures of 
the elytra also differ; they are more closely arranged in this 
species than in P. multifida. The species is also very nearly 
related to P. figurata, Dej., but is separated therefrom by its 
somewhat different arrangement of punctures on the elytra, and 
also by its coloration. 

A single example in the collection of Mr. Baly. 


26. P. figurata, De}., n. sp. 

P. ovalis, punctato-striata, ceeruleo-nigra, nitida; capite nigro; 
thorace angustiore et lateribus oblique apicem versus rotundatis, 
punctatis (apud latera crebrius et fortiter), rufo, ad basin mediam 
nigro-binotato ; scutello levi, nigro ; elytris latis, valde punctato- 
striatis (punctis crebris et constanter ordinatis), czeruleo-nigris, 
maculis quibusdam rufis,—1™* apud scutellum inter strias 1. et 4. ; 
2“* inter strias 5. et 7., media, in anteriore parte; 3"* media inter 
strias 2. et 4. (he tres circulares, insulate); 4‘ fascia transversa, 
postmedia, subobliqua, attenuata, inaequalis, inter striam 2. et 
marginem ; 5 et 6 macule duce juxta apicem inter strias 2-3. et 
5-6. oblongee vel ovales, illa ad apicem affluens; margo quoque 


Rey. H. Clark on the Chrysomelide of South Africa. 173 


flavus : corpore subtus nigro ; pedibus piceis, tarsis rufis; antennis 
rufis. 
Long. corp. lin. 3; lat. lin. 2. 


Nearly related in pattern to P. modesta. Unfortunately I 
have some doubt whether the thorax of the example before me 
is not borrowed from some other insect! It is rather smaller in 
proportion than those of other species. 

A single example, from the collection of Mr. Thomson, is in 
my cabinet, from South Africa. 


27. P. clathrata, De}. Cat., n. sp. 


P. ovalis, punctato-striata, nigra, rufo maculata, nitida; capite nigro; 
thorace rotundato (lateribus haud parallelis, tenuiter marginatis), 
punctato (ad latera crebrius et fortiter), nigro ; scutello leevi, nigro ; 
elytris sat rotundatis, punctato-striatis (punctis distinctis, apicem 
versus obsoletis), nigris, maculis quibusdam rufis,—una scutellaris, 
inter strias 1. et 6., transversa (aut aliquando minuta), altera media, 
transversa, inter strias 2. et 9., ineequalis; duze alize postmedie, 
magne, et ad apicem et marginem affluentes, vel minute et insu- 
lares ; margo quoque flavus : corpore subtus nigro ; pedibus nigris, 
tarsis pallidis ; antennis rufo-fuscis, ad basin rufis. 

Long. corp. lin. 23-3; lat. lin. 14-2. 

A species variable both in size and colour; the pattern, how- 
ever, is sufficiently constant to enable us to separate and limit 
the species: the humeral and also the apical markings vary 
considerably in form and size—never, however, the medial, which 
is transverse and irregular; the margin also is in all cases 
flavous. 

In the cabinets of Mr. Baly, Mr. Wilson Saunders, and the 
‘Rev. H. Clark. 
28. P. Hebe, n. sp. 


P. ovalis, penitus rotundata, punctato-striata, rufa, maculis nigris, 
nitida ; capite sparsim punctulato, nigro; thorace lateribus sub- 
parallelis, antice rotundatis, leviter marginatis, elytris haud mul- 
tum angustiore, in disco leviter, ad latera forte punctato, eenec- 
nigro; scutello subcordiformi, levi, nigro ; elytris sat latis, punc- 
tato-striatis (punctis distinctis, crebris, ordinatis), rufis, vittis 3 
transversis (e maculis distinctis compositis), eneo-nigris,—prima 
juxta (sed haud attingens) basin, maculas tres continet (1™™ inter 
strias 2. et 2. subcircularem ; 2” inter strias 4. et 5.—heec in vit- 
tam 24™ confluit ; 34®™ inter strias 6. et 10. irregularem, obliquam); 
secunda vitta media maculas tres quoque continet (1™™ inter su- 
turam et striam 3., 2°” inter strias 4. et 5.—heec in vittam basalem 
confluit,—3"™ inter strias 6. et 7.) ; tertia vitta postmedia, heec vel 
quatuor maculas continet vel transversa vitta est a sutura ad mar- 
ginem, juxta apicem etiam est macula subcircularis insularis; sutura 
quoque nigra : corpore subtus, pedibus et, ut credo, antennis nigris. 

Long. corp. lin. 24; lat. lin. 12. 


174 Mr. J. Blackwall on new Species of Spiders - 


This beautiful little species was received by me from M. 
Chevrolat’s collection. The locality is unrecorded. 


29. P. flavo-sparsa, n. sp. 


P. elongato-ovalis, punctato-striato, eneo-nigra, maculis flavis notata, 
nitida; capite transverse arcuato, etiamque longitudinaliter foveo- 
lato, punctato, zneo-nigro; thorace lateribus angulisque anticis 
rotundatis, ad discum subtilissime et sparse, ad latera fortiter 

- punctato, eneo-nigro; scutello levi, nigro; elytris subcon- 
vexis, punctato-striatis (punctis distinctis eequaliter ordinatis et 
distantibus), eeneo-nigris, maculis 8 undique instructis,—1™* ad 
scutellum inter strias 1—4., circularis ; 2° ad humerum inter striam 
7. et marginem, oblique ovalis ; 3"* antemedia, inter strias 4—7., cir- 
cularis ; 4", 5 et 6 medize vel paulum postmedie, inter strias 2—5, 
(transversa, irregularis), 5-7. (subcircularis) ; 8° ad marginem 
~(subquadrata), 7° et 8° apicales, inter strias 3-6. et 7-10. (illa 
ad apicem affluens) ; margo quoque flavus: corpore subtus pedi- 
busque nigris ; antennis rufo-fuscis, ad basin rufis. , 

Long. corp. lin. 3; lat. lin. 13. 

The above diagnosis is taken from a single specimen. It is 
possible that the three medial markings may in some cases be 
merged into one irregular transverse band. In pattern the 
species reminds us somewhat of an aberrant P. multifida; it is 
much smaller, however, and the punctures on the elytra are 
coarser and deeper. 

From M. Chevrolat’s collection, from the Cape. 


30. P. vulpina, Fab. Ent. Syst. 1. 821; Syst. El. 1. 437 : 
Oliv. Entom. v. 534. 


The smallest species of the genus, and variable in pattern. 
It would seem to be not uncommon at the Cape. I have re- 
ceived it from M. Deyrolle, from Karoo, Kaffraria. 


It will be seen that I have omitted for the present notices or 
descriptions of five of the species recorded at page 116 of this 
volume : these I hope to refer to on some future occasion.—H. C. 


XVIII.—Notice of Spiders, indigenous to the Salvages, received 
from the Baro do Castello de Paiva. By Joun Buackwatt, 
E.L.S. 


Tue following spiders collected on the Great Salvage, the chief 
of a group of small rocky islands, difficult of access, situated 
between Madeira and the Canary Islands, were transmitted to 
me by T. Vernon Wollaston, Esq., at the request of the Baron 
de Paiva; and, independently of the probability that they are 


indigenous to the Salvages. : 175 


all new to science, they possess an especial interest arising from 
the very peculiar character of the locality in which they were 
found. How these species were originally introduced into this 
small, isolated, and desolate spot is a difficult problem to solve ; 
but, as it. is well known that, under favourable circumstances, 
spiders are borne through the atmosphere to prodigious distances: 
by currents of air acting upon their silken lines, it is possible 
that they may have been thus conveyed, in an immature state, 
from the continent of Africa, or from some of the less distant 
islands, to their present singular habitat. Should this supposi- 
tion be well founded, the wide distribution of spiders of the 

same species will cease to be regarded as a marvellous pheno- 
" menon. 

Tribe Octonoculina. 


Family Drassipz. 
Genus Drassus, Walck. 


Drassus Paivani, n. sp. 


Length of the female %ths of an inch; length of the cephalo- 
thorax 3-; breadth +; breadth of the abdomen +; length of a 
posterior leg 4; length of a leg of the third pair 2. 

The eyes are disposed on the anterior part of the cephalo- 
thorax in two transverse rows ; the two intermediate ones of the 
posterior row, which is almost straight, are nearer to each other 
than they are to the lateral eyes of the same row, which are the 
smallest ; the anterior row is the shorter, and is curved, having 
its convexity directed upwards ; the two intermediate eyes are 
the largest and darkest-coloured of the eight, and the lateral 
eyes of both rows are separated by a wide interval. The cephalo- 
thorax is large, convex, depressed towards each extremity, thinly 
clothed with hairs, compressed before, rounded and depressed 
on the sides, which are marked with slight furrows converging 
towards a narrow indentation in the medial line of the posterior 
region ; it is of a yellowish-brown hue; a longitudinal band on 
each side of the cephalic region, and the oblique lateral furrows, 
are soot-coloured, the latter being the paler, and the lateral 
margins have a brownish-black hue. The falees are powerful, 
conical, slightly prominent, provided with long hairs, and are of 
a red-brown colour. The maxille are long, rounded at the ex- 
tremity, near which there is an oblique transverse furrow, and 
eurved towards the lip, which is oblong and notched at the apex; 
the sternum is oval, the posterior being rather broader than the 
anterior extremity ; it is supplied with hairs, those on the mar- 
gins being the longest and darkest-coloured ; the legs are robust; 
they are clothed with hairs, and the third and fourth pairs are 
provided with sessile spines; each tarsus is terminated by two 


176 Mr. J. Blackwall on new Species of Spiders 


curved claws, toothed at the base, and has hair-like papillz on: 
its inferior surface ; the fourth pair is the longest, then the first, 
and the second pair slightly surpasses the third; the palpi are 
short, supplied with hairs and spines, and have a curved claw at 
their extremity. These parts have a dull brownish-yellow hue, 
the lip and sternum, which are the darkest, being tinged with 
red. The abdomen is oviform, convex above, projecting over the 
base of the cephalothorax, and is thinly clothed with hairs: it is 
of a pale dull brownish-yellow colour ; at the anterior extremity, 
close to its junction with the cephalothorax, there is a transverse, 
curved, dark-coloured mark, thickly covered with long black 
hairs, whose convexity is directed upwards ; a longitudinal soot- 
coloured band, which is bifid at its extremity, and of a dull 
brownish-yellow hue in the medial line of its anterior part, ex- 
tends nearly half the length of the upper part; to this band a 
series of rather obscure, soot-coloured, angular lines succeeds, 
which diminish in extent as they approach the spinners; their 
vertices are directed forwards, and their extremities are con- 
siderably enlarged ; the sides are marked with oblique bands of 
the same hue, the anterior one being much the broadest; and 
there are a few small soot-coloured spots on the under part ; the 
two inferior spinners are rather the longest, and cylindrical, and 
the two intermediate ones, which are biarticulate, have the basal 
joints united throughout their entire length, but the terminal 
joints are free and divergent ; the sexual organs are moderately 
developed, of a dark red-brown colour, and have a short, obtuse, 
pale process connected with their anterior margin. Some indi- 
viduals are paler and less distinctly marked than others, the 
dark-coloured lines being represented by rows of spots. 

Drassus Paivani appears to occur in much larger numbers on 
the Great Salvage than any other spider. There were forty-nine 
females in the collection, either in an adult or immature state ; 
but it is a curious fact that it did not contain a single male. 

I have much pleasure in connecting with this fine Drassus the 
name of that distinguished naturalist, the Baron de Paiva, to 
whose liberality I am indebted for the interesting particulars 
comprised in this communication, relative to the spiders found 
to inhabit the Salvages. 


Drassus Bewicki, n. sp. 


Length of the female (not including the spinners) 55,ths of an 
inch; length of the cephalothorax +; breadth }; breadth of the 
abdomen 4; length of a posterior leg ,; length of a leg of the 
third pair 3. 

This spider bears so close a resemblance to Drassus Pawvani 
in the relative size and disposition of its eyes, in its colours and 


indigenous to the Salvages. igs 


the design formed by their distribution, and also in the relative 
length and proportions of its legs, that the description of one 
might well serve for that of the other, were it not for the re- 
markable difference in the structure of their spinners, Drassus 
Bewicku having the superior pair of those organs very long, 
cylindrical, and triarticulate, with the spinning-tubes distributed 
on the extremity of the short terminal joint ; the extraordinary 
length of the middle joint of these spinners constitutes an im- 
portant and conspicuous character, by which it may be readily 
distinguished, not only from Drassus Paivani, but also from 
every other known species of the genus. 

This and the preceding species belong to Walckenaer’s family 
Lithophile, of the genus Drassus. There were eight specimens 
of this spider in the collection, all of which were either adult or 
immature females. 

I have conferred on this remarkable species the name of Mr. 
Bewicke, a zealous and careful observer of nature, who, having 
collected numerous specimens of spiders in the island of Madeira, 
transmitted them to Mr. Wollaston, by whom they were kindly 
placed at my disposal. In describing the new species comprised 
in that collection in the ‘ Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist.,’ third 
series, vol. ix. page 370, my omission to acknowledge the obliga- 
tion I was under to those gentlemen must be attributed to my 
not having received information of the-circumstance at that 


‘time. 


Family AGELENIDZ. 
Genus TeGenartiA, Walck. 
Tegenaria dubia. 


Length of an immature female (not including the spinners) 
7oths of an inch; length of the cephalothorax +; breadth ;,; 
breadth of the abdomen ;4,; length of an anterior leg 35; 
length of a leg of the third pair 2. 

The eyes are seated on black spots, and are disposed on the 
anterior part of the cephalothorax in two transverse rows ; the 
posterior row, which is rather the longer, is slightly curved, with 
its convexity directed backwards, and the anterior row is almost 
straight ; the four intermediate eyes describe a trapezoid whose 
shortest side is before, the two posterior ones being the largest 
and the two anterior ones the smallest of the eight; the eyes of 
each lateral pair are placed obliquely on a tubercle, but are not 


‘in contact. The cephalothorax is convex, glossy, compressed 


before, and rounded on the sides, which are depressed, and 

marked with furrows converging towards a narrow, oblong in- 

dentation in the medial line of the posterior region ; it has a 

brownish-yellow hue, with a broad, irregular, faint soot-coloured 
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.3, Vol. xiv. 12 


178 Mr. J. Blackwall on new Species of Spiders 


band extending along each side, and narrow lateral margins of 
the same hue. The falces are powerful, conical, vertical, armed 
with teeth on the inner surface, and somewhat darker-coloured 
than the cephalothorax, having a tinge of red. The maxille are 
straight, and narrower at the base than at the extremity, which 
is rounded; the lip is nearly quadrate, being rather broader at 
the base than at the apex; the sternum is heart-shaped, and 
pointed at the extremity ; the legs and palpi are long, slender, 
and provided with hairs and spines ; the first pair of legs is the 
longest, then the fourth, and the third pair is the shortest ; each 
tarsus is terminated by three claws; the two superior ones are 
curved and pectinated, and the inferior one is inflected near its 
base, which has one or two minute teeth on each side; the palpi 
have a curved pectinated claw at their extremity. These parts 
are of a brownish-yellow hue, the lip being the brownest on the 
sides ; the sternum has soot-coloured annuli on the lateral mar- 
gins, opposite to the legs; and the legs have a few annuli of the 
same hue on the femora. The abdomen is oviform, convex 
above, projecting over the base of the cephalothorax ; it is thinly 
clothed with short hairs, and of a dull yellowish colour tinged 
with brown ; a series of spots extends along each side of the 
medial line of the upper part, several of which unite immediately 
above the spinners; some streaks and small spots occur on the 
sides, and three longitudinal lines on the under part; these 
spots and lines are soot-coloured and rather obscure: the spin- 
ners have a yellowish-white hue, the two superior ones, which 
are the longest and triarticulate, with the spinning-tubes dis- 
tributed on the inferior surface of the taper terminal joint, having 
the medial joint of a brownish-black colour. 

The collection contained three females of this Tegenaria ; but, 
as they were immature, I cannot positively assert that the species 
is undescribed, though I am strongly inclined to believe that 
such is the case: this doubt is implied in the specific name 
provisionally given to it. 


Family THERIDIIDZ. 
Genus THERIDION, Walck. 
Theridion ? 


One specimen of a female Theridion, whose abdomen had been 
so much injured by maceration in spirit, and whose legs had 
suffered so greatly from mutilation, that it was not possible 
to ascertain whether it was undescribed or not, was the only 
representative of the genus in the collection. From certain 
circumstances in connexion with this spider, I am disposed to 
believe that, when captured, it had recently changed its integu- 


indigenous to the Salvages. 179 


ment, and consequently was in a condition very liable to sustain 
injury. 


Its eyes are seated on black spots, and are disposed on the 


anterior part of the cephalothorax in two transverse rows; the 
_ four intermediate ones, which are placed on a small prominence, 


nearly form a square, and the two anterior ones are rather the 


smallest and darkest of the eight ; the eyes of each lateral pair 


are seated obliquely on a tubercle, and are contiguous. The 
cephalothorax is oval, convex, glossy, with an indentation in the 
medial line of the posterior region; the falces are conical and 
vertical; the maxille are obliquely truncated at the extremity, 
on the outer side, and inclined towards the lip, which is tri- 
angular; the palpi are moderately long, hairy, and terminated 
by a curved pectinated claw. These parts have a pale dull yel- 


_ lowish hue; and the legs, judging from some of the coxe and 


femora and portions of the tibiz, are of the same colour. 


Tribe Senoculina. 
Family DyspERip2. 
Genus Dysprra, Latr. 
Dysdera Wollastont, n. sp. 
Length of the female (not including the falces) }ths of an 


inch; length of the cephalothorax 4, breadth 3; breadth of the 


2a? 
abdomen ,*,; length of an anterior leg ;,; length of a leg of 


_ the third pair 3. 


The cephalothorax is somewhat compressed before, rounded 


in front and on the sides, moderately convex, glossy, with a 


shallow indentation in the medial line of the posterior region ; 
it is thinly clothed with short hairs, and of a dark red-brown 


colour. The falces are conical, prominent, and armed with a 
long curved fang and a few small teeth on the inner surface ; 
_ the maxille are straight, greatly enlarged at the base, where the 


palpi are inserted, and pointed at the extremity; and the lip is 
long and notched at the apex. These parts are of a dark red- 
brown colour, the maxille being the palest. The sternum is 
oval, and has a red-brown hue, the margins being rather the 
darkest. The legs are long, moderately robust, glossy, sparingly 
clothed with hairs, and the tibie, metatarsi, and tarsi of the 
third and fourth pairs are provided with spines, a few short ones 
also occurring near the base of the femora of the latter on the 
upper surface ; they have a yellowish-red hue, the metatarsi and 
tarsi of the third and fourth pairs being the palest; the first 
pair is the longest, then the fourth, and the third pair is the 
shortest ; each tarsus is terminated by two curved slightly pec- 


tinated claws, and below them there is a small scopula; the 


12% 


180 Dr. J.C. Cox on new Species of Australian Land-Shells. 


palpi are long, and resemble the legs in colour. The eyes are 
closely grouped in the form of a small oval open in front, on a 
slight eminence at the anterior part of the cephalothorax, and 
the two anterior ones are the largest of the six. The abdomen 
is of an oblong oviform figure, somewhat convex above, and 
projects very little over the base of the cephalothorax; it is 
sparingly clothed with hairs, and has on its upper part numerous 
short, strong, black bristles, more or less erect; its colour is 
dark yellowish brown, the two extremities and the under part 
being the yellowest ; and the lips of the branchial and tracheal 
stigmata have a red-brown hue. 

The male closely resembles the female, but it is smaller, and 
its abdomen is slenderer and more cylindrical. The digital joint 
of its palpi is shorter than the radial joint, and the palpal organs 
are connected with it by a short pedicle on the under side; they 
are prominent, somewhat oviform at the base, abruptly bent to- 
wards the extremity, which terminates in a point, and have a 
strong pointed process situated immediately above the abrupt 
bend ; their colour is red-brown, that of the base of the pointed 
process being yellowish white, and the oyiform part is marked 
with a spiral band of a browner hue, apparently produced by 
the convolutions of an internal vessel. 

Two adult males and five females of this species, two of the 
latter being immature, were comprised in the collection. 

I dedicate this new species of Dysdera to T. Vernon Wollaston, 
Esq., one of our most accomplished coleopterists, whose valuable 
researches have contributed largely to extend our knowledge of 
the entomology of Madeira, and to whom I am obliged for 
opportunities of describing various interesting spiders captured 
in that island. 


XIX.—Descriptions of Twenty-six new Species of Australian 
Land-Shells. By James C. Cox, M.D., Sec. Entomological 
Society of New South Wales. 


1. Helix Blomfield, mihi. 


H. testa subglobosa, apice obtusa; anfractibus septem, rotundatis ; 
concentrice minute striata; apertura ovato-elongata; sutura im- 
pressa et alba, ustulato-rufa, apice flavicante et spiraliter lineata ; 
labro crassissimo, reflexo, columella labroque violaceis. 

Diam. maj. 1:064, min. 1°040, alt. 1048 unc. 


Hab. Miriam Vale, Port Curtis (Cox). Mus. C. 


2. Helix Belli, mihi. 
HH, testa late et perspective umbilicata, discoidea, depressa et sub- 


Dr. J.C. Cox on new Species of Australian Land-Shells. 181 


concava, regulariter costellato-striata, rufo-castanea, nitidiuscula ; 
anfractibus quinque convexiusculis, ultimo tumido rotundato ; 
spira submersa; sutura profunde impressa; apertura lunari; 
peristomate simplici, recto. 

Diam. maj. 0:07, min. 0:06, alt. 0°02 unc. 

Hab. Green-oakes, Darling Point, Sydney (Bell). Mus. C. 


3. Heliz conoidea, mihi. 


H. testa umbilicata, conoidea, sordide lutescente, ad apicem griseo- 
plumbea, parum nitente, irregulariter sulcata et costata; anfracti- 
bus septem, plano-convexiusculis, ultimo carinato ; spira obtusa ; 
apertura lunari-ovata, tenui. 

Diam. maj. 0°37, min. 0°35, alt. 0°30 une. 

Hab. Cabbage-Tree Island, Port Stephens (King). Mus. Rev. R. 
L. King. 

4. Helix Lyndhurstensis, mihi. 

H. testa ample aperte umbilicata, pellucida, rotundato-depressa, 
obsolete striata, glabra, nitida; spira obtuso-convexa, fuscescente ; 
anfractibus quatuor aut quinque, ultimo dilatato ; apertura lunato- 
circulari; peristomate simplici, acuto. 

Diam. maj. 0°16, alt. 0-06 unc. 

Hab, Lyndhurst, Sydney (King). Mus. Rev. R. L. King. 


5. Helix Mitchelle, mihi. 


H, testa imperforata, subgloboso-turbinata, oblique concentrice striata, 
sub lente minute granulata, intense castanea, duabus lineis nigris 
et duabus luteis fasciata ; spira elevata; anfractibus septem, con- 
vexiusculis, ultimo angulato ; apertura obliqua, transversim ovali ; 
labro reflexo ; intus intense lilacea, marginibus callo junctis. 

Diam. maj. 1°056, min. 1:050, alt. 1015 une. 


Hab. Clarence River (Mitchell). Mus. Mrs. James Mitchell. 


6. Helix Mastersi, mihi. 


H. testa anguste umbilicata, depresso-conoidea, radiatim rugoso- 
striata, undique minute granulata, subpellucida, saturate castanea ; 
spira depressa ; anfractibus sex, vix convexiusculis, ultimo angu- 
lato ; columella levi et dilatata, umbilicum semitegente ; apertura 
lunato-subcirculari, marginibus conniventibus; labro tenui, vix 
dilatato, intus livido. 

Diam. maj. 1°19, min. 0°98, alt. 0°65 une. 


Hab. Merimbula, New South Wales (Masters). Mus. C. 


7. Helix microscopica, mihi. 


H. testa umbilicata, conoidea, rubido-cornea, pellucida, nitente ; 
anfractibus quinque, gradatim increscentibus ; spira obtusa; su- 
tura impressa; costis crebris transversalibus elevatis, interstitiis 


182 Dr. J.C.Cox on new Species of Australian Land-Shells. 


minutissime punctato-striatis; apertura rotundato-lunari; _peri- 
stomate simplici. * 
Diam. maj. -0°04, alt. 0°02 unc. 


Hab. Stroud (King). Mus. Rev. R. L. King. 
8. Helix Morti, mihi. 


H. testa late et profunde umbilicata, depresso-convexa, costato- 
rugosa, sub lente interstitiis minutissime et decussatim striato- 
punctulatis, solidiuscula; anfractibus quinque, convexiusculis, ul- 
timo rotundato; sutura impressa ; apertura fere rotundata; peri- 


stomate simplici, acuto, margine columellari paulo reflexo. 
Diam. maj. 0°08, min. 0°07, alt. 0°04 une. 


Hab. Green-oakes, Darling Point, Sydney (Macgillivray). Mus. C. 
9. Helix Kreffti, mihi. 


H. testa anguste umbilicata, convexo-depressa, nitida, subpellucida, 
striatula, cornea, subtus opaca; anfractibus sex, convexis ; aper- 
tura rotundato-lunari, margine columellari dilatato, umbilicum 
semitegente. 

Diam. maj. 0°57, min. 0°49, alt. 0°31 une. 

Hab. Cape York (Macgillivray). Mus. C. 


Only one specimen found. 


10. Helix Stroudensis, mihi. 


H. testa subampliter umbilicata, discoidea, fuscescente, tenuiter costel- 
lato-striata, convexa; sutura impressa; anfractibus quinque ; spira 
truncata ; peristomate simplici, acuto; apertura lunato-ovata. 

Diam. maj. 0°12, alt. 0°05 unc. 


Hab. Stroud, Port Stephens (King). Mus. Rev. R. L. King. 


11. Helix marmorata, mihi. 


H. testa umbilicata, depresso-convexa, levigata, obsolete interne 
striata, nitidissima, rufo-cornea, basi subcompressa ; anfractibus 
sex; spira late conoidea; apertura lunari; peristomate recto sim- 
plicique, margine columellari basi parum reflexo, vix umbilicum 
minutum subobtegente. 

Diam. maj. 0°40, min. 0°34, alt. 0°22 une. 


Hab. Kiama (Masters); Fernhill, Penrith; Port Curtis; Broken 
Bay (Cox). Mus. C. 


12. Helix Strangeoides, mihi. 


H. testa late et profunde umbilicata, depressa, flavo-cornea, superne 
confertim tenuissime striata, lineis minutissimis decussata, inferne 
leevigata; lineis obsoletis interne striatis; anfractibus quinque, 
ultimo declivi, rotunde convexo, ceteris planiusculis; apertura 
subobliqua, lunari-rotundo ; peristomate tenui, simplici. 

Diam. maj. 0°38, min. 0°32, alt. 0°16 unc. 


Hab. Moreton Bay (King). Mus. Rev. R. L. King. 


Dr. J. C..Cox on new Species of Australian Land-Shells. 183 


13. Helix Parramattensts, mihi. 


' H. testa imperforata, depresso-globosa, conica, leevissima, tenui, ni- 
tente, flavicante ; sutura impressa ; anfractibus sex, ultimo con- 
vexo, ceteris subeequantibus ; spira obtusa ; apertura ovato-lunari; 

| peristomate simplici rectoque. 

* Diam. maj. 0°12, min. 0°10, alt. 0°09 unc. 


Hab. Parramatta (King). Mus. C. 


14. Succinea Nortoni, mihi. 


S. testa ovata, tenui, ventricosissima, pellucido-cornea, apice rufes- 
cente ; anfractibus quatuor, longitudinaliter ruditer et irregulariter 
elevato-striatis, ultimo perampliter inflato; labro simplici ; apertura 
ovata; columella peristomateque continuatis. 

Long. 0°47, diam. 0°36 unc. 


Hab. Norton’s Basin, Nepean River, N.S.W. (Cox). Mus. C. 


15. Succinea Macgillivrayi, mihi. 


S. testa ovata, ventricosissima, sordide fusca, versus apicem rosacea ; 
anfractibus tribus, sub lente minute striatis; apertura perampla, 
ovata ; labro simplici; columella peristomateque continuatis. 

Long. 0°30, diam. 0°20 unc. 

Hab. Mount Henry, Mulgoa, N.S.W. Under stones in moist places 
(Cox). Mus. C. 

16. Succinea rhodostoma, mihi. 


S. testa elongato-ovata, ventricosa, solidiuscula, opaca, nitente, al- 
bida, ad apicem roseo tincta; anfractibus quatuor, longitudina- 
liter ruditer et irregulariter elevato-striatis ; labro simplici, intus 
rosea porphyracea ; apertura ovata. 

Long. 0°50, diam. 0°27 unc. 


Hab. Point Lowly, South Australia (Cox). Mus. C. 


17. Pupa Kingi, mihi. 

P. testa sinistrorsa, profunde et breviter rimata, ovato-oblonga, 
tenui, levigata, nitida, hyalina, rubido-castanea ; spira convexa, 
apice obtusa; anfractibus quatuor, convexiusculis, ultimo semi- 
longitudinem teste vix squante; apertura verticali, irregulariter 
constricta et subbipartita, tridentata, dente conspicuo acutiusculo 
in pariete aperturali, altero minore latiore et obtuso in columella, 
tertio minimoque in margine externo ; peristomate incrassato et 
breviter expanso ; ore rubido, dentibus albis. 

Long. 0°05, diam. 0:03 unc. 


Hab. Parramatta (King). Mus. Rev. R. L. King. 
18. Pupina Wilcoxi, mihi. 


P. testa ovata, nitidissima, hyalina, rubro-lutescente, tenuiuscula ; 
spira obtusa; anfractibus sex, duobus ultimis zequalibus et maximis, 
ceteris gradatim decrescentibus ; apertura obliqua, orbiculari, ex- 
terne producta; peristomate albo, vix inerassato, non continuo, 


184 Dr. J.C. Cox on new Species of Australian Land-Shells. 


reflexo, canalibus duobus interrupto, canali superiore ad partem 
superiorem vel angulum aperture, inferiore ceterum vix eequante. 
Diam. 0°17, long. 0°35 une. 


Hab. Clarence River, N.S.W. (Wilcox). Mus. C. 
19. Pupinella Macgillivrayi, mihi. 


P. testa imperforata, ovato-oblonga, glabra, nitida, pellucidaque ; 
spira ventrosa; anfractibus septem, convexiusculis, minutissime 
transversim striatis, ultimo maximo, penultimo ceteros sequante ; 
apertura subverticali, circulari; peristomate incrassato alboque, 
canalibus duobus angustis. 

Long. 0°50, diam. 0°24 une. 


Hab. Port Denison, Queensland (Cox). Mus. C. 
20. Pupinella Whartoni, mihi. 


P. testa umbilicata, acuminato-oblonga, solidiuscula, luteo-fulva 
aut corneo-fusca ; anfractibus septem, modice convexis, ultimo 
penultimo longiore, ceteris decrescentibus, tumidiusculis, sub lente 
transversim minute striatis ; sutura indentata; apertura subverti- 
cali, circulari; peristomate albido, margine ubique expanso et sub- 
reflexo, non antice dilatato ut in Pupinella Borneenst. 

Long. 0°59, diam. 0°47 unc. 


Hah. Port Denison and Port Curtis, Queensland (Cox). Mus. C. 


21. Helicina Gladstonensis, mihi. 


H, testa globoso-turbinata, carinata, infra vix callosa, fuscescente, 
maculata; anfractibus quatuor; apertura semicirculari;_peristo- 
mate reflexo alboque ; operculo corneo. 

Diam. maj. 0°16, min. 0°12, alt. 0°10 unc. 


Hab. Gladstone, Port Curtis, Queensland (Cox). Mus. C. 


22. Helix costulata, mihi. 


H. testa late et perspective umbilicata, solidiuscula, discoidea, superne 
inferneque regulariter costata, rufo-fuscente, opaca; anfractibus 
quatuor, convexis, ultimo subrotundato ; spira subconcava; sutura 
impressa; aperturalunari, subverticali; peristomate simplicirectaque. 

Diam. maj. 0°10, min. 0°09, alt. 0°06 une. 

Hab. Green-oakes, Darling Point, Sydney, N.S.W. (Macgillivray). 
Mus. C. 

23. Pupa Ramsayi, mihi. 


P. testa dextrorsa, fusiformi-oblonga, solidiuscula, nitida, albida, ad 
apicem fusca ; spira obtusa ; anfractibus quinque, convexiusculis, 
longitudinaliter obsolete tenuiter striatis, 3°, 4° et 5° gradatim 
decrescentibus ; apertura obliqua, late ovata, antice fere angulata, 
dentibus parvis obtusis in pariete aperturali ; peristomate vix in- 
crassato, breviter expanso ; ore dentibusque albis. 

Long. 0-20, diam. 0°09 unc. 

Hab. Point Lowly, South Australia (Cox). Mus. C, 


Prof. H. Karsten on the Vegetable Cell. 185 
24. Bulimus Walli, mihi. 


B. testa acuminato-elongata, gracili, minute umbilicata; anfractibus 
octo, minute transversim striatis; intense brunnea ; apertura parva; 
columella parum reflexa; labro simplici. 

Hab. Kalka, Rockhampton (W. S. Wall, jun.). 

Diam. 0°12, alt. 0°44 une. Mus. C. 


The same type of shell as B. Tuckeri. 


25. Bulimus Onslowi, mihi. 


B. testa subobtecte perforata, ovata, solidiuscula, striata, albescente 
vel pallide cornea fasciis crebris transversalibus rufescentibus ; 
spira conica, obtusa; sutura profunda ; anfractibus quatuor, parum 
convexis, striis plurimis semiregularibus spiralibus transversisque 
sculptis, ultimo ventroso, spiram duplo dimidioque superante ; 
apertura subverticali, angulato-ovali, intus pallide plumbea ; peri- 
stomate simplici, tenui; margine columellari albido, reflexo, basi 
adnato. 

Long. 0°85, diam. 0°60 unc. 

Hab. Dirk Hartog’s Island, Shark Bay, Western Australia (Onslow). 
Australian Museum. 


26. Bulimus Jacksonensis. 


B. testa ovato-conica, imperforata ; anfractibus quatuor, vix convexi- 
usculis, glabris, nitidis, ultimo duplo ceteros zequante; spira ob- 
tusa; sutura impressa; apertura ovata; labro simplici, corneo 
pellucidoque ; columella recta. 

Long. 0°14, diam. 0°05 une. 


Hab. Darling Point, Port Jackson (King &c.). 


XX.—Histological Researches on the Formation, Development, 
and Structure of the Vegetable Cell. By Prof. H. Karsten, 


[Concluded from p. 133. ] 
§ XI. 


Intercellular substance.—Cuticle.— Metamorphosis of the substance of the 
different membranes of a joint-cell, and their development independently 
of the operation of a primordial utricle-—Formation of layers by the 
cell-membrane.— Difference between a cell-membrane and a layer of cell- 
membrane.— Varieties and causes of the transformations of the originally 
structureless cell-membrane. — Untenability of the hypothesis of a 
primordial sac. 

THERE are two antagonistic hypotheses in histology, viz. that of 

endogenous cell-formation and that of cell-fission; but there is 

a general concurrence on this point—that the walls of existing 

cells may be thickened in layers. 

By this laminated thickening (of the true nature of which, 
however, very different conceptions are adopted) the adherents 


186 Prof. H. Karsten on the Formation, 


of the fission-theory account not only for the nested membranes 
occurring in every individual cell, but even for the general cel- 
lular envelope of the entire organism (cuticle), and also for the 
intercellular substance, at least as far as the existence of the 
latter is admitted by them. 

According to this theory, the outer thickening layer of the 
primitive, freely produced cell, which forms the basis of the deve- 
loping organism, must be the commencement of the enveloping 
membrane ; it is produced whilst the cell, constantly increasing 
in volume, “has its space repeatedly divided into smaller com- 
partments by fold-formation of its inner layer (the primordial 
sac). 

Each of the cells thus produced is supposed to secrete the 
connective mass (intercellular substance) which unites them 
into a coherent tissue, just as the various layers of which the 
cell-wall consists are secreted externally and internally by the 
primordial sac. 

On the other hand, those histologists who believe that cells 
do not originate by constriction, but as independent structures 
within the fluid contents of the mother cell, and who are con- 
vinced that, along with the production of laminz by the assimi- 
lative faculty of the cell-wall, there is also a simultaneous che- 
mical change, and in many cases a remarkable regeneration of 
the mother cell by the endogenous development of daughter 
cells—such observers dissent from the previous views regarding 
the origin of intercellular substance only so far as to assume 
that the growth of laminz does not arise from an excretion of 
the original cell-membrane (the primordial sac), but by intus- 
susception into its mass. They also conceive that the inter- 
cellular substance, which is doubtless present in the interspaces 
of the active cells, was at one time the outermost cell-membrane 
or layer of a cell-membrane, but that this has become changed 
by the agency of assimilation in such a manner that it is sub- 
jected to the solvent power of the nutritive fluid which soaks 
the vegetable tissue and becomes received into its mass. 

The explanation of the origin of the membranous envelope 
(cuticle) as an excretion of the epidermis does not harmonize 
with the visible peculiarities of this lamina as pointed out. by 
Brongniart, who describes it as a delicate homogeneous covering 
of the epidermis; for should the laminz of the cell-wall, toge- 
ther with the cuticle, arise simply by excretion from the cells, 
the homogeneous nature of this membranous investment would 
be destroyed by the first act of division of the germ-cell, as it 
would then be secreted first by two and soon afterwards by four 
or many cells, and finally by the epidermic layer. In accordance 
with this mode of origin, it would rather have presented a struc- 


Development, and Structure of the Vegetable Cell. 187 


ture agreeing with the contour of the epidermic cells, such as 
indeed is possessed by the outermost coat of the epidermis be- 
longing to the epidermic layers, characterized by Mohl as 
cuticular layers.” 

If, however, the homogeneous cuticle, which, when old, may 
be slightly granular or striated, but which exhibits no cellular 
structure, is to be regarded as derived from the first excretion- 
layer of the first cell, we must ascribe to this first exeretion- 
layer the property of appropriating material out of its vicinity ; 
and as it cannot anywhere find materials ready prepared so as 
to add them to its substance by apposition in the fashion of in- 
organic growth, we shall further have to attribute to it the pro- 
perty of preparing the necessary. materials for itself from hetero- 
geneous matters by virtue of the chemical affinity inherent in 
its own substance. 

To this first excretion-layer of the first cell we must thus 
ascribe the faculties which ought essentially to belong only to 
the interior cell, to which it is indebted for its existence. It 
must possess in itself the properties of the assimilating mem- 
brane; it must be, not a mechanically excreted educt of the 
exuded cell-juice, but a portion of an organized structure, the 
membrane of an independent cell, within which the enclosed 
cells have been produced. 

With this view the results of the investigation of the develop- 
mental history of this structure published by me in 1848 (Bot. 
Zeitung) perfectly agree. 

I ascertained then, and can repeat the experiment with faci- 
lity at any time, that by means of endosmotic fluids (such as 
dilute mineral acids, solution of sugar, &c.) a delicate structure- 
less membrane may be detached from the young embryo in its 
different stages of development in the embryo-sac: the youngest 
state of this membrane is consequently the membrane of the 
germinal cell; and it may be demonstrated by the same means 
to be the outermost coat of all still cambial organs of the plant 
in course of development. 

The objection that a cell cannot so far enlarge itself as to 
overspread an entire plant, originating from the idea of the 
growth of the cell-membrane by accretion, is consequently not 
applicable; for the cell-membrane, and more particularly the 
cuticle, as already said, cannot increase itself by accretion, the 
material of which it is composed not being found in solution in 
its vicinity. 

An independent growth of the cuticle, im many cases quite 
unconnected with the adjoining cell-wall, may be recognized 
with certainty in the examples referred to at page 423, vol. xiii. 
and represented in Plate VI. figure 45. 


188 Prof. H. Karsten on the Formation, 


Very commonly, indeed, an intimate reciprocal relation does 
appear to exist between the cuticle and the neighbouring cells ; 
but this can scarcely ever be regarded as a production of the - 
former from the latter. 

Although the want of a cuticle upon the epidermic tissue of 
the roots, while it occurs upon stems of the same age, might seem 
to give support to such an explanation, still the cork-formation 
occurring in the latter immediately after an injury to the cuticle, 
or the cuticular layers replacing it, may be regarded as giving 
probability to a directly opposite supposition. And indeed the 
cuticle is really present at an earlier period than the epidermis. 

The peculiar development of the membranes of Gidogonium 
also affords an equally remarkable and interesting proof of the 
mutual dependence of neighbouring cells. For the horizontal 
rupture of the integument in a circular form over the adjacent 
fold of the joint-cell is not to be explained merely by the fact that 
the extraordinary thickening of the membrane of the joint-cell 
assimilates to itself all nutritive material, and therefore excretes 
nothing for the integument. The latter must then always re- 
main thinner at this spot than in other parts,—which, however, 
is not the case. On the contrary, the cuticle appears to be quite 
uniform throughout up to the period of the rupture; its rup- 
ture is preceded by a disintegration of its substance, almost 
appearing as if it were decomposed into a deliquescent mucila- 
ginous and an insoluble granular part, as may be seen especially 
in the cases described on page 284, vol. xii. (PI. V. fig. 25), in 
which no extension of the joint-cell has taken place. 

The conditions observed in Spirogyra even lead rather to the 
supposition that the products of the metamorphosis of the cuticle 
may serve as nourishment for the adjacent membrane of the 
joint-cell. 

It is true that the Spzrogyre, and probably all the Conjugate, 
possess no true cuticle, but the primary membranes of the mother 
cell fulfil the function of this integument ; and the phenomena 
presented by these may therefore probably be interpreted as 
analogous to those of cuticular development. 

If Spirogyra orthospira be allowed to vegetate for some time 
in distilled water, the very thick cuticular layer is gradually 
reduced until at last it almost completely disappears, a very thin 
innermost lamina excepted. In carbonic-acid water this pheno- 
menon takes place still more rapidly, but simultaneously the 
primary membranes of the joint-cell increase in thickness. On 
the contrary, if organic compounds be added to the water, the 
cuticular layer is very perceptibly thickened; the joint-cells 
cohere more firmly together, and are not separable with the 
same facility as in the former case. 


Development, and Structure of the Vegetable Cell. 189 


The most simple explanation of these phenomena appears to 
me to be, not that the cuticular layer is more or less completely 
regenerated according as the joint-cells are more or less well 
supplied with nourishment, but rather that it assimilates the 
nutritive material present, which reaches it both from without 
and from within, and transfers this to the inner cells, or, if this 
nutritive material be wanting, continues the function of nutri- 
tion at the expense of its own substance, and is finally destroyed 
by atrophy, whilst the neighbouring membrane of the joint-cells 
becomes unusually thickened. 

In like manner, also, the developing integumentary cell will 
probably, up to its complete evolution, possess the faculty of 
assimilating the nutritive fluids by which it is soaked, until at 
length, earlier or later according to its specific nature, it serves 
the assimilating inner tissue as nutritive material, even if this 
be only as a product of oxidation. 

Phases of development similar to those of the cuticle have to 
be passed through by the different membranes and membranous 
laminze of each individual cell-system of which the cellular tissue 
is composed ; the product of the liquefaction of the outermost 
comes at length to serve as nutritive material for the inner ones 
which are still living, or for those in course of development in 
other regions of the organism. 

As we know that the cellulose membrane formed by the meta- 
morphosis of the earliest, probably nitrogenous, cell-membrane 
changes by continual interchange of matter not only into lig- 
nine, xylogen, cork-substance, resin, and wax, but also into bas- 
sorine, gum, mucilage, and sugar, the notion that the formation 
of cellulose is the object and result of the interchange of matter 
in the vegetable cell must be modified as follows :—Many, in- 
deed perhaps most, vegetable cells have to pass through this 
chemical constitution of their membrane as a necessary phase of 
their development (a phase, however, which has scarcely been 
attained or exceeded by many of them when the organism to 
which they belong has already completed its cycle of life); but 
in many cases the cellulose cell-membrane employs the fluid by 
which it is permeated for still further changes of substance. 

With this are associated other instances, some of them com- 
municated in the preceding pages, of the independent growth 
of cell-membranes, and indeed of cellulose cell-membranes (as, 
for example, the peculiar fold-formation of the primary membrane 
of the joint-cell of Gdogonium, p. 285, vol. xii., Pl. VIL. fig. 49), 
which are opposed to the notion of the excretion of one cell- 
membrane by the adjacent ones. 

And not only does the membrane of the primary cell undergo 
chemical metamorphosis and accomplish peculiar changes of 


190 Prof. H. Karsten on the Formation, 


form independently of the neighbouring cell-membranes, but 
identical or very similar phenomena exhibit themselves in 
the membrane of the secondary cells, in the production of their 
“secondary secretion-layers” ; for were the layers of cell-mem- 
brane known under this appellation only secretions on the inner 
surface of a primordial sac, this last structure ought to be visible 
so long as those laminz are in process of multiplication. 

Nevertheless no membrane is ever to be found between the 
outer and inner so-called secretion-layers possessing the special 
characters of the primordial sac. On the contrary, I am satisfied, 
by repeated observations, that the membrane of the secondary 
cell which is stained by iodine no longer retains its delicate 
elastic consistence when the internal secretion-layers make their 
appearance—a fact that favours the supposition that the sub- 
stance of which the primordial sac is composed furnishes the 
thickening layers by a change in the character of its activity. 

Restricting myself to preceding examples, I would recall to 
mind the secondary cell of the pollen mother cell of Althea: 
no primordial sac can ever be discovered between it and the 
primary cell, and nevertheless its laminar growth is continued 
for a long time. 

There are even instances where such a transformation of the 
substance of the membrane may without doubt be detected on 
the coat of the tertiary cell (the cell-nucleus) whilst this mem- 
brane is still far removed from the secondary cell-membrane. 

In Pl. V. fig. 16 I have represented a cell such as is present 
in the neighbourhood of the vascular bundles of many Palms, as 
for example, Geonoma, Iriartea, Phenix, &c. Within the cell- 
nucleus of this almost cubical cell there is a collection of oxalate of 
lime in minute crystalline druses, such as are not unfrequently 
met with in cells. In these cells I found the membrane of the 
cell-nucleus which lies close upon the secreted erystalline matter 
transformed into cellulose—a condition which assnmedly will 
be often encountered. 

Moreover, in the globules of Gédogonium (fig. 50 b) all the 
membranes of the entire system of cells exhibit a cellulose re- 
action, though this is not the case in the youngest cells of this 
same plant; consequently a change of these latter into cellulose 
must also have been effected in this instance. 

The nature of the transformation which the several overlying 
or nested cells of a cell-tissue progressively undergo depends 
on the position which these cells occupy in the organism ; never- 
theless the form which their membrane acquires during the 
interchange of substance does not depend only on this trans- 
formation, but in part also on the nature of their contents. 

For example, if the cell-contents are organized, and therefore 


Development, and Structure of the Vegetable Cell. 191 


composed of cell-structures, these usually exercise a perceptible 
influence on the form of the superadded layers. Both the 
organized contents and the form of the thickening layers caused 
by them afford grounds for the discrimination of the different 
layers that concur in the construction of the cell-system of a 
tissue-cell. 

For as such a cell-system is not only composed of a number 
of cells, but each of these cells again consists of many super- 
posed layers, it is often difficult to make out the essential nature 
of any single layer, especially when these lamin, as not un- 
frequently happens, are only loosely connected together, or are 
of dissimilar chemical constitution, or, again, when the mem- 
branes of various endogenous cells are of homogeneous consist- 
ence, or for other reasons are undistinguishable or inseparable 
from each other. Under such circumstances it is the rule that 
the layers of a cell-wall never contain organized bodies ; where 
such are present, the nearest external membrane is the mem- 
brane or the innermost lamina of an organized cell. 

The layers of deposit may indeed at the time of absorption 
be separated from each other by fluid materials; but they do 
not enclose organized forms. On the other hand, many endo- 
genous cells of the system of a tissue-cell contain only fluid, 
which makes their recognition as cells difficult. Most commonly, 
however, at least the secondary and the next cells in the interior 
enclose organized forms. 

When, among these organized contents of the secondary cell 
(consisting of vesicles containing secretion-material and fre- 
quently, when the cell is not engaged in the multiplication, of a 
nucleus), one of these secretion-vesicles becomes so much ex- 
tended at the expense of the others as to attain the size of the 
mother cell; the tertiary cell (the cell-nucleus) and the rest of 
the contents are enclosed between the two membranes, which 
then become approximated, and from this results the form de- 
signated by Unger the “ parietal (wandstdndiger) cell-nucleus,” 
which led Schleiden into his above-mentioned erroneous notion 
of cell-genesis. These forms are developed in fruits which are 
becoming succulent, as also in cells filled with blue, red, and 
many kinds of yellow colouring-matter. 

But commonly there is a different state of things, the small 
secretion-vesicles (chlorophyll, starch, mucus, &c.) becoming 
adherent, during their development, to the internal surface of 
the membrane of the secondary cell. At a later period, when 
this membrane begins to undergo a chemical change, and to 
thicken, these secretory matters become absorbed; the vesicles 
vanish out of sight, but the spots at which they have adhered, 
or still may adhere, do not undergo thickening. 


192 Prof. H. Karsten on the Formation, 


The study of the history of development of the porous cells 
in the pith of Hoya carnosa, in the tissue of the stem of Langs- 
dorffia, as also that of the porous and scalariform ligneous cells 
of ferns &c., led me to the knowledge of these conditions of 
structure*. 

At the time it escaped my notice that Unger, in his instrue- 
tive examination of the development of the spiral vessels in the 
root-ends of Monocotyledons, had already arrived at similar 
results. Unger observed that the youngest vessels arising from 
the coalescence of series of cells contained a mucilaginous fluid, 
within which numerous small vesicles soon presented themselves 
and became adherent to the walls of the vessels, which at a later 
period underwent thickening, in part in a spiral manner, in the 
intervals between these vesicles. 

A picture of the spiral thickening of secondary cells is fur- 
nished by certain diseased states of Spiroyyra nitens, which have 
been frequently referred to. When this plant has lain for some 
time in carbonic-acid water, and is afterwards transferred to 
pure water or to a very weak endosmotic solution, the chloro- 
phyll-layers are observed to become, in consequence of diosmosis, 
separated from the swollen secondary walls, as seen in Pl. VII. 
figs. 65, 66. In these now muco-gelatinous membranes they 
leave behind them channel-like depressions, the membrane at the 
parts between them being more strongly thickened, probably 
from the absence here of impediments to diffusion. The pheno- 
menon is very transitory, as the membrane continues to undergo 
change by swelling up, and apparently becoming liquefied in 
the water. 

Another picture, likewise, of a spiral arrangement is at times 
seen in the progress of the changes of the cell-contents of 
Mougeotia when placed in solution of tannin (vol. xi. p. 418). 
In this instance the secretion-cells do not adhere to the wall, but 
occupy the entire cavity of the cell. 

Both these examples are probably types of spiral formation 
as it actually proceeds in nature, though observable with very 
great difficulty. In every case this formation takes place by 
means of a thickening of the cell-membrane in the intervals 
between adherent endogenous vesicles, just as the often observed 
ridge-like prominences on the secondary pollen mother cells 
(vol. xiii. p. 483) originate between the pollen-cells, the proper 


* De Cella vitali, p. 33, tab. 1. figs. a-d; Vegetationsorgane der Palmen, 
tab. 8. fig. 16; Bau der Cecropia, Nova Acta, vol. xxiv. tom. I. p. 88, 
tab. 13. fig. 4; Langsdorffia, Nova Acta, vol. xxvi. tom. 11. tab. 63, 
fig. 5. 

+ Linnea, 1841, p. 385, taf. 5. See also Grundz, d. Anat. u. Phys. 
1846, pp. 11 & 46. 


Development, and Structure of the Vegetable Cell. 193 


membranes of which, being subsequently thickened, then appear 
to be continuations of these ridges. 

It is probable that the porous walls are produced sometimes, 
although but seldom, by mere folds, at other times by thickenings 
similar to that described in Spirogyra, but sometimes also by 
not only the membrane of the mother cell, but partially those 
of the vesicles adherent to it, becoming lignified, in the same 
way as the reticulated outer membrane of spores and pollen-cells 
and also the simple cellular layer formed by the seed-coverings 
of the Orchidexe, Burmanniaceze, Gentianee, &c. 

That the production of the vessels composed of spiral cells 
(which are to be regarded as the first vessels in the cambial 
tissue of the apices of the roots, and therefore, no doubt, also of 
the buds of the stem and branches) is assisted by the richness 
of this tissue in organic nitrogenous compounds, was evidenced 
to me by experiments with roots of Iriartea; and that these 
compounds, by increasing the quantity of the endogenous cel- 
lular structures, also appear to induce the general spiral dispo- 
sition of the organized cell-contents may be assumed from the 
observations upon the position of the chlorophyll-sac of Spzro- 
gyra cited at p. 25. Direct special researches will elucidate this 
point. 

Certain retrograde metamorphoses of porous vessels which I 
have observed appear to me to be capable of furnishing con~ 
firmation to the imvestigations of their anatomical structure 
made by Unger and myself. 

The walls of the thickened porous cells and vessels filled with 
cork-cells undergo absorption (as described at p. 272, vol. xii.) 
in such a manner that the external membranes are the first to 
disappear. This can be particularly well seen in the much- 
thickened cells of the medullary sheath, the innermost coats of 
which, shortly before their complete deliquescence, exhibit pores 
of considerable size (Pl. V. fig. 15). 

Under these circumstances we may not unfrequently detect 
in the walls of porous vessels in course of absorption a structure 
which is in accordance with the production of these pores in 
consequence of the adhesion of vesicles to the inner surface of 
the cell-membrane which is afterwards porously thickened. 

A portion of such a cell-wall, more strongly magnified, is 
shown in fig. 6. It is composed of almost horizontally disposed 
annular bodies, imbedded in an intercellular substance, and 
having interposed between them a homogeneous continuous 
band cemented to them by the intercellular substance. 

That these annular bodies are to be regarded as small cells, 
thickened strongly all round, and but slightly above and below, 
is evidenced (leaving out of consideration the already recognized 

Amn. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. xiv. 


194 Prof. H. Karsten on the Vegetable Cell. 


development of the porous membranes) by the similar aspect of 
the above-mentioned seed-coats &c. The band visible between 
them is the membrane of the secondary cell thickened internally 
in ridges between the small vesicles adherent to it; here it 
separates readily in a spiral direction from the annular bodies, 
which now and then detach themselves singly, because the ori- 
ginal external lamina from which it grew, and to which the now 
annularly thickened vesicles adhered, is almost entirely ab- 
sorbed. 

The structure of these vascular walls differs from that of the 
membranes of seeds and pollen-corpuscles in this respect,—that 
in the latter the cells are immediately contiguous, and form a 
continuous tissue, whilst in the former the spherical or expanded 
vesicles are either completely separated or are in contact in one 
direction only, though at times an actual coalescence takes place 
between them. 

Since the profound researches of Mohl into the structure of 
the cell-membrane, it has been known that even heterogeneous 
layers of deposit occur upon the membranes composing one 
tissue-cell. This remarkable phenomenon may be simply ex- 
plained by the fact that in such tissue-cells the heterogeneous 
membranes of different nested cells are closely approximated. 

Moreover the external primary cell-membrane (if we leave 
out of consideration the spiral texture, which is certainly very 
prevalent) appears almost constantly to be homogeneous, whilst 
the membrane of the secondary cell very frequently has a pecu- 
liar structure; but the tertiary cell, where it attains the dimen- 
sions of the secondary one, is likewise structureless. 

The cause of these well-known facts, as also of the parallel 
occurrence of organized structures in one of the endogenous 
cells, whilst in others there is only fluid, has not hitherto been 
recognized. 

The frequent and almost normal absence of organized bodies 
in the contents of the primary cell, and of peculiar forms of 
thickening of its membrane, throws us back upon its develop- 
mental history in order to decide whether this homogeneous 
external membrane of the vegetable cell is the membrane of the 
primary cell of the cell-system (as which I regard it) or only 
the first structureless layer of deposit of the second inner cell- 
membrane, which subsequently becomes thickened im another 
form. The latter might then be regarded, with respect to the 
former, as a primordial sac, if Mohl had not established a dif- 
ferent conception of this designation (vol. xii. p. 268). 

The examples already cited (vol. xiii. p. 423, figs. 45 & 49) of 
the perfectly independent construction of contiguous endogenous 
cells are not fayourable to the last-mentioned conception of the 


Dr. A. Gunther on a new Generic Type of Fishes. 195 


matter; and in any case we should have to assume in each cell- 
system, not a single primordial sac, but as many of these as 
there are of superimposed cells (e. g. figs. 51 & 52, 80-85), 
even if it were permissible, in opposition to the idea set up by 
the founder of this theory, to give the name of the primordial 
sac to that layer of the cell-wall which is the last to give up its 
original peculiarity. 

In this case the denomination employed by me for the tissue- 
cell, of “a cell-system consisting of cells nested one within the 
other,” might be altered into “a tissue-cell consisting of primor- 
dial sacs nested one within the other.” 

Just as the organism requires the complete, normal, endo- 
genous, serial development and the harmonious cooperation of 
all its elementary organs, for the perfect unfolding of its typical 
form and functions, the normal structure and activity of each 
of these elementary organs depends upon the undisturbed deve- 
lopment of all these simple organizations, which stand in an in- 
timate reciprocal relation to each other, the cells engaged in a 
constant interchange of materials, with a structureless spherical 
envelope and heterogeneous unorganized contents produced in 
the plastic juice of the mother cell. 

It is only in the duration of the reciprocal action of the con- 
tents and membrane—the two constantly changing constituents 
of the cell—that its organization consists. An absolute stoppage 
of the change of materials of all its parts is coincident with the 
cessation of the organizatorial activity of the organism. 

The opposite idea—namely that the secretion-structure, the 
cellulose membrane, just as the calcareous shell is the house of 
the snail, forms the chamber into which plant-life retires, the 
house of the plant-cell, and afterwards its tomb—would become, 
if it found acceptance, the winding-sheet of science. 


XXI.—On a new Generic Type of Fishes discovered by the late 
Dr. Leichardt in Queensland. By Aubert Gintuer, M.A., 
M.D., Ph.D. 

[Plate VII. | 
Sir Dantex Cooper, Sir Philip G. Egerton, and Mr. G. Krefft 
have favoured me with photographs of a fish obtained by the 
late Dr. Leichardt in the Burdekin River, which evidently is 
the type of a new and remarkable genus. The specimen from 
which the photographs were taken is a dry skin, 15 inches 
long, preserved in the Australian Museum at Sydney. The 
photograph sent by Sir P. Egerton was accompanied by a scale 
taken from the middle of the side of the Sydney specimen, and 
shows a structure very similar to that of the scales of the 
13* 


196 -Dr. A. Giinther on a new Generic Type of Fishes. 


~African genus Heterotis, These materials alone appeared al- 
most sufficient to assign to the new fish its systematic posi- 
tion in the neighbourhood of Chirocentrus or Heterotis, when, 
to my great satisfaction, a second specimen was found in the 
collection of the British Museum. It had been sent by the 
unfortunate Mr. Gilbert as a specimen collected by Leichardt ; 
and it may have been obtained at the same place and time as 
that in the Sydney Museum ; it is also stuffed, but considerably 
larger, having a length of 28 inches. 

Sir Daniel Cooper informs me that it is probably the same 
fish which has been caught by Mr. E. F. Hill in a creek at a 
station called Princhester, 90 miles from Rockhampton : if this 
be really the case, he hopes to obtain specimens in spirit from 
this place, by which we may be enabled to settle some interesting 
points regarding its anatomy, especially the question whether, 
like Heterotis, it is provided with a superbranchial organ. 

I proceed to give the description *. 


SCLEROPAGES, 


Body oblong, compressed, covered with large scales; belly 
longitudinally keeled ; head compressed, infraorbital bones much 
enlarged, covering the cheek entirely; cleft of the mouth very 
wide, with the lower jaw prominent; coarse cardiform teeth in 
both jaws and on the palate. Dorsal fin of moderate length, 
opposite the hind part of the anal, which is elongate ; pectorals 
well developed ; ventrals small. 


Scleropages Leichardti. Plate VII. 
D, 20; A.3i.. P.9. V.5. L.lat.35. liitransysas 


The height of the body is rather more than the length of the 
head, which is contained thrice and three-quarters in the total 
(without caudal) ; the upper profile, from the dorsal fin to the 
snout, is nearly straight, whilst the lower is curved upwards from 
the subthoracic region. The cleft of the mouth is oblique, very 
wide, extending to behind the eye ; the mandible is strong, long, 
nearly two-thirds of the length of the head ; it projects beyond 
the upper jaw, and is furnished with a pair of very small barbels 
near the symphysis; the intermaxillary is short, and situated at 
the extremity of the upper jaw, whilst the maxillary forms the 
side. Both jaws are armed with a series of small, closely-set, 
conical teeth, equal in size: a band of coarse cardiform teeth 
runs round the palate; but whether these teeth really belong to 


* Whilst this paper was passing through the press, I have found that 
the genus Scleropages is closely allied to, or identical with, Osteoglossum. 
Cf. O. formosum, Schleg., from Borneo. 


Dr. A. Giinther on a new Species of Callionymus. 197 


the palatine bones cannot be ascertained, on account of the dry 
state of the specimen. The snout is short, not much longer 
than the eye, the diameter of which is one-sixth or one-seventh of 
the length of the head. The eye is situated immediately below 
the upper profile of the head ; the nostrils are close together, mid- 
way between the eye and the extremity of the upper jaw. Inter- 
orbital space flat, its width being contained thrice and three-quar- 
ters in the length of the head. Cheek very flat and broad, entirely 
covered by the two posterior infraorbital bones, which extend 
downwards and backwards to the limb of the preoperculum ; 
they are finely striated, like the operculum. Operculum more 
than twice as high as long, with the posterior margin rounded 
and continued into a broad membranous strip. Sub- and 
inter-operculum very small. The course of the muciferous 
channels through the bones of the head is indicated by a num- 
ber of oblong cavities closed by membrane. 

The dorsal fin is placed above the hind part of the anal, ter- 
minating at no great distance from the caudal; its anterior rays 
are short, and increase in length to the twelfth, behind which 
the rays again become shorter. Caudal fin rounded; anal of 
the same height as the dorsal, the rays about the twenty-fourth 
being the longest. The first pectoral ray is exceedingly strong, 
compressed, and nearly as long as the head ; however, it does 
not extend to the very short ventral fin, the base of which cor- 
responds to the eleventh scale of the lateral line. 

The scales are very large, higher than long, with the exposed 
surface minutely granulated, and with a network of fine channels 
over the inner surface, the meshes being concentrically arranged 
round a larger mesh in the middle. Each scale of the lateral 
line is pierced by a single large elliptical hole. 

The entire body is finely dotted with brown ; vertical fins and 
opercular membrane with small whitish spots. 


XXII.—Description of a new Species of Callionymus from 
Austraha. By Dr. ALBERT GUNTHER. 


Callionymus Papilio. 
Tuts species belongs to the group with the gill-opening reduced 
to a small foramen on the upper side of the neck, and with the 
lateral line single. 


Wedane7, wAl.i6.1 Clk 


Preopercular spine considerably shorter than the head, bifid 
at its extremity, both poimts being directed upwards. The rays 
of the vertical fins long, those of the second dorsal longer than 
those of the first, and nearly equal in length to the middle caudal 


198 M. Lacaze-Duthiers on the Structure of Antipathes. 


rays, which are not quite half as long as the body: the last 
anal ray prolonged. ‘The ventral fin extends beyond the origin 
of the anal. Body light brownish, marbled with darker; the 
lower part of the sides of the trunk and tail with numerous 
pearl-coloured vertical lines; belly pearl-coloured. Sides of the 
head with numerous small white ocelli edged with violet. Both 
dorsal fins with large, rather irregular, rounded whitish spots, 
each with a narrow violet edge; there are fine white dark-edged 
lines and dots within the large spots; a narrow, black, blue- 
edged spot behind the extremity of the first dorsal spine. Caudal 
and pectoral fins with white dots, which are mixed with brown 
ones on the lower half of the caudal. Oblique pearl-coloured 
lines behind each anal ray. 

Melbourne. The description is taken from a male specimen, 
5 inches long. 


XXIII.—On the Structure of Antipathes. 
By M. Lacazz-Duruizrs*. 


Two species form the subject of this memoir—namely, Anti- 
pathes subpinnata and A. Larix (Esper, Lamarck). Of all the 
Corals, they are the most difficult to investigate ; and no doubt 
it is on this account that we have so little precise information 
about them. ‘They live at great depths, and are only brought 
up by those coral-fishers who work upon the rocks. They are 
formed of so delicate a tissue that the shortest exposure to the 
air is sufficient to dry them up; and as it is only with great 
trouble that the fishers can be persuaded to keep them in water 
while they are at sea, the naturalist has much difficulty im ob- 
taining them in a fit state for examination. 

In the two species which I have observed living, the polypes 
are regularly arranged in a line upon one side only of the 
branches—namely the upper surface, or that which is opposite 
to the attachment of the polypary. 

Each animal, as observed by Ellis, Solander, and Dana, has 
six tentacles, arranged in a rosette round the mouth. These 
tentacles do not appear to elongate themselves much; most 
frequently they seemed to be merely six large tubercles; but, 
perhaps, in the normal condition at the bottom of the sea the 
elongation may be greater. The body does not rise into a tube 
projecting above the sarcosoma, but only forms a mamilla: in 
this respect it is very different from that of Gerardia. 

The diameter of the rosette of the largest polype in A. sub- 
pinnata does not exceed 1 millim., and it is larger than that of 
A. Larix. Judging from the observations which can be made 


* Translated from the ‘Comptes Rendus ’ for July 25, 1864, 


M. Lacaze-Duthiers on the Structure of Antipathes. 199 


in the collection of the Museum, there must exist great differ- 
ences in the size of the polypes in the different species—as, for 
instance, in Aatipathes scoparia, Lamarck, and A. glaberrima, 
Esper (Letopathes glaberrima, G.). When the tentacles are con- 
tracted, the polype only forms a large mamilla, upon which no 
traces of the tentacles are to be distinguished. In many dried 
specimens, however, we may see six tubercles surrounding the 
mouth, which forms a seventh. 

The general cavity of the body in A. subpinnata presents a 
very remarkable arrangement, which has nothing analogous to 
it in any known Coral. When the peristome is examined, six 
lines are seen radiating around the mouth; these evidently cor- 
respond with the peripheral septa which are known to exist in all 
these animals; but four of the lines become effaced not far from 
the mouth, in the midst of the tissues. Two larger ones, opposite 
to each other, alone bear the convoluted filaments; these two 
septa are usually in the plane passing through the axis of that 
portion of the polypary which bears the animal to which they 
belong. 

This arrangement is very remarkable. In investigating the 
development of the Actinie, we find that the formation of the 
peripheral chambers of the general cavity commences by the 
production of two septa, which, retaining the advance that they 
have before the rest, always appear to be more developed, and 
correspond to the angles of the commissures of the mouth. In 
Antipathes these first two septa alone appear to attain complete 
development; the others are scarcely indicated by the lines 
above mentioned. 

In these, as in other Coral-polypes, we find an cesophagus 
leading from the mouth, upon which the inner margins of these 
two septa are attached. It must also be observed that the con- 
voluted body, which is of comparatively very large size, appears 
to occupy the whole of the free margin of the septum. 

The tissue of the walls of the body is of extreme delicacy. It 
is composed of two sets of cells, in which two distinct layers are 
not, as in Gerardia, to be recognized. Of these cells some are 
transparent and turgid with fluid, others opaque and filled with 
granulations. The latter, by bursting and mixing their contents 
with the water, give origin to a viscid mucilage, which is very 
troublesome in making preparations. The cellular tissue is 
covered with very active vibratile cilia, both within and without. 

The nematocysts are ovoid, and of large size. Their thread 
is skort, and its spiral turns are but indistinctly visible through 
the capsule. They are largest in the convoluted filaments, and 
are there regularly arranged almost side by side. In the integu- 
ments they are grouped in parcels, as in Gerardia. 


200 ~~ Mr. R. Walker on Clays, containing Fossils, 


The Antipathes Larix which I had in my possession had its 
convolutions crammed with corpuscles resembling in transpa- 
rency and tint the testicular capsules of Gerardia. If it were 
not rash to come to any conclusion from observations made on 
objects not in the best possible state, I should say that the sexes 
are separate, and borne not only by distinct polypes, but even 
upon distinct polyparies. But [ cannot generalize and assert 
that this is always the case. 

The polypary of the true Antipathes bristles all over with 
spinules. These have not escaped other writers, but some of 
them have erroneously regarded them as abortive branches. The 
arrangement of these spines may furnish useful characters for 
the discrimination of the species. 

The sarcosoma everywhere covers the polypary, which appears 
as if enclosed in a sort of distinct sheath. When it contracts, its 
tissue is traversed by the spicules, as is the case in the Gorgonia. 

The growth of the polypary takes place by the deposition of 
layers which are superimposed upon the stems, and which at 
the extremities resemble the fingers of gloves enclosed one within 
the other. The centre of the axis appears to be perforated by a 
canal; but this is only an appearance due, in fresh individuals, 
to the inferior density of the substance which has been added at 
the extremities and become internal, and, in dried specimens, to 
the contraction of this substance. 

Between Gerardia and Antipathes there are great differences. 
In the former the polypary is smooth and covered with very 
small and scarcely sensible umbilicated elevations; in Anfz- 
pathes it is covered with spinules. The twenty-four tentacles of 
Gerardia correspond with as many chambers separated by the 
same number of septa with convoluted filaments ; in Antipathes 
only two of these convoluted cords are developed, and the tenta- 
cles are never more than six in number. In Gerardia the Acti- 
nian type is as highly developed and characterized as possible ; 
in Antipathes it remains incomplete, in consequence of a sort of 
arrest of development. 


XXIV.—On Clays, containing Fossils, near St. Andrews ; with 
Remarks on some of the latter. By Rospert WALKER. 


Tue Clay-bed whose geological position and fossil contents are 
about to be noticed is situated near the mouth of the Kinness 
Burn, or rivulet, a small stream that runs past St. Andrews on 
the south side. Towards the sea this stream has eroded its 
channel about three feet through the bed. At one time the 
clay could be seen forming part of the bank on each side of the 


near St. Andrews. 201 


burn; but, from recent alterations, it can now be seen only on 
the north side, and there to a limited extent. Taking the 
utmost stretch of this deposit, it appears not to occupy a super- 
ficial area of more than 100 yards each way. Although thus 
contracted, there is reason to think that it may be the remnant 
of a more extensive bed which the action of the sea had reduced 
to its present diminutive dimensions ages ago, when the relative 
levels of land and sea, and perhaps the outline of the coast, 
were somewhat different from what they are now. ‘This clay 
has been known for years to contain shells; little notice, how- 
ever, appears to have been taken of it beyond occasionally 
picking out a few Scrobicularie as they were washed bare by 
the burn. In this state the matter remained till about two 
years ago, when the proprietor cut a water-course and a pit for 
a mill-wheel through the deposit, on the south side of the burn. 
Although these excavations were not very extensive, they re- 
sulted in the turning up of a number of marine shells and some 
mammalian bones, which had the effect of directing attention 
more particularly to the subject. A short time afterwards, 
during the sinking of a well opposite the former excavation, but 
further from the edge of the burn, a considerable number of 
shells of different species were again observed. This well was 
dug 9 feet deep, and the section taken as accurately as possible. 
In order, however, to test the strata as far as the condition of 
things would allow, another pit was dug for this purpose, still 
further from the burn, and higher above the level of the sea 
than either of the previous excavations, the surface of the ground 
at this part being about 10 feet above the sea-level. 

The following section is from the latter of these pits; and it 
may be observed that the only appreciable difference between 
the two sections was in the second bed of the former being 
somewhat thinner than that of the latter, owing, perhaps, to its 
proximity to the burn, by which the sand and gravel might 
have been washed away before the stream cut out its present 
channel :— 


feet. inches. 


elnck veretable earthy, .chiaowee lati owe ye Lye 6 
2. Coarse sand, numerous small rolled stones, and lit- 

RORAIES MCU Gy sir...) Nao ate bo Mane tee nen as alae beee oh MO 
3. Brown sandy clay, few stones or shells.......... 1 4 


4. Bluish-brown clay, with here and there thin part- 
ings of fine white sand; shells plentiful; the bed 
GU CHE UMCOUS Ecce 5 St sks one ates sate ae) 


The contents of the second bed corresponded in every respect 
with the materials on the sands at the east of the town at the 
present day. The contained shells were chiefly Patella vulyata, 


202 Mr. R. Walker on Clays, containing Fossils, 


P. pellucida, Lattorina littoralis, L. littorea, and many broken 
fragments of other littoral shells. The third bed, although 
distinct enough, seems to be merely a mixture of the materials 
of the second and fourth beds; the only shells observed were a 
few straggling specimens of Littorina. In composition, the 
fourth bed has a greater resemblance to estuary silt than to any 
other kind of deposit: it shows no traces of lamimation, and, 
with the exception of occasional thin layers of sand, it bears no 
other marks of stratification. From this bed the mammalian 
bones and the following shells were obtained ; the latter seemed 
to be distributed through the mass, as far as it was pierced. Of 
the bivalve shells, the most common was Tellina proxima, of 
which specimens of all sizes were in abundance; and, as usual 


with this species, the valves were covered with a yellow epider- - 


mis, which in most cases, however,adhered more firmly to the clay 
than to the shell. There were likewise a considerable number 
of specimens of Scrobicularia piperata, Mytilus edulis, Cardium 
edule, and two or three examples of Saxicava rugosa. Of the 
univalves, Rissoa ulve was in the greatest abundance—in some 
places completely crowded, more especially where there was a 
lamina of sand. Littorina littorea was plentiful; there were two 
specimens of Nassa incrassata, and two or three of Helix hispida. 
The univalves were all full-grown specimens; but none of the 
bivalves, with the exception of Scrobicularia and Tellina, had 
attained full dimensions. They were all very friable, and in the 
case of Mytilus and Cardium it was scarcely possible, im many 
instances, to remove them from the clay without breaking. In 
every instance both valves were adherent ; and there can be no 
doubt whatever that the animals lived and died where their shells 
were afterwards found. All the marine shells of the preceding 
list are living in the littoral zone of the adjacent sea, with the 
exception of Tellina proxima, which does not appear to be living 
now in any part of the British seas, and is considered a charac- 
teristic shell of the glacial deposits of Scotland ; they are all 
included in Geikie’s Catalogue of Organic Remains from the 
Glacial Deposits of Scotland*; they are likewise included in 
Wood’s ‘ Mollusca of the Crag ;’ so that as species they must 
have existed during many of the physical changes that have oc- 
curred on the earth toward the latter epochs of its history. 

Of vegetable remains noticed, there were pieces of the branches 
of the birch and the oak, together with a few nuts of the latter. 
Of the birch-branches, however, there was little else than the 
bark preserved, which did not appear to be at all wasted. There 
were also a few fragmentary impressions of leaves, and many 
impressions and remains of what appeared to have been marsh- 

* The Glacial Drift of Scotland. 


¢ 


near St. Andrews. 203 


_ plants, with some of the stems in an upright position, There 
were likewise numerous fibres and rootlets of seemingly various 
plants. These rootlets and impressions clearly indicate that 
marshy and perhaps other plants had at one time grown in 
abundance on this bed; and, so far as observed, this would ap- 
pear to have been before the third bed was laid down, as no 
rootlets or stems could be seen in that deposit ; and there seems 
no reason why they should not have been preserved, or traces of 
them, in the one bed as well as in the other, if they had ever 
been there. No doubt, from the littoral character of the shells 
found in this bed, some of them could exist although they were 
not many feet under water at every tide. Some of the Telline 
can live high upon the muddy shores of estuaries; so can Scro- 
bicularia. And, from the large size of these species, it may 
be inferred that they had found a more congenial habitat than 
seems to have been the case with Mytilus and Cardium, whose 
size and thickness might at the same time be somewhat influ- 
enced by the freshness of the water. The three latter species 
can undoubtedly live in places where the water is as often fresh 
as salt. Jeffreys says* that the Mussel and the common Peri- 
winkle (Littorina littorea) are occasionally found living on the 
shore in a stream of perfectly fresh water during the recess of 
the tide, that Cardium edule has the same habit, and that the 
latter species even occurs associated with freshwater Mollusca. 
It is well known, from the writings of Montagu and others, 
that Scrobicularia piperata burrows in muddy places that are 
occasionally covered with fresh water, at the mouths of rivers, 
or far up estuaries. So far as my own observations go, the 
shell of the latter species retains nearly its normal size and 
thickness in places where neither Cardiwm nor Mytilus seem 
capable of existing, or, if met with, are always in a thin and 
dwarfed state. However, there can be no doubt that all the 
foregoing species could not have lived in situations so high 
above the sea as to allow even marshy plants to grow. This 
being the case, the plants must have grown after the bed was 
raised a few feet higher above the water. For this purpose 
one of two causes would be necessary: either the land at this 
time was slowly rising, or the estuary was gradually silted up: 
perhaps both these operations were going on at the same time, 
although it would be impossible in the present instance to say 
which had the chief hand in the matter. At the same time that the 
land was elevated to some extent, there seems no room to doubt 
(indeed, according to the observations of Geikie+ and others, there 
appear good reasons for believing) that the land on many other 


* British Conchology, vol. ii. 
+ The Glacial Drift of Scotland. 


204 Mr. R. Walker on Clays, containing Fossils, 


parts of the coast was gradually rising during the deposition of 
these shell-clays. Whatever may have been the agents engaged 
in laying down this deposit, whether it has partly resulted from 
the effect of the waves beating upon exposed banks of boulder- 
clay, or from the mud borne from the land by glaciers or coast- 
ice (as suggested by Geikie* to account for the formation of the 
shell-clays of the west coast), or (what at first sight might per- 
haps appear equally probable) from the quantity of mud and 
sand carried down by the Kinness Burn—in either case, the 
three latter forces all indicate a very different condition of climate 
from what now prevails in these latitudes : the quantity of water 
in the burn is now so small; and besides it drains such a limited 
district that, under the present conditions, its volume could never 
have been much greater than it is at present. Unless we suppose 
(as indeed seems probable) that, during the close of the glacial 
period, it was flooded every summer by the melting of the snow 
and ice that had collected throughout the preceding winters, 
it would be difficult to conceive how this small stream could 
have acted any part in the matter—much less to suppose that, 
in its present volume, it could have eroded and transported suf- 
ficient material to form the accumulation in its present extent, 
irrespective of what may have been washed away at a later pe- 
riod, This will be more apparent when it is stated that some 
years ago a pit was sunk into this deposit to the depth of 
14 or 15 feet, and the stratum afterwards bored to the depth 
of 60 feet additional, in search of water, without finding any. 
This pit was about 40 yards south of the place that yielded 
the present organic remains, and about 20 feet above the sea. 
The contractor assures me that during these operations the 
clay was found to be of a bluish-grey colour, as far as pierced ; 
from which it may be inferred that the bottom of the stratum 
was not then reached. 

From the thickness of this clay, it is evident that a consider- 
able portion of it must be many feet below the sea-level. It 
would likewise appear to have been deposited in a hollow scooped 
out of the boulder-clay. The latter can be seen a little further 
down the stream, extending apparently from beneath the blue 
clay to the “east sands,” where it is occasionally swept bare by 
the waves from high-water mark to a considerable distance sea- 
ward. When thus exposed, the irregular appearance of its sur- 
face, and the numerous rolled stones of many sorts and sizes 
projecting out of the mass, show clearly the unmistakeable 
characteristics of the boulder-clay. It may be remarked that 
this is the only place where the boulder-clay can be seen in the 
immediate neighbourhood. A few years since, it was well ex- 

* The Glacial Drift of Scotland. 


near St. Andrews, 205 


posed, during the excavations for a gas-holder, close by the 
harbour, about 40 yards further down the burn than the spot 
where the fossils were obtained. 
_ All the other excavations, of late years, made for building 
and other purposes, along the high ground by the south side of 
St. Andrews, have merely exposed the brick-clay, which, hke 
the boulder-clay, is of a red colour and of considerable thick- 
ness, sweeping down both sides of the Kinness valley. On the 
high ground there are alternate beds of fine sand and clay ; 
some of the sand-beds are about two feet thick, and sometimes 
show curious contortions. Though organic remains are not 
common in these beds, I have sometimes, after a diligent search, 
found fragments of both bivalve and univalve shells; on one 
occasion [ discovered stalks of an Equisetum sticking in an up- 
right position in the clay, 9 feet from the surface, seemingly as 
they had grown, on a thin layer of vegetable matter. About a 
year ago, in the cutting of a deep drain through this clay, by 
the side of the burn, but about a quarter of a mile up from 
the shell-clay, there was part of the trunk of an oak-tree turned 
out, which had been deposited in the clay with the branches 
and acorns. From the profusion of the latter, and their evident 
attachment to the branches when imbedded, it would appear 
that the tree had grown at no great distance, and that it had 
been swept down in autumn. There were also fragments of the 
birch ; and from a bed of drift-gravel intercalated with the clay, 
_ the molar tooth of a horse and a molar of a goat were obtained. 
The brick-clay is laid thick along both sides of the valley, and 
ean be distinctly traced to within a few yards of the blue or 
shell-clay. And, although the junction of these strata cannot 
be satisfactorily seen, from the ground beimg under cultivation 
and no section exposed, still it can hardly be disputed (from the 
position of the beds and the nature of the ground) that the 
brick-clay underlies the blue clay to some extent on the land- 
ward side of the latter. This would precisely agree with the 
relative positions of the shell- and brick-clays on the west coast, 
according to Mr. Geikie*. He says, “The red brick-clay some- 
times dwindles down to only a few inches in thickness, but is 
always found between the shell-clay and the hard till” (boulder- 
clay). From the position and fossil contents of the blue clay in 
question, there seems little reason to doubt that it is the repre- 
sentative on our east coast, though fragmentary, of the more 
extensive and prolific shell-clays of the west, and that, like them, 
it was deposited during the close of the glacial period, while 
characteristic shells of that period, such as Tellina proxima, still 
lived in abundance on the British shores. Over this glacial bed, 
* The Glacial Drift of Scotland, 


206 Mr. R. Walker on Clays, containing Fossils, 


marsh- and perhaps other plants had grown and decayed (how 
long, it would be impossible to conjecture) before the land again 
began to sink under the sea; during which time the deposit 
would be exposed to the tear and wear of the waves, when doubt- 
less many of the organisms, together with a great portion of the 
bed itself, would be washed away. It would be difficult to ascer- 
tain, from the manner in which the third and second beds seem 
to have been deposited, to what extent the land subsided at the 
time, and whether the subsidence was gradual or rapid. The 
continuation of the latter of these beds has been noticed at 
other places in the neighbourhood, at greater elevations. For 
instance, in a cutting to divert a small stream on the farm of 
St. Nicholas, about half a mile south of the clay, this littoral 
deposit was passed through: here it is from 12 to 15 inches in 
thickness; and the composition and contained fossils are iden- 
tical with the second bed of the section. At this part the de- 
posit is laid upon a gentle declivity arching round to the 
Kinness valley, and from 27 to 30 feet above the sea, thus 
occupying an intermediate position between Dr. Chambers’s 
64-feet beach at this place and the sea-level ; he states, however, 
that here ‘‘ the sea has made several shifts of level without in- 
denting the land”’*. This stratum was likewise exposed, on the 
north side of the Kinness valley, about three vears since, while 
altering a wall at the gas-works, at an elevation of 35 feet above 
the sea, the ground sloping towards the south. This bed was 
again laid open by the present drainage-excavations ; but this. 
time it was on the west side of St. Andrews, at the height of 
21 ‘feet above the sea, and contained all the littoral shells enu- 
merated in our second bed. 

Besides the preceding, there is additional evidence, though of 
a different kind, of the sea having stood at a higher level than 
at present, in recent times, geologically speaking. This is fur- 
nished by an isolated patch of sandstone that crops out at the 
south end of the “west sands ” being quite full of the holes of 
Pholas crispata. This rock is within a foot or two of high-water 
mark, and about 14 feet above the habitat of the Pholas at the 
present day, which generally lives between 2 to 3 feet above low- 
water mark and a few fathoms beyond. They do not appear 
from choice to make their habitations in sandstone, but rather 
prefer shale or limestone, if these rocks can be had at suitable 
depths. From the numerous borings in the sandstone in ques- 
tion, it would seem that it had continued for a long time at a 
depth in the water favourable to the organization of these mol- 
lusks ; and as the land was gradually elevated, they appear, from 
their holes still visible here and there in the intervening rocks, 

* Ancient Sea Margins. 


near St. Andrews. 207 


to have slowly fallen back to their present station. Additional 
evidence might be given, from the strata on other parts of the 
coast, as well as on the authority of various observers, which 
would go far to show that these recent oscillations of the land 
had partaken much more of a general than of a local character. 
The present object, however, is mainly to endeavour to define 
the geological position of the shell-clay of this district, and to 
prove, as far as possible from the evidence borne by the strata 
of the immediate neighbourhood, that the land on this part of 
the coast had subsided many feet after marshy plants had grown 
apparently in abundance on these glacial beds. 


The Mammalian bones already referred to as found in the 
lower bed, associated with the shells, comprise some bones of an 
ox and a horse. The remains of the ox (Bos longifrons) consist 
of the frontal bones aud horn-cores: the latter are a little larger 
than those described by Prof. Owen ; otherwise there is no dif- 
ference between them and the description and measurements of 
this species given in the ‘ Fossil Mammals.’ The bones of the 
horse consist of part of the cranium, the left tibia, the os caleis 
of the right side, and a hoof-phalanx. The skeleton seems to 
have been complete at the time it was discovered ; and it is much 
to be regretted that, owing to its lyimg on one side of the trench, 
the rest of the bones were not dug up, in order to allow a more 
complete comparison between them and the skeleton of the re- 
cent species. At the same time, the tesult of a comparison 
of these fragmentary remains with the bones of the horse of the 
present day may not be unworthy of a little notice. 

This portion of the skull comprises the superior maxillary, 
the intermaxillary, the malar, and part of the lachrymal bones, 
along with a part of the palatine bone of the right side, of the 
left side, the greater part of the intermaxillary, and the palatal 
portion of the superior maxillary. All the teeth of the right upper 
jaw, and the two middle incisors, the canine, and the second 
molar of the left upper jaw are likewise present. This cranium 
had belonged to a horse (judging from the condition of the 
incisor teeth) of not less than six or seven years of age. The 
respective bones do not differ in shape from the corresponding 
bones of the recent horse; neither do the grinding-surfaces of 
the teeth differ, except in the last molar, the enamel and dentine 
folds being very similar in both. The molar teeth differ, how- 
ever, from those of the horse of the present day, in the first 
molar having a less acute anterior angle, and in the smaller 
transverse diameter of the second and third molars compared 
with their antero-posterior diameter. So far these characters 
agree with those of Hquus fossilis; but the last molar differs 


208 Mr. R. Walker on Clays containing Fossils, 


from the heretofore recognized characters of the last tooth of 
that species in having a bilobed posterior termination, apparently 
agreeing in this respect with the last molar of E. plicidens ; 
the enamel and dentine folds, however, extend across the crown, 
like those of the last molar of E..fossilis as figured in the ‘ Fossil 
Mammals.’ It has been observed by Prof. Owen long ago, that 
the fossil horse had proportionally a larger head than obtains in 
the domesticated races. While this is, no doubt, the case to a 
considerable degree, still, were we to assume that the fossil horse 
had as large a head as the recent, in proportion to the size of 
the molar teeth (which, in the case ‘of the former, are often found 
detached), we should be somewhat mistaken. At least, in the 
fossil under consideration, the majority of the teeth are nearly 
as large as the teeth of the cart-horse of the present time, while 
the head itself has evidently been a good deal less. However, 
to show the relative sizes more clearly, I will, as far as practi- 
cable, give the measurements of the fossil cranium, the molar 
teeth, and the tibia, together with similar measurements of a 
Scottish pony and a cart- horse, the latter appearing to me to 
be a fair representative of its class :-— 


Length of the intermaxillary bone (measured , 
cottish Cart- 

over the curve) from the edge of the alveo- pony. Fossil. _ horse. 

lar cavity of the first or middle incisor to inches. inches. _ inches. 

the termination of the ascending apophyses 7+ 83 97 
From the anterior edge, in front of the canine 

tooth of the superior maxillary, in a straight 

line to the orbital cavity . 93 103 122 
Breadth of the superior maxillary, from ‘the 

anterior edge of the first molar to the upper 

edge, at the point where the intermaxillary 

bane terminates: i hee sgt ce ce OE 43 43 


Dimensions of the molar teeth. 
Antero-posterior diameter of the crown of the 


first molar : ele 13 13 
Antero-posterior diameter of second molar.. 1 13 153 
- 3 third molar .. 47; 145% 24153 
es : fourth molar... 32,4 1 155 
Fe rr - fifth molar. ... a5 Iie lye 
fe sixth molar le 145% ~~ lads 
oe ve 3 
Dimensions of tibia. °8 63 73 
Extreme length, including tibial spine or 
central process in the knee-joint........ 131 133 16 
Greatest transverse diameter of the head .. 33 33 dz 
3 of the distal end 3° 24 3e 
Least circumference of the shaft........ -- 43 43 64 


Prof. J. Van der Hoeven on Animal Organization. 209 


The foregoing dimensions will show the different sizes of the 
teeth and bones. And as the length of the tibia (minus the 
central process in the knee-joint) in general averages one-fourth 
of the height of the horse to which it belongs, in this way a fair 
approximation to the sizes of the animals under consideration 
may be obtained. It will be observed, taking the measure- 
ments of the crania from the anterior edge of the superior 
maxillary to the orbital cavity, that this part in the fossil 1s 
$ inch longer than that of the pony, and 24 inches shorter than 
the same part in the cart-horse. As this part of the horse’s skull 
is on an average about | inch longer than the space from the an- 
terior margin of the orbital cavity to over the occipital condyles, it 
will be apparent that, if we make a proportional allowance for 
this part, absent in the fossil, and of course add for the fore part 
of the intermaxillary bone, we shall not be far wrong in esti- 
mating the fossil skull at 2 inches longer than the pony’s, and 
about 5 inches shorter than the skull of the cart-horse ; while it 
will be seen that, taking the total of the antero-posterior dia- 
meter of the molars, irrespective of details, these organs in the 
fossil exceed those of the pony by 1 inch, and are only } inch less 
than those of the cart-horse. 


XXV.—Some Remarks on the Succession and Development of 
Animal Organization on the Surface of our Globe, in the dif- 
ferent Periods of its -Hxistence. By J. Van per HorEven, 
Professor of Zoology, University of Leyden *. 


Ir requires but little knowledge of organized bodies to remark 
that there is a great difference in their structure, and that some 
are more, others less complicated. This greater development 
depends not only on the presence of parts or organs which are 
absent in more simple organisms, but also on modifications in 
the structure of parts which exist as well im more simple as 
in more perfect species. In the animal kingdom, for instance, 
there are species which are devoid of the organs of the senses of 
sight and of hearing, so important in man; others which have 
these organs, but in a very different degree of complication. 
Thus the organ of hearing presents a greater number of distinct 
parts in mammals than in fishes; and thus, too, the eye is in 
general more complicated, more moveable, more nicely protected 
in the former than in the latter. It is needless to give a larger 
number of examples of this diversity of perfection. From the 
observation of this diversity originated a conception which seems 


* Written in Dutch, in 1858, before the publication of Mr, Darwin’s 
work. Communicated by Dr. J. Barnard Davis, I’.S.A. 


Ann. & Mag, N, Hist, Ser.3, Vol. xiv. 14 


210 Prof. J. Van der Hoeven on the Succession and 


to have a great charm for the minds of most persons, that there 
is an unbroken chain of progression in all the productions of 


organized nature, and that there is an imperceptible transition - 


from the one to the other, all being connected, without any 
jump*. It would not be difficult to refute many of the proofs 
which are often brought forward in favour of this connected 
series; but this Pefgeiien could have no other value than that 
of evincing that the examples were ill-chosen and delusive. It 
will be sufficient to remark that the existence of such an unin- 
terrupted ladder is by no means a necessary consequence of the 
incontestable diversity in complication and perfection of the 
organisms, and that there can be degrees of perfection without. 
an imperceptible transition from one to the other. 

The conception of an uninterrupted ascending series assumes 
a very different character when it is connected with the opinion 
that there is really such an evolution from the most simple beings 
to the highest organisms. Many authors use the word “ evolu- 
tion,” or development in the different divisions of the animal 
and vegetable kingdoms, only in a metaphorical sense; but 
others believe that anane : is really such a gradation, and that the 
great variety of organic bodies originates in a succession of 
developments. According to these authors, a more complicated 
organism is the descendant of another not so complicated, and 


this organism, again, was the offspring of a still more simple: 


one; and in this manner, by a continuous progression from 
step to step, we arrive at last at unicellular forms, as the original 
prototypes and progenitors of the whole animal and vegetable 
kingdoms. In this conception the transitions ought to be alto- 
gether complete, and it seems that even the smallest chasm can- 
not exist. If it appears that there are, nevertheless, such chasms, 
it must be surmised that many living species still escape our re- 
searches, and our imperfect knowledge is the only reason of this 
apparent discontinuity—or that these connecting links existed 
formerly, but are now destroyed by some revolutions in the con- 
dition of the globe, and thus removed from our actual observation. 

If we withdraw from the bright field of inquiry which is illu- 
mined by observation, and deviate into the gloomy labyrinths 
of opinion, it is not uncommon to behold all sorts of representa- 
tions, which assume other forms and dissolve away like the con- 
fused outlines of the clouds. It is in this manner alone that we 
find an explanation of the arbitrary conceptions proposed by 
some authors, as if they were events of the history of creation. 
Amongst the authors who are the adherents and advocates of 
such an evolution of organisms as I allude to, a first place ought 


* It was principally Charles Bonnet who enlarged upon this scheme, 
and extended the conception to the universe. 


Development of Animal Organization, — 211 


to be given to De Maillet, who lived at the end of the 17th and 
beginning of the 18th centuries, and was French consul in 


_ Egypt and afterwards at Palermo. His opinions are explained 


in a book entitled ‘Telliamed, ou Entretiens d’un Philosophe 
Indien avec un Missionnaire Frangois sur la Diminution de la 
Mer, la Formation de la Terre, Origine de ’ Homme, ete.’* 
From the supposition that animals now living and plants 
growing on the land all originated from organisms living in the 
sea, he endeavours to establish that all forms occurrmg among 
animals and plants on the continent have their representatives 
and corresponding species in the ocean. Birds are to be derived 
from flying-fishes, which, entangled by accident between the 
reeds, were prevented from returning to their former abode. 
Their fins were cloven, their rays were clothed with feathers, 
and the ventral fins were transformed into legs. “II se fit encore 
d’autres trés-petits changements dans leur figure. Le bee et le 
col des uns s’allongérent, et des autres se raccourcirent. Il en 
fut de méme au reste du corps. Cependant la conformité de la 
premiere figure subsiste dans le total, et elle est et sera toujours 
alsé & reconnoitre” (pp. 320,321). It is hardly necessary to 
say that such conceptions are inconsistent with calm and un- 
prepossessed inquiry, and are dissipated by its touchstone. 
Provided with a larger knowledge of natural history, the 
French naturalist Lamarck was, at the beginning of our century, 
the warm defender of similar views. He believed that there 1s 
a slow development, by which, from the most simple infusorium, 
originate different other animals, till the highest forms are at- ~ 
tained. If all animals were confined to the same conditions, the 
same medium, the same temperature, and the same external 
circumstances, this ladder of development would be uniform 
and very regular. This would be the case if, for instance, there 
were only marine animals living at the same depth and in the 
same temperature. But such not being the fact, another agent 
steps in, in addition to that of gradation—the influence of ex- 
ternal conditions, their relation to the wants and acts of animals, 
which, by constant repetition, produce habits. These habits 
modify the organization. Some parts, being more constantly 
used, increase in bulk and strength; others, by rest and inac- 
tion, lose their importance, are reduced in size, or disappear 
entirely. So habits form new organs, as, he says, is generally 
known, because it gave rise to the proverbial expression, “ Les 
habitudes forment une nouvelle nature.” + Even passions pro- 


* There are various editions of this book. I have that published at 
Basle, 1749, in small 8vo. “ Telliamed” is an anagram of the author’s name. 
+ Philosophie Zoologique, par J. B. P. A. Tiara Paris, 1809. 2 vols. 
8vo. See vol. i. p. 237. 
14* 


212 Prof, J. Van der Hoeven on the Succession and 


duce such alterations. Lamarck thinks it very probable that 
fits of anger m Ruminants produce congestions m the forehead, 
and that, by striking each other when they fight, a greater 
secretion of osseous substance and a production of horny matter 
might be provoked, by which means they at last acquired 
horns*. 

It would be difficult to adduce decisive proofs of facts that 
these and similar modifications originate in such manner. The 
advocates of these hypotheses poimt to the very limited time 
wherein it is allowed to man to contemplate the productions of 
the forming power of nature. How different would be our con- 
ception, if we were in the possession of an experience of several 
thousand years! Are these theories illustrated by the remains 
of animals which are imbedded in the many different strata of 
the crust of the earth? ‘This question, at all events, deserves to 
be discussed. 

The fossil remains of organic bodies gave occasion in former 
times to very different opmions. Some believed them to be only 
productions of a sporting Nature—mere /usus nature—remark- 
able representations of plants and animals, but which never were 
true living organisms. Others, not mistaking their true nature, 
believed that all these fossils were the remains of organic beings 
destroyed by a great flood, the deluge recorded in the book of 
Genesis. A further and closer examination of these remains 
proved, more and more, that they could not have belonged to 
the same period, and that there was as great a diversity between 

“those of different strata as between these in general and the now 
living animal and vegetable forms. The fossil vegetable remains 
are chiefly stems, branches, roots, and impressions of leaves of 
plants ; the animal fossils are bones, teeth, scales, or other hard 
external parts, such as shells and polyparia. After the discovery 
of a better distinction between the different formations belong- 
ing to the aqueous rocks (of which distinction the first attempts 
are due to Werner, the man who made straight the way of the 
geologists of our century), the persuasion became more and 
more fixed that in general the oldest and deepest strata contain 
fossils of plants and animals the most different from the now 
living species, and that by degrees the organic forms were modi- 
fied in such a manner that the last-formed strata contain many 
remains of such species as do not differ substantially from those 
of the present time. 

In a short essay on this subject it is impossible to prove this 
statement in detail, but the assertion is the result of all the in- 
vestigations of the paleontologists of this century—Cnuvier, 
Brongniart, Agassiz, and Owen. And the natural corollary of 

* Lamarck, i, p. 256, 


Development of Animal Organization. 213 


this theorem is that the present species of plants and animals 
are of a more recent date, that they are not of the same antiquity 
as plants and animals in general in the history of our planet. 
If we suppose that the now living species of organic beings lived 
already at the same periods to which the remains of older forma- 
tions belong, then it is perfectly inexplicable why we do not find 
the remains of them, or at least of many of them, in all the 
different strata. If an antiquary finds in some old burial-places 
only weapons and instruments made of stone or bone, in other 
sepulchres only bronze implements, he is led naturally to the 
conclusion that these remains belong to different periods of 
civilization ; but he would be inconsiderate and devoid of all 
justification if he admitted that the people in whose sepulchres 
he had found only stone implements were likewise in the posses- 
sion of bronze weapons, which he did not find. Inthe same manner 
palzontological questions are to be discussed. When one of our 
contemporaries* preposed the opinion that, from the first begin- 
ning of organization upon our planet, all species of plants and 
animals were created at once, the now living forms as well as 
the others the remains of which are found in the strata of moun- 
tains, and that these various strata were formed after the crea- 
tion of all these species of organic bodies, many of which died 
out, some in a remote, others in a more recent period,—when, I 
say, one of our contemporaries proposed this opinion, no anta- 
gonist arose, and the paradox passed away hardly remarked. 
Evidence to the contrary was too strong, and in such a case 
silence is preferable to the refutation of palpable error. Like 
silence is also better than demonstration of what is evident of 
itself. 

It would require nearly a perfect abnegation of all knowledge 
gathered by observation if we did not admit these two funda- 
mental results of paleontological investigations,—first, that 
there existed formerly on our planet other species of plants and 
animals than those which are now living; and in the second 
place, that the now living species of plants and animals did not 
exist from the beginning of life on earth. As to the last thesis, 
we are authorized to say with confidence that our now existing 
species of Mammalia did not live at the same period with the 
Anoplotheria and Paleotheria, the bones of which are dug up in 
the Tertiary formation of the neighbourhood of Paris. The 
fishes now swimming in European seas did not swim in the 
waters whose muddy deposits gave origin to the copper-slate of 
Maesfeldt, &c. These conclusions are the results of comparative 
inquiries. If the species now living existed at those periods, 


_* Kutorga, Einige Worte gegen die Theorie der stufenweisen Entstehung 
der organische Wesen auf der Erde. Bonn, 1839, S. 24. 


iQ14 Prof. J. Van der Hoeven on the Succession and 


there can be no reason given why their remains, their bones &c., 
were never found together with the remains of the extinct spe- 
cies alluded to. Perhaps the first thesis seems not so clear— 
that those species which we find in the strata of different aqueous 
rocks and deposits are truly extinct. Some may be disposed to 
ask whether our survey of the now living organic world is so 
complete that we know all the species. This is certainly not the 
case ; but the chances of discovering species similar to those we 
know as yet only as fossils decrease daily, and the whole objec- 
tion loses its strength because geological investigations teach us 
that the animals and plants of older strata are specifically dif- 
ferent from those of recent ones. Thus not only one series of 
organisms is extinct, but there are several such series, the one 
succeeding the other. Species of the different tertiary strata 
are different from each other. All these are different from those 
of the Chalk formation ; those of the Chalk formation are unlike 
those of the Oolitic SEG, ; others, again, are to be found in the 
strata of the New Red Sandstone, others in the Coal formation 
&e., all differing. 

That some species became extinct seems in general a fact that 
is not so strange as that some species originated in succession— 
that there were consecutive and distinct creations of organic 
forms. Of the first fact we do not want examples, even in 
recent periods, within the three last centuries of history. I 
may refer to the well-ascertained fact of the extinction of the 
Dodo—a bird recorded to have been seen by several travellers, 
and represented in various pictures and prints. Greater still is _ 
the number of instances of local exterminations, local extinctions 
of species. In many civilized parts of Europe several species 
have now totally disappeared, which formerly were not uncom- 
mon in the same localities. At the time of Xerxes lions lived 
in Greece, and attacked the camels of his army*. Even a cen- 
tury and a half after that time, lions are mentioned by Aristotle 
as living in Europet. In many parts of Europe the beaver was 
common in the middle ages, where it is now entirely unknown. 
In Wales and Scotland the bear was found in the first ten cen- 
turies of the Christian eva; and even the wolf was not entirely 
extirpated till about the end of the 17th century{. The extine- 
tion of species in preehistorical times, in the different geological 
periods which elapsed before the appearance of man, differs only 
in being more general—we should almost say, in being total, if 
the investigations of Ehrenberg did not teach us that some 


* Herodot. vii. 125, 126. + Hist. Animal. viii. 

t In 1680, when the last wolf fell by the hand of the famous Sir Ewen 
Cameron. (Thos. Pennant’s ‘British Zoology,’ new ed., London, 1812, 
p- 88.) 


Development of Animal Organization. 215 


microscopic species, some Infusoria and Algw, which belong to 
the present creation are found likewise in very old strata, as in 
those of the Carboniferous or even of the Silurian eroup*. 
There are two suppositions we can make respecting the manner 
ef the extinction of species in the history of the earth. We can 
ascribe that extinction to a change of external conditions, by 
the influence of which the life of the organisms was affected, and 
by whose continued action the species, formed for other condi- 
tions, diminished in number, and sooner or later perished alto- 
gether ; or we can ascribe the fact to the sudden action of some 
violent revolutions on the globe, by which plants and animals 
were destroyed. The latter explanation formerly predominated; 

the assumption of a general cataclysm, by which the inhabited 
earth was destroyed, led easily and almost unavoidably to this 
belief. The more extended knowledge of facts showed after- 
wards that a deluge recorded in human history could not explain 
the great diversity of fossil remains which were found in the 
strata of mountains; and the hypothesis was modified by the 
assumption of several geological cataclysms, by which, durmg 
the modelling and remodelling of the earth, various generations 
of plants and animals perished, and were imbedded in the de- 
posits of the watert. In our time the explanation is generally 
given up; but it seems that some writers go too far by an entire 
denial of lesser or much more sudden revolutions, which were 
natural consequences of the upheaving of volcanos and of chains 
of plutonic mountains. 

- That there was a succession of new species of plants and ani- 
mals, a repetition of distinct creations, is, as I have already said, 
a conception which seems not so favourable to acceptance. 
There is nothing, indeed, in actual observation of the present 
order of nature that can be comparéd to this new creation. 
Almost daily, it is true, some formerly unknown species of 
plants or animals is registered in our catalogues; but there is 
no more reason to think that they are really new than to believe 
that the New World was upheaved from the ocean at a later 
period than Europe because its discovery was only made in the 
15th century. There is, however, a power of evidence which 
cannot be annihilated by our doubts or by the difficulty of un- 
derstanding the facts; and, in our researches on natural objects 
and phenomena, it is not fair to ask what we can explain before 
we see what we are obliged to admit by the authority of obser- 


_ * Microgeologie. Das Erden- und Felsen-schaffende Wirken, &c. Leip- 
aig, 1854, fol. S. xiv. 

+ Cuvier; for instance, speaks often of such “catastrophes et révolu- 
tions subites,” in his famous and always remarkable ‘ Discours sur les 
Révolutions de‘la Surface du Globe.’ 


216 Prof. J. Van der Hoeven on the Succession and 


vation. The succession of new species of plants and animals on 
the surface of the earth seems to be a fact that can hardly be 
denied, although we cannot explain it. If we ascribe no un- 
limited duration to our planet, if we do not believe that it 
existed from eternity, we are compelled also to admit a begin- 
ning of organic bodies—-an origin of life on its surface. How- 
ever impossible it may be to explain the origin of organic bodies, 
the creation of herbs and trees, and of moving, creeping, flying, 
and swimming things, this difficulty of explanation affords no 
reason to deny that there was a beginning. Geological investi- 
gations on strata of rocks and fossil remains of a former animal 
and vegetable world afford proofs that our planet is older than 
sixty centuries ; but they cannot give a demonstration that it 
had no beginning at all*. 

To avoid the difficulty of several consecutive creations, some 
writers have believed that the now living organic bodies origin- 
ated by changes from those species of plants and animals which 
we consider to be extinct. No one, however, so far as I know, 
has given a detailed and accurate account of the manner by which 
the different species which are commonly considered as extinct 
changed into the now living species. Even if their hypothesis 
were admitted, we cannot deny that many forms living in former 
periods have totally disappeared. In the actual condition of the 
animal kingdom on the surface of our globe there are only two 
or three species of Nautilus. It is impossible to think that to 
the production of these the large number of more than a hun- 
dred species of that genus was required—species which succeeded 
each other in the various periods of the history of the earth, 
from the Silurian to the Tertiary strata. Moreover we have 
the much greater number still of other multilocular shells of 
Cephalopods, the Ammonites, which are found in different strata, 
but are wanting in the Tertiary strata as well as in the existing 
order of nature. . 

If we once admit such a mutability of species, we wander into 
the immense field of speculation, where reasoning, or rather 
imagination, must fill up the gaps left by actual observation. 
There is a difficulty in this hypothesis which seems to have been 
commonly overlooked. If we consider the now living species as 
produced by changes from the species of former periods, much 


* It is quite unnecessary to say that, in our day, a literal belief in the 
Bible cannot interfere with the results of astronomical or geological in- 
vestigations. But whatever is stated on the chronology of the acts of 
creation, the investigation must, of course, end in the admission of some 
tirst origin, concerning which science cannot say anything, save the sub- 
lime and simple words of the first verse of the first book of the Bible— 
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” 


Development of Animal Organization. 217 


indecd among these recent forms cannot be explained without 
the aid of various suppositions ; and, on the other hand, there is 
a great number of superfluous species in tie existence of so 
many fossil forms. An unprejudiced inquiry shows evidently 
that some tribes or families of plants and animals were predo- 
minant in one, others in another period, and that a small num- 
ber of groups, on the contrary, have been in existence in all the 
different periods, that they always have had their representatives 
in some species, and are not wanting in the recent order of 
nature. 

There still remains, before we conclude our remarks on the 
history of organic bodies on the surface of our earth, one ques- 
tion which deserves discussion. Is it possible to deduce any 
general conclusions concerning the successive development of 
the organic world from the investigation of fossil remains, and 
by comparing them with each other? This question ought not 
to be misapprehended. We can reject indeed the hypothesis 
of De Maillet, who admitted that a bird was the offspring of 
a flying-fish, and yet believe that geology supplies us with 
proofs of a successive development, of an advance in the com- 
plication of organic beings. Cuvier*, for instance, admitted 
such a succession, although he was far from admitting such 
genealogies. He stated that reptiles are found considerably 
earlier, or in more ancient strata, than mammals, and that the 
more recent formations contain species which appoach nearest 
to those now living. Remains of Mollusca and fishes are found 
in the most ancient strata; reptiles form the predominant Verte- 
brata in the Jura and Chalk formations ; and remains of mam- 
miferous land-quadrupeds are, according to his view, only to be 
found in Tertiary strata. Similar remarks have been made by 
those writers who have devoted themselves to the investigation 
of fossil plants—Adolphe Brongniart, Goppert, and others: 
they admit that the earliest vegetation was very simple, and that 
there was a slow advance and manifest progress in succeeding 
periods towards the now living vegetable kingdom. Brongniart 
admits four great periods of ancient vegetation, the first ending 
with the Carboniferous formation+. This elder flora of our 
planet was chiefly formed by ferns and tree ferns. Those plants, 
which now constitute only one-fortieth of all the known living 
species, prevailed then in such a remarkable manner that they 
formed two-thirds of all the species which made up the flora of 


* Discours sur les Révolutions, &c. See ‘ Recherches sur les Ossemens 
Fossiles,’ 3° éd. 4to, Paris, 1825, i. pp. 54, 146-172. 

+ Histoire des Végétaux fossiles. Paris, 1828-1837, 4to. Compare also 
an abstract of his researches in ‘ Ann. des Sc. Nat.’ tome xv. 1828, pp. 225- 
258. 


218 Prof. J. Van der Hoeven on the Succession and 


the Carboniferous period. The remaining species of this flora 
are referred to the Lycopodiaceze and Kquisetaceee*. The second 
period includes all the strata above the Coal-formation to the 
Upper Red Sandstone. In comparison to the first, the number 
of vegetable remains is only small; but, besides Acrogens, we 
observe amongst them Coniferous trees and Monocotyledons. 
In the third period, which comprehends the Oolitic and Creta- 
ceous group, Cycadeacee are predominant, and next to them 
follow ferns, the rest consisting chiefly of Monocotyledons. 
The fourth period embraces the Tertiary strata. It is only in 
this that remains of Dicotyledons are numerous. 

These results have been in part modified by new discoveries ; 
but even now it is certain that there is a great diversity between 
the species and genera, and even the greater divisions of a former 
and later vegetable and animal world. As to these modifications 
in the results of palzontological inquiry, it is now proved that 
the opinion of Cuvier, by whom the first apparition of land- 
mammals was stated to have been posterior to the Chalk period, 
must be given up. Already, during the lifetime of Cuvier, 
some few remains (lower jaws) of mammals were found in the 
slate of Stonesfield, which was proved to belong to the lower 
Oolitie strata, and consequently to be of a much more ancient 
date than the Chalk formation, on which the Tertiary strata are 
resting. In the last decennium, several new examples of mam- 
malian bones found in oolitic strata have been brought to light +; 
and Jow in the Upper Lias two molar teeth have been found, in 
1847, which Plieninger refers to a mammalian genus called by 
him Microlestes. 

But it seems that it would be overrating the value of these 
facts if we inferred from them that all great classes of the animal 
kingdom existed from the first beginning of life on the surface 
of the globe, that all were represented by different species, from 
the first geological periods till the modern era. In comparing 
the floree and faunz of different countries—a comparison which 
forms the fundamental part of a geography of plants and ani- 
mals—we must look chiefly to the dommating groups, to the 
families and genera which are distinguished by the larger num- 
ber of species. In the same manner, the characteristic features 
of different geological periods in relation to organic beings 

* To these must be added some Coniferous trees, more allied to Arau- 
cari than to any of our European firs. 

+ In the freshwater strata of Purbeck there were discovered, in 1856 
and the following years, a number of lower jaws, and even a fragment of 
a skull, of mammals, forming different genera, and partly allied to the in- 
sectivorous marsupial genus Amphitherium of Stonesfield. (See Sir Charles 


Lyell, Supplement to the fifth edition of a Manual of Elementary Geology, 
Lond. 1857, 8vo, pp. 15-27.) aie 


Development of Animal Organization. 219 


must be borrowed from a numerical evaluation of natural divi- 
sions, families and groups. 

In these conclusions, however, great care and circumspection 
will always be required, because we shall never be able, by our 
investigation of fossil remains, to acquire a competent know ledge 
of a flora or a fauna of a former period. Ten years ago, a recen- 
sion of all fossil species of extinct animals and plants of the 
different strata was given by Prof. Bronn, of Heidelberg. He 
* then enumerated 708 species of mammals, 148 of birds, 884 of 
reptiles, and 1461 of fishes as fossil. In this recension all the 
different strata are combined and mixed together. When we 
‘compare this general result with an evaluation of the now 
living species of these four classes of Vertebrata, we remark a 
very great difference in the relation of the numbers. The class of 
birds, for instance, in the present period embraces a much greater 
number (perhaps 5 or 6: 1) than that of mammals. In the 
combined faunze of former periods the relation between the spe- 
cies of birds and mammals would be, on the contrary, like 1: 5. 
But still greater would be the difference in the comparative 
numbers of species in the lower classes. Prof. Bronn assumes 
2885 species of fossil Articulata, 13,805 of Mollusca, and 4895 
of Zoophytes (chiefly Echinoderms and Polypes). In the present 
condition of the organic world, the number of known species of 
articulated animals is much greater than that of the Mollusca— 
nay, even than that of all the other classes put together. The 
class of Insects (now so greatly predominant that several orders 
contain myriads of species) is represented in Bronn’s list by 
only 1551 species *. Even when we grant that the relation 
between the numeric value of species belonging to each class 
was different at former periods (and this cannot be denied), we 
must still have recourse to other reasons for the explanation of 
these facts. We must search for another solution of the ques- 
tion why birds amongst the Vertebrata, insects amongst the 
lower animals, have left such a small number of remains in 
comparison with those of fishes and mollusks. Moreover, of the 
fossil remains of insects, nearly all belong to Tertiary periods ; 
Tertiary species of insects form fourteen-fifteenths of the whole 
number. It would be an inconsiderate and highly uncritical 
conclusion, if we were led by this evaluation to the belief that 
the number of insects was so small in former periods, because 
we see so few remains of them in the strata of our rocks. It is 
also clear that the vestiges of Medusze and other soft animals, 
which are so numerous in our seas, may be totally wanting, 


- * Leonhard und Bronn, ‘ Neues Jahrbuch fiir Mineralogie,’ 1849, S. 128 ; 


H. Bronn, ‘ Handbuch der Geschichte der Natur,’ IIIter | Band. Stuttgart, 
1849. 


220 The Succession and Development of Animal Organization. 


without giving a right to deduce from that negative evidence 
any conclusion as to the absence of those animals. 

From the foregoing remarks it follows that our knowledge of 
the former species of organic beings is imperfect, and that it will 
ever be so, even when it is,enlarged and newly remodelled by 
the most splendid future discoveries. General comparisons must 
thus be restrained to some classes and groups. Such are, in the 
animal kingdom, the reptiles, fishes, and the mollusks (chiefly 
the Cephalopods, the Conchifera, and the Brachiopods), the 
Echinodermata, and the Corals. A comparison in such a limited 
direction will certainly give some interesting results. A funda- 
mental point for these investigations has already been gained in 
the conclusion, deduced from a great number of facts, that the 
different formations are characterized by their respective fossils*, 
which, indeed, is but another formula for the statement that the 
various species have a distinct term of duration, and that their 
existence ended sooner or later. It will also be seen that the 
oldest strata contain remains chiefly of non-vertebrate animals, 
that only in later strata a greater number of Vertebrata appear, 
and that in the strata which embrace the Lower New Red Sand- 
stone, up to the Chalk, reptiles (chiefly Sawia) are predominant. 
It is first in Tertiary strata that the remains of Mammalia be- 
come numerous, of which class, as we have already said, remains 
are indeed not entirely absent in older strata, but are in that 
case in a subordinate proportion to the remains of reptiles +. 


* The late Prof. Jameson remarks that Werner, his master, already made 
the observation that “different formations can be discrimimated by the 
petrifactions they conta, that petrifactions appear first in transition rocks, 
that these are but few in number and of animals of the zoophytic or testa- 
ceous classes. In the older floetz rocks they are of more perfect species, 
as of fish or amphibious animals; and in the newest floetz and alluvial 
rocks, of birds and quadrupeds, or animals of the most perfect kind.”’ See 
his notes followmg his translation of the ‘ Discours’ of Cuvier, ‘ Essay on 
the Theory of the Earth,’ 3rd ed. Edinb. 1817, pp. 232, 233. But already, 
long before Werner, as is stated by Humboldt (Essai géognostique sur le 
Gisement des Roches, Paris et Strasbourg, 1826, 8vo, p. 37), the first point 
—that different formations can be distinguished by their fossils—was ac- 
knowledged by Lister in reference to fossil shells. It is this peculiarity 
which gave occasion to the so-named Coquilles caractéristiques of French 
authors, or Zeitmuscheln, as they are named by the German geologists, 
which were duly appreciated by the great Leopold von Buch in several of 
his latest papers. 

+ These general remarks on the succession of animal life at the surface 
of our globe were proposed, in 1841, by the eminent paleontologist, 
L. Agassiz, in his address at the inauguration of the University of Neuf- 
chatel, ‘De la Succession et du Développement des Etres organisés a la 
surface du Globe terrestre dans les differents 4ges de la Nature’ (Neu- 
chatel, 1841, 8vo). In this work we have the periods, (1) of Fishes, (2) of 
Reptiles, and (3) of Birds. 


Zoological Society. 221 


But how probable soever such a successivé change and advance 
in perfection may be, the geological facts cannot be adduced, 
without alteration and interpolation, as confirming the doctrine 
of a continuous change of beings, such as would be required to 
establish a development by which more complicated forms are 
the offspring of more simple prototypes. Such a view would 
require another distribution of fossils in the succeeding strata— 
so that, for instance, fossil Cephalopods should be the latest of 
all mollusks, and not, as they really are, already represented in 
the oldest fossiliferous rocks. If the species have changed by 
degrees, we should expect to find traces of this gradual modifi- 
cation. If one form gave birth to another, why should we not 
find some fossils between mollusks, or insects, and Vertebrata ? 
Such a discovery has never been made. 

It is plain, if we are sincere and unbiassed observers, that 
geological facts give no support to those hypotheses we have 
been treating of, and that they rather militate against such 
theories, which cannot deserve the name of natural theories at 
all. Creation, the first origin of things, is, and perhaps always 
will be, a mystery ; the mystery is by no means elucidated if we 
assume germs. ‘The first animal, for instance, that possessed 
organs of vision has to be derived from another without eyes. 
But why should such a supposition seem clearer and more intel- 
ligible than the creation of an entire animal provided with eyes ? 
Here science does not shut her books, as it has been said by 
some: true science never opened books on such questions. 


PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES, 
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
Dec. 8, 1863.—E. W. H. Holdsworth, Esq,, F.Z.S., in the Chair. 


On tHe Breepine or THE GREEN SANDPIPER (HELODROMAS 
ocHrRopus). By Atrrep Newron, M.A., F.L.S., F.Z.S8. 


Ornithologists are aware of the very different positions often chosen 
for their nests by birds of the same species. Thus Eagles may be 
found sometimes building their eyries upon trees, at others on cliffs, 
and again sometimes absolutely upon the flat ground. The same 
may be said of some species of Falcons and of some Herons. Cer- 
tain Crows also and the Stock-Dove (Columba Cinas) exhibit a like 
disparity of habit. Even among the members of the Gallinaceous 
order a similar diversity is occasioually, though rarely, to be observed. 
Thave been told, on authority I cannot question, of a common Phea- 
sant (Phasianus colchicus) and of a Capercally (Tetrao Urogallus) 
each choosing a nest in a tree wherein to lay its eggs. Instances of 
the common Wild Duck (dnas Boschas) breeding in hollow stumps 


222 Zoological Society :— 


of trees are very frequent; and with the Ducks of the genus diz 
this seems to be the normal mode of nidification. But, excepting in 
the last case, this peculiarity in the selection of a site for the nest 
seems to result from the particular fancy (or instinct, it may be) of 
the individual; and in that exceptional case the general habits of 
the birds are so essentially arboreal that we need not wonder at the 
fact of their using trees for their nurseries as well as for their usual 
places of lodging. The only instances parallel to the one I am going 
to adduce are, so far as I can call to mind, those of the Golden-eye 
(Clangula Glaucion), the Goosander (Mergus Serrator), and the 
Smew (Mergus Albellus). Each of these three birds departs from 
the manner of nidification which obtains among its brethren, just as 
I shall show that the Green Sandpiper (Helodromas ochropus*+) 
does. 

Though I do not pretend to lay before you any novel facts this 
evening, yet it will be, I think, admitted that hitherto we have had 
in England but little positive information on the mode of breeding 
of the Green Sandpiper; such as it is, however, I will proceed to 
notice it. First, I must say that I think the story of the nest of 
this bird “by the side of a clay-pit’? in Norfolk, as told in Mr. 
Yarrell’s ‘ British Birds’ (vol. 11. p. 529) and in Mr. Lubbock’s 
‘Fauna of Norfolk’ (p. 75), can hardly be relied on—not, of course, 
that there is the slightest reason to doubt the implicit good faith of 
Sir Thomas Beevor, on whose authority it appears to rest. Next 
there is the statement contributed to the last edition of Mr. Hewit- 
son’s ‘Eggs of British Birds’ (ed. 3. vol. ii. p. 334*) by Mr. 
Tristram, to the effect that he found the species breeding near slug- 
gish streams or mountain tarns between Bodo and Quickjock in 
Lapland. Now this particular district has since been visited by three 
other excellent observers, to no one of whom did the Green Sandpiper 
reveal itself. I therefore hope I may be pardoned for suggesting 
the possibility of a mistake in my friend’s assertion. 

In the ‘ Naumannia’ for 1851 (vol. 1. part 2, p. 50), Herr Passler 
mentions that he had, through his friend the Oberforster Wiese, 
obtained an ege of Totanus glareola, with the remark that this spe- 
cies of Sandpiper always “nests upon a tree; but in the same 
periodical for 1852 (vol. ii. part 1, p. 95) he states that Baron von 
Homeyer had informed him that the egg in question was not that of 
T. glareola, but of T. ochropus, and adds that during his stay at 
Haff he had seen many nesting-places of this latter species; they 
were on the borders of ‘‘ Hlsenbriiche’’ [quere, swamps of the Ser- 
vice-tree (Pyrus domestica)?], in the middle of the forest, where the 
trees stand upon hillocks. In the ‘Journal fiir Ornithologie’ for 
1855 (vol. iti. p. 514), the above-mentioned Herr Wiese, writing on 
the Ornithology of Pomerania, especially in the district of Céslin, 
says that he had first heard from an old sportsman, who knew the 
peculiarities of all the forest-animals, that the Totanus ochropus 


+ The osteology of the T'ringa ochropus, Linn., presents such a marked devia- 
tion from that of the other Zofani which I have examined, that I do not hesitate 
in this case to follow Dr. Kaup in considering it the type of a distinct genus. 


Mr. A. Newton on the Breeding of the Green Sandpiper. 223 


nested in old Thrushes’ nests, which information; ‘he remarks, ‘‘ I 
naturally did not believe ;”’ but he states that some years after, in 
1845, he obtained from the same man four fine eggs of a bird of this 
species, which for many years had been wont to nestle in an old 
beech tree. Still doubtful on the subject, the following spring he 
himself found a nest of the bird on a pine which had a fork about 
five-and-twenty or thirty feet high. ‘‘ Joyfully,’’ he says, ‘I climbed 
the tree, and found in that fork four eggs on a simple bed of old 
moss.”” He goes on to say that in the spring of 1853 he again ob- 
tained four eggs of the same species ; and in the spring of 1854 (the 
year he was writing) he found a nest placed in the old nest of a 
Song-Thrush, out of which the shed buds of the beech had not so 
much as been removed. There were four eggs, which were hard sat 
upon on the 25th of May. 

In the ‘ Naumannia’ for 1856 (vol. vi. p. 34), in an account of 
an excursion in Western Pomerania (‘‘Vorpommern”’), Dr. Altum 
states that Totanus ochropus returns annually to its old nesting- 
places, these being Missel-Thrushes’ nests, whose remains were 
still to be seen, often some hundred yards distant from the nearest 
pool, and their height fifteen feet or more from the ground. The 
same journal for 1857 contains a valuable series of observations on 
the birds of the same district by Herr W. Hintz, in which the 
author says (vol. vii. part 1, p. 14) that on the 6th of May, 1855, 
he found three eggs of this bird on an “ Hise”? [queere, Pyrus do- 
mestica?| in an old Dove’s nest, as he thinks, though he states it 
might have been that of a Jay. Formerly, he proceeds to remark, 
he had only observed this Sandpiper to use old nests of Turdus mu- 
sicus, excepting once, when he found some young ones, only a few 
days old, hard by a river-bank on a layer of pine-needles on an 
** Else’’-stub. 

Soon after the publication of this last piece of intelligence, appeared 
that part of Herr Badeker’s ‘ Kier der Europaischen Vogel,’ wherein 
(fol. xxx. no. 5) Helodromas ochropus was treated of, and a concise 
summary of the foregoing accounts was given. This was remarked 
upon by the writer of an article in ‘ The Ibis’ for 1859 (vol. i. p. 405), 
and thus the curious facts which I have above detailed were made 
generally known, for the first time I believe, to English readers. In 
1860 a short recapitulation of them was also published by my friend 
Dr. Baldamus, in the continuation of Naumann’s celebrated ‘ Vogel 
Deutschlands’ (vol. xiii. p. 241).. Towards the close of the same 
year also that excellent observer who veils his name under the sig- 
nature of “An Old Bushman” contributed a series of articles to 
‘The Field’ newspaper, in which he described his own experience of 
the Green Sandpiper’s way of nesting in Sweden. The natural- 
history editor of that paper, not knowing what had been already 
written, exhibited some signs of scepticism on the subject, whereupon 
his correspondent reiterated his statement, saying (Field, No. 411, 
Noy. 10, 1860, p. 393) that “there is no doubt about the matter,” 
and adding that he “‘ never took the nest on the ground.” 

I have now only to read to you a portion of a letter, dated Novem- 


224 Zoological Society :—- 


ber 27, 1861, which.I received from my friend Pastor Theobald, of 
Copenhagen. He says as follows :— 

“«The nidification of Totanus ochropus is so remarkable that I do 
not fear to trouble you with the history the Forester Hintz [whom 
I have mentioned above] has given me. He writes: —‘ This year I 
succeeded in finding the nest of Totanus ochropus. On the 9th of 
May I took four eggs of this bird; they were found in an old nest of 
Turdus musicus, and seemed to have been incubated about three days. 
The very same day there were brought to me four other eggs of this 
bird, also found in a Thrush’s nest. * * * The 10th of May there 
was shown to me a nest, thirty feet high, on an old birch, the bird 
having chosen an old decayed nest of a Squirrel. This nest was the 
highest I have ever seen. Three young ones had just been hatched ; 
in the fourth egg the bird was about to break the shell. One jumped 
down and concealed itself on the edge of a water-pool. The 11th of 
May a nest with four fresh eggs was found, but they did not come into 
my hands; this was in an old Pigeon’s nest on a Pinus rubra, and 
full of dry pine-leaves. The 20th of May two eggs, almost burst by 
the young, were found in an old Thrush’s nest, the two missing birds 
having most likely already left the nest. The 22nd of May four young 
ones, apparently but a few hours old, were found in the old nest of 
a Lanius Collurio, iv a juniper three feet high. The 24th of May 
four young ones were found in the hole of a Populus tremula thrown 
down by the wind. The year before, Muscicapa luctuosa had its 
nest in the trunk as it lay on the ground; this year Totanus ochro- 
pus had chosen the same opening. When I approached the trunk, 
the young ones, perhaps four-and-twenty hours old, jumped away 
and hid themselves in the grass among the branches. All these 
nests were near the water—two on the edge of a rivulet, the others 
on wet morasses, the distance from the water being at most six feet.’ ”” 

I have the pleasure of exhibiting to you a small series of a score 
of the eggs of this bird, as well as three nests. The latter were 
sent me by Mr. II. W. Wheelwright, and were obtained by him this 
year in Sweden. They are so ragged and dilapidated that, as is often 
the case with ancient ruins, it is not easy to say of what race the 
builders were. From one of them, five-and-twenty feet up in a fir 
tree, the mother was killed on the 28th of May, and I produce her 
skin. Three of the sets of eggs belonged to these nests; a fourth set 
was the contents of Forester Hintz’s nest of the 9th of May 1861, 
mentioned in his interesting letter. This fT owe to Mr. Theobald and 
some other friends in Copenhagen. The remaining four eggs are odd 
ones obtained by Mr. Wolley and myself from Dr. Kjzerbolling. 


Jan. 26, 1864.—E. W. H. Holdsworth, Esq., F.Z.S., in the Chair, 


An extract was read of a letter from Dr. Harry Anthony to Mr. 
Louis Fraser, dated Brass River, Bight of Biafra, 3rd Dee. 1863, 
referring (as follows) to what was supposed to be a species of Cla- 
71as :— 

“*T intend to try and send you by my uext ship some of the ‘ Black 


Mr. G. Krefft on a new Australian Snake. 225 


Fish’ out of the bush, called by the natives Egalegala; they are 
perfectly black, and are very fine eating. They are so fat they will 
fry without butter, taste something like eels; they are in shape 
something like ‘ Cat-fish,’ with filaments from the lower jaw ; they 
live amongst the mud in the mangrove bush. It would be grand 
to acclimatize them ; they are such fine eating. They would drive 
eels out of the market.” 


DescripTION oF ASPIDIOTES MELANOCEPHALUS, A NEW 
SNAKE FROM Port Denison, N.E. AustratiA. By GERARD 
Krerrt, Acting CurRATOR AND SECRETARY, AUSTRALIAN 
Museum, SYDNEY. 

Fam. Borp. 
ASPIDIOTES, nov. gen. 


Crown covered with broad shields reaching behind the eyes; the 
remaining part of the head scaly ; labial shields without pits, the 
front ones high and narrow, the hinder shields lower and broad. 
Nostrils lateral, in the middle of a plate, two loreals, two anterior 
and four posterior oculars ; superciliaries broad, rather prominent 
above the eye; nasal shield very large, much produced backwards, 
and deeply grooved on its lower edge. Scales smooth, in fifty-two 
series on the middle of the body ; ventral plates rather narrow ; sub- 
caudals entire, except the last ten or twelve, which are divided. 
Tail conical, prehensile, ending ina blunt point. Head rather high, 
of moderate size; teeth not very large (smaller than in Morelia). 
Body thick and compressed. 


ASPIDIOTES MELANOCEPHALUS. 
Scales in 52 series on the middle of the body. Ventral shields 
narrow, 330. Anal entire. Subcaudals 51x. 


Head rather high ; body thick and compressed ; tail conical, taper- 
ing, prehensile, ending in a blunt point; anal spurs small ; ten upper 


labials, the sixth coming into the orbit ; two anterior and four poste- 
rior ocular shields; two loreals, the second nearest to the eye very 
small; one nasal, pierced by the nostril ; eye moderate, pupil ellip- 


Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. xiv. 15 


226 Zoological Society :— 


tical, erect. Three pairs of frontal shields, the middle pair longest ; 
vertical broad, the largest shield of the head, with an obtuse angle 
in front and an acute one behind, sides rounded ; superciliaries 


large, prominent above the eyes ; occipitals distinct, but smaller than 
the vertical, forked and rounded behind; the first pair of frontals 
small, triangular ; the second pair five-sided, nearly as large again 
as the first pair; the third smaller than the second and larger than 
the first, quadrangular. Of the fourteen lower labial shields, the first 
seven are narrow and elongate, the rest broad ; no groove upon the 
labials. The nasal shield is very broad, with a deep pit, shaped like 
a bean, and much produced backwards. Head moderate; body 
thick, compressed ; anal spurs small. Colour light brown, with a 
series of darker rings, which become indistinct near the sides ; below 
yellowish-white here and there, with a few dark blotches; head and 
neck jet-black above and below. Total length 7' 10". 
Hab. Port Denison. 


DeEsCRIPTION OF A NEw SPECIES OF MorMYRUS. 
By Dr. A. GUNTHER. 


Only a short time ago I described* a peculiar species of Mormyrus, 
M. Petersii, distinguished by a very long mandibular flap. I have 
the pleasure to lay to-day before the Society another species with the 
same structure of the fins, and with a similar prolongation of the 
lower jaw. It comes, like M. Petersii, from West Africa. The 
peculiar form of the snout has suggested the specific name of 


Mormyrus TaAMANDUA. 

D. 28. A.3l. V.6. L. lat. 80. Body compressed, rather 
elongate—its greatest height, between the origin of the dorsal and 
anal fins, being two-ninths of the total length (without candal) ; the 
length of the head is one-fourth of the same. The snout is much 


* Wiegm. Arch. 1862, p. 64. 


Dr. A. Giinther on new American Fishes. 207 


prolonged, tubiform, slightly tapering, and curved downwards, the 
distance between the eye and the end of the mandibular flap being 
twice that between the eye and the gill-opening. The mouth is very 
small, at the extremity of the snout, with the jaws equal, and armed 
with two pairs of feeble conical teeth above and below. The mandi- 
bulary flap is as long as the eye. The eye is covered with the skin, 
but appears through from below it. The pectoral is nearly twice as 
long as the ventral, and extends beyond its base. The dorsal and 
anal fins are opposite each other, and placed on the caudal portion 
of the body, the origin of the former being in the middle between 
the occiput and the root of the caudal. The scales on the trunk are 
rather small and irregularly arranged, but become gradually larger 
and more regular posteriorly. Coloration uniform. 

The single specimen obtained is 10 inches long. 

We add, for comparison, the diagnosis of the other species men- 
tioned above :— 


Mormyrus Peters. 


D. 27. A. 34. L. lat. 66. The mandible is prolonged into a 
long, conical fleshy appendage, which is nearly half as long as the 
head. Dark brown, with two lighter cross bands. 

Hab. Old Calabar. 


On some New Species or CENTRAL-AMERICAN FISHES. 
By Dr. A. GUNTHER. 


Our Corresponding Member Capt. J. M. Dow having sent to this 
Society a second collection of Central-American Fishes, a complete 
series of the species contained therein has been deposited by our 
Secretary in the British Museum. The following is a list of those 
which I have examined, a few others having been omitted, as they 
belong to families in the revision of which I am engaged at present 
or shall be in a very short time :— 


I. Spectes collected on the Pacific Coast of Panama. 
1. SERRANUS SELLICAUDA, Gill, sp. 


2. Ruypricus macutatus, Holbr. 


3. MrsoprioN NOVEM-FASCIATUS, Gill, sp. Very closely allied 
to M. griseus. 


4. Mrsoprion, n. sp. There are two young specimens of an 
apparently undescribed form in the collection ; but the description 
and determination are better deferred until more examples have 
been obtained. 


5. PRISTIPOMA MELANOPTERUM, C. & V. 


6. Pristrpoma Dovtit, n. sp. 


D. = Hae > L. lat. 48. L. transv. 8/15. The height of the 
bodyis one-half of the total length (without caudal) ; the length of 
15% 


228 Zoological Society :— 


the head one-third. Snout obtuse, not much longer than the eye ; 
cleft of the mouth small, the maxillary extending to the vertical 
from the anterior margin of the orbit. Lips thick ; a pair of pores 
on the symphysis of the lower jaw, a central groove behind it. Snout 
naked, the remainder of the head being scaly. The width of the 
interorbital space is much less than that of the orbit. Dorsal and 
anal spines exceedingly strong; the third of the dorsal fin is the 
longest, and nearly two-thirds as long as the head. The second anal 
spine is much longer than the third, and a little shorter (but stronger) 
than the third of the dorsal fin. Each ray of the soft fins is accom- 
panied by a series of minute scales, but only on the caudal fin are 
these scales dense enough to cover the rays. Caudal fin slightly 
emarginate. Silvery, with four black cross bands: the first runs 
from the occiput through the eye to behind the angle of the mouth; 
the second from before the dorsal fin to below the base of the pec- 
toral; the third from the base of the sixth, seventh, and eighth 
dorsal spines to the vent; the fourth descends from the origin of the 
soft dorsal to that of the soft anal. Fins blackish. 
Only one specimen, 83 inches long, is in the collection. 


7. PoLyNEMUS APPROXIMANS (Lay & Bennett ?). 
D. 7|5. A.=.  L. lat. 60. 


13} 
8. CarAnx, n. sp. There is a young specimen in the collection 
which appears to belong to an undescribed species closely allied to 
C. Carangus and C. Hippos. 


9, CARANX LEUCURUS, 0. sp. 


D. 8|5. A. 2\—.. Very closely allied to C. bicolor. The first 


dorsal fin is composed of short, stoutish spines, the fourth of which 
is the longest, but scarcely longer than the eye. The soft dorsal and 
anal are rather elevated ; the caudal is emarginate, and has the lobes 
rounded. Teeth very small, forming a single series in both jaws ; 
palate smooth. The height of the body is one-half of the total 
length (without caudal), the length of the head one-third. Snout 
rather obtuse, the jaws being equal in front when the mouth is 
closed ; the maxillary extends to below the anterior margin of the 
orbit. The lateral line makes anteriorly a subsemicircular curve, 
the width of which is contained from 12 to 14 times in the length of 
the straight portion; it becomes straight behind the vertical from 
the origin of the second dorsal, and is armed with about fifty small 
and low shields, only a few of which terminate in a depressed spine. 
The pectoral fin extends to the anal spines. Brownish grey, body 
with six dark-brown vertical bands: the first crosses the body behind 
the base of the pectoral, and the fourth descends from the middle of 
the soft dorsal fin. Operculum with a large black spot. Dorsal, 
anal, and ventral black ; pectoral and caudal whitish. 

Only two young specimens are in the collection, the larger being 
3 inches long. 


Dr. A. Giinther on new American Fishes. 229 


10. ?Caranx porsaxis, Gill, sp. 
11. Gosrus soporator, Cuv. & Val. 


12. ELEOTRIS SEMINUDUS, 0. sp. 


D. 7\11. A.9. The head and the trunk are naked ;, the tail is 
covered with small scales ; head depressed, broader than high, flat 
above, its length being two-sevenths of the total. Snout rather ob- 
tuse, longer than the eye, with the lower jaw somewhat prominent ; 
the cleft of the mouth extends to below the anterior margin of the 
orbit. Teeth in the upper jaw inanarrow band ; the lower has four 
somewhat larger and recurved teeth in front, the others appear to 
form a single series; palate toothless. None of the fin-rays are pro- 
longed ; the pectoral does not quite extend to the origin of the second 
dorsal; ventral much shorter than pectoral, its imner ray is the 
longest, the others gradually decreasing in length outwards ; caudal 
fin rounded. Brown, with numerous well-defined white cross stripes 
on the head as well as on the body; vertical fins black. 

Although there is only a single example, 20 lines long, in the col- 
lection, the characters of this species are so well marked that I do 
not hesitate to describe it. 


13. SALARIAS ATLANTICUS, Cuv. & Val. 

14. Cuinus DevaLaANnpt, Cuv. & Val. 

15. CLINUS MACROCEPHALUS, Gthr. 

16. CREMNOBATES MONOPHTHALMUS, Gthr. 


17. ATHERINICHTHYS PACHYLEPIS, 0. sp. 
D. 4\—. See latse4 see transves7 ou Vane height of 


* 20—21° 
the body is nearly equal to the length of the head, and contained 
five times and a half or five times and a third in the total length 
(without caudal). The snout is short, not longer than the diameter 
of the eye, and the cleft of the mouth does not extend backwards to 
below the anterior margin of the eye. The anterior dorsal is com- 
posed of short, feeble spines, and its origin is opposite to the fourth 
or fifth anal ray. The pectoral fin is much longer than the head. 
The silvery streak occupies the adjoining halves of the third and 
fourth series of scales. 

Two specimens, 6 inches long, were in the collection. 


18. MuGin BRASILIENSIS, Agass. 
19. Muar prosposcipevs, Gthr. 


20. GoBIESOX RHODOSPILUS, 0. sp. 


D.6. A.5. C.8-9. P.17. A vertical fold of the skin along 
the lower half of the base of the pectoral; the coracoid is scarcely 
below the level of the upper margin of the pectoral. The distance 
of the origin of the dorsal fin from the caudal is contained twice and 


230 Zoological Society :— 


two-thirds in its distance from the snout ; the anal commences below 
the third dorsal ray. A very narrow band of short conical teeth in 
the upper jaw—one of the lateral teeth being somewhat larger than 
the others, recurved, canine-like. The lower jaw with a single series 
of teeth, the anterior being narrow incisors, whilst the outermost on 
each side is distinctly a canine tooth, corresponding to that in the 
upper jaw. Rose-coloured, with dark-rose transverse spots, each 
spot having an edge of deep-red dots. 
Two specimens, 18 inches long, are in the collection. 


21. PLATYGLOSSUS DISPILUS, N. Sp. 
D.*. A.=. L. lat. 28. L. transv. 2/9. The height of the 


eae 
body equals the length of the head, and is contained four times and 
one-fourth in the total. Caudal fin rounded, with the lobes very 
slightly produced. Greenish olive, with a roundish black spot edged 
with silvery, on the lateral line, below the fifth and sixth dorsal 
spines; the side of the head with five or six pearl-coloured streaks, 
some of which are continued on the body, forming a series of round 
spots. An oblong variegated blotch behind the pectoral fin: it is 
composed of three pearl-coloured stripes, enclosing two yellow bands, 
each of which has an undulated purple edge. No spot in the axil of 
the pectoral. A short oblique yellowish streak behind the base of 
each soft dorsal ray ; these streaks form a continuous band on the 
spinous portion. Anal fin with two or three whitish lines; caudal 
with several irregular reddish longitudimal bands, which are conver- 
gent behind. 

Young specimens are much more plain-coloured ; the black spot 
on the lateral line, however, is very distinct, and there is another at 
the root of the caudal. 

Capt. Dow’s collection contains a single young specimen ; but Mr. 
Salvin has brought a second, apparently adult, it being 53inches long, 


22. PsEUDOJULIS NOTOSPILUS, 0. sp. 
Dag ge Ae = Welatg2on 6 Liotransy: 2 The height of the 


ns 12 

body is rather less than the length of the head, and contained four 
times and a quarter in the total. Dorsal spines pungent ; caudal fin 
slightly rounded. Brownish or yellowish olive; young specimens 
with a silvery band along each side of the trunk, above the pectoral 
fin. Back with four or five indistinct broad brown cross bars; a. 
series of blotches on the dorsal fin corresponds to these cross bands, 
one of them, on the three first soft dorsal rays, being the largest and 
most distinct ; it is of a deep black colour, and of an ovate form. 
The corners of the caudal fin are white ; ventral whitish, with a broad 
blackish outer margin. 

One adult specimen, 4 inches long, and several young ones are in 
the collection. 


23. Jutis Lucasana, Gill. 


24, DINEMATICHTHYS MARGINATUS, Ayres. 


Dr. A. Giinther on new American Fishes. 201 


25. MicropEsMus piPpus, n. g. et sp. Of this we have re- 
ceived only a single small example ; and as it is not in a perfect state 
of preservation, we cannot decide whether it should be referred to 
the Blennoids or Gadoids, or whether it is the type of a distinct 
family. However, we may hope that Capt. Dow will succeed in ob- 
taining more specimens. 


MicrRoODESMUS. 


Body much elongate, eel-like, covered with rudimentary scales ; 
head rather short, with obtuse snout, narrow cleft of the mouth, 
and prominent lower jaw. Eyes minute. Teeth in both jaws mi- 
nute ; palate toothless. The gill-opening is reduced to a small slit 
in front of the pectoral fin. Vertical fins united by a membrane, 
but the caudal can be easily distinguished from the two other fins. 
Dorsal fin very long, composed of flexible, undivided rays, like the 
anal. Pectorals short; ventrals thoracic, each reduced to a single 
ray. Vent in the middle of the total length. 


MICRODESMUS DIPUS. 
Droo. A. 34. C.16. P.12. Y.J. The depth of the body 


is about one-eighteenth of the total length; the length of the head 
one-eleventh. The head is rather compressed, the snout short, the 
mouth very narrow, and the lower jaw very prominent. The mi- 
nute eye is lateral and in the anterior third of the length of the head. 
The dorsal fin commences at a distance from the occiput which is 
somewhat less than the length of the head; it is nearly even, and 
the rays are very distinct, the interradial membrane being thin and 
transparent. The anal fin commences immediately behind the vent. 
The caudal rays are much more slender and more closely set than 
those of the dorsal and anal; the caudal fin is rounded, two-thirds 
of the length of the head. Pectorals as long as the ventrals, and 
half as long as the head; the latter fins are close together, and in- 
serted a little behind the root of the pectoral. Upper parts uniform 
brownish olive. 
The single specimen is 43 inches long. 


26. ANABLEPS Dovi, Gill. 


II. Species collected at Colon. 
1. Prist1POMA MELANOPTERUM, Cuv. & Val. 
2. PomacanTuus Paru, Gthr. 


3. SpHyr2@NA Picupa, Bl. Schn. 


III. Species from the Lake of Managua, Nicaragua. 


1. HeROs LABIATUS, 0. sp. 
D.~. A: =. L. lat. 32. L. transv. 6/13. .The anterior por- 


pails ane 
tions of the upper and lower lips are much enlarged, each forming a 


232 


moveable subtriangular flap. 


more than the Jength of the head, 


mouth is very protractile ; the eye 
of the head. 
almost scaleless. 
bled with black. 


Scales on the cheek in four series. 
Uniform red, or sometimes red irregularly mar- 


Miscellaneous. 


The height of the body is somewhat 


and two-fifths of the total. The 
occupies the middle of the length 
Base of the dorsal 


The largest specimen is 7 inches long. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


Species of Mollusca obtained in Corunna Bay, by R. M‘AnDREw, 
F.R.S., F.L.S., and H. Woopwarp, F.G.S., F.Z.8., in May 1863. 


CEPHALOPODA. 


Loligo media, Linn. 


In market. | Sepia officinalis, Linn. 


Ditto. 


GASTEROPODA. 


corallinus, Scacchi. Ditto. | 

Edwardsii, Menke. Rare. © 

Triton nodiferus, Zam. On shore, | 
dead. 

cutaceus, Lam. Ditto. 

Nassa reticulata, Linn. Frequent. 

incrassata, Mill. Ditto. 


— pygmeea, Lam. Ditto. 


Murex erinaceus, Linn. Frequent. | 
| 
| 


Ringicula auriculata, Menke. Do. . 


Purpura lapillus, Zinn. Ditto. 
hemastoma. On the shore, 
dead. 

Cassis saburon?, Lam. 2 living ; 
agrees exactly with Reeve’s | 
description and figure; but 
locality given for latter, Japan. 

Mangelia Philberti, Michaud. 
On shore, dead; not frequent 
(purpurea, var. ?) 

attenuata, Mont. Rare. 

costata, Pennant. Ditto. 

nebula, Mont. Ditto. 
elegans, Scacchi. 1 speci- 
men, dead. 

septangularis, Mont. Shore, 

dead. 

Lefroyii, Michaud. Rare. | 

— levigata, Phil. Ditto. | 

—— brachystoma, Phil. Ditto. | 

——- linearis, Mont. Ditto. 

Mitra, sp., large size. Various 


worn and imperfect specimens 
on the shore. 

Cyprea Europez, Mont. On the 
shore, abundant ; some speci- 
mens of remarkably small size. 

candidula, Gaskoin. Fre- 
quent on shore in one particular 
locality. The species inhabits 
the Madeira and Canary Is- 
lands, but has not hitherto 
been obtained in any other 
European locality. 

Erato levis, Donovan. 
on the shore. 

Natica monilifera, Lam. Rare. 

nitida, Don. Frequent. 

n.sp.- One specimen living. 

Chemnitzia elegantissima. On 
the shore; rare. 

Kulima polita, Linn. Ditto. 

Cerithium reticulatum, DaCosta. 
Frequent. 

Turritella communis, Risso. 
common. 

Sealaria communis, Lam. 
frequent. 

Turtoni, Turton. 

crenata, Linn. 

Littorina rudis, Don. Frequent. 

saxatilis, Johnston. Ditto. 

—— littorea, Linn. Ditto. 

littoralis, Zinn. Rare. 


Frequent 


Not 
Not 


Ditto. 
Ditto. 


Miscellaneous. 


Solarium luteum. Rare. 
stramineum. Very rare.” 
Lacuna puteolus, Turton. 
Rissoa crenulata, Michaud. 
lactea, Michaud. 

parva, Da Costa. 
costulata?, Alder. 

—— striata, Mont. Rare. 
— cingillus, Mont. Ditto. 
— violacea, Desm. 

labiosa, Mont. 


Phasianella pullus, Zinn. Frequent. | 


Trochus magnus, Linn. 
cinerarius, Linn. 
striatus ?, Linn. 
—— exiguus, Pulteney. 
— lineatus, Da Costa. 
— umbilicatus, Mont. 
—— zizyphinus, Linn. 
tumidus, Mont. 


233 


Haliotis tuberculata, Linn. 
Fissurella reticulata, Don. 
Pileopsis Hungarica, Linn. Rare. 
| Calyptreea Sinensis, Lam. 
Patella vulgata, Linn. 

| athletica, Bean. 

| pellucida, Linn. 

| Acmeea virginea, Miller. 

| Dentalium entale, Linn. 

exes dentale, Linn. 

Chiton fulvus, Wood. Less fre- 
quent than in Vigo. 

cinereus, Linn. 

fascicularis, Linn. 

Auricula Firminii, Payr. 1 spec. 
Tornatella fasciata, Lam. 
Cylichna cylindracea, Penn. 
Scaphander lignarius, Linn. 
Philine aperta, Linn. 


LAMELLIBRANCHIATA. 


Ostrea edulis, Linn. 

Anomia ephippium, Linn. 

Pecten maximus, Linn. 

varius, Linn. 

pusio, Pennant. 

opercularis, Linn. 

Mytilus edulis, Linn. 

Galloprovincialis, Lin. 

Crenella costulata, Risso. 

marmorata, Forbes. 

Modiola radiata, Hanley. 

barbata, Linn. 

Arca lactea, Linn. 

tetragona, Poli (valves). 

Pectunculus Glycimeris, Linn. 
Large. 

Nucula nucleus, Linn. 

nitida, Sow. 

radiata, Hanley. 

Solemya mediterranea, Lam. (a 
fragment). Not previously re- 
corded as found on the Atlantic 
coasts north of Gibraltar. 

Cardium edule, Linn. 

echinatum, Linn. 

—— pygmeeun, Don. 

—- ciliare, Pennant. 


Cardium rusticum, Linn. 

Norvegicum, Spengler. 

aculeatum, Linn. 

papillosum, var.?, Poli. 

‘Lucina borealis, Linn. 

pecten, Lam. 

leucoma, Turton. 

_—— digitalis, Linn. 

| —— flexuosa, Mont. 

| divaricata, Zinn. Frequent, 
in mud. 

|Circe minima, Mont. 

Venus striatula, Donovan. 

verrucosa, Linn. 

fasciata, Da Costa. 

ovata, Pennant. 

Casina, Linn. 

| Cytherea Chione, Linn. 

| Artemis exoleta, Linn. 

lincta, Pulteney. 

Lucinopsis undata, Pennant. 

Tapes decussata, Linn. 

virginea, Gmel. 

pullastra, Wood. 

| Venerupis Irus, Linn. 

_Mactra stultorum, Linn. 

| elliptica, Brown. 


| 


234 Miscellaneous. 


Mactra subtruncata, Da Costa. | Donax anatinus, Lam. 
solida, Linn. Syndosmya alba, Wood. 
Lutraria elliptica, Lam. prismatica, Mont. 
oblonga, Chem. | Ceratisolen Legumen, Linn. 
Tellina donacina, Linn. | Solen Siliqua, Linn. 
incarnata, Linn. Ensis, Linn. 
tenuis, Da Costa. _—— marginatus, Pulteney. 
crassa, Pennant. pellucidus, Pennant. 
fabula, Gronovius. |Corbula nucleus, Lam. 
pygmeea, Phil. Saxicava arctica, Linn. 
Psammobia tellinella, Lam. Thracia phaseolina, Lam. 
Ferroensis, Chem. | Pandora obtusa, Leach. 
Number of Species :—Cephalopoda...... 2 
Gasteropoda...... 78 
Lamellibranchiata. 72 
Total’ s-a0b2 


The part explored was very limited in extent and range of depth, 
nowhere exceeding 15 to 16 fathoms, which accounts for so many 
fewer species being obtained than in Vigo Bay. Had our researches 
extended to the inlet forming the harbour of Ferrol, it is probable 
that we should have been much more successful. 

Of the species enumerated, only fifteen species of Gasteropoda 
and four of Lamellibranchiata are not known inhabitants of the 
British seas, including the Channel Islands. 

The genera Ringicula, Mitra, Solarium, Solemya, and the species 
Cyprea candidula, Scalaria crenata, Dentalium dentale, Auricula 
Firminii, Chiton fulvus, Cardium ciliare, and Lucina digitalis are 
supposed to reach the northern limit of their range in the neighbour- 
hood of Corunna, and are not found further east in Asturias. 

The genus Cassis and species Murex Edwardsui, Purpura hema- 
stoma, Mangelia elegans, and Lucina pecten have been obtained on 
the coast of Asturias, and find their respective limits northward on 
the Spanish or French shores of the Bay of Biscay. 

Lacuna puteolus is the only northern form which reaches its 
southern limit of range in the neighbourhood of Corunna. 

Of the most characteristic forms in Vigo Bay—viz. Chiton fulvus, 
Ringicula auriculata, Turritella triplicata, Nassa trifasciata, Fusus 
contrarius, and Mactra rugosa—only the first two were obtained at 
Corunna. 


On Arachnactis brachiolata, a Natatory Actinia, discovered near 
Nahant, Massachusetts. By ALEXANDER AGASSIZ. 


The Zoophyte described by Mr. A. Agassiz is a near relative of 
the Arachnactis described by Sars in his ‘ Fauna Littoralis Norvegie.’ 
Mr. Agassiz insists particularly upon the bilateral structure of this 
type, which is nearly as striking as that of Philomedusa and Hal- 
campa. The mouth is excentric, and elongated into a fissure. The 


Miscellaneous. 235 


tentacles are arranged in two rows, one immediately surrounding the 
mouth, the other on the margin of the oral disk. Contrary to the 
rule in other Zoantharian Polypes, the tentacles of the first cycle are 
not all developed simultaneously : the oldest are placed at one of the 
extremities of the longitudinal axis of the mouth, and the new tenta- 
cles belonging to the same cycle make their appearance successively 
at the opposite extremity. Besides these tentacles, which are all 
pairs, there exists a single tentacle corresponding with the extremity 
of the mouth which approaches nearest to the margin of the disk. 

The author thinks that the Dianthea of Busch (which, according 
to Leuckart, is a young Cerzanthus) presents the same arrangement 
of the tentacles as Arachnactis. He considers that it would be de- 
sirable to form for these Actinize with a double series of tentacles a 
special suborder, characterized by the circumstance that the septa of 
the same cycle differ in length. This suborder would now include 
two families, of which Certanthus and Arachnactis are the representa- 
tives.—Journ. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. 1863, p. 525. 


The Great Auk. 
To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History. 


GENTLEMEN,—It affords me much pleasure to send you a list of 
the present possessors of the birds, skeletons, and eggs of the Gare 
Fowl (Great Auk, Alcea impennis). Should your correspondents 
recognize any error or omission, they will, no doubt, communicate 
with you in your subsequent Numbers. 

The recent lecture delivered by Professor Owen at tie Zoological 
Society has, no doubt, caused further inquiries to be instituted as to 
whether this rare bird is still extant. 

I remain, Gentlemen, 
Yours truly, 
Rosert CHAMPLEY. 


In ENGLAND. On THE CONTINENT. 
Birds. Birds. 

British Museum.......... 2 | Dresden Museum pe | 
York Museum evecare wal). | eranktortMnsennies «2.0001 1! 
Durham Museum .... 1 | Mayence Museum ........ 1 
Newcastle Museum (immat. ) I), Blorence Marseumy . <.....2. - 1 
Cambridge Museum ...... 1 ie Rurm. Museumije i. : «0... ] 
Dublin Museum.......... 1 | Amsterdam Museum ...... l 
AT fon io ice eres 5 sie 1 | Copenhagen Museum...... 2 
Sir W. Milner. . 5 Do elensbuney oie tah tamneel 
Mr. A. Strickland (ex. Bree 1) | Berlin, Museum) <2... p-s-ce ek 
Dr. Troughton .... J} | St. Petersburg Museum.... | 
Mr. J. Hancock .......... 1 M. Hardy wits. aso Pee | 
mir. KR. Champley ........ 1M Darrati~ oc se ey peace goer 1 
m= PATHS.) oic-0.ntath ieee Noceeenens 1 

13 — 

14 


236 Miscellaneous. 


In ENGLAND. On THE CONTINENT. 
Skeletons. | Skeletons. 
Royal College of Surgeons | Breslau (in part). 
(in part). Florence (in part). 
Mr. A. Newton (in part). Copenhagen (preserved in spirits). 
Mr. J. Hancock (in part). 
Lggs. Lggs. 
British Museum........ 2\ | America. <2). osc, 2 
Liverpool Museum)... .2) /1)\|Dresden» 25. ate 1 
Royal College of Surgeons.. 7 | Leipsic oaks ease Se 
Lord, Gara: i's 3 Sees s4 33 |) Dieppess) 222 eee ee l 
Sin Wer Milmier:(4.42 tise eis, 1) | (Parisi ose taco eee 1 
SIE W..y Lrevelyan: (sents): 1 | Leyden 1 
Mas Bonde ooh eat. <2 are.aes 1 | Amsterdam .. 1 
Mr. Champley stoi 9} | Bruges: (2). see 2 
Mr: Hancock =. 25-%......1.-) | (Westphaliaescee eee 1 
Migs Wabrayse nani eticres- 0), || Auizers cas 2 
Mr; A.eNewton 22. ssicce0 ©3 | Witten ] 
IMirsS cales ace eer s s 1 | Berlin®s. 2.050524 3a 
Mire Selwyitine on \-0 ee 1 | Copenhagen : .. al 
IMreWialtertinsenn roe ceusie ete da = 
Rev. H. B. Tristram ...... l 16 
iMipsaihuike ey Rett de tona: 1 Total :— 
Dr. Troughton 1 5 7 
Mz. Wilnot, seers Birds: 4).00.U ice eee eee 27 
__ | Skeletons. . 
7a Si erie ioe 53 


Scarborough, Aug. 11, 1864. 


- Some Observations on the Genus Amoria, with Descriptions of some 
new Varieties. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S., &e. 

This genus, which consists of the polished Volutes, contains five 
species, all from Australia. They may be divided thus :—1. The 
spire nodulose; apex small, subpapillary (4. lineata, Leach, Mis- 
cellist: ). 2. The spire smooth; apex small, subpapillary (A. 
Zebra, Lamk.). 3. Spire smooth; apex large, subpapillary (4. wndu- 
lata, Lamk.). 4. Spire smooth, conical, with an acute tip (A. reticu- 
lata, Reeve, and A. Turneri, Gray). All except the last are very 
permanent in their markings; the latter species is very variable in 
that respect, and offers several very well-marked varieties. They all 
agree in having a more or less dark or dark-spotted, thin, callous 
coat over the suture. The varieties may be thus defined :— 

1. 4. Turneri has the shell solid, white, with regular, rather broad, 
brown lines, rather oblique to the axis of the shell, with distinct 
sutural spots. This form I originally described as Voluta Turnert 
many years ago. 

2. A. T.Jamrachiiis very like the former ; but the shell is thinner, 
the stripes are narrower and further apart, and the spots on the 
sutures are very small or absent. 


Miscellaneous. 207 


We have had two specimens of this variety in the British Museum 
since 1859; and more lately, Mr. Jamrach has sent me five or six 
specimens, of different sizes, to examine, which he had received from 
North Australia. Some of the specimens are larger and rather more 
ventricose than any of the typical form that I have seen. The two 
specimens of this variety in the Museum have the suture rather im- 
pressed ; but I believe this is only an accidental circumstance. 

3. A. T. Broderipi. The shell solid, and like No. 1; but the 
streaks are very narrow, linear, and more or less acutely sinuated, 
sometimes anastomosing and forming a network. 

There are two specimens of this variety in the Museum—one from 
Mr. Broderip’s collection. 

4. 4. T. Damonii. Shell with close angular intersecting lines, 
forming crowded triangular spots on the surface ; the sutural callo- 
sity very dark. 
~ This shell, which was sent to the British Museum by Mr. Damon, 
is marked much like Oliva terturata. It differs from Amoria 
reticulata, with which it has been confounded, in the shell being less 
ventricose. 

5. A. T. Cumingii. Like the former; but the netted lines are 
much firmer, and there are two spiral series of small irregular spots. 

A small specimen in the British Museum collection, the most 
beautiful variety of the series, received, in 1859, with 4. 7. Jamrachii, 
as Voluta pertusa. 

6. Ad. T. maculata. Shell pale brown, with two spiral series of 
iarge squarish dark spots, and a series of large irregular spots near 
the suture. (Voluta maculata, Swainson, Zool. Illust. t. — -) 

7. A. T. pallida, Shell pale brown, nearly uniform in colour, but 
sometimes marked with more or less distinct brown spiral bands, or 
with transverse stripes or very obscure netted lines. (Voluta pallida, 
Gray.) 

I am aware that some conchologists may be inclined to regard 
these varieties as species, though I have seen specimens which seem 
to unite all of them into one series: I have therefore chosen for 
them names by which they may be so designated. 


On the Motory Phenomena of the Sponges. 
By N. Lirserkinn. 


Of the movements hitherto observed in Sponges, some are con- 
cerned with portions of the skin and efferent tubes, and others with 
isolated cells. 

During the contraction of the efferent tubes, the wall of these 
organs becomes thickened by shortening, and its surface becomes 
mamillated, allowing us to recognize the limits of cells which were 
previously indistinct. The movements of the integument consist in 
an approximation or separation of the parenchyma of the body, and 
also in the opening and closing of the pores of ingestion. The iso- 
lated cells are capable of changing their form, so as to present, for 
example, alternately a spherical and a stellate appearance. Hitherto 
no one has observed any displacement of cells ; but movements of this 


238 Miscellaneous. 


nature are described by Lieberkiihn in his recent memoir on the 
Spongille. 

The parenchyma of the body of the Spongille presents a very 
variable arrangement, whilst the siliceous skeleton retains the same 
characteristic form in all specimens. Sometimes the parenchyma 
exhibits a cavernous structure, containing cavities more or less iso- 
lated from each other, and connected either with the orifices of 
ingestion or with tubes of ejection; sometimes these cavities are 
replaced by a system of canals extending through a great portion of 
the Sponge, and opening directly into the tube of ejection; in this 
case a great part of the integument is destitute of orifices of in- 
gestion. In other cases the cutaneous pores are dispersed in great 
numbers over the whole surface of the Sponge, and usually lead into 
a large cavity belonging to the system of ingestion. The walls of 
the partitions bounding these cavities bear vibratile apparatus. In 
other Spongille there do not exist membranous partitions bounding 
the cavities ; but the body is traversed in all directions by trabeculee 
of different thicknesses, which are often supported upon the integu- 
ment. Some of these are completely smooth in appearance, and 
show no appreciable outlines of cells; the strongest bear vibratile 
apparatus: others are constricted like a necklace, being formed of a 
simple series of cells in juxtaposition. Others, again, are composed 
of several rows of cells, of which the limits are visible only at the 
surface (so as to resemble an epithelial coat) or only at the centre of 
the trabecula. 

All these different appearances may be presented successively by 
one and the same Spongilla. Homogeneous parenchymatous parti- 
tions have contracted, under the eyes of M. Lieberkiihn, into trabe- 
culee with a cellular structure and of a necklace-like form. On the 
other hand, he has seen neighbouring trabeculz spread out and be- 
come united in such a manner as to form a membranous wall. The 
cavities open into one another, and separate again. Fragments of 
Spongille artificially detached prove that the cells of the parenchyma 
can unite in a few hours to form a cutaneous envelope. 

The pores of ingestion are not characteristic of the integument, as 
perfectly similar orifices are seen to originate in the membranous 
partitions of the interior of the body. The tubes of ejection are the 
seat of very peculiar movements. The author has seen the cells of the 
innermost layer gliding up the wall of the tube, and again descending. 

M. Lieberkiihn has positively demonstrated a fact which has only 
been suspected since the observations of Laurent—namely, the re- 
production of Sponges by spontaneous division. In individuals kept 
in vessels filled with spring water he has seen the body contract, 
and emit here and there processes, which soon became detached and 
glided over the vacant portions of the siliceous skeleton, and even 
upon the bottom of the vessel. This division appears only to take 
place in individuals which are nearly perishing. But the fragments 
thus set free continue to live, and in the course of a few weeks they 
have produced in their interior siliceous spicules and vibratile cilia. 

In these fragments of Spongille, and in perfect individuals in a 
dying state, M. Lieberkiihn has witnessed phenomena which might 


Miscellaneous. 239 


readily give rise to mistakes. Cells of the animal detach them- 
selves from the mass, and remain scattered all round it. Some of 
these are finally dissolved, but others (or, at least, bodies which 
cannot be distinguished from them in appearance) begin to emit 
very delicate transparent filaments, resembling those of Actinophrys. 
Some of these bodies even become encysted in the manner of Actino- 
phrys and Ameba. From these, four or five monociliated Monads 
are sometimes seen to issue: these are capable either of creeping in 
the manner of Ameba, or of swimming by the agency of their flagel- 
lum. These creatures are sometimes present in such great number, 
in the interior of dying Spongille, that one might be led to regard 
them as masses of sponge-cells. We should then have to recur to 
Dujardin’s notion that the Spongille were merely masses of Amebe 
inhabiting a sort of siliceous polypary. M. Lieberkiihn, however, 
shows that these bodies form no integral part of the Spongilla, and 
that they appear also in great quantities in the ova of fishes and other 
animals when in course of perishing. But he does not settle the ques- 
tion whether the Monads are the embryos of these kinds of 4meba, 
or whether we are to consider them as parasites of these parasites. 
It is interesting to compare these facts with the observations made 
by Jeeger upon Hydra. It has been asserted that these animals are 
capable of breaking up into little unicellular Amcebiform creatures, 
which on their part can reproduce the Hydre. Is not this an ana- 
logous case of parasitism misinterpreted ?—Miiller’s Archiv, 1863, 
p- 717; Bibl. Univ. June 20, 1864, Bull. Sci. p. 183. 


On the Geographical Distribution of the Annelida. 
By A. De QuATREFAGES. 

Having completed a work on the Annelida which will form a 
portion of Roret’s Suites a Buffon, M. Quatrefages has communicated 
to the Academy of Sciences of Paris some remarks upon the geo- 
graphical distribution of those animals. He observes that, although 
the imperfection of our knowledge of the species would render it 
premature to undertake any detailed investigation of the subject, it 
is possible to indicate certain general laws, some of which are of the 
more importance as they contrast strikingly with facts universally 
recognized in other groups. His results are as follows :— 

1. The class of Annelida properly so called (Annelida Errantia 
and Tudbicola) isin salt waters the geographical term corresponding to 
the land and freshwater class of Erythreina (Lumbrici and Naides). 

2. The class of Annelida has representatives in all seas. This is 
also the case with the two orders of which it is composed (Errantia 
and Sedentaria) ; in this respect the group under consideration may 
be said to fall under the general rules. 

3. This cosmopolitism appears to extend not only to the large genera 
which best reproduce the general type, but also to the most excep- 
tional subtypes, and even to those genera which might be supposed 
to be most characteristic. In this respect the Annelida differ from 
all the other groups which have been investigated from a geographical 
point of view. 

4, Hence it results that the Annelidan fauna does not appear to 


24.0 Miscellaneous. 


present anything resembling zoological regions, or centres of creation 
characterized by one or more special types—regions and centres the 
existence of which has been demonstrated for most of the other classes 
of the animal kingdom. 

5. The tendency to the diffusion of the genera and subgenera is 
counterbalanced by the tendency to restriction, which is no less 
distinct, in the species. 

6. The number of species common to two continents, to two 
hemispheres, to the eastern and western seas bounding a continent, 
&e., if not absolutely nz/, is always exceedingly restricted. The 
species of the same genus sometimes change at very small distances. 
The author has not found a single species to be common to the 
French Atlantic coasts and to the shores of the Mediterranean. 

7. Marine currents may explain the rare exceptions to the law of 
the local restriction of species. Thus M. de Quatrefages found at 
Saint Jean-de-Luz the large West Indian Kunice Rousseaui, con- 
founded by Cuvier with the 2. gigantea of the Indian Ocean. This 
species had evidently been conveyed from the West-Indian seas by 
the Gulf-stream. 

8. From the cosmopolitism of the types and the local restriction of 
the species, it is evident that the corresponding geographical terms 
must be sought only among the latter. These are indeed almost 
always found, even in the case of those species which are most 
remarkable for some peculiarity of organization &c. 

9. The class of Annelida, as regards the perfection of the organism, 
does not present the differences in correspondence with the latitude 
which have been indicated in other groups, and especially in the 
Crustacea, by Milne-Edwards. quality of organization is one of 
the most general laws of this group. 

10. The nature of the coast has the most marked influence upon 
the development of the Annelidan fauna. Judging from known 
facts, granitic and schistose coasts are in general remarkably rich in 
species and individuals, whilst calcareous coasts are as remarkably 
poor in both respects.— Comptes Rendus, July 25, 1864, p. 170. 


On a new Species of Turacus. By G. R. Gray. 


A new species of the interesting genus Twracus has just been 
brought by the Rev. C. Livingstone from the Manganja Highlands 
of East Africa, where it was obtained at an elevation of 3000 or 
4000 feet above the sea. 

It approaches the Turacus albocristatus in its general appearance, 
but the crest differs in form, being as it were bicrested; viz. the plumes 
from the crown are long and narrow, thus forming a crest pointed 
posteriorly, while those on the occiput are very short and closely set 
upon it. All the plumes of both parts are tipped with white. The 
rest of the plumage is very similar to that of 7. albocristatus ; but 
the feathers of the back and wings are margined with shining golden 
green instead of bluish green, as is seen on the latter-mentioned species. 

I propose the name of Tuwracus Livingstoni, as a slight acknow- 
ledgment of that gentleman’s merit in adding so interesting a species 
to our knowledge of this showy genus.— Proc. Zool. Soc. Feb. 9, 1864. 


THE ANNALS 


AND 


MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 


[THIRD SERIES. | 


No. 82. OCTOBER 1864. 


XXVI.—On the Antipatharian Genus Gerardia. 
By M. Lacaze-Duruizrs*. 


THE animals producing the polyparies to which Lamarck gave 
the names of Gorgonia tuberculata and Antipathes glaberrima, 
and for which Dr. Gray established the genus Lezopathes, have 
hitherto been unknown. The object of the researches which I 
now submit to the Academy of Sciences is the filling up of this 
gap in our knowledge, the definition of a new genus, and the 
precise determination of the objects described by the authors 
under the names which have just been cited. 

M. Valenciennes having done me the honour of handing over 
to me the revision of the collection of Antipathes belonging to 
the museum, | have ascertained, by the examination of the 
tickets written by Lamarck himself, that this illustrious natu- 
ralist gave the name of Antipathes glaberrima to the denuded 
polypary of the same species that he called Gorgonia tuberculata 
when it bore the animal layer; that Dr. Gray created the genus 
Letopathes for Antipathes glaberrima, Esper ; and lastly, that 
Jules Haime has described this same species under the name of 
Letopathes Lamarcki. On the other hand, I easily perceived that 
if Lamarck had distinguished by two different names one and 
the same thing in different states of preservation, he had, on the 
other hand, confounded two different things under the name of 
Antipathes glaberrima. 

Without mentioning the names of Zoanthus and Palythoa, 
given in collections to specimens of Gorgonia tuberculata, Lamk., 
preserved in spirit and having their polypes expanded, it is easy 
to prove that great confusion exists with regard to these objects. 
However, it is just to add that this confusion is the necessary 
consequence of having for examination only specimens in various 


_  * Translated from the Comptes Rendus, July 11, 1864, p. 861. 
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. xiv. 16 


242 M. Lacaze-Duthiers on the Antipatharian Genus Gerardia. 


states of preservation ; but, at the same time, everything is ex- 
plained when we examine living animals, and see what they be- 
come by desiccation. 

The Antipathes glaberrima of Esper and Lamarck is very distinct 
fromthe species of Antipathes proper; the genus Leiopathes of Gray 
may therefore be adopted for it. But we must avoid regarding 
as belonging to it the polypary of Gorgonia tuberculata, Lamk., 
whether denuded or covered with sarcosoma, as has been done 
by J. Haime. On the other hand, this Lamarckian species re- 
presents a very clearly defined type, which must be regarded as 
a genus for which a name is necessary; for it is not an Anii- 
pathes, and still less a Gorgonia; and its very smooth polypary, 
examined by itself, has alone led to its being looked upon as a 
species of Leiopathes. 

The new genus Gerardia which I propose presents a set of 
positive characters which distinguish it at once from Antzpathes, 
Leiopathes, and Gorgonia: its validity does not appear to me to 
be doubtful. As to the species, it will be convenient to retain 
for it the name given to it by Jules Haime. 

At the commencement of its development, Gerardia Lamarcki 
spreads its zoanthodema, formed entirely of sarcosoma, upon 
other polyparies; at this time it is perfectly parasitic. Sub- 
sequently it covers these foreign bodies with its own polypary, 
and produces branches and twigs; from this period it becomes 
independent, and its parasitism ceases. This is the reason why 
we find in the centre of the thick trunks of its polypary the 
slender stems of Muricea placomus, Gorgonia subtilis, &e. A 
Crustacean which lives parasitically in the soft tissues sometimes 
has its carapace covered by the horny deposits of the Gerardia. 
The egg-cases of Sharks and Rays, the suspensory filaments of 
which have seized its zoanthodemata, are first of all covered by 
expansions of its sarcosoma, and then taken bodily into its poly- 
pary. It is only by long-continued researches that I have been 
able to recognize the true part that must be ascribed to this 
parasitism. 

The anatomy of Gerardia Lamarcki possesses great interest in 
a scientific point of view. The bodies of the animals, like the 
intermediate tissue that unites them, are formed of two layers 
of cells: the inner one, which is yellow and granular, lines all 
the cavities, and is covered with vibratile cilia; the external 
layer, which is nearly colourless, is contractile and filled with 
bundles of nematocysts. 

The polypes resemble young Actinie ; they have twenty-four 
simple tentacles, arranged in two rows round the mouth, and 
the oblong and turned-up lips of the latter form a central 
mamilla. The number of tentacles is a multiple of six, and 


Mr. R.J. L. Guppy on new Operculate Mollusca. 248 


Gerardia thus approaches Antipathes and Leiopathes; but the 
number in those genera, never exceeding six, separates it from 
them generically. The cavity of the body displays the same 
number of radiating folds, analogous to those of the polypes of 
other Corals. 

A very abundant vascular network occupies the whole of the 
sarcosoma, and opens into the body-cavities of the polypes, 
which thus communicate with each other. A similar condi- 
tion was already known to occur in the Alcyonaria, but has 
not previously heen indicated in other groups of Corals. It 
leads us to suppose that an analogous arrangement exists 
all the species livg in colonies—that is to say, forming a 
zoanthodema. 

The sarcosoma secretes a viscous and plastic fluid capable of 
agelutinating all small bodies which come into contact with it. 
Thus we find on the surface of Gerardia grains of sand and 
spicules of Bebryces, Muricea, Gorgonia, and Sponges which live 
beside it. It is to this, no doubt, that we must refer for the 
origin of Haime’s opinion that his Letopathes Lamarck was a 
spiculigerous Antipatharian. 

The reproductive organs are developed in the thickness of the 
radiating folds, behind the convoluted filaments, precisely as in 
the Actinie. The sexes are most commonly borne upon distinct 
polyparies ; nevertheless both male and female polypes may 
be met with in the same colony. I have not seen any herma- 
phrodite polypes, but it would not be surprising if such should 
exist. 

In the form of its polypes Gerardia much more closely resem- 
bles the Actiniade than the Alcyonaria. This approximation, 
established by Dana for two species of Antipathes, and accepted 
by Milne-Edwards and Haime, is therefore confirmed in this 
case by a minute investigation which cannot leave room for any 
doubt ; for Gerardia is much more nearly related to the Zoan- 
tharia than Antipathes. 


XXVII.—Descriptions of new Species of Fluviatile and Terrestrial 
Operculate Mollusca from Trinidad, By R. J. Lecumere 
Guppy. 

§ 1. Fluviatile Species. 
Ampullaria purpurascens, n. sp. 

Shell ovate, narrowly perforate, rather thin, subopaque, simply 
horn-coloured, or purplish with numerous indistinct darker 
purple bands; striated by close lies of growth, which are 
crossed at right angles by more distant, mterrupted, low, 

6 


244 Mr. R.J.L.Guppy on new Species of Fluviatile and 


spiral ridges; epidermis pale olive or horn-colour, closely 
covered with minute striz ; whorls 6, convex above, the last 
rather flat laterally; suture well impressed; spire convex- 
conic; aperture narrow, ovate ; peristome acute, its margins 
joined by a thin callus spread over the penultimate whorl; 
right margin slightly reflected, columellar margin white, ex- 
panded and reflected over the narrow umbilicus. Operculum 
ovate, horn-coloured, concentrically striate ; nucleus near the 
sinuate inner margin. Height 2 inches, greatest breadth 
1:4 inches. 


The animal is nearly black, with a very long siphon. It bears 
a close resemblance to the animal of A. guianensis. The present 
species is rarely found in a state of perfection : those occurring 
m ponds are usually dwarfed and distorted. 

The present shell differs from Ad. Chemnitzi, which it some- 
what resembles, in its greater height of spire and in the narrower 
and more ovate form of the shell, The aperture also is nar- 
rower, and the peristome less expanded. 

There is an Ampullaria to be found in some parts of Trinidad 
which seems to be a variety of A. effusa, Chemn. (A. glauca, 
Linn.), with a tall spire. It presents the same variations of 
colour as A. effusa, some examples being zoned with dark bands, 
and others being simply of a brownish olive without colour- 
bands. 

Ampullaria effusa is found existing in many of the streams of 
the island. Its eggs are deposited, in masses of fifteen or twenty, 
on trees or rocks just out of the water. They are of a bright: 
green colour; but when the young mollusks come forth, the 
calcareous covering of the eggs remains of a white colour. The 
young mollusk has a shell of 23 whorls, nearly similar to that 
of the adult, but quite imperforate. 


Bithinia spirals, n. sp. 

Shell small, oblong-conic, imperforate, dark reddish brown, 

_ smooth, spirally striate, or ornamented on the upper part of 
the whorls with a keel bearing a regular series of somewhat 
aculeate rather moniliform projections, giving to the whorls 
a sharply angulate appearance, and disappearing on the last 
whorl; whorls six, little convex, gradually increasing, the last 
forming nearly half the shell; apex conic, sharp ; aperture 
perpendicular, ovate; peristome simple, acute, the margins 
joined by a thin callus spread over the penultimate whorl ; 
columellar margin narrow. Operculum thin, horny. Height 
0:18 inch, greatest breadth 0-11 inch. 


- The animal has a long, divided muzzle, at the base of which 


Terrestrial Operculate Mollusca from Trinidad. — 245 


are the two tentacles with the eyes .close behind them. The 
foot is produced in front into two acute lobes. 

- It may seem strange that so much variation should exist in a 
single species—from a shell with smooth whorls to one with 
whorls bearing a keel ornamented with aculeate projections ; but 
there does not exist in my mind the smallest doubt of the dif- 
ferent forms belonging to the same species. All the forms are 
found existing together in the streams of northern Trinidad. 


Valvata agglutinans, n. sp. 


Shell trochiform-depressed, perforate, entirely composed of nu- 
merous minute grains of mineral matter; whorls 3—4, almost 
carinate, flattened beneath ; umbilicus circular; aperture very 
oblique, circular, the margins shortly-united on the penulti- 
mate whorl; peristome simple, irregular. Height 0-1 inch, 

_ greatest breadth 0°17 inch. 

This very curious little Valvata makes its shell almost entirely 
of minute particles of quartz and mica, the cementing material 
being very limited in amount. It lives on the surface of rocks 
and stones in the hill-streams of the northern part of Trinidad. 


§ 2. Terrestrial Species. 
Cyclotus trinitensis, n. sp. 


Shell depressed, turbinate, rather ‘thick, white under a pale- 
brown epidermis, with fine wavy lines of growth, and some- 

- times with obsolete white or chestnut bands; spire somewhat 
acuminate ; whorls 5, convex; umbilicus broad and open; 
aperture slightly oblique, nearly circular ; peristome blunt, 
its margims forming an angle above; right margin slightly 
sinuate. Operculum concave, with six obliquely striate 
whorls, the inner margins of which are raised. Height 0°55 

. Inch, greatest breadth 0-9 inch. 


~ The animal is of a pinkish colour, which is most pronounced 
about the tentacles. The eyes are small and black. The mouth 
is provided with an amber-coloured, somewhat triangular man- 
dible, divided into two parts by a median fissure, from which 
diverge slightly curved rows of minute denticulations strongly 
resembling the lingual teeth of some Helicidz. 

The lingual teeth are 3.1.3, in arched rows: central broad, 
tridentate; 1st lateral broad, bidentate, with a base much pro- 
duced outwardly; 2nd tridentate; 3rd much hooked and re- 
flexed, tridentate. This dentition is very like that of Cyclophorus 
Tuba (Gray, Syst. Dist. Moll. p. 78). 

- This species is readily distinguished from C. jamaicensis by 
its light colour and by the absence of any ridge round the um-. 


246 Mr.R.J. L. Guppy on new Species of Fluviatile and 


bilicus. It is not a common shell on the main island of Trinidad ; 
but it is found in abundance on one of the rocky islets of the 
group called the Coloras, or Five Islands, in the Gulf of Paria. 
In aged examples the epidermis is frequently quite wanting, 
and the aperture is much thickened and wrinkled. 


Cyclotus rugatus, 0. sp. 


Shell depressed-turbinate, with a strong reddish-brown epider- 
mis, zoned with several narrow, obsolete lighter bands, and 
closely covered with fine angular wrinkles, which almost dis- 
appear at the aperture; spire short, depressed ; whorls 4, 
rather flattened above, convex and rounded beneath; umbi- 
licus broadly open; aperture nearly vertical, circular, with a 
slight angle above; peristome straight, blunt, its margins 
joined into an angle, right margin not sinuate. Operculum 
testaceous, and concave externally, internally cartilaginous, 
with about seven narrow obliquely striated whorls, the inner 
margins of which are raised. Height 0-4 inch, greatest 
breadth 0°7 inch. 


The animal of C. rugatus is of a pink colour, strongest about 
the tentacles. The lingual teeth do not present any remarkable 
differences from those of C. trinitensis, except that the outer 
laterals are bidentate (not tridentate), thus more closely ap- 
proaching Cyclophorus Tuba. 

This very distinct species is found among the northern hills 
of Trinidad, ranging to an altitude of 2500 feet. It has fewer 
whorls, a much more depressed spire, and an operculum with 
narrower and more numerous whorls than C. ¢rinitensis ; and 
in the angularly wrinkled character of its epidermis it approaches 
C. corrugatus. 

Adamsiella aripensis, n. sp. 


Shell oblong-turreted, narrowly perforate, scarcely truncate, 
rather thin, crowdedly folded longitudinally, dark reddish 
brown, often with several darker interrupted bands, and about 
three spiral ridges round the narrow umbilicus; spire regu- 
larly tapering, scarcely truncate ; suture deep, simple; whorls 
remaining 6, convex, enlarging gradually; aperture vertical, 
ovate ; peristome orange or pale, double, concentrically striate, 
dilated above; inner edge waved, rather emarginate on the 
penultimate whorl; outer edge slightly waved. Operculum 
ovate, rather cartilaginous, with about four gradually en- 
larging whorls, the outer edge of which is detached. Length 
0-65 inch, greatest breadth 0°3 inch. 


This handsome species is found on the Cerros of Aripo, in 
the northern hills of Trinidad, at an elevation of from 2000 to 


Terrestrial Operculate Mollusca from Trinidad. 247 


2700 feet. The animal has a rather elongate grooved foot. 
Lingual teeth 00.2.1.2.00: central tooth broad, simple; inner 
lateral broad; outer lateral broad, denticulated on the reflexed 
edge; uncini numerous, slender, curved at the tip. The lingual 
dentition is thus shown to differ considerably from that of Cyclo- 
phorus. While the central and lateral teeth present a certain 
resemblance to those of Cyclophorus, the uncini remind one of 
Trochus, Nerita, and especially Helicina. The teeth of Adam- 
siella aripensis also resemble those of Cistula pupiformis, which 
I have examined ; but in the latter there are no uncini. 

The shell of the present species is occasionally found without 
its spire having suffered the usual slight truncation. 


Helicina zonata, n. sp. 


Shell subglobose-conic, thin, smooth, whitish, bright straw- 
coloured or pinkish ; suture with a chestnut or red band which 
becomes quite obsolete on the last whorl, and sometimes a 
broader yellow or pinkish band on the last whorl; spire conic, 
mucronate ; apex deep red ; whorls 5, convex, rather carinate, 
flattened beneath; aperture oblique; columella terminating 
im an indistinct knot dilated backwards into a thin circum- 
scribed callus; peristome thin, white, expanded and reflected. 
Operculum rather shelly, deep blood-red, except at the nu- 
cleus and extreme margin, which are horn-coloured diapha- 
nous. Height 0°27 inch, greatest breadth 0°42 inch. 


Lingual teeth 00.3.1.3.00: central subquadrate, narrowed at 
the base; Ist lateral subopaque, subtrapeziform, with the outer 
corner much produced ; 2nd lateral subopaque, elongate, strongly 
curved outwardly ; 3rd lateral broad, convex, glossy, denticulate 
on the reflexed edge; uncini numerous, slender, with the curved 
tips finely denticulate. The peculiarities of the lmgual dentition 
of Helicina would seem to have been overlooked. The numerous 
uncini and the subopaque trapeziform laterals remind us strongly 
of Nerita, and would seem to give some support to the idea of 
the close relationship of these genera—an idea which is further 
supported by the resemblance of the shells of the two genera. 


Helicina barbata, nu. sp. 


Shell globose-turbinate, thin, smooth, zoned with about three 
chestnut or red bands, covered with a hairy periostraca ; spire 
depressed-conic ; whorls 5, convex, flattened beneath; aper- 
ture oblique, semilunar; columella terminating in an indis- 
tinct knot dilated backwards into a thin callus; peristome 
narrowly expanded; right margin slightly sinuate above. 
Operculum thin, concave, pale, diaphanous, blood-red towards 


248 Dr. H. Falconer on the alleged Occurrence of Flint Knives 


the outer margin. Height 0:2 inch, greatest breadth 

0°32 inch. 

This shell resembles H. pudica, Drouet, in shape, but is much 
larger. It is also distinguished by the bands of colour. It is, 
with Achatina octona, the commonest of land shells in Trinidad, 
and it is the only species of mollusk I have ever observed on the 
guava (Psidium pomiferum), a plant which is shunned by most 
animals on account of its strong aromatic taste and smell. 

The foot of the animal is acutely pointed behind; the eyes 
quite sessile on the outer side of the tentacles, which are long 
and obtusely pointed. The hairy periostraca of the shell readily 
comes off, and is rarely seen in cabinet examples. 

The lingual dentition is 00.3.1.3.00. The lingual teeth of 
this species closely resemble those of H. zonata, which I have 
already described; but in H. barbata the two inner laterals are 
glassy and pellucid. The central tooth is broader, and seems to 
be divided longitudinally. The minute slender uncini are pro- 
bably about fifty, becoming almost indistinguishable towards 
the edges of the dental band. 


It is my intention to forward to the British Museum the types 
of the species here described so soon as this communication shall 
have been made public. 


Port of Spain, Trinidad. 
August 2, 1864. 


XXVIII.—On the Asserted Occurrence of Flint Knives under a 
Skull of the extinct Rhinoceros hemitcechus, in an Ossiferous 
Cave in the Peninsula of Gower. By H. Fauconrr, F.R.S., &e, 


To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History. 


GENTLEMEN, 

In the important memoir by MM. Lartet and H. Christy, 
on the Ossiferous Caves of the Périgord, a statement occurs on 
the above head which demands correction by me. After com. 
menting on the proofs of the co-existence of Man with certain 
extinct species, such as Elephas primigenius, Rhinoceros ticho- 
rhinus, &c., M. Lartet adds the following passage :— 

“Cette hypothése de la contemporanéité humaine s’étendrait 
méme a une autre espéce d’éléphant (HL. antiquus, Fale.) dont 
extinction est réputée plus ancienne encore. Les restes de cet 
éléphant ont été recueillis, en France, 4 Saint-Roch, prés Amiens, 
a Clichy, prés Paris, et 4 Viry-Noureuil (Aisne), dans des assises 
diluviennes ou quaternaires renfermant aussi des silex taillés de 
main homme. On n’a pas, que nous sachions, encore observé 


under a Skull of the Extinct Rhinoceros hemiteechus. 249 


l Elephas antiquus dans les cavernes de France; mais en Angle- 
terre, dans la presqu’ile de Gower (pays de Galles), il a été 
trouvé, dans plusieurs cavernes explorées par le docteur Falcoe 
ner et le colonel Wood. II y était associé avec un rhinocéros 
(R. hemitachus, Fale.) despéce également ancienne ; et, dans la 
eaverne de Long Hole, plusieurs silex taillés ont été rencontrés 
sous une téte de ce dernier rhinocéros”’*. 

As his authority for the statement contained in the two last 
lines of the foregoing extract, given in italics, M. Lartet cites Sir 
Charles Lyell (‘ Antiquity of Man,’ 3rd edit., Appendix, p. 518, 
1864) ; and on referring to that work, I find the following sen- 
tence :—‘“ In Bosco’s Den no human bones or implements were 
discovered; but in the neighbouring cave, called Long Hole, 
where the same zealous explorer” (Colonel Wood) “ detected 
flint knives beneath the skull of Rhinoceros hemitechus, several 
fossil bones have been obtained which exhibit transverse and 
other cuts like those which M. Desnoyers would ascribe to 
human handiwork” (op. cit. p. 514). 

M, Lartet’s great eminence as a paleontologist, and the leading 
share which he has had in bringing to light and investigating, with 
such truth and sagacity, the evidence respecting the antiquity of 
human relics in France, are calculated to give weight and cur- 
rency to any statement adopted on trust and repeated by him with- 
out verification. In this instance he has been gravely misled by 
the authority on which he relied. No skull of Rhinoceros hemi- 
teechus above flint knives was ever discovered by my friend and 
fellow-labourer Colonel Wood in ‘ Long Hole’ cave, nor was any 
skull of that extinct species ever found in it. The flint imple- 
ments which he found there, together with the immediately 
associated fossil remains, were at the time transmitted to me for 
investigation, and out of my hands they have never passed. They 
have been shown by me to several men of science, including 
Sir Charles Lyell. A detached shell of a milk molar of Rhinoceros 
hemitechus was among the number: hence, probably, the origin 
of the assertion about the skull,—a small milk molar having 
been exalted into a skull found above flint implements, doubtless 
from inadvertence, misconception, or error of recollection. 

- The evidence of man having been a cotemporary of the earliest 
of the extinct mammals of the Quarternary period is sufficiently 
beset with difficulties, without being further perplexed by sup- 
posititious facts or exaggerated statements. Hence the necessity 
of this correction. 


21 Park Crescent, Portland Place, 
June 28, 1864. 


* Revue Archéologique, 1864, ‘Sur des figures d’Animaux gravées cu 
sculptées,” &c. p. 265, Separate edition, “ Cavernes du Périgord,” p. 35, 


250 —— Prof. G. Gulliver on Raphides and other Crystals. 


XXIX.— Observations on Raphides and other Crystals. 
By Grorce GuLuiiver, F.R.S. 


[Continued from p. 56. ] 


Quillajee.—The crystals in the wood or bark of Quallaja sapo- 
naria, which were long ago well described by Edwin Quekett, 
are very characteristic of the genuine article. In a sample from 
Messrs. Butler and M‘Culloch, I find these crystals lymg in 
great numbers along the liber and mesophleeum. They are 
commonly about ;4,th of an inch long and 5;);sth thick, four- 
sided rectangular prisms, each of the faces equal, and the ends 
tipped with short pyramids. But they vary in form. Their 
ends may be like the edge of a chisel or wedge, and occasionally 
as if the shaft of the crystal had been cut through obliquely 
from one angle or face to the opposite one; besides, the prisms 
may be triangular. Though they are so very plentiful, they 
occur for the most part singly, sometimes two or three partially 
fused together, and never in bundles, in which characters they 
further differ from true raphides, and closely resemble many of 
the crystal prisms of Inidaceze and some other Monocotyledones 
(‘ Annals,’ Sept. 1863 and April and May 1864). Quekett de- 
scribes each separate prism of Qui/laja as having a close -invest- 
ment or cell, but no loose one, of cellulose. 

Melastomacee.—A species of Melastoma, at Redleaf, affords 
an abundance of spheraphides in the endophloeum and meso- 
phlceum, but no raphides either in the bark or leaves. 

Crassulacee, Ficoidee, and Cactacee.—A complete examination 
of these orders would be interesting and useful. Among the 
few species formerly examined (‘ Annals,’ May 1864) raphides 
were always found abundantly in Mesembryanthemum, and never 
at all in Crassulaceze and Cactacex, although spheraphides and 
short four-sided prisms were seen to abound in the last-named 
order. These prisms sometimes appeared either abruptly trun- 
cated, tipped with low pyramids, or with the ends as described 
in Quillajeze, &c., the tips commonly forming a part and pro- 
jecting on the surface of the spheraphides. Lately I have 
again examined the plants already specified, and a few others, to 
wit, Sedum speciosum, S. Fabaria, Epiphyllum Russellianum, Ce- 
reus crenatus, and two species of Mesembryanthemum. The result 
was still the same—a profusion of raphides in Mesembryez, and 
none in Crassulaceze and Cactacee. Raphides were seen abun- 
dantly in the corolla, style, and ovary, but not in the stamens 
and ovules, of Mesembryanthemum tricolor, and in the petals and 
filaments of M. tortwosum. In these last two parts, and in the 
ovary and pistil, the raphides were smaller and more fragile than 
in the leaves and stem; and, as I have described in other spe- 


! 
i 


! 
! 


Prof. G. Gulliver on Raphides and other Crystals. 251 


cies, bundles of these minute raphides swarmed in the seed- 
leaves, plumule, and caulicle of M. tricolor. 

Tetragoniee and Sesuviee.—Having, thus far, always found 
a profusion of raphides in the section Mesembryeze, the question 
arises whether this character also be possessed by the other two 
sections of the order Ficoidee. Accordingly specimens, either 
fresh or dried, were examined of the leaves and stalks of four 
species of Tetragonia, three of Aizoon, and three of Sesuvium ; 
and the result was a negative answer to the question. No ra- 
phides were found in any of these ten plants, though in several 
of them spheraphides were observed in more or less abundance 
—a character in which Tetragoniez and Sesuviex resemble Che- 
nopodiacese. In the leaves, calyx, and ovary of Tetragonia ex- 
pansa the spheraphides are about -{,th of an inch in diameter, 
and commonly double that size in the pith. 

Plantaginacee, Nyctaginacee, and Amaranthacee.—These or- 
ders are numbered 143, 144, and 145 in Prof. Balfour’s ‘ Manual 
of Botany.’ I have only examined three species belonging to 
the central order, and they all abound in raphides, which were 
seen in the flower and swarming in the leaves and stem of Oxy- 
baphus violaceus, and in the stem, bracts, and different parts of 
the flower of Bougainvillea glabra. And I have never failed 
to find raphides equally abundant in the root-stock, leaves, 
calyx, and corolla, and also, but smaller and more tender, in 
the stamens, pistil, ovary, ovule, spermoderm, and seed-leaves of 
Mirabilis. On the contrary, in the few species examined be- 
longing to the neighbouring orders, Plantaginaceee and Ama- 
ranthaceze, no raphides were found. 

Chenopodiacee, Phytolaccacee, and Polygonacee.—Here again 
arises the question, how far an order may be distinguished by 
raphides from its allies. Does this small central order differ 
as a raphis-bearer from the two larger neighbouring orders? 
Of Phytolaccacez I have only examined the leaves, red petioles, 
and midribs of Phytolacca icosandra, and the leaves, young 
flowers and buds, spike and bracts of P. esculenta, var. venosa, 
in all of which raphides occur profusely. But this character 
was found entirely wanting in every one of the few species or 
varieties of Chenopodium, Atriplex, Beta, Rheum, Rumex, and 
Polygonum, which were examined at the same time for compa- 
rison. Spheraphides, indeed, are very common in Chenopo- 
diaceze, as may be well seen in the leaves, stem, pith, and meso- 
phlceum of common garden weeds of the Goosefoot family, and, 
as is well known, in some parts of certain Polygonacee. In 
Chenopodium and Atriplex most of the spheraphides are about 
¢éoth of an inch in diameter, and others are much larger. 


I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. De Carle Sowerby, 


252 Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermacez. 


Mr, W. H. Baxter, and Mr. Cox for the names of, and oppor- 
tunities of examining, many of the exotic plants mentioned in 
this paper. 
Edenbridge, Sept. 10, 1864. 
[To be continued. } 


XXX.—On the Menispermacee. 
By Joun Mizrs, F.R.S., F.L.S. &c. 


[Continued from p. 103.] 
15. Truracora. 


Tus genus was first proposed by Colebrook, in 1819, for the 
Menispermum polycarpon, Roxb.; but, as he was unacquainted 
with its carpological features, the genus was not adopted by 
subsequent botanists. DeCandolle, in his ‘ Prodromus’ (1824), 
did not recognize it; for he named the same plant Cocculus 
acuminatus : from that time it continued unnoticed until 1851 
(Ann. Nat. Hist. ser. 2. vii. 36), when I first pointed out the 
identity of the two plants, and described the structure of the 
seed; and this at once established the validity of Tilacora. 
This genus, peculiar to Asia, is represented in the New World 
by Abuta, Batschia, and Anelasma: all nearly correspond in 
their floral structure, and resemble one another in the remark- 
able development of the seed—features which entitle them to 
rank in a distinct tribe, the Tiliacoree. It is surprising that 
the authors of the ‘ Flora Indica’ and of the ‘ Genera Plantarum? 
have refused to acknowledge the validity of this very natural 
group, and have placed these genera in the same tribe with 
Cocculus, thus mingling in confusion genera with a very rumi- 
nated albumen and a very slender embryo having incumbent coty- 
ledons as much attenuated as their very slender radicle, with 
other genera having a simple albumen and an embryo with 
accumbent, broad, foliaceous cotyledons—characters perfectly 
irreconcileable in any arrangement that lays claim to consistency. 

The flowers in this genus, though usually dicecious, are some- 
times polygamous; they have nine to twelve sepals in ternate 
series, the three internal ones being much larger, and valvate in 
eestivation ; they have six minute petals appearing like nectarial 
scales, and six stamens placed opposite to them, all inserted to- 
gether upon a short columnar receptacle, on which three puncti- 
form rudimentary ovaries are placed. In the numerous speci- 
mens of Tiliacora that I have seen, I have not yet found a female 
flower; I have, however, met with two species in which they are 
polygamous : in one case there are six petals, only three stamens, 


Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermacee. 253 


and three ovaries of equal length, oblong, ventricose, 1-celled, 
with a single appended ovule, and terminated by a subulate 
style ; im the other case the flower has six petals, six stamens, 
four minute gibbously oval ovaries in the centre, with an obso- 
lete style, and these are 1-celled, with a regular ovule. Rox- 
burgh, who is the only authority, states that the female flower 
has sepals and petals similar to those of the male; but he men- 
tions no stamens: he adds that it has twelve ovaries in a single 
whorl, each terminated by a subulate style, thus agreeing with 
those I have described ; of these twelve ovaries as many as eight 
or ten often come to perfection, but sometimes four, or even 
fewer, are matured : they are all borne on the summit of a cylin- 
drical gynzecium, which increases in length and thickness with 
age, and on its summit are seen the cicatrices of the abortive 
ovaries, while all those that have been fertilized are carried up, 
each on a separate elongated ligneous fork, which grows out of 
the gynecium, the fruits as they ripen being articulated on 
them: these radiating carpophori are solid emanations from the 
gynecium itself, and form no part of the ovarial increment. 
This is a very remarkable feature in Tiliacora, being analogous 
to a similar growth which I have described in Anamirta and 
Sciadotema. It is probable that in different species of Tiliacora 
the number of ovaries may vary ; but hitherto we have no evi- 
dence on the subject. In the development of the ovary, the 
growth is almost entirely on the dorsal side, and is so extremely 
excentric that, at maturity, the styles all connive towards the 
centre, in close proximity to the basal points of attachment of 
the drupes, which radiate horizontally round the gynecium. It 
is not necessary to repeat here the peculiar features connected 
with the development of the putamen and seed, as they have 
been sufficiently explained ; it remains, therefore, only to give a 
more full diagnosis of the genus. 


Tit1acora, Coleb.—Flores dioici vel interdum polygami. Mase. 
Sepala 9-12, in ordine ternario alternatim disposita ; exteriora 
gradatim minora et bracteiformia; 3 interiora multo majora, 
obovata, subcarnosa, estivatione valvata. Petala 6, minima, 
carnosula, cuneato-oblonga, subbiseriata. Stamina 6, sub- 
eequalia, petalis 3-4-plo longiora et opposita, libera; ftla- 
menta gracilia, apice incrassata; anthere 2-lobz, introrsz, 
lobis oblongis, dorsaliter semi-immersis, apice contiguis, imo 
paulo divaricatis, rima obliqua longitudinaliter dehiscentibus. 
—Fl. hermaphr. Sepala et petala maris. Stamina 3, petalis 
alternis opposita, mole maris, pollinifera. Ovaria 3, gynecio 
insita, erecta, oblonga, imo tenuiter stipitata, dorso ventricosa, 
1-locularia, ovu/o unico (an fertili ?) ad faciem ventralem medio 


254 Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermacee. 


. appenso. Stylus subulatus, tenuiter elongatus, apice un- 
cinato-incurvatus. Stigma obsoletum.—F/. faem. (sec. Roxb. 
sepala et petala maris; ovaria 12, in unica serie gynophoro 
insita; stylus subulatus; stigma simplex). Drupe 3-6, vel 
usque ad 12, valde gibboso-obovate, compresse, in summo 
carpophororum totidem e gynzcio cylindrico enatorum suffulte 
et articulate, hoe modo radiatim horizontales, singule stylo 


persistente imo proximo notate; putamen oblongum, com-— 


pressum, imo truncatum, hine ultra medium utrinque sul- 
catum, coriaceum, 1-loculare, condylo interno septiformi 
transversali ultra medium protenso, siccitate 2-marsupiatum, 
intus leve, l-spermum; semen loculo conforme, 2-crure ; 
integumenta membranacea, tenuia, inter rimas albuminis pli- 
cata, et per raphen ad condylum affixa; embryo elongatus, 
teres, intra albumen copiosum undique transversim et anfrac- 
tuose ruminatum hippocrepice inflexus, cotyledonibus sub- 
compressis, incumbentibus, radicule tereti equilatis et 3-plo 
longioribus, hac in locello superiore ad stylum spectante, illis 
in inferiore ad hilum tensis. 

Frutices scandentes Asie intertropice et insularum ; folia oblongo- 
ovata, glabra, 3-nervia, et sepe triplinervia ; racemi subpani- 
culati, axillares, solitarit vel gemini. 


The following species will be described in the third volume 
of ‘Contributions to Botany’ :— 


1. Tiliacora racemosa, Coleb. ;~-T. acuminata, H. & Th.;—Coc- 
culus acuminatus, DC.;—C. radiatus, DC.—India orientalis, 


2. fraternaria, nob.—Ceylon. 

3. cusptdiformis, nob.;—T. acuminata, H. & Th. (in parie). 
—Ceylon (Thwaites, 1056). 

A. abnormalis, nob.— Ind. orient. 


16. AsuTa. 


In 1851 I endeavoured to establish the characters of this 
previously obscure genus, which had been fused into Cocculus, 
when I referred to it several plants from Guiana and Brazil, 
which approximate in habit and general structure to Aublet’s 
typical species, Abuta rufescens. The leaves are generally of 
large size, broad, often cordate at base, smooth above, and co- 
vered beneath with dense yellowish tomentum, with very promi- 
nent digitate nervures, externally branched, and with strong 
transverse veins. The inflorescence is in long, pubescent, axil- 
lary racemose panicles, and its drupaceous fruits, densely to- 
mentose, contain an oblong coriaceous putamen, with a bimar- 
supiate cell, enclosing a single hippocrepiform seed, having an 


Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermacez. 255 


albumen ruminated by numerous fissures, and enclosing an em- 
bryo much resembling that of Tihacora. 

Prof. Grisebach endeavoured to show, in 1858 (Journ. Proc. 
Linn. Soc. ii. 108), that Abuta, Batschia, and Anelasma con- 
stitute a single genus (Abuta), of which he then gave a new 
generic character in order to embrace the whole; he there con- 
firmed the facts I had stated showing their close relation to 
Tiliacora; but at the same time, following the example of the 
authors of the ‘ Flora Indica,’ he referred both Abuta and Tilia- 
cora to the tribe Cocculee of those botanists. In doing this he 
quite forgot the very important difference between the two oppo- 
site conditions of a deeply ruminated and a simple albumen, 
which are respectively found in the two tribes thus confounded 
together ; also the very different forms of their embryo, and more 
especially the distinction that, in the one case, the cotyledons 
are accumbent, in the other incumbent—circumstances which 
render the one group essentially incompatible with the other. 

In 1861 Mr. Bentham published his “ Notes on Menisper- 
macee”’ (Journ. Proc. Linn. Soc.v. Suppl. p. 45), when he adopted 
the example of Prof. Grisebach in amalgamating Batschia and 
Anelasma with Abuta, and in a sweeping manner annulled most 
of the species I had indicated, reducing each of the genera thus 
fused together to little better than the condition of a single 
species, 

Messrs. Bentham and Hooker, in their ‘Genera Plantarum,’ 
regardless of the peculiar structure of the seeds, persist, as before 
stated, in placing Tiliacora and Abuta (including Batschia and 
Anelasma) in the same tribe, and in juxtaposition with Cocculus. 

Finally, MM. Triana and Planchon agree with Dr. Grisebach 
in associating into one all the three genera in question. 

The difficulty of reversing the decisions of these united au- 
thorities is necessarily great, but perhaps not insurmountable. 
I will therefore venture, in a few words, to show the differences 
existing between Abuta and Anelasma. There exists among the 
individuals forming these groups a very different habit, a notably 
distinct appearance in their leaves, and a dissimilar character in 
their inflorescence—features so striking as to render it almost 
impossible, with a mere glance at the plants, to mistake one 
genus for the other. In Aduta the midrib of the leaves beneath, 
as well as the lateral ramifications, have externally strong, pro- 
minent, pinnate nervures, which are absent in Anelasma; the 
leaves are all densely tomentose beneath, with a few exceptions, 
where they become glabrous with age; but even in that case 
the distinction is maintained by the ‘branches, petioles, and ra- 
cemes, which are thickly tomentose, while in Anelasma the same 
parts are quite glabrous. In Abuta the inner sepals are exter- 


256 Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermaceee. 


nally sericeous, very fleshy, and valvate in estivation; in Ane- 
lasma the corresponding sepals are glabrous, more membrana- 
ceous in texture, and (though slightly) are decidedly imbricated 
in eestivation. In Aduta, in the male flower, each stamen bears. 
a 2-lobed anther, the lobes separated from one another by a 
deep longitudinal channel or by a broader interval, and attached 
by their entire length to a broad filament ; each lobe opens late- 
rally by a vertical or oblique fissure: in Anelasma each stamen 
bears only a single globular anther, apicifixed upon, and half 
immersed. in, the summit of a broad fleshy filament, burst- 
ing across its apex by a transverse gaping fissure into two 
valves, antical and postical, and divided inside by a sep- 
tum parallel to the valves, as is well shown in Poppig’s figure. 
In the female flower, the structure of the sterile stamens in 
Anelasma is different: the ovaries are quite glabrous, with a 
different stigma, while in Aduta and Batschia the ovaries are 
densely pilose; the drupes in the two latter cases are thickly 
tomentose, while in Anel/asma they are quite glabrous. In the 
case of larger flowers, such differences as I have indicated would 
not fail to be recognized in their full importance, and there can 
be no justification for ignormg them, or considering them as 
too trivial, on account of their diminutive size. Here assuredly 
there is sufficient evidence to show that Anelasma ought not to 
be confounded with Aduta; but other differences will be seen 
when we come to speak of Anelasma. 

Until lately, I had maintained Batschia as an independent 
genus, distinguished from Abuta by its stamens, which are 
rigidly hispid, while the small globular cells of the anthers are 
separated by a much wider interval, and laterally imbedded in 
a very thick filament, sometimes so deeply as to be invisible 
from the front; and, furthermore, the species have glabrous 
leaves. As these characters sometimes run into one another, I 
have now retained Batschia as a section of Abuta, distinguished 
by the characters just mentioned. In Batschia, although the 
leaves are glabrous and generally smaller, they accord with 
Abuta in their ramified nervation, in which respect Anelasma 
differs from the whole group. All the species of Abuta seem to 
be scandent plants, while those of Batschia appear to be erect 
shrubs. When these plants are better known, I think it very 
likely that Batschia will establish its ght to rank as a distinet 
genus. 

While this paper is in the printer’s hands, I have received 
from Dr. Kichler the 25th Number of the ‘ Ratisbon Flora’ (July 
1864), giving an abstract of his arrangement of American Ment- 
spermee, already printed for Prof. von Martius’s ‘Flora Brasi- 
hensis.? Dr. Kichler has there adopted the views of other bota-. 


Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermacez. 257 


nists which I have just combated, in uniting Anelasma with 
Abuta: he divides this genus into four sections,—(1) Budua (or 
Abuta proper); (2) Batschia; (3) Anelasma; (4) Corynostemon, 
which is founded on the plant I have here described as Abuta 
(Batschia) acutifolia (Spruce, 2763), and which I placed in that 
section on account of its hairy stamens. I have shown that the 
stamen of this species differ in no respect from those of Batschia 
racemosa and A. Seemanni, except in the greater breadth of the 
filament in the three inner stamens: the section Corynostemon 
will therefore hardly be received as a valid one, as my analyses* 
will show. In regard to the determination of the several species 
of Abuta, I regret to differ as much with Dr. Eichler as with 
those botanists whose example he has adopted. The characters 
on which I have endeavoured to establish the species, according 
to the list that follows, are given at full length in my ‘ Contri- 
butions to Botany,’ now in type. 


Asura, Barrére, Aublet.—Flores dioici. Mase. Sepala 9, in or- 
dine ternario alterna, 6 exteriora bracteiformia, linearia, 3 in- 
teriora majora, deltoidea, acuta, concava, extus sericeo- 
tomentosa, zstivatione valvata, apice inflexa. Peéala nulla. 
Stamina 6, libera, subbiseriata, subeequalia, androecio brevi 
insita, sepalis opposita; filamenta subcarnosa, suberecta, 
‘apice incrassata, inflexa, et conniventia, glabra vel pilosa, 
3 interiora latiora ; anthere 2-lobie, lobis discretis, ovatis, sub- 
parallelis, ad filamentum utroque latere omnino adnatis, sin- 
gulis rima marginali longitudinali dehiscentibus.—Fam. Se- 
pala 6, ut in mare. Petala nulla. Stamina sterilia 6, equalia, 
filamenta filiformia, subincurva, ovariis equilonga, glabra aut 
pilosa, interdum clavata et hine apice glandulis 2 minutis 
signata, gynecio villosissimo aflixa. Ovaria 3, libera, sepalis 
interioribus opposita, dense sericea, 1-locularia; ovulwm soli- 
tarium, subincurvum, supra medium faciei ventralis funiculo 
brevi suspensum. Séy/us brevissimus, teres, subexcentricus. 
Stigma carnosum, deltoideo-obliquum, in lobos 3 digitatos 
laciniatum. Drupe 3, vel abortu pauciores, magne, siccie, 
valde tomentose, horizontaliter oblong, breviter stipitate, 
styl vestigio prope basin notatee; putamen oblongum, sub- 
compressum, utringue ultra medium sulcatum, coriaceum, 1- 
loculare, condylo septiformi sulcis apposito e basi ultra me- 
dium loculi protenso, proinde 2-marsupiatum, menospermum ; 
semen loculo conforme, bicrure ; albumen copiosum, carnosum, 
fissuris numerosis anfractuosis irregularibus profunde rumi- 
natum, infegumentis laxis tenuissimis intra fissuras plicatis 
cinctum ; embryo tenuis, teres, hippocrepice inflexus, centro 

* These will be figured in my ‘ Contributions to Botany.’ 


Am. &§ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. xiv. 17 


258 Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermacee. 


albuminis immersus, cotyledonibus incumbentibus, radicula— 


supera ad stylum spectante longioribus. 

Frutices Americe intertropice volubiles, ramulis tomentosis ; folia 
orbicularia vel ovata, subacuta, imo sepe cordata, supra gla- 
bra, subtus tomentosa, 3-5-nervia, nervis extus ramosis et 
transversim crasse venosis ; petiolo longiusculo, pubere: racemi 
paniculati, axillares, sepissime longissimi, tomentosi; flores 
minutt, pilose. 

The following is a list of the species already given in my 

‘ Contributions to Botany,’ where the characters are given at 


full length :-— 
§ 1. Abuta vera: folia crasso-coriacea, subtus valde tomentosa, 
nervis extus ramosis, grossis, valde prominentibus ; sta- 
mina in 3 glabra; plante scandentes. 


1. Abuta racemosa, Aublet (non aliorum).—Guiana; Cayenne 
(Aublet). 


a barbata, nob. ;—Abuta rufescens, Tr. & Pl. (non Aubl.). 
—Cayenne (Sagot, 919). 

3. Candollei, Tr. & P|.;—Abuta rufescens, DC. (non Aubi.). 
—Guiana (Sagot, 1264). 

4. heterophylla, nob. ;—Cissampelos convexa, Vell. Fi. 
Flum. x. tab. 142 ;—C. tomentosa, Vell. 1. c. tab. 148 ;— 
Cocculus tomentosus, Mart. (non Coleb.) ;—C. Martu, Sé. 
Mil. & Tul. ;—Rio de Janeiro. 

Se macr oph ylla, nob. ;—Cocculus macrophyllus, St. Hal. & 
Tul. ;—Cissampelos Abutua, Vell. /. c. tab. 140.—Rio de 
Janeiro. 

6. oblonga, nob.;—Cayenne (Martin, ¢ & 2 ; Le Blond, 9). 

he cuspidata, nob. ;—Abuta rufescens, Benth. (non Aubl.). 
— Barra (Spruce). 

Var. ovalifolia, nob. ;—Abuta Grisebachu, Tr. & Pl.— 
San Gabriel (Spruce, 2340). 
gt (Spruce). 
Species illate, mihi omnino ignote. 

ah oblongifolia ;—Cocculus oblongifolius, Mart. (non DC.). 
—Ruo de Janeiro. 

10. Imene ;—Cocculus Imene, Mart.— Hyapura. 


§ 2. Batschia: folia minus coriacea, subglabra, nervis minus 
crassis et Ee ominentibus ; stamina in 3 pilosa; arbus- 
cule erecta? 


1s racemosa, Tr. & Pl. ;—Batschia racemosa, Thunb. ;— 
Trichoa racemosa, Pers.—Rio Magdalena (Triana). 
12. Seemanni, Tr. & Pl.;—Abuta spicata, Zr. & Pl. ;— 


Batschia spicata, Thunb. ;—Batschia conferta, nob. olun ;— 


’ Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermacee. 259 


Trichoa spicata, Pers. ;—Tricho aconferta, DC.—Rio Mag- 
dalena et Isth. Darien (Seemann). 

acutifolia, nob. ;—Abuta concolor, Benth. in part.— 
Panuré (Spruce, 2763). 


The Aduta amara of Aublet is a species of Aristolochia. 

The Abuta candicans, Rich., seems to accord better with Chon- 
dodendron. 

The Abuta tomentosa, Sag., is also probably a Chondodendron. 


138. 


17. ANELASMA. 


When I proposed this genus, in 1851, for a Brazilian plant, 
upon a knowledge of the male flower only, its proper position 
_was mistaken, in the absence of the female flower and seed. 
“The examination of a specimen, in fruit, from the West Indies, 
closely allied to the Cocculus Domingensis, DC., figured in Deles- 
sert’s ‘Icones,’ led me to infer, from their general appearance, 
that all these plants belonged to the same genus; but having 
obtained very soon afterwards other and ‘more complete speci- 
mens, I discovered the true carpological structure of Anelasma, 
and found that the Cocculus Domingensis and its allied species 
appertained to Hyperbena—a genus then placed by me in the 
dubious section for want of a knowledge of its seminal organiza- 
tion, Dr.Grisebach subsequently pointed out the error as regarded 
Hyperbena, but this I had discovered and rectified long previously. 
Some species of Anelasma and Hyperbena so much resemble 
one another in the form and veinless texture of their leaves, as 
well as in their inflorescence, that they might easily be con- 
founded by a superficial observation ; but more careful examina- 
tion and an inspection of their floral or carpological structure 
will remove all doubt, as the differences in these respects are 
now well established. The liability of fallimg into error in the 
- determination of such plants, by trusting to mere external cha- 
racters, has misled so experienced a botanist as Mr. Bentham, 
who, in his “ Notes on Menispermacee” (Journ. Proc. Linn. Soc. 
v. Suppl. 49), not only refers all my species of Anelasma to Abuta, 
but has made other misconceptions, which I have pointed out. 
I need not repeat what has already been said (ante, p. 255) 
concerning the opinions of Dr. Grisebach, Mr. Bentham, and 
Dr. Hooker in regard to the supposed identity of Anelasma with 
Abuta, nor recapitulate my reasons for holding them to be dis- 
tinct. In addition to the many opposite characters there men- 
tioned, another notable difference is worthy of attention: m 
own observations demonstrate that the species of Abuta proper 
are very lofty climbers, as may be judged from specimens seen 
in herbaria, while the aiuele of others show that those of Ane- 


MF 


260 Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermacez. 


lasma form branching erect trees. Gardner says of the typical 
plant that it is “a small tree ;” and all the other specimens of 
the genus that I have seen bear the aspect of an erect habit. 
In every instance seen by me the leaves are perfectly glabrous, 
and by their nervation and general aspect resemblé those of 
Cinnamomum ; they never approach an orbicular, and rarely an 
oval form, but are usually long and narrow, very thick and 
ecriaceous, both sides being subpolished, owing to the immer- 
sion of the nerves and more especially of the veins ; they present 
a peculiar appearance from the manner in which their long and 
strong petioles (much thickened at their apex and articulated at 
the base) are inserted at an oblique angle on the plane of the 
leaf. The male inflorescence consists of several extremely slen- 
der branching panicles, fasciculated and issuing from a point 
above the insertion of the petioles, the rachis and its short 
branches being almost capillary, black, and glabrous: these 
branches are also charged, at regular intervals, with 3-4 fasci- 
culated ramifications, that again bear several pedicellated minute 
flowers, which are glabrous and black when dried. This is very 
different from Adbuta. The male inflorescence is shorter, seldom 
exceeding the length of the petiole, and consists of one or two 
simple racemes, with a single flower upon each lengthened and 


() 
spreading pedicel, bracteated at its origin, all quite glabrous. 


ANELASMA, nob.— Flores dioici. Masc. Sepala 6 vel 9, in ordine 
ternario alterna, oblonga, carnosa, glabra, 3 interiora majora, 
obovata, concava, intus striis 2 notata, sestivatione subimbricata, 
Petala nulla. Stamina 6, sepalis opposita, subseriata, erecta, 
conniventia, 3 interiora paulo longiora et latiora: filamenta 
carnosa, subincurva, surstm incrassata ; anthere subglobose, 
apicales, filamento subintrorsum semi-immerse, rima transver- 
sali obliqua 2-valvatim hiantes, ssepius septo valvis parallelo et 
rarius e septulo cruciformi, 3—4-locellatee.— Mam. Sepala ma- 
rium. Stamina sterilia 6, rewa, circa gyneecium hypogyna, 
compressa, carnosa, apice 2-glandulosa. Ovaria 3, libera, 
gibboso-globosa, gynzecio brevi centrali insita, glabra, lucida, 
carnosa, 1-locularia, l-ovulata: stylus brevissimus 3 stigma 
acute et breviter bifidum aut obsoletum. Drupe 3, vel abortu 
2-1, sicce, oblong, subgibbee, glaberrime, subnitide, imo 
excentrice stipitatie, styli vestigio a basi haud distante notatee ; 
puiamen et semen iis Abute conformia. 

Frutices vel arbusculee Americe intertropice, erecte, ramose 3 
ramuli substrict?, glabri; folia alterna, oblonga, crasso-coriaced, 
ulrinque glaberrima, nitida, 3-5-nervia (haud penninervia), 
nervis venisque transversis sepius tmmersis, hine interdum fere 
evenia; petiolo summo basique valde tumido: panicule g race- 


Mr. J. 8. Baly on new Genera and Species of Hispide. 261 


mose, plurime (8-5), fasciculate, supra-axillares, graciles, 
glabre ; flores numerosi, minufi, glabri: racemi 2? 1-2, sim- 
plices, pauciflori. 


The following is a list of the species, the full characters of 
which are printed for my ‘ Contributions to Botany ’:— 


1. Anelasma Gardnerianum, nob. ;—Abuta concolor, Benth, in 
part.—Goyaz (Gardner, 3567). 


2. concolor, nob. ;—Abuta concolor, Benth. ;—Trichoa con- 
color, Endl.;—Cocculus levigatus, Mart.—San Gabriel 
(Spruce, 2192); Barra do Rio Negro (Spruce, sub Cocculus 
levigatus, Mart.). 

3. Martianum, nob. ;—Abuta concolor, Benth. in parl.— 
Guiana (Martin). 

A, Guianense, nob.;—Abuta concolor, Benth. in part.— 
Guiana (Schomb. 4-40). 

Di. Sellowianum, nob. ;—Abuta, sp., Benth.—Brasilia (Sel- 
low). 

6. Spruceanum, nob.—Abuta concolor, Benth. in part. 

7. pallidum, nob.;—Anclasma laurifolhum, Sagot, MSS. 
(non nob.) ;—Abuta concolor, Benth. in part.—Barra do 
Rio Negro (Spruce, 1829) ; Guiana (Sagot, 20). 

8. strumosum, nob.;—Abuta, sp., Benth—San Gabriel 
(Spruce, 2393). 

2. intaminatum, nob.—Brasilia (Bowie & Cunningham). 


The following species, though unknown to me, appear to 
belong to this genus :— 
tO. urophyllum ;—Cocculus urophyllus, Mart. 
11. ——- laurifolium ;—Cissampelos laurifolia, Poir.—Ins. 8, 
Thome. 


[To be continued. | 


XXXI.—Descriptions of Genera and Species of Hispide. 
By J. S. Baty. 


Havine been disappointed, like many others, in the hope that 
the Trustees of the British Museum would resume the publica- 
tion of their catalogues, and thereby enable me to complete my 
monograph of Hispidze under their auspices, and having during 
a long period of waiting exhausted both my own patience and 
that of those numerous friends who have allowed their collections 
to remain for so long a time in my hands, I have at length de- 
termined to publish, from time to time, as opportunities occur, 
all the materials within my reach in a detached form, I hope 


262 Mr.J.S. Baty on new Genera and Species of Hispide. 


to draw up at some future period, either in the Rev. H. Clark’s 
proposed catalogue or elsewhere, a synopsis of the genera, and 
thus complete, although imperfectly, the monographie arrange- 
ment of this interesting group. 


Genus HisPo.Leptis. 


Corpus elongatum, parallelum, modice convexum, dorso sub- 
depressum. Caput porrectum, facie brevi transversa, inter antenna- 
rum insertionem crebre elevata instructum ; antennis modice robustis, 
corporis dimidio eequalibus, filiformibus, ad apicem attenuatis, arti- 
culis cylindricis, 1™° subgloboso, paullo incrassato, 24° sat brevi, vix 
incrassato, 3%° elongato, 4° illo fere dimidio breviore, caeteris ad 9°"™ 
longitudine perparum decrescentibus, 10-11™° fere sequalibus, utro- 
que 9"° paullo longiore ; mento subhastato ; oculis vix prominulis, 
elongatis, postice leviter sinuatis. Thoraw elongatulus, apice trun- 
cato, basi utrinque sinuata, lateribus fere rectis, a basi ad apicem 
angustatus, angulis anticis vix productis, acutis, dorso transversim 
convexo. Scutellum latum, pentagonum. lytra thorace vix la- 
tiora, lateribus parallelis, muticis, apice conjunctim rotundata, ser- 
rata; supra modice convexa, dorso subdeplanata, punctato-striata. 
Pedes validi, mediocres, simplices, farsorum anticorum articulo ba- 
sali sequentibus latiore ; waguiculis distantibus. 


Type, Hispoleptis (Promecotheca) diluta, Guér. Amazons, 
Cayenne. 


Genus ACANTHODES. 


Corpus elongatum aut subelongatum, dorso depressum, postice 
paullo dilatatum. Caput porrectum, inter oculos productum ; an- 
tennis rigidis, apice acutis, articulis duobus basalibus brevibus, fere 
zequalibus, vix incrassatis, 34°--11™"™" plerumque inter se coalescen- 
tibus, articulationibus seepe obsoletis, 3%°-6""™ rarius distinetis mo- 
niliformibus ; mento elongato. Thoraw basi transversus, medio de- 
pressus, ad apicem angustatus, subcylindricus, margine basali utrin- 
que profunde excavato. Scutellum transversum, apice obtusum. 
Llytra thorace latiora, subparallela, apicem versus paullo ampliata, 
apice truncata, angulo postico spina valida acuta armato; dorso 
costata, interspatiis profunde bifariam punctatis. Pedes validi; 
unguiculis contiguis. 


Type, deanthodes generosa. Amazons. 


This singular genus is remarkable for the small number of 
joints in its antenne. It ought to stand near Odontota: m some 
species no less than nine joints coalesce. 


1. Antenne with all their joints, from the third inclusive, coalescent; 
the sutural lines between them almost or entirely obsolete. 


Acanthodes generosa, ni. sp. 


A. elongata, subdepressa, rufa, oculis antennisque nigris ; elytris 
costatis, utroque sutura antice, margine exteriore macula infra 


Mr. J.S. Baly on new Genera and Species of Hispide. 263 


basin, fascia obliqua prope medium, extrorsum abbreviata, apice - 
que nigris ; ore tarsisque piceis. 
Long. 43 lin. 
Hab. Ega, Upper Amazons. Collected by Mr. Bates, to 
whom I am indebted for a specimen. 


Elongate, subdepressed, shining red ; antenne and eyes black ; 
elytra costate, the anterior two-thirds of the suture, the outer 
border, a square spot in front, an oblique band across the middle, 
abbreviated at the outer margin, and the apex black. Head sub- 
rugose, forehead deeply impressed with a longitudinal fossa ; 
antenne rigid, very acute, shining black, inner surface of basal 
joints rufous. Thorax one-half broader than long at the base ; 
sides slightly rounded behind, narrowed and sinuate in front ; 
above cylindrical, depressed and excavated at the middle of the 
base ; surface coarsely and deeply punctured, punctures crowded 
on the sides; the medial line with a deep longitudinal groove. 
Scutellum smooth, shining. Elytra deeply punctate-striate, 
much broader than the thorax, subelongate ; sides nearly parallel, 
scarcely broader behind, narrowly margined, margin slightly 
dilated towards the posterior angles, its outer edge coarsely and 
distantly serrate, posterior angles armed with a stout acute spine, 
which runs almost directly backwards; apex obtuse, its outer 
edge serrate ; above subdepressed along the suture; each ely- 
tron with three elevated coste, which occupy the alternate inter- 
spaces between the rows of punctures. Beneath shining rufous ; 
mouth and tarsi piceous. 


Acanthodes Hebe, n. sp. 


A. elongata, dorso depressa, fulva, nitida; capite, thoracis vitta 
utrinque, tibiis apice, tarsis elytrisque nigris, his angulo postico 
spina valida acuta lateraliter oblique producta armatis, utroque 
tricostato, interspatiis bifariam punctatis, vitta lata discoidali a 
basi fere ad medium producta, apice extus paullo dilatata, fasciaque 
lata transversa, extrorsum abbreviata, pone medium posita, fulvis. 

Long. 3% lin. 

Hab. Paramaribo, Surinam. 


Very similar in form to A. generosa ; the spines, however, at 
the hinder angles of the elytra are produced more directly out- 
wards than in that insect ; the thorax is also somewhat narrower 
and more cylindrical; vertex impressed with a longitudinal 
- groove; all the joints of the antennz from the third upwards 
itimately connected, without the slightest trace of articulations, 
their apex very acute. Thorax one-half broader than long, 
sides straight and parallel at the base, rounded and narrowed in 


264 Mr. J.S. Baly on new Genera und Species of Hispide. 


the middle, sinuate just behind the anterior angles ; disk smooth, 
impunctate, sides rugose-punctate. Elytra subparallel, slightly 
increasing in width towards the hinder angles; posterior spine 
keeled above. Four anterior tibize armed just before their apex 
within with a short tooth. 

Tam indebted for a specimen of this beautiful species to the 
liberality of Herr Dohrn, of Stettin. 


2. Third to sixth joints (inclusive) of antennz intimately connected ; 
their sutural Imes distinct. 


Acaithodes nigripennis, n. sp. 
A. elongata, dorso subdepressa, rufa, nitida; capite, thoracis vitta 
utrinque elytrisque nigris. 
Long. 4 lin. 
Hab, Cayenne. 


Elongate, shining red; head, a short vitta on either side of 
the thorax, its extreme apical margin, together with the elytra 
shining black. Head slightly excav: ated on the forchead; vertex 
shining, gee anfennee with the articulations between 
the third and the three followi ving joints visible under a lens. 
Thorax nearly one-third broader at the base than long; sides 
rounded, narrowed in front, above subcylindrical, deeply ex- 
cavated transversely near the base; surface impressed here and 
there with deep distinct punctures, a black stripe on either side 
closely punctured, subrugose. Scutellum impunetate, shining 
red. Elytra much broader than the thorax, sides parallel, their 
outer edge armed with fine, distinct serratures, posterior angles 
produced directly backwards into a stout acute spine; above 
subconvex, slightly Hattened along the suture; each elytron 
with three elevated cost, the outer one less raised than the 
others, mterstiees impressed with a double row of deep regular 
punctures, the third interstice from the suture irregularly punc- 
tured along the posterior two-thirds of its course. Beneath 
shining rufous ; apex of abdomen piccous. 

Unique i in my own collection. 


3. Third to sixth joints of antenne distinctly separate. 


Acanthodes tarsata, 1. sp. 


A. clongata, dorso depressa, sata paullo ampliata, obscure nigro- 
eenea, nitida; pedibus fulvis, tarsis antennisque nigris, his apice 
acutis, articulis 24° ad 6'™™ distinctis, transversis, Saath oe mibus ; 
thorace conico, profunde punctato ; elytris angulo postico in spi- 
nam latam acutam, dorso concavam, lateraliter oblique productis ; 
utroque tricostato, interspatiis profunde bifariam punctatis, inter- 


Mr. J. 8. Baly on new Genera and Species of Hispide. 265 


spatio tertio pone medium confuse trifariam punctato ; femoribus 
subtus unispinosis. 
Long. 3 lin. 


Hab. Brazil. 


Vertex impressed with a deep longitudinal groove. Thorax 
conical, the sides being obliquely narrowed from base ‘to apex ; 
on either side, just above the base, is a small, obscure rufous 
spot. Spine of the elytra broad, deeply excavated above, pro- 
duced obliquely outwards and somewhat backwards. Abdomen 
very obscure nigro-zneous, apical segment stained on either 
side with an obscure rufous patch. 

In my collection. 


Acanthodes lateralis, n. sp. 


A. subelongata, subdepressa, nigra, subnitida, thoracis vitta utrinque 
elytrorumque vitta laterali, postice abbreviata, fulvis. 
Long. 23 lin. 


Hab. Park 


Subelongate, subdepressed, black ; a broad vitta on either side 
of the thorax, amd a broad marginal stripe on each elytron, com- 
mencing at the base and te rminating below tlie middle, fulvous, 
Vertex rugose, deeply grooved down the middle ; antenne acute, 
shining blue: black, the six basal joints distinct, moniliform. 
Thorax one-third broader at the base than long, narrowed from 
base to apex, sides indistinctly sinuate, anterior angles armed with 
a small obtuse tooth; above subeylindri cal, coarsely and deeply 
punctured, centre of the base slightly excavated. Scutellum 
shining black. Elytra much broa der than the thorax, shghtly 
increasing in width towards their apex, the latter obtusely trun- 

cate ; sides narrowly margined, the outer edge coarsely serrate, 

apical margin also serrate ; posterior aneles produced into a 
large flattened acute spine, its apex directed obliquely back- 
wards; above subdepressed along the suture; each elytron with 
three raised costs, the suture also elevated; interstices with a 
double row of deep regular punctures, third interstice from the 
suture with three rows, less regularly placed. Beneath black, 
sternum fulvous. 

In my own cabinet and that of the Rev. H. Clark. 


Genus STETHISPA. 


Corpus elongatum, dorso depressum, nitidum, non metallicum. 
Caput porrectum, fronte inter oculos vix producta ; antennis validis, 
subfusiformibus, articulis eylindricis, 1™° brevi, vix incrassato, 2— qtum 
singulis primo vix longioribus, 5* ad apicem singulis adhue paullo 
longioribus, inter se sequalib us; mento renee lateribus sinuatis ; 
oculis integris. Thorax basi transvers , lateribus marginatis, basi 


266 Mr.J.S. Baly on new Genera and Species of Hispide. 


fere rectis, medio rotundato- vel oblique angustatis, ante apicem si- 
nuatis. Scutellum transversum, apice obtusum. Elytra thorace 
latiora, lateribus parallelis, prope angulum posticum vix ampliatas, 
apice rotundata, angulo postico in spinam vel laminam compressam 
producto, dorso depressa ; humeris in spinam validam lateraliter 
extensis; uterque 4-costatum, interspatiis profunde bifariam punctatis. 
Pedes validi, simplices ; unguiculis approximatis. 
Type, Stethispa Bonvouloirti. Amazons. 


The produced humeral angles of this genus will at once sepa- 
rate it from its allies. 


Stethispa Bonvouloirit, n. sp. 

S. elongata, subdepressa, fulva, subnitida; antennis nigris: elytris 
apice oblique rotundatis, serratis, angulo postico in laminam com- 
pressam trigonam, apice acutam, postice concavam, lateraliter vix 
dilatatam, productis, humeris in spinam validam obliquam, apice 
truncatam, lateraliter extensis; utroque spina humerali, vitta lata 
obliqua submarginali ab humero ad longe pone medium extensa, 
apice dilatata, angulo postico fasciaque subapicali purpureo-eneis. 

Long. 4—43 lin. 

Hab. Amazons; Peru. 


Epistome produced at the base into a flattened ridge, armed 
(in the 3) with two short teeth ; front produced, just above the 
insertion of the antenne, into a longitudinal ridge. Thorax 
nearly twice as broad as long, sides nearly straight and parallel 
at their base, rounded and slightly narrowed in the middle, 
narrowed and sinuate in front; anterior angles armed with an 
obtuse, the hinder with an acute, tooth; disk convex in front, 
flattened behind the middle, surface impressed with large deep 
punctures, which, crowded at the base, become subremote on 
the srdes, and still more distant on the anterior half of the disk; 
lateral border bounded within by a single row of deep punctures; 
medial line impressed with a longitudinal groove, which extends 
from just behind the apical nearly to the basal margin. 

Owing to the indefatigable industry of Mr. Bates, this insect 
is now to be found in most of our collections. 


. 


Stethispa gratiosa, n. sp. 

S. elongata, subdepressa, fulva, subnitida, collo utrinque vitta laterali 
antennarumque dimidio basali uigris; thorace lateribus medio 
angulatis, obtuse dentatis, utrinque vitta laterali obscure nigro- 
purpurea, disci medio linea longitudinali antice abbreviata rufo- 
purpurea : elytris apice obtuse rotundatis, serratis, angulo postico 
in spinam acutam, retrorsum vix curvatam, dorso concavam, late- 
raliter valde productis, humeris in spinam acutam recte lateraliter 
extensis ; utroque sutura ante medium, spina humerali, vitta 
lata submarginali ab humero ad longe pone medium extensa, intus 


Mr. J.8. Baly on new Genera and Species of Hispide. 267 


ante apicem emarginata, apice paullo dilatata, angulo postico 
fasciaque subapicali inter angulos extensa viridi-zneis. 
Fem. Antennis totis nigris, spinis minus productis, elytrorum 
vitta submarginali ante apicem interrupta. 
Long. 33 lin. 
Hab. Amazons. 


Epistome transversely elevated at the base. Thorax not twice 
as broad as long, sides nearly straight and parallel from their 
base to the middle, thence obliquely narrowed and sinuate to 
the apex; lateral border obsoletely crenulate, produced in the 
middle into an indistinct tooth, anterior angles armed with an 
obtuse tooth, the hinder angles unarmed ; upper surface trans- 
versely convex, flattened and transversely excavated behind the 
middle, deeply punctate; middle of disk closely variolose ; me- 
dial line with an indistinct longitudinal groove. 


Stethispa confusa, n. sp. 


S. subelongata, subdepressa, fulva, subnitida, rufo tincta ; antennis 
nigris; thoracis lateribus medio rotundatis : elytris apice rotundatis, 
vix serratis, angulo postico in spinam dilatatam, acutam, dorso 
costatam, retrorsum paullo curvatam, valde lateraliter productis, 
humeris in spinam acutam modice lateraliter extensis ; utroque 
vitta submarginali paullo pone medium, intus dilatata, fasciaque 
subapicali, rufo-violaceis, spina humerali apice anguloque postico 
metallico-purpureis ; sutura obsolete rufo-fulva. 

Long. 3-33 lin. 

Hab. Obydos, Amazons. Collected by Mr. H. W. Bates. 


Very similar in form to Stethispa gratiosa ; the keeled spine 
at the hinder angles of the elytra will, however, at once distin- 
guish it from that species. Base of epistome produced into a 
transverse ridge ; an indistinctly raised ridge between the fnser- 
tion of the antennz. Thorax somewhat deeply depressed trans- 
versely behind the middle ; medial line in front impressed with 
a longitudinal groove ; surface deeply but not closely punctured, 
opaque on the sides and base, shining and still more distantly 
punctured on the middle of the disk in front: sides nearly 
straight and parallel behind their middle, thence rounded and 
narrowed towards the apex, deeply sinuate immediately behind 
the anterior angles, the latter produced into an acute tooth ; 
lateral border of elytra minutely denticulate. 


Stethispa conicicollis, n. sp. 


S. elongata, subdepressa, fulva, subnitida, antennarum dimidio basali 
nigro ; thorace subconico, vitta brevi disci medio posita et utrin- 
que linea marginali rufo-fuscis: elytris apice rotundatis, serratis, 
angulo postico in spinam compressam, dilatatam, acutam, postice 
serratam, lateraliter sat extensam, retrorsum paullo curvatam, 


268 Mr.J.S8. Baly on new Genera and Species of Hispide. 


productis, humeris in spinam acutam lateraliter modice extensis ; 
utroque quadricostato ; spina humerali, vitta lata submarginali ab 
humero ad longe pone medium extensa, apice subdilatata, macula 
prope angulum posticum fasciaque subapicali inter angulos ex- 
tensa rufo-purpureis, eneo tinctis, angulo postico metallico- 
purpureo. 

Long. 4 lin. 


Hab. Cayenne. 


This species may at once be distinguished from the rest of its 
congeners by the form of the thorax, the sides of which, straight 
for a very short distance at the base, are thence obliquely 
narrowed to the apex, being but slightly sinuate behind the 
apex; its anterior angles produced into an acute tooth; surface 
depressed and indistinctly excavated transversely behind the 
middle, rugose-punctate ; centre of disk in front nearly impunc- 
tate, impressed with the usual longitudinal groove. Base of 
epistome produced into a transverse ridge. Face furnished, 
between the insertion of the antenne, with an acute ridge, 


Genus MicrorHoPAaLa. 


Corpus ovatum, modice convexum. Caput exsertum, inter ocu- 
los vix productum ; epistomate clevato, rugoso; antennis validis, 
subinerassatis, articulis 5 ultimis clavam elongatam formantibus, 
7° duobus preecedentibus eequali aut longiore, 8t--11™™ inter se 
coalescentibus, lineis suturalibus fere obsoletis; mento elongato. 
Thorax subconicus, subeylindricus, derso depressus. Seutel/am fere 
transversum, apice obtuso. /ytra thorace latiora, leniter ovalia, 
apice rotundata, angulo postico obsoleto; dorso medice convexa, pro- 
funde punctato-striata. Pedes robusti, mediocres, simplices, tarsorum 
anticorum articulo basali parvo, sequentibus angustiore ; unguiculis 
contiguis. 

Type, Microrhopala vittata, Faby. North America. 

Microrhopala is so closely allied to Odontota that itis difficult 
to separate it from that genus; and possibly ultimately it will 
merge into one of its numerous subdivisions ; for the present, the 
ovate body will serve to separate it. 


Microrhopala vittata, Faby. 

H. vittata, Fabr. Syst. Eleuth. ii. p. 64. n. 31; Oliv. Ent. vi. 770. n. 20, pl. 2. 
fig. 20 a, b. 

M. clongato-ovata, conyexa, nigro- aut rufo-fusca ; antennis pedibus- 
que nigris; elytris punctato-striatis, interstitiis alternis subcos- 
tatis, obscure fusco-eeneis, utroque vitta lata fulva. 

Long. 3 lin, 


* Var. a: thorace lete rufo; elytris cyaneis, vitta angustata margine- 


Mr. J. 8. Baly on new Genera and Species of Hispide. 269 


que laterali rufis.”’ (Say, in Long’s Expedition, ii. Appendix, 

p- 35.) 

Hab. Carolina, Rocky Mountains, New York. In most col- 
lections. 


I have never scen the variety given by Say in Long’s Expe- 
8 =) 

dition; he mentions it as occurring plentifully amongst the 

Rocky Mountains, together with a long chain of intermediate 

varieties. 

Microrhopala Xerene, Newm. 
Hispa Xerene, Newm. Ent. Mag. vy. p. 390. 

M. elongato-ovata, convexa, nigra; thorace fortiter punctato, vittis 
duabus flavis; elytris profunde punctato-striatis, utroque vitta 
punctoque subapicali flavis. 

Long. 2 lin. 

Hab. Georgia; Trenton Falls. 
British Museum (type) ; also in my own collection. 


The longitudinal vitta on each elytron occupies nearly the 
whole of the fourth interstice from the suture, spreading over 
the row of punctures on either side, and extending from the 
base to within a short distance of the apex of the elytron; the 
fulvous spot is placed close to the apex of the third interstice, 
just below the termination of the fulvous vitta. 


Microrhopala excavata, Oliv. 
Oliv., Ent: vi. p../7d. n. 29, pl. 2. fig. 29. 
Hispa Erebus, Newman, Entom. p. 77. (Type in Mus. Brit.) 
M. elongato-ovata, convexa, nigra; thorace profunde punctato ; elytris 
foveis plurimis magnis serlatim dispositis instructis, 
Long. 2-23 lin. 
Hab. North America (East Florida). Collected by the late 
E. Doubleday. In most collections. 


Microrhopala perforata, n. sp. 
M. elongato-ovata, convexa, nigra, nitida; thorace (macula apicali 
excepta) elytrorumque maculis quatuor leete rubris. 
Long. 2 lin. 


Hab. New Granada. 


Narrowly ovate, convex, shining black; the thorax (extreme 
lateral border and an apical patch excepted) and two patches on 
each elytron bright rufous. Head with the forehead longitudi- 
nally strigose; articulations of the four terminal joints of the 
antennz indistinctly visible under a lens. Thorax more than 
one-half broader than long, sides narrowly margined, slightly 
sinuate behind, narrowed and slightly sinuate in front, above 


270 Mr. J.S. Baly on new Genera and Species of Hispide. 


above subcylindrical, transversely depressed near the base, ru- 

gose-punctate. Scutellum shining black. Elytra broader than 

the thorax, oblong, sides narrowly margined, their outer edge, 
together with the apical border, finely but distinctly serrate ; 
apex rounded; above convex, each elytron with eight regular 
rows of large deep punctures, alternate interstices subcostate ; 
an oblique oblong patch before the middle, and a subrotundate 
spot behind the latter, shining rufous. 

A single specimen in my own collection ; also in the Rey. H. 

Clark’s cabinet. 

Microrhopala pulchella, n. sp. 

M. elongato-ovata, convexa, nigra, nitida; thorace elytrisque rubris, 
his fortiter punctato-striatis, basi fascia lata prope medium macula- 
que communi apicali cyaneis. 

Long. 14 lin. 

Hab. Mexico. 


Elongate-ovate, convex, shining black; thorax above and be- 
low and the elytra bright rufous; the latter, with their base, a 
broad transverse band across their middle, together with a large 
common apical patch, bright metallic blue. Head subrugose 
on the front; articulations of the four terminal joimts of the 
antennz visible under a lens, five last joints covered with ad- 
pressed fulvous hairs. Thorax more than half as broad again 
at the base as long, sides rounded, sinuate behind, narrowed 
in front, above subcylindrical, transversely excavated near the 
base, rugose-punctate ; centre of disk with an indistinct longitu- 
dinal groove. Scutellum smooth, impunctate. Elytra broader 
than the thorax, oblong; sides subparallel, narrowly margined, 
outer edge, together with the apical border, finely serrate; apex 
rounded; above convex; cach elytron with eight rows of deep 
regular punctures, the first abbreviated ; interstices near the apex, 
together with the second from the outer border for its whole 
length, subcostate. Beneath pitchy black; legs black. 

Collections of M. Sallé, A. Fry, and my own cabinet. 


Microrhopala bivitticollis, n. sp. 
M. elongato-ovata, convexa, nigro-chalybea, nitida ; thorace utrinque 
vitta lata rufa; elytris leete chalybeis. 
Long. 2 lin, 


Hab. c 


Elongate-ovate, convex, nitidous; thorax with a broad vitta 
on either side shining rufous. Head with the vertex rugose ; 
terminal joints of antennz covered with adpressed fulvous 
hairs. Thorax nearly twice as broad as long, sides rounded, 
subsinuate behind, narrowed in front; above subcylindrical, 


On the Conservation of Species in Parasitic Crustacea. 271 


rugose-punctate, transversely impressed near the base; centre 
of disk with a longitudinal groove. Elytra broader than the 
thorax, oblong, sides narrowly margined, their outer edge, to- 
gether with the apical border, serrate; apex rounded; above 
convex ; each elytron with eight rows of deep regular punctures, 
interstices obsoletely costate. : 

A single specimen, without locality, in my own collection. 


Microrhopala Sallét, n. sp. 

M. anguste ovata nigra; thoracis vittis duabus elytrorumque vitta 
lata humerali, a basi fere ad medium producta, postice angustata, 
fulvis ; elytris profunde punctato-striatis, interspatiis alternis ob- 
solete vittatis. 

Long. 2 lin. 

Hab. Guatemala, Mexico. 


Thorax transversely excavated at the base, deeply punctured, 
a longitudinal fulvous stripe on either side, just within the 
lateral border, continuous with the humeral patch on the elytra ; 
sides of the elytra subparallel, scarcely oval, finely toothed. 

In my own cabinet; also sent me for examination by M, 


Sallé and Rev. H. Clark. 


[To be continued. } 


XXXII.—On the remarkable Means by which certain Species of 
Parasitic Crustacea effect their Conservation. By M. Kucine 
Hesse*. 


Tue object of my present paper is to call attention to the means 
by which the conservation of their species is assured to certain 
parasitic Crustacea, such as the Trebie, the Caligi, the Pandore, 
and the Chondracanthi. 

All carcinologists are aware that many of these singular ani- 
mals, which, on their issuing from the egg, are furnished with 
powerful instruments of locomotion, are, on the contrary, very 
insufficiently provided with them when in the adult state, some 
being even completely deprived of them ; that, moreover, there 
are some to which organs of vision have been denied, sometimes 
in the males, sometimes in the females; so that these dis- 
inherited creatures become perforce stationary, and are com- 
pelled to follow the fortunes of the fishes at whose expense they 
live. 

In this situation, so perilous to the species, it is easily con- 


* Translated by W. S. Dallas, I'.L.S., from a separate impression, com- 
municated by the author, of his paper in the ‘Mémoires des Savants 
trangers.’ 


272 M.E. Hesse on the Means by which certain Species of 


ceivable that, if the prevision which presides over the conserva- 
tion of all existences did not come to the aid of these degraded 
Crustaceans, they would speedily disappear, or, at least, that an 
entire family would perish with the fish which served it at once as 
a prey and a place of shelter. It is, therefore, of great import- 
ance to prevent such a result. I propose to see whether the 
facts which I have ascertained may justly be regarded as des- 
tined to provide against this destruction. 

It is not rare to find female Trebie, Caligi, Pandore, and 
Chondracanthi to which young Crustacea of the same species 
are affixed by a cord, which, although it cannot be called wmbi- 
lical, may be denominated, by analogy, the frontal cord. This 
bond which unites the embryo with its mother does not fulfil 
functions analogous to those of the umbilical cord in the higher 
animals, but is destined simply to unite the one to the other. 
Attached by one of its extremities to the anterior part of the 
frontal margin of the young Crustacean, it is affixed by the 
other end to the body of the mother, by means of a circular 
dilatation in the form of a sucker; and it is sufficiently long 
and flexible to allow the young Crustacean to act to a certain 
extent independently of its mother, without disturbing her 
movements, and to apply itself to tlie fish upon which they live 
in common. 

It is a spectacle at once surprising and interesting to see 
these embryos (especially those attached to the Trebie and Ca- 
ligi, which swim with tolerable rapidity) following the evolutions 
of their mother like a little boat towed along by. a larger vessel, 
or, again, as a fish attached to a line which “keeps it a prisoner, 
yields to the traction which is thus exerted upon it. 

What is the purpose of this curious union? Is it possible to 
assume it to be the effect of chance, when analogous facts are 
frequently presented, and have been ‘proved to occur, in several 
species of these Crustacea? Can it be supposed that it is for 
the purpose of the alimentation of the embryo by the mother, 
when the bond of union does not establish any internal relation 
between them, and they each obtain their own nourishment? 
I think not ; and we must therefore assume that there is some 
other motive. 

If we assume that this young Crustacean is a male, and that 
the female, seizing a favourable opportunity, passes, carrying 
it with her, from the fish on which they were living together, to 
another, we shall at once perceive the consequences of this 
transmigration, which, uniting in itself all the elements neces- 
sary for” reproduction, allows “this female and the male which 
accompanies her to found a new colony. This supposition does 
not appear to me improbable; for, of two things, one must be 


; 


Parasitic Crustacea effect their Conservation. 273 


true in this case: either chance presides in this union of the 
-young Crustacean to its mother, or it has nothing to do 
with it. 

On the former hypothesis, as the embryo must be either male 
or female, it is evident ‘that it may sometimes be a male, and 
then matters would go on as above described ; if, on the con- 
trary, it is a female, the conditions of which I have just spoken 
would certainly no longer exist, but this migration would still 
have a very useful purpose, since it would transport from one 
fish to another a young Crustacean, which perhaps might have 
been unable to perform this migration of itself and by its own 
powers, and thus contribute to dissemination, which is one of 
the most essential elements in the conservation of the species ; 
moreover, there is nothing against these females meeting with 
males in their new position. 

The second supposition is the most probable one, in my 
opinion. Indeed, how can we explain the development of so 
extraordinary an apparatus at the anterior part of the frontal 
margin of these young Crustacea without assuming some im- 
portant motive for the production of this modification ? and 
no reason can well possess more importance than the con- 
servation of the species. Moreover it would be very difficult 
for creatures so feeble and so destitute of organs of adhesion to 
maintain their position and resist the action of the waves, which 
is the more powerful in proportion to the rapidity of progression 
of the fish on which they occur. 

However this may be, I leave these facts as ascertained by me 
for the appreciation of those who are willing to seek for their 
solution, which, however, in my opinion, can hardly be other 
than that indicated by me. 

As already stated, the frontal cord is very flexible, especially 
in its middle part; it is hollow, cylindrical, and covered with a 
few hairs, and becomes rigid and brittle near the frontal margin ; 
so that it might be broken before the proper time, if another 
combination had not been made to avoid the possibility of such 
accidents. 

In most of the young Crustacea furnished with this apparatus 
there exists an articulation below the antenne and the eyes, 
which allows this part of the head to bend as if it were borne 
upon a neck; so that by this means sudden and violent shocks 
are avoided, as well as the accidents which might be produced 
by them. A time comes, however, when rupture is neces- 
sary,—namely, when the young Crustacean, becoming able to 
procure its own nourishment, has no longer any need of its 
mother. It then takes place close to the frontal margin, where 
here is a sort of umbilicus, which subsequently diminishes and 

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Sev.3. Vol. xiv. 18 


274 M.E. Hesse on the Means by which certain Species of 


disappears in such a manner as no longer .to present anything 
abnormal. I cannot say whether this structure is exceptional, 
from the difficulty of preserving for some time alive such small 
Crustaceans, which feed only on the blood of fishes, and, con- 
sequently, of following exactly all the transformations which 
they undergo. It is certain, however, that, at the moment of 
their exclusion from the egg, they do not present this singular 
appendage, and that it is only at the second or third change of 
skin that it makes its appearance in those which acquire it. It 
will be necessary to examine more minutely than I have yet 
done the bodies and branchiz of fishes in order to ascertain that 
the parasites do not attach themselves by this means. I remem- 
ber, however, having seen some young Caligi attached to the 
branchial laminz of a fish by a cord of this kind; so that this 
may be more common than I suppose. 

The form of the young Crustacea attached to their mother is 
perfectly adapted to their situation: it is oval, flat, attenuated — 
at the two extremities, and shaped like a little boat, for the 
purpose of facilitating natation and offering the least possible 
resistance to traction. 

In this state, the cephalic buckler, which is triangular, pre- 
sents at each side of the head two antenne, of greater or less 
length, composed of two joints, and terminated by some rigid 
hairs. The eyes are very large, pressed close together, and 
placed above at the middle of the thorax. 

The abdomen is generally divided into five segments, of which 
the first is the largest ; the hindmost is terminated by two pro- 
cesses furnished with very long and stiff hairs, four in number, 
the two median ones being the longest. 

Beneath, near the antenne, and on each side of the head, are 
the two first thoracic feet, which are more or less developed and 
composed of two articulations, terminated by a very strong 
hooked claw. 

The head is oval, rounded at the apex, and pointed at the lower 
extremity, which is conical, and forms the sucker ; below this, 
according to the more or less advanced stage of development, 
we may perceive a furrow, which is also seen in the adult Trebie 
nd Caligi. 

Below the first thoracic feet those of the second pair are 
observed, armed with two crooked claws: these are followed by 
the third pair, terminated by a single claw. 

The abdominal false feet vary according to the species; they 
generally consist of flat flabelliform joints, fringed with strong 
hairs, and serving for propulsion. 

The ova of Trebie, Caligi, and Pandore are piled together in 
the oviferous tubes like pieces of money in a rouleau. Those of 


Parasitic Crustacea effect their Conservation. 275 


the Chondracanthi, on the contrary, are packed together in 
jayers. The eggs never contain more than one vitellus. 

The young Crustacea of these various species do not disperse 
themselves immediately after their escape from the egg; they 
remain for some time fixed upon the oviferous tubes, from which 
they afterwards dart in pursuit of their prey, or establish them- 
selves upon the surface of the fish on which they have been 
hatched. 

They swim rapidly and in gyrations, by means of the six bi- 
ramose feet terminated with long hairs, which they agitate with 
great force. I have remarked that when an opake body is 
‘passed rapidly above the vessels in which they are kept, their 
movements become much more rapid, which leads me to think 
that the shadow resulting from the interposition of this body 
between them and the light produced for them the same effect 
as that of the passage of a fish within their reach, and which 
they endeavoured to seize. 

In the centre of these young embryos we observe the stomach, 
which, not being yet filled with food, appears nevertheless to be 
distended, as if it contained air, and may assist in facilitating 
progression by sustaining them and performing the office of a 
swimming-bladder. 

The young Crustacea, after their escape from the egg, may 
exist without nourishment for from three to fifteen days when 
they are preserved in vessels filled with very pure sea-water and 
kept in a dark and cool place. There are species which live for 
a considerable time; but generally the embryos of the Pandore 
and Chondracanthi die before those of the Trebie and Caligi, 
which, moreover, are more lively in their movements than those 
of the former Crustaceans. I have also ascertained that the life 
of the embryos attached to their mothers by a frontal cord lasted 
much longer than that of those preserved separately in water, 
which they survived for a long time, and even until decomposi- 
tion had set in: this-is a curious fact, which seems to me to be 
evidently in connexion with‘ the prevision which presides over 
the conservation of species. | 


Note.—Since writing this memoir, I found, on the 8th of June 
1863, on the gills of Merluccius vulgaris, a female Chondracan- 
thus, to which two male individuals, arrived at their perfect de- 
velopment, were attached by a frontal appendage. This evidence 
seems to me to convert the hypothesis above proposed by me 
into a certainty, and to confirm my supposition that the males, 
for the purpose of propagation, attach. themselves artificially to 
the females by the singular means which I have described. 


18* 


276 Mr. H. Seeley on the Fossils of the Hunstanton Red Rock. 


XXXIIT.—On the Fossils of the Hunstanton Red Rock. 
By Harry Seevey, F.G.S., Woodwardian Museum, Cambridge*, 


Tue evidence of a rock’s age derived from fossils can never be 
quite conclusive, and never rank as equal in value with sectional 
evidence; for the testimony of different species is of unequal 
importance. And so the opinion formed from a mere glance at 
the facies of a fauna may be of more value than elaborate tables 
of the range of species. In this way the Red Rock fossils may 
be said to have an Upper-Greensand character, with some resem- 
blance to Gault; but the same thing would be remarked, only 
on the latter clause more emphatically, of the Cambridge Green- 
sand. 

The fossils in the annexed list are all from Hunstanton, and 
my own collecting: they are to be seen in the Woodwardian 
Museum. 

The rock is divided into three well-marked layers, nearly 
equal in thickness. In descending order, they are numbered 
1, 2, 3; and in the fifth column of the table a first attempt is 
made to refer the species to their places in the section. 


Upper 
Chalk. | Green- |Peculiar. | Gault. Bed 
sand. 

Polyptychodon | 
Ichthyosaurus campylodon, Ctr,,.|  * x ae Pa is 
Otodus appendiculatus, Ag... .... * * 3 
Edaphodus Huxleyi, Seel. ...... ne * 3 
SCH VOAUS saat ook vary ce ee ee * 

Belemnites attenuatus, Sow. is * all 
Belemnites mmimus, Sow. ..,.,. * * all 
Ammonites splendens, Sow....... * * 3 
Ammonites Studeri, Pictet ...... * ne 3 
Ammonites serratus, Park. ....,. * * \"3 
Ammonites Guersantii, Pictet....| .. * * 3 
Ammonites rostratus, Sow. ...... * * AG * 2 
—— VALS Ca taeeh een. ee * 

Ammonites ochetonotus, Seel.... * 2 
Ammonites solenonotus, Seel..... * 2 
Ammonites spherotus, Seel. ....)  .. oe * Fic 2 
Ammonites proboscideus, Sow. ..| .. i Sc ** 3 
2?Crioceras occultus, Seel. ........ ae we * 

Nautilus simplex, Sow........... oe * ate 2,3 
Rostellaria Parkinsoni, Sow....... * * te * 3 
Pleurotomaria 

IDM So odonee Coats Gade on Gi 2 

Cerithium ornatissimum, Desh. ..| * * * 3 
Plicatula minuta, Seel........... a * 1 
Plicatula sigillina, Woodw. ...... * * all 


* Communicated by the author, having been read before the Cambridge 
Philosophical Society. 


Mr. H. Seeley on the Fossils of the Hunstanton Red Rock. 277 


Upper 
Chalk. | Green- | Peculiar.| Gault. | Bed. 
sand. 


Plicatula inflata, Sow. .......... * 
Spondylus latus, Sow. .......... * 
Spondylus Dutemplianus, D’Ord..|— * 
Spondylus truncatus, Goldf. ....| 
Ostrea vesiculosa, Lam. ........ * 
Ostrea curvirostris, Nils......... * 
Ostrea biauriculata, Lam........ 
2Ostrea Normaniana, D’Orb. ....| * 
Ostrea hippopodium ?, Nils. ....|  * 
Exogyra conica?, Sow.......+... * 
Exogyra Couloni, Def........... 8 
Exogyra Rauliniana, D’Orb. ....| .. 
Exogyra haliotoidea, Lam. ...... a 
Exogyra laciniata, Nils. ........ * 
Exogyra Rauliniana, var......... 5 
Pecten Beaveri, Sow. .......... * 
Pecten Cenomanensis, D’Ord.....| «. 
Hinnites trilinearis, Seel......... - 
Hinnites Salteri, See/. .......... 3.0 oe * 
Neithea quinquecostata, Sow. ....|  * 
Perna suleata, Sow. ............ 
Perna concentrica, Sow. ........ * 
Rernartentiss Mant... a.sccle s o> « * 
enna Crispi, Mantieci ccc s-s ies sles * * 
Perna 
ema plana, Seel... 1... 682.0000. ss ae * 
Perna transversa, Seel........... ae Le * a, 8 
Avicula cuneata, Seel. ...."...00.| ~ F * 
Avicula grypheoides, Sow....... * * Sc 
?Trigonia Hunstantonensis, Seel...|  .. a * 
Exogyra ungula, Seel. .......... ae a * 
Exogyra arcula, Seel. .......... ‘ci * 
Lima globosa, Sow. ......+++.+. * 
Teredo 
Kingena lima, Def. .......+.000- 
Crania Parisiensis, Def. ........ 
Terebratulina gracilis, Schl....... 
Terebratulina striata, Wahl. 
Terebratula capillata, Def. ...... fe 
Terebratula biplicata, Broc....... * 
Terebratula Dutempliana, D’Orb..| .. 
Rhynchonella lineolata, Phill.....|  .. : 
Rhynchonella Cuvieri, D’Orb.....;  * we 5 5 ] 
Rhynchonella suleata, Park...... A é . . 
Cardiaster suborbicularis, Def....|  .. * re aie 2.3 
Wardiaster; Cai) 8% ascents ds +s» i 
Wardiaster, VAM. Yoon ve wes 0's « sciegeare elite 
Koninckocrinus Agassizi, Seel....| .. 
Koninckocrinus rugosus ...... o 
Pentacrinus Fittoni, Aust. ...... 
Pentacrinus 
Cidaris vesiculosa, Goldf.......+.) ++ * + ** 3 


* * eK * 


He KKK KKH KH KH 
* 


* * 
%* 
co 


2,3 


* 
Ks 


* x H * 
x 
— 


* ee *®¥ He KH XK 
isu) 


* 
bo 


xx & 


' 


278 Mr. H. Seeley on the Fossils of the Hunstanton Red Roe 


Upper 
Chalk. | Green- | Peculiar.! Gault. | Bed, 
sand. 


‘| Cidaris 

| Cidaris 

| Diadema scriptum, Seel......... oe * 

| Hyposalenia Wiltshirei, Seed. ....| ..» + * . 3 
Astrogonium | 
Sellignota major, Seel........... ash yA a 
Pollicipes glaber, Remer....... ae an ats 1 
Remains of a Crustacean | 
Bernericea polystoma, Rem. ....| «>. a =o bee 2 
Bernericea contracta, Seed. ...... Sone th pee * 
Bernericea Clementina, D’Ord....| =. .- ae * 

| Proboseima dilatata, D’Orb.......) «+ * 
Cellulipora sulcata, Seel......... + . * 
Reptomulticava. n.sp........... . * 
Reptotubigera serpens, D’Orb. ..|  * 
Vermicularia Phillipsi, Sow. 
Serpula antiqua, Sow. .......... 
Serpula umbonata, Sow......... 
SerpulahelixsySeel: cisens tae se 
erpularerate cetera cree. setae 
NEEPUIA cre sacle bo Anieua9 Faraone 
SG OIE San ame oh tatoo aE 
Wertricilitesrierei erie ies oe ri oe oe i 2 
Brachiolites labyrinthicus, Mant. | * 
Cephalites 
Siphonia costata, Lamz., var... . . 
Chenendopora expansa, Ben., var. 
Scyphia tessellata, Seel. ........ <s * 
MQWOL EAB IS ae dou oaeaoe oe : ms 
Coscmopora quincuncialis ....,. 
Spongia paradoxica ......6...+- 


* 
(es) 


* 


* * 
7 * * 
* * 


eH K! 


* * 
*¥* * i ft 
bo bo bo 


The results of this table may be stated in another. 


eee te il ere a aclodieed g 

6.) 8 |e [BE 1S 8 Obes eee 

Sv) 2 bo |. 8 | 3) bee ees 

ah > a | A 9 Q em < < < 

Chalke ne. denon. 2 3 | 18 |-6 1 ] 3 0 1 
Upper Greensand .| 3 | 9 |} 25|}'9 | 5 | 2/3) 0 | 3 
Gault senna 9 5 || <3) l 1 2 0 0 
Peculiareeeeoecae 1 Ce ptt 7a eo) 5 2 1 Ss 


| 


Prof. Phillips, talking over this matter of the age of the Hun- 
stanton Rock, remarked that he was far from having perfect 
faith in the results of the system of counting heads. And 


Mr. H. Seeley on the Fossils of the Hunstanton Red Rock. 279 


naturally ; for if the existence and origin of species should be 
due to the continuous action of physiological laws, then, seeing © 
that differentiation goes on in a sort of increasing geometrical 
proportion with every successive elaboration of fundamental 
organic structures, it will be evident that (supposing groups to 
be always founded on characters equally important) the duration 
of the genus or species in time will be directly as its degrada- 
tion. Consequently species of Vertebrata equal in value with 
species of Mollusca would mark the age with greater certainty. 
Hence until characters are coordinated and the relative duration 
of species worked out, no very determinate conclusion will ensue 
from the counting of heads. 

And there is nothing to show that, because the agencies which 
accumulated strata in a given area ceased, therefore the life in 
that area became extinct; for the superposition of a distinct 
deposit can never necessitate a different set of fossils. And as no 
physical change can operate simultaneously over more than a 
part of the globe, there must always be a portion of the circum- 
ference of the disturbed area where the forms of life will be 
scarcely if at all affected. And just as, in modern migrations of 
animals in space, instances occur where some are cut off from 
the main body and retained in what now seems an unnatural 
habitat, so must it sometimes in olden times have happened 
that a smaller or larger body, or all the forms of life of an 
area, became land-locked, and therefore the species elsewhere 
characteristic of different deposits would sometimes occur 
mixed in the same stratum. Hence in cases where fossils 
hitherto peculiar to any given bed occur in new combinations, 
their value in fixing the age of the stratum must generally be 
dubious. 

In every class a majority of the fossils was previously known 
from the Upper Greensand ; so it is evident that the fossils indi- 
cate a greater affinity with that stratum than with any other. 
But as there are Gault fossils, and they occur at the base, it is 
possible that the base of the bed may be older than ordinary 
Greensand, and bridge over the interval indicated by the change 
of the Gault to Greensand. Similarly, as there are Chalk fossils, 
it is possible that the upper part of the bed may be newer than 
the Greensand elsewhere, and bridge over the gap between that 
deposit and the Chalk-marl. So the Hunstanton Rock might 
probably be the most perfect exhibition of the Upper Greensand 
that is known. Of the named fossils, 58 are Upper Greensand 
forms, 35 occur in the Chalk, and 21 in the Gault. 

But, to see the real value of numbers like those of Gault Ce- 
phalopods and Chalk bivalves in the table, it must be seen how 


280 M. E. Baudelot on the Influence of the 


many of the species have hitherto been peculiar to the several 
strata. This is here shown. 


g = Seulpes E d = 8 

3 S Ss . g $ 2 cS) 

| 2/372) 2/2 | 28 eae 

SSS Se es el eee | St |e 
Whales seeas 0 .|.0 192 Ital 1) 0 1oe 0) as 
Upper Greensand) 1 | 2). 8 |14.) 2.) 4 | 0) |) .00 ose 
Gaultier O23 @ | © 1 0 0 | Oae 3 
Hunstanton Rock! 1 6 7 0 2 5 ] 3 ll on eee 


So far as life-evidence can be trusted, this table demonstrates 
the Hunstanton Rock to be Upper Greensand. With 24 Green- 
sand species, and only 5 Chalk forms, and 3 Gault forms, the 
affinity of the bed with the latter deposits must be very slight, 
and need not be anything at all. Hence, and especially as most 
of them come from the middle of the stratum, the species pecu- 
liar to the Hunstanton Rock must be regarded as species pecu- 
liar to the Upper Greensand. 

And when it is remembered how many of the fossils of most 
Greensand localities had previously only been known from the 
Chalk or Gault, the proportion here is singularly small. Even 
in this section there are 14 Greensand species which, since they 
are also Chalk species, may, at one period of our knowledge, 
have been peculiar to the Chalk; while there are 3 which, for 
the same reason, may have appeared to be peculiar to the Gault. 
Therefore there 1s nothing in the fossils to distinguish this de- 
posit from the Upper Greensand of other localities: to the 
paleontologist the Hunstanton Red Rock is a northern extension 
of the Upper Greensand. 


XXXIV.—On the Influence of the Nervous System on the Re- 
spiration of Insects. By E. BaupELor*, 


Tue influence of the nervous system upon the respiration of 
Insects had attracted but little attention on the part of physio- 
logists until, m 1860, M. Faivre undertook some interesting 
investigations upon this subject. 

The results of his researches led this naturalist to assume that 
in the Dytici, as in the Mammalia, the respiratory movements 
have their origin or starting-point in a special region of the 

* Translated by W. S, Dallas, F.L.S., from the ‘Comptes Rendus,’ 


June 20, 1864, p. 1161. 
7 Annales des Sciences Naturelles, tome xii. 


Nervous System on the Respiration of Insects. 281 


nervous system, and that this region in the Dytici corresponded 
with the metathoracic centre or ganglion, the function of which 
would be to excite the respiratory movements and to coordinate 
and maintain them. On the other hand, he supposed the move- 
ments of the posterior part of the abdomen connected with 
respiration to be under the influence of the subcesophageal 
ganglion. The abdominal ganglia, from which the respiratory 
nerves originate, according to M. Faivre simply play the part of 
conductors in relation to the respiratory centre or metatho- 
racic ganglion : after the separation of the thoracic centres, they 
cannot maintain respiration. 

Having for some time particularly directed my attention to 
the comparative physiology of the nervous system, I was struck 
with the results at which M. Faivre had arrived, and with their 
complete discordance both with the notions generally entertained 
regarding the functions of the nervous system in the Articulata 
and with the previous experiments of M. E. Blanchard upon the 
nervous system of the Arachnida. I therefore resolved to take 
up the question ; and as with Dydicus experimentation is diffi- 
eult, and the results complex and consequently not very conclu- 
sive, I selected as the subject of my investigations a far more 
favourable insect, namely the larva of Libellula. 

This larva, as is well known, possesses a nervous chain formed 
by a series of twelve ganglia, all perfectly distinct from each 
other. In it the metathoracic ganglion is united with the first 
abdominal ganglion by long connexions, enabling the two 
ganglia to be easily separated ; in it, also, the respiratory move- 
ments are particularly easy of observation, betraying themselves 
in two different manners—namely, in the first place, by move- 
ments of depression and elevation of the inferior half-rings of 
the abdomen, and, secondly, by the alternate separation and 
approximation of the five appendages situated at the extremity 
of the last segment. 

The following are the results of my experiments upon this 
larva. In my first experiment, I cut away the head at noon: 
respiration was continued with great regularity, twenty-six in- 
spirations per minute being counted; at 6 o’clock p.m. the 
respiratory movements were still strong and regular ; at 9 o’clock 
the next morning the respiration still persisted, although much 
weakened, and it was not quite extinct until 3 o’clock p.m. 
From this experiment we may conclude with certainty that the 
principle of action of the respiratory movements does not reside 
in the cerebral lobes: the destruction of the cerebroid ganglia, 
by suppressing the intervention of the will, appears only to mo- 
dify slightly the rhythm of the respiration, which becomes less 
capricious and more regular. 


282 M. E. Baudelot on the Respiration of Insects. 
' [In a second experiment, at 2 0’clock p.m., I made a ligature a 
little behind the metathorax, and effected the section of the body 
immediately in front of this. In this way I was quite sure that 
I had removed the metathoracic ganglion, which is situated at 
the centre of the space between the insertions of the second and 
third pairs of legs. At 4 o’clock, however, the number of re- 
spirations was eighteen per minute, and the respiration only pre- 
sented a few irregularities ; at 3 o’clock p.m. next day it was still 
possible to perceive some respiratory movements. To leave no 
chance of uncertainty, I dissected the portion of the body which 
I had cut away in front of the ligature: it contained the three 
thoracic ganglia as well as the first abdominal one. 

In a third experiment, the ligature and section were made at 
the fifth segment of the abdomen, when the respiratory move- 
ments, although much weakened and rendered irregular, still 
persisted for more than twenty-four hours. Nevertheless the 
portion of the body anterior to the section contained the whole 
of that part of the nervous chain that extends from the head to 
the fifth abdominal ganglion. 

From these two latter experiments it is quite evident that the 
metathoracic ganglion is not the prime motory focus of the 
respiratory movements, since, after the complete removal of this 
ganglion, respiration continued to be effected for a period of 
twenty-four hours. With regard to the subcesophageal ganglion, 
I have been unable to discover in it any special coordinative 
property ; and when the respiratory movements were produced 
independently of its influence, I always saw the five appendages 
of the last abdominal segment concurring normally, as before, 
in the respiratory act with the whole of the other segments of 
the abdomen. 

I repeated these experiments upon the adult Libellula with 
equally conclusive results. The complete section of the body 
behind the metathoracic ganglion does not cause the suspension 
of the respiratory movements in the portion posterior to the 
section, any more than in the larva. Thus in one case, in which 
I made a ligature and then a section behind the second segment 
of the abdomen, the respiratory movements persisted for eight 
hours; the inhalations, which were very regular, rose to fifty 
per minute, and yet the metathoracic ganglion had been cut 
away with the anterior portion. In another experiment, the 
respiration lasted seven hours; it was very regular, and the 
number of inhalations was sixty-five per minute. 

Lastly, in a final experiment, I cut a piece out of the abdomen 
including only three segments (4-6); and in this I observed 
very appreciable movements of respiration for some time. 

These results and others of precisely similar nature, which I 


Dr. J. H. Gray on Museums and their Uses. 283 


obtained with larvee of a Dyticide (probably of the genus Colym- 
betes) appear to me to prove that in insects the respiratory 
movements are not, as in the Vertebrata, dependent on a special 
focus of innervation. On the contrary, each abdominal ganglion 
is a focus of motory innervation, and takes its part in the per- 
formance of the respiratory act in its totality. It 1s also im- 
portant to remark that, after the section of the nervous chain, 
the isolated action of a ganglion appears to be weaker in pro- 
portion as this ganglion is united with a smaller number of 
other ganglionic elements. 

Thus we see that in this case experiment only confirms what 
anatomy might lead us to foresee; for when we consider the 
distribution of the nervous element in the segments of the thorax 
and abdomen in the Articulata—when we see, in the Crustacea, 
the respiratory apparatus occupying the most diverse positions, 
sometimes on the thorax, sometimes on the abdomen, and re- 
ceiving its nerves from the most different points, it is hardly 
possible to assume that in insects there is a single focus of in- 
nervation for the respiratory function. 


XXXV.—On Museums, their Use and Improvement, and on the 
Acclimatization of Animals ; being the Address delivered to the 
Zoological and Botanical Section of the British Association, at 
the Bath Meeting, by Dr. J. E. Gray, President of the Section. 


BeroreE entering upon the special business for which the Section 
has been called together, viz. the consideration of the Reports to be 
presented upon various zoological and botanical subjects, and the 
reading of the papers submitted by the members, I should wish to 
make a few general observations on some topics which appear to’ me 
to have an important bearing on the science which we study, in the 
hope that they may elicit some observations from the members pre- 
sent. I have always felt that one of the most important uses of the 
Association was the bringing together of so large a body of men 
engaged in kindred pursuits, and the consequent promotion of free 
personal intercourse between those who, not inhabiting the same 
locality or even the same country, were scarcely likely to meet except 
on such an occasion as the present. In such meetings the free 
interchange of thought by means of oral communication is most 
valuable; for it is in this way that facts are most readily brought 
into notice, and opinions most freely canvassed, that truth is most 
effectually elicited, and that erroneous or crude ideas are dissipated, 
corrected, and improved. . 

Some of my predecessors in this office have given a summary 
résumé of the recent progress of science in the departments over 
which I have now the honour to preside, and I had at first thought 
of attempting to follow their example ; but I find myself precluded 


284 Dr. J. E. Gray on Museums and thew Uses. 


from so doing by the conviction that, in order to be of any real 
utility, such a Report should be of much greater length and fulness 
of detail than the time at our disposal would fairly admit for the 
reading, or than the few weeks which have elapsed since I was re- 
quested to undertake the office would allow of my preparing. This 
is, however, the less to be regretted, inasmuch as, in the course of 
each year, a body of laborious and talented German professors are in 
the habit of preparing a very full and complete Report of this nature 
for the Berlin ‘ Archives of Natural History,’ after a plan similar to 
that which I myself commenced, more than forty years ago, in 
Thomson’s ‘ Annals of Philosophy.’ I have therefore abandoned all 
intention of attempting such a review, and proceed at once to speak 
of subjects having a more general bearing upon the interests of our 
science. 


I should wish to say a few words on the subject of Public Museums. 
It may be well imagined that, having the whole of my life been in- 
timately connected with the management of what I believe to be at 
the present day the most important zoological museum in the world, 
it is a subject that has long and deeply occupied my thoughts; and 
it will also be readily believed that it is only after serious and pro- 
longed consideration I have come to the conclusion that the plan 
hitherto pursued in their arrangement has rendered them less useful 
to science and less interesting to the public at large than they might 
have been made under a different system. Let us consider the pur- 
poses for which such a museum is established. 

These are two: Ist, the diffusion of instruction and rational 
amusement among the mass of the people; and 2nd, to afford the 
scientific student every possible means of examining and studying 
the specimens of which the museum consists. Now, it appears 
to me that, in the desire to combine these two objects, which are 
essentially distinct, the first object, namely the general instruction 
of the people, has been to a great extent lost sight of and sacrificed 
to the second, without any corresponding advantage to the latter, 
because the system itself has been thoroughly erroneous. The 
curators of large museums have naturally, and, perhaps, properly, 
been men more deeply devoted to scientific study than interested in 
elementary instruction, and they have consequently done what they 
thought best for the promotion of science by accumulating and 
exhibiting on the shelves or in the open cases of the museum every 
specimen which they possess, without considering that by so doing 
they were overwhelming the general visitor with a mass of umintelli- 
gible objects, and at the same time rendering their attentive study 
by the man of science more difficult and onerous than if they had 
been brought into a smaller space and in a more available condition. 

What ‘the largest class of visitors, the general public, want, is a 
collection of the more interesting objects so arranged as to afford the 
greatest possible amount of information in a moderate space, and to 
be obtained, as it were, at a glance. On the other hand, the scientific 
student requires to have under his eyes and in his hands the most 


Dr. J. E. Gray on Museums and their Uses. 285 


complete collection of specimens that can be brought together, and 
in such a condition as to admit of the most minute examination of 
their differences, whether of age, or sex, or state, or of whatever 
kind that can throw light upon all the innumerable questions that are 
continually arising in the progress of thought and opinion. 

In the futile attempt to combine these two purposes in one con- 
secutive arrangement, the modern museum entirely fails in both 
particulars. It is only to be compared to a large store or a city 
warehouse, in which every specimen that can be collected is arranged 
in its proper case and on its proper shelf, so that it may be found 
when wanted; but the uninformed mind derives little instruction 
from the contemplation of its stores, while the student of nature 
requires a far more careful examination of them than is possible 
under such a system of arrangement, to derive any advantage; the 
visitor needs to be as well informed with relation to the system on 
which it is based as the curator himself; and consequently the ge- 
neral visitor perceives little else than a chaos of specimens, of which 
the bulk of those placed in close proximity are so nearly alike that 
he can scarcely perceive any difference between them, even supposing 
them to be placed on a level with the eye, while the greater number 
of those which are above or below this level are utterly unintel- 
ligible. 

To such a visitor, the numerous species of rats, or squirrels, or 
sparrows, or larks that crowd the shelves, from all parts of the 
world, are but a rat, a squirrel, a sparrow, or a lark; and this is 
still more especially the case with animals of a less marked and less 
known type of character. Experience has long since convinced me 
that such a collection so arranged is a great mistake. The eye both 
of the general visitor and of the student becomes confused by the 
number of the specimens, however systematically they may be brought 
together. 

The very extent of the collection renders it difficult even for the 
student, and much more so for the less scientific visitor, to discover 
any particular specimen of which he is in quest ; and the larger the 
collection, the greater this difficulty becomes. Add to this the fact 
that all specimens, but more especially the more beautiful and the 
more delicate, are speedily deteriorated, and in some cases destroyed 
for all useful purposes, by exposure to light, and that both the skins 
and bones of animals are found to be much more susceptible of 
measurement and comparison in an unstuffed or unmounted state, 
and it will be at once apparent why almost all scientific zoologists 
have adopted for their own collections the simpler and more advan- 
tageous plan of keeping their specimens in boxes or in drawers, 
devoted each to a family, a genus, or a section of a genus, as each 
individual case may require. : 

Thus preserved and thus arranged, the most perfect and the 
most useful collection that the student could desire would occupy 
comparatively a small space, and by no means require large and 
lofty halls for its reception. As it is desirable that each large 


286 Dr. J. E. Gray on Museums and thet Uses. 


group should be kept in a separate room, and as wall-space is 
what is chiefly required for the reception of the drawers or boxes, 
rooms like those of an ordinary dwelling-house would be best fitted 
for the accommodation of such a collection and of the students by 
whom it would be consulted—one great advantage of this plan being 
that students would be uninterrupted by the ignorant curiosity of 
the ruder class of general visitors, and not liable to interference from 
scientific rivals. 3 

There are other considerations also which should be taken int 
account in estimating the advantages of a collection thus preserved 
and thus arranged. A particular value is attached to such specimens 
as have been studied and described by zoologists, as affording the 
certain means of identifying the animals on which their observations 
were made. Such specimens ought especially to be preserved in 
such a way as to be least liable to injury from exposure to light, dust, 
or other extraneous causes of deterioration ; and this is best done by 
keeping them in a state least exposed to these destructive influences, 
instead of in the open cases of a public and necessarily strongly 
lighted gallery. 

Again, the amount of saving thus effected in the cost of stuffing 
and mounting is well worthy of serious consideration, especially when 
we take into account that this stuffing and mounting, however agree- 
able to the eye, is made at the cost of rendering the specimens thus 
operated upon less available for scientific use. 

All these arguments go to prove that, for the purposes of scientific 
study, the most complete collection that could possibly be formed 
would be best kept in cabinets or boxes from which light and dust 
would be excluded, in rooms especially devoted to the purpose, and 
not in galleries open to the general public, and that such an arrange- 
ment would combine the greatest advantage to the student and the 
most complete preservation of the specimens with great economy of 
expense. 

This being done, it is easy to devise the plan of a museum which 
shall be the most interesting and instructive to general visitors, and 
one from which, however short may be their stay, or however casual 
their inspection, they can hardly fail to carry away some amount of 
valuable information. 

The larger animals, being of course more generally interesting, 
and easily seen and recognized, should be exhibited in the preserved 
state, and in situations where they can be completely isolated. This 
is necessary also on account of their size, which would not admit of 
their being grouped in the manner which I propose with reference 
to the smaller specimens. 

The older museums were for the most part made up of a number 
of the square glass-fronted boxes, each containing one, or sometimes 
a pair of specimens. This method had some advantages, but many 
inconveniences—among others, that of occupying too large an 
amount of room. But I cannot help thinking that when this was 
given up for the French plan of attaching each specimen to a sepa- 


Dr. J.E. Gray on Museums and their Uses. 287 


rate stand, and marshalling them like soldiers on the shelves of a 
large open case, the improvement was not so great as many suppose; 
and this has become more and more evident since the researches of 
travellers and collectors have so largely increased the number of 
known species, and of species frequently separated by characters so 
minute as not to be detected without careful and close examination. 

Having come to the conclusion that a museum for the use of the 
general public should consist chiefly of the best-known, the most 
marked, and the most interesting animals, arranged in such a way as 
to convey the greatest amount of instruction in the shortest and 
most direct manner, and so exhibited as to be seen without con- 
fusion, I am very much disposed to recur to something like the old 
plan of arranging each species or series of species in a special case, 
to be placed either on shelves or tables, or in wall-cases, as may be 
found most appropriate, or as the special purpose for which each 
case is prepared and exhibited may seem to require. 

But instead of each case, as of old, containing only a single speci- 
men, it should embrace a series of specimens, selected and arranged 
so as to present a special object for study; and thus any visitor, 
looking at a single case only, and taking the trouble to understand 
it, would carry away a distinct portion of knowledge, such as in the 
present state of our arrangements could only be obtained by the 
examination and comparison of specimens distributed through dis- 
tant parts of the collection. 

Every case should be distinctly labelled with an account of the 
purpose for which it is prepared and exhibited; and each specimen 
contained in it should also bear a label indicating why it is there 
placed. 

I may be asked, why should each series of specimens be contained 
in a separate case? but I think it must be obvious that a series of 
objects exhibited for a definite purpose should be brought into close 
proximity, and contained in a well-defined space ; and this will best 
be done by keeping them in a single and separate case. There is 
also the additional advantage that whenever, in the progress of dis- 
covery, it becomes desirable that the facts for the illustration of 
which the case was prepared should be exhibited in a different man- 
ner, this can easily be done by rearranging the individual case with- 
out interfering with the general arrangement of the collection. I 
believe that the more clearly the object is defined and the illustra- 
tions kept together, the greater will be the amount of information 
derived from it by the visitor and the interest he will feel in ex- 
amining it. 

Such cases may be advantageously prepared to show— 


The classes of the animal kingdom, by means of one or more 
typical or characteristic examples of each class. 

The orders of each class. 

The families of each order. 

The genera of each family. 

The sections of each genus. 


288 Dr. J. E. Gray on Museums and their Uses. 


A selection of a specimen of each of the more important or striking 
species of each genus or section. 

The changes of state, sexes, habits, and manners of a well-known 
or an otherwise iiteresting species. 

The economic uses to which they are applied; and such other 
particulars as the judgment and talent of the curator would 
select as best adapted for popular instruction, and of which 
these are only intended as partial indications. 


No one, I think, who has ever had charge of a museum, or has 
noted the behaviour of the visitors while passing through it, can 
doubt for a moment that such cases would be infinitely more attrac- 
tive to the public at large than the crowded shelves of our present 
museums, in which they speedily become bewildered by the multi- 
plicity, the apparent sameness, and at the same time the infinite 
variety of the objects presented to their view, and in regard to which 
the labels on the tops of the cases afford them little assistance, 
while those on the specimens themselves are almost unintelligible. 

When such visitors really take any interest in the exhibition, it 
will generally be found that they concentrate their attention on in- 
dividual objects, while others affect to do the same, in order to con- 
ceal their total want of interest, of which they somehow feel ashamed, 
although it originates in no fault of their own. 

I think the time is approaching when a great change will be made 
in the arrangement of Museums of Natural History, and have there- 
fore thrown out these observations as suggestions by which it appears 
to me that their usefulness may be greatly extended. 

In England, as we are well aware, all changes are well considered 
and slowly adopted. Some forty years ago, the plan of placing 
every specimen on a separate stand, and arranging them in rank and 
file in large glass wall-cases, was considered a great step in advance, 
and it was doubtless an improvement on the preexisting plan, espe- 
cially at a time when our collections were limited to a small number 
of species, which were scarcely more than types of our modern 
families or genera. 

The idea had arisen that the English collections were smaller 
than those on the Continent, and the public called for every speci- 
men to be exhibited. But the result has been that, in consequence 
of the enormous development of our collections, the attention of the 
great mass of visitors is distracted by the multitude of specimens, 
while the minute characters by which naturalists distinguish genera 
and species are inappreciable to their eyes. 

It was not, however, the unenlightened public only who insisted 
on this unlimited display ; there were also some leading scientific 
men who called for it, on the ground that the curator might be in- 
duced to keep specimens out of sight in order to make use of them 
for the enlargement of his own scientific reputation while the scien- 
tific public were debarred the sight of them, and that valuable spe- 
cimens might thus be kept, as the favonrite phrase was, ‘‘in the 
cellars.” But any such imputation would be completely nullified by 


Dr. J. E. Gray on Museums and their Uses. 289 


the plan which I have proposed of placing all the specimens in the 
scientific collection in boxes or drawers appropriated to them, and 
rendering them thus at once and readily accessible to students at 
large. 

I may observe that the late Mr. Swainson, who was the first to 
raise the ery, lived to find that it was far more useful to keep his 
own extensive collection of bird-skins in drawers, like his butterflies 
and his shells; and that most scientific zoologists and osteologists 
are now convinced that the skins of animals unmounted and kept in 
boxes are far more useful for scientific purposes than stuffed skins 
or set-up skeletons. 

So also, with reference to my proposal for the arrangement of the 
Museum for the general public, I find that those who are desirous 
of exhibiting their specimens to the best advantage are generally 
adopting similar plans. ‘ 

Thus, when Mr. Gould determined on the exhibition of his mag- 
nificent collection of Humming-birds, he at once renounced the 
rank-and-file system, and arranged them in small glazed cases, each 
case containing a genus, and each pane or side of the case showing 
a small series of allied species, or a family group of a single 
species. 

When lately at Liverpool, I observed that the clever curator, 
Mr. Moore, instead of keeping a single animal on each stand, has 
commenced grouping the various specimens of the same species of 
Mammalia together on one and the same stand, as several are 
grouped in the British Museum, and thus giving far greater interest 
to the group than the individual specimens would afford. 

In the British Museum, as an experiment with the view of testing 
the feelings of the public and the scientific visitors, the species of 
Nestor Parrots and of the Birds of Paradise, a family of Gorillas and 
the Impeyan Pheasants, and sundry of the more interesting single 
specimens, have been placed in isolated cases; and it may readily 
be seen that they have proved the most attractive cases in the 
exhibition. 

In the Great Exhibition of 1862, Prof. Hyrtl of Vienna exhibited 
some framed cases of skeletons like those here recommended: one 
contained the types of each family of Tortoises, another the principal 
forms of Saurians, &c. They excited much interest, and were pur- 
chased by our College of Surgeons. 

In some of the Continental museums also I have observed the 
same plan adopted to a limited extent. 

I now exhibit a case of insects, received from Germany, in which 
what I have suggested is fully carried out. You will perceive that 
in one small case are exhibited simultaneously, and visible at a 
glance, the egg, the larva, the plant on which it feeds, the pupa, 
and the perfect moth, together with its varieties, and the parasites 
by which the caterpillar is infested. Such cases, representing the 
entire life and habits of all the best-known and most interesting of 
our native insects, would be, as I conceive, far more attractive and 
instructive to the public at large than the exhibition of any con- 


Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. xiv. 19 


290 Dr. J.E. Gray on the Acclimatization of Animals. 


ceivable number of rows of allied or cognate species, having no in- 
terest whatever except for the advanced zoological student. 

I will only add that I am perfectly satisfied, from observation 
and experience, and that I believe the opinion is rapidly gaining 
ground, that the scientific student would find a collection solely 
devoted to the object of study, and preserved in boxes and drawers, 
far more useful and available for scientific purposes than the stuffed 
Specimens as at present arranged in galleries of immense extent, and 
crowded with curious and bewildered spectators ; while, on the other 
hand, the general public would infinitely better understand, and 
consequently more justly appreciate, a well-chosen and well-exhibited 
selection of a limited number of specimens, carefully arranged to 
exhibit special objects of general interest, and to afford a complete 
series for elementary instruction, than miles of glass cases containing 
thousands upon thousands of specimens, all exhibited in a uniform 
manner, and placed like soldiers at a review. 


I now turn to a very different subject—one which has always oc- 
cupied a considerable share of my attention, and on which a few 
observations may not be out of place on this occasion—viz. the 
acclimatization of animals. This subject, which has been a favourite 
one with the more thoughtful student, appears all at once to have 
become popular; and several associations have been formed for the 
especial purpose of its promotion, not only in this country, but also 
on the Continent and in the Australian colonies. 

I may observe that the acclimatization of animals, and especially 
the introduction and cultivation of fish, was among the peculiar ob- 
jects put forward by the Zoological Society at the time of its founda- 
tion, nearly forty years ago—although, as we all know, it has been 
able to do very little for its promotion. 

It would appear, from observations that are occasionally to be 
met with in the public papers and in other journals, to be a pre- 
valent opinion among the patrons of some of these associations that 
scientific zoologists are opposed to their views, or, at least, lukewarm 
on the subject. But Iam convinced that they are totally mistaken in 
such a notion, and that it can only have originated in the expression 
of a belief, founded on experience, that some of the schemes of the 
would-be acclimatizers are incapable of being carried out, and would 
never have been suggested if their promoters had been better ac- 
quainted with the habits and manners of the animals on which the 
experiments are proposed to be made. 

The term acclimatization has been employed in several widely 
different senses :—Ist, as indicating the domestication of animals 
now only known in the wild state; 2ndly, to express the intro- 
duction of the domesticated animals of one country into another; 
3rdly, the cultivation of fishes, &c., by the restocking of rivers, the 
colonization of ponds, or the renovating of worn-out oyster- or pearl- 
fisheries by fresh supplies. 

Commencing with the first of these objects, which is by many 
regarded as the most important, I would observe that some animals 


Dr. J.B. Gray on the Acclimatization of Animals, 291 


seem to have been created with more or less of an instinctive desire 
to associate with man, and to become useful to him; but the num- 
ber of these is very limited, and as it undoubtedly takes a long pe- 
riod to become acquainted with the qualities and habits of these 
animals, and with the mode in which their services may be rendered 
available, it would almost appear as if all the animals. which are 
possessed of this quality, and are worth domesticating, had already 
been brought into use. Indeed all those which are now truly do- 
mesticated were in domestication in the earlier historic times. The 
Turkey, it may be said, was not known until the discovery of Ame- 
rica; but I think it has been satisfactorily proved that our domestic 
Turkey is not descended from the wild Turkey of America, but comes 
of a race which was domesticated by the Mexicans before the historic 
period. Again, the number of such animals is necessarily limited ; 
for it is not worth while to go through a long process of domestica- 
tion with the view of breeding an animal that is not superior in some 
important particular to those which already exist in domestication. 
For example, where would be the utility of introducing other Rumi- 
nants which do not breed as freely, feed as cheaply, afford as good 
meat, and bear the climate as well as our present races of domestic 
cattle? 

It has been thought that some of the numerous species of African 
Antelopes might be domesticated here ; but every one who has eaten 
their flesh describes it as harsh and dry, and without fat; and such 
being the case (even could the domestication be effected, which I 
very much doubt), such an animal must have some very valuable 
peculiarity in its mode of life, and be capable of being produced at 
a very cheap rate, to enable it to take rank in our markets beside 
the good beef and mutton with which they are at present supplied ; 
and, even supposing it to be semidomesticated only for the park, it 
could not for an instant be put in competition with the fine venison 
which it is thought that it might displace. 

I am aware that certain French philosophers have lately taken up 
a notion that it is desirable to pervert the true purposes of the Horse 
by cultivating him for food instead of work; and that a society of 
Hippophagi has been instituted with this view. Of course, under 
present circumstances, the flesh of old and worn-out horses is sold 
for much less than that of well-fed Ruminants; and the miserable 
classes in some countries are glad to obtain animal food of any kind 
at so low a rate: but whenever an attempt has been made to fatten 
horses for food, it has been found that the meat could not be pro- 
duced at so low a rate as that for which far better beef and mutton 
could be bought. 

There are also some small semidomesticated animals, such as the 
Porcupine and other Glires, which are said to afford good meat; 
but they have long been driven out of the market by the cheapness 
and abundance of the prolific Rabbit. 

With regard to the larger Ruminants (such as the Giraffe, the 
Eland and some other foreign Deer, the Llama, and the Alpaca), 
which have been bred in this country, but never brought into 


19* 


292 Dr. J.E. Gray on the Acchimatization of Animals. 


general use, I cannot consider them as at all acclimatized. They 
have almost always had the protection of warmed buildings, espe- 
cially in the winter; and though they may have lived through a 
certain number of years, they are liable to attacks of diseases de- 
pendent upon our climate, and generally die off before their natural 
term of existence is completed. I can only regard them as partially 
domesticated, and that only as objects of curiosity and luxury, and 
as incapable of being turned, in this country at least, to any useful 
domestic purpose. 

With regard to those animals which may be considered as more or 
less completely under the control of Man, there exists considerable 
difference in the nature of their domestication. 

The more typical among them, or truly domesticated, such as the 
Oxen, the Sheep, the Horse, the Camel, the Dog, and the Cat, like 
the Wheat and the Maize among plants, are never found truly wild; 
and when they are permitted to run wild, as in the case of horses 
and oxen in South America, they are easily brought back to a 
state of domestication, especially if caught young. What may be 
called the semidomesticated or domesticable animals, such as the 
Buffalo, the Goat, the Pig, the Rabbit, the Reindeer, the Yak, and 
some other Asiatic cattle, are found both in the tame and the wild 
state, and often in the same region and in close proximity to 
each other. The Asiatic Elephant, and a few other animals which 
can be made tractable under man’s direction, never (or very rarely) 
breed in domestication ; and all the individuals of these very use- 
ful races are caught wild and brought into subjection by traming. 
The African Elephant is evidently equally amenable to man’s 
control, and was equally domesticated by the Romans ; but the ne- 
groes do not seem to appreciate the advantages which they might 
derive from its domestication, and only make use of its tractable dis- 
position to keep it im captivity until such time as its ivory is best 
fitted for the market, when, also they, can feed upon its flesh. 

All our domestic or semi-domestic animals have their proper home 
in the temperate regions of Europe and Asia. They all, except the 
Ass, bear great cold better than excessive heat ; and even the Ass 
suffers greatly on the coasts of the tropics. The Sheep, in the warmer 
regions, require to be driven to the cool mountains during the hot 
season. In the tropics they lose their wool, and, like the long-haired 
goats and dogs, change the character of their fur. The inhabitants 
of the arctic region or subarctic regions of Europe and Asia have 
partially domesticated the Reindeer. 

Either Asiatics have a peculiar aptitude for domesticating animals, 
or the Ruminants of that part of the world are peculiarly adapted for 
domestication. In the mountain regions of Tibet and Siberia the 
Yak has been domesticated, and, like the Reindeer of the arctic 
regions, it is used as a beast of burthen as well as for milk and food. 
The steppes of Asia are the home of the Camel and the Dromedary. 
In the lower and warmer regions of central and southern Asia the 
Zebu has been completely domesticated ; and the natives of India 
aud of the islands of the Malayan archipelago have brought into a 


Dr. J. E. Gray on the Acclimatization of Animals. 293 


semidomesticated state various species of wild cattle, such as theGyal, 
the Gour, and the Banting, and have even obtained some hybrid 
breeds between some of them and the Zebus, as well as the Buffalo, 
which they have in common with Africa and the south of Europe. 
In the park of the Governor-General of India there are large herds 
of the Black Antelope, the Axis Deer, and the Porcine Deer.in a semi- 
domestic state ; and our officers found in the park of the Emperor of 
China at Pekin more than one species of domesticated native Deer. 
We have as yet received from Japan only one peculiar species of 
domestic animal, viz. a Pig with a plaited face (Sus plicatus) ; but 
it is not unlikely that the Deer called Cervus Sika is a domesticated 
species, like the Cervus Swinhoii of Formosa, In Celebes there is 
a small Buffalo called dnoa; and in the same island, as well as in 
Java and some of the other islands of the Indian Ocean, most of 
the aboriginal pigs, including the Babirussa, have been more or less 
completely domesticated. These numerous instances will suffice to 
show how largely Asiatics have been enabled to draw around them 
for additions to their domestic or half-domestic races; but a glance 
at the habits and manners of most of them will suffice to show 
how little they would be suited to our more northern climate, and 
how small would be the advantage gained were it possible to intro- 
duce them here. 

Africa has only sent to Europe the Guinea-fowl, that vagrant 
from our farm-yards; but it too has some domesticated animals of its 
own. In the more fertile and well-watered parts of that continent 
there exist at least five different kinds of domestic cattle :—the 
Buffalo (Bos Bubalus) and humpless cattle, which appear to be of 
the same species and to be derived from the same source as the 
Buffalo and domestic Oxen of Europe. The African Zebu (Bos 
Dante) appears to be distinct from the Zebu of India, and is proba- 
bly an indigenous domestic race; and the long-eared bush-cattle, or 
Zamous (Bos brachyceros), ave certainly an aboriginal species peculiar 
to tropical Africa. Besides these, it has, in the Desert regions, the 
Camel in common with Asia: this animal is also partially domesti- 
cated in the southern parts of Europe. 

America had only three or (if we reckon the Dog) at most four 
domestic animals belonging to the country before it was discovered 
by Europeans, who have, however, since introduced into it most of 
those which they themselves previously possessed. The Turkey was 
only domesticated by the native Mexicans; and it may be observed 
that in Europe these birds have only been imperfectly naturalized, 
requiring peculiar care and attention in their early stages to protect 
them from the effects of an ungenial climate. The Llama and Alpaca 
were also early domesticated by the native Peruvians; and it would 
appear as if these animals would not bear transportation to other 
quarters. All the attempts, at least, which have hitherto been made 
to mtroduce them into Europe and Australia have resulted in failure. 
The Esquimaux inhabiting the more northern regions have a peculiar 
race of dogs, which are in the highest degree useful to them; but it 
appears to be of the same original stock with the dogs of Europe, 
and had probably passed from one continent to the other. 


294 Dr. J.E. Gray on the Acclimatization of Animals. 


In some parts of this vast continent, the Oxen and the Horse, since 
their introduction from Europe, have so firmly established themselves 
in a half-wild state as to be often hunted and killed for their hides 
alone. 

Australia and the islands of the Pacific have no native domestic ani- 
mals, if we again except the Dog ; and Australia alone has any mam- 
mals sufficiently large to be hunted for their flesh. There formerly 
existed in New Zealand a large bird (the Moa) which was eaten by 
the natives; but it seems to have been exterminated, or nearly so, 
before the colonization of the islands. 

Kuropean animals have been largely and advantageously introduced 
throughout the Pacific Ocean, and in some cases have become wild 
and even dangerous. 

As in Europe, all the domestic animals of these various parts of 
the world appear to have been brought into their present condition 
for many ages, inasmuch as they were all found in a domestic state 
when the several countries were first visited by Europeans. 

And an attentive study of the list, and of the peculiarities of the 
animals composing it, induces me to believe that, in attempting to 
introduce new domestic animals into some of our colonies, it would 
be desirable not to confine ourselves to the European breeds, but to 
ascertain whether some of the domestic races of Asia or Africa might 
not be better adapted to the climate and other conditions of the 
colony, although, for reasons to which I have before adverted, it 
would neither be worth the trouble, nor consistent with good policy, 
to attempt their introduction here. 

There is evidently ample room for such experiments, which might 
be advantageously made, for instance, in the colonies of the coast 
of Africa, where our horse, ass, oxen, sheep, and goats, and even dogs 
have greatly degenerated, where the horse and the ass live only for 
a brief period, where the flesh of the ox and sheep is described as 
bad and rare, and the flesh of the goat, which is more common, is 
said to be tasteless and stringy. The pig alone, of all our domestic 
animals, seems to bear the change with equanimity ; and the produce 
of the “milch pig”’ is often sold to passengers of the mail packets and 
the ships on the stations, as the milk of the cow or even the goat is 
rarely to be obtained. Unfortunately both the white and the black 
inhabitants are merely sojourners in the land, and do not seem to 
possess sufficient energy or inclination to make the experiment them- 
selves. 

Secondly, as regards the introduction of the domestic races of one 
country into another, there can be no doubt that this is amuch more 
important object in relation to our Australian colonies, and other 
settlements planted in waste lands, than it is to the old countries, 
such as all the European states, and that it has been pursued, as far 
as they are concerned, with great success. Dr. George Bennett, in 
the third annual ‘Report of the Acclimatization Society of New 
Holland,’ has well observed, ‘‘ We have lately heard of acclimatiza- 
tion dinners in London and other places, but a dinner in New South 
Wales of food naturalized in the colony occurs every day, and a finer 


Dr. J. E. Gray on the Acclimatization of Animals. 295 


display cannot be surpassed in any country.” Few countries were 
so badly supplied by nature with useful animals and plants as the 
Australian continent ; and while we do not receive in Europe a single 
indigenous product for our tables, either animal or vegetable, from 
Australia, which in this respect has added nothing to the comforts 
of civilized man, no country has been more richly supplied with the 
useful products of other parts of the world; for not only have the 
natural productions of the temperate regions of Europe been largely 
introduced, but even the flowers and fruits of tropical and subtropical 
regions. 

There is no doubt that the introduction into Australia of animals 
long domesticated in Europe is far more easy than that of semi- 
domesticated animals from countries in a ruder state of society. 
Perhaps this may explain why the leading animals and plants to 
which Dr. Bennett refers in this Report, and which, be it observed, 
have all been introduced by individual enterprise, have succeeded so 
much better than the later attempts to introduce such animals as 
the Llama and various ornamental Mammalia and birds. Among 
other attempts referred to are the blackbirds, thrushes, starlings, and 
skylarks of Europe: these latter seem to be established in the Bota- 
nic Garden, but it is doubtful whether such birds can find their ap- 
propriate food except in cultivated gardens or near the towns. 

On the other hand, it is to be observed that the introduction into 
a new country of domestic or semidomestic animals is not always an 
unmixed advantage. Thus, the domestic pig has been completely 
naturalized in New Zealand: there its great multiplication has ren- 
dered it so mischievous a pest to the sheep-farmer, from its follow- 
ing the ewes and eating the newly dropped lambs, that the flock- 
masters have been compelled to employ persons to destroy the pigs, 
paying for their destruction at the rate of so much per tail; many 
thousands are thus destroyed in asingle season. Indeed it has been 
proved by Dr. Hooker’s interesting paper “On the Replacement of 
Species’ that the introduction of a new animal or plant often results 
in its destroying and taking the place of some previous inhabitant, 


_ thus rendering its introduction a matter of doubtful advantage, or 


at all events a question to be approached with considerable caution. 
It is, however, manifest that, on the whole, more useful results are 
to be obtained from the introduction of races already domesticated 
into countries to which they have not reached, than from the attempt 
to acclimatize animals for the most part either unsuited to the climate 
or capable only of an inferior degree of domestication, or inferior in 
quality to those which are already in possession of the ground. 
Under the third head, the cultivation of fish, I have very little to 
observe, although the subject is unquestionably one of great import- 
ance. But as yet we have very little practical information upon the 
question ; and I consider that the advocates of the system are only 
for the present feeling their way, as the experiments have not been 
pursued for a sufficient length of time to produce any positive 
or reliable results. To replenish rivers in which the fish which 
formerly inhabited them have been destroyed, it is necessary closely 


296 Dr. J. EK. Gray on Natural-History Nomenclature. 


to study the habits of the fish, and to imitate as much as possible 
their natural proclivities. 

Thus, for example, it appears to me that, when attempting to 
introduce young artificially hatched fish into a river, we should place 
them in the smallest streamlets, where the fish would themselves 
deposit their ova, and not in the wider parts of the stream, where 
they are liable to injury from various causes. Again, the notion of 
fishing the breeding-fish out of a river, collecting their eggs and arti- 
ficially impregnating them, seems to me an unnatural mode of pro- 
ceeding, and such as is not practised in the cultivation of any other 
animal. I cannot see any practical advantage that can possibly be 
derived from it. 

For the replenishing of worn-out fisheries of oysters and pearl- 
shells, all that seems necessary or advantageous to be donc is to place 
round the bed twigs and various similar substances so arranged as to 
retain the eggs when deposited, and to protect them by all the means 
in our power, leaving the beds undisturbed for a sufficient time to 
allow the new brood to become firmly established in them. 

Besides the numerous attempts at home to replenish our rivers 
and oyster-beds, much has been written and large sums have been 
expended in trying to introduce salmon into the rivers of Australia ; 
but the many failures show how littie those who undertook the task 
were acquainted with the most common physiological questions con- 
nected with the removal of fish, and how small was their knowledge of 
the habits and peculiarities of the fish which they proposed to remove. 
What, indeed, could be more absurd than the attempt to introduce 
salmon into rivers which for a considerable part of the year are re- 
duced toa series of stagnant pools. I think I may venture to predict 
that, if ever salmon are introduced into Australia, they are much more 
likely to succeed in the deep and rapid rivers of Tasmania than in the 
streams of Australia proper. At the same time, when we consider 
the very limited geographical range of the salmon in Europe, confined 
as it is to those rivers which have their exit into the North Sea, that 
the attempt to remove it from one river to another in Europe has 
always been a failure, and that it is not only necessary that the 
salmon should have a river similar to that which it inhabits here, but 
also the same food and other peculiarities, without which apparently 
it cannot subsist, I must confess that I have no great faith in the 
success of the introduction of the salmon into Australia. I think, 
therefore, that it is to be regretted that the Australian Acclimatization 
Society do not rather make some experiments on the introduction of 
the gouramy, or some of the other edible fish of countries nearer to 
and more resembling their own. 


With other members of the British Association, I have received a 
reprint of the Rules of Nomenclature drawn up by Mr. Strickland 
and others, and printed in the Report of the twelfth Meeting of the 
Association (1842), accompanied with a request to examine them 
carefully, and to communicate any suggestions to Sir William Jar- 
dine, Bart. 


bp 


Bibliographical Notices. 297 


‘. I can only repeat the suggestion I made when the rules were under 
the consideration of the Committee of the Natural History Section 
of Manchester, viz. that the rules be not adopted until they have 
been compared with Linnzus’s ‘ Philosophia Botanica,’ Fabricius’s 
‘Philosophia Entomologica,’ Illiger’s ‘ Prodromus,’ and DeCandolle’s 
‘Théorie Elémentaire,’ and that when they are not in conformity 
with the laws proposed by these authors, which have been accepted 
by all recognized systematic naturalists, the reasons for the proposed 
alterations should be given in detail. After some discussion, my 
suggestion was adopted, and the report was remitted to the Com- 
mittee to carry it out. 

The rules were inserted in the printed Report, through the personal 
influence of Mr. Strickland, who was then a member of the Council, 
but they never received the sanction of the British Association. 

In the ‘American Journal of Science and Art’ for March 1864 
[reprinted in the ‘ Annals’ for June, 1864.] there are some admirable 
observations by Dr. Asa Gray on some of these rules, which entirely 
accord with my own views, and which I recommend to the considera- 
tion of the Committee. 


In conclusion, I would request you kindly to bear in mind that I 
have. simply thrown these observations together in the hope of 
eliciting the opinions of my colleagues in the Section. 

My only desire is that we may all heartily concur in doing all that 
is in our power to render this and other institutions conducive to the 
increase of the knowledge, the happiness, and the comforts of the 
people. 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 


Transactions of the Tyneside Naturalists’ Field-Club. Vol. VI. 
Part II. 8vo. 1864. Newcastle-on-Tyne. 


Tuoveu the Naturalists’ Field-Club of Tyneside cannot rank as 
the first established among the many kindred clubs that now exist 
in Great Britain, it would yet appear to be winning, if it has not 
already won, the premier place, when estimated by the value of its 
published Transactions. Other field-clubs may possess a larger 
number of members, more funds, and even greater popularity ; but 
we know of none that is so carefully carrying out the objects for 
which it was founded, or whose Transactions contribute more to the 
progress of natural history than this society of naturalists on the 
banks of the Tyne. 

The work which its founders, some eighteen years ago, carved out 
for it to accomplish was, first, to promote and foster a general taste 
for natural-history pursuits, and, secondly, to investigate the natural 
history of Tyneside and the neighbouring district, the results of 
which were to be published in the Transactions. How far they have, 
in the latter case, worked out their plan may be judged of by the 
fact that the Mammalia, Mollusca, Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Zoo- 
phyta, Marine Algze, and Permian fossils have all been carefully 


298 Bibliographical Notices. 


catalogued and published, besides other matter enough to fill, with 
the catalogues, six volumes of Transactions ; and that they have ac- 
complished something towards promoting a taste for the study of 
natural history would appear pretty evident when we find that nearly 
four-fifths of the matter of the Part of the Transactions just issued 
have been contributed by authors who were school-boys when the 
Club was founded. Moreover there are now in preparation, by 
members of the Club, catalogues of the Birds, Crustacea, Annelida, 
Echinodermata, Foraminifera, Flowering-Plants and Ferns, and 
Freshwater Algze of the two counties (Northumberland and Durham). 
With these completed, we may look in vain, we fear, for another dis- 
trict in England where so much shall have been done towards the 
investigation of its natural history. 

Nevertheless much will then remain for the Tynesiders to accom- 
plish. The Fish, Reptiles, and Amphibia, several orders of the 
Insecta, all the Arachnida and Ceelenterata, various groups of the 
Protozoa, besides all the Carboniferous Fossils, both vegetable and 
animal, will still be left to catalogue. Even with good lists of the 
faunas and floras of their district, they will scarcely have done more 
than have taken a census of the inhabitants of their domain. The 
will know what they have yet to investigate: this much they will 
have achieved ; but the chief part of their work—the true study of 
the various creatures enumerated in their catalogues—will only be 
beginning. For the natural history of any animal or plant, let it be 
ever so lowly, means something more than a pair of Latinized names 
and a string of scientific words for a diagnosis. This, at least, is our 
conception of the matter ; and we hope that it is that of the working 
naturalists of the Tyneside Club, and that they will not rest satisfied 
in cataloguing their natural treasures, but, like true men, will con- 
tinue their labours until they have wrought out the history of them 
also. 

Part II. of the sixth volume of the Tyneside Transactions includes 
the President’s Address for the present year, a catalogue of Mammalia, 
and papers and reports on zoology, geology, botany, and meteorology, 
amounting altogether to about 200 pages. Five plates and several 
woodcuts illustrate the papers. The most important portion of the 
Part is the Catalogue of Mammalia by Messrs. Mennell and Perkins. 
Good local catalogues, even of Mammalia, are still desiderata in English 
zoology ; and these authors deserve the thanks of zoologists generally 
for so valuable a contribution to their science. As the authors ob- 
serve, there are few districts in England in which we might expect 
to find so large a mammalian fauna as in that embraced by these two 
northern counties ; for in it are extensive regions of fells, or moors, 
almost as wild as nature left them, and very sparsely populated, 
where we may reasonably suppose that several of the wild animals 
which have long ago disappeared from other parts of England with 
the progress of cultivation, will still be found to have their retreats. 

Of the 75 species of English Mammalia, Messrs. Mennell & Perkins 
claim 59 as occurring in Northumberland and Durham. They 
remark as follows:—‘ Of the 75 species of Mammalia usually in- 


Bibliographical Notices. 299 


cluded in the English fauna, eight are exclusively met with in a do- 
mesticated state, viz. the Horse, Ass, Hog, Dog, domestic Cat, Sheep, 
Goat, and Fallow Deer; and into most lists, in this category only is 
the Ox entitled to admission..... Our catalogue contains 59 species, 
50 of which are wild. Our northern latitude impoverishes our fauna 
in Bats, or we might show a still greater comparative richness. That 
the fauna of our district is naturally rich, and has been well worked 
out, the following figures will show :— 
Wild Species. Total Species. 


PABriigh tauna eo. SL kAhe ee 67 75 
Shropshire... fe sues awk ee sa02 126 35 
Scanmordshire<).*0 ffs 8 6 eee Doe 29 37 
North Kent (Greenwich Club).... 30 39 
ROGEM Wallets RS! eer ne eS 8 39 48 
Northumberland and Durham .... 50 59.” 


In their observations on the species, the authors give some interest- 
ing remarks on the Chillingham cattle, the Otter, and the Badger. 
They differ from Professor Owen in their views on the descent of the 
first of these animals, claiming for its ancestors the wild cattle that 
roamed the hills of Northumberland when “the beaver built its dams 
on our rivers, and the bear and wolf preyed upon the roe-deer in our 
forests.” Prof. Owen’s opinion is that the Chillingham cattle, with 
all our larger domesticated breeds, were introduced, in a tame state, 
by the Romans. ‘‘The Roman cattle, from whence he derives the 
Chillingham race, are, he says, descendants of the Indian Brahmin 
cattle (Bos Indicus, Linn.), which were procured by the Romans 
from the Greeks, by the Greeks from the Egyptians, and by these 
from India, probably through the intervention of the Syrians or 
Persians.” ‘The Highland Kyloes and the Welsh Runts, he con- 
siders, are more probably the descendants of the cattle possessed by 
the Britons at the time of the Roman invasion, inhabiting as they 
still do the mountain fastnesses to which the Celtic population re- 
tired ; and these were, he thinks, the descendants of a wild British 
race, probably identical with the Bos longifrons, whose remains occur 
in the New Pliocene strata, in the brick-earth deposits, drift- gravels, 
and bone-caves.” Messrs. Mennell & Perkins discuss this question 
at some length; and we certainly think that they bring forward 
more and stronger reasons for differing from Professor Owen’s views 
than for agreeing with them. 

Respecting the Otter, the authors observe, ‘Our district at the 
present day may, we think, very properly be designated the head- 
quarters of this fine animal. It is abundant in all the rivers and 
larger streams, and even the smaller burns can often testify to its 
predatory visits. Increasing population, combined with bitter en- 
mity to this terrible foe of the finny tribe, has almost exterminated 
the Otter in many parts of the country where it was formerly abun- 
dant, and caused it to retire to wilder, more remote, and less fre- 
quented districts. In haunts like these, and especially in North 
Northumberland, the Otter exists m, comparatively speaking, un- 


300 Bibliographical Notices. 


disturbed security ; and long may it continue to do so!” After these 
remarks, follow eight pages on otter-hunting, appended to which are 
four lines and a half of information on the natural history of the ani- 
mal. We certainly think that, both here and in other parts of the cata- 
logue, agreat deal of matter has been introduced which would have been 
better kept out. Observations on otter-huntimg would be suitable 
enough for a sporting-journal, such as ‘ Bell’s fines or the ‘ Field,’ 
but they scarcely seem appropriate in a scientific catalogue of Mam- 
malia. Again, in noticmg the Fox, our authors limit Whee natural. 
history observations to saying that it is “‘ abundant in both counties.’ 
Then we have a paragraph on the philology of the word “tod,” the 
local term for the fox. Afterwards follows a page of information on 
the packs of fox-hounds, and their owners and huntsmen of the two 
counties. We are told, for example, that “the Durham county pack 
contains fifty-one couples ; they hunt four days a week, viz. Monday, 
Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday; J. Henderson and J. Harvey, Esqs., 
are the masters, Mark Carr the huntsman, and Stephen Winkworth 
the whip. The kennels are at Sedgefield and Farewell Hall;” alsothat 
“the Alnwick pack is new,—we believe, also a ‘ scratch’ or ‘ trencher- 
fed’ pack.’ How all this comes under the head of Canis vulpes we 
are at a loss to tell. We should have thought that, if it had to be 
included at all, Canis familiaris would have been the most suitable 
heading ; with a little more discretion on the part of the authors 
and editors, it would have been kept out altogether. 

Now that we are criticising—as criticism is usually understood— 
we may further point out that certain species appear to be included 
in the list on very slender grounds, and in some eases, indeed, on no 
grounds at all. Passing over the first on the list, Homo sapiens, 
whose presence there is amusing rather than objectionable, we come 
to the Wolf (Canis lupus), which does not seem to have existed in 
Northumberland and Durham much later than the third Henry. A 
little further on we meet with the Roe Deer, Red Deer, and Beaver, 
all of them animals long extinct. It may be, perhaps, that these 
species are rightly included in the list; but that depends upon the 
principle on which the catalogue has been constructed. If the au- 
thors have comprehended all the mammals that have existed in the 
district during the historical era, these species ought, of course, to be 
included. This would be the principle the geologist would adept ; 
for he must have an era or period to work in. But the zoologist or 
investigator of recent life deals with time more sparingly: his inves- 
tigations, indeed, are almost limited to the present—to life in all its 

various aspects, as he can now observe it. Hence it would perhaps 
have been as well to have kept such species as those named apart 
from those which exist in the district in the present day—in other 
words, to have made their primary list one of species that compose 
the existing mammalian fauna of the district, with a supplementary 
list of such other species as are known to ee formerly existed, but 
which are now extinct; for what we most want to learn from a 
catalogue of this kind is not so much what the fauna of any part of 
England was 300, 500, or 1000 years ago, but what it is now, anno 
Domini 1864. 


Bibliographical Notices. 301 


For the same reasons we would object to some of the Cetaceans 
which appear in the list. The High-finned Cachalot, in fact, has 
never been captured on the Northumberland and Durham coast at 
all, and is included merely because it is said to have been seen at sea 
off the Dogger Bank! Sailors, however, are not always safe authori- 
ties for the naturalist to follow ; and though they may have seen the 
Cetacean in question, they are just as likely to have seen something 
else which they mistook for it. 

But the most injudicious or ludicrous (we searcely know which) 
insertion is that of the Alpine Hare (Lepus variabilis), of which the 
authors coolly state, “‘We are not aware that this species has been 
met with in our district, though we see no reason why it should not 
occur on the Cheviots and high fells which separate our counties 
from Cumberland and Westmoreland, the mountains which it inha- 
bits.’ Now really this is too bad, and indicates such an utter want 
of carefulness on the part of the authors as to throw suspicion over 
the whole catalogue. For it is quite evident that, besides the species 
which they know to exist in Durham and Northumberland, they 
likewise include those which they think ought to exist—two very 
different things. Certainly, if this be the fachien after which the 
Catalogue of ‘the Northumberland and Durham mammals has been 
constructed, no wonder that it is the largest local list that has yet 
appeared in England! 

In a paper by Mr. G. S. Brady, on the Zoology of Hylton Dene, 
we have an account of a careful examination of the faunas of a series 
of pools of brackish water, of different degrees of saline strength, 
situated on some marsh- han near to the River Wear, about two miles 
and a half from its mouth. The pools which are the most saline 
are solely inhabited by marine species (the common Stickleback ex- 
cepted), among which are Nudibranchiate Mollusca, Shrimps and 
other Crustacea, Foraminifera, and Annelides. In pools further re- 
moved from the influence of tidal action, and hence containing a 
smaller percentage of saline matter, some of the above forms are 
absent; but, as no freshwater species appear, the fauna remains 
marine. Further away still, is another pool, which the overflow of 
the highest tides rarely reaches, and which is therefore virtually 
freshwater. Here are Water- rats, Beetles, Freshwater Mollusca, 
Entomostraca belonging to Cypris and Cyclops, and other fr eshwater 
animals and plants; and the banks of the pool are fringed with 
grasses and brushwood. But amidst all these indications of fresh- 
water conditions likewise appear two or three species of Prawns and 
Shrimps, which, as the author says, ‘it 1s strange to see gliding 
among the leaves of the Callitriche, and overshadowed by the blos- 
soming wild-rose and whin.” The author further observes that 
these marine Crustaceans do not seem to have deteriorated from their 
residence in fresh water, except in the case of the Prawn, which is 
rather small. 

There are few subjects in natural history that promise more in- 
teresting and important results than that which Mr. Brady here 
takes up. For the zoology of an estuarine or brackish region, whe- 


302 Bibliographical Notices. 


ther smal! or extensive in area, is the zoology of a sort of border 
territory, where marine and freshwater life meet and to some extent 
commingle. It is here that the conservatism of species is tested, or 
where new conditions offer them the best opportunities for showing 
the strength of their tendencies towards change and advancement— 
or, perhaps, change and retrogression. If the white bear of Darwin 
has ever to become a whale, it is under such circumstances that we 
should expect to see it acquiring those new habits that are to result 
ap such a transformation of its structure, organization, and mode of 
life. 

There are also other grounds on which investigations like the pre- 
sent are of great interest ; for they throw light on the researches of 
the paleontologist, more especially on that still disputed question 
among geologists, the origin of the coal-measures, whether they 
were formed in fresh or salt water. We will quote the remarks of 
the author on this point. 

«« Estuarine swamps such as this which we have just noticed seem 
to be the nearest analogues we now possess of those extensive lagoons 
which, during the Carboniferous period, supported the rank vegetable 
growths now fossilized in our Coal-measures. To the paleontologist 
it must be a matter of considerable interest to note the association 
of species in such localities; and I think enough has been said to 
show that considerable caution should be used in pronouncing upon 
the freshwater or saline nature of any deposits merely from the na- 
ture of the animal forms which they enclose. Judging from analogy, 
however (if our own island may be taken as a type), we should sup- 
pose that any great luxuriance of vegetable growth must be indicative 
of freshwater conditions. We uniformly find in the saline portions 
of these marshes a peculiarly dwarfed and stunted vegetation, while 
as we recede from the salt-water influence, it often assumes a rank 
luxuriance, putting on a character quite as much in accordance with 
the vegetation of the coal-period as can be expected im these degene- 
rate days.” 

Mr. J. Hancock furnishes a paper on the recent occurrence of 
Pallas’s Sand-grouse in Northumberland and Durham, in which he 
informs us that about twenty-three individuals of that species were 
shot in those counties in the year 1863. It is just possible that this 
Siberian visitor may meet with a suitable habitat in some of the 
northern parts of our island, and so remain a permanent resident 
with us, though we doubt much whether this can be, im our present 
state of high civilization, and with that rampant propensity for ex- 
terminating which the modern Englishman exhibits to everything 
that he cannot domesticate into his burden-bearing or flesh-feeding 
retainers. 

We cannot refer at length to the other papers that appear in the 
Part, though several of them contain valuable information both to 
the naturalist and the general reader. Suffice it to say that among 
them are papers on Coal-miners, by Dr. Wilson; on Ostracoda, by 
G. S. Brady; on Pyenogonoidea, by G. Hodge; on Coal-measure 
Fishes, by Messrs. Kirkby and Atthey; and on the Rain-fall, by 


Bibliographical Notices. 303 


G. C. Atkinson ; some of which memoirs have already appeared in 
our pages. There is, moreover, a series of papers composing the 
Dredging-Report of 1863, containing much important matter. We 
think, however, that it would be well for the editor of the report 
to adopt for the future greater uniformity in tabulating the results 
of the dredgings. Lach list, for example, ought to be drawn up 
after the same plan, with the same system of nomenclature through- 
out, so far as concerns locality and depth. As it is, very little in- 
formation at all is given respecting the depth of the different dredg- 
ings, or the nature of the ground, both of which are points of 
great importance in the distribution of species. Regarding the lo- 
calities where the dredging-operations took place, each author seems 
to have adopted a nomenclature of his own: thus one set of dredg- 
ings is referred to, by the different authors of the report, as having 
taken place ‘off Berwick,” “off Holy Island,’’ and in “ Berwick 
Bay ;” and we suspect that ‘‘the Durham coast’’ and “ off Seaham” 
both refer to the same locality though they appear to refer to dif- 
ferent places. All this is very confusing, and may lead to the report 
being misunderstood. When the next Dredging-Report appears, we 
should be glad to see the different dredging-papers drawn up after 
the method of Edward Forbes and M‘Andrew, with the locality, 
depth, nature of ground, distance from shore, quantity of individuals 
of each species, and whether dead or living, and condition, all clearly 
stated for every dredging. At the same time we trust that some 
explanation will be given of the signs used in the lists ; for at present 
who except the authors can have the slightest idea of what is ex- 
pressed by the letters c., r., r.c., v., &c.? 

Notwithstanding these and the preceding strictures which we have 
deemed it our duty to make in noticing this Part of the Tyneside 
Transactions, we must say, in conclusion, as we said or implied at 
the beginning, that there is far more in it to admire than to dis- 
approve. 


The Physical Geology and Geography of Great Britain: Six Lec- 
tures to Working Men, delivered in the Royal School of Mines 
in 1863. By Prof. A. C. Ramsay, F.R.S. &c. Second edition, 
pp: 199. London: E. Stanford. 1864. 


The success of this little book has confirmed an impression we 
have long been under, that one of the most paying works a com- 
petent geologist could undertake is a new edition of Conybeare and 
Phillips’s ‘Geology of England and Wales.’ Students of geology 
would accept it as a guide, and professed geologists would use it as 
a text-book, while professors and lecturers would recommend it as 
both. 

These Lectures were not published with any such ambitious 
design: they were delivered to an audience of working men, at a 
nominal fee of sixpence for the course, in the Museum of Practical 
Geology ; and the first edition of them was printed last year from 
the notes of a short-hand writer. Prof. Ramsay remarks, in his 


304: Zoological Society :— 


preface to this edition, that the former contained many imperfections 
and mistakes, but that in this the whole work has been corrected, 
revised, and in parts almost re-written. This confession has pro- 
bably been made in deference to the strictures of a few captious 
critics, who cannot understand, or are unable to tolerate, good honest 
Anglo-Saxon (a little foo honest, it may be, at times), perfectly suited 
to the bricklayers, carpenters, and blacksmiths for whom it was in- 
tended. But it appears to us that one of the most valuable (because 
one of the most rare) gifts which Prof. Ramsay possesses is that of 
being able, with perfect ease and apparently without effort, to adapt 
himself so well to the calibre of his audience. He is thus equally at 
home, though acting so differently, as President of the Geological 
Society and as a teacher cf geology to working men. 

The principal addition made to the book in this edition is a little 
coloured geological map of Great Britain, done wonderfully well, 
considering the scale, and extremely useful as a help to the unlearned 
in their attempts to understand the subjects treated of. Professor 
Ramsay’s plan of instruction in this ease is to associate the peculiari- 
ties of the geological structure of the country with those of its surface- 
configuration; and thus he is enabled to impress more vividly on the 
mind the salient features of the one subject, and to explain more 
easily the causes of the phenomena included in the other. Nothing 
could be more simple, or better adapted to the audience, than this 
plan of procedure ; and the exhaustion of the first edition of these 
Lectures in less than a twelvemonth shows that nothing could be 
more acceptable, or better understood, by the public at large. 


PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
Jan. 26, 1864.—E. W. H. Holdsworth, Esq., F.Z.S., in the Chair, 


Notes on Seats (PHocip#®), INCLUDING THE DEsCRIPTION 
or A New Serax (Haricyon RicHarpit) rrom THE WEST 
Coast or Norta America. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. 


Mr. Charles B. Wood, the Surgeon of H.M.S. ‘ Hecate,’ has very 
kindly sent to the British Museum, along with other interesting spe- 
cimens from the north-western part of North America, the skeleton 
of a Seal from Fraser’s River, and the skull of a Seal obtained on the 
west coast of Vancouver’s Island. 

The skull was procured from the natives, who had the animal 
towed along the side of their canoe. They refused to part with the 
entire animal, but were at length induced to sell the head. 

The examination of the skulls shows that the two Seals evidently 
belong to the same species, the specimen from Fraser’s River being 
adult, and the other not quite so old. Mr. Wood observes that ‘the 
younger Seal was captured among the islands in Queen Charlotte’s 
Sound, at the north end of Vancouver ; has a fur of a dark brown, 


Dr. J. E. Gray on a new Species of Seal. 305 


almost black colour; and is unlike that from the Fraser’s River, 
which is lighter and less timid, being often seen seated on a log 
floating down with the current.” 

The skull of this Seal differs so greatly from those of any of the 
Seals on the eastern side of the Arctic Ocean, that I am induced to 
propose for it a new subdivision, which may be thus named and cha- 
racterized :— 

-Haricyon. 
The palate of the skull arched out behind. Cutting-teeth 2, 


Grinders 3 or 5, lobed, compressed. The lower jaw strong, bowed 
out on the sides, thick in front, and with a low crest on the inner 
side of the lower edge near the front; the ramus of the lower jaw 
erect, with a tubercular prominence beneath the notch at the angle. 


Haxicyon RicwHARrpIil, sp. nov. 


Fur pale brown ; when young, darker. 

Hab. Fraser’s River and Vancouver’s Island. 

I have dedicated this species, at the request of Mr. Wood, to Capt. 
Richard, the Hydrographer to the Admiralty, and Captain of H.M.S. 
‘Hecate’ when these Seals were collected. I have the more plea- 
sure in doing this, as the Museum has received many very interest- 
ing specimens collected during the voyage of the ‘ Hecate,’ showing 
the interest which her Commander takes in the natural sciences, 
which I have no doubt will receive additional: encouragement in the 
new position which he has won by his hydrographic and scientific 

ualifications. 

The skull resembles that of Callocephalus hispidus and Pagophilus 
grenlandicus in the dilatation of the front part of the lower edge of 
the lower jaw; but it agrees with Callocephalus hispidus most in 
the greater development of the face, and in the concave edge of the 
hinder part of the palate. 

It differs from these skulls— 

1. Inthe dilatation of the lower jaw not being extended so far back, 
only occupying the first two-fifths of the length of the jaw; while 
in the other two species it occupies full half the length of that bone. 

2. In the sides of the lower jaw being much wider apart, and 
arched outwards, making the space between them much wider be- 
hind, agreeing in this respect with Phoca barbata. 

3. In the front of the lower jaw being thick and swollen, and with 
only a slight ridge on the middle of the lower edge in front, and 
the jaws in this part being well separated from each other, not thin, 
concave inwardly, and with a well-developed inferior edge on the 
inner sides, those of the two sides of the jaws being parallel and 
near together in the centre. The angle at the hinder lower edge of 
the lower jaw is much more produced, and with a more promi- 
nent tubercle, than in either Callocephalus hispidus or Pagophilus 
grenlandicus. 

4. The hinder edge of the palate being concave forwards, and not 
straight and transverse as in Pagophilus, nor angularly cut out as in 
Callocephalus. 

Amn. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.3. Vol. xiv. 20 


306 Zoological Society :— 


In the younger specimen the edge of the palate has a slight pro- 
minence in the middle of each side ; but this is evidently an acci- 
dental deformity, as the prominences are not of the same size in the 
two sides. In the adult skull the two sides of the palate are evenly 
arched out. 

The lower jaw most resembles that of the restricted genus Phoca 
(of which P. barbata is the type) in being solid and strong, and in 


# 


Wi 

l 
it 

eS 
s SS j 


h 
ah 
il 
Mh . 
TANS 


Fig. 1. Skull of Halicyon Richardii. 

2. End of lower jaw of Phoca barbata, to show the dilatations and inflexions 
of the lobe over the angle. 

3. End of the lower jaw of Pagomys fetidus. The end of the jaw of Callo- 
cephalus vitulinus is somewhat similar. ; 

4. Lower edge of the lower jaw of Halicyon Richardii. 

3d. Lower edge of the lower jaw of Phoca barbata. 

6. Lower edge of the lower jaw of Pagophilus grenlandicus. The jaw of 
Pagomys fetidus is somewhat similar, but much smaller. 


Dr. J. E. Gray on the Species of Seals. 307 


the two sides being arched out, leaving a very wide oval space be- 
tween them, the front part of the space being continued by a tubercle 
on the inner edge of the front of the jaw, a short distance from the 
symphysis. 

In Phoca the tubercle on the inner side of the lower edge is short, 
rounded, blunt, and more or less rugose ; in the new Seal, Halicyon, 
it is a short-edged, elongated ridge. In Phoca the teeth are small, 
erect, and far apart ; and in Halicyon they are larger, closer together, 
and distinctly three- or five-lobed. 

In Halicyon the hinder edge of the ramus of the lower jaw is 
simple, with a distinct notch between it and the tubercular angle of 
the jaw. In Phoca the hinder edge of the ramus is inflected, form- 
ing a large half-oblong lobe, convex in front, and concave behind. 
(fig. 2). 

it ee interesting to observe that there is a representative genus 
on each side of the Arctic Pole; and this agrees with my previous 
experience—that each species of Seal has a limited, indeed I may say 
a very well-defined and very limited, geographical distribution. 
Though the species are very difficult to distinguish by their external 
characters, yet the skeleton, and especially the skull, affords well- 
marked and very definite characters. 

M. Lepechin described a Phoca oceanica (Act. Petrop. 1777, 259. 
t. 6 & 7), which has been considered the same as Pagophilus gren- 
landicus, as abundant on the ice around Nova Zembla. It would 
be curious to see the skull of a specimen from that locality, and 
thus discover which species extends itself so far north as those islands. 
Phoca oceanica, in its young and old state of fur, resembles Pago- 
philus grenlandicus ; but unfortunately we have only a very limited 
knowledge of the external appearance of this new Seal from Van- 
couver’s Island. 

The study of a large series of specimens of several species of Seals 
shows that the form of the lower jaw, though hitherto little attended 
to by zoologists, affords a very good character for the distinction of 
the species. 

In Pagophilus grenlandicus and Halicyon Richardii the angle of 
the lower jaw is far back, and the hinder edge of the ramus ascends 
nearly perpendicularly, with a notch at the hinder end, as shown in 
fig. 6. In Phoca barbata the form of the lower jaw and ramus 
is nearly similar; but instead of a notch near the angle, the inner 
edge is produced inwards into a rounded lobe (fig. 2, and see Cat. 
Seals B.M. p. 27, f. 9). 

In Callocephalus vitulinus and C. (Pagomys) foetidus, on the con- 
trary, the angle of the lower jaw is more towards the front, and the 
hinder edge of the ramus ascends obliquely with the notch consider- 
ably in front of the condyle (see fig. 3). 

M. Gaimard, in his ‘ Voyage to Iceland and Greenland,’ Mam- 
malia, plate 11, devotes a plate to the skull and teeth of the Seals 
of Iceland and Greenland ; but he does not pay any attention to the 
form of the lower jaw, except incidentally, when representing the 
teeth of the lower jaw of his P. annellata (t. 11. f. 9). I may ob- 

20% 


308 Zoological Society :— 


serve that this author names on his plates what we call Phoca an- 
nellata P. hispida, and what we call P. granlandica P. annellata. 

Believing it to be desirable that the Seals, which are so difficult to 
distinguish by their external characters, should be divided into small 
sections or subgenera by organic characters, I propose to divide 
the tribe of Phocina, as defined in my Monograph (see Cat. Seals 
in the British Museum, p. 20), thus :— 


. Branches of lower jaw diverging ; the lower edge of the lower jaw 
rounded, simple ; palate angularly arched behind ; angle of lower 
jaw blunt, sloping behind. CaLiLocrpHauus. C. vitulinus. 


2. Branches of lower jaw diverging ; lower edge of lower jaw di- 
lated on the inner side. 


* Palate angularly notched behind ; angle of tower jaw blunt, 
sloping behind. Pacomys. P. fetidus. P.? nummularis. 


** Palate truncated behind; angle of lower jaw acute, erect 
behind, with a notch above the basal tubercle. Pago- 
PHILUS. LP. gren/andicus. 


3. Branches of lower jaw arched on the side and wide apart ; lower 
edge produced on the inner side behind the symphysis ; palate 
arched. 


* Tubercle on inner edge of front part of lower jaw elongate, 
sharp-edged ; teeth moderate ; angle of lower jaw simple, 
with a distinet notch above it. Hanicyon. H. Richardii. 


** Tubercle on inner edge of front part of lower jaw blunt, 
rugulose ; teeth small; angle of lower jaw with a rounded 
lobe on inner side above the basal tubercle. PuHoca. P. 
barbata. 


Pacomys ? NUMMULARIS. 


The lower jaws short and broad ; the grinders thick, with a broad 
thick central lube, and nearly side by side (in the skulls of the young 
animals). 

Phoca nummularis, Temm., Faun. Jap. Mamm. Mar. p. 3. 

Hab. Japan (Temm.). 

This species is only known from some skins and three fragments 
of skulls in the Leyden Museum. 

My excellent friend Professor Schlegel, the energetic Curator of 
the Leyden Museum, has most kindly sent to me for examination 
and comparison the fragments of skulls above referred to: they 
consist of the face-bone and the lower j jaws of three specimens; the 
most perfect specimen has part of the orbit and the upper part of 
the brain-case attached to it. ‘They are all from very young speci- 
mens, of nearly the same age; and, unfortunately, the most perfect 
one is without the hinder “portion of the palate, so that I cannot 
make sure that it has the same form of the palatine margin that is 
found in Pagomys; but the part of the side of the palate that is 
present, when compared with the same part in Pagomys, leads one 
to think it most likely to be of the same form as in that genus. 


Dr. J. E. Gray on the Species of Seals. 309 


The general form and size of the face, and the form of the teeth, 
are very similar to those of a skull of Payomys fetidus of the same 
age. It only differs from the latter in the lower jaw being rather 
shorter and broader, in the grinders being larger, thicker, and rather 
closer together, in the central lobe of the grinders being consider- 
ably larger, thicker, and stronger, and in all the lobes of the grind- 
ers being more acute. The lower margin of the lower jaw is dilated 
in front, just as in Pagomys fotidus; but the jaws behind the dila- 
tation diverge more from each other, leaving a wider space between 
them at the hinder part. The form of the hinder angle of the jaws 
is very similar in the two species.. The orbit is rather smaller and 
more circular; for in P. fetidus it is rather oblong, being rather 
longer than wide. The forehead appears, as far as one can judge 
by the fragments, to be flatter and broader, and the nose rather 
shorter. 

The following measurements show the difference between the two 
species :— 

P. fetidus. P. nummularis. 


in. 12ths. in. 12ths. 
Length of lower jaw to hinder notch .. 2 11 Er 
Length of lower jaw to end of dilatation. 1 55 I] 22 
Length of upper teeth-lme .......... lies 13 
Selieneth-or three stinders ......2.. 5... 0 23 ONS 
Width at outside of hinder notch...... le 9 aay 
Menethoforbit........... +: ; 1 8 es 


The Phoca nummularis of Japan has been considered to be iden- 
tical with Phoca Largha of Pallas, from the east shore of Kams- 
chatka, the Phoca Chorissii of Lesson, and the Phoque tigre of Kras- 
chennenikow (which has been named Phoca tigrina by Lesson), on 
the strength of their coming from nearly the same district ; but I 
am not aware that specimens of any of the latter species exist to 
verify the union and determine what are the species described under 
these names. 

The British Museum has lately purchased the dead body of a Seal, 
which had been exhibited in London as the “‘ Talking Fish.”’ The 
proprietor, an Italian, at first said it was from the coast of South 
America, but afterwards admitted that it was from one of the ports 
on the north side of the Mediterranean; and on examination it 
proved to be the Monk Seal (Phoca albiventer), the type of the 
genus Monachus of Fleming and Pelagus of F. Cuvier, a genus which 
was one of the desiderata in the Museum Collection. 

The comparison of the skull of this animal with the skulls of the 
Seal from Madeira, which I described in the ‘ Annals and Magazine 
of Natural History’ for 1854 under the name of Heliophoca atlan- 
tica, has shown that the latter animal is the same as the Mediter- 
ranean Seal. 

The British Museum has since received from M. Verreaux a very 
good skeleton of a Seal from Algiers, under the name of Phoca le- 
porina, which is evidently the same as the Phoca albiventer of 
Cuvier (Oss. Foss. v. t. 17). 


310 Zoological Society :— 


The following synonyms will therefore have to be added to those 
which I have placed under Monachus albiventer in the Catalogue of 
Seals in the British Museum, p. 18 :— 


Heliophoca atlantica, Gray, Ann. & Mag. N. H. 1854; Arch. f. 
Nat. 1855, p. 40. 

Phoca leporina, Verreaux, not of Lepechin. 

Hab. North and south shores of the Mediterranean, fle d’Oléron, 
and Madeira. 

These facts are interesting as showing that the Seal which was for- 
merly believed to be confined to the north shore of the Mediterranean 
is also found on the southern one and on the islands of the Atlantic. 

Nilsson, in his excellent monograph on the genus, after having 
examined all the materials that he could find in the different mu- 
seums, reduced the number of species of Seals to fourteen. 

We have now in the British Museum, as by the following list 
will appear, twenty-four most distinct species, established upon the 
examination of the osteological as well as the external characters of 
the animals. 


1. Lobodon carcinophaga, Gray, Cat. p. 10. Antarctic Ocean. 

2. Stenorhynchus leptonyx, Gray, Cat. p. 13. Antarctic Ocean. 

3. Leptonyx Weddellii, Gray, Cat. p. 16. Antarctic Ocean. 

4, Monachus albiventer, Gray, Cat. p. 18=Heliophoca atlan- 
ae Gray. North and south shores of the Mediterranean; Ma- 

eira. 

5. Monachus? tropicalis, Gray, Cat. p. 28. Jamaica. 

6. Ommatophoca Rossii, Gray, Cat. p.19. Antarctic Ocean. 

7. Callocephalus vitulinus, Gray, Cat. p. 21. North Seas. 

8. Pagomys fetidus, Gray, Cat. p. 23. North Seas. 

9. Halocyon Richardii, Gray, P. 7. S. 1864. Vancouver’s Island. 

10. Pagophilus grenlandicus, Gray, Cat. p. 25. North Sea. ° 

ll. Phoca barbata, Gray, Cat. p. 27. North Sea. 

12. Halicherus Grypus, Gray, Cat. p. 30. North Sea. 

13. Trichechus Rosmarus, Gray, Cat. p. 32. North Sea. 

14. Morunga elephantina, Gray, Cat. p. 34. Antarctic Ocean. 

15. Cystophora cristata, Gray, Cat. p. 36. North Sea. 
! antillarum, Gray, Cat. p. 38. Jamaica. 

17. Arctocephalus monteriensis, Gray, P. Z.S. 1859, p. 358, t. 72. 
California. 


18. Hookeri, Gray, Cat. p. 45. Falkland Islands. 

19. lobatus, Gray, Cat. p. 44. Australia. 

20. —— nigrescens, Gray, P. Z.S. 1859, p. 109. Falkland 
Islands. 

21. —— Gillespii, Gray, P. Z.8. 1859, p. 110, t. 70. California. 

22. Delalandii, Gray, P. Z.S. 1859, p. 107, t. 69. Cape of 
Good Hope. 


23. Callorhinus ursinus, Gray, P.Z. 8. 1859, pp. 103, 359, t. 68. 
Behring’s Straits. 

24. Otaria leonina, Gray, Cat. p- 47; P. Z. 8. 1859, p. 360. 
Southern Pacific Ocean. 


Dr. A. Giinther on Australian Batrachia. oie 


Besides these species, I have very little doubt that the Phoca cas- 
pica of Nilsson, from the Caspian Sea, the Leo marinus of Steller, 
from Behring’s Straits, and Pagomys nummularis, from Japan, are 
distinct. Iam not aware that the Leo marinus of Steller exists in 
any museum; the specimen we received from the St. Petersburg 
Academy under that name is the Callorhinus ursinus of the ‘ Pro- 
ceedings of the Zoological Society’ for 1859. 


Notice or A New Species or Gouiatuus. By G. R. Gray. 


Dr. Kirk has, on his return from the Zambesi, added to our 
knowledge a species of the genus Goliathus, which he obtained as 
long ago as November 1858, when he picked it up among the hills 
of Kebrabassa, which is situated about forty miles beyond the Por- 
tuguese town of Tete. As it appears to be new, I have ventured to 
lay a description of it before the Society under the name of Golia- 
thus Kirkianus. 

3. Castaneous black, with the upper part of head, the seven nar- 
row longitudinal lines on the thorax, the base, and outer edges of 
the elytra broadly margined, also with a series of narrow irregular 
transverse lines on their centres of a pearly white. The bifurcated 
horn in front of the head, all beneath the body, and legs deep casta- 
neous; the four hind legs fringed inwardly with pale rufous hairs. 
Scutellum of a long-triangular form, castaneous black, with a short 
narrow longitudinal line in the centre of a pearly white. 

Of the known species it approaches most nearly to the Goliathus 
Fornassinii, from which, however, it differs in the form of the head 
and thorax: the former is longer, with the bifurcated horn in front 
shorter, while each fork of it is broader, with the apex of each 
broadly truncated ; the latter is less rounded, with the sides suban- 
gulated in the centre, thus differing from the figure of the head of 
the male given in the ‘ Ann. de la Soc. Ent. de Fr.’ iv. pl. 7. f. la. 


Feb. 9, 1864.—John Gould, Esq., F.R.S., in the Chair. 


Tuirp CONTRIBUTION TO OUR KNOWLEDGE OF BATRACHIANS 
FROM AUSTRALIA. By Dr. A. GUNTHER. 


The following is a continuation of two other papers treating on the 
same subject ; they were published: in the ‘ Annals and Magazine of 
Natural History,’ 1863, p. 26, and in the ‘ Proceedings’ of this 
Society, 1863, p. 249. 


MrxopuyeEs (g. n. Raniparum). 


Habitus as in Rana, the head being broad and large ; legs of mo- 
derate length. Tongue circular, not notched behind; vomerine 
teeth in two series ; lower jaw without tooth-like apophyses. Open- 
ings of the Eustachian tubes narrower than the choane ; tympanum 
distinct. Fingers free, none opposite to the others; interdigital 
membrane between the toes well developed; fifth toe moveable to 
its base ; a long, compressed, subsemicireular tubercle at the meta- 


312 Zoological Society :-- 


tarsus. Male with a single subgular sac, which is not visible exter- 
nally. 


MixoPHYES FASCIOLATUS. 


This Batrachian approaches the true Frogs more closely than any 
other known from the Australian region ; its habitus is that of Rana, 
but the head is disproportionally large and broad. The snout is ob- 
tusely rounded, with the canthus rostralis gradually descending in a 
gentle curve, and with the loreal region obliquely flattened. The 
nostril is scarcely below the canthus, midway between the eye and the 
end of the snout. The eye is large, prominent. Cleft of the mouth 
very wide, much broader than long. The vomerine teeth are in a 
nearly straight line, between the anterior angles of the choanee, the 
two series being separated in the middle by a narrow space. Two 
long slits on the side of the tongue lead into the subgular sac. The 
tympanum is nearly as large as the eye. With the exception of a 
very slight fold above the tympanum, the skin is perfectly smooth. 

Fingers tapering, rather slender. The length of the body equals 
the distance between vent and heel, but it is much more than the 
length of the remaining foot. Toes two-thirds webbed, so that the 
three outer phalanges of the fourth toe remain free. 

Upper parts brownish olive, with a darker cross band between the 
hinder half of the superciliaries. A black band runs along the can- 
thus rostralis, widening on the foremost part of the snout below the 
nostril, and is continued behind the eye, above the tympanum ; sides 
of the body with round brown or black spots ; legs with numerous 
black cross bands, which are most distinct on the hinder side of the 
fore legs and on the anterior side of the hind limbs. Lower parts 
uniform white ; throat of the male brownish. 

Specimens of this Frog have been sent by Mr. Krefft from the 
Clarence River; the following are the dimensions of an adult 
female :— 


lines 
Ihenothyotthe body... - case eae eee 33 
Widtheofthe:mouth "Fr... oe eee =e 14 
Henethiof the forelimb «23.525... see 23 
ofthe third finger (7.442214 2 7 
of the-hind limb... -.- 2. +405 me 
of thejentire foot... a. o. eacs ase 23 
of the fourth toe..... évaiereavctee 154 


PTEROPHRYNUS AFFINIS. 


Habit as in Camariolius varius, Peters, but with the snout longer 
and more pointed ; the canthus rostralis is rather distinct hetween 
eye and nostril, and is strongly deflexed in front. Upper parts 
smooth, the lower coarsely granulated. Eye rather large, not much 
shorter than the snout. Tongue narrow, ovate, entire behind ; vo- 
merine teeth none, but there is a short, scarcely perceptible osseous 
ridge in front of the orbital groove. Toes not fringed ; tarsus with 
a longitudinal fold of the skin ; metatarsus with two minute tubercles. 


Dr. A. Giinther on Australian Batrachia. 313 


The length of the body is more than the distance between vent and 
metatarsal tubercles. Upper parts reddish olive, with a double series 
of irregular blackish spots along the back ; a black band runs from 
behind the eye along the side of the body towards the loin, a blackish 
streak along the canthus rostralis. Lower parts whitish. 


lines. 

Menethiof the body... cs 2's ttle tere Le 
of the hind) limb; ... 4.35. 52 «ern, ALO 

of the fourth hind toe............ 5 
Distance between vent and knee.......... 43 


Hab. Western Australia. 


Having found in the collection of the British Museum a specimen 
of Pterophrynus verrucosus, Liitken, I convinced myself that the 
slight swelling of the skin between the angle of the mouth and the 
shoulder is not produced by an accumulation of glands, so as to 
deserve the name of a parotoid. The processes of the sacral ver- 
tebra are so slightly dilated, that they might be described as cylin- 
drical ; however, each process terminates in a cartilage, which is 
very distinctly dilated. On comparing this Frog with the Camario- 
lius of Peters, I came to the conclusion that both these genera must 
be united; for although Professor Peters describes the processes 
of the sacral vertebra as narrow, I find them in Camariolius varius, 
Peters, as slightly dilated as in Pterophrynus. Probably any one 
who had no opportunity of observing the following species would 
have overlooked the dilatation of those processes in the species 
mentioned. P. levis has them very distinctly dilated, and P. affinis 
and P. tasmaniensis are, in this respect, intermediate between these 
extreme forms. They form only one genus, which, perhaps, must 
be still further extended ; for, whilst none of the species mentioned 
are provided with vomerine teeth, several specimens in our col- 
lection, which, perhaps, are the Cystignathus Georgianus of D. & B., 
and which can scarcely be generically separated from our Ptero- 
phryni, have those teeth well developed. ‘Tschudi has proposed the 
name of Crinia for the last-named species. 


PTEROPHRYNUS TASMANIENSIS. 


Very similar to Camariolius pictus, Peters ; upper and lower parts 
nearly entirely smooth, with scarcely any trace of flat tubercles. Snout 
rounded in front, somewhat pointed, sloping downwards in a gentle 
curve from the nostrils. Eye of moderate size, rather longer than 
its distance from the nostril. Tongue narrow, ovate, entire behind ; 
vomerine teeth none. Toes fringed; tarsus without longitudinal 
fold ; metatarsus with two minute tubercles. The length of the 
body equals the distance between vent and metatarsal tubercles. 
Upper parts blackish brown, with a more or less distinct broad red- 
dish-olive band running from behind the eye towards the loin ; lower 
parts beautifully rose-coloured, largely marbled with black ; the pre- 
anal parts black. 


314 Zoological Society. 


lines 

Lengthvor theibody <0. Ps. ncaa oe ere 13 
Ofathe hind: limb! ets ae fee ee 19 

of the fourth hind! toe... .. ...-0.. a 
Distance between vent and knee.......... 5 


Hab. Van Diemen’s Land. 


PreROPHRYNUS LAEVIS. 


Habit as in Pseudophryne ; snout rather short and rounded, with 
the canthus rostralis obtuse. Eye considerably shorter than the 
snout. Upper and lower parts perfectly smooth. Tongue narrow, 
ovate, entire behind; vomerine teeth none. Tympanum very small, 
covered not only by the skin, but also by muscle. Toes not fringed, 
without subarticular tubercles; neither a tarsal fold nor metatarsal 
tubercles are present. The length of the body is not much less than 
that of the hind limb. Brownish olive ; small yellow spots are scat- 
tered over the upper parts ; numerous brown spots on the belly and 
on the lower side of the hind limb. 


lines 
Length ottherbedy: 2)... wine. cuenieoe 13 
of the-hind limbi.. see cee 16 

of the fourth hind toe,.......:... 95 


Distance between vent and knee.......... 4% 
Hab. Van Diemen’s Land. 


Liroria WILcoxil. 


Snout of moderate length, somewhat pointed in front, the distance 
between the front angles of the orbits being equal to that between 
the eye and the extremity of the snout. Canthus rostralis angular ; 
nostril much nearer to the end of the snout than to the eye. Tym- 
panum very distinct, half the size of the eye. Skin perfectly smooth; 
a fold across the chest; belly granulated. Vomerine teeth in two 
oblique short series between the anterior part of the choane ; tongue 
entire behind. Openings of the Eustachian tubes much narrower 
than the choanze. Limbs rather slender: the third finger is longer 
than the fourth. The length of the body is a little less than the 
distance between vent and heel. Tarsus with a lateral fold of the 
skin; metatarsus with two small tubercles. Toes three-fourths 
webbed; the length of the fourth toe is a little less than one-half of 
that of the body. Disks rather small. 

Upper parts greyish olive, indistinctly marbled with darker ; a@ 
dark cross band between the eyes. A black band runs from the 
snout along the canthus rostralis, and is continued behind the eye, 
across the tympanum, to behind the axil. Sides of the belly and 
hinder side of the thigh yellow, marbled with black, 


lines. 
uength: of the bodyiys2™ .0.42...%- 5. semeunhe 
Width of the cleft of the mouth.......... 62 
Length of the fore limbs... 4... 5. a LSS, 


of the third finger .............. “4% 


Miscellaneous. 315 


lines 

Leneth of the-hind: limb cee whe. s 5. 0.2 88 
of the.entine {G0ts 2s a4 .s< deen 15 

Ot Che ToOurEMEbOe ses ae ed aceses ar eoe ok Samce 9 


Two specimens were sent by Mr. Krefft; they were collected at 
the Clarence River by James F. Wilcox, Esq., to whom science is in- 
debted for many valuable acquisitions from that country. 

I take this opportunity of remarking that Hyla aurea, Less., 
has the first finger opposite to the three others, and that therefore 
it ought to be referred to the genus Litoria. 


HALOPHILA PLATYDACTYLA. 

This species is very similar to H. vitiana, Bibr., but distinguished 
by the very broad terminal disks of the fingers, which are as large 
as the tympanum. In the form of its head it agrees with the other 
species mentioned; the tympanum is not quite half as large as the 
eye; the choanz and openings of the Eustachian tubes are small, 
and the minute vomerine teeth form only a very short oblique series 
behind the choanze. The skin is perfectly smooth. The first finger 
is shorter than the others. The length of the body is more than 
the distance between vent and heel. Toes with a rudimentary web, 
and with the terminal disks much smaller than those of the fingers ; 
the third toe is longer than the fifth; metatarsus with two minute 
tubercles. Uniform brownish violet above ; light brownish below. 

Length of the body 16 lines, of the hind limb 22 lines, of the 
fourth toe 7 lines, of the fore limb 113 lines. 

The locality where this species has been obtained is not known, 
but it is probable that it came from one of the Feejee Islands. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


Notice of a new Genus (Silurana) of Frogs we om West Africa. 
By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. & 


Mr. Moors, of the Free Museum, Liverpool, ne kindly sent to me 
for examination some young Frogs and their larve which he has 
lately received. They are peculiar for having a very long beard, like 
the cirri of a Silurus or Cat-fish, on each side of the mouth. The 
larva has the flat head and much the appearance of that genus of fish. 


Sinurana (Fam. Dactylethride). 


The mouth with an elongated beard on each side, at the angle of 
the gape. ‘Tarsus with a spur at the base of the first toe; the rest 
like Dactylethra. 

The larva with a very broad flat head, and a very long beard at 
the angle of the mouth on each side: this beard in the larva is 
as long as the body; it is shorter and thicker in the specimens 
which have their fore and hind feet well developed but still retain 
their tail. The tail is compressed, finless above, but with a broad, 
well-developed membranaceous fin extending the whole length of the 
lower edge. 


316 Miscellaneous. 


Silurana tropicalis. 


Olive-green, smooth, pale beneath. The webs of the hind feet are 
broad, white, semitransparent ; the claws on the three inner toes are 
well developed and black. 

Hab. West Africa, Lagos. Brit. Mus. Collected by R. B. N. 
Walter, Esq. 

The Dactylethra Miilleri of Dr. Peters, from Mozambique, and of 
Mr. Cope, from the Gaboon, most probably belong to this genus: but 
the beards are described as being placed ‘below the eyes;’’ in this 
animal they are far in front of the lower part of the eye, and situated 
at the angle of the gape, as in many Stluri and other fishes with 
bearded mouths. 


Note on Lepas anatifera. 


16 Union Terrace, Aberdeen. 
Sept. 12, 1864. 

Dear Str,—I send you a photograph of rather a remarkable spe- 
cimen of the common Barnacle (Lepas anatifera of Linnzeus), which 
was picked up by the fishermen in the Bay of Aberdeen a few 
days ago, and which you might notice in the ‘Annals’ if you think 
it worthy. 

The log of wood is about 27 feet long, and 16 inches in diameter, 
three sides of which are covered with millions of these animals in 
high perfection. The Barnacles, as they lie about it, make a diameter 
of 2 feet 9 inches, and, floating in the water, they spread out toa 
width of 4 or 5 feet. The shell, in the greater number, is fully 
1; inch long, while the peduncle is, in many, 18 inches. 

I am not aware of the Barnacle having been seen before in this 
part of the country, though I believe it is occasionally found on the 
western coast. 

It is probable that the pine-log to which the animals are attached 
must have floated from a southern latitude; so that an interesting 
problem is offered to science by its appearance in our bay. 

I am, Sir, 
Your obedient Servant, 
To W. Francis, Ph.D., F.L.S. Ro. Dyce, M.D., F.R.S.E. 


On the Anatomy of the Balanophoree, as regards the Characters 
which it furnishes for the Classification of those Plants. By M. 
A. CHATIN. 


The Balanophoreze, with the Cytineze and Rafflesiaceze constitute a 
singular class of parasitic plants, which has received the name of 
Rhizanthee ; their flowers, which are sometimes small and grouped 
together, sometimes very large and solitary, often appear to push 
forth, like Mushrooms, from a sort of subterranean byssus. 

Their seed, which has been the subject of valuable investigations 
on the part of Messrs. Weddell, J. D. Hooker, Griffith, and Hof- 
meister, has its embryo formed only by a homogeneous cellular mass, 
like the spores of Cryptogamic plants—a simplicity of organization 


Miscellaneous. 317 


_which has led to the Rhizanths being regarded as degraded plants 


forming a peculiar group between Cryptogamia and Phanerogamia. 
My investigations are not in favour of this opinion ; they tend rather 
to lead one to assign the Rhizanths a place between the Monoco- 
tyledons and Dicotyledons, most closely approaching the former by 
their peculiar structure, and the latter by their affinity to certain 
orders. It is especially by the structure of the stamen, and also by 
that of the ovule, that the Rhizanths are elevated in the vegetable scale. 

From the totality of the data furnished by the anatomy of the 
genera and species, I obtain the following anatomical diagnosis for 
the order Balanophoreze :—Spiral vessels rare and never capable of 
being unrolled; true cortical fibres wanting; cells of the paren- 
chyma generally with numerous xuclei; sclerous tissues frequent ; 
epidermis (of the parts above ground) with its cells granuliferous and 
never exhibiting sinuous or zigzag outlines; stomata wanting ; rhi- 
zome with scattered vascular bundles; seale-like leaves with several 
vascular bundles which are replaced sometimes by little columns of 
sclerous cells; pericarp divisible into several concentric zones, of 
which at least one (?) is of a sclerous nature ; anthers having the 
second membrane (endotheca of authors) of a fibrous nature (except 
in Balanophora), with one or two layers of filamentous cells arranged 
in a spiral or radiate form (en griffe) ; the connective and the septa 
usually not fibrous, and destitute of placentoids. 

The principal anatomical characters of the genera of Balanophoreee 
are the following :— 

Cynomorium.—Stem with bundles, some external or corticoid, 
small, simply fibrous; the others more internal and larger, fibro- 
vascular, and even furnished with spiral vessels, with fibre-cells inter- 
mixed with the vessels, and with a mass of delicate fibres or elongated 
cells forming the internal half of the bundles ; rachis without spiral 
vessels and with elongated cells not limited to one side of the 
bundles ; anthers with a destructible external membrane, with a 
fibrous membrane formed by a single layer of spiral cells, continued 
over the connective and the septum of the anther-cells ; pollen ellip- 
tical, with three furrows and a finely tuberculate surface. 

Balanophora.—Stem not completely deprived of spiral vessels, and 
showing but little development in the portion of the bundles which 
is formed by narrow and elongated cells; scales entirely destitute of 
vessels ; anthers without a fibrous membrane, and capable of being 
reduced, when mature, to the exotheca alone; parenchyma with 
numerous nuclei (which well distinguishes Balanophora from Pheo- 
cordylis) and mixed with a few cells with the walls reticulated or as 
if cellular. 

Helosis.—Rhizome with a sclerous medullary axis, lobate or stel- 
late at its circumference, with a limited number (6-7) of bundles, 
arranged symmetrically in a circle, having their vessels united into 
a compact mass, upon the outer side of which is supported a ridge 
of delicate fibres covered at its point by a mass with a transverse 
subsemilunar section, composed of sclerous cells apparently occupying 
the place of cortical fibres; stem with seattered bundles, and with 


318 Miscellaneous. 


vessels occupying the median and transverse portion of the bundles ; 
rachis with a vascular mass forming the inner side of the bundles ; 
bractea-scales with a single axile bundle, which is dilated above ; 
parenchyma with very numerous nuclei; vessels never spiral. 

Langsdorfia.—Stem with bundles arranged in a circle, and with 
a medulla not formed of sclerous cells; scales with several (usually 
seven) fibro-vascular bundles; nuclei and spiral vessels wanting or rare. 

Lophophytum.—Rhizome with the corticoid or external layer well 
distinguished from the rest of the parenchyma by numerous sclerous 
nuclei, &c., and with an internal parenchyma entirely formed of cells 
with cellular walls ; stem and axes of the floral capitula also in part 
composed of cellular cells; scales of the rhizome without vessels ; 
those of the stem with the petiole (?) alone vascular (little columns 
of sclerous cells taking the place of the vascular bundles beneath the 
little nervures of the blade); pericarp with its subepidermie layer 
almost sclerous; anthers with their fibrous membrane composed, 
throughout the valves, of at least two layers of cells, the filaments of 
which are arranged in a sort of spiral ; septa not fibrous, connective 
variable ; spiral vessels entirely wanting. 

Ombrophytum.—This genus, which is morphologically very similar 
to Lophophytum, with which it was long confounded, has two important 
anatomical characters—namely, the deficiency of cells with cellular 
walls, and the fibrous membrane of the anther-valves formed of cells 
with the fibres radiated (en griffe) instead of spiral, placed in a single 
layer towards the extremities of the valves. Anatomy thus fully 
justifies the separation of these two genera, originally proposed upon 
external characters which might appear not to be of sufficient value. 

The species, like the order and the genera, are characterized 
anatomically. I may cite particularly Lophophytum mirabile and L. 
brasilianum, which are clearly distinguished merely by the structure 
of the anthers, the former alone having the tissues of the connective 
invaded by the fibrous cells of the fibrous membrane of the valves. 

The affinities of the Balanophoreee with other orders of plants 
find in their anatomy characters which either justify or invalidate the 
views founded originally upon external attributes. And at the same 
time that the true affinities obtain a more complete demonstration 
from the concordance of some anatomical characters, the necessity 
of keeping separate neighbouring orders is nevertheless made evident 
by important differential characters. 

Thus the Cytineze differ from the Balanophorez by the arrange- 
ment and general structure of the bundles of the stem and scales, by 
the nature of the vessels, and the structure of the anthers; the 
Nepenthez and Aristolochieze differ still more by the wood of the 
stem, the structure of the leaves and of the connective and valves of 
the anther, the general arrangement of the vessels, the ready unrolling 
of the spiral fibres, &c. : 

The comparative investigation of the Rafflesiaceze, a family which 
has very intimate morphological relations with the Balanophorez, 
will constitute the subject of a special memoir which I shall submit 
to the Academy.—Comptes Rendus, July 11, 1864, p. 68. 


Miscellaneous. 319 


Notice of a Skeleton of the Great Auk found in Guano near New- 
Joundland, By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S., &e. 


An almost perfect specimen of the Great Auk (Alcea impennis), in 


a “mummy state,’”’ has been found on an island to the northward of 


Newfoundland, several feet below the surface of a Sept of frozen 
guano. 

With the exception of the extremities of the toes, this example i is 
perfect in every respect. Even the pen-feathers are on the wings. 
The beak is as perfect as on the day the bird died. 

The specimen is on its way to the Zoological Department of the 
British Museum, to which it has been presented by its discoverer. 
I believe this is the third skeleton of this bird in European collec- 
tions: there is one in Paris, and another in the possession of Mr. 
Alfred Newton, which was found also in guano. 


Second Note on the Anatomy and Histology of Branchiostoma lubri- 
cum, Coste (Amphioxus lanceolatus, Yarrel). By M. J. Mar- 
CUSEN*. 

MUSCULAR SYSTEM. 


All observers before M. Quatrefages, and M. Quatrefages himself, 
agreed that the lateral muscles of the Lancelet have fibres with trans- 
verse strize, and this I have been able to confirm; but with regard 
to the abdominal muscles, Miller was the first to indicate the sin- 
gular fact that they have not striated fibres. M. Quatrefages also 
had not seen them, but it seemed to him that these muscles presented 
strize during their contraction. In the muscles of the cirri of the 
buccal apparatus, and indeed of the entire ring, neither Miiller nor 
Quatrefages saw the least trace of strive. Quatrefages remarked that 
the abdominal muscles presented a singular exception, as in the 
entire vertebrate series they are under the influence of the will, and 
in all other forms present strize. I find that this exception has no 
existence. The abdominal muscles of the Lancelet are composed of 
primitive fibres with transverse striz ; and the muscles of the cirri, 
of the buccal ring, and of the fold which separates the mouth from 
the branchial cavity are also muscles with transversely striated fibres. 
The primitive fibres of these muscles are very delicate, which may 
perhaps prevent the striz from being seen unless the animal be 
dissected, especially as, at this point, they have rather the character 
of tendons. Miller thought he saw muscles in the midst of the 
branchial arches ; but I have been unable to find them. 


CONJUNCTIVE TISSUE. 


This is completely transparent and nearly gelatinous, or it pre- 
sents the form of a fibrous tissue in which many elastic fibres are 
found ; the latter may be either long or short. The long fibres are 
met with chiefly in the fin; the short ones, which are recurved at 


* See ‘Annals,’ August 1864, p. 151. 


320 Miscellaneous. 


the two extremities, occur principally in the conjunctive tissue which 
covers the branchial cavity. 


VASCULAR SYSTEM. 


Besides the large vessels so well described by Miiller, there is a 
well-developed capillary system throughout the body. The capilla- 
ries are met with in the central nervous system and in the muscles ; 
but it is especially at the anterior and posterior extremities of the 
body, and in the delicate membrane which surrounds the body (7. e. 
the fins), that they are most developed. These capillaries are very 
delicate, transparent, and without nuclei in their walls; they are 
seen with difficulty when the body is covered with epithelium. In 
the fins they assume a longitudinal direction, and show many sinuo- 
sities and anastomoses. From the head to the tail they form around 
the central nervous system and dorsal cord a series of longer or 
shorter loops. They are met with in the interstices of the bundles 
of the lateral muscles. Quatrefages thought he saw a movement of 
blood in lacunze ; but these lacune are capillaries with walls: they 
are also found in the parts regarded by Miiller as the fin-rays, and 
by Quatrefages as spinous apophyses, and it is in the opaque body 
which these enclose that they are to be seen with the elastic fibres 
and bodies of the conjunctive tissue. These capillaries are often 
filled with small, round, regular, slightly granukated bodies 5},th 
millim. or less in diameter, and apparently destitute of a nucleus : 
these are the blood-corpuseles of the Branchiostoma. 1 do not think 
that they are visible in the living animal ; neither Miller, nor Quatre- 
fages, nor myself was able to see them therein. I found them in 
specimens preserved in a solution of chromic acid. In any case, the 
vascular system of the Lancelet is more complete than has hitherto 
been supposed ; and the blood, with its corpuscles, is distributed 
through it, as in other Vertebrata, in walled vessels, and not in 
lacune. 

EPITHELIUM. 


In the cells of the epithelium I could discover no nuclei. This 
was the case also with Quatrefages.— Comptes Rendus, July 11, 1864. 


Note on the Great Auk. By Dr. P. L. Scuater, M.A., Sec. Z.8. 


With reference to the list by Mr. Champley, in a recent Number 
of the ‘ Annals,’ of the existing specimens of the skins and eggs of the 
Great Auk (Alcea impennis), my friend Dr. G. Hartlaub, of Bremen, 
remarks to me, in a letter recently received, that it seems to be very 
incomplete. Dr. Hartlaub states that there is a very beautiful spe- 
cimen of this bird in the Bremen Museum, also one at Leyden,— 
neither of which appear to be alluded to by Mr. Champley. 

The Oldenburg collection is also in possession of one of the finest 
existing eggs of the Bird, which was acquired at the sale of the col- 
lection of the late Dr. Graba, of Kiel, for little more than a thaler! 


THE ANNALS 


AND 


MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 


(THIRD SERIES. ] 


No. 83. NOVEMBER 1864. 


XXXVI.—Remarks on Stilifer, a Genus of quasiparasitic Mol- 
lusks ; with Particulars of the European Species 8. Turtoni. 
By J. Gwyn Jerrreys, F.R.S.* 


In the course of my last dredging operations on the coast of 
Shetland, which were undertaken at the instance of the British 
Association, I obtained two full-grown and living specimens of 
Stilifer Turtoni, adhering to an Echinus Drobachiensis of O. F. 
Miller, or EL. neglectus of Lamarck. The Echinus was also 
covered with numerous clusters of egg-shaped spawn, which 
apparently had been deposited by one of the Stilifers. 

I will not say, as is too frequently said on such occasions, 
that nothing or but little is known on the subject; this is not 
the case; but I will endeavour to add something to our know- 
ledge of a curious mollusk, which is especially interesting in 
respect of its peculiar structure and habits, as well as of the 
difficulty felt by naturalists in assigning to it a correct place in 
the system of conchology. 

For the discovery of this mollusk science is indebted to the 
indefatigable labours of the late Dr. Turton. In the ‘ Zoological 
Journal’ for October 1825, an article by him, entitled “ Descrip- 
tion of some new British Shells,” comprised one which he named 
Phasianella stylifera, and of which he says, “ We found a dozen 
of these beautiful little shells alive, and attached to the spines 
of the Echinus esculentus, dredged up in Torbay.” The reason 
which he gives for placing it in Phasianella is singular. It is 
that, in order to prevent the excessive multiplication of genera, 
he combined with that genus many of the smaller turbinated 
shells, such as otherwise answer to Lamarck’s character, whe- 
ther they have an operculum or not ; and such as have the mar- 


* Communicated by the Author, having been read at the Meeting of the 
British Association at Bath, Sept. 15, 1864. 


Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. xiv. 21 


322 Mr. Jeffreys on Stilifer, 


gin of the aperture united all round he cast into the new genus 
Cingulus, after Dr. Fleming. 

This last-named author, in his ‘ History of British Animals,’ 
included in his genus Velutina Turton’s little shell ; but, after 
showing in what respects it differed from Phasianella, not less 
than from Velutina, he suggested that it should probably con- 
stitute a new genus, Stylina. That name, however, had been 
pre-engaged twelve years before by Lamarck for a tropical genus 
of stony Polypes, which he had originally called Fuascicularia. 
Its adoption for the Mollusk also would therefore be contrary 
to usage, especially as the somewhat similar name of Stilifer 
has now been recognized for upwards of thirty years. I am 
aware that this is one of the questions of scientific nomen- 
clature upon which naturalists are by no means agreed. I do 
not pretend to set myself up as a judge, and my opinion may 
be taken for what it is worth. 

Mr. Broderip was the first to ascertain the zoological nature 
of the mollusk now under consideration ; and in the ‘ Proceed- 
ings of the Zoological Society’ for 1832 will be found an admir- 
able communication from him on the subject. He there pro- 
posed the generic name which it still bears—Sfilifer. A more 
detailed description of the animal, from his pen, will be presently 
given in full. The following remarks were appended to Brode- 
rip’s memoir in the ‘ Proceedings of the Zoological Society ?— 
“ Mr. Owen, to whom Mr. Broderip acknowledges himself in- 
debted for the anatomical particulars which he had recorded of 
Stilifer Astericola, subsequently exhibited a series of drawings 
of the animal and of its various parts, so far as he had been able 
to observe them in the specimens brought home by Mr.Cuming. 
He also read a more detailed description of the peculiarities re- 
marked by him during the dissection of the individuals which had 
been entrusted to him for that purpose.” Some such drawings 
are engraved in Sowerby’s ‘ Genera of Recent and Fossil Shells,’ 
and the different parts are designated by letters; but, unfortu- 
nately, no reference was published, except to one of the figures. 

Soon afterwards appeared one of the Numbers of Sowerby’ s 
‘Genera’ containing an account of the present genus, with the 
signature of Mr. Br ‘oderi ip. The first syllable of the name Stilifer 
is here spelt (probably owing to a printer’s error) with a y; in 
the ‘ Proceedings of the Zoological Society’ it is correctly spelt 
with ani. The generic characters of the animal are as follows :— 

Pallium crassum, carnosum, cyathiforme, testee anfractus ultimos 
obtegens. Proboscis longissima, retractilis. Tentacula rotunda, 
crassa, subacuminata, ad basin proboscidis posita. Oculi ad basin 
tentaculorum sessiles, minimi. Branchize stirps solitaria. Animal 
marinum. Asterize cutem penetrans. 


a Genus of quasiparasitic Mollusks. 323 


After the English version of these characters, a few more 
particulars are given,—viz. that the mantle is of a green hue, 
and has a small aperture at its base, and that on its ventral 
aspect is the rudiment of a foot. It is likewise mentioned that 
“Mr. Cuming found this elegant parasite burrowed in different 
parts of the rays of the oral disk of Asterias solaris. It is 
almost hidden from sight, so deeply does the animal penetrate 
into the substance of the Starfish, in which it makes a comfort- 
able cyst for itself, wherein it most probably turns by the aid of 
its rudimentary foot. All the specimens infested with Stylifere 
appeared to be in the best health. Though there is reason to be- 
lieve that they feed upon the juices of the Starfish, with that 
instinct of self-preservation imparted to all parasites, whose ex- 
istence depends upon that of their nidus, the Stylifer, like the 
Ichneumon among insects, appears to avoid the vital parts; for 
in no instance did Mr. Cuming find it imbedded anywhere save 
in the rays, though some had penetrated at their base, and very 
near the pelvis.” I must confess that 1 am not prepared to 
adopt this teleological mode of reasoning, so far as regards the 
Stilifer ; because it does not appear that the Starfish has, in the 
calcareous and solid parts inhabited by its so-called parasite, any 
internal juices or soft tissue on which the latter can feed. The 
investing membrane is wholly external. Although the above 
description of the animal was undoubtedly correct and circum- 
stantial, it must not be forgotten that it was drawn up from 
specimens which had been preserved for a considerable time in 
spirits. The examination of such specimens could not yield 
the same result, in a scientific point of view, as that of living 
individuals in their native habitat. 

Our best British malacologist, Mr. Alder, is the only one who 
has noticed the animal of S. Zurtont. The specimen which he 
examined was rather injured, and in a very sickly state. He 
says, ‘ It was white, had a rather large foot, without operculum, 
and a rounded head with two cylindrical tentacles, and minute 
eyes at the (external or posterior) base. No portion of the shell 
was covered by the fleshy parts ; but we are not prepared to say 
that, in a state of vigour, the animal has not the power of extend- 
ing some part of the mantle or foot over it. The remains of the 
animal, examined under a microscope, did not show any denticu- 
lated tongue.” (I may add, by way of parenthesis, that Mr. Alder 
has, within the last few days, examined the soft parts of two 
more individuals which I sent him for that purpose, but failed 
to detect any traces of a spinous tongue.) He also observed 
that “the otolites are circular, with a central dot, that the gill 
consists of a single series of triangular lobes, and that the mouth 

21% 


324 Mr. Jeffreys on Stilifer, 


breaks up into squarish angular fragments, not crystalline, per- 
haps horny.” 

In 1850, Mr. Arthur Adams, one of the authors of a work so 
indispensable to all students of general conchology (‘ The Genera 
of Recent Mollusca’), published in the ‘Voyage of the Samarang’ 
some interesting details with respect to the animal of another 
species of Stilifer. This species he named S. astericola, erro- 
neously supposing it to be identical with the one described by 
Broderip ; but afterwards, finding out his mistake, he substituted 
ovoideus as the specific name of his Sti/ifer. His diagnosis is as 
follows :— 


“Tentacles slender, subulate, simple. Eyes sessile at the 
cuter bases of the tentacles. Mantle enclosed. Foot 
linguiform, forming an elongated anterior lobe, rudimen- 


tary behind.” 


As will be presently seen, the animal of the European species 
differs in several respects from the above description. Its tenta- 
cles are thick, cylindrical, and more or less strangulated, mstead 
of “slender, subulate, simple ;” the eyes are not placed “at the 
outer bases of the tentacles,’ but behind them on the neck ; the 
mantle is always expanded over part of the shell during the 
lifetime of the animal, and never ‘enclosed,’ nor is it even 
withdrawn at its death; and so far from the foot being “ rudi- 
mentary behind,” it is well developed, and peculiarly constructed. 
The animal of S. Turtoni is, besides, ciliated all over—a character 
which distinguishes it at once from any species of Hulima, with 
which it has been usually associated in works treating on the 
classification of the Mollusca. Perhaps this character may have 
been hitherto overlooked. 

Messrs. Adams, in their ‘Genera,’ added some further in- 
formation as to the habits of Stilifer :— 

“These singular animals are parasitic in the skins of Star- 
fishes, burrowing beneath the surface, and producing tumours, 
often of a considerable size. When removed and placed im 
water, they do not appear to possess much locomotive power, 
but extend the tongue-shaped foot, and use it as an exploring 
organ.” 

The ‘ Journal de Conchyliologie’ for 1851 contains a notice 
by M. Petit de la Saussaye of the present genus, and a descrip- 
tion of a new species, S. Mittrez. He added nothing to our 
knowledge of the animal, but attributed a greater antiquity 
than had been supposed to the discovery of Stzlifer, in a purely 
conchological point of view, by identifying the Helix corallina of 
Chemnitz as the original species. Chemnitz says that he found 


— 


a Genus of quasiparasitic Mollusks. 825 


a dozen specimens of the shell which he had thus provisionally 
named in the crevices of Madrepores and other stony corals that 
had been collected on the shore of one of the West-India Islands 
for the purpose of being burnt into lime, and had formed part 
of the ballast of a vessel bound to Europe. As the corals had 
lain on the beach for a long time, Chemnitz thought the shells 
might have been terrestrial, and not marine. Mistakes of a 
similar kind have been made by modern conchologists—e. g., 
Hala Priamus. 

M. Hupé, the able and courteous curator of the natural-history 
collections in the Jardin des Plantes (whose knowledge of the 
recent Echinodermata is very extensive), published in the 
‘Revue et Magasin de Zoologie’ for March 1860 a description 
of another species, under the name of Stylifer Orbignyanus. 
While examining a specimen of Cidaris imperialis, Lam., from 
New Holland, he noticed that two of the spies were unusually 
enlarged, tumid, and irregularly spherical; at their base he ob- 
served two small vertical slits, like button-holes, placed opposite 
to each other. A section of these spines showed that in the 
cavity of one was enclosed an adult Stilifer, and in the other, two 
specimens, which were also adult, besides several embryonic shells. 
With respect to the mode by which the Stilifer had thus be- 
come enclosed, M. Hupé was of opinion that the cavities were 
not made by them, but that the interposition of some part of 
the mollusk had prevented its being completely imprisoned in 
the spine during the progress of the growth of the Cidaris, 
which would otherwise have enveloped and smothered the Stili- 
fer. He was kind enough to show me the specimens; and 
they seemed to present an analogous case to that of Stzlifer 
astericola, which I had examined in Mr. Cuming’s collection. 

Lastly, I would cite an excellent monograph by Dr. Fischer, 
which appeared in the ‘Journal de Conchylhiologie’ for April 
last, on the genera Stylifer and Entoconcha (p. 91 &c.). In this 
monograph all the known species of Stilzfer are redescribed, and 
a new one (S. Pauluccie) well described and figured. According 
to Fischer, the Entoconcha mirabilis of J. Miller, found in 
Synapte at Trieste, is probably the fry of some other mollusk. 
At all events, we want more information about it. It is almost 
microscopic. 

But to return to Stilifer. Fischer suspected that it is not a 
true parasite. He says that the discovery by M. Hupé proves 
that, although living like a parasite on the tegumentary system 
of the Echinoderms or their appendages, the Stilifer does not 
feed on their substance, as has been supposed. Its nourish- 
ment comes with the sea-water through the openings of the 
cavity which it occupies: perhaps its proboscis may be pro- 


326 Mr. Jeffreys on Stilifer, 


truded for the purpose of seeking this nourishment. I neea 
not say that the reputation of Dr. Fischer as a physiologist, 
especially with regard to the Mollusca, makes any opinion of 
his on such subjects very valuable. I share his incredulity as 
to Stilfer bemg a parasite in the ordinary meaning of the 
word; but my impression is that it feeds on the excretions of 
Echinoderms, and not on animalcules or other organized and 
living matter with which sea-water abounds. It has never been 
found except on Echinoderms, or imbedded in their rays or 
spines. All the specimens of Stilifer Turtoni which I have seen 
in situ (and they have been rather numerous) occupied the upper 
sides of Echini, in the area of the vent or anal opening. The 
Echini so infested appeared to be invariably in perfect health 
and vigour. The Shetland specimen of EL. Drébachiensis was 
carefully watched by me for more than twelve hours. Its tubular 
suckers and pedicellarize continued in active although intermit- 
tent motion during all that period. The Stilifers were nestling 
or slowly crawling about among the spines; but they did not 
touch any of the suckers of the Echinus, which, being retractile, 
could easily have been withdrawn into the test; nor could I 
detect either of the mollusks in the act of feeding on the outer 
membrane or any other part of the Echinus. At the same time 
it is clear that there is some connexion between the peculiar 
habitat selected by the Stilifer and its food ; for if it subsisted on 
any living organisms, it would hardly confine itself to Echino- 
derms, but have a more varied range of habitat. Such shelter 
as an Echinus or Asterias could afford might be as easily obtained 
in crevices of rocks or in the cavities of deserted shells. Con- 
sequently, although I do not consider this a case of true para- 
sitism, like that of the mistletoe among plants, neither would I 
refer it to epiphytism, like that of a tropical orchid. It rather 
reminds one of the scavenger-habits of dung-beetles. 

‘I have elsewhere * endeavoured to show that the pretty little 
bivalve shell called Montacuta substriata, which also infests 
various Echinoids, is not really a parasite. This always occupies 


a different part of the Hchinus from that where the Stilifer takes _ 


up its abode; it adheres by its byssus to the ventral spines near 
the opening of the mouth on the under side. Here it probably 
avails itself of the current or indraught excited by the ciliary 
action of the Spatangus or other Echinoid for its own purposes ; 
and both partake of the same food in amicable but unconscious 
relationship to each other. As far as I have been able to observe, 
the Stilifer does not cause more inconvenience than the Monta- 
cuta to its not unwilling host. 

The suctorial proboscis, as well as the want of a denticulated 

* British Conchology, vol. ii. p. 208. 


a Genus of quasiparasitic Mollusks. 327 


tongue in Stilifer Turtoni, strengthens the supposition that its 
food consists of extremely soft or semifluid matter, and not of 
organisms which have any degree of solidity. Dentalium, which 
preys on Foraminifera and other minute animals, has (according 
. to Lacaze-Duthiers) a very complicated lingual apparatus ; and 
even the little Rissoa, which feeds on seaweeds, often of the 
most delicate and filmy texture, possesses a pair of horny jaws 
and a tongue armed with a strong central tooth, which is flanked 
on each side by a formidable row of serrated lateral teeth. Sti- 
lifer has no jaw or tooth of any kind. 

The late Mr. Stewart, of the College of Surgeons (whose un- 
timely death is still deplored by all who study the British Kehi- 
nodermata), was of opinion that Stilifer Turtont infested Echint 
for the sole purpose of depositing its spawn. We know, from 
the observations of Mr. Peach, that Lamellaria perspicua fre- 
quents the shore at Wick, between tide-marks, every summer, 
and makes a nidus for its spawn in a species of Botryllus. But 
Lamellaria is not, like Stilifer, restricted to a particular habitat. 
The former attaches itself to the under side of loose stones, and 
is also found generally distributed over the sea-bed, except per- 
haps im the spawning-season. The Hchini on which Stilfer 
Turtoni have been taken are very rarely covered with spawn; 
and Stilifers of all ages, from one to half-a-dozen, occur on 
Echini, but nowhere else. 

The fecundity of Stilifer is very great ; and it therefore ought 
not to be a rare shell. I counted at least 100 fry in one of the 
clusters of spawn on the back of the Shetland sea-egg ; and as 
there were 41 of these clusters, this would yield a prospective 
harvest of more than 4000 specimens—enough to supply almost 
all the conchologists in the world. Moreover one of the adult 
Stilifers appeared to be full of spawn. As the Echinus probably 
could not accommodate more than half a dozen Stilifers when 
they came to maturity, what would have become of the rest, 
supposing any of them escaped being the prey of other animals? 
Would they migrate, and form colonies on other Echini? They 
have feet and eyes; and suitable habitations are not wanting in 
the same part of the sea-bed where I procured the specimen 
which have given rise to the above remarks. 

Various have been the positions which conchologists have 
from time to time, assigned to this remarkable mollusk im their 
systems of classification. Turton placed it in Phasianella ; 
Fleming in Velutina, but with doubt; Reeve at first between 
Turritella and Cerithium, but recently between Canalifera and 
his Turbinacea; Macgillivray among his Turbinina, and next to 
Lacuna; Forbes and Hanley, as well as Woodward, in Pyra- 
midellide ; H. & A. Adams as a distinct family between Euli- 


328 Mr. Jeffreys on Stilifer, 


mide and Cerithiopside; Clark in Pyramidellide, between Aclis 
and Scalaria; and Gray also in the same family, between his 
genus Hyala (Rissoa vitrea) and Entoconcha. Iam inclined to 
agree with the Messrs. Adams in making Séilifer the type of a 
separate family; but it is much more difficult to say to what 
other families it has the nearest affinity. Pyramidellide, as re- 
presented in our seas by Odostomia, ought not to be far sepa- 
rated from it; and Janthinide have similar relations to it in 
respect of the nucleus or apex of the shell. Homalogyra has 
sessile eyes placed on the neck, asin Séeifer, but has no tenta- 
cles ; and it is also finely ciliated all over. 

The presence or absence of an operculum is evidently not a 
character of sufficient value to distinguish one family, or even 
one genus, from another, seeing that some species of the same 
genus (e.g. Mangelia) possess an operculum, while their con- 
geners (although closely allied in all other respects) have none. 

The styliform character of the spire in this genus, although 
remarkable, is not peculiar to it, or to Odostomia, Turbonilla 
(or Chemnitzia), Eulimella, or Ianthina. Melampus bulleoides has 
the apical whorls formed in the same mamillated fashion ; and 
in several genera of Bullide the shell exhibits the same feature. 
These, however, may be regarded as cases of analogy rather than 
of affinity. The nucleus of the spire, or first-formed whorls, in 
many univalves ceases to be occupied by the animal after it has 
attained a certain growth, being too small for its requirements— 
like a householder, who usually moves, once at least during his 
life, into a tenement larger than the one he at first inhabited. 
In the case of the Mollusca above referred to, the original and now 
useless tenement remains fixed to the new one; but in Bulimus 
decollatus, some species of Clausilia, andin Truncatella truncatula 
the topmost story is knocked off and replaced by a partition 
wall. Caecum glabrum and C. trachea even undergo partial meta- 
morphoses, the shell of each having at first a regular spire, and, 
when this is lost, becoming a slightly curved cylinder. The 
genera Leptoconchus of Riippell and Campulotus of Guettard 
(Magilus, Montfort) also appear to be related to Stilfer in their 
quasiparasitic habits. The first-named genus is destitute of 
an operculum, except in its younger state; the other has an 
operculum at all ages (Deshayes, Moll. de Pile de Réunion). 

The conjecture of the late Professor d’Orbigny that Stilifer 
ought to merge in Eulima, and that the latter may be also para- 
sitic, has no foundation. It is true that species of Hulima have 
been found in the stomachs of Holothuria ; and the “ trepang,” 
or dried béche de mer, of which the Japanese are so fond, fre- 
quently contains these shells. But this is not a case of parasitism : 
the Eulima feeds the Holothuria, instead of feeding upon it. 


a Genus of quasiparasitic Mollusks. 329 


Let me say a few words as to the name of this genus and the 
European species. Although the Greek orthography is followed 
in our word style, it is clear that the Latin word sé¢e/us was not 
spelt with a y: it is, of course, from this latter word that Séilifer 
is derived. Whether it is correct to form a generic name with 
an adjective may be very questionable; but use has sanctioned 
it in the present instance, as well as in Spirifer, Stiliger, Lobiger, 
Tanthina, Vitrina, and many others of general acceptation. 

According to some purists, the specific name given by the disco- 
verer, if subsequently adopted as generic, ought to be retained ; so 
that the European species would be Stilifer stilifer. Precedents 
are not wanting for such a reduplication of the name under 
similar circumstances, e.g. Volva volva, Turricula turricula, &c. 
But it would be very inconvenient to alter the specific name 
Turtoni, which is so familiar to all conchologists, to say nothing 
of the inelegance of this system of nomenclature, or of its being 
contrary to one of the rules recommended by a committee of 
the British Association. 

This specific name has been spelt, too, in different ways. We 
have Galeomma Turtoni, Scalaria Turtonis, and not only Stilifer 
Turtoni of Broderip, but S. Turtonii of Lovén. The termination 
of the proper name from which all these originated is a Greek, 
and not a Latin, form ; and if it is to be so declined, the genitive 
would be -is, with the penultimate syllable short, as Acton, 
Acteonis ; Alemeon, Alemeonis, &e.: so Turton, Turtonis. But 
if we Latinize the name by adding us to it, the genitive would 
bei: Turtonus, Turtoni; just as Galen was Galenus -1 in the works 
of ancient authors. I must offer an apology for this pedantic 
explanation, although it may be well to have the name in ques- 
tion uniformly spelt. 

The following are all the known species of Stzlifer, with such 
particulars of their geographical distribution and habits as I 
have been able to collect. 


A. Spire short. 
1. Stilifer Turtoni, Broderip. 
Synonyms: Phasianella stylifera, Turton. 
Stylifer globosus, Johnston (1841). 
S. astericola, Brown (1844). 
S. stylifera, Hanley (1844). 
S. Turtonii, Lovén (1846). 
Habitat. On Echinus esculentus, E. saxatils, E. pictus (Nor- 
-man, MS.) and HL. Drébachiensis, in from 20 to 80 fathoms, 
British and Scandinavian Seas. 
This being local, and more especially the subject of the pre- 
sent paper, some further details of its distribution may be de- 
sirable. 


330 Mr. Jeffreys on Stilifer, 


British Isles.—Torbay, on Echinus esculentus, L. (E. sphera, 
Mill.): Turton. Berwick, on #. esculentus: Johnston. North- 
umberland and Durham, on E. pictus: Alder, Howse, and Brady. 
Cork: Humphreys. Plymouth, on E. saxatilis: Stewart, Bate, 
andJ.G.J. Shetland, on E. Drobachiensis, Mill. (E£. neglectus, 
Lam.): J.G. J. 

(N.B. Although most Scandinavian naturalists consider the 
Echinus neglectus of Lamarck to be the same species as the 2. Dré- 
bachiensis of Miller’s Prodromus to the ‘ Zoologia Danica,’ it may 
be doubted whether the latter species is not the H. Flemingii of 
Ball. Miiller’s description is “ hemispheericus, pallidus, spinis 
longis, albis,’ which seems to agree better with H. Flemingit 
than with LE. neglectus.) 

The shell described by Professor Macgillivray, in his ‘ Mol- 
luscous Animals of Aberdeen, Kincardine, and Banff, as Stylina 
stylifera, and stated to have been found by one of his pupils 
“adhering to an Actinia brought up by the lines,” was the 
young of a common West Indian land shell belonging to the 
Cyclophoride. The habitat alone might have induced a suspicion 
that this shell was not our S¢ilifer; and I had an opportunity 
of ascertaining what it really was. 

Scandinavia.—From Bohuslian in Sweden to the coast of Nor- 
way: Lovén. Christiania-fiord, Norway, on Echinus esculentus 
at Drobak, and on fishing-grounds at two other places: Asb- 
jornsen. Bohuslan, in 20 fathoms, on LE. neglectus: Malm. 

Fischer also states that Stelfer Turtont is not uncommon on 
Echinus lividus, near the mouth-opening; but he cites no au- 
thority for this unusual habitat. H. lividus, as is well known, 
excavates holes in slate and gneissic rocks, within tide-marks, 
and its lower surface is pressed closely to the stone. 

Another instance of the same kind of mollusk infesting dif- 
ferent Echinoids is that of Montacuta substriata, which has been 
found not only on Spatangus purpureus, but on S. meridionalis, 
Amphidetus ovatus, Brissus lyrifer, Echinus esculentus, and Ci- 
daris hystrix. 


2. S. astericola, Broderip. 
Hab. Gord Hood’s Island, on Asterias solaris (A. helianthus, 


Lam.) : Cuming. 


3. S. Mittrei, Petit. 
Hab. Indian Ocean: Mittré. 


4, S. fulvescens, A. Adams. 
Hab. Isle of Labuan, in an Asterias: A. Adams. 


a Genus of quasiparasitic Mollusks. 331 


5. S. ovoideus, H. & A. Adams. 
Syn. S. astericola, A. Adams. 
Hab. Borneo, in the body of an Asterias: A. Adams. 


6. S. Orbignyanus, Hupé. 
Hab. New Holland, enclosed in the spines of Cidaris impe- 
rialis: Hupé. 
7. S. robustus, Pease. 
Hab. Sandwich Isles, on Echini: Pease. 


8. S. apiculatus, Souverbie. 
Hab. New Caledonia?: Montrougier. 


9. S. eburneus, Deshayes. 
Hab. Isle of Bourbon, on Echini and Asterie: Maillard. 


B. Spire long. 
10. S. corallinus, Chemnitz. 
Hab. West Indies, in madrepores and other corals : Chemnitz. 


11. S. subulatus, Broderip. 
Hab. West Indies? 
12. S. Barronii, A. Adams. 
Hab. Tropical seas, encysted in the integuments of an Aste- 
rias: Barron. 
13. S. exaratus, A. Adams. 
Hab. Philippine Isles, in the integuments of an Asterias: 
A. Adams. } 
14. S. subangulatus, A. Adams. 


Hab. West Indies. 
15. S. Acicula, Gould. 


Syn. Eulima vitrea, Av Adams. 

Hab. Fiji Isles, in Holothurie: United States Exploring 
Expedition. 

16. S. Pauluccia, Fischer. 

Hab. Red Sea, among the spines of Echinus trigonarius, Lam.: 
Marquise Paulucci. 

Besides the above, may be noticed an undescribed or unnamed 
species dredged by Mr. M‘Andrew off the Canary Isles (if it is 
not S. Turtoni), another collected at Guadeloupe by M. Beau, 
and five more, bearing the following names, but without de- 


332 Mr. Jeffreys on the Animal of Stilifer Turtoni. 


scription,—viz. Stilifer Broderipui, S. Cumingii, S. fastigiatus, 
and S. solidus of Adams’s ‘Genera,’ and 8S. pyramidalis of 
Mr. Reeve. In the British Museum is an unnamed Séilifer 
from Port Natal, said to have been found attached to the mouth 
of a Starfish. 


It is not improbable that some of the species enumerated in | 


the 2nd section, having an elongated spire, may belong to Hu- 
lima or Niso, stead of to Stilifer. 
I am not aware of any fossil species having been discovered. 


I will now give the result of my examiation of the animal of 
S. Turtoni, from notes made at the time. 


Body white, and delicately stippled; the whole of the upper 
surface is covered with microscopical and extremely short 
cilia, which are in constant motion ; these cilia are arranged 
in scale-like bunches, and by their action produce a cireu- 
lating current. 

Mantle thickened at its edges, and spread over the lower part of 
the shell, so as to form a disk. 

Pallial fold, ov branchial opening, on the right-hand side, form- 
ing a canal which terminates in an oval or roundish hole. 

Head-lobes rounded and flattened, nearly transparent, one on 
each side a little below the snout or mouth. 

Snout rather long when extended, but usually folded inwards 
and trunk-like, slightly bilobed, and placed between the 
tentacles and the foot. 

Tentacles club-shaped, somewhat compressed, thick, and rather 
long, sometimes expanded at the tips, which are blunt and 
widely diverging, but united at their bases ; they are more 
or less strangulated or constricted, usually at about one- 
fourth of the distance from their bases. 

Eyes exceedingly small, seated on the neck or back of the head, 
at some distance behind the tentacles. 

Foot tongue-shaped and elongated, bulbous and forming a 
creeping-disk in front, somewhat tubular in the middle, 
and tapering to a fine point behind; the sole, or under 
part, is slit in the middle for more than three-fourths of 
its length, the opening or commencement of the slit being 
near the bulbous part and oval. 

Male organ spiked, and resembling an auxiliary tentacle. 

Habitat. Whalsey Skerries, Kast Shetland, about 40 miles from 
land, in 80 fathoms, sandy bottom, on an Hehinus Drobachiensis. 

A pair of the Stilifer were attached to the sea-egg on its upper 

surface, between the spmes near the vent or anal orifice; and 

the same part was also covered with about forty clusters of 


Mr. Jeffreys on the Animal of Stilifer Turtoni. 333 


spawn, which appeared to be in various stages of development. 
The adult Stilifers were not firmly attached to the Echinus (like 
the Caligus to a codfish), but frequently shifted their places by 


creeping between the spines. I gently removed one of them ~ 


with a stiff camel’s-hair brush, and placed it in a glass tube with 
sea-water. It was at first very sluggish or timid, and evidently 
unaccustomed to its new habitat, lyimg at the bottom of the 
tube; but afterwards it recovered itself, and crawled up the 
side by means of the front part of its foot, very slowly and by 
an imperceptible movement ; the other part of the foot was not 
pressed to. the glass, but rested on the mantle. The foot was 
occasionally twisted about and contracted, as if through uneasi- 
ness. The animal was never wholly withdrawn into the shell, 
although I irritated it with that object. The sht in the foot 
probably serves for the admission of water into some tubular 
cavity or vessels which permeate this organ: this would have 
the effect of enlarging and swelling the foot, so as to protect the 
Stilifer from being crushed by the spines of the Kchinus. A slight 
leverage or action of this kind at the base of the spines would, 
of course, answer the purpose far better than a much stronger 
leverage or power exerted at the top of the spines. The fry are 
enveloped in a gelatinous case. When detached and examined 
under a microscope, each had three lobes, of which the two 
larger were in front; these were finely ciliated, the cilia being 
rather long, and their points sometimes touching the surface of 
the glass cell which contained the fry. The fry rapidly whirled 
themselves about by means of the cilia, but occasionally rested. 
They occupied nautiloid shells of a single turn. 

One of the Stilifers appeared to be full of spawn-masses, 
which were perceptible with the microscope by reason of the 
shell being transparent. The other Stilifer was a male. I after- 
wards replaced the latter in its old quarters, where it was evi- 
dently more comfortable than in the glass tube; and it soon 
adhered to the sea-egg by the prehensile lobe of its foot, and 
settled down among the spines. 

The ciliation of the body in Stilifer is also a characteristic 
feature of Homalogyra (perhaps the living representative of 
Euomphalus), which is a minute (but not microscopical) mollusk, 
without tentacles, and forms a discoidal shell. It is an inhabit- 
ant of the European seas, and comprises two species. Forbes and 
Hanley called one of these species Skenea nitidissima, and the 
other Skenea Rota. Dr. Fischer imagined that the first-named 
species was the fry of some larger mollusk, because it was ci- 
hated; but he must have either overlooked the fact, or else not 
have been aware, that im all the species of Zrochus, Rissoa, and 


334 Mr.J.S. Baly on new Genera and Species of Hispide. 


other genera the tentacles are ciliated, and also, in some species, 
other parts of the body. Mr. Clark was not more happy in his 
conjecture that Homalogyra Rota was the fry of Cecum Trachea, 
~ the natural history of which this accomplished malacologist had. 
so successfully mvestigated. Iam not aware, indeed, that these 
shells or their animals have any character in common; besides 
which, it may be observed that the operculum of Homalogyra is 
flat and paucispiral, with an excentric nucleus, while that of 
Caecum is more or less conical and multispiral, with a central 
nucleus, as in Vermetus. (Since this paper was read, I have 
received from the Marquis James Doria specimens of the young 
of C. Trachea, which he had dredged at Spezzia. The terminal 
part or spire is very different from that of H. Rota.) 

The sexes in Stilifer appear to be separate, as may be seen 
from my description of the animal of S. Turtoni. 

The shell of this species has been often described; but I will 
briefly allude to some of its characters, which have not been 
satisfactorily stated. The spire, for the first three whorls, is 
cylindrical and narrow ; it then enlarges suddenly and dispropor- 
tionately, and consists of three or four more whorls, which are 
rounded and extremely ventricose or swollen. The apex or nu- 
cleus of the spire is not reversed, although often set obliquely ; 
it projects like the stump of a flagstaff which had been stuck in 
a slanting position on a steep mound. The columellar lip, in 
adult and perfect specimens, is slightly reflected. The lower 
part of the mouth is semicircular ; it is not effuse or spread out- 
wards, as in Eulima or Aclis. 


XXXVII.— Descriptions of Genera and Species of Hispide. 
By J. S. Baty. 


[Continued from p. 271. ] 
Genus ALuRNus, Fabr. 
Alurnus Batesii, n. sp. 

A, oblongus, niger, nitidus; thorace rubro; elytris fulvo-flavis, ma- 
culis magnis tribus, triangulariter dispositis, punctoque humerali 
nigris. 

Long. 11 lin. 

Hab. Ega, Upper Amazons. Unique in the collection of 

Mr. Bates. 

Oblong, shining black; thorax red; elytra bright fulvous 

yellow, three large patches on their surface, together with a 

small spot on each humeral callus, black. Head irregularly 


Mr.J.S. Baly on new Genera and Species of Hispide. 335 


punctured, vertex subrugose, portion of face below the insertion 
of the antennz piceous ; antenne scarcely more than half the 
length of the body, their third joimt elongate. Thorax one- 
fourth broader than long; sides subparallel, slightly rounded, 
sinuate near the base; posterior angles slightly produced, sub- 
acute, outer edge of rounded portion subsinuate; just behind 
the anterior angle is a deep notch, the angle itself being produced 
into a short obtuse tooth ; above subcylindrical, irregularly ex- 
cavated at the sides, surface covered with coarse punctures, 
which are irregularly confluent and subvariolose on either side ; 
a narrow patch on the basal margin, in front of the scutellum, 
black. Scutellum semiovate, its apex emarginate; surface 
smooth and shining, impressed with a few scattered punctures ; 
towards the apex is a broad, shallow, longitudinal impression. 
Elytra oblong-ovate, sides slightly rounded, subsinuate below 
the shoulders; apex acutely rounded, conjointly concave-emar- 
ginate at the suture, sutural angles acute ; above convex, surface 
deeply but not quite so coarsely punctured as the thorax; be- 
hind the middle, on the inner disk, are several indistinct longi- 
tudinal ridges; the three large black patches are placed in a 
triangle on the surface, and arranged as follows :—the first, 
common, ovate, slightly emarginate at its upper edge, is situated 
immediately below the scutellum; the two others, larger and 
irregular in shape, are placed one on the disk of each elytron, 
scarcely below its middle; on the humeral callus is also a small 
round spot. 
Genus URopata. 


Many of the species to be described by me in this and the fol- 
lowing papers are placed only provisionally in the present genus. 
Uroplata, as commonly understood, contains a vast number of ap- 
parently incongruous forms. I have been hitherto quite baffled 
in my efforts to break up these forms into smaller groups. Cha- 
racters apparently most striking, and which, in other families, 
afford sure generic differences, here break down utterly, leaving 
the student more and more perplexed after each attempt to un- 
ravel and arrange this difficult group. I trust, however, that, 
by repeated efforts and continued study, I shall even yet succeed 
in my endeavours to divide the species into smaller but more 
natural genera. 

Uroplata militaris, nu. sp. 

U. subcuneiformis, subdepressa, fulva; antennis nigris, thoracis 
margine laterali et vitta centrali, elytrorumque linea marginali 
prope apicem interrupta, fascia subapicali inter angulos posticos ex- 
tensa, maculisque nonnullis obscure viridi-zeneis : elytris apice ob- 


336 Mr.J.S. Baly on new Genera and Species of Hispide. 


tuse truncatis, angulo postico in spinam validam latam, dorso in- 
crassatam, apice acutam, retrorsum paullo curvatam, lateraliter ex- 
tensis ; utroque quadricostato, costa tertia minus distincta, medio 
interrupta, apice abbreviata. 

Long. 33 lin. 


Hab. Ega, Upper Amazons. 


Head smooth, finely granulose, moderately produced between 
the eyes; antennz black, six basal joimts smooth, nitidous, free 
from longitudinal grooves, moderately robust, subincrassate, 
basal joint slightly thickened, scarcely shorter than the second, 
third equal to the second, fourth and fifth each rather shorter, 
equal, sixth distinctly shorter than the fifth, seventh as long 
as the two preceding united, somewhat thickened, and, together 
with the four apical joints, forming an opake elongated club, its 
apex acute, and the sutural lines between the last four joints 
obsolete. Thorax twice as broad as long, much narrowed in 
front ; sides narrowly margined, obsoletely crenulate, rounded, 
sinuate near the apex; anterior angles slightly produced into a 
subacute tooth ; above subcylindrical, slightly depressed trans- 
versely near the base, basal lobe with a deep transverse groove; 
centre of disk faintly impressed with a narrow longitudinal 
grooved line; surface closely covered with large rounded punc- 
tures; fulvous, the extreme lateral border and an interrupted 
longitudinal line down the middle of the disk dark metallic 
green. Scutellum shining fulvous, the apical half of its surface 
horizontal, concave, its apex obtusely rounded. LElytra broader 
than the thorax, slightly increasing mm width towards the poste- 
rior angles, the latter produced almost directly outwards into a 
broadly dilated acute spine, the apex of which is curved slightly 
backwards, its upper surface longitudinally elevated; sides 
narrowly margined, finely and somewhat distantly serrated ; 
apical margin narrow, obtusely truncate, its edge serrate ; above 
subdepressed, convex on the sides and apex; shoulders slightly 
prominent, but not raised vertically, their apex subacute; each 
elytron with four elevated coste, the two outer ones less distinct 
than the others, the second from the lateral border being inter- 
rupted in the middle of its course; suture also raised; inter- 
stices deeply bigemellate-punctate. Beneath bright fulvous; 
anterior pair of thighs bidentate beneath, the hinder tooth long, 
acute; four hinder thighs also armed with a long tooth, the 
intermediate pair with a minute tubercle in front ; tibize curved, 
the four anterior armed just withm the apex with a short 
tooth. 

Collection of Mr. Bates and my own, 


Mr. J. 8. Baly on new Genera and Species of Wispide. 337 


Uroplata puella, n. sp. 

U. elongata, subdepressa, obscure fulva; thoracis vittis tribus ely- 
trorumque vittulis viridi-zeneis: elytris serratis, utroque tricos- 
tato, angulo postico in laminam obtusam viridi-eeneam modice 
lateraliter productis, apice obtuse truncatis; pedibus flavis ; scu- 
tello nigro. ; 

Long. 2 lin. 


Hab. Brazil. 


Head slightly produced in an obtuse angle between the eyes, 
vertex subopake, indistinctly grooved longitudinally ; antenne 
very robust, subincrassate, their basal joints short, nearly equal, 
the first being scarcely more swollen than the others ; the three 
following from the third gradually decreasing in length, trans- 
verse; seventh nearly equal to the two preceding united, swollen, 
and forming with the four terminal joints a distinct club, the 
sutural lines between the last four obsolete. Thorax as broad 
at the base as long, sides narrowed from just above the extreme 
base to the apex, armed at their middle with two or more short 
teeth, anterior angles armed with an obtuse tooth ; above sub- 
cylindrical, depressed and transversely excavated on the hinder 
disk, coarsely variolose-punctate ; basal lobe oblique, transversely 
impressed. Scutellum quadrate. HElytra broader than the tho- 
rax, parallel in front, slightly dilated towards the hinder angle, 
surface of the latter irregularly thickened, sides and apical bor- 
ders narrowly dilated, serrate ; interspaces between the coste 
deeply bigemellate-punctate. 

This pretty little insect is not uncommon in collections. 


Uroplata submarginalis, n. sp. 


U. late cuneiformis, depressa, flavo-fulva, subnitida; elytris rufo 
tinctis ; antennis rufo-fuscis, extrorsum pallidioribus; femoribus 
intermediis dimidio apicali nigro-purpureis: elytris apice oblique 
truncatis, tenuiter serratis, angulo postico in laminam compressam, 
trigonam, apice acutam, postice distincte serratam, lateraliter sat 
prominulam productis; utroque tricostato, interspatiis fortiter 
bifariam punctatis, interspatio tertio apicem versus confuse tri- 
fariam punctato ; marginibus basali et apicali, angulo postico vit- 
taque curvata submarginali ab humero ad angulum posticum ex- 
tensa purpureis aut rufo-purpureis. 

Long. 24 lin. 

Hab. Ega, Upper Amazons. 


Head very slightly produced between the eyes, vertex smooth ; 
antenne nearly one-third of the length of the body, moderately 
robust, subincrassate, joints cylindrical, two basal nearly equal, 
slightly thickened, third elongate, fourth nearly one-half shorter 
than the third; fifth and sixth still shorter, each decreasing in 


Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser, 3. Vol, xiv. 22 


838 Mr. J.S. Baly on new Genera and Species of Hispide. 


length; seventh about equal to the fourth, incrassate, and, con- 
jointly with the four terminal joints, forming a slender fusiform 
club; sutural lines between the last four obsolete. Thorax 
one-half broader than long, sides rounded and narrowed towards 
the apex, nearly straight and parallel at the base, above trans- 
versely convex, flattened and transversely depressed on the 
hinder disk, coarsely punctured, the punctures subrugose on the 
sides, more distant on the disk; basal lobe depressed. Scutel- 
lum oblique at the base, its apical half horizontal, its apex 
obtuse. Elytra much broader than the thorax, the shoulders 
obliquely rounded, lateral border narrow, serrate, interspace 
between the second and third costz broad, impressed with three 
or more somewhat confused rows of punctures; on the hinder 
half of its surface is seen an indistinct ridge, which unites with 
the third costa just before its apex. 
Collection of Mr. H. W. Bates and my own. 


Uroplata pretiosa, n. sp. 

U. subcuneiformis, subdepressa, supra flava ; antennis, thoracis vit- 
tis tribus elytrisque nigris, his plaga humerali, fascia lata pone 
medium, margine dilatato lineaque marginali mox infra basin fere 
ad apicem exteriorem fiavis ; subtus fulva, pleuris, abdominis mar- 
gine pedibusque nigris: elytris apice obtusis, angulo postico in 
spinam compressam acutam, lateraliter modice productis ; utroque 
quadricostato, costa tertia medio interrupta. 

Long. 3 lin. 

Hab. Upper Amazons. 


Head moderately produced between the eyes; vertex granu- 
lose, fulvous yellow, antennze and a spot on the vertex black ; 
antennz moderately robust, slightly thickened towards their 
apex ; all the joints distinct, two basal joints equal, cylindrical, 
the first thickened, third elongate, fourth and fifth each scarcely 
longer than the second, equal, sixth distinctly shorter than the 
fifth, seventh equal to fifth, three following joints each rather 
shorter than the seventh, also equal, the apical joint rather 
longer, acute. Thorax one-third broader at its base than long, 
sides rounded, nearly straight behind, narrowed and sinuate in 
front, anterior angles armed with a short obtuse tooth; above 
subeylindrical, transversely excavated near the base, coarsely 
punctured ; fulvous yellow, a broad vitta down the middle, to- 
gether with the lateral border, black; basal lobe short, deeply 
depressed. Sceutellum shining black, curved, triangular, its 
apex obtuse. Elytra much broader than the thorax, slightly 
increasing in width towards their apex; sides narrowly mar- 
ined, their outer edge serrate, margin slightly dilated towards 
the posterior angles, which are produced obliquely outwards and 


Mr. J.S. Baly on new Genera and Species of Hispide. 339 


backwards into a flattened acute tooth ; apex obtusely rounded, 
apical margin slightly dilated, its outer edge serrate ; above 
flattened along the suture; each elytron with four raised costa, 
the third obsolete in the middle, suture also elevated, interstices 
each with a double row of deep, large, regular punctures. Be- 
neath bright fulvous; pleurs, limb of abdomen, and the legs 
black ; on the under surface of all the thighs, near their base, is 
a fulvous spot. 
Collection of Mr. Bates; also in my own cabinet. 


Uroplata pectoralis, n. sp. 

U. late oblonga, postice ampliata, subdepressa, obscure flava, sub- 
nitida ; antennis obscure fulvo-piceis ; pectore, tibiarum apice tar- 
sisque nigro-piceis: elytris obsolete fusco maculatis, humeris mo- 
dice lateraliter productis apice subacutis, apice obtuse rotundatis, 
fortiter serratis, angulo postico in laminam compressam bispino- 
sam modice lateraliter productis; utroque prope suturam bicos- 
tato, interspatiis rude et profunde biseriatim punctatis; disco 
exteriore profunde confuse punctato, interstitiis elevato-reticulatis. 

Long. 3 lin. 


Hab. Brazil. 


Head moderately produced between the eyes, vertex smooth, 
impressed with a deep longitudinal groove; antennz equal in 
length to the head and thorax, subincrassate, two basal joints 
slightly thickened, third slightly elongate, fourth and fifth gra- 
dually decreasing in length, the sixth scarcely half the length of 
the fifth, the seventh nearly equal to the third, somewhat thick- 
ened, and, together with the four following joints (which are 
closely united, but have their sutural lines distinctly visible 
under a lens), forming a narrow club; apical joimts acute. 
Thorax nearly twice as broad at the base as long, sides narrowly 
margined, crenulate, nearly straight at the base, narrowed and 
rounded in front; upper surface transversely impressed on the 
hinder disk, transversely excavated on the basal lobe, the latter 
broadly truncate, stained on either side with a piceous spot; 
middle of disk in front nearly impunctate, finely strigose, sides 
coarsely and deeply rugose-punctate. Scutellum large, trian- 
gular, broad at the base, its apex truncate. Elytra much broader 
at their base than the thorax; humeral callus thickened, not 
raised above the surface of the elytra, but produced horizontally, 
its apex subacute, not extending beyond the lateral border. Apex 
of tibize thickened. 

Uroplata Stale, n. sp. 
U. subelongata, subcuneiformis, subdepressa, rufo-fulva; capite su- 
pra (plaga verticali excepta) thoracisque margine laterali nigris : 


elytris apice obtusis, angulo postico vix prominulo, apice rotundato; 
22* 


340 Mr.J.8. Baly on new Genera and Species of Hispide. 


obscure metallico-viridibus, utroque tricostato, maculis duabus 

inter se confluentibus, una basi, altera vix ante medium positis, 

plagaque magna communi trigonata, ante apicem posita, fulvis. 
Long. 3} lin. 

Hab. Amazons. 


Head very moderately produced between the eyes, vertex finely 
rugose, longitudinally grooved; antenne shorter than half the 
body, subincrassate, two basal joints nearly equal, the first 
thickened, third nearly as long as the two preceding united; 
fourth and fifth equal, each two-thirds the length of the third; 
sixth distinctly shorter than the fifth, transverse; seventh rather 
shorter than the third, slightly thickened, and, together with the 
four apical joints, forming an indistinct, slightly compressed 
club; seven lower joints nearly cylindrical, subnitidous, granulose. 
Thorax more than one-half broader than long, sides nearly 
straight behind, rounded and narrowed before their middle, 
sinuate immediately behind the anterior angle, the latter armed 
with an obtuse tooth; above subcylindrical, flattened and 
transversely impressed on the hinder disk, closely covered with 
large round punctures, rugose-punctate on the sides, a small 
longitudinal space in the middle of the disk, impressed in the 
centre with a short longitudinal groove, free from punctures ; 
basal lobe depressed, broadly truncate. Scutellum broadly tri- 
angular, rounded at the apex, basal surface oblique, apical hori- 
zontal, slightly concave. Hlytra broader than the thorax, sides 
subparallel in front, gradually but slightly dilated towards the 
hinder angles, the angles themselves scarcely produced, obtuse ; 
lateral and apical margins slightly dilated, the former minutely 
and remotely, the latter coarsely, serrate ; each elytron tricostate, 
the interspaces deeply bigemellate-punctate. 


Uroplata cruentata, n. sp. 


U. elongata, anguste cuneiformis, subdepressa, fulvo-rufa, sub- 
nitida, thoracis vittis duabus nigris: elytris apice obtuse rotun- 
datis, angulo postico non prominulo, obtuso; singulatim tricos- 
tatis, obscure rufo-violaceis, metallico-micantibus, utroque linea 
angusta suturali, margine laterali, postice abbreviata, fascia trans- 
versa subapicali maculisque tribus, harum prima basi, secunda vix 
ante medium, margini adfixa, tertiaque transversa, apice posita, 
fulvo-rufis. 

Long. 3 lin. 


Hab. Brazil. 


Head moderately produced between the eyes, vertex obsoletely 
grooved longitudinally, indistinctly keeled in front; antenne 
longer than the head and thorax, robust, subincrassate, two 
basal joints equal, scarcely thickened, third somewhat elongate, 


Mr. J.S. Baly on new Genera and Species of Hispide. 3841 


fourth and fifth each nearly one-half shorter than the third, equal, 
sixth much shorter than the fifth, transverse, seventh equal in 
length to the third, somewhat thickened, and forming with the 
four terminal joints an elongated, scarcely compressed club; su- 
tural lines between the four latter obsolete. Thorax nearly 
twice as broad as long at the base, sides straight but running 
shghtly outwards from their base to the middle, thence rounded 
and narrowed to the apex ; anterior angles armed with an obtuse 
tooth ; above transversely convex, transversely depressed on the 
hinder disk, surface closely covered with large deep punctures, 
rugose, a longitudinal space down the middle nearly free from 
punctures; basal lobe depressed, very broadly truncate. Scu- 
tellum transverse at the base, sides narrowed from base to apex, 
the latter obtuse, surface oblique at the base, apical portion 
horizontal, transversely grooved. Llytra slightly increasing in 
width from base to apex, lateral and apical margins narrowly 
dilated, finely but not closely serrate ; apical border obtuse, its 
serratures less distinct than those of the sides; each elytron tri- 
costate, the interspaces deeply bigemellate-punctate ; the three 
patches on each elytron are arranged as follows :—first subro- 
tundate at the base; the second large, subtriangular, on the 
outer disk, its base attached to the lateral border ; and the third 
transverse, concave, placed before the apex. 
In my collection. 


Uroplata octopustulata, un. sp. 

U. elongata, anguste cuneiformis, subdepressa, rufo-testacea, sub- 
nitida ; thorace lateribus rotundatis, rude rugoso-punctato : elytris 
apice truncatis, angulo postico lamina compressa, apice rotundata, 
lateraliter vix prominula, instructis ; utroque tricostato, pone me- 
dium quadricostato; pallide rufo-violaceis, singulatim pustulis 
quatuor, una basi, secunda ante, tertia pone medium quartaque 
ante apicem positis, fulvis, angulo postico obscure purpureo. 

Long. 33 lin. 

Hab. Brazil. 


Very similar in form and colouring to U. cruentata, but more 
coarsely punctured ; apex of the elytra more distinctly truncate, 
their hinder angles more distinctly produced. Head somewhat 
strongly produced between the eyes, vertex smooth; antennz 
robust, subincrassate towards their apex, joints cylindrical, two 
basal equal, only slightly thickened, third slightly elongate, 
fourth and fifth equal, each one-third shorter than the third, sixth 
rather shorter than the fifth, seventh equal im length to the 
third, slightly thickened, and, with the four following joints 
(which are coalescent, and without any trace of sutural lines), 
forming an indistinct club, the apex of which is acute. Thorax 


342 Mr.J.8. Baly on new Genera and Species of Hispide. 


nearly twice as broad as long at the base, flattened on the 
hinder disk, subcylindrical in front; surface deeply and closely 
impressed with large punctures, rugose. Scutellum semiovate. 
Elytra broader at the base than the thorax, gradually but slightly 
increasing from their base to the hinder angles; shoulders 
oblique ; lateral and apical margins narrowly dilated, coarsely 
serrate ; interspaces between the coste deeply and coarsely bi- 
gemellate-punctate ; on the outer disk, just above the com- 
mencement of the third vitta, the puncturing is somewhat 
confused. 
In my own cabinet. 


Uroplata concava, n. sp. 


U. elongata, subparallela, subdepressa, obscure rufo-fusca, subnitida; 
thoracis vittis duabus nigro-fuscis ; pedibus flavo-fulvis: elytris 
fere parallelis, apice conjunctim concavis, serratis, angulo postico 
in laminam acutam, trigonam, postice serratam, extrorsum vix 
dilatatam, retrorsum paullo productis ; utroque tricostato, inter- 
spatiis profunde bifariam punctatis, interspatio tertio pone medium 
confuse punctato. 

Long. 33 lin. 

Hab. Amazons. 


Head strongly produced between the eyes, vertex subopake, 
slightly concave behind, furnished with a longitudinal ndge in 
front ; antennz very robust, incrassate, two basal joints short, 
almost transverse, thickened, nearly equal, four following joints 
short, cylindrical, transverse, nearly equal, the sixth being 
scarcely perceptibly shorter than the fifth; seventh nearly as 
long as the two preceding united, coalescent with the four ter- 
minal joimts, which together form an opake compressed club, 
dilated at its upper edge, their sutural lines visible under a lens. 
Thorax about one-half broader than long at the base, sides 
moderately narrowed and rounded from base to apex, anterior 
angles armed with an obtuse tooth; above subcylindrical, flat- 
tened and transversely depressed on the hinder disk, surface 
closely covered with coarse deeply impressed punctures, sides 
rugose; basal lobe oblique, broadly truncate, not transversely 
grooved. Scutellum transverse, sides diverging from the 
base towards the apex, the latter obtusely truncate. Elytra 
broader than the thorax, subparallel, scarcely increasimg in 
width near the hinder angles; sides very narrowly margined, 
their outer edge finely serrate, suture (more particularly in front) 
strongly costate. Thighs armed with a short tooth beneath. 

Collection of Mr. H. W. Bates and my own. 


Uroplata cincta, nu. sp. 
U. elongata, ad apicem vix ampliata, subdepressa, obscure fulva, 


Mr. J. 8. Baly on new Genera and Species of Hispide. 843 


subnitida; pedibus flavo-fulvis, vertice, antennis thoracisque vit- 
tis tribus nigris; elytris (basi excepta) obscure zeneo limbatis, 
limbo laterali bisinuato: elytris apice truncatis, subfortiter ser- 
ratis, angulo postico in laminam compressam, apice acutam, pos- 
tice serratam, lateraliter modice prominulam productis ; utroque 
tricostato, interspatiis profunde bifariam punctatis, interspatio 
tertio pone medium confuse trifariam punctato. 
Long. 33-4 lin. 
Hab. Amazons. Collected by Mr. Bates. 


Head strongly produced between the eyes, vertex smooth, in- 
distinctly impressed with a longitudinal groove; antennz very 
robust, not increasing in thickness towards their apex, the latter 
acute ; basal joint thickened, second to the sixth inclusive short, 
nearly equal in length, the sixth being scarcely shorter than the 
fifth, obturbinate, seventh nearly equal in length to the fifth 
and sixth, and, together with the four apical joints, opake and 
not stouter than those preceding ; sutural lines between the last 
four entirely obsolete. Thorax not twice as broad as long, 
sides straight at the base, rounded and narrowed in the middle, 
sinuate in front, lateral margin obsoletely denticulate ; above sub- 
cylindrical, flattenedand excavated transversely onthe hinder disk; 
surface impressed with large, round, deep punctures, which are 
crowded on the sides, more distant on the disk; a broad lateral 
vitta on either side, and a narrow stripe down the centre, black ; 
basal lobe broadly truncate, its surface oblique, transversely 
grooved. Scutellum pentagonal, its basal half oblique, the apical 
surface horizontal. Elytra broader than the thorax, nearly pa- 
rallel, slightly increasing in width towards the hinder angles, 
sides narrowly margined, finely toothed, hinder angles produced 
into a broad triangular process, which, ‘slightly dilated laterally, 
does not reach backwards beyond the apical margin, its posterior 
edge armed with three or four large teeth; apical margin of 
elytra furnished with coarser teeth than those on the sides. 
All the thighs armed beneath with an acute tooth. 


Uroplata Robinsoni, un. sp. 

U. elongata, subdepressa, rufo-fulva; pedibus flavis; antennis, tho- 
racis lateribus elytrorumque margine rufo-fuscis: elytris apice 
truncatis, angulo postico in spinam validam acutam retrorsum 
productis, utroque tricostato, puncto centrali anguloque postico 

 nigris. 

Long. 2% lin. 

Hab. Brazil. 

Head strongly produced between the eyes, vertex furnished 
with a longitudinal ridge in front, obsoletely grooved posteriorly; 
antenne robust, subincrassate, scarcely longer than the head and 


344 Mr. J.S. Baly on new Genera and Species of Uispidee. 


thorax, two basal joints short, nearly equal, slightly thickened, 
third scarcely longer than the second, semiovate, its apex 
truncate ; three followimg joints very short, transverse, nearly 
equal, the sixth being scarcely shorter than the fifth ; these jomts 
(from the first to the sixth) are all covered with coarse longitu- 
dinal sulci; seventh nearly equal to the two preceding united, 
somewhat thickened, and, together with the four terminal joints, 
forming a distinct, very slightly compressed club, the sutural 
lines between the last four obsolete. ‘Thorax scarcely broader at 
the base than long, subconic; sides nearly straight at their ex- 
treme base, thence obliquely narrowed to the apex ; basal margin 
deeply sinuate on either side, medial lobe broadly truncate, its 
surface oblique, transversely sulcate. Scutellum trigonate, its 
apex obtusely truncate. Elytra broader than the thorax, nearly 
parallel in front, slightly dilated towards the hinder angles, the 
latter armed with a strong acute black spine, the apex of which 
is produced almost directly backwards; lateral and apical mar- 
gins narrowly dilated, coarsely serrate; each elytron strongly 
tricostate, the edge of the third costa serrate. 
In my own cabinet. 


Uroplata miniata, n. sp. 

U. anguste cuneiformis, depressa, fulva; antennis, thorace vitta 
utrinque, elytrorumque fascia subapicali, margine laterali vittulis- 
que obliquis duabus sanguineis: elytris singulatim tricostatis, 
humeris elevatis, apice obtuse truncatis ; angulo postico in spinam 
acutam purpuream oblique productis, 

Long. 3 lin. 


Hab. Venezuela. 


Head strongly produced between the eyes, vertex slightly 
raised, impressed in the middle with a longitudinal groove ; 
antennze nearly half the length of the body, robust, subincras- 
sate; basal joint thickened, second and third each shorter than 
the first, equal, the second being slightly thickened ; fourth and 
two following joints very short, transverse, equal, the sixth being 
scarcely sensibly shorter than the fifth, seventh equal in length 
to the two preceding, and, together with the four apical joints, 
thickened and forming an elongate slightly compressed club ; 
sutural lines between the last four jomts nearly obsolete. Tho- 
rax as long as broad at the base, subconic, the sides obliquely 
converging from immediately above the base to the apex; sub- 
cylindrical above, indistinctly flattened on the hinder disk, closely 
and deeply impressed with large round punctures; basal lobe 
oblique, its surface transversely sulcate. Scutellum large, de- 
pressed at the base, subpentagonal, the apical angle very obtuse. 
Elytra broader than the thorax, subparallel, slightly dilated to- 


Dr. J. HE. Gray on the Whalebone-Whales. 345 


wards the hinder angles, the latter armed with a broad, flattened, 
slightly curved, oblique spine, its upper surface thickened, its 
apex directed backwards; the narrow lateral border, together 
with the apical margin, serrate; humeral callus obliquely ele- 
vated, its apex acute; each elytron with three strongly raised 
coste, the first still more strongly elevated at the base, the se- 
cond and third both commencing at the apex of the humeral 
callus, the outer one serrate; imterspaces deeply bigemellate- 
punctate; the two oblique vitte extend from the lateral margin 
nearly to the suture, the first running along the hinder edge 
of the raised humeral callus, the second being placed just below 
the middle of the disk. 
In my own collection. 
[To be continued. ] 


XXXVIIT.—Notes on the Whalebone-Whales ; with a Synopsis 
of the Species. By Dr. Joun Epwarp Gray, F.R.S. &c. 


Tue rarity of their occurrence, the difficulty of naturalists ex- 
amining thera when they do occur, and especially of comparing 
them with other specimens, explain why the Whalebone-Whales 
have been so imperfectly known ; and, when observed, the spe- 
cimens are so large that it is almost impossible for the eye of 
the naturalist to take them in as a whole, and to compare the 
parts in detail. 

The allied species are so alike externally, that naturalists and 
others who have had the opportunity of examining them have 
been inclined to regard the different specimens observed as only 
states of growth of the same species; and, for the same reason, 
the specimens which have been observed in different parts of 
the world have been regarded as alike; and thus the belief has 
become general that the species of Whalebone-Whales have a 
very extended geographical distribution. 

The examination and comparison of the few skeletons that 
have been collected have shown that there are many more spe- 
cies than has been generally supposed, and seem to lead to the 
conclusion that each species of Whalebone-Whale has only a 
comparatively limited geographical range; and the observation 
of whales seems to make it probable that some of them make 
periodical migrations within these limits. 

The study of the subject, and especially of the bones that 
have been collected, has led me to the following conclu- 
slons :— 

1. That, though the adult Whalebone-Whales have a large 
head compared with the size of the body, the head of the foetal 


346 Dr. J. E. Gray on the Whalebone- Whales. 


specimen is short, and that it increases in size, and especially in 
length, much more rapidly than the rest of the body. This is 
very apparent in the Right or Greenland Whale, where the head 
of the adult is two-fifths, while that of the new-born is only 
two-sevenths, of the entire length of the animal. These differ- 
ences are shown by Eschricht in his figures. The head of the 
new-born and of the adult Cape Whalebone-Whale show the 
same difference ; but the head in both states is smaller, compared 
with the entire length of the animal, than in the northern or 
Greenland species. 

2. That the bones of the Whalebone-Whales in the very 
young state are the same in number, and nearly the same in 
form, as in the adult animal, the bones only becommg more or 
less completely ossified, which they appear to do very slowly, 
and in some species even more slowly than in others ; so that the 
notion that the number of vertebra increases with the growth 
of the animal, which has been entertained by some naturalists, 
is a mistake. 

3. It also appears that certain parts which become ossified 
in most kinds of Whalebone-Whales do not become so in 
others. Thus the lateral processes of the cervical vertebrae of 
Meygaptera, Benedenia, and Physalus seem to be nearly of the 
same form in the young and cartilaginous state; that is to say, 
they have the usual form of these bones in the Balenopteride ; 
and though the entire lateral process becomes ossified m Phy- 
salus and Sibbaldus, the end of the process remains cartilaginous 
at least to a much greater age, if not always, in the genera 
Megaptera and Benedenia. Naturalists observing this apparently 
imperfect development of the bones in the latter genus, have 
been induced to believe that it arose from the youth of the spe- 
cimens observed, instead of being a peculiarity of the genera, 
overlooking the fact that the skeletons of the oldest Megaptere 
that have been examined show the same apparently imperfect 
development and truncated form of the bones. 

4. The general form of the baleen, the comparative thickness 
of the enamel, and the fineness or coarseness of the internal 
fibres which form the marginal fringe, and the internal structure 
as shown by the microscope, all present good characters for de- 
termining the species and for separating the Whalebone- Whales 
into natural groups, as I have shown in the ‘ Zoology of the 
Erebus and Terror.’ 

The qualities of the whalebone or baleen from various loca- 
lities, and hence from different kinds of Whales, have been ob- 
served, and have led to their employment for different purposes 
by the handicraftsman ; according to their goodness and rarity, 
they fetch very different prices in the market—an instance of 


Dr, J. E. Gray on the Whalebone-Whales. 347 


the practical workingman and the trader being in advance of the 
scientific zoologist. 

5. The difference in form of the tympanic bones is great, and 
affords good characters, not only to separate the species from 
one another, but also to group them into families and genera. 

6. The fact that some Whalebone-Whales have the first rib 
furnished with a double head, one head attached to the last 
cervical and the other to the first dorsal vertebra, which had 
been observed by Rudolphi, Yarrell, Dubar, and Schlegel, 
though apparently considered as only to be found in the young 
state of the species by the latter author, disappearing as the 
animal increases in age, proves, I believe, to be a permanent 
peculiarity of considerable importance, and justifies Lilljeborg 
in using it as a character for the discrimination of the species, 
and even for separatmg the Whales into groups or genera. 
That it is not a peculiarity of the young state is proved by its 
being seen well developed in the skeleton of the gigantic Ostend 
Whale, which was formerly exhibited at Charing Cross and in 
other places. This peculiarity is found both in the Right Whales 
and in the Finners. 

Indeed, when the skeletons of the specimens from different 
localities can be examined, there are no want of characters to 
separate the Whales into genera and species—as, for example, 
the breadth of the upper jaw, the size and form of the ramus of 
the lower jaw, the form of the lateral processes of the cervical 
vertebree, the number of the dorsal and caudal vertebree, the 
form and size of the articulating surfaces of the vertebrae, the 
form and number of the ribs, the form of the os hyoides and of 
the sternum, the shape of the scapula and the development or 
non-development of the coracoid process, the form and propor- 
tions of the bones of the arm, and the number and comparative 
length of the bones of the paddle. I am convinced that, when 
more skeletons have been collected, the number of the species of 
these animals will be greatly increased, especially if the bones of 
the skeletons are kept separate, and not set up, so that the bones 
of the different species can be accurately compared. For it is to 
be observed, probably from the eye not being able to take in the 
peculiarities of so large a subject, that some of the best com- 
parative anatomists have regarded skeletons from very dif- 
ferent localities, as the Megaptere from the Northern Seas and 
from the Cape, as the same species, from a comparison of set-up 
skeletons, which were at once declared to be distinct when the 
separate bones were compared in detail. 

The Whalebone- Whales (Mysticete) are characterized by having 
only very rudimentary teeth, that never cut the gum, and by 
having cross rows of flexible horny plates, fringed on the inner 


3418 Dr. J. E. Gray on the Whalebone-Whales. 


edge, on each side of the palate. The tympanic bones are large, 
conch-like, attached to the expanded periotic bones, which are 
articulated to the skull. The lachrymal and malar bones are 
small and thin, and are often lost in preparing the skulls. 


The Whalebone-Whales may be divided into two families, 
thus :— 


Fam. 1. Balenide. (The Right Whales.) 


The belly smooth, without any longitudinal folds. Dorsal fin 
none ; pectoral fin broad, truncated at the end. Maxillary bones 
narrow. Baleen elongate, slender, straight. 'Tympanic bones 
rhombic. Scapula higher than wide. 


A. Head very large; of adult, two-fifths the entire length. Baleen elongate, 
slender, with a single series of very fine elongate central fibres, forming 
‘a fine flaccid fringe. Enamel thick, polished. 


1. BaLana. 


Ribs 13; the first like the others, single-headed ; the tympanic 
bone rhombic, aperture oblong, only shghtly contracted at the 
upper end, and about two-thirds the length of the bone. (Proc. 
Zool. Soc. 1864, p. 201, f. 1.) 


1. Balena mysticetus, Cuvier, Oss. Foss. v. t. 25. f. 9, 10 (adult). 
(Greenland Right Whale.) 


Balena mysticetus arctica, Schlegel, Abh. 36. 
Nordhval, Eschr. 


Hab. Northern Sea, Greenland. 


2. Balena Biscayensis, Eschr. & Van Ben. 


Hab. The Bay of Biscay. I have seen no remains of this 
Whale. 


3. Balena marginata, Gray, Zool. Ereb. & Ter. 48, 61. f. 1. 


Only known from some plates of baleen received from 
Western Australia. This is undoubtedly a very distinct species. 
The baleen is of nearly the same structure as that of the Green- 
land Whale; but we do not know what may be the form of the 
first ribs or of the bones of the other parts of the skeleton. 


B. Head large; of adult, about one-fourth the entire length. Baleen elongate, 
broad at the base, with several series of rigid central fibres, forming a 
rigid fringe. Enamel thin. 

2. Eusarzna, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1864. 
Ribs 15; the first like the others, single-headed. Tympanic 


Dr. J. E. Gray on the Whalebone-Whales. 349 


bones rhombic, nearly like those of Balena. Head large; of 
adult, about one-fourth the entire length. Vertebre 52. 


E, australis, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1864. 
Balena australis, Cuvier, Oss. Foss. t. 25. f. 1, 2 (young), f. 5, 6 (adult). 


Hab. South Sea, Cape of Good Hope. Two skeletons, Mus. 
Paris. 


I believe that the baleen or whalebone which is sold in the 
market as South-Sea whalebone comes from this Whale. 


3. HuNnTERUS. 


Ribs 15; the first double-headed, the rest single-headed. 
Tympanic bones rhombic, nearly like those of Balena. Head 
large, forming above one-fourth of the entire length of the adult. 


Hunterus Temminckit. 
Balena mysticetus australis, Schlegel, Abhandl. 37. 

Hab. South Sea, Cape of Good Hope (Horstock). Skeleton 
of young, Mus. Leyden. 

Temminck and Schlegel, in the ‘ Fauna Japonica,’ t. 28 & 29, 
figure a Whale from Japan (from a model made in porcelain-clay 
by a Japanese) under the name of B. australis; but no remains 
of it have been as yet sent to Hurope; so that we do not know 
whether it is an Hubalena or a Hunterus, or if it may not be an 
entirely new form. The baleen sold in the market as “ North- 
west-coast whalebone,” which I figured in the ‘ Zoology of the 
Erebus and Terror,’ t. 1. f. 4, is quite distinct, and fetches a 
different price, from that called “ South-Sea whalebone,” which 
is said sometimes to be brought from the Cape—showing that 
the Whalebone-Whale of the North Pacific is a distinct species. 
I called it Balena Japonica in my monograph; but Lacépéde 
had already given that name to a Whale described from a Japanese 
drawing, which is differently coloured from the one figured by 
Temminck: therefore I now propose to call it Balena Sieboldit. 


4, Caprrrza, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1864, p. 202. 

The first rib ? The tympanic bone irregular rhombic, 
aperture irregular, much contracted at the upper end, and the 
wide part not half the length of the bone. (Proc. Zool. Soe. 
1864, p. 208, f. 2.) 


1. Caperea antipodarum, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1864, p. 202. 
Balena antipodarum, Gray, Dieffenbach, N. Zealand, t. 1. 
Hab. New Zealand; Otago. 


350 Dr. J. E. Gray on the Whalebone-Whales. 


Fam. 2. Balenopteride. (The Finners.) 


Belly longitudially plaited. Dorsal fin distinct ; pectoral 
fin lanceolate. Maxillary bones expanded. The baleen short, 
broad, triangular, twisted. The tympanic bones oblong ovate. 
Scapula broader than high. 


A. The Hunchbacked Whales have a very low broad dorsal, a very long 
pectoral fin ; arm-bones strong, broad ; fingers very long, joints 3 to 
10; the cervical vertebre are often anchylosed ; the neural canal high, 
triangular, with angles rounded, as high as broad. 


1. MEGAPTERA. 


The pectoral fin about one-fifth of the entire length of the 
animal. The second cervical vertebra with two short, truncated, 


subequal lateral processes. Ribs 14; first single-headed. Ver- 
tebree 54 or 55. 


a. Blade-bones without any acromion or coracoid process ; the bodies of the 
cervical vertebre subcircular ; arm-bones broad. (Megaptera.) 


1. Megaptera longimana, Gray. 
Balena longimana, Rudolphi. 
Hab. North Sea. Skeletons in British Museum and Liverpool. 


b. Blade-bone with a small coracoid process ; the bodies of the cervical ver- 
tebre nearly square, with the angles rounded. (Poescopia.) 


2. Megaptera Lalandii, Gray, Proce. Zool. Soc. 1864, p. 207. 


Balena Lalandii, Fischer. 
Balena Pescop, Desmoul. 
Hab. Cape of Good Hope. Skeleton, Mus. Paris; cervical 
vertebre, Brit. Mus. : 


ce. Blade-bone with a distinct acromion and coracoid process ; arm-bones 
more slender ; fingers ? (Eschrichtius). 


3. Megaptera? robusta. 


Balenoptera robusta, Lilljeborg, Fordrag, Kjobenh. 1860, p. 602. fig. 1; 

Seand. Hvaldjur. p. 77. 

The coronoid process of the lower jaw low, but little developed. 
Ribs 15.15, the first three with a small compressed process 
below the condyle. Vertebree 60; the lateral processes of the 
hinder cervical vertebre free at the end, the lower ones longest, 
bent up and dilated at the end. 

Hab. Northern Sea. 

The skeleton was found buried in the sand, in an imperfect 
condition. The form of the dorsal and pectoral fins, and many 
of the more characteristic bones, as the second cervical vertebra, 
are not known. 


Dr. J. E. Gray on the Whalebone-Whales. 351 


T have been induced to refer it to this genus on account of the 
high, triangular, roundish form of the canal of the spinal mar- 
row of the cervical vertebrae, and the form of the lower jaw. 
Lilljeborg referred it to Balenoptera on account of the form of 
the blade-bone; but the two species of Megaptera differ in the 
form of that bone. The rib, as well as the blade-bone, is more 
like that of Physalus than Megaptera; but I believe that it may 
be a genus distinct from both. These observations are founded 
on some drawings of the bones kindly sent to me by Professor 
Lilljeborg. 


4. Megaptera Nove-Zelandie, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1864, 
p- 207, f. 4 (ear-bones). 


Hab. New Zealand. LEar-bones in British Museum. 


There are, no doubt, other species of this genus,—as the Ber- 
muda Humpback (Megaptera americana), described by Dudley, 
Phil. Trans. xxxui. 258; and the Japanese Humpback, or 
Kugira (Megaptera Kugira), figured by Temminck in the ‘ Fauna 
Japonica,’ from a drawing brought home by Siebold, under the 
name of Balenoptera antarctica, t. 30 (not t. 23). 

Mitchell, the traveller in Australia, mentions a Humpback 
Whale inhabiting Portland Bay, Australia Felix; and others 
have been mentioned as inhabiting Terra del Fuego, Staten 
Land, by Cook, and Kamtschatka and Behring’s Strait by 
Pallas. 


B. The true Finners have a high, erect, compressed, falcate dorsal fin, 
a moderate-sized pectoral fin, with stout arm-bones and short fingers, 
joints 4 to 7; and the neural canal of the cervical vertebre is broad 
and low. 


a. The dorsal fin is about three-fourths the entire length from the snout ; 
and the cervical vertebre are not anchylosed together. The neural 
canal oblong, transverse. Ribs 14 to 16. 


2. BENEDENIA. 


The second cervical vertebra with two short lateral processes. 
Ribs 15; first smgle-headed, with a compressed internal process. 
The ramus of the lower jaw is moderate ; lower jaw-bones thick, 
convex on the side. Vertebrze 60. 


Benedenia Knox, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1864, 209. 
Coronoid process of the lower jaw low and broad. 


Hab. Coast of Wales; Northern Seas. Skeleton, Brit. Mus. 


Mr. Flower has shown me the drawing of a skeleton of what 
appears to be a second North-Sea species of this genus, which 
has a well-developed ramus to the lower jaw. 


352 Dr. J. E. Gray on the Whalebone- Whales. 


3. PHysaLus. 

The second cervical vertebra with a broad expanded lateral 
process, with a large perforation in the upper part of its base. 
The first rib with a simple compressed head, and with a com- 
pressed internal process near the condyle. Lower jaw-bones 
thick, convex on the sides, with a distinct conical coronoid pro- 
cess. Ribs 14 to 16. Vertebree 60 or 62. 


1. Physalus antiquorum, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1864. 

The lateral processes of the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th cervical 
vertebre broad, ring-like; the lateral processes of the 2nd cer- 
vical elongate, oblique, truncated. Ribs 14. 14. 

Hab. Northern Seas. Skeleton, Mus. Brit. and Alexandra 
Park. 

2. Physalus Duguidii, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1864. 
ibs ES <1. 
Hab. Northern Seas; Orkney. Cervical vertebrae, Mus. Brit. 


3. Physalus Sibbald, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1864. 


Ribs 16.16. Ramus of lower jaw conical, high. 

Hab. North Sea; mouth of the Humber. Skeleton in Hull 
Museum. 

4, SIBBALDUS. 

The second cervical vertebra with a broad elongated lateral 
process, perforated at the base. The first and second ribs double- 
headed. Lower jaw-bones compressed, high, flat on the sides, 
with a distinct conical coronoid process. Vertebre 55. Ribs 
13 or 14. Arm-bones slender. 


1. Stbbaldus laticeps, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1864. 
Balenoptera laticeps, Gray; Lilljeborg, J. c. p. 63. 
Ribs 138.18. Dorsal fin compressed. 
Hab. Northern Seas. Skeleton, Mus. Berlin. 


2. Sibbaldus Schlegelit. 


Balenoptera from Java, Schlegel, Mus. Leyden. 
B. Schlegel, Flower, MS. 
“ Megaptera from Java,’ Van Beneden, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1864, p. 208. 


Hab. Java. Skeleton, Mus. Leyden (young); skull, Mus. 
Leyden. 
3. Sibbaldus borealis, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1864. 
Balenoptera gigas, Reinhardt & Lilljeborg. 
Ribs 14.14. Dorsal fin small, far back, on a prominence. 
Hab. Northern Seas. Skeleton, 


Mr. E. R. Lankester on new Mammalia from the Red Crag. 358 


b. The dorsal fin two-thirds of the entire length of the animal from the 
nose. Cervical vertebre sometimes anchylosed. Neural canal tri- 
gonal, broader than high. Ribs 11. 


5. BaL@zNOPTERA. 


The second cervical vertebra with a broad, long lateral pro- 
cess, perforated at the base. The first rib single-headed. ‘The 
lower jawbone moderate, with a distinct, high, conical coronoid 
process, Vertebre 50. Ribs 1]. Arm-bones slender. 


Balenoptera rostrata. (The Little Beaked Whale.) 


Hab. Common at the mouths of large rivers. 

The “ Finner Whales” are mentioned as inhabiting almost all 
the seas ; and doubtless there are a large number of species that 
have not yet been brought under the notice of zoologists, or of 
which there are no remains in any Huropean museum. 


XXXIX.—On New Mammalia from the Red Crag. 
By EH. Ray Lanxester. 


[Plate VIII. | 


Durine a recent visit to Suffolk I had the pleasure of examining 
a very fine collection of Crag fossils in the possession of W. 
Whincopp, Esq., of Woodbridge, perhaps one of the most re- 
markable and interesting collections ever formed from a single 
deposit, containing as it does remains derived from every stratum 
from the Greensand upwards, and illustrating in a very striking 
manner the fallacy of hasty generalizations founded upon the 
more or less extended distribution of genera or species through 
any given series of deposits. Though I would by no means wish 
to impugn the doctrine of strata identified by their organic con- 
tents, yet I feel confident that too great caution cannot be exer- 
cised in drawing conclusions from the phenomena of association 
‘when contemporaneity is not demonstrable. In the Red Crag 
we have derivatives and representatives of nine different faune, 
to some one of which it becomes necessary to refer any new or 
undescribed fossil that may be discovered therein. There are— 
(1) Upper Greensand fossils in considerable numbers, portions 
of Ammonites, Terebratule, Saurian teeth and bones, &c. 
(2) Chalk fossils, represented by flints containing Sponges and 
Echinoderms. (3) Fossils from the lowest Eocene beds, the 
Thanet Sands. (4) Nodules, the so-called “coprolites,” and 
very numerous remains of Fish, Crustacea, and (much more 
rarely) Reptilia and Mammalia, derived from the London Clay, 
(5) Teeth of Carcharodon heterodon and portions of Hdaphodon, 
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.3. Vol. xiv. 23 


354 Mr. E. R. Lankester on new Mammalia 


from Middle Eocene beds. (6) Teeth of Mastodon angustidens, 
Rhinoceros Schleiermacheri, Tapirus priscus, and others, derived 
from the breaking up of a Miocene deposit of the same age as 
the Epplesheim strata. Remains of Mastodon have been found 
at the base of the Coralline Crag, in a débris formed of phos- 
phatic nodules and vertebrate remains. (7) Cetacean remains, 
consisting of bones and teeth, much worn, teeth of Carcharodon 
megalodon and Oxyrhina, also worn, derived from a previous 
Pliocene deposit, contemporaneous with the Middle Crag of 
Antwerp, where these same Cetacean remains and Sharks’ teeth 
are abundant in an unworn state. These also have been found 
at the base of the Coralline Crag. (8) Shells derived from the 
Coralline Crag—Pectunculus glycimeris, Pyrula reticulata, &c. 
(9) The proper fauna of the Red Crag, certain Fish-remains, 
Mollusca, Crustacea, and perhaps some Mammalia. 

It seems very certain that the majority of the terrestrial 
Mammalia obtained from the Red Crag have not only a Miocene 
facies, but are absolutely derived from a Miocene deposit, whilst 
the Cetacea are of a later period. In the equivalent of the 
Red and Coralline Crags at Antwerp not a single terrestrial 
mammal has been found; but Cetacean remains are abundant, 
and the teeth of a species of Phoca have been detected. The 
beds at Antwerp give indications of having been deposited far 
out at sea, in a much quieter manner than the Red Crag, which 
appears to have been a littoral deposit, and is in fact a raised 
beach, in forming which great districts of previous strata were 
broken up by the sea, which has now destroyed the greater part 
of the Red Crag in its turn. It is therefore not impossible that, 
in the process “of the formation of the Red Crag, remains of 
certain terrestrial mammals then living on the shores of its sea 
should have been imbedded; whilst in the Antwerp strata, more 
distant from the coast, the remains of none but marine beings 
could be enveloped. No Mammalia have, however, yet 
been found of which it could be said with any degree of cer- 
taimty that they lived contemporaneously with the Molluscan 
fauna of the Crag; and we may be confident, from the position 
in which they have been found, from their condition and pale- 
ontological affinities, that Mastodon angustidens, Rhinoceros 
Schletermacheri, Tapirus priscus, Felis pardoides, and other 
Miocene forms, did not live during the deposition of the Red or 
Coralline Crags. 

In looking over Mr. Whincopp’s collection, I found some 
Mammalian teeth which have not hitherto been noticed, a de- 
scription of which I trust may prove of some value as an addi- 
tion to our knowledge of the fauna of the Red Crag and of the 
British fossil Mammalia generally. 


from the Red Crag. 355 


Castor veterior, n. sp. 


Two molar teeth, one of which is represented in PI. VIII. fig. 5 
and an incisor of the lower jaw, in fig. 6, belong to Mr. Whin- 
copp’s collection. They were obtained from a Red-Crag pit in 
the neighbourhood of Sutton, and are in the usual mineralized 
condition of Red-Crag Mammalian remains, being very heavy 
and presenting an iron-stained glossy surface; so that any per- 
son with a moderate experience in these matters would at once 
recognize their origin. They unmistakeably belong to a species 
of Beaver. The molar figured I have carefully compared, with 
the assistance of Mr. Davies, with the skulls of Castor Europeus 
from the Lincolnshire fens, in the British Museum, as also with 
teeth from Grays, and a specimen in my own collection of the 
Canadian Beaver. I find that it is the premolar of the upper jaw 
of the left side, the dental ae of the Beaver, as given by 


Prof. Owen, being i. 3, pm. >, m. = = 20. It differs chiefly 


from the specimens I have eruained in the great length of the 
fang, and also in the arrangement of the folds of enamel on the 
crown or flat grinding-surface. This resembles that of the 
Castor Canadensis rather than that of the C. Huropeus, but 
differs from it in the greater width of the fossee of dentine be- 
tween the enamel ridges, and in the greater inward development 
of the large anterior fold or lobe. In C. Europeus the pre- 
molar of the upper jaw presents the same general arrangement 
of the enamel ridges; but certain minor variations may be de- 
tected which do not exist in the Crag or Canadian species. 
These relate merely to the proportion and development of cer- 
tain folds, and are probably of little value as specific characters. 
I do not, however, hesitate to consider the Beaver to which the 
teeth under description belonged as a distinct species. Fossil 
Beavers have been met with at Perrier and in the Val d’Arno, 
the latter bemg a Miocene, the former a Pliocene deposit. The 
Crag form does not resemble either of these, and I therefore 
distinguish it as Castor veterior. The C. Huropeus has been 
met with in a fossil condition at Grays in Essex, and at Ilford, 
associated with the remains of Hlephas antiquus, Rhinoceros 
tichorhinus, &e. The Trogontherium Cuviert has a tooth very 
differently marked from that figured, the age of which would 
otherwise have induced one to compare the two. 

There is little doubt that the Beaver, like all the terrestrial 
Mammalia found in the Crag which are known (with perhaps 
one or two exceptions), was derived from a previous Miocene 
deposit. 

I should mention that the incisor tooth, which is imperfect, 
presents no very striking characters, but is of a very rich black 

23% 


5)D6 Mr. E.R. Lankester on new Mammalia 


colour, partly owing, no doubt, to the natural stain which occurs 
in the incisors of most Rodentia. 


Delphinus (Phocena) uncidens, u. sp. 


Of the two little teeth represented in Pl. VIII. figs. 12,13, one 
is in my own collection, the other in that of Mr. Whincopp. 
When first I obtained these, I was led, by their peculiar curved 
form and great length of fang, to regard them as incisors of a 
species of Phoca, and this the more especially since a Seal had 
been discovered by the illustrious Van Beneden in the Antwerp 
Crag. <A careful comparison and examination of the teeth, 
however, has convinced me that they belong to a species of 
Delphinus hitherto undescribed. In those Seals which present 
incisors having this peculiar hook-like form the tooth is mvari~ 
ably lobed or developed to a small extent on one side; the fang, 
too, is considerably flattened, so that the antero-posterior breadth 
is greater than the lateral. In the two teeth from tne Crag this 
is not the case: the unciform crown is perfectly symmetrical, 
and the fang is flattened in the reverse direction. ‘The form of 
the teeth agrees very exactly with the conoid denticles of some 
Delphinide, more particularly of the subgenus Phocena. The 
enamel on the crown is thin, as in most Cetacea, whilst the en- 
larged fang is very characteristic of that group. I propose 
therefore to cal! this species Delphinus uncidens. With the teeth 
I would associate, under this specific name, certain small ceto- 
tolites, which have long been known as occurring in the Crag, 
more particularly in the neighbourhood of Woodbridge (whence 
also the teeth were originally obtained), but which have never 
been described. One of these auditory bones is represented in 
figs. 2, 3. Such examples are very numerous of this size, which 
would agree very well with the size of the small teeth. They 
are evidently the “ ear-cases” of small Delphinide, and pre- 
sent no striking characters which should distinguish the animal 
to which they belonged from the ordinary forms of Phocena and. 
Delphinus. It may be considered a very fortunate circumstance 
that the teeth and ear-bones can thus be united, and assigned 
to the same species in so certain a manner, since the discon- 
nected nature of the Cetacean remains of the Red Crag has in 
many instances prevented a correct appreciation of their specific 
and generic value. 


Delphinus (Phocena) orcoides, n. sp. 

The species to which I have ventured to give this name is repre- 
sented by three teeth in the collection of Mr. Whincopp, of which 
two are drawn in PI. VIII. figs. 14-18. At first sight, the tooth 
in figs. 14, 15, 16 might also be mistaken for the canine of one of 


Jrom the Red Crag. 357 


the Pinnigrada ; but a more accurate examination demonstrates 
its true vature. The crown of the tooth is conical, but not so 
curved as that of the preceding species, whilst the fang is broad 
and twisted, an occurrence which is very frequent in the Grampus 
and larger Dolphins. The enamel is thin, and, in one specimen, 
has been worn away so as to form a flat surface. This mode of 
attrition is frequently observable in specimens of Phocena Orca 
and P. Capensis ; and, indeed, in form and size these teeth agree 
so well with those of the former species, that I have adopted the 
specific term orcoides. The base of the fang in the specimen 
drawn in figs. 14, 15, 16 exhibits a structure to which I am 
anxious to direct attention,as being characteristic of fossil Ceta- 
cean teeth. ‘The cement exists in undulating spiral layers sur- 
rounding the fang, forming slight ridges where the processes of 
mineralization have removed the more yielding matter. These 
spirals or circular ridges I have observed on the base of Ceta- 
cean teeth from Antwerp in the collection of M. Van Beneden ; 
and a similar structure is to be observed in gigantic dental re- 
mains from both the Suffolk and Antwerp Crags, which have 
not yet been assigned to any group of animals. A section of 
the tooth of the Phocena orcoides is afforded by two specimens, 
and will completely confirm the assumption of its Cetacean afli- 
nities. The lower part of the fang in one tooth is transversely 
fractured, and shows the osteo-dentine arranged in concentric 
layers, and filling up the central cavity, which is thus made 
solid throughout. The dentine and thickened cement are also 
seen in section. In another specimen, in which the crown is 
broken off from the fang, the cavity is still retained, ranning 
right imto the conical cusp, but is small, and shows signs of 
thickening in the walls; the dentine does not occupy much ex- 
tent, whilst the cement is very largely developed, and is covered 
by a most delicate layer of enamel. The teeth of the Phocena 
orcoides are not unlike those of the P. crassidens described by 
Owen from the fens of Lincolnshire ; but Iam not aware of any 
reasons for supposing that they are specifically identical. I have 
seen two or three specimens of large petro-tympanic bones from 
the Crag, evidently belonging to a Grampus about the size of 
the one which possessed the teeth figured; and I therefore 
venture to associate them as belonging to the same species. I 
am not able here to give a figure of this larger cetotolite, but 
hope hereafter to do so. 

It would be a very desirable thing to identify the tympanic 
bones described by Prof. Owen as Balena definita &e. with 
other Cetacean remains; and I believe that much light will be 
thrown on this and the nature of the petro-tympanic bones, 
teeth, and vertebree of the Crag Cetacea generally by instituting 


358 Mr. E.R. Lankester on new Mammalia 


a comparison between these and the fossil Cetacea of the Ant- 
werp Crag, where specimens so much more perfect and intelli- 
gible are discovered. M. Van Beneden is at present, I believe, 
engaged in working out the generic and specific relations of the 
Cetacea of that locality. 


Ursus Arvernensis, Croiz. & Job. 


Professor Owen has already noticed the existence of a form of 
Ursus in the Red Crag, but has not assigned it to any particular 
species. The tooth figured in Pl. VIII. figs. 1 & 4 is from the 
collection of Mr. Whincopp, and was obtained, I believe, from a 
Crag-pit at Newbourn, near Woodbridge. I have very little 
doubt, after a careful comparison with a cast im the British 
Museum and De Blainville’s beautiful figures, that it is the 
Ursus Arvernensis of Croizet and Jobert which has thus left the 
canine tooth of the left side of its upper jaw in the Red Crag of 
Suffolk. The tooth is remarkable for its small size, its flatness, 
narrowness, and length, and also for a furrowed appearance 
produced by slight ridges which run longitudinally down the 
side of the crown. The anterior margin of the tooth gives indi- 
cation of a considerable amount of usage, being ground down to 
a perfectly smooth surface. 


Hyena antiqua, Lankester. 


I am happy to be able to figure another specimen of a molar 
tooth belonging to this animal, a careful examination of which has 
fully convinced me of the accuracy of my former determination 
of its specific value. It is the second premolar tooth of the left 
ramus of the lower jaw, and presents the same large antero- 
posterior measurement and shallowness in the crown which 
characterized the former specimen. Although much worn, and 
on the inner side somewhat imperfect, the tooth affords sufficient 
evidence of these facts. The cingulum also is developed to that 
very moderate extent only which was observed in the tooth from 
the upper jaw, and was one of the most marked differences be- 
tween the Hyena antiqua and the Pleistocene H. spelea. (See 
Pl. VIIT. figs. 7,8, and Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. January 1864, 
Pl. VIII.) 


Canis primigenius, n. sp. 
I have given this name, with a certain amount of reserve, to 
the possessor of the tooth drawn in fig. 11. It may perhaps 
hereafter be identified with more characteristic teeth, which will 


enable their discoverer to define the species better than I am at 
present able to do. 


from the Red Crag. 359 


I here subjoin a list of all the species of Mammalia known to 
occur in the Red Crag. 


TERRESTRIAL. 


Ursus Arvernensis, Crotzet & Jobert. (Occurs also at Auvergne, 
South France.) 

Hyeena antiqua, Lankester. 

Felis pardoides, Owen. (Similar species at Epplesheim : Miocene.) 

Canis primigenius, Lankester. 

Pterodon, sp., Owen. 

Sus paleeochcerus, Kaup. (Occurs at Epplesheim.) 

Sus antiquus. (Ditto.) 

Equus, sp., Owen. 

Hipparion, sp., Owen. (Occurs at Epplesheim.) 

Mastodon angustidens, Owen. (Ditto.) 

Rhinoceros Schleiermacheri, Kaup. (Ditto.) 

Tapirus priscus, Kaup. ( Ditto.) 

Cervus dicranoceros, Kaup. (Ditto.) 

Megaceros, sp., Owen. 

Castor veterior, Lankester. 

Coryphodon, Hyracotherium, Paleeotherium. (Derived from Eocene 
strata.) 

MARINE *, 


Baleena definita, Owen. (Occurs also in Middle Crag of Antwerp.) 
emarginata, Owen. (Ditto.) 
affinis, Owen. (Ditto.) 
gibbosa, Owen. Ditto.) 
Balenodon physaloides, Owen. (Also at Antwerp.) [Several spe- 
cies, probably, are included under this name. | 

Belemnoziphius declivis, Owen. | 

planus, Owen. | 
angustus, Owen. 
angulatus, Owen. 
undatus, Owen. 
— gibbus, Owen. 
compressus, Hualey. 
Delphinus (Phoczena) uncidens, Lankester. 
orcoides, Lankester. 


see homeeyn leis and Belemnoziphius 
occur also at Antwerp. 


It will be observed, as a noticeable feature in these two lists, 
that the Mammalia in the former all have their analogues and 
representatives 11 Miocene + or early Pliocene strata, whilst 
those of the latter are met with elsewhere in later Pliocene strata. 
This, when taken into consideration with the worn and sea- 
rolled nature of the dental remains and with certain facts de- 
ducible from the study of the Mollusca of the Suffolk and Ant- 


* This part of the list is necessarily very imperfect; but the author 
hopes soon to be able to enlarge and correct it considerably. 
t+ Thefragments of Coryphodon, &c., of course, form an exception to this. 


860 Licut.-Col. 8. R. Tickell on the Gibbon of Tenasserim. 


werp Tertiary deposits, seems to warrant the assumption that 
there existed previously, along the Suffolk coast, a Miocene and 
a Phocene deposit, the one abounding in terrestrial Mammalian 
remains, as the Epplesheim strata, the other in Cetacean fossils, 
as does the Middle Crag of Antwerp, and that the Red-Crag 
sea (and the Coralline also to a less extent) has entirely denuded 
and partially redeposited these strata in association with its 
proper Molluscan fauna, and perhaps with some Mammals, 
which, however, we are not able to designate. 

Before concluding this paper (for the errors and defects of which 
I beg the reader’s indulgence), I would wish to guard against 
the supposition that any of the Mammalia assigned to the Red 
Crag may have been obtained by mistake from the Mammali- 
ferous Crag. That deposit is never, so far as I am aware, met 
with in superposition to the Red Crag; and the dental remains 
from it are light, absorbent, and unmineralized, as compared 
with those from the lower bed. Moreover the species are very 
widely different which occur in the two, the only common spe- 
cies being the Mastodon angustidens, which in both eases is cer- 
tainly a derived fossil. The term “ Mammaliferous” would 
doubtless be more appropriate to the Red Crag than it is to the 
much later Norfolk formation. 


EXPLANATION OF PLATE VIII. 


Figs. 1 & 4. Left upper canine of Ursus Arvernensis, Croizet & Jobert. 
Newbourn, Suffolk. 

Figs. 2 & 3. Otic bones of Delphinus uncidens, Lankester. Woodbridge. 

Fig. 5. Left upper premolar of Castor veterior, Lankester. Sutton, Suf- 
folk. 


Fig. 6. Incisor of the same. Suffolk. 
Figs. 7 & 8. Left second premolar (lower jaw) of Hyena antiqua, Lank. 


Felixstowe. 
Fig. 9. Crown of premolar of C. veterior; enlarged. 
IG NOS ee a C. Canadensis. 


Fig. 11. Canine of Canis primigenius, Lankester. 

Figs. 12 & 13. Teeth of Delphinus uncidens, Lankester. Felixstowe. 
Figs. 14, 15, 16. Tooth of Phocena orcoides, Lankester. Near Sutton. 
Figs. 17 & 18. Ditto. Ditto. 


XL.—Note on the Gibbon of Tenasserim, Hylobates Lar. 
By Lieut-Col. 8. R. Tircke z, in a letter to A. Grorr, Hsq.* 
I senp a transcript from my Mammalian collection of what I 
had recorded of Hylobates Lar, at least of its wild and tame 


habits. Notes on its osteology, and soft anatomy, and structure 
you will not require, as you have a specimen by you, which I 


* From the Journal of the Asiatic Society, No. II. (1864). 


Lieut.-Col. 8. R. Tickell on the Gibbon of Tenasserim. 861 


suppose, from what you say of its paralysis, will not live long. 
The one you have must have been about a year and a half old 
when I sent it you. Doubtless captivity has checked its growth. 
IT give the dimensions taken of an adult one; but I think I have 
seen them larger, and the males are larger than the females (as 
in all monkeys). 

The Burmese and Talains never keep Monkeys of any kind as 
pets. The Karens sometimes do. Of the Shans I cannot speak, 
but being Buddhists they probably do not either. 


Hylobates Lar (Ogilby). 

The Hylobates Lar is found in great abundance in all the 
forests skirting the hills which run from north to south through 
the province of Tenasserim. They ascend the hills themselves 
up to an elevation of 8000 to 3500 feet above the sea-level, but 
not higher, and are usually met with in parties of from eight to 
twenty, composed of individuals of all ages. It is rare to see a 
solitary one; occasionally, however, an old male will stay apart 
from the flock, perched on the summit of some vast tree, whence 
his howls are heard for miles around. The forests which these 
animals inhabit resound with their cries from sunrise to about 
9 a.m., the sounds varying from the deep notes of the adult 
to the sharp treble of the young ones. During these vocal 
efforts they appear to resort to the extreme summits of the 
loftiest trees, and to call to each other from distant parts of the 
jungle. After 9 or 10 a.m. they become silent and are engaged 
feeding on fruit, young leaves, buds, shoots, and insects, for 
which they will occasionally come to the ground. When ap- 
proached, if alone, they will sometimes sit close, doubled up in 
a thick tuft of foliage, or behind the fork of a tree near the top, 
so screened as to be quite safe from the shot of the sportsman. 
But indeed, when forced from its concealment and put to flight, 
the Gibbon is not easily shot. It swings from branch to branch 
with its long arms, shaking the boughs all around, flings itself 
from prodigious heights into denser foliage, and is quickly con- 
cealed from view by intervening trees. 

If hit, there is no animal more tenacious of life, and its efforts 
when desperately wounded to cling to the branch and drag itself 
into some fork or nook where to hitch itself and die excite 
amusement and compassion. 

The Gibbon (if we restrict that name to this species) is not 
nearly so light and active as its congener, H. Hoolock (the “ Too- 
boung” of the Arakanese), which latter species is not liable to 
vary in colour, being always black, with the hands and feet con- 
colorous, and the supercilia only white, instead of a circle of 
that colour all round the face. The Gibbon, moreover, walks 


362 Lieut.-Col. 8. R. Tickell on the Gibbon of Tenasserim. 


less readily on its hind legs than the Hoolock, having frequently 
to prop and urge itself along by its knuckles on the ground. In 
sitting it often rests on its elbows, and will lie readily on its back. 
Anger it shows by a fixed steady look, with the mouth held 
open and the lips occasionally retracted to show the canines, 
with which it can bite severely ; but it more usually strikes with 
its long hands, which are at such times held dangling and shaken 
in a ridiculous manner, like a person who has suddenly burnt 
his fingers. It is, on the whole, a gentle peaceable animal, very 
timid, and so wild as not to bear confinement if captured adult. 
The young seldom reach maturity when deprived of hberty. 
They are born generally in the early part of the cold weather, a 
single one at a birth, two being as rare as twins in the human 
race. The young one sticks to its mother’s body for about seven 
months, and then begins gradually to shift for itself. So entirely 
does this animal confine itself to its hands for locomotion about 
the trees, that it holds anything it may have to carry by its hid 
hands or feet. In this way I have seen them scamper off with 
their plunder out of a Karen plantain-garden in the forest. 

I have had many of these animals while young in confinement. 
They were generally feeble, dull, and querulous, sitting huddled 
upon the ground, and seldom or never climbing trees. On the 
smooth surface of a matted floor they would run along on their 
feet and slide on their hands at the same time. By being fed 
solely on plantains or on milk and rice, they were apt to lose 
all their fur, presenting im their nude state a most ridiculous 
appearance. Few recovered from this state; but a change of 
diet, especially allowing them to help themselves to msects, en- 
abled some to come round, resuming their natural covering. 
For the most part they were devoid of those pranks and tricks 
which are exhibited by the young of the Macacus and Inuus, 
though occasionally, and if not tied up, they would gambol about 
with cats, pups, or young monkeys. 

The tawny and the black varieties of the Gibbon appear to mix 
indiscriminately together. The Karens in the Tenasserim pro-. 
vinces consider there is a third variety, which they name 
“ Khay6éo paba,” and the Talains “‘ Woot-o-padyn”’ (blue ape). 
This is probably the party-coloured or mottled phase of the 
animal, which occurs very often to the southward, in Malacca. 
The pale variety is more numerous in the district of Amherst 
than the black one. 

Hylobates Lar extends southward to the Straits, and north- 
ward to the northerly confines of Pegoo (British Burma): 
whether it is found throughout Burma proper or not, I cannot 
ascertain. To the west of the spur dividing British Burma from 
Arakan, and throughout the latter province into the mountains 


Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermacee. 363 


east of Chittagong, is found only Hylobates Hoolock. And fur- 
ther northward, in the forests and hills of Cachar, Munnipoor, 
and Assam, exists either a third species (not yet, I believe, distin- 
guished by naturalists) or, if the same species as H. Hoolock, so 
strongly modified as to be larger and stouter, with a totally 
different call, and subject to vary in colour the same as H. Lar, 
which H. Hoolock in Arakan is not. 

I subjoin the dimensions of an adult male specimen of Hylo- 
bates Lar shot near Hlyng bway, Tenasserim province, January 
1855. But I believe it attains a larger size. 


Length from crown to posteriors 1! 73". 
Humerus 93", radius 93", hand 6"; total 2! 1”. 
Femur 73", tibia 73", foot 43”; total 1! 72". 
Height when standing upright about 2’ 6”. 


I should not omit mentioning the peculiar manner in which 
this species drinks, which is by scooping up the water in its 
long narrow hand, and thus conveying a miserably small quantity 
at a time to itsmouth. It is to be hoped the animal is not much 
troubled with thirst. 


XLI.—On the Menispermacee. 
By Joun Mrers, F.R.S., F.L.S. &c. 


[Continued from p. 261.] 
18. Hypsprpa. 


Tuis genus consists of a distinct group of plants, natives of 
Asia and the islands of the Oriental archipelago, the type of 
which is the Cocculus cuspidatus of Wallich. It is distinguished 
from Cocculus by its cyclical slender embryo imbedded in simple 
albumen, in which respect it approaches Pericampylus ; but it 
differs from that genus and all others of the Leptogonee, except 
Limacia, in its cotyledons being accumbent (not incumbent). 
It is also notable for its unsymmetrical flowers; for few of 
its species agree in the number of sepals, petals, stamens, or 
ovaries—a very unusual occurrence in the order. The authors 
of the ‘ Flora Indica’ and of the new ‘Genera Plantarum’ have 
refused to admit the validity of the genus, as they do not con- 
sider the imbrication of its inner sepals to be a character of any 
importance ; and therefore they unite it with the genus Limacia 
of Loureiro. In this hasty determination they have entirely 
overlooked other circumstances which establish marked distine- 
tions between the two genera. In all the species of Zimacia the 
sepals are constantly thick and valvate in estivation, while in 
every case in Hypserpa the sepals have broad, thin, membrana- 


364 Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermaccee. 


ceous margins, which sometimes for half their breadth overlap 
each other in zestivation. In other families where the difference 
is so extremely salient as it is in these instances, it is allowed 
to be a good generic distinction ; and there is no reason for de- 
nying its validity in Hypserpa, especially as it is accompanied 
by other prominent points of divergence. In Limacia the sta- 
mens are equal in number to the petals, whose lateral lobes en- 
tirely embrace the filaments, which are affixed to their claws ; they 
are always in ternary series, and symmetrical, the numbers being 
constantly six in one group, and as regularly three in the other 
section ; the number of ovaries is constantly three. In Hypserpa 
there 1s no symmetry whatever in any of its parts; the sepals 
vary in number in the different species; and the petals are 
equally variable, being four, five, or six, and they do not embrace 
the filaments, though their sides curve inwards; the number of 
stamens is always in excess of the petals, being generally six, 
seven, or eight, and in one instance I found nie; in some spe- 
cies the ovaries are 3, rarely six, and in two species constantly 
two. In Hypserpa the embryo is very slender and terete; im 
Limacia it is somewhat broader, flatter, and Toriform. In Hy yp- 
serpa the radicle is equal in length to, or somewhat longer than, 
the cotyledons ; in Limacia the radicle is only a quarter of their 
length. These valid differences, which I have constantly found 
in all the cases that have fallen under my observation, unques- 
tionably establish the claims of Hypserpa. The same authori- 
ties, after their usual method, annihilate all the species of Hyp- 
serpa, except the type, ignoring all the remainder ; while I have 
here enumerated nine species. 


Hypserra, nob.—Flores dioici. Masc. Sepala numero vario, 8, 
9, usque ad 12, 2—-3-serialia, quorum exteriora bracteiformia, 
ae interiora majora, oblonga, marginibus late membrana- 
ceils erosis et ciliatis, peatiyatione imbricata. Petala 6,5, vel 4, 
sepalis paulo minora, obovata, carnosula. Stamina 6 ad 10, 
biseriata, quorum 4—5-6 exteriora, reliqua centralia ; filamenta 
carnosula, subcompressa, incurvata, apice incrassata; anthere 
2-lobze, lobis ovatis, distinctis, subobliquis, apice filamenti 
utroque latere subimmersis, rima longitudinali dehiscentibus. 

. Fem. Sepala 8, oblonga, crassiuscula, margine membranacea, 
imbricatim disposita, quorum 2 exteriora bracteiformia. Pe- 
tala 5-6, oblonga, concayva, carnosula. Stamina sterilia 6, 
cum petalis gynecio inserta, apice clavata, antheris subobso- 
letis. Ovaria 6, rarius 3, interdum 2, gynecio centrali insita; 
stylus brevissimus ; stigma oblongo-lineare, profunde canali- 
culatum, subtrilobum, vel incisum. Drupe abortione 2-3, 
transversim ovate, carnose, styli vestigio basi propinquo no- 


Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermaceze. 365 


tate : putamen valde osseum, subglobosum, paulo compressum, 
peripheriam versus utrinque radiatim sulcatum, carima peri- 
pherica levi, 1-loculare, loculo lunato circa condylum gyrato ; 
condylum excentricum, intus septulo imtegro 2-cameratum, 
utrinque meatu lineari parvo extus perforatum ; semen loculo 
conforme, dorso angulatum, ventre subplanum ; integumenta 
tenuia, medio raphes ventralis prominentis linearis condylo 
affixa; embryo intra albumen simplex copiosum carnosum 
fere annulosum tenuiter elongatus, omnino teres, cotyledonibus 
accumbentibus, ad hilum tensis, radicule supere ad stylum 
spectanti equalibus, vel subbrevioribus. 

Frutices scandentes Asie tropice et insularum indigene ; folia 
elliptica, sepius glaberrima, 8-nervia, breviter petiolata ; racemi 
axillares, petiolum equantes, vel duplo longiores. 


The following species are enumerated in my ‘ Contributions 
to Botany,’ vol. i. :— 


1. Hypserpa cuspidata, nob. ;—Cocculus cuspidatus, Wall. ;— 
Limacia cuspidata, Hook. & Th.—Penins. Ind. et Ceylon 
(Wall. Cat. 4960; Gardner, 30; Thwaites, 1051). 

2. —— nitida, nob.;—Limacia cuspidata, Hook. & Th. in part. 
—Hong Kong. 


3. prevaricata, nob.—Pulo Penang ; ins. Philip. (Cuming, 
1252). 

4. funifera, nob.—Africa centralis (Mellor). 

ap heteromera, nob.—Borneo (Motley, 710). 

6. propensa, nob.—Borneo (Motley, 179). 

ie paucifiora, nob.—Ceylon (Walker). 

8. iriflora, nob. ;—Cocculus triflorus, DC. ;—Limacia mi- 


crophylla, Mig.—Sumatra et Java. 
9. —— uniflora, nob.—Ceylon (Walker). 


19. Limacta. 


In describing Hypserpa, I have shown it to be very distinct 
from Limacia, with which it has been confounded by the authors 
of the ‘Flora Indica’ and the ‘Genera Plantarum.’ In habit 
there is a certain degree of resemblance between them; but in 
their floral structure there is a positive want of compatibility. 
In Limacia the male flowers are constantly isomerous, the mner 
row of sepals is three; they are thick, fleshy, pilose on both 
sides, with a decidedly valvate estivation ; the petals are mvari- 
ably six, and embrace as many stamens standing opposite to 
them ; there is, however, a distinct group in which only three 
stamens are present, but the flowers are still isomerous : rudi- 
ments of three or six ovaries are found in the centre of the 


366 Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermacez. 


flower, which are not seen in Hypserpa. In this latter genus 
the flowers are always heteromerous, the more membranaceous 
sepals are conspicuously imbricated in stivation, and there are 
many other discrepant characters which it is not necessary to 
repeat here, as they have been already described. Limacia will 
therefore maintain its ground, distinct from Hypserpa, within 
the limits I pointed out thirteen years ago; but, as at that pe- 
riod I had not seen the fruit, Limacia was then placed among 
the Pachyyonee, in accordance with the meagre details of its 
structure given by Loureiro. When I first noticed this group 
of plants, I named it Stereoclea, on account of the peculiar esti- 
vation of its sepals ; but on seeing Loureiro’s plant in the British 
Museum, I instantly recognized it as the same: the previous 
name was therefore made to indicate the triandrous section, 
which for the present is retained im the genus, but which pro- 
bably will turn out to be distinct when its fruit is known. 
There is a general analogy between Limacia and Hypserpa in 
the form of the putamen, the kind of condyle, and the structure 
of the albuminous seed: the former has the same accumbent 
cotyledons as the latter; but the entire embryo is broader and 
more flattened, and there is a difference in the relative lengths 
of the radicle and cotyledons. The authors of the ‘ Flora Indica’ 
and of the ‘Genera Plantarum’ place Limacia in the same tribe 
with Cocculus; but it cannot consistently remain there, owing 
to the peculiar structure of the embryo. The species of Limacia 
are distributed through tropical Asia, the Eastern archipelago, 
China, and Japan; but the botanists above mentioned record 
only three of them. 


Limactra, Lour.—Flores dioici. Masc. Sepala 9, im ordine ter- 
nario alternatim disposita, 6 exteriora minora, bracteiformia, 
3 interiora majora, concava, subrotunda, utrinque sericea, 
eestivatione arcte valvata, dein apicibus reflexis, marginibus 
basalibus conniventibus. Petala 6, subbiserialia, obovata, 
unguiculata, sepalis multo minora, lateribus inflexis stamina 
amplectentibus. Stamina 6 (interdum 3), libera, petalis sub- 
eequalia, ad eorum unguem adnata, et androecio centrali imo 
coalita ; filamenta subincurva, erecta, carnosula, apice incras- 
sata, interdum antice hirsuta; anthere conniventes, 2-lobe, 
cordate, marginibus rima longitudinali utrinque hiantes. 
Ovaria rudimentaria apice andrceci, punctiformia.—Fem. Se- 
pala et petala ut in mase. Stamina sterilia 6 (vel 3), eequalia; 
filamenta tenuiora, erecta, petalis involuta, apice (ex antheris 
effcetis) 2-loba. Ovaria 3, libera, sepalis interioribus opposita, 
gibba, dense hirsuta, gyneecio brevi hirsuto insita, 1-locularia, 
l-ovulata; stylus brevis; stigma excentricum, subtrilobum, 


Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermacez. 367 


concavum, reflexum, glabrum. Drupe 3, vel abortu pauciores, 
gibbose subglobosz, vel transversim oblongz, carnose, gla- 
bree, sicce, rugulose ; putamen osseum, subglobosum, vel ob- 
longum, subcompressum, zona peripherica canaliculata cir- 
cumdatum, loculo cyclice hippocrepiformi condylum circum- 
cingente; condylus magnus, excentrice centralis, -convexus, 
intus septulo perforato 2-cameratus, meatu lineari vel ovato 
extus utrinque transversim pertusus. Semen loculo conforme, 
fere annulare, intus subplanum et lateraliter compressum ; 
integumenta tenuia, ad faciem ventralem raphe longitudinali 
signata, et hine intra fissuram condyli msinuata ; embryo intra 
albumen simplex inclusus, per totam longitudinem tenuis- 
simus, fere annularis, pariter compresso- -teres, cotyledonibus 
accumbentibus, radicula supera ad stylum spectante 4-plo 
longioribus. 

Frutices scandentes in Asia tropica et in insulis crescentes ; folia 
elliptica, acuminata, pleraque glabra, 3-nervia, petiolata; m- 
florescentia supra-axillari, paniculata, petiolo longior et folio 
brevior ; flores minim, velutint. 


The characters of the following species are given in the ‘Con- 
tributions to Botany,’ vol. i. 


§ I. Eunimacta. Flores hexandri. 


1. Limacia scandens, Lour.—Cochin China (Loureiro). 

2. oblonga, nob. ;—Cocculus oblongus, Wall.— Malacca. 

3. velutina, nob. ;—Cocculus velutinus, Wall.—Sincapore 
(Wall. Cat. 4970); Moulmein (Lobb, 335); ins. Philip. 
(Cuming, 2402). 

4. distincta, nob.— Mergui (Griffiths). 

5. inornata, nob.—Sincapore (Lobb). 

6. longifolia, nob. ;—Cocculus longifolius, DC.—Timor. 

§ IL. Srersociesa. Flores triandrt. 

We triandra, nob.; Menispermum triandrum, Roxb. ;— 
Cocculus triandrus, Coleb. (Wall. 4962). 

8. Wallichiana, nob.—Awherst (Wall. Cat. 459 c) (non 
A, B). 

9: Amherstiana, nob. ;—Cocculus Amherstianus, DC. 


20. MrenisPERMUM. 

This genus, formerly numerous in species, 1s now confined to 
two extratropical climbing plants, one of North-American, the 
other of North-Asian growth, both in latitudes beyond the pa- 
rallel of 30°. The authors of the ‘ Flora Indica’ state that the 
genus only differs from Cocculus in having twelve to eighteen 


368 Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermacee. 

stamens, instead of six, which opinion is sanctioned by the au- 
thors of the new ‘Genera Plantarum’ in saying “vix satis a 
Cocculo differt.” Such an opinion must have been formed with- 
out their having examined the plants with sufficient attention. 
The general habit of Menispermum, its many-lobed, cordate, 
peltate (not palate) leaves, the form of its petals, and the variable 
number of its floral parts are quite at variance with Cocculus ; and 
at the same time there is so wide a difference in the organization 
of its putamen and seed that the two genera cannot even remain 
in the same tribe. In Menispermum the very compressed puta- 
men has a condyle m the form of two very thin, reniform, and 
closely parallel plates, round the edge of which the narrow and 
nearly annular cell is circumfluent, and this is externally marked 
by one dorsal and two lateral prominent terete rings, finely cre- 
nated across, and leaving corresponding impressions inside the 
cell: the albumen, which fills the cell, is therefore in the form 
of a narrow tricarinated ring; and it contains an almost filiform 
embryo, in which the slender cotyledons are about the length of 
the radicle, and not broader than it. In Cocculus, on the other 
hand, the putamen is much more globular, has no prominent 
lateral ridges, and only a small smooth dorsal carina; the con- 
dyle forms a large thick bony mass, round which the nearly an- 
nular broad cell, flattened on the ventral side, is circumscribed ; 
and it is divided by a septum into two lateral chambers, each 
having an external aperture: the seed has the cyclical shape of 
the cell, and its embryo, imbedded in albumen, is formed of two 
transversely broad, foliaceous, incumbent cotyledons, of twice 
the length and four times the breadth of the terete radicle. 
Under such opposite conditions of structure, it is difficult to 
conceive how the idea of a close approximation of the two genera 
could have been entertained. The validity of Menispermum as 
a very distinct genus is unquestionable: as now restricted, it 
has been well defined by Prof. Asa Gray; but it is desirable to 
amplify its diagnosis in the following manner :— 


MenisrerMuM, Tournef., Linn.—/ores dioici. Mase. Sepala 6 
(interdum abortu 4), biserialia, exteriora minora, spathulato- 
oblonga, membranacea, concava, estivatione imbricata. Pe- 
tala numero varia, 6-9, obovata, unguiculata, concava, apice 
subeucullata, lateribus supra medium auriculatis et involutis. 
Stamina 12-18, interdum 24, centro pluriserialiter affixa: 
jilamenta compresso-teretia ; anthere ovate, basifixee, filamento 
latiores, 2-lobze, lobis adnatis, margine longitudinaliter dehis- 
centibus.—Fem. Sepala et petala ut in masc., sed latiora et 
breviora. Stamina sterilia tot quot petala, et iis opposita, 
apice 2-glandulosa, imo gyneecii aftixa. Ovaria 8, gibba, 


Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermacee. 369 


ovata, apice rostellata, gynecio brevi cylindraceo suffulta ; 
stylus subnullus; stigma excentricum, radiato-laciniatum. 
Drupe 3, pisiformes, valde gibbz, stigmate basin versus ap- 
proximato notate; putamen reniformi-orbiculare, valde com- 
pressum, carinis 3 teretibus crenatis prominentibus subannu- 
laribus (1 dorsali, 2 lateralibus) signatum, 1-loculare, loculo 
lunato condylum circumcingente ; condylus reniformi-lamini- 
formis ; semen 3-carinatum, loculo conforme ; zntegumenta te- 
nuissima, ventre laxa, et hine per raphen in sulcum condyli 
profunde intrusa; embryo filiformi-teres, in albumine simplici 
fere annularis, cotyledonibus semiteretibus, incumbentibus, 
radicula supera ad stylum spectante paululo longioribus. 

Frutices scandentes in America septentrionali et in Asia borealt 
vigentes; folia alterna, petiolata, sepius peltata, orbicularia vel 
angulato-lobata, glabriuscula vel pubescentia ; panicule supra- 
axillares, solitarie vel gemine, ad medium vel ultra medium nude, 
trichotome vel alternatim ramose aut umbellate. 


The following species are enumerated in my ‘ Contributions 
to Botany,’ vol. i. :— 
1. Menispermum Canadense, Linn. Sp. 1468; DC. Syst. i. 540; 
Prodr. i. 102; Lam. Dict., &c. ; Menispermum Smilacinum, 
DC. l.c. 541; Cissampelos Smilacina, Linn. 1473; Jacq. 
Coll. iv. 128; Icon. rar. ii. tab. 629.—Amer. sept. 
Dahuricum, DC. Syst. i. 540; Prodr. i. 102; Deless. 
Icon. i. 26, tab. 100; M. Canadensis, var. 8, Lam. Dict. 
iv. 95.—Asia septentr.; Irkutsk (Turezaninow) ; Dahuria 
(Fisher) ; China (in herb. Lindl.) ; in hort. bot. Kew. cult. 
(sub nom. M. Canadense). 


2. 


21. PERICAMPYLUS. 


This genus was proposed by me in 1851 for a small group of 
East-Indian plants, the type of which is the Cocculus incanus, 
Coleb. It has been adopted by the authors of the ‘ Flora Indica,’ 
who remark that “it has the fruit of Cissampelos or Stephania, 
with the flowers of the tribe Cocculee; the 2-partite style and 
the peculiar inflorescence distinguish the genus.” The authors 
of the new ‘Genera Plantarum’ go so far as to state that it is 
not sufficiently distinct from Cocculus. This opinion has evi- 
dently been formed under a complete misconception of its struc- 
ture, as the facts here adduced will show: they would have been 
much nearer the truth if they had so contrasted it with Meni- 
spermum. Pericampylus differs from the latter genus in its 
nearly palate leaves, in the isometrical number of its floral parts, 
in its larger spathulate sepals, in the large, fleshy, globose or 
clavate termination of the filaments, where they are suddenly 

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. xiv. 


370 Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermacec. 


bent back extrorsely at a right angle, and upon which the 
anther-cells are laterally imbedded, with a narrow and some- 
times excurrent connective between them: it differs no less in 
its excentric style, with a bifid or twice-bifid stigma; in its pu- 
tamen, which (although with a condyle like that of Menispermum) 
has the whole of its external ring covered by two or three lateral 
and two dorsal concentric rows of tubercular spines, with trans- 
verse radiating grooves between the spines. Pertcampylus, in 
the structure of its putamen and seed, differs as widely from 
Cocculus as Menispermum has been shown to be at variance with 
that genus—a difference which places Cocculus in a separate 
tribe. The inner surface of the cell of the putamen in Pevi- 
campylus and the external corresponding face of the seed are 

marked by broad radiating grooves, conformable with the spaces 
between the external spines; the embryo, as in Menispermum, is 
very long, uniformly very slender, quite different from the thick 
foliaceous cotyledons of Cocculus, where they are greatly broader 
than the short terete radicle. 


Prricampytus, nob.—Flores dioici. Masc. Sepala 9, ternatim 
disposita, quorum 3 exteriora bracteiformia, minutissima, 3 
interiora spathulato-oblonga, 8 intermedia paulo longiora, 
oblonga, extus pilosa, zstivatione imbricata. Petala 6, sepalis 
opposita, et 3-plo breviora, cuneato-ovata, apice subtruncata 
vel obsolete 3-loba, marginibus introflexis, ad andrcecium 
brevissimum unguibus affixa. Stamina 6, petalis amplexa, 
subbiserialia, erecta ; filamenta omnino libera, andreecio con- 
gregatim imposita, apice ample clavata, gibbosa, et subextror- 
sum reflexa; anthere 2-lobe, lobis compresso-globosis, con- 
nectivo angusto subexcurrente sejunctis, utrinque rima laterali 
hiantibus. Sepala 6, ut in masc. Petala 6, latiora, 
apice truncata lateribusque inflexa. Stamina sterilia 6, 
filiformia, apice vix glandulosa, petalis longiora, imo gynecii 
affixa. Ovaria 3, valde gibbosa, ovata, gyneecio brevi 6-gono 
imposita, 1- locularia, l-ovulata; stylus brevis, crassus, rostels 
latus ; stigma lineare, subito deflexum, supra canaliculatum, 
ultra medium divaricato-bifidum vel bis bifidum. Drupe 3, 
gibboso-ovate, transverse, carnose, stylo persistente basi 
proximo notate ; putamen osseum, suborbiculatum, compres- 
sum, peripheriam versus utrinque ‘spinulis plurimis acutis vel 
truncatis in seriebus 2 vel 3 circa condylum concentrice dis- 
positis echinatum, 1-loculare, loculo hippocrepico ; condylus 
utrinque concavus et laminiformis, imperforatus ; semen loculo 
conforme, radiatim suleatum ; integumenta tenuissima, ventre 
laxa, et hine per raphen in sulcum condyli intrusa; embryo 
teres, gracilis, i albwmine simplici cyclice arcuatus, cotyle- 


Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermacez. 371 


donibus semiteretibus, incumbentibus, radicula supera ad sty- 
lum spectante paulo brevioribus. 

Frutices scandentes Asie intertropice ; ramuli teretes, retrorsum 
tomentosi ; folia subrotunda, subcordata, pubescentia, 5—7-nervia, 
longiuscule petiolata, petiolo paulo intra marginem affizo ; in- 
florescentia supra-azillaris, pubescens, paniculata, trichotome 
divisa, ramis divaricatis iterumque compositis; flores breviter 
pedicellati, minimt, villosi. 

The following species are described in the third volume of the 

‘Contributions to Botany ’°— 


1. Pericampylus incanus, nob.; Cocculus incanus, Coleb.—Asia 
intertropica. 


2. Assamicus, nob.—Assam (Jenkins). 
3. aduncus, nob.— Bootan (Griffiths). 
4. membranaceus, nob.; Cocculus membranaceus, Wall.— 


Ind. orient. 
22. PsELIUM. 


In 1851 ] formed the character of this genus from the ex- 
amination of Loureiro’s typical specimen in the British Museum, 
which has only male flowers. That botanist, however, was wrong 
in his generic details, as it is evident that the plant from which 
he derived the character of the female flower and seed must have 
been a Stephania: in his description of the male flower, he is 
incorrect in stating that its six petals are twice the length of 
the six sepals. The authors of the ‘ Flora Indica’ declare that 
Loureiro’s specimen above mentioned is clearly identical with 
Pericampylus incanus: I admit that, as far as regards the leaves, 
there is much resemblance, but not so in the character of the 
inflorescence, its very short panicle being very different from the 
widely spread umbellate inflorescence of Pericampylus incanus ; 
its sepals are pilose on both sides, its petals being only one-fifth 
of their length ; the stamens are confluent for more than half 
their length in a monadelphous column, the union of the three 
more central being continued to nearly their summit; the fila- 
ments are not clavate at the apex, and the anthers are differently 
constructed. If the union of the stamens had been continued 
up to the anthers, Loureiro’s specimen would not have differed 
from a Stephania; and had they been disunited to the base, 
it would have been a Pericampylus. Under these circumstances, 
although I confess the difference is small, I should not be justi- 
fied in abolishing Loureiro’s genus. In many other genera of 
the family a similar feature gives one of their chief distinctive 
characters; in the union of three of its six filaments into a cen- 
tral column we have a parallel in Coscintwm; in Triclisia, its six 
stamens are combined together for half or a third of their length ; 

24« 


372 Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermacee. 


in Homocnemia its four stamens are monadelphous to near their 
apex ; while in Detandra and Syrrhonema (each with only three 
stamens) these are united together for more than half their 
length. 


Psrxium, Lour.—Flores dioici. Masc. Sepala 6, spathulato- 
oblonga, basi longe unguiculata, 2-serialia, 3 exteriora paulo 
minora, utrinque pilosa. Petula 6, glabra, sepalis quinto’ 
breviora, spathulato-oblonga, lateribus inflexis, subauriculatis, 
summo incurvata. Stamina 6, equalia; filamenta teretia, ul- 
tra medium in columnam centralem monadelpham coalita, 
3 interiora fere ad apicem conjuncta; anthere subglobose, 
subquadrilob, subextrorsum apicifixee, utrinque rima trans- 
versali dehiscentes.—FV. faem. ignot. 

Frutex scandens, Cochinchinensis, pubescens; folia reniformia, 
5-nervia ; petiolus tenuis; panicule bine, supra-axillares, pe- 
tiolo multo breviora. 

The single species, Pselium ambiguum, is described in the 
3rd vol. of ‘Contributions to Botany.’ 


23. ILEOcARPUS. 


This genus was proposed by me in 1851 for a plant in Schim- 
per’s Abyssinian collection: it is allied to Pericampylus and 
Menispermum on account of its putamen and seed, and approaches 
the following genus, Homocnemia. It differs, however, from 
Menispermum in its isomerous stamens, and from Pericampylus 
in its peltate leaves, in having only three membranaceous sepals, 
three smaller alternate petals, and a single ovary, with a short 
thick style and a somewhat erect stigma. Homocnemia differs 
from it in its tetramerous arrangement, having four sepals, four 
minute petals, and one compressed ovary on a disk-shaped sup- 
port, and an obsoletely 2-lobed stigma. The authors of the 
‘Flora Indica’ and of the new ‘Genera Plantarum’ unite this 
genus with Stephania, and strangely assert that the typical plant 
is not distinguishable from Stephania hernandifolia. But Ileo- 
carpus cannot be reconciled in any way with Stephania, on ac- 
count of the absence of the perforation in the condyle, the pre- 
sence of which is a universal feature in every species of that 
genus that I have seen. It cannot be denied that the plant in 
question has peltate leaves, and a habit like that of Stephania ; 
but not more so than are found in Cyclea, Clypea, and many 
species of Cissampelos ; the latter and Clypea are indeed the only 
genera among the whole group that harmonize with [/leocarpus 
in the structure of the putamen ; the latter genus differs from all 
the rest in the shortness of its cotyledons compared with the 
length of the radicle. 


Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermacee. 373 


ILEocarrvus, nob.—Flores dioici. Masc. ignoti.—Fem. Sepala 
3, obovata, membranacea. Petala 3, alterna, rotundata, imo 
unguiculata, sepalis dimidio breviora. Stamina nulla. Ova- 
rium unicumn, oblongo-ovatum, glabrum, gynzcio brevi insi- 
tum, l-loculare, ovu/o unico e facie ventrali appenso; stylus 
brevissimus, crassiusculus; stigma 3-fidum, lobis ‘brevibus, 
teretibus, suberectis. Drupa transversim ovata, carnosa, styli 
vestigio hilo proximo notata ; putamen obovatum, compressum, 
peripheriam versus utrinque liris 7 brevibus 2-tuberculatis 
radiatim dispositis muricatum, 1-loculare, loculo hippocrepi- 
formi circa condylum gyrato; condylus ovatus, laminiformis, 
utrinque concavus et imperforatus. Semen valde compressum, 
hippocrepiforme, extus utrinque radiatim sulcatum ; integu- 
menta membranacea, margine ventrali laxa, hine crassiora, et 
cum funiculo filiformi rigido intra fissuram condyli intrusa ; 
embryo in albumine simplici, carnosus, teres, tenuiter elon- 
gatus, hippocrepiformis, cotyledonibus semiteretibus, incum- 
bentibus, radicula wquilata, us 38-plo longiore, ad stigma 
spectante. 

Frutex scandens Abyssinica; folia integra, peltata, deltoideo- 
oblonga, glabra, 10-nervia, petiolata ; pedunculus supra-axil- 
laris, tenuiter filiformis, glaber, apice bracteatus et floribus 
plurimis capitato-paniculatis munitus ; flores minutt, glaberrimt. 


The single species, [/eocarpus Schimperi, is described in the 
3rd vol. of ‘Contributions to Botany.’ 


24. HomMocNEMIA. 


This genus, originally proposed by me in 1851, was founded 
upon a plant in Drége’s South-African collection, named by 
Dr. Meyer Cissampelos umbellata. The female flower only is 
known, which differs from J/eocarpus and Stephania in having 
four sepals, four petals, and an ovary with an obsoletely bifid 
stigma. The authors of the ‘ Flora Indica’ and the new ‘Genera 
Plantarum’ make this genus and J/eocarpus identical with Sée- 
phania ; but they have no ground on which to justify that deter- 
mination: it differs from Stephania in the number of its floral 
parts, and in the shape: of its ovary and stigma; it is, indeed, 
nearer to Clypea, but sufficiently distinct from either, as the 
following diagnosis will show :— 


Homocnemta, nob.—Flores dioici. Mase. ignoti.—Fam. Sepala 
4, ovata, extus pilosa, per paria opposita, <estivatione imbri- 
cata. Petala 4 4, sepalis 3-plo breviora, rotundata, carnosa. 
Stamina nulla. Ovarium solitarium, ovatum, breviter stipi- 
tatum, compressum, rectum, elabrum, suleo longitudinali 
latere notatum, 1l-loculare, ovulo e parieti ventrali appenso ; 


374 Dr. A. Giinther on new Species of Fishes 


stylus brevissimus, apice obtuse emarginatus, intus stigma- 
tosus. Cetera ignota. 

Suffrutex Capensis volubilis ; folia alterna, peltata, longe petiolata; 
paniculee gemine vel solitaria, axillares, petiolo breviores, pedun- 
culo composite umbellato, umbellis involucratis, umbellulis 
bracteatis, apice flores 4 sessiles gerentibus ; flores minima, 
1-bracteolati. 


Its only known species, Homocnemia Meyeriana, is described 
in the 3rd vol. of the ‘ Contributions to Botany.’ 


[To be continued. | 


XLII.—Descriptions of three new Species of Fishes in the Col- 
lection of the British Museum. By Dr. ALBERT GUNTHER. 


Diagramma citrinellum. 


D.}3. A. #2 LL. lat. 84. LL. transy. 13/23. 


This species is evidently closely allied to D. mediterraneum of 
Guichenot ; but it has fewer anal rays, differently coloured fins, 
and a less elevated body. The height of the body equals the 
length of the head, and is less than one-third of the total length 
(without caudal) ; the head is considerably longer than high, 
and its upper profile does not descend very abruptly. The dia- 
meter of the eye equals the length of the snout and the width 
of the interorbital space, and is two-sevenths of the length of the 
head ; the maxillary extends to below the anterior margin of the 
orbit. Small scales advance to between the nostrils, and cover 
the preorbital almost entirely. Dorsal spines of moderate 
length and strength, the fifth, sixth, and seventh being the 
longest, and two-fifths of the length of the head. The posterior 
spinous passes gradually into the soft portion of the dorsal, without 
being separated from it by a notch. The second anal spine is not 
longer, but stronger, than the third, and is longer and stronger 
than any of the dorsal spies. Caudal fin truncated. Pectoral 
rather longer than ventral, the latter not extending to the vent. 
Seales ctenoid, those of the lateral line irregularly arranged. 
Head and body blackish ash-coloured ; all the fins and the free 
portion of the tail bright lemon-coloured, with a greenish tinge. 

A single very fine example, 1] inches long, was obtained by 
the Rev. R. T. Lowe, durimg his last sojourn in the Cape de 
Verde Islands. 

Therapon percoides. 


D. 13. A.2. L. lat. 39. LL. transv. 7/18. 


The height of the body is contained twice and a half in the 
total length (without caudal) ; the length of the head twice and 


in the Collection of the British Museum. 375 


one-third. Upper surface of the head rather flat and entirely 
scaleless; snout of moderate length, as long as the diameter of 
the eye, which is two-sevenths of the length of the head, and 
somewhat more than the width of the interorbital space. Cleft 
of the mouth rather narrow; the maxillary scarcely reaching to 
below the anterior margin of the orbit. Preorbital much nar- 
rower posteriorly than anteriorly, with the lower edge indistinctly 
serrated. Scales on the cheek small, in four or five series. 
Preeoperculum with the angle obtusely rounded, the serratures 
being equal along the entire edge; operculum with two points, 
the upper being short and obtuse, the lower spinous and rather 
prominent ; sub- and inter-operculum entire; humeral process 
finely serrated. 

The dorsal fin commences above the axil of the pectoral, and 
is composed of thirteen spines, the fourth, fifth, and sixth of 
which are the longest—more than half as long as the head; all 
the spines are of moderate strength. There is a notch between 
the spimous and soft portions, the twelfth spine being rather 
shorter than the thirteenth ; the soft dorsal is rather lower than 
the spinous. The distance between the dorsal and caudal fins is a 
little less than the height of the tail below the end of the dorsal. 
The second spine of the anal fin is longer and much stronger 
than the third, and equal in length to the seventh of the dorsal 
fin: none of the dorsal spines equals it in strength. Caudal fin 
scarcely emarginate, one-fifth of the total length. Pectoral 
rather shorter than ventral, which terminates before reaching 
the vent. Scales ctenoid; the lateral line follows the curvature 
of the back. 

Teeth in the jaws villiform; none on the palate. Pseudo- 
branchize well developed. 

Back greenish, shining silvery, passing into pure white below: 
five black cross bands descend from the back towards the belly ; 
they are only half as wide as the interspaces between them ; the 
first descends from before the dorsal fin towards the axil, the 
second from the sixth and seventh dorsal spines, the third from 
the last dorsal spines, and the fourth from the hinder half of the 
soft dorsal; the fifth crosses the tail. Vertical fins marbled with 
black. Infraorbital bones with a silvery band. 

Two specimens, 5 inches long, were sent by Mr. Krefft, Curator 
of the Sidney Museum. They were obtained from the Fitzroy 
River, near Rockhampton, in Queensland. 


Catopra malabarica, 
p.14. A. zg. L, lat. 26. LL. transv. 3/9. 
The height of the body is contained twice and two-fifths in 


376 Bibliographical Notice. 


the total length (without caudal), the length of the head three 
times ; head about as high as long; snout as long as the eye, 
the diameter of which is two-sevenths of the length of the head, 
and more than the width of the interorbital space; jaws equal 
in length anteriorly, the maxillary extending to below the ante- 
rior margin of the orbit. Preeorbital and angle of the praoper- 
culum without serratures ; opercles, throat, and isthmus entirely 
scaly ; cheek with four series of scales. The dorsal fin com- 
mences above the end of the gill-cover, and terminates close by 
the caudal: its spines are of moderate strength and length, and 
can be received in a groove; those from the fifth to the ninth 
are the longest, not quite half as long as the head; the last two 
spines are equal in length; the soft dorsal is elevated and scaly 
at its base. The second and third anal spines are equal in length 
and strength, and scarcely longer or stronger than those of the 
dorsal fin ; the soft anal is similar to the corresponding part of 
the dorsal. Caudal fin rounded, nearly one-fourth of the total 
length; without scales, except at the base. Pectoral rather 
narrow, extending as far backwards as the ventral, and shorter 
than the head; the ventral does not reach to the vent. 

Scales with the margin entire; the upper part of the lateral 
line terminates below the middle of the soft dorsal, above the 
commencement of the lower part. 

The jaws, vomer, and a narrow strip of the palatine bones are 
armed with bands of villiform teeth. The dentigerous plates on 
the roof and on the bottom of the mouth appear to have one 
undivided surface, no separate molar teeth being distinct: the 
upper is oblong, slightly taperig in front, rounded behind, and 
somewhat contracted in the middle; the lower is elliptical, 
and there is a smaller transverse plate behind the larger one. 

One specimen, 34 inches long, has been presented to the 
British Museum by Dr. F. Day. It was obtained within the 
hill-ranges of Travancore, on the Malabar coast, where the spe- 
cies does not appear to be very scarce. 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. 


Physical Geography for Schools and General Readers. 
By M. F. Maury, LL.D. &c. 1864. 


Tuis is an interesting book for young people who have to learn the 
mutual influences of land, water, and air on the surface of the globe. 
The rivers, lakes, and seas conform to the shape of the ground, and 
their waters are taken up by the circulating air (or winds) to be 
again poured down as rain; and these processes, endlessly modified 
in different regions, and mien different climates, both of zones and 
heights, variously affect the aspect of nature, chiefly through the 


Zoological Society. 377 


vegetable kingdom, thus influencing the distribution of Man upon 
earth, his commerce, arts, and habits. These are the chief points 
of Dr. Maury’s little work, in which Hydrography and Meteorology 
have a prominent place, rather than what is usually called ‘‘ Physical 
Geography.”’ 

The author herein brings the many good facts and theories col- 
lected and worked out by long and careful labour in his ‘ Sailing 
Directions’ and ‘ Physical Geography of the Sea’ to bear on the 
evidence of creative design in the arrangement of the “ physical 
machinery of our planet,” taking for his text, we may say, the words 
he quotes from Ecclesiastes, i. 7: ‘All the rivers run into the sea, 
yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, 
thither they return again.” 

After some definitions of geographical terms, the reader learns 
something of water in rivers and the sea—what it is, and what it con- 
tains—and of ice and clouds. The air comes next, its weight and 
pressure, its constitution, its movements, and its power of carrying 
moisture ; and the study of heat, in relation with the earth, air, water, 
and vapour, leads to meteorology and climate and the varied aspects 
of nature. Mr. Tyndall’s eloquent expositions of the nature of heat 
are warmly welcomed in Captain Maury’s pages. Currents of air at 
sea and on land, dry and moist winds, the distribution of rain, the 
general fitness of “terrestrial arrangements”? and of ‘terrestrial 
adaptations,”’ the ‘‘ beauty and benignity ”’ of natural phenomena, so 
well known to the ‘‘ Christian philosopher” who looks to teleologi- 
cal conveniences as the great end and aim of nature,—all these are 
rather wearisomely illustrated and insisted upon by our hydrogra- 
phist, whose well-connected facts would not be less clearly stated, 
nor less easily remembered, if given with less frequent allusions to 
the ‘Sailing Directions,’ on the one hand, and to the perfection of 
the ‘‘ grand physical machine,” on the other. 

Given the sun as operator, water and air as machine, and earth as 
basis, the “ physical machine”’ performs its office ; and Books VII., 
VIII., and IX. treat of the power of heat, of the clouds, the rivers, 
and the sea (especially comparing the southern with the northern 
hemisphere), and of ‘‘ the earth as we behold it.’ Man in relation 
to rivers running north and south, through different climatal zones 

as the Mississippi, for instance), compared with east and west lines 
of traffic (as the Amazon or the Mediterranean),—Man in relation to 
maize as a food adapted for migration, and in relation to regions 
more or less cultivable, is here considered. 

Of volcanic phenomena, of mountain-ranges, of the formation of 
table-lands, valleys, and other features Dr. Maury says nothing ; but 
his little book is complete in itself, hydrographically considered. 
We would, however, that he knew something more of natural his- 
tory—that he would not term the Coral “an insect of the sea”— 
‘the Coralline,”’ nor speak of Rhizopods as “ microscopic insects,” 
and, indeed, that he would not class as ¢zsects all little animals, both 
of land and water, “that are too small to be recognized as beasts, or 
birds, or fishes” (p. 122). 


378 Zoological Society :— 


PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
Feb. 9, 1864.—John Gould, Esq., F.R.S., in the Chair. 
On a New Srecies or Mecarope. By G. R. Gray. 


I have had placed in my hands a specimen of a bird (preserved in 
spirits) from the Island of Nina Fou*, which, on examination, has 
proved to be a new species of the remarkable genus Megapodius. 
The specific characters are as follows :— 


Mercaropivus PritcHARDII. 


Young female. Slaty black+, with the base of most of the fea- 
thers white ; wings (imperfect, the quills having been mostly cut 
away ) with the first quill fuscous black ; the rest are apparently white, 
probably fuscous black at their tips ; upper tail-coverts white ; tail 
fuscous black ; abdomen pale fuscous black or slaty ; cheeks and 
upper part of the neck vermilion-red, slightly feathered with small 
scattered black plumes ; bill bright yellow; tarsi and toes pale yel- 
low; claws blackish lead-colour. 

Length, from tip of bill to end of tail, 12 or 13 inches. 

The specimen from which the description was taken was obtained 
by Mr. W. T. Pritchard at Nina Fou, which island is situated about 
halfway between the Feejee Islands and the Samoan Islands, and is 
far removed to the northward of the Friendly or Tonga Islands, yet 
it is considered to form part of this latter group. This somewhat 
isolated island is said to be of small size, of voleanic origin, and pe- 
culiarly liable to eruptions and earthquakes. The natives informed 
him that the bird “laid 200 eggs, and piled them one above another 
in the shape of a pyramid, the last egg forming the apex.” This 
statement Mr. Pritchard “hesitated to believe; but the natives re- 
iterated it.’ The bird lives in the bush, runs very fast, and does not 
fly any distance at a time. 

It so happens that the Nina Fou bird was lately recorded in the 
“ Proceedings of the Zoological Society’ (1862, p. 247), from infor- 
mation obtained by Mr. Bennett of Capt. M*Leod, who stated that 
the bird was known to the natives by the name of “ Mallow ;”’ and it 
lives in the scrubs in the centre of the island, about the margin of a 
large lagoon of brackish water, which has the appearance of having 
been an extinct crater ; the birds lay their eggs on one side only of 
the lagoon, where the soil is composed of a sulphur-looking sand ; 
the eggs are deposited from 1 to 2 feet beneath the surface. 

This latter account is in accordance with the known habits of 
several of the species of this genus, and Mr. Pritchard was right in 
doubting the correctness of the marvellous and most improbable story 
related to him by the natives. It is only by the permission of the 
king or chief that the eggs or birds can be procured, which is also 
the case in other localities. 

* Onooafow, or Proby Island, or Hope Island, or Good Hope Island. 

+ Mr. Bennett says, “of an uniform blackish-brown colour.” While Mr. Prit- 
chard remarks it to be ‘ of a brownish blue.” 


Mr. J. Gould on a new Gull from Tibet. 379 


The natives of the Tonga Islands informed Mr. Pritchard that the 
bird was ‘‘not found on any of their islands, except Nina Fou.” 
There is, however, in the British Museum an egg, with the provi- 
sional name of Megapodius Burnabyi, which agrees with the de- 
scription of the Nina Fou egg. It was obtained by Lieut. Burnaby, 
R.N., at the Hapace Islands, which is the centre cluster of the three 
groups usually considered to form the Friendly or Tonga Islands. 
The bird of the Hapace Islands may, when made known, prove to 
be a species closely allied to the Megapodius Pritchardit, if not the 
same. 


On A New Species or Prionors. By G. R. Gray. 


I beg to lay before the Meeting the description of a new species 
of Prionops, which has been obtained during the Zambesi expedition. 


PRIONOPS TRICOLOR. 


Black ; back, ramp, wing-coverts, and tertials purplish grey ; quills 
fuscous black, from the second to the tenth quills crossed interiorly 
with a white oblique band ; vent, under tail-coverts, and tips of the 
tail-feathers white ; on the latter the white decreases in width from 
the outer to the central feathers, where it exhibits only a small spot 
on each feather. 

The frontal plumes covering the nostrils are short, turned upwards, 
and slightly curved backwards in front of the eyes, like those of the 
Prionops Talacoma, which latter species, with the new one, were sent 
in the first series of birds as from 'Tette. 

The eyes are surrounded by serrated fleshy rings. The bill and 
feet red; the former is tipped with yellow. 

Length 7" 6!'; wings 5". 

This new species is allied to Prionops Retzi, but it is without the 
white rump, and the tips of the tail-feathers are white on both webs. 


DeEsCRIPTION OF A NEw SPECIES OF GULL FROM TIBET. 
By J. Goutp, Esa., F.R.S., etc. 


CHROICOCEPHALUS TIBETANUS, Gould. 


Head light chocolate-brown, deepening into black on the nape, sides 
of the head, and fore part of the neck ; back and wings delicate grey; 
shoulders and edge of the wing pure white; first two primaries 
black, with an oblong patch of white occupying the basal portion of 
the outer web and the corresponding portion of the inner web for 
about half its breadth, and with an oval patch of white near the tip ; 
the remaining quills white, largely tipped and broadly margined along 
the inner web with black ; remainder of the plumage, comprising the 
neck, under surface, upper and under tail-coverts, pure white ; bill, 
legs, and feet coral-red ; nails black. 

Total length 16 inches, bill 2 inches, wing 123 inches, tail 5 inches, 
tarsi 24 inches. 

Hab. Tibet. 

Remark. This fine and very distinct species belongs to that section 
of the Laride which comprises the well-known Black-headed Gull, 


380 Zoological Society :— 


C. ridibundus, but cannot be confounded with that or any other 
species, the broad black mark in the centre of its first two primaries, 
together with its larger size, serving at once to distinguish it. It was 
brought from Tibet by Major W. E. Hay, F.Z.S. 


Notes on soME New Lizarps FROM SoutTH-EASTERN AFRICA, 
WITH THE DESCRIPTIONS OF SEVERAL New Species. By 
Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S., Etc. 


Dr. John Kirk has most kindly sent to the British Museum a 
series of Lizards, Snakes, Insects, and other animals collected during 
the Zambesi expedition, under H. M. Consul the Rev. Dr. Living- 
stone. As the series of Lizards contains some species which do not 
appear to have been previously inserted in the ‘Systematic Cata- 
logue,’ I forward an account of them to the Society. 


GERRHOSAURUS ROBUSTUS, Peters, Monatsb. 1854, p. 618. 

Hab. Tette (Peters; Dr. Kirk). 

Dr. Peters gives the word Caazia as the name of this Lizard ; 
but, Dr. Kirk informs me, that word simply means ‘I do not know,” 
which was probably what the native said when he asked him what 
they called it. 

Common near Tette. The native told Dr Kirk that it entered 
fowl-houses and killed the fowls, and that it bit very hard. 

This species agrees in general appearance with the Lizard figured 
in Dr. Andrew Smith’s ‘ Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa,’ 
under the name of Gerrhosaurus Bibronii ; but the head of the Tette 
specimen is dark brown like the body, and is spotted with white ; 
while in Dr. Smith’s species the head is figured as uniform red- 
brown. 


TEIRA ORNATA, N. S. 


Blackish brown above (in spirits), with three narrow continuous 
streaks from the occiput to the base of the tail; head with small 
symmetrically curved white lines; sides of the head and body with 
numerous erect, more or less sinuous, white cross bands ; chin and 
beneath white ; tail pale reddish brown; ventral shields six-rowed ; 
the throat with a slight fold of a single series of rather larger flat 
scales; under the ears, scales small, granular, smooth ; of the tail 
elongate, keeled. 

Hab. South-Eastern Africa (Dr. Kirk). 


LYGOPACTYLUS, n. g. 


Toes free, all clawed, slender, and subcylindrical, with a series of 
small scales beneath at the base rather dilated ovate, and with two 
series of regular transverse plates, separated by a central groove be- 
neath, at the end; the thumb (of the hind foot, at least) large. 
Head, body, and tail covered with uniform granular scales. Tail 
cylindrical, tapering; front of the vent granular. Labial shields 
large, similar in form, smaller behind, with a large shield in front of 
the chin. 

This genus agrees with Thecadactylus in the form of the plate 


Dr. J. E. Gray on new Species of African Lizards. 381 


beneath the toes ; but the toes are freer, and the bases of the toes are 
slender and subcylindrical. It differs from dura and Strophura 
in the plates under the toes being of a uniform size, and closely im- 
bricate. 


LyGopDACTYLUS STRIGATUS, Sp. nov. 


Grey brown (in spirits) above ; crown vermiculated and marbled 
with black ; chin and beneath white, with a black streak commencing 
from the nostril and continued, enclosing the eye, on the side of the 
neck and front of the body ; tail pale brown; scales on the back 
very minute, of the crown rather larger ; upper labial shields narrow ; 
the lower labial shields 7.7, the four in front of each side larger, be- 
coming gradually smaller; chin-shield six-sided, with two or three 
smaller shields on each side behind it. 

Hab. South-Eastern Africa (Dr. Kirk). 

Body and head 14 inch long; tail 1 inch. 


Homopacry vs, n. g. 


The toes free, broad, depressed, rather broader and rounded at the 
ends ; thumb broad like the toes; all granular at the base, and with 
a single series of broad transverse plates beneath the dilated end, and 
without any free compressed terminal joints or claws. Back with 
large tubercles. Tail with rings of large tubercular scales. No pre- 
anal or femoral pores. 

This genus is like Phe/suma in the form of the toes ; but the thumb 
is dilated at the end like the toes; the back is tubercular, and the 
tail rmged and tubercular. 

In the latter character it resembles Taventola, which has the same 
habit of living in houses; but it has no compressed joints on the 
middle toes of the hands and feet. 


HomopactyLus TuRNERI, Sp. nov. 


Pale brown ; head blackish, tubercular ; back with sixteen longi- 
tudinal series of large, oblong, more or less keeled, black- brown tuber- 
cles, with a central series of much smaller similar tubercles down the 
vertebral line. The outer side of the limbs with similar tubercles, 
which are largest. on the outer side of the fore legs and hinder side 
of the thighs and hind legs. Tail with rather distant rings of similar, 
but rather more acute tubercles, which make six longitudinal series 
on the base of the tail; underside pale brown, with smooth subequal 
scales; chin with three band-like shields in front. 

Hab. South-Eastern Africa (Dr. Kirk). In the houses. 

Var. or junior ? 

Pale brown, with the tubercles paler and with some opaque-white 
tubercles intermixed. Head with four longitudinal brown streaks 
up the face to the forehead ; a brown streak on the upper margin of 
the temple, five unequal, rather irregular, dark bands across the 
back, and some more obscure paler bands across the tail. The toes 
appear scarcely so much dilated ; but in other respects they are like 
the two larger dark specimens. 

I have named this species in honour of J. Aspinall Turner, Esgq., 


382 Zoological Society :— 


M.P., who has done so much to make known the zoology of West- 
ern Africa, and formed such a fine collection of insects, especially of 
Coleoptera. 

M. Auguste Duméril, in the ‘Revue et Mag. de Zoologie’ for 
1851, describes and figures a Nocturnal Lizard, which had been re- 
ceived from Senegal, under the name of Stenodactylus caudicinctus 
(p. 478, t. 13). 

M. A. Duméril observes that the slender-toed Geckotians are 
easily divided into two genera,—the Gymnodactyles having slender 
toes, which are smooth on the edge and with small centrical plates 
beneath ; while the Stenodactyles have each side of the toes fringed 
with small teeth, and the lower surface granular. 

I cannot consider this an accurate account of the typical Steno- 
dactyles, or, at least, of the toes of the long-known species on which 
the genus Stenodactylus of Cuvier was established ; for in that ani- 
mal, as is well shown in Savigny’s figure in the large work on Egypt, 
the underside of the toes is furnished with a series of plates as in 
the Gymnodactyles, but instead of the plate being entire on the edge, 
as in Gymnodactylus, it is deeply dentated on the outer margin, which 
caused me, in my ‘Catalogue of Lizards in the British Museum,’ to 
form a tribe for it in the family Geckotide, under the name Steno- 
dactylina, which is thus characterized :— 


“E. Toes cylindrical, tapering, toothed on the sides, lower surface 
with denticulated cross plates”’ (1. c. p. 177). 


The Lizard from Senegal, which M. A. Dumeéril has referred to 
this genus, does not agree with this character. It, indeed, has the 
under surface of its cylindrical tapering toes covered with small 
acute scales, like the soles of its feet; and therefore I think that it 
must be formed into a distinct genus, which will form an anomalous 
group among the Night Lizards, or Geckotide, characterized by this 
peculiarity in the toes. 

The Senegal Lizard cannot be properly referred to the genus S¢e- 
nodactylus for another reason: the true Stenodactyli have the 
external appearance of the dyame, so much so that Geoffroy, on 
Savigny’s plate, calls it L’ dgame ponctué; and M. Audouin, in hig 
‘ Explanation of Savigny’s Plates,’ referred it to the genus 7’rapelus, 
under the name of 7. Savignii ; while the Senegal Lizard is a typical 
Gecko in all outward characters except the toes, so much so that 
when it was first seen it was thought to be an Hudlepharis, erro- 
neously said to come from Africa. 

I propose to call this genus 


PsILODACTYLUS, g. nl. 


Toes short, subcylindrical, tapering, covered with flat scales above, 
and, like the palms, with small rough granules beneath ; thumb like 
toes, but shorter; all clawed. Tail cylindrical, covered with flat 
scales, annularly plaited, with a series of larger scales on the edge of 
the folds; beneath covered with subequal, flat, square scales. Pre- 
anal pores in a short angular line. Head depressed, covered with 
polygonal shields ; labial shields low, broad ; upper and lower rostral 


Dr. J. E. Gray on new Species of African Lizards. 383 


shields large, similar. Edge of the eyelids reflexed, expanded ; pupil 
large. Back with series of granular tubercles, those on the side 
formed of three subequal, larger scales. Chin, throat, and belly 
with smooth polygonal scales. 

This genus is very similar to Hublepharis (Hardwichii) in external 
appearance and distribution of colour, but differs in the toes being 
very much shorter, thicker, and cylindrical and tapering, in the 
ends not being compressed and arched, but thick and cylindrical 
like the bases, and in the under surface of the toes being covered 
with small rough granules, like the under surface of the palms or soles 
of the feet. It differs also in the tubercles of the back being formed 
of groups of three scales; the central scales or tubercles on the 
middle of the back are larger than those on each side of it, but on 
the sides of the back the three scales are of nearly equal size. 

In ELublepharis the toes are compressed at the end, and have a 
broad band-like scale beneath, and the tubercles of the back and sides 
are all formed of a single large scale. 


PstLODACTYLUS CAUDICINCTUS. 
Stenodactylus caudicinctus, A. Duméril, 7. ec. 


In spirits, pale whitish ; upper part of the head brown, edged with 
a black horseshoe-shaped band behind; cheek and side of the throat 
black, varied ; back with two very broad irregular-edged black cross 
bands; tail dark, ringed. 

Hab. W. Africa; Old Calabar? 


EUPREPIS GULARIS, sp. noy. 


Pale bronze-green brown (in spirit), with five narrow whitish 
streaks from the occiput continued on the base of the tail; crown 
of the head uniform brown; the central dorsal streak with a narrow 
black edge on each side, the two lateral streaks scarcely dark-edged, 
the upper one arising from the back edge of the eye, and the lower 
from the pale scales on the upper lip; the throat, the sides of the 
face, and neck dark brown, white-speckled. The front edge of the 
ears with a few very small thin scales. 

Hab. South-Eastern Africa. 

In the ‘ Catalogue of Lizards in the British Museum,’ I regarded 
these specimens from South Africa as varieties of the Huprepis quin- 
quefasciatus from Western Africa; but on recomparing these speci- 
mens with other specimens received since, and with the specimens 
brought home by Dr. Kirk, I am convinced that they are distinct. 


Evupreris Kirk, sp. nov. 


Black-brown ; back with three uniform well-marked yellow streaks, 
the middle one from the end of the nose to the base of the tail, the 
lateral ones from the eyebrows and continued on the side of the base 
of the tail, and tail-end blue. There is a streak like the others, but 
less distinct, on each side of the body, arising from the lips, continued 
across the ear-hole, and obscurely continued on the side of the base 
of the tail. The chin and underside of the body and base of the tail 
whitish ; scales with three distinct keels ; two series of scales between 


384: Zoological Society :— 


each pale streak ; the ear-holes oblong, erect, open, with three very 
small indistinct prominences on the front edge, which are placed at 
unequal distances from each other. 

Hab. Tette (Dr. Kirk). 

This species resembles in external appearance the Blue-tailed Skink 
of North America; but the central dorsal streak is not forked over 
the head. It is very like the H. guinquefasciatus of Western Africa ; 
but the dorsal streaks are not black-edged, and the central one is 
continued to the end of the nose. This is not the case in the latter 
species, which agrees with #. Kirkii in having only two series of 
scales between each white streak. 

Named in honour of Dr. Kirk, its discoverer. 


Euprerpis GRANTII, sp. nov. 


Pale bronzed brown, with a broad pale whitish streak on each side 
of the back, continued from the eyebrows to the lower part of the 
tail. Sides of the head and neck with a broad blackish streak, en- 
closing the eye and over the ears. The upper lip and slender streak 
under the eye opaque white. Scales three-keeled. 

Hab. South-Eastern Africa (Dr. Kirk). 


CHAM&LEO DILePIs, Gray, Cat. Lizards B.M. 266. 


The white band on the sides is formed of round groups of white 
scales of the same size and form as the other scales on the sides. 
There is also a triangular white spot at the angles of the mouth. 

Hab. South-Eastern Africa (Dr. Kirk). 


Feb. 23, 1864.—John Gould, Esq., F.R.S., in the Chair. 


Notice oF A New SPECIES OF ZORILLA. 
By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S., etc. 


The British Museum, rather more than ten years ago, purchased 
of Mr. Argent the skin of a Zorilla, which differs from any others 
which I have seen. Unfortunately it was without any habitat, and 
I have been waiting in hopes of a second specimen occurring which 
would supply this deficiency. 

It, however, appears so distinct that I think it now better to give 
a short account of it, that it may be recorded in the systematic cata- 
logues. 


ZORILLA ALBINUCHA, 


Black; back with four yellowish-white stripes, the two middle 
streaks short, the outer extending from the occiput to the base of 
the tail; tail yellowish white ; forehead, crown, nape, and upper 
part of the ears pure white. 

Hab. 2 

The hair soft and short ; the white hair of the crown and the yel- 
lowish hair of the dorsal stripes one-coloured to the base ; the hair 
of the tail rigid, more or less blackish at the base. 

There are two or three small, black, unsymmetrically placed spots 
on the crown, and the central black streak of the back is extended a 


Mr. W. K. Parker on the Kagu. 385 


short way up the centre of the nape. The front claws are short and 
acute. 

It differs from the Zorilla Vaillantii, Loche (Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 
1856, viii. 497, t. 22), in the crown of the head being entirely white, 
and the streak on the back narrower and well-defined. 


On THE OsTEoLocy or THE Kacu (RHINOCHETUS JUBATUS). 
By W. K. Parker. 


If we take the terrestrial, amphibious, and aquatic birds as a prac- 
tical half of the whole class, we shall find that the minor groups into 
which they break up all fuse into each other at their margins. 

If it were not for the fact that the Pigeons, Ardeine birds (e. g. 
Ibises, Storks, and Herons), and the “ Pelecanine ”’ have tender 
young, then a straight line might be drawn through the class, 
leaving on one side the plunderers, songsters, and other families of 
the ‘ Aves altrices,”’ and on the other the walking, running, wading, 
swimming, and diving birds. As it is, however, this interdigitation 
of the two main halves does not take away the great naturalness of 
such a subdivision ; and the land- and water-birds may be considered 
as together forming a very natural group. 

Certainly these birds have very much in common; and inosculant 
forms so completely connect together the minor subdivisions as to 
make one seamless web of these apparently incongruous materials. 

This slow but sure melting of family into family, and genus into 
genus, this mixing of single types so as to form double, triple, and 
multiple types, makes the ancestral hypothesis very hard to digest, 
whilst yet it seems to be the only one at hand having any scientific 
value. It may be an ignis fatuus, but, to one perplexed with tracing 
the mazy labyrinth of types, it looks like a light shining in a dark 
place. ; 

The Palamedea and the Kagu have turned up to me very oppor- 
tunely just now; they have made me rethink my thoughts, and re- 
peat and vary my observations, on the relationships of the land- and 
water-groups of birds. The former of these birds—the Palamedea— 
by bringing an essentially Anserine bird so near those outlying ‘“ Gal- 
line’ the Curassow and the Brush-Turkey, shows how it is that 
there exists so much in common in the skull and face of the Fowl 
and the Goose; whilst the Kagu, by tying closely together the 
Trumpeter and the Lurypyga, in some degree opens the eyes to 
understand why the relationship of the Cranes to the Herons, and 
of both to the Rails, should be so close and intimate. 

I have also been brought to re-analyze the families so as to elimi- 
nate, if possible, the single or pure from the mixed types, whether 
merely double or multiple. 

Tentatively and cautiously let us separate the true Ralline birds, 
from the Noftornis to the Coot ; this group may stand as one of the 
sinple-type families. 

Parallel with these birds—in some respects more intelligent, in 
others coming nearer to the reptile—we place the Plovers, not 


Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.3. Vol, xiv. 25 


386 Zoological Society :—- 


having respect to the length of their bills, but to the degree in which 
they have retained a certain embryological simplicity of structure, 
and are thus less typically ornithic than their relatives the Gulls, on 
one hand, and the Ibises, on the other. 

The typical Fowis and the typical Geese and Ducks appear to 
form two more groups of equal value with the Ralline and Pluvialine 
groups ; but as these two simple types do not bear very directly upon 
the subject of this present paper, they will be considered on some 
other occasion. 

Any one who has mastered the development of a Rail or a Plover 
will be in a state of fitness to study the meaning of what he will see 
in the structure of the Heron and of the Crane. 

At present my view of the matter is, that, whilst the Heron has 
risen considerably higher in the bird-scale than the Crane, yet they 
are intimately related ; moreover, that the Heron has full two- 
thirds of the ralline nature in it to one of the pluvialine, and, on 
the other hand, that the Crane has in it twice as much of the 
Plover as of the Rail. 

In supposing these birds to be thus double in their nature, I do 
not forget that they have characters peculiar to themselves alone ; 
identity-characters they might be called: we see this everywhere in 
nature; and those of us who have large families know well that, 
whilst each child is in one sense a copy of both parents at once, yet 
he holds his own, and has so much and such well-marked indivi- 
dualism as to make him in a certain sense like the starting-point of 
divergence towards a distinct species. I here append a sort of scheme, 
showing some of the more important relationships of the Kagu, one 
of the best examples of a multiple type :— 


Rallus. Ardea. Grus. Pluvialis. 
tee Nycticoraz. Anthropoides. H imahonun 
Brachypteryz. Tigrisoma. Balearica. (Edicnemus. 
Rhinochetus. dasa Psophia. 


| | 


The Rhinochetus, the Psophia, and the Eurypyga are on the same 
level ; they are intimately related inter se, and very closely also to the 
Cranes and Herons. I am not aware whether, in placing them on 
the same line, I have truly indicated the ornithic height of each. In 
the upper line it is certainly not so; yet that is a natural arrangement 
in one important matter ; for the Heron comes near to the Rail, and 
the Crane to the Plover, and all are intimately related. 

The Psophia is the truest Crane in the bottom line, yet its skull 
is principally ralline in character ; the Eurypyga comes nearest to the 
Heron: as for the Kagu, whether it be most of a Crane, a Night- 


Mr. W. K. Parker on the Kagu. 387 


Heron, or a Wingless Rail, I will not say ; it has a more distant re- 
lationship with the Stone-Plover (Aidicnemus). 

The Psophia has a very phasianine expression of face, and the 
structure of its head answers to that look very considerably ; whilst 
the Lurypyga has stretched just as far out for some of its characters, 
and is unmistakeably related to the Stilt-Plover (Himantopus). It 
would be tedious if the details were given; but I hold myself ready 
to prove my assertions. Leaving the beautiful and complex skulls 
of the Kagu, the Zurypyga, and the Psophia (merely remarking 
that the first is most like that of a Night-Heron, the second halfway 
between that of the Kagu and the Himantopus, and that the third is, 
as it were, the skull of a phasianine Rail), let us turn to the sternum 
in these birds. 

In each case this bone answers best to that of a newly hatched 
Crane (e. g. Grus montignesia), whilst it is, as yet, totally unossified. 
The breast-bone of the Trumpeter comes nearest that of the Crowned 
Crane (Balearica); the Kagu’s sternum is truest to the embryo 
Crane; whilst that of the Hurypyga answers in nature both to that 
of the young Crane and the young Heron. The sternum of the true 
Crane, in its early condition, is very interesting, as, besides its own 
proper characters, it shows a dying-out of the pluvialine immer hypo- 
sternal processes. The dorsal vertebree are largely anchylosed toge- 
ther in these three mixed types—the Kagu, Psophia, and Eurypyga ; 
and this occurs in all the Cranes more or less, and also in that 
strange Crane-Goose the Flamingo. 

The furculum of the Kagu is but little stronger, and only a little 
more U-shaped, than that of the Brachypteryz ; that of the Psophia 
has its rami more divergent than that of a Crane, and the process at 
the angle is weaker ; and, lastly, the furculum of the Zurypyga is 
intermediate between those of the Psophia and the Stilt-Plover. 

That which strikes the eye at once in the pelvis of the Kagu is 
the great height and steepness of the iliac crests, and the peculiar 
bend downwards of the hinder part of the sacrum ; this is equally 
well seen in the pelvis of the Brachypteryx and the Psophia, 

This has a further interest ; for that which gives character to the 
pelvis of the T'alegalla, as compared with that of other gallinaceous 
birds, is this peculiar height of the iliac crests. 

In the Eurypyga this character is not only toned down, as it were, 
but the posterior part of the pelvis is much broader : and this part of 
the bird alone would only indicate a specific difference from that 
peculiar Ibidine Stork the Uméretta ; for its pelvis differs but little 
from that of the Hurypyga, save in being stronger, and it answers to 
that common broad kind so constantly seen in every modification of 
an essentially pluvialine bird. 

My last remark is, that all the outliers of the typical “‘ Ardeinze ” 
—Baleniceps, Scopus, Eurypyga, Rhinochetus, and the Storks— 
take hands round the well-defined central group, viz. the Herons, 
Bitterns, Egrets, Night-Herons, Tiger-Bitterns, and Boat-bill. 


25% 


388 Zoological Society :— 


DESCRIPTION OF A NEw SPECIES oF CHRYSOCOCCYx. 
By Joun Gou tp, F.R.S., Etc. 


Curysococcyx ScHomBurRGKI, Gould. 


Crown of the head, neck, back, and scapularies rich shining cop- 
pery bluish green ; wing-coverts bright shining green, margined with 
a coppery hue; first three primaries dark bluish black, with a stripe 
of white down the central part of their inner webs; the remainder 
of the primaries bluish green on their outer webs, with a tinge of 
copper on their margins, the inner webs bluish black with a broad 
stripe of white along their basal margin; tail-feathers deep bluish 
green, with a tinge of copper on their margins, and the outer fea- 
thers on each side crossed by three irregular bands of white, and 
with an oval spot of white at the tip; throat, under surface of the 
body, and under wing-coverts alternately banded with pure white 
and bronzy green; under tail-coverts beautiful grass-green, those 
nearest the body largely tipped with white; bill orange, tipped with 
black ; tarsi and feet olive. 

Total length 64 inches, bill 4, wing 44, tail 33, tarsi 3. 

Hab. Siam. 

Remark. This very beautiful species is nearly allied to the Chry- 
sococcyx Hodgsoni of Moore (C. smaragdineus, Blyth) and C. 
xanthorhynchus of Horsfield. It was sent to me from Siam by Sir 
Robert Schomburgk, Her Britannic Majesty’s Consul-General for 
that country ; and I have named it in honour of one whose devotion 
to natural science is well known, and to whose merits in this respect 
I have had the pleasure of bearing testimony upon several previous 
occasions. 


March 8, 1864.—Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S., in the Chair. 


Nores ON THE Spectres or SAnpD- Mo tes (GeoryYCHUS). 
By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S., etc. 


Dr. Sclater having requested me to determine two Sand-Moles 
(Georychus) brought home by Capt. Speke, I have been induced 
to re-examine all the specimens of the genus in the British Museum. 


Ce) 
co) 
C5) 

a) Ce) 

5 &) 

QD a) 
4&3 
GE 


The species may be divided into two groups according to their fur. 
Thus the fur of G. capensis, G. albifrons, and G. unicolor is very 
similar, being soft, long, and fluffy ; while the fur of G. cecutiens, 


Dr. J. E. Gray on the Genus Georychus. 389 


G. damarensis, and G. holosericeus is also much alike, but differs 
from the fur of the other species in being shorter, rather more rigid, 
apparently closer. 


The genus may be divided into four groups by the form of the 
grinders, thus :— 


‘ 33 sho 
A. Grinders =. The crown of the upper and lower grinders nearly 


square, with a fold or groove on the inner and outer edges. 
Grorycuus. (Fig. 1.) 


1. Georycuus CAPENsIS, Gray, Cat. B.M. p. 148; see Water- 
house, Ann. N. H. viii. t. 2. f. 2. 


The perforation on the side of the skull in front of the orbit ob- 
long, subtrigonal, almost as wide as high; forehead with a slight 
wing-like expansion over the front of the orbit; the hinder wing of 
the lower jaw longer than high, with a slightly rounded outline be- 
neath. (Fig. 6.) 

Hab. Cape of Good Hope. 


2. GEORYCHUS ALBIFRONS, 0. 8. 


Fur ashy grey, with a large white spot on the forehead. 

Hab. Xi. Africa (Capt. Speke). 

This species is very like G. capensis, both in the colouring of the 
fur and in the form of the grinders, but is not more than one-third 
the size, and it has a large white spot on the forehead, and no white 
on the cheeks. There is the same difference in the size of the skull; 
and the teeth are more worn, showing that it is as old. The brain- 
box of the skull is much more ventricose. The teeth have a distinct 
fold on the inner side, but scarcely so on the outer; but then they 
are much worn. The expansion on the hinder part of the lower jaw 
is nearly of the same form as that of G. capensis. 

Dr. Peters, in his ‘ Nat. Reise nach Mossambique,’ t. 35. f. 3, gives 
a figure of the top of what he believes to be a young specimen of 
Bathyergus cecutiens. It is something like the skull of this spe- 
cies; but it may be the skull of the species to which Dr. Peters 
refers it, for unfortunately the teeth, which would determine the 
question, are not figured. 


B. Grinders = Crown of the front upper small, oblong, trans- 
verse, simple ; of second, third, and fourth subtrigonal, with a 
distinct fold or groove on the broader inner side ; the second 
tooth the smallest: the first lower oblong, small; the second 
square ; the third trigonal, the hinder side the smallest, with 
a subtrifoliate crown. The hinder wing of the lower jaw broad, 
nearly as high as wide, with a strongly arched outline below. 
Hexioruosivs, Peters. (Figs. 2 & 7.) 


3. GrorycHus paLLipus. (Teeth, fig. 2; jaw, fig. 7.) 


Rufous grey ; side of face, chin, and beneath paler yellow-grey. 
Hab. i. Africa (Capt. Speke). 


390 Zoological Society :-— 


I have very little doubt that this is the animal figured by Dr. 
Peters (Reise nach Mossambique, t. 31) under the name of Bathyer- 
gus argenteo-cinereus, and of which the skull is that figured as 
Heliophobius argenteo-cinereus (t. 35. f. 2), and described under the 
latter name in the ‘Bericht,’ 1846, p. 159; but he specially de- 
scribes it as having six grinders in each jaw, where we have only 
four. I think that must have been an anomaly in his specimen; 
indeed the figure does not show six well-formed teeth. 

Dr. Peters describes, and his figure represents, the fur as of a uni- 


form colour. Our specimen is paler on the cheeks and underpart of 
the body. 


C. Grinders = all nearly similar and of nearly equal size, the 
hinder being only slightly the smallest. The crown of the upper 
ones is oblong, rounded, and with a central fold on the outer 
side. The crown of the lower with a fold in the middle of each 
side, the outer fold of the last one being almost, if not quite, 
obsolete on the outer side. The wing of the hinder part of the 
lower jaw longer than high, with a nearly straight lower edge. 
Crypromys. (Figs. 3 & 6.) 


4. GEORYCHUS HOLOSERICEUS, Wagner. 
Hab. 8. Africa. 


D. Grinders =. The upper grinders oblong, transverse, wider 
than long, the front the largest ; the hinder very small, nearly 
circular. The lower grinders oblong, much wider than long ; 
the three front subequal ; the hinder smaller, nearly circular. 
The posterior wing of the lower jaw longer than high, with a 
nearly straight lower margin. Caromys. (Figs. 4 & 6.) 


5. GroryCuus C&CUTIENS, Gray, Cat. Mam. B.M. 149. (Teeth, 
fig. 4.) 

Bathyergus cecutiens, Licht. 

? B. Hotentottus, Lesson. 

? B. Ludwigiti, A. Smith. 

Fur short, close, uniform grey-brown ; the perforation in the side 


of the nose, in front of the orbit, large, oblong, erect. 
Hab. Natal. 


6. GEORYCHUS DAMARENSIS, Gray, Cat. Mamm. B. M. 149. 
(Teeth, fig. 5.) 

Bathyergus damarensis, Ogilby, P. Z.8. 

Fur short, uniform grey-brown, with a large white spot on the 
back of the head. 

Hab. Damara-land. 

This animal greatly resembles the preceding, but is larger, and has 
the white spot on the back of the head. The imperfect skull (with 


Dr. J. E. Gray on the Genus Dermatemys. 391 


part of the teeth) in the Museum resembles the skull of the preceding 
in most particulars, but is rather larger in size, and the perforation 
in the side of the nose, at the front edge of the orbit, is smaller and 
not so oblong, being only a little higher than wide. 


ADDITIONAL OBSERVATIONS ON DERMATEMYS, A GENUS OF 


Emypip® FRoM CEenTRAL America. By Dr. J. E. Gray, 
E.R-S., ETC. 


In the ‘ Proceedings of the Zoological Society’ for 1847, p. 53, I 
described a new genus of Hmydide, under the name of Dermatemys 
Mawii; and in the ‘Catalogue of Shield Reptiles in the British 
Museum’ I figured the shell of the animal in detail. 

This genus was only established on a single shell, without any 
part of the animal attached to it, which was then in the Museum of 
this Society, having been presented by Lieut. Mawe, R.N. This 
specimen has since been transferred to the collection of the British 
Museum. 

Some doubts have been expressed as to the position of the genus 
in the family Hmydide; and one naturalist has even gone so far as 
to doubt the propriety of establishing a genus from the examination 
of the single specimen, which he was inclined to believe was only an 
abnormal form of a typical Hmys. This I could not admit; for, 
even if it were an accidental monstrosity, we did not know an Emys 
to which it could be referred. 

M. Bibron, when in England, named the specimen, in the MS. 
Catalogue of the Zoological Society, Lmys Mawii, a name which I 
adopted when I originally described it. 

More lately the Museum at Paris appears to have received a spe- 
cimen with the animal, for I find it shortly noticed in M. A. Du- 
méril’s ‘ Catalogue of the Paris Museum’ under the name of Emys 
Berrardi, with the following account of the animal:—‘‘ Head uni- 
form brown, flat, broad, rather large ; jaws toothed; toes broadly 
webbed ; tail strong, rather long.” It was sent from M. Berrard 
from Vera Cruz. mys Berrardi is also described and figured by 
A. Dumeéril in the sixth volume of the ‘Archives du Muséum,’ 
p: 231, t. 15. 

It is to be observed that in the short notice of the species in the 
‘Catalogue of the Paris Museum’ the series of large shields on the 
external symphysis, which is a peculiarity of Dermatemys Mawit, is 
not mentioned ; and they are to be looked for in vain in the longer 
description in the ‘Archives du Muséum,’ or in the plate which ac- 
companies that paper. Yet there can be no doubt that both the 
descriptions and figure are intended for the animal under discussion, 
as M. Duméril admits that they received one specimen from Lieut. 
Mawe (or ‘‘ Maw,” as it is printed), which no doubt they obtained 
from the Zoological Society when M. Bibron was in London. How- 
ever, the figure is more beantiful as a work of art than accurate as 
a natural-history drawing ; but then herpetologists must by this time 


392 Zoological Society. 


have become accustomed to M. Auguste Duméril’s want of attention 
to such details. 

Professor Agassiz, probably deceived by these inaccuracies, ocb- 
served :—‘‘ ZL. Berrardi seems to belong to the genus Ptychemys, 
judging from the description and figure of the jaws.” (Contrib. 
p- 432.) 

In Mr. Salvin’s collection there is a specimen of this Tortoise, with 
the animal; but, unfortunately, the specimen is not well preserved : 
it seems to have been allowed to get dry from evaporation of the 
spirit, and then to have been placed in spirit again. However, it is 
in a sufficiently good condition to allow of a description of the more 
prominent characters of the animal; and it shows that the peculiar 
disposition of the sternal plate, on which the genus was described 
(though overlooked by M. Duméril), belongs to the normal characters 
of the animal. The head is rather large, flat above, and covered with 
a soft, thin, continuous skin; the nose shelving upward, conical; 
nostril terminal ; mouth inferior, considerably behind the end of the 
nose; beak horny, rather sinuated at the sides; chin not bearded ; 
the limbs strong, well developed ; the legs covered with small scales ; 
the front of the fore legs with numerous, unequal, very slender, 
band-like cross shields; feet large, broad; the toes very long, rather 
slender, with a wide web to the base of the claws; the outer edge of 
the fore leg and foot, and the hinder edge of the hind leg and foot, 
with a broad thin fringe, covered with large smooth plates; the 
claws 4—5, elongated, acute; tail short, thick, angular, the upper 
surface flat, granular, with a ridge on each side of the base con- 
verging towards the centre, where the ridges unite and form a single 
central ridge of granules to the horny tip of the tail. 

This genus has all the characters of the more typical aquatic Ter- 
rapins. The feet are broad, the toes elongated and well webbed ; 
and the alveolar edges of the jaws, according to the figure of M. A. 
Dumiéril (J. c. t. 15), have distinct dentated ridges, like the genera 
Pseudemys and Batagur. M. Duméril’s figure seems to have been 
taken from a badly preserved stuffed specimen. There is a second 
specimen of this very interesting Terrapin now alive in the Zoolo- 
gical Gardens. 

In my description of the genus I have described the axillary and 
inguinal plates as absent. In Mr. Salvin’s specimen they are very 
small, but yet distinctly present, but are more developed on one side 
than on the other, showing that they are variable in this animal. 


DescripTION oF THE New Lizarp (SpaTALuRA CARTERI, 
Gray), From Lire*. By Henry Carrer, Esa. 


«‘ Noticing that, in your specific description of Spatalura Carteri 
(Annals, vol. xiii. p. 249), you have inserted in a parenthesis the words 
‘dry from spirits,’ I am inclined to think that you would be glad 
of more information on the colour-markings of this Lizard when 


* Extracted from a letter to Dr. J. E. Gray. 


Miscellaneous. 3993 


fresh, which the following extract from my MS. Journal, written 
when the animal was caught, will, I hope, afford :— 

**« Ground cinereous, six pairs of white spets between the back of 
the head and root of the tail, symmetrically placed; six to eight. 
lines of red spots on each side, broken and terminating in small 
points towards the belly ; buff-coloured irregular spots on the sides 
among the red lines; belly bright yellow, passing into cinereous to- 
wards the roots of the posterior and anterior extremities; legs and 
tail spotted with red towards their proximal ends, with white spots 
towards their extremities; head irregularly marked with red and 
white spots having a transverse direction. Iris light cinereous, 
tympanum sunken and covered with loose skin.’ 

«This is a homely description, but I give it to you verbatim as it 
is in my Journal, and am sorry that I had not the latter to refer to 
in London when I left you the specimen. 

“Lastly, I notice, p. 250, in the fifth paragraph from the top, 
l. c., that an error has crept into my statement, in the word ‘ An- 
thropophagi,’ which ought to have been ‘ Chelonophagi’ (Turtle- 
eaters). It will not do to make mistakes of this kind; and these 
poor people, degraded as they are, I trust will never come to this.” 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


The Gare-Fowl, or Great Auk (Alca impennis). 


To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History. 


GENTLEMEN,—The September Number of your valuable Journal 
contains a list, communicated by Mr. Robert Champley, of the 
specimens of Alca impennis preserved in the various museums. To 
render this list more complete, I beg to inform you that a specimen 
of this rare bird is also contained in the Imperial Museum of Vienna. 

Requesting the insertion of this note in your pages, 

I remain, respectfully yours, 
A. VON PELZELN, 


Vienna, Oct. 3, 1864. Assistant Keeper in the Imperial 
Zoological Museum. 


[We omitted to remark, on publishing Mr. Champley’s list of 
specimens of this species in our September Number (p. 235), that it 
seems to be very defective. Mr. Alfred Newton, in his communica- 
tion to the Zoological Society, reprinted in our August Number 
(p- 140), states that “sixty-three or sixty-four stuffed skins”? (more 
than double the estimate of Mr. Champley) are known by him to 
exist. Again, in the Appendix to Mr. S. Baring-Gould’s ‘Iceland’ 
(p. 406), which was noticed in our pages (Annals, vol. xii. p. 396), 
Mr. Newton says he can enumerate fifty-nine eggs of this bird, 
adding, ‘‘there must be several besides, of which I have as yet no 
knowledge.’’—Epbs. | 


894: Miscellaneous. 


Observations on the Structure of Amceba and Actinophrys. 


At a recent meeting of the Boston (U.S.) Society of Natural 
History, Dr. J. Wyman gave an account of some observations which 
he had recently made on an Amoeba. 

The species referred to appeared in some fibrine which had been 
confined between two plates of glass for the purpose of watching the 
progress of its decomposition in water. The Amuwbe were first no- 
ticed as minute points, and gradually grew to full size, without any 
obvious change of form or structure. As seen under the microscope, 
they appeared to be made up of a spherical sarcodic mass, which was 
structureless, and in which were imbedded numerous granules, from 
which last, however, a portion of the circumference of the organism 
was wholly free. Solid bodies, lodged in the interior, were seen to 
be discharged at various points in the circumference, seeming to meet 
with little or no obstruction ; and yet no opening was discovered at 
any point. When the body to be discharged came near the surface, 
the sarcode was pushed out before it, becoming more and more pro- 
minent outwards, and at length broke like a bubble, leaving the 
contained body free. 

The Ameba, in one instance, underwent complete spontaneous di- 
vision in five minutes; first taking on the shape of a dumb-bell, then 
the two principal masses receded from each other, the band which 
united them became thinner, and finally broke, just as does the 
thread which connects two viscid bodies when drawn apart, and two 
complete Ameebe were formed. In another instance, the division 
had become nearly complete, as just described ; but the two masses, 
instead of separating wholly, again approached each other, and nearly 
recovered their original shape. 

From the manner in which solid particles pass through these 
structures, and the rapidity with which the whole organism becomes 
subdivided, it is reasonable to infer that they have no proper integu- 
ment, especially as the microscope fails to reveal such a structure. 

Prof. Henry James Clark said that Actinophrys was particularly 
interesting, as manifesting a step higher than the simple homomor- 
phous organization of Ameba as described by Prof. Wyman. Prof. 
Clark referred to Kolliker’s observations in 1849, as recorded in the 
‘Zeitschrift fiir wissenschaftliche Zoologie,’ and showed that, even 
supposing Kolliker to be correct, the division of the mass of the body 
into an exterior and interior portion, the former containing much 
larger vacuoles than the latter, indicated a heteromorphous organiza- 
tion, tending towards specialization of parts. He also added that 
he could not agree with Kolliker that Actinophrys is a homomorphous 
mass with vacuoles, but that he was convinced that the so-called va- 
cuoles of the outer and inner layers are true cells, with a distinct 
wall about them, a wall that could be easily recognized with the help 
of the better sort of microscope-objectives of the present day. Owing 
to the exceeding transparency of the organism, no ordinary objective 
will show the walls; but with a one-quarter-inch lens, of one 
hundred and fifty degrees angular aperture, made for him, last June, 


by Tolles, of Canastota, N. Y., he had no difficulty in working, with. 


Miscellaneous. 395 


the proper adjustment and corrections, through a sufficient depth of 
water to completely cover the Actinophrys (A. Hichhornit), and could 
readily detect the walls, not only of the superficial cells, but also of 
the innermost ones *. 

What is remarkable, too, the pseudopodia, as frequent and careful 
observations have led him to determine, invariably alternate with the 
cells of the exterior layer; that is, they are prolongations of the in- 
tercellular amorphous substance of the body. This fact would seem 
to add to the proof that the so-called vacuoles are really cells; other- 
wise it would be hardly credible that simple vacuoles, which come 
and go in an amorphous substance, should always alternate with the 
pseudopodia. 

Sometimes a pseudopod moves very rapidly, especially when it has 
seized upon some victim ; for then it retracts with a sudden jerk, and 
draws the prey close to the body, which finally engulfs it in the same 
manner as does dmeba. The pseudopodia exhibit an adhesive power 
which is remarkable when we consider the size of the animals which 
are sometimes drawn in by them, and in this respect remind one of 
the ‘‘adhesive vesicles’’ in the anchors of Lucernaria, which hold fast 
to bodies with the greatest tenacity, and, to all appearances, by simple 
contact, just as glue and mucus adhere to anything which touches 
them. [See Prof. Clark’s paper “‘on Lucernaria, the Coenotype of 
Acalephee,”’ Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist. vol. ix. (1862) p. 52, and also 
reprinted, ‘‘ with additions and notes,” in the ‘ Annals of Natural His- 
tory,’ July 1863, p. 19.] In a Diffugia (very near D. proteiformis), 
Prof. Clark had observed that whenever the pseudopodia contract, 
they invariably become strongly wrinkled transversely ; and, as he 
could not detect the least trace of an envelope or wall-like layer on 
this part of the body, he believed that the wrinkling is peculiar to 
the substance of the pseudopodia. 


[In connexion with this, I will take the opportunity to assert that, 


* [The unprecedented working distance which accompanies the great 
angle of aperture in the above-mentioned lens prompts me to speak more 
fully of its excellence. It has been the chief desideratum of naturalists to 
obtain a large increase in the working distance of those lenses which have 
a great angle of aperture; but hitherto the latter condition has seemed to 
involve necessarily an excessively short working distance, and consequently 
great inconvenience in the investigation of all bodies which are not corre- 
spondingly thin. The idea of studymg marine animals in their native 
element with such lenses could never be mdulged in, for fear of ruiming 
the objectives by contact with salt water. At last we are relieved from this 
restraint ; for within the last four or five years a great improvement has 
been made in this respect by opticians, at least by Mr. Tolles. The most 
recently constructed lens whicli I have received from that gentleman was 
made last June; it is a one-quarter-inch objective, with an angular aper- 
ture of one hundred and fifty degrees, and a most unexpected working 
distance of one-fiftieth of an inch for uncovered bodies. By experiment, 
I also find that. it works through a glass covering fully one-fortieth of an 
inch thick, and with some room to spare above that. The working distance 
through water I have not measured accurately ; but that can be inferred 
from the difference between its refraction and that of glass. The defining 
power of this lens is certainly unsurpassed, if not unequalled.—H. J.C. ] 


396 Miscellaneous. 


from a number of observations on various animals, T have been led 
to the conclusion that all vibratile cilia originate in the amorphous 
intercellular substance. In no instance have I ever seen vibratile 
cilia forming direct prolongations of cells, but invariably I find their 
bases imbedded in the intercellular cytoblastema. They may seem 
to be prolonged from the underlying cells; but, on the contrary, as 
I have particularly satisfied myself in regard to the branchize of the 
oyster (Ostrea virginiana), they are based in the cytoblastema, 
which extends in a thin stratum over the outer ends of the cells. In 
other instances they alternate with the cells, projecting in rows be- 
tween them, and forming, as it were, a bristling corona to each cell, 
as I have seen in the epithelium of the intestine of the young Snap- 
ping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina). In the latter instance, when the 
cells are loosed from the intestine, they carry the overlying cyto- 
blastema with them, and consequently, also, the vibratile cilia, which 
then falsely appear like appendages of the cells themselves. The 
nettling cells (enide) of Polypi and Acalephee originate in the same 
substance (the intercellular cytoblastema) as do vibratile cilia. 
They have been supposed to develope within the cells of the layer in 
which they are situated; but this is not true. Oftentimes, when 
cnidz are removed from their basis by pressure, they drag along 
with them a portion of the cytoblastema, which encloses them like 
a transparent envelope, and has the appearance of a cell. Sometimes 
three or four cnidze are pressed out together, and, being covered by 
the accompanying cytoblastema, they present the deceptive appear- 
ance of several cnidee in one cell. 

There are four periods in the history of enidee. Wagner (Wiegm. 
Archiv, 1835) was the first to detect the existence of these bodies ; 
but he mistook them for peculiar forms of spermatozoa of Actinia 
Cereus). Immediately after this, if not at the same date, Ehrenberg 
(Abhandl. Berlin Akad. 1835, Jahrg. [1837] p. 147) recognized 
their true office, and described them as the prehensile organs 
(Fangangeln) of Hydra. Yet in 1842 (Wiegm. Archiv) we find 
him inclined to deny that they have stinging properties, such as 
Wagner attributes to those which he found in Pelagia noctiluca. 
In 1841 (Wiegm. Archiv, p. 38) Wagner described the nettling- 
organs (Nesselorgane) of Pelagia noctiluca; and although he detected 
the spirally-rolled thread in the capsule, and says of the thread, 
“sometimes it appears as if it had a canal,” and figures it so in his 
‘Icones Zootomice’ (1841, pl. 33. fig. 9 B), yet it was reserved for 
Doyere, in the latter part of the next year (Comptes Rendus, Aug. 
1842, p. 429, ‘Note sur quelques poits de l Anatomie des Hydres 
d’Eau douce’’), to describe the mechanism of the cnide, and the 
mode of evolution of the thread, with such completeness as to anti- 
cipate everythmg in this regard that has been published since, up to 
the year 1860, when I figured and briefly pointed out (in Agassiz’s 
‘Contributions,’ vol. ii. pl. 11”, fig. 16°, Aurelia flavidula, and de- 
scription of plate, p. 17, and pl. 11°. fig.5, Coryne mirabilis) an as yet 
undescribed relation of the thread to the cell in which it is coiled up. 
As the brilliant discovery of Doyére has been kept in comparative 
obscurity, at least in America, I will quote from his paper such 


Miscellaneous. 397 


passages as will make it clear that he deserves the credit which has 
been assumed by those who have merely repeated his observations. 
On page 430, ‘Comptes Rendus,’ he says, ‘ Ainsi le spicule ou dard, 
figuré dans lintérieur du sac par M. Corda (calearea sagitta, Corda), 
et représenté saillant au dehors par M. Ehrenberg, dans sa planche 2. 
fig. 7b, n’est autre que l’esptce de calice basilaire 4 trois points en 
étoile, des prétendus hamecons. Le long filament gréle qui part de 
ce calice étoilé était, avant l’évolution, invaginé en dedans de lui- 
méme et du calice ou spicule par un retournement en doigt de gant, 
et formait au fond du sac cette apparence de coussin que M. Corda 
a nommé vesica patelliformis; un examen attentif et d’excellents 
instruments font méme reconnaitre dans ce coussin sa composition 
par un fil enroulé en spirale.’’ On page 431 he speaks of the evolu- 
tion of the thread of this and another smaller nettling-cell by en- 
sheathing itself: “des corpuscules plus petits et surtout beaucoup 
plus étroits que les précédents, ovoides, 4 parois épaisses contenant a 
leur intérieur un fil enroulé en spirale, qui sort comme le long fila- 
ment des hamegons, en s’engainant en dedans de lui-méme.”’ All that 
I have been able to add to this, although the subject has been pur- 
sued with the utmost rigour, and with the best lenses to be had, is 
the description of the relation of the coiled thread to that part of 
its base which projects straight into the cavity of the cell. Perhaps 
the greatest importance that can be attached to this is that it is the 
most difficult to make out. However, the discovery of this feature 
solves the whole mechanism of the organ. Although I had, in 1860, 
figured and briefly indicated (Agassiz’s ‘Contributions’ ut supra) 
this part of its structure, yet it was not until the fourth volume of 
the ‘Contributions’ appeared, in 1862, that I described it, in full, as 
I had seen it in various animals, viz. in the ephyra of Aurelia flavi- 
dula (p. 44), the Hydra form of Coryne mirabilis (p. 209), Actinia 
marginata (p. 210), and Hydractinia polyclina (p. 237). At first 
sight, I might seem to be anticipated in this by Gosse, in his ‘ Even- 
ings with the Microscope,’ London, 1859, or in his ‘ Actinologia 
Britannica,’ London, 1860, p. xxix, Introduction, and pl. 11. fig. 6; 
but, upon examination of the illustration, I find nothing to justify it; 
and, from the description in connexion with the figure, I should 
judge that the cnidz had been injured and distorted by pressure. 
However, I leave it to others to decide whether Gosse’s description 
is sufficient to clear up the subject on this point. 

Among the Ctenophore the enidée are so numerous and so closely 
packed together, as to form a uniform layer all over the surface of 
the tentacle totally outside of the exterior wall.—H. J. C.] 


On the Writings of C. 8S. RAFINESQUE. 
To the Editors of the Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 


GENTLEMEN,— Will you allow me to state, for the information ot 
your readers, that a long-desired work is about to be accomplished 
in Philadelphia, namely, the reproduction of the complete writings 
of Constantine Smaltz Rafinesque on Recent and Fossil Conchology, 


to be edited by W. G, Binney and G. W. Tryon, Jun. This indus- 


398 Miscellaneous. 


trious naturalist, first established in Sicily, and four of whose works 
on the natural history of that island were published at Palermo in 
1810-1815, removed, about the year 1817, to the United States. 
During his residence there, he worked assiduously on the natural 
history of the States, which were almost virgin ground—chiefly the 
plants and fishes. As yet, none of their famed river mollusks had 
been described, and M. Rafinesque sent to Europe in 1820, for pub- 
lication in the ‘ Annales Générales des Sciences Physiques’ of Brus- 
sels, a paper entitled “‘ Monographie des Coquilles bivalves fluviatiles 
de la rivicre Ohio, contenant douze genera et soixante-huit espéces.”” 
Here is an instance in which as many as sixty-eight species of the 
North-American river shells, including all the principal species, were 
described for the first time, so recently as 1820, in a work of scien- 
tific authority; and yet they have been passed over by American 
writers as not being sufficiently clear for identification. But if the 
descriptions of the whole sixty-eight are not clear enough, there can 
be no mistake about the majority of them; and I am happy to say 
that, in a monograph of the genus Unio (now in course of publica- 
tion in the ‘Conchologia Iconica’), I hope, with the assistance of 
Mr. Anthony, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to succeed in restoring 
the priority of most of M. Rafinesque’s names. 

I have been led to offer this communication, not only for the sake 
of making the acceptable announcement of the forthcoming publica- 
tion of Messrs. Binney and Tryon’s reprint, but with the view of 
upholding an important principle in nomenclature, which appears to 
be much too readily cast aside. In Mr. P. P. Carpenter’s paper “On 
Mollusea of the West Cuast of North America” (Brit. Assoc. Re- 
ports for 1863, p. 677) occurs the following passage :— 

“Tt is unfortunate that in the two most important branches of 
North-American freshwater mollusks, the Melaniadez and the Unio- 
nidee, there exists a radical difference of opinion between the leading 
writers, which has sometimes assumed the appearance of personal 
animosity. Malacologists east of the Atlantic, unwilling to become 
partisans where the leading nomenclators of the rival schools are 
equally honoured, have to a great extent declined to pay attention to 
the unexhausted riches of the American waters, regarding any settle- 
ment of the disputed points as hopeless. Dr. Isaac Lea, who has 
spared no expense in illustrating his publications of the results of a 
lifelong study, follows the restrictions on the priority-rule allowed 
by the British Association Committee. Other writers, however, 
claim a certainty in identifying the supposed species of Rafinesque 
and other similarly inaccurate authors, which would be considered 
by most English naturalists as not warranted by the few loose words 
of description given. It would be well if the student were permitted 
to start from +the first carefully ascertained land-mark, rather than 
from the defaced tracks of the first hunter.” 

On the principle involved in this passage, many of the tracks of 
the hunter Linnzeus must be regarded as being defaced, and probably 
one-half of tbe species of the ‘Systema Nature’ would have to be 
set aside. I am, Gentlemen, your obedient Servant, 

Sutton, Heston, Oct. 2, 1864. Lovey REEVE. 


Miscellaneous. 399 


On Psalidostoma, a new Genus of Fishes of the Family Characini. 
By Professor Kner. 


This genus is remarkable partly from the character of its dentition 
and partly from the mobility of its jaws. In the latter respect it 
reminds us of Hemirhamphus, Belonesox, and Panchax, and conse- 
quently forms a transition between the Characini and the Scombere- 
soces and Cyprinodontes ; it is upon this character that the author 
has founded his generic name Psalidostoma (Scissors-mouth). The 
generic characters are as follows :— 


Genus Psauipostoma, Kner. 


Corpus elongatum (Hsociforme) ; caput depressum, subacutum, 
oris rictus amplus; ossa supra- et infra-maxillaria forcipis ad instar 
mobilia (in Hemiramphi modum); ubique dentes canini validi in medio, 
ad latera vero dentes uniseriales breves lobati; retro hos in ambis 
maxillis fascia mediana trigona dentium velutinorum. Pronotum 
carinatum ; abdomen rotundatum ; pinna dorsalis retro 4 corporis 
longitudinem et pinna ventralis inchoans ; pinna adiposa supra pinnze 
analis finem sita. Caput nudum ; squamee trunci ctenoides, linea la- 
teralis continua ; radii branchiostegi 4; pseudobranchie nulle. 


Of the only known species two capi measuring rather more 
than seven inches in length, have been sent by Consul Binder from 
the White Nile. The author proposes for it the name of 


Psalidostoma caudimaculatum, Kner. 
Di 16, APS; V9, Fe 1496219 
Capitis longitudo 1, corporis altitudo 4 longitudinis totalis partem 
constituens ; pinna caudalis lobata, fusco-nigro punctata. 


From the White Nile.—Bericht der Acad. der Wiss. in Wien, 
June 23, 1864, p. 110. 


Observations on the Development of Raia Batis. By Jerrries 
Wyman, M.D., Hersey Prof. Anat. in Harvard College. 


These investigations by Dr. Wyman were made on a series of eggs 
collected in the spring of 1851 and of the three subsequent years. 
The more important conclusions arrived at are stated as follows at 
the close of the paper :— 

1.) The yelk-case is formed in the glandular portion of the ovi- 
duct, and is begun previously to the detachment from the ovary of 
the yelk which is to occupy it. 

(2.) The embryo, before assuming its adult form, is at first eel- 
shaped and then shark-shaped. 

(3.) The embryo is for a short time connected with the yelk by 
means of a slender umbilical cord; the cord afterward shortens, and 
the young skate remains in contact with the yelk until the end of 
incubation. 

(4.) There are seven branchial fissures at first: the foremost of 
these is converted into the spiracle, which is the homologue of the 
Eustachian tube and the outer ear-canal ; the seventh is wholly closed 
up, and no trace remains ; the others remain permanently open. 

(5.) There are no temporary branchial fringes or filaments on the 


400 Miscellaneous. 


first and seventh arches; on the others the fringes are developed 
from the outer and convex portion of the arch, and are not at first 
prolongations of the internal gills. 

(6.) The nostrils, as in all Vertebrates, consist at first of pits or 
indentations in the integuments; secondly, a lobe is developed on 
the inner border of each ; and, finally, the two lobes become con- 
nected, and thus form the homologue of the fronto-nasal protu- 
berance. The transitional stages of these correspond with the — 
conditions of them in other species of Selachians. 

(7.) The nasal grooves are compared with the nasal passages of 
air-breathing ofall and the cartilages on either side of these to 
the maxillary and intermaxillary bones. 

8.) The foremost part of the head is formed by the extension of 
the facial disk forward. While this extension is goimg on, the cere- 
bral lobes change their position from beneath the optic lobes to one 
in front of them. 

(9.) Two anal fins, one quite large and the other very small, are 
developed, but both are afterwards wholly absorbed. 

(10.) The dorsals change, position from the middle to the end of 
the tail. At the time of hatching, however, there is still a slender 
terminal portion of the tail, which is afterwards either absorbed or 
covered up by the enlarged dorsals, as they extend backward.— 
Memoirs of the American Academy, vol. ix. pp. 31-44. 


On Dimorphism in the Hymenopterous Genus Cynips. 
By Bensamin D. Watsu, M.A. 


The Cynips studied by Mr. Walsh make galls on a species of oak, 
the Quercus tinctoria. Part of these galls produce males and fe- 
males of the Cynips spongifica in June. Another portion of them, 
of wholly similar general character, remain green till autumn, ane 
produce in G@rraber and November, and also in the following spring, 
another form of Cynips—the Cynips aciculata, hitherto regarded as 
a distinct species, all the individuals of which are females. Mr. 
Walsh appears to prove that the latter, although widely different in 
many characters, is only another form of the C. spongifica, and 
thence that this species is dimorphous. The individuals produced 
in June live but six or eight days; what place in nature, then, the 
author asks, is filled by the C. acteulata? In reply, he suggests, from 
the analogy of Apis, Bombus, &c., that “the female aciculata gene- 
rates galls, which produce by parthenogenesis male spongifica, and 
that the females and males of the latter, coupling in June, oviposit 
in the same month, in the young buds of the oak, eggs that remain 
dormant till the following spring, some of which then produce female 
spongifica in June and some female aciculata in the autumn or early 
in the following spring, and these last, in their turn, generate male 
spongifica to appear in the following June.’ He continues, “ It may 
also be the case that some few male spongifica are generated by fe- 
male spongifica.” The author next sustains this opinion by men- 
tioning some of the anaiogies that have been observed in other 
Hymenopterous insects. — Proceedings of the Entomological Society 
of Philadelphia, March 1864, pp. 443-500. 


THE ANNALS 


AND 


MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 


[THIRD SERIES. ] 


No. 84. DECEMBER 1864. 


XLIII.— New British Lichens. 
By the Rev. W. A. Lricuton, B.A., F.B.S.E. 


[Plate IX. ] 
TueExocarpon, Nyl. 


Apothecia granuloso-verruciform, ostiole punctiform. Nucleus 
gelatinous, colourless. Perithecium subceraceous. Paraphyses 
slender, flexuose. Asci ventricoso-fusiform. Sporidia innu- 
merable, minute, ellipsoid, hyaline, with an indistinct nucleus 
at each extremity. Thallus thin, crustaceous. 


Thelocarpon Laureri (Flot.). Thallus crustaceous, somewhat 
furfuraceous, thin or evanescent, brownish grey ; apothecia scat- 
tered, minute, granuloso-verrucose, of a citrine-yellow colour ; 
ostiolum slightly depressed, inconspicuous ; sporidia in ventricoso- 
fusiform asci, numerous, minute, ellipsoid, obsoletely polari- 
nucleate, hyaline. 

Spheropsis Laureri, Flot. in Bot. Zeit. 29 Jan. 1847, p. 65. 

Thelomphale Laureri, Flot. in lit. (1848) fide Korber, Par. Lich. p. 321; 
Korber, Par. Lich. 321 (1863). 

Thelocarpi, sp., Nylander, Classif. i. 15 (1854). 

Thelocarpon Laurert, Nylander, Lich. Algerie, p. 338 (Aug. 1854); Nyl. 
Classif. i. p. 190 (June 1855); Nyl. Prodr. p. 173 (1857); Nyl. Py- 
renocarp. p. 10 (1858); Nyl. Enum. p. 135 (1858); Leight. Lich. Brit. 
Exsic. fase. xu. 35] (1864). 

Thallus (or what appears to be such) very thin, crustaceous, 
either uniform or not unfrequently breaking up into furfuraceous 
flakes, then becoming scattered, and often evanescent, of a dirty 
or brownish-grey colour. Apothecia very minute, apparently 
primarily emerging gradually from the thallus, ultimately sessile 
and enlarged, irregularly scattered, globular, of a citrme yellow 
colour. The exterior coat of the apothecium appears to be formed 
of large, rounded, citrine-coloured cells, each containing several 
round gonidia, and, under the microscope, presents a slightly 


Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.3. Vol. xiv. 


402 Rev. W. A. Leighton on new British Lichens. 


roughened or minutely papillate appearance, arising from the 
chinks which separate the large gonidia-cells from each other. 
No true ostiolum, as in Verrucaria and Endocarpon, could be 
detected; but, under a low power of the microscope, the apical 
surface of the wart-like apothecium presents a roundish, pale- 
brown, depressed spot. Under a higher power, this appearance 
is found to be caused by the cells of the external coating be- 
coming more scattered and distant from each other, or being 
irregularly removed or absent altogether, and permitting the 
inner coat or perithecium to be visible underneath; then, in 
some instances, a very minute rounded brown dot becomes visi- 
ble, which in all probability is the ostiolum ; but no pore could 
be defined. The inner tunic, or perithecium, is of similar but 
paler citrine colour with the exterior coating, and is formed of 
smaller and more compacted cells, presenting a somewhat waxy 
structure. The nucleus is pale and white, filling the perithecium. 
When gently pressed out of the perithecium, the asci and para- 
physes are seen to grow in a stellate or radiate manner from a 
spot at the inner base of the perithecium. Paraphyses very slender, 
either erect or flexuose and entangled, presenting more or less of 
a beaded appearance, as if hollow and having minute yellow glo- 
bules scattered at intervals singly in the interior. Asci of an 
elongated ventricose or fusiform shape, tapering towards the 
_ apex, distended in the middle, and suddenly contracted at the 
base into a narrow stalk, filled with innumerable minute sporidia, 
which | have seen issue from the little base of the ascus (when 
wounded, I presume,) in feeble intervallated jerks, conglutinated 
into a narrow riband or thread. Sporidia very minute, narrowly 
oblong or ellipsoid, either straight or irregularly curved, uni- 
locular, hyaline, with an indistinct minute nucleus at each ex- 
tremity, about two and a half times as long as broad. 

This curious and very remarkable Lichen I discovered on a 
single decorticated lavch rail at Middletown, near Craig Breiddin, 
Shropshire, June 6, 1864. Afterwards (August 4, 1864) I again 
met with it, on the Stiperstones Hill, Shropshire, growing para- 
sitically on the thallus of Baomyces rufus, Ach., in company 
with Lecidea citrinella, Ach., var. arenicola, Nyl., and (Aug. 10, 
1864) on larch rails of the railway-fence near the Cemetery, 
Shrewsbury. In all these localities it occurred in very small 
quantity, and subsequent repeated researches have hitherto 
failed to detect more of it. Its extreme minuteness has been, 
no doubt, the cause of its having been heretofore overlooked ; 
but now that attention has been drawn to it, it will most pro- 
bably be found to be not uncommon. 

It most resembles at first sight the granules of the thallus of 
Lrachylia tigillaris, Fries, in a young scattered state, or has 


Rev. W. A. Leighton on new British Lichens. 403 


somewhat the appearance of the thallus of Lecidea citrinella, Ach., 
or even of the undeveloped apothecia of a Lecanora; but the mi- 
croscope and dissection show such appearances to be mere resem- 
blances. 

Thelocarpon Laureri was first discovered by Flotow, in 1824, 
in marshy places in the county of Glatz, Germany; and his 
specimens appear to have lain in his herbarium undetermined 
until 1846, when M. Laurer again found the lichen on turf 
fences at Greifswald, and then drew M. Flotow’s attention to it. 
Flotow then described it, under the name of Spheropsis, in the 
‘Botanische Zeitung,’ 1847, p. 65, with this character :— 
* Spheropsis, Fw. (Verrucariese, Porinese).— Apothecium verruci- 
forme, ostiolatum, e thallo formatum, includeus nucleum soli- 
tarium gelatinosum achromaticum. Perithecium proprium nul- 
lum. Asci basilares ventricoso-fusiformes ; sporas minutas ovales 
numerosissimas hyalinas foventes. 

“ Spheropsis Laureri, Fw.—Sph. hypothallo inconspicuo, crusta 
granuloso-verrucosa, flavo-viridi; verrucis acolytis plus minus 
confertis, fertilibus ostiolo impresso nigricante. Habitat ad 
aggeres turfosos (Greifswald, Laurer, 1846) et in ericetis hu- 
midis (Grafschaft, Glatz, 1824). Fw. herb. 1824, n. 285.” 

Soon after, however, discovering that the name Spheropsis 
had been already appropriated to a genus of Fungi, M. Flotow, 
in his letters (in 1848) to various botanical correspondents, 
changed it to Thelomphale. Dr. William Nylander, apparently 
without knowing of Flotow’s change of name, described an- 
other closely allied species from Algeria (7. albidum, Nyl.), mm 
1854, altermg the generic name to Thelocarpon, which he has 
retained in all his subsequent works. Korber, in the 4th part 
of his ‘ Parerga Lichenologica,’ published in 1863, relates the 
circumstances of Flotow’s early change of the name to Thelom- 
phale, which he himself adopts. Nevertheless Nylander’s name 
Thelocarpon has priority of publication, and must, of course, be 
adopted. 

Only three species of the genus are known: T. Laureri, Fw., 
in Germany and England; 7. albidum, Nyl., with white thallus 
and uniseptate sporidia, in Algeria; and 7. coccophorum, Mntg., 
in Chili (apparently a doubtful species). 

Dr. Korber has compared our plant with his authentic speci- 
men, and finds them identical. Dr. F. Arnold, of Hichstatt, in- 


forms me that the German habitat is now destroyed. 
Puate IX. fig. 1. Plant, magnified 20 times. 
2. Vertical section of apothecium. 
fig. 3. Asci and paraphyses in stellate form. 
4. Ascus and paraphyses. 

5. Sporidia, magnified 1200 times linear. 


26* 


404. Rev. W. A. Leighton on new British Lichens. 


Lecidea Caradscensis, Leight. Thallus cartilagimous, dull 
grey-greenish olive, rimoso-areolate, granulato-verrucose ; scales 
convex, crimped or wrinkled; apothecia dull black, sessile on 
the areole, more or less imbedded; sporidia elliptico-fusiform, 
3-septate, hyaline. 

Lecidea Caradocensis, Leight. Lich. Brit. Exs. 160! (1854); Nylander, 
Prodr. Lichen. p. 137 (1857); Enum. Lich. p. 126 (1858). 

Discovered by me in 1854, in great abundance, growing with 
Lecidea ostreata, Hoffm., on oak palings surrounding the south 
and west bases of Caer Caradoc, Shropshire. Aymestry!, Here- 
fordshire (1864), Rev. J. F. Crouch. North side of Gopsall 
Wood !, near Twycross, Leicestershire (1864), Rev. A. Bloxam. 

Thallus cartilaginous, moderately thick, forming often large, 
diffused, ir regular patches, of a pale grey-greenish olive-colour, 
rimoso- aol consisting of minute, adnate, roundish, convex, 
smooth scales, rounded or more or less minutely crenulate at the 
margins, densely crowded and aggregated closely together, so 
as to present a crimped or wrinkled granulato-verrucose appear- 
ance, generally smooth, but, when rubbed, becoming somewhat 
pulverulent. Apothecia sessile on the areole, often appearing 
more or less deeply imbedded, by reason of the thalline scales 
forming a prominent crimped ‘border around them, very small, 
numerous, single, or more frequently crowded, confluent, and 
difformed. Disk flattish, of a dull brownish black colon! 
Margin thin, irregular, and very flexuose, slightly prominent, 
and more or less incurved, of the same colour as the disk. 
Paraphyses closely conglutinated into a brown mass. Hypothe- 
cium dark brown. Ascii inconspicuous. Sporidia minute, ellip- 
tico-fusiform, 3-septate, hyaline, the number not ascertained. 
Puate IX. fig. 6. Vertical section of apothecium and thallus. 

fig. 7. Sporidia, magnified 1200 times hnear. 
fig. 10. L. Caradocensis, natural size. 


Lecidea Friesii, Ach. Thallus cartilaginous, brownish olive, 
diffuse, glebuloso-squamulose ; scales convexo-gibbous, smooth 
and polished ; apothecia black, prominently sessile on the scales ; 
sporidia ellipsoid, simple, hyaline. 

Lecidea Friesii, Ach. in Liljebl. Sv. Fl. p. 610 (1816); Nyl. Scand. p. 243 

(1861). 

myrmecind, Fr. in Vet. Ak. Handl. p. 257: (1822) ; Lich. Eur. p- 344 

(1831); S. V.S. p. 114 (1846); Exs. 28; Nyl. Prodr. p. 136 (1857); 

Enum. p . 126 (1858). 

Psora Cannes. Mudd (non Leight.), Mudd, Man. p. 169, t. 3. f. 61 
(excl. syn.) (1861); Exs. 142! 

On old oak-trees and stumps. Farndale! Stogdale! Kaldale ! 
Baysdale! (in the latter locality mixed with Lecidea ostreata, 
Hoffm.) ; all in Cleveland, Yorkshire; Mr. W. Mudd. 


M.E. Hesse on the Pranize and Ancei. 405 


Thallus cartilaginous, growing scattered or in larger or smaller 
irregular patches, of a pale brownish olive-colour, consisting of 
moderate-sized, smooth, polished scales, adnate and flattened 
when growing scattered, with a margin more or less deeply in- 
cised, the lobes minute, rounded, entire or crenate ; when grow- 
ing crowded, the scales are convex and gibbous, mere or less 
imbricated, giving a glebulose or coarsely verrucose appearance. 
Apothecia prominently sessile on the scales, small, numerous, 
most generally crowded together, confluent and difformed. 
Disk flattish, roughened, of a very dark brownish black, slightly 
polished. Margin moderately thickened, irregular, and very 
flexuose, prominent, and incurved, of the same colour as the disk 
and slightly polished. Paraphyses conglutinated into a brownish 
mass. Hypothecium dark brown. Asci inconspicuous. Sporidia 
very minute, ellipsoid, simple, hyaline, their number not ascer- 
tained. 

Specimens in my herbarium, on pine-wood bark, from Dr. Th. 
M. Fries and Dr. Wm. Nylander, collected at Upsal, and both 
apparently identified with Fries’s Lich. Suec. 28, have the thalline 
scales of a richer brown colour than our British specimens, but 
correspond in the above characters and microscopical details. 

Not to be confounded with L. ostreata, 8 myrmecina (Ach. & 
Wahl.), from which the convexo-gibbose non-ascending scales 
keep it distinct, nor with L. Caradocensis, Leight., distinguished 
by different sporidia (omitting other characters from both). 


PuaTtE IX. fig. 8. Vertical section of apothecium and thallus. 


fig. 9. Sporidia, magnified 1200 times linear. 


fig. 11. L. Friesii, natural size. 


I would avail myself of the opportunity of stating that Dr. W. 
Nylander informs me by letter (Oct. 1864) that my Opegrapha 
anomala, described and figured in ‘Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist.’ 
Feb. 1857, proves to be identical with Graphis Ruiziana, Fée. 


XLIV.—Memoir on the Pranize and Ancei. 
By M. Everne Hesse*. 

AccorDING to an observation made by the author twelve years 
ago, and communicated by him to the Academy of Sciences in 
1855, the Pranize and Ancei, instead of forming two distinct 
groups of Crustacea, are to be regarded as developmental phases 
of the same form, the Pranize being only Ancei in a larval state. 
On the 29th of August 1852, he obtained from a Gurnard 
(Trigla Hirundo) a Praniza, which, having to leave home for a 

* Abstract from a separate impression of the memoir published in the 


‘Mémoires présentés a l’Académie des Sciences.’ Communicated by the 
Author. 


406 M. E. Hesse on the Pranizze and Ancei. 


few days, he preserved alive in sea-water, instead of putting it 
into spirits. On his return, he found its place occupied by an 
Anceus. From the difference of form, especially in the size 
of the head, he thought that he must have fallen into some 
error; but subsequent observations confirmed his first view of 
the relations existing between the two forms. On the 20th of 
July 1853 he found a Praniza on the fins of a Plaice (Platessa 
vulgaris), which became an Anceus on the 5th of November. On 
the 19th of August 1855, three Pranize were found on the 
body of a red Gurnard (Trigla Pini); these were transformed 
into Ancet on the lst of September. On the 21st of September 
1856, several Pranize were taken on a Gurnard (7. Hirundo), and 
became converted into Ancet on the 8th of October. On the 
10th of June 1857, he found under stones, on a somewhat 
muddy part of the shore, a great number of Pranize intermixed 
with male and female Ancez. In a few days all the Pranize 
underwent their metamorphosis, “so that nothing but Ancez 
remained.” And on the 29th of August 1857, he found 
twenty-one Pranize in the mouth of a Wrasse (Labrus Bergylta), 
which all became transformed into Ance? on the 6th of September 
and following days. 

In all cases, since this period, the Pranize met with by the 
author have undergone the transformation above described, and 
the Ancei thus produced have copulated and produced fertile 
ova, the first products of which were Pranize. ‘The cast skins 
of the Pranize were also found at the bottom of the vessels in 
which they were preserved, and their examination has enabled 
the author to elucidate the structure of the mouth in these 
Crustacea. The facts observed by the author demonstrate that 
the Crustacea hitherto described under the generic names of 
Praniza and Anceus must now be regarded as forming one 
genus, for which the latter name must be retained, as it is only 
in the Anceus-form that they are capable of reproduction. 

Of the general characteristics of the Ance: M. Hesse speaks 
in the following terms :—“ Of all the Crustacea mhabiting our 
coasts, there are certainly none more worthy of attracting the 
attention of naturalists than the Pranize, or rather the Ancez, 
whether we consider the brilliancy and variety of their colora- 
tion, the lightness and elegance of their forms, or the singularity 
of their mode of life ; but, for the present, I shall confine myself 
to speaking of the transformations which they undergo, from 
their escape from the egg until they attain the perfect state. 
When these Crustacea, still in the Praniza-state, are superficially 
examined, we are struck by the resemblance they present to some 
insects of the order Coleoptera, especially of the family Carabidae; 
but this analogy becomes still more striking when they have under- 


M. E. Hesse on the Pranizze and Ancei. 407 


gone their last metamorphosis and arrived at the state of Ance7; for 
then the thorax, divided into two distinct portions by a strongly 
marked constriction, simulates a sort of corselet at the fore part ; 
greatly developed mandibles, resembling nippers,rival those of the 
Scarite and Manticore ; lastly (and this is an extremely curious 
fact), these appendages, which are so exuberant in the males of the 
above insects, as in the males of our Crustacea, are wanting in 
the females of the latter—a character which, however, is not so 
absolute in the females of the Beetles above mentioned, as they 
have mandibles like those of the males, but comparatively of 
very small size; and, finally, some parts of the thorax present 
appearances of elytra, as in Meloé’’*, 


Metamorphoses undergone by the Pranizee at their escape from 
the Egg. 


Scarcely have the female Ancez arrived at their final state tay 
their numerous eggs make their appearance in a large mem- 
branous pouch beneath the thorax. The eges are of large com- 
parative size, and of a spherical form; they are covered by a 
transparent and slightly rugose skin, through which a single 
vitellus may be seen; their incubation occupies from twenty 
to twenty-five days, but sometimes less, according to the season 
and the temperature. 

In the first phase of development of the embryo, the mass of 
matter contained in the egg has a flattened oval form, showing 
at its superior extremity a dilatation divided into three lobes. 
The median lobe forms the frontal region, and the two lateral 
ones are the first traces of the eyes or antenne, or perhaps of 
both. The various parts gradually advance towards perfection, 
the young Ancei remaining all the time firmly adherent to their 
mother, and protected by thoracic plates, which cover them until 
they are capable of seeking their own nourishment. 

At this period the young Ancez have the head and limbs 
relatively very large; the head is triangular, convex above, and 
flattened beneath ; the rostrum, which forms the apex of the 
triangle, is curved downwards. This rostrum presents, including 
a triangular frontal process which covers and consolidates the 
whole apparatus, four double symmetrical organs, namely— 

1. Two large, flat mandibles, forming a pincer, denticulated 
at the extremities. 

2. Two styliform appendages, likewise denticulated at the 
end. 

3. Two opercular footjaws. 


* This observation was already made by Mr. Westwood in 1832, Ann. 
Sei. Nat. t. xxvil. p. 331. 


408 M. E. Hesse on the Pranizee and Ancei. 


The antenne are situated on the forehead, on each side of the 
rostrum. The nner antenne generally reach only to the third 
joint of the outer ones. They consist of four joints and a 
terminal filament of three jomts. The outer antenne present 
four joints, with a terminal filament of seven joints. The eyes 
appear like diffused spots on the sides of the head. The thorax 
is cylindrical, and composed of five segments, exclusive of that 
forming the neck. 

The digestive apparatus, which is very voluminous, is easily 
seen through the transparent skin; but the author could not 
trace the intestine to its inferior orifice; nor could he detect the 
circulation, except at the base of the abdomen upon the median 
lime. He distinctly perceived the movements of the blood- 
globules in the branchial false feet: these globules are subject 
to a regular impulse from right to left. . But im a female which, 
after the expulsion of her young, was as it were reduced almost 
to a mere skin, he was able to see that the globules of the blood 
are subjected to two opposite movements—namely, a median 
one towards the posterior extremity, and a lateral one directed 
forwards. 

The globules are of equal size, of an oval form, and rather 
wide apart; they are subjected to a regular jerking motion, 
comparable to the movement of the second-hand of a watch ; 
they are driven to the furthest extremities of the appendages, 
and here their motion appears to be more lively than at their 
centre. The impulsion of the heart is manifested throughout 
the median line, but is most sensible at the base of the thorax 
at its junction with the abdomen. 

The nervous or ganglionic system is readily visible in say= 
individuals, in consequence of their transparency. The thorax 
presents s7@ ganglia, of which the first is cephalic, and the last 
forms the base of the penis. The ganglia are lozenge-shaped, 
and united by a double interganglionic cord, of which, how- 
ever, the tubes are combined so as to leave no interval. Each 
ganglion emits on each side a very delicate nerve, which traverses 
the feet ; and the nerves of the fifth pair of feet emit a branch, 
which descends from the base of the feet to the first abdominal 
segment. 

The six ambulatory feet are composed of five joints, of which 
the first and last are the longest; the latter is terminated 
by a strong claw. In the youngest larvee the first pair, attached 
to the sides of the neck, do not present this construction. 

The abdomen likewise presents six joints, of which the first 
five are of equal size, and the sixth, which is usually larger, is 
of a triangular form. ach joimt has a double pair of branchiz 
or natatory feet: these are usually lamellar and ciliated, and at- 


M. E. Hesse on the Pranizze and Ancei. 409 


tached to a common peduncle. Besides the branchial feet, the 
sixth segment presents on each side, near its antero-lateral 
angles, a false foot with a very short basal joimt, and with two 
terminal lamine extended horizontally in the form of a caudal 
fin. In the young, the abdomen is generally nearly as broad 
as the thorax, and presents no constriction either at base or 
apex. 


Structure of the Pranizee at the period of their transformation 
into Ancei. 


After their attaining the form just described, the Pranize 
undergo little modification of form: the, antenne, thoracic feet, 
and abdomen scarcely change; but the head and thorax are 
subject to some modification. 

The head is remarkably small, distinct from the body, trian- 
gular in form, globular above, flattened below, and incurved at 
the apex. Seen from above, it appears to be clearly divided into 
three parts—namely, the extremity of the rostrum, the rostrum, 
and the forehead. The apex of the rostrum is conical and 
acuminated ; it is formed by two mandibles, which are pointed, 
denticulated within, and incurved. The rostrum is enlarged in 
the middle, and narrowed towards its junction with the forehead, 
from which it is separated by a straight raised line, the extre- 
mities of which reach the base of the antennee. The rostrum is 
traversed vertically by deep lines or grooves, indicating the union 
of five pieces; and besides these there are two lateral ones which 
embrace the former, and are soldered to them at the base, but 
free at the apex, which is pointed and recurved; from within 
these two lamine issue the styles with denticulated apices, which 
are seen at each side of the extremity of the rostrum. 

The antenne (already described) are inserted at the base of the 
rostrum, in a notch which presents a rounded process; this is 
the auditory tubercle: the skin covering its extremity presents a 
sort of very close network formed of crossing lines. 

The eyes are large and prominent, hemispherical, and com- 
posed of round facets; they are placed obliquely on the sides 
of the head. The neck presents three folds. 

Seen from beneath, the head presents the same threefold divi- 
sion: the apex has nothing remarkable about it; but the two 
other parts contain the buccal apparatus. The mouth is closed in 
front by the first pair of footjaws, consisting of the inner branch, 
which is lamellar, notched at the apex, and terminated by two 
blunt points furnished with hairs. These footjaws have no palpi ; 
their outer margins appear to be attached to the head in the 
manner of a hinge, as in the Ancei. The second and third pairs 
of footjaws, covered by those just described, form denticulated 


410 M. E. Hesse on the Pranizee and Ancei. 


styles which issue between the parts of the apex of the rostrum, 
and are probably employed in producing wounds from which 
the blood may flow. Behind the footjaws the lower part of 
the head exhibits a deep, longitudinal median fissure, which 
completes the mouth, and forms at its extremity a commissure 
destined to facilitate the introduction of fluids by suction. Below 
the mouth, in some individuals, there is a very prominent bilobed 
sac, forming a sort of crop, the office of which is unknown, 
although it appeared to contain food: its presence is the more 
remarkable as it occurs but rarely, and disappears when the 
Crustacean becomes converted into an Anceus. 

The thoraz, generally of an ovoid form, is equally convex above 
and below, and is covered with a transparent skin. It presents 
no well-marked segments, except the first and second, and 
sometimes the third, which are very distinct. The third segment 
is rarely entire; it is often indicated by two lateral pieces, 
different im substance from the skin upon which they are fixed, 
and which appear to be rudiments of the carapace. To these 
lateral pieces are united others, resembling the elytra of the 
Meloés and Hemiptera. Analogous pieces are also placed at 
the base of the other thoracic limbs, to which they serve as 
points of attachment; and, lastly, these are sometimes united by 
a sort of ridge, forming a narrow margin to this part of the 
body. The middle of the thorax, both above and below, presents 
vertical and transverse lines forming four divisions, of which the 
angles are truncated at the centre by a small lozenge-shaped 
piece ; these lines probably indicate the part at which the skin 
is divided when the animals undergo their last transformation. 

The /egs present no peculiarities requiring notice, with the 
exception of the first two, which are fixed on each side to the 
base of the head, the apex of which they scarcely pass; they are 
armed with strong claws, which enable their possessor to adhere 
firmly to any object. These legs, which constitute the first 
pair of thoracic members, makes the number of these twelve 
instead of ten, as has hitherto been supposed; but they are 
wanting in the Ancei. 


Structure of the male Ancei. 


In the transformation of the Pranize into Ancei, the only 
parts which undergo no metamorphosis are the antenne, the 
thoracic feet, and the abdomen. The head, on the contrary, 
shows the most extraordinary changes; from being very small, 
it acquires a volume at least equal to that of the thorax. From 
above, the head of the male Anceus is seen to be armed in front 
with two large moveable lamin, generally falciform and denti- 
eulated on their inner margin, and elevated at the apex, so as to 


M.E. Hesse on the Pranizze and Ancei. _ 411 


resemble the curved scissors used by surgeons. These organs 
resemble the mandibles of insects, and appear to perform the 
same functions. The head, which is of a quadrilateral form, is 
divided into four equal parts by depressed lines which cut each 
other at right angles; the forehead is armed with three teeth, of 
which the middle one is generally small, acute or denticulated, 
and the lateral ones truncated at the apex and placed within 
the bases of the mandibles. In some species the middle tooth 
is notched in the centre, and its points are obtuse. 

The eyes are smaller and much less prominent than those of 
the Pranize ; they are composed of round facets, and placed at 
the base of the antenne. 

Seen from beneath, the head is entirely occupied by the buccal 
apparatus, which is completely covered by the two footjaws of 
the first pair; these are lamellar, triangular, slightly convex, 
denticulated, and ciliated on the rounded interior margin. 
These two plates, which present a small notch at the apex, in 
which is inserted a small, oval, ciliated, palpiform appendage, 
lie over each other in the middle, leaving a considerable free 
space at their base and apex; they are attached at their base 
by a hinge, upon which they turn so as to open downwards ; 
they are enclosed laterally by the projecting frame of the buccal 
apparatus. The footjaws of the second pair consist of three or 
four flat joints, diminishing in size from the base to the apex; they 
are destitute of both palpus and flagellum, and vary according to 
the species. Within these parts there is an apparatus the nature 
of which the author has been unable to ascertain with certainty : 
at the highest part, im the median line, is a round orifice, which 
may be asucker; below this is a sort of crescent-shaped aperture, 
then another round orifice accompanied by small acute jaws, and 
lastly a vertical aperture margined with a sort of lip. These 
parts are very difficult of detection. 

To the base of the buccal apparatus are attached three ciliated 
lamellar appendages, the median one triangular and covering 
the two others, which are rounded in form. These three lamine, 
which have some relation with the lamellar footjaws of the Epi- 
carides, have for their function to convey to the mouth, with the 
water which they set in motion by their constant agitation, the 
small objects which serve as the nutriment of these Crustacea ; 
these pass through the interval at the base of the first pair of 
footjaws. 

In the Ancez the first two thoracic segments become intimately 
united with the head ; the first two pairs of feet accompany them, 
and the cephalothoracic portion thus formed is separated by a 
considerable constriction from the three narrower thoracic seg- 
ments which follow, each of which bears a pair of legs. 


412 M. EK. Hesse on the Pranizee and Ancei. 


The generative organis situated at the extremity of the thorax, 
above the abdomen: it consists of a long penis, showing 
throughout the course of the canal which traverses it. This 
penis is in the median line of the thorax ; its base is formed by 
the first branchial feet, and it is protected above by a sort of 
cup formed by a fold of skin. This cup seems to be destined 
to receive the laminz of the branchial false feet when they are 
raised over the thorax, and by this combination the generative 
organs are completely protected. 

This structure is common to all the species, and the organ 
only varies in form. Thus in Anceus Manticorus the penis is 
greatly developed, and consists of a long erectile tube diminishing 
from the base to the apex, with a central canal traversing it from 
end to end. It is truncated at the apex, which is surrounded by 
a thickened portion notched in the middle, the extremities of 
which form two valves or excitative organs. In Anceus Briva- 
tensis the tube is not so long, and appears to be articulated and 
capable of being invaginated in the lower parts; the extremity 
is also furnished with two lateral prehensile or excitative organs. 
In Anceus Trigl the penis is short, tubular, and inflated in the 
middle. 


Structure of the Female Ancei. 


The female Ancei are so different from the males that, without 
tracing their transformations, their connexion could not have 
been suspected. The head, instead of being of considerable 
size, as in the males, is very small, and is moreover deprived of 
the two large mandibles; the thorax, instead of being cylindrical 
and elongated, formed of distinct segments and divided into two 
parts by a constriction, is oval, flattened at the sides, inflated in 
the middle, and as it were deformed by the great quantity of 
ova which it contains. 

The head, seen from above, is globose in the centre, flattened 
at the margins, broad at the base, and truncated at the apex. 
It has no apparent neck, but is deeply inserted between the two 
anterior processes of the thorax. Transverse lines in the thorax 
indicate its division into five segments; all round the thorax is 
a broad margin, which serves for the attachment of the five pairs 
of legs. The eyes are pretty large, and placed at the origin of 
the antenne. 

Seen from beneath, the head presents, first of all, two footjaws 
of the first pair, which origimate beneath the eyes, and consist 
of four broad joints of equal length, but diminishing in width 
from base to apex. The last joint is rounded at the end, and 
bears some hairs. These two footjaws meet in the median line 
of the head, and pass its apex a little. Beneath these is the 


M. E. Hesse on the Pranizze and Ancei. 413 


second pair of footjaws, also composed of four joints, of which 
the apical one is the narrowest ; these, which, like the preceding, 
are in a vertical position, close the buccal orifice. 

The head, in the transformation of the females into Ancei, is 
the last part to undergo metamorphosis; the author has seen 
individuals in which the whole body had become changed, whilst 
the head still retained its Praniza-form. 

The lower surface of the thorax is covered throughout with 
large oval laminz, which spring from the outer margin and join 
in the median line; these form a large incubatory pouch, in 
which the ova and young are contained. 


On the Habits of the Ancei. 


The fecundation of the females is effected while they are still 
in the Praniza-state. Immediately afterwards they become 
transformed into Ancez, and the ova make their appearance ; 
but, as in many other Crustacea, the young do not at once quit 
their mother, but remain attached beneath her thorax, probably 
waiting until she shall transport them into situations where 
they will be able to find their proper nourishment. In a few 
days, however, they disperse, swimming with great rapidity. 

After the exclusion of the young, the female appears quite 
empty and reduced almost to a mere ‘skin ; but through this the 
digestive apparatus, still containing some food, may be detected: 
in this condition their movements are very slow, and they soon 
perish. The existence of the males, on the contrary, may be 
much more prolonged: the author has kept one of them alive 
for two years, although it was placed in unfavourable cireum- 
stances. The Pranize, also, may live for a long time: some of 
them were kept for two years before undergoing their trans- 
formation into Ancei. Their vitality appears to be extraordinary. 
In examining them under the microscope, M. Hesse, in order to 
paralyze their movements, immersed them in fresh water, and 
even mixed this with alcohol, and kept them in this fluid until 
all motion, and even circulation, was suspended; but neverthe- 
less, by putting them again into sea-water, he found them alive 
and active on the following day. 

The reproduction of the Ance: appears to take place at all 
seasons, young animals of various ages being always found mixed 
with the adults. Nevertheless the author thinks that fecunda- 
tion takes place in September, October, and November. 

All the individuals found upon fishes were in the Praniza- 
form, and these speedily became transformed into Ancez ; those 
obtained on the shore, and mixed with Ancez, rarely underwent 
this metamorphosis. The Pranize inhabit the interior of the 
mouth of fishes, fixing themselves upon the palate and the 


4) 4, M.E. Hesse on the Pranizee and Ancei. 


branchiz ; they also attach themselves to the body, and are fre- 
quently found upon its surface, having probably escaped from 
the mouth or gills when alarmed by the capture of the fish. It 
is chiefly in the months of July, August, September, and October 
that Pranize are met with upon fishes. 

On the shore, the Pranize and Ancei are usually found under 
sea-weeds, especially the Solenie which grow upon the walls of 
harbours; they also hide themselves in the interstices of the 
masonry, or under stones slightly covered with mud. In the 
Praniza-state, they do not seem to fear either heat or hght, or 
to suffer by the absence of water; in this state, also, they are 
extremely active, swimming and running with great rapidity. 
Natation is effected by means of the abdominal feet, the anmal 
extending itself horizontally, and holding its legs extended in 
the attitude of walking: it swims in circles, in the manner of 
the Caligi when seeking a fish to which to attach themselves. 

In the perfect state, the Ancei are far less active, swimming 
and walking very little and with difficulty, and hiding themselves 
from the light; their habits are evidently sedentary, and in 
striking contrast to their previous mode of life. They then lie 
constantly on the shore, in little burrows or galleries. Their 
bodies being thus protected, their large mandibles may serve to 
defend them against all aggressions from without ; and that they 
constitute powerful cutting organs is evidenced by the fact, ob- 
served by the author, that when several male Ancez are kept to- 
gether in a vessel, the limbs of some of them will be amputated 
by a clean cut. They probably serve also for the purpose of 
seizing prey, although the author attributes to the ciliated 
lamine of the mouth a certain part im procuring nourishment 
consisting of Infusoria and minute Mollusca and Crustacea. 


On the Food of the Ancei. 


As to the nature of the food of these animals, however, 
M. Hesse does not appear to have arrived at any positive cer- 
tainty. In the Praniza-state they live on the shore, under stones 
or seaweeds, about which the author found the débris of animal 
and vegetable substances, small Crustacea, Mollusca, &. By 
furnishing his living specimens with similar articles, the author 
was unable to bring his Pranize to maturity; and all those which 
he obtained from the ova died in about six weeks after their 
exclusion. Nevertheless some of those which he collected in an 
early form on the shore arrived at their full size in his aquaria ; 
and their not undergoing their final metamorphosis is probably 
due to their being females, which could not be transformed until 
after they had received the influence of the male. All those 
collected from fishes became converted into Ancez in a few days 


M. E. Hesse on the Pranizze and Ancei. AV5 


after their capture. In a note the author says, “ When the 
Pranize are taken too young, it would appear that the nourish- 
ment which they find in the vessels containing them is insuf- 
ficient, as they, always perish. Those hatched in my possession 
never succeeded in passing their third change of skin. But 
when they are at their last period, it is probable that the Infu- 
soria and other microscopic animals which live among marine 
plants, and the decomposed Solenia, which are reduced almost 
to a fluid state, are sufficient for them. This is also the case 
with the Ancez, which content themselves with this food, without 
appearing to suffer from it. Nevertheless I have noticed that, 
when other nourishment was wanting, the male Ancei devoured 
their females, especially those which were weakened by the 
production of their young...... I have also ascertained that a 
male Anceus Manticorus ate a small dead Annelide which I had 
given to it; so that it appears certain that these Crustacea feed 
both upon animal and vegetable substances, but especially the 
former when they are able to procure them.” 

Hence it would appear that animal food is necessary for the 
transformation of the Pranize, and that it is for this reason that 
they attach themselves to fishes for a portion of their life. They 
prefer those which are very viscous, such as the flat fish, gur- 
nards, and wrasses ; and we may suppose that they absorb this 
mucilage: but it is easy to recognize the presence of blood in 
their stomachs, and sometimes they are so gorged with blood 
as to be as much deformed by it as if they were filled with 
eggs. 

Upon the suctorial powers of the Pranize the author has 
made the following observations. On agitating the water of a 
vessel containing Pranize, they attached themselves firmly to a 
fragment of Zostera, but without employing their thoracic feet. 
On examining them with a lens, M. Hesse saw, through the 
tissues of the plant, that they were attached by the suctorial 
action of the mouth, which formed a sort of disk. The same 
thing occurs when they attach themselves to a fish: clinging 
firmly to the fish by the two thoracic feet situated at the sides 
of the head, and also by the hooked extremity of the rostrum, 
they open the door-like footjaws which close the mouth beneath, 
and apply the head to the part upon which they desire to adhere ; 
then, by means of the orifices already described, they exert a 
powerful suction, puncture the skin with their innermost mas- 
ticatory organs, and pump up the fluids necessary for their 
nourishment. 

When transformed into Ancei, these Crustacea are never met 
with on fishes; but most of those obtained by the author from 
Pranize had this origin. Two species, however, are supposed 


416 M. E. Hesse on the Pranizee and Ancei. 


by the author to live solely on the shore; at least they under- 
went their metamorphosis in his aquaria without having attached 
themselves to fishes: these are Anceus Brivatensis and A. Manti- 
corus. The individuals of various species kept by the author, 
some of which existed in captivity for more than two years, fed 
upon decomposed sea-weeds or upon the minute animals which 
might be met with amongst these and in the sea-water with 
which the vessels in which they were preserved were filled. 


Classification of the Ancei. 


The systematic position of the Ancez, in the author’s opinion, 
is between the parasitic Cymothoade and the Epicarides, the 
latter being, like them, suctorial Crustacea. From the Sphero- 
mide, with which they have been placed, they differ in the 
structure and arrangement of the respiratory organs, in the pre- 
sence of the large mandibles in the male, in the great size of 
the head in the same sex, in the form and structure of the an- 
tenn, and in the conformation of the buccal organs. The 
Spheromide have seven thoracic segments and seven pairs of 
thoracic limbs; in the Ancei the number of these segments and 
pairs of limbs is only five: the Ancet have a narrow abdomen, 
composed of six perfectly separate segments; whilst the Sphero- 
mide have only two or three segments in this region of the body, 
and even these are generally soldered together. The two groups 
are further distinguished by the nature of the integuments, and 
especially by the mode in which the eggs are carried previously 
to the exclusion of the young. In the Spheromide they are 
contained within the carapace ; but in the Ancez they are placed 
outside the body, beneath the membranous laminz which spring 
from within the thoracic feet and, by lying over each other, 
form a large incubatory pouch. The author also calls attention 
to the analogy presented by the female Ancez with those of 
Ourozeuktes. 

In the present. paper M. Hesse describes. eleven species of the 
genus Anceus, several of them as new; but he complains that, 
from the imperfect descriptions of previous authors, he has often 
found it impossible to identify their species. He divides them 
into four sections, characterized by the form of the large laminar 
mandibles of the males :— 


1. Mandibles in the form of nippers, denticulated only at their 
extremities. 
A. Formica; A. Brivatensis. 
2. Mandibles hatchet-shaped; their inner margins without 
denticulations. 
A. asciaferus. 


Dr. Hanstein on Fecundation and Development in Marsilea. 417 


3. Mandibles falciform, with the inner margins smooth, but 
presenting impressions of denticulations; outer margins 
with a projecting haft (contre-fort). 

A. erythrinus ; A. falcarius ; A. Manticorus. 


4. Mandibles falciform, with the inner margins denticulated, 
and with no projecting haft on the outer margins. 
A. Trigl; A. Scarites; A. Lupi; A. rapax ; A. verrucosus. 


XLV.—On the Fecundation and Development of Marsilea. 
By Dr. Hansrrin*. 


WueEn the task was set me of reporting to the Academy upon 
the capability of development of the so-called Nardoo-fruits 
(the capsules of an Australian species of Marsilea), and upon 
the processes observable in it, 1 was unable to trace either the 
fecundation or the development of the germ-plant upon the few 
fruits first sent by Alexander Rose, as nearly all the prothallia 
remained unfertilized. Since then I have succeeded in repeated 
sowings, for which fruits sent by Mr. Osborne, of Melbourne, 
and by Dr. Ferdinand Miiller, of the Botanic Garden at that 
place, were employed, in witnessing the reproduction and germi- 
nation of this genus, which were previously unknown. 

About four hours after the micro- and megaspores have es- 
caped into the water in the manner formerly described by mef, 
and issued from their sporangia, the first alterations are per- 
ceptible in them. In the small androspores the contents, of 
starch and proteine-substance, have then formed a more homo- 
geneous plastic mass, and become somewhat contracted all round 
from the margin, leaving only a few granules on the latter. 
This mass is then quickly divided, by three planes of segmenta- 
tion perpendicular to each other, into eight equal parts, and 
each of these is immediately broken up in two directions, differ- 
ent from each other and from the previous directions of division, 
into four parts, disposed in relation to each other in the manner 
of the angles of a tetrahedron. In this way thirty-two equal 
portions of protoplasm are produced by an act of division which 
resembles the process of segmentation in the animal ovum; and 
it is only after the completion of this that a cell-membrane is 
formed around each of them. 

In each of these thirty-two cells, which retain their regular 
arrangement, a spermatozoid is developed. The four spermato- 
zoids of each tetrahedral group lie in the approximated halves of 

* Translated by W.S. Dallas, F.L.S., from the ‘ Monatsbericht der 


Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, August 1864, p. 576. 
+ Monatsber. Berl. Akad. 1863, p. 414. 


Ann. & Mag. N, Hist. Ser. 8. Vol, xiv. 27 


418 Dr. Hanstein on the Fecundation 


the four cells. The process is completed in from eighteen to 
twenty-two hours. Soon afterwards the solid exosporium of the 
androspore breaks up, and the contents enclosed by the delicate 
inner membrane escape ; the contents either burst the membrane 
during their escape, or form a transparent spherule from which 
the daughter cells issue by degrees and set free the spermato- 
zoids. 

These have previously been in whirling motion; they burst 
their mother cells singly, and hurry from them with the rapidity 
of an arrow. Lach spermatozoid consists of a corkscrew-like 
filament, to the last remarkably large turns of which a large 
globular vesicle adheres; the latter contains numerous starch- 
granules in a clear fluid, and resembles an independent cell 
surrounded by a sufficiently firm membrane. This is by no 
means a part of the mother cell, which, on the contrary, remains 
behind empty after the escape of the spermatozoid. The screw- 
like filament has twelve or thirteen turns; it is very closely 
twisted at the apex, and is beset, especially on the lower and 
wider turns, with numerous very long cilia, which, when bent 
forwards in swimming, often project beyond the tip of the screw. 

In the meantime the prothallium with the archegonium has 
been developed on the macrospores. Even before the escape of 
the macrospore, its vertex, inflated in the form of a wart, is filled 
with yellowish finely granular plasma, while the rest of its space 
contains the well-known large starch-grains, oil-drops, and pro- 
teme substances. Several hours after the escape of the spore, 
this lentiform mass of protoplasm is still undivided by any per- 
ceptible septum from the rest of the inner space of the spore, 
and is therefore not a complete cell; but in about five or six 
hours it 1s cut off by a proper cellulose membrane. Soon after- 
wards its plastic contents separate into a roundish central prin- 
cipal mass and a peripheral layer which is thicker towards the 
free upper surface ; the latter then gradually divides into smaller 
and smaller portions, which surround the central mass in a 
single layer. The cell-body thus sketched out, but not com- 
pleted, breaks up at the slightest touch ; but subsequently first 
the central and finally the peripheral parts surround themselves 
with resistant cell-walls, which enter into close mutual con- 
nexion. 

The central cell is then the primary cell of the nascent arche- 
gonium, the mother cell of the germ; the peripheral cells form 
the prothallium. In the middle of the basal surface the central 
cell is sometimes in immediate contact with the septum between 
the prothallium and the interior space of the spore, and is there- 
fore excentric. Hxactly at its vertex four regularly placed cells 
soon exceed the others in size, and rise into a wart, each of them 


and Development of Marsilea. 419. 


at the same time being divided again by a septum directed from 
without inwards towards the common point of contact of all the 
four. By the further elevation of the four upper daughter cells 
the neck of the archegonium is completed. 

At about twenty to twenty-four hours after the escape of the 
spores, the archegonium is ready for impregnation ;- and fer- 
tilization takes place without being limited to any particular 
time of the day*. Beneath the vertex of the central cell a 
portion of colourless mucus separates from its yellowish mass of 
protoplasm, and fills a somewhat lentiform space below the neck 
of the archegonium, which frequently appears to be divided by 
sharp boundary lines from the contracted globular protoplasm. 
This mucus swells, presses upwards, bursts out suddenly with a 
violent explosion between the four pairs of cells of the archego- 
nium, and thus opens the canal of its neck, which then leads 
from without into the interior of the central cell. The mass 
thrown out often remains for days unchanged near the orifice. 

Of the swarming spermatozoids many are usually already at 
hand. They do not seek after the entrance in the mucous en- 
velope of the gynospore, but penetrate it where they come upon 
it. In this process the starch-saccule is an obstacle; by ener- 
getic whirlings they get rid of it, and then swim to the orifice 
of the archegonium, usually with the apex of the screw in 
front, and then, as before, very rapidly, or in the reversed posi- 
tion, and then more slowly. 

Immediately after the expulsion of the mucus, I saw a sper- 
matozoid hasten by, turn the apex of the screw into the orifice, 
turn rapidly upon its axis for a moment, as if it had to overcome 
some internal resistance, and then suddenly disappear in the 
interior of the archegonium, where it was impossible to trace it 
further, on account of the opacity of the prothallium. In one 
case two disappeared, one after the other, in the same archego- 
nium. All subsequent ones were rejected, although no hindrance 
to their admission was observable. 

The number of spermatozoids which collect in the mucous 
envelope of a gynospore often amounts to several hundreds. 
Whole tufts of them adhere by their points to the orifices of the 
fertilized archegonia, the necks of which quickly become brown. 
About the unfecundated specimens those little swarming cor- 
puscles which I formerly mentioned{ soon occur. But I have 


* I have witnessed the swarming of the spermatozoids even about mid- 
night. 

+ The precise observation of the processes of material change within 
the central cell is prevented by the imperfect transparency of the pro- 
thallium. 

{ Monatsber. Berl, Akad. 1862, p. 114. 

27% 


420 Dr. Hanstein on the Fecundation 


now ascertained, by keeping male and female spores separately, 
that the production of these is not directly dependent upon the 
spores, but that they occur with both kinds, and even with 
residues from other parts of the fruit of Marsilea. They are 

Monad-like creatures, which sometimes, like true Monads, swim 
about briskly, and sometimes, resting, become increased into 
chain-like series, like certain species Pot Vibrio. The perfect 
agreement of their form and mode of occurrence in all observed 
cases is, however, remarkable; and the singular manner in 
which both these corpuscles and the spermatozoids crowd toge- 
ther in front of the orifices of the archegonia induces the belief 
that the orifice itself may be the seat of some mechanical cause 
of motion, although this has hitherto escaped direct observation. 

After fecundation, the contents of the central cell contract 
into a free spheroidal mass, which, like the prothallium itself, 
has a circular transverse section; by the development of a cell- 
membrane, this becomes the primitive cell of the germ-plant. 

In about twelve hours the division of this commences by the 
formation of a wall which is nearly perpendicular, if we regard 
the longitudinal axis of the macrospore to be placed in an up- 
right position. ‘This wall divides it into two somewhat unequal 
parts, the larger of which becomes developed into the stem, and 
may therefore be characterized as the anterior portion. Both 
these parts divide again immediately—the anterior, by a hori- 
zontal wall, into two equal parts, and the posterior, by a parti- 
tion inclined backwards, into two unequal parts. The germ is 
now apparently divided almost crosswise into four cells, of which 
the anterior upper one becomes the first leaf, and the posterior 
upper one the first root. The anterior lower cell is immediately 
divided again into two cells by a wall starting from the hori- 
zontal wall and descending forwards; the upper of these (now 
the middle one of the anterior three cells) is the primitive cell 
of the growing bud. The separated lower cell of the anterior 
side is developed, in common with the lower posterior cell, into 
a parenchymatous mass, which, as the so-called foot, long retains 
the young germ-plant in the prothallium and on the gynospore. 
Each of the three other cells proceeds on its own course of 
development. 

Three walls, produced one after the other, following the 
outline of the cell in thei position and curvature, and directed 
towards each cther internally, cut off from the primitive root- 
cell an apical root-cell in contact with the boundary of the germ 
posteriorly and superiorly; and in this the peripheral side speedily 
separates, in the form of a cap-like outer cell, from an inner one 
of a three-sided pyramidal shape. The former is the first cell 
of the pileorhiza, It first divides crosswise into four contiguous 


and Development of Marsilea. 421 


superficial cells, and then continues dividing, sometimes by 
transverse and sometimes by longitudinal walls. The inner cell, 
which is now the true apical root-cell, proceeds to separate lateral 
cells of division alternately in three directions, which likewise 
originate the very uniform tissue of the root by longitudinal 
and transverse septa. At first, however, this process takes place 
very slowly. 

The most rapid progress is made by the first leaf. Its primi- 
tive cell is first broken up, simultaneously with the two sub- 
jacent cells of the anterior half of the germ, into two equal 
lateral halves, in a plane standing perpendicular to the first 
three divisional walls. In both, the further division takes place 
by the production of divisional walls alternately from above and 
from the front, tending towards each other internally, separating 
discoid cells from the apical cell, which is rising forwards and 
upwards. In this way the leaf soon acquires a conical form, 
constantly becoming more acute, which finally passes, by the 
repeated extension and division of the cells of the second and 
third order, into the filamentous form, which the first leaf 
retains. 

The evolution of the bud takes place but slowly. Its primi- 
tive cell is divided by the above-mentioned perpendicular septum 
into two adjacent cells, which are apparently similar, but are of 
very unequal value. One of them becomes the second leaf: the 
other continues to be the apical cell of the incipient axis of the 
stem; and thus the symmetry of the anterior side of the germ 
is for the moment destroyed. 

In the apical cell, three septa approximating internally, and 
running nearly parallel to the three lateral walls, separate three 
more divisional cells—first an upper ‘one, then a lower one, 
and lastly an inner lateral one adjacent to the second leaf: they 
leave the apical cell diminished between them, and are developed 
from no independent parts. The axis of the apical cell, which 
is now of a three-sided pyramidal form, furnished with a strongly 
arched basal surface directed forward, now exactly indicates the 
direction of the further development of the stem-bud. A seventh 
septum, running similarly to the fourth, but more strongly 
curved downwards on the side opposite to the second leaf, and 
cutting off a larger daughter cell, gives origin to the third leaf, 
which consequently makes its appearance opposite to the second, 
and restores the symmetry of the bud. 

Next trimerous cycles of interstitial cells issue from the apical 
cell, corresponding to its three walls, until the fourth and fifth 
leaves are produced from it in the same direction and in the 
same manner as the second and third. No law could be dis- 
covered for the number of these interstitial cells, which rapidly 


422 On the Fecundation and Development of Marsilea. 


increases between the first leaves. The increasing covering of 
the bud with hairs, and the liability to injury of the young 
vegetative point, render the observation of the further develop- 
ment difficult. But all the facts hitherto observed go to prove 
that the apical cell continues its further evolution in the same 
fashion, even in the growing stem-bud of the old plant. The 
leaves always appear exactly bipartite, somewhat approximated 
on the upper side of the horizontal axis. It is consequently to 
be supposed that all of them, like the first, origmate only from 
the cells of the two upper series which proceed from the apical 
cell, whilst the third series only furnishes the commencement of 
roots and internodial cells. 

This whole process of cell-division therefore shows that the 
first perpendicular wall divides the germ into the primitive cells 
of the stem and root, and that the ideal primary axis of the free 
germ is consequently to be regarded as horizontal. From the 
stem-cell the first septum separates the first leaf, which has the 
import of a cotyledon. The second furnishes a piece which, as 
it only forms, in common with a divisional cell of the root of 
the same order, a parenchymatous body situated laterally to the 
axis, must be regarded, not as a metamorphosed leaf, but as an 
internodial part, like many which subsequently issue from the 
apical cell of the stem alternately with the foundation-cells of 
the leaves. Consequently the first root also, which hes exactly 
in the line of the posterior extension of the main axis of the 
stem, acquires the position and direction of a main root. On 
the contrary, the view that the foot is essentially the aborted 
primary axis, and that the first root and first bud are only ad- 
ventitious organs, is supported neither by the position nor by 
the sequence of the septa in and between the constituent founda- 
tion-cells of the germ. 

The first germ-leaf is situated in the median line of the germ, 
the subsequent ones to each side. Between the first and second 
leaves the divergence is about =i; the rest follow under a 
divergence of 4, whilst the spiral continually becomes closer. 
On the other hand, the division of the apical cell itself passes 
rapidly into an homodromous spiral with a divergence of 4. 
After the second leaf the cell-multiplication no longer com- 
mences with a perpendicular septum, but rather with walls 
directed towards each other laterally. Their development is 
similar to that known to occur in other Fern-leaves. They 
gradually attain to a greater extension, which only reaches its 
term about the tenth or twelfth leaf. 

The prothallium follows the development of the germ itself 
by an independent growth, moulding itself upon the form of the 
germ. At last the rapidly growing leaf bursts it above, and the 


Dr. P. P. Carpenter on new Forms of Mollusca. 428 


root subsequently beneath. The root then penetrates into the 
soil, the prothallium having been fastened to the surface by its 
rootlets. The foot beneath is intimately adherent to the tissue 
of the prothallium, and stretches over the upper opening of the 
spore, for the purpose of taking up its nutritive material and 
handing this over to the other parts of the germ. The young 
bud remains long concealed ; but when it subsequently breaks 
out, the cast remains of the prothallium perish. 

The more particular description of the entire process of de- 
velopment, especially the cell-division of the germ, the appear- 
ance of the vascular bundles and of the later roots, and the 
evolution of the leaves, will shortly be published, with the neces- 
sary figures, in Pringsheim’s ‘ Annalen.’ 


XLVI.—Diagnoses of new Forms of Mollusca from the Vancouver 
District. By Purp P. Carpenter, B.A., Ph.D. 


Tue shells here described were mostly collected by Indian chil- 

dren for their excellent teacher Mr.J.G.Swan, m the neighbour- 

hood of Neeah Bay, W.T. They were presented by him to the 

Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. ; and, in accordance 

with their liberal policy, the first available duplicates will be 

found in the British Museum or in Mr. Cuming’s Collection. 

The species are numbered to correspond with the list m the 

British Association Report for 1863, pp. 626-628; see also 

pp: 636-664. 

5. Mara salmonea. 

‘M. testa parva, solida, compacta, subquadrata ; levi, nitente, epi- 
dermide tenui cinerea induta ; extus pallide, intus vivide salmoneo 
tincta; marginibus dorsalibus rectis, ad angulum 120° separatis, 
umbonibus haud extantibus ; marginibus antico et ventrali regu- 
lariter late excurvatis; parte postica brevissima, haud angulata: 
intus, dent. card. utraque valva il., quorum unus bifidus ; laterali- 
bus vy. dextr. sequidistantibus, ant. extante, post. parvo; nymphis 
rectis, haud conspicuis ; cicatr. add. post. subrotundata, ant. sub- 
rhomboidea; sinu pallii satis regulariter ovali, per iv. inter v. 
partes interstitii porrecto. Long. °57, lat. °45, alt. -11 poll. 

_Variat testa aurantiaca, rarius albida, rosaceo tincta. 


Hab. San Francisco (Pac. Rail. EH. E.); Neeah Bay (Swan), 
plentiful; Monterey, 20 fathoms (Cooper). 
In shape almost close to Macoma crassula, Desh. (Arctic) ; 
but that species is thinner, not glossy or salmon-coloured, and 
has no lateral teeth. 
6. Angulus variegatus. 


A. testa forma A. obtuso simili, sed costa interna omnino carente, 
valde ineequilaterali, solidiore, nitente, rosaceo et flavido subradia- 


4.24) Dr. P. P. Carpenter on new Forms of Mollusca 


tim eleganter variegata; striis incrementi concentricis, postice ex- 
tantioribus ; umbonibus postice flectentibus, obtusis; parte antica 
prolongata, regulariter excurvata; margimibus dorsali et ventrali 
subparallelis, subrectis ; parte postica curtiore, subangulata: intus, 
dent. card. utraque valva ii. minutis, quorum alter bifidus; v. 
dext. dent. lat., ant. curto, satis extante, post. nullo; nymphis 
curtis, latis, parum concavis, subito seetis, valvis postea subalatis ; 
sinu pallii fere cicatr. aut. tenus porrecto. Long. *72, lat. -42, 
alf. 15. 

Hab. Neeah Bay (Swan); Monterey and Catalina Island, 

20-60 fathoms, rare (Cooper). 


Subgenus Mropon*, 


Testa Lucinoidea, dentibus cardinalibus, ut in Cardita, elongatis ; 
laterali antico parvo instructa. 


This little group of species is intermediate in character be- 
tween Astarte, Venericardia, and Lucina. It first appears in 
the Great Oolite, where it is represented by Astarte (Miodon) 
orbicularis, J. Sby. Min. Conch. pl. 444. f. 2,3. This must not 
be eontamaded with a second and true Astarte orbicularis, by the 
same author, pl. 520. f. 2. It appears in Mr. Searles. Wood’s 
Crag-series as Astarte corbis. The following is the only recent 
species at present known. - 


9. Miodon prolongatus. 


M. testa parva, solida, tumida, compacta, albida; ventraliter antice 
valde prolongata, excurvata ; lunula longa, rectiore, haud impressa ; 
umbonibus antice inflectis, Ghia ale prominentibus ; margine 
dorsali postico parum excurvato; costis radiantibus x.—xii. latis, 
obtusis, marginem attingentibus, parum expressis, dorsaliter obso- 
letis, a liris incrementi concentricis, plus minusye distantibus, ex- 
pressis, hic et illic interruptis : intus, margine a costis plus minusve 
obsoletim crenulato ; cardine dentibus v, dextr., uno postico, inter 
duas fossas elongato, et lat. ant. lunulari; v. sinistr., dent. ant. trian- 
gulari, post. valde elongato, lat. ant. minimo, obsoleto; rs add. 
subrotundatis, ventraliter sitis, Long. *23, lat. °24, alt. ° 


Subgenus Apuxa, Add. (diagn. auct.). 


Testa inter Modiolam et Lithophagum intermedia, cylindracea ; 
umbonibus obtusis; parte antica longiore; ligamento subinterno, 
valde elongato ; epidermide haud testacea. 

Animal byssiferum, in cryptis affixum; musculis adductoribus 
majoribus, antico ovato. 


Constituted by Messrs. Adams for A. soleniformis, D’Orb., 
which very closely resembles the young of the Vancouver species : 
enlarged to receive the shells of Lithophagoid shape which are 


* Th. peiwv, smaller; ddovs, tooth. 


from the Vancouver District. 425 


moored by byssus, like Modiola. The largest known species is 
A, falcata, Gld., which is normally straight, but often grows in 
a twisted burrow. A. parasitica, Desh., and the long-known 


A. cinnamomea appear congeneric. 


18. Adula stylina. 


A, testa cylindracea, lithophagoidea, levi, tennissima, parum ar- 
cuata, subnacrea, albida, postice interdum livido tincta; epider- 
mide nitente, levi, solidiore, nigro-fusca: testa jun. typice modio- 
leeformi, umbonibus subanticis, obtusissimis ; margine dorsali 
antice (rarissime paululum, testa minima, postice) tenuiter crenu- 
lato: testa adulta marginibus dors. et ventr. fere parallelis, ant. 
et post. rotundatis; umbonibus detritis, haud conspicuis, circiter 
sextantim antice sitis ; mcrustatione haud solida, densissime spon- 
giosa, aream posticam diagonalem tegente, supra valvas prolongata, 
appressa ; ligamento interno, postice valde prolongato; pagina 
interna pallida; cicatr. add. postica tumida, pyriformi, antica 
(quoad familiam) maxima, haud impressa, oblonga; cicatr. pedali 
antica magna, circulari, impressa; callositate subumbonali (testa 
jun.) cicatr. pedalem versus conspicua. Long. °155, lat. °4, alt. °5. 

Variat t. magis arcuata; ut in 4. falcata, antice tumidiore, sub- 
angulata. 

Variat quoque testa attenuata. 

Variat interdum ventraliter late hiante. 


Hab. Necah Bay, abundant (Swan) ; Monterey (Taylor). 


On smashing a large lump of hard clay, bored by Pholads, 
Petricolids, &c., large numbers of this species, with a few of A. 
falcata, of all ages from 06 onwards, were found in situ. Several 
struggled for room in a single crypt. The umbos are abraded 
by the wide opening of the valves. 


14. Avxinea (?septentrionalis, var.) subobsoleta. 


A. testa’ A. septentrionali simili, parum ineequilaterali, haud tumida; 
umbonibus obtusis, latis, satis prominentibus ; cinerea, rufo-cas- 
taneo varie picta; epidermide copiosa, sublaminata; marginibus 
ventrali et postico valde rotundatis, antico parum producto, dor- 
sali recto; sulcis radiantibus subobsoletis sculpta, dorsaliter seepe 
evanidis : intus, marginibus ventrali valde, ant. et post. parum cre- 
natis ; lamina car dinis subangulata ; dentibus paucicribus, validis, 
angustatis ; cicatr. add. antica castanea, callosa; ligamento sul- 
cato. Lone. °13, lat. -12, alt.°7. 


Hab. Neeah Bay (Swan) ; Shoalwater Bay (Cooper). 
Middendorff’s shell is figured with much stronger ribs, but 
may have been described from decorticated specimens. 
15. Stphonaria Thersites. 


S. testa parva, tenui, haud elevata, valde ineequilaterali, dense nigro- 
castanea, levi, seu interdum costulis paucis, obtusis, obsoletis, 


426 Dr. P. P. Carpenter on new Forms of Mollusca 


radiatim vix ornata; epidermide levi, tenui, fugaci; costa pulmo- 
nali intus et extus valde conspicua, tumente; vertice obtuso, 
plerumque ad quadrantem, interdum ad trientem totius longitu- 
dinis sito ; intus intense nigro-fusco, margine acuto. Long. -46, 
late "Sa altecd ss 


Hab. Neeah Bay (Swan). 


This genus, which culminates in western tropical America and 
at Cape Horn, is not known in California. The Vancouver spe- 
cies resembles S. lateralis and its congeners, but differs in having 
an enormous lung-rib and no colour-rays. 


16. Mopalia (Kennerleyi, var.) Swannii. 


M. testa M. Kennerleyi typicze simili, sed jugo fornicato, haud cari- 
nato; omnino rubida, sculptura multo minus expressa ; areis late- 
ralibus vix definitis; latera versus subgranulata; dorsum versus 
Iineis jugum versus procedentibus, interstitiis punctatis; sinu 
postico latiore ; limbo pallii lato, coriaceo, vix piluloso. Long. 
2°4, lat. 1°, div. 120°. 


Hab. Tatooche Island (Swan). 
23. Margarita Cidaris, A. Ad. 


M. testa magna, conica, Turcicoidea, tenui; albido-cinerea, nacreo- 
argentato; anfr. nucleosis?...(decollatis), norm. vil., subplanatis ; 
suturis alte insculptis; superficie spire tota valide tuberculosa, 
seriebus tribus, alteris postea intercalantibus ; peripheria et basi 
rotundatis, carinatis ; carinis cire. vill., haud acutis, irregularibus, 
seabris, haud tuberculosis ; lacuna umbilicali vix conspicua ; aper- 
tura subrotundata; labro tenuissimo; labio obsoleto; columella 
arcuata. Long. 1°1, long. spir. °65, lat. °75, div. 60°. 


Hab. Neeah Bay (Swan). 


Mr. A. Adams suggested the above expressive name for this 
very remarkable and unique shell. 
25. Gibbula parcipicta. 

G. testa solidiore, parva, conica, pallida, purpureo-fusco varie nebu- 
losa et maculata; anfr. v., rotundatis; carinis ii. validis in spira 
se monstrantibus, minore intercalante ; interstitiis subsuturalibus, 
subleevibus, inter carinas obtuse decussatis ; lira peripherica de- 
finita, seepe in spira se monstrante ; basi valde rotundata ; lirulis 
basalibus cire. v. rotundatis, subdistantibus ; apertura subcirculari; 
columella arcuata ; umbilico majore, infundibuliformi, haud angu- 
lato. Long. ‘14, long. spir. °07, lat. °13, div. 70°. 

Hab. Neeah Bay (Swan) ; Santa Crux (Rowell). 


26. Gibbula succincta. 


G. testa parva, subelevata, solidiore ; livida, testa jun. strigis angustis, 
creberrimis, fusco-purpureis penicillata, testa adulta maculis quo- 
que magnis nebulosa ; anfr. v., subquadratis; liris obtusis medianis 


from the Vancouver District. 427 


et striis subobsoletis cincta, suturis valde impressis ; basi rotun- 
data, obtuse angulata, striis seepe evanidis spiralibus ornata, testa 
adulta circa umbilicum magnum, infundibuliformem, vix angu- 
latum, seepe tumidiore, medio obtuse impressa; apertura sub- 
quadrata, parum declivi; columella subarcuata. Long. *16, long. 
spir. °07, lat. °16, div. 70°. 


Hab. Neeah Bay (Swan); Lower California, on Haliotis 
(Rowell). 


27. Gibbula lacunata. 


G. testa parva, fusco-purpurea, solidiore; marginibus spire valde 
excurvatis ; anfractibus nucleosis normalibus, postea iv. subpla- 
natis, suturis distinctis, apice mamillato; subleevi, circa basin 
vix angulatam striolata, striolis spiralibus distantibus; apertura 
suborbiculari, parum declivi; labio juxta umbilicum constrictum, 
quasi lacunatum, lobato; columella callositate parva umbilicum 
constringente. Long. ‘11, long. spir. :05, lat. 11, div. 80°. 


Hab, Neeah Bay (Swan). 
28. Gubbula funiculata. 


G. testa parva, elevata, compacta, fusca; marginibus spirze excur- 

_vati. : anfr. vi., haud tumidis, suturis parum impressis ; lirulis 
crebris rotundatis undique cincta, quarum vy. in spira monstrantur ; 
interstitiis parvis ; basi rotundata, haud angulata; umbilico parvo, 
haud carinato; apertura suborbiculari, parum declivi; columella 
vix arcuata. Long. °24, long. spir. ‘11, lat. °2, div. 70°. 


Hab. Neeah Bay (Swan), specimen unicum. 


29. Hipponyx craniordes. 


H. testa valde planata, majore, albida; vertice nucleoso?...; testa 
adulta apice interdum subcentrali, seepius plus minusve postico ; 
laminis incrementi confertis, undique rapide augentibus ; striis 
radiantibus fortioribus, confertissimis, lammarum margines szepe 
crenulantibus; margine acuto; cicatr. musc. angusta, margini 
contigua, regione capitis minore, seepe dextrorsum torsa; epi- 
dermide?... Long. °85, lat. °75, alt. °3. 


Hab. Neeah Bay (Swan). 


30. Bivonia compacta. 


B. testa satis magna, seepe solitaria, purpureo-fusca, spiraliter ple- 
rumque satis regulariter contorta, obsoletim cancellata seu sculp- 
tura fere evanida; testis tenacissime adhezerente. Long. (plerum- 
que) *7, lat. *3, diam. apert. °1. 

Hab. Barclay Sound; abundant on Pachypoma gibberosum 

(Swan). 
Belongs to Bivonia, Gray (not Moérch). Has the aspect of 

Petaloconchus macrophragma on a large scale, but is entirely 

destitute of internal laminz. One specimen had a faint colu- 


428 Dr. P. P. Carpenter on new Forms of Mollusca. 


mellar thread for two whirls only. Opereulum normal, with 


thin edge, dark red. 
32. Lacuna porrecta. 


L. testa L. putcolo simili, sed multo majore, spira magis exserta ; 
seu omnino fusea, seu zona pallidiore, seu pallida lineolis fusces- 
centibus tenuissime spiraliter ornata; epidermide tenuiter striata 
olivacea seu viridescente induta; tenuiore, spiraliter tenuiter striata; 
anfr. v., vix planatis, rapide augentibus, suturis impressis, vertice 
mamillato ; apertura tumente ; labio tenui, vix parietem attingente, 
intus subrecto; lacuna maxima, elongata, ad basin arcuata; peri- 
pheria expansa. Long. °52, long. spir. °2, lat. -4, div. 80°. 

Var. effusa: testa L.porrecte simili, sed multo majore ; spira elevata, 
satis effusa ; anfr. tumidioribus, suturis valde impressis ; aperturam 
versus magis expansa. Long. *65, long. spir. *25, lat. *5, div. 60°. 

?Var. evaquata : testa D. cfiusce shalt sed anfr. ie suturis 
parum impressis. Long. °5, long. spir. °2, lat. *42, div. 80°, 


Hab. Neeah Bay (Swan). 

The form L. exequata is intermediate between the very dif- 
ferent L. porrecta and L. effusa. The Lacune vary so much 
(vide Forbes & Hanley zn loco) that, even with a large multitude 
of specimens, it is not easy to state what constitutes a species. 


33. Lacuna (? solidula, var.) compacta. 


L. testa L. solidule, var., simili; parva, solida, compacta, angusta, 
subturrita, marginibus spiree excurvatis : aurantiaca, interdum pal- 
lidiore zonata; anfr. subplanatis, suturis distinctis ; tota superficie 
confertissime spiraliter striolata ; basi valde angulata, subplanata ; 
apertura subquadrata; columella vix lacunata. Long. *23, long. 
spirmel, lat..17, div. 607 

Variat testa elongata: variat quoque columella normaliter lacunata. 


Hab. Neeah Bay (Swan). 

Possibly an extreme form of the very variable L. solidula, Lov. 
(= L. cariata, Gld., non A. Ad., = Modelia striata, Gabb), yet 
distinct in all ages. The young shells resemble small Litorine. 


34, Lacuna variegata. 


L. testa tenui, plus minusve elevata, soluta, irregulari; adolescente 
fusco-purpureo ; adulta livida, radiatim seu diagonaliter varie ir- 
regulariter strigata, strigis fusco-aurantiacis, seepe ziczacformibus ; 
antr. vi., quorum primi compacti, apice submamillato ; dein solutis, 
postice planatis, antice expansis ; basi rotundata seu angulata ; ; 
apertura subovata ; labro postice porrecto ; labio szepe parietem vix 
attingente ; columella intus recta, extus valde lacunata. Long. 3, 
long. spir. +16, lat. +17, div. 50°. 


Hab. Neeah Bay (Swan). 
Painted like L. decorata, A. Ad., which differs in having a 
normal growth, with very slight chink. 


Dr. A. Giinther on a new Specics of Eublepharis. 429 


35. Isapis fenestrata. 


I. testa I. ovoidee forma et indole simili ; carinis ix. acutis (quarum 
lv. in spira monstrantur) cincta ; interstitiis duplo latioribus, con- 
cinne quadratim decussatis, lirulis radiantibus acutissimis; anfr. 
postice tumentibus, suturis valde excavatis ; peritremate continuo ; 
labro a carinis pectinato; labio parietem parum attingente, medio 
calloso; umbilico angusto. Long. °18, long. spir. *13, lat. °19, 
div. 70°. 

Hab. Necah Bay (Swan); 8. Diego and Sta. Barbara Island 

(Cooper). 


Dr. Cooper’s shells are much smaller than those from the 
Vancouver district, which are white and eroded, varying much 
in the size of the umbilicus. 


36. Alvania reticulata. 


A. testa parva, subturrita, rufo-fusca, marginibus spire rectis ; anfr. 
nucleosis ii. et dimidio, naticoideis, levibus, tumentibus, apice 
mamillato ; norm. iii., tumidis, suturis impressis; liris angustis, 
distantibus, spiralibus cire. xii. (quarum iv.—vi. in spira mon- 
strantur), et lirulis radiantibus, supra transeuntibus, haud nodulosis, 
secundum interstitia incurvatis, eleganter exsculpta ; interstitiis 
altis, quadratis; peritremate continuo, subrotundato, acutiore. 
Long. ‘085, long. spir. ‘05, lat. :04, div. 30°. 


Hab. Necah Bay; two specimens in shell-washings (Swan). 


37. Alvania filosa. 


A, testa A. reticulate indole et colore, haud sculptura, simili; multo 
majore, elongata; anfr. nucl. ?... (detritis), norm. iv.; stris parum 
separatis circ. xviii. (quarum circ. xii. in spira monstrantur) cincta ; 
rugulis radiantibus posticis creberrimis, haud expressis, circa peri- 
pheriam evanidis ; peritremate continuo; columella rufo-purpureo 
tincta. Long. °13, long. spir. °09, lat. :06, div. 20°. 


Hab. Neeah Bay; one specimen in shell-washings (Swan). 


[To be continued. ] 


XLVIL.—Deseription of a new Species of Kublepharis. 
By Dr. Abert GUNTHER. 


Lublepharis fasciolatus. 


Very similar in general habit to H. Hardwickii, but with 
the tubercles much less numerous and separated by granular 
interspaces as wide as the tubercles themselves. Opening of the 
ear wide. Nine upper and ten lower labials; two chin-shields 
larger than the first lower labial. The scales of the middle of 
the belly form twenty-four longitudinal series. A series of 
fourteen pores across the preeanal region. 


430 Dr. F. Miller on some peculiar Structures 


The young with brown cross bands: the first is horseshoe- 
shaped, and encircles the occiput, each branch advancing to the 
eye; there are two irregular brown spots within its concavity : 
the second band occupies the posterior two-thirds of the neck : 
the third and fourth across the middle of the trunk : the fifth 
across the sacral region. ‘Tail with five brown rings. These 
bands and rings are ‘broader than the interspaces of the ‘st 
colour, which is brownish yellow. 

In the adult only the brown edges of these bands remain ; so 
that there is one pair of brown cross bars on the neck, and three 
pairs on the trunk, the space between the bars being of the 
ground-colour. The horseshoe- shaped band on the occiput re- 
mains single; but the markings on the head are more defined: 
than in the young one, viz. a pair of brown rings on the crown 
of the head, one cross band between the eyes, “and two on the 
snout; a longitudinal streak runs from the eye to the nostril. 
Lower parts white ; a group of indistinct brown dots on the 
elbows and knees. 

I am indebted to R.T. Riddell, Esq., for two specimens of this 
species : one is adult, 54 inches long, the length of the tail being 
24 inches; the other, young example is 3 inches long, tail 
1} inch. They were collected at Hydrabad, Sindh, where the 


species is unjustly reputed to be venomous. ° 


XLVIII.—On some peculiar Structures in the Seminal Fluid of 
Tanthina. By Fritz Mtxuer of Desterro*. 


Ir is but rarely that pelagic animals find their way into the arm 
of the sea which separates the island of Santa Catharina from 
the mainland of South America. Amongst these visitors, which 
are sometimes absent for several years together, are two species 
of fanthina, which usually make their appearance as attendants 
on swarms of Velelle. One of them with a more acute spire (J. 
extgua, Lam.), of which only a few females have once been seen, 
bears its eggs upon the frothy appendage of the foot: the other, 
which has been repeatedly found, has a flatter spire (J. pallida, 
Harv.), and is viviparous; in this I ascertained that the frothy 
appendage occurs in precisely the same manner in both sexes. 
In the seminal fluid of the latter species there are some very 
peculiar structures, to which I would call the attention of visitors 
to the Mediterranean and others who may have the opportunity 
of examining this remarkable Mollusk. It is very probable that 
such an opportunity may not occur to me again for years; and 


* Translated by W. S. Dallas, F,L.S., from Wiegmann’s ‘ Archiv,’ 1863, 
p. 179. 


in the Seminal Fluid of lanthina, 431 


this may be my excuse for communicating my observations upon 
these structures in their present imperfect state. 

Even with the naked eye we may observe in the seminal fluid 
of Ianthina numerous white vermiform structures, which swim 
about briskly in it*, Their length is about 0°5 millim. (exclu- 
sive of the swimming-apparatus to be hereafter described). The 
lens enables us to distinguish, in the first place, two sharply sepa- 
rated divisions, which may be indicated, for the sake of brevity, 
as the head and tail. The head occupies about one-fourth of the 
total length; it is sometimes of a pretty regular conical form, 
sometimes furnished at its posterior thicker portion with irre- 
gular processes, and sometimes projects anteriorly in a double 
instead of a single point. It contains numerous granules of 
various sizes, with dark outlines, which render it rather opaque; 
no distinct membrane could be perceived surrounding it. The 
tail, about three times as long as the head, is anteriorly much 
narrower than the hinder margin of the head, but becomes gra- 
dually enlarged posteriorly, and terminates in a rounded end; 
it is almost completely opaque, and is densely clothed with deli- 
cate hairs about 0:03 millim. in length. These hairs are seen 
to move quickly, but do not strike regularly in the same direc- 
tion in the manner of cilia; on the contrary, they wave and 
mingle together irregularly, so that we cannot regard them as, 
the cause of the rapid movements by which the structures pass 
through the water in large curves. In this movement the head 
and tail appear to be dragged along like a heavy mass by some 
force lying beyond them; and this is, in fact, the case. Ata 
distance of nearly twice the length of the head from its apex it 
is preceded by a conical point, with delicate but clearly marked 
outlines, from which a perfectly transparent membrane waves 
down to about the middle of the head, like a flutterimg veil. 
Sometimes I could detect an extremely delicate longitudinal 
striation in this membrane. Posteriorly its outlines were evanes- 
cent, so that I could scarcely ever trace it to its hinder mar- 
gin: on one occasion only, in a young individual, I distinctly 
saw the hinder margin, at which the membrane appeared to 
separate into delicate fibres. Sometimes also a slender and not 
sharply defined cord could be traced from the anterior extremity 
of the head nearly to the conical point. Whether this undu- 
lating membrane forms a conical envelope connected with the 
head by a central free peduncle, or whether it spreads out flat 
and is immediately attached to the head, I cannot decide; for, 
just as I was turning my attention to this question, the black 
clouds of a rising storm robbed me of the light so indispensable 


* Probably not throughout the year: my observations were made in 
October, which would correspond with April in the Mediterranean. 


432 Dr. I. Miiller on the Seminal Fluid of Tanthina. 


for carrying on such an investigation as this; and when I was 
able to resume it, I found that my whole stock of material had 
become useless in consequence of the commencement of decom- 
position. 

In the vicinity of the conical point several little lobes, resem- 
bling narrow cilia, separate from the membrane. While the 
structure is swimming, these little lobes oscillate rapidly and 
strongly, and the whole membrane is in lively undulating move- 
ment. When towed along by this singular swimming-apparatus, 
the tail always appeared to me to be perfectly quiet ; the whole 
structure, from the conical apex of the undulating membrane to 
the rounded extremity of the tail, then forms a slightly curved 
bow, and the course through which it passes follows a similar 
curve. When the membrane, and with it the head, are quiescent, 
the tail is seen slowly bending and twisting about, although 
without producing any perceptible change of place. 

Deceived by such manifold movements, I was led, in 1860, to 
regard these structures as parasitic animals, in which, however, 
I vainly endeavoured to discover traces of a mouth, intestine, &c. 
But when I was recently (1862) again able to examine a male 
Lanthina, I found my supposed parasites so densely packed in 
its semen, that I began to doubt whether I had not before me 
an essential constituent of the semen. And then I was at once 
struck with the similarity between the agitated hairs of the tail 
and seminal filaments which have nearly attained maturity, but 
have not yet separated from the place of their formation ; and I 
soon succeeded in breaking up several tails into groups of un- 
mistakeable seminal filaments, perfectly resembling those which 
were swimming about freely in the seminal fluid. 

That these structures are an essential constituent of the semen 
was consequently established. But are they the formative organs 
of the seminal filaments, from which these subsequently, when 
mature, separate? or are they “ spermatophora,” around which 
the mature seminal filaments have collected? The former notion 
appears to me the more probable one; it is supported especially 
by specimens frequently observed, in which the seminal filaments 
were not only motionless, but also appeared to be shorter than 
inthe others. Besides these, numerous other still younger forms 
were seen : the youngest that came under observation was of the 
form of an elongated egg, about 0:2 millim. in length and 
0-1 millim. in breadth. The greater part of this oval body ap- 
peared perfectly transparent and empty ; the thickened end alone 
was occupied by a roundish mass, which was rendered opaque by 
densely imbedded granules. It appeared darker on the side 
turned towards the apex of the egg, and lighter on the opposite 
side, although no distinct line of demarcation could be detected 


Mr. J.8. Baly on new Genera and Species of Phytophaga. 483 


between the dark and light portions. Such a line of demarca- 
tion makes its appearance when the body has grown to about 
0-3 millim. in length ; the paler and darker portions then appear 
very like a small acorn in its cup. Subsequently the pale por- 
_tion becomes elongated, and grows into the caudal part of our 
structure ; whilst the darker head portion gradually acquires a 
conical form, and the foremost membranous part commences its 
motory activity; but the tail, contrary to what occurs at a later 
period, is still distinguished from the head by its much lighter 
appearance, and, instead of seminal filaments, its surface is co- 
vered with small, roundish, transparent granules (vesicles ?), 
thus reminding one of the globular or clongated bodies on which 
the seminal filaments are developed, for example, in the body- 
cavity of the Annelida. 


XLIX.—Deseriptions of new Genera and Species of Phytophaga. 
By J. S. Baty. 


Fam. Sagride. 
Sagra mutabilis. 


S. supra subopaca, subtus nitida; antennis extrorsum nigro-purpu- 
reis; thorace subquadrato, antice vix producto, angulis anticis 
modice prominulis; elytris basi thorace multo latioribus, humeris 
subprominulis, a basi ad apicem angustatis, supra convexis, intra 
humeros sat profunde impressis, subtiliter coriaceis, infra basin 
minus profunde transversim impressis, tenuissime gemellato-punc- 
tato-striatis, striis fere omnino deletis. 

A. Corpus rufo-igneum. C. Corpus viridi-ceeruleum. 
B. Corpus viridi-aureum. DD. Corpus purpureum. 

Mas. Femoribus posticis sat elongato-incrassatis, elytra sat 
superantibus, subtus bidentatis, dente antico majore; tibiis ejus- 
dem paris apice mucronatis bidentatisque, dente exteriore valido, 
abdominis segmento primo deplanato, crebre punctato, tomentoso. 

Fem. Elytris oblongis, postice minus angustatis; femoribus 
posticis elytra vix superantibus, subtus ante apicem crista brevi 
instructis ; tibiis ejusdem paris apice breviter mucronatis. 


Long. 8-11 lin. 

Hab. Cambodia, Siam. 

This lovely species is most closely allied to S. speciosa, Lac. : 
it agrees so completely in nearly all its characters with that in- 
sect that a detailed description would be almost useless. I shall 
therefore confine myself to the points of difference between the 
two insects. 

In 8S. mutadbilis the antenne are equally long, but stouter ; 
the thorax is usually (but not always) slightly broader; the 
elytra are much broader at their base, the humeral callus being 

Ann. & Mag, N. Hist, Ser. 3. Vol. xiv. 28 


434 Mr. J.S. Baly oa new Genera and Species of Phytophaga. 


more prominent, and causing the base of the elytra to appear 
more abruptly truncate; they are shorter in proportion to their 
basal breadth, and at the same time more quickly narrowed 
from base to apex, thus being less parallel and more regularly 
wedge-shaped; they are less deeply depressed transversely be- 


low the basilar space, their surface 1s more finely punctured and 


opake ; the hinder thighs are shorter, thicker, and less attenuated 
towards their apex ; viewed laterally, they are suddenly thickened 
at their base, and then gradually increase in width to beyond 
their middle. In S. speciosa they increase more gradually at 
first, but remain for some distance in the middle at nearly 
the same width ; viewed from above, the outer edge in S. muta- 
bilis is more regularly curved, the thickest portion of the femur 
being about or just beyond the middle ; in S. speciosa, on the 
other hand, the thigh is more attenuated from its middle to its 
apex, the thickest part being rather before than at the middle 
itself. In the female the elytra are oblong-ovate, and not nar- 
rowed from base to apex as in the male; but I do not know any 
characters by which the ? can be separated with certainty from 
the same sex of S. speciosa, S. Druryi, and other allied species. 


Sagra Livingstonit. 

S. elongata, obscure czeruleo-nigra, supra subopaca, subtus nitida ; 
thorace latitudine vix longiore, angulis anticis paullo prominulis, 
disco leevi, basi unifoveolato; elytris intra humeros leviter im- 
pressis, tenuiter sulcato-striatis, sulcis distincte punctatis, ante 
apicem deletis, sulcis 5°° 6", 7"° 8*°, et 9"° 10™° pone medium non- 
nihil per paria approximatis; tibiis intermediis subtus ultra me- 
dium dente obtuso armatis. 2 

Long. 8 lin. 


Hab. Zambesi River. 


This species is nearly allied to S. Urania and S. seraphica ; 
the very obtuse tooth or spine on the under surface of its inter- 
mediate tibize will without trouble serve to distinguish it from 
both those insects: by means of the above-mentioned characters 
it enters into that section of the genus which contains S. ¢ristis 
and S. Murrayi; but the punctation of the elytra and the non- 
prolongation backwards of the prosternum show without doubt 
that it belongs to quite another section. 

Head finely punctured ; antenne rather longer than half the 
body, robust, slightly increasing in thickness towards their apex, 
third and fourth joints ovate, nearly equal. lytra subparallel, 
slightly narrowed towards the apex, the latter narrowly obtuse ; 
above moderately convex, very slightly flattened along the suture, 
not depressed below the basilar space; each elytron with ten 
sulcate strie, the first short ; these strie, which are nearly equi- 


Mr. J.S. Baly on new Genera and Species of Phytophaga. 435 


distant at their base, somewhat approximate in pairs on the 
hinder and outer portions of the disk, and are each impressed 
by a single row of distinct punctures ; deeply impressed im front, 
they become shallower and their puncturmg less distinct below 
the middle, and towards the apex of the elytron are quite obso- 
lete; the 9th and 10th rows are placed at a greater distance 
from the adjoining striz than any of the other pairs ; within the 
outer border is a deep impunctate sulcation, which extends the 
whole length of the margin. Hinder thighs not extending be- 
yond the elytra, their under surface furnished near the apex 
with a short ridge, either extremity of which is armed with a 
short tooth; hinder tibice with the basal half curved, the apical 
half nearly straight, the apex not mucronate; on their inner 
surface at the base is an obtuse tubercle. 


Fam. Megalopide. 
Temnaspis Mouhoti. 

T. elongata, parallela, fulva, nitida, pube suberecta vestita ; antennis, 
mandibularum apice, plaga transversa inter oculos, plaga verticali, 
thoracis maculis duabus disco transversim positis, elytrorum ma- 
culis sex, tibiarum apice tarsisque nigris. 

Var. A. Elytrorum maculis nigris obsoletis. 

Long. 4 lin. 

Hab. Cambodia. Collected by the late M. Mouhot. 


Head punctured, a flattened triangular space on the forehead, 
impressed on the centre of its basal margin with a deep fovea; 
epistome smooth, impunctate, impressed with a deep longitudinal 
groove; antenne as long as the head and thorax, black; the 
black patch on the face is transverse, and often extends quite 
across between the eyes; the latter prominent, their inner mar- 
gins narrowly and obliquely notched. Thorax rather broader 
than long, sides obtusely angled at their middle, deeply con- 
stricted just behind their apex; above subcylindrical, trans- 
versely grooved near the base and again in front, the anterior 
suleation running into the lateral constriction ; surface shining, 
subremotely punctured. Scutellum triangular, its apex notched. 
Elytra parallel, dehiscent at their apex, subelongate, upper sur- 
face rather more closely punctured than the thorax, longitudi- 
nally depressed along the suture, impressed at the base within 
the shoulders; basilar space obsoletely raised; on each elytron 
are three large black spots—one, oblong, at the base, extending 
over the humeral callus, a second, transverse, placed just before 
the middle, arising just within the lateral border and extending 
across nearly to the suture, and a third, subapical, triangular, 
its anterior border notched. Hinder thighs in the ¢ strongly 
incrassate, armed beneath near the apex with a stout tooth; in 

28% 


436 Mr.J.S. Baly on new Genera and Species of Phytophaga. 


the 9 moderately thickened, unarmed. The whole surface of the 

body covered with coarse, suberect, fulvous hairs, mingled here 

and there with black. 
Pecilomorpha Thoreyt. 

P. elongata, postice attenuata, pallide rufo-fusca, pilis depressis dense 
vestita ; antennis, thorace (hoc limbo preetermisso) femoribusque 
anticis dorso piceis: elytris sordide flavis, postice et ad latera 
fuscis, marginibus lateralibus piceis ; linea suturali vix ante me- 
dium fere ad apicem extensa, medio dilatata, flavo-albo pilosa. 

Long. 5} lin. 

Hab. Old Calabar. 


Head broad, closely punctured; eyes large, prominent; epi- 
stome rather broader than long, separated from the face by a 
deep transverse groove, its surface smooth and shining, impressed 
on either side below the upper angles with coarse punctures ; ike 
is also clothed on cither side on the same spot with a patch of 
adpressed hairs; face plane, closely covered with"distinet punc- 
tures ; on its lower edge, at the middle, is a short raised smooth 
line. Antenna not equal in length to the head and thorax, piceous, 
their basal joints obscure rufo-fulvous. Thorax subglobose, its 
apex truncate, constricted at the base, sides rounded, scarcely 
narrowed in front, surface closely punctured, covered with ad- 
pressed hairs, a narrow line down the middle of the disk nitidous, 
impunctate ; piceous, the entire limb rufo-fuscous ; at the mid- 
dle of the base is a short longitudinal line formed of adpressed 
whitish hairs. Scutellum broad! y truncate, clothed with coarse 
adpressed whitish pubescence. LElytra as broad at the base as 
the thorax, thence quickly narrowed towards the apex, the latter 
dehiscent ; above coarsely punctured, humeral callus prominent ; 
surface longitudinally excavated along the suture, the excavated 
portion commencing immediately below the basilar space; the 
latter plane, not perceptibly raised above the surface of the ely- 
tron; the yellow colour on the basal half of the surface soon 
becomes obscured, and imperceptibly loses itself in the general 
fuscous colour of the sides and hinder disk. Body beneath 
clothed with coarse, adpressed, dirty white hairs; sides of the 
metasternum nearly glabrous, sparingly covered with very fine, 
adpressed, fulvous hairs; apical border of metasternum, together 
with the mesosternum, each clothed with a transverse band of 
coarse yellowish pubescence. Hinder thighs moderately thick- 
ened. Apical segment of the abdomen impressed with adeep fovea. 

Very close, both in form and colour, to P. tomentosa; the two 
species, however, present distinct points of difference. P. Tho- 
reyi is larger, its head broader, the eyes larger and more promi- 
nent; the thorax is more constricted behind, and the scutellum 
broadly truncate at the apex; the elytra are broader at the base, 


Mr. J. 8. Baly on new Genera and Species of Phytophaga. 437 


more quickly narrowed towards their apex; the shoulders are 
more produced. In P. tomentosa the scutellum is obtuse; the 
longitudinal depression on the back of the elytra commences 
just beneath the scutellum, and not below the basilar space, as 
in P. Thoreyi. In addition to the above, there are numerous 
other small differences. 


Fam. Gallerucide. Subfam. Halticine. 
Systena Batesit. 

S. elongata, pallide prasina, nitida; oculis nigris; antennis pallide 
rufo-fuscis; thorace basi transversim suleate : elytris tenuiter 
punctatis ; linea suturali vittaque submarginali ante apicem ab- 
breviatis, obscure viridibus. 

Long. 3 lin. 


Hab. Ega, Upper Amazons. Collected by Mr. H. W. Bates. 


Head smooth, obsoletely punctate. Thorax slightly trans- 
verse, Impressed in front of the base by a shallow transverse 
groove; disk obsoletely punctured; sides narrowly margined, 
straight and parallel from their base to beyond the middle, 
thence slightly converging to the apex. LElytra broader than 
the thorax, parallel, moderately convex, slightly depressed below 
the basilar space, more distinctly punctured than the thorax, the 
punctures indistinctly arranged in numerous longitudinal strie. 


Genus NisoTra. 

Corpus oblongo-ovatum aut ovatum, convexum. Capvé paullo 
exsertum ; facie non carinata, supra insertionem antennarum trans- 
versim lmpressa ; epistomaée paullo incrassato ; antennis subfiliformi- 
bus, 11-articulatis; ocu/is prominulis. Thorax transversus, margini- 
bus basali et apicali utrinque longitudinaliter impressis. /’/ytra tho- 
race paullo latiora, breviter ovata; limbo inflewo obliquo; distincte 
punctata, punctis in strias bifarias confuse dispositis. Pedes: femoribus 
posticis valde incrassatis, subtus canaliculatis; ¢7é7¢s posticis dorso non 
canaliculatis, apice spina valida acuta armatis ; ¢arszs ad apicem tibi- 
arum insertis ; wnguiculis appendiculatis. Prosternum subelongatum. 

Type, Nisotra gemella, Erichs. Manilla. 

In addition to the short basal thoracic impressions (common 
to Podagrica and other genera of Halticine), Nisotra has two 
others on its apical border, placed exactly opposite those at the 
base, and armed on their outer edges with a minute tooth, 
from each impression a longitudinal groove extending back- 
wards for a greater or less distance across the disk of the thorax. 
The genus may also be separated from Podagrica by the peculiar 
striation of the elytra; in coloration (more or less red, with me- 
tallic-blue elytra) the majority of the species resemble many of 
the species of Podagrica. 

In its geographical distribution Nisotra appears to be princi- 
pally Eastern, the species of the genus spreading themselves 


438 Mr.J.S. Baly on new Genera and Species of Phytophaga. 


from India to Southern Australia, Mr. Wallace having sent home 
many novelties from the Malay archipelago: but I also possess 
several species from the southern portion of the African conti- 
nent—thus adding another link to the evidence in favour of the 
former existence of land in the Indian Ocean. 


Genus SEBATHE. 


Corpus ovale, modice convexum, lateribus anguste marginatis. 
Caput ad oculos thoraci insertum, perpendiculare ; antennis fili- 
formibus, 11-articulatis; oculis ovatis, vix prominulis; facie inter 
antennas alte carinata. Thorax transversus, dorso non impressus, 
lateribus reflexo-marginatis. H/ytra subdepressa, confuse punctata, 
anguste reflexo-marginata ; limbo inflezo concavo, fere horizontali, 
margine exteriore deorsum paullo producto. Pedes modice robust ; 
femoribus posticis valde incrassatis, subtus canaliculatis ; ¢2biis pos- 
ticis dorso late canaliculatis, apice modice bisinuatis, spina valida 
acuta armatis; ¢arsis posticis apici tibice insertis, tibiee dimidio 
paullo longioribus ; wxguiculis appendiculatis. Prosternum oblongo- 
elongatum, lateeribus sinuatis. 

Type, Sebethe badia, Erichs. Manilla. 


The ovate, less convex, and somewhat flattened upper body, 
the narrowly reflexed lateral border of the thorax, the narrow 
also reflexed outer margin of the elytra, together with the form 
of the apex of the hinder tibiz, will serve to distinguish this 
genus from its allies. 

Genus Arsipopa, Erichs. 


Corpus ovatum aut elongato-ovatum, convexum. Caput modice 
exsertum ; facie declivi, inter oculos transversim canaliculata ; carina 
lata, vix aut modice elevata; antennis 11-articulatis, filiformibus aut 
subfiliformibus. Thorax transversus, basi utrinque longitudinaliter 
impressus, plerumque inter impressiones transversim sulcatus, late- 
tibus anguste marginatis (thoracis impressionibus interdum obsole- 
tis). Hlytra levia aut rarius rugulosa, punctato-striata, striis seepe 
plus minusve deletis. Pedes mediocres; cowis anticis transversis, 
non aut vix elevatis; femoribus posticis valde incrassatis, subtus 
canaliculatis, ¢ interdum subtus unispinosis; ¢ébéis eyusdem paris 
curvatis, extrorsum plus minusve flexuosis, dorso planig aut canalicu- 
latis, plerumque tricostatis, apice bilobatis, spina valida armatis ; 
tarsis posticis tibie apici insertis ; wnguiculis appendiculatis. 

Type, Arsipoda Chrysis, Oliv. Australia. 

It will be seen from the above diagnosis that I have been 
obliged to modify slightly the characters of this genus as ori- 
ginally laid down by Erichson, in order that it may receive 
a number of allied species which have the strongest affinity with 
Erichson’s type, and form conjointly a most natural generic 
group. I have drawn up the diagnosis of the genus from A. 
Lownei, A. Chrysis, and several other species im which all the 
characters above given are always present ; in some of the other 


Mr. J. 8. Baly on new Genera and Species of Phytophaga. 439 


species some one or other of these diagnostic marks are fre- 
quently absent. The greatest amount of divergence from the 
typical form occurs in the grooves of the thorax and the striz 
of the elytra: thus in A. bifrons, Erichson’s type (which, ac- 
cording to my views, is an aberrant form of the genus), the basal 
grooves are only represented by faint notches, and the transverse 
suleation is entirely absent ; the striz of the elytra-in the same 
species are also visible only near their extreme lateral border. 
In A. nitida, Waterhouse, the thorax is entirely free from im- 
pressions, whilst the strive of the elytra are only to be seen on 
the hinder half of the disk; again, m A. rugulosa the striz are 
entirely obsolete, the general surface of the elytra being irregu- 
larly punctured and rugulose. Between these extremes and the 
typical species every degree of variation exists ; it will therefore 
be seen that any attempt to divide these insects into genera, 
dependent on the presence or absence of the grooves of the 
thorax or the striz of the elytra, is utterly futile, the arrange- 
ment of [lliger, so useful and complete in reference to European 
genera, breaking down entirely when applied to exotic forms. 


Tabular Arrangement of the Australian Species. 


I. Corpus fulvum. 
A. Elytra distincte punctato-striata ............ variegata, Waterh. 
B. Elytra minus distincte punctato-striata, striis m- 
terdum obsoletis. 
@COLPUS, DLGVIber, OVACUIN 25 6 oa fas aa ie wwe ovata, Waterh. 
b; Corpus anguste Ovatum ...5. 2... 620.5226. attenuata*, Waterh. 
II. Corpus metallicum aut nigrum. 
A. Thorax et elytra levia, non rugulosa. 
a. Antenne breves, subincrassatze .....-.... crassicornis, Waterh. 
B. Antennz longiores, filiformes. 
a. Impressiones basales thoracis obsolete. 
thorax metallieuss. o.4a0+ sc nsane es dsc nitida, Waterh. 
= Dhorax ruto=fulvus) <=... « ; . fulvicollis, n. sp. 
b. Impressiones basales thoracis "semper plus 
minusve distincte. 
+ Sulcus transversus thoracis obsoletus. 


# WGrpus WiSTO-PICeWM, Sec sities pene costye bifrons, Evichs. 
* Corpus metallicum ...... vse femorata, n. sp. 
+t Suleu’s transversus semper plus 1 minusve 
distinctus. 
SUMAN AULVUS es Sd aim sdoleeae eeaene sania cistens bicolor, Waterh. 


* Thorax metallicus. 
t Suleus curvatus faciei medio interruptus .. consuta, Germ. 
tt Suleus curvatus faciei integer. 


§ Corpus elongato-ovatum.............. Chrysis, Oliv. 
§§ Corpus breviter ovatum, crassum. 
|| Abdominis apex fulvus .............. MacLeayi, n. sp. 
\|\| Abdominis apex basi concolor ...... Lownei, n. sp. 
B. Thorax et elytra rugulosa .......-..+..--... rugulosa, n. sp. 


* Mr. Waterhouse has described the sexes of this species under two 


440 Mr. J.S. Baly on new Genera and Species of Phytophaga. 
Arsipoda fulvicollis. 


A, elongato-ovata, postice paullo attenuata, convexa, pallide picea ; 
antennis extrorsum, vertice abdomineque nigris; thorace obscure 
fulvo ; elytris cupreo-eneis, tenuiter punctato-striatis, striis ante 
medium indistinctis, interspatiis distincte punctatis, pone medium 
convexiusculis, 

Long. 2% lin. 


Hab. Adelaide. 


Face irregularly wrinkled, vertex finely but not very closely 
punctured ; antennee moderately robust, shorter than half the 
length of the body, slightly thickened towards their apex ; basal 
four joints pale piceous, the rest black. Thorax twice as broad 
as long, sides narrowed and rounded from base to apex, anterior 
angles thickened ; surface of disk very finely and rather closely 
punctured ; impressions of thorax obsolete. Elytra subparallel 
im front, shghtly narrowed posteriorly, their apex rounded ; 
surface finely punctate-striate, the punctures placed irregularly 
on the strive ; interspaces impressed with punctures nearly equal 
in size to those of the striae themselves: these render the rows 
on the anterior half of the disk confused and difficult to define ; 
on the hinder disk, where the striz ave slightly suleate and their 
interspaces rather convex, they are much more distinct. Under 
surface of body clothed with coarse griscous hairs, 


Arsipoda femorata. 

A. clongato-ovata, postice paullo ARENT. cupreo-eenea, nitida, 
subtus piceo-senea ; antennis (basi obscure fulva excepta) pedibus- 
que nigris ; femoribus fulvis ; thorace erebre punctato, basi utrin- 
que impresso, sulco transverso obsoleto ; elytris cupreo- -violaceis, 
tenuissime punctatis, distinete pune tato-striz itis, striis postice de- 
letis ; _tibus posticis extrorsum vix curvatis. 

Long. 24 lin. 


Hab. Adelaide. 


Narrowly ovate, slightly narrowed towards the apex; front 
flattened, slightly depressed, distinctly punctured; antennz 
scarcely longer than half the body, robust, subfiliform. Thorax 
about twice as broad as long; sides narrowly margined, obliquely 
converging and slightly rounded from base to apex ; anterior 
angles thickened, obtuse ; surface closely and distinctly punc- 
tured, basal margin impressed on cither side with a short, deep, 
slightly curved longitudinal groove. Elytra ovate, narrowed 


names, subsiriata and attenuata: the latter being the d, I have retained 
that name for the species. The 2, like the same sex of Arsipoda bifrons, 
has the hinder femora toothed beneath: this is probably also the case with 
some of the other species; but, unfortunately, most of them are known to 
us by single specimens only. 


Mr. J.S. Baly on new Genera and Species of Phytophaga. 441 


behind, their apex acutely rounded; above convex, impressed 
longitudinally within the humeral callus; whole surface very 
finely punctured; the usual striz are distinct and visible along 
the anterior half of the suture, and on the anterior portion of 
the outer disk ; over the remainder of the surface, they are en- 
tirely obsolete. Hinder thighs strongly thickened. 


Arsipoda MacLeayt. 


A, late ovata, valde convexa, crassa, czeruleo-viridis, metallica; an- 
tennis (basi obscure fulva excepta), pedibus quatuor anterioribus, 
tibiis tarsisque posticis piceo-nigris, abdominis apice rufo-fulvo ; 
thorace tenuiter punctato, basi utrinque profunde impresso, sulco 
transverso integro, medio sinuato ; elytris fortiter punctato-striatis, 
striis usque ad apicem distinctis, ad latera et apicem versus leviter 
sulcatis, interspatiis subremote punctatis, planis, ad latera et ad 
apicem convexiusculis ; tibiis posticis leviter extrorsum flexis. 

Long. 2 lin. 

Hab. Sydney. 

Short, thick ; facial ridge moderately raised and thickened ; 
front smooth, not depressed, its lower part very obsoletely punc- 
tured ; facial groove very deeply impressed, facial plates narrow, 
almost linear; antennze half the length of the body, moderately 
robust, nearly filiform, beimg scarcely thickened towards their 
apex. Thorax more than twice as broad as long, sides obliquely 
converging and slightly rounded from base to apex, anterior 
angles obliquely truncate, incrassate; surface finely but not 
very closely punctured ; base impressed on either side with a 
deep, slightly curved, longitudinal groove; transverse groove 
distinct, its middle sinuate and obtusely angled towards the 
basal margin. Elytra broader than the thorax, ovate, their apex 
rounded ; upper surface impressed just within the humeral 
callus with an ill-defined curved groove, which bounds the lateral 
margin together with the outer half of the hmder border of the 
basilar space; strie deeply punctured, suleate on the outer 
border and towards the apex; interspaces distinctly punctured, 
plane, obsoletely convex towards the sides and apex. 


Arsipoda Lownet. 


A. crassa, ovata, obscure viridi-zenea, nitida; capite thoraceque cu- 
preis, violaceo micantibus ; antennis nigris, articulis 3"° et 4to 
obscure fulvis; thorace tenuissime punctato, basi utrinque pro- 
funde impresso, distincte transversim suleato ; elytris regulariter 
punctato-striatis, striis fortiter impressis, ad latera et apicem 
versus sulcatis, interspatiis tenuiter punctatis, antice planis, postice 
et ad latera convexiusculis ; tibiis posticis extrorsum vix curvatis. 

Long. 23 lin. 


Hab. Sydney. Collected by Mr. Lowne. 


442 Mr. G. Clark on the Cocoa-nut of the Seychelles Islands. 


Regularly ovate, robust ; antennz rather longer than half the 
body, slender, filiform, scarcely thickened at their apex. Thorax 
more than twice as broad as long; sides narrowly margined, very 
slightly rounded, and converging from base to apex, anterior 
angles thickened ; upper surface very minutely punctured ; the 
usual longitudinal impression on either side at the base strongly 
marked, transverse groove distinct. Elytra rather broader at 
their base than the thorax, ovate, slightly narrowed towards 
their apex, very convex, impressed within the humeral callus- 
with a curved semicircular depression. Hinder thighs strongly 
thickened, unarmed beneath. 

Arsipoda rugulosa. 

A. anguste ovata, modice convexa, obscure fulva, nitida; antennis 
extrorsum nigris; pectore, abdomine femoribusque posticis (basi 
preetermissa) obscure piceis, vertice elytrisque cupreo-zeneis ; 
thorace fusco-zeneo. 

Long. 23 lin. 

Hab. Melbourne. 

Facial ridge very broad, scarcely raised; facial plates trans- 
verse, separated from the front by an indistinct transverse groove, 
vertex minutely granulose: antenne scarcely equal to half the 
length of the body, slightly thickened towards their apex ; four 
basal joints, together with the bases of the fifth and sixth, ful- 
vous—the first four stained above with piceous. Thorax more 
than twice as broad as long; sides slightly rounded, converging 
from base to apex; anterior angles obliquely truncate, slightly 
reflexed ; upper surface irregularly excavated on the sides, closely 
rugulose, impressed a short distance in front of the basal margin 
with a faint transverse groove, which does not extend to the 
lateral border. Elytra rather broader than the thorax, irregularly 
punctured, their whole surface covered with irregular transverse 
ruge. : 


L.—On the Cocoa-nut of the Seychelles Islands, or Coco-de-Mer. 
By Mr. Grorce Cxiark, of the Seychelles.* . 


Tur Coco-de-Mer is undoubtedly the most remarkable plant in 
this colony and its dependencies, one of which is the only spot 
in the world in which it is indigenous. The fruit was known 
long before the plant which produces it, or the locality m which 
it is found; and various fables were invented as to its origin, and 
marvellous virtues were attributed to its qualities. The few 
known specimens of it which existed were valued at an enormous 
price till, im 1742, the discovery of the Seychelles archipelago 
made known the habitat and nature of this singular production. 
* Communicated by Dr. Bond. 


Mr. G. Clark on the Cocoa-nut of the Seychelles Islands. 448 


The name “ Coco-de-Mer,” or Sea Cocoa-nut, was given in 
consequence of the first specimens of it which were known having 
been found floating in the sea, into which they had been carried 
by the streams; and some of these having been met with in the 
neighbourhood of the Maldive Islands, their name was added to 
that of Coco-de-Mer. When the Seychelles archipelago was 
discovered, three of the islands composing it, Praslin, Curieuse, 
and Vile Ronde were covered with magnificent forests of this 
unique palm, and their soil strewed with its huge and singularly 
shaped nuts. The value of their shells as domestic utensils for 
various purposes was at once perceived ; and from that time to 
the present they have supplied to the inhabitants the place of 
buckets, bowls, jars, dishes, measures for grain and liquids, 
drinking-vessels, paint-pots, &c.; and they were extensively used 
among the labourmg population of Mauritius until the diminu- 
tion of the plant, and the great demand for the fruit which has 
arisen within the last few years in India and Persia, greatly 
enhanced their value. 

The palm which produces this smgular nut is the only mem- 
ber of its genus. Its systematic name is Lodoicea Seychel- 
larum. It may be termed an equatorial plant, the islands on 
which it is found lying between 4° 15! and 4° 21'S. lat., and 55° 
39 and 55° 49' KE. lon. Its stem attains a height of 80 or 90 
feet, and is quite straight, cylindrical, and smooth, but slightly 
marked throughout its length by the scars left by its fallen 
leaves. These scars are naturally more or less distant from each 
other, according to the rapidity of the growth of the plant. On 
the barren hill-sides they are scarcely 2 inches apart, while in 
the moist and fertile gorges they are as much as 3. The dia- 
meter of the stem varies, from the same causes, from 12 to 15 
inches. A stalk so long and slender, crowned by leaves of vast 
size and strength, is necessarily much influenced by the wind ; and 
in strong breezes the plants bend considerably, while their elas- 
ticity causes them to wave in the most graceful manner. The 
clashing of the leaves ina stiff gale produces a londer noise than I 
have heard from any other trees, and quite of a different nature ; 
and the occasional fall of the ponderous fruit renders a passage 
among the Sea Cocoa-nuts a somewhat dangerous affair except in 
calm weather. I have heard of an instance of a woman’s being 
struck by one while washing at a brook. A companion who 
was washing beside her was only made aware of the circum- 
stance by the fall of the nut: the victim died without a ery or 
groan. 

The stem of this, like other palms, consists of a mass of hard 
fibres, enclosing a medullary substance; but the fibrous portion 
of the stalk of the Coco-de-Mer is harder than that of any other 


444 My. G. Clark on the Cocoa-nut of the Seychelles Islands. 


palm I know, and can only be cut by a sharp and well-tempered 
tool. The form of the stem lkewise resembles that of most 
members of its family, its largest portion being that which rests 
on the surface of the ground. The root is in some cases bell- 
shaped, in others nearly hemispherical ; and a vast number of 
rootlets radiate from it in all directions except upwards. These 
extend to a great distance around it, and form admirable stays to 
resist the strain to which the play of so long a lever subjects 
them; and so well do they perform their office, that I have 
never known an instance of a Coco-de-Mer having been blown 
down. Iam aware that the same disposition of the roots exists 
in most other palms ; but this by no means lessens the admira- 
tion due to such a perfect adaptation of meaus to an end. The 
rootlets are cylindrical, from half to three-quarters of an inch in 
diameter, and consist of a very hard bark enclosing a soft paren- 
chyma. A beautiful exhibition of the roots is afforded where the 
palms have been burnt. The charred roots, almost as sonorous 
as metal, and as brittle as glass, show the great proportion of 
silex which they contain; and the numerous little tubes which 
radiate around have been left empty by the decay of the medul- 
lary substance which filled them. I have seen some instances in 
which the radius of these rootlets exceeds 12 feet. The leaves 
of the Lodoicea are winged and palmated, and bear a great re- 
semblance to those of the Fan Palm. ‘They are largest at the 
time when the stem is just appearing above the ground; and in 
favourable situations they may be found as much as 15 feet 
long (exclusive of the petiole, which is of an equal length) by 
12 feet wide. As the trunk increases in height, the length of 
the petiole and the size of the leaf diminish. Did they not do so, 
the strength of the stem and its supports, great as it is, could not 
resist the effects of the wind with so great a leverage as the 
lofty stem would give. The leaves are destitute of prickles, 
The petiole is stout and grooved from its base to the leaflets, 
the folds of which converge to this canal, thereby pouring all the 
moisture which falls on them upon the stem. ‘The edges of the 
petiole are sharp, and its base spreads so much as to embrace 
about two-thirds of the circumference of the stem; and some 
fibrous filaments, which spring from the lower part of the petiole, 
assist in maintaining it in its position, ‘The middle of the petiole 
presents a longitudinal fissure, which appears like an accidental 
cleft: of this we shall presently see the use. The petiole is so 
strong, and so firmly attached to the stem, that a man may 
safely sit on its extremities, and even swing upon it. I only 
knew one man who would venture on this perilous feat. He 
was a native of the Maldive Islands, settled at Seychelles; and 
among all the perilous gymnastics 1 ever beheld, none made me 


Mr. G. Clark on the Cocoa-nut of the Seychelles Islands. 445 


shudder more than to see him seated on the leafstalk of a Coco- 
de-Mer, at nearly 100 feet from rocky ground, rising and fall- 
ing to the utmost extent the flexibility of the stalk allowed. He 
never met with any accident. The leaflets are of a glossy dark 
green on the upper side, and whitish green, slightly pubescent, 
on the under. They form a sharp fold, and are adherent in the 
greatest part of their length, the free ends growing longer as 
they recede from the centre of the leaf. The number of leaflets 
varies considerably ; some fronds have upwards of ninety. Each 
fold is strengthened by a strong rib ornerve. The texture of the 
leaf is very strong, and of a complicated formation ; it consists of 
three layers of fibres, enveloped in parenchyma. The two outer 
layers are longitudinal, and the centre transverse, and the epi- 
dermis itself is very strong. When the parenchyma and epidermis 
have decayed, the exposed fibres present much the appearance of 
coarse Scotch gauze. The leaf, previous to its unfolding, is 
covered with a thick fawn-coloured down, of a cottony feel. 
When the trees were numerous, this down was collected in suffi- 
cient abundance to form the stuffing of mattresses and pillows 
for the Praslinois. The most attentive observation leads to the 
belief that one leaf is produced every year, and from the scars 
left by their fall the age of the tree may be computed. 
Reckoned by this standard, some of the trees must be nearly 
four hundred years old. 

The male and female flowers are produced on separate trees. 
The spadix which supports them springs from the same circle of 
insertion as the leaf which accompanies it ; but, instead of rising 
from the axil of the leaf, it passes through the fissure of the 
petiole. The spathe, in both, is composed of three fibrous 
bracts, fitting one into the other, and opening by a longitudinal 
fissure on the outer side. The first bract, and generally the 
second, are concave on that side which is against the tree. The 
top of the first bract forms a sharpish edge; that of the second 
is pointed, and remains fixed between the tree and the upper 
part of the fissure of the petiole, thus supporting the weight of 
the spathe, while the top of the third bract, which is also pointed, 
is free. In the male flowers, the spathe is terminated by a 
catkin of 2 or 3 inches in diameter, and sometimes nearly 4 feet 
long, cylindrical, and rounded at the end. It is covered with 
brown scales closely imbricated, but so sloped at the ends as to 
allow the flowers to issue. These openings form symmetrical 
spiral lines round the catkin. A transverse fracture of the latter 
exhibits a series of reticulated tubercles, radiating from the axis 
to the circumference. These tubercles, which are nearly the 
shape of a Nautilus-shell, consist of an assemblage of about 
twenty sessile blossoms in various degrees of maturity, and form 


446 Mr. G. Clark on the Cocoa-nut of the Seychelles Islands. 


a reserve in the interior of the catkin. They appear one or two 
at a time at the floral opening, to blow and fall in their turn. 
This most curious arrangement prolongs the blossoming of a 
eatkin to the unequalled period of six or eight years. The 
calyx of these flowers is prismatic and entire, and slightly cleft 
into three unequal lobes. The corolla is composed of three 
little linear petals, concave at their extremity, and alternating 
with the divisions of the calyx. The stamens are from twenty 
to thirty in number, and the anthers slightly sagittiform. The 
pollen is yellow, and, seen through the microscope, appears 

much like grains of barley, not only i in shape, but also in being 
furrowed longitudinally—a form common, I believe, to the 
pollen of palms in general. A gummy exudation, of a rather 
strong and peculiar ‘smell, covers the surface of the catkin. In 
the female flowers the spadix is simple, asin the males ; but, in- 
stead of growing in a straight line, it forms a zigzag, from the 
angles of which the flowers spring. These flowers are about 
3 inches in diameter. The calyx is sessile, and is formed of two 
circles of bracts, three in each circle, firmly imbricated, and 
almost enclosing the ovary previous to its fecundation. The 
calyx is attached to the spadix by two oval bracts; but these 
remain attached to the spadix, while the calyx falls with the 
fruit. The flower has neither corolla nor style. Three sharp, 
persistent, sessile stigmas rest on the top of a fibrous drupe, 
generally a little compressed vertically, two-, sometimes (but 
rarely) three-sided—in the former case containing a 2-lobed 
nut, in the latter a 3-lobed nut. It also sometimes happens that 
two 2-lobed nuts are contained in the same drupe, and this is 
less rare than to find one with three lobes. This drupe attains 
a length of upwards of 15 inches, and a circumference of more 
than 3 feet, weighing from forty to fifty pounds. 

About three years after fecundation the fruit has attained 
nearly its full size, and is then called Coco tendre. It may, in 
this state, be easily cut through with a knife, and exhibits m an 
interesting manner the different substances of which it 1s com- 
posed. First externally is the drupe itself, green on the outside 
and whitish within, of a harsh taste and astringent quality, like that 
of the ordinary cocoa-nut. Next comes what will form the hard 
shell of the nut. This is lined with a layer of a white feculent 
substance, almost tasteless. ‘This covers a yellow matter, very 
bitter and said to be poisonous, which envelopes the perisperm, 
a jelly-like mass, presenting much the appearance of cold starch 
very slightly tinged with blue. This has a sweetish taste, and 
1s considered cooling, and is much esteemed by the Seychellois. 
In the centre of this, at the point of junction of the two lobes, 
lies the embryo. Tn the mature state, which is not till seven or 


- co 


Mr. G. Clark on the Cocoa-nut of the Seychelles Islands. 447 


eight years after the fecundation, the drupe has become fibrous, 
and from a rich dark green has turned to a reddish yellow, and 
falls from the stem. Germination takes place sometimes before, 
sometimes after, the fall of the fruit, the shell of which is hard 
and black, and marked all over by traces of the fibres which 
were inserted in it; and a bunch of these fibres, much resem- 
bling coarse black hair, remains in the orifice from which the 
germ sprouts. The yellow bitter substance has become a 
leathery skin, enclosing the perisperm; and the soft jelly-like 
mass has been condensed into a tasteless kernel, as hard as 
beech-wood, of a pure white colour, leaving a large cavity in each 
lobe of the nut ; and at the point of junction of the two lies the 
embryo, of turbinated form. The germ, in passing through the 
orifice mentioned, becomes fibrous, assumes a club-shape, and 
curves towards the ground, which it penetrates. The radicle 
descends vertically, and from it sprout the rootlets. Ata depth 
of 2 or 24 feet sprouts a fibrous leaf, at an angle of about forty- 
five degrees. This leaf seems to perform the office of a coty- 
ledon to that which follows it, and which springs from its side. 
Kach succeeding leaf becomes larger, and approaches more 
nearly to a vertical direction, till the crown is formed, when they 
succeed each other in the usual way. The trunk does not show 
itself till twenty or twenty-five years after the germination of 
the nut ; and fourteen or fifteen years from this period the plant 
is in its greatest beauty, and begins to blossom. As many as 
eight or ten spadices may be seen on a tree at the same time, 
the male flowers, as has been said, retaining their bloom; and 
the female flowers seem to have the power of waiting an inde- 
finite period for fecundation. Six or seven full-sized drupes 
may be sometimes seen on one spadix; but although as many 
as eight female flowers may be seen on one stem, it is rare to see 
more than three or four arrive at maturity. Imperfect fecun- 
dation often takes place, and a partial development of the drupe 
goes on. In this case it becomes deformed, assumes a curved 
shape, and falls a useless abortion. The Coco-de-Mer grows in 
every kind of soil, but attains its greatest size and beauty in the 
deep moist gorges of the mountains, where a rich bed of humus 
favours the growth of that as well as of other palms, some of 
which greatly surpass it in height. By the sea-side, and in 
situations much exposed to the wind, the Coco-de-Mer presents 
a somewhat barren aspect; its leaves, bemg renewed so slowly, are 
withered and rent, and the trees might be supposed to be dying. 
It has been observed that, at the discovery of the islands which 
produce it, vast forests of the Coco-de-Mer existed. The height 
and smoothness of the trunk rendered it a less difficult matter 
to cut down a high tree than to climb it, to obtain its fruit; and 


448 Mr.G. Clark on the Cocoa-nut of the Seychelles Islands. 


thousands have thus wantonly been destroyed; so that a few 
years ago hundreds of male trees might be found without a 
single female among them. Many fires have also occurred in 
these woods, and a vast number have been destroyed in the con- 
flagrations which have taken place. Five or six years ago a 
fire broke out at Praslin, which continued for several weeks, 
blazing up again and again after it was thought to be extin- 
guished ; and by this a very considerable number of these trees 
perished. On Vile Ronde not a plant remains. Curieuse, 
occupied as an establishment for the treatment of lepers, has a 
considerable number of fine young trees; and as this is govern- 
ment property, it is to be hoped that strict injunctions will be 
given to preserve every remaining tree, and also to plant others. 
If this be not done, it is not improbable that a few generations 
hence this unique and interesting palm will no longer be found. 
Its extremely slow growth has prevented most persons from 
planting it. There are not perhaps a score of trees in all the 
islands, except in Praslin and Curieuse. The growth of many 
young plants is stopped by cutting out the unopened leaves as 
fast as they appear, for the making of hats and other objects. 
These are called ceeurs-de-cocos, and are very pretty objects. The 
leaflets are so compactly packed together that they seem to form 
a solid mass, as smooth as ivory. Their edges are of a most 
beautiful delicate green, and the lamina of a clear pale straw- 
colour. They form a material of unequalled quality for the 
making of hats and bonnets; and could they be supplied in 
sufficient quantity, a large trade in them might be carried on. A 
large bonnet-maker in England, who cleaned some for a lady 
from Seychelles, was particularly struck with the excellency of 
the material of which they were made, and said she could ensure 
a ready sale for any quantity of it. The splitting of the leaflets 
into strips of the desired breadth is a much more difficult affair 
than straw-splitting, on account of the transverse fibres which 
cross it. This operation is performed with considerable skill by 
those accustomed to it. They employ a simple little machine 
made of a piece of hard wood, with a sharp blade fixed in it. 
This blade is set at the required distance from a raised edge, 
which determines the width of the strip, and keeps it straight. 
The strips, however fine, can only be cut singly. Very useful 
and pretty little baskets, called ¢entes, are also made of these 
leaves. They last for many years, and by washing and bleach- 
ing may be always restored to their original colour. It is cut 
out into various tasteful patterns, and made into fans, which are 
much admired for their lightness and durability. Artificial 
flowers are also made of it, which want nothing but colour to 
be a good imitation of nature. Work-baskets (corbeilles) of great 


Mr. G. Clark on the Cocoa-nut of the Seychelles Islands. 449 


beauty and in great variety are made by some of the Seychelles 
ladies, and some of these productions obtained much admira- 
tion and a prize at the Great Exhibition of 1851. The nerve 
which strengthens each leaflet is employed to stiffen hats made 
of the leaf, each seam of the rows of plat being sewed over it. 
This may also be split into fibres as fine as hair, and possesses 
considerable tenacity. I have seen a little basket of very com- 
plicated and delicate structure made of this material. It was 
manufactured by a lady of the Vendries family, which is un- 
rivalled for the taste and skill displayed in the articles made 
from the Coco-de-Mer by its members. Mats of great beauty 
and unequalled durability are also made of these leaves. The 
extreme hardness and smoothness of their surface, and the 
length and strength of their fibres, are unrivalled by any sub- 
stance within my knowledge. The expanded leaf forms an 
excellent thatch, nearly equal to shingles in durability. « Its 
strength is so great that, when pinned together with little 
skewers of bamboo, it forms a basket capable of bearing nearly 
a bushel of fruit. 

The petiole forms a strong and durable paling, and is also 
sometimes used for small rafters. The trunk, when cut into 
lengths and split into palisades, is used instead of boards for 
the sides of houses, and will last, I believe, as long as any wood. 
When split in two and hollowed, it is used for gutters for con- 
veying water, and is almost imperishable. The size of the nuts 
varies greatly : I have seen some which would not hold a bottle, 
and others which were sixteen times as large. These extremes 
are rare; but a nut of ordinary size will hold from six to eight 
bottles. When intended to be preserved whole, they are left in 
a damp place till the perisperm has rotted away—a_ process 
which requires many months to complete: during this process 
it not unfrequently happens that flat-shelled snails introduce 
themselves into the nut, and grow too large to get out by the 
hole by which they entered, and die there, like the weasel in 
the fable. They are then called Cocos légers. They are then 
pierced with an auger at one end, or the extremity is sawn off; 
the orifice through which the germ sprouts is stopped up with 
a little pitch, and a withe round the cleft converts it into a con- 
venient bucket, strong and light. When sawn longitudinally, 
it forms an elliptical vessel, called Coco scié, superior to every- 
thing else for baling out boats. 

Three-lobed nuts are sometimes met with. -I have possessed 
one with five lobes, and have heard of one having as many as 
seven. The kernel of the Lodoicea contains a portion of oil; 
but its excessive hardness, and the difficulty of detaching it from 
the shell (itself so valuable), render it practically useless for oil- 

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. xiv. 29 


450 On the Cocoa-nut of the Seychelles Islands. 


manufacture, The shell is about equal in hardness to that of 
the ordinary cocoa-nut, and equally susceptible of a fine polish. 
It is from ;4;th to =8;ths of an inch in thickness. 

The foregoing simple account of the Lodoicea Seychellarum 
proves it to be a most interesting plant in a scientific poimt of 
view, and a very valuable one in an economical one. It is there- 
fore well worthy of the attention of the Government, as well as 
of private individuals, to use means, not only to prevent its 
extinction, but to favour its propagation. 


At a recent meeting of the Linneean Society (Nov. 3) letters were 
read from Sir H. Barkly, K.C.B., Governor of the Mauritius, and 
from Swinburne Ward, Esq., Civil Commissioner, in reply to the 
memorial of the Linnean Society relative to the wanton destruction 
of the Coco-de-Mer (Lodoicea Seychellarum). 'The Commissioner 
had.-reported to his Excellency that, although in many parts where 
the palm abounded it has been destroyed by accidental conflagration 
and by ruthlessly cutting it down to make room for Mandioc culti- 
vation, yet that on the southern point of the island of Praslin he 
had found a valley surrounded by hills on the property of Mr. Camp- 
bell, the sides and crests of which were covered with the Lodoicea, 
several hundred in number, and in all stages of growth, from the 
sharp sword-shaped spathe just shooting from the ground to trees of 
120 feet high. He ascertained that though no nuts were planted, 
some were allowed to remain and take root where they fell. The 
leaves of the male plants are cut for the sake of the material they 
afford, and which is used for making hats and baskets; but those of 
the male only, which preponderates over the female, are so cut. 
Cutting the leaves prevents the blossoming of the trees ; but inacces- 
sible specimens, which flower undisturbed, are quite sufficient to fe- 
cundate all the female plants in the district. In Curieuse compara- 
tively few trees were found, and these smaller than those of Praslin; 
but directions have been given to keep up the supply by planting 
germinating nuts—in fact, to plant all the germinating nuts that can 
be found. A Coco-de-Mer with a healthy germ a foot long had been 
forwarded to Kew. The Governor stated that, as Praslin is almost 
entirely private property, the Government could only interfere in the 
way of exhortation and remonstrance, but that in Curieuse, which 
is still vested in the Crown, and used for a purpose which renders it 
inaccessible to the public, he trusted there would be no danger, under 
any circumstances, of the extinction of this interesting species. 


Zoological Society. 451 


PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
March 8, 1864.—D. J. E. Gray, F.RS., in the Chair. 


Description of a New Spectes or Stavrotypus (S. Savinit) 
FROM GUATEMALA. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S., erc. 


Among the interesting series of Tortoises brought by Mr. Salvin 
from Haumanchal, Guatemala, and deposited in the British Museum, 
are two specimens of a Tortoise of the genus Staurotypus, but dif- 
ferimg from the normal form of that genus in the sternum being 
narrowed and acute in front, like the sternum of Chelydra, which 
genus it resembles in having a crested though short tail. 

I would propose to divide the genus thus :— 


A. Sternum broad and truncated in front. STAUROTYPUS. 


1. Sraurorypus TRIPORCATUS, Gray, Cat. Shield Rept. B. M. 
Ajert120 b- 


Hab. Mexico (Wiegmann) ; Vera Cruz (Sallé). 
B. Sternum narrow, tapering, acute in front. STAUREMYS. 


This subgenus has the form of the sternum and the crested tail of 
Chelydra, with the sternal shields of Staurotypus. 


2. Sraurotypus (STAUREMYS) SALVINII. 


Hab. Haumanchal, Guatemala (Salvin). 

Head very large, swollen, crown covered with a thin soft skin ; 
face conical, rather produced ; nose terminal; mouth inferior; beak 
large, dentated on the edge; chin with two beards; throat warty ; 
skin of body and limbs granular ; the fore legs have several slender, 
very broad, arched, band-like shields across the inner side, the 
middle one being the broadest ; toes well developed, strong; upper 
surface covered with a single series of band-like shields, united 
to the claws by a wide, well-developed web; claws 4—5, strong, 
elongate, acute; tail short, conical, angular above, with a central 
and lateral series of tubercles, forming three short crests; the tho- 
rax oblong, covered with three short, continuous keels; marginal 
shields rather narrow, elongate ; sternum cross-like, small compared 
with the dorsal disk, narrow, slightly rounded before, acute behind, 
united to the dorsal disk by a narrow lateral process; sternal plates 
seven, thin, four pairs and a single odd one behind; the first pair 
elongate, longer than broad (probably the first two pairs of other 
Emyde united) ; the second pair broad, produced on the side, so as 
to cover the greater part of the cross-like sternum; the third pair 
elongate, narrow; the hinder plate rhombic, rather longer than 
broad, acute in front and behind; the axillary and inguinal plate 
large, covering the space between the outer lateral edge of the second 
pair of shields and the marginal plates. The front lobe of the 
sternum is very moveable at the suture between the first and second 

29% 


452 Zoological Society :— 


pairs of sternal plates, in the young specimen, and has a consider- 
able amount of mobility in the adult specimen. 
The shell is brown; the head is dark olive; the temple and the 
side of the neck pale-marbled ; underside of the limbs whitish. 
Wagler represents the anal shields of S. triporcatus as divided. 
In the large specimen in the British Museum they are united into a 
single rhombic shield, as in S. Salviniz. 


REMARKS ON A SPECIES OF SHELL BELONGING TO THE FAMILY 
DenTALiip&. By W. Bairp, M.D., F.L.S.; with Notes 
ON THEIR Use By THE Natives oF VANCOUVER’S ISLAND 
AND BritisH CotumstA, BY J. K. Lorp, F.Z.S. 


Amongst the objects of natural history and ethnology brought 
from Vancouver’s Island and British Columbia by Mr. Lord is a 
belt composed of numerous specimens of a species of Dentalium 
strung together. The species bears an exceedingly close resemblance 
to that described by Linnzeus as Dentalium entalis (Entalis vulgaris 
of Risso and of Dr. Gray’s ‘ Guide to Mollusca’), and appears to me, 
notwithstanding the difference of habitat, to be undistinguishable 
from that European species. It has, however, been described by 
the late Mr. Nuttall as Dentalium pretiosum ; and a figure has been 
given of it by Mr. Sowerby in one of his late Numbers of the ‘ The- 
saurus Conchyliorum.’ 

From a careful comparison of the typical specimens of D. pretio- 
sum in Mr. Cuming’s collection, there can be no doubt of the iden- 
tity of that species with the specimens brought by Mr. Lord from 
Vancouver’s Island; those in Mr. Cuming’s collection are said to be 
from California. In examining the old graves on the banks of the 
Columbia River, along with numerous other articles, such as human 
bones, flint instruments, &c., Mr. Lord found a number of specimens 
of a species of Dentalium considerably eroded and worn, which I 
have compared with some in Mr. Cuming’s collection, and find iden- 
tical with the Dentalium striolatum of Stimpson, from Newfound- 
land. I strongly suspect that both this species (D. striolatum) and 
D. pretiosum are only very slight varieties of the old Linnzean spe- 
cies Dentalium entalis (Entalis vulgaris). The habitats of all three 
(species?) are very different from each other; but, notwithstanding 
this, in the absence of distinct specific characters, I should hesitate 
very much in making distinct species of them. However that may 
be, the history of the specimens brought by Mr. Lord is very interest- - 
ing; and these few observations must be considered only as intro- 
ductory to the very instructive notes drawn up by that gentleman, a 
perusal of which will prove the best apology for these brief prelimi- 
nary remarks. 

Notes on the above, by Mr. J. K. Lord. 


It is somewhat curious that these shells (Zntalis pretiosus, Nut- 
tall, sp.; Entalis vulgaris?) should have been employed as money 
by the Indians of North-West America—that is, by the native tribes 
inhabiting Vancouver’s Island, Queen Charlotte’s Island, and the 


Mr. J. K. Lord on a Species of Dentalium. 453 


mainland coast from the Straits of Fuca to Sitka. Since the intro- 
duction of blankets by the Hudson’s Bay Company, the use of these 
shells as a medium of purchase has to a great extent died out, the 
blankets having become the money, as it were, or the means by which 
everything is now reckoned and paid for by the savage. A slave, a 
canoe, or a squaw is worth in these days so many blankets; but it 
used to be so many strings of Dentalia. In the interior, east of the 
Cascade Mountains, the Beaver-skin is the article by which every- 
thing is reckoned —in fact, the money of the inland Indian. 

The value of the Dentalium depends upon its length: those re- 
presenting the greater value are called, when strung together end to 
end, a “ Hi-qua;” but the standard by which the Dentalium is cal- 
culated to be fit for a ‘‘ Hi-qua”’ is, that twenty-five shells placed 
end to end must make a fathom, or six feet, in length. At one time 
a ‘‘Hi-qua’’ would purchase a male slave, equal in value to fifty 
blankets, or about £50 sterling. The shorter and defective shells 
are strung together in various lengths, and are called “ Kop-kops.” 
About forty ‘“ Kop-kops”’ equal a “ Hi-qua” in value. These 
strings of Dentalia are usually the stakes gambled for. 

The shells are generally procured from the west side of Vancou- 
ver’s Island, and towards its northern end ; they live in the soft sand, 
in the snug bays and harbours that abound along the west coast of 
the island, in water from three to five fathoms in depth. The habit 
of the Dentalium is to bury itself in the sand, the small end of the 
shell being invariably downwards, and the large end close to the 
surface, thus allowing the fish to protrude its feeding- and breathing- 
organs. ‘This position the wily savage has turned to good account, 
and has adopted a most ingenious mode of capturing the much-prized 
shell. He arms himself with a long spear, the haft made of light 
deal, to the end of which is fastened a strip of wood placed trans- 
versely, but driven full of teeth made of bone, resembling exactly a 
long comb with the teeth very wide apart. A squaw sits in the 
stern of the canoe and paddles it slowly along, whilst the Indian with 
the spear stands in the bow. He now stabs this comb-like affair 
into the sand at the bottom of the water, and after giving two or 
three stabs draws it up to look at it; if he has been successful, per- 
haps four or five Dentalia have been impaled on the teeth of the 
spear. It is a very ingenious mode of procuring them, for it would 
be quite impracticable either to dredge or net them out; and they 
are never, as far as I know, found between tide-marks. 

At one period, perhaps a remote one, in the history of the inland 
Indians these Dentalia were worn as ornaments. I have often found 
them mixed with stone beads and small bits of the nacre of the Ha- 
liotis, of an irregular shape, but with a small hole drilled through 
each piece, in the old graves about Walla-walla and Colville. In all 
probability, these ornaments were traded from the coast Indians ; 
but, as these graves were quite a thousand miles from the sea, it is 
pretty clear the inland and coast Indians must have had some means 
of communication. 


454 Zoological Society :— 


March 22, 1864.—Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S., in the Chair. 


NoTeEs ON THE DIDUNCULUS STRIGIROSTRIS, OR TOOTH-BILLED 
Picton. By Dr. Georce BENNETT. 


Having fortunately obtained by purchase a living pair of those 
singular and rare birds, the Tooth-billed Pigeon (Didunculus strigi- 
rostris), which had been brought from the Samoan or Navigators’ 
Islands to Sydney, New South Wales, an opportunity has been af- 
forded to me of attentively watching their habits in captivity. To 
guard against the event also of these valuable birds dying, I availed 
myself of the services of Mr. C. Thomas, who made an accurate draw- 
ing of them from life in their most natural attitudes ; and his drawing 
conveys an excellent idea of the peculiar expression of these remark- 
able birds when alive. I have sent a tracing of this drawing for in- 
sertion in the ‘ Illustrated London News ;’ and should the bird now 
on its way to England die, I shall be able to send the Society an ac- 
curate coloured representation of the living birds. The Didunculus, 
like the Dodo, has a very limited range, having only been found in- 
habiting the Samoan or Navigators’ Islands. In the contour of the 
bill, the form and position of the nostrils, and several other charac- 
ters, the Didunculus differs from any other living species at present 
known ; and, although a smaller bird in size, it approximates the 
nearest in all its characters to the extinct Dodo, and, like it, combines 
the character of a rapacious bird with that of the harmless Pigeon. 
The Dodo also inhabited a very limited space of land, as the remains 
of that bird and allied genera have only been found on the small 
islands of the Mauritius, Bourbon, and Rodriguez. The Didunculus 
may therefore be regarded as the nearest living ally of the extinct Dodo. 
Although the mandibles of the Didunculus are powerful in structure, 
yet the beak is never used as an offensive weapon ; for when the hand 
is placed in the cage, or the bird is seized for removal from one cage 
to another, it never attempts to bite the aggressor, but, on the con- 
trary, is so timid, that after fluttering about or running into a dark 
corner of the cage in its efforts to escape, it soon becomes subdued 
and is easily taken. 

In all the families of Pigeons a diversity in the form of the beak 
is found. In the Fruit-eating Pigeon the beak is stronger, stouter, 
and the corneous portion is strongly arched and compressed, bearing 
a great resemblance to the structure in certain rapacious birds; and 
this form of beak is carried to the greatest extent in the Didunculus, 
yet the living birds in captivity were never observed to crush hard 
seeds or nuts. They would nibble into minute bits the seeds of lo- 
quats, almonds, and hemp-seed, with the same action as observed in 
the Parrot tribe when feeding. When I first had the birds, boiled 
potatoes and stale bread formed their diet. The boiled potatoes 
were torn and swallowed in large pieces at a time, being soft; but 
the stale bread they would place their feet upon and tear with the 
hooked beak into small bits. A piece of apple was also eaten ; but 
the bananas placed in the cage were never touched, although it is 
said that in a wild state they live on berries, and are very fond of the 


Dr. G. Bennett on Didunculus strigirostris. 455 


mountain-plantain. Both the birds were regularly fed twice daily— 
early in the morning and about four in the afternoon. It was sup- 
posed at one time that these birds did not drink water ; but I soon 
found that this assertion was incorrect. 

It was early in June 1863 that the first Didunculus arrived at 
Sydney; and on the 15th of that month and following days I exa- 
mined the bird, which I found in good health, very timid, and a 
young bird in immature plumage, and the teeth of the lower man- 
dibles not yet developed. It was about the size of the Nicobar Pi- 
geon, but rounder and more plump in form. It kept steadily looking 
at me during the time I was examining it, uttering occasionally a 
plaintive coo, coo, coo, or goo, goo, goo. ‘This bird had been cap- 
tured on the island of Upolu, not more than five miles from the set- 
tlement of Apia, by a native. It has now been in captivity for some 
time, and is considered to be at this time (January 1864) two years 
old. It has attained the full plumage of the adult bird, and the 
teeth of the lower mandibles are also fully developed. When any 
one approaches the cage, it will sometimes retire to an obscure corner, 
and at other times will remain quiet on the perch, watching atten- 
tively every movement of the spectator, and occasionally changing its 
position. It invariably feeds in the light, but will not do so if any 
one is present; the only opportunity we had of observing its mode 
of feeding was through the window, when the bird was placed in 
the verandah of the house, when we could watch its actions with- 
out being seen by the bird. It usually kept on the low perch, but 
when disturbed would sometimes jump on the ground, run rapidly 
about, and then take refuge in the darkest part of the cage. In its 
physiognomy it is a stupid-looking bird, with, at the same time, a 
remarkable peculiarity of expression, which the artist has succeeded 
in obtaining. The bird has nothing particular in its plumage to attract 
the attention of the common observer ; but the head of a rapacious 
bird on the body of a Pigeon would excite the attention of the most 
ordinary spectator. The plumage of this bird is of a chocolate-red 
colour, deeper on the back, tail, and the primaries and secondaries 
of the wings, and barred over the breast, throat, and wing-coverts 
with light brown. The upper part of the head is rather bare of 
feathers, but those remaining are of a dark slate-colour. The base 
of the beak is of an orange-red, and the rest of the mandibles yel- 
lowish. The legs and feet are of a bright orange-red. The cere 
round the eyes is of a flesh-colour. The irides are of a dark reddish 
brown. The form of the beak and the bright eyes impart to the 
bird very much the character of a rapacious bird. The above is the 
state of the plumage in the young bird. 

On the 24th of July another Didunculus was brought to Sydney 
from the Island of Savaii (one of the largest and most mountainous 
of the Navigators’ group). I found it was a full-grown bird in 
adult plumage, with the teeth of the lower mandible well developed ; 
the head, neck, breast, and upper part of the back was of a green- 
ish black ; back, wings, tail, and under tail-coverts of a chocolate- 
red. The legs and feet were of a bright scarlet. The mandibles 


4.56 Zoological Society :— 


are of a bright orange-red, shaded off near the tip with very light 
yellow. The cere around the eyes is also of a bright orange-red 
colour; the irides brownish black. Iwas informed that these birds 
are nearly extinct, from having been formerly eaten by the natives in 
great numbers, and of late years from being destroyed by wild cats ; 
and it is said that most of the Ground-Pigeons are following the fate 
of the Didunculus, from the same causes. Indeed, from my observa- 
tion of the living birds, they are very timid and stupid. On the fol- 
lowing day I examined the birds together. They are both moulting ; 
and the young bird has grown very much since [ last saw it, and is 
now larger in size than the adult specimen recently arrived. As 
there is no sexual distinction in the plumage, it is probable that size 
may be a distinguishing mark of the sexes ; and if so, these birds may 
prove to be male and female. On the 21st of August I completed 
my purchase of these birds for a very high price. I must thank 
the Council of the Acclimatization Societies of Sydney and Mel- 
bourne for the liberal resolutions passed by them to unite with me 
in the purchase of these rare birds, on account of the very high sum 
demanded for them, and to join with me in presenting them to the 
Zoological Society of London ; but, on mature reflection, considering 
the casualties to which they would be liable, I considered it would 
be more satisfactory to take upon myself the sole responsibility and 
expense. The adult bird often runs wildly about the cage, flapping 
its wings, and, when the door is open to receive food, makes every 
effort to escape. These birds run with great rapidity, elongating the 
body and depressing the head, and in the action of running resemble 
the Grouse. On the 12th of September the older bird refused food, 
which continued to the morning of the 14th of September, when 
several fits carried it off in the course of the day. I placed the bird 
entire in spirits, to enable a complete anatomical description of this 
bird to be given by my distinguished friend Professor Owen. The 
young bird seems tamer and more lively since the death of its com- 
panion ; it is probable the old bird being so wild terrified it. I ob- 
served a quantity of white powder (epithelium) about the cage lately, 
and also discolouring the water; it resembled the same kind of 
powder often observed from the White Cockatoos. On the 4th of 
October the bird did not feed well ; so we gave it some loquats (Lrio- 
botrya japonica), a fruit naturalized and abundant in New South 
Wales. The bird enjoyed the change ; it did not devour the pulp, but 
picked out the seeds, and cracked them into minute bits ; what por- 
tion was eaten I could not ascertain, but a pint of loquats was used 
daily in this way, as well as occasionally a little boiled potato. On 
the 7th of October the Didunculus was in excellent health, and the 
plumage is very much changed, as the head, neck, and breast are now 
of aslate-colour tinged with dark bottle-green. The bill has be- 
come of a bright orange-red, and the legs are nearly a bright scarlet 
colour: the bird has evidently assumed the adult plumage. When 
the bird is seen, and does not perceive the observer, it leaps from the 
perch, runs about the cage, and then:commences feeding; but on a 
visitor approaching, it again takes to the perch, and remains watching 


Mr. G. R. Gray on a new Species of Smithornis. 457 


the intruder, giving deep guttural growls, followed afterwards by a 
vibration of the whole body from the head to the tail, uttering at the 
same time its plaintive notes of goo, goo, goo, repeated in quick suc- 
cession. On the 23rd of October, the bird looks well; it has not 
eaten for the last two days, but has taken a large quantity of gravel. 
We find the bird requires a large supply of that material for the 
purpose of aiding digestion. As it was considered the lequat-seeds 
might have disagreed with the bird, they were discontinued. On the 
25th it appeared worse ; and fearing it might die, I placed it in a Par- 
rot-cage to enable the artist to finish the drawing from life, as in a 
cage of that description he could have a good view of the plumage, 
&e., over every part of the bird; when, to our great surprise, it 
jumped from the perch to the bottom of the cage and commenced 
eating what, on examination, was found to be hemp-seed ; and from 
that time it has been fed on that kind of food. It soon regained its 
usual health, the diet of hemp-seed being occasionally diversified by 
some bleached almonds ; stale bread is also placed in the cage, but 
it eats but very little, if any, of it. This circumstance points out the 
difficulty of arranging a diet for a bird with whose habits we are un- 
acquainted, as at one time it thrives well upon a certain diet, on a 
sudden appears to be dying, and then becomes in good health from 
a change of food accidentally discovered, as in this instance. Since 
then, the Didunculus has continued in most excellent health ; and 
has now just been placed on board the ship ‘La Hogue,’ Captain 
Williams, under the care of Mr. Broughton, the steward, from whose 
experience in the management of birds there is every chance of this 
rare bird arriving safe at its destination in the Gardens of the Zoolo- 
gical Society in the Regent’s Park. ‘ La Hogue’ sailed from Sydney 
early on the morning of the 12th of January, 1864. 

The whole of the time the bird was in my possession it never be- 
came domesticated, nor evinced the slightest attachment to the lady 
who daily fed it: it was the same to her as to strangers; and I do 
not consider the Didunculus a bird that will be readily domesticated 
or reconciled to captivity. For some period of time this bird would 
be very tame comparatively, and then, without any apparent cause 
to account for the change, would become very wild. At that time 
the cleaning of the cage was attended with some difficulty, from 
its violent fluttering on any one approaching for the purpose, in 
which it evinced no little power of wing. 


Own a New Species or Smirnornis. By Greorce Rosertr 
Gray, F.L.S., etc. 

I beg to call the attention of the Society to a new species of bird 
belonging to the interesting genus Smithornis, which was established 
by the late Prince Bonaparte on the Platyrhynchus capensis of Sir 
A. Smith. 

It is characterized as follows, under the name of 


SMITHORNIS RUFOLATERALIS, Sp. nov. 
Head and occiput deep black ; lores white ; nape with a narrow 


458 Zoological Society :— 


collar of orange-brown ; back black, varied with white and orange- 
brown ; scapulars and upper tail-coverts orange-brown ; wing-coverts 
black, tipped with white; beneath the body white, but with the 
breast and sides of abdomen more or less streaked with narrow 
stripes of black along the shaft of each feather; each side of the 
breast with a patch of pale rusty colour. Upper mandible black, 
lower one yellow; feet pale horn-colour. 

Length 4" 6!; wings 2! 4", 

This bird differs from the typical and only hitherto known species 
Smithornis capensis (Smith) in being of a smaller size, and in pos- 
sessing a greater variety of colours. 

The British Museum possesses, through Mr. Gould, a single spe- 
cimen of S. rufolateralis, which was stated to have been brought 
from West Africa ; but the exact locality is unknown. 


On A PoIson-ORGAN IN A GENUS OF BATRACHOID FISHES. 
By Dr. ALBERT GUNTHER, 


Many fishes are known which, provided with long, bony, and 
sometimes serrated spines, are justly feared on account of the 
dangerous wounds they inflict. The Sting-Rays, many Siluroids, and 
some scaly fishes, like the Weevers, are thus armed. Although the 
effects ascribed to such wounds have doubtless been exaggerated in 
many cases, natives and fishermen, as well as travellers, agree in the 
belief that some poison must be communicated. However, with the 
exception of a single instance, viz. that of the Weevers*, compara- 
tive anatomists have never pointed out a trace of an organ secreting 
or conducting a poisonous substance ; and consequently the poisonous 
nature of the wound has been doubted, the worst cases being ex- 
plained by the mechanical effect of a serrated spine, by the influence 
of the climate, or by the peculiarity of the constitution. Thus in 
all the hand-books of comparative anatomy the presence of a poison- 
organ in the class of fishes is denied, and even Bleeker+ (than whom 
no naturalist has had better opportunities of observing such fishes 
during life) expressly says that they were unjustly reputed poisonous. 


* Dr. J. E. Gray has directed my attention to a paper by Mr. Byerley, con- 
tained in the Proceedings of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Liverpool, 
No. 5, 1849, p. 156. In this paper Mr. Byerley demonstrates, in the most 
convincing manner, that the double-grooved opercular and dorsal spines of the 
Weevers are poison-organs. Although the structure of the spines, with their 
external grooves, were known to previous writers, it is Mr. Byerley’s merit to have 
shown the presence of a cavity within the substance of the spines which is the 
proper depository of the poison before its ejection. But, at present, I cannot 
agree with him that the body found in the cavity and in the groove is a gland ; 
it appears to me that what he considered to be a gland was the poisonous fluid 
itself, coagulated and hardened by the action of the spirits in which the speci- 
mens had been immersed in order to render “ the gland more opaque and denser.” 
T formed this opinion from examinations of specimens of Trachinus draco 
as well as of 7’. vipera, which, however, had been in spirits for a considerable 
period, Nevertheless there is no doubt that the poison-apparatus of Trachinus 
is homologous with that of Thalassophryne, only in the latter it is developed to 
as great a perfection as in the fang of a viper. 

+ Atl. Ichthyol. Silur. p. 21. 


Dr. A. Giinther on a Poison-organ in a Batrachoid Fish. 459 


On the other hand, I have heard of so many positive facts from 
highly educated travellers and excellent observers (some of whom, 
being medical men, had treated cases of this nature), that it appeared 
to me necessary to give every attention to this subject. Especially 
it seemed probable that a sac with a more or less wide opening in 
the axil of the pectoral fin of many Siluroid and of some other fishes 
would contain a fluid which might be introduced into a wound by 
means of the pectoral spine, which would be covered with it, like the 
barbed arrow-head of a bushman. 

Whether this secretion is equally poisonous in all the species 
which are provided with that axillary sac is a question which can 
only be decided by experiments made in the tropics ; but I can hardly 
doubt its poisonous nature, after discovering in a genus of fish a 
poison-organ which structurally is the same as in the venomous 
snakes. This genus, belonging to the family of Batrachidee, was 
described by me in the Catal. Fish. iii. p. 174, with a single species, 
Thalassophryne maculosa. The typical specimen being small and 
having been in spirits for a long time, I did not observe the openings 
in the venom-spines, although I now perceive them to be present, as 
in the second species found by Messrs. Dow and Salvin, which I 
have described (in P.Z.S. 1864, p. 150) as Thalassophryne reticu- 
lata. ‘The specimen is 10% inches long. 


Fig. 1. Hinder half of the head, with the venom-sac of the opercular apparatus in 
situ. * Place where the small opening in the sac has been observed. a. La- 
teral line and its branches. 0. Gill-opening. c. Ventral fin. d. Base of 
pectoral fin. e. Base of dorsal fin. 

Fig. 2. Operculum, wit the perforated spine. 


460 Zoological Society. 


The structure of the poison-organ is as follows :— 

1. The opercular part.—The operculum is very narrow, vertically 
styliform, and very mobile; it is armed behind with a spine, eight lines 
long, and of the same form as the venom-fang of a snake; it is, how- 
ever, somewhat less curved, being only slightly bent upwards; it 
has a longish slit at the outer side of its extremity, which leads into 
a canal perfectly closed, and running along the whole length of its 
interior ; a bristle introduced into the canal reappears through an- 
other opening at the base of the spine, entering into a sac situated 
on the opercle and along the basal half of the spine ; the sac is of an 
oblong-ovate shape, and about double the size of an oat-grain. Though 
the specimen had been preserved in spirits for about nine months, it 
still contained a whitish substance of the consistency of thick cream, 
which on the slightest pressure freely flowed from the opening in the 
extremity of the spine. On the other hand, the sac could be easily 
filled with air or fluid from the foramen of the spine. 

No gland could be discovered in the immediate neighbourhood of 
the sac; but on a more careful inspection I found a minute tube 
floating free in the sac, whilst on the left-hand side there is only a 
small opening instead of the tube. The attempts to introduce a 
bristle into this opening for any distance failed, as it appears to lead 
into the interior of the basal portion of the operculum, to which the 
sac firmly adheres at this spot. 

2. The dorsal part is composed of the two dorsal spines, each of 
which is 10 lines long. The whole arrangement is the same as in 
the opercular spines ; their slit is at the front side of the point ; 
each has a separate sac, which occupies the front of the basal portion ; 
the contents were the same as in the opercular sacs, but in somewhat 
greater quantity. A strong branch of the lateral line ascends to the 
immediate neighbourhood of their base. 

Thus we have four poison-spines, each with a sac at its base; the 
walls of the sacs are thin, composed of a fibrous membrane, the inte- 
rior of which is coated over with mucosa. There are no secretory 
glands imbedded between these membranes, and these sacs are merely 
the reservoirs in which the fluid secreted accumulates. The absence 
of a secretory organ in the immediate neighbourhood of the reservoirs 
(an organ the size of which would be in accordance with the quan- 
tity of the fluid secreted), the diversity of the osseous spines which 
have been modified into poison-organs, and the actual communica- 
tion indicated by the foramen in the sac lead me to the opinion that 
the organ of secretion is either that system of muciferous channels 
which is found in nearly the whole class of fishes, and the secretion 
of which has poisonous qualities in a few of them, or at least an in- 
dependent portion of it*. 

The sacs are without an external muscular layer, and situated imme- 
diately below the loose thick skin which envelopes the spines to their 
extremity ; the ejection of the poison into a living animal, therefore, 

* This, of course, must be demonstrated by further preparations; for I 


would not sacrifice the single (typical) specimen, the less as we may confidently 
hope that Capt. Dow will furnish us with ample materials before long. 


Miscellaneous. . 461 


can only be effected by the pressure to which the sac is subjected 
the moment the spine enters another body. 

Nobody will suppose that a complicated apparatus like the one 
described can be intended for conveying an innocuous substance, and 
therefore I have not hesitated to designate it as poisonous; and the 
greatest importance must be attached to it, inasmuch as it assists us 
in our inquiries into the nature of the functions of the muciferous 
system, the idea of its being a secretory organ having lately been 
superseded by the notion that it serves merely as a stratum for the 
distribution of peripheric nerves. Also the objection that the Sting- 
Rays and many Siluroid fishes are not poisonous, because they have 
no poison-organ, cannot be maintained, although the organs con- 
veying their poison are neither so well adapted for this purpose nor 
im such a perfect connexion with the secretory mucous system as in 
Thalassophryne. 

Finally, I have to add that neither Batrachus nor Porichthys has 
the spines perforated, and also that in Thalassophryne the poison- 
organ serves merely as a weapon of defence. All the Batrachoids 
with obtuse teeth on the palate and in the lower jaw feed on Mollusca 
and Crustaceans. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 
On the Naturalization of the White Hare in Faroe. 
To Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &e. 


My pear S1r,—The enclosed extract from a letter from my friend 
Mr. Miller, of Faroe (member of the Danish parliament), will ex- 
plain my object in sending you one of the specimens of Lepus varia- 
bclis? which he mentions. 
It seems a very successful case of naturalization: the species, of 
course, did not need acclimatizing. 
Yours very truly, 


Wallington, Newcastle-on-Tyne, W. C. TREVELYAN. 
Noy. 9, 1864. 


“In 1854 or 1855, two pairs of Hares were introduced into 
Stromée (Faroe) from Norway: they have increased so rapidly that 
there are thousands now in the island. One may shoot twenty in a 
day upon the hills, and it will be impossible to exterminate them. 

*<T have tried several times to import the Ptarmigan from Iceland, 
but hitherto without success. It appears that they cannot live more 
than two or three days when captured. Hggs have proved unsuc- 
cessful, too, the greater part having been sat upon.” 


Description of Lophogaster typicus. By M. Sars. 


At the present day zoologists devote their attention especially to 
those exceptional forms which serve to unite groups otherwise dis- 
tinct. These forms, which at one time were regarded as embarrassing 


462 Miscellaneous. 


systematic zoology, are now those which excite the liveliest interest. 
Lophogaster typicus, a Crustacean discovered by M. Sars on various 
parts of the Norwegian coast, is one of these forms. 

Milne-Edwards combined the Euphauside and Myside with the 
Squillide and Amphionide to form an order distinct from the Deca- 
poda, and for which he retains Latreille’s name of Stomapoda. This 
order is characterized by the absence of thoracic branchiz lodged in 
an internal cavity. Dana has followed the same course, his orders 
Eubranchia and Anomobranchia being synonymous with Decapoda 
and Stomapoda. 

These orders are not, however, so distinct as they seem at first 
sight. The branchize of certain Macrourous Decapods (Alpheus, 
Hippolytes, Stenopus) are only partially covered by the carapace ; 
and Kroéyer has shown that in the genus Sergestes the sides of the 
carapace are not sufficiently prolonged to cover the branchiz. 
These exceptions sufficed to show that these two orders of Crustacea 
form a continuous series; but, by his description of Lophogaster, 
M. Sars has made us acquainted with a link which unites them still 
more intimately. 

In this Crustacean the thoracic branchie are ramified like the 
posterior branchize of the Luphauside. The upper part of the rami- 
fication is covered by the carapace in the manner of the branchiz of 
the Decapoda, whilst the median aud lower branches hang down 
freely in the water, as in the Huphauside. Other characters, to 
which it is unnecessary to advert, render the relationship of Lopho- 
gaster to both groups still more evident ; and thus it appears that 
the whole of the Podophthalmous Crustacea form a single natural 
order. The Stomapoda seem to be only degraded Macrourous 
Decapods—an opinion which is supported by Professor Dana. The 
development of Lophogaster is precisely similar to that of Mysis.— 
Bibl. Univ. Sept. 20, 1864, Bull. Sci. p. 87. 


On a Peculiarity in the Venation of the Leaves of the Genus Fagus. 
By Professor A. DeCanpoLie. 


In the ordinary condition the lateral veins cf a leaf occupy the 
centre of the lobes, or answer to the extremities of the teeth, when 
the leaf has lobes or teeth. Of the rare exceptions to this rule M. De 
Candolle has already indicated three in a note to p. 558 of vol. ix. 
of his ‘ Prodromus,’ namely, Coldenia procumbens, Linn., Crategus 
oxyacantha, Linn., and the Rhinanthi, in all of which the secondary 
ves correspond with the sinuses, and not with the projections, of the 
margins of the leaves. In the present paper he describes the occur- 
rence of the same structure in certain species of Fagus. 

Of the Beeches of the southern hemisphere, two, namely Fagus 
Gunnii, Hooker, and FI. antarctica, Forst., have the veins constantly 
and distinctly corresponding with a sinus; but in some cases the 
veins even of the same leaf, towards the extremity, run partly to 
the teeth and partly to the notches. This is the case in Fagus 
alpina, Popp. & Endl., and even in the common F. sylvatica ; but 


Miscellaneous. 463 


in the latter the teeth are so faintly marked that it is not always easy 
to recognize this peculiarity. When this double direction exists in 
a leaf, the extreme veins, which are the shortest, are straight, and 
clearly terminate in a tooth, just as the central vein terminates in 
the tooth of the extremity of the leaf. The other veins are curved 
near the tooth in such a manner that the nearer we approach the base 
of the leaf the more do the veins correspond (or appear to corre- 
spond) with the notches. The organogeny of the leaf would pro- 
bably show that at first the veins of these species all answer to teeth, 
and that the growth of tissue alone has caused them to deviate, ex- 
cept at the extremity, where the leaf is less enlarged. 

The direction of the veins furnishes, however, a good character 
for distinguishing the Japanese Fagus Sieboldii and the F’. ferruginea 
(F. sylvestris, Mirb.) from the European F. sylvatica. Linnzeus 
regarded the North American Beech as belonging to the European 
species, and in this he has been followed by some modern botanists. 
Mr. Bromfield, who has carefully observed the American species, 
admits the specific difference of the two Beeches (Hooker’s Journal 
of Botany, 1849, p. 112); but he has not noticed the difference of 
the venation, which corroborates the other characters. In the North 
American Beech, as in the Japanese species, all the lateral veins 
evidently correspond in a straight line with the teeth, which are 
always distinct and well-marked. In the European Beech the teeth 
are less distinct, and often become mere undulations ; and the veins 
are directed rather towards the notches, or at least become curved 
near the teeth, with the exception of those of the apex of the leaf. 

The species which have all the lateral veins directed towards the 
teeth are, besides F’. Steboldii and F. ferruginea already mentioned, 
F. obliqua, Mirb., F. Dombeyi, Mirb., F. fusca, Hook., and F. 
Cunninghamii, Hook. Those in which all the lateral veins tend 
towards the sinuses are Ff’. antarctica, Forst., and F. Gunnii, Hook. 
Those in which the majority of the veins are directed towards the 
sinuses are F’. sylvatica, F. alpina, Popp. & Endl., and F’. procera, 
Popp. & Endl. Lastly, in some species, which complete the genus, 
the teeth are wanting or very indistinct, or the veins are much at- 
tenuated, and sometimes the secondary ones become confounded 
with the tertiaries in a complicated network ; in all these cases the 
direction cannot be readily ascertained. This applies especially to 
F. Solandri, Hook., and F’. cliffortioides, Hook., from New Zealand, 
the leaves of which are entire. 

The two species in which the veins most evidently alternate with 
the teeth (F". antarctica and F. Gunnit) belong to the section of the 
genus that includes those in which all the veins terminate in teeth, 
such as F’. Sieboldii and F. obliqua, as well as our European Beech ; 
these have the young leaf folded, in the bud, on each lateral vein. 
The direction of the veins is therefore a purely specific character ; 
and this should warn paleontologists not to lay too much stress 
upon the details of venation as indicative of genera. Nevertheless 
the direction of the veins relatively to the teeth or sinuses deserves 
mention in the specific characters, especially of fossil species. 


464 Miscellaneous. 


These diversities of venation would have appeared much more ex- 
traordinary a few years ago, before the modern observations upon 
the formation of the tissues of the leaf. It was then usual to speak 
of the veins as the framework of the leaves, which implied, more or 
less positively, the idea that they preceded the parenchyma, and that 
this was formed around them as about a solid point of support. We 
now know that every organ commences by being cellular and of 
slight consistence, and that the projecting parts precede the veins. 
Hence the woody tissues and the bones of organisms are only a con- 
sequence of the soft parts. It is, however, singular that in very 
nearly allied plants, and sometimes in two portions of the same leaf, 
the solid parts should sometimes occur in the middle of the lobes and 
sometimes outside of them; and it appears probable that at the 
actual moment of formation of the veins they would present a more 
constant position. Observations on the formation of leaves, and 
especiaily on the development of the veins, are not yet sufficiently 
numerous to lead to any conclusion upon this point. But probably 
it will be found that the exceptional veins, or those which run 
towards the lateral sinuses of the leaf, are veins which have deviated 
at a certain epoch, or veins which originally corresponded to a pro- 
jection the termination of which has been arrested in its develop- 
ment, whilst the parts originally depressed have increased in size.— 
Bibl. Univ., Archives des Sciences, Oct. 1864, p. 164. 


On the Development of the Flowers of the Composite. 
By Professor WoLFGANG. 


The course of development, which may be observed particularly 
well in the common Sowthistle (Sonchus arvensis), is described by 
the author as follows :—“ The flowers of the capitulum are developed 
after the leaves of the involucrum, in a direction from the periphery of 
the receptacle to its centre. The first traces of leaves appear in the 
form of oblique prominences, directly continuous with the epithelium 
of the receptacle. The future point of the flower by no means cor- 
responds with the point of this prominence. Subsequently these com- 
mencements of flowers become perfectly hemispherical ; the organic 
point of the bud remains behind in its growth, whilst around the 
apex there is formed a circular elevation, which in a short time forms 
a sort of crater. On the outside, a little above this annular rampart, 
there appear sometimes some cushion-like inflations, perhaps the 
commencement of the obliterated calyx. There is no trace of the 
pappus. Subsequently the five petals originate on the margins of 
the crater-wall ; their increase takes place at the base, and they curve 
inwards successively in a geniculate form. The anthers follow 
these, alternating with them; they are developed on the inner slope 
of the crater. The petals become soldered together from the base 
up to the place where the lobes afterwards make their appearance. 
The pappus projects from the outer wall of the crater-margin, but 
not until the anthers have advanced considerably in their development: 
from its origin and its nature, it must be regarded as an accessory 


Miscellaneous. 465 


organ. The ovary, which is truly inferior, is produced by a discoidal 
formation. The ovule is lateral. The succession of the development 
of the leaf-cycle is altogether abnormal. 

In describing the pappus of Sonchus, the author remarks that its 
degree of fragility depends upon its state of cultivation ; but it cannot 
yet be decided whether a stony soil plays any part. The fragility 
depends very closely upon the thickness of the hairs of the pappus, 
and this is governed by the number of rows of cells which form the 
hairs. In Sonchus the base of the pappus is formed by three or 
four series of cells; the oldest part of the hairs is the extremity. 
The very fine pappi of Sonchus, when examined by the microscope, 
present at their extremity a system of hooks, formed, on the average, 
of five or six cells, arranged upon eight lines, recurved externally in 
the form of a hatchet ; these will probably hereafter furnish specific 
characters. The author indicates the characters thus displayed by 
Sonchus arvensis, arboreus, asper, oleraceus, palustris, and tenerrimus. 
All these species, especially the two last, most clearly show this sys- 
tem of recurved teeth, whilst the pappus of Sonchus divaricatus de- 
parts considerably from them, and more nearly approaches that of 
the exotic Rhabdotheca.— Bibl. Univ. October 1864, p. 169. 


On the Remains of Plants found beneath the Swiss Lake-dwellings. 
By Professor O, Hrrr. 


At the late meeting of the Société Helvétique des Sciences Natu- 
relles, on the 23rd of August, Professor Heer exhibited a collection of 
vegetable remains found under the ancient lake-dwellings of Switzer- 
land. In his remarks upon these remains he referred particularly to 
some interesting recent discoveries at Robenhausen, on the Lake of 
Pfifikon. The subsoil of the layers of peat at Robenhausen is formed 
by a white mud; above this white mud, and also below the peat, are 
the vegetable remains, nearly all of which are carbonized. They are 
evidently the débris of plants that the former inhabitants have thrown 
into the lake. 

The remains of useful plants are particularly interesting for the 
history of agriculture. Among cereals we find wheat and barley of 
the following kinds :—A small-grained variety of Triticum vulgare, 
Linn., occurs most frequently at Robenhausen, and also at Wangen, 
in the Lake of Constance, and at Moosedorf, in the Canton of 
Berne ; a Triticum vulgare, with grain of the ordinary size, is also 
met with. These two varieties have been sent to Prof. Heer from 
the locality near Olmiitz, the age of which is unknown. Near Ro- 
benhausen Triticum turgidum occurs, a species still cultivated in the 
south of Europe, but scarcely in Switzerland. At Wangen the 7. 
dicoccum and T. monococcum, Linn., are known to occur; and 7. 
Spelta is found only in the recent lacustrine locality of the ile de St. 
Pierre (age of bronze’). Of barleys, the Hordeum hexastichum, Linn., 
is generally diffused. Its ears, from which the grain has fallen, 
are found well preserved in most of the lacustrine villages. According 
to Unger, this barley is also that of the ancient monuments of Egypt ; 
whilst our common barley (H. vulgare) is wanting in both localities, 


Ami. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.3. Vol. xiv. 30 


466 Miscellaneous. 


and is, therefore, probably a form of the first-named species produced 
by cultivation in the course of thousands of years. Lastly, Hordeum 
distichum is found at Wangen and the ile de St. Pierre, a district in 
which it is still generally cultivated. Rye and oats have not hitherto 
been found in the more ancient habitations (of the stone age) ; but 
the Avena sativa has been met with in the recent locality of the ile 
de St. Pierre, as also frequently beneath Roman ruins. The Secale 
cereale, Linn., the cultivation of which appears much later in history 
than that of the other cereals, and did not become general in these 
regions until towards the middle ages, has recently been found in the 
above-mentioned locality of Olmiitz (age unknown), which is in sup- 
port of the opinion of A. DeCandolle that Eastern Europe is the na- 
tive country of rye. Lastly, millet (Setaria italica) has lately been 
found at Robenhausen : this, according to Ceesar, was the chief cereal 
of the ancient Helvetians, and it is still met with abundantly among 
Roman ruins. 

Along with these ten species of cereals abundant remains of straw 
are found. The millet cakes found at Robenhausen, and the nume- 
rous fragments of round, flattened loaves in which grains of wheat 
are still recognizable, furnish conclusive evidence of the mode of pre- 
paration of food from these cereals. The grain was evidently tritu- 
rated very imperfectly between plates of stone, and the dough was 
baked under hot stones and ashes. 

The leguminous vegetables present much less variety. It is only 
in the more recent habitations (of the bronze age) that three legu- 
minous plants are found ; these are field-beans (Vicia Faba, Linn.), 
the common pea (Pisum sativum, Linn.), a variety with exceedingly 
small seeds, and the lentil (Zrvum Lens, Linn.). This species ap- 
pears at this time to have been diffused over a great part of Europe ; 
for it occurs in lacustrine localities at Parma, as well as in the ile de 
St. Pierre, the Lake of Bienne, &c. 

Of fruits, two sorts of apples are found in abundance, viz., 1. a 
small kind, evidently wild, and 2. a larger sort, undoubtedly culti- 
vated, which occurs sometimes entire, sometimes divided into two or 
three parts. Pears of a very small kind (wild) occur very rarely. At 
Robenhausen cherries are found, with large stones. Plums ( Prunus 
insititia, Liun.), with small and smooth stones, also occur. ‘The fruits 
of Prunus spinosus and P. Padus, the stones of which are frequently 
found, also appear to have been used as food. 

In the lacustrine remains of Switzerland no traces of the vine are 
found ; but at Parma seeds have occurred precisely similar to those 
of the wild vine (Vitis sylvestris). Thus, at the time of the lake- 
dwellings the vine must have been already naturalized in Upper Italy, 
of which it does not appear to have been a native. 

Only a single textile plant is found, namely flax ; and this occurs 
in great quantity. The seeds, capsules, and stems have been found ; 
and flax has also been met with in cords, and a small quantity in the 
form of platted work and of varied tissues, which leads to the con- 
clusion that it was an important object of industry. We know that 
flax also played an important part among the Egyptians. It is very 
remarkable that both the seeds and the capsules of the flax of the 


Miscellaneous. 467 


lake-dwellers were much smaller than ours; in form and size they 
approach much more closely to Linum perenne, Linn., a species 
which still grows in the wild state in Germany; so that we might 
conclude that our common flax is a form produced by cultivation 
from the L. perenne. 

A great number of remains of wild plants have also been recog- 
nized. The following species of eatable fruits and tubers have been 
observed :—1. Raspberries (Rubus ideus, Linn.) ; 2. Strawberries 
(Fragaria vesca, Linn.), of which the seeds are found in masses ; 
3. the Elder (Sambucus nigra), the berries already serving for the 
preparation of cakes; 4. the fruit of Trapa natans, which was 
formerly widely diffused, but is now an almost extinct plant among 
us; 5. a great quantity of nuts, belonging to the two forms which 
have been recently distinguished—Corylus avellana, Linn., and C. 
glandulosa ovata, Willd. ; 6. seeds and leaves of the beech (Fagus 
sylvatica, Linn.), indicating the abundant use of the fruit of that 
tree; 7th and lastly, the peculiar tubers of a plant similar to our 
Equisetum Telmateja, Linn., which is very rich in starch, serving, no 
doubt, as food for the inhabitants, as it is likewise found carbonized 
among the grains of wheat. 

Of weeds, we find at Robenhausen the carbonized capsules of a 
Silene and of the poppy (Papaver Rheas, Linn.), which still occur 
m our country. 

At Robenhausen, as previously at Meilen, much amadou (Poly- 
porus igniarius) is found, and at Parma also Dedalea quercina. Of 
the conifers three have been found—the berries of the common juniper 
(Juniperus communis, Linn.), trunks or wood of the pine (Pinus 
sylvestris, Linn., and P. montana, Duroi) and the fir (Abies excelsa, 
DC.). Of the yew (Taxus baccata, Linn.) bows were made. Of 
deciduous trees there are, besides the hazel and the beech, the witch- 
elm, the oak, the lime-tree (much bast), the holly, and the dogwood. 

Of aquatic plants, the seeds of Scirpus lacustris, Ceratophyllum 
demersum, Potamogeton, Polygonum hydropiper, Galium, Pedicularis, 
Menyanthes, Nymphea alba, Nuphar luteum, and N. pumilum are 
found in great abundance.—Biél. Univ. Oct. 1864, p. 160. 


On some Norwegian Crustacea. By M.G.O. Sars. 


M. Sars has made some curious observations on the persistence in 
the Scandinavian lakes of certain marine Entomostraca of the glacial 
epoch. Harpacticus chelifer was found in a freshwater lake in the 
neighbourhood of Christiansund. In the Mjcesen lake (the largest in 
Norway) he discovered two species of Cythere, Mysis relicta, Lov., 
and Gammarus cancelloides, Gerstfeldt ; the two latter species were 
also found by Lovén in the Swedish lakes. In ponds of the environs 
of Christiania the Amphipod Pontoporeia affinis was discovered. 
These species all inhabit the deepest parts of the water, and live quite 
separate from the true freshwater forms of Crustacea. M. Sars con- 
siders the presence of these Crustacea in the Scandinavian lakes to 
furnish evidence that at the glacial epoch the basin of the Baltic was 
in communication with either the eastern or western Arctic ocean,— 
Bibl. Univ. Sept. 20, 1864, Bull. Sct. p. 84. 


468 


INDEX to VOL. XIV. 


Anora, observations on the ‘genus, 

Acanthodes, description of the new 
genus, 262, 

Actinophrys, on the structure of, 394. 

Adams, Dr. L., on the geology of the 
Maltese Islands, 1. 

Adamsiella, new species of, 246. 

Adula, new species of, 425. 

Agassiz, A., on Arachnactis brachio- 
lata, 234. 

Alca impennis, on a natural mummy 
of, 138; on the extant specimens 
Of 250, 319, 320, 393: 

Allman, Prof., on the Hydroida, 57. 

Alurnus, new species of, 334. 

Alvania, new species of, 429. 

Ameeba, on the structure of, 394. 

Amoria, observations on the genus, 
236. 

Amphioxus lanceolatus, on the ana- 
tomy and histology of, 151, 319. 

Ampullaria, new species of, 243. 

Anachis, new species of, 48. 

Anamirta, description of the genus, 49. 

Ancei, observations on the, 405. 

Anelasma, observations on the genus, 
259. 

Angulus, new species of, 423. 

Animal organization, on the succes- 
sion and development of, on the 
surface of our globe, 209. 

Animals, onthe acclimatization of, 290. 

Annelida, on the geographical distri- 
bution of the, 239. 

Anomospermum, description of the 
genus, 101. 

Antipathes, on the structure of, 198. 

Arachnactis brachiolata, description 
of, 234. 

Arsipoda, new species of, 438. 

Aspidiotes, description of the new 
genus, 225. 

Aspidocarya, description of the ge- 
nus, 52. 

Atherinichthys, new species of, 229. 

Axinza, new species of, 425. 

Baird, Dr. W., on a species of Denta- 
lium, 452. 

Balanophorez, on the anatomy and 
classification of the, 316. 

Balanophyllia, new species of, 164. 


Baly, J.S., on new genera and spe- 
cies of Hispide, 261, 334; on new 
genera and species of Phytophaga, 
433. 

Bates, H. W., on the Longicorns of 
the Amazon Valley, 11. 

Batrachians, on Australian, 311. 

Baudelot, E., on the influence of the 
nervous system on the respiration 
of insects, 280. 

Bees, on hermaphrodite, 158. 

Bennett, Dr., on the habits of the 
Kagu, 141; on the Didunculus stri- 
girostris, 454. 

Bithinia, new species of, 244. 

Bivonia, new species of, 427. 

Blackwall, J., on new species of spi- 
ders, 36, 174. 

Books, new: — Jeffreys’s British 
Conchology, 64; Jukes’s School- 
manual of Geology, 68; Phillips’s 
Guide to Geology, 68; Transac- 
tions of the Tyneside Naturalists’ 
Field-Club, 297; Ramsay’s Phy- 
sical Geology and Geography of 
Great Britain, 303; Maury’s Phy- 
sical Geography, 376. 

Bougainvillia, new species of, 58. 

Brachiopoda of the Maltese Islands, 
on the, 1. 

Branchiostoma lubricum, on the ana- 
tomy and histology of, 151, 319. 

Bulimus, new species of, 185. 

Burmeister, Dr, H., on the various 
species of Glyptodon inthe Museum 
of Buenos Ayres, 81. + 

Callionymus, on a new species of, 197. 

Callipero, description of the new ge- 
nus, 18. 

Campanulina, new species of, 61. 

Canis, new fossil species of, 358. 

Caranx, new species of, 228. 

Carpenter, Dr. P. P., on new forms of 
Mollusca, 45, 433; on the present 
state of malacological nomencla- 
ture, 155. 

Carter, H., on Spatalura Carteri, 392. 

Caryophyllia, new species of, 162. 

Castor, new fossil species of, 355. 

Cell, on the formation, development, 
and structure of the vegetable, 24, 
124, 185. 


INDEX. 


Champley, on the extant specimens 
of the Great Auk, 235. 

Chatin, A., on the anatomy of the 
Balanophoree, 316. 

Chiasmodon, characters of the new 
genus, 76. 

Chroicocephalus, new species of, 379. 

Chrysallida, new species of, 47. 

Chrysococcyx, new species of, 388. 

Chrysomelide of South Africa, on 
the, 115, 169. 

Cithara, new species of, 46. 

Clark, G., on the Coco-de-Mer, 442. 

Clark, Prof. H. J., on the structure of 
Ameeba and Actinophrys, 394. 

Clark, Rev. H., on the Chrysomelidee 
of South Africa, 115, 169. 

Cobelura, new species of, 19. 

Coco-de-Mer, observations on the, 
442. 

Composite, on the development of 
the flowers of the, 464. 

Corals, descriptions of new fossil,161. 

Cox, Dr. J. C., on new species of 
land-shells, 180. 

Crustacea, parasitic, on the means by 
which certain species of, effect their 
conservation, 271; notes on Nor- 
wegian, 467. 

Cyclotus, new species of, 245. 

Cynips, on dimorphism in the genus, 
400. 

Davidson, T., on the Brachiopoda of 
the Maltese Islands, 1. 

DeCandolle, Prof. A., on a peculiarity 
in the venation of the leaves of the 
genus Fagus, 462. 

Delphinus, new fossil species of, 356. 

Dentalium, on a species of, 452. 

Dermatemys, observations on the 
genus, 391. 

Didunculus strigirostris, notes on the, 
454. 

Diretmus, characters of the new ge- 
nus, 70. 

Dolphin, on a species of, found in the 
Orkney Islands, 133. 

Drassus, new species of, 175. 

Drillia, new species of, 46. 

Duguid, Dr. A. R., on a Dolphin found 
in the Orkney Islands, 133. 

Duncan, Dr. P. M., on fossil Corals 
and Echinoderms from the South- 
Australian Tertiaries, 161. 

Dyce, Dr. R., on Lepas anatifera, 316. 

Dysdera, new species of, 179. 


469 


Echinoderms, new fossil, 161. 
Eleotris, new species of, 229. 
Eublepharis, new species of, 429. 
Eulima, new species of, 47. 
Euprepis, new species of, 383. 
Eutrypanus, new species of, 22. 
Fagus, on the venation- of the leaves 
of the genus, 462. 

Falconer, H., on the asserted occur- 
rence of flint knives under a 
skull of the extinct Rhinoceros 
hemitcechus, 248. 

Fishes, new genera and species of, 
70, 226, 227; on a poison-organ 
in a genus of Batrachoid, 458. 

Flabellum, new species of, 162. 

Flint knives, on the asserted occur- 
rence of, under a skull of the ex- 
tinct Rhmoceros hemitcechus, 248. 

Fossil implements, discovery of, in 
India, 154. 

Fossils of the Hunstanton Red Rock, 
on the, 276. 

Frog, on independent movements of 
the embryonal cells in the ova of 
the, 79. 

Frogs, on a new genus of, 315. 

Gasteracantha, new species of, 40. 

Geology of the Maltese Islands, out- 
line of the, 1. 

Georhychus, on the species of, 388. 

Gerardia, on the genus, 241. 

Gibbula, new species of, 426. 

Gillett, Rev. E., on the migration of 
Lemmings, 78. 

Glyptodon, on the species of, 81. 

Gobiesox, new species of, 229. 

Goliathus, new species of, 311. 

Gould, J., on a new species of Guil, 
379; on a new species of Chryso- 
coccyx, 388. 

Gray, Dr. J. E., on a new Squirrel 
from Natal, 80; on a new Mustela, 
160; on the genus Amoria, 236 ; 
on museums, their use and im- 
provement, and on the acclimatiza- 
tion of animals, 283; on Seals, in- 
cluding the description of a new 
species, 304; on a new genus of 
frogs, 315; on a skeleton of the 
Great Auk,319 ; on the Whalebone- 
Whales, with a synopsis of the 
species, 345; on new Lizards from 
South-eastern Africa, 380; on a 
new species of Zorilla, 384 ; on the 
species of Sand-moles, 388 ; on the 


470 


genus Dermatemys, 391; on a new 
species of Staurotypus, 451. 

Gray, G. R., on a new species of Tu- 
racus, 240; on a new species of 
Goliathus, 311; ona new species of 
Megapode, 378; on a new species 
of Prionops, 379 ; on a new species 
of Smithornis, 457. 

Giinther, Dr. A., on a new generic 
type of Fishes, 195; on a new spe- 
cies of Callionymus, 197; on a 
new species of Mormyrus, 226; 
on new species of Central American 
Fishes, 227 ; on Australian Batra- 
chia, 311 ; on anew species of Eu- 
blepharis, 429; on a poison-organ 
in a genus of Batrachoid Fishes, 
458. 

Gulliver, G., on raphides, 53, 250. 

Guppy, R. J. L., on new species of 
Mollusea from Trinidad, 243. 

Hair-follicle, on the structure of the, 
in Man and in the Rabbit, 79. 

Halicyon, new species of, 304. 

Halophila, new species of, 315. 

Halosaurus, characters of the new 
genus, 74. 

Hanstein, Dr., on the feeundation 
and development of Marsilea, 417. 

Heer, Prof. O., on the remains of 
plants found beneath the Swiss 
lake-dwellings, 465, 

Helicina, new species of, 184, 247. 

Helix, new species of, 180, 184. 

Helodromus ochropus, on the breed- 
ing of, 221. 

Hemipatagus Forbesi, observations 
on, 165. 

Heros, new species of, 231. 

Hesse, E., on the means by which 
certain species of parasitic Crusta- 
cea effect their conservation, 271; 
on the Pranizze and Ancei, 405. 

Heterocordyle, description of the new 
genus, 59. 

Hipponyx, new species of, 427. 

Hispidee, new genera and species of, 
261, 334. 

Hispoleptis, characters of the genus, 
262. 

Hoeven, J. van der, on the succession 
and development of animal organi- 
zation on the surface of our globe, 
209. 

Homocnemia, observations on the 
genus, 373. 


INDEX. 


Homodactylus, characters of the ge- 
nus, 381 

Human remains, recent discovery of 
fossil, near Abbeville, 154. 

Hydroida, notes on the, 57. 

Hylettus, description of the new ge- 
nus, ll. 

Hylobates Lar, on the habits of, 360. 

Hypserpa, observations on the genus, 
363. 

Ianthina, on some peculiar structures 
in the seminal fluid of, 430. 

Tleocarpus, observations on the genus, 
372. 

Insects, onthe influence of the nervous 
system on the respiration of, 280. 

Isapis, new species of, 429. 

Jeifreys, J. G., on the genus Stilifer, 
ray 

Johnson, J. G., on new genera of 
marine Fishes, 70; on a new spe- 
cies of flexible coral, 142. 

Juncella, new species of, 142. 

Kagu, on the habits of the, 241; on 
the osteology of the, 385. 

Karsten, Prof. H., on the formation, 
development, and structure of the 
vegetable cell, 24, 124, 185. 

Kner, Prof., on a new genus of fishes, 
399, 

Krefft, G., on Aspidiotes melano- 
cephalus, 225. 

Lacaze-Duthiers, M., on the structure 
of Antipathes, 198; on the Anti- 
patharian genus Gerardia, 241. 

Lacuna, new species of, 428. 

Lagenorhynchus leucopleurus, on a 
specimen of, 133. 

Lankester, E. R., on new Mammalia 
from the Red Crag, 353. 

Lecidea, new British species of, 404. 

Leighton, Rev. W. A., on new British 
Lichens, 401. 

Leitgeb, Dr. H., on globular cell- 
thickenings in the envelope of the 
roots of some Orchidez, 80; on 
we aerial roots of the Orchidez, 

F. 

Lemmings, on the migration of, 78. 

Lepas anatifera, on a colony of, 316, 

Lepus variabilis, on the naturalization 
of, in Faroe, 461. 

Lichens, descriptions of new British, 
401. 

Lieberkiihn, N., on the motory phe- 
nomena of Sponges, 237. 


INDEX. 


Limacia, observations on the genus, 
365 

Litoria, new species of, 314. 

Lizards, descriptions of new, 380, 392. 

Lodoicea Seychellarum, observations 
on, 442. 

Longicorns of the Amazon Valley, on 
the, 11 

Te al typicus, observations on, 
461 


Lord, J. K., on a species of Denta- 
lium, 452. 

Lygodactylus, characters of the ge- 

_ nus, 380 

M‘Andrew, R., on the species of Mol- 
lusca obtained in Corunna Bay, 232. 

Meera, new species of, 423. 

Malacological nomenclature, on the 
present state of, 155. 

Mammalia from the Red Crag, on 
new, 303. 

Mangelia, new species of, 45. 

Marcusen, J., on the anatomy and his- 
tology of Branchiostoma lubricum, 
151, 319. 

Margarita, new species of, 426, 

Marsilea, on the fecundation and de- 
velopment of, 417. 

Megapodius, new species of, 378. 

Menispermaceze, on the, 49, 97, 252, 
363. 

Menispermum, observations on the 
genus, 367. 

Microdesmus, characters of the new 
genus, 231. 

Microrhopala, new species of, 268. 

Miers, J., on the Menispermacez, 
49, 97, 252, 363. 

Miodon, new species of, 424. 

Mixophyes, characters of the genus, 
311. 

Mollusea, descriptions of new, 45, 
180, 243, 423; from Corunna Bay, 
list of, 232. 

Mopalia, new species of, 426. 

Mormyrus, new species of, 226. 

Miiller, Dr. F., on the metamorphoses 
of the Prawns, 104; on some pe- 
culiar structures in the seminal 
fluid of Janthina, 430. 

Museums, on the uses and improve- 
ment of, 283. 

Mustela, new species of, 160. 

Nephila, new species of, 43. 

Newton, A., on a natural mummy of 
Alea impennis, 138; on the breed- 
ing of the Green Sandpiper, 221. 


47) 


Nisotra, characters of the genus, 437. 

Nitidella, new species of, 48. 

Obeliscus, new species of, 46. 

Odontocarya, description of the ge- 
nus, 97. 

Odostomia, new species of, 46. 

Oldham, Prof., on the discovery of 
fossil stone implements in India, 154. 

Opalia, new species of, 47. 

Orchidezx, on globular. cell-thicken- 
ings in the envelope of the roots of 
some, 80; on the aérial roots of 
the, 159. 

Palame, description of the genus, 12. 

Palamedea chavaria, on the system- 
atic position of, 144. 

Parabeena, description of the genus, 
51. 

Parker, W. K., on the systematic po- 
sition of the Crested Screamer, 144; 
on the osteology of the Kagu. 385. 

Pasithea, new species of, 39. 

Pelzeln, A. von, on the Great Auk, 
393. 

Pericampylus, observations on the 
genus, 369. 

Perigonimus, new species of, 57. 

Phytophaga, new genera and species 
of, 433. 

Pisania, new species of, 49. 

Placotrochus, new species of, 163. 

Plants, on the remains of, found be- 
neath the Swiss lake-dwellings, 
465. 

Platyglossus, new species of, 230. 

Pcecilomorpha, new species of, 436. 

Polysticta, new species of, 116, 169. 

Pranizze, observations on the, 405. 

Prawns, on the metamorphoses of the, 
104, 

Prionops, new species of, 379. 

Pristipoma, new species of, 227. 

Psalidostoma, observations on the 
genus, 399. 

Pselium, observations on the genus, 
371. 

Pseudojulis, new species of, 230. 

Psilodactylus, characters of the ge- 
nus, 382. 

Pterophrynus, new species of, 312. 

Pteropus of India, on the fishing pro- 
pensities of the, 141. 

Pupze, new species of, 183, 184, 

Pupina, new species of, 183. 

Pupinella, new species of, 184. 

Quatrefages, A. de, onthe geographical 
distribution of the Annelida, 239, 


472 


Rafinesque, C. S., on the writings of, 
397. 

Raia Batis, onthe development of, 399. 

Raphides, observations on, 53, 250. 

Rhigiocarya, description of the ge- 
nus, 100. 

Rbynchonella, new species of, 10. 

Rissoa, new British species of, 136: 

Sagra, new species of, 433. 

Sars, M.,on Lophogaster typicus, 461; 
on some Norwegian Crustacea, 467. 

Sciurus, new species of, 80. 

Sclater, Dr. P. L., on the Great Auk, 
320. 

Scleropages, description of the new 
genus, 195. 

Seals, observations on, 304. 

Sebzethe, characters of the genus, 438. 

Seeley, H., on the fossils of the Hun- 
stanton Red Rock, 276. 

Shells, new, 45, 180, 243, 423. 

Shortt, Dr. J., on the fishing propen- 
sities of the Pteropus of India, 141. 

Siebold, Prof. von, on hermaphrodite 
Bees, 158. 

Silurana, on the new genus, 315. 

Siphonaria, new species of, 425. 

Sistrum, new species of, 48. 

Smithornis, new species of, 457. 

Snakes, new, 225. 

Spatalura Carteri, note on, 392. 

Sphasus, new species of, 36, 

Spiders, descriptions of new, 36, 174. 

Spirogyra, on the growth of, 24, 124, 
185. 


Sponges, on the motory phenomena 
of, 237. 

Staurotypus, new species of, 451. 

Stethispa, characters of the genus, 
265. 

Stilifer, remarks on the genus, 321. 

Stricker, Dr., on independent move- 
ments of embryonal cells in the 
ova of the frog, 79. 

Succimea, new species of, 183. 

Systena, new species of, 437. 

Teira, new species of, 380. 


INDEX. 


Temnaspis, new species of, 435, 

Terebratula, new species of, 6. 

Tetragnatha, new species of, 44. 

Thalassophryne, on a poison-organ in 
a species of, 458. 

Thelocarpon, new British species of, 
401. 

Thomisus, new species of, 38, 

Tickell, Lieut.-Col. S. R., on the 
Gibbon of Tenasserim, 360. 

Tiliacora, observations on the genus, 
252. 

Toronzus, description of the new ge- 
nus, 13. 

Trevelyan, W.C.,on the naturalization 
of the White Hare in Faroe, 461. 

Trochoseris, new species of, 164. 

Truncaria, new species of, 47. 

Tubularia, new species of, 60. 

Turacus, new species of, 240. 

Uroplata, new species of, 335. 

Valvata, new species of, 245. 

Walker, R., on some fossils from 
clays near St. Andrews, 200. 

Waller, E., on a new British species 
of Rissoa, 136. 

Walsh, B. D., on dimorphism in the 
genus Cynips, 400. 

Wertheim, Dr., on the structure of the 
hair-follicle in Man and in the 
Rabbit, 79. 

Whales, notes onthe Whalebone-, 345. 

Wolfgang, Prof., on the development 
of the flowers of the Composite, 
464. 

Woodward, H., on the Mollusea ob- 
tained in Corunna Bay, 232. 

Wyman, Dr. J., on the structure of 
Ameeba, 394; on the development 
of Raia Batis, 399. 

Xylergates, description of the new 
genus, 20. 

Zanclea implexa, on the Medusa of, 


Zoological Society, proceedings of 
the, 70, 138, 221, 304, 378, 451, 
Zorilla, new species of, 384. 


- 


END OF THE FOURTEENTH VOLUME. 


PRINTED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS, 
RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET. 


— 


Cee 


agen 


Arn & Mag Nat. Hist. Ser-3.Vol14.Pb J, 
BRACHIOPODA. 


fry 
Zi 
fr] 
SS 
O 
= 
fe] 
wn 
fx] 
FA 
E 
= 


| 


© 
a 

| 
: 
a 
E 
“6 
s 


) 


* 
ep 


a 


Ani & Mag. Nat. Mist. §.3.Vol.\4. PIL. 


, 


"a 


fog ‘SCUNWIGOONHL SQHONAHYONHOVT 


y] 


an, Qnx0g lL 


Ne tre pahanste! 2 Bere 


SoA 


Dy I ee ~~ 
—_— —< 


DeWild., bth ad nat 


2g Nat Hist: S.3 Vol IEPUIL 


W. West, wunp. 


Scleropages Leichardtv 


GH. Ford, lith. 


Anw.&k MagNal. Hist. 3.5. Vol. 14 PL VT. 


+L 


| 


De Wilde, lith 


—— 
E Ray Lankester.ad.nat.olel- Hanhar't.lith 


NEW MAMMALS FROM THE RED CRAG. 


y Ae Tre CONT TA 
Amn & Mag Nat Hist. 3.3No\.\4. 


L 
Rey? WA, Leighton del. 


iat a 
Vm an i wy 
Oe (mes) ry 
7) Awan ae - 
Res if iy 1 vi 
uke Th) ? 


ee led ay 


am 


7 rf, Tee 
ree ite Mb 


Ep wah, ' 
p ie A a 
a : a Teg : - 
- : a iy rik 
y : Pad nee "a 5 : my 7 Hf 7 i ; ae iN ie 
; ae iN i ih e 7 hy YY : on pes 
a wi une ¥, : ma a a a ny 1g 


a % aA ow 1 
hi : ; 
Pte a 


Mea i 
many 
Dis: 


yak 


| pant 
et 


» 
aad iii, 
ui yey: ay A yl 


Dae 

a vi ve a ware: 
a aa 
oi ay sp vs sf 


The a, 
ji cat poo bs 
: : rane a We Ae 
Ds ian 


fone 

Pe . 
ny be 
al id 


A 


‘nd da 
ea as oy 


wh Lie 


hap) a H i Fan nN ii tai Ka 
Voki a a ie Hi pi a a om 
rit 1h Nema Bh if ay ae rae we : 
. a ai AS uhh 
vs art ae Ma a te it ia 1 
ie ne ‘ Pay « y oN 
' 


at 


ae aT iy i hat 
ha ied as ca 
ae ny ak 


hy Vem 


ait) a oe 
ve are vee Br , ne 7 a * 
Pe nme rte ty |. yea) 


th bn 
jay 


ANY fini 
sa 


iy 
hi 


3 9088 01313 9647