aa
et eta ae ee - ~ :
aL ATE ante ted ae HO wy - 7 ; ae cn
a Bie tan theta Ye I de 9 . a . c - eens =
Sos lop whiancoren ace " c : :
Bm io on ddan Sonat ate
fo Mala Re Ate Mp ne hii shire nn he
pa fbn Ratha (ios ee
totanttrnele Bit foe Jui Pak-
eae EE
<_e =
rer wr
Ng Be enya
Fe Rate aa Re Tae
Has Mamata eae
So ten Rot,
sit-in
putin p diamante
Ce ee ann
cao sas ten eee ten 124
XV. Observations onthe Ancient Fauna of the Mascarene Islands.
By M. ALPHONSE MILNE-EDWARDS ........ ..... 2 dala eye sate ane 129
Proceedings ot the Moyal Sorieky. . 26. ce aes peeves sive eee veers 132
On the Origin of the name “ Penguin,” by Alfred Newton, M.A. &c.;
On the Structure of the Flower of the Graminee, the Functions
of the Organs of which it is composed, and the Phenomena
which accompany the act of Fecundation, by M. Bidard; On a
Tree-Frog in New Granada which secretes a Poison employed
by the Indians to poison their Arrows, by J. Escobar; An
Hermaphrodite Nemertean from the Mediterranean, by A. F.
Marion; Note on the Crustacea which live parasitically in
Ascidia in the Mediterranean, by R. Buchholz; On the Cecilie,
by M. F. Leydig; On the Spire of Voluta Thatcheri, by Prof.
Frederick M‘Coy ; On two new Species of Gyrodus, by Sir pen
de Malpas Grey Egerton, Bart., M.P., F.R.S., V.P.G.S. .. 1833—140
NUMBER XXI.
XVI. Notes on the Fertilization of Orchids. By CuHar.xs
Dp asrapvanny LAs NS 25.5 Bees cates sa ceeinpie eaten ees ee 141
XVII. Note on Hyponome Sarsi, a recent Cystidean. By S.
BON ROS o's GING ages iar vl cib.4 C nae eke o iar paeael ds al eng AMeCereNa IP BAN esac 159
XVIII. Descriptions of a remarkable new Jellytish and two Acti-
nians from the Coast of Maine. By A. E. VERRILL.............. 160
CONTENTS. Vv
Page
‘XIX. Descriptions of new Species of Butterflies from Tropical js
America. By OsBErT Satvin, M.A., F.L.S., &. 0.1... eee 163
XX. On a new Labyrinthodont Amphibian from the Northumber-
land Coal-field, and on the Occurrence in the same locality of
Anthracosaurus Russelli, By AtBpany Hancock, F.L.S., and THos.
LUT TRIED Sr ein ea Bese am Pit na ne TE TCC hacia tiers take Beton ers Site rs 182
XXI. On Grayella cyathophora, a new Genus and Species of
Sponges. By H. J. Carter, F.R.S. &c. (Plate VIL) .......... 189
XXII. Notule Lichenologice. No. XXX. By the Rev. W. A.
Leieuton, B.A., F.L.S.—Further Notes on the Lichens of Cader
Beira se Nctat Wy Ale as la7g ale ee Wao a aN aie a bah AT eRe ante Sees 198
XXIII. Descriptions of three new Species of Callidryas. By
fa Tecan 07 gf G OM 6 upg yo c1 OR 1 Des a ar mee ruareeeee eS, rar 202
XXIV. Descriptions of some new Species of Lamiude. By
PR AN@IACE sb ASEUey Y TOs Gils. (aa ss + So) «cate ayatste.n\0l so Sacmonaet Caio 203
On the Marine Forms of Crustacea which inhabit the Fresh Waters
of Southern Europe, by Prof. Heller; On the Leaves of Coni-
feree, by Thomas Meehan, of Germantown, Pennsylvania ; Me-
chanical Reproduction of the Flight of Insects, by M. Marey ;
Spectroscopic Examination of the Diatomacez, by H. L. Smith ;
On two new Generic Types of the Families Saprolegniee and
Peronosporee, by MM. E. Roze and M. Cornu; On Spatangus
PSEA TUONGTIE «jon tse trere sie ridctasy ia ale eiavatele mie, Wiaee leant 211—220
NUMBER XXII.
XXYV. On some curious Fossil Fungi from the Black Shale of the
Northumberland Coal-field. By AtBany Hancocr, F.L.S., and
EGR. ACEH, « CE la tes ew oie in aici eta cro are core he tele wo everett 221
XXVI. Descriptions of a new Genus and two new Species of
Scyllaride and a new Species of 4thra from North America. By
SONY METER gaa cdc ee cbs nt cb aR ba Lew one dole Uplate 228
XXVII. On some new Species of Graptolites. By Henry
ALLEYNE NicHoxson, M.D., D.Sc., M.A., F.G.S8. (Plate XI.) .. 281
XXVIII. Descriptions of four new Species of Diurnal Lepidoptera
of the Genus Thyca. By A. G. Butumr, F.LS. &. ............ 242
XXIX. The Myology of Cyclothurus didactylus. By JouN CHARLES
Gatton, M.A., F.L.S., Lecturer on Comparative Anatomy at
Charing Cross Hospital. (Plate VIIIT.) ..........-.. sees eee eeee 244.
XXX. Additional Notes on Sea-Bears. By Dr. J. E. Gray,
F.5d CT A eee werner eh a ruta 264
Vi CONTENTS.
- Page
XXXI. Note on Anthracosaurus. By ALBANY Hancock, F.L.S.,
HHO HON. ARTERIES oO ics. At. SO «abs the bs EES ie Ses WTO Tn ee 270
XXXII. Description of Ceryle Sharpii, a new Kingfisher from the
Gaboon. », By JoHN Gounn, PR Saij otal). iralede oeig afetara «percslereterete} 271
XXXIII. On Calamites. By the Rev. J. W. Dawson, LL.D.,
F.R.S., &c., Principal of M‘Gill College, Montreal .............. 272
XXXIV. Note on Anolis auratus. By Prof. W. PETERS ...... 273
XXXV. On Norops auratus. By Artuur W. E. O’SHavuGHNESSY 274
New Books :—A History of British Hydroid Zoophytes, by Thomas
Hincks, B.A.—British Conchology (Vol. V.), by John Gwyn
ETTONT, Eu sy OCES i, cing ais nie, cl ae ek ooh aay care 277—281
Proceedings of the Royal Society... oo... 6.0sis oi versie oan nre.ace 282—290
On the Development and Change in the Form of the Horn of the
Gnu (Connochetes gnu), by Dr. J. HE. Gray, F.R.S.; On the
Development of Cypris, by C. Claus; On the White-toothed
American Beaver, by Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S.; On the Occurrence
of Beania mirabilis and Labrus mixtus at Eastbourne, Sussex, by
F.C.S. Roper, F.L.S. &c. ; On the Origin and Increase of Bac-
teria, by Dr. A. Polotebnow; Experiments to show that the
Fins of Fishes are regenerated only when their Basal Portion at
least is left, by M. J. M. Philipeaux ; Descriptions of two new
Species of Hymenoptera from the Argentine Republic, by J. C.
Puls ; Habits of the Medusz, by Dr. J. E. Gray ; On the Repro-
duction of Pholeus phalangioides, Walk, by Dr. Paolo Bonizzi
291—296
NUMBER XXIII.
XXXVI. On the Coleoptera of St. Helena. By T. Vernon Wot-
PME, CNOA TU ey vias eh yn 04 Arya eS ee EAE AREY GS 297
XXXVII. On the Generic Identity of Climaxodus and Janassa,
two Fossil Fishes related to the Rays. By AuBany Hancock,
Peo. and THomas Arrany.: (Plate X1L)) 2.0.9 sic es'soe aeranye 322
XXXVIII. Descriptions of five Birds and a Hare from Abyssinia.
By Wacnan T BLANKORD, F-G:S., ONLZS, 02.5.2 <6 ves «spe ae 329
XXXIX. Descriptions of some new American Phyllopod Crusta-
cba By AE, VEBRELE 6632's holla Geen toes Retoe ane Oe 331
XL. On some British Freshwater Shells. By J. Gwyn JEFFREYS,
IR i's «eng oO aurea aera. Cie ee na ¢ de taks anette 341
CONTENTS. Vil
Page
XLI. Notes on Seals (Phocide) and the Changes in the Form of
their Lower Jaw during Growth. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &e,.. 342
XLII. On some points in the History and Relations of the Wasp —
( Vespa vulgaris) and Rhipiphorus paradoxus. By ANDREW MurRRay,
Eee he Me A se, eae MR ae oo So eed elda. pape’ 346
XLIII. Species of Terrestrial Mollusca collected on the Island of
San Lucia. By Ratpx Tarte, Assoc, Linn. Soc., F.G.S., &e....... 356
New Books :—Notes on the Geology of North Shropshire, by Char-
lotte Eyton.—Figures of Characteristic British Fossils, with
Descriptive Remarks, by W. H. Baily, F.L.S., F.G.S., &c.. . 356, 357
On the Occurrence of Beania mirabilis at Shanklin, Isle of Wight,
by Henry Lee, F.L.S. &e.; Cuttlefish (Sepia) of the Red Sea,
by Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S.; The Larva of Tischeria complanella
and its Parasite, by Prof. Canale Rondani ; A naked Shrew, by
Dr. J. E. Gray; On Spoggodes conglomeratus, and a new Genus
of Fleshy Alcyonoids, by Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c., and Henry
J. Carter, F.R.S.; On the Anatomy of the Genus Gordius, by
H. Grenacher ; On the Development of Pelobates fuscus, Wagl.,
by C. van Bambeke ; On the Systems of Capillary Vessels in
the Gasteropods, by Prof. Wedl; Discovery of New and Rare
Fossils in the Marl-Slate of Midderidge, by Richard Howse, Esq.
357—368
NUMBER XXIV.
XLIV. List of Coleoptera collected in Vancouver's Island. by
Henry and Joseph Matthews, with Descriptions of some new Spe-
vies. By Dr, J.-L. Emconnn, Philadelphiay 3.5.50 <0 ses ce gen ey 369
XLV. On the Nomenclature of the Foraminifera. By Prof. T.
Rupert Jonss, F.G.S., W. K. Parker, F.R.S., and J. W. Kirxsy,
RRR eRe MOLY. 29, Wee wi cies ence shale cance iM Mt neko eA. BE os 386
XLVI. Observations on the Parasitism of Rhipiphorus paradoxus.
By Freperick Smiru, Assistant in the Zoological Department of
Rane RS EML IS VUTSEIN 265.6 4% ia nit aronesd Broseba ogeis ale ex a rip 8ieelby ol aie Gb 393
XLVI. On certain nondescript Bones in the Skull of Osseous
Rishes; By Groner Guuriver, FLRS, .2......00088 cave ces 397
XLVIII. Description of anew Species of Epeira. By Joun
Sad SIUUISTES TES 0S Sa Ba a ee i Ee de yr 398
XLIX. On the Coleoptera of St. Helena. By T. Vernon Wot-
POUT. 1s Oe Sl DiS Bs on RPP IRE ee A 401
vill CONTENTS.
Page
L. Contributions to Jurassic Paleontology. By Ratpu Tare,
PNSEGG ATA, A500.) EAD COE! ios ad ad clot Midas ae bese te ae
LI. A Description, with Illustrations, of the Development of So-
rastrum spinulosum, Naig.; to which is added that of a new Form of
Protococcus. By Henry J. Carter, F.R.S. &c. (Plate XIV.) ....
LII. Descriptions of two new Species of Sun-birds from the Island
of Hainan, South China. By Roprerr Swinuos, F.Z.S. ........
Observations on the Zoological Characters and Natural Affinities of
Apyornis, by MM. A. Milne-Edwards and A. Grandidier ; Reptile
Remains and Climaxodus, by T. P. Barkas, F.G.S.; On Exoba-
stdium, Woronin, by H. Karsten; Polypterus Lapradei, sp. n.,
and Polypterus senegalus, by F. Steindachner; Large Trees in
417
420
436
omstreneg fC, LEAR G.I" Se vode cil) RE he, 437—443
PLATES IN VOL. IV.
Ea } subspherous Sponges.
II. Voluta canaliculata—Animal of Limnza involuta.—Cestoid
Worms of the Bustard.
IV. Anatomy of Diplommatina.
V. Alciopide Parasite of Cydippe densa.
VI. Development of Phyllodoce maculata.
VII. Grayella eyathophora.
VIII. Myology of Cyclothurus didactylus.
TX | Fossil Fungi.
XI. New Species of Graptolites.
XII. Teeth of Janassa (Climaxodus) lingueformis.
XIII. Foraminifera from the Permian Limestone.
XIV. Development of Sorastrum spinulosum.—New form of Proto-
coccus.
THE ANNALS
AND
MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.
[FOURTH SERIES. ]
sceetisebea temeaseed per litora spargite muscum,
Naiades, et circiim vitreos considite fontes:
Pollice virgineo teneros hic carpite flores:
Floribus et pictum, dive, replete canistrum.
At vos, o Nymphz Craterides, ite sub undas;
Ite, recurvato variata corallia trunco
Vellite muscosis e rupibus, et mihi conchas
Ferte, Dew pelagi, et pingui conchylia succo.”
NV. Parthenii Giannettasii Ecl. 1,
No. 19. JULY 1869.
I.—A Descriptive Account of four Subspherous Sponges, Ara-
bian and British, with General Observations. By H. J.
CarTeER, F.R.S. &e.
{Plates I. & II.]
THE Subspherous Sponges, like potatoes in appearance, analo-
gous also in form to the Lycoperdons, the large Spheriz, and
the tuberose Fungi, are not unfrequently present among the
exuvie of the sea-shore, where, after having been freed from
their original attachments, and drifting in a living state about
the bottom of the sea for awhile, they are at last landed by the
waves. .
Having specimens of two species, which I found on the
south-east coast of Arabia (one of which was gathered alive),
and of two others found on the beach at Budleigh-Salterton
(also alive), I resolved, for the sake of direct information, to
examine them respectively; and bringing to my aid Dr.
Johnston’s work on the British Sponges (1842), and Dr.
Bowerbank’s papers on the Spongiadz, published successively
in 1862 and 1864 by the Royal and Ray Societies, I found so
much still left untold that I further resolved to draw each of
these sponges themselves, and, placing their elementary parts
beside them respectively, to write a simple description also of
each (that is, confining myself as much as possible to familiar
terms in our own language), and to follow the whole by ge-
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. iv.
2 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Subspherous Sponges.
neral observations showing how far I agree and how far differ
from the remarks of my predecessors on this portion of the
Spongiadee.
Two of the species which I have figured and described are
new, viz. the Arabian ones; and the other two are common to
our own shores, but hitherto very inadequately represented.
Each contrasts in most respects strongly with the other, and
all four brought together in this way seem to me well fitted
to convey a good idea of the principal as well as peculiar fea-
tures of the subspherous Spongiade respectively.
My object has not been to pres’ t a mere description which
might serve for a handbook, but . give an elaborate account,
with illustrations, of four of the most characteristic species of
the division, to correct to a certain extent what appear to be
the errors of others, and thus to record, to the best of my abi-
lity, descriptions and observations which might be relied upon
for future classification.
In these descriptions I shall as much as possible avoid the
word “tissue; for such is only shadowed forth in the sarcode
of the sponge, and, however much apparent in its fresh state,
more or less subsides into a glue-like mass on drying, when
tissue in the higher developments for the most part puts forth
its most definite, prominent, peculiar, and persistent charac-
ters. The tissues and the structures of the sarcode, whatever
they may be, are, for the most part, as it were in embryo; and
we have nothing to do with the naming of objects, in a scien-
tific point of view, until they are unmistakably defined.
Hence such terms as ovaria, membrane, cesophagus, pyloric
valve, &c., in respect to the sponge, had better for the present
be omitted, whatever their application hereafter may prove
worth when such parts in the sponge are undeniably iden-
tified.
In the following descriptions, also, it must not be expected
that I have given the whole history of the British species,
their habitat, locale, &c.; this must be sought for in the works
to which I have alluded, my desire being chiefly to contrast
four prominent species among the subspherous sponges, two
of which appear to have been undescribed, and the other two -
unsatisfactorily illustrated.
The measurements (of course approximative) are chiefly given
in the explanations of the plates, to avoid confusion in the
text, and units indicating so many 1800ths of an inch or frac-
tions of the same (unless otherwise mentioned) have been
employed, by which the relative proportion of the objects in
size may be seen at once, and the real size readily computed
if necessary ; while the illustrations of the sponges themselves,
Mr. H. J. Carter on the Subspherous Sponges. 3
although drawn after nature as much as the subject would
permit, are less for effect than for efficiency, the microscopist
often having, in his delineations, to aim at that which an
artist would not tolerate nor could supply.
Tethya arabica, mihi.
Pl. I. figs. 1-8, and Pl. II. figs. 19 & 20.
Globular and free, or hemispherical and fixed. Surface
soft, hispid, reticulated, with the pores occupying the inter-
stices, and projecting spicules the lines of reticulation, all more
or less matted together by the dermal sarcode of the sponge.
Large vents in more or less plurality, monticular. Internal
structure radiated, rigid, compact, consisting of a corticular, a
body-, and a nucleated portion. Corticular portion loose, ill-
defined, consisting of tufts of spicules matted together by
dermal sareode. Body formed of sponge-substance supported
on bundles of spicules overlapping each other and radiating
from the nucleus to the circumference; the whole permeated
by the excretory system of canals, which, branching and ana-
stomosing throughout, finally terminate in the vents on the
surface of the sponge. Fleshy portion of sponge-substance
more or less charged with minute spherical bodies like gem-
mules. Nucleus globular, consisting of a more compact and
dense condition of the spicules and sponge-substance of the
body. Spicules of the surface all smooth and pointed, con-
sisting for the most part of groups of bifid, trifid extended, and
trifid recurved heads, supported on long delicate shafts respec-
tively, mingled with the pointed ends of the stout spicules of
the body. Spicule of the body straight, smooth, fusiform,
pointed at each end, or not unfrequently with one end more
or less abruptly terminated and round. Minute, thread-like,
contorted spicules, semicircular and sigmoid, together with
minute siliceous globules, abound throughout the sponge, but
more particularly in the corticular portion ; somewhat larger
ones, of a semielliptical form, with single, pointed, incurved
ends, and others of a like kind, whose shafts consist of three
curves (of which the central is the largest), with trifid ends,
webbed together like a waterfowl’s foot, and bent inwards, are
not uncommon in this sponge. Gemmules(?) numerous, white,
spherical, in all sizes of development up to the matured or
largest, which consists of a spheroidal cell filled with glo-
bules (?) of refractive matter; gemmule white, when viewed
by direct light, but by transmitted light seen to be surrounded
by an equally spherical transparent portion, or cell, densely
charged with extremely minute, bacilliform spicular bodies.
4 ~ Mr. H. J. Carter on the Subspherous Sponges.
Size variable, that of specimen figured 3 inches in its longest
diameter. Colour:—corticular portion grey, body bright
orange, nucleus pink.
Hab. South-east coast of Arabia, opposite the north-east
end of the island of Masira. Free or fixed to the rocks along
the shore.
Obs. I found several specimens of this sponge about the ~
locality mentioned ; some were floating or rolling about in the
land-wash, and others fixed to the rocks—the latter with, and
the former of course without, point of attachment. It is pro-
bable that those portions alone float which, having got out of
the water for a little time, get some air in them, and that
when this is extricated they again sink to the bottom. The
sarcodal substance of this sponge is so rigid and contrac-
tile that, when alive, it can with difficulty be torn to pieces.
Those on the rocks appeared to me to get more rigid in pro-
portion as I tried to get them off, until at last I was obliged
to apply my geological hammer and chisel to them. The
forcible power of contractility here, as well as in Tethya lyn-
curium, which I shall presently describe, may partly account
for the compact character of the sponge-substance after death,
and the comparative absence of the excretory system of canals
probably arising therefrom, in both these species. 7. arabica
very much resembles 7. cranium of our own shores; but I
found no gemmules in it, like those figured and described by
Johnston and Bowerbank respectively as peculiar to the latter
species ; nor does the surface of the Arabian species agree with
that of JT. cranium figured in Johnston’s ‘British Sponges.’
It appears nevertheless to be the representative of the latter on
the south-east coast of Arabia. .
In one small portion of the surface which I examined there
happened to be several stoutish triradiate spicules, with their
rays expanded in the corticular part, like those of Geodia—
showing, by this occasional occurrence, how such characters
may be present in species otherwise distinctly different.
On treatment with iodine, faint traces of starch made their
appearance in the globular contents of certain little cells, but
not of the gemmules, which turned amber-colour.
When dry, the surface of this sponge presents a glistening
asbestiform appearance, from the number of delicate spicules
which project beyond the dermal sarcode.
Geodia (Cydonium, Gray) arabica, mihi. PI. I. figs. 9-16.
Globular, free or fixed. Surface hard, hispid, covered with
a short hirsute dermal sarcode (where the latter is not abraded)
densely charged with minute smooth spicules, beneath which
Mr. H. J. Carter on the Subspherous. Sponges. 5
are a number of dimples or pores more or less regularly scat-
tered over the whole sponge, with here and there larger ones,
of the same appearance, which seem to.be vents. Internal
structure subradiated, cavernous, consisting of a cortex and
body, but no nucleus. Cortex hard, compact, composed of a
thin but firm layer of globular crystalloids, apparently in con-
tact with each other, covered externally by the dermal sarcode
mentioned, and internally in communication with the body,
the dermal sarcode presenting minute apertures of communi-
cation between the exterior and interior of the sponge; and,
where abraded, that portion only of this sarcode which is usually
stretched across the pore in the form of a diaphragm with
central circular aperture some distance below the surface.
Body formed of sponge-substance supported on intercrossing
stout spicules, which circumferentially run into a zone of
radiating ones that support the cortex, and centrically into a
denser condition, which is subnuclear; the whole permeated
by an excretory system of wide canals, which, branching and
anastomosing throughout, communicate to the body a cavernous
subradiated structure, finally terminating in the vents on the
surface of the sponge. Spicules of the dermal sarcode minute,
smooth, slightly curved and pointed at each end. Globular
crystalloids of the crust more or less elliptical, somewhat com-
pressed vertically, and presenting an umbilicated depression
on the proximal side; found in every part of the sponge, in
all stages of development, but chiefly forming the crust. When
young, consisting of a minute central point surrounded by a
radiated mass of hair-like spicules, which, in advancing to-
wards maturity, become conical externally and, giving place
to a clear general crystallization of the centre or body inter-
nally, terminate at last on the surface in short, rough, club-
shaped eminences and polygonal star-like facets (peculiar to
the umbilicated depression and convexity respectively) sepa-
rated from each other by shallow fissures. Spicules of the
body large, smooth, fusiform, slightly curved and pointed at
each end. Spicules of the zone supporting the crust all smooth
and pointed; provided for the most part with trifid extended,
trifid recurved, and triradiate heads, in the proportion of about
eight of the two former to one of the latter, which in point of
stoutness is more than double their size; all furnished with
long pointed shafts, of which the stout triradiate one 1s by far
the shortest, although the thickest. J/inute stellate spicules
found in every part of the structure, but most about the crust,
inside and out, consisting of a variable number of smooth (?),
straight rays, radiating from a central globule; also some few
of a larger kind, in which the rays consist of a number of
6 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Subspherous Sponges.
short conical processes standing out vertically from a thick
globular body. Size variable; that of the specimen figured
3 inches in diameter. Colour: grey on the surface, yellowish
interiorly.
Hab. South-east coast of Arabia, opposite the north-east
end of the island of Masira. Free at the bottom of the sea,
whence it gets landed by the waves.
Obs. I have never found a living specimen of this sponge,
or a specimen fixed to the rocks :. my descriptions are taken
from dried ones found on the sea-shore, whose shape never-
theless indicates their free or floating habit. Pieces of stone
and coral, however, may be attached to this sponge almost
sufficient to keep it stationary at the bottom of the sea; and in
these instances it is observed that the crust is always con-
tinuous next to the foreign material, by which we learn that it
must therefore have been the dermal sarcode outside the crust
which attached them to the surface of the sponge. Of course
the same remark applies to the condition under which portions
of G. arabica would float or sink to the bottom as that on 7.
arabica, viz. the presence or absence of air in it.
This species is closely allied to Geodia zetlandica of our
shores; and if hereafter it should be found that the dermal
spicules of G. arabica are of the same kind as those which
impart a like hirsute character to G. zetlandica, and that this
character in the latter should be owing more to their presence
than to the “ projection of the body-spicules” (which in G.
arabica are ten times as long as the dermal ones), then it is
not improbable that both will have to be regarded as belong-
ing to the same species. Stellate spicules also abound in the
dermal sarcode, but they are subsidiary; they are no more
numerous there than the stellate spicules which we shall pre-
sently see in the dermal sarcode of Pachymatisma Johnstonia,
where a fusiform, rough, and not the stellate form will be
found to be the dermal spicule in particular. Like the latter,
whose surface, when fresh, is of a grey colour, from the trans-
lucent state of the globular crystalloids and sponge-tissue
when soaked in water, it consequently becomes chalky-white
when dry; and probably, like Pachymatisma also, although
subsequently free, is, in the early part of its history, fixed in
some submarine locality.
On comparing the size of the pores and their distance apart
in G. arabica-with those in a fresh specimen of Pachymatisma
(where they appear in other respects to be precisely alike), I
find that the former are all much smaller and much nearer
together than in the latter. But as they are much smaller
and much nearer together in the dried than in the fresh speci-
My. H. J. Carter on the Subspherous Sponges. 7
mens of Pachymatisma, I infer that in the fresh state of @.
arabica they would also have been much larger and much
further apart than in the dried specimen. This difference in
size and distance therefore arises from contraction ; and allow-
ance should be made for it in viewing the illustration, which
is, of course, taken from a dried specimen. ©
On raising a portion of the crust of a specimen of G. ara-
bica, and taking out a piece of the subjacent structure (viz.
that just inside the trifid heads of the spicules of the zone), I
find, by treatment with iodine, that it often contains many
decided starch-granules, whose presence seems to indicate that
they were developed there, and there in particular, since the
part was never so exposed before I opened it, and no por-
tions of the structure taken from other parts of the sponge
have, under similar circumstances, presented any trace of an
amylaceous deposit; nor have I ever been able to find any
starch-granules in a corresponding position of the structure in
Pachymatisma Johnstonia. The remark is therefore made for
what it may prove worth hereafter.
Tethya (Donatia, Gray) lyncurtum, Lam.
Pl. II. figs. 1-6.
Globular, almost spherical, fixed. Surface continuously un-
even, wartlike, and rigid, except at the part of attachment,
which is, of course, rough and torn; consisting of small, more
or less circular lobes, with interangular depressions, the former
presenting the broken ends of spicules, and the latter, in the
recent state only, the pores and vents respectively of the
sponge, which the cortex, owing to its powerfully contractile
nature, closes to almost entire obliteration after death. In-
ternal structure radiated, rigid, compact, consisting of a cortex,
body, and nucleus. Cortex defined, thick, rigid, consisting of
sponge-fibre interlacing at right angles the spicules of the body
as the bundles of the latter pass through it, in an expanded
form, to the surface; the whole so dense as to assume the ap-
pearance of fibro-cartilage ; charged with two forms of stellate
spicular bodies peculiar to the species. Body consisting of
sponge-substance supported on stout bundles of spicules over-
lappimg each other and radiating from the nucleus to the cir-
cumference ; the whole permeated by the excretory system of
canals, which, branching and anastomosing throughout, finally
terminate in the vents on the surface of the sponge. Nucleus
large, globular, consisting of sponge-fibre and spicules, all in-
tercrossing and interwoven with each other so densely as, like
the cortex, to present the appearance of fibro-cartilage. Spi-
8 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Subspherous Sponges.
cules of the body straight, smooth, fusiform subulate—that is,
awl-shaped, with one end round ; of different degrees of tenuity,
but probably all subulate. Stellate spicules of two kinds, large
and small or minute: large stellate spicule smooth, consisting
of a clear globule of silex more or less covered with tubercular
projections supporting a variable number of conical pointed
rays, which are frequently more or less undulated, and some-
times bifurcated, at the extremity; situated chiefly at the
union of the cortex with the body: mdnute stellate spicules
consisting, in like manner, of a central globule, from which
project a variable number of rough subspinous rays; found
in abundance throughout the whole structure, particularly in
the lines of the afferent or incurrent (?) canals, and the outer
part of the cortex. Size of specimen figured about an inch in
diameter when fresh. Colour dull sponge- or amber-yellow,
most evident in the fleshy substance of the body.
Hab. England, Devon, Budleigh-Salterton beach. Marine,
place of growth to me unknown.
Obs. About three years -since, several of these were found
on the beach at Budleigh-Salterton, having by some means
been wrenched from their place of growth and thrown up (I
think in the autumn) among other exuvie. They were
brought to me quite fresh on the same day that they were
found ; but their place of growth is to me as yet unknown. I
could discover no gemmules or reproductive bodies in them
like those observed in Tethya arabica; and the afferent and
efferent canals can only be traced by placing a thin vertical
section of the cortex (after having been compressed while dry-
ing) in balsam, when the minute stellate spicules almost alone
mark their course, on account of the homogeneousness of the
structure and plastic consistence of its elementary tissues
through which they pass, and in which, on this account, they
appear to exist as mere canalicular excavations. In short, the
fibres of the cortex are so soft, plastic, and delicate, that on
drying they all collapse into a common mass, in which indi-
vidually they become indistinguishable.
It might be observed that the abundance of minute stellate
spicules in the afferent canals are for the purpose of straining
the water as it passes through them into the body of the
sponge; but it must be first proved that they are in the afferent
or incurrent, and not in the efferent canals, before this opinion
can be held; and then it can only be conjectural.
Pachymatisma Johnstonia, Bowerbank. PI. II. figs. 7-18.
' Subglobular, tuberose. Surface hard, or covered with a soft
dermal. sarcode (where not abraded) densely charged with
Mr. H. J. Carter on the Subspherous Sponges. 9
minute rough spicules, beneath which are a number of pores
more or less regularly scattered over the whole sponge, with here
and there larger ones that appear to be vents. Internal structure
dense, amorphous, without any appearance of radiation, con-
sisting of a cortex and body only. Cortex hard, compact, com-
posed of a thin but firm layer of globular crystalloids in juxta-
position, covered externally by the dermal sarcode mentioned,
and internally in continuous contact with the body ; pierced
by conical or dimpled depressions called “ pores,” keeping up
communication between the exterior and interior of the sponge
through several microscopic apertures in the dermal sarcode
opposite to them, when this sarcode has not been abraded, but
where this has been the case presenting a diaphragm of it
pierced by a circular aperture some distance below the sur-
face*. Body formed of sponge-tissue supported on intercross-
ing spicules, which circumferentially run into a narrow zone
of triradiate ones that support the crust, the whole permeated
by the excretory system of canals, which, branching and ana-
stomosing throughout, communicate to the body a cavernous
structure, but not the least appearance of radiation; finally
terminating in the vents at the surface of the sponge. Spicules
of the dermal sarcode minute, fusiform, rough or subspinous.
Globular crystalloids of the crust for the most part elliptical,
elongate, somewhat compressed vertically, and presenting an
umbilicated depression on the proximal side, found abundantly
in every stage of development in every part of the sponge,
but chiefly in the crust, where they are packed together like
masonry, and sometimes equally so round the calibre of some
of the excretory canals for nearly an inch of their course in-
wards. When young, consisting of a minute central point
surrounded by a radiating mass of hair-like spicules, which,
in advancing towards maturity, become conical externally
and, giving place to a clear crystallization of the body inter-
nally, terminate on the surface in clavate rough extremities or
polygonal star-like facets (according to their position in the um-
bilical depression or on the convex surface of the crystalloid),
separated from each other by superficial fissures. Spicules of
the body all smooth and slightly curved, cylindrical or fusi-
form, with simply rounded or inflated extremities. Minute
stellate spicules abundantly dispersed in every part of the
sponge, and consisting of a variable number of conical sub-
spinous rays, radiating from a more or less conspicuous
central point. Size of specimen figured about 1? inch in
* That this diaphragm is a portion of the dermal sarcode seems proba-
ble, from the occasional presence in it of the dermal spicule.
10 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Subspherous Sponges.
longest diameter when fresh. Colour light grey, becoming
darker on contraction of the sponge after death.
Hab. England, Devon, Budleigh-Salterton beach. Marine,
place of growth to me unknown.
Obs. I found three specimens of this sponge on the beach
at Budleigh-Salterton in February last, the largest of which
is about 3 inches in diameter. They did not present any
pedicle of attachment, and therefore must have been free for
some time previously. Sessile they are most probably at one
time or other, and soon cement themselves through the dermal
sarcode to loose stones or rocks when they are left in contact
with them respectively. But they always fortify themselves
with their crust first, which thus as constantly. intervenes be-
tween the body and the foreign ingredient. It is the dermal
sarcode which forms the bond of attachment. Two of the
specimens were fresh and living when I found them on the
beach; but of their original place of growth I am as yet ig-
norant. Sometimes, probably, such sponges are wrested from
their places of attachment by the dredges or trawls of the
fishermen as they pass over sandy bottoms, and, when thus
loosened and brought to the boat, may not be thrown over-
board until some air has got into them, when they float on the
surface till this is extricated, but, afterwards sinking, may be
drifted at last by under-currents to the shore.
It is to the microscopic apertures in the dermal sarcode
covering the pores and their subjacent cavities that Dr. Bower-
bank would apply the terms ‘‘ pores” and ‘ intermarginal
cavities” respectively—points to which we will now more
particularly direct our attention.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
Pores and Oscules.
To understand these terms, it is necessary to consider them
abstractedly. Thus the young Spongilla growing from the
seed-like body may probably be taken as typical of the
whole. It consists of many pores and one oscule. The
former admit the particles of food to the sponge; and the
undigested portions, having passed through its sarcodal sub-
stance (apparently in the same manner and as easily as
the undigested particles in Amabe are passed through its
body, viz. without cicatrix), find their way into the excretory
system of canals which terminate in the latter or single oscule.
And this system, multiplied over and over again as the mass
increases in bulk, probably accounts for the great number of
pores, together with the plurality of oscules presented by all
the larger pieces of sponge.
Mr. H. J. Carter on the Subspherous Sponges. 11
Before the particles reach the pores, they pass through
apertures in a delicate expansion of sarcode which, mem-
brane-like, covers the Spongilla, which apertures (about
1-700th of an inch in diameter) are extemporized here and
there in this expansion, or closed, as occasion may require.
Again, the single oscule, which is supported on a tubular
mammillary projection and passes through the sarcodal expan-
sion, can also be closed or opened as required by the sponge.
But these apertures are situated in a substance which is too
delicate and evanescent to last long under rough treatment ;
and hence the term “ pores” has been used by naturalists for
those superficial cavities which this sarcodal expansion covers
in the more solid and durable parts of the sponge, viz. those
which are evident to the unassisted eye. Hence the name
“ Porifera”’ applied to the class by Dr. Grant, the term
“ oscule”” having only been used for the larger pore which is the
opening of the excretory system of canals. ‘“ Vent” has also
been applied to the latter, which, as regards function, is, of
course, more suitable.
Thus Dr. Johnston, in his ‘ British Sponges,’ p. 196, de-
scribes the surface of Geodia zetlandica as “‘ dimpled in some
places, with numerous pores placed pretty closely together,
and large enough to be visible with the naked eye,’”’—to
which Dr. Bowerbank (Brit. Sponges, vol. ii. p. 46) objects,
stating that “‘ These orifices are not the pores, but they are the
intermarginal cavities which receive the minute streams from
numerous pores situated immediately above and within a short
distance of them ; the true pores, perforating the dermal mem-
brane, are too minute to be visible without the assistance of
considerable microscopic power.’ Yet, in describing Pachy-
matisma, only seven pages further on (p. 53), the same author
states :—“‘ In the living condition the pores are not visible to
the unassisted eye, but in the dried state they are very dis-
tinctly seen ;”? while at p.110 of vol. i. we read :—‘‘ In Pa-
chymatisma Johnstonia, Bowerbank, a British sponge closely
allied to the genus G'eodia, we find the dermal membrane
perforated by innumerable pores, some as minute as 7>'55 Inch
in diameter, while others attained the size of <4; inch.”
It is not difficult to see that there is some confusion here :
viz. that in the latter quotation ‘ pores” (ranging from +>)>5
to =}; inch in diameter), which certainly cannot be distinctly
seen by the unassisted eye, are stated in the former quotation,
although not visible to “the unassisted eye” in the living
condition, to be ‘‘ very distinctly” so in the dried state.
In this dilemma I prefer the prescriptive meaning given to
the pores by Dr. Johnston, and as such shall continue to apply
12 Mr, H. J. Carter on the Subspherous Sponges.
it, leaving the “ pores” and “ intermarginal cavities” of Dr.
Bowerbank for subsequent explanation.
In my description of the ‘ Ultimate Structure of Spongilla”
(Annals, 1857, vol. xx. p. 21), I have shown that the mem-
brane-like sarcodal expansion in which Dr. Bowerbank’s
“pores” are situated, is composed, like the rest of the animal,
of a congeries of polymorphic sponge-cells, and that thus
these ‘ pores”’ can be extemporized or closed in any part of
this structure that occasion may require. Hence Dr. Bower-
bank’s term of “‘ dermal membrane ”’ does not give an adequate
idea of the real nature of this development. Indeed it would
be out of place, as it is out of character, to expect in the ever-
changing, polymorphic, sarcodal substance of«these primitive
animals anything to which the term ‘ membrane,” as it is
used in anatomical. description for the higher animals, could
be applied; and it was on this account that, in the ‘ Annals’
of 1856, I proposed the term “ pellicula” for the surface of
sarcodal structures, this having previously been suggested by
Mohl for the consolidated surface of material which has no
distinct enclosing membrane, and by Dujardin, who likens
it to the film which occurs over “ flour paste or glue when
allowed to cool in the air.”
T am aware that I have misapplied the term ‘‘ membrane ”’
myself, as regards Spongilla, in the paper to which I have
alluded; but that is no reason why I should repeat it here.
In this paper, also, I have used the term “ apertures’’ for the
extemporized holes in the sarcodal expansion covering the
sponge, and the terms “ afferent’ and “ efferent” for the in-
current and excurrent systems of canals respectively which
are hollowed out in the parenchyma of the body, and I shall
continue to use these terms under the same signification. It
should, however, be remembered that while the efferent canals
form a distinctly arboritic system, the afferent ones appear to
be only passages of intercommunication between the exterior
of the sponge and its areolar or vacuolar cavities, and between
the areolar cavities themselves. For the more ultimate struc-
ture of the parenchyma in Spongilla, see ‘ Annals,’ J. c.
From the ‘ pores” (that is to say, my “ apertures”’) let us
follow Dr. Bowerbank on to his “ intermarginal cavities,”
which, at p. 101, Brit. Spong. vol.i., are thus described :—
“They are in form very like a bell the top of which has been
truncated. They are situated in the inner portion of the der-
mal crust, the large end of the cavity being the distal, and the
smaller end the proximal one. The open mouth or distal end
of the cavity is not immediately beneath the dermal mem-
brane. There is an intervening stratum of membranes and
Mr. H. J. Carter on the Subspherous Sponges. 13
sarcode, of about two-fifths the entire thickness of the dermal
crust, which is permeated by numerous minute canals, which
convey the water inhaled by the pores to the expanded distal
extremity of the cavity. The proximal end is closed by a
stout membranous valvular diaphragm, which the animal has
the power of opening or closing at its pleasure.”
Now, the result of my dissection of this structure, both in
Geodia and Pachymatisma, being somewhat different and more
elaborate, it will be better to describe it in my own words;
and using the term “ pores” in the sense of Dr. Johnston, viz.
for the dimpled depressions of the surface, it is perfectly evi-
dent that they are the orifices of hourglass-shaped openings in
the crust, whose constricted portion is situated about midway
between the external and internal surfaces of the latter, as
proved by their expanded portions on either side requiring to
be scraped off for a better observation of the constricted one.
These hourglass-shaped openings are lined throughout with
a thin film of sarcode, which, in the constricted portion, still
further reduces the diameter of this part by extending itself
across it in the form of a diaphragm provided with a central
opening which is more or less spiral ¢nwards, the outer part
of the diaphragm being always flat. Moreover the spire,
which commences in the aperture of the diaphragm, is some-
times prolonged inwards from it in the form of a spiral tube
of four or five turns, which is again constricted in the centre
and free at the crner extremity—thus dipping as it were into
the inner portion of the hourglass cavity. (Pl. IT. figs. 11, 12.)
Hence the aperture through the diaphragm is more or less
spirally continued on on its imner side.
Inwardly the film of sarcode lining the inner portion of
the hourglass opening of the crust is in continuation with that
lining the areolar or vacuolar cavities situated at the circum-
ference of the parenchyma of the sponge, into one of which
this part of the hourglass opening expands itself; and here,
at the commencement of the expansion, may be observed mi-
nute apertures, which are more or less scattered all over the
surface of the areolar cavity. Some of these appear to be in-
tended to keep up communication between the adjoining areolar
cavities, while others, viz. those on the vault or portion next
the crust, are the terminations of certain canals coming from
the surface of the sponge, to be hereafter mentioned.
Externally the hourglass opening is covered by the dermal
sarcode when this is present, which is not always; for it is
frequently absent in parts, having probably been rubbed off
by the rolling about of the free specimens in the sand at the
bottom of the sea; but whether present or absent, the hour-
14 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Subspherous Sponges.
glass cavity and its diaphragm remain the same in all other
respects.
This dermal sarcode presents a great number of minute
papille scattered more or less over its whole surface, each of
which is terminated by an equally minute aperture, the latter
frequently more in appearance than reality, since a thin film
of sarcode is frequently stretched across it, which, in its turn,
may or may not be provided with a central opening, the pre-
sence or absence of these openings being probably fortuitous—
that is, depending on certain conditions of the sarcode during
the death or desiccation of the sponge. (Pl. I. fig. 10.)
The papillary apertures, averaging a little more or less
than 1-1000th of an inch in diameter, are chiefly congregated,
over the openings of the hourglass-shaped cavities of the crust,
into distinct areze, each of which is more or less convex and
presents an appearance like the top of a pepper-box (that is to
say, a convexity pierced by the papillary apertures), which area
itself is often pursed outwards in the centre also in a papillary
form, with an aperture, in the living state, probably, at its
termination.
Lastly, the papillary apertures which are immediately over
the outer part of the hourglass-shaped opening in the crust
lead directly into this cavity, and those at the circumference
of the area to minute canals which pass down to the vault of
the areolar cavity (into which the inner portion of the hour-
glass-shaped opening expands itself), through the hourglass
opening, but outside its sarcodal lining; while the papillary
apertures of the crust generally (that is, those altogether outside
the are) lead to similar canals which traverse the crust oppo-
site to them, and also open within into the vault of the nearest
areolar cavity. The two latter sets are the openings of the
canals to which I have alluded when describing the inner
portion of the hourglass-shaped opening in the crust.
I have not been able to observe any apertures opening into
either portion of the hourglass cavity through its sarcodal
lining direct; and the minute spicules so abundant in the
dermal sarcode are seldom present in it or in its diaphragmatic
expansion. These spicules in the dermal sarcode are fre-
quently arranged sponge-like around the papillary apertures—
that is to say, after the manner of poles supporting a conical
tent.
Thus it will be seen that there are many points of difference
between Dr. Bowerbank’s and my descriptions, which need
not be particularized, as both the latter are given above, in
eatenso; and should ocular demonstration be desired to confirm
the statements I have made, this may be obtained by vertical
Mr. H. J. Carter on the Subspherous Sponges. 15
and horizontal sections of the crust in fresh, half, and wholly
dried specimens respectively of Pachymatisma Johnstonia,
carefully made and manipulated under the microscope, taking
the precaution never to reflect the film of sarcode which lines
the cavities under examination, as this at once destroys all
certainty respecting the apertures which may or may not exist
in them in their intact state.
One point, however, I would notice, viz. that I have not
had an opportunity of seeing the aperture in the diaphragm
open and close as stated by Dr. Bowerbank, which statement
must have been an inference, as it refers to a specimen of Geodia
Barrett’, which had been “ pickled in strong salt and water ”’
(Phil. Trans. p. 1099).
I have stated that, at this early period of animal develop-
ment, we should not expect to find tissues of the same kind as
those in higher animals, and therefore that Dr. Bowerbank’s
application of the term “membrane ’’ to the dermal sarcode is
not legitimate. But although the whole of the soft substance
of the sponge on drying becomes agglutinated into a homo-
geneous mass like glue, there are frequently many parts of it
in the fresh state, and sometimes in the dried (ex. gr. the cortex
of Tethya lyncurium &c.), where tissue-like structure faintly
appears.
To deny, therefore, the presence of tissues in the sarcode of
the lowest grades of animal life is not theoretically correct,
however much it may be desirable to do so for practical
epee
e cannot see the elements of which water or glass is
composed, but inference leads us to the conclusion that the
one 1s formed of particles of matter in an uncrystallized, and
the other in a crystallized condition. Indeed, if we could see
either in either state, there would be an end of all microscopy.
All we know of things is by comparison, and for practical
perpen we discourse of those characters which are most
amiliar to our senses; still we cannot help seeing in the sar-
code of the sponge a looming of tissues which, like objects
approaching from a distance, become more evident to us in
the coarser, more durable, and more evident developments of
the higher animals.
But, to return to Dr. Bowerbank’s “true pores,” which I
have, in my description of the ‘ Ultimate Structure of Spon-
gilla” (Annals, 1857, vol. xx. p. 21), designated “ apertures”
of the investing membrane. These I discovered in 1856, while
at Bombay (Annals, Sept.1856, vol. xviii. p. 242). ‘The manu-
script was in the hands of the printer in England in the month
of June, and the first part published in the ‘Annals’ on the
16 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Subspherous Sponges.
1st of August. Dr. Bowerbank announced his description of
those apertures at the meeting of the British Association held
on the 30th of August; and on the 1st of September appeared
the other part of my paper, to which my note on the subject
was appended. Thus, had the whole of my paper been pub-
lished at once, I should have preceded Dr. Bowerbank in his
announcement by just one month. Yet Dr. Bowerbank very
frequently alludes to his own announcement both in the ‘ Philo-
sophical Transactions’ and in the ‘ British Sponges,’ of 1862
and 1866 respectively, without ever mentioning my name in
connexion with it; while my figure and particular account of
those apertures, in the ‘ Annals’ of 1857, 1s still, I believe, the
only published illustration of the fact.
If it be assumed that this reticence arose from not reading
my papers, then it must be also assumed that Dr. Bowerbank
did not read what was published on his own special subject,
and, consequently, that what is stated in the ‘ British Sponges’
&e. is mostly upon his own dpse dixit: lacking, therefore,
authority, it lacks confidence.
It matters little who has discovered these apertures, so long
as the fact is made known to the public; but the swum cuique
should be a sacred obligation among individuals ; and nothing
that is put before the public loses by additional evidence.
Globular crystallocds.
This term I use for the little siliceous bodies which, closely
packed together, form a hard crust on Geodia and Pachyma-
t’sma, whether free or in contact with attached pieces of rock
or coral, and also sometimes coat the calibre of the larger ex-
cretory canals of the latter for some distance into the paren-
chyma of the sponge; so that they are evidently accumulated
in those parts which are most likely to come into contact with
foreign objects. They are imbedded in living sarcode of the
sponge, which, acting as a plastic bond of union between them,
thus gains access to the surface, where it forms the dermoid
layer, charged, as before stated, with minute spicules peculiar
to the species.
They are found generally in a more matured form in the
crust, especially in Pachymatisma, than in the body of the
sponge, and, after full development, might be transferred from
the latter to the former probably as easily and as naturally as
an Ameba discharges its undigested material through the
surface of its body, viz. without injury. But being chiefly
confined to the crust in Geodia arabica, while they abound
generally in the body of Pachymatisma Johnstonia, it becomes
Mr. H. J. Carter on the Subspherous Sponges. 17
questionable whether the whole of those formed in the crust
are not entirely developed there.
Be this as it may, they begin their development, and for
some time follow it, very much like the radiated crystalliza-
tion of minerals, viz. first commencing from a central point,
surrounded by radiating hair-like spicules, which finally be-
come consolidated into a globular mass. Here, however, they
leave the spheroidal or mineral for the organic form, and be-
come oval, compressed, provided with an umbilical depression
in the centre, and a surtace of clavate tubercles with more or
less flat or conical heads according to their position.
It is remarkable also that, in the vertical section caused by
fracture, the body is found to have become a clear crystalline
solid globule, still faintly showing the radiated lines of its early
structure extending from the centre to the circumference (PI. I.
fig. 12 a, & Pl. IL. fig. 146). On no occasion have I been able
to detect a central cavity in any stage of their development,
- either in their natural state or after having been exposed to a
red heat, when the axial canals of the long spicules almost
invariably become expanded, and indicate, from their charred
appearance, the presence of more or less animal matter. At
whatever period, even under these circumstances, the crystal-
loid was broken, whether in its early unconsolidated hair-like
or in its subsequent crystalline compact state, the same struc-
ture was continuous from the centre to the circumference ;
there was no appearance of central cavity. Thus, however
much they resemble the seed-like bodies of Spongilla in ap-
pearance, they totally differ from them in their structure and
in their nature. The seed-lke body of Spongilla is incompa-
rably larger, commences as a simple spherical soft cell, look-
ing like a white speck imbedded in the sponge, and finally
becomes coated with its horny or siliceous spicular cortical
coat, as the case may be. (Annals, 1849, ser. 2. vol. iv. pl. 3.
fig 6; and 1859, ser. 3. vol. 11. pl. 8. fig. 3.)
To these globular crystalloids Dr. Bowerbank has applied
the term “ ovaria,” stating that, “In an early stage they
appear as a globular body of fusiform acerate spicula, radiating
from a central point in the mass” (Phil. Trans. 1862; Brit.
Spong. vol. i. p. 141), that in the midst of this central point
“a central cavity is produced in which the incipient ova very
shortly appear,” that the inner and acute terminations of the
radiating spicules form ‘the common inner surface of the
cavity of the ovarium, which is now filled with an opaque
mass of ova,” that ‘a single conical orifice or foramen has
also been produced in a portion of the wall, through which the
ova are destined to be ejected,” and that this takes place by
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. iv. 2
18 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Subspherous Sponges.
the growing again inwards of the spicules, so as to fill up the
cavity to their original “ central point”’ of departure.
It is needless to criticise this deliberately detailed statement,
which is by no means borne out by the figures intended to
illustrate it, whatever the bodies may have been from which
these were taken (Brit. Spong. pl. 22. fig. 327, and Phil.
Trans.). It must have been as difficult, one would think,
to obtain all this information with the microscope as for a
closed séliceous cavity to form itself in the central point of a
radiating mass of spicules, then secrete ova in its interior,
then form a hole for their exit, and then close its cavity up
again so as to become a compact ball of silex, termed by the
author an “ adult” or ‘‘ mature ovarium”’ (!) (Phil. Trans. /.c.
p- 815; Brit. Spong. vol. i. p. 143).
Alluding to these globular crystalloids in Pachymatisma,
Dr. Johnston, with his natural modesty and love of truthful-
ness, observes :—‘ The bodies which Dr. Bowerbank has de-
scribed as the gemmules of its crust are, he writes me, very
much alike in structure to the granules of the Geodia, which
he finds also occur in the body of this sponge as well as in the
crust. This suggests the query whether the cuticular gra-
nules of G'eodia may not be truly gemmules; but I confess
that to me it appears the question should be answered in the
negative. Their position, their siliceous and crystalline cha-
racter, and the mode of their aggregation, seem all opposed
to it, and not less so the difference between them and the
recognized gemmules of some Halichondrie.” (Hist. Brit.
Sponges, p. 202.)
It seems to me that if the globular crystalloids of the crust
of Geodia are to be considered ovaria, the large stellate bodies
of Tethya lyncurium, which are similarly situated and ver
nearly as large (bearing the proportion of 6 to 8), should also
have this distinction ; but these are called by Dr. Bowerbank
“stellate spicula.” (Brit. Spong. vol. 1i. p. 92.)
Again, in a compound tunicated animal, about the size and
shape of half a small pea, which, although probably described
before, I have but just noticed on the branches of the fucoid
Cystosetra granulata, in juxtaposition with Grantia ciliata,
the mass, which is of the whiteness of snow, is chiefly com-
posed of globular crystalloids of carbonate of lime, presenting
conical points all over them, very similar to fig. 13a, Pl. 1.
This crystalloid, when compared with that of Geodia arabica,
bears the proportion in diameter of 3 to 8, but, although much
smaller and composed of carbonate of lime instead of silex,
has exactly the radiated mineralogical structure of the globular
erystalloids of Pachymatisma and G'eodia arabica (fig. 12, a,
Pi.1., andhie. 14, 6):
Mr. H. J. Carter on the Subspherous Sponges. 19
Now, surely, it cannot be said that these globular crystal-
loids, firmly packed in between the cells of an Ascidian and
bound down by its general tough integument, can be the
“ ovaria”’ of this animal.
In short, I can see nothing to account for the opinion that
the globular crystalloids of the crust of Geodia and Pachyma-
tisma (for they are both alike) are “ ovaria,” excepting the
undiscovered presence of any other propagative form in the
species, in which case, if the crystalloids were ovaria, they
would demonstrate the fact directly. These animals do not
propagate by a gemmule here and there, but by tens of thou-
sands; and among all the crystalloids of these two sponges
that I have examined in all stages of development, by fire,
water, fracture, and acid, I have not been able to find one
with anything approaching to a central cavity.
With reference to the Ascidian mentioned, I might also here
cursorily state that it is almost as full of starch-granules, dis-
persed among the crystalloids, as would be an equal amount of
potato-substance. ‘The conical projections of the crystalloids,
too, have very much the appearance of “ dog’s tooth” calespar,
as if structurally developed under a combination of animal
and mineral influence.
Reproductive Elements.
In an illustrated paper on the identity of the seed-like body
of Spongilla and the winter-egg of the freshwater Bryozoa
(Annals, ser. 3. vol. ii. p. 331, 1859), I have endeavoured
to show that the seed-like bodies of Spongilla are so nearly
allied in their structure and nature to the winter-eggs of the
so-called freshwater polypes that, for the present at least, we
must regard them as gemmules. This resemblance was pointed
out long ago by Meyen (ap. Johnston, op. cit. p. 154, footnote),
They are chiefly formed in the oldest part of the structure
(that is, at the base of Spongilla), and are eliminated on the
disintegration of the mass, which is more or less effected by
the winds and the dry weather to which it is exposed after the
water has left it adhering to the sides of the tanks and quarry-
pits in the island of Bombay, where it so abundantly grows.
Subsequently, when the tanks become refilled by “the rains,”
towards the end of July, the eliminated seed-like bodies may
be seen in great numbers, together with the winter-eggs of the
freshwater Bryozoa, floating about on the surface of the water,
where, after having become thoroughly soaked, they begin to
throw out their sponge-like substance, and, adhering to float-
ing objects on, or to rocks beneath, the water, finally grow’
there into new sponges; while the seed-like bodies still re-
2
20 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Subspherous Sponges.
maining at the base of the parent chiefly renovate the old
mass—although such is the nature of the sarcode of Spongilla,
that I think almost any portion of it, on becoming thoroughly
soaked, even after drying for a whole hot season, might, under
advantageous circumstances, grow into a new individual.
With such properties, then, the seed-like body seems to be
more allied to a bud than anything else, and therefore truly to
deserve the name of “‘ gemmule.”
The “ ciliated gemmule,” first described by Dr. Grant, and
latterly more at length by M. N. Lieberkiihn (Annals, 1856,
vol. xvil. p. 407) as the ‘‘ swarm-spore,”’ I have not yet had an
opportunity of seeing either in the fresh- or salt-water sponges.
But of its existence there can be no doubt; and if it had been
particularly sought after, probably it would not have escaped
my observation.
I have, however, as will have been seen, described and
figured bodies in Tethya arabica (fig. 19, Pl. IL.) which seem,
under the circumstances, to be very much allied to the gem-
mules of 7. cranium figured by Dr. Johnston. They are
of all sizes below 15-6000ths of an inch in diameter, and
situated in the fleshy part of the Tethya, chiefly towards its
base, where they, by the aid of a common lens, appear in the
form of little white specks scattered plentifully throughout this
substance. The white speck, however, is not the whole of
this body ; for when it is viewed through the microscope by
transmitted light, it is seen not only to be spherical in itself,
but also to be surrounded by a spherical transparent capsule,
charged with minute bacillary bodies resembling spicules, but
not siliceous, I think, although resisting the solvent power of
nitric acid applied to them on the slide. They may be albu-
minous tubes on which future spicules might be developed,
but are too minute for anything but conjecture of this kind.
On the other hand, the spherical nucleus or opaque white body
itself appears to be composed of albumino-oleaginous matter,
in some instances assuming the form of minute globular masses,
but for the most part so consolidated by first the drying and
then, latterly, the soaking in spirit and water of the sponge
for elementary examination, that hardly more can be satisfac-
torily stated of it than that its contents appear to be albumino-
oleaginous, and that these had a minute globular structure.
Still there are these bodies scattered in great abundance
through the fleshy portion of the sponge; and they seem to get
their capsule developed in proportion to their size, so that at
an early period they would be nothing but white albuminous
spherules.
T have not been able to find anything like them in Tethya
Mr. H. J. Carter on the Subspherous Sponges. 21
lyncurtum or in Pachymatisma Johnstonia; and of course
they could not, if present, be detected in the dried state of
Geodia arabica; nor has any one ever described such bodies
in either of these species; but gemmules have been described
and figured in Tethya cranium by both Johnston and Bower-
bank, and therefore it is interesting to find something of the
kind in the Arabian representative of this sponge.
Two kinds of gemmules, with marked difference, have been
described and figured by Dr. Bowerbank in 7. cranium (Brit.
Spong. pl. 25. figs. 343, 344); but when he adds (vol. ii.
p- 87) that “It is highly probable that this marked difference
im structure is sexual, and, from the more highly developed
condition of the second or largest form, that it is the female [!]
or prolific gemmule,” it can only be hoped that Dr. Bower-
bank’s illustrations are, as usual, much better than his physio-
logical interpretations.
We use the terms “sperm” and “ germ-cell”’ for the male
and female elements of the true or impregnative process of
generation; but the term “ gemmule” stands for ‘‘ bud,” in
which no one has yet detected more than a portion of the
product evolved from a combination of the male and female
elements of generation.
In short, the true or impregnative process of generation in
the Sponge has not yet: been made public, even if ever disco-
vered. Lieberkiihn (/.c.) has stated that he has seen cells
filled with spermatozoa in Spongilla; Prof. Huxley has de-
scribed and illustrated what he considers to be spermatozoa in
an Australian species of Tethya; and I have latterly en-
deavoured to throw more light on the subject by pointing out
the probability that in the freshwater Rhizopoda (e. g. Difflugia)
the nucleus furnishes the sperm-, and some other part of the
body of Difflugia the germ-cells, which produce the new ge-
neration (Annals, 1865, vol. xv. p.172). But how far this
may be correct in itself, or how far it may apply to the gene-
rative process in the sponges, remains still to be discovered,
since at present this process is as much a mystery as the ge-
nerative process was in the stipitate Fungi before Cirsted and
Karsten demonstrated that it took place through the union of
male and female cells: growing out of the mycelium.
I observe; however, that much of the sponge-substance on
the surface of 7. arabica is charged with minute nucleated cells
about 2-6000ths of an inch in diameter, frequently grouped to-
gether, as if the group had been developed in one cell—and that
the substance so charged is especially supported on the rays of
the trifid spicule, as shown in fig. 20, Pl. II. Neither could
T help being struck with their resemblance to similar nucleated
22 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Subspherous Sponges.
cells which I have found and described in the chambers of
Operculina arabica, and which in some specimens of this test
in my possession may be seen (for they appear to be the same)
on their way out from the introseptal canals, or at the orifices
of holes in the spire, covered with a coating of white calcareous
matter. What the real nature of those supported on the trifid
spicules of Tethya arabica may be I must leave future ob-
servation to determine.
Spicules.
In describing the spicules, it is very desirable to state
whether they are straight or curved, as they maintain this
characteristic feature throughout in the species which I have
described, whatever their other forms may be. In vain we
look for this in the specimens of “ specific description ”’ pro-
posed by Dr. Bowerbank (Phil. Trans. 1862, p. 1132) for
‘adoption by naturalists,” and, of course, followed in his in-
dividual descriptions.
Now in Tethya arabica and Tethya lyncurtum, as may be
observed by the illustrations &c., they are all straight, whereas
in Geodia arabica and Pachymatisma Johnstonia they are all
curved, however varied in other respects.
When we look for a figure of the spiculum of the latter in
Dr. Bowerbank’s illustration of Pachymatisma (Phil. Trans.
1862, pl. 72. fig. 6, and Brit. Spong. fig. 353), we find the spi-
cules there not only almost all straight, but for the most part
also pointed at each end, instead of being all curved in the
shaft and round or inflated at the ends; so that one is tempted
to doubt if it be a figure of this sponge.
Again, when we turn to the two figures of Geodia Barretti
in the Phil. Trans. (pl. 72. fig. 5, and pl. 32. fig. 2), the latter
of which is repeated in the Brit. Spong. fig. 354, we find fig. 2
three times as large as fig. 5, and the “radii of the patento-
ternate’’ spicules in fig. 301 (Brit. Spong.) still larger; yet
they are all set down as “ x50 linear.” Which is the true
representation? Generally speaking, these illustrations are
beautifully executed; but of their truthfulness are we to say,
after having only examined one or two of them, ex uno disce
omnes ?
Had Dr. Bowerbank drawn. these figures himself, these
mistakes could hardly have occurred; neither ought they to
have come before the public so untruthful under any circum-
stances.
But the plan throughout pursued by Dr. Bowerbank, in his
description of the Spongiadee,can never suffice for the subject.
Mere magnified views of the elementary parts alone of objects
Mr. H. J. Carter on the Subspherous Sponges. 23
described in new terms, for the most part borrowed from the
Greek, instead of from the language of the country, which
would supply nearly all that is necessary, must ever prove
more or less enigmatical, and therefore correspondingly tire-
‘some and impracticable.
We shall never get a satisfactory idea of the Spongiade
until the species have been simply but truthfully figured side
by side with their elementary parts, and as simply described.
Association, with both, will then supply what thelatter certainly
fails to do separately.
It was with this view that I sent home to Dr. Bowerbank
nearly all the collection I made on the south-east coast of
Arabia, thinking that he was about to accomplish this great
work, which requires a master mind of no ordinary ability to
produce, and the confidence of a bold publisher to print. But
my collection, with many others, are locked up in Dr. Bower-
bank’s El Dorado, which, like his papers published successively
by the Royal and Ray Societies, contain many good things, if
one could only get at them.
Classification.
A glance at my figures will show that Tethya lyneuriwn
differs so much from 7. arabica that it cannot rightly be
placed in the same genus with the latter; while 7. arabica
is so nearly allied to 7. cranium that these two also must of
necessity come together. Hence Dr. J. E. Gray, in his ar-
rangement (Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. May 9, 1867), has very
properly made a separate genus, under the name “ Donatia,”
for T. lyncurtum. His third or ‘‘ club-shaped”’ spicule is but
a modification of the subulate or awl-shaped form common to
the species.
Again, for sponges of the type of Tethya cranium he has
assigned the term “‘ Tethya;’’ and here my 7. arabica must of
course come. Thus Donatia and Tethya form the first genera
respectively of his first and second divisions of the Tethyade.
Dr. Bowerbank places both under the genus Tethya.
Under Dr. Gray’s Tethya should also come my T. dacty-
loidea, described and figured in the ‘ Annals’ for January last
(p. 15), which, I regret to state, lacks minute detail, from my
having parted with the specimen.
The genus Pachymatisma naturally appears first in Dr.Gray’s
family of Geodiade ; and my G*. arabica, being closely allied
to G. zetlandica, under his third genus, viz. that termed
“ Cydonium.”’
With Dr. Gray’s love for the subject, together with his great
24 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Subspherous Sponges.
ability, long experience, and the advantages afforded by the
British Museum for reference both to specimens and publica-
tions, we could not have a better authority in point of classi-
fication ; but, of course, this must depend very much upon the
assertions of others, which, if incorrect, reflect dishonour upon
those with whom they originated, and not upon the author of
the classification.
In offering the few remarks above mentioned, I do not pre-
tend to comment on the subject generally ; and should it here-
after be found that my Tethya arabica and Greodia arabica are
one and the same respectively with the 7. cranium and G@.
zetlandica of our own shores, which, on more careful examina-
tion of the latter, I do not think unlikely to be the case, it will
be so far fortunate that the species have been thus reduced,
and my names obliterated, feeling as I do conscious of the
but too melancholy conclusion expressed by Raspail, at the
end of the preface to his ‘ Dict. de Termes des Sciences Natu-
relles,’ that ‘la science ne marche que par la nouveauté des
faits ; et la nouveauté des mots, ou la rend stationnaire ou bien
la fait rétrograder.”
EXPLANATION OF PLATES I. & II.
N.B. All the figures in these plates are more or less diagrammatic, for
convenience of illustration, except the drawings of the four Sponges them-
selves, which are delineated after nature.
The measurements (of course, approximate) are given in units indi-
cating so many 1800ths of an inch, or in fractions of these, unless other-
wise stated, by which the relative proportions in size of the objects can
be seen directly, and the real ones readily ascertained by computation, if
desired.
PLATE I.
Fig. 1. Tethya arabica, n. sp., natural size, showing the hispid state of
the surface and three large vents.
Fig. 2. The same, section to show internal structure: a, matted sponge-
substance of surface supported on the distal portions of four
kinds of spicules terminating respectively in single-pointed,
bifid and trifid extended, and trifid recurved extremities ;
b, sponge-substance of body supported on bundles of spicules
overlapping each other, which radiate from the centre to the
circumference, and present between them the truncated canals
of the efferent or excretory system; c, nucleus, consisting of
densely matted sponge-fibre interwoven with intercrossing
spicules,
Fig. 3. The same, portion of surface magnified, showing reticular arrange-
ment of the lines of spicules with pores in the interstices. Seen
only in the fresh or undried state.
Fig. 4. The same, forms of the distal extremities of the spicules of the
surface, respectively, all smooth and straight: a, stout, fusi-
form, pointed at both ends, 250 long by 23 broad (that is,
Mr. H. J. Carter on the Subspherous Sponges. 25
250-1800ths long by 23-1800ths of an inch broad) ; occasionally
pointed only at the distal and rounded at the other end, awl-
shaped: 6, d, slender, bifid and trifid respectively ; shaft pointed,
460 long by 1 broad; rays 6 long by 3 broad, all pointed:
e, slender, trifid recurved, shaft pointed, 820 long by # broad ;
rays 6 long by 3 broad, all pointed.
Fig. 5. The same, characteristic spicule of the body; straight, smooth,
fusiform, pointed at each end, 250 long by 23 broad: a, occa-
sional spicule, fusiform awl-shaped, round at one extremity,
pointed at the other, or rounded more or less at both ends.
These two spicules also enter into the composition of the crust.
Fig. 6. The same; very minute spicules and siliceous globules, most nu-
merous in the matted structure of the crust ; the former like bits
of thread, sigmoid and semicircular respectively, more or less
contorted; largest sigmoid form 1-2000th inch long by 1-24000th
inch broad ; siliceous globule 1-6000th inch in diameter.
Fig. 7. The same; occasional spicules somewhat larger than the last,
found in the sarcode generally : a, shaft semielliptical, incurved
and pointed hook-like at the extremities, more or less contorted ;
largest 10-6000ths inch long: 6, direct, half-lateral, and lateral
views respectively of a similar but more complicated hooked
form ; shaft consisting of three curves, of which the central is
the largest; extremities trifid, rays expanded and webbed toge-
ther like a waterfowl’s foot, incurved in the opposite direction
to the external curvatures of the shaft, which are the reverse of
the central one; 6-6000ths inch long.
The latter is an intricate form, but easily understood by
drawing the curves &c. in accordance with the description.
Fig. 8. The same, real lengths of the spicules respectively: a, bifid and
trifid extended; 4, trifid recurved ; c, body-spicule. (See figs.
4 and 5 respectively.
Fig. 19 (Pl. II.). The same, form of gemmule(?), showing nuclear,
opaque, or white portion, enclosed in a transparent capsule
charged with extremely minute, bacillary, pointed, spiculiform
bodies ; 4-1800ths inch in diameter; bacillary body 1-6000th
inch long.
Fig. 20 (Pl. 11.). The same, trifid spicule of surface, bearing sponge-
substance charged with nucleolated cells; largest cells about
1-5000th inch in diameter,
Fig. 9. Geodia (Cydonium, Gray) arabica, n.sp. (Pl. I.), natural size ;
dried specimen, found on the sea-shore, probably after having
been much exposed to friction in the waves, as no dermal sar-
code remained upon it; showing surface wncovered by dermal
sarcode, dimpled over with little pores, and here and there
larger ones, probably the vents (oscules) or terminations of the
efferent canals. All much smaller than during the living state,
the reduction in size having been produced by contraction in
drying.
Fig. 10. The same, section to show internal structure (taken from an-
other specimen): a, crust composed of globular crystalloids,
covered with dermal sarcode charged with minute spicules;
b, zone of trifid spicules of different forms supporting the crust ;
¢c, sponge-substance of the body supported on stout curved fusi-
form spicules arranged more or less in a direction radiating from
the centre, presenting the truncated canals of the efferent or
excretory system; d, central portion more compact than the
rest.
26
Fig. 11.
Fig. 12.
Fig. 13.
Fig. 15.
Fig. 16.
Mr. H. J. Carter on the Subspherous Sponges.
The same, portion of surface more magnified: a, part of crust,
showing pores uncovered by dermal sarcode ; 6, portion covered
with dermal sarcode charged with minute, smooth, curved fusi-
form spicules, pointed at each end; c, form of dermal spicule
more magnified, size 18 to 25 long by 3 broad. (To compare in
size with body-spicule (fig. 15), which is ten times as long.)
For more details of the dermal sarcode and pores, see illustra-
tions of Pachymatisma Johnstonia, P1. II.
The same, globular crystalloid of the crust, oval obtuse, com-
pressed in the axis of the umbilicated central depression : a, ver-
tical section, showing :—the crystalline nature of the body, tra-
versed by faint lines radiating from the centre; the umbilicated
depression below ; also the margin, formed of the clavate tuber-
cles of the surface. Size, 8 long by 7 broad and 5 thick.
For the development and further illustration of this body,
see that of Pachymatisma, P\. II.
The same, minute stellate crystalloid with which the structure
generally is more or less charged, particularly towards the cir-
cumference, 1 to 6-6000ths inch in diameter: a, not unfrequent
form, 3 to 11-6000ths inch in diameter.
. The same, forms of distal ends of the spicules of the zone (fig.
106) which supports the crust, respectively; all smooth and
pointed ; proportionally magnified: a, robust, triradiate; shaft
straight, 265 long by 7 broad; rays more or less slightly undu-
lated, 15 long by 6 broad: 6, end view of head, to show tri-
radiate form, shaft truncated : ¢, trifid extended, less robust;
shaft straight, 420 long by 3 broad; ray 5 long by 1 broad:
d, trifid recurved, shaft much the same as the last, straight,
370 long by 2 broad; ray 5 long by 1 broad (these spicules are
arranged in groups; and there are about five to eight of the more
slender forms, c and d, to one of the robust, a): ee, occasional
forms.
The same, characteristic spicule of the body; stout, curved,
smooth, fusiform, pointed at each end; size 205 long by 4 broad.
The same, real lengths of the spicules respectively: a, trifid ex-
tended ; 6, trifid recurved; ¢, triradiate; d, body-spicules. (See
figs. 14 and 15 respectively.)
Pirate II,
Fig. 1. Tethya (Donatia, Gray) lyncurium, Lam., natural size: a, view of
exterior, showing lobate or warted surface; 6, vertical section,
showing the cortical portion pierced by the expanded bundles of _
spicules, which, radiating from the centre or nucleus, terminate
by broken extremities on the surface.
Fig. 2. The same, portion of the surface more magnified, showing by the
dotted poits the broken ends of the spicules as they traverse
the wart-like lobes, and the depressions in the interangular
spaces where the pores and vents are respectively situated.
Fig. 3. The same, vertical section, more magnified, showing :—a, cortical
portion formed of sponge-fibre horizontally interwoven with the
expanded ends of the bundles of spicules radiating from the
centre—the whole so dense as to assume the appearance and
consistence of cartilage ; 6, sponge-substance of the body sup-
ported on the radiating bundles of spicules, which overlap each
other and present between them the truncated canals of the
Fig. 4.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 6.
Fig. 7.
Fig. 8.
Fig. 9.
Mr. H. J. Carter on the Subspherous Sponges. 27
efferent or excretory system; ¢c, nucleus, consisting of densely
interwoven sponge-fibre and spicules, resembling the cortical
portion in appearance and composition.
The same, characteristic spicule of the sponge generally ; straight,
smooth, more or less fusiform, awl-shaped; seldom if ever
pointed at both ends, although frequently much attenuated ;
shorter and more abruptly terminated on one side than on the
other, the enlarged end round, sometimes inflated. Size, 70 to
120 long by 3 to 2 broad: a, largest, real length. *
The distal ends of those spicules which, projecting beyond the
cortical portion, appear to be always broken off, probably do not
differ from the one just described, as no other form of long spi-
cule than this is to be found in any other part of the sponge.
The same, large stellate crystalloid, more or less scattered through-
out the structure, but most numerous at the point of contact
between the cortical and body portions; rays more or less in
number, often undulated, and sometimes bifid at the extremities.
Total diameter 1 to 6; central globule or body of largest 2 in
diameter; ray 2 long; body and rays all smooth, clear, and
crystalline.
The same, minute stellate crystalloid, relatively magnified, to
compare with the foregoing; 2 to 4-G000ths inch in diameter :
a, more magnified view; b, ray still more. magnified, to show its
rough spinous surface.
Pachymatisma Johnstonia, Bowerbank (Pl. II.), natural size of
specimen: a, view of the exterior, showing pores and large
vents; 6, section through the centre, showing thickness of crust
and cut portions of the efferent or excretory system of canals.
Structure amorphous, massive; centre undistinguishable.
The same, section of interior, more magnified, to show the cha-
racter of the efferent system of canals.
The same, portion of surface more magnified: a, part of crust
uncovered by dermal sarcode, showing the pores only; pores
1-24th inch in diameter and about 1-12th inch apart, but slightly
variable both in size and proximity: 6, portion covered with
dermal sarcode, charged with the minute, rough, fusiform spi-
cules peculiar to the species; pores beneath faintly, ifat all, seen
in the fresh state.
Fig. 10. The same, portion of the surface covered by the dermal sarcode,
ereatly magnified, showing the papillary apertures of the afferent
or incurrent canals dispersed over it generally, but more parti-
cularly over the area covering the pore, which is situated in the
centre, averaging about 1-32nd part of an inch in diameter;
papillary aperture about 1-900th inch in diameter, but slightly
variable in size.
Fig. 11. The same, pore greatly magnified, surrounded by the globular
erystalloids of the crust, showing :—a, the diaphragmatic exten-
sion of the sarcodal lining, and 4, its central opening ; the former
very variable, 10 to 25 in diameter, and the latter more constant,
averaging 6 in diameter.
Fig. 12. The same, vertical section of pore, showing hourglass-shaped
cavity covered in externally with dermal sarcode and opening
below into one of the areolar cavities at the circumference of
the sponge: a, external chamber of hourglass cavity; 6, internal
chamber, opening into areolar cavity; c, dermal sarcode sur-
mounted by papillary apertures; d, diaphragm of pore ; e, spiral
opening in the same, more or less extended, but in this instance
28 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Subspherous Sponges.
carried inwards for four or five coils in a tubular form, con-
stricted in the middle.
Fig. 18. The same, magnified view of dermal spicule, 2 to 5-6000ths
long by 1-6000th inch broad: a, more magnified view, to show
rough, subspinous or tuberculous character.
Fig. 14. The same: a, globular crystalloid of the crust, elliptical, com-
pressed in the direction of the axis of the umbilicated depres-
sion in the centre: }, vertical fracture, showing the clear crys-
talline nature of the body, traversed by faint lines radiating from
the centre, the umbilicated depression below, also the margin
formed of the clavate tubercles of the surface; size 8 long by
4 broad and 6 thick: c, early form, showing hairlike appearance
of spicules radiating from the centre; size 2-6000ths inch in
diameter : d, more advanced stage, portion of surface to show the
conical form assumed by the ends of the now half-coherent,
hairlike, radiating spicules: e, fully developed state, portion of
surface to show its star-like facetted form.
Fig. 15. The same, minate stellate spicule, more or less scattered through-
out the whole structure; rays variable in number, subspinous ;
total diameter of largest forms 12-6000ths inch; central globule
1 to 2-6000ths inch in diameter; ray 6 to 12-6000ths inch
long: a, more magnified view of the ray, to show its spinous
character.
Fg. 16. The same, triradiate spicule supporting the crust, shaft and rays
all pointed: a, terminal view of same, with shaft truncated ;
b, another form, with rays and shaft all rounded or inflated at
extremities. This spicule in Pachymatisma is subject to great
variation in every respect.
Fig. 17. The same, characteristic spicules of the body: a, more slender
form; 6, real length. These are all curved, smooth, more or
less cylindrical or fusiform, with round or inflated extremities,
seldom if ever pointed; longest about 85 by 2. They are also
subject to great variation based upon the form given.
Fig. 18. The same, extreme varieties of spicules : a, early stage of globular
crystalloid, with spicule projecting from umbilicated depression;
b, ene form of long spicule ; c, club-shaped form; d, hour-
glass form.
For the description of figs. 19 and 20, see Explanation to Pl. I.
[I could have wished that the lines of the spicules in figs.
15 and 17 of Plates I. and II. respectively had been more
even. But J am content; for the hand which did them is
now paralysed in death, although others, without this expla-
nation, might be dissatisfied, from want of association. They
were the last efforts of the long and useful career of one who
has heretofore etched my drawings, as well as, probably, those
of many others, with an ability and accuracy which, as in
the present instance, with the exceptions mentioned, left no-
thing to be reasonably desired. |
On an Alciopid, a Parasite of Cydippe densa. 29
II.—Note on an Alciopid, a Parasite of Cydippe densa,
Forskal. By Epwarp REeNnf& CLApAREDE, Professor of
Comparative Anatomy in the Academy of Geneva, and
Pau PANceri, Professor of Comparative Anatomy in the
Royal University of Naples*.
[Plate V.]
THE authors, having made in the month of March last obser-
vations on the same subject, which agree and are mutually
complementary, have determined to publish them in conjunc-
tion, and prior to other works, in order to make known sooner
the first and perhaps the only observations that have been
made on the metamorphosis of the AlciopeT, and to illustrate
this case of endoparasitism, singular among the Annelidaf.
Among the many deep-sea animals which the currents
bring into the Gulf of Naples, and which delight as well the
resident naturalists as those who resort to these shores from
distant countries, one of the numerous and elegant forms
of the Beroids is a Pleurobranch, corresponding, as we think,
to the Cydippe densa of Forskal, better described by Gegen-
baur under the more recent name of C. hormiphora§. In
some individuals of this species, obtained at different periods,
there were visible within the gelatinous mass, and also towards
the outer surface of the body, some white corpuscles, which at
first sight we took for those larve of Distoma, with the tail
armed, which have been described by G. Miiller || as Cercaria
setifera, and subsequently by Graeffe as C. thawmantiatis,
* Translated and kindly communicated by A. H. Haliday, A.M., from
the ‘Memorie della Societa Italiana di Scienze naturali,’ tomo iii. No. 4.
Milan, 1867.
+ An Alciope larva seems to have been seen by Leuckart (Arch. f.
Naturg. xxi. 1855); but, to judge from the figure, we are inclined to
think it may have been a young animal in the act of reproducing the
posterior extremity of the body.
¢ As ectoparasitic or sedentary Annelida may be considered (besides a
great number of Hirudinea) the Stylaria and the Chetogaster of Lym-
neus and other Naids, as also the Amphinomid discovered by Fritz Muller
in the cavity of the shell of Lepas anatifera, and referred to by him in his
essay ‘Fiir Darwin,’ 1864, pp. 29, 80 ; to which we have now to add the
Myzostomum of Comatula, according to what Mecznikow has published
concerning its development and its position among the Annelida (Zeitschr.
f. wissensch. Zoologie, Bd. xvi. 1866).
§ Studien tb. Organisat. u. Systematik der Ctenophoren (Arch. f.
Naturg. Bd. xxii. 1856). [= Cydippe plumosa, Sars,= Hormiphora plu-
mosa, Agassiz.—Note by TR.
|| Ueber eine eigenth. Wurmlarve (Arch. f. Anatomie u. Physiologie,
1850, p..497).
4] Beobacht. iib. Radiat. u. Wiirmer in Nizza (Denkschr. der Schweiz.
Naturf. Gesellschaft, Bd. xvii. 1858).
For further details about these larve, see Claparéde, Beobacht. ib.
30 Professors Claparéde and Panceri on an Alciopid,
and which commonly, and sometimes in multitudes, inhabit
the external surface of nearly all the Acalephe of the ocean
and the Mediterranean; but the coexistence of others of a
larger size, and the presence of minute Annelida in the sto-
mach, have led us, with the help of direct observations, to the
conviction that all these parasites are larvee of Annelida, which
the development and pigment of the eyes early indicated to
belong to the family of the Alciopids.
The smallest of these larvee, which we will call the first
stage, and which scarcely attain the length of 1 millim., have
the head not yet distinct from the rest of the body, and with-
out any vestige of appendages. The eyes are not protuberant,
but represented by a small crystalline lens, nearly spherical,
posterior to which and in the interior is seen a layer of pig-
ment. The body, elongated and with scattered pigmentary
spots, has no indication of the division into segments, except
in the presence of three pairs of conical feet, having each two
short projecting sete: vibratory cilia were observed in two
tracts—from the mouth to the middle of the abdominal surface,
and again in the extreme posterior region. The opening of
the mouth has the form of a simple fissure, to which succeeds
a muscular tube, then a spacious gastric sac, open behind.
In the larve which we call the second stage, the head
acquires a greater development; the eyes become prominent,
and, in addition to the crystalline and the layer of pigment,
show a ring which defines their outline. The oral segment has
now become apparent, furnished with two rudimentary appen-
dages ; and the tube now becomes gradually exsertile from
the mouth. The body is more elongated, has lost the cilia,
and, besides the three rings furnished with setigerous feet,
shows the outlines of the consecutive segments.
The larve in the third stage attain the length of 2-3 millims.;
and the largest of them have four tubercles, which are the
first vestiges of the antenne. The eye is further increased in
volume, and the choroid is gradually acquiring pigment in its
posterior segment. The other feet, additional to the three
primitive pairs, become furnished with sete, and are gradually
developed, so that sixteen segments or more may now be
counted, the anterior ones possessing prominences and pig-
mentary spots, representing respectively the cirrus and the
tubercles of the dorsal region in its more advanced stage.
Anatomie u. Entwicklung wirbelloser Thiere an der Kiiste von Nor-
mandie, 1863, p. 12, and the investigations on the same subject by Prof.
A. Costa (Rendiconto d. R. Accad. d. Se. Fisiche e Matematiche di Napoli.
fase. 4, Aprile 1864).
a Parasite of Cydippe densa. 31
The cirri of the feet and the spots become more conspicuous
in the next or fourth stage, in which the antenne are better
marked, the eyes enlarged, the number of segments increased
to nineteen, and the body attains the length of 4 millims.
But it is in the fifth stage that the structure of the eyes is
best seen, as they now appear surrounded by several layers of
cells, the nuclei of which are easily rendered visible by means
of an ammoniacal solution of carmine, and which are probably
of nervous matter, composing as they do that layer external
to the choroid which exists, as is known, in the adult Alciope
as well as in many Mollusca, the Cephalopoda and Heteropoda
for instance, in which the gangliary portion of the retina is
seen posterior to the choroid. It is in this stage (distinguished
further by the appearance of the capillary sete) that we were
enabled to distinguish the dorsal vessel with the perfectly
transparent blood.
In the sixth stage, the four antenne are still more produced,
and the choroid appears completely lined with pigment, and
composed of grains disposed in perfectly regular series. Be-
sides the nervous layer composed of cells of which we have
spoken, another layer is visible, exterior to this, surrounding
the entire bulb, which, though composed of cells resembling
those of the nervous matter, is analogically to be considered
a sclerotic. The crystalline is evidently enlarged, and beyond
the nucleus presents the appearance of stratification. The
larve: in this stage measure 5 millims. in length, and have
from twenty to thirty segments. The feet of the first three
pairs, which evidently correspond to the original feet of the
larva in its first stage, appear smaller than the rest, and con-
sist of a stump, deprived of the sete and sheathing fine acicular
darts, and of two cirri, the dorsal one conical, the ventral short
and broader in proportion. The other feet have become more
developed; they are conical, with a dorsal cirrus in the form
of a pedunculated oval plate, and a smaller ventral cirrus, be-
sides a dorsal tubercle with scattered pigment-cells, the rami-
fications of which are interlaced in an intricate manner. The
seta are of two sorts,—the first numerous, capillary, simple,
flexible ; the others larger, one of them projecting a little from
the foot, with a surface armed with very delicate spinules,
while the other, of similar structure, remains concealed in the
interior of the foot, like a dart with the point only a little ex-
serted*.
* Sete and a surface beset with very minute spines have been described
by one of the authors in a larva of a Dorsibranch, as yet undetermined,
which has some points of analogy to the one in question (Claparéde,
Beobacht. t. vi. p. 77).
32 Professors Claparéde and Panceri on an Alciopid,
The larvee of the most advanced stage which we have ob-
served are a centimetre long, with about thirty-six segments.
The upper antenne are elongated and somewhat porrected,
while the lower ones retain the form of tubercles. ‘The eyes,
now more amply developed, have the form which they exhibit
in the adult Alcéope, and, in conjunction with the lobes of the
head, have the faculty of executing movements which change
the direction of their axis. Except the hindmost pairs, which
still want them, the feet are furnished with sete, as has been
stated already, and as is shown in the figures.
In all these larvee, besides the pigmentary spots of the dorsal
tubercles, there are also pigment-cells, more or less dark in
colour, with fine ramifications, in the tegument of the head and
of the dorsal portion of the segments; but these have not,
except in the first stage of the larve, the regular arrangement
usual in the larve of other Annelida.
The larve from 5 to 10 millims. long we have found in the
stomach of the Cydippe; and we should have been inclined
to consider them to have been accidentally introduced, or as
the food of the Cydippe, if we had not obtained the others,
of smaller size, from the external tissues of the animal. This
seems to establish that they are parasites, inhabiting probably
the gastrovascular canals. Hence it seems to us a reasonable
supposition that the eggs, detached from the dorsal tubercles
of the mother, to which they appear constantly to adhere for a
certain period in the Alciope, as is proved to be the case with
other Annelida, are then swallowed by the Cydippe, and pass,
along with the serochyme, by means of the four principal
canals which branch off from the bottom of the stomach, into
the pleural canals, and from them into the smaller ones,
whence, as the growth of the larva goes on, they find their
way back into the larger canals and the stomach, out of which
they may easily escape or be expelled. Yet another hypothesis
may be considered—that the eggs are developed at large in
the water, and that the swimming larva penetrates into the
Cydippe—on which supposition the cilia may be regarded as
the imstruments of locomotion. But, in either case equally,
whether the eggs are hatched in the body of the Cydippe or
out of this, as the cilia of the hexapod larve are few and soon
disappear entirely, both these circumstances attest the parasitic
habits of the larve. The prolonged existence of these organs
in swimming larve, and their persistence in some parts of a
great number of adult Annelida, and even of some adult ani-
mals of the same family to which our larve belong, corrobo-
rate the importance of this character, which is intimately
related to the particular mode of life which we have described.
a Parasite of Cydippe densa. 33
No doubt it will have seemed strange to the readers of the
title of this Note that deep-sea Annelida, with eyes so well
developed and with natatory organs, should pass through a
stage as parasites, which might have been more readily ad-
mitted in the case of Annelida shapeless, blind, and degraded;
and yet it seems to us very evident that the larvee we have
described, and perhaps those of other Alciopids also, present
this condition of temporary endoparasitism for this very end,
that the eyes and feet, under such circumstances, may have
time and the conditions favourable to their development and
growth.
In conclusion, it may be demanded to what form of the
Alciopids these larve are to be referred. In the most advanced
stage to which we have traced them, they cannot be assigned
to any known genus: but whether the tentacles of the oral
segment continue short or are lengthened in the progress of
development, we shall have a new genus, characterized prin-
cipally by the four antenne, the two tentacles of the oral seg-
ment, and by the difference of structure of the first three pairs
of feet from the rest, as well as by other characters of generic
value, which may be gathered from the description we have
given. The subjects being larve, and not adult animals, we
cannot at present give a complete and positive character ;
nevertheless, being convinced that the genus is new, we pro-
pose to distinguish our Annelid,by the name of Alciopina pa-
rasitica.
Subsequently to these studies of ours, Herr Buchholtz, of the
University of Greifswald, having observed, at Naples also, in
the month of May, similar larve in the same Cydippe, on
collating these with ours, has found that they are of the same
genus, but differ as to the number of the large sete, which are
four instead of two, and not muricated, accompanied by a
dart. These observations, while they confirm our suspicion
that there are other kinds of Alciopids which resemble that
described by us in the mode of life at first, present a new
incitement to further investigations of the subject.
EXPLANATION OF PLATE V.
Fig. 1. Cydippe densa, Forskal, with parasitic larvee inside. The stomach
and principal gastrovascular canals injected.
Figs. 2, 3, 4. Ciliated larve, first stage. Natural length 1 millim.
Fig. 5. Larve, second stage; the cilia gone.
Figs. 6, 7. Larve, third stage, in which the antenne begin to appear.and
the feet acquire greater development. Nat. length 2-3 millims,
Fig. 8. Larya, fourth stage, with the development of the antenne, eyes,
and feet more advanced. Nat. length 4 millims.
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. iv. 3
34 Prof. F. M‘Coy on a new Volute.
Fig. 9, Larva, fifth stage; the dorsal vessel and the flexible sete have
made their appearance.
Fig. 10. Larva, sixth stage : the three original pairs of larval feet have lost _
the setee ; the others are furnished with two sorts of setve. Nat.
length 5 millims.
Fig. 11, Larva, seventh stage, in which the upper pair of antenn# are
more developed. Nat. length 10 millims, The tube is repre-
sented in the act of emerging.
Fig. 12. Eye of larva in sixth stage: a, swelling of the cephalic ganglion ;
b, gangliary layer of the retina; c, choroid; d, crystalline;
e, sclerotic.
Fig. 13. Fragment of the choroid.
Fxg. 14. Foot of larva in the sixth and seventh stages: a, dorsal cirrus ;
b, abdominal cirrus; ¢, foot proper; d, dorsal tubercle.
Fig. 15. Setz: a, the larger spinulous ones; 0, the simple flexible ones,
III.—On a new Volute. By Frepertck M‘Coy, Professor
of Natural Science in the University of Melbourne.
[Plate III. figs. 1 & 2.]
Voluta (Amoria) canaliculata (M‘Coy).
Sp. Ch. Elongate-ovate; spire short, of 44 whorls, distinctly
channelled at the suture; pillar with four strong, subequal,
oblique plaits, the most posterior continued into ridge of
anterior thickened belt. Colour whitish (faded specimen),
with, on body-whorl, five spiral rows of longitudinally
elongate-oblong tawny spots, one row at the suture. Total
length 1 inch 83 lines, proportional length of aperture 5%9,,
greatest width 5°°,.
This Volute differs from the V. (Amoria) maculata, which
it most nearly resembles in shape and colouring, by the spots
being more numerous and shorter, by the plaits of the pillar
being oblique, by the width being greater and the greatest
width being nearer the suture, and by the suture being dis-
tinctly canaliculated.
I obtained the only specimen I have seen of this species,
for the National Museum at Melbourne, from Mr. R. Thatcher,
who had observed the fact of its being specifically distinct
from the V. (A.) maculata.
Locality. Port Denison. |
EXPLANATION OF PLATE III.
Figs, 1 & 2. Voluta canaliculata, back and front views, natural size.
Mr. R. M‘Lachlan on Chauliodes and zts Allies. 35
IV,— Considerations on the Neuropterous Genus Chauliodes
and its Allies; with Notes and Descriptions. By R.
M‘Lacutan, F.L.S.
IT is by no means an axiom in natural history that the larger
the object the easier it is to comprehend its affinities; and the
insects on which I am now about to make some observations
exemplify this in a striking degree. The genera Chauliodes
and Corydalis contain some of the largest Neuropterous spe-
cies; yet no two genera, perhaps, show less well-marked lines of
demarcation or more instability of structure in organs that are
generally looked upon as giving tolerably good means for
generic diagnosis. It may be of service, therefore, if I pro-
pound my views on this subject, deduced from a consideration
of the much-increased materials that have now accumulated.
For Corydalis the enormously elongated mandibles of the male
of most species, as exemplified in C. cornuta, and for Chau-
liodes the strongly pectinated antenne and equal mandibles,
as shown in the typical C. pectinicornis, at one time seemed
enough for all generic purposes; but an increased know-
ledge of forms has shown these grounds to be thoroughly
insufficient. Thus in Corydalis we find such species as C.
Hecate (which cannot be generically separated from C. cornuta
without organizing a system of splitting that would retard
rather than advance the science) with equally short mandibles
in both sexes; and in Chauliodes the structure of the male
antenne is subject to infinite specific variation, these organs
being pectinate, foliate, serrate, or simple, according to the
species. Looking, therefore, for more stable characters, I re-
gard the presence of few or many transverse veinlets in the
wings as the most important character, combined with the
presence or absence of a sharp tooth at the lower angles of the
head, though, as will be shown, this latter is subject to much
modification.
In 1832,:G. R.:Gray, in Griffith’s edition of Cuvier, pro-
posed the term Hermes for an insect with simple male antenne,
but which can scarcely be considered other than a Chauliodes.
In 1842, Rambur, in his ‘ Histoire des Névroptéres’ (Suites a
Buffon), separated four species under a genus which he called
Neuromus ; two of these are closely allied to Corydalis, the
others can be regarded as only forms of Chauliodes, one of
them being identical with Gray’s type of Hermes. However,
I propose to adopt Rambur’s genus for his two most typical
species and for allies since discovered. Their relationship to
Corydalis is very close, yet they have a facies that separates
them therefrom, and the tooth at the hinder angles of the head
3%
36 Mr. R. M‘Lachlan on the Neuropterous Genus
vanishes in some species, showing a good transition between
Corydalis and Chauliodes, the wings having the numerous
transverse nervules of the former. Authors have variously
adopted these several terms. Walker, in his British-Museum
Catalogue, uses Corydalis, Chauliodes, and Hermes, placing
in the latter Rambur’s most typical forms of Newromus and
many species of Chauliodes ; and the two species described in
his paper in the Trans. Ent. Soc. London, new series, vol. v.
should both be referred to Newromus. Hagen, in his North-
American Synopsis, adopts only Corydalis and Chauliodes,
placing in the former the typical species of Newromus ; and in
this he was for the most part followed by me in my revision
of Walker’s species in the ‘Journal of the Linnean Society,
Zoology,’ vol. ix. Brauer, in the first part of his elaborate
Catalogue of Neuroptera, has Corydalis, Chauliodes, and Neu-
romus; and though the list of the species he proposes to place
under each is not yet published, I opine that he views the ge-
nera in the same light as I now do. The three genera may
be briefly diagnosed thus :—
CoryYDALIS.
Alee venulis transversalibus plurimis. Antenne maris simplices vel
denticulate. Mandibule maris elongate vel breves. Capitis
angulis posticis dente acuto instructis. Forma valde robusta.
Color plus minusve fuscescens.
NEUROMUS.
Ale venulis transversalibus plurimis. Antenne maris simplices.
Mandibule g @ breves, equales. Capitis angulis posticis dente
evidenter vel obsolete instructis. Forma minus robusta. Color
plus minusve pallidus.
CHAULIODES.
Ale venulis transversalibus paucis. Antenne maris pectinate,
foliaceze, serrate, vel simplices (interdum in fcemina serrate).
Mandibule ¢ @ breves, equales. Capitis angulis posticis iner-
mibus.
In Neuromus, N. grandis and N. infectus approach more
nearly to Chauliodes, as they want the tooth on the hinder
angles of the head; yet they possess the numerous transverse
nervules and the general appearance of WN. testacea. ‘The spe-
cies of this genus much resemble each other, even to the fre-
quent presence of a black line, or spots, on each side of the
thorax.
I conclude this paper by noticing some synonymic correc-
tions, by describing some new species, and by giving a list of
the species I propose to place under Chauliodes and Neuromus.
Chauliodes and zts Allies. 37
Hermes costalis, Walker (of which Hermes anticus, Walker,
is a) is identical with Newromus grandis, Thunberg (Heme-
robius grandis, Thbg. Nov. Ins. Sp. pt. i. p. 28, fig. 44, from
Japan). The species varies considerably in the number of
pale spots; and the Chinese examples show an approach to
my OC. infectus from Darjeeling.
Hermes dubitatus, Walker (without locality), is not the 9 of
Chauliodes californicus, as supposed by Hagen, in which he
was followed by me (Journ. Linn. Soe., Zool. vol. ix.), but is
identical with H. diversus, Walker (New Zealand). The types
of diversus have the wings much crumpled, and I have only
recently seen perfect examples.
Hermes maculifera, Walker, appears to be only the ¢ of
maculipennis, Gray, though the difference of the localities
(Malabar and Java) would favour the suspicion of their being
distinct.
Chauliodes disjunctus, Walker (in Lord’s ‘ Naturalist in
Vancouver’s Island and British Columbia’), is a good species
of Chauliodes, and the largest yet known. I also possess it
from Vancouver’s Island, but have only seen females.
Hermes 10-maculatus and H.corripiens, Walker (Trans. Ent.
Soc. Lond. new series, vol. v.), are species of Newromus allied
to N. testaceus and N. hieroglyphicus. Corripiens is from
Brazil; but there is no label to indicate the locality of 10-
maculatus.
Chauliodes fraternus, n. sp.
C. nigro-fuscus. Caput nigrum, postice utrinque sub oculis, et in
macula triangulata, nitido-rufescens. Antenne nigre. Pro-
thorax subquadratus, paullo latior quam longus. Ale sat late,
griseo-subhyaline, saturate griseo nebulose ; pterostigma macula
magna elongata nigro-fusca utrinque ornatum; area subcostalis
maculis nigro-fuscis; venulis costalibus crassis, curvatis, nigro-
fuscis: postice fere ut antice. Long. corp. 13!; exp. alar.
BOM ( fe} a:
Hab. in China septentrionali. In coll. Mus. Brit.
Blackish fuscous. Head black above, with a triangular,
reddish, shining spot in the middle of the posterior margin,
and the sides below the eyes also reddish; beneath shining
piceous. Antenne black, obsoletely serrate internally. Man-
dibles piceous. Prothorax subquadrate, slightly broader than
long, scarcely narrower than the head without the eyes, fus-
cous, suffused with yellowish in the middle above. Meso-
and metathorax fuscous. Abdomen dull blackish fuscous.
Legs greyish yellow; knees, femora internally, tibie exter-
nally, and tarsi wholly fuscous ; trochanters and femora clothed
with short yellowish pubescence.
38 Mr. R. M‘Lachlan on the Neuropterous Genus
Wings rather broad, greyish, subhyaline, clouded with darker
grey, especially in the apical half, with a large, elongate,
blackish-fuscous spot on each side of the pale pterostigmatical
region, and with blackish-fuscous spots in the subcostal area ;
costal veinlets curved, strong, blackish fuscous ; longitudinal
veins blackish fuscous; transverse veinlets of the disk few,
fine, and pale: the coloration of the posterior wings almost
precisely identical with that of the anterior.
Allied to C. japonicus and C. Bowring?, more closely to the
former, but apparently distinct.
Chauliodes tenuis, n. sp.
C. griseo-testaceus. Antenne maris simplices. Prothorax elon-
gatus, capite angustior. Abdomen nigricans, appendicibus su-
perioribus elongato-conicalibus, inferioribus fere obsoletis. Pedes
ochracei, genibus tarsisque fuscescentibus. Alze anticee angustee,
griseo-subhyaline, conferte griseo notate, punctis tribus griseo
suffusis inter sectorem et cubitum posticum nigricantibus:
postice hyaline, punctis duobus inter sectorem et cubitum nigri-
cantibus(¢). Long. corp. 11’"; exp. alar. 26".
Hab. in Africa australi. In coll. Mus. Brit.
Greyish testaceous. Head elongate. Antenne concolorous,
simple. Prothorax elongate, narrower than the head; meta-
thorax ochreous. Abdomen blackish; superior appendices
elongately conical, hairy. Legs ochreous; knees and tarsi
fuscescent.
Anterior wings elongate, narrow, subacute, subhyaline, with
a greyish tinge, and with numerous small pale-grey spots
arranged somewhat in transverse series ; in the space between
the sector and cubitus anticus are three blackish, somewhat
corneous points, each clouded with grey; neuration pale fus-
cous: posterior wings hyaline, with greyish neuration ; there
are two blackish points in the same area as in the fore wings.
A somewhat delicate insect, from Kysna, South Africa ;
allied to the New-Zealand C. diversus, but smaller.
List of described Species of Chauliodes.
Asia.
C. sinensis, Walker.
Chauliodes sinensis, Walk. Cat. Brit. Mus. Neurop. p. 199 (1858).
China.
C. japonicus, M‘Lachlan.
C. japonicus, M‘Lachl. Journ. Linn. Soe., Zool. vol. ix. p. 282 (1867).
Japan.
Chauliodes and tts Allies. 39
C. fraternus, M‘Lachlan, ante, p. 37.
North China.
C. simplex, Walker.
C. simplex, Walk. Cat. Brit. Mus. Neurop. p. 200 (1853).
Silhet.
C. Bowring?, M‘Lachlan.
Hermes sinensis, Walk. Cat. Brit. Mus. Neurop. p. 203 (1853). C.
Bowringii, M‘Lachl. Journ. Linn. Soc., Zool. vol. ix. p. 260.
Hongkong.
C. subfasciatus, Westwood.
C. subfasciatus, Westw. Cab. Or. Entomol. p. 70, pl. 34. fig. 5 (1848) ;
Walk. Cat. Brit. Mus. Neurop. p. 200.
Silhet.
C. pusillus, M‘Lachlan.
C. pusilus, M‘Lachl. Journ. Linn. Soc., Zool. vol. ix. p. 231 (1867).
India? (locality unknown).
C. maculipennis*, G. R. Gray.
Hermes maculipennis, Gray, in Griffith’s edit. of Cuvier, vol. ii. p. 331,
pl. 72. fig. 1 (1832). Neuromus ruficollis, Ramb. Névrop. p. 443
(1842). Hermes ruficollis, Walk. Cat. Brit. Mus. Neurop. p. 202.
Hermes maculifera, Walk. Cat. Brit. Mus. Neurop. p. 203 (1853).
Java, Malabar.
Australia and New Zealand.
C. guttiferus, Walker.
Hermes guttiferus, Walk. Cat. Brit. Mus. Neurop. p. 204 (1853).
Australia.
C. diversus, Walker.
Hermes diversus, Walk. Cat. Brit. Mus, Neurop. p. 205 (1853). A du-
bitatus, Walk. op. cit. p. 204.
New Zealand.
Africa.
C. tenuis, M‘Lachlan, ante, p. 38.
South Africa.
* This is the most aberrant species of the genus, and its relationship to
Neuromus grandis and infectus is close, even to the character of the
markings : hence, if it should hereafter be considered desirable to rein-
state Gray’s genus Hermes, these three species should be placed therein.
40 Mr. R. M‘Lachlan on the Neuropterous Genus
North America.
C. pectinicornis, Linné.
Hemerobius pectinicornis, Linn, Ameen. Acad. vi. p. 412 (1763); Syst.
Nat. ed. xii. p.911. Semblis pectinicornis, Fab. Sp. Ins. vol. i. p. 386.
Chauliodes pectinicornis, Latr. Gen, Crust. et Insect. vol. iii. p. 198 ;
Burm. Handb. p. 950; Ramb. Névrop. p. 444; Walk. Cat. Brit. Mus.
Neurop. p. 198; Hag. Neurop. N. Amer. p. 189.
Canada and United States.
C. rastricornis, Rambur.
C. rastricornis, Ramb. Névrop. p. 444 (1842); Walk. Brit. Mus. Cat.
p. 198; Hag. Neurop. N. Amer. p. 189. Hermes indecisus, Walk.
Cat. Brit. Mus. Neurop. p. 204 (1853) °.
United States.
C. virginiensis, Drury.
Hemerobius virginiensis, Drury, Ex. Ins. (1773). Chauliodes virginiensis,
Westwood, ed. Drury, vol. i. p. 105, pl. 46. tig. 38; Hag. Neurop. N.
Amer. p. 190. Hemerobius pectinicornis, Palis. Beauv. Ins. Afr, et
Amér, pl. 1. fig. 2, nec Linn. (teste Hagen).
Virginia.
C. californicus, Walker.
C. californicus, Walk. Cat. Brit. Mus. Neurop. p. 199 (1853); Hag.
Neurop. N. Amer. p. 190.
California.
C. angusticollis, Hagen.
C. angusticollis, Hag. Neurop. N. Amer. p. 191 (1861).
United States.
C. disjunctus, Walker.
C. disjunctus, Walk. in Lord’s ‘Naturalist in Vancouver’s Island and
British Columbia,’ vol. ii. app. 334 (1866).
Vancouver’s Island.
C. serricornis, Say.
C. serricornis, Say, in Long’s Exped. vol. ii. app. p. 307 (1823); Hag.
Proc. Ent. Soc. Phil. vol. ii. p. 180; Burm. Handb. p. 949. Neuro-
mus maculatus, Ramb. Névrop. p. 442, pl. 10. fig. 2 (1842). Hermes
maculatus, Walk. Cat. Brit. Mus. Neurop. p. 202. C. maculatus, Hag.
Neurop. N. Amer. p.191.
Canada, United States.
C. fasciatus, Walker.
C. fasciatus, Walk. Brit. Mus. Cat. Neurop. p. 201 (1853); locality
(“ New Holland ”) erroneous. C. serricornis, Hag. Neurop. N. Amer.
p- 190, nec Say. C. lunatus, Hag. Proc. Ent. Soc. Phil. vol. ii. p. 180
(1863).
‘United States.
Chauliodes and tts Allies. 41
South America.
C. cinerascens, Blanchard.
C. cinerascens, Blanch. in Gay’s ‘ Historia fisica de Chile,’ vol. vi., Atlas
Novrop. lam. ii. fig. 10 (1851).
- C. chilensis, Hag. Neurop. N. Amer. app. p. 821 (?), not described.
Chili.
Neuromus infectus, n. sp.
NV. brunneus; thorax vitta interrupta nigra utrinque ornatus. Caput
lateribus inermibus. Antenne nigree, simplices. Alee antic pal-
lide fuliginose, maculis magnis plus minusve confluentibus in
- dimidio basali, unaque rotundata discali pone medium, albidis ;
. venulis costalibus albido marginatis: postice pallidiores, di-
midio basali hyalino, macula rotundata pone medium ut in anticis.
_ Long. corp. 12-15"; exp. alar. 38-49" (¢ 9).
Hab. Darjeeling. In coll. Mus. Brit., Oxon., et auct.
Brown or brownish testaceous ; pro- and mesothorax above
with an interrupted black line on each side. Antenne simple
in both sexes, black. Prothorax longer than broad, narrower
than the head. Legs blackish fuscous (paler in the ? ), with
the base of the tibiz, and the femora beneath, ochreous. Ap-
pendices of the g—app. sup. elongate, acuminate, turned
inwards, dull greyish, hairy; app. inf. long, two-jointed, the
basal joint short, the second joint very long, curved strongly
inwards, acute, the points crossing; ventral plate very deeply
excised, the sides produced into long, triangular, straight pro-
cesses.
Wings: anterior wings pale smoky fuscous, shining (paler
in the 2 ), with large, irregular, more or less confluent, whitish
blotches in the basal half, and a large, rounded, isolated
whitish spot in the disk beyond the middle ; costal veinlets
white and margined with whitish, so that the interstice be-
tween each veinlet seems to be occupied by an oblong fuscous
space ; costa, subcosta, radius, and all the apical neuration,
fuscous ; the basal veins and veinlets in the whitish blotches
are yellowish; transverse discal veinlets numerous in the
apical half: posterior wings paler than the anterior ; the basal
half hyaline with yellowish neuration, the apical half smoky,
with fuscous neuration, no basal blotches, but with the isolated
round discal spot beyond the middle, as in the anterior.
Allied to N. grandis, Thbg., of which it might be con-
sidered a strongly marked local form, and the Chinese exam-
ples of which approach it in coloration; but that species ap-
pears to have short and truncate superior appendices, though
with a like-formed ventral plate.
42 Mr. R. M‘Lachlan on the Neuropterous Genus
Neuromus montanus, n. sp.
NV. pallide fusco-griseus. Caput parvum, elongatum ; lateribus dente
acuto instructis, ochraceis. Antenne graciles, nigre; articulo
secundo pallido. Mandibule palpique griseo-ochracea. Pro-
thorax longior quam latus, capite vix angustior, fusco-griseus.
Pedes ochracei. Al pallide albido-straminee ; venule costales,
discales, venaque cubitalis ad basin fusce, tenues, relique flavide
(2). Long. corp. 11"; exp. alar. 37”.
Hab, Sikkim Himalaya, alt. 9000’. In coll. Mus. Brit.
Head small, elongate, posterior angles with a sharp tooth ;
ochreous, the sockets of the ocelli blackish. Antenne very
slender, black, the second joint pale. Mandibles and palpi
greyish ochreous. Prothorax longer than broad, scarcely nar-
rower than the head, greyish fuscous, the deflexed sides mar-
gined with lurid fuscous. Meso- and metathorax grey. Abdo-
men blackish (but the colours probably altered). Legs en-
tirely ochreous, finely pubescent ; the claws castaneous.
Wings very pale whitish straw-colour ; the costal and discal
transverse nervules and the base of one of the cubital nervures
fuscous, not incrassated; the neuration otherwise yellowish.
One badly preserved individual in the British Museum,
from Lacken, Sikkim Himalaya, at an elevation of 9000 feet.
Neuromus fenestralis, n. sp.
N. rufo-brunneus. Caput latum; lateribus anguste alatis, dente
robusto instructis; circum ocellos basinque antennarum nigrum.
Antenne nigre ; articulo primo rufo, supra in medio nigro notato;
secundo ad basin nigro, ad apicem rufo. Mandibule nigre.
Maxille rufze, ad basin nigre. Prothorax capite angustior, late
nigro limbatus. Abdomen, meso- et metasternum flavo-ochracea;
abdominis segmento ultimo supra in medio producto; appendici-
bus superioribus elongatis, crassis, paullo clavatis, intus sinuatis;
inferioribus valde elongatis, triarticulatis, articulis duobus termi-
nalibus brevibus, ultimo forcipato, acuto. Pedes nigri; antici
femoribus intus, coxis trochanteribusque omnino rufo-ochraceis ;
intermedii posticique femoribus, coxis trochanteribusque omnino
rufo-ochraceis. Ale antic fuliginoso-fusce, albo fenestrate et
maculate, nigro nervose; venulis costalibus crassis, nigro mar-
ginatis: postice fusco-subhyaline (¢). Long. corp. 16-19'";
exp. alar. 45-51".
Hab. Darjeeling. In coll. Mus. Brit.
Reddish brown. Head broad, narrowly produced at the
sides, and furnished with a strong acute tooth at the lower
angles; disk above with fine, raised, intricately wavy lines,
an elongate and somewhat smooth space in the middle pos-
teriorly ; front (portion in front of the ocelli) rugose-punctate ;
sockets of the ocelli and of the antenne black. Antenne
Chauliodes and its Allies. 43
black, the basal joint red, with a black mark above; second
joint black at the base, red at the apex. Mandibles and base
of the maxille black. Palpi reddish. Prothorax much nar-
rower than the head, rather longer than broad, above finely
transversely rugose, the sides broadly black. Mesonotum
ochreous, suffused with fuscous. Abdomen and the underside
of meso- and metathorax yellowish ochreous. ‘The last abdo-
minal segment is produced in the middle above. Superior
appendices elongate, thick, clubbed at the apex, the inner edge
sinuate ; inferior appendices long, three-joited, the two ter-
minal joints short, the last curved abruptly inwards, claw-
shaped and acute; penis (or that which I take for it) long,
flattened, transversely wrinkled, acuminate and truncate at
the apex. Legs—anterior pair black, with a line on the inner
side of the femora, and the trochanters and coxee wholly, red-
dish ; intermediate and posterior pairs with black tibie and
tarsi, otherwise reddish.
Anterior wings smoky fuscous, with the costal and sub-
costal areas paler; two very large subquadrate white spaces
(traversed by black veins), one near the base, the other in
about the middle, extending from the radius more than half
across the wing; beyond these are two or three small qua-
drate white spots on the disk, and two or three between the
radius and sector; costal veinlets very strong, straight, black,
and margined with black ; longitudinal veins and transverse
veinlets (especially those of the base) strong and black: pos-
terior wings subhyaline, tinged with fuscous; costal vein-
lets, and those between the radius and sector, black, the latter
clouded with blackish.
I have seen two males of this conspicuous species.
Neuromus latratus, n. sp.
N. sordide brunneus. Caput latum; lateribus anguste crenulato-
alatis, nigris, dente acuto instructis; brunneum. Antennz man-
dibuleque nigre. Prothorax capite angustior, longior quam
latus, maculis elongatis duabus utrinque nigris. Meso-, meta-
thorax et abdomen griseo-ochracea; abdominis segmento ultimo
supra in medio producto; appendicibus superioribus crassis, cla-
vatis ; inferioribus biarticulatis, articulo secundo abrupte incur-
vato,’acuto; penis (?) elongatus, ad apicem excisus. Pedes ochra-
cei, tibiis tarsisque nigris. Ale griseo-subhyaline, postice pal-
lidiores: anticze venulis costalibus, basalibus et illis inter radium
et sectorem incrassatis, nigris; venis longitudinalibus flavis ( ¢ ).
Long. corp. 17; exp. alar. 48!".
Hab. in India orientali. In coll. Mus. Brit.
Dull brown. Head broad, brown; the sides narrowly mar-
44 Mr. R. M‘Lachlan on the Neuropterous Genus
gined, the produced portion being crenulate and black ; sockets
of the ocelli black ; disk with fine wavy, intricate, raised lines.
Mandibles and antennee black. Prothorax much narrower
than the head, longer than broad, finely transversely rugose, a
lanceolate smooth space in the middle posteriorly ; on each
side is a black vitta divided into two elongate spots, whereof
the lower is the longer and is furcate at its upper end. Meso-
and metathorax and abdomen dull ochreous; last abdominal
segment produced in its middle above into a somewhat qua-
drate process; superior appendices moderately long, the tips
thickened, clothed with fine yellowish pubescence; inferior
appendices long, two-jointed, the second joint abruptly curved
inwards in the form of an acute claw; penis (?) long, flat, the
sides parallel, the apex acuminate, sulcated beneath, and
bifid, the two extreme tips turned slightly outwards. Legs
dull ochreous, with all the tibiz and tarsi black.
Wings greyish, subhyaline, the posterior pair paler; in the
anterior wings all the costal veinlets strong and black ; the basal
veinlets and those between the radius and sector also strong
and black, and margined with black ; apical veinlets fuscous ;
longitudinal veins yellow: posterior wings with the costal
veinlets, and those between the radius and sector, black.
I have seen one male. The part which I have called the
penis, in this and the last species, is perhaps not truly that
organ, and may be only a greatly elongated lower valve.
Neuromus intimus, n. sp.
N. griseo-luteus. Caput modice latum, dente utrinque instructum,
inter ocellos nigrum. Antenne (preter articulos duos basales)
mandibuleque (macula ad basin excepta) nigre. Prothorax
supra utrinque nigro bimaculatus. Appendices superiores
elongate, late, ad apicem acuminate: inferiores biarticulate,
geniculate ; articulus primus brevis, tuberculo ad basin instructus,
secundus elongatus, acutus. Pedes flavi; tibiis tarsisque nigro-
fuscis, intus pallidioribus. Ale griseo-hyaline: antice venis
longitudinalibus flavis, venulis costalibus discalibusque incras-
satis, nigris: posticee venulis costalibus illisque inter radium et
sectorem nigris(¢). Long. corp. 14-15'; exp. alar, 41-43!",
Hab. in India orientali. In coll. Mus. Brit.
Pale greyish yellow. Head moderately broad, the sides
scarcely produced, but with an evident tooth at each lower
angle; a black spot between the ocelli. Antenne black, the
two basal joints yellow. Mandibles black, with a pale spot at
the base externally. Prothorax slightly narrower than the
head, and slightly longer than broad; two large oval black
spots on each side above, the lower being the larger. Abdo-
Chauliodes and its Allies. 45
men brownish: superior appendices long, broad, flattened, the
apex acuminate and turned under, pubescent: inferior appen-
dices long, two-jointed, the basal joint very short, broad, and
with a rounded tubercle at the base, above; second joint very
abruptly turned inwards at an acute angle with the first joint,
long, claw-shaped, the tips being black, curved, and acute:
ventral plate (last ventral segment) nearly quadrate, but with
the apical margin broadly and shallowly excised. Legs—fe-
mora yellow; tibiz and tarsi blackish, brownish internally, .
with yellow pubescence.
Wings hyaline, with a very slight greyish or fuscous tinge:
in the anterior wings the costal veinlets and almost all the
transverse veinlets are thickened and black; longitudinal
veins yellow, the costa, subcosta, and radius being somewhat
brownish : posterior wings with the costal veinlets and those
between the radius and sector black, neuration otherwise
yellow.
Ihave seen two males of this species, which is most nearly
allied to NV. testaceus, Rambur, but differs in the colour of the
legs and in the appendices.
List of described Species of Neuromus.
N. grandis, Thunberg.
Hemerobius grandis, Thbe. Nov. Ins. Sp. pt. 1. p. 28, fig. 44 (1781).
Hermes costalis, Walker, Cat. Brit. Mus. Neurop. p. 207 (1853),
HT, anticus, Walk. op. cit. p. 205 2 (1853).
Japan, China.
N. infectus, M‘Lachlan, ante, p. 41.
Darjeeling.
N. hieroglyphicus, Rambur.
Neuromus hieroglyphicus, Ramb. RES p. 442 (1842). Hermes hiero-
glyphicus, Walk. Cat. Brit. Mus. Neurop. p. 206. Corydalis hiero-
glyphica, Hag. Neurop. N. Amer. p. 194.
Central America, Brazil.
N. corripiens, Walker.
Hermes corripiens, Walk, Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. new ser. vol. v. p. 180
(1860).
Brazil.
N. 10-maculatus, Walker.
Hermes 10-maculatus, Walk. Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. new ser. vol. v.
p. 180 (1860).
Brazil (?) or India (?).
46 Mr. A.G. More on the Animal of Limnea involuta.
N. testaceus, Rambur.
Neuromus testaceus, Ramb. Névrop. p. 442, pl. 10. fig. 1 (1842). Hermes
testaceus, Walk. Cat. Brit. Mus. Neurop. p. 206.
Java, India (?).
N. intimus, M‘Lachlan, ante, p. 44.
India.
N. albipennis, Walker.
Hermes albipennis, Walk. Cat. Brit. Mus. Neurop. p. 206 (1853).
Nepaul.
N. montanus, M‘Lachlan, ante, p. 42.
Himalaya.
N. latratus, M‘Lachlan, ante, p. 43.
India.
N. fenestralis, M‘Lachlan, ante, p. 42.
Darjeeling.
N.B. It is possible that some of the South-American species
placed under Corydalis in the Appendix to Hagen’s ‘ Synopsis
of North American Neuroptera,’ and mentioned by name only,
may belong to Newromus.
I do not feel in a position to give a catalogue of the species
of Corydalis (which genus is peculiarly American), especially
as so many undescribed species are noticed by Hagen.
V.—WNote on the Animal of Limnea involuta (Harvey).
By A. G. Mors, F.L.S.
[Plate ITI. fig. 3.]
THE shell of Limnea involuta is now to be seen in many col-
lections ; but very little appears to be known concerning the
external form of the animal itself, which, in the most recent
works on British conchology, still remains undescribed, though
the species is by general consent placed under Amphipeplea,
whether as a section or subgenus.
Having last week visited the small lake called Lough
Crincaum, on Cromaglaun Mountain, 798 feet above the sea,
I collected there a number of specimens, which have been
living for several days in a glass bowl under constant obser-
vation. I am thus enabled to say, with regard to the dis-
puted question of the investing mantle, that there is no ap-
Dr. H. Krabbe on the Cestoid Worms of the Bustard. 47
pearance of any outer lobe or expansion of the animal cover-
mg the outside of the shell, as in Amphipeplea glutinosa. The
mantle in Limnea involuta is not developed to any greater
extent than in other allied species, such as L. peregra and L.
auricularia; and the external surface of the shell remains at
all times uncovered, whether the animal is expanded or
not.
Description.—Body olive-brown shading in the centre into
slaty grey, and mottled with darker colour inside the shell.
Tentacles broadly triangular. Eyes nearly sessile. Foot
broad, oblong, rounded and slightly emarginate in front, nar-
rowed behind into a shortish tail.
Mr. W. H. Baily, of the Geological Survey of Ireland, has
kindly made a drawing from the living animal, which has
never previously been figured ; and from our figure (magnified
2 diams.) it will be seen that the animal closely resembles
that of Limnea as drawn in plate iv. of the first volume of
Gwyn Jeffreys’s ‘British Conchology,’ except that the body of
Limnea involuta is rather narrower, and the tentacles broader
at the base.
Glasnevin, May 25, 1869.
VI.—On the Cestotd Worms of the Bustard.
By Dr. H. KRABBe*.
[Plate III. figs. 4-13. ]
A TAPEWORM which, from its peculiar appearance, long since
attracted attention, and has been easy of recognition, is the
Tenia villosa occurring in Otis tarda. It was described and
figured by Bloch}, who gave it the above name on account of
the fringed appearance of one of its margins, which is due to
the fact that the posterior angle of one side of each joint is
drawn out into a narrow process. In five bustards which he
examined there were at least 500 in each, and in a young bird
which had been reared in captivity he estimated the number
of worms at about 1000. Bloch states the length to be 4 feet;
and the number of joints should be, according to his calcula-
tion, at least 32,000, which, however, is probably about ten
times the actual number.
At the same time it was treated of under the name of Tania
* Translated from the ‘ Videnskabelige Meddelelser fra Naturhistorisk
Forening i Kjébenhavn, for Aaret 1867,’ pp. 122-126, by W.S. Dallas,
F.LS.
+ Abhandl. von der Erzeugung der Eingeweidewiirmer (Berlin, 1782),
p. 12, tab. 2. figs, 5-9.
48 Dr. H. Krabbe on the Cestoid Worms of the Bustard.
Otidis by Werner*, who had obtained his specimens from -
Leske. He noticed the difficulty with which it is extricated,
from the masses into which it readily twists itself together,
and of which he gave a figure.
Rudolphif also found it in great numbers in Otis tarda at
Greifswald, and referred it to the Zenie with an unarmed
proboscis. Bremsert{ and Nitzsch § gave figures of it. Du-
jardin|| doubted whether it was destitute of hooks on the
proboscis.
Of this tapeworm there are specimens from Abildgaard’s
time in the collection of the Agricultural College. I have also
found it in great numbers in a bustard from Jylland, which
died (in 1860) in Kjerbélling’s Zoological Garden; and it
seems in general to occur plentifully in this bird. On exa-
mining the head, I found on the retracted proboscis fourteen
unidentate hooklets of 0°024—0-026 millim. in length, with a
proportionally very long shaft. Tenia stylosa, T. fringilla-
rum, and several hitherto undescribed species of tapeworms in
Scolopax rusticula and Cursorius isabellinus have hooklets of
a similar form. In the joints the oval strongly refractive
organ (cirrus-vesicle ?), which is also reproduced in Bloch’s
figures, is particularly striking. The generative organs were
nowhere protruded; but the sexual orifices are undoubtedly
uniserial, although not very large. No ova occurred.
Together with this tapeworm, Bloch found in Otis tarda
a second species of Tania, which he likewise figured. He
called it Tania articulis conoidets, and stated that he had
found it in many kinds of birds, among others in several spe-
cies of ducks. This, however, has no very prominent pecu-
liarities, and might consequently be easily confounded with
other tapeworms. Rudolphi referred it to 7. infundibuli-
formis, Goeze, and likewise found it in bustards. But the
worms in question, as preserved in the museum at Berlin, are,
as I have had the opportunity of convincing myself, different
from the 7. infundibuliformis which occurs in the common
fowl, and have uniserial sexual orifices, like 7. villosa. As
neither heads nor joints with ova were to be found, I am not at
present in a position to give a more complete character of it. In
* Vermium intestinalium, presertim Tzeniz humanz brevis expositio
(Lipsiz, 1782), p. 54, tab. 3. figs. 58-63.
+ Entozoorum. sive vermium intestinalium historia naturalis, vol. ii.
part 2 (Amstelodami, 1810), p. 126.
t Icones Helminthum (Vienne, 1824), tab. 15. figs. 9-13.
§ Schmalz, xix. tabule anatomiam Entozoorum illustrantes (Dresdz
et Lipsiz, 1831), tab. 3. figs. 1-6.
|| Hist. Nat. des Helminthes (Paris, 1845), p. 603.
Dr. H. Krabbe on the Cestotd Worms of the Bustard. 49
the Vienna catalogue* it is stated that the tapeworm was
found once in seven times in Ofis tarda, and it is referred to
T. infundibuliformis.
Tn the above-mentioned bustard from Kjzrbilling’s zoologi-
cal garden there was, besides 7. villosa, another in many re-
spects very remarkable tapeworm, to the number of several
hundreds. As it is not very different in breadth from 7. vil-
losa, I first observed it when, long after collecting it, I under-
took a closer examination of the latter worm. It was 20-30
millims. in length. There was no head with the usual organs
of adhesion, and I therefore thought at first that it had been lost.
Probably, however, that is not the case, partly because there
is no trace of lesion to be seen, and partly, which is of great
importance, because in all specimens the anterior extremity
behaves in the same peculiar fashion, having a very singular
structure. The number of joints varied from thirty to rather
more than one hundred; but the length of the tapeworm held
no proportion to this number. The six or seven joints which
constitute the anterior part present in all the same appearance:
they are, like the rest, compressed; but both their posterior
angles stand out at the sides as saddle-shaped membranous
fingers, which are largest upon the middlemost of these joints,
but become lost behind, the superior joints passing evenly into
the followmg ones. In the middle region of the worm the
male sexual apparatus was generally well developed; and
along one margin the sexual organs showed themselves pro-
truding upon a larger or smaller number (up to about twenty)
of segments, most strongly upon the middlemost of these,
whilst they were more or less retracted upon the foremost and
hindmost of them. The sexual organ (the protruded spermatic
duct) is cylindrical, comparatively large, namely 0°046 millim.
in diameter, and as much as 0°5 millim. in length; its surface
has a readily perceptible covering of fine spines, in regularly
crossing rows. If the spermatic duct be traced into the joint,
it is seen to bend backward and form a loop. From the sexual
orifice an elongated oval sac extends forward. In the posterior
part of the joimt two pretty sharply defined roundish organs
are observed, and between these a third, less considerable one.
The joints now increase in size posteriorly ; and in the posterior
there were, in several of the worms, thinly membranous round.
ova, with hooked embryos of 0:014—0°016 millim. in length ;
these joints, which were more elongated, had a dilatation
* Westrumb, De Helminthibus acanthocephalis. Commentatio h'storico-
anatomica adnexo recensu animalium, in Museo Vindobonensi circa Hel-
minthes dissectorum, et singularum specierum harum in illis repertaram
(Tanovere, 1821), p. 73.
Ann, & Mag. Nat, Hist, Ser. 4, Vol, iv. 4.
50 Dr. H. Krabbe on the Cestoid Worms of the Bustard,
upon one side or the other, in which especially the ova were
collected.
A single younger specimen, of a little more than 10 millimis.
in length, in which there was not yet any trace of generative
organs, furnished some elucidation of the mode of develop-
ment of the jomts. The anterior extremity of the worm pre-
sented the same characters as in the more developed speci-
mens; it had exactly the same appearance, and was only a
little smaller; but behind it the breadth diminished, so that
the whole of the posterior region was very small, only 0-1
millim. broad, although already distinctly and throughout
quite regularly divided into joints, the number of which
amounted to about 110. Now, considering that the number
of joints in the more developed worms was smaller in propor-
tion as the development of the sexual apparatus and therewith
the enlargement of the joints had advanced forwards, it would
seem certain that the formation of all the joints takes place
before the sexual organs begin their development, and that
their development subsequently advances from behind for-
wards, whilst the posterior joimts are successively thrown off
as they reach maturity.
As this tapeworm cannot be referred to any known genus,
T will propose to call it Zdiogenes Otidis. I assume that the
anterior region furnished with finger-like processes may be
regarded as the head or scolex. The ova exactly resemble
those which occur in several species of Zania; but the
mode of development of the joints differs from the usual
mode.
If we examine Bremser’s fig. 13, and Nitzsch’s figs. 2, 3, 5,
and 6, as cited, in which joints of 7. villosa with protruded
sexual organs and more or less distinct indications of the internal
sexual apparatus are represented, the supposition will be forced
upon us that a confusion of this tapeworm with /diogenes Otidis
may have taken place; and, with regard to Bremser’s figure,
it appears to me very probable that it belongs to /diogenes,
With regard to Nitzsch’s figures, it might in such case be
assumed that the generative apparatus of /déogenes was drawn
in the joint of 7. villosa; at least I have never met with
joints of 7. villosa with sexual apparatus of this appearance.
It is possible that Nitzsch might have been misled by Brem-
ser’s figure, and sought, by his somewhat diagrammatic figures,
to bring about an agreement: and with regard to this, it may
be remarked that it is difficult to obtain a complete and cohe-
rent specimen of 7. villosa, in consequence of the interknotting
which has already been referred to, and the facility with which
they are broken up into fragments.
Prof. A. Macalister on the Myology of Bradypus tridactylus. 51
EXPLANATION OF PLATE III. figs. 4-13.
4, Anterior part of Tenia villosa, with the head (x 35).
5. Circlet of hooks of the same (x 240).
Fig. 6. Single hooks of the same (Xx 920).
g. 7. Joints of the same (x 35).
8. Joints of “ Tenia infundibuliformis,” from Otis tarda, in Rudolphi’s
collection (X 35).
Fig. 9. Idiogenes Otidis in a young stage (X 9).
Fig. 10. The same, more advanced in development (x 9).
Fig. 11. The anterior region of the same (x 18).
Fig. 12. Joints of the same, with generative organs (x 35).
Fig. 13, Ova of the same (x 240).
VII.— On the Myology of Bradypus tridactylus ; with Remarks
on the general Muscular Anatomy of the Kdentata. By
ALEXANDER MACALISTER, Demonstrator of Anatomy, Royal
College of Surgeons, Ireland, Professor of Anatomy, Royal
Dublin Society*. ¥
THE muscular anatomy of the Edentata is of particular interest
when considered in connexion with the curious habits of many
of the order, as well as when we consider it in connexion with
the zoological affinities of the group; and attention has been
directed of late to the subject by a number of papers by various
anatomists. Through the kindness of Prof. Haughton, I have
been enabled to make a very careful dissection of (1) a very
fine young specimen of Ai (Bradypus tridactylus) and (2) four
Armadilloes (Dasypus sexcinctus) ; and on these, with refe-
rences to the notes of a former dissection of a Seven-banded
Armadillo, I have founded the following remarks. The ana-
tomy of the Ai has been made the subject of description by
Siisemuhlt, Meckel{, and Cuvier§, that of the Anteaters by
Meckel||, Pouchet{], Owen**, and RappTT ; of Orycteropus by
Cuvier, Humphrytf, and Galton $$; of Armadilloes by Cuvier,
Meckel, and Galton. It may thus be seen how much has
been hitherto done as regards the study of the myology of
these animals. Most of these descriptions seem to be made
* Communicated by the Author, having been read before the Royal
Zoological Society of Ireland.
+ De Musculis in extremitatibus Bradypodis tridactyli. Berol. 1815.
} System der Vergleichenden Anatomie, 1828.
§ Legons d’Anat. Comparée, 1835,
|| Anat. des zweizehigen Ameisenfresser. Archiv, v. 1819.
{| Mémoire sur le grand Fourmilier. Premier livraison. 1867.
** On the Anatomy of the Great Anteater (Trans. Zool. Soc. 1854),
tt Anatomische Untersuchungen iiber die Kdentaten. Tubingen, 1852,
t{ Journal of Anat. & Phys. ser. 2. vol. i. p. 290,
§§ Trans, Linn. Soc. vol, xxvi. p. 567.
4%
52 Prof. A. Macalister on the Myology
with great care and accuracy; so that we are in a position to
appreciate the special myological characters of the entire order,
The specimen of Three-toed Sloth was in good condition, small;
and, as many of its epiphyses seemed to be still cartilaginous,
it was evidently a young animal.
On removing the skin from the back and side, very few
platysmal fibres were visible ; indeed the only portions of the
panniculus carnosus present were a few scattered weak fasciculi
at its lower or abdominal end, and a very few sparse bundles
in the neck, much weaker than I have found in Dasypus sea-
cinctus.
The trapezius was a thin muscle, rather smaller than usual,
arising from all the cervical spines with the exception of the
first, and from the upper six of the dorsal spines ; it was in-
serted into the scapular spine for its whole length, and into the
acromion process. I could trace no fibres into the rudimental
clavicle, although such an arrangement is described by Meckel
. . . . S . .
both in this animal and in the Anteater; similarly, I found no
clavicular fibres in the Dasypus sexcinctus, and in this respect
agree with the observations of Mr. Galton, who says that im
Orycteropus also no clavicular fibres exist. This muscle in the
Ai is undivided, as also in Orycteropus; but in the Armadillo
it is split distinctly into upper and lower portions. Meckel in
his description assigns to this muscle a much more limited
range of origin than that which I have found.
The rhomboideus is small and single; it arises from the
last cervical and the upper three dorsal spines. Its insertion
is normal. There is no trace of an occipital slip; but in Da-
sypus I found a true occipito-scapular slip largely developed.
The same condition occurs in Orycteropus; but, with the ex-
ception of a slight differentiation in direction, it is not separa-
ble into true major and minor portions (Galton). In the ‘l'wo-
toed Anteater its arrangement, according to Meckel, is similar
to that in the Ai.
I found no levator clavicule or trachelo-acromial (omo-
atlantic of Prof. Haughton) ; it is described as existing in the
Orycterope under the name of cervico-humeral (Humphry),
acromio-basilar (Galton) ; and it is likewise present in the
Armadillo, and inserted into the clavicle.
The levator scapule is not distinct from the serratus mag-
nus, and hence Meckel describes it as non-existent; but as we
recognize any cervical prolongation of the serratus magnus as
a levator scapule (for in truth the latter in its most perfect
condition is nothing else than a neck prolongation of the
former), so it is probably more correct to say that the levator
scapule segment of the serratus arises from all the cervical
of Bradypus tridactylus. 53
transverse processes below the sixth, and is inserted into the
superior angle of the scapula inseparable from the rest of the
serratus ; it is more separate in the Armadillo, but less sepa~
rate in the Orycterope.
The splenius is distinct, moderate in size, arising from the
spines of the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth cervical vertebre,
and is inserted into the transverse. process of the atlas; this
part seems to correspond with the splenius capitis of other
animals, but.it has no occipital attachment; the second part,
or splenius colli, arises from five spines below the last-named
muscle, and is inserted into the transverse processes of the
second, third, fourth, and fifth cervical vertebre.
The complexus arises from the transverse processes of all
the cervical vertebra, and is inserted into the occipital bone ;
it has no biventral portion, and showed no traces of tendinous
intersections.
The semispinalis colli, longissimus dorsi, multifidus spine,
recti capitis postici, obliqui capitis, and rectus capitis anticus
major were not remarkable in any respect. The intercostals
were not divisible into distinct strata; and I saw no traces of
transyersi thoracis anterior or posterior. Longus colli was
large, but exhibited nothing unusual in its attachments.
Serratus magnus, when separated artificially from the levator
scapule, arises from the eight superior ribs (Meckel says
seven) ; its insertion is normal, into the lower two-thirds of
the vertebral costa of the scapula; it is undivided, but thin in
the middle, but is separated into two parts in Dasypus. It is
not split in the Orycterope.
Omohyoid is absent in the sloths, as Cuvier and Meckel
mention: the former refers to its existence in the Anteater;
but Owen does not mention its presence in the Great Anteater,
and it is absent in the Armadillo, as Galton very correctly
observes, and in the Orycterope.
Sterno-cleido-mastoid arises from the front of the sternum,
from the first rib, by a few aponeurotic fibres, and from the
inner end of the soft rudimental clavicle; the latter origin is
extremely slight, barely sufficient to justify the middle particle
of the name; it is not distinctly continued over the great pec-
toral, but the muscles of each side are connivent in the mesial
line; it is inserted by two slips into the paramastoid process ;
the muscle is split into true sterno-and cleido-mastoid portions
in the Six-banded Armadillo and in all the Anteaters.
Sterno-hyoids and sterno-thyroids were normal, as also were
the digastric (which, as is often the case, had but one belly),
mylohyoid, thyrohyoid, and hyoglossus. The other muscles
of the neck were not examined.
54 Prof. A. Macalister on the Myology
Pectoralis major, a large and flat muscle, arises from the
front of the sternum, continuous with its fellow of the opposite
side, from the cartilages of the six upper ribs, and from the
inner end of the rudimental clavicle; from this origin it is
inserted into the pectoral edge or outer lip of the bicipital
groove. It does not extend to the abdomen, as is the case in
Dasypus (Galton) ; and it likewise differs from the pectoral in
that animal by extending to the clavicle, which is not the case
in the Armadillo or in the Orycterope. The pectoral in the Ai
is not connected with the latissimus dorsi or with the external
oblique, but is closely attached to the deltoid.
Pectoralis minor was absent in Bradypus, as stated by
Meckel. Cuvier, in his plate of this animal, calls the next
muscle by this name, erroneously, I believe. It is likewise
absent in the Anteaters and in the Armadilloes. Galton con-
siders the muscle described by Meckel in the Armadillo as
pectoralis minor to be in reality subclavius. In Orycteropus a
pectoralis minor does in reality exist, described by Humphry
and Galton.
Subclavius, a large muscle, arising as usual from the first
rib, passes upwards and outwards to be inserted into the under
side of the acromion process, and by a few fibres into the cla-
vicle. In the Orycterope this muscle is large and sternal in its
origin; and its insertion, in the specimens examined by Mr
Galton, was into a sesamoid bone beneath the acromio-clavi-
cular joint, imbedded in the fibres of origin of the deltoid. It
is present and large in the Armadillo, but absent in the Ta-
mandua (Rapp, Galton), and in the Great Anteater (Pouchet)
and 'T'wo-toed Anteater (Meckel) ; but it is present and small
in the T'wo-toed Sloth (Galton).
Pectoralis quartus (latissimus dorsi secundus) arises from
the seventh and eighth ribs at the junction of their bony and
cartilaginous. portions ; it is inserted into the outer or pectoral
lip of the bicipital groove. This muscle I consider to be a
fourth pectoral; and its insertion is, I think, sufficient to deter-
mine this relation; it is, however, often regarded as a part of
the latissimus dorsi, and has been described as a second latis-
simus in the Seal and several other animals. Galton, in speak-
ing about the latissimus dorsi in Dasypus sexcinctus, says that
‘certain muscular fibres take origin from the ribs between the
fifth and ninth inclusive, anterior, but close, to those costal
clements of the latissimus dorsi already described as arising
from the same ribs, and pass straight upwards to that portion
of the broad terminal tendon of the pectoralis major which has
the highest insertion into the humerus;” this he considers
possibly a modified ‘‘ Achselbogen ;”” and he states very pro-
of Bradypus tridactylus. 55
perly that it coexists with the dorsi-epitrochlear muscle, and
thus can scarcely be, as Mr. Wood suggests, an imperfectly
developed slip of the dorsi- -epitrochlear muscle. This muscle
I found in Cebus capucinus (Proc. Nat. Hist, Soc. Dublin, April
1866) passing from the cartilages of the eighth, ninth, and
tenth ribs to the capsular lig ament of the shoulder- -joint. A
similar muscle was described by Mr. Mivart in Cercopithecus
sabeeus (Proc, Zool. Soc, 1865, p. 44). I have likewise seen
it in Macacus nemestrinus and sinicus. ‘This muscle is de-
scribed and figured by Mr. Wood as an anomaly in human
anatomy (Proc, Royal Soc. 1866, p. 231, and fig. 1); it is de-
scribed by Zenker in Amphibian reptiles as brachio-abdomi~
nalis (Batrachomyologia, p. 39), and by Duvernoy as chondro-
epitrochlear in many animals, Prot. Huxley has also given to
it the name of costo-humeral. I have found it present in the
Seal, Opossum, Phalangista, Macropus giganteus, Wallaby,
Otter, and as an anomaly in man. Dugés applies to it the
name abdomino-humeralis, and Klein humero-abdominalis.
It is strongly marked in the Frog, Pipa americana and Bufo
cinerea, and in Lacerta viridis (closely connected to the great
pectoral) ; but it does not seem to exist in Jguana tuberculata,
and is not mentioned in Mr. Mivart’s careful description of this
species. Its affinities seem certainly to be pectoral, and it
seems to be an additional posterior member of that group of
muscles ; and its rudiment, I think, is the human “ Achsel-
bogen ” of Langer, as supposed by Mr. Galton.
The rectus thoracicus lateralis arose from the thir d, fourth,
and fifth ribs, and was inserted into the first rib ; it lay super-
ficial to the serratus magnus. This was the “only thoracic
rectus present, as there was no superficial sternalis brutorum
or rectus sternalis, nor was the rectus abdominis continuous
with it. It was quite separate from, but internal to, the sca-
leni muscles. A muscle corresponding to this was described
as an anomaly in human anatomy by Mr. Wood and myself
some time ago, and I have since met with several instances of
it in the dissecting-room ; and a similar muscle I also found
in Macacus sinicus and nemestrinus, and very distinct in a fine
Bengal tiger ; but in them the rectus abdominis was continuous
with the muscle, which is not the case in Bradypus. The in-
sertion of this muscle was a little external to the origin of the
subelavius; and in this respect it corresponded closely to the
arrangement in Orycteropus capensis, in which the subclavius
origin almost touches the prolonged rectus abdominis—a con-
dition described by Meckel and Galton. We can thus deter-
mine the homologies of this lateral rectus, and find it to be
nothing but a prolonged or detached slip of the rectus abdo-
minis, displaced outwards or lateralized from its origin.
56 Prof. A. Macalister on the Myology
The latissimus dorsi arises from the lower dorsal spines
through the medium of the lumbar fascia from the lower five
ribs, and is inserted as usual into the inner bicipital lip of the
humerus. Meckel mentions that it is divided into two parts ;
but one of these is the pectoralis quartus described above. In
the Anteater the origin of this muscle is described as being
purely costal and fascial. In the Armadillo its origin is ex-
_tensive and normal. It is not so closely connected to the teres
major in the Ai as in the Great and 'T'wo-toed Anteaters, in both
of which it is described as being closely joined to that muscle.
The deltoid muscle is small, triangular, and not clearly
segmented ; it arises from the acromion process and from the
scapular spine, and is closely connected to the trapezius on the
one side, and to the great pectoral on the other ; its msertion is
into the middle fourth of the outer side of the humerus. — Its
area of insertion is not so extensive as is stated by Meckel ;
but allowance may perhaps be made for the youth of the pre-
sent specimen. Meckel mentions that it gives off an accessory
head to the biceps, which we did not find in our specimen.
In the Armadillo the deltoid is divisible into acromial, clayvi-
cular, and spinous or scapular parts, as described by Galton
and Meckel. In Orycteropus it is likewise trifid according to
Cuvier and Galton, bifid according to Prof. Humphry. It is
also bifid in the Anteater.
The supraspinatus muscle was normal in origin and inser-
tion, as is the case in Orycteropus, Myrmecophaga, Dasypus,
and others. The infraspinatus is likewise regular; and the
teres minor is absent, or, if present, its germ is fused with the
infraspinatus. A true teres minor is present in the Armadillo,
Orycterope (Humphry, loc. cit. p. 8300; Galton, p. 574), and
Anteater. Meckel, indeed, mentions a teres minor in the Ai,
but it seems to be the next muscle, and not a true teres
minor.
Subscapulo-humeral, a small muscle on the subscapular
aspect of the long head of the triceps, arises from the upper
portion of the axillary margin close to the glenoid cavity, and
is inserted below the lesser humeral tuberosity. It is quite
separate, in the Ai, from the subscapularis. ‘This muscle was
described by Wenzel Gruber (Abhandlung aus die mensch-
lichen und vergleichenden Anatomie: Petersburg, 1854,
p- 109), by Mr. Wood and myself as an anomaly in human
anatomy (Proc. Roy. Irish Acad. April 1866, and Med. Press
and Circular, vol. iu. p. 79). I-have found it in many ani-
mals, as stated in my former paper, to which I have to add
the Tiger and the Ai.
The subscapularis was normal, as was also the case in Cho-
of Bradypus tridactylus. oT
lepus, Dasypus, Orycteropus, and the Anteaters. The teres
major is very large and quite separate from the latissimus
dorsi, as it is in the Orycterope and Armadillo, not connected
to it as in the Great Anteater (Pouchet) or the Myrmecophaga
tamandua (Rapp).
Coraco-brachialis is small, and inserted into the upper
fourth or perhaps nearly the upper third of the humerus; it is
undivided, and represents, according to Mr. Wood, the middle
rather than the short coraco-brachial muscle. The long form
occurs in the Orycterope (Humphry) ; in one specimen of this
animal, however, Galton describes a rudiment of the short
form: it is present also, in its long variety, in Myrmecophaga
Jubata and tamandua; the middle variety represents it in Cho-
lepus didactylus. In the two above-mentioned Anteaters,
Messrs. Galton and Pouchet describe fibres from the root of
the rudimental coracoid inserted into the outer part of the
inner tuberosity. This condition is described by Mr. Galton
as occurring also in Macropus rujicollis and giganteus; and I
remarked it in a Wallaby and also in the shoulder of G‘lobio-
cephalus svineval (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1867, p. 481). In the
Armadillo both the short and long forms exist, as Mr. Galton
correctly describes.
The biceps is a double muscle, and may be regarded as
consisting of a humeral and a scapular portion. The more
superficial or humeral arises from the anterior surface of the
humerus internal to the deltoid, but unconnected with that
muscle; its origin extends for about one-half of the anterior
surface of the bone, and it overlaps the scapular head; this
muscle passes downwards perfectly separate from the scapular
biceps, and is inserted into the tubercle of the radius. It
is accurately described by Meckel; but in his case an
accessory head was received from the deltoid—a condition of
which I could not find a trace. This humeral head to the arm-
biceps does not exist in the Armadillo, Anteater, or Oryc-
terope; but it is a common anomaly in human anatomy, oc-
curring, according to Theile, once in every eight subjects
(Encyclopédie Anatomique, vol. iii. p.217)—a proportion which
J found to exist in the dissecting-room of the Royal College of
Surgeons, Ireland, during the session 1866-67 (Proc. Royal
Trish Acad. 1867). The accessory deltoid head described
by Meckel has its counterpart in another anomaly described
by me in the same paper—the fifth variety of the biceps
therein recorded, in which the biceps arose by a fleshy tongue
from the deltoid, and did not possess a long head: this, as we
shall presently see, is a close approach to the ‘ Sloth” con-
dition. A coracoid and humeral biceps exists in Vespertilio
58 Prof. A, Macalister on the Myology
and Pteropus javanicus*. The same arrangement occurs in
many birds, except the Struthionide and some of the Natatores.
The humeral head also appears in the human leg as an element
in the biceps flexor cruris.
The scapular biceps arises from the upper part of the sca-
pula, immediately above the glenoid cavity, external to the
root of the coracoid process ; it passes over and does not pierce
the capsular ligament of the shoulder-joint, and is, as before
mentioned, not at all connected to the last muscle. It is in-
serted into the ulna by a distinct strong tendon. This gleno-
ulnar biceps is not bound down into a groove at the upper
part of its course, as in Dasypus: in that animal its insertion
is both radial and ulnar. In two Armadilloes dissected by me
there was no origin from the coracoid process; but im one
dissected during April 1868 a slender band sprang from that
process, and so the muscle was a true biceps. The biceps has
a single head in the Two-toed Anteater, but is radio-ulnar in
its insertion, It has a glenoidal and a deltoidal origin in the
Orycterope, and is purely radial in its insertion. In Myrme-
cophaga tamandua it has one head from the glenoid cavity,
one from the coracoid process arising in common with the
coraco-brachialis, and a third from the humerus. In the
Great Anteater, Pouchet describes two heads, glenoidal and
coracoidean, the latter bemg closely united to the coraco-
brachialis at its origin. (For some notes on these flexors see
Journ. of Anat. and Phys. 1868, p. 285.)
The brachialis anticus arises from the anterior and inner
side of the humerus, and is inserted by equal tendons into the
radius and the ulna, its radial attachment being slightly con-
nected to the radial insertion of the humeral part of the biceps,
and its ulnar one being placed behind the insertion of the
gleno-ulnar muscle. This muscle seems not to have a sepa-~
rate existence in the Anteaters, except in the Great Anteater,
in which Pouchet described it as present. Rapp describes it
as undeveloped in Myrmecophaga tamandua; and Meckel says
it has not a separate existence in Myrmecophaga didactyla.
In Orycteropus it receives a slip from the biceps (Humphry),
and sends a small slip to the radius (Galton). Meckel de-
scribes it as being purely ulnar in its insertion in Bradypus
tridactylus. In the Armadillo it is very large, and is purely
ulnar in its insertion.
The triceps arises by a scapular and two humeral heads
separated as usual by the musculo-spiral nerve. In the Ant-
* Prof. Humphry describes the biceps as possessing two coracoid heads
in Pteropus Edwardsii, and without a humeral head (Journ. of Anat. and
Phys. vol. iii. p. 303).
of Bradypus tridactylus. 59
eater Meckel describes two scapular heads, and one humeral.
Two scapular heads likewise exist in Dasypus—one a long
head proper, the other a more superficial and expanded origin;
from these the dorsi-epitrochlear is quite distinct; and thus,
with the two humeral origins, we have five extensor muscles
on the back of the arm. In the Orycterope there are four
heads, two humeral and two scapular (Galton). Three scapular
origins are described by Prof. Humphry.
The anconeus externus is distinct and large ; the epitrochleo-
anconeus (Gruber*) is large and underlies the flexor carpi
ulnaris, and crosses over the ulnar nerve; this muscle arises
from the inner condyle, and its fibres pass transversely out-
wards to the olecranon process. It is present in the Orycterope
(Cuvier, Humphry, Galton), in the Tamandua (Rapp), in
Myrmecophaga jubata (Pouchet), Dasypus sexcinctus, tricinctus
(Gruber), J. didactyla (Gruber), Manis, Cholepus didactylus
(Galton), D. (Zatusta) novemeinctus (Galton).
The pronator teres is large, as in most of the Edentata, and
arises from the inner condyle of the humerus. It soon sepa-
rates into two portions near its insertion; and these occupy the
lower half of the radius and the anterior surface of the wrist-
joint. In the Armadillo its insertion is also to the lower part
of the radius, occupying about one-half of that bone. It is
similar and undivided in the Anteater and Orycterope. The
median nerve is underneath it in all; and there is no trace of a
coronoid head in any of these. (Journal of Anat. & Phys.
1867, p. 9.)
Pronator quadratus is a small muscle occupying the lower
sixth of the forearm ; its fibres run an their usual ulno-radial
course at an angle of about 60° with the shaft of the radius.
Meckel says that this muscle is smaller in the Ai than in any
other mammal, and that it occupies only one-eighth of the
forearm; but this did not exactly describe the appearance in
our specimen, for, though small, it was not quite so insigni-
ficant as the great German anatomist found it, as in our in-
stance it was at least as long as broad. I did not find a trace
of it in the Armadillo, as Galton and Meckel observe ; and it
seems likewise to be absent in Myrmecophaga didactyla (Mec-
kel). It exists, however, in J. jubata (Pouchet), MW. tamandua
(Rapp), and Orycteropus, in which Prof. Humphry describes it
as small, and Mr. Galton as filling the whole interosseous
space of the forearm, as well as the anterior face of the radius
and ulna.
Flexor carpi radialis is a small muscle, and passes from the
* Mémovires de l’Académie Impériale des Sciences de St. Pétershoure,
sér. 7. vol. x. p. 5.
60 Prof. A. Macalister on the Myology
inner condyle to the metacarpal bone of the first finger, and to
the trapezium bone at its base. In the Orycterope Mr. Galton
mentions that it arises from the external condyle (a misprint,
I suppose, for znternal), and that it is inserted into a sesamoid
bone and into the styloid process of the radius: these peculia-
rities of insertion were described by Prof. Humphry. In the
Armadillo it is inserted into the outer of the bones of the se-
cond row of the carpus (trapezio-trapezoid of Mr. Galton).
Palmaris longus is larger than the last, and has a corre-
sponding origin; its insertion is into the palmar fascia, and
into the pisiform and unciform bones. It is quite separate
from the flexor sublimis digitorum, although in Dasypus they
are closely connected—an arrangement described by Theile as
an anomaly in human anatomy, and noticed (Proc. Royal Inish
Acad. Dec. 9, 1867) as the thirteenth variety of the palmaris
by myself. In the Orycterope the same fusion of palmaris
and superficial flexor occurs (Humphry). Rapp describes it as
absent in MW. tamandua ; but the “‘ Spannmuskel”’ recorded by
him is in reality only a variety of it displaced in its origin.
In the Myrmecophaga didactyla Meckel described the palmaris
as united to the flexor carpi ulnaris—a condition which I have
also found as an anomaly in human anatomy (variety 15 in
the paper above mentioned).
Flexor carpi ulnaris arises by two heads, from the internal
condyle and from the olecranon process—its two origins being
separated by the ulnar nerve, and overlying the anconeus in-
ternus; its insertion is into the pisiform and unciform bones,
annular ligament, and base of third metacarpal bone. It has
no condyloid head in theeArmadillo and Orycterope (Galton),
but has two portions in the latter, deep and superficial, but
both ulnar in origin. It is very complex in JM. didactyla
(Meckel), being quadrifid, three being true ulnar flexors and one
palmaris longus: the three former may represent the condyloid
head of the Ai, and the two ulnar origins in the Orycterope ;
and this would give us a clue to its complexity of arrangement.
In the Ai, in consequence of the singular method of progres-
sion and mode of life of the creature, the digits are closely
flexed, with the prominent hooked nails incurved to the palms;
and while the flexor muscle of the digits is undivided, it is
impossible, without tearing, to extend these even to a right
angle with the palm. These tendons are bound down at the
wrist by an enormously strong annular ligament, which passes
from the scaphoid and trapezium bones to the unciform, pisi-
form, and third metacarpal bones. Each flexor tendon has a
special fibrous and synovial sheath, underneath which it tra-
yels. The palmar fascia is in reality a continuation of this
of Bradypus tridactylus. 61
ligament; and into it the palmaris-longus tendon is inserted.
-On slitting up this structure, the flexor digitorum is exposed.
This muscle is single, and plays the part of flexor sublimis,
flexor profundus, and pollicis. It arises from the inner condyle
of the humerus, from the front of the radius, ulna, and inter-
osseous membrane; all its fibres unite to form one mass, which
ends in three very strong tendons passing to the last phalanges
of the three digits. Hach tendon is bound down by an enor-
mously strong sheath, and when examined seemed to be com-
posed of two laterally united halves, as a groove extended in the
centre of their distal ends for nearly one-fourth of their thick-
ness. ‘The Ai resembles the Orycterope in having no sesa-
moid bone in the palm, but differs from it im being devoid of
all traces of lumbricales. Hach tendon has several synovial
vincula or retinacula binding it in its place. No sesamoid
bone exists in the Tamandua, the T'wo-toed, or the Great Ant-
eater; but in the Armadilloes they exist in D. sexcinctus, tri-
cinctus, gigas, Chlamyphorus truncatus, as also in Echidna
hystrix and Ornithorhynchus.
We could find no true supinator longus in the Armadillo ; but
it is well developed in the T’amandua and the Orycterope, and
in the Ai proportionally best of all, and split into two strata,
as was the case with the pronator teres ; the longest of these was
inserted into the lower extremity of the radius, and by a few
fibres into the external lateral ligament of the wrist. In the
Two-toed Anteater it is similarly divided ; but it does not seem
to be present in the WZ. gubata; at least Pouchet does not men-
tion its existence.
The supinator brevis was small and. characteristic, pierced
by the posterior interosseous nerve. Its origin was purely
humeral, and its insertion, as usual, was radial. Its position
is similar in the Armadillo; and its nervous relation appears
constant in these animals. It seems to be larger in the Oryc-
terope, as it extends in that creature for one-half of the radius.
It exists likewise in the Great, the Two-toed, and the Tamandua
Anteaters.
The extensor carpi radialis is a single muscle with a double
tendon inserted into the first and second metacarpal bones. It
has two tendons, according to Mr. Galton, in the Orycterope—
one, according to Prof. Humphry. In this animal the former
author observes that the tendon representing the extensor carpi
radialis brevior seemed to be the more direct continuation of
the original muscle; but in Bradypus there is no difference
between the parts of the muscle furnishing the broad flat
tendon. In Cholapus it is circumstanced similarly, and in
the Anteaters and Armadilloes itis the same, ,
62 Prof. A. Macalister on the Myology
. Extensor carpi ulnaris arises from the outer condyle of the
humerus, and is inserted into the third metacarpal bone. In’
the Armadillo it has an ulnar origin, and is inserted by the
intervention of a sesamoid bone into the base of the fifth meta-
carpal bone. In the Orycterope its insertion is into the fourth
and fifth digits; in the Anteaters, T'wo-toed and Tamandua,
its insertion is similar.
Extensor digitorum communis is an exceedingly weak
muscle arising from the outer condyle of the humerus, and
inserted into the dorsal aponeurosis of the hand, dividing into
weak fascial slips traceable along the dorsum of each of the
two inner fingers; the third seems deprived even of this sem-
‘ blance of an extensor. In Cholepus didactylus the tendon
goes to both digits ; the tendons of this muscle are much more
distinct in Orycteropus, Dasypus, and Myrmecophaga, and
seek an insertion usually into the last phalanges of the digits.
Extensor ossis metacarpi pollicis arises from the middle of
the back of the ulna, and is inserted into the imner meta-
carpal bone at its base. This muscle does not seem to exist
in the T'wo-toed Anteater; but it is present in W/. jubata, in
the Orycterope, and in the Armadilloes.
Extensor indicis is a small muscle, and the only representa-
tive of the second series of extensors. It arises from the lower
extremity of the ulna, and is inserted into the base of the first
phalanx of the first digit. This muscle exists in the Orycterope,
mn which animal it is inserted into the index and middle digits;
in the Armadillo it goes, as in the dog, into index and pollex.
The extensors’ of the first and second pollicial internodes, to-
gether with those of the ring- and little finger, were completely
obsolete.
The short muscles of the hand are :—Abductor primi digiti,
a short flat band passing from the scaphoid bone and annular
ligament to the first phalanx of the inner digit; on raising
this and the flexor tendons, I could see no traces whatever of
palmar interossei. Extensor brevis digitorum manus, a small
muscle on the back of the hand, which seems to contain the
displaced germs of the dorsal interossei; its tendon joins the
aponeurosis of the extensor digitorum longus, and is inserted
along with it.
In the dissection of the pelvic limb, the abdominal muscles
displayed no particular features of imterest. The external
oblique did not ascend as high as it is represented in the other
Edentates ; and the rectus was, as before mentioned, cut off
from its thoracic segment.
Gluteus maximus, a small, superficial triangular muscle,
arises from the posterior border of the ilium, from the side of
_ of Bradypus tridactylus. 63
the sacrum, and is inserted into the outer part of the femur,
immediately below the great trochanter. It is much smaller
than its homologue in the Anteater, Armadillo, and Orye-
terope, and is easily separable from the biceps, which does not
seem to be the case in the Orycterope (‘Trans. Linn. Soc.
p- 589).
Gluteus medius and minimus were inseparably united, a
condition which is described by Meckel: a similar fusion takes
place in Cholepus, Dasypus, and Myrmecophaga jubata and
didactyla; Rapp, however, found them distinct in M/. taman-
dua. Their attachments are as usual.
Tensor vagine femoris arises from the anterior fifth of the
crest of the ilium, fleshy and tendinous, passes downwards
into a line, about half an inch long, on the outer side of the
femur below the great trochanter: this is the muscle to which
Cuvier gives the name gluteus minimus; but its origin is on
a plane superficial to the gluteus medius muscle, and anterior
to the gluteus maximus. This muscle in the Armadillo is
larger and more expanded; in that animal its insertion is not
exactly into the bone, but into a tendinous sling passing from
the third trochanter to the external condyloid ridge on the
femur.
Pyriformis, quite distinct from the lower border of the glu-
teus medius, arises from the margin of the sacrum, and not
from its anterior aspect, agreeing in this respect with Dasypus;
it is inserted as usual. It has no fibres from the ilium, from
which bone it takes its attachment in Orycteropus. It is not
divided into segments.
Obturator internus, very small and displaced on account of
the position of the lesser sciatic notch. Siisemuhl denies the
existence of this muscle; and truly there is no muscle within
the pelvis occupying the ordinary site of the inner obturator ;
but Meckel observes properly that the obturator internus lies
beneath the obturator externus. This muscle is absent in Da-
sypus and in the Tamandua. The gemelli are both present, and
about equal in size in the Ai, as also, according to Rapp, in
the Tamandua and also in Dasypus. Both obturators and
gemelli, however, exist in Orycteropus.
(uadratus femoris is present, but small. It seems to be
absent in the Orycterope and the Anteaters; it is present,
however, in the Armadillo. Meckel describes it as well de-
veloped in this animal. Obturator externus is normal as in all
the Edentates.
Psoadiliacus is large and remarkable, unsegmented at its
origin, which is as usual; its insertion is into the lesser tro-
chanter and a ridge prolonged down the thigh for an inch be-
64 Prof. A. Macalister on the Myology
low this bone. The psoas parvus is present, but small.
Some such continuation of the psoadiliac insertion seems to
oceur in the Orycterope.
Sartorius is a large flat muscle, and it arises from the ante-
rior superior spine ‘of the ilium and from the outer half of
Poupart’s ligament; of these origins the latter is the most
important. — Its fibres run downwards and inwards to be in-
serted into the inner side of the head of the tibia. This muscle
includes the slip called by Cuvier “ pubio-prétibien,” or the
rectus internus ; the outer band is inserted into the femur, not
the tibia. The origin ascribed to this muscle by Meckel (from
the external oblique aponeurosis) will thus be seen to be quite °
accurate, despite the animadversions of the editor of Cuvier’s
‘Lecons orales.’ This occurs in the Hare and Rabbit, as
Krause very accurately describes. The sartorius is thus being
moved inwards in this animal; and its displacement is com-
pleted in the Armadillo and Orycterope, in which the origin
is distinctly internal to its usual site.
Pectineus muscle is composed of two parts, arising from the
pectineal ridge on the os innominatum, and inserted into the
femur for its entire length; the long superficial portion passes
internal and nearly parallel to the sartorius, while the deeper
part seems the true pectineus. ‘This division is noticed by
Cuvier, and seems likewise to occur in the Orycterope (Galton,
Trans. Linn. Soc.p.591). Gracilis is a continuation inwards of
this same muscular stratum, and, arising from the pubic ramus
and symphysis, passes downwards and inwards to be inserted
into the inner condyle of the tibia.
Biceps femoralis is composed of two parts. One, the long
head, arises from the tuber ischii and its ascending ramus and
descending ramus of the pubis ; it overlaps the adduetors, and
is separated from the femoral head by the great sciatic nerve.
The femoral origin arises from the upper half of the back of
the femur, on its outer side, and soon unites with the long head
to be inserted into the head of the fibula. In the Armadillo
there is no femoral head, nor in the Orycterope ; but in the
Tamandua and Two-toed Anteater this muscle has’ a true fe-
moral head.
Semimembranosus and semitendinosus arise by a common
tendon from the tuber ischii, and continue fused together for a
short distance from their origin. They descend the thigh
together, and are inserted into the tibia as usual, the semi-
membranosus passing to the upper part of the i inner condyle
and fascia of the leg*.
* By accident the notes on the adductor muscles haye been lost; so I
prefer leaving them deficient to filling the gap from memory,
of Bradypus tridactylus. 65
The hip-joint is strengthened by three ligaments—a capsular,
an ilio-femoral accessory, and a cotyloid ligament; but there is
no ligamentum teres.
The muscles of the leg are :—
Tibialis anticus, which arises from the tibia and from a
small part of the fibula about its middle, and is inserted by
an undivided tendon into the middle of the base of the inner
metatarsal bone; its fibular head is very diminutive. In
Orycteropus it rises higher, to the ligamentum patella, and its
tendon is split into two slips. Meckel mentions two separate
origins in the Ai; but the tibial and fibular origins are not really
separate. ‘Che Armadillo has but one head and one tendon ;
the Anteater has one tendon and two heads (Meckel).
Extensor digitorum longus arises normally from the heads
of the tibia and fibula, and its origin is prolonged upwards to
the femur ; it ends in a weak tendon, which is inserted into
the second metatarsal bone and into the dorsal aponeurosis of
the digit. This peculiarity of insertion was noticed by Meckel,
but its femoral origin was not. In the Orycterope the femoral
origin exists, and its tendons are traceable to the toes. In
Dasypus there is no condyloid head. Cuvier notices very
accurately that in many of the Edentates this muscle has a
femoral head.
Extensor hallucis proprius arises from the fibula and interos-
seous membrane and is inserted into the first phalanx of the
first toe. It, like the preceding, is very small.
Extensor brevis digitorum arises from the lower extremity of
the fibula and tibia, and is inserted into the first phalanx of
the inner toe. This muscle is larger than the last, though
short.
Peroneus longus arises from the outer condyle of the femur
and from the upper part of the fibula; it passes downwards
behind the outer malleolus, and is inserted into the outer meta-
tarsal bone. In theOrycterope and Armadillo its tendon crosses
the sole as it does in man. In the Anteater one of the peronei
tendons closely resembles this.
Peroneus brevis arises as usual from the lower two-thirds of
the outer side of the fibula. It is quite separate from the
peroneus quinti, which runs along its posterior border and has
its usual insertion into the outer metatarsal bone.
No peroneus quartus was present, nor any peroneo-caleanean
muscle. The former exists in the Orycterope (Galton, p. 598).
Peroneus quinti is distinet in the Armadillo,
Gastrocnemius arises by three heads, which are separate for
their whole length. The two femoral heads arise from the pos-
terior surface of either condyle, and are inserted into the calea-
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4, Vol. iv. 5
66 Prof. A. Macalister on the Myology of Bradypus tridactylus.
neum. The soleus or fibular head arises from the upper fourth
of the back of the fibula, and is inserted beneath the last named.
The inner head is the largest, the external second in size, and
the soleus smallest of all. The external is the largest in the
Dasypus. There are no sesamoid bones in the origins of the
muscle, as there are in the Tamandua and Myrmecophaga
didactyla. Meckel, however, refers to the Ai as possessing one
of these in its origin; and in the Megatherium one of these ap-
pears to have existed for the outer head of the gastrocnemius.
The soleus does not arise from the middle of the fibula, as
stated by Cuvier, but is limited to its upper portion alone.
The popliteus muscle is large and possesses a large sesamoid
bone in its tendon of origin. As usual this muscle runs from
the outer condyle of the femur to the back of the tibia. It
does not seem to possess a sesamoid bone in the Tamandua,
Orycteropus, or Dasypus.
Plantaris is a large pear-shaped muscle arising above the
outer head of the gastrocnemius; and, passing down the poste-
rior surface of the leg, it ends in a tendon which is inserted
into the tendon of the flexor digitorum longus. This digital
continuation seems to be characteristic of the plantaris in the
Edentate animals, as it likewise exists in the Six-banded Ar-
madillo and in Orycteropus capensis. Rapp makes no men-
tion of it as present in the Tamandua; but possibly he may
have confounded it with the gastrocnemius. This muscle
seems to me to be larger proportionally in the Sloth than in
any other animal that I have dissected.
Flexor digitorum longus arises from the posterior surface of
the tibia, and is inserted into the three toes by three strong
tendons. Its tendon is strengthened in the middle of the sole
of the foot by the plantaris, which unites with it as a strong
accessory. In the Orycterope this muscle is fibular in its origin
(Galton, p. 596), and sends a tendon to all the toes, even the
hallux, and receives a slip from the tibialis posticus to assist
it in forming the tendon for this digit. This muscle is like-
wise mainly fibular in its origin in the Armadillo, and pos-
sesses a plantar ossicle.
Flexor hallucis longus, a very large muscle, arises from the
fibula and interosseous membrane, passes downwards for a
short distance, and unites with the last-described muscle to be
inserted in common with it into the toes. .
The tibialis posticus is very small and inconspicuous ; it
passes from the lower half of the back of the tibia, and is
inserted into the inner cuneiform bone of the tarsus.
There are two musculi accessorii in the foot, one from the
outer and the other from the inner surfaces of the caleaneum :
Royal Society. 67
the former is inserted into the third-digit slip of the long flexor
tendon ; the latter, or true accessorius, is attached to the front
of the two inner tendons, and is rather larger. The tendons
for the toes are thus complex in their mode of formation; for
plantaris and flexor digitorum, united with flexor hallucis and
the accessorii, form but one common series of tendons. The
flexors digitorum and hallucis first unite; these are joined by the
plantaris ; and the conjoined tendon receives the accessorii :
thus the outer-toe tendon is formed by the outer accessorius
and a slip from the common flexor; the inner receives the
principal body of the flexor hallucis and a slip of the others,
while the middle has one single tendon of composite origin.
PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES,
ROYAL SOCIETY.
Feb. 11, 1869.—Dr. W. B. Carpenter, Vice-President, in the Chair.
“On the Structure and Development of the Skull of the Common
Fowl (Gallus domesticus).” By W.Krrcuen Parker, F.RS.
In a former paper (Phil. Trans. 1866, vol. clvi. part 1, pp. 113-
183, plates 7-15) I described the structure and development of the
skull in the Ostrich tribe, and the structure of the adult skull of the
Tinamou—a bird which connects the Fowls with the Ostriches, but
which has an essentially struthious skull.
That paper was given as the first of a proposed series, the sub-
sequent communications to be more special (treating of one species
at a time) and carrying the study of the development of the cranium
and face to much earlier stages than was practicable in the case of
the struthious birds.
Several years ago Professor Huxley strongly advised me to con-
centrate my attention for some considerable time on the morphology
of the skull of the Common Fowl; that excellent advice was at length
taken, and the paper now offered is the result.
A full examination of the earlier conditions of the chick’s skull
has cost me much anxious labour; but my supply of embryonic
birds (through the kindness of friends) * was very copious, and in
time the structure of the early conditions of the skull became mani-
fest to me.
The earliest modifications undergone by the embryonic head are
not given in this paper: they are already well known to embryo-
logists; and my purpose is not to describe the general development
of the embryo, but merely the skeletal parts of the head.
These parts are fairly differentiated from the other tissues on the
fourth day of incubation, when the head of the chick is a quarter
* Dr. Maurie is especially to be thanked for his most painstaking kindness
in this respect.
5*
68 Royal Society :-—
of an iuch (3 lines) in length; this in my paper is termed the “ “first
stage.” The next stage is that of the chick with a head from 4 to
5 lines in length, the third 8 to 9 lines, and so on. ‘The ripe
chick characterizes the “fifth stage ;”’ and then I have worked out
the skull of the chicken when ree weeks, two months, three
months, and from six to nine months old, the skull of the aged
Fowl forming the “last stage.’
During all this time (from their first appearance to their highly
consolidated condition in old age) the skeletal parts are undergoing
continual change, obliteration of almost all traces of the composite
condition of the early skull being the result—except where there is
a hinge, for there the parts retain perfect mobility.
Here it may be remarked that although the Fowl is only an
approach to what may be called a typical Bird, yet its skull presents
a much greater degree of coalescence of primary centres than might
have been expected from a type which is removed so few steps from
the semistruthious Tinamou, a bird which retains so many of its
cranial sutures.
The multiplicity of parts in the Bird’s skull at certain stages very
accurately represents what is persistent in the Fish, in the Reptile,
and to some degree in certain Mammals; but the skull at first is as
simple as that of a Lamprey or a Shark, and, in the Bird above all
other Vertebrates, reverts in adult age to its primordial simplicity
—all, or nearly all, its metamorphic “changes having vanished and
left no trace behind them.
Although in this memoir I have no business with the Fish, yet all
along I have worked at the Fish equally with the Bird, the lower
type being taken as a guide through the intricacies of the higher ;
and here the Cartilaginous and the Osseous Fishes are never fairly
out of sight. ‘The Reptile, and especially the Lizard, has been less
helpful to me, on account of its great specialization.
On the fourth day of incubation the cranial part of the notochord
is two-thirds the length of the primordial skull, but it does not quite
reach the pituitary body ; it lies therefore entirely in the occipito-otic
region. ‘The fore part of the skull-base extends horizontally very
little in front of the pituitary space; this arises from the fact that
the “‘ mesocephalic flexure’ has turned the “ horns of the trabeculee”’
under the head. Thus at this stage the nasal, oral, and postoral
clefts are all seen on the under surface of the head and neck of the
chick. At this time the facial arches have begun to chondrify ; but
only the quadrate, the Meckelian rod, and the lower thyro-hyal are
really cartilaginous; the other parts are merely tracts of thickened
blastema or indifferent tissue.
In the second stage an orbito-nasal septum has been formed; the
“horns of the trabecule’’ have become the “nasal alee,’’ and an
azygous bud of cartilage has grown downwards between them; this
is the “prenasal’’ or snout cartilage; it is the avis of the inter-
maxillary region. At the commencement of this second stage the
primordial skull stands on the same morphological level as that of
the ripe embryo of the Sea-turtle; at the end of this stage it has
Mr. W. K. Parker on the Skull of the Common Fowl. 69
become struthious; and now parosteal tracts (the angular, suran-
gular, dentary, &c.) appear round the mandibular rod.
In this abstract I shall not trace the changes of the skull any
further, but conclude with a few remarks on the nomenclature of
certain splints, and as to the nature of the great basicranial bones.
Some years ago I found that certain birds (for instance the Emeu)
possessed an additional maxillary bone on each side; knowing that
the so-called “turbinal’’ of the Lizard and Snake was one of the
maxillary series I set myself to find the homologies of these splints.
Renaming the reptilian bones ‘“ preevomers,” on account of their
relation to the vomer, and supposing the feeble maxillaries of the
Bird to represent them, I considered that the true maxillaries were
to be found in those newly found cheek-bones of the Emeu and
some other birds.
After discussion with Professor Huxley I have determined to drop
the term “przvomer,” and to call the supposed turbinal of the
Lizard ‘‘ septo-maxillary,”’ and the additional bone in the Bird’s face
** postmaxillary.”’
In many Birds, but not in the Fowl, the ‘“ septo-maxillary”’ is
largely represented—not, however, as a distinct osseous piece, but as
an outgrowth of the true maxillary.
With regard to the basicranial bones, I have now satisfied myself
that the ‘“parasphenoid”’ of the Osseous Fish and the Batrachian
reappears in the Bird as three osseous centres—all true ‘ parostoses,”
as in the single piece of the lower types; these three pieces are, the
“rostrum”? of the basisphenoid and the two “ basitemporals.”’
These three centres rapidly coalesce to form one piece, the exact
counterpart of the Ichthyic and Batrachian bone; but just as this
coalescence begins, ossification proceeds inwards from these ‘ paros-
toses,’’ and affects the overlying cartilage, the cartilage of the basi-
sphenoidal region having no other osseous nuclei. This process of
the extension inwards of ossification from a splint-bone to a cartila-
ginous rod or plate I have already called “ osseous grafting ”’ *.
In my former paper the basisphenoidal ‘‘ rostrum” and “ basi-
temporals”’ were classed with the endoskeletal bones; they will in
the present paper be placed in the parosteal category, in accordance
with their primordial condition.
By the careful following out of these and numerous other details
I have corrected and added to my previous knowledge of the early
morphological conditions of the Bird’s cranium, and at the same
time, I trust, have contributed to an enlarged and more accurate
conception of the history and meaning of the Vertebrate skull in
general.
March 18, 1869.—Dr. William Allen Miller, Treasurer and Vice-
President, in the Chair,
“On the Structure of the Red Blood-corpuscle of Oviparous Ver-
tebrata.” By Wixuram 8S. Savory, F.RS.
The red blood-cell has been perhaps more frequently and fully
examined than any other animal structure; certainly none has
* Sce memoir “ On the Shoulder-girdle and Sternum,” Ray Soc, 1868, p. 10.
*
70 Royal Society :—
evoked such various and even contradictory opinions of its nature.
But without attempting here any history of these, it may be shortly
said that amongst the conclusions now, and for a long time past,
generally accepted, a chief one is that a fundamental distinction
exists between the red corpuscle of Mammalia and that of the other
vertebrate classes—that the red cell of the oviparous vertebrata
possesses a nucleus which is not to be found in the corpuscle of the
other class. This great distinction between the classes has of late
years been over and over again laid down in the strongest and most
unqualified terms.
But I venture to ask for a still further examination of this im-
portant subject.
As the oviparous red cell is commonly seen, there can be no doubt
whatever about the existence of a “‘nucleus”’ in its interior. It is too
striking an object to escape any eye; but I submit that its existence is
due to the circumstances under which the corpuscle is seen, and the
mode in which it is prepared for examination. I think it can be
shown that the so-called nucleus is the result of the changes which
the substance of the corpuscle undergoes after death (and which are
usually hastened and exaggerated by exposure), and the disturbance
to which it is subjected in being mounted for the microscope. When
a drop of blood is prepared for examination, little or no attention is
given to the few seconds, more or less, which are consumed in the
manipulation. It is usually either pressed or spread out on the glass
slip, and often mixed with water or some other fluid, But it is
possible to place blood-cells under the microscope for examination so
quickly, and with such slight disturbance, that they may be satis-
factorily examined before the nuclei have begun to form. They
may then be shown to be absolutely structureless throughout ; and,
moreover, as the examination is continued the gradual formation of
the nuclei can be traced. The chief points to be attended to are—to
mount a drop of blood as quickly as possible, to avoid as much as
possible any exposure to air, to avoid as much as practicable con-
tact of any foreign substance with the drop, or any disturbance of it.
After many trials of various plans, I find that the following will
often succeed sufficiently well. Having the microscope, and every-
thing else which is required, conveniently arranged for immediate
use, an assistant secures the animal which is to furnish the blood
(say, a frog or a newt), in such a way that the operator may cleanly
divide some superficial vessel, as the femoral or humeral artery. He
then instantly touches the drop of blood which exudes with the
under surface of the glass which is to be used as the cover, imme-
diately places this very lightly upon the slide, and has the whole
under the microscope with the least possible delay. Thus for several
seconds the blood-cells may be seen without any trace of nuclei ;
then, as the observation is continued, these gradually, but at first very
faintly, appear; and the study of their formation affords strong
proof of their absence from the living cells.
The “nucleus” first appears as an indistinct shadowy substance,
usually, but not always, about the centre of the cell. The outline of
it can hardly, for some seconds, be defined; but it gradually grows
On the Red Blood-corpuscle of Oviparous Vertebrata. 71
more distinct. Often some small portion of the edge appears clear
before the rest. At the same time the nucleus is seen to be paler
than the surrounding substance. Synchronously with this change—
and this is noteworthy—the outline of the corpuscle (the “ cell-wall’’)
becomes broader and darker. What was at first a mere edge of
homogeneous substance, becomes at length a dark border sharply
defined from the coloured matter within. Thus a corpuscle, at first
absolutely structureless, homogeneous throughout, is seen gradually
to be resolved into central substance or nucleus, external layer or
cell-wall, and an intermediate, coloured though very transparent,
substance. But—and this is significant—these changes are not
always thus fully carried out. It not seldom happens that the nucleus
does not appear as a central well-defined regularly oval mass. Some-
times it never forms so as to be clearly traced in outline, but remains
as an irregular shapeless mass, in its greater portion very obscure.
Sometimes only a small part, if any, of an edge can be recognized,
most of it appearing to blend indefinitely with the rest of the cell-
substance. Sometimes it happens that in many corpuscles the
formation of a nucleus does not proceed even so far as this. No
distinct separation of substance can anywhere be seen, but shadows,
more or less deep, here and there indicate that there is greater
aggregation of matter at some parts than at others. Occasionally
some of the cells present throughout a granular aspect. I have
almost invariably observed, too, a relation between the distinctness
of the nucleus and of the cell-wall. When the nucleus is well de-
fined, the cell-wall is strongly marked ; when one is confused, the
other is usually fainter. This, however, does not apply to colour ;
on the contrary, when the nucleus is least coloured it contrasts
most strongly with the surrounding cell. As a rule, the wall of
the cell is more strongly marked than the nucleus.
It will of course be said that the nuclei are present all the while,
but are at first concealed by the surrounding substance—the con-
tents of the cell. Thus the fact has been accounted for, that the
nuclei are not so obvious at first as they subsequently become.
But I think a careful comparison of cells will show that those in
which a nucleus may be traced are not more transparent than others
which are structureless ; and, moreover, when one cell overlaps an-
other, the lower one is seen through the upper clearly enough to
show that the substance of these cells is sufficiently transparent to
allow of a nucleus being discerned if it exists. When a nucleus is
fully formed, it hides that portion of the outline of a cell which lies
beneath it. How is it, then, if the nucleus is present from the first,
that the portion of the cell over which it subsequently appears is,
for a while, plainly seen ?
The success of the observation is of course influenced by numerous
circumstances. The rate at which the nuclei form in the corpuscles
varies in different animals. I have usually found that in the common
frog they are more prone to form than in many other animals—
quicker than in most fishes, or even than insome birds. But this
does not seem always to depend upon their larger size ; for in the
Tae. Royal Society.
common newt the cells, which are larger than those of the frog, re-
main, as I have noticed, for a longer period without any appearance
of nuclei. But even in the frog it can be satisfactorily demonstrated
that the corpuscle is structureless.
I have found, too, that the observation succeeds best with the
blood of animals which are healthy and vigorous. Thus the first
observations upon fresh animals are usually the most satisfactory.
After they have been repeatedly wounded or have lost much blood,
the cells are more prone to undergo the changes which result in the
production of nuclei.
Again, the formation of nuclei may be hastened, and their ap-
pearance rendered more distinct at last, by various reagents. Acids
and many other reagents are well known to have this effect. The
addition of a small quantity of water acts in the same way, but less
energetically. It hastens the appearance of an indistinct nucleus,
but interferes with the formation of a well-defined mass, so that,
after the addition of water, neither the outline of the cell nor of the
nucleus becomes so strongly marked as it often does without it.
Exposure to air also promotes their formation ; indeed, as a rule, the
nuclei form best under simple exposure. Any disturbance of the
drop, as by moving the point of a needle in it, certainly hastens the
change; and perhaps it is influenced by temperature.
Sometimes, when the drop of blood has been skilfully mounted,
the majority of cells will remain for a long while without any trace
of nucleus; but, again, in almost every specimen, the nucleus in some
few of the cells, particularly in those nearest the edges, begins to
appear so rapidly that it is hardly possible to run over the whole
field without finding some cells with an equivocal appearance.
It would follow, of course, from these observations that, if the
living blood were examined in the vessels, the corpuscle would show
no trace of any distinction of parts; and this is so. Indeed, in my
earlier observations*, before I had learnt to mount a drop of blood
for observation in a satisfactory manner, I examined, at some length,
blood in the vessels of the most transpareut parts I could select ;
and several observations on the web and lung of the frog and else-
where were satisfactory. But still, when the cells were thus some-
what obscured by intervening membrane, one could not generally
feel sure that the observation was so clear and complete, but that
a faintly marked nucleus might escape detection. While, therefore,
the result of observations on blood-cells in the vessels fully accords
with the description I have given, I do not think that the demon-
stration of the fact, that while living they have no nucleus, can be
made so plain and unequivocal as when they are removed from the
vessels.
The question naturally arises, Why, then, does not a nucleus form
in the mammalian corpuscle’? But while it is accepted that the great
majority of these corpuscles exhibit no nuclei after death, excellent
observers still affirm their occasional existence; and I am convinced
* Made many years ago. Other observers have been unable to detect a nu-
cleus in the living cells within the vessels, ;
Miscellaneous. 73
that an indistinct, imperfectly formed ‘‘nucleus”’ is often seen ;
and the shadowy substance seen in many of the smaller oviparous
cells after they have been mounted for some time is very like that
seen under similar circumstances in some of the corpuscles of Mam-
malia. Many, too, affirm that these corpuscles do not exhibit that
distinction of wall and contents which is generally described. It
appears to me that this difference of opinion depends on the changes
they are prone to undergo. How far the absence of a distinctly de-
fined ‘‘nucleus”’ after death depends on their smaller size I am not
prepared to say.
Many questions of course follow. For example, how far is this
separation of the substance of a homogeneous * corpuscle into nu-
cleus, cell-membrane, and contents to be compared to the coagula-
tion of the blood? and how do the agents which are known to
influence the one process affect the other? A still further and more
important question is, How are these changes in the corpuscles, and
in the blood around them, related? But in this paper I propose to
go no further than the statement that the red corpuscle of all verte-
brata is, in its natural state, structureless. When living, no distinc-
tion of parts can be recognized; and the existence of a nucleus in
the red corpuscles of ovipara is due to changes after death, or
removal from the vessels.
I cannot conclude this paper without acknowledging the great
help I have received in this investigation from Mr. Howard Marsh,
Demonstrator of Microscopical Anatomy at St. Bartholomew’s Hos-
pital.
MISCELLANEOUS.
Note on a new Hermaphrodite Chetopod Annelid.
By G. Moauin-Tanpon.
Tue group of Chetopod Annelida was long regarded as consisting
entirely of unisexual animals. In 1857, Mr. Huxley made known
the first exception to this general law in a new Annelid of the
English coast, Protula Dystert. A few years later, M. Pagenstecher,
while staying on the shores of the Mediterranean at Cette, disco-
vered the same fact in another species of the same family, Spirorbis
spirillum. Lastly, a third fact of the same kind was observed by
M. Claparéde in a species of Amphiglena (A. mediterranea). This
naturalist also confirmed the exactitude of Mr. Huxley’s observa-
tions, and showed, by his investigation of a great number of Serpulea,
that these cases of monceciousness are exceptional in this family.
I have discovered another example of hermaphroditism, but this
time in a dorsibranchiate Annelid belonging to the genus Nereis. I
believe that this species is new, and propose to name it Wereis mas-
* By the word homogeneous I do not mean to affirm that the substance of
the corpuscle is of equal consistence throughout. The central may be the softest
part of it. But I regard the corpuscle, in its whole substance, as “having the
same nature.”
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. iv. 6
74 Miscellaneous.
siliensis. The following are its. principal characters:—Muiddle an-
tenne short, subulate ; lateral antennz stout, shorter, composed of
two joints—the basal thick, the terminal very small; the two supe-
rior tentacles long, reaching as far as the eighth segment, the two.
inferior shorter, but. exceeding the antenne ; jaws strong, curved,
presenting twelve teeth ; no denticles; feet like those of Nereis bi-
lineata. The body, which is 4-5 centimetres in length, has from
sixty to seventy segments of a greenish-brown colour, marked with
numerous vinose spots irregularly arranged.
This species occurs pretty frequently on the shore at Marseilles,
among Ulva. It inhabits membranous tube, constructed in a fold
of the fronds of that plant, and is herbivorous. Of eleven individuals
that I dissected, nine contained, pell-mell in the cavity of the body,
spermatozoids and ova in different stages of development. The
mature ova observed in the general cavity are yellowish, and 0°37
millim. in diameter. The free spermatozoids floating in the visceral
fluid are composed of a bacilliform anterior part (head) 0-01 millim.
in length by 0:0017 millim. in breadth, and of an excessively thin
tail, 0:45 millim. in length. The tail is very different, both in its
length and the nature of its movements, from the vibratile cilia of
the cavity of the body.
The two individuals in which I did not detect hermaphroditism
were females, and had the body filled with a great quantity of ova,
all arrived at maturity.— Comptes Rendus, April 12, 1869, tome Ixvui.
pp. 869, 870.
The Poison-glands of Callophis intestinalis and C. bivirgatus.
By A. Bernwarp-Meryer.
The author has detected poison-glands in the above-mentioned
snakes. He found them first in Callophis intestinalis, Laur. (Hlaps
furcatus, Schneid.), whilst engaged in an investigation of the position
of the heart in serpents. He found the heart in this species thrown
far back towards the tail, in consequence of the presence of two
extended, brown organs above the heart, which proved to be the
poison-glands. They are distinguished from those of other serpents
by their length and by their situation just’ below the ribs in the
ventral cavity. With their excretory ducts they occupy one-third
or even more of the total length of the snake.
The true gland is entirely enveloped by a striated muscle, within
which the smooth, white tendinous surface is concealed. It is
formed of parallel tubes, among which the parenchyma of the gland
occurs divided into little portions. In the middle the number of
tubes is fifteen or more. They unite upon a large excretory duct
in each gland. The excretory ducts run side by side to the head,
where they are applied against the outer surfaces of the quadrate
and maxillary bones; here a large salivary gland opens into each.
The author has detected the same glands in Callophis bivirgatus,
Boié; but they do not exist in C. calligaster, which, however, does
not belong to Callophis, or in the Elapid snakes of Australia ( Ver-
micella, Gray), Africa (Peecilophis, Gthr.), or America.—Comptes
Rendus, April 12, 1869, tome Ixviii. p. 860.
Miscellaneous. 15
On the Geographical Distribution of the Ferns of Mexico.
By Eveine Fournier.
The author has carefully examined the specimens of Ferns from
Mexico in almost every collection existing in Europe, and arrives
at the following results:—-The number of species, which was given
as 6 by Kunth, 182 by Martens and Galeotti, 312 by Liebmann
(omitting synonymic forms), and 487 by Fée (of which 70 are to be
suppressed), amounts, according to the author, to 605, besides a few
others of which he has not seen specimens. Of this number, 47 are
now indicated as Mexican for the first time; and 217 supposed species
are suppressed as identical with others previously described.
The species of ferns are generally the same on both slopes of the
Mexican Andes. Of the species enumerated by Smith as collected
in the Sierra Madre on the Pacific slope, only three have not yet
been discovered on the Atlantic side.
The author identifies a far greater number than his predecessors of
Mexican species with species growing in other parts of America,
especially between the tropics. Of his 605: species, only 178 are
peculiar to Mexico; and these belong to groups largely represented
in that country and wanting elsewhere in tropical America. Of the
427 species common to Mexico and other regions of America, 230
occur in the Andes of South America (New Granada, Ecuador, Peru,
Bolivia), 139 in the Antilles (especially Cuba and Guadeloupe), 59
in Guiana or Caraccas, and 117 in Brazil, the greater part extending
as far as Rio de Janeiro. The ferns of the high mountains of
Mexico easily find a suitable climate in the Andes, even under the
equator ; 12 of them also pass beyond the intertropical region and
descend into the province of Corrientes or to Montevideo, and 17
extend into Chili. Many of the latter, especially the Pellee, pass
into the mountains of Texas, whence 11 have been brought. by Trecul.
The species of the neighbourhood of Orizaba and Jalapa growing
at from 1000 to 1500 metres in the eastern Cordillera of Mexico, and
some of which live in Florida or Carolina, also occur in part in Guiana,
and most of them in Cuba and at Rio de Janeiro; some species even
occur in Mexico and at Rio de Janeiro and are not at present known
from any intermediate place.
The very few littoral species of ferns found in Mexico are gene-
rally diffused over the whole tropical region of the globe.
The most interesting group is one composed of only 12 species,
which, starting from the bottom of the Mexican Gulf, and passing
the Antilles, reaches the Azores and Canary Islands, then becomes
diffused over the Mediterranean region and is continued by a small
number of species in the mountains of Abyssinia and Persia and in
the Himalaya. Of these, in passing northwards, Pteris longifolia
stops‘in the island of Eschea, P. cretacea in Corsica, Woodwardia
radicans in the mountains of Asturias, Adiantum capillus at Poitiers
and at Bormio in the Tyrol near a hot spring, and Gymnogramma
leptophylla at Brest, whilst Cystopteris fragilis, a polymorphic but
indivisible species, spreads all over Europe and reaches the summits
of the Alps. The authentically established existence of this group
of plants agrees, in the author’s opinion, with the hypothesis of
76 Miscellaneous.
the disappearance of the Atlantis.—Comptes Rendus, May 3, 1869,
pp. 1040-1042.
Note on the Structure of the Blastoides.
By E. Brrtres, F.G.S., Paleontologist, Canada Geol. Survey.
The remains of the Blastoidea have as yet proved to be extremely
rare in our Canadian rocks, only five small specimens (three of
Pentremites and two of Codaster) having been collected up to the
present time. While studying these with a view to their description,
I was led to investigate the structure of the order, especially with
regard to the function of the summit openings. On combining the
observations of other authors, whose views I shall give in detail in
another paper, I find that we have now sufficient data to establish
the following points :—
1. In the genus Nucleocrinus, Conrad, there are sixteen apertures
in the summit. Of these, the large lateral aperture is both mouth
and vent. There is no opening in the centre of the apex, where the
mouth has hitherto been supposed to have its position. The ten
so-called ‘‘ ovarial orifices” are respiratory apertures. Between
each two of these, one of the ambulacral grooves enters to the interior
through a small pore, which is a true ovarian orifice. There are thus
ten spiracles, five ovarian orifices, and one buccal and anal orifice—
in all sixteen.
2. In Pentremites there are also five ovarian pores, in the same
position. The mouth is not in the centre, but in the larger of the
five spiracles.
3. Codaster has no ambulacral pores in the so-called “ pseud-
ambulacral fields.” The striated surfaces in the interradial areas
are true Cystidean rhombs of the type of those of the genus Plewro-
cystites. These in Pentremites, Granatocrinus, and Nucleocrinus are
situated under the ambulacra, where they constitute the tubular
apparatus described by Roemer and others.—Silliman’s American
Journal, May 1869.
Tadpoles of Lissotriton punctatus reproduang the Species.
By M. J. Juriien.
On the 11th of April 1869, the author obtained four tadpoles of
Lissotriton punctatus, which he dissected the next day, when he
found in two of them not only fully developed ovaries, but in the
oviducts eggs enveloped in the usual gelatinous layer. The other
two were males. The only external differences between the two
sexes were that in the females the labia of the cloaca were more
developed than in the males, and that the body was shorter in the
latter. The two females were as large as adults.
The testes, which were pretty well developed and fusiform, con-
tained mother cells of spermatozoids, but no free spermatozoids.
The ovaries formed two fine bunches, and the oviducts contained
perfectly developed eggs in both females.
Subsequently the author obtained two more female tadpoles, which
deposited several eggs in the course of a few days, without acquiring
the adult characters.— Comptes Rendus, April 19, 1869, pp. 9388, 939.
THE ANNALS
AND
MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.
[FOURTH SERIES. ]
No. 20. AUGUST 1869.
VITI.—On the Anatomy of Diplommatina, and its Affinity
with Cyclophorus and Pupina in the Cyclophoride. By
JoHN Denis Macponatp, M.D., F.R.S., Staff-Surgeon,
R.N,
[Plate IV.]
THE animal of the little Himalayan shell first named Bulimus
folliculus in Dr. Pfeiffer’s Monograph of the Helicide was
discovered by Capt. Hutton and Mr. Benson to differ from that
family in the situation of the eyes, these ‘ not being borne on
the summits of the tentacula.’” Capt. Hutton, in his MS.,
had actually named it Carychium costatum; but Mr. Benson,
considering it to differ also from Carychiwm sufficiently to
form the type of a new genus, named it Diplommatina. He
chose this name from having observed that the eyes ‘“ were
composed of two lobes—one lobe deeply seated in the tenta-
culum and larger than the other lobe, which is a small black
point coming to the surface on the outer side of the larger
lobe.” ‘‘ Had the animal been provided with an operculum,”
he further remarks, “it might possibly have been referred to
the family of Cyclostomatide.” It is clear, therefore, that Mr.
Benson, while admitting the affinity of his Diplommatina fol-
liculus to Carychium, considered it to be merely the type of a
new genus at least referable to the same group, and not to the
so-called Pulmonifera operculata. But the fallacy of reason-
ing upon insufficient data is well illustrated in the controversy
which followed between Mr. Benson and Dr. Gray as to the
character ‘operculo nullo” (Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1853,
vols. xi. & xu.) There can be little doubt, also, but the
belief on the part of the founder of the genus, that the eyes
were situated on the posterior part of the tentacula near their
base, gave colour to the possible absence of an operculum;
and such would be more conformable with the section to which
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.4. Vol. iv. 7
78 Dr. J.D. Macdonald on the Anatomy of Diplommatina,
it was too hastily assumed to belong. Dr. Gray, however, as
it then appeared, settled the question satisfactorily by the
examination of original specimens in which an operculum was
undoubtedly present. At the time the number of the ‘Annals’
containing his letter came into my hands, I was employed in
the South Seas*, and, being well acquainted with three dis-
tinct species of Diplommatina occurring at Lord-Howe Island,
I thought I might readily furnish Dr.Gray with drawings of the
shell, operculum, and animal of those species, should his argu-
ment require further support. Nevertheless, on visiting the
island of Vatoa, Feejee group, I was not a little surprised to
find a very minute and smooth pupiform shell, with dextral
turns, thickened double peristome, and a tooth on the colu-
mellar lip, containing an animal in every particular identical
with that of Diplommatina save the operculum, of which I did
not discover a trace, though the cicatrix of the operculigerous
lobe was distinct enough, as shown in the figures (1 & 2d,
P1LIV). The above-mentioned question immediately recurred
to my mind, and I also reflected how far are shell-characters
to be trusted in the establishment of genera, and how wide is
the latitude within which specific distinctions may range. I
sympathized with Mr. Benson; for, according to my own ex-
perience, not only in this case but in numerous other Feejeean
species, if the operculum be present at all, it must be in a very
rudimentary state.
Conchologists might prepare a new genus for the reception
of the little shell just noticed, which exhibits but few points in
common with the known Diplommatine; yet even this would
not shake my faith in a conclusion the truth of which is most
evident to my own mind, namely, that the occupant is Di-
plommatina, name the dwelling what you please. In sub-
stantiation of this view, I may mention that of eight or nine
new Feejeean species of the genus, all of which are sinistral,
some have simple peristomes, others tooth-like processes in
the aperture, and the latter is constricted, expanded, or more
or less ascendent, as the case may be; but the animals are in
all instances similar, or only exhibit specific differences. Al-
though the generic characters of Diplommatina are now more
comprehensive than they originally were, there appears to be
a too great readiness on the part of pure conchologists to found
new genera upon any shells that are not conformable in every
minute particular with the primary description, which in the
nature of things cannot be supposed to be infallible.
In the mountain-country of Na Viti Levu I found at least
* In H.MS. ‘Herald,’ Captain, now Admiral, Sir H. M. Denham, K.C.B.
and its Affinity with Cyclophorus and Pupina. 79
eight species of Diplommatina, and arranged them in my note-
book as follows :—
I, Aperture in the plane of the axis of the shell.
1, Peristome perfectly circular. ‘I'wo species.
2. Parietal lip meeting the palatal and columellar lips at an angle.
Three species,
II. Aperture lateral.
1. Peristome impinging on the penultimate whorl, edentate. One
species.
2. Pensions impinging on the terminal whorl; a tooth on the colu-
mellar lip.
a. Shell full, large, sinistral. One species.
6. Shell narrow, minute, dextral. One species.
At Norfolk Island I found a minute Diplommatina (PI. IV.
figs. 3 & 4) that would fall into the second division of the
foregoing table, the aperture being lateral. The peristome is
double, perfectly circular, and everted, the last two characters
as well as its minute size being characteristic. The operculum
(fig. 5) is quite circular, like the aperture, and regularly spiral,
with a curved ridge for muscular attachment towards its an-
terior border.
In all the Diplommatine examined by me the eyes were
uniformly situated at the outer side of the base of the tenta-
cula, and even a little encroaching upon the head. I have
always recognized, also, that their labial and lingual dental
organs, like those of their near allies the Pupine, were strictly
conformable to the Cyclophoroid and not to the Cyclostoma-
tous type, which two natural families are still further dis-
tinguished by the ¢nvariable presence of otoconia in the ear-
sacs of the former, and single spherical otolithes in those of the
latter.
I am borne out in my statement as to the position of the
eyes of Diplommatina by the remarks of Mr. W. T. Blanford
accompanying an outline sketch of the animal of an Himalayan
species by Capt. Godwin-Austen, published in the Ann. &
Mag. of Nat. Hist. 1867, vol. xix. p. 306. He says, ‘“ I have
more than once, within the last few years, called attention ta
the circumstance that, in the two supplements to Dr. Pfeiffer’s
admirable monograph of the living operculated land-shells,
the position assigned to the genus Diplommatina, close to
Acicula, and in a suborder distinguished by the position of the
eyes above the base of the tentacles, is not in accordance with
the structure of the animal ;’’ and, referring to the figure, he
further adds, ‘“ The eyes, as will be seen, are distinctly lateral,
as in Cyclophorus.” My own drawing (fig. 1), which was
carefully taken from nature, confirms this view ; and lest some
7
80 Dr. J.D. Macdonald on the Anatomy of Diplommatina.
misunderstanding should arise as to the apparent situation of
the eyes in fig. 2, it should be stated that the object was
viewed by transmitted light—a circumstance that might ac-
count for the original mistake, had the animal been so ob-
served. In regard to the supposed relationship of Diplomma-
tina to Acicula, I can only say, not having been able to exa-
mine any of the typical Acicule, that, if they are indeed allies
of Truncatella, they have nothing to do with Diplommatina.
The next important contribution to the anatomy of Diplom-
matina is to be found in a short paper by Mr. R. J. L. Guppy
“On the Occurrence of Diplommatina Huttoni in Trinidad”
(Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1867, vol. xx. p. 96), the more per-
tinent part of which runs thus:—‘ The lingual dentition,
being very minute, is somewhat difficult of preparation ; but I
have been able to make out its characters, which are as fol-
lows :—The dental band is of moderate length ; the teeth are
3.1.3, the median is broad, its edge narrowly reflexed and
five-toothed, its base narrow, almost pointed. The first and
second laterals are subclavate, their edges reflexed and three-
toothed. The third lateral is somewhat hamate and obscurely
tricuspid. The mandible is broad and flat, covered with very
distinct, separate, lozenge-shaped plates. All this tends to in-
duce one to retain this genus in the Cyclophoride, to which
these characters attach it more closely than to the Cyclosto-
mide.’ In these remarks we find a recognition of the dis-
tinctness of the two families named, and of what is unques-
tionably the true position of Diplommatina. The amber-
tinted labial plates, composed of obliquely rhombic cells, first,
I believe, noticed by myself in Pupina and Diplommatina*, are
quite characteristic of the Cyclophoride; for although very
similar organs are present in Natica and Triton and their
allies amongst marine Proboscidifera, the labial plates of Cy-
clostoma, Hydrocena, and Assiminea are very different. I
have now only to remark that the dentition of Pupina is so
identical with that of a species of Cyclophorus (fig. 10) occur-
ring at the Isle of Pines, that I did not think it necessary to
furnish a drawing of it. On the other hand, the dentition of
Diplommatina makes a nearer approach to that of Cyclophorus
aquilum figured by Mr. Woodward, the central dental plates in
particular being expanded in front to support a greater number
of teeth, The recognition of the two types here indicated will
be of importance in the distribution of other genera referable
to the Cyclophoride.
* Inva aed read before the Royal Society, Feb. 26, 1857, “On the
Natural Affinities and Classification of Gasteropoda.”
+ Manual of Mollusca, p. 175.
Prof, O. Heer on the last Discoveries in the extreme North. 81
EXPLANATION OF PLATE IV.
Fig. 1. An enlarged figure of a minute, smooth, pupiform shell, with an
animal like that of Diplommatina protruding, obtained at the
Island of Vatoa, Feejee; specimen young, not having yet at-
tained the thickened double peristome noticed in the text.
Fig. 2. The animal removed from the shell, and exhibiting the following
parts :—a, the labial or buccal plates, composed of thin indu-
rated cells resting upon more or less regular courses of square
ones; 0, lingual cartilages and fore part of the tongue, with the
lingual sac extending backwards from it; ¢, tapering tentacula,
with the eye at the outer side of the base; d, the opercular scar
distinctly visible (but the operculum was not found in this spe-
cies); e, the auditory sac, containing otoconia; f, cesophagus;
g, salivary glands; A, rectum.
Figs. 3 & 4, respectively, enlarged back and front views of a minute
sinistral shell, with trumpet-like eversion of a perfectly circular,
continuous, and double peristome ; occurring at Norfolk Island.
Fig. 5. The operculum of the foregoing, highly magnified, as are also the
following figures.
Fig. 6. Lingual cartilages, odontophore, and sac.
Fig. 7. Ear-sac, with otoconia.
Fig. 8. Buccal plates, the lingual teeth resembling the following.
Fig. 9, Two transverse rows of the lingual dentition of one of the Diplom-
matine of Lord-Howe Island.
Fig. 10. Ditto of Cyclophorus. Isle of Pines.
There is in nature even a closer resemblance between the external
lateral teeth of these two tongues than is exhibited in the figures.
Haslar Hospital, June 5, 1869.
IX.—The last Discoveries in the extreme North.
By OswaLp HEER*.
THE high northern latitudes contain a region larger than half
Europe, and which, although less distant from us than most
other parts of the world, is still entirely unknown to us. For
a long time we have been trying to penetrate it. There, in
fact, ought to be the shortest route from Europe to the Hast
Indies and Western America. The search after this perfectly
practical result, the discovery of a new maritime course, has,
during the last three centuries, led to the greatest sacrifices ;
but, in spite of repeated efforts, the problem remains unsolved.
To the present moment the 82nd parallel of north latitude
marks the limits of an unexplored and always icy region, at
the gates of which the bravest men have beaten in vain. We
must even add that we have lost all hope of one day discover-
ing a maritime route leading to the Indies across the polar
seas.
* Translated by W. 8S. Dallas, F.L.S., from the ‘ Bibliothéque Univer-
selle,’ tome xxxix., April 1869, pp. 512-543.
ye Prof. O. Heer on the last Discoveries
But exploring-voyages in these unknown regions have not
lost their attraction on this account. With these expeditions
it is as with the ascent of our mountains. At first we are im-
pelled by a scientific interest. We wish to study nature even
on the most elevated crests of the Alps. Then there is an
irresistible attraction in perilous enterprises which leads man
to the frightful solitudes of the high mountains. When he has
succeeded in reaching a spot never before trodden by human
foot, and his eyes glance over the marvellous scenes which
surround him, he esteems himself fully recompensed for all
his trouble and for all the risks which he has run.
It is true that no lofty summit attracts exploration towards
the polar regions. But (and the chief of the polar expedition
of last year has written to me to this effect within the last few
days) the naked rocks and the dazzling ice-fields of the high
northern regions, desert and frozen as they may be, possess a
marvellously captivating charm for any one, whether a philo-
sopher or an untutored sailor, who has once trodden them.
To reach the pole, or at least a latitude to which man has
never yet penetrated, seems to them an object as worthy of
their efforts as to the tourist the ascent of a virgin peak.
In themselves both these results are of equally little impor-
tance. But if scientific researches are combined with these
polar expeditions, and if they extend the field of our know-
ledge, they are entitled to the interest of the public.
It is this that encourages me to make known briefly the
results of two voyages in the glacial zone, undertaken during
the last two years,—namely, that of Mr. Whymper in North
Greenland in the summer of 1867, and that of the Swedish
expedition to the north pole in the course of last summer.
I. Mr. WHYMPER’S EXPEDITION.
The results obtained by the study of the fossil flora of the
high northern latitudes had attracted the attention of the Royal
Society of London and the British Association. Upon the
proposition of Mr. R. H. Scott, Director of the Meteorological
Observatory of London, they voted a considerable sum, with
the object of collecting in North Greenland new fossil remains,
which would allow the investigations already commenced to
be pursued further. This mission was confided to Mr. Edward
Whymper, well known among us for the first ascent of Mont
Cervin. He took with him Mr. Robert Brown, who had just
returned from a voyage to Vancouver’s Island.
Every spring a ship sails from Copenhagen to the north of
Greenland. In this vessel the travellers made the passage, in
an the extreme North. 83
May 1867. In the first week of June (June 6), they landed
at Egidesminde, a Danish establishment of desolate aspect.
Vegetation is almost entirely wanting on this little island.
The granite rocks were still covered with snow, and the ponds
with a layer of ice. The dwarfish herbage, which was just
beginning to grow, announced the first awakening of spring.
Thence the travellers went in a boat to Jakobshaven (in 69°
10' N. lat.), which they selected as their headquarters, and
from which they would endeavour to penetrate into the interior
of the country.
Off the mainland along the western coast of Greenland there
are innumerable islands and peninsulas, cut out by fiords which
deeply indent the shore. These advanced lands are the only
parts inhabited and known at present. Starting from them
the ground rises, most frequently in scarped slopes or in abrupt
walls of rock, to a height of 2000 and 3000 feet, and forms a
plateau covered by an immeasurable sea of ice—no doubt the
largest that exists in the world. How were these glaciers to be
traversed and explored? Mr. Whymper hoped to succeed by
means of sledges drawn by dogs. Much time was required to
procure these animals and the provisions necessary for their
nourishment; for scarcely anything was to be found in the
little settlements of the Esquimaux. When the expedition
was ready to start, the Esquimaux who ought to have accom-
panied it had disappeared; they had gone to a neighbouring
colony to take part in a dance. Consequently it was the
middle of July before they could start. The travellers passed
in boats through the long fjord of Illartlek, filled with moun-
tains of ice detached from the two glaciers which abut upon
it. They then ascended to the plateau, which at this point
rises to about 2000 feet above the sea. Thence, as far as the
eye could reach, they discovered nothing but a vast extent of
ice, without elevations, without any depressions, without val-
leys—a continuous sheet filling up and covering equally the
ridges and valleys, and thus forming an icy plateau, which loses
itself in the interior in an unlimited distance, emitting on the
shore side very numerous arms which descend even into the sea.
These branches follow the primitive valleys, and incessantly
convey new mountains of ice to the ocean. As no naked
rocks are to be seen anywhere projecting above the glacier, the
latter has no moraines; but it is furrowed with crevasses and
fissures innumerable, and from place to place it was cut by large
lakes. Mr. Whymper soon convinced himself by experience
of the impossibility of penetrating into the interior by ad-
vancing upon this ice. ‘The sledges could not advance; they
were continually being upset upon this rugged and crevassed
84 Prof. O. Heer on the last Discoveries
surface: one of the vehicles was soon broken, and the dogs
would not be guided. Under such circumstances the explorers
were obliged to give up their enterprise. They had, however,
seen enough to understand that there was no hope there of
attaining in some degree the essential object of their voyage,
which was to collect fossil plants.
Mr. Whymper therefore returned to the coast with his com-
panions, and proceeded to the great peninsula of Noursoak, in
the neighbourhood of which the vessel had some trouble
in finding a way through the labyrinth of icebergs which
filled these waters. They proceeded from the glacier of Tos-
sukatek, the jagged crest of which bounded the horizon. Upon
the peninsula of Noursoak Mr. Whymper met with a Dane
who had lived alone among the Esquimaux for twenty-four
years. ‘The peninsula forms an elevated plateau traversed by
a range of mountains which attain a height of 6000 feet.
Upon one of these mountains, situated near Atanekerdluk, is
the principal deposit of the fossil plants of Greenland. Of
this I have already spoken, two years ago, in the pages of this
Review*. The remains are contained in a reddish-brown
rock, composed essentially of iron: this is literally filled with
them ; branches and leaves, fruits and seeds, are collected in
it pell-mell. Pieces of amber are scattered among the branches
which probably produced them.
They first of all set to work upon this deposit, which is
situated in 70° N. lat., and at about 1100 feet above the sea.
For three days Mr. Whymper, Mr. Brown, the interpreter
Tegner, and eleven Esquimaux were at work releasing these
plants from their iron prison and bringing them to the light of
day. A considerable quantity (about 10 quintals) of them
was carried down to the shore.
When this digging was completed, Mr. Whymper and his
companions traversed the Waigat to reach the Island of Disco.
This is equally mountainous ; and the coast rises from the sea
in scarped walls of rock with wild rents and fissures. The
only inhabited place in the island is Onnartuvarsok, opposite
Atanekerdluk. Here also deposits of lignite are found; they
extend along the eastern side of Disco, and are covered by a
layer of sandstone, above which there are thick beds of basalt.
The coal contains amber; and here and there in the sandstone
there are fossil plants—for example, near Ujararsusuk and
Kfidliset. Here were discovered magnificent leaves of Pla-
tanus, large fruits of Magnolia, and branches and cones of a
Sequota (iS. Coutisie). Towards the north of Kfidliset a narrow
* “Les Régions polaires du Nord” (Bibl. Univ. January 1867, p. 51).
in the extreme North. 85
gorge opens, bounded by walls with extremely wild ravines, at
the bottom of which were accumulated large masses of hardened
snow ; at the end a nearly vertical wall of basalt, crowned by
a glacier, rises to a height of about 2000 feet.
Mr. Whymper traversed the Waigat at this point in order
to visit the south-west side of the peninsula of Noursoak,
along which he regained Atanekerdluk. The treasures pre-
viously collected had been increased by interesting objects of
antiquity ; for Mr. Whymper having caused diggings to be
made in the localities of ruined Esquimaux huts which had
long been abandoned, had found there weapons and utensils
of flint and bone, which appear to have a great analogy to
those of our lake-habitations. The little vessel could hardly
contain all these riches. After a tiresome and dangerous pas-
sage, the explorers arrived first at Ritenbenk and afterwards
at Godhaven, the residence of the Inspector of North Green-
land. There they embarked on the 10th of September for
Europe, and arrived in Copenhagen on the 22nd of October.
It is to be regretted that Mr.Whymper lost precious time in
his attempts to penetrate into the interior of the country by the
glaciers; for he thus rendered it impossible for him to visit the
north side of Noursoak, where there lies buried a very inter-
esting Cretaceous flora, which I had particularly recommended
him to work at. Nevertheless the collection which he brought
back to London, and which was afterwards sent to me for
examination, is of considerable scientific value. Exhibited at
present in the British Museum, it has notably added to our
knowledge of the ancient flora of Greenland ; so that the ima-
gination may now clearly picture the aspect of these northern
countries during the Miocene period. I will beg leave to indi-
cate rapidly a few of its features.
At the period when the sandstones which compose the
smiling hills of the environs of Zurich were deposited, a con-
siderable extent of terra firma must have existed in the extreme
north. To this period the name of Miocene has been given, or
more generally that of the Tertiary period. Our countries
then had almost a tropical climate. Among the forests of
laurels and the tufts of palm trees lived numerous animals
belonging to types which now-a-days occur only in the warm
and, even, torrid zones. Towards the north, indeed, the ground
was clothed in a different vesture; nevertheless Greenland,
even at 70°N. lat., presents a flora which, by its climatic
characters, may be compared with that of northern Italy. This
flora teaches us that in the region where the Island of Disco
and Atenekerdluk are situated, there was a lake of fresh water,
upon the marshy edges of which great beds of peat were
86 Prof. O. Heer on the last Discoveries
formed. These subsequently gave origin to the deposits of
coal which appear along the coast. In our marshes it is not
rare to see ferruginous water, which covers the soil with a
reddish-brown crust. The same thing took place in the an-
cient marshes of Greenland: the iron deposited itself upon the
plants which fell into the water ; and these, in their turn, con-
tributed to the precipitation and fixation of the iron. By this
means has been gradually formed that ferruginous rock in the
bosom of which numerous plants are imprisoned. These fos-
sils show that the marshes were covered with sedges and
reeds; but the marsh-cypresses, the water-pines, the birch,
the alder, and the poplar likewise flourished there ; for nume-
rous fragments of these plants are covered by a ferruginous
deposit. The water-trefoil (Menyanthes arctica), no doubt,
grew in the marshes, in the same way that the existing spe-
cies adorns our moist meadows with its charming flowers ; and
the burr-reed (Sparganium), the fruit of which has been ob-
tained from these rocks, also formerly raised its bristling heads
above the waves. The rivulets also brought in leaves from
other localities ; they conveyed them from the primitive forests ;
and it is thus that we find their traces in the impressions of
the ferruginous rock.
If we enter into these forests, we shall find in them a mar-
vellous profusion of trees and shrubs, among which we can
distinguish ninety-five different species. A tree with acicular
leaves (Sequoia Langsdorfii) strikes us at once by its enormous
proportions ; in its aspect it may be compared with our yew,
but it belongs to the category of giant trees. It has left leafy
branches in such numbers that there is scarcely a fragment of
stone which does not contain its remains; and the flowers,
fruits, and seeds which the hammer has extricated from the
rock enable us to reconstruct the entire tree. It is accompa-
nied by two allied species, one of which (Sequoia Couttsie),
by the configuration of its branches and leaves, vividly reminds
us of the gigantic Sequota of California. A Thuda had a dif-
ferent aspect, as also the Ginko (Salisburia adiantoides), of
which the leaves, resembling the fronds of ferns, differ so
greatly from those of other Conifer. The leafy trees are
especially well represented. Whilst our existing forests only
present two species of oaks, Northern Greenland possessed
nine, four of which must have been evergreen trees, like the
Italian oak. Two beeches, a chestnut, two planes, and a wal-
nut from this forest resemble the types of the same names
known to everybody. Besides these, American species, such
as the magnolias, sassafrasses, and liquidambars, were repre-
sented there; and the characters of the ebony trees (Dospyros)
are to be distinguished in two of the species.
an the extreme North. 87
The hazel and the sumach, the buckthorn and the holly,
the guelder-rose and the whitethorn (Crategus) probably
formed the thickets at the borders of the woods; whilst the
vine, the ivy, and the sarsaparilla climbed over the trees
of the virgin forest, and adorned them with green garlands.
In the shadow of the woods grew a profusion of ferns, which
covered the soil with their elegant fronds.
The insects which gave animation to these solitudes are not
all lost. The impressions of these which have reached us
show that little Chrysomelas and Cistelide enjoyed themselves
in the sun, and large Trogosite pierced the bark of the trees,
whilst charming Cicadelle leaped about among the herbage.
This picture is not a dream of the imagination. Plants and
animals, all have passed under my eyes. Of several species of
trees only the leaves had previously been brought from Green-
land, and it was from these that we classified them; now the
fruits also have been found, which have confirmed our deter-
minations. Thus two fruits of Magnolia have been discovered,
as also the fruits and flowers of the chestnut-tree. The chest-
nuts, as in the species now living, are surrounded by a spinous
envelope, in the midst of which there are three fruits. In all,
we have received from this part of Greenland 137 species of
plants, 32 of which were discovered by Mr. Whymper.
We still know this ancient flora only from the remains
collected upon a few points of northern Greenland ; for hitherto
a narrow band of this country along the sea-coast has alone
been explored. The German expedition of last summer ought
to have thrown a new light upon the eastern coast. It might,
in fact, have solved a very interesting question, if, landing at
70° N. lat., it had set to work at the investigation of the rich
deposits of fossil plants and animals discovered by Scoresby,
the specimens from which were lost before being submitted
to scientific examination. The expedition reached land at
73° N. lat.; but great masses of ice rendered the coast unap-
proachable at this point, and the navigators only saw Green-
land from a distance. ‘To make up for this, they made their
way by Hinlop’s Strait to Spitzbergen, exploring that country
and advancing to 81° 5’ of north latitude. The scientific re-
sults of this expedition have not yet been published*; but
accounts of the voyage have appeared in so many journals
and periodical publications, that I may suppose them to be
known. I pass therefore without further delay to the polar
expedition which the Swedes attempted last summer.
* According to a communication which I have received from Dr. Peter-
mann, no fossil plants were found.
88 Prof. O. Heer on the last Discoveries
II, SwepisH EXPEDITION.
There is perhaps no country in Europe in which natural
history has been studied with so much care as Sweden. The
naturalists of that country have extended their investigations
far beyond their own territories, and within the last few years
in particular they have pushed them as far as Spitzbergen,
which, with Greenland, constitutes the most northern land
that we know. It is this that gives it a special interest. The
expedition organized in 1868 is the fourth within eleven years
that has started from Sweden for Spitzbergen with a scienti-
fic object*. Prof. Nordenskiéld, of Stockholm, has taken part
in all these expeditions; and it was he that was intrusted
with the conduct of the last, concurrently with Capt. d’Otters.
The Government placed at the disposal of the explorers an
iron ship, with its equipment and provisions; the Academy
furnished them with scientific instruments; and, in consequence
of an appeal from the Count d’Ehrensverd, the necessary
funds were promptly subscribed at Gothenburg by private in-
dividuals. Nor was there any deficiency of intellectual re-
sources; for eight naturalists had offered their assistance—
* The first expedition was organized in 1857 by Prof. Otto Torell and at
his own expense. Accompanied by MM. Nordenskidld and Queenerstedt,
M. Torell, in the course of two months and a half, traversed and studied
the whole western coast of Spitzbergen. M.Torell had already visited
Iceland for the purpose of studying its glaciers. In 1859 he pursued his
researches upon glaciers in Greenland, whence he brought back rich col-
lections, among which were some fossil plants, which I had the opportu-
nity of examining. The Swedish Government and Chamber of Repre-
sentatives highly appreciated the noble zeal of M. Torell, and granted a
considerable sum (52,000 francs) for a new expedition, the object of which
was to examine the natural history of Spitzbergen and the sea surrounding
it from all points of view. The travellers were also to endeavour to reach
the fixed polar ice, in order to make their way thence towards the pole by
means of sledges drawn by dogs. In this way, in 1861, a second and very
important expedition was organized, which, besides the subsidies from
the state, received other assistance from Prince Oscar, from the Academy
of Sciences, and from several private individuals. It was placed under
the direction of M. Torell. Notwithstanding many unforeseen obstacles
(the ship having been long imprisoned by the ice in the Bay of Treuren-
berg), Spitzbergen was carefully explored, and considerable collections in
all departments of natural history were brought back from it. The voyage
towards the pole could not be undertaken, on account of the bad state of
the ice. The third expedition went to Spitzbergen in 1864, under the
conduct of M. Nordenskiéld. Its principal object was to ascertain whe-
ther it was possible to measure a degree of the meridian there; with this
object the astronomer Duner accompanied it. But it likewise added con-
siderably to our knowledge of the geology of this archipelago. All these
important expeditions were undertaken by the Swedes in consequence of
the impulse given, in 1837, by Prof. Lovén, of Stockholm, who went to
Spitzbergen in a vessel bound on the walrus-fishery.
an the extreme North. 89
three of them, MM. Nordenskisld, Malmgren, and Fries, being
already well known by excellent works upon Spitzbergen.
The principal object of the expedition was, again, the natural
history of Spitzbergen: the travellers would then endeavour
to advance towards the pole, but in the autumn, in the hope
that that season would be more favourable than the summer
for such an enterprise.
On the 19th of July the expedition quitted Tromsee, in the
north of Norway.
The navigators first stopped at Bear Island, which they
reached in two days. The island, which is of small extent
and still but little known, contains grey mountains of a sombre
aspect. In the interior it has the form of a plateau cut up by
numerous little lakes and sprinkled over with innumerable
fragments of rock. Its vegetation is extremely meagre, for
nowhere can the herbage form a turf. And yet this sad and
poor islet has had its Robinson Crusoe. A Norwegian named
Tobiesen made a hermitage for himself upon it, and lived for
a long time in this solitude. Marine animals and, in summer,
birds furnished him with his food. The Swedish expedition
employed five days in exploring the island in all directions.
In certain places an innumerable quantity of birds darkened
the air; and the projecting rocks on the mountains bordering
the shore were covered with them to such an extent that they
might have been supposed to be enveloped in a mantle of
snow. Gulls and other aquatic birds, especially ducks, pre-
dominate; in the summer they go northwards in immense
troops, breed upon the steep shores of these parts, and then,
when the autumn arrives, depart again towards the south.
This phenomenon, which constitutes one of the peculiar cha-
racters of the polar zone, is everywhere observed.
This abundance of animal life forms a strange contrast with
the poverty of the vegetation. Formerly, no doubt, this was
not the case. A very important discovery made in the course
of this expedition has given us some information upon this
point. It has long been known that carbonaceous deposits
exist in Bear Island; but their geological age was unknown.
Now MM. Nordenskiéld and Malmgren have found, in the
carboniferous beds and the rocks which contain them, nume-
rous fossil plants which give us the most precise information
upon this point, as will be seen hereafter. They detached
from the rocks several hundred specimens of fossil plants, and
shipped them on board their vessel with the other natural-
history treasures which they had collected.
The expedition at last set out for the south of Spitzbergen.
On their arrival there the travellers proposed to go towards
90 Prof. O. Heer on the last Discoveries
the east, in order to endeavour to find Gillisland, and then
to sail towards the north along the eastern coast of Spitz-
bergen. But when they arrived at Stor fiord, and wished to
advance towards the Thousand Islands, colossal mountains of
ice came to meet the ship. These glaciers presented a mag-
nificent spectacle in the blue water of the sea. The naviga-
tors, not allowing themselves to be stopped by these floating
masses, attempted to penetrate their labyrinth. Soon, how-
ever, they found them accumulated in such quantities and
so close to each other, that it was necessary to give up all idea
of pressing forward. They therefore went back to gain the
western coast of Spitzbergen, to the investigation of which
they devoted several weeks.
The extent of Spitzbergen is about equal to twice that of
Switzerland. On the west coast several long fiords penetrate
deeply into the interior, and push their way like great lakes
between the high mountains which rise everywhere from the
sea-shore. Into all these fiords great glaciers descend, from
which enormous fragments are constantly detaching them-
selves, passing towards the sea, and forming floating moun-
tains. King’s Bay in particular has a savage grandeur which
is calculated to inspire terror; it is completely framed in by
glaciers, which descend in scarped slopes towards the sea, and
present innumerable fissures.
The northern shore of the Ice fiord is covered with similar
glaciers, whilst on the southern shore there are here and there
sheltered spots where small colonies of alpine plants with
brilliant flowers enamel a carpet of moss. There are found
rosy beds of Silene acaulis and the blue Polemoniwm ; the
violet saxifrage (Saxifraga oppositifolia) adorns the rocks,
and among the stones grow the white Dryas octopetala and
the arctic poppy ; on some points a greensward even ventures
to show itself. The Ice fiord is therefore the chosen residence
of the reindeer; and for years they have been sought there.
Last summer two parties of English sportsmen went there to
hunt the reindeer. A more abundant produce, however, is
furnished by the marine animals. In the Ice fiord numerous
white dolphins play about; and these within the last few years
have become the object of a productive fishery: six vessels
were engaged in it when the explorers arrived on these shores.
But this movement is but the shadow of that which was to be
observed a hundred years ago. Hvery year from 200 to 300
vessels arrived in these waters, and 12000 sailors were en-
gaged there in the lucrative whale-fishery. On Amsterdam
Island, in Schmeren’s Bay, a regular town of wooden barracks
was raised in the summer; it was established for melting the
tn the extreme North. 91
fat of the whales, and to render the life of the crews more
comfortable. Now-a-days, indeed, the whale has almost dis-
appeared from these seas, and it is necessary to go in search
of it to Behring’s Straits or to the south polar seas. Never-
theless the coast is always tolerably animated in the summer,
and in July and August must furnish a residence as agreeable
as the high valleys of our Alps. Our naturalists found the
place so much to their liking, that they assert the time is not
far distant when hotels will be built in Spitzbergen for the
summer season, and invalids will be sent to that island as
they are now sent to the alpine valleys.
The natural history of this great fiord was investigated
from all points of view. While the physicist of the expedition,
M. Lernstrém, carried on the preparations commenced for the
determination of a degree of the meridian, and set on foot
meteorological observations, the zoologists and botanists (MM.
Malmgren, F. A. Smitt, T. M. Fries, Berggren, Holmgren,
and Nystrém) busied themselves with collecting the plants
and animals of the land. ‘They sounded the bottom of the
ocean at a great many points, and brought up from depths
varying between 3000 and 15000 feet a great number of very
small but very curious forms of animals. The geologists
(MM. Nordenskiéld and Nauckoff) were not the least active:
they set to work particularly to discover and collect fossils ;
and they were assisted in their work by M. Malmgren. In
this last-mentioned department it was the mountains of the
Ice fiord and of King’s Bay that furnished the richest harvest.
At Cape Starastschin, the western point of the Ice fiord, they
discovered, in a black schist, a very curious flora, and at the
head of the gulf large bones of extinct animals resembling the
crocodile.
Leaving most of the naturalists settled upon terra firma,
M. Nordenskiéld and the captain sailed westward in the ship,
to seek for Greenland. They reached the boundary of the ice
under the meridian of Greenwich, and at 80° 20! N. lat.; but
being soon convinced that the edge of the ice inclined rapidly
towards the south, they turned eastward, trying to advance as
far as possible towards the north. They arrived at 81° 10!
N. lat.; but there the narrow channel into which they had
ventured came to an end. Northwards, as far as the eye
could see, there was nothing but boundless ice. On the 30th
of August the vessel returned to King’s Bay. It afterwards
made an excursion towards the Seven Islands, at the north of
Spitzbergen ; they were found to be completely surrounded by
ice, and it was impossible to advance further towards the east.
The explorers then turned towards Hinlop’s Strait and the
92 Prof. O. Heer on the last Discoveries
eastern coast of Spitzbergen, where the German expedition
had resided for a considerable time. All that they saw to-
wards the east was a dark line rising above the horizon, indi-
cating a land which no man has ever yet trodden, and of which
we know neither the extent nor the form.
On the 13th of September the travellers returned to Amster-
dam Island. They had been preceded there by a coaling ves-
sel coming from Norway, and in which the scientific commis-
sion returned home, except Prof. Nordenskiéld and Dr. Berg-
gren. The moment had arrived for them to make their great
attempt, and to advance towards the pole by surmounting the
barrier of ice which separated them from it.
They steered at first towards the Seven Islands, then further
to the north, taking advantage of all the navigable passages.
On the 18th of September they reached the latitude of 81° 30,
and on the following day, in 17° E. long., the latitude of
81° 42’, the highest that any vessel has ever reached in the
north. A photograph of this spot, which has been commu-
nicated to me by M. Nordenskiéld, shows that the ice was cut
by a narrow sinuous channel, into which the vessel had got;
towards the north this passage was lost, and the ice formed a
boundless plain. Of course it was out of the question to pe-
netrate any further. Whilst one part of the crew set on foot
some observations upon a great table of floating ice, the
Swedish standard was hoisted with the firing of a gun, in
order to celebrate the arrival of the expedition at the most
northern point of our earth which a ship has ever attained.
The vessel had now to turn back towards the south. After
several vain attempts to penetrate into the ice at other points,
it reentered Schmeren’s Bay on the 26th of September.
On the 1st of October it again took its course towards the
north; but at 80° 14’ N. lat. it met with thick ice. The
conditions had become considerably altered. The sun only
showed itself for a very short time, for the nights had become
rapidly lengthened. Even in summer, snow-storms had some-
times succeeded warm and serene days without any transition;
these had become more and more frequent. The snow con-
verted the water into a thick paste, which the storms drove
before them and turned into innumerable icicles, which were
frozen together during the night by a cold of 15° (C.).. On
the 4th of October, in 81° N. lat., the vessel was quite sur-
rounded by ice. At 3 o’clock in the morning, its head was
turned to the south, in order to break the ice and escape from
its prison. During this time there arose a violent storm,
which tossed the ship about in the midst of a multitude of
fragments of ice. At half-past 6 a.m. the cry of “a leak!”
an the extreme North. : 93
was heard. In fact the side of the vessel had struck so vio-
lently against a block of ice, that a plate of iron had been
torn and a leak opened into the coal-hold, by which the water
penetrated. This compartment was immediately closed, and
all the openings were caulked, in order to prevent the water
from penetrating further. But within an hour it had already
got between decks, and entered the engine-room. ‘There
was much cause to fear that it would extinguish the fire, and
then all would have been over. We may easily imagine with
what energy all on board worked at the pumps, to escape the
death that menaced them. For eleven consecutive hours they
never interrupted their work, even to take a little nourishment.
There were 6 degrees of cold, and the storm was continually
driving over the deck icy water, which drenched the workers.
Notwithstanding all their efforts, the water continued to rise,
and the danger became more and more pressing. At last the
shore of refuge was seen. The captain steered for the nearest
land, and at 6 o’clock in the evening reached Amsterdam
Island. After many hours of hard labour and fatigue, they
succeeded in getting the vessel on its side and in closing the
leak, and then pumped out the water that still remained in the
hold.
All further attempts to penetrate towards the north were
now given up. It was even out of the question to execute the
original plan, and to pass the winter at the Seven Islands, in
order to start im sledges towards the pole on the return of
spring. The expedition had no dogs, and for such a journey
they are indispensable. After trying once more to reach
Gillis’s land by starting from the south of Spitzbergen, the
‘ Sophie’ returned to Tromsce on the 20th of October.
The Swedish expedition has demonstrated that during the
autumn of last year, north of Spitzbergen nearly as far as the
82nd degree of latitude, the sea presented free ice, but that,
even at that season of the year, it was impossible to approach
nearer to the pole. This observation relates to a point situated
nearly in the same meridian as that in which the German ex-
pedition attained the latitude of 81° 5’, and nearly the same
also under which Scoresby and Parry advanced, years ago, to
81° and 81° 30! of latitude. In none of the attempts made to
penetrate northwards by starting from Behring’s Straits have
the parties got so far as by starting from Spitzbergen: the
reason: of this is that in the former seas continuous ice is met
with at a much earlier season. It is therefore very improba-
ble that the pole can be reached in a vessel, even in the most
favourable years; and when M. Lambert, who is now orga-
Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. iv. 8
94 Prof. O. Heer on the last Discoveries
nizing an expedition to the pole for the present year, indicates
beforehand the period when the French flag shall float at the
north pole, we can see nothing in such an announcement but
pure humbug. On the other hand, it is likely enough that
men will succeed in reaching the pole by employing sledges
to perform the journey, as has already been attempted by
Parry from the north of Spitzbergen, and by Kane and Dr.
Hayes from Smith’s Strait.
But a matter very different in importance from this is the
scientific investigation of the ocean and land in the polar zone.
In my opinion, the Swedish expedition, by the rich collections
which it has brought together, has obtained much greater
results, and has contributed far more to the extension of the
horizon of our knowledge, than if it had brought back the
news that the ‘Sophie’ had hoisted her flag upon the very
point that we call the north pole.
These collections have not yet, properly speaking, formed
the subject of any work; but what I have seen of them leaves
me no doubt that the Swedish expedition of last year will take
its place worthily by the side of those which preceded it, and
will even surpass them with respect to the important scientific
data which it will furnish. Although organized without much
fuss, it evidences considerable activity, great skill, and high
scientific intelligence. It will thus renew in a brilliant man-
ner the old reputation for knowledge which the Swedes have
acquired in the study of natural history. Allow me to prove
this by indicating some of the results which we owe to it.
These belong, it is true, only to one of the directions of this
activity—the zeal with which they have collected fossil plants.
Of these M. Nordenskidld has sent me more than 2000 speci-
mens, which I only received a few weeks ago. To obtain a
perfect knowledge of such numerous materials, a much longer
time must be devoted to them; nevertheless I may mention a
few facts which show in what manner the great revolutions
which have passed over our planet have been manifested in
Spitzbergen.
As early as the Carboniferous period, dry land existed at
the spot now occupied by Bear Island. The plants collected
by MM. Nordenskiéld and Malmgren belong to the lower and
therefore the most ancient beds of that formation. The plants
occur either in the coal itself or in the rocks which contain it.
The principal types are Calamites, Sigillarie, and Lepido-
dendra, accompanied by several ferns. These plants belong
for the most part to the same species as those contained in the
most ancient formation of the mountains of the Carboniferous
period in Europe; they are such as have been indicated in
an the extreme North. 95
Germany and in the Vosges. I will notice particularly Cala-
mites radiatus, Brongn., Lepidodendron Veltheimianum, Sigil-
laria distans, and Stigmaria ficoides; these are trees which
possess no flowers; but, as if to replace these, the bark of
these plants is adorned in various ways: the Calamites have
regular, parallel longitudinal ribs; the Sigillarie have ele-
gant cicatrices arranged in lines, and the Lepidodendra re-
gular shields which cover the whole of the stem. . Even the
roots of the Srgillarie, which have been named Stigmarie,
present this adornment, seeing that the points of attachment
of the radicles are indicated by annular prominences.
None of the plants now in existence can give us an exact
idea of the forest which formerly covered Bear Island. Those
of our plants which most resemble the Calamites are the
Horsetails ; the Lycopodia are the analogues of the Lepido-
dendra: but we must by imagination raise the Horsetails and
Lycopodia to the size of trees. With their columnar trunks
and their long needle-like leaves collected in tufts at the ex-
tremities of their branches, the Sigil/arie must have presented
a very strange appearance. Some species (Stgillaria Malm-
grent, S. Canneggiana, and Lepidodendron Wilkii, Heer) are
peculiar to Bear Island; at least they have never yet been
found elsewhere.
But, even within the Carboniferous period, this land sank
down again. The beds of coal and the rocks in immediate
contact with them are covered by calcareous deposits, which
contain numerous marine animals belonging to the same
epoch. The Swedish naturalists found an identical limestone
with the same marine fossils in the Bell Sound at Spitz-
bergen. This subsidence probably extended to the whole of
the polar zone ; for a perfectly similar phenomenon is presented
upon Melville Island. There also a coal is met with in which
I discovered the Lepidodendron (L. Veltheimianum) which we
have also made acquaintance with in Bear Island; and above
this Carboniferous formation the Mountain-limestone also
occurs.
The animals that have been found in this limestone, both
in Melville and Bear Islands and at Spitzbergen, lead to the
same conclusions as the plants. They are for the most part
species identical with those which we find in Europe in the
mountains of the Carboniferous epoch; and some of them have
occurred in this formation even in India and the south of
America. ie
Upon the Mountain-limestone at the head of the Ice fiord
rests a black schist, in which M. Nordenskidld discovered a
marine fauna belonging to a subsequent period, namely, to
Q¥
96 Prof. O. Heer on the last Discoveries
what has been named the Triassic or Saliferous formation.
This consists of numerous shells, and in part also of species
which lived in the seas by which our countries were covered
(such as Halobia Lommelit), and also of large animals resem-
bling crocodiles and known as Ichthyosaur‘.
Spitzbergen has likewise preserved a certain number of
species of animals belonging to the following or Jurassic pe-
riod: these also are known forms, ammonites and cuttlefishes,
such as are so frequently met with in the Jura.
The Cretaceous formation has not yet been indicated; but
great deposits have been met with belonging to the following
epoch, the Tertiary formation, and im this to the Miocene pe-
riod, which has left so rich a flora in Greenland.
We find in Spitzbergen the same vestiges of the past as in
Greenland. Spitzbergen also must have possessed a fresh-
water lake surrounded by peaty marshes; for at the Bell
Sound in the Ice fiord we see extensive deposits of lignites,
originating from turbaries, and which are now surrounded by
sandstones and by a fine argillaceous schist containing plants
belonging to that period. In the lake grew a Nenuphar and
a Potamogeton (P. Nordenskieldi) perfectly resembling that so
often met with in the Swiss lakes (P. natans). This species
occurs at Bell Sound and in the Ice fiord: from this we may
conclude with some certainty that the lake extended over the
whole country. In the waters of the lake little insects (Co-
leoptera) played about; their remains have been preserved
in the schists of Cape Starastschin. On the bank grew
a large reed and the same marsh-cypress (Zaxodium dis-
tichum miocenum) that we have made acquaintance with in
Greenland. Numerous branches of this have been sent to
me, obtained from Bell Sound and from Cape Starastschin ;
to my great delight I found among these remains fruits,
seeds, and even branches bearing the elegant flowers of this
tree. These remains show that the deposits were formed
in the spring as well as in the autumn. The characters
of this marsh-cypress agree with those of the species now
living in the United States, where it overshadows great
marshes. It indicates this remarkable fact,—that even at
a very ancient epoch it presented the same form as in the
present day, but that then it attained the 78th degree of lati-
tude, whilst now it does not pass the 40th degree; even by
cultivation and under favourable circumstances, it cannot be
obtained beyond 57° N. lat.
Besides this marsh-cypress, I have also received from Spitz-
bergen twenty species of Conifers, amongst which are the
branches and fruits of a new Sequoia (S. Nordenskicld’),
in the extreme North. 97
three Thuias, two from the Ice fiord and another (Thuites
Ehrenswirdi, Heer) from King’s Bay (in 79° N. lat.), and,
lastly, ten species of pines and firs. It is to be observed that
of these last we do not find any branches, but only isolated
needles and seeds. The latter are furnished with wings, so
that the wind would carry them easily. The trees therefore
grew at some distance from the lake, forming a forest which
covered the hills, from which a few seeds reached the lake.
Although Conifers predominated at Spitzbergen, leafy trees
were by no means wanting. Two species of poplars (Populus
arctica and P. Richardsont) present characters which agree
with those of the species found in Greenland; they were very
widely spread, and may be traced from Bell Sound to King’s
Bay. They probably grew in the marshes or on the banks of
the rivers with the birches, alders, and Nysse (N. Eckmann‘),
whilst a plane tree with large leaves, a lime tree, and two
species of oaks, the leaves of which alone have reached us, no
doubt composed the forests of the drier soils. Over these trees
climbed the same ivy (federa M‘ Cluri?, Heer) which we have
indicated in Greenland and on the Mackenzie; among the
shrubs, besides those which have already been mentioned, we
find a hazel (Corylus M‘Quarri/) which is spread over the
whole arctic zone, a dogwood, and a buckthorn.
We know in all, up to the present time, forty species of
trees and shrubs from Spitzbergen, coming from a zone com-
prised between 78° and 79° of north latitude. T’o these must
be added numerous herbaceous plants—Graminee, Cyperacee,
Najadex, Polygonexe, Alismacezee, Nympheacexe, Ferns (Adi-
antites Dicksont, Siphonopteris Blomstrandi, Heer), and horse-
tails (Hquisetum arcticum). 'Thus we find on the shores of
the lake of Spitzbergen the remains of a varied vegetation
which differs completely from that which, in our days, endea-
vours to clothe with a scanty mantle the few patches of ground
left uncovered by the ice. Formerly, therefore, a luxuriant
vegetation of leafy trees and conifers adorned this country,
which is now covered by unlimited glaciers; and this is
certainly one of the most remarkable facts, for the knowledge
of which we are indebted to the Swedish expedition.
Insects were not wanting in this forest: I already know
ten species the characters of which are perfectly in accordance
with the flora.
The largest and commonest trees of Spitzbergen also flou-
rished in Greenland. This fact renders it very probable that
Spitzbergen was formerly united to Greenland. As the flora
of the latter country is only known by discoveries made upon
the western coast, we can hardly doubt that these common
98 Prot. O. Heer on the last Discoveries
species, such as the marsh-cypress, the poplars, the hazel,
and the oaks (Quercus platania and Q. grenlandica, Heer),
were also spread over the isthmus which united the two lands,
and that the whole of Greenland had the same vegetation.
This forest vegetation disappeared during the following or
Pliocene period, and during the glacial epoch, when our coun-
tries themselves had a climate which in many respects resem-
bled that of high northern latitudes. The Swedish expeditions
have collected important observations upon the manner in
which this remarkable change was brought about in the arctic
regions; but the space at my disposal will not allow me to
enter into details on this subject. I may, however, be per-
mitted to mention briefly some facts which stand forth more
clearly than ever from the information brought back by Mr.
Whymper and by the last Swedish expedition. |
In the first place, it becomes evident that our knowledge of
extinct plants and animals has ceased to be so incomplete and
to present so many gaps as the partisans of the doctrine of the
mutability of species are pleased to assert—an assertion, how-
ever, which is very necessary to their hypothesis. ‘The ani-
mals and plants obtained from the rocks of these distant
northern countries belong in good part to species already
known. Nevertheless the conditions of life then, at least in
one particular, must have been very different from those which
prevailed elsewhere ; for the glacial zone, in ancient geological
periods as at present, must have had a long day of summer
and a long night of winter. The night lasts nearly a third of
the year on the shores of the Ice fiord. In Bear Island the
flora of the Carboniferous epoch presents in general not only
the same species as those of Europe, but we find in them the
slicht shades which characterize these species in our countries,
and we can have no hesitation as to the phase of the Carboni-
ferous period to which that flora must be referred. ‘This is
also the case with the much more recent Miocene flora of
Greenland and Spitzbergen. In this we have throughout
well-marked species, as in our countries. The marsh-cypress
of northern Spitzbergen is exactly the same as that of North
Carolina and Virginia. This species has maintained its ex-
istence down to our own day; after a number of centuries
which it is impossible to estimate, it produces in Virginia the
same branches covered with elegant leaves, the same flowers,
and the same fruits as formerly in Spitzbergen, on the shores
of the Ice fiord.
Is it otherwise with the animal kingdom? The marine
animals of Spitzbergen belonging to the Carboniferous, Tri-
assic, and Jurassic formations furnish the samé demonstration.
in the extreme North. 99
Throughout all these geological ages, even in the extreme
north, the same types, distinctly marked, recur. The inter-
mediate forms that the variability of species would necessitate
are not met with there.
In the second place, a whole series of new facts, established
by the recent discoveries, confirm the opinion that the glacial
zone must formerly have enjoyed a climate much warmer than
that which it has in our days. This fact springs from the
study of all the geological formations from the Carboniferous
epoch to the Miocene period. As the flora of the Carboniferous
is very different from that of our day, the inductions that we
derive from it are not, perhaps, very certain; but the fact that
it consisted in great part of trees enables us to conclude with
certainty that the temperature was higher than at present.
The present limit of trees nearly coincides in the north with
the isothermal line of 10° C. (=50° F.) for July and August ;
that is to say, those two months must have a mean temperature
of at least 10° C. in order that trees may live. Further north
life is impossible to trees. In the northern hemisphere the
normal limit of trees nearly follows the polar circle. But upon
this limit we find nothing more than a few scattered conifers,
the birch, and the poplar, and even those plants are only
represented by stunted individuals. Upon Bear Island, 8°
further north, we find, on the contrary, in the Carboniferous
deposits, a whole series of acotyledonous trees which, at pre-
sent, grow for the most part in the tropics without any spe-
cies reaching the temperate climates of the northern hemi-
sphere.
It would be rash to indicate a precise number for the tem-
perature of this epoch; but we may assert boldly that the
Carboniferous flora of Bear Island does not in any way indi-
cate a temperature different from that presupposed by the
Carboniferous flora of central Europe. The species are there
associated in the same manner; the trunks there are of the
same thickness, and denote an equally luxuriant growth;
nevertheless Bear Island is 28° further north than the Vosges,
where we find the same flora in the Lower Carboniferous. It
is therefore probable that at that epoch the earth was not yet
divided into zones as regards the distribution of heat.
. Other conditions, again, are presented by the Miocene period.
The climate of the polar zone must certainly have been warmer
at that epoch than at the present day ; but if we compare the
vegetation of those countries with that of Switzerland at the
same epoch, we shall be convinced that there the temperature
already diminished in advancing towards the north. The
palms in Germany attained a latitude only of 513° N.; the
100 Prof. O. Heer on the last Discoveries
laurels and the camphor-trees only went to the shore of the
Baltic; the magnolias and evergreen oaks, the walnuts, and
the vine advanced in Greenland to the 70th degree; and the
marsh-cypress, the thuias, the poplars, the planes, and the
limes reached in Spitzbergen to 78°. Although several spe-
cies traversed all these regions from Italy to Spitzbergen, the
character of the vegetation was nevertheless different accord-
ing to the zones, without being so strongly separated as at the
present day, when, however, some species, such as the birch
and the pine, are disseminated from the north of Norway to
Italy. ‘The temperature decreased much less rapidly in ad-
vancing towards the north, so that Spitzbergen still had a
temperate climate.
In order to explain this strange phenomenon, various hypo-
theses, which are now subjects of discussion among naturalists,
‘have been proposed. But I cannot speak of these here, and I
may pass over them in silence the more easily because I have
already expressed my opinion upon this subject in this very
review*, I may, however, be permitted to call attention to a
third point.
The recent discoveries made in the extreme north fully
confirm the law deduced from the examination of European
plants, that the organization of plants becomes more and more
elevated with the progress of time. The ancient Carboniferous
flora of Bear Island only consists of Acotyledons, whilst the
much more recent flora of the Miocene of Spitzbergen consists
in great part of phanerogamous plants, the organization of
which is higher. Moreover we see the former extending over
a much vaster region than the latter; so that the habitat of the
species has gone on becoming restricted in the course of centu-
ries. The first-named plants probably issued from a primitive
eentre ; they have in general microscopic seeds, which could
fly readily in all directions. The second set, the plants of the
Miocene, have probably been propagated starting from several
centres; but their diffusion on the surface of the globe must
have been slower, on account of the weight of their seeds,
which are generally larger. One of these centres of diffusion
was evidently in the polar zone, whence plants and animals
have spread in radiating directions.
We have already seen that Spitzbergen has several species
in common with Greenland, as also with the Mackenzie.
Quite recently I have received a very interesting fossil flora
* “Les Régions polaires du Nord,” Bibl. Univ. January 1867, p. 78
et seq. I have treated this subject in greater detail before the Société
Helvétique des Sciences Naturelles at Rheinfelden in 1867, and in “ Flore
fossile des Régions polaires,” p. 61 et seq.
in the extreme North. 101
brought from the territory of Alaska, where it was collected
by a Finnish director of mines, M. Hjalmor Furuhjelm.
Among these plants there are fourteen species of trees and
shrubs belonging to Greenland and Spitzbergen; and it is a
strange thing that these species are almost solely those which
lived at the same time in Germany and Switzerland. It is
therefore probable that they came from the glacial zone, which
was covered by a uniform vegetation. We see some species
advance thence as far as Alaska on one side and on the other
to Konigsberg: such is Populus Zaddachi. Others go in
America to Alaska, and in Europe to Switzerland, such is the
marsh-cypress ; others, again, reach in America to Vancouver's
Island, in Europe to Greece, and in Asia to the Ural: such
are the gigantic trees Sequoia Langsdorfit.
The presence of these plants in the rocks of countries so
distant from each other is certainly remarkable, but it may be
easily explained if we reflect that all these trees occur in the
glacial zone, that they grew there formerly spontaneously,
and that they have spread thence by radiating towards the
south. The more they advance towards the south, the more
scattered are they. We have seen that in the summer innu-
merable birds collect in the polar countries ; they meet there
from all parts of the world. In the autumn they separate
again to fly away in all directions. What is done in a few
months by the birds with their light wings, the plants took
centuries and thousands of years to accomplish. Livery plant
executes a slow and continuous migration. These migrations,
the starting-point of which is in the distant past, are recorded in
the rocks; and the interweaving of the carpets of flowers which
adorn our present creation retraces them for us in its turn.
For the vegetation of the present day is closely connected
with that of preceding epochs; and throughout all these vege-
table creations reigns one thought which not only reveals
itself around us by thousands upon thousands of images, but
strikes us everywhere in the icy regions of the extreme north.
Organic nature may become impoverished there, and even
disappear when a cold mantle of ice extends over the whole
earth: but when the flowers die, the stones speak and relate
the marvels of creation ; they tell us that even in the most dis-
tant countries, and in the remotest past, nature was governed
by the same laws and the same harmony as immediately
around us.
102. Mr. KE. Ray Lankester on distinct Larval and
X.—On the Existence of distinct Larval and Sexual Forms
in the Gemmiparous Oligochetous Worms. By EH. Ray
LANKESTER, B.A. Oxon.
In the ‘ Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science’ for July
I have described the sexual form of Chetogaster Limnet,
which differs from the gemmiparous larve abounding through-
out the year on the Limneus and Planorbis in the fact that
the number of sete in each fasciculus is doubled, that there
are sixteen pairs of abdominal fasciculi instead of three or
four to each individual, that gemmiparity is discontinued, and
that a new pair of fasciculi developes between the cephalic and
first abdominal pair of fasciculi, four sete of which on either
side are not uncinated and bifid at the apex, but stunted club-
shaped organs. These I call “ genital sete.” In studying
the generative organs of Nats serpentina, which swarms in a
very filthy pond on Hampstead Heath, which has furnished me
with Lumbriculus, Limnodrilus (new species), Hnchytreus
(new species), and two other species of Nats, 1 have ob-
served a somewhat similar change and development of ‘ genital
sete,” which do not appear to have been known to Carter
(who described the “ spermatology”’ of a species of Nats in
this Journal in 1858), nor to the late Jules d’ Udekem (in his
description of Stylaria); nor have they been mentioned by
M. Edouard Claparéde, to whom, however, I dare say they are
known, since he has studied a species of Nats, but, I believe, has
not published the description of it among his other invaluable
contributions to this branch of zoology. I therefore conclude
that these modified sete and their position are unrecorded
hitherto.
In Nais serpentina and other species of Nats, five pairs of
ventrally placed fasciculi succeed to the mouth, indicating a
pharyngeal region. ‘There are no dorsal sete in this region.
Immediately after the fifth pair the intestine commences ; that
is to say, the alimentary canal is contracted and its walls are
covered by a layer of coarse cells—the so-called hepatic tunic.
Corresponding to the sixth pair of ventral fasciculi is a pair of
dorsal sete, thick, short, and awl-shaped in N. serpentina;
these continue thenceforward, along the body, with the ven-
tral sete. The bristles of the ventral sete are curved, with a
hooked bifid apex; two, with a growing third, is the usual
number in a fasciculus. When the generative organs com-
mence their development, the distance between the fourth and
fifth ventral fasciculi enlarges very considerably, and a new
pair of fasciculi makes its appearance, placed a little nearer the
middle line, and therefore closer together, than the other fasci-
Sexual Iorms in the Gemmiparous Oligocheetous Worms. 103
culi. The bristles in these new fasciculi are shorter and
stouter than those of the normal ventral fasciculi, and are not
bifid at the apex; they are three in number in each fasci-
culus, rarely four. At the same time that these make their
appearance, the normal ventral fasciculi acquire another bristle
in each, making thus three, with a growing fourth, or even
four complete, instead of two and three. The genital sete
which thus develope in the new genital segment are placed
close to the orifices of the male generative glands, the duct
connected with them being simple and unciliated. In front
of the fourth pair of ventral fasciculi are two orifices corre-
sponding well in position with the genital sete and their ori-
fices ; and these open into very large sacs, containing flat
rhombic crystals and curiously coiled fibrous whisps and sper-
matozoa—the seminal receptacles. The clitellus, which, as
all know who have studied the Oligocheta, is the most ob-
structive institution on account of its opacity, extends from
the fourth to the seventh fasciculus (not counting the genital
fasciculus in the numbering).
I do not wish now to give a detailed account of the genera-
tive organs of Nats, which I hope shortly to publish else-
where; but I desire to call attention to this development of a
new segment between the larval fourth and fifth fascicular
segments, and provided with fasciculi carrying a special form
of genital sete. For the greater part of the year these worms,
like Cheetogaster, reproduce gemmiparously under a certain
well-known form; suddenly gemmiparity ceases, and a new
development, of which there was no previous indication, takes
place: a new segment, a new integral factor of the worm,
makes its appearance with a new form of sete; the sete in
the normal fasciculi also increase in number. This is not the
mere growth of generative organs occurring in due order of
development, but is really more strictly comparable to cases of
metamorphosis, the gemmiparous form being a larva, as the
agamogenetic Cecidomyia is a larva, and the sexual form the
perfect or imaginal condition. Very few of the immense num-
bers of gemmiparously produced Natdes or Cheetogastres ever
proceed to acquire the perfect form,—Chetogaster Limnet
only in October apparently, Nats serpentina in June, but per-
haps also at other seasons.
There is, as far as I know, nothing described comparable
to this development of a new segment and of genital sete in
the other Oligocheta; but, on inquiry, indications of it may
hereafter be found. The sete in the region of the clitellus in
Limnodrilus, in Tubifex, in Clitellio, and others remain
normal, or drop out and are not replaced.
104 .- Dr. W.C. M'Intosh on the Early Stages in
Among Polychetous Cheetopoda the Syllide present very
remarkable differences between the gemmiparous and sexually
reproducing conditions, to which the cases here described
make a small approach.
Chetogaster Limnei. Nais serpentina.
a. Normal uncinate sete ; 6, genital sete.
XI.—On the Early Stages in the Development of Phyllodoce
maculata, Johnston. By W.C. M‘InTosu, M.D., F.R.S.E.,
F.L.S.
[Plate VI. ]
PROFESSOR SARS seems to have been amongst the first to
notice the young of Phyllodoce*, although he was unaware of
the group of Annelids to which his young forms belonged.
At the end of his paper on the development of Polynoé cir-
rata, Linn. (Harmothoé imbricata), he mentions that he had
also found, off the Norwegian coast, in February and March,
globules composed of irregularly rolled mucous ribands, which
adhered to Zostera marina and Fucus vesiculosus at the depth
of some feet. These mucous masses with their grass-green
ova in all probability refer to the species hereafter to be de-
scribed. He observed that the young, on their exit from the
egg, had a central circlet of cilia and two kidney-shaped eyes
of a bright-red colour. He does not mention a mouth, but
states that the anus is at the posterior end of the body, and
more visible than in the young of Polynoé. His figure is
somewhat small and indistinct, but it would appear to repre-
* Wiegmann’s Archiv, 1845, and Ann, Nat. Hist. 1845, vol. xvi. p. 187.
the Development of Phyllodoce maculata. 105
sent the animal just after it leaves the gelatinous investment
and assumes a more elongated form. Dr. Max Miiller*, in
his description of Sacconereis helgolandica, refers in a footnote
to a young Phyllodoce from Heligoland, which, however, had
reached a recognizable condition, being furnished with twenty-
six segments, each of which had the characteristic bristles and
other appendages of the feet. Mr. Alex. Agassizt lately added
still further to our information on the subject by his remarks
on the development of Phyllodoce maculata, Cirsted, his de-
scription commencing at an earlier period than that referred to
by Dr. Max Miiller in his form,—viz. on the appearance of the
tentacles, but before the advent of the bristles.
On the 15th of May various examples of the adult Annelids,
loaded with ova and spermatozoa, were received from St. An-
drew’s; and each very soon deposited the green spawn on the
sides of the vessel in a somewhat bulky, transparent, gelatinous
mass, and discharged at the same time a copious cloud of
spermatozoa. On deposition, the ova (PI. VI. fig. 1) are of a
fine grass-green colour, minutely granular, with a clear spot
and a single thin investment. The bodies of the spermatozoa
are shaped somewhat like a nine-pin, with a small rounded
head, towards which the body tapers anteriorly, and with a
blunt posterior extremity which gives origin to the long fila-
ment or tail (fig. 2).
To take for instance the ova deposited about 7 A.M. on the
18th, it is found at 9 A.M. that the yelk is separated into two
masses (fig. 3), and moreover that, when moderate pressure is
maintained for a time, a further division into four occurs
(fig. 4), and in a few hours after all are found in the mulberry-
stage. Next day the exterior of the ovum becomes distinctly
ciliated, though the action is feeble and the organs short
(fig. 5). There is no extrusion out of an egg-capsule in this
case, the thin investment of the yelk being the only covering.
The body is nearly round, and at first sight seems to be co-
vered with cilia; but a brief examination in various positions
shows that these organs are arranged thus :—A belt of cilia
entirely surrounds the body, a long brush springs from a point
a little behind the anterior border, and a shorter tuft of scarcely
projecting cilia marks the large aperture in the posterior region.
The cilia of the rmg gradually increase in length and power ;
so that swarms of the young leave the gelatinous mass and con-
gregate on the bottom of the vessel like a green powder. On the
third day they have become much more lively, and two eyes also
appear (fig. 6). When, in this stage, the animal is viewed from
* Archiv fir Anat. 1855, p. 17.
+ Ann. Nat. Hist. ser. 3. vol. xix. p. 249, 1867.
106 Dr. W. C. M‘Intosh on the Early Stages in
the anterior end or snout (fig. 7), it is found to be surrounded
by a ring of cilia, and to have the digestive tract clearly de-
fined as a more opaque central mass, the eyes, in this position,
being placed outside the latter. Next day their powers of
progression have still further increased, and they course
throughout the vessel like a swarm of dancing particles. In-
stead of being nearly circular, the body is now more elongated
(fig. 8), the anterior end being blunter and rounder, the poste-
rior somewhat more tapered. A distinct constriction marks
the seat of the ciliated belt. When viewed from the front, the
rounded anterior end presents the appearance shown in fig. 9,
the very great length of the cilia being in strong contrast with
the drawing of the same aspect at an earlier period. The body
is cellulo-granular, opaque in the centre, more translucent at
the edges, and, when crushed, resolves itself into nucleated
cells and granules (fig. 10). The anterior brush of cilia is
placed at some distance behind the anterior end, apparently
on the same surface as the large ciliated aperture, and hence
is not well seen unless the animal is turned round on one side,
as in fig. 11. The anterior region of the digestive canal is
richly ciliated, and under favourable pressure becomes everted
(fig. 12), but by what aperture (natural or artificial) I have
not yet been able to determine with precision.
During the subsequent days, the body becomes more elon-
gated, the cutaneous tissues are differentiated, and the diges-
tive tract especially assumes a definite shape. Coarser granules
and granular cells mark the latter under pressure; and it is
also distinguished from the paler body-wall by its deep-green
hue and the distinct contractions of 1ts muscular investment.
The animal now feeds, and the intestinal canal holds numerous
granules and sand-particles. The large aperture towards the
posterior end is surrounded by a strong belt of circular
fibres. The anterior part of the body is still bluntly rounded ;
and the eyes are situated about midway between the tip and
the ciliated ring. The cilia of the latter have much increased
in length, so that under a powerful lens the animal somewhat
resembles a winged wedge.
At the end of a fortnight they all showed a tendency to
perish without further differentiation of textures; so that for
the present the inquiry had to be relinquished.
Mr. Alex. Agassiz* makes a remark in regard to his form,
the youngest of which was much older than the most advanced
just described, which does not seem to coincide with my ob-
servations ; for, in describing its structure, he says, “‘ There is
as yet no exterior communication from the digestive cavity,
* Loe. cit.
the Development of Phyllodoce maculata. 107
which is simply blocked out, occupying little more than two-
thirds of the space in front of the vibratile ring and of the
large shield extending behind it: when seen in profile (fig. 47,
upper figure), the cavity is somewhat retort-shaped, and occu-
pies mainly the dorsal portion of the embryo.” In the much
younger animals examined by me, the large aperture behind
the ciliated rig is very conspicuous, and assumes various
shapes in regard to contraction and dilatation. From the
posterior border of this opening a series of short cilia proceed
towards the tip of the body; but, as their distribution is
limited, they are not very evident in all views. No aperture
was seen at the posterior termination of the body, neither was
any made out at the anterior ciliated tuft. This large aper-
ture behind the ciliated rmg (supposed by Prof. Sars to be the
anus) would therefore appear to be the mouth—an interpreta-
tion in accordance with what is found in other young Annelids,
such as Polynoé. The ciliated ring is a very common arrange-
ment in the Annelidan young, the homologue thereof appear-
ing even in the Nemerteans, for instance, in the temporary
tufts of long cilia on the snout (in front of the mouth) of the
developing Cephalothrix filiformis. 'The Nemertean young
are ciliated all over—a distinction between them and the Anne-
lids, however, that has exceptions. A. Krohn and A. Schnei-
der*, for example, describe a young bristled form from the
Mediterranean, entirely covered with cilia in the early stage.
EXPLANATION OF PLATE VI.
Fig. 1. Newly deposited ovum of Phyllodoce maculata, Johnst., surrounded
by spermatozoa, x 350 diameters,
Fig. 2. Spermatozoa of the same species, drawn under a power of 700
. diameters.
Fig. 3. The ovum, with the yelk separated into two divisions, x 350 diams.
Fig. 4. The same, separated into four divisions, x 350 diams.
Fig. 5. Rounded embryo shortly after the appearance of the cilia, x
350 diams.
Fig. 6. Embryo somewhat older, and having two eyes, and longer oral
and lateral tufts of cilia (the latter-of course arising from the
ciliated ring under pressure), X 350 diams.
Fig. 7. A younger embryo than the foregoing, viewed from the anterior
end, and slightly compressed. The digestive chamber is clearly
mapped out.
Fig. 8. Embryo about five days old, seen from above, almost in its normal
state as regards pressure, X 350 diams.
Fig. 9. pee same, viewed from the anterior end, uncompressed, x 350
iams.
Fig. 10. Elements of compressed and disintegrated animal, x about
700 diams,
* Archiv fiir Anat. 1867, p. 498, Taf. 13. f. 1 & 2.
108 Mr. J. Gould on new Species of Australian Birds.
Fig. 11. Embryo of the same age as fig. 8, turned round and much com-
pressed, so as to exhibit the anterior whip of cilia and the large
aperture behind the vibratile ring, x 350 diams.
Fig. 12. One of the same age, in which compression has forced out the
ciliated proboscis, x 350 diams.
XII.—Descriptions of five new Species of Birds from (Queens-
land, Australia ; and a new Humming-bird from the Ba-
hamas. By JoHN GOULD, F.R.S. &e.
Eopsaltria leucura, Gould, n. sp.
Forehead, lores, and a line nearly surrounding the eye and
the ear-coverts black; head and upper surface dark leaden
grey, fringed posteriorly with greyish white; wings blackish
brown, darkest on the shoulders; upper tail-coverts black ;
two centre tail-feathers black; the next on each side black,
with a stripe of white on the basal part of the shaft and outer
web; the remaining four on each side white at the base, and
black for the remainder of their length ; all the under surface
and the under tail-coverts white, with the exception of a broad
band of pale grey across the breast; bill and feet black.
Total length 64 inches, bill +2, wing 33, tail 3, tarsi 1.
Habitat. 'The Cape-York district.
Remark. This is the largest species of the genus yet dis-
covered ; it is somewhat allied to the Hopsaltria leucogaster of
Western Australia, but is distinguished from that and every
other known species by the white at the basal portion of the
lateral tail-feathers.
I have for a long time entertained a belief that there is yet
another undescribed species of Hopsaltria inhabiting Queens-
land and the eastern portion of New South Wales—in other
words, or to make the matter more clear, that there are three
yellow-bellied species resident in the southern and eastern
portions of Australia. If this opinion be correct, I have com-
mitted the error of figuring the undescribed one in my folio
work on the birds of that country under the erroneous specific
appellation of australis.
The three species may be thus defined :—
Eopsaltria australis.
Crown of the head, nape, and ear-coverts grey ; rump dull
wax-yellow ; chin greyish white; under surface bright yellow.
Syn. Muscicapa australis, Lath. Ind. Orn. Suppl. p. li.
Southern Motacilla, Motacilla australis, White’s Journ. pl. at
p. 239.
Mr. J. Gould on new Species of Australian Birds. 109
Eopsaltria chrysorrhos, Gould, n. sp.
This bird is rather larger than £. australis, and is similar
in colour, except that the rump as well as the breast is of a
beautiful jonquil-yellow.
Habitat. The eastern part of New South Wales and the
southern portion of Queensland. The validity of this species
depends upon whether the two sexes are alike in having the
rump of a jonquil-yellow, and on the male and female of £.
australis having the same part dull wax-yellow.
Syn. Lopsaltria australis, Gould, Birds of Australia, vol. iii. pl. 11.
Eopsaltria magnirostris, Ramsay.
Like the last in colour, but having a conspicuously larger
bill and shorter wings.
Habitat. Rockingham Bay, Queensland.
Prilotis Cockerelli, Gould, n. sp.
Male. Fore part of the head grey, merging into the brown
of the upper surface, which has a mottled appearance, owing
to each feather being of a darker hue in the centre; lesser
wing-coverts dark brown, with a spot of dull white at the tip
of each, forming a spotted band across the shoulder; greater
coverts and primaries dark brown margined with wax-yellow;
tail brown, the lateral feathers margined externally at the
base with wax-yellow ; ear-coverts silvery, with a few of the
anterior feathers pale yellow, and a posterior tuft of rich
gamboge-yellow ; throat and breast clothed with narrow lan-
ceolate white feathers, a few on the sides of the chest tinged
with deep yellow; abdomen dull greyish white, changing to
a creamy tint towards the vent; bill black; feet horn-colour.
Female. In colouring differs only in the spots at the tips of
the lesser wing-coverts being nearly obsolete, but, as is the
case with many other species of the family, is much smaller
than the male, as will be seen by the following admeasure-
ments :—
Male. Total length 5 inches, bill 1, wing 34, tail 23, tarsi 2.
3 3 aL
Female. ” Nhs ype Tol Bike yee iy oe
Habitat. The little-explored districts of the Cape-York
peninsula, where it was shot by Mr. Cockerell, after whom I
have named it.
Remark. Although I have placed this beautiful new species
in the genus Ptilotis, 1 am by no means certain that I am
correct in so doing; for the bird possesses characters which
ally it to at least three genera, namely, Stigmatops, Meliphaga,
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. iv. 9
110 Mr. J. Gould on new Species of Australian Birds.
and Prilotis, while it also possesses characters peculiar to itself
of almost sufficient importance to demand a distinct generic
appellation. It somewhat resembles in its colouring the Pé-
lotis polygramma of Mr. G. R. Gray (vide Proc. Zool. Soc.
1861, pp. 429, 434).
Sittella striata, Gould, n. sp.
Male. The whole of the head, neck, throat, and breast black ;
all the upper surface pale-brown, with a blackish-brown stripe
down the centre of each feather; under surface striated in a
similar manner, but the streaks are narrower, not so dark, and
the edges of the feathers are also lighter, and on the centre of
the abdomen are nearly pure white; primaries black, with a
large spot of white near their base, and faintly tipped with
brown; secondaries dark brown margined with pale brown ;
upper tail-coverts white; under tail-coverts white, with a
large tear-shaped spot of dark brown in the centre of each;
tail black, the lateral feathers tipped with white, increasing in
extent as the feathers recede from the centre ; circle round the
eye, base of the bill, and the legs and feet yellow; tip of the
bill black.
Total length 4 inches, bill 3, wing 3, tail 14, tarsi 2.
Female. Differs in having the crown and nape only black,
and in the striation of the under surface extending from the
bill to the vent.
Habitat. The Cape-York peninsula.
Remark. So far as I am aware, no member of this genus
has been found out of Australia; but one or other of the many
species known are distributed over all parts of that great
country.
The nearest ally of the bird above described is the Stttella
leucocephala of the Moreton-Bay district, to the north of which
country nature has completely rung the changes by colouring
the head and neck of the present bird black, instead of white,
as in the species mentioned. The sexes of this new species
are very different, the female (or what is supposed to be an
example of that sex) having the crown of the head only black, .
while the upper and under surface is streaked as in the male.
Gallinula ruficrissa, Gould, n. sp.
Head, all the upper surface, wings, and tail brownish olive ;
sides of the face, neck, breast, and under surface deep olive-
grey; lower part of the flanks, vent, and under tail-coverts
pale rusty red; bill greenish yellow, with a mark of red on the
base of the culmen; legs and feet greenish yellow.
Mr. J. Gould on a new. Humming-bird from the Bahamas. 111
Total length 10 inches, bill 13, wing 6, tail 24, tarsi 24,
bare space above the tarsal joint 1}, middle toe and nail 22.
Habitat. Cape River, Queensland.
Remark. This bird appears to be most nearly allied to the
Gallinula olivacea of Meyen (vide Nov. Acta, 1834, p. 109,
tab. 20); but that species is of larger size, and has legs still
more disproportionate to the size of its body. The white-
breasted Indian Gallinule (G. phanicura of Pennant) and the
* Gallinula akool of the same country are, in my opinion, also
nearly allied to it.
Prof. Reichenbach has instituted the genus Amaurornis for
the reception of Gallinula olivacea, with which the late Prince
Bonaparte associates the G. femoralis of Tschudi. It is for
ornithologists to decide upon the propriety of this subdivision.
Family Trochilide.
Having lately received, through the kindness of His Excel-
lency Sir James Walker, Governor of the Bahama Islands,
four specimens of a Humming-bird, of which for the last
twenty years I have been anxious to procure examples, I feel
convinced that, as I had for some time supposed from a
conversation I had with the late Dr. Bryant, two species of
this lovely family of birds inhabit those islands; and this
conviction is strengthened by the circumstance that when in
England, just prior to his lamented death, he informed me
that the humming-bird of the southern islands was supposed
to be distinct from that killed in the neighbourhood of
Nassau. He at the same time promised that I should have
any examples that he could spare from his collection—a pro-
mise which has been partly performed either by Mrs. Bryant
or her husband’s executors sending me, through Mr. G. N.
Lawrence, of New York, a male, which I find is different from
those sent me by Sir James Walker. As the birds killed
round Nassau are identical with the type of the genus Doricha
(D. Evelyne), which is still in the Loddigesian collection, the
southern bird requires a specific appellation; and it would
have given me great pleasure to name it after its discoverer,
had not another species of the same section of the Trochilide
been named Lryante by Mr. Lawrence.
The new bird, which is probably from Long Island, pos-
sesses some peculiarly interesting specific characters. I say
from Long Island, because, on reference to the chart con-
sulted by Dr. Bryant and myself during his last visit to my
house, I find that is the locality marked as being the place in
which he procured some of his specimens.
In size the new species, which I propose to call Doricha
g*
112 Prof. W. Thomson on the Depths of the Sea.
lyrura, is about the same as D. Evelyne; but the tail is dis-
tinctly forked, and its outer feathers are much longer, narrower,
and outcurved at the apex, while the remainder regularly
graduate towards the two central ones, which are very short.
When the tail is raised and the feathers partially spread, they
assume a lyre-like appearance, and hence the specific appella-
tion. Not wishing to depend upon my own judgment alone,
I submitted this bird to the inspection of Mr. Salvin, who,
after a careful examination, came to the same conclusion as
myself, that the bird is distinct, and that the form of the fea-
thers just described is the natural one. All my Nassau speci-
mens, as well as others I have seen from that district, have
the beautiful luminous lilaceous feathers confined to the throat,
while in the specimen sent to me through Mr. Lawrence, the
whole face is luminous, the metallic lilaceous colour extend-
ing across the forehead.
Doricha lyrura, Gould, n. sp.
Forehead, throat, and breast beautiful shining lilac bordered
with blue, the two colours blending at their juncture ; imme-
diately below the gorget a band of greyish white, remainder
of the abdomen bronzy brown; axille rusty red; wings pur-
plish brown; upper surface golden green; the narrow outer
tail-feather on each side black, the two next black on the
outer web, chestnut-red on the inner one, the next blackish
brown with green reflections ; the two middle ones green.
Total length 32 inches, bill 4, wing 14, tail 1%.
XIII.—On the Depths of the Sea. By Prof. WyvILLE THOM-
son, LL.D., F.R.S.*
In the year 1864, and in succeeding years, G. O. Sars, a dis-
tinguished son of the veteran and very distinguished Professor
of Zoology in the University of Christiania, was employed as
a Commissioner of Fisheries in the service of the Swedish
Government; and in his official capacity he had an opportu-
nity of dredging in deep water (300 fathoms) off the Lofoden
Islands, within the arctic circle. Instead of finding the bottom
of the sea barren at these great depths, as many circumstances
had led many of our most able naturalists to anticipate, he
brought up a multitude of animal forms, all of them of the
* Communicated by the author, being the substance of a lecture deli-
vered, on the 10th of April, 1869, in the theatre of the Royal Dublin
Society.
Prof. W. Thomson on the Depths of the Sea. 113
highest interest both from their biological and their geological
relations; and many were new to science.
One animal form, of which about seventy specimens were
found, was of surpassing interest. It was a “‘ Crinoid ”—a
stalked starfish, with a delicate thread-like stem three or four
inches long, and a head Fie.1
at first sight very closely TM
resembling that of the
. > \j ; t)
pentacrinoid larval stage Wied o
e A 0 V4 0 Wo )
of a feather-star which is WY RAY B I
common in deep water off #, KWo 2 4 Bw
the Norwegian coast. A git fh ce Fh AWW Yo
. . Q y XC)
eareful examination, how- M4 YY mh it Ye ‘4 i y
0 we
ever, showed that the NAH ine
YY \
crinoid was mature, and &
that it belonged to a to-
tally distinct family of the
8,
order, hitherto only known XY NY YY
fossil, and supposed to be aa”, H BY
almost entirely confined to "4 ted
the Mesozoic series of wel f
beds. Thisfamilyis called Me Y)
the Apiocrinide, from the \4 d]
characteristic genus Apio-
ertnus, of which the spe-
cies best known in this
country is the “ pear- as
encrinite,” which was got
in great abundance in a ;
bed of Great Oolite ex-
posed in cutting the tun-
nel through Box Hill. :
The group seems to have U
attained its maximum
during the period of the |
deposition of the oolitic \
beds in the European L
area. It is not repre- <
sented in the earlier for-
mations ; but we find
handsome well-developed
species belonging to several genera in the Jurassic beds on
the Continent. In the lower beds of the chalk there are two
or three somewhat obscure forms; while in the white chalk
the family, so far as we know, is represented by a single species
of a single genus, Bourgueticrinus ellipticus, in which the head
Rhizocrinus lofotensis (Sars).
(Four times the natural size.)
114 Prof. W. Thomson on the Depths of the Sea.
and arms are greatly reduced in size and development, the
stem is much branched, and its joints are indefinitely and
irregularly multiplied, which shows, in fact, all those pecu-
liarities which we are accustomed to associate with compara-
tive degradation in the animal scale. In the Tertiary forma-
tions there are only some obscure traces of one or two small
forms of the group. Lhizocrinus lofotensis of Sars stands
in nearly the same relation to the Bourgueticrinus of the
English Chalk as Bourgueticrinus to the Apiocrinites and
Millericrinites of the Oolite. It is much smaller; the stem
is even larger in proportion to the cup and special organs
of nutrition; and here alone among known Crinoids we meet
with a character which would indicate marked degradation—
an irregularity in the number of the arms, of which there are
sometimes four, sometimes five, and sometimes even six. It
looks like a Bourgueticrinus which had been going to the bad
for a million of ages, and was somehow getting worsted in the
“struggle for life.”
Rhizocrinus seems to be very generally distributed: Dr.
Carpenter and I dredged it last summer off the north of Scot-
land; and about the same time Count Pourtales, who was
investigating the opposite border of the Gulf-stream in con-
nexion with the American Coast Survey, found it off the reefs
of Florida.
Two living stalked Crinoids are well known as inhabiting
deep water in the sea of the Antilles, and apparently some
other localities in the Indian and Australian seas; but they
belong to a parallel family, which has come down continuously,
usually represented by only a few species, from the period of
the deposition of the English Lias. The remarkable point is
the discovery of a representative, living at great depths in
modern seas, of a family which had dwindled away and appa-
rently become almost extinct before the formation of the older
Tertiaries. No discovery in natural science so suggestive as
that of the younger Sars had been made for many long years ;
it set many of us pondering on the distribution and conditions
of life in the depths of the sea.
The questions involved are very complicated. The late
Prof. Edward Forbes was the great authority on the distribu-
tion of marine life; he and his friend the late Dr. Robert Ball
initiated the use of the dredge; and Forbes defined certain
zones of depth which he held to be inhabited by special and
characteristic groups of animals. The last of these was the
abyssal or deep-sea zone; and he supposed that in this zone,
which extended downwards from the 100-fathom line, life
gradually became more and more scarce, till, at a depth of
—
Prof. W. Thomson on the Depths of the Sea. 115
about 300 fathoms, it altogether ceased. Forbes’s experience
was much wider than that of any other naturalist of his time ;
the practical difficulties in the way of testing his conclusions
were great, and they were accepted generally by naturalists
without question. ‘There was, besides, a popular impression
that the conditions a mile beneath the surface of the sea must
be so very peculiar as to make it difficult to conceive that ani-
mals, more or less nearly related to forms inhabiting the upper
world, could exist there; accordingly no attempt was made to
dredge at great depths, except on the Scandinavian coast ;
and the results of the scattered observations made there have
only appeared within the last few years. Except in one or
two cases which never became very generally known, all the
few creatures which came up to protest against Forbes’s theory
came clinging to sounding-lines, and were valueless for abso-
lute proof, as their mode of capture constantly involved the
question, which at that time we were unable to answer, whe-
ther there might not be pelagic forms of the groups to which
they belonged.
In the year 1860, H.M.S. ‘ Bulldog’ sounded over the At-
lantic plateau; and shortly after her return, Dr. Wallich, the
surgeon-naturalist who accompanied her, published a warm
and able defence of the bottom of the sea as an inhabited re-
gion. ‘The evidence of the existence of highly organized
forms at great depths was not even yet, however, quite con-
clusive, as it still depended on starfishes clinging to lead-lines;
and although, from want of data, the subject was little dis-
cussed, the feeling of naturalists seemed still to be in favour
of Forbes’s “ zero of animal life.”
The Cruise of the ‘ Lightning.’—About the time of Sars’s
explorations in Lofoden, my friend Dr. Carpenter and I
were engaged in some investigations which made the dis-
covery of Rhizocrinus especially interesting to us; and we
talked over, again and again, the curious questions, both
geological and biological, which Sars’s dredgings suggested.
We finally arranged that I should write a letter to Dr. Car-
penter, who was then Vice-President of the Royal Society,
sketching out what I conceived to be a promising line of
inquiry, indicating generally the results which I anticipated,
and urging him to endeavour to induce the Council of the
Royal Society to apply to the Admiralty for a vessel fitted
with dredging-gear, that, among other questions, the question
of deep-sea life might, if possible, be settled definitely, by
bringing up a quantity of the bottom, with its inhabitants, if
there were any, along with it. The Council of the Royal
Society acceded to Dr. Carpenter’s request; and the Admiralty
116 Prof. W. Thomson on the Depths of the Sea.
most liberally placed the surveying gunboat ‘ Lightning’ at
their disposal, under the able and genial command of Staff
Commander May. On the 11th of August last, Dr. Carpenter
and I left Stornoway, and steamed northwards towards the
Faroe Islands. We had shocking weather; indeed during
the whole of the cruise, which lasted nearly six weeks, we
could only use the dredge on nine days, and only on four in
deep water. We dredged a little on the Faroe banks, with
small results, and on the 17th of August we reached Thors-
haven, the capital of the Faroe Islands. We spent several
days exploring the fjords of that hospitable but hazy land,
where it seems never to be afternoon, but always grey misty
morning or night. On the 26th we left Thorshaven, and were
driven by dirty weather to the south-eastward. This was
perhaps fortunate; for it forced us to examine more carefully
than we might otherwise have done the “cold area,” to be
mentioned hereafter, where the bottom was of stones and coarse
sand, where the thermometer registered a minimum of 32° F.,
and where the fauna consisted of a meagre sprinkling of boreal
and arctic forms. On the 4th of September we dredged in
530 fathoms, the thermometers registering a minimum of
47°°5 F., and brought up a mass of fine, grey, slimy mud,
technically called ‘ ooze,” but which I shall now call “chalk-
mud.” We traced the area having this high temperature,
which we may call the “ gulf-stream area,” southwards and
westwards, in a line between the plateau of the Faroes and
the north coast of Scotland; and Dr. Carpenter afterwards fol-
lowed it as far north as lat. 61°. It is to this area and its
geological and biological relations that I wish specially to
direct your attention.
Chalk-mud and Chalk.—During the last twenty or thirty
years, very great improvements have been made in sounding-
apparatus, so that depths can now, as a general rule, be ascer-
tained with a tolerable amount of precision. By two or three
very ingenious contrivances, cupfuls or little bucketfuls of the
bottom may be brought up by the sounding-line: one of these,
contrived by Lieut. Fitzgerald, R.N., which we used in the
‘Lightning,’ is exceedingly ‘clever; I never knew it to fail.
The laying of the cable directed special attention to the sound-
ing of the North Atlantic; and in 1857 Capt. Dayman, and in
1860 Sir Leopold M‘Clintock accompanied by Dr. Wallich, and
afterwards several others, sounded the area, and brought home
what specimens of the bottom they could procure. The result
of the sounding was the definition of the great telegraph pla-
teau, stretching from Valentia nearly to Newfoundland, with
an average depth of 2000 fathoms, with greatly deeper depths
Prof. W. Thomson on the Depths of the Sea. Lb
extending southwards towards the Azores. The result of the
examination of the soundings was that the bottom in all cases
consisted of a fine calcareous mud, of countless myriads of the
shells of a Rhizopod, Globigerina, and of some very peculiar
bodies, which have been called Coccoliths and Coccospheres.
In the meantime, naturalists were examining the microscopic
structure of the white chalk; and they found it to consist of
fine calcareous particles, Globigerine and other Foraminifera,
and Coccoliths and Coccospheres. The structure of the chalk
was, in fact, identical with that of the chalk-mud of the At-
lantic. One might have thought that these deep-sea soundings
should have settled the question of the existence of life in the
depths of the ocean; but they were all open to the objection
that the G‘lobigerine and other organisms could not be shown
to be absolutely living, and it was conceivable that they might
have lived nearer the surface, and have sunk to the bottom
after death.
Allover the “warm area,” our dredge brought up little else
than the G'lobigerina-mud—not now, however, pure. The
dredge brought up about a hundredweight at a haul. On one
occasion, a little way to the south of the Faroes, it brought
up, mixed with the mud, about forty sponges, living, with the
delicate and exquisitely formed spicules suspended in the
transparent sarcode. Most of these sponges had long and
venerable beards of flint, spreading in all directions through
the chalk-mud. These beards brought up, entangled in them,
small clams, starfishes, and minute crustaceans; and among
the mud were scattered the shells of the beautiful and well-
known Pteropods of the Gulf-stream.
There can be no doubt whatever, indeed it is admitted b
all microscopists, that chalk is now being formed in the depths
of the Atlantic; but an idea which suggested itself to us even
before we proposed our cruise has now ripened into a convic-
tion, that it is not only chalk which is being formed, but the
Chalk—the chalk of the Cretaceous period. There is one
abyss in the Atlantic in which the Himalaya Mountains might
lie with the waves rolling over them unbroken ; and there is
no direct evidence that oscillations have taken place in the
north of Europe or in North America since the deposition of
the earlier Tertiaries, beyond 1500 feet; in fact there is a
very strong presumption that the main features of the contour
of the crust of the earth have altered but little since the com-
mencement of the Mesozoic period, and that the great depres-
sions, the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Antarctic Oceans, are
due to causes which acted even before that very remote epoch.
There have been constant minor oscillations; but the beds
118 Prof. W. Thomson on the Depths of the Sea.
formed during the periods of depression, and now exposed by
an upheaval of this minor character, are all comparatively
local and shallow-water beds, as shown by the nature and
the richness of their faune. To put this in another form:
there is no reason to suppose that either the physical or the
biological conditions of two-thirds of the ocean have been
affected by the oscillations which produced the varying distri-
bution of the sea and land and the local modifications and
migrations of faune during the Tertiary period. No doubt
the temperature of the different portions of the deep sea has
altered again and again, owing to geographical changes in-
fluencing the distribution of the minor currents and the branches
of the great currents; and it is to the accumulation of these
slight changes through countless ages that we must look as
the cause of the gradual modification of the fauna of the chalk,
of the extinction of some animal groups, and the greater deve-
lopment of others. A bit of the edge of the Cretaceous forma-
tion has been tilted up, to form the white cliffs of Albion and
the chalk-beds of France; but the great mass of the formation
maintains nearly the same character, and is now entombing
the same group of organisms, among the Philippines, off the
coast of Spain, in the seas of Japan, near the coast of Massa-
chusetts, off the Faroes, and to the extreme Lofoden Islands.
I imagine that this is one of the great formations—one of the
corner-stones in the building of the earth, formed slowly in
vast areas of subsidence, which will only make its appearance
in mass along with a complete change in the distribution of
land and sea, and which may be expected in some places to
resist denudation, and to stand like the mountain-limestone,
as one of the odd pages of a future geological record. Some
ereat peculiarities in the distribution of the Miocene land flora
have led to the idea that one of these minor oscillations may
have depressed the “ telegraph plateau” during later Tertiary
times. It may be so, though I think the evidence is very
unsatisfactory ; but it is by no means necessary that every
part of the present cretaceous basin should have been sea
throughout; whenever it was sea, however, it was continuous
in space with a sea which had been continuous in time (pro-
bably, at all events, from the commencement of the Jurassic
period), and was peopled from that sea. If these views prove
correct, they must modify considerably our interpretation of
eological history.
Chalk-flints—There is one point in the structure and com-
position of the white chalk which distinguishes it, in the most
marked way, from the modern deposits of the Atlantic. Modern
soundings and dredgings from all depths are full of delicate sili-
Prof. W. Thomson on the Depths of the Sea. 119
ceous organisms of the most varied and beautiful forms—shields
of diatoms, spicules of sponges, and the wonderful netted skele-
tons of the Polycystina. The soft calcareous mud is the home
of multitudes of exquisitely formed glassy and other siliceous
sponges; the chalk, on the other hand, may be said to contain
no disseminated silica whatever. When chalk is dissolved in
acid, a few grains or crystalline fragments of silica remain ;
but these are apparently all of inorganic origin—fragments of
mineral matter. Instead, however, of disseminated siliceous
organisms, we have, in the chalk, bands and lines of flints—
lumps of amorphous silica, which seem to have filled up and
taken the shape of any cavities already existing in the beds.
Many of these flints are apparently quite shapeless; but many
of them (such as the so-called “ paramoudras” of the Antrim
chalk) have more or less distinctly the form of large cup-like
sponges. Often the shell of a sea-urchin forms the mould of
a flint, which fills it entirely, reproducing in relief on its ex-
ternal surface every suture and perforation of the inner surface
of the shell. The conclusion seems to be irresistible, that in
some way which we do not as yet thoroughly understand, but
to which some late observations of the Master of the Mint
seem to promise a clue, the organic silica, if I may use the
expression, is dissolved out of the calcareous matrix ; the so-
lution percolates into and through the cavities, the water being
gradually drained from the silica, which is in the colloid state,
by the walls of the cavities acting as porous media, till, on the
water being nearly or entirely removed, the silica “ sets”’ into
flint. In the white chalk of England there is an exceedingly
beautiful group of fossils, called Ventriculites, which have
greatly puzzled paleontologists. They have usually the form
of graceful vases, tubes, or funnels, variously ridged or grooved
or otherwise ornamented on the surface, frequently expanded
above into a cup-like lip, and continued below into a bundle
of fibrous roots. The minute structure of these bodies shows
an extremely delicate tracery of fine tubes, sometimes empty,
sometimes filled with loose calcareous matter dyed with per-
oxide of iron. We have been in the habit of regarding the
Ventriculites as an extinct group, specially characteristic of the
chalk; but, after examining several species, and studying
carefully Mr. Toulmin Smith’s excellent observations on their
structure, I now thoroughly believe that they were siliceous
sponges, nearly allied to, if not identical with, the recent
order PORIFERA VITREA, and that the silica of their spicules
was removed, and went to add to the jelly-like material of the
flints, leaving the moulds only in the chalk. Ventriculites are
not extremely common in the white chalk, nor are they very
120 Prof. W. Thomson on the Depths of the Sea.
large; and, so far from being extinct, my belief is that the
group has attained probably a much higher development in
our times—that while the pear-encrinites have been losing
ground, the Ventriculites have been gaining it. One haul of
our dredge in the soft, warm, oozy chalk-mud off the north of
Scotland brought
up from a depth of
500 fathoms up-
wards of forty spe-
cimens of vitreous
sponges. Many of
these were new to
science, and some
of them resembled
closely the beautiful
Venus’s _—‘ Flower-
basket of the Phi-
lippines, while
among them were
probably two spe-
cies of Hyalonema,
the strange glass-
rope sponge of Ja-
pan. Four speci-
mens of this won-
derful new form of
vitreous — sponge,
which I exhibit (see
woodcut, fig.2) were
brought up in this
haul. They were
loaded with their
glairy sarcode, and
had evidently been
buried in the ooze
nearly to the lip.
When one looks at
the exquisite sym-
metry of these or- Holtenia Carpenteri (Wy. T.).
ganisms, one almost (Half the natural size.)
wonders at the reck-
lessness of beauty which produces such structures to live and
die, for ever invisible, in the mud and darkness of the abysses
of the sea. I dedicate with great pleasure, the new genus
to which this sponge must be referred to our kind and hospi-
table friend, His Excellency M. Holten, the Governor of the
Prof. W. Thomson on the Depths of the Sea. 121
Faroe Islands, who showed the greatest interest in the success
of our expedition, and on the verge of whose dominions it was
found. | dedicate the species to my distinguished colleague,
Dr. Carpenter. The mud was entirely filled with the delicate
siliceous root-fibres of the vitreous sponges, binding it toge-
ther, and traversing it in all directions, like hairs in mortar.
This mud was actually alive; it stuck together in lumps, as if
there were white of egg mixed with it; and the glairy mass
proved, under the microscope, to be living sarcode. Prof.
Huxley regards this as a distinct creature, and calls it “ Ba-
thybius.” I think this requires confirmation. Every fibre
and spicule of each sponge has its own special sheath of sar-
code; and the glairy matter in the mud may, I think, be
simply a sort of diffused mycelium of the different distinct
sponges. This view accords well, I believe, with the mode of
nutrition of the sponges.
The Conditions of the Depths.—Pressure-—The conditions
which might be expected to affect animal life at great
depths in the ocean are pressure, temperature, and the ab-
sence of light, involving apparently the absence of vegetable
food. The conditions of pressure are certainly very pecu-
liar. A man at the depth of a mile would bear upon his body
a weight equal to about ten ordinary goods trains, engines
and all, loaded with pig iron. We are apt to forget, however,
that water is nearly incompressible, and that therefore the sea-
water at the depth of a mile has scarcely an appreciably greater
density than it has at the surface. At the depth of a mile,
under a pressure of 159 atmospheres, sea-water, according to
the formula given by Jamin, is compressed by the ;4; of its
volume, and at twenty miles, supposing the law of the com-
pressibility of water to continue the same, by only + of its
volume; that is to say, the volume at that depth will be still
£ of the volume of the same weight of water at the surface.
Substances, also, permeated and uniformly supported within
and without by the water, are, so far as their physical condi-
tions, freedom of motion, &c., are concerned, in no way affected
by the pressure. We sometimes rise in the morning and find,
from a fall of an inch in the barometer, that we have been
gradually and quietly relieved during the night of half a ton
weight; yet we feel it only by a slight lassitude, from its re-
quiring rather more muscular exertion to move our bodies in
the rarer medium. ‘There is no reason to believe that water
contains less air at great depths than at the surface ; it is even
possible, owing to the great compressibility of air, that it may
contain more. As the increase in the density of the water at
the depths at which we dredged was scarcely perceptible, we
122 Prof. W. Thomson on the Depths of the Sea.
found no inconvenience at all from the pressure, except in one
particular. The strong tarred hemp rope which we used be-
longed to the upper world, and, like all such terrestrial fabrics,
it contained a large quantity of air. Down in the depths every
particle of the air was squeezed out, and the fibres of the hemp
and the tar were crushed together, so that the rope looked and
cut almost like a stick of liquorice. I fear the rope became
rather brittle; for it snapped once or twice without apparent
cause, and we lost our dredges. This may turn out to be a
serious difficulty in the way of dredging in much greater
depths.
Popineieioh'e lt hene has been up to the present time a
strange misconception as to the temperature of the ocean—a
misconception all the more singular as it is a point easy of
approximate determination, and to which a good deal of at-
tention has been directed. In all the leading text-books on
physical geography we have the reiterated statement that at
a certain depth the ocean has a uniform temperature of 39° F.,
that the ocean is, therefore, divided into three regions, bounded
by the two isotherms of 39° F., that north and south of these
lines the mean temperature of the surface is lower than that of
the depths, while in the zone between them it is higher. Had
the sea been fresh, it would have been perfectly intelligible
that the water beyond the influence of currents and of direct
solar heat should have maintained the temperature of its point
of greatest density ; but it has long been well known, from
the experiments of M. Despretz and others, that sea-water
contracts steadily down to its freezing-point, which is about
28° F. when agitated, and as low as 25°F’. when perfectly
still.
Though I had often wondered what could be the cause, I
believed in this permanent temperature of the sea thoroughly,
and even suggested the particular course for our cruise, because
it nearly coincided with the isotherm of 40° F., expecting that
we should be able, within a few hundred feet of the surface,
to eliminate the question of heat entirely from our calculations.
To our very great surprise, the thermometers, two of which
were sent down on the lead-line, the day after we left Storno-
way, to a depth of 500 fathoms, registered a minimum tem-
perature of 49°, ten degrees above the “ permanent point.”” We
were at first inclined to mistrust the observation; but we took
the same temperature at nearly the same spot on our return,
when we were quite prepared to recognize it as the almost
constant temperature of the warm or Gulf-stream area of the
region. Some days later, on leaving Thorshaven and pro-
ceeding south-eastwards, we sounded and took temperatures
Prof. W. Thomson on the Depths of the Sea. 123
with three registering thermometers, in 510 fathoms, in lat.
60° 45’ N. and long. 4° 19’ W., when the three thermometers,
which were within about 2° of one another, gave a mean result
of 32°:2, almost exactly the freezing-point of fresh water, and
more than 7° below the “ permanent point.” Many subsequent
observations enabled us to determine that a cold area, where
the thermometer ranged about 32° F., at a depth of from 400
to 500 fathoms, extended between lat. 60° and 61°N., and
long. 4° 30’ and 7° 30’ W., and that an area stretched north-
westward, westward, and south-westward of this cold area, in
which the thermometer, to the depth of 650 fathoms, was very
permanent at 47°°5 to 49°F. This is an unexpected result,
but it is undoubtedly in the main correct. The soundings
were made with the greatest care and with the best instru-
ments, and several thermometers by different makers were
employed on every occasion, every precaution being taken to
avoid error.
Since the Gulf-stream,to which we attribute the warmth of
the warm area, appears to affect the temperature of the sea to
the very bottom, it is easy enough to conceive that the tem-
perature may be permanent over a considerable region at 49°;
but it is not so evident why the temperature of the cold area
should remain permanently two or three degrees above the
freezing-point of salt water. Experiments are yet wanting to
determine the influence of great pressure upon the freezing-
point of water; but it is possible that the freezing-point may
be the actual limit, and that the Sixes thermometers, which
have large bulbs, register a degree or two too high, under the
enormous pressure of 100 atmospheres. If this be the case,
the condition of things must be very peculiar. Minute spi-
cules of light fresh ice must be continually forming, and rush-
ing upwards to be melted in the first shell of water whose
temperature is above the freezing-point. The animal inhabi-
tants must live in perpetual winter—a winter not more severe,
however, than that which is bravely borne by the myriads of
Limacinas and Clios which sport in every crack in the ice-
fields of the Arctic Sea.
Nutrition.—The question of the mode of nutrition and life
of animals at these great depths is a very singular one. The
practical distinction between plants and animals is that plants
prepare the food of animals by decomposing certain inorganic
substances which animals cannot use as food, and recombining
their elements into organic compounds upon which animals
can feed. This process, however, is constantly effected under
the influence of light; there is little or no light in the depths,
and naturally there are no plants. But the bottom of the sea
is a mass of animal life; on what do these animals feed ?
124 M.Grand’Eury on Calamites and Asterophyllites.
The answer seems to be sufficiently simple: nearly all the
animals (practically all the animals, for the small number of
higher forms feed upon these) belong to one subkingdom, the
Protozoa, whose distinctive character is that they have no
special organs of nutrition, but that they absorb nourishment
through the whole surface of their jelly-like bodies. Most of
these animals secrete exquisitely formed skeletons, sometimes
of lime, sometimes of silica. There is no doubt that they ex-
tract both of these substances from the sea-water, although
silica often exists there in quantity so small as to elude detec-
tion by chemical tests. All sea-water contains a certain quan-
tity of organic matter in solution. Its sources are obvious.
All rivers contain a large quantity ; every shore is surrounded
by a fringe which averages about a mile in width of olive and
red sea-weeds ; in the middle of the Atlantic there is a marine
meadow, the Sargasso Sea, extending over three millions of
square miles ; the sea is full of animals which are constantly
dying and decaying ; and the water of the Gulf-stream espe-
cially courses round coasts where the supply of organic matter
is enormous. It is therefore quite intelligible that a world of
animals should live in these dark abysses; but it is a neces-
sary condition that they should chiefly belong to a class capa-
ble of being supported by absorption, through the surface, of
matter in solution, developing but little heat, and incurring a
very small amount of waste by any manifestation of vital ac-
tivity. According to this view, it seems highly probable that
at all periods of the earth’s history some form of the Protozoa,
Rhizopods, Sponges, or both, predominated greatly over all
other forms of animal life in the depths of the warmer regions
of the sea—whether spreading, compact, and reef-like, as the
Laurentian and Paleozoic Hozoon, or in the form of myriads
of separate organisms, as the G'lobigerine and Ventriculites of
the chalk. The Rhizopods, like the Corals of a shallower
zone, form huge accumulations of carbonate of lime; and it is
probably to their agency that we must refer most of those
great bands of limestone which have resisted time and change,
and which come in here and there with their rich imbedded
lettering, to mark, like milestones, the progress of the passing
ages.
XIV.— Observations on the Calamites and Asterophyllites.
By M. Granp’Eury*.
Calamites—The Calamites were regarded by the older
naturalists as reeds, and owed their name to that supposition.
* Translated by W. S. Dallas, F.L.S., from the ‘Comptes Rendus
March 22, 1869, tome Ixviii. pp: 705-709.
M. Grand’Eury on Calamites and Asterophyllites. 125
M. Brongniart was one of the first to approximate them to the
Equisetacez, guided by the analogy of their most important
external characters.
Dr. Petzholdt, and subsequently M. Richter, thought that
decisive evidence in favour of this approximation was to be
found in the internal structure of these stems; but the differ-
ences in their observations still left doubts on the subject, and
the question thus remained enveloped in much obscurity.
The investigation that I have made of upright Calamites,
which are very common in the Coal-measures of the Loire,
will, I think, enable me to answer it in a satisfactory manner,
and to give a more complete definition of the Calamites.
In the first place, the frequent presence of more or less
complete septa at the joints is a perfect proof that these stems
were fistular,
Again, in nearly all of them we find, generally surrounding
the nucleus, a sort of internal epidermis, of cellular nature,
which is smooth or sometimes marked on the outside by lines
projecting opposite to the inner crests of the bark. This epi-
dermis, which was also found by Dr. Petzholdt in Calamites,
cannot have detached itself here from the inner surface of the
coaly (houllifiée) envelope, of which it does not possess
the form, and from which it is naturally separated, when it
seems to have retained its relative position, by from half to
two millimetres. Moreover it is connected with the septa, and
forms with them one and the same system, which seems to
unite with the bark, where it is contracted at the level of the
articulations, by a sort of internal denticulations. There is
also, between the coaly envelope and the inner epidermis, a
thin structureless zone, which has evidently been occupied by
tissue now destroyed. This tissue, which must have been lax
and perhaps lacunar, as it is always completely destroyed,
certainly corresponds to the vascular tissue of the Calamites,
and may probably have represented in them the circle of lacunee
essential to the Hquiseta (Duval-Jouve).
From this it seems to me that we may define the true Cala-
mites as follows :—
Stems articulated, fistular, and septate, of which the outer part,
which is comparatively thin, is formed by three concentric zones,
namely :—1, an exterior cortical layer, now converted into coal;
2, a thin subjacent zone of vascular tissue, now invariably destroyed;
3, a sort of inner lining epidermis, which is carbonified.
Cortical envelope marked interiorly with regular flutings, inter-
rupted and alternate at the articulations. Inner epidermis smooth
or scarcely striated. Vascular cylinder thin, smooth within as
having been covered by the inner epidermis, and adorned on the
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. iv. 10
126 M. Grand’Eury on Calamites and Asterophyllites.
outside with ribs, which are interrupted and strictly alternate at the
articulations, having been in contact with the cortical envelope,
which has faithfully preserved its form.
Outer surface of the bark more feebly fluted and articulated than
the inner surface, of which it forms a reflection weakened in pro-
portion to the thickness of the bark. Opposite to the articulations
branch-scars are present, but not constantly; and there is no evident
trace of the insertion of leaves.
In place of these there are sometimes, but not always, some
small tubercular swellings, which, originating in the interior,
only appear distinctly on the outside when the bark is thin ;
but as there is at the surface no scar indicated by the absence
of the epidermis and by vascular passages, and defined and
bounded by a precise line, such as is seen in most stems of the
coal-measures, and also on account of their position at the
summit of the ribs, they are only the representatives of the
rudimentary teeth of an aborted sheath. So that the Cala-
mites were destitute both of leaves and sheaths.
These chief features of organization which the Calamites
possess in common with the Hgudseta, are associated with
characters of subterranean vegetation likewise so capable of
identification with those of these same existing plants, that
they must be regarded as forming an extinct genus of the
family Equisetaceze.
Thus having been able to follow the removal of the
floor of a coal-bed in which Calamites Suckowi, Brong.,
is very abundant in an upright position, I had the good for-
tune to see that vertical stems of this species emit at their
articulations thin running rhizomes, which, after becoming
elongated to from 0°50 to 1 metre, swell suddenly and rise up
as ascending stems—that these, again, in their turn emit fresh
definite rhizomes, but only from the elbow which they form
in ascending, and so on, producing a succession of stems,
which is not without analogy to what we see in Hguisetwm
variegatum. It is even probable (but this I have not yet as-
certained) that the vertical mother stem which gives rise to so
many suckers, derives its own origin from a deep-seated rhi-
zome. If this were the case, we should have, in these nume-
rous groups of rhizomes springing one from the other, as it
were the witnesses of an ancient marsh occupied by a species
of Calamite, which, just like Hguisetwm limosum, would have
spread over a great space of inundated land. However this
may be, the mother stem, the definite rhizomes, and only the
base of the ascending stems are furnished with simple or
ramose rootlets. .
As regards the other isolated Calamites of the fossil forests
M. Grand’ Eury on Calamites and Asterophyllites. 127
of Saint-Etienne, in the casts of which we find the same traces
of structure, they are straight, possess a few rootlets at the
base, and appear to have an individual existence. But this
individuality is perhaps more apparent than real; for their
distribution in the fossil forests, and the agglomeration of the
same stems in certain places, are favourable to the supposition
that they sprang from slender indefinite rhizomes, of which
nothing has remained for our investigation.
Lastly, there is nothing, even to the approximation of the
articulations at the origin of the stems and rhizomes, that is
not imitated by the living Hquiseta.
Calamophyllites and Asterophyllites.—N othing is at present
settled as to the nature of the stems of which the arborescent
Asterophyllites are the caducous branches, although a certain
number of stems bearing branches of Asterophyllites have
already been found. The uncertainty in which we are upon
this subject is such that these branches have been ascribed
both to the Calamites belonging to the group of vascular
Cryptogamia and to the Calamodendra belonging to the
Gymnosperms, their inflorescence, described as Volkmannia,
being still incapable of solving the question, because the
organized dust discovered in the sacs borne by some of them
in the axils of their bracteal leaves might equally well consist
of spores or of pollen. However, it is most desirable now to
ascertain the real connexion of organs which are invariably
dissociated, mutilated, and so profoundly altered.
I believe I have sufficient data to prove that the greater part
of the Asterophyllites are not branches of Calamites, but of
other stems, which even depart widely from them in their
characters, and to which I give the name of Calamophyllites,
It would appear that the Asterophyllites cannot be the
branches of the true Calamites, not only because these branches
would be furnished with leaves whilst the stems are destitute
of them, which has nothing absolutely impossible in it, but
because, besides not being so well grooved and articulated,
they have their leaves attached above the lines of articulation,
and, what is far more significant, their secondary branches
inserted in the axil of the leafy whorls, and not below them,
as would be the case if they had the organization of the true
Calamites.
Moreover all the branches which I have seen issuing from
true Calamites have exactly all the essential characters of the
latter, and have neither leaves nor any indications of having
possessed them. I have frequently found, mixed together,
considerable quantities of branches of various sizes, constructed
10
128 M.Grand’Eury on Calamites and Asterophyllites.
at their articulations exactly like certain Calamites—so much
so that all, even to the slenderest, appear to have emitted
whorls of branches, whilst the branches of Asterophyllites only
gave origin to distichous ramifications, and this, moreover,
unsymmetrically. Ihave even seen the apex of a Calamite
with its articulated branch-shoots as destitute of leaves as the
stem.
On the other hand, I have ascertained, from several most
instructive specimens, that the stems which are surrounded
and surmounted by branches of Asterophyllites resemble the
latter in all points, have leaves or leat-scars, and in general
only a vague and distant resemblance to the Calamites.
Krom this, therefore, we may conclude that the arborescent
Asterophyllites sprang, not from Calamites, but from leaf-
bearing stems organized like themselves.
These stems are not rare, and I have already found several
of them, Hippurites longifolius, Lindl., is evidently a fine and
complete example, and Calamites Goepperti, Eittingsh., is an-
other, deprived of its leaves. They form a group which may
be characterized as follows :—
Stems articulate, very certainly hollow and septate, of herbaceous
nature, not always regularly striate. Leaves caducous, attached to
a cincture of articular protuberances situated above the line of arti-
culation, and not in relation to the strie or indistinct ribs situated
below, erect or raised, linear, flat; they appear smooth or traversed
by few and distinct or by numerous, very fine, equal and parallel
nervures. Caducous branches of Asterophyllites inserted all round
and essentially above the articulations, in the axil of the leafy whorls,
leaving by their fall large discoidal scars situated completely above,
and not opposite to the articulations.
I do not wish to assert here that all the arborescent Astero-
phyllites originate from similar stems, although their leaves
are generally striated by fine, equal and parallel nervures. I
have even good reasons for the opposite opinion; for I know
of stems, analogous to Calamites varians, Sternb., which ap-
pear to have had leaves inserted at the end of the ribs; and I
have seen an Asterophyllite which was to be referred to large
stems invaginated at their articulations by leaves joined toge-
ther at the base, as in the genus Phyllotheca, and to which, on
account of this peculiarity, I give the name of Phyllotheca
stephanensis.
On the Ancient Fauna of the Mascarene Islands. 129
XV.— Observations on the Ancient Fauna of the Mascarene
Islands. By M. AtpHonse Mitnz-Epwarps*.
Among the bones collected in the Island of Mauritius, in the
Mare aux Songes, side by side with the remains of the dodo
and of the gigantic coot, which I have already had the
honour of mentioning to the Academy, I noticed a lower jaw
which appeared to me to be derived from a bird entirely un-
known at the present day, and belonging to the group of the
Gralle, together with some parts of the foot indicating the
former existence of a new generic type allied to Ocydromus.
I inclined to believe that all these bones belonged to the same
extinct species; but I hesitated about pronouncing an opinion
upon this subject, when some facts of another kind lately
ascertained at Vienna by M. von Frauenfeld removed all my
doubts, and enabled me to arrive at more complete results.
In the collection of paintings upon vellum made chiefly
in the reign of Rodolph II. by Hoefnagel, a Dutch artist,
and which now belongs to the private library of the Emperor
of Austria, that naturalist found two coloured drawings, repro-
ductions of which he hastened to publish. One of these pic-
tures represents the dodo, the other a very remarkable bird,
which in its aspect somewhat resembles the Apteryx, and
which appears to be the species mentioned by F. Cauche,
under the name of the Poule rouge au bec de Bécasse, as living
in the Island of Mauritius at the beginning of the seventeenth
century. In the memoir which accompanies these plates, M.
von Frauenfeld has endeavoured to settle the place which this
bird should occupy in our zoological classification; but the
characters displayed by the figure which he had before him
could not enable him to arrive at a complete solution of this
question, and he was obliged to confine himself to indicating
the features of resemblance of the Poule rouge au bec de
Bécasse on the one hand to the Gallinacez, on another to the
Rails, and in the third place to the Apteryx; finally, he
gives it the generic name of Aphanapteryx—a designation
which seems to indicate that it is with the last that he found
the greatest analogy.
I easily convinced myself that the bones of which I have
just spoken as having been found in the Mauritius, and the
examination of which had been kindly intrusted to me by
MM. Newton, all belonged to the Aphanapteryx; and the
anatomical peculiarities presented by these fossils enable me
* Translated by W. S. Dallas, F.L.S., from the ‘Comptes Rendus,’
April 12, 1869, tome Ixviii. pp. 856-859.
130 M, A. Milne-Edwards on the Ancient Fauna
to establish with strict precision the natural affinities of this
lost type, and to assign it its true zoological position.
The Aphanapteryx or Poule rouge au bec de Bécasse is not
a gallinaceous bird, nor does it belong to the natural group of
which the Apteryx is now the only living representative ; it
is not a Rail properly so called, but it must take its place side
by side with the Australian genus Ocydromus.
The lower mandible, in its general form, resembles that of
the curlews, ibises, and certain passerine birds, such as Pro-
merops, Xtphorhynchus, Falculia, and Dendrocolaptes ; but the
osteological characters furnished by the arrangement of the
articular surface, and by the form of what I have denominated
the postdentary fissure, do not allow us to regard this bone as
belonging to any passerine or gallinaceous bird, or to any of
the genera of Gralle which I have just mentioned; nor do its
characters remove it less from Apteryx; and to find a more
complete resemblance we must compare this beak with that of
Ocydromus.
In order to avoid making this statement too long, I must
suppress here all descriptive details, which will be found in
the memoir which I deposit upon the bureau of the Academy.
I shall confine myself to adding that if, from the structure of
this part of the head, we seek to explain the habits and diet
of the bird to which it belongs, we shall see that the absence,
or at least the slight development, of the foramina and little
channels for the passage of nerves and vessels will not allow
us to ascribe to it the habits of the ibises, curlews, godwits, or
snipes, ‘This pointed beak of very dense tissue somewhat
resembles that of Porphyrio and Ocydromus, and reminds us
still more of the conformation of the mandibles in the oyster-
catchers; 1t seems to he perfectly adapted for breaking the
shells and resisting envelopes of the animals on which the
Aphanapteryx probably fed,
It is sufficient to glance at the metatarsus to be convinced
that it is dertved from a bird admirably constructed for walk-
ing; it is perfectly balanced, and, without being too massive,
is very robust. Its characters indicate most clearly that it
cannot be derived from a bird of prey or from a passerine or
natatory bird. It has belonged to a walking bird, and in its
general form as well as in several of its characters it approaches
that of the Gallinacex; nevertheless it is impossible to refer
it to that group, In fact I have ascertained that in all the
Gallinacess, without exception, the flexor muscle belonging to
the hind toe is inserted upon a deeply hollowed surface of
the posterior face of the heel bounded by very prominent
crests. In nearly all the birds of this group, even in those
of the Mascarene Islands. 131
which are destitute of spurs, there also exists a bony crest or
stay which unites the postero-interior margin of the bone with
the heel. These characters are entirely wanting in the fossil
found in the Mare aux Songes. If we compare this meta-
tarsus with that of the waders, we find that its relative pro-
portions, as well as its anatomical peculiarities, separate it
from that of the Ciconide, Gruide, Ardeide, Totanide, and
Bustards; but we find in it great analogies with the foot-bone
of certain representatives of the family Rallide, although it
differs much from the typical form in this group. But it is to
be remarked that in proportion as these birds are constructed
for walking, their metatarsus acquires more and more the dis-
tinctive characters of that of Aphanapteryx: thus in passing
successively from the Coots to the Rails, to Zribonyx and to
Ocydromus, we insensibly arrive at the form which is pre-
sented by our fossil, and which, at the first glance, would ap-
pear to be quite special. |
In the same deposit with this lower mandible and tarso-
metatarsal several tibie have been discovered, which seem to
be referable to the same bird; for the study of the peculiari-
ties which they present leads to the same result as the exami-
nation that I have just made of the osteological characters of
the foot-bone.
All these anatomical facts prove, it seems to me, that Aphan-
apteryx forms a peculiar generic division side by side with
Ocydromus. It must be regarded as one of those transition
forms which are so remarkable in the animal kingdom; it is
a rail, the organization of which has adapted itself to an
essentially terrestrial existence.
We see, from the figure the knowledge of which we owe to
M. von Frauenfeld, that the feathers of this bird were too
light and possessed too little resistance to have been capable
of serving it for flight, and moreover the wings were rudimen-
tary ; the feet, on the contrary, presented considerable strength,
but they are not very long, and the toes are less elongated
than is usual in this family. This would lead us to think
that this species had less aquatic habits than most of the
Rallide ; nevertheless the [hind] toe is very long, as in birds
which frequent muddy places where the soil has but little
consistency, whilst among the true runners it disappears more
or less completely, in order to diminish the weight at the ex-
tremity of the arm of the lever formed by the foot.
The recent destruction of the Aphanapteryx can only be
ascribed to man or to the animals which he brought in his.
train; and it is interesting to remark that this species, which
inhabited the Mascarene Islands at a period so nearly ap-
132 Royal Society.
proaching our own days, is a new example fitted to demonstrate,
on the one hand, the existence of close relationships between
the fauna of these isolated lands and the zoological population
of the Australasian region, and, on the other, the complete
separation of this fauna from that of the great African conti-
nent.
PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES.
ROYAL SOCIETY.
June 18, 1868.—Lieut.-General Sabine, President, in the Chair.
“‘ Note on the Bloodvessel-system of the Retina of the Hedgehog.”
By J. W. Huvxg, F.R.S., Assistant-Surgeon to the Middlesex Hos-
pital and the Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital.
The distribution of the retinal blood-vessels in this common British
Insectivore is so remarkable that I deem it worthy of a separate
notice: only capillaries enter the retina.
The vasa centralia pierce the optic nerve in the sclerotic canal,
and, passing forwards through the lamina cribrosa, divide, at the
bottom of a relatively large and deep pit in the centre of the intra-
ocular disk of the nerve, into a variable number of primary branches,
from three to six. These primary divisions quickly subdivide, fur-
nishing many large arteries and veins, which, radiating on all sides
from the nerve-entrance towards the ora retine, appear to the ob-
server’s unaided eye as strongly projecting ridges upon the inner
surface of the retina. When vertical sections parallel to and across
the direction of these ridges are examined with a quarter-inch ob-
jective, we immediately perceive that the arteries and veins lie,
throughout their entire course, upon the inner surface of the mem-
brana limitans interna retinz, between this and the membrana
hyaloidea of the vitreous humour, and that only capillaries pene-
trate the retina itself.
In sections of the retina across the larger vessels the membrana
limitans may be seen as a clean distiuctly unbroken line passing over
the divided vessels, with which it does not appear to have any direct
structural connexion. The relation of the hyaloidea to the large
vessels seems to be more intimate; but its exact nature can be less
certainly demonstrated, owing to the extreme tenuity of this mem-
brane. In my best sections I saw the hyaloidea also crossing the
large vessels, as does the limitans; but excessively delicate extensions
of the hyaloidea appeared to me to lose themselves upon the vessels.
The capillaries, shortly after their origin, bend outwards away
from the large vessels, and, piercing the retina vertically to its strati-
fication in a direction more or less radial from the centre of the globe,
and branching dichotomously in the granular and inner granule-
layers, they form loops, the outermost of which reach the inter-
granule layer. As they enter the retina, the membrana limitans
Miscellaneous. 133
interna is prolonged upon the capillaries in the form of a sheath,
which is wide and funnel-like at first, but soon embraces the ves-
sels so closely as to become indistinguishable from their proper
wall ; so that, notwithstanding the existence of a sheath, there is no
perivascular space about the retinal capillaries, such as His has de-
scribed in the brain or spinal cord, and has stated to occur in the
retina and elsewhere.
In all other mammals, except the hedgehog, as far as my present
knowledge extends, the arteries, veins, and capillaries lie in the re-
tina. In fish, amphibia, reptiles, and birds, however, as H. Miiller
and others (myself as regards amphibia and reptiles) have shown,
the retina is absolutely nonvascular, the absence of proper retinal
blood-vessels being compensated for in fish, amphibia, and some
reptiles by the vascular net which in these animals channels the
hyaloidea, and by the highly vascular pecten present in other reptiles
and in birds. Thus it is possible to divide vertebrates into two classes,
according as their retina is vascular or non-vascular; and these
classes would be connected by the hedgehog, the larger branches of
whose vasa centralia, lying upon the membrana limitans in intimate
relation with the hyaloidea, represent the equivalent vessels of the
hyaloid system, which forms so exquisite a microscopic object in the
frog; whilst the capillary vessels channelling the retinal tissues
occupy the same position which they do in most mammalia.
MISCELLANEOUS.
On the Origin of the Name “ Penguin.”
To the Editors of the Annals and Magazine of Natural History.
GrNTLEMEN,—More than ten years ago it occurred to me that the
name “ Penguin” or “ Pengwin,” applied to certain sea-fowl which
are unable to fly, was a corruption of “ pen-wing” or “ pin-wing,”
meaning a bird that had apparently undergone the operation of
pinioning or “‘ pin-winging,” as it is, in at least one part of England,
commonly called. Lately Mr. Henry Reeks, who has been success-
fully pursuing the investigation of natural history in Newfoundland,
has kindly informed me that in that country the name “ Penguin”
used there to signify the Alca impennis of Linnzeus, is invariably
pronounced “ Pen-wing ;” and this fact seems to confirm the suppo-
sition I had formerly entertained. I shall be greatly obliged to you
by allowing me to mention in your pages this suggestion, which, so
far as I am aware, has not been before published, especially as
neither of the only two derivations of the name which I have seen
assigned—the first from the Latin pinguedo (fatness), the second from
the Welsh pen gwyn (white head)—appears to me at all probable.
I am, Gentlemen,
Your obedient Servant,
Bloxworth, July 22, 1869. ALFRED Newron.
134 Miscellaneous.
On the Structure of the Flower of the Graminew, the Functions of the
Organs of which it is composed, and the Phenomena which accom-
pany the act of Fecundation. By M. Brvarp.
The flower of the Graminez is formed of a two-valved perigonium
(glumella). The outer valve, which is always the larger, is in the
form of a keel; its texture is coarse and parchment-like; and it
embraces the inner valve with its margins all round. The inner
valve is almost flat externally ; its tissue is slight and transparent ;
at its margins it is folded inwards so as to form two screens, closed
above and separated below. On its sides the inner valve is furnished
with very numerous hairs.
The arrangement of these two valves is such that they form by
their juxtaposition a completely closed chamber, the closure of which
is rendered still more perfect by the hairs of the inner valve. Under
such circumstances no foreign body can penetrate into the interior.
In this chamber are enclosed the ovary and the organs of fecunda-
tion.
The stamens are three in number, and they occupy two-thirds of
the space formed by the union of the two valves. Two of the sta-
mens are placed one on each side of the ovary, and the third is op-
posite to it. The filaments do not exceed the ovary in length ; at
the base of the filaments, in front of the ovary, two glands (glumel-
lule of botanists), varying in form according to the genus, occur in
all the Graminez.
The ovary is surmounted by two stigmata, each of which is formed
by a principal canal, upon which small canals are inserted laterally,
having narrow tubes open at their extremity.
Phenomena of Fecundation.—The phenomena of fecundation occur
when the organs of the flower haye attained their full development.
In the Gramineve fecundation is instantaneous. It is manifested as
follows :—
The anthers open laterally, become animated by a movement of
torsion, and let fall a shower of pollen upon the stigma, which is
spread out like a fan; at this moment the filaments become rapidly
elongated ; and by means of this elongation and of their movement
of torsion the stamens separate the valves, force a passage, and
hang down outside the flower. They are then almost empty. At
this period the agriculturist says, ‘“‘ The corn is in flower ;” but this
is an error: the fecundation is completed.
The filaments of the stamens are not arranged in a spiral form,
nor are they folded upon themselves. To effect their elongation
they require perfectly prepared material; and this they find in the
two glands placed at the base of the ovary: these contain a thick
juice, which may be extracted by pricking them with a needle. The
glands serve so well for the alimentation of the filaments, that they
are emptied when the elongation takes place.
The pollen of the Graminez possesses no trace of a pollinic tube,
nor could I in any case observe an ejection of fovilla. When the
pollen falls upon the stigma, it attaches itself to the narrow tubes
Miscellaneous. 135
which perforate the latter. These tubes, which are open at the
extremity, play the part of suckers, which pump in the fovilla and
transmit it through the canals to the ovary. After fecundation, the
perforated pollen becomes dried up, whilst the stigma becomes folded
upon itself and withers.
Consequently in the Gramines two principal phenomena occur,
which are witnessed only in this family :—
1. The elongation and expulsion of the filaments of the stamens.
2. Fecundation by the perforation of the pollen.
These do not occur without reason.
The seed, the result of fecundation, must occupy when perfectly
developed, the whole chamber formed by the union of the two
valves. Now the stamens occupy two-thirds of this space, and by
their volume they would obstruct the growth of the seed: they
must be expelled; and hence the elongation of the filaments, and
the existence and the utility of the alimentary glands.
As the fecundation is instantaneous, it is necessary that the fovilla
should instantaneously penetrate to the ovary through the stigma,
the existence of which only lasts during the moment of fecundation ;
hence the structure of the stigma, and the phenomenon of the per-
foration of the pollen.
All the facts that I have just indicated may be very easily ob-
served in our cereals and the grasses of our meadows. ‘To see the
details of the fecundation, it is only necessary to split the outer
valve longitudinally; by separating the two parts of this valve, we
expose the organs of fecundation enclosed in the two curtains of the
inner valve, and the warmth of the breath or a ray of the sun is
sufficient to induce the phenomenon of fecundation.
The natural hybridization of the Graminez is impossible, from
the exact closure of the space or chamber containing the organs of
fecundation.—Comptes Rendus, June 21, 1869, tome Ixviii. p. 1486.
On a Tree-Frog in New Granada which secretes a Poison employed
by the Indians to poison their Arrows. By J. Escopar.
_ This tree-frog appears to belong to the species called Phyllobates
melanorhinus. It is known in the country by the names of Ranilla
roja or rojiga. During life it is of a red tint shaded with Naples
yellow, and consequently rather yellowish red, like certain oranges,
the colour of which approaches that of the citron. The yellow pre-
dominates when the animal has been some time in alcohol. There
are two varieties—one in which the belly is black, and another in
which it is of the same colour as the upper parts.
The poison is furnished by the dorsal region. It does not appear
to possess its properties completely unless it is collected at the moment
when the animal, still living, secretes it. To cause its secretion,
they introduce into the mouth of the frog a small wooden spatula,
and, taking great precautions in order not to produce injuries which
would cause death too rapidly, push it in so as to cause great suf-
fering, under the influence of which the whole upper surface of the
136 Miscellaneous.
body becomes covered with a white, milky, and viscous liquid.
This is the poison, with which the tips of the arrows are imbued as
quickly as possible. Sometimes they obtain a greater quantity of
this substance, if the animal has not succumbed under the first
operation, by introducing a bodkin into one of the abdominal limbs,
which induces a secretion of the same kind upon its surface. At
other times, again, the same result is attained by exposing the frog
to the moderate heat and the smoke of a clear fire*.
This poison can cause the death of large animals, such as the
jaguar. It is likewise fatal to man.
Experiments tried upon animals seem to prove, like those made
with curare, that the toxical action affects the organs of move-
ment, and not those of sensibility. The drowsiness and sleep which
precede the death of animals poisoned by the venom of toads were
not observed.—Comptes Rendus, June 21, 1869, tome Ixviii. p. 1488.
An Hermaphrodite Nemertean from the Mediterranean.
By A. F. Marron.
Prof. W. Keferstein lately described (Archiv fiir Naturgeschichte,
1868), under the name of Borlasia hermaphroditica, a curious monce-
cious species, of which he only observed a single individual, at St.
Malo in August 1867. This unexpected discovery has hitherto re-
mained an isolated fact.
In March of the present year I discovered, on the coast of Mar-
seilles, a new hermaphrodite Nemertean, which I have since ob-
tained several times, always in full gestation. This species belongs
to the genus Borlasia ; but it is distinct from the B. hermaphroditica
of St. Malo, as is admitted by M. Keferstein himself, to whom I am
happy to be able to dedicate it. Borlasia Kefersteinu lives at great
depths, among the incrusted Algz which usually shelter numerous
Annelida of both the errant and sedentary forms.
Its body, which is very proteiform, attains a length of 15 milli-
metres when the animal is fully extended. It is covered with
vibratile cilia, which are more numerous and longer in front round
the aperture of the proboscis, and behind round the anal orifice.
The head bears two pairs of eyes, furnished with a crystalline anda
mass of black pigment. The proboscis is placed above the digestive
tube, and seems sometimes to extend even to the lower extremity of
the body. The anterior region of this organ is covered with tufts,
which become interrupted and disappear a little below the stylus.
The male and female ovules are developed between the hepatic
layer of the digestive tube and the walls of the body, in the usual
manner. The female ovules, when completely developed, measure
0-317 millim., and consist of a vitelline membrane, a vitellus (which
* This last process has been indicated by M. Roulin as being employed
by the Indians who wish to obtain from the Batrachians of the Choco
the venom with which they poison their arrows (Revue des Deux Mondes,
1835, sér. 4. tome iv. p. 187).
Miscellaneous. 137
is formed in the interior of the ovule), and a geminal vesicle of
0-09 millim. in diameter. The male ovules, the size of which is a
little less than that of the female ova, are full of long filaments,
which move briskly when isolated. These two sexual elements
exist throughout nearly the whole length of the body, from the
commencement of the digestive tube to near its extremity.— Comptes
Rendus, July 5, 1869, tome lxix. p. 57.
Note on the Crustacea which live parasitically in Ascidia in the
Mediterranean. By R. Bucunotz.
The Crustacea living as parasites in the Ascidia have been very
carefully studied on the shores of Sweden by M. Thorell, and on the
French oceanic shore by M. Hesse. In the Mediterranean these
parasites had not hitherto been noticed except cursorily. M. Buch-
holz has just carefully investigated ten species at Naples. Except a
Lichomolgus, the whole belong to the family Notodelphyide, of
which M. Thorell has described ten northern species. The genera of
this family established by the Swedish naturalist (Notodelphys, Do-
ropygus, Botachus, and Ascidicola) appear all to belong to the fauna
of Naples, which includes in addition the genera Notopterophorus,
Gunentophorus, and Goniodelphys. The last two are as yet exclu-
sively Mediterranean.
The most remarkable peculiarity of the Notodelphyide consists in
the exceptional form of the thorax in the females, which gives these
Crustacea a very peculiar appearance. This region is modified by
the extraordinary development of an incubatory cavity, which re-
ceives the eggs descending from the ovaries and preserves them
until the complete development of the embryo. This cavity is pro-
duced by a transformation of the last thoracic segments (in general
the last two) into a part projecting on the dorsal side—a part to
which M. Thorell gives the name of the matrical region.
The movements of these little Crustacea have by no means the
vivacity of those of the normal Copepoda. The action of their nata-
tory feet is very slow, at least in the adults, and produces a simple
creeping along the walls of the respiratory cavity of the Ascidia,
rather than a true natation.
It is not easy to detect the mode of communication of the ovaries
with the incubatory cavity. M. Buchholz, however, believes he has
ascertained that in the genus G'oniodelphys the ovaries open directly
into this cavity; and he thinks, in opposition to M. Thorell, that
this is the case also in the other genera. He is not much disposed
to believe that the eggs quit the ovary and pass by the seminal re-
ceptacle before entering the incubatory cavity, as M. Thorell supposes
to be the case in Notodelphys. The external sexual aperture by
which the eggs quit the incubatory cavity is placed upon a little
papilla, between the last thoracic segment and the dorsal surface of
the abdomen, as has already been indicated by M.Thorell. This
observer likewise describes a second sexual aperture on the ventral
surface. The seminal receptacles are described by him as connected
138 Miscellaneous.
by a narrow canal with this second aperture, close to which he has
found spermatophores attached in a Doropygus. M. Buchholz has
seen nothing of the kind; but the important observation of M. Tho-
rell appears to have been unknown to him at the time of his own
investigations. He saw the eggs quit the uterus by the dorsal aper-
ture, and did not think of seeking any other sexual pore.
M. Buchholz figures and describes the larve of the Notodelphyide.
These are Nauplius-forms very similar to those of the other Cope-
poda. This, however, was already well known from the researches
of Mr. Allman and M. Thorell.—Siebold § Kolliker’s Zeitschrift, xix.
pp. 99-162; Bibl. Univ, xxxv. July 15, 1869, Bull. Sez. pp. 246-248.
On the Cecilie. By M. F. Lzypte.
The little group of the Cecilie presents so many remarkable
peculiarities from a zoological point of view, that the memoir of
M. Leydig, although essentially histological, deserves the attention
of zoologists. The investigations of that naturalist relate to two
species, viz. Cecilia lumbricoidea, Daud., and C. (Stphonops) annu-
lata, Mikan.
The structure of the skin of the Cecilie, leaving out of considera-
tion the scales which exist in some species, agrees with that of the
Batrachia in general. The nature of the epidermis was, indeed,
long misunderstood. Following Mikan, several authors regarded it
only as a mucosity secreted by the cutaneous pores or even by the
anus. This error recurs even in the fine memoir of Johannes Miiller
upon the anatomy of the Amphibia. Rathke was the first to recog-
nize in this supposed mucosity a true epidermis. M. Leydig now
actually finds this epidermis covered by a distinct homogeneous
cuticle. This epidermic layer is reflected into the numerous excre-
tory canals of the cutaneous glands.
The scales, first discovered by Schneider, have given rise to nume-
rous discussions among naturalists, more especially because these
organs are deficient in all other Batrachia. The difference of opi-
nion arises from the fact that one species, C. annulata, according to
the decisive observations of Bischoff, Rathke, and Leydig, is in reality
completely destitute of scales. The histological examination of C.
lumbricoidea has shown M. Leydig that the deeper layer of the scale
is formed by a solid stratified connective tissue filled with stellate
cells. Its upper surface is adorned with shining corpuscles, arranged
in rather irregular concentric series. M. Mayer calls them globules,
M. Mandl cells. They are in reality calcareous concretions. The
skin of the Cecilie presents a laminated structure, already noticed
by several authors. This structure is due to numerous cutaneous
folds, in the thickness of which the glands are lodged. The scales
are placed between these lamine. They are, however, not free, but
attached to the corium by a delicate connective tissue.
The eyes of the Cecilie deserve particular attention, on account
of their rudimentary state. Cecilia annulata, although living at a
depth of several feet in the mud of the marshes, has nevertheless
Miscellaneous. 139
very small ocular bulbs. These bulbs correspond to a transparent
spot in the skin, and present all the essential parts of a normal eye.
The spherical crystalline alone preserves an embryonic character.
In fact it is formed, not, properly speaking, of fibres, but of cells,
some of them rounded, others elongated into tubes. The muscles
of the eye, to the number of four, are attached to the sclerotic.
Harder’s gland is comparatively very large.
If zoologists are right in assigning to Cecilia annulata the cha-
racter ‘“ oculi minuti,” they go too far, on the other hand, when they
say of CO. lumbricoidea “ oculi nulli;” they ought to content them-
selves with saying ‘‘oculi minutissimi.” The eyes are, in fact,
always present, although extremely reduced. M. Leydig could dis-
tinguish in them a sclerotic and a choroid, but no crystalline.
Harder’s gland is comparatively enormous, no doubt because it has
not undergone reduction like the bulb of the eye. The same is pro-
bably the case in Typhlops. In these serpents with rudimentary
eyes, indeed, M. Duvernoy indicates a lachrymal gland six times as
large as the bulb.
M. Leydig has paid particular attention to the singular organ
mentioned by authors, sometimes under the name of false nostril,
sometimes under that of lachrymal fossa. By this is meant a cuta-
neous pore leading into a canal which is directed obliquely towards
the eye. Johannes Miiller detected in the interior of this canal, in
various species, a tentacle or papilla of a tongue-like form. M.
Leydig confirms the existence of this organ, and finds moreover that
in Ceciha annulata two tubes, closely adhering to each other, start
from the wall of the cavity. These might be taken, at the first
glance, for vessels; but this is not their nature. Their wall does
not contain any muscular fibres, but is formed of a single histo-
logical element—namely, very fine fibres of connective nature.
These tubes reunite at the opposite extremity, forming a loop. An
analogous organ exists in Cecilia lumbricoidea. The functions of
this apparatus are in complete obscurity. One might be inclined to
regard them as the organs of a special sense, comparable with the
“‘mucus-canals” of fishes. Nevertheless the essential character of
a sensorial organ, the existence of a peripheral nervous apparatus,
appears to be wanting in it.
What we know at present of the structure, both internal and ex-
ternal, of the Cecilie tends to separate them from the scaly reptiles,
and to approximate them to the Amphibia. We must, however,
admit with M. Leydig that their organization presents an odd mix-
ture of characters, of which one reminds us of fishes, another of
the amphibia, and a third of the reptiles. M. Leydig thinks that
this little order, now so restricted, is only the residue of a group of
amphibia formerly developed in abundance, which detached itself
from the fishes with the amphibia of the Carboniferous epoch
(Archegosaurus &e.). The affinity of the Cecilie to the fishes is
displayed, as is well known, in the structure of the bodies of their
vertebra, and in the nature of their scales and their arrangement in
cutaneous sacs. The kidneys of these animals have also been com-
140 Miscellaneous.
pared with those of fishes; but M. Leydig does not accept this assi-
milation. The kidneys, according to him, have the same structure
in the Cecilie as in the other Amphibia, and even remind him of
the organization of the kidneys of serpents. Moreover the affinity
with the Ophidia does not depend solely upon the general form of
the body, but also upon the dentition and upon the atrophy of one of
the lungs.
The predominant affinities of the Cecilie, however, are incontes-
tably with the Amphibia: in support of this we may cite the richly
glandular skin, the structure of the hyoid bone, the double occipital
condyle on the cranium, the rudimentary ribs, and the presence of
branchize in the young. We may also mention the existence of
lachrymal glands, which are entirely wanting in fishes. As to the
“false nostril,” we may regard it either as a homologue of the
cephalic fossa of the Ophidia or as a special organ.—Siebold & Kol-
liker’s Zeitschrift, xvii. pp. 575-596; Bibl. Univ. xxxy. July 15,
1869, Bull. Sev. pp. 243-246.
~
On the Spire of Voluta Thatcheri. By Prof. Frepertck M‘Coy.
Since the description and figure of Voluta Thatchert (M‘Coy)
were published in the ‘ Annals’ for January 1868, I have got some
fine specimens from Wreck Reef, North-east Australia, showing the
spire to be rather slender, obtusely pointed, and composed of whorls,
the two lower of which have nine or ten conical spines in a whorl,
and those nearer the apex have a corresponding number of longitu-
dinal ridges. The transverse rows of blotches are more red than in
the first dead specimen, and the space between them netted with a
paler orange pattern defining irregular trigonal white blotches.
I may also mention that I have likewise obtained specimens of
Voluta canaliculata, described in the last Number of the ‘ Annals’
(p. 34), from the same locality (Wreck Reef), with the colour more
perfect and showing the lineations.
Melbourne, May 21, 1869.
On two new Species of Gyrodus. By Sir Puitre pr Matpas Grey
Eeerton, Bart., M.P., F.R.S., V.P.G.S.
The author remarked upon the characters of the genus Gyrodus,
of which he described two new species, namely, G. Gower, from
a deposit of Oolitic age on the east coast of Sutherland, having the
scales covered with a somewhat reticulated raised pattern, inter-
spersed with granules ; and G'. coccoderma, from the Kimmeridge Clay
of Kimmeridge, having the scales adorned with a multitude of sym-
metrical granules, which show no tendency to coalesce. The author
also described a vomer of Spherodus gigas, bearing teeth of the form
usual in that genus, and remarked that this specimen established the
validity of the genus Spherodus.—Proc. Geol. Soc. June 23, 1869.
THE ANNALS
AND
MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.
[FOURTH SERIES.]
No. 21. SEPTEMBER 1869.
XVI.—Notes on the Fertilization of Orchids.
By Cures Darwin, M.A., F.R.S., &e.
To the Editors of the Annals and Magazine of Natural History.
GENTLEMEN,
Having drawn up some notes for a French translation of
my work ‘On the various contrivances by which British and
Foreign Orchids are Fertilized by Insects’ (1862), it has ap-
eared to me that these notes would be worth publishing in
inglish. I have thus been able to bring up the literature of
the subject to the present day, by giving references to, together
with very brief abstracts of, all the papers published since my
work appeared. These papers contain, on the one hand, cor-
rections of some serious errors into which I had fallen, and,
on the other hand, confirmations of many of my statements. -
I have also been able to add, from my own observations and
those of others, a few new facts of interest. A heading is
given to each note, which will show the nature of the correc-
tion or addition, without any reference to my book ; but I have
added in a parenthesis the page to which the note ought to be
appended.
Gentlemen,
Down, Beckenham, Kent. Your obedient Servant,
Je jes a Cwares Darwin.
Orchis or Anacamptis pyramidalis (p. 20).—The late Prof.
Treviranus has confirmed (Botanische Zeitung, 1863, p. 241)
my observations on this remarkable species ; but he differs from
me in one or two minor points.
On the kinds of Insects which habitually visit and fertilize
some of the common British species of Orchis (p. 35).—I believe
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. iv. ji
142 Mr. C. Darwin on the Fertilization of Orchids.
that it may be safely predicated that orchids with very long
nectaries, such as the Anacamptis, Gymnadenia, and Platan-
thera, ave habitually fertilized by Lepidoptera, whilst those
with only moderately long nectaries are fertilized by bees and
Diptera—in short, that the length of the nectary is correlated
with that of the proboscis of the insect which visits the plant.
I have now seen Orchis morio fertilized by various kinds of
bees, namely :—by the hive-bee (Apis mellifica), to some of
which from ten to sixteen pollen-masses were attached; by
Bombus muscorum, with several pollen-masses attached to the
bare surface close above the mandibles; by Hucera longi-
cornis, with eleven pollen-masses attached to its head; and
by Osmia rufa. ‘These bees, and the other Hymenoptera
mentioned throughout these notes, have been named for me by
our highest authority, Mr. Frederick Smith, of the British
Museum. .The Diptera have been named by Mr. F. Walker,
of the same establishment. In Northern Germany, Dr. H.
Miiller of Lippstadt found pollen-masses of Orchis morio at-
tached to Bombus silvarum, lapidarius, confusus, and pra-
torum. ‘The same excellent observer found the pollen-masses
of Orchis latifolia attached to a Bombus; but this orchis is
also frequented by Diptera. A friend watched for me Orchis
mascula, and saw several flowers visited by a Bombus,
apparently B. muscorum; but it is surprising how seldom
any insect can be seen visiting this common species. With
respect to Orchis maculata, my son, Mr. George Darwin, has
clearly made out the manner of its fertilization. He saw many
specimens of a fly (Hmpis livida) inserting their proboscides into
the nectary; and subsequently I saw the same occurrence.
He brought home six specimens of this Hmpis, with pollinia
attached to their spherical eyes, on a level with the bases of
the antenne. The pollinia had undergone the movement of
depression, and stood a little above and parallel to the pro-
boscis: hence they were in a position excellently adapted to
strike the stigma. Six pollinia were thus attached to one spe-
cimen, and three to another. My son also saw another and
smaller species (Hmpis pennipes) inserting its proboscis into
the nectary ; but this species did not act so well or so regu-
larly as the other in fertilizing the flowers. One specimen of
this latter Hmpis had five pollinia, and a second had three
pollinia, attached to the dorsal surface of the convex thorax.
On nectar being secreted and contained between the outer
and inner membranes of the nectary in several species of Orchis
(p. 51).—I have repeated my observations on the nectaries of
some of our common species, and especially on those of Orchis
morto, at the time when various bees were continually visiting
Mr. C. Darwin on the Fertzlization of Orchids. 143
the flowers; but I could never see the minutest drop of nectar
within the nectary. Each bee remained a considerable time
with its proboscis in constant movement whilst inserted into
the nectary. I observed the same fact with Hmpis in the case
of Orchis maculata; and in this orchis I could occasionally
detect minute brown specks, where punctures had been made.
Hence the view suggested by me that insects puncture the
inner lining of the nectary and suck the fluid contained be-
tween the two coats may be safely accepted. I have said in
my work that this hypothesis was a bold one, as no instance
was known of Lepidoptera penetrating with their delicate pro-
boscides any membrane; but I now hear from Mr. R. Trimen
that at the Cape of Good Hope moths and butterflies do much
injury to peaches and plums by penetrating the skin, in parts
which have not been in the least broken.
Since the appearance of my work, the following observations
havebeen publishedon other species of Orchis and on certain allied
forms (p. 53).—Mr. J. Traherne Mogeridge has given (Journ.
Linn. Soc. vol. viii. Botany, 1865, p. 256) a very interesting
account of the structure and manner of fertilization of Orchis
or Aceras longibracteata. Both pollinia, as in Anacamptis
pyramidalis, are attached to the same viscid disk ; but, differ-
ently from those in that species, after being removed from the
anther-cases, they first converge and then undergo the move-
ment of depression. But the most interesting peculiarity in
this species is that insects suck nectar out of minute open cells
in the honeycombed surface of the labellum. Mr. Moggridge
saw this plant fertilized by a large bee, the Xylocopa violacea.
He adds some observations on Orchis hircina, and describes
the structure and manner of fertilization of Serapias cordigera
by another bee, viz. the Ceratina albilabris. In this Serapias
both pollinia are attached to the same viscid disk; when first
withdrawn, they are bent backwards, but soon afterwards
move forwards and downwards in the usual manner. As the
stigmatic cavity is narrow, the pollinia are guided into it by
two guiding plates.
Mr. Moggridge sent me from Northern Italy living plants
of Orchis or Neotinea intacta, together with excellent drawings
and a full account of the structure of the flower. He informed
me that this species is remarkable for producing seed with-
out the aid of insects; and I ascertained that when insects
were carefully excluded, almost all the flowers produced cap-
sules. Their fertilization follows from the pollen being ex-
tremely incoherent, and spontaneously falling on the stigma.
Nevertheless a short nectary is present, the vee possess
144. = Mr. C. Darwin on the Fertilization of Orchids.
small viscid disks, and all the parts are so arranged that, if
insects were to visit the flowers, the pollen-masses would pro-.
bably be removed and then carried to another flower, but not
so effectually as with most other orchids. We shall hereafter
find a few other cases of orchids which have structural pecu-
liarities adapted both for self-fertilization and for crossing. I
may here also refer to a paper by Mr. R. Trimen (Journ. Linn.
Soc. vol. vii. Botany, 1863, p. 144) on the beautiful Disa
grandiflora of the Cape of Good Hope. This orchid presents
several remarkable characteristics, one of these being that the
pollinia do not spontaneously undergo any movement of de-
pression, the weight of the pollen-masses sufficing to bend the
caudicle into the proper curvature for the act of fertilization.
Another peculiarity is that the posterior sepal secretes nectar,
and is developed into a spur-like nectary. Mr. Trimen in-
forms me that he has seen a Dipterous insect, allied to Bom-
bylius, frequenting the flowers. I may add that Mr. Trimen
has sent me descriptions and specimens of various other South-
African orchids, which confirm the general conclusions at
which I have arrived in my work.
On the movement of the pollinia of Ophrys muscifera (p. 56).
—Mr. T. H. Farrer, who has lately been attending to the fer-
tilization of various plants, has convinced me that I have
erred, and that the pollinia of this Ophrys do undergo a move-
ment of depression. Hence my remarks on the correlation of
the various parts of the flower are to a certain extent invali-
dated; but there can be no doubt that the naturally bent
caudicle plays an important part in placing the pollen-mass
in a proper position for striking the stigma. I have continued
occasionally to watch the flowers of this species, but have
never succeeded in seeing insects visit them; but I have been
led to suspect that they puncture or gnaw the small lustrous
prominences beneath the viscid disks, which, I may add, are
likewise present in several allied species. I have observed
very minute punctures on these prominences, but I could not
decide whether these had been made by insects or whether
superficial cells had spontaneously burst.
Ophrys aranifera (p. 63).—F. Delpino states (Fecondazione
nelle Piante &c., Firenze, 1867, p. 19) that he has examined in
Italy thousands of specimens of this OpArys, and that it sel-
dom produces capsules. It does not secrete any nectar. Al-
though he never saw an insect on the flowers (excepting once
a green locust), nevertheless they are fertilized by insects ; for
he found pollen on the stigmas of some flowers, which had their
own pollinia still within the anther-cases. The pollinia never
Mr. C. Darwin on the Fertilization of Orchids. 145
spontaneously fall out. He appears to think that I infer that
this Ophrys fertilizes itself, which is an error.
Ophrys apifera (p. 71).—Prof. Treviranus at first doubted
(Botanische Zeitung, 1862, p. 11) the accuracy of my account of
this Ophrys, and of the differences between it and O. arach-
nites ; but he has subsequently (Bot. Zeit. 1863, p. 241) fully
confirmed all that I have stated.
Ophrys arachnites (p.72).—I have now examined several ad-
ditional living specimens of this OpArys, and can confirm my
statement that the pollinia do not fall out of the anther-cases,
even when the spikes are strongly shaken; nor do they fall
out when the spikes are kept standing in water for a week.
Mr. J. Mogeridge has made (Journ. Linn. Soc., Bot. vol. viii.
1865, p. 258) a remarkable observation on Q. scolopax, which
is closely allied to O. arachnites,—namely, that at Mentone it
never exhibits any tendency to self-fertilization, whilst at
Cannes all the flowers fertilize themselves, owing to a slight
modification in the curvature of the anther, which causes the
ee to fall out. This botanist has given, in his ‘ Flora of
entone,’ a full description, with excellent figures, of O. scolo-
pax, arachnites, aranifera, and apifera; and he believes, from
the number of intermediate forms, that they must all be
ranked as varieties of a single species, and that their differ-
ences are intimately connected with their period of flowering.
It does not appear that these forms in England, judging from
their distribution, are liable to pass into each other, within any
moderate or observable period of time.
On the fertilization of Herminium monorchis (p. 74).—My
son, Mr. George Darwin, has fully observed the manner of
fertilization of this minute and rare orchis. It differs from
that of any other genus known to me. He saw the flowers
entered by various minute insects, and brought home no less
than twenty-seven specimens with pollinia (generally with only
one, but sometimes with two) attached to them. These insects
consisted of minute Hymenoptera (of which Tetrastichus dia-
phantus was the commonest), of Diptera and Coleoptera, the
latter being Malthodes brevicollis. The one indispensable
point appears to be that the insect should be of very minute
size, the largest being only the ~, of an inch in length. It
is an extraordinary fact that in all the specimens the pollinia
were attached to the same peculiar spot, namely, to the outer
side of one of the two front legs, to the projection formed by
the articulation of the femur with the coxa. In one instance
alone a pollinium was attached to the outside of the femur
a little beneath the articulation. The cause of this peculiar
manner of attachment is sufficiently clear: the middle part
146 Mr. C. Darwin on the Fertilization of Orchids.
of the labellum stands so close to the anther and stigma, that
insects always enter the flower at one corner, between the
margin of the labellum and one of the upper petals; they also
almost always crawl in with their backs turned directly or
obliquely towards the labellum. My son saw several which
had begun to crawl into the flower in a different position ; but
they came out and changed their position. Thus, standing in
either corner of the flower, with their backs turned towards
the labellum, they inserted their heads and fore legs into the
short nectary, which is seated between the two widely sepa-
rated viscid disks. J ascertained that they stand in this po-
sition by finding three dead insects, which had been per-
manently glued to the disks. Whilst sucking the nectar,
which occupies about two or three minutes, the projecting
joint of the femur stands under the large helmet-lke viscid
disk on either side; and when the insect retreats, the disk
exactly fits on, and is glued to, the prominent joint. The
movement of depression in the caudicle then takes place, and
the mass of pollen-grains projects just beyond the tibia; so
that the insect, when entering another flower, can hardly fail
to fertilize the stigma, which is situated directly beneath the
disk on either side. I know of hardly any other case in
which the whole structure of the flower is more beautifully
correlated than in the Hermintum for a most peculiar manner
of fertilization.
On the movement of the pollinia in Peristylus viridis (p. 76).
—Mr. Tl’. H. Farrer informs me that the pollinia certainly un-
dergo a movement of depression, but that this does not take
place until twenty or thirty minutes have elapsed after their
removal from the anther-cases. This length of time probably
accounts for my oversight. He asserts that, after the move-
ment of depression, the pollinia become much better adapted
to strike the stigmatic surface. He suggests that insects may
take a long time to lick up the nectar from the two naked
spots on the labellum, and through the narrow slit-like open-
ing into the nectary—and that during this time the polli-
nium becomes firmly attached, by the slow hardening of the
viscid matter, to the insect’s body, so as to be subsequently
ready to fertilize another flower when visited by the same
insect.
On the Lepidoptera which fertilize the Gymnadenia conopsea,
and on the divergence of the pollinia (p. 82)—Mr. George
Darwin went at night to a bank where this species grows
plentifully, and soon caught Plusta chrysitis with six pollinia,
P. gamma with three, Anattis plagiata with five, and Tri-
phena pronubawith seven pollinia attached to their proboscides.
Mr. C. Darwin on the Fertilization of Orchids. 147
I may add that he caught the first-named moth, bearing the
pollinia of this orchis, in my flower-garden, although more
than a quarter of a mile distant from any spot where the plant
grows. I state in my work that I do not understand the cause
of the divergence of the pollinia so that they are enabled to
strike the lateral stigmatic surfaces; but the explanation is
simple. The upper margin of the nectary is arched, being
formed on one side by the disk of one pollinium, and on the
other side by the other disk. Now if a moth inserts its pro-
boscis obliquely, and there are no guiding-ridges by which, as
in Anacamptis pyramidalis, a moth is compelled to insert its
proboscis directly in front, or if a bristle be inserted obliquely,
one pollintum alone is removed. In this case the pollinium
becomes attached a little on one side of the bristle or proboscis;
and its extremity, after the vertical movement of depression,
occupies a proper position for striking the lateral stigma on
the same side.
On the Gymnadenia tridentata of North America (p. 83).—
Prof. Asa Gray has published (American Journal of Science,
vol. xxxiv. 1862, p. 426, and footnote p. 260; and vol. xxxvi.
1863, p. 293) some interesting notes on the Gymnadenia
tridentata. ‘The anther opens in the bud, and some of the
pollen invariably falls on the naked cellular tip of the rostel-
lum ; and this part, strange to say, is penetrated by the pollen-
tubes, so that the flowers are self-fertilized. Nevertheless
‘all the arrangements for the removal of the pollinia by insects
(including the movement of depression) are as perfect as in the
species which depend upon insect aid.” Hence there can be
little doubt that this species is occasionally crossed.
Habenaria or Platanthera bifolia (p. 88).—According to
Dr. H. Miiller, of Lippstadt, P/. bifolia of English authors is
the Pl. solstitialis of Boenninghausen; and he fully agrees
with me that it must be ranked as specifically distinct from
Pl. chlorantha. Dr. Miiller states that this latter species is
connected by a series of gradations with another form which
in Germany is called Pl. bifolia. He gives a very full and
valuable account of the variability of these species of Platan-
thera and of their structure in relation to their manner of fer-
tilization. (See Verhandl. d. Nat. Verein. Jahrg. xxv. III.
Folge, v. Bd. pp. 36-38.)
American species of Platanthera (p. 91).—Prof. Asa Gray
has described (American Journal of Science, vol. xxxiv. 1862
pp- 143, 259, & 424, and vol. xxxvi. 1863, p. 292) the struc-
ture of ten American species of Platanthera. Most of these
resemble in their manner of fertilization the two British spe-
cies described by me;. but some of them, in which the viscid
148 = Mr.C. Darwin on the Fertilization of Orchids.
disks do not stand far apart, have curious contrivances, such
as a channelled labellum, lateral shields, &c., compelling
moths to insert their proboscides directly in front. P/. Hookert,
on the other hand (cb7d. vol. xxxiv. 1862, p. 143), differs in a
very interesting manner: the two viscid disks stand widely
separated from each other; consequently a moth, unless of
gigantic size, would be able to suck the copious nectar without
touching either disk; but this risk is avoided in the following
manner :—The central line of the stigma is prominent, and the
labellum, instead of hanging down, as in most of the other
species, 1s curved upwards, so that the front of the flower is
made somewhat tubular and is divided into two halves. Thus
a moth is compelled to go to one or the other side, and its
face will almost certainly be brought into contact with one of
the disks. The drum of the pollinium, when removed, con-
tracts in the same manner as I have described under Pl. chlo-
rantha. Prof. Gray has seen a butterfly from Canada with
the pollinia of this species attached to each eye. In the case
of Platanthera flava (American Journal of Science, vol. xxxvi.
1863, p. 292), moths are compelled in a different manner to
enter the nectary on one side. A narrow but strong protube-
rance, rising from the base of the labellum, projects upwards
and backwards, so as almost to touch the column; thus the
moth, being forced to go to either side, is almost sure to
withdraw one of the viscid disks. In the allied and wonderful
Bonatea speciosa of the Cape of Good Hope there is a similar
contrivance for the same purpose.
Platanthera hyperborea and dilatata have been regarded
by some botanists as varieties of the same species; and Prof.
Asa Gray says (Amer. Journ. of Science, vol. xxxiv. 1862,
pp: 259 & 425) that he has often been tempted to come to the
same conclusion; but now, on closer examination, he finds,
besides other characters, a remarkable physiological difference,
namely, that P/. dilatata, like its congeners, requires insect aid
and cannot fertilize itself; whilst in Pl. hyperborea the pollen-
masses commonly fall out of the anther-cells whilst the flower
is very young or in bud, and thus the stigma is self-fertilized.
Nevertheless the various structures adapted for crossing are
still present.
Fertilization of Epipactis palustris (p. 102).—My son, Mr.
W. E. Darwin, has carefully observed for me this plant in the
Isle of Wight. Hive-bees seem to be the chief agents in fer-
tilization ; for he saw about a score of flowers visited by these
insects, many of which had pollen-masses attached to their
foreheads, just above the mandibles. I had supposed that in-
sects crawled into the flowers; but hive-bees are too large to
Mr. C. Darwin on the Fertilization of Orchids. 149
do this; they always clung, whilst sucking the nectar, to the
distal and hinged half of the labellum, which was thus pressed
. downwards. Owing to this part being elastic and tending to
spring up, the bees, as they left the flowers, seemed to fly
rather upwards; and this would favour, in the manner explained
by me, the complete withdrawal of the pollen-masses, quite as
well as an insect crawling out of the flower in an upward
direction. Perhaps, however, this upward movement may not
be so necessary as I had supposed; for, judging from the point
at which the pollen-masses were attached to the bees, the
back part of the head would press against, and thus lift up, the
blunt, solid, upper end of the anther, thus freeing the pollen-
masses.
Various other insects besides hive-bees visit this Hpipactis.
My son saw several large flies (Sarcophaga carnosa) haunting
the flowers; but they did not enter in so neat and regular a
manner as the hive-bees; nevertheless two had pollen-masses
attached to their foreheads. Several smaller flies (Calopa
frigida) were also seen entering and leaving the flowers, with
pollen-masses adhering rather irregularly to the dorsal surface
of the thorax. Three or four distinct kinds of Hymenoptera
(one of small size being Crabro brevis) likewise visited the
flowers; and three of these Hymenoptera had pollen-masses
attached to their backs. Other still more minute Diptera,
Coleoptera, and ants were seen sucking the nectar; but these
insects appeared to be too small to transport the pollen-masses.
It is remarkable that some of the foregoing insects should
visit these flowers; for Mr. F. Walker informs me that the
Sarcophaga frequents decaying animal matter, and the Cwlopa
haunts seaweed, occasionally settling on flowers; the Crabro
also, as I hear from Mr. F. Smith, collects small beetles (Hal-
tice) for provisioning its nest. It is equally remarkable, see-
ing how many kinds of insects visit this Epipactis, that, al-
though my son watched for some hours on three occasions
hundreds of plants, not a single humble-bee alighted on a
flower, though many were flying about. In a footnote I have
given the results of experiments made by Mr. More, by cutting
off the distal and hinged half of the labellum, in order to as-
certain how far this part is important. He has now repeated
the experiment on nine additional flowers : of these, three did
not produce seed-capsules; but this may have been accidental.
Of six capsules which were produced,-two contained about as
many seeds as the capsules of unmutilated flowers on the same
plant; but four capsules contained much fewer seeds. The
seeds themselves were well-formed. ‘These experiments, as
far as they go, support the view that the distal part of the
150 Mr, C. Darwin on the Fertilization of Orchids.
labellum plays an important part in leading insects to enter
and leave the flower in a proper manner for fertilization.
Fertilization of Epipactis latifolia (p. 104).—Although this
orchis is not common in the vicinity of Down, by a fortunate
chance several plants sprang up in a gravel walk close to my
house, so that I have been able to observe them during several
years, and have thus discovered how they are fertilized. Al-
though hive-bees and humble-bees of many kinds were con-
stantly flying over the plants, I never saw a bee or any Dip-
terous insect visit the flowers; whilst, on the other hand, I
repeatedly observed each year the common wasp (Vespa syl-
vestris) sucking the nectar out of the open cup-shaped label-
lum. I thus saw the act of fertilization effected by the pollen-
masses being removed and carried on the foreheads of the
wasps to other flowers. Mr. Oxenden also informs me that
a large bed of EL. purpurata (which is considered by some
botanists a distinct species, and by others a variety) was
frequented by ‘swarms of wasps.” It is very remarkable
that the sweet nectar of this Epépactis should not be attractive
to any kind of bee. If wasps were to become extinct in any
district, so would the Hpipactis latifolia.
Dr. H. Miller of Lippstadt has published (Verhandl. d. Nat.
Ver. Jahrg. xxv. III. Folge, v. Bd. pp. 7-36) some very im-
portant observations on the differences in structure and in the
manner of fertilization, as well as on the connecting gradations,
between Epipactis rubiginosa, microphylla, and viridiflora.
The latter species is highly remarkable by the absence of a
rostellum, and by being regularly self-fertilized. This latter
circumstance follows from the incoherent pollen of the lower part
of the pollen-masses emitting, whilst still within the anther-
cells, pollen-tubes, which penetrate the stigma; and this oc-
curred even in the bud state. This species, however,is probably
visited by insects, and occasionally crossed; for the labellum
contains nectar. LH. microphylla is equally remarkable, by
being intermediate in structure between F. latifolia, which is
always fertilized by the aid of insects, and E. viridiflora,
which does not necessarily require any such aid. The whole
of this memoir by Dr. H. Miiller deserves to be attentively
studied.
Cephalanthera grandiflora (p. 108).—During the year 1862,
the flowers of this orchis appeared to have been visited much
less frequently by inseets than during the previous years; for
the masses of pollen were seldom broken down. Although I
have repeatedly examined the flowers, | have never seen a
trace of nectar; but some appearances lead me to suspect that
the ridges within the base of the labellum are attractive to
Mr. C. Darwin on the Fertilization of Orchids. 151
insects, and are gnawed by them, as in the case of many
Vandee and other exotic orchids.
Goodyera repens (p. 114).—Mr. R. B. Thomson informs me
that in the north of Scotland he saw many humble-bees visit-
ing the flowers and removing the pollen-masses, which were
attached to their proboscides. ‘The bee sent was Bombus pra-
torum. ‘This species grows also in the United States; and
Prof. Gray (Amer. Journ. of Science, vol. xxxiv. 1862, p. 427)
confirms my account of its structure and manner of fertiliza-
tion, which is likewise applicable to another and very dis-
tinct species, namely, Goodyera pubescens. Prof. Gray states
that the passage into the flower, which is at first very narrow,
becomes, as I suspected, more open during its older state.
Prof. Gray believes, however, that it is the column, and not
the labellum, which changes its position.
Sptranthes autumnalis (p. 123).—As in the case of the
Goodyera, Prof. Gray feels confident that it is the column which
moves from the labellum as the flower grows older, and not,
as I had supposed, the labellum which moves from the column.
He adds that this change of position, which plays so important
a part in the fertilization of the flower, ‘‘is so striking that
we wonder how we overlooked it’ (Amer. Journ. of Science,
vol, xxxiv. p. 427).
On the rostellum of Listera ovata not exploding spontaneously
(p. 149).—I have covered up some additional plants, and found
that the rostellum lost its power of explosion in about four days,
the viscid matter then turning brown within the loculi of the
rostellum. The weather at the time was unusually hot, and
this may have hastened the process. After the four days had
elapsed, the pollen had become very incoherent and some had
fallen on the two corners, or even over the whole surface, of
the stigma, which was penetrated by the pollen-tubes. Hence,
if insects should fail to remove the pollinia by causing the
explosion of the rostellum, this orchid certainly seems capable
of occasional self-fertilization. But the scattermg of the in-
coherent pollen was largely aided by, and perhaps wholly de-
pended on, the presence of Thrips—insects so minute that
they could not be excluded by any net.
Listera cordata (p. 152).—Prof. Dickie has been so good as
to observe the flowers on living plants. He informs me that,
when the pollen is mature, the crest of the rostellum is di-
rected towards the labellum, and that, as soon as touched, the
viscid matter explodes, the pollinia becoming attached to the
touching object; after the explosion, the rostellum bends
downwards and spreads out, thus protecting the virgin stig-
matic surface; subsequently the rostellum rises and exposes
152 Mr. C. Darwin on the Fertilization of Orchids.
the stigma; so that everything here goes on as I have de-
scribed under Listera ovata. The flowers are frequented by
minute Diptera and Hymenoptera.
On the self-fertilization of Neottia nidus-avis, and on the
rostellum not exploding spontanéously (p. 153).—I covered up
with a net several plants, and after four days found that the
rostellum had not spontaneously exploded, and had already
almost lost this power. The pollen had become incoherent,
and in all the flowers much had fallen on the stigmatic sur-
faces, which were penetrated by pollen-tubes. The spreading
of the pollen seemed to be in part caused by the presence of
Thrips, many of which minute insects were crawling about
dusted all over with pollen. The covered-up plants produced
plenty of capsules, but these were much smaller and contained
much fewer seeds than the capsules produced by the adjoining
uncovered plants. I may here add that I detected on the crest
of the rostellum some minute rough points, which seemed
particularly sensitive in causing the rostellum to explode.
Dr. H. Miiller, of Lippstadt, informs me that he has seen
Diptera sucking the nectar and removing the pollinia of this
lant.
On the self-fertilization of certain Epidendree (p. 166).—
Dr. Criiger says (Journ. Linn. Soc. vol. viii. Botany, 1864,
p- 131) that “‘ we have in Trinidad three plants belonging to
the Epidendrese (a Schomburgkia, Cattleya, and Epidendron)
which rarely open their flowers, and are invariably impreg-
nated when they do open them. In these cases it is easily
seen that the pollen-masses have been acted on by the stig-
matic fluid, and that the pollen-tubes descend from the pollen-
masses in situ down into the ovarian canal.” Mr. Anderson,
a skilful cultivator of orchids in Scotland, informs me (see also
‘ Cottage Gardener,’ 1863, p. 206) that with him the flowers
of Dendrobium cretaceum never expand, and yet produce
capsules with plenty of seed, which, when examined by me,
was found to be perfectly good.. These orchids make a near
approach to those dimorphic plants (as Oxalis, Ononis, and
Viola) which habitually produce open and perfect, as well as
closed and imperfect flowers. |
On the slow movement of the pollinia in Oncidium (p. 189).
—Mr. Charles Wright, in a letter to Prof. Asa Gray, states
that he observed in Cuba a pollinium of an Oncidium attached
to a Bombus, and he concluded at first that I was completely
mistaken about the movement of depression ; but after several
hours the pollintum moved into the proper position for fertilizing’
the flower.
Manner of fertilization of various exotic Orchids (p. 189).
Mr. C. Darwin on the Fertilization of Orchids. 153
—I may here remark that Delpino (Fecondazione nelle Piante,
Firenze, 1867, p. 19) says he has examined flowers of Vanda,
Epidendron, Phaius, Oncidium, and Dendrobium, and con-
firms my general statements. The late Prof. Bronn, in his
German translation of this work (1862, p. 221), gives a de-
scription of the structure and manner of fertilization of Stan-
hopea devoniensis.
Sexes of Acropera not separated (p. 206).—I have committed
a great error about this genus, in supposing that the sexes
were separate. Mr. J. Scott, of the Royal Botanic Garden of
Edinburgh, soon convinced me that it was an hermaphrodite,
by sending me capsules containing good seed, which he had
obtained by fertilizing some flowers with pollen from the same
plant. He succeeded in doing this by cutting open the stig-
matic chamber, and inserting the pollen-masses. My error
arose from my ignorance of the remarkable fact that, as shown
by Dr. Hildebrand ( Botanische Zeitung, 1863, Oct. 30 et
seqg.,and Aug. 4, 1865), in many orchids the ovules are not
developed until several weeks or even months after the pollen-
tubes have penetrated the stigma. No doubt if I had exa-
mined the ovaria of Acropera some time after the flowers had
withered, I should have found well-developed ovules. In
many exotic orchids besides Acropera (namely, in Gongora,
Cirrhea, Acineta, Stanhopea, &c.), the entrance into the stig-
matic chamber is so narrow that the pollen-masses cannot be
inserted without the greatest difficulty. How fertilization is
effected in these cases is not yet known. That insects are the
agents there can be no doubt; for Dr. Criiger saw a bee (Eu-
glossa) with a pollinium of a Stanhopea attached to its back ;
and bees of the same genus continually visit Gongora. Fritz
Miiller has observed, in the case of Cirrhea (Bot. Zeitung,
Sept. 1868, p. 630), that if one end of the pollen-mass be in-
serted into the narrow entrance of the stigmatic chamber, this
part, from being bathed by the stigmatic fluid, swells, and the
whole pollen-mass is thus gradually drawn into the stigmatic
entrance. But, from observations which I have made on
Acropera and Stanhopea in my own hot-house, I suspect that,
with many of these orchids, the pedicel with the narrow end
of the pollinium, and not the broad end, is ordinarily inserted
into the stigmatic chamber. By thus placing the pollinium,
I have occasionally succeeded in fertilizing some of these
orchids, and have obtained seed-capsules.
Structure and fertilization of the Vandee cc. of Brazil
(p. 210).—Fritz Miiller has sent me many letters containing an
astonishing number of new and curious observations on the
structure and manner of cross-fertilization of various orchids
154 =Mr.C. Darwin on the Fertilization of Orchids.
inhabiting South Brazil. I much regret that I have not here
space or time to give an abstract of his many discoveries,
which support the general conclusions given in my work;
but I hope that he will some day be induced to publish a full
account of his observations.
Fertilization of Catasetum (p. 211).—It has been highly
satisfactory to me that my observations and predictive conclu-
sions in regard to Catasetuwm have been fully confirmed by the
late Dr. Criiger, the Director of the Botanic Gardens of Tri-
nidad, in letters to me and in his paper in the ‘ Journal of the
Linnean Society’ (vol. viii. Bot. 1864, p. 127). He sent me
specimens of the bees, belonging to three species of Luglussa,
which he saw gnawing the inside of the labellum. The pol-
linia, when ejected, become attached to, and lie flat on, the
backs of the bees, on the hairy surface of the thorax. Dr.
Criiger has also proved that I was correct in asserting that
the sexes of Catasetum are separate, for he fertilized female
flowers with pollen from the male plants; and Fritz Miiller
effected the same thing with Catasetwm mentosum in South
Brazil. Nevertheless, from two accounts which I have re-
ceived, it appears that Catasetwm tridentatum, though a male
ce occasionally produces seed-capsules ; but every botanist
nows that this occasionally occurs with the males of other
dicecious plants. Fritz Miiller has given (Botanische Zeitung,
Sept. 1868, p. 630) a most interesting account, agreemg with
mine, of the state of the minute pollinia in the female plant :
the anther never opens, and the pollen-masses are not attached
to the viscid disks, so that they cannot be removed by any
natural means. The pollen-grains, as so generally occurs with
rudimentary organs, are extremely variable in size and shape.
Nevertheless the grains of the rudimentary pollen-masses be-
longing to the female plant, when applied (which can never
naturally occur) to the stigmatic surface, emitted their pollen-
tubes! This appears to me a very curious instance of the |
slow and gradual manner in which structures are modified ;
for the female pollen-masses, included within an anther which
never opens, are seen still partially to retain their former
powers and function.
Mormodes luxatum (p. 265).—I have now examined another
species of Mormodes, the rare M. luaatum, and I find that the
chief points of structure, and the action of the different parts,
including the sensitiveness of the filament, are the same as
in M. ignea. The cup of the labellum, however, is much
larger, and is not pressed down firmly on the filament on the
summit of the column. This cup probably serves to attract |
insects, and, as in Catasetum, is gnawed by them. The flowers
Mr. C. Darwin on the Fertilization of Orchids. 155
are asymmetrical to an extraordinary degree, the right-hand
and left-hand sides differmg much in shape.
Cycnoches ventricosum (p. 265).—The plant described in my
work as a second species of Mormodes proves to be Cycnoches
ventricosum. I first received from Mr. Veitch some flower-buds,
from which the section (fig. xxx.) was taken ; but subsequently
he sent me some perfect flowers. The yellowish-green petals
and sepals are reflexed ; the thick labellum is singularly shaped,
with its upper surface convex, like a shallow basin turned
upside down. The thin column is of extraordinary length, and
arches like the neck of a swan over the labellum; so that the
whole flower presents a very singular appearance. In the sec-
tion of the flower, given in my work, we see the elastic pedicel
of the pollinium bowed, as in Catasetum or Mormodes ; but at
the period of growth represented in the figure the pedicel was
still united to the rostellum, the future line of separation being
shown by a layer of hyaline tissue indistinct towards the upper
end of the disk. The disk is of gigantic size, and its lower
end is produced into a great fringed curtain, which hangs in
front of the stigmatic chamber. The viscid matter of the disk
sets hard very quickly, and changes colour. The disk ad-
heres to any object with surprising strength. The anther is
very different in shape from that of Catasetwm or Mormodes,
and apparently would retain the pollen-masses with greater
force. A part of the filament of the anther, lying between
two little leaf-like appendages, is sensitive; and when this
part is touched, the pollinium is swung upwards, as in Mor-
modes, and with sufficient force, if no object stands in the
way, to throw it to the distance of an inch. An insect of
large size alights probably on the labellum, for the sake of
gnawing the convex surface, or perhaps on the extremity of
the arched and depending column, and then, by touching the
sensitive point, causes the ejection of the pollen-masses, which
are affixed to its body and thus transported to another flower
or plant.
Fertilization of the Arethusee (p. 269).—Epipogium Gmelint
has been the subject of an admirable memoir (Ueber den Blii-
thenbau, &c., Gottingen, 1866) by Dr. P. Rohrbach, who
has shown how the flowers are fertilized by Bombus lucorum.
With respect to another genus belonging to this same tribe,
namely Pogonia, Dr. Scudder of the United States has de-
scribed (Proc. Boston Nat. Hist. Soc. vol. ix. 1863, p. 182)
the manner in which it is fertilized by the aid of insects.
Cypripedium (p. 274).—Prof. Asa Gray, after examining
several American species of Cypripedium, wrote to me (see
also Amer. Journ. of Science, vol. xxxiv. 1862, p. 427) that
156 Mr. C. Darwin on the Fertilization of Orchids,
he was convinced that I was in error, and that the flowers
are fertilized by small insects entering the labellum through
the large opening on the upper surface, and crawling out by
one of the two small orifices close to either anther and the
stigma. Accordingly I caught a very small bee which seemed
of about the right size, namely the Andrena parvula (and this
by a strange chance proved, as we shall presently see, to be
the right genus), and placed it in the labellum through the
upper large opening. The bee vainly endeavoured to crawl
out again the same way, but always fell backwards, owing to
the margins being inflected. The labellum thus acts like one
of those conical traps with the edges turned inwards, which are
sold to catch beetles and cockroaches in the London kitchens.
Ultimately the little bee forced its way out through one of the
small orifices close to one of the anthers, and was found when
caught to be smeared with the glutinous pollen. I then again
put the same bee into the labellum ; and again it crawled out
through one of the small orifices. I repeated the operation
five times, always with the same result. J then cut away the
labellum, so as to examine the stigma, and found it well
smeared over with pollen. Delpimo (Fecondazione &c. 1867,
p- 20) with much sagacity foresaw that some insect would be
discovered to act in the manner just described; for he argued
that if an insect were to insert its proboscis, as I had supposed,
from the outside through one of the small orifices close to one
of the anthers, the stigma would be fertilized by the plant’s
own pollen; and in this he did not believe, from having
confidence in what I have often insisted on—namely, that all
the contrivances for fertilization are arranged so that the
stigma shall receive pollen from a distinct flower or plant.
But these speculations are now all superfluous ; for, owing to
the admirable observations of Dr. H. Miiller, of Lippstadt
(Verh. d. Nat. Ver. Jahrg. xxv. III. Folge, v. Bd. p. 1), we
actually know that Cypripedium calceolus in a state of nature
is fertilized by two species of Andrena, in the manner above
supposed.
On the relation between the more or less viscid condition of
the pollen and stigma in Cypripedium (p. 276).—The relation
between the state of the pollen and stigma, which I have
pointed out in my work, is strongly confirmed by Prof. Gray’s
statement (Amer. Journ. of Science, vol. xxxiv. 1862, p. 428),
namely, that in C. acaule the pollen is much more granular or
less viscid than in other American species of the genus, and in
this species alone the stigma is slightly concave and viscid!
Dr. Gray adds that in most of the species the broad stigma
presents another remarkable peculiarity, “in being closely
Mr. C. Darwin on the Fertilization of Orchids. 157
beset: with minute, rigid, sharp-pointed papille, all directed
forwards, which are excellently adapted to brush off the pollen
from an insect’s head or back.”
The use of the copious fluid contained within the labellum
of Coryanthes (p. 278).—The Coryanthes macrantha is per-
haps the most wonderful of all known orchids, even more
wonderful in structure and function than Catasetum. Its
manner of fertilization has been described by Dr. Criiger in
the ‘Journal of the Linnean Society’ (vol. viii. Bot. 1864,
-p- 130), and in letters to me. He sent me bees, belonging to
the genus Huglossa, which he saw at work. The fluid in the
bucket formed by the basal part of the labellum is not nectar
and does not attract insects, but serves, by wetting their
Wings, to prevent them from crawling out except through the
small passages close to the anther and stigma. Thus the
secretion of fluid in this orchis serves exactly the same end as
the inflected margins of the labellum in Cypripedium.
On the evidence that Insects visit many exotic Orchids in order
to gnaw parts of the labellum, and not for the sake of nectar
(p. 284).—It has been highly satisfactory to me that this hypo-
thesis has been fully confirmed. In the West Indies, Dr. Criiger
witnessed humble-bees of the genus Huglossa gnawing the
labellum of Catasetum, Coryanthes, Gongora, and Stanhopea ;
and Fritz Miiller has repeatedly found, in South Brazil, the
prominences on the labellum of Oncidium gnawed. We are
thus enabled to understand the meaning of the various extra-
ordinary crests and projections on the labellum of various
exotic orchids; for they invariably stand in such a position
that insects, whilst gnawing them, will be almost sure to
touch the viscid disks of the pollinia, and thus remove them.
Bonatea speciosa (p. 305).—The manner of fertilization of
this extraordinary orchis has now been fully described by Mr.
R. Trimen in the ‘Journal of the Linnean Society’ (vol. ix.
Bot. 1865, p. 156). A projection rising from the base of the
labellum is one of its most remarkable peculiarities, as an in-
sect is thus compelled to insert its proboscis on one side, and
thus to touch one of the two widely separated and projecting
viscid disks. Mr. J. P. Mansel Weale has also published
(ibid. vol. x. 1869, p. 470) analogous observations on a second
species, viz. Bonatea Darwinti. Mr. Weale caught a skipper-
butterfly (Pyrgus elmo) quite embarrassed by the number of
pollinia belonging to this orchis which adhered to its sternum.
I do not know of any other case in which the pollinia adhere
to the sternum of a Lepidopterous insect.
On the nature of the contraction which causes the pollinia,
after their removal from the anther, to change their position
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. iv.
158 Mr.C. Darwin on the Fertilization of Orchids.
(p. 338).—In Orchis hircina, I clearly saw, under the micro-
scope, the whole front of the viscid disk become depressed as the
two pollinia together underwent the movement of depression.
Number of seeds (p. 8344).—The number of seeds produced
by Orchis maculata, as given in my work, is small in com-
parison with that produced by some foreign species. I have
shown (Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication,
vol. ii. 1868, p. 379), on the authority of Mr. Scott, that a
single capsule of Acropera contained 371,250 seeds; and the
species produces so many flowers and racemes, that a single
plant probably sometimes produces as many as 74 millions of
seeds in the course of a single year. Fritz Miller carefully
estimated, by weighing, the number of seeds in a single capsule
of a Mavillaria in South Brazil, and found the number
1,756,440. The same plant sometimes produces half-a-dozen
capsules.
Number of pollen-grains (p. 355).—I have endeavoured to
estimate the number of pollen-grains produced by a single
flower of Orchis mascula. 'There are two pollen-masses; in
one of these I counted 153 packets of pollen; each packet
contains, as far as I could count, by carefully breaking it up
under the microscope, nearly 100 compound grains; and each
compound grain is formed of four grains. By multiplying
these figures together, the product for a single flower is about
120,000 pollen-grains. Now we have seen that in the allied
O. maculata a single capsule produced about 6,200 seeds; so
that there are nearly twenty pollen-grains for each ovule or
seed. As a single flower of a Mawillaria produced 1,756,000
seeds, it would produce, according to the above ratio, nearly
34 million pollen-grains, each of which, no doubt, includes
the elements for the reproduction of every single character in
the mature plant!
Enumeration of the Orchides which, as at present known,
habitually fertilize themselves (p.358).—We have now seen
that self-fertilization habitually occurs, in a more or less perfect
manner, in one of the species of Ophrys, of Neotinea, Gymna-
denia, Platanthera, Epipactis, Cephalanthera, Neottia, and in
those Hpidendree and in Dendrobium which often produce
flowers that never expand. No doubt other cases will here-
after be discovered. Self-fertilization seems to be more per-
fectly secured in Ophrys apifera and in Neotinea intacta than
in the other species. But it deserves especial notice that in
all these orchids structures are still present, not in a rudimen-
tary condition, which are manifestly adapted for the transport
by insects of the pollen-masses from one flower to another.
As I have elsewhere remarked, some plants, both indigenous
Dr. 8. Lovén on Hyponome Sarsii. 159
and naturalized, rarely or never bear flowers, or, if they do bear
flowers, these never produce seed. But no one doubts that
it is a general law of nature that phanerogamic plants should
produce flowers, and that these flowers should produce seed.
When they fail to do this, we believe that such plants would
perform their proper functions under different conditions, or
that they formerly did so and will do so again. On analogical
grounds I believe that the few orchids which do not now inter-
cross, either did formerly intercross (the means for effecting
this being still retained) or that they will do so at some
future period under different conditions, unless, indeed, they
become extinct from the evil effects of long-continued close
interbreeding.
XVII.—WNote on Hyponome Sarsi, a recent Cystidean.
By 8. Loven*.
THE general appearance of this very remarkable Echinoderm
is that of a small starfish or a Euryalid. It has a disk, con-
vex on the ventral surface, flattened on the dorsal, and five
short and broad rays; each of these is divided into two short
dichotomous branches, terminating in four very short rounded
lobes. As inthe recent genera Antedon and Pentacrinus, a large,
conical, proboscis-like funnel rises in one of the interradial spaces
of the ventral surface of the disk; and from a point situated
a little before the centre of the same surface five narrow chan-
nels, protected by marginal scales, radiate and, bifurcating
thrice, run out on the rays and their branches, giving off short
branchlets to certain sacculate protuberances placed at regular
distances. No pinnule. On the protuberances and on the
rays the channels are open; but upon the disk, between their
first bifurcation and their common starting-point, their mar-
ginal scales close over them, forming a vault, so that the five
channels are converted into covered ducts, converging into a
common subcentral aperture, concealed beneath the integument,
and not visible from the outside. In the covered parts of the
channels I found masses, consisting of microscopic Crustacea,
larval bivalves, and other remains of the food of the animal,
apparently taken through the ends and open parts of the
channels, and on its way, through their covered parts, to the
concealed mouth. On the rays, near their tips, are seen some
few pores, perhaps indicating the existence of retractile organs.
The ventral surface is clothed with rather small, thick-set,
%* We are indebted to the Author for the communication of this trans=
lation from ‘ Forhandlinger ved de Skandinaviske Naturforskeres tiende
Mode, i Christiania,’ July 1868. x
12
160 Mr. A. E. Verrill on a new Jellyfish.
irregular whitish scales, among which, in certain places, some
six or seven larger ones are seen forming a rosette. Between
the rays and their bifurcations this scaly covering of the ven-
tral surface extends back on to the dorsal surface, ending there
with great regularity in triangular spaces pointing to the
centre of the disk. The remainder of the dorsal surface of the
disk and the rays, which, by this arrangement, assumes the
form of a regular star with five broad dichotomous rays, is
clothed with a soft and smooth brownish skin. There is no trace
of acalyx. In the centre of the even dorsal face of the disk is
seen a somewhat pentagonal space studded with minute pores.
To have the channels on the disk converted into tunnel-
like passages leading to a mouth concealed beneath the integu-
ment is a peculiarity hitherto not observed in any recent
Crinoid; but it is, as shown by Professor Huxley and Mr.
Billings, a characteristic of the paleozoic Crinoids and Cysti-
deans. The absence of any indication of a calyx at once
excludes Hyponome from the former. Among the Cystideans
it recalls the genus Agelacrinites, of Vanuxem, by the de-
pressed form of the body, the scaly covering, and the flatness
of the dorsal surface, devoid of anything like a stem or
peduncle, as also by the absence of pectinated rhombs and of
pinnule. Branchlets running from the channels to sacculate
protuberances are found also in the genus G'lyptocystites of
Billings and Glyptospherites of Johannes Miiller; and bifur-
cations of the channels are met with in Spherocystites and
Callocystites of Hall. Lastly, the genus Hyponome shares
with the surviving type of the Crinoidea the radiated form of
the body and the simply conical unprotected funnel.
The specimen described is from Cape York, Torres Strait.
XVIIL.—Descriptions of a remarkable new Jellyfish and two
Actinians from the coast of Maine. By A. E. VERRILL*.
DUuRING an excursion to the coast of Maine and Bay of Fundy
last season, many interesting and rare marine animals were
observed and collected by myself and companions +. Among
the most remarkable new species is a very large and beautiful
Discophorous jellyfish, which is the type of a new genus, and
represents a family previously unknown upon our Atlantic
coast.
In size and general appearance it has some resemblance to
Cyanea arctica, for which it may, possibly, have been hitherto
mistaken by casual observers; for it seems scarcely probable
* From Silliman’s American Journal, July 1869.
t Messrs, S. I. Smith, G, A. Jackson, H. E. Webster, and E, F. Verrill.
Mr. A. E. Verrill on a new Jellyfish. 161
that such a large and conspicuous species, which occurred twice
among the wharves at Eastport, could otherwise have so long
escaped observation. Its colour, however, is much lighter than
that of Cyanea, and yellowish rather than brown or reddish,
while the much less numerous tentacles are larger, flattened,
with one edge crenulated and bordered with white ; and its
entire structure is quite different.
It is far more nearly allied to Hexadecomma ambiguum,
Brandt, of the North Pacific; but the latter is represented with
round tentacles, different marginal lobes and ovaries, and
broader and much more complicated mouth-folds.
CALLINEMA, Verrill, gen. nov.*
Disk broad, moderately thick, with numerous broad channels
running to the marginal one, arranged in sixteen systems,
two or three parallel and undivided tubes alternating with a
group of five or six branching ones, which unite together into
one toward the central portion of the disk, each-of which cor-
responds in position with one of the sixteen eye-bearing mar-
ginal lobes. Toward the marginal channel the branching tubes
anastomose freely, the undivided ones but slightly or not at
all, though two often unite into one near the margin. Margin
deeply and regularly divided into scolloped lobes, sixteen of
which bear eyes and are bilobed for more than half their
length, bearing the eye at the division, just below which the
channel in the lobe divides into two divergent branches, one of
which goes to each division. Alternating with the eye-lobes
are somewhat longer lobes, which are divided at the edge into
two, three, or four rounded scollops, each of which receives a
simple channel. Tentacles in a nearly regular circle, but
arranged in groups of five or six at the bases of the interocular
lobes, very long, highly contractile, flat; one edge double,
finely scolloped, the scollops again finely crenulate. Ovaries
large much convoluted pendent pouches. Lobes of the acti-
nostome four, large, elongated, pointed, complexly lobed and
frilled.
Callinema ornata, Verrill, sp. nov.
Disk large, up to 18 inches in diameter, with conspicuous
radiating tubes ‘1 to ‘3 inch broad. Actinal appendages,
when extended, about as long as the diameter of the disk,
broad, much convoluted, and deeply frilled at base, the edges
with fine papilliform divisions. Ovaries large, hanging loosely
from the underside of the disk, and nearly equal in length to
the radius of the disk. Tentacles -2 inch broad, extending to
* xa\Xos, beauty, vynjpa, thread.
162 Mr. A. E. Verrill on new Species of Actinians.
the length of at least 15 feet in large specimens, capable of
contracting to a length of less than six inches, about 80 or 90
in number, arranged in a nearly regular circle, one to each of
the marginal scollops, except those of the eye-bearing lobes ;
double edge neatly scolloped, frilled and minutely crenulated.
Disk transparent, the radiating tubes light brownish yellow,
the central area marked interiorly with lines of light orange,
enclosing large, irregularly polygonal areas, below which the
lobes of the actinostome show through, giving a yellow centre
about three inches in diameter; outside of this the ovarian
lobes, which are light brownish yellow, show through the disk
and extend at times nearly to its margin. They are grouped
somewhat into four divisions, and float about variously as the
animal moves. Eyes pearl-white. Tentacles transparent, the
complex edge flake-white. Actinal folds lemon-yellow or light
buff. Lobes of the reproductive organs either yellowish white
or brownish yellow, with darker borders of yellowish brown or
orange-brown. Phosphorescent with white light. Diameter
of largest specimen 18 inches; length of tentacles 15 feet or
more, in extension. Another specimen was 10 inches in dia-
meter; disk at centre 1°5 inch thick; largest marginal lobes
1:25 long, smallest °75; actinal appendages 8-10 inches long ;
ovaries hang down 4 inches from disk ; tentacles 12 feet long.
Eastport Harbour, swimming near the surface at noon;
three specimens observed, one preserved in the museum of
Yale College.
Edwardsia elegans, Verrill, sp. nov.
Body elongated, slender; epidermis thick, ight yellowish
brown, with entangled mud, the upper edge slightly free and
prominent. Tentacles 16, slender, variously curved and en-
twined, pale flesh-colour, with a central longitudinal line of
light orange-red; naked part below the disk pale pink, with
longitudinal white lines corresponding with the internal
lamelle ; mouth light yellowish ; disk pale flesh-colour.
Eastport, Me., at low water under stones, rare; also on In-
dian Island, N. B.
Edwardsia farinacea, Verrill, sp. nov.
Body small, changeable in form, not very slender, often
swollen in the middle or near the base, tapering upward ;
epidermis firm, dark yellowish, covered with small, firmly
adherent grains of sand, the internal lamellz showing through
faintly, but becoming more distinct on the naked, transparent,
protruded basal portion, which is marked by 12 corresponding
whitish sulcations, meeting at the end and alternating with
some finer lines. Upper part of column transparent and naked
Mr. O. Salvin on new Species of Butterflies. 163
for about ‘12 inch. Tentacles 12, short, conical, in a single
circle at the margin of the disk, not crowded, pale yellowish
white, sprinkled with fine flake-white specks, which become
more crowded on the inner median line and at the tips. Disk
small, protruded; mouth largely dilatable, at times elevated
on a cone; lips with 6 to 12 irregular lobes. Disk and naked
ace below the tentacles pale yellowish white, finely speckled
bi flake-white, the disk with faint whitish radiating lines.
Length *5 inch, greatest diameter °15; diameter of disk *12.
South Bay, Lubec, on a muddy bottom in 8 fathoms, rare.
XIX.—Descriptions of new Species of Butterflies from Tro-
pical America. By Ospert SAtvin, M.A., F.L.S., &e.*
1. Olyras insignis.
g. Exp.41in. Antenne yellow, black at the base; palpi
black, with a lateral streak of white on each side; head black,
with white spots round the eyes; prothorax black, with a
yellow spot in the centre; thorax black tinged with yellow ;
wing-coverts black, with two white spots on each; abdomen
dusky, black beneath, with an indistinct lateral line of white
and white spots near the articulations beneath: anterior wings
elongated, the anal angle much produced, diaphanous, yellow
at the base, margins black; a black curved band crosses the
cell to near the origin of the first median branch; the second
median section is black, and meets a band which, crossing the
wing through the end of the cell, passes along the second median
branch to the outer margin; another indistinct band crosses
the clear apical portion of the wing: posterior wings clear
yellowish, outer margin broadly bordered with black, inside
which, near the anal angle, is an edging of tawny red; ner-
vures of both wings black : beneath just as above, except that
there is a row of fourteen white spots arranged in pairs round
the outer margin of the anterior wings, and eleven similarly
placed round the margin of the posterior wings, and also one
near the apical angle between the costal and subcostal nervures.
Hab. Calobre, Veragua (Arcé).
Obs. A true Olyras, but differing from both known members of
the genus in having the intervals between the black markings
of the wings either transparent or clouded with a semitrans-
parent yellowish tinge.
2. Ithomia frater.
3d. Exp. 2°50 in. Wings diaphanous: head, body (except
* All the specimens from which these descriptions are taken are in
Mr. Godman’s and my own collection.
164 Mr. O. Salvin on new Species of Butterflies
on the under surface, which is paler), antenne, nervures, and
a broad margin to both wings black, the latter having obsoiete
white spots on the outer margin ; the abdominal margin of the
hind wing has a yellow spot.
@. Similar to the male, but rather larger, and the outer
black margin of the hind wings broader.
Underside differs only from the upper in having the white
submarginal spots more clearly defined.
Hab. Pozzuzo, Kast Peru (Pearce). .
Obs. Like Ithomia ceno, Dby.& Hew., but differs as follows:—
The angle the lower discoidal nervule makes with the median
is more obtuse, the lower radial is emitted above the recurrent
nervule, the yellow patch of the hind wings is more restricted,
and.the subcostal branches of the anterior wings are included
in the black margin. On the underside the white spot at the
base of the posterior wings of J. ceno is absent, and in the
present species the under surface of the abdomen is dusky in-
stead of bright yellow.
3. Ithomia tricolor.
9. Exp. 2°60in. Antenne black, yellow at the tip; palpi
black, with lateral streaks of white; head black, with white
spots; thorax and abdomen black, the latter grey beneath ;
anterior wings dusky black, with diaphanous patches, one, in-
distinct, at the base of the cell, another, distinct, at the end,
one between the first and second median branches, and a large
patch beyond the cell divided by the subcostal and radial
nervures: posterior wings tawny orange; costal and outer
margin black ; this black border is broader at the apical angle,
where it almost includes a whitish spot at the end of the cell,
and then tapers off at the anal angle: beneath as above,
but rather paler; six white spots near the outer margin
of both wings show through to the upperside; the base of the
costa of the posterior wings is white, and a large white patch
spreads over and outside the cell, with the origin of the second
median branch as its centre: neuration of hind wing as in 9
Ith. ceno; but the wmg is more elongated, there is no upper
discocellular, the upper radial appearing as a branch of the
subcostal.
Hab. Apolobamba, North Bolivia (Pearce).
Obs. This species belongs to the group containing [thomia
ceno, and to the section Ceratinia of Bates’s arrangement. It
is, however, quite different in coloration from any species with
which I am acquainted.
4. Ithomia semifulva.
gd. Exp. 2°60 in. Antenne yellow, black at the base ;
from Tropical America. 165
prothorax and wing-coverts tawny ; abdomen brownish black,
beneath yellow : anterior wings tawny, apical third, including
the whole outer margin, two spots at the end of the cell, and
the base of the wing, except along the subcostal and median
nervures, brownish black : posterior wings black ; apical angle,
peor the margin, tawny: beneath similar to the upper sur-
ace, except that there is a row of white spots close to the
outer margin of both wings: costa of the hind wings tawny,
the base yellow.
?. Similar to the male.
Neuration similar to that of Jth. dionea, Hew., and its allies.
Hab. Guadalquiza, Ecuador ; and Pozzuzo, Peru (Pearce).
Obs. In coloration this species exactly resembles Mechanitis
mothone, Hew., on the upperside, and only differs on the under-
side by the presence of the submarginal row of white spots.
It belongs to the Ceratinia group of Lthomia, but is unlike
any other species of this section.
5. Ithomia pardalis.
3. Exp.3°05in. Head wanting; prothorax and abdomen
black ; anterior wings yellowish, diaphanous; outer margin,
including a large triangular spot at the extremity of each of
the nervures, black; there are two black spots joined by a
narrow line at the end of the cell, and three semitransparent,
elongated, dark spots between the subcostal, the radials, and
the third median branch ; inner margin black : posterior wings
clear transparent, outer margin broadly black, deeply in-
dented internally, including six round transparent spots; an
irregular dark band crosses the wing through the end of the
cell to the inner margin: the markings beneath as those above,
but in addition there are two small white spots near the apex
of the anterior wings, and two elongated white marks about
the middle of the costa of the posterior wings, the base being
yellowish. Neuration as in Jthomia susiana, Feld. ; the lower
discocellular makes an acute angle with the third section of
the median; the middle discocellular bears the recurrent
nervule, and the upper discocellular meets the subcostal at a
very obtuse angle at a distance from the base of the wing
about equal to the first and second sections of the median
nervures.
Hab, Guadalquiza, Ecuador (Pearce).
Obs. Though differing in the much greater transparency of the
wings, this species must certainly be placed near Ith. susiana,
Feld., the neuration of the hind wing agreeing best with that
species. The antenne are wanting; but, from analogy, they
should be long.
166 Mr. O. Salvin on new Species of Butterflies
6. Ithomia peruana.
3. Exp. 2°40 in. Antenne black, the club yellow; palpi
white, black in front; head and thorax black ; abdomen black,
dusky beneath : anterior wings diaphanous, the margins, ner-
vures, and two dark bands, one across the middle and the other
at the end of the cell, black; a small yellowish spot lies close
to the costa beyond the cell: posterior wings diaphanous, the
apical angle, nervures, and outer margin black; a yellowish
tinge pervades the film near the inner margin: beneath as
above, the dark borders of the wings having the inner part
red; basal half of the costa of the posterior wings yellow;
there are three small white spots close to the apical angle of
the fore wings, and a row of five close to the outer margin of
the hind wings: neuration of the hind wings as in Ith. avella,
Hew. ; the pencil of hairs originates from a receptacle formed
by the curvature of the costal and subcostal nervures; the
recurrent nervule is borne by the lower discocellular; the
upper discocellular is long, and meets the subcostal some way
from its extremity at a very obtuse angle.
Hab, Pozzuzo, East Peru (Pearce).
Obs. Allied to Ith. avella, Hew., but differs in the club of the
antenne being yellow instead of black, in the costal margin
being quite black instead of rufous, and beneath in half of the
costal margin of the posterior wings being yellow, and in the
origin of the pencil of hairs being black instead of grey in the
middle: the posterior wings, too, are tinged with yellow in-
stead of being clear hyaline.
7. Ithomia picta.
9. Exp. 2°15 in. Antenne black, with the club yellow;
palpi white, black in front; head, thorax, and abdomen black,
the latter whitish beneath: anterior wings black, less opaque
towards the outer half of the wing beyond the cell; anterior
portion of the cell tawny, the end covered with a black patch;
a large yellow spot in the middle ; there are four irregular yel-
low spots outside the cell, the uppermost crossing the subcostal
and upper radial, and a submarginal row of five yellow spots:
posterior wings bordered broadly with black, next to which
is placed a tawny band extending over the inner margin, but
not to the apical angle; inside the tawny colouring is a large
yellow patch including the whole of the cell and extending
beyond it: beneath as above, the base of the costa of the pos-
terior wings being tawny; and the outer marginal black band
of each wing includes seven white spots. Neuration of hind
wing as in ? Jth. latilla, Hew. ‘The lower discocellular emits
from Tropical America. 167
the recurrent nervule, and there is a very short upper disco-
cellular nervure.
Hab, New Granada.
8. Ithomia cayana.
| g. Exp. 2:05 in. Antenne moderately long, black; palpi
white, black anteriorly ; head black, with a white frontal spot ;
prothorax black, with a yellow spot on each side ; thorax black,
with a yellowish central streak ; abdomen black above, yellow
beneath : anterior wings semidiaphanous, brown, cell almost
to the end tawny; an irregular pale yellow spot extends al-
most from the costa over the upper discocellular nervure and
the corner of the cell, and thence over the third median branch ;
between the first and second median branch is another smaller
yellowish spot; these yellow spots leave an irregular dark
band, which crosses the end of the cell to the posterior angle:
posterior wings tawny; a semidiaphanous brown band crosses
the wing, and another skirts the outer margin: beneath as
above; base of the costa of the fore wing tawny, seven con-
spicuous submarginal white spots surround the outer margin,
and show through to the upper surface: on the hind wing
there are five similar spots: neuration of the hind wing some-
what as in Ith. antisao, Bates; the lower discocellular is
straight, middle discocellular bent at the emission of the recur-
rent nervule, and then curved outwardly to the subcostal ;
upper discocellular absent; upper radial starts as a branch of
the subcostal a little beyond the end of the cell.
9. Like the male; nor does the neuration of the posterior
wing differ materially, the only distinction being that the
middle discocellular meets the subcostal at a more acute angle
and at a shorter distance from the base of the wing.
Hab. Cayenne.
Obs. This species seems to have been overlooked amongst
specimens of Ith. selene, Cr., to which it bears a great resem-
blance. The distinct row of white spots at once distinguishes
the species, and a comparison of the neuration shows that the
two are perfectly distinct, and do not even belong to the same
section of the genus. Jthomia cayana is quite common in
cabinets, having been sent in considerable numbers in recent
collections from Cayenne. Its nearest structural allies are
Ith. antisao, Bates, and its affines which have the upper radial
as a branch of the subcostal of the hind wing. The present
species, however, differs in that the middle discocellular bears
the recurrent nervule instead of the lower.
9. Lthomia rufocincta.
3. Exp. 2°30 in. Antenne black; palpi white, black to-
168 Mr. O. Salvin on new Species of Butterflies
wards the terminal joint; head black, with white spots; pro-
thorax rufous; thorax rufous; abdomen black, whitish be-
neath: wings diaphanous, bordered with clear rufous; na-
vures and end of the cell of the anterior wings rufous; space
between the median and submedian nervures of the anterior
wings and margin near the anal angle of the posterior wings
blackish: beneath as above, but margins paler; costa of
posterior wings and spots at the apices of both wings pale
greyish: neuration of hind wings as in Jth. artena, Hew. ;
lower discocellular bent to a right angle at the emission of
the recurrent nervule; middle discocellular gradually curved
outwardly to meet the subcostal; no upper discocellular, nor
upper radial.
Hab. Oaxaca, Mexico.
10. Lthomia simplex.
go. Exp.2°15in. Antenne black; palpi white, black an-
teriorly ; head black, with white spots ; prothorax and thorax
greyish black; abdomen black, whitish beneath: wings dia-
phanous; nervures, a narrow line at the extremity of the cell
of the anterior wings, and a narrow margin round both wings
black ; subcostal to the end of the cell rufous ; a white oblong
spot close to the costa just beyond the end of the cell: beneath
as above, but with the markings rufous instead of black:
neuration of hind wing the same as in Jth. artena, Hew. ;
lower discocellular bent to a right angle close to the origin of
the lower radial; middle discocellular gradually curved to
meet the subcostal; upper discocellular entirely wanting, as
also the upper radial.
9. Like the g, but the margins rather more broadly black;
neuration of the hind wing lke that of Ith. artena, Hew. ;
upper discocellular nervure absent; upper radial leaves the
middle discocellular at its junction with the subcostal.
Hab. Costa Rica (Carmiol).
Obs. Very nearly allied to Ith. artena, differing chiefly in
the narrower borders to the wings and the smaller size of the
white spot on the anterior wings.
11. Lthomia parva.
3. Exp.1'80in. Antenne black; anterior wings diaphanous,
the end of the cell, the nervures, and the borders of the whole
of the wing-margins black; next to the black spot at the end
of the cell is a white streak extending almost from the costa,
over the radials, nearly to the third median branch : posterior
wings diaphanous, the nervures and border of the outer margin
black ; beneath the markings are rufous instead of black, and
from Tropical America. 169
there are three small spots close to the apex of the anterior
wings: neuration of hind wings as in [thomia cotytto, Guér. ;
the lower discocellular is bent to an acute angle where a short
recurrent nervule is emitted ; the middle discocellular is gra-
duatly curved to meet the subcostal: both upper discocellular
and upper radial are absent.
Hab. Costa Rica (Carmiol).
Obs. Allied to I. cotytto, but the inner edge of the black border
of the apex follows the curve of the wing, instead of cutting
straight acrass. It is also considerably smaller.
12. Ithomia vicina.
3g. Exp. 2°25in. Antenne black; palpi white, black ante-
riorly ; head and prothorax black, with white spots; thorax
black, with a central white streak ; abdomen brownish black,
whitish beneath: anterior wings rather broad, rounded, dia-
phanous, costal margin rufous; a pointed streak across the
middle of the cell, and an irregular triangular patch at the
extremity of the cell, brownish black, apex and outer margin
with an irregular rufous border, narrower between the extre-
mities of the radials and between the second and third median
branches ; a white oblong spot close to the costa, beyond the
extremity of the cell, including a portion of the upper radial
near its origin; inner margin black as far as the median ner-
vure and its first branch: outer margin of posterior wings
rufous, bordered with black, nervures black ; there are whitish
transparent spots near the marginal border of both wings, ex-
cept between the third median branch and the lower radial:
beneath as above, the dark markings of both wings being
lighter rufous: neuration of hind wings as in J. zea, Hew., to
which this species is closely allied; lower discocellular long
and abruptly bent to an acute angle at the emission of the
recurrent nervule; middle discocellular long and curved pa-
rallel to the subcostal; upper discocellular moderate, meeting
the subcostal at a slightly obtuse angle close to the apical
angle of the wing. |
Hab. Costa Rica (Carmiol).
Obs. Very closely allied to Ithomia zea, Hew., but differs in
being smaller and principally in having the markings at the
apex of the anterior wings smaller, leaving the wing more
transparent; the spot at the end of the cell is triangular
instead of quadrate, and the mark across the cell more acute
and nearer the body.
13. Ithomia lyra.
3g. Exp. 2°40 in. Antenne black ; palpi white, with the ter-
170 Mr. O. Salvin on new Species of Butterflies
minal joint black ; head and prothorax black, with white spots;
thorax black, with a white central streak; abdomen black
above, whitish beneath : anterior wings diaphanous, costal and
inner margins black; a black oblong spot covers the end of
the cell; outer margin black, deeply sinuated along its inner
edge, with semitransparent white spots in the sinuses ; a white
mark extends from the costa beyond the cell, over the radials
to the third median branch; nervures black : posterior wings
diaphanous, nervures and border of outer margin black: be-
neath as above, the dark markings of the upperside being
fulvous instead of black: neuration of hind wing as in Jth.
andromica, Hew.; lower discocellular atrophied at the extre-
mity; middle discocellular appears as a projection at the
junction of the upper discocellular and upper radial ; the latter
are stout and well defined, the upper radial anchylosing with .
the subcostal close to the margin of the wing; the lower radial
is isolated and disconnected, appearing only towards the mar-
gin of the wing.
?. Like the male, but the dark markings rather broader,
and the apical portion of the anterior wings more clouded, but
leaving two clear spots: neuration of the posterior wing as in
2 Ithomia andromica; the middle discocellular nervule is ab-
sent, the upper and lower radials combine and then branch
into a fork halfway towards the margin of the wing.
Hab. Valley of the Polochic River, Guatemala; Calobre,
Veragua (Arcé) ; Costa Rica (Carmiol).
Obs. Closely allied in structure and coloration to I. andromica,
but differs in being larger, the anterior wings being less pro-
duced and wider, and the dark markings and borders being
broader, and the white patch of the anterior wings narrower.
14, Hresta nigripennis.
3. Exp. 2°45 im. Antenne black, the club yellow; palpi
black, white on each side; head and thorax black; abdomen
brown, with a black line above and below: anterior wings
produced, apical angle rounded, black, with two series of in-
distinct spots beyond the cell yellow; there is also a yellow
spot between the first and second median branches: posterior
wings tawny red, costal and outer margins black, two tawny
spots at the apical angle; cilia of both wings white between
the nervures: anterior wings beneath tawny at the base on
each side of the median nervure, running into yellow between
the first and second median branches ; a series of eight yellow
spots round the outer margin, those in the apical angle elon-
gated and extending to the margin ; another series of elongated
spots between these and the end of the cell: posterior wings
from Tropical America. 171
tawny red, paler in the centre; a black line follows the sub-
costal, and then forms a border to the outer margin, and in-
cludes two white spots at the apical angle, followed by a row
of lunules along the marginal border ; base of the costa yellow.
Hab. Costa Rica (Carmiol).
Obs. This species is rather like EZ. phillyra, Hew., in form,
the apical portion of the anterior wings being broader, and the
outer margin of the hind wings more rounded. In colour it
differs in the anterior wings being almost quite black, and in
the absence of the black band across the hind wings.
15. Hresta actinote.
3. Exp. 2°25 in. Antenne, head, thorax, and abdomen
black, the latter greyish white beneath: anterior wings black,
with a triangular patch including the cell and extending along
the submedian nervure to the posterior angle, and an oval spot
between the end of the cell and the apical angle tawny red :
posterior wings black, with a central large patch of tawny red
divided by the dark nervures: beneath as above; but the ex-
tremities of the oval spot of the anterior wings are yellowish,
and a tawny-red submarginal line runs round the outer mar-
gin: posterior wings beneath dull brownish, yellowish at the
base, with nervures black; outer margin broadly black, with
a narrow tawny-red submarginal line.
Hab. Valley of the Cosnipata, Kast Peru (H. Whitely).
Obs. This species is most like EL. acreina, Hew., of which
Mr. Whitely has also sent examples ; but, besides other minor
differences, the narrow red submarginal line which surrounds
the outer margin of the underside of both anterior and posterior
wings is sufficient at once to distinguish it. Like E. acrwina,
it also bears a deceptive resemblance to some members of the
genus Acrea.
16. Hresia tthomiola.
g. Exp. 2'25in. Antenne yellow, black at the base; palpi
black, yellowish white in front ; head black ; thorax black, with
the wing-coverts tawny yellow; abdomen black, yellowish be-
neath: anterior wings rich tawny yellow, costa and terminal
third black; a black elongated spot on the first segment of
the median nervure, another at the end of the cell, and a third
outside the third segment of the median nervure: posterior
wings black, the apical angle tawny yellow, leaving three
black marginal spots: beneath as above, the costa of the pos-
terior wings tawny yellow, and the base yellow.
Hab. Valley of the Cosnipata, East Peru (H. Whitely).
Obs. The resemblance between this species and Jthomia
172 Mr. O. Salvin on new Species of Butterflies
semifulva described above, which, though frequently sent in
“Andean collections, was not found by Mr. Whitely, is most
striking. It belongs to the same group as EZ. eunice, Hiibn.,
but is unlike in coloration any species I am acquainted with.
17. Hresia pusilla.
go. Exp.1:25in. Like £. ofella, Hew., but differs in being
much smaller, the anterior wings being less produced. A
series of three white spots divide the costa of the anterior
wings into four portions, the basal portion being the largest ;
the costa itself is dull black, like the wings. Under each of
these spots is another larger spot, the innermost reaching to
the inner margin: the white belt of the hind wings is nar-
rower: beneath it differs chiefly in the arrangement of the
white spots of the anterior wings, which are placed as above;
the hind wings have a distinct submarginal lunate band.
Hab. Valley of the Cosnipata, East Peru (H. Whitely).
18. Hunica chlororhoa.
3. Exp. 2°60 in. Antenne long, black ; palpi white ; head,
thorax, and abdomen black: wings black, the outer half of
the posterior wings rich glossy green: beneath greenish grey
variegated with black spots—one across the cell of the ante-
rior wings, another transverse, with a bifurcation upwards at
the end of the cell, another transverse, followed by two elon-
gated spots beyond the cell, then an irregular narrow trans-
verse spot, followed by four round ones placed transversely,
then three more near the apical angle of the wing ; below this
series is a large black patch between the median nervure and
its first and second branches, another between the second and
third median branches, others beyond them again, and finally
a large patch near the anal angle: on the posterior wings a
tawny band stretches from the base of the wing over the inner
half of the cell, and inwards almost to the abdominal margin;
it is then confined between the third median branch and lower
radial, spreading over the latter, however, as it approaches the.
outer margin. Above this band there is a black spot between
the precostal and costal nervures, a series of four between the
costal and subcostal; between the subcostal and upper radial
are three round spots, with a transverse thick line between
each of them; a similar series is shown between the upper
and lower radials; in the cell are three conspicuous spots;
below the tawny line and between the third and second median
branches is a series of spots, as follows,—first a round one,
then a cross line curved downwards, then a large spot followed
by two others placed side by side, lastly a triangular spot
from Tropical America. 173
with the apex pointing inwards; between the second and first
median branches is another exactly similar series, and between
the first branch and the inner margin are six spots placed in
airs.
Hab. Valley of the Cosnipata, East Peru (H. Whitely).
Obs. Allied to H. sophronisba (Cr.), but very distinct, the
outer portion of the posterior wings being green instead of blue,
and the markings beneath much more clearly defined and
differently arranged.
19. Hunica elegans.
3. Exp. 2°65in. Antenne black, fulvous at the tip beneath ;
head, thorax, and abdomen black ; prothorax brown: wings
above brown, suffused with blue on the basal half: posterior
wings rounded, slightly indented between the nervures, the
cilia of both wings rather paler: beneath brown, the posterior
wings paler, greyer, and rather lustrous: base of the anterior
wings paler, a dark spot in the middle of the cell : apex of the
anterior wings pale greyish, lighter next the outer margin, the
light part bounded by an irregular faint dark line: on the
posterior wings are a series of six nearly obsolete ocelli between
the nervules, halfway between the cell and the outer margin ;
a series of V-shaped lunules follow these as a submarginal
waved line; there is a dark border next the fringe; inside the
lunules is a very irregular dark band passing across the wing
from the middle of the costa, outside the cell, to the middle of
the inner margin; there is also a black spot inside. the cell,
another across the opening, another (comma-shaped) between
the subcostal and costal nervures, and, finally, one between
the costal and the costa itself.
Hab. Apolobamba, North Bolivia (Pearce) ; Pozzuzo, Peru
(Pearce) ; valley of the Cosnipata, Peru (H. Whitely).
Obs. Most nearly allied to Z. bechina, Hew.; but the blue gloss
of the wings is more restricted and darker; the anterior wings
are broader and less pointed, and bear no white spots; the
posterior wings are less produced; beneath, the markings of the
posterior wings are rather more distinct, and there are no light
spots in the dark portion of the anterior wings.
20. Hunica tenebrosa.
3. Exp. 2°60 in. Antenne black, rufous at the tip beneath ;
head, thorax, and abdomen black : wings rounded, dark brown,
glossed with deep blue towards the base: there is a black patch
of hair-like scales about the basal section of the subcostal
nervure of the posterior wings: anterior wings beneath brown,
the base, apex, and nervures paler; there are two dark marks
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. iv. 13
174 Mr. O. Salvin on new Species of Butterflies
across the cell, and a black patch about the origin of the first
median branch, two small spots and some irregular whitish
marks near the apex of the wing: posterior wings rich brown,
mingled here and there with a rufescent tinge; two small
ocelli are placed between the radials, surrounded by a common
ring; a dark curved line nearly touches this ring from the
costa, and goes as far as the third branch of the submedian
nervure, and thence to the inner margin by a series of
waves; another curved line extends from the costal to the
subcostal, and two dark marks cross the cell; near the anal
angle and outer margin are three indistinct lunules; a waved
line follows the outer margin.
Hab. Pozzuzo, Kast Peru (Pearce).
Obs. Near Eunica caria, Hew., but the anterior wings are
much darker and the blue more diffused: beneath the markings
are quite similar, but the light markings at the apical angle
of the anterior wings are more numerous and extend further
along the costa.
21. Hunica brunnea.
g. Exp. 2°90 in. Antenne black, with a row of white spots
beneath ; palpi brownish white, the third joint black above;
head black; prothorax brown; thorax and abdomen black :
anterior wings elongate, the outer margin concave, brown,
purple at the base; the apical portion of the wing is paler,
crossed by a dark band running from the costa to the middle
of the outer margin: posterior wings brown, with a purple
gloss towards the base, and an indistinct dark submarginal
line surrounding the outer margin: beneath paler brown, the
dark band of the upper surface more prominent; there is
also a dark band beyond the cell extending to the posterior
angle: posterior wings beneath with a bipupillate ocellus ex-
tending from the subcostal to the lower radial nervule; two
other ocelli between the branches of the median nervules, that
nearer the anal angle the larger; a dark submarginal line
surrounds the outer margin; another line extends in a curve
from the costal nervure downwards to the third branch of the
median, and thence direct to the inner margin by a series of
lunate marks; a curved line closes the cell, within which are
a pair of small spots; a dark line also curves upwards from
the first section of the subcostal to the costal nervure.
Hab. Valley of the Cosnipata, East Peru (H. Whitely).
Obs. Allied to Hunica caralis, Hew., but has less blue on
the anterior wings, and the posterior wings are less produced
at the anal angle: beneath, the markings of the posterior
Wings are quite different, and are well defined instead of being
confused\and indistinct.
from Tropical America. 175
22. Cybdelis boliviana.
3d. Exp. 2°20in. Antenne black, dotted with white, be-
neath brown; palpi brown above, grey beneath ; head, thorax,
and abdomen black, the latter lighter beneath : anterior wings
with a notch on the outer margin, on each side of which, be-
tween the nervules, the cilia are white; dark glossy brown, a
white spot with blue edging beyond the cell, another between
the first and second median branches, one near the costa be-
yond the third subcostal branch, and a fourth near the apex,
between the subcostal and upper radial; there are three small
blue spots in the cell, another close to the costa, and two more
between the end of the cell and middle of the outer margin:
posterior wings produced at the anal angle, dark brown, with
a large central blue patch ; outer margin nearest the anal angle
and submarginal line black; cilia nearest the apical angle
white: base of the anterior wings beneath pale reddish, with a
ruddy spot within the cell, apex whitish, variegated with dusky:
posterior wings tinged with lilac and variegated with brown
scales; an irregular brown band crosses the cell, another,
much broken, crosses the wing, with the general contour of
the outer margin; five indistinct ocelli beyond the cell, and a
submarginal line of lunules parallel to the outer margin, the
apical portion of which is whitish, the anal portion brown.
Hab. Apolobamba, North Bolivia (Pearce).
Obs. Allied to C. mnasylus, Dby., but is larger and darker,
with the central spot of the hind wings blue instead of white in
the middle, and the markings of the under surface more distinct.
Mr. Pearce brought several specimens of this species, all
agreeing with one another.
23. Perisama hilara.
g. Exp.1°85 im. Antenne black, club fulvous beneath ;
palpi white at the base, the terminal joint being black ; head,
thorax, and abdomen black, the latter greyish white beneath :
anterior wings black, a line within the cell lying close to the
median nervure, and passing out to between the first and
second median branches, a broad patch extending from between
the second and third median branches to the posterior angle,
an oblique spot beyond the cell and another near the apical
angle shiny metallic greenish blue; cilia of the outer margin
white between the nervures: posterior wings black, cilia white;
a submarginal band of metallic blue divided by the nervules
extends from the submedian nervure to the end of the upper
radial : basal half of the anterior wings beneath crimson (except
along the costa and the base itself, which are grey); apex of
the wing grey sprinkled with black scales, henresn this and
13
176 Mr. O. Salvin on new Species of Butterflies
the crimson black, on which near the costa is a white spot
followed by a blue dash: posterior wings cinereous, costa red ;
a very irregular narrow black band crosses the wings from the
costal to the inner margin, and a lunulated submarginal band
skirts the outer margin ; between the radials are two very in-
distinct black spots, about which and towards the costa is a
brownish cloud.
Hab. Valley of the Cosnipata, Peru (Whitely).
Obs. In the markings of the upper surface this species resem-
bles Perisama Lebasti, Guér.; on the underside it differs in the
greater extent of crimson on the anterior wings, in the much
greater uregularity of the inner dark line of the posterior
wings, and in having the black spots scarcely traceable.
24. Callicore neglecta.
3. Exp. 1°80 in. Antenne black ; palpi black above, white
beneath; head black; thorax tinged with green; abdomen
black above, beneath white: wings blue-black, cilia white;
base of the wing sprinkled with shining blue scales; a blue
or golden-green band crosses the anterior wing from the sub-
costal to the inner margin near the anal angle; another band
of the same colour, followed outwardly by another narrow
duller line, occupies the middle of the posterior wing near the
outer margin: base of the wing beneath, apex, and outer mar-
gin white, central portion crimson, the rest black; a narrow
black line follows the outer border, and another parallel to it
skirts the apical angle: posterior wings white ; a narrow sub-
marginal line, two lines parallel to the outer margin coalescing
in a red costal line, black; two black central rings, one (pear-
shaped) including one black spot, the other (oval) including
two spots; two other black lines cross the base of the wing,
and follow down the inner margin.
__ Hab, Apolobamba, North Bolivia (Pearce); valley of the
Cosnipata (Whitely); Pozzuzo, Peru (Pearce); Ecuador;
New Granada ; central valleys of Guatemala (Salvin & God-
man).
Obs. Most nearly allied to C. anna, Guér., but differing in
having a double band to the hind wings, the upper one of the
same lustre as that of the anterior wings. C. clymena, with
which this species is usually placed in collections, has but a
single dull-coloured band, and beneath is distinguished for the
great size and width of the black markings.
The species, as will be seen from the above list of localities,
has a wide range in the valleys of the Andes, thence extend-
ing northwards into Central America as far as Guatemala.
from Tropical America. Weg
25. Catagramma titania.
$. Exp. 2°25in. Antenne black; palpi black, anteriorly
white; head black, with small white spots near the origin of
the antenne; prothorax black; thorax and wing-lappets
brown; abdomen black: anterior wings crimson on the basal
portion, the inner margin, costa, and apical portion black
glossed with deep blue; there are three reddish spots near the
apex of the wing: posterior wings black, glossed in the centre
with deep blue; brownish hair-like scales cover the basal por-
tion; the anal angle is slightly prominent, and the cilia be-
tween the nervures are white: beneath, anterior wings as
above, but paler, and the black portions without the blue gloss;
a yellow band crosses the apical angle, cut near the outer
margin by a submarginal blue band, which follows the bend
of the same angle: the posterior wings have an irregular oval
yellow ring enclosing two pairs of blue spots divided by a
yellow line ; yellow lines extend along the costa, over the
submedian nervure, and parallel with the inner margin between
these and the oval ring is another yellow line; crossing the wing
outside the ring, and following its curve, is a broad blue line,
and between this and the outer margin a yellow band, which,
however, does not turn the anal angle. Gane
9. Similar to the male, but larger, the anterior wings less
pointed and rounder; a yellow streak crosses the apical
angle.
‘Hab. Borders of the forests of Guatemala, on both the
Atlantic and Pacific sides of the cordillera.
Obs. This species is very closely allied to the Amazonian
species described by Mr. Hewitson as C. maimuma ; but I have
seen so very many specimens, none of which quite correspond
with South-American examples, but which agree most closely
with one another, that I am satisfied the two species can
always be distinguished. There is a wide gap between the
ranges of C. maimuma and C. titania; the latter, though
abundant in Guatemala, and ranging, I believe, as far south as
Nicaragua, has not yet been taken anywhere southwards of
this pomt; the former has not yet been met with beyond the
districts bordering the Upper Amazon and its affluents, and
even there seems to be a scarce species. The most noticeable
differences between the two are as follows: in C. tetanza the
crimson patch of the upper wings is more restricted, and the
dark parts glossed with blue, the anal angle of the posterior
wings is more produced, and the patch of blue more widely
diffused; on the underside the yellow lines are constantly
narrower.
178 Mr. O. Salvin on new Species of Butterflies
26. Catagramma casta.
3. Exp. 2°25in. Antenne black ; palpi black, with a lateral
white streak ; head black, with two frontal spots, three on each
side near the origin of the antenne, and a streak behind the
eye white; prothorax and thorax black ; abdomen black, with
a yellow streak beneath ; front legs black, with the extremity
and a streak on the outside of the tibia white: anterior wings
broad, but somewhat obtusely pointed at the apex, deep glossy
blue, except at the apical angle, which is black ; rather nearer
the apex than the extremity of the cell is a small yellow band con-
sisting of three spots divided by the radial nervures : posterior
wings rounded, the anal angle hardly projecting, deep glossy
blue, rather brighter round the outer margin; cilia between
the nervules white : anterior wings beneath black, base of the
costa yellow; the yellow band of the upperside is much
longer, extending from the costa to the second median branch;
a crimson patch covers the entire cell and basal portion of the
wing from the centre of the inner margin ; a blue submarginal
line follows the bend of the apical angle : posterior wings black,
an indistinct oval yellow ring in the central portion of the
wing includes three bluish spots, with a yellow dash between
them ; on the basal side of this ring is another, broader yellow
line reaching from the costa towards the inner margin; out-
side the ring is a series of eight light-blue linear spots eross-
ing the interspaces between the nervures from the costa to the
inner margin; a narrow yellow submarginal line follows the
outer edge. .
Hab. Eastern slope of the mountains of Oaxaca, Mexico, at
an elevation of about 3000 feet.
Obs. A beautiful species, belonging to the C.maimuma group,
but differmg from all its congeners by its colouring above,
which is uniform deep glossy blue varied only by the small
yellow spots near the apex of the anterior wings.
27. Epicalia regina.
$. Exp. 2°90in. Antenne black ; palpi green in front, the
terminal joint black above ; head and thorax black, prothorax
dark brown ; abdomen black above, greenish beneath : wings
deep black, a broad band across the anterior wings from the
costa, past the end of the cell, to the first median branch, a small
transverse band consisting of three spots, and the apex of the
posterior wings blue, as in Hp. ancea; there is a small red
spot near the anal angle of the hind wings: beneath grass-
green, the bands of the upperside much paler, almost white ;
there is a dark spot in the cell illowed. by two cross lines,
Strom Tropical America. 179
also a dark mark outside the light cross band near the outer
margin: on the posterior wings a narrow dark waved line, the
main direction being -nearly straight, crosses the wing from
the middle of the costa, past the.end of the cell, towards the
inner margin ; another short broken line passes from the costal
nervure to the middle of the cell; there are four spots between
the cross line and the outer margin, the innermost black and
white, the middle ones white, and the uppermost black, with
a few tawny scales on its inner side; a very faint submarginal
line follows the curve of the outer edge.
?. Similar to the male, but browner, and has two red
marks within the cell, a dark submarginal line on the posterior
wings, inside of which are four black spots, that nearest the
anal angle bearing a blue pupilla.
Hab, Caraccas, Venezuela (A. Goering).
Obs. Allied to E. aglaura, Dby., but without any tawny
colouring on the posterior wings; apex of the posterior wing
greenish blue, as in 1, Hewitsont, Feld.
28. Callithea Whitely?.
3. Exp. 2°55 in. Antenne black; palpi grey in front;
head and prothorax black, thorax and abdomen tinged with
dark blue: wings rich glossy blue, rather darker towards the
base ; costa and apex of the anterior wings black; a broad
curved green band crosses the wing at its widest part to the
anal angle: a band of the same colour borders the outer mar-
gin of the posterior wing; the margin itself is black, and the
cilia white: beneath bronzy green, the base only of both wings
red: there are four black spots near the outer margin of the
anterior wings: four rows of black spots follow the curve of
the outer margin of the hind wing; the innermost passes just
outside the cell, and consists chiefly of rather elongate trian-
gular spots; in the next the spots are almost circular; in the
next the spots become lineiform towards the inner margin ; in
the outermost the spots are lunate.
Hab. Valley of the Cosnipata (H. Whitely).
29. Paphia lineata.
$. Exp. 2°90in. Antenne and head wanting; thorax and
abdomen greenish black: anterior wings considerably pro-
duced at the apical and strongly falcate at the anal angle,
outer margin slightly concave, very dark green; base of the
wing, a series of six spots arranged across the apical angle
and thence down the outer margin, and the whole of the poste-
rior Wings green: posterior wings show a notch, but are with-
out caudal appendage: beneath glossy brown freckled with
180 Mr. O. Salvin on new Species of Butterflies
white and darker brown; a dark band crosses from the apical
angle of the anterior wings to the second section of the
median nervure of the posterior wings; another reaches from
the apical angle of the hind wings to the inner margin; and a
third, parallel to the last, forms a chord to a portion of the
curve of the outer margin, near which are four very small
white spots.
Hab. Apolobamba, North Bolivia (Pearce).
Obs. 'The markings of the underside of this species correspond
with those of P. leuctra; on the upperside it resembles P. meris,
Feld., without the caudal appendages.
30. Paphia indigotica.
g. Exp. 3°30 in. Antenne black ; palpi brown, freckled
with white; head and thorax dark greenish; abdomen dark
indigo-blue: anterior wings have the apical angle pointed, the
outer margin straight to the bend of the anal angle, which is
only slightly falcate ; dark indigo-blue, lighter at the base ;
costa freckled with pale bluish-green scales ; a curved band of
pale bluish green crosses the apical angle from the costa to the
outer margin, the posterior wings, which are dark indigo-blue,
beig bordered with the same colour: posterior wings with a
simple caudal projection : beneath rich reddish brown, freckled,
especially near the costa of the anterior wings, with white; a
darkish band crosses the cell, another starts from the middle
of the lower radial, and reaches to the second section of the
median nervure of the posterior wings; another band crosses
the posterior wings from the apical angle to the inner margin;
and another, parallel to the last, forms a chord to part of the
outer margin ; outside this last band is a broad whitish line,
and near the base of the caudal projection a spot outwardly
black, inwardly white.
Hab. Calobre, Veragua (Arcé).
Obs, Closely allied to P. cheronea, Feld., but much darker
blue, P. cheronea being green rather than blue. The band
across the apex of the anterior wings is less distinct.
31. Paphia zelica.
9. Exp. 3:10 in. Antenne black; palpi brown, freckled
with white scales ; head and thorax greenish ; abdomen dusky:
anterior wings slightly acute, outer margin slightly convex,
anal angle strongly falcate ; dark purple brown; a broad tawn
band, slightly curved, crosses the wing beyond the cell from
the costa to the anal angle, but does not extend over the hook :
posterior wings deep purple brown, with long, slightly spatulate
caudal appendage; anal angle mutilated, apical angle tawny :
from Tropical America. 181
beneath brown, rather paler where the cross band on the upper-
side of the anterior wings is situated, freckled with darker
and white spots, the latter chiefly along the costa of the ante-
rior wings, across the cell of which are two dark bands, the
innermost of which extends over the cell of the hind wings;
a dark band also crosses both wings from the middle of the
upper radial of the anterior to the second section of the median
nervure of the posterior wings; there are also two parallel
transverse cross bands on the lower wings, the uppermost
reaching from the apical angle to the inner margin.
Hab. Calobre, Veragua (Arcé).
Obs. Near to Paphia xenica, Bates, from Guatemala; but the
base of both wings is rich purple instead of greenish, and the
markings of the underside are much more distinct.
32. Paphia proserpina.
3. Exp. 3°40in. Antenne black ; palpi with a central black
line laterally freckled with white scales; head, thorax, and
abdomen greenish black: anterior wings slightly acute, outer
margin slightly concave, anal angle falcate ; very dark indigo-
blue, lighter and greener at the base of both wings; near the
apical angle of the anterior wings are three faint bluish spots,
and the outer margin of the hind wings is similarly coloured :
the posterior wings bear a notch, but are without caudal ap-
pendage: beneath rich ruddy brown, sparingly marked with
white scales ;-there are three very indistinct white spots be-
tween the end of the third median branch and the anal
angle of the posterior wings.
?. Exp. 3°80 in. Base of both wings and a conspicuous
patch consisting of three spots near the apical angle of the
anterior wings blue: posterior wings with caudal projection :
beneath ruddy brown, paler than in g, and freckled more
strongly with white and dark marks, especially on the costa
of the anterior wings; between the outer margin and the ex-
tremity of the lower radial are five white spots, each with a
smaller black spot on its outer edge; the caudal projection
and the part adjoining are irrorated with black and white.
Hab. Valley of the Rio Polochic, Guatemala.
Obs. This is a large showy species, not nearly allied to any
with which I am acquainted.
[To be continued. |
182 Messrs. Hancock & Atthey on a new
XX.—On a new Labyrinthodont Amphibian from the Northum-
berland Coal-field, and on the occurrence in the same locality
of Anthracosaurus Russelli. By ALBaAny Hancock, F.L.8.,
and 'THos. ATTHEY.
WE have recently obtained from the black shale associated
with the Low-main seam at Newsham Colliery, in the neigh-
bourhood of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, the remains of a small
amphibian belonging to Prof. Huxley’s genus Urocordylus*.
This is the second generic form that has occurred to us in this
locality of the interesting series described by that learned
paleontologist from the Jarrow Colliery, in the county of
Kilkenny, Ireland. We propose to name this species Urocor-
dylus reticulatus. We have adopted the specific denomination
reticulatus as expressive of the reticulated structure of the sur-
face of the cranial bones. The specimen now before us is
composed of the head and twenty-three or twenty-four ver-
tebree in a continuous series; the dorsal aspect of the head is
exposed to view, and the vertebre lie with their left sides
uppermost. The entire length of the specimen is 23 inches.
The head, which is much crushed and injured by the fracture
of the bones, is of a subtriangular form, with the posterior
region truncated, and tapering in front to a short rounded
snout; and there are two large curved horns projecting back-
wards from the occipital region, like those of Keraterpetony.
In Prof. Huxley’s species, the horns were not observed; but
this is not to be wondered at, for the head was in a very bad
state of preservation. In our specimen, too, the bones are so
much broken up that it is impossible to determine their forms ;
the surface, however, of several of them is in excellent con-
dition, and exhibits, in the most distinct manner, a coarse
reticulated structure of elevated ridges or lines, which, from
the elongation of the meshes in some of the bones, have the
appearance of strong, raised, parallel strie. The head mea-
sures from the snout to the occipital margin 54 in., in width
at the broadest part 3,in.; the horns are -4;in. in length.
Two or three teeth are distinguishable in one of the man-
dibles, but are somewhat injured; they are small, have the
sides nearly parallel, and are slightly curved; the apices are
apparently abruptly pointed. The sternal plates are distinctly
displayed, but are in a much disturbed condition; all the
three, however, can be made out, two of them being much
* “On a Collection of Fossil Vertebrata from the Jarrow Colliery,
County of Kilkenny, Ireland,’ by Thos. H. Huxley and E. Perceval
Wright (Trans. Royal Irish Academy, 1867, vol. xxiv.).
t+ See op. cit.
Labyrinthodont Amphibian from Northumberland. 183
mutilated. They lie immediately behind the head, at the left
side of the specimen, towards the ventral aspect; two are a
little in advance of the third. They all have the surface
covered with a minute reticulation of raised lines, which assume
a radial disposition, as if from centres of growth. Behind the
plates, on the left or ventral side of the body, there is a sort
of roll, as it were, extending some way backwards, which
seems to be composed of minute elliptical scales; they are,
however, very indefinite; their exact form could not be de-
termined.
The vertebre, of which there are twenty-three or twenty-
four, are very apparent, but their precise form is rather diffi-
cult to make out; they are nevertheless in regular order, but
are somewhat obscured by the matrix. They each bear a long,
compressed or flattened, plate-like dorsal spine, which is as
high or a little higher than the centrum; its dorsal or free
margin is truncated and serrated; below it is contracted in
the antero-posterior direction, and, expanding above, somewhat
resembles a fan, the resemblance being heightened by the
strong radiating strie that cover the sides. They are very
similar to the vertical processes of Urocordylus Wandesfordit,
but more particularly agree, in proportion and character, with
the subyertebral bone or spine. ‘The three or four terminal
posterior vertebre have in addition subvertebral bones similar
in form and size to the dorsal spines. From this fact it would
appear that these three or four vertebree belong to the tail;
and if the new species is as rich in caudal vertebra as U.
Wandesfordit, our specimen must have lost at least seventy
of the bones of its tail. U. reticulatus has therefore about
twenty trunk or precaudal vertebree, the number that is found
in Prof. Huxley’s species. The vertebre are about +, inch in
length, and in height } inch, including the dorsal spine; the
height of the caudal vertebree, measuring from the upper
margin of the dorsal spine to the lower margin of the subver-
tebral bone, is inch. The zygapophyses project laterally as
well as forward and backward.
There are slight indications of anterior and posterior limbs ;
but the appearances are too vague to be worthy of further
notice, beyond that a fragment of bone seems to mark the
place of the posterior limb near the termination of the trunk-
vertebre. And not far from this point there is also a small
bone, which is probably one of the phalanges.
The length of the specimen, including the head and trunk-
vertebra, is only one-fourth that of the same parts of U.
Wandesfordii; we may therefore conclude that the latter
species is four times the size of U. reticulatus. When perfect,
184 Messrs. Hancock & Atthey on Anthracosaurus Russelli
U. Wandesfordii is wpwards of 18 inches long; consequently
the new species would measure 44 inches if entire.
U. reticulatus is evidently closely related to Keraterpeton,
as is proved by the form of the ped: the two occipital cornua,
and also by the character of the sternal plates ; so close, indeed,
does this relationship appear to be, that we have some doubt
whether it should not be placed in that genus. It is true that
no occipital horns were observed in U. Wandesfordit; but the
skull of Prof. Huxley’s specimen was so much crushed and
disturbed that much stress cannot be placed on this negative
fact; and the vertebrae of our species resemble more closely
those of Urocordylus than they do those of Keraterpeton.
Moreover in the latter form there is a perceptible dimi-
nution in the size of the nineteenth vertebra, and so on to the
tail, while in our species the last of the three caudal vertebra,
the twenty-third or twenty-fourth, is as large as any of the
trunk-vertebre, agreeing in this respect with Urocordylus, and
signifying that U. reticulatus has a long and powerful tail,
which is the characteristic feature of the genus. We have
therefore provisionally placed our new species in that genus.
Another question arises, Is U. reticulatus a distinct species ?
or is it merely the young of U. Wandesfordii? We believe
it to be distinct, because the vertical processes of the vertebree,
though strongly resembling those of that species, differ con-
siderably from them in certain particulars. The character of
the sternal plates is also different, and the surface-structure of
the cranial bones is apparently peculiar; but it must be
allowed that this feature may be wanting in U. Wandesfordit
merely on account of the curious state of preservation of the
specimen from which that species was described. But be this
as it may, the interest of this discovery is not lessened; and,
indeed, this addition to the coal-fauna of the district is the
most important that has been made since our acquisition in
1867 of Ophiderpeton, another of Prof. Huxley’s genera from
the Kilkenny coal-shales. And we cannot but deem ourselves
fortunate in having met with this new species of so rare a
form of Labyrinthodont Amphibian ; for much novelty is not
now to be expected from the shales of Newsham and Cram-
lington, which have been assiduously searched for the last
fifteen years.
Anthracosaurus Russelli, Huxley.
A large fragment of the skull of this rare fossil was obtained
a short time ago at Newsham; it is a portion of the anterior
part of the cranium, and happily exhibits characteristic features
that cannot well be mistaken. The snout is wanting, being
from the Northumberland Coal-field. 185
broken off diagonally backwards from left to right; and pos-
teriorly the specimen is broken away in a parallel diagonal
line a little behind the great vomerine tusks; so that on the
right side nearly the whole of the maxilla is present; on the
left the fracture passes close to the base of the large vomerine
tusk, consequently the maxilla of this side is almost entirely
wanting. In form the specimen is rhomboidal, being diago-
nally broken across before and behind; the sides are perfect ;
it measures lengthwise 32 inches, in breadth 6 inches.
Both the dorsal and palatal surfaces have been cleared of
the matrix, a work of much care and labour; and though the
parts are crushed and distorted, many of the characters are
well preserved. The sculpture of the bone on the dorsal sur-
face is distinctly displayed, and is of the usual Labyrinthodont
character, resembling very closely that of Pteroplax; but the
pits or depressions are less regular, and the surrounding ridges
are rough and much broken up. The frontal bones are broken
away before and behind, but the greater part of them is evi-
dently present; they are considerably elongated, and are a
little expanded in front. A triangular bone, with its apex
forward, is interposed on either side between the frontals and
the maxille; these bones are probably the postfrontals, or
they may be the prefrontals and the postfrontals in combina-
tion. On the left side a fragment, probably of the nasal bone,
is wedged in in front, between the anterior extremity of the
frontal and the maxilla. The sutures are represented by wide,
smooth, depressed lines, but, with the exception of those of the
frontals, they are not very easily determined.
The other side of the specimen exhibits the roof of the
mouth, but the bones are so much crushed and broken that it
is impossible to make out their forms and limits. Suffice it
to say that, a little in front of the great vomerine tusks, there
is, on each side, a large deep depression (which two depres-
sions are undoubtedly the anterior palatal foramina), and that
immediately behind and towards the outer margin of the right
vomerine tusk a circular depression, upwards of half an inch
in diameter, indicates the position of the right posterior naris.
The teeth belonging to the fragment are nearly all present ;
but many of them are broken down and displaced, and only
a few retain their apices. ‘The two great vomerine tusks are
not much disturbed; that on the right side stands erect, but a
large portion of the crown has disappeared. It is placed
somewhat nearer to the maxilla than to the central line of the
skull, and is not very far from the anterior margin of the spe-
cimen; what remains of it is 3 inch in height, and it measures
across the widest part of the base finch. The left vomerine
186 Messrs. Hancock & Atthey on Anthracosaurus Russelli
tusk is crushed down close to the posterior margin of the
specimen, with its base near its proper position, not far from
the maxilla, and the apex pointing inwards: it is broken
across near to the middle; and the basal portion overlies, to
some extent, the upper part. When perfect, this tusk could
not be less than two inches long, and is about an inch wide
at the base.
Four teeth, upwards of half an inch long, lie upon the base
of this large tusk, and another, about the same size, lies
pressed down a little in front of it; these have their bases
attached to the maxilla, and are the only maxillary teeth of
this side, a very small portion of the maxilla being present.
In front of these teeth a short space intervenes between them
and the base of a large tooth, which stands erect, and is $ inch
in diameter; the crown lies pressed down in contact with the
basal portion, and with it measures nearly an inch in length.
A large depression is immediately in advance of this tooth,
separating it from two other teeth equally large, or, perhaps,
a little larger, which are crushed down confusedly, one over
the other, at the anterior extremity of the specimen. These
three large teeth would seem to belong to the premaxilla.
The teeth of the maxilla of the right side are well displayed ;
they stand up, for the most part arranged along the alveolar
ridge with their crowns (some of which are perfect) inclined
backward and inward. There are thirteen of these teeth;
they vary somewhat in size, and commence in front in a line
with the base of the vomerine tusk. ‘The first seven are placed
close together; the first and seventh are larger than the rest,
and are 3 inch wide at the base; two or three of the smaller
have the crown complete; when perfect, the large ones must
have been upwards of half an inch long. A short space now
intervenes in the series, and then there is a cluster of four
more teeth, three of which are rather large and one small, the
latter being placed between the first and second of the three ;
all their crowns are broken off; the bases of the three larger
measure 2 inch in diameter. Behind these is a large depres-
sion; and then the series is terminated by the two last teeth,
the twelfth and thirteenth, which are placed near to each
other. All that remains of the former is a very short stump,
almost 4 inch in diameter; the latter is apparently quite
small, and is represented by a mere fragment, which is placed
close to the fractured margin of the specimen.
In number and size the teeth do not exactly correspond to
those of the specimen from the Lanarkshire coal-field described
by Prof. Huxley *; but the disparity in these respects does
* Journal of the Geological Soc. vol. xix. p. 56, 1863,
from the Northumberland Coal-field. 187
not amount to much. In the Scotch specimen there are thir-
teen teeth described in the left premaxilla and maxilla, while
nineteen are enumerated as attached to the same bones of the
right side. In our specimen there are thirteen maxillary teeth
on the right side and three premaxillary teeth on the left, one
or two apparently being wanting. So it would seem that the
Newsham specimen, when perfect, had, in all probability, six-
teen or seventeen teeth in the upper jaw on each side; but as
the number in the two sides does not apparently agree in the
Scotch specimen, our specimen may have had two or three
teeth more or less on either side, thus altering the number to
thirteen or nineteen, as in the specimen described by Prof.
Huxley.
The palatal teeth, however, are wanting in the Newsham
specimen. On the left side, the bone to which they are at-
tached is broken away; but on the right side there is a ridge
behind the vomerine tusk, which, perhaps, may be the alveolar
plate; if so, the teeth have been removed ; there are, however,
some fragments in the vicinity, which possibly belong to the
palatal teeth of this side.
The teeth on the whole are somewhat less than those of the
Scotch specimen, and this disagreement cannot be accounted
for by the difference in size of the skulls. The Scotch skull
is 5°3 inches in width opposite the vomerine tusks. Our spe-
cimen measures across the same region 5°5 inches; so the
latter would appear to be the larger of the two. But this is
probably not the case, for our fragment seems to be a little
widened by pressure. The skull, however, of our specimen,
when perfect, could not be much, if at all, smaller than that
described from Scotland, which is stated to be 15 inches long,
and 12 inches wide at the widest part. That they were of
nearly equal size is apparently confirmed by the dimensions of
the vomerine tusks.
Those of the Newsham specimen seem to be quite as large
as those of the Scotch specimen; in both they are about equal
im diameter at the base. It is true that Prof. Huxley esti-
mates their length in the Scotch specimen to be 3 inches,
while, judging from the fragments, we have calculated that
the left tusk im our specimen could not be less than 2 inches
long; but how much longer it may have been we cannot de-
termine. It is certain that the two fragments into which it is
broken, when taken together, measure upwards of 2 inches in
length ; and it is impossible to say how much the basal por-
tion overlies the upper ;- moreover, the latter is bent, and the
apical extremity is wanting. We think, then, that the dis-
parity in the number and size of the teeth and tusks is not
188 Messrs. Hancock & Atthey on Anthracosaurus Russell.
sufficient to cause us to doubt the specific identity of the two
specimens in question.
We must now turn to the character of the teeth themselves.
In our specimen they have the same irregularly rounded base
as those of the Scotch specimen; and like them they are,
towards the apex, a little flattened, giving to the section of the
crown an elliptical contour, the long axis being in the direc-
tion of the jaw; and on the frontal and dorsal aspects they
are slightly carinated. So far the teeth agree; but Prof.
Huxley describes the surface of those in his specimen as
ridged, not grooved, while in ours they may be said to be both
grooved and, to some extent, ridged. The base of the teeth,
when in a good state of preservation, exhibits narrow, shallow
grooves, the interspaces being comparatively wide and usually
a little prominent, though sometimes almost flat. This dif-
ference in the two instances is, perhaps, of not much import~
ance, and may be accounted for by the peculiar state of pre-
servation of the specimens: we shall shortly endeavour to
show that this is the fact; in the meantime we will say a few
words on the internal structure of the teeth. In this respect
there is also some slight difference; our sections of the teeth
and those described by Prof. Huxley do not exactly agree.
The only difference of any consequence, however, can be ex-
plained, we think, by supposing that the sections were made
from different parts of the tooth. In Pteroplax, the pulp-
cavity, near the root of the tooth, is radiated, as it is in An-
thracosaurus; a little nearer the base the radial spaces are
wider, a little further up they are contracted, and still higher
up they are contracted more, and ultimately they are lost, and
the cylindrical form of the pulp-cavity established. We may
therefore presume that the sections described by Prof. Huxley
were made near to the base of the tooth in Anthracosaurus,
and consequently the radial form of the pulp-cavity was
strongly developed. Our sections are from higher up the
tooth; and the result is, that the radiation of this cavity is very
imperfect and in part obliterated. In other respects the struc-
ture appears to agree with Prof. Huxley’s description: but
this observation applies only to the general arrangement of
the parts; for, as the learned Professor remarks, “ the details
could only be made intelligible by elaborate figures,”’ and such
were not given.
In Mr. Atthey’s collection there is a portion of a right man-
dible which was obtained at Newsham, and which we ori-
ginally thought belonged to Pteroplax, but which we now
have no doubt belongs to Anthracosaurus. The surface-sculp-
ture of the bone, the general form, character, and internal
Mr. H. J. Carter on a new Genus of Sponges. 189
structure of the teeth demonstrate this since we have become
acquainted with these features in that genus.
The fragment, which is upwards of 23 inches long, 14 inch
wide behind, and ? inch wide in front, is the anterior portion
of the right mandible ; it has attached to it five teeth ; in front
it is perfect ; the posterior portion is broken away close to the
fifth tooth, which, though much injured, appears to be about
half an inch long. The three next in advance are not quite
so long, and are separated from the fifth and from each other
by considerable spaces, and from the tooth in front by a space
2 inch in length. This frontal tooth, which is perfect, is half
an inch long and ,8, inch wide at the base; it is placed a
little way from the extremity, where there is a depression, but
whether for the reception of the base of a tooth cannot be de-
termined. The surface of the teeth is ridged, particularly
towards the base, agreeing in this respect with those in the
Scotch specimen; they are a little compressed above ; and one,
which is tolerably perfect, has the apex slightly carinated.
On making a section of one of the teeth, it is quite obvious
that the ridges on the surface are owing to erosion, if not
entirely, at least mainly, and that the internal structure agrees
very well with that of Anthracosaurus when allowance is
made for the variation caused by the sections not being made
at the same part. Our section was made a little way up
the tooth, while those of the Scotch specimen were, as we
have already explained, evidently made close to the base.
There can therefore be little doubt that this fragmentary
mandible really belongs to Anthracosuurus. We have, then, the
satisfaction of recording the occurrence in the Northumberland
coal-field not only of a considerable portion of the cranium, but
likewise of a large fragment of the jaw of this rare fossil.
The large sternal plate, nearly 5 inches long, described in
our paper on Pteroplax*, is probably that of Anthracosaurus ;
it was found in the same locality, and this is the only large
Labyrinthodont occurring in the Newsham shale to which it
can at present be assigned. We also possess some ribs and
vertebree which perhaps belong to the same animal.
XXI.—On Grayella cyathophora, a new Genus and Species
of Sponges. By H. J. Carter, F.R.S. &e.
[Plate VIL]
AxouT a fortnight since, Dr. J. E. Gray kindly sent me a
specimen of a marine sponge, with the request that I would
* See Annals of Nat. Hist. ser. 4. vol. i. p. 277.
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. iv. 14
190 Mr. H. J. Carter on Grayella cyathophora,
examine it, which I did; and having found it interesting in
many points of view, I obtained his permission to illustrate
and describe it. The sponge was originally got in the
Gulf of Suez by Mr. M‘Andrew, who preserved it in spirit ;
and the portion sent to me is that represented in the accom-
panying plate, magnified twice its natural size.
It is quite new both to Dr. Gray and myself; and out of
respect for Dr. Gray’s labours in this way, it seems to me that
I cannot do better than dedicate the genus to him, and call the
species, from the little coral-like cups which it bears on its
surface, Grayella cyathophora.
GRAYELLA, nov. gen.
Grayella cyathophora, mihi. Pl. VIL.
Massive, sessile, spreading. Surface undulating, smooth,
interrupted by the presence of numerous subcircular, oval or
conical, cup-like projections or pores, with here and there a
monticular vent. Internally consisting of a distinct dermal
layer covering a massive spongiform structure permeated in
all directions by numerous cavities and excretory canals.
Dermal layer distinct, smooth externally, bearing the cup-like
bodies mentioned, with minute papillary eminences between
them ; consisting of condensed sarcode charged with fusiform,
slightly curved, spinous spicules, and connected internally
with the parenchyma by prolongations inwards of the cup-
like bodies ; a looser union generally in other places, between
the dermal and the parenchymatous structures. Cup-like
body variable in size, below the twelfth part of an inch in dia-
meter, subcircular or oval, flat, shallow, although considerably
raised above the general surface of the dermal layer by a
smooth vertical wall which is continuous with the latter
circumferentially, closed above by a cribriform disk, and open
below in the centre, with a funnel-shaped prolongation which
is extended into the parenchyma; composed of condensed
sarcode like the dermal layer. Cribriform disk more or less
concave, formed of a network of sarcode more or less hirsute
from the projecting ends of straight, smooth, cylindrical spi-
cules; continuous at the circumference with the wall of the
cup; supported for some distance inwards on vertical columns
of sarcode, which extend between it and the sides of the cup,
but free in the centre, where it is spread over a compressed
circular cavity that, as before stated, is prolonged, funnel-
shaped, into the parenchyma; cavity in the centre of the cup
formed by the cribriform disk above, by the columns of
sarcode laterally, and in continuity with the funnel-shaped
a new Genus and Species of Sponges. 191
prolongation below, whose surface, again, is characterized by
the presence of circular ruges of sarcode more or less reticu-
lated, finally opening by its contracted or narrow end into the
commencement ofan excretory canal (Pl. VII. fig. 5); under
contraction, the cup-like body is conical, puckered at the apex,
and vertically ribbed to the base (fig. 9c). Vents monticular,
characterized by a puckered state of the dermal sarcode at their
openings and more or less absence of the cup-like bodies in
their immediate vicinity ; consisting of a prolongation of the
dermal sarcode, whose free margin more or less covers a sub-
jacent cloacal chamber, furnished with a central elevation,
from which radiate three or more septa, or as many as there
may be oscular openings into this chamber (figs. 7 & 8).
Parenchyma consisting of sponge-substance charged with the
curved spicule mentioned, and supported on a reticulated ske-
leton formed of bundles of the straight cylindrical spicules,
overlapping each other and bound together by non-granular
transparent sarcode; superiorly attached to the dermal layer,
and inferiorly to the object on which the sponge grows ; per-
meated by small cavities and excretory canals characterized
by their persistent openness and by having their walls formed
of sarcodal ruge more or less circular, prominent, and reticu-
lated ; with apertures of various dimensions in the interstices,
for the most part continuous, at their commencement, with
the constricted funnel-shaped prolongations of the cup-like
bodies, presenting cavernous dilatations here and there in
their course, and finally, after uniting to form large trunks,
opening by the oscula into the chambers of the vents already
described. Spicules of two kinds, long and short; the former
just three times the length of the latter. Long spicule smooth,
straight, slightly fusiform, almost cylindrical, abruptly termi-
nated, with one end a little sharper than the other; confined
to the skeleton-structure of the parenchyma and the sarcodal
columns of the cup-like bodies. Short spicule abundant, thickly
spinous, slightly curved, fusiform, sharp-pointed, confined to
the parenchyma and dermal layer ; spines minute, erect, pyra-
midal. Size of specimen figured 14 inch long by 4 inch thick;
original mass much larger. Colour not stated.
Hab. Red Sea, Gulf of Suez. Sessile, spreading on rocks
or hard surfaces.
Obs. This is a very remarkable sponge, for many reasons.
In the first place, the cup-like bodies so much resemble those
of similar corals, especially when the former are rendered
conical and ribbed by contraction, that, in a fossilized state,
the cribriform disk alone could determine the point; and to a
superficial observer the specimen, even when recent, might
14*
192 Mr. H. J. Carter on Grayella cyathophora,
thus easily be mistaken for a coral. It did not, however,
escape the keen discrimination of Mr. M‘Andrew; and hence
we are provided with a species which at once brings the sponges
a step nearer to the corals im form, and one which may now
and hereafter throw much light on the true nature of many
fossilized species that otherwise might be doubted.
The cup-like body, averaging in its broadest diameter 1-12th
of an inch, far surpasses in size anything of the kind hitherto
met with in the sponges. Witness a similar apparatus which
I have lately described and figured in PachymatismaJohnstonia
(Annals, this volume, pl. 2. fig. 12 &c.), where it is depressed
and not more than a quarter the diameter of the cup-like body
in Grayella cyathophora.
This, too, I think, is the first instance on record where the
pore (for such is the nature of the cup-like body) has been
shown to be in direct communication with the excretory canals.
Although the surface of the dermal layer between the cup-
like bodies is minutely papillated, and each papilla might, in
the recent state, have presented an aperture, which the sponge
itself, or the astringency of the spirit in which it was preserved,
may have closed, I only saw one here and there; and these
were as often in the depressions between as upon the papillee
themselves. Hence I am inclined to infer that such apertures
are adventitious. In some instances they appear to be the
buds of new cups; but for the most part the dermal layer
is perfectly smooth, and hirsute only over the cribriform disks.
The cups, again, have the power of closing themselves ; but
whether this is produced by the general contraction of the
reticulated sareode of the cribriform disk, or by that of the
walls of the cup alone, or by both synchronously, I am igno-
rant. When, however, it does take place, the cups, in suc-
cessive degrees of contraction, show that the apertures of the
eribriform disk are more or less closed by the approximation
of the reticulated structure ; and the margin generally yielding
as well, causes the cup to assume a conical form, puckered at
the apex and ribbed vertically down its sides, in the manner
of a coral-polype (fig. 9 a, 6, c).
After the water has passed through the concave cribriform
disk (convex or flat when living ?), it reaches the internal
cavity or chamber of the cup, and thence flows on to the con-
stricted end of the funnel-shaped prolongation, which, being
provided with the circular ribs or rugee of sarcode mentioned,
may also have the power of total closure, especially at the
point where it opens into the commencement of the excretory
canal to which it is attached (fig. 5, f).
The excretory canal, too, is observed to be much wider than
a.new Genus and Species of Sponges. 193
the constricted end of the funnel which here joins it, and to
be formed, apparently, of much less rigid structure. The sar-
codal ruge are much more openly reticulate, although still
tending to a circular arrangement; and apertures of different
dimensions begin to appear in the interstices of the reticula-
tion (fig. 5 g, h, 2).
One cannot help being struck with the resemblance in form
of these ruge (which are indistinctly fibrous under compres-
sion and a high power) to the carnew columne of the heart in
warm-blooded animals ; nor can one help associating the
patent character of the canals with this structure surrounding
them, and the apertures in the interstices, with the trachee of
insects. We see also how the extent of surface thus becomes
multiplied, how these projecting ruge assimilate the structure
to that of the frog’s lung, where, for aération, the internal
surface of the hitherto simple sac in fishes begins to shadow
forth the vesicular character and vast extent of surface ex-
posed for aération in the fully-developed lungs of the mam-
malia ; nor can we, finally, fail to conclude that the excretory
system of canals in this and probably all other sponges may,
at least partly, subserve this purpose.
I have not been able to pass a bristle from the vent on the
surface through the excretory canal in the parenchyma to the
eribriform disk of the cup-like body, or vice versé. Neither
could it be expected, with so many loose valvular projections
intervening, and such tortuous passages, that the top of a
bristle would be thus unimpeded in its transit. But a bristle
can be easily passed through the truncated ends of the large
excretory canals in the parenchyma to the vent on the surface ;
and when these canals are compared with the canals into
which the funnel-shaped prolongation of the cup-like body
empties itself, their structure is found to be identical. If this
identity alone be not considered sufficient to establish the fact
that the cup-like body opens directly into an excretory canal,
then the fact that there are no other canals of the kind in the
sponge for it to open into but the excretory system is decisive.
The bristle for this purpose should be burnt at one end, to
give it a round form, or “ probe-point.”
We next come to the apertures opening into the excretory
canal itself through the interstices of the sarcodal reticulations;
and this brings us to the subject of nutrition, with which the
excretory system, in combination with the cup-like bodies,
must be as much connected as with aération (fig. 5 7).
No doubt many of these apertures are the openings of
branches of the excretory canal-system which may belong to
as many cup-like bodies; but then there are others which
194 Mr. H. J. Carter on Grayella cyathophora,
seem too minute for this. In short, there are many more
apertures than there are cup-like bodies; so we have to ac-
count for the superfluity.
It is evident that Prof. Huxley’s hypothetical diagram
(Introduct. to the Classification of Animals, p. 15, fig. 4), by
which a globular cavity lined with ciliated sponge-cells is
made to have two apertures (viz. one receiving a stream of
water directly from the exterior, and the other transmitting it
into the excretory canal), will not apply to Grayella cyatho-
phora. We must have another hypothesis here, more espe-
cially for the canals which do not communicate with a cup-
like body.
Certainly, in the young Spongilla, growing from the seed-
like body, the particles of food (carmine) may be seen to
pass into the general chamber surrounding the parenchyma,
and thence into ampullaceous sacs imbedded in the latter.
That these sacs are lined with monociliated and unciliated
sponge-cells which incept the particles, apparently transmitted
through a single aperture in this sac, is also evident. But I
could never see how the undigested portions got into the ex-
cretory canals. I had therefore to conceive that it took place
through the bodies of the sponge-cells themselves, as a particle
might be incepted on one side of an Ameba and ejected at the
other—in short, that the sponge-cells of the ampullaceous sac
acted as a kind of partition between the chamber receiving the
particles and the canals carrying off the refuse. (See my figures
and descriptions of the ultimate structure of Spongilla, Annals,
ser. 2. vol. xx. p. 21.)
But, be this as it may with Spongilla, it is with Grayella
cyathophora that we are now chiefly concerned; and here,
although it is plain that there is a direct communication be-
tween the cup-like body and the excretory canal, it is equally
plain also that this is chiefly for aération and for the admis-
sion of nutritive particles to some other organs.
We have therefore to look for these organs ; and falling back
upon the canals which do not come directly from the cup-like
bodies, and certain cavernous excavations in the parenchyma
above mentioned, which appear to be dilatations of the excre-
tory canals along their course, analogous to, if not homologous
with, the areolar cavities in Pachymatisma Johnstonia (Annals,
this volume, pp. 12 & 13), it does not seem improbable that
the sponge-cells which incept the particles may be here
situated.
But whether they are in vesicular dilatations (like the “am-
pullaceous sac”’) at the ends of these canals, or whether in
globular dilatations like those in Prof. Huxley’s hypothetical
a new Genus and Species of Sponges. 195
diagram, situated on canal-loops which have thus two open-
ings in connexion with an excretory duct, future discovery
must determine.
It is useless to attempt this in a sponge which has been pre-
served in spirit, or in any other way after death ; for the sarcode
is too delicate to retain the form of its minuter parts unaided
by vitality. Hence it is necessary to pursue these researches
with the sponge in the living condition, and under experiments
perhaps similar to those instituted by myself in the examina-
tion of Spongilla, whose ultimate structure, so far as I have
gone, never could have been obtained under any other cireum-
stances. In the present instance, however, we may consider
ourselves fortunate in having met with a species in which the
continuity of the pore or cup-like body and the excretory
canal can be clearly demonstrated even after preservation.
Another question, which can only be determined during life,
is the form and nature of the sponge-cell engaged in the nutri-
tive function.
In Prof. James-Clark’s valuable paper (Memoirs of the
Boston Society of Nat. History, read June 20, 1866, and re-
printed in the ‘ Annals,’ 1868, ser. 4. vol. i.), it is naturally
urged that, because the ciliated cells of the calcareous sponge
called Leucosolenia botryoides have a funnel-shaped process
round their cilium, and particles drawn by the cilium into
the funnel pass thence into the body, they are taken into
the latter through a fixed oral aperture, close to which also
the undigested portions make their exit, as in his genus
Codosiga &c., among the flagellated Infusoria. Further,
Prof. James-Clark thinks it not improbable that such might
be the case with the ciliated cells of Spongilla possessing the
ear-like appendages which I have figured in the ‘ Annals’
(ser. 3. vol. i. pl. 1. figs. 12, 13, 14), these being, in his opi-
nion, merely the sides in profile of the funnel-shaped process
not otherwise seen—an appearance which he himself has re-
cognized. But it may be observed that, among the sponge-
cells of the ‘‘ ampullaceous sac”’ of Spongilla (1. c.), there were
not only monociliated but also unciliated sponge-cells which
had equally incepted the particles of carmine. It is possible
that the funnel-shaped process and the cilium may have been
retracted here, in accordance with Prof. James-Clark’s obser-
vations of the latter in Codosiga (p. 193, /. c.) and of the former
in Leucosolenia (footnote, p. 208, 2b.) ; and this might be his
explanation of their absence, the oral orifice remaining fixed
and stationary as before. Still such retraction would not be
less characteristic of the Rhizopoda than of the Infusoria
flagellata.
196 My. H. J. Carter on Grayella cyathophora,
But Prof. James-Clark, in alluding to my statement that
the sponge-cells are allied to the Rhizopoda, from the proba-
bility of their having no fixed oral aperture but the power of
polymorphism and the inception of particles of food at any
point of the body &c., announces his “firm conviction that the
true ciliated Spongie are not Rhizopoda in any sense what-
ever, nor even closely related to them, but are genuine com-
pound flagellate Protozoa” (1. c. p. 206). To what extent the
“true ciliated Spongie”’ may be carried does not appear,
although it seems evident that the expression includes the
calcareous sponges.
Now, a short time since, having had to break up, for micro-
scopical examination, a living portion of a calcareous sponge,
viz. Grantia ciliata, which is closely allied to Leucosolenia, I
observed that, after a little while, the cilia ceased to appear
(were retracted ?), and that the cells all began to creep about
the glass by expansions identical with those of Ameba.
Hence I still, even among the calcareous sponges, must ad-
here to my opinion that they as well as Spongilla are closely
allied to the Rhizopoda.
Prof. James-Clark assumes, on the inferences above stated
(for he did not actually see the oral aperture either in the cells
of Leucosolenia or Codostga), that there is a fixed mouth and
an anal orifice close by it, and therefore that the animal ex-
pression (if I may use the term) of the “ true ciliated Spongie”’
is a flagellated Infusorium not allied to the Rhizopoda “ in
any sense whatever.”
I also, on inferences above stated, assume that the sponge-
cell is almost identical with Ameba, and therefore that all the
sponges are intimately allied to the Rhizopoda.
It is but fair, however, to add that I have not yet had time
to search for the signs of the flagellate Infusoria delineated
and described by Prof. James-Clark, viz. the funnel-shaped
process. surrounding the cilium &e., and therefore am not able
to confirm or disprove his conclusions in this respect. At
the same time, I think, the fact of the amoeboid organisms
beginning life as flagellated Infusoria, and afterwards ex-
changing (retracting?) the cilium for a polymorphic condition,
if they do not occasionally present both forms in combination,
points to a nearer alliance between the two than Prof. James-
Clark’s ‘‘ conviction’ above quoted would allow.
Lastly, the formation of the vents in Grayella cyathophora
is peculiar; for the oscula do not open directly upon the
dermal layer as in most other sponges, but into a cloacal
chamber which is formed over them by a prolongation of the
dermal sarcode, evidencing by its ee orifice that it also
a new Genus and Species of Sponges. 197
has the power of opening and closing itself as occasion may
require (figs. 7, 8).
EXPLANATION OF PLATE VII.
Fig. 1. Grayella cyathophora, nu. sp., magnified twice the natural size;
showing cup-like bodies or pores and vents.
Fy. 2. The same, small spinous curved spicule of the dermal layer and
parenchyma, magnified. Size 7-1800ths long by about 1-8000th
inch broad.
Fig. 3. The same, portion of spinous spicule more magnified, to show
form of spines.
Fig. 4. The same, large, smooth, straight spicule of skeleton and cup-
like body, magnified. Size 20-1800ths long by about 1-6000th
inch broad.
Fig. 5. The same, vertical section of one of the cup-like bodies, greatly
magnified (scale 1-48th to 1-1800th of an inch): aa, cup;
bb, its continuity with the dermal layer; ec, cribriform disk
supported on sarcodal columns, in which are imbedded the
smooth spicules whose ends project beyond the surface ; d, por-
tion of cribriform disk covering the cavity or central chamber
of the cup; e, vertical section of funnel-shaped prolongation of
central chamber, showing its circular ruge; f, its constricted
end opening into g, the commencement of an excretory canal;
h, reticulated sarcodal rugee, characteristic of the internal sur-
face of the excretory canals ; 7, apertures opening into excretory
canal between the reticulations of the sarcodal network.
“Fig. 6. The same, cribriform disk magnified on the same scale. Fora-
mina varying from 1-1800 to 1-300th of an inch in diameter.
Fig. 7, The same, vertical section of vent, greatly magnified and dia-
grammatic, to show :—a, opening of cloacal chamber; 6, pro-
longation of dermal layer forming the sides of the chamber;
c, papillary eminence in the centre of the chamber, from which
radiate as many septa to the sides of, as there are oscula opening
into, the chamber; d, d, portions of chamber leading down to
oscula.
Fig. 8. The same, horizontal section of vent, greatly magnified and dia-
grammatic, to show :—a, external surface of dermal prolongation
forming cloacal chamber; 8, cut edge of same; ¢,c,c,c, openings
of oscula; d, horizontal section of papillary eminence and septal
divisions.
Fig. 9. The same, portion of dermal layer, to show three cup-like bodies
in different degrees of expansion and contraction respectively,
magnified 6 diameters; also the minute papillary elevations
between them: a, fully expanded cup; 0, half-expanded cup;
ce, wholly contracted cup, showing its ribbed coral-like form
from contraction; d, minute papillary elevations on dermal
surface.
Fig. 10. The same, portion of dermal layer, magnified, to show the dis-
position of the small spinous spicules with which it is charged,
198 Rev. W. A. Leighton on the Lichens of Cader Idris.
XXII.—WNotule Lichenologice. No. XXX.
By the Rev. W. A. Leicuton, B.A., F.L.S.
Pirie Notes on the Lichens of Cader Idris, North Wales.
Ever since my last visit to Cader Idris, in 1866 (see Not.
Lich. No. XV., ‘ Annals,’ ser. 3. vol. xix. p. 402), it has been
my wish to return to that mountain and explore the cwms on
the south side for lichens. On July 12, 1869, I set off thither-
ward with my friend the Rev. H. E. Lowe, of Atherstone,
who is an enthusiastic admirer of ferns. We started from
Shrewsbury by an excursion train, which afforded us a four
days’ trip, at 8.30 A.M., to Ruabon, thence through the vale
of Llangollen to Corwen and the beautiful Lake of Bala, on-
ward to Dolgelly, which place we reached about noon. We
immediately took a car to Minfford, eight miles distant, pass-
ing the celebrated Torrent Walk into the Talyllyn pass, ter-
minated by its glittering lake. Minfford, or “ the little mn
by the roadside,” as the name signifies, was very convenient
for our purpose, being situated close under Llyn Cae, the great
feature of this southern side of Cader Idris. Here we found
everything clean and comfortable, and the people attentive
and obliging. Being a splendid sunshiny evening, we deter-
mined at once to ascend into the ewm, and accordingly took
our path on the left side of the torrent brook which flows from
Llyn Cae. For the first few hundred yards upwards, the
ascent was steep and trying, but afterwards became most un-
expectedly easy ; and very shortly turning on the left, we at
once entered the cwm, which was a magnificent and extensive
grassy valley lying east and west. Proceeding westward by
the brook-side, over the gradually inclined grassy slopes and
moraines, we eventually reached the lake. The grandeur and
sublimity of this wild solitude are beyond all adequate descrip-
tion. The large lake, with its deep black waters surrounded
on all sides by towering precipices rising from its very mar-
gins, the strata of the rocks upheaved into perpendicular posi-
tions, the enormous hollow ewm scooped out by former glacial
action, the rapid alternations of light and shade ever hurrying
over the escarpments, the light floating mists like a filmy
veil rolling over the summits, and the solemn stillness un-
broken only by the plash of the lake or the occasional cries of
the buzzard and raven—altogether impress the mind in a
manner not easily to be erased. We passed entirely round the
lake, and descended about 8 P.M. to Minftord.
During the progress I gathered Lecidea rivulosa, Ach.,
Lecidea contigua, Ach., in various states, L. pheops, Nyl., L.
Rev. W. A. Leighton on the Lichens of Cader Idris. 199
lithophila, Ach., L. fuliginosa, Tayl., L. concreta, Whinb.,
Cladonia cervicornis, Ach., of immense size and in magnificent
fructification, Stereocaulon denudatum, Flk., Placopsis gelida,
(L.), Lecanora atra (L.), L. leucophea, Fik., Lecanora bifor-
migera, Leight., in beautiful condition, Spilonema paradoxum,
Born (sterile), and a curious composite Spheria growing pa-
rasitically on the thallus of Parmelia sazatilis, L., having
spores 8, fuscous, fabeeform or subelliptical, 3-septate.
The following day (Tuesday) we ascended the pass to the
““Giant’s Pebbles,” on which I collected Lecidea rusticula,
Nyl., L. fuliginosa, Tayl., Lecanora leucophea, F\k., and
Pilophoron fibula, Tuck., new to Great Britain, and only before
known as occurring in the White Mountains, North America.
Thence over Geu Craig, where I gathered Lecédea contigua,
Ach.,f. hydrophila. Descending on the north side to Llyn Aran,
we found Stereocaulon cereolinum, a minor state of S. con-
densatum, Hffm., Verrucaria irrigua, Tayl., Lecidea pheops,
Nyl.,and LZ. jurana,Scher. Time pressing, we could not delay,
but scrambled again to the summit, and descended by a very
formidable descent over projecting rocks and loose “ screes,”
interspersed with safe grassy patches down the precipices
north of the lake into Llyn Cae, and so by the torrent-side
to Minfford. This was rather a day of scrambling than of
collecting ; but we determined to devote Wednesday entirely to
Llyn Cae, where my gatherings were Lecidea contigua, Ach.,
f. oxydata (K—C—), L. fuliginosa, Tayl., L. jurana, Scher.
(K— C—), L. amphibia, Fr. (K+ C+), ZL. pheea, Ach. ?
(K — C—), L. rivulosa, Ach. (K+), L. lapicida, Fr., var. de-
clinans, Nyl. (K+), L. petrwa, Flot., L. geographica, L., L.
pheops, Nyl. (K+ C+), L. paneola, Ach. (K yellow, C red),
LL. consentiens, Nyl. (K— C—) (new to Wales), Lecanora
cinerea (L.) (K+), and its form Acharti, E. Bot. 1087, L.
leucophea, Flk., L. biformigera, Leight. (K+ C+), Placopsis
gelida (L.) (K yellow, C red), Opegrapha tesserata(DC.)(K+),
Urceolaria scruposa, Ach., Lecanora atra, Ach. (K+), Endo-
coccus perpusillus, Nyl., Verrucaria irrigua,'Tayl., Pilophoron
Jibula, Tuck., in magnificent profusion, and a new species of
Lecidea, which I name plicatilis, and describe below.
Thursday being the tether of our trip, we returned home-
wards.
Lecidea paneola, Ach., is well represented in Fellm. Lich.
Lapp. Or. 182! Scheer. L. Helv. 469! and Anzi, Lich. Langob.
83! Its chemical reaction is K yellowish, C red. It is figured
under the name of athroocarpa in EK. Bot. 1829. Mr. Borrer’s
Herbarium at Kew contains it from Cader Idris, by Dickson
named “ZL. niveo-ater, Dicks.,” also from ‘rocks above
200 Rev. W. A. Leighton on the Lichens of Cader Idris.
Corwen, Rev. T. Salwey,” and as ‘“ Lecidea compressa, MSS.,
Carig Mountain, co. Kerry, Dr. Taylor.” I have myself
gathered it at Llyn Aran, Cader Idris; Cwm Glas, Snowdon;
and Abdon Burf, Shropshire ; and possess it from “ Smolandia,
Femsjo, Dr. Th. M. Fries.” Dr. Nylander, zn Uitt., says of
it:—‘ L. paneola, Ach., est caractérisé par ses céphalodies
-(‘ granulis tuberculosis lilacino-rufescentibus’). C’est la seule
espéce parmi les Lecidées (et Lecanora) qui posséde des cépha-
lodies, et elles sont constantes.”’
Of L. pheops, Nyl., Mr. Carroll, in Seem. Journ. Bot. 5.
255, says, “ = Lecanora rhetica, Hepp, var. hyperborea, Nyl.
(olim).” Dr. Nylander’s description of pheops, in his Lich.
Scand. 196, is excellent and characteristic. Its chemical re-
action is K yellow, C yellow. The Herb. Borrer. has it from
Dr. Taylor, “on wet rocks near Dunkerron,” and “ on Cap-
pamore Hill, co. Kerry,” but labelled “ Lecanora cyrtaspis,
Ach. L. U. p. 3897?,” as Mr. Borrer justly remarks, “ in-
correctly.”
True Lecanora rhetica, Hepp, will be found in Arn. Exs. 117
and Anzi, Lich. Langob. 151, it has no chemical reaction
(K— C—), and is well described in Anzi’s Catal. p. 82, as
L. nivalis, Anzi.
Lecidea consentiens, Nyl.,has no chemical reaction (K—C—),
and has the appearance of some states of Lecanora cinerea(L.),
with the white smoothish rimuloso-diffract thallus of pheops,
Nyl., from which, however, it differs by the plane, innato-
impressed, obtusely margined, black apothecia, with thin
blackish hypothecium, and spores ellipsoid, as large as those
of L. paneola, Ach. It must be remarked that my Llyn-Cae
specimens of consentiens have most certainly pale cephalodia ;
and if paneola really be the only species which possesses
cephalodia, as Dr. Nylander asserts, then our consentiens would
seem referable as a state of that species, were it not for the
different chemical reaction (K yellow, C red), as well as other
characters.
In his Syn. Lich., Dr. Nylander considers Stereocaulon ce-
reolinum, dati, a minor form only of S. condensatum, Hffm. ;
and as he has had full opportunities of examining the Acharian
Herbarium, no doubt he is correct. He cites, as a figure of
this, E. Bot. Suppl. 2667. The Rev. Thomas Salwey, who
first detected Stereocaulon cereolus, EK. B. 8. 2667, on Cader
Idris, in his list of Welsh Lichens gives as particular locali-
ties for it, ‘about Llyn Gwernon,” and “at foot of Cader
Idris ;” and the lichen which I have found in those places is a
variety of S. condensatum. The herb. Borrer. at Kew con-
tains similar specimens ‘from Llyn Gwernon,” and from
Rev. W. A. Leighton on the Lichens of Cader Idris. 201
Stenhammer, Lich. Suec. 85; Th. M. Fries, Lich.; and from
“Dunkerron, Ireland, Dr. Taylor.” It is also given in Anzi,
Lich. Ital. Sup. 30, M. & N. 947, and Korb. L. Sel. Germ.
271. The Rev. John Harriman’s specimen from Teesdale,
in herb. Borrer., mentioned in E. Bot. Suppl., most nearly
resembles the figures in that work, but was in too old and
imperfect a condition to allow of the sight of the spores, which
are cylindraceo-fusiform, 3—7-septate.
I suspect that, in my Lich. Brit. Exs. 383, I have distri-
buted both plants, 8. cereolinum and Pilophoron fibula, as I
have gathered both about Llyn Aran; but microscopical exa-,
mination will rectify this, the spores of Pilophoron jibula being
elliptical and simple. The granules of the thallus are also
much more flattened and squamaceous. So far as my expe-
rience goes, S. cereolinum affects the horizontal surfaces of
boulders, whilst Pilophoron fibula grows on the perpendicular
faces of wet rocks. I believe also that I gathered Pilophoron
fibula in Cwm Glas, Snowdon, in 1865, a single specimen only,
which, unfortunately, I have lost.
It may be useful perhaps to remark that in Lectdea con-
tigua, Ach., and L. confluens, Ach., the apothecia arise from
the thallus, in L. petra, Flot., and L. fusco-atra, Ach., from
the hypothallus. L. contigua has the disk of the apothecia
pruinose, either white or, when old, of a rusty brown, and is
always, when seen under a lens, roughened by the prominent
apices of the paraphyses. The margin is very thick and ob-
tuse, the lamina proligera reclines on an enormously thick
black or blackish-brown cupular excipulum, and the spores
are oval or oblong, and very large. L. confluens is at once
known by the very black, smooth, velvety appearance of the
disk, which is altogether destitute of white pruina. The ex-
cipulum is somewhat similar to that of contigua; but the spores
are scarcely half the size. L. petrwa has the thallus in verru-
cose areolz, and the spores oblong and of a muriform character,
with horizontal and perpendicular septa. L. fusco-atra, again,
is well marked by the areole of the thallus being shining
on their plane or flattened surface, and the edges of each areola
raised up into a very thin sharp margin. The spores are
similar in shape and size to those of L. confluens.
Lecidea plicatilis, Leight., n. sp.
Thallus sordide albidus, minute plicato-verrucoso-granulosus,
areolato-diffractus, hypothallo fusco; apothecia majuscula,
undulato-plana, nigro-fusca, arcte adnata, connato-deformia,
margine obtuso undulato etate plus minusve attenuato
aut obliterato; sporee 4-8, incolores, elongato-ellipsoidee,
3—4-5-septatez, constrictee, murali-divise; hypothecium
202 Mr. A.G. Butler on three new Species of Callidryas.
crassum, nigro-fuscum; gelatina hymenea iodo intense
ceerulescens.
Ad rupes, Llyn Cae, Cader Idris.
This lichen has much the general aspect of old specimens
of Lecidea Bruyeriana, Scher., which have the thallus well
developed; but it is abundantly distinct by the characters
above noted. The thallus becomes yellow with hydrate of
potash, which colour also remains on the subsequent applica-
tion of hypochlorite of lime.
XXIII.— Descriptions of three new Species of Callidryas.
By Arruur G. Butter, F.L.S.
I HAVE for some time contemplated writing a monograph of
the species of Callidryas, not only because there are in that
genus many species of great beauty still undescribed, but
because the sexes of the different species are not rightly made
out, and need careful investigation. It was my intention to
commence my revision of the genus in the second part of my
‘Lepidoptera Exotica ;’ but an unexpected influx of new
species. of Charaxes has rendered this an impossibility. The
following new species will be figured in their proper places in
that work.
1. Callidryas flava, sp. nov.
3. Alee supra flavee, area apicali anticarum dilutiore, margine costali
nigro punctisque nervulos terminantibus apicalibus nigris: cor-
pus nigrum flavo hirtum, abdomine flavo.
Ale subtus flave, area anali anticarum albicante: corpus flavo-
albidum.
Exp. alar. une. 3.
2. Persimilis C. Hndeeri, magis autem flavescens maculisque anti-
carum submarginalibus in medio interruptis.
Exp. alar. unc. 3, lin. 23.
Hab. Celebes. B.M.
3 ¢. Obtained 1858; collected by A. R. Wallace, Esq.
Allied to C. Jugurtha, Cramer (var. C. Endeer, Boisd.),
but differs in the male being of a uniform yellow colour, as in
some extreme varieties of that species, and with a much nar-
rower black apical border to the front wings ; the female is also
of a brighter yellow than in C. Endeer, and has the submar-
ginal spots of the front wing interrupted by brown.
2. Callidryas rorata, sp. nov.
3. Ale supra velut in C. Argante, punctis autem marginalibus
majoribus: subtus flavee, fusco roratz, striis squamosis velut in C.
Argante latioribus, maculis argenteis velut in C. Larve mari.
Exp. alar. une, 3, lin. 3.
Mr. F’. P. Pascoe on new Species of Lamiide. 203
Q@. Similis feminis nonnullis C. Argantes, major et alis pallide
ochraceis, fasciis macularibus distinctis majoribus, fundoque (pre-
cipue posticarum) rufo rorato.
Ale subtus flavee, brunneo omnino striolate, apice anticarum ful-
vescente; maculis permagnis brunneis puncta argentea includen-
tibus mediis, velut in C. Larre femina sed majoribus; fascia
maculari discali plumbageo nitente.
Exp. alar. unc. 3, lin. 1.
Hab. St. Domingo. B.M.
3 ¢. Obtained 1855; collected by Mr. Tweedie.
This is the Haitian representative of C. Larra, a species
allied to C. Argante, but referred, in the ‘Genera of Diurnal
Lepidoptera,’ to C. Philea, of which it is supposed to be the
female. I have seen specimens of C. rorata in Mr. Salvin’s
collection, also from St. Domingo.
3. Callidryas solstitia, sp. nov.
3. Ale antics supra flave, plaga magna media rufa, certo situ
roseo micante et a venis flavis interrupta; puncto pone cellam
nigro, margine ochraceo : posticee fulve, area externo-anali ferru-
ginosa, venis costaque basali flavidis, margine externo ochraceo :
corpus flavo hirtum, abdomine flavo, palpis colloque fulvo.
Ale subtus fulve, characteribus consuetis fuscis squamosis punc-
tisque mediis argenteis.
Exp. alar. une. 3, lin. 73.
©. Alee supra rosez, area apicali anticarum fulvescente, posticarum
rufescente: characteribus omnibus velut in C. Thalestre, fuscis.
Ale subtus velut in C. Thalestre coloratee.
Exp. alar. unc. 3, lin. 7.
Hab. Chili. Coll. Druce.
S$ ¢. From the Kaden Collection.
This magnificent species is allied to C. Thalestris, the females
of the two species being very similar ; the males, however, are
widely distinct.
XXIV.—Descriptions of some new Species of Lamiide.
By Francis P. Pascoz, F.L.S. &e.
List of Species.
Achthophora fasciata. Labuan. Rhytiphora Dallasii. W. Australia.
Agelasta mystica. Manilla. Symphyletes defloratus. Champion
Coptops centurio. India. Bay.
Crossotus stypticus. Damaraland. lanosus. Champion Bay.
Daxata confusa. Penang. Thysia viduata. Sumatra.
Mispila curvilinea. India. Nyctopais Thomsoni. G‘aboon.
Meechotypa adusta. Laos. Anthores leuconotus. Natal.
204 Mr. F. P. Pascoe on new Species of Lamiide.
Achthophora fasciata.
A, fusca, pube fulva sparse vestita; elytris fascia determinata postica
alba; antennis haud ciliatis, art. quarto incrassato.
Hab. Labuan.
Dark brown, with a sparse fulvous pubescence between the
punctures on the elytra, but with small naked spots, each
having a fine puncture in the centre, on the prothorax ;. head
with an uninterrupted pubescence; lip and palpi testaceous ;
prothorax short, transverse, not tuberculate at the sides, punc-
tures irregularly dispersed ; scutellum semicircular, concave ;
elytra entire at the shoulders, punctures rather large, irregular,
crowded at the base, here and there separated by a granular
elevation, between the middle and apex a broad distinct white
band; body beneath brownish testaceous, with a yellowish
pubescence speckled with small naked spois; antenne not
longer than the body, not bearded, the third joint very thick
until near the apex, dark brown, the succeeding joints testa-
ceous, clouded outwardly with brownish. Length 5 lines.
This can only be considered a doubtfully aberrant form of
Achthophora: the absence of the protuberance at the shoul-
ders and the thickness of the third and fourth joints of the
antennz will probably lead to a genus being formed for its
reception.
Agelasta mystica.
A. atra, lineis fasciisque niveis bene limitatis decorata.
Hab. Manilla.
Deep black, covered with a very short yellowish-brown
pubescence, marked with slender, perfectly limited, snowy-
white bands and stripes, and entirely impunctate; head with
three stripes, the intermediate one divided in front by a nar-
rowly elevated line, an irregular spot behind: the eye ; pro-
thorax with nine stripes, but two or three on each side little
more than spots, the basal margin edged with a narrow band;
scutellum transversely triangular; elytra rather short, one
band near the base, but behind the scutellum, and a second
behind the middle, between the two on each elytron four or
five spots or short bars, near each apex a spotted transverse
line, and behind it two longitudinal bars ; body beneath black,
very sparingly pubescent, edges of all the abdominal segments
and of the metasternum edged with white; legs black, femora
on their upper edges lined with white, fore tibie curved ;
antenne with the bases of the third to the sixth joints, in-
clusive, white at the base. Length 63 lines.
Mr. F’. P. Pascoe on new Species of Lamiide. 205
An isolated species in coloration, but in form coming nearest
to A. amica and A. polynesus; but with a more decidedly
transverse prothorax than either.
Coptops centurio.
C. nigra, fulvo-cervino pubescens, maculisque albis interjectis; ely-
tris maculis nigris fasciis duabus formantibus.
Hab. India.
Black, closely covered with a fulvous fawn-coloured pubes-
cence, spotted with white, and on the elytra having two im-
perfect black bands formed of numerous approximate and
contiguous spots; head very sparsely punctured; prothorax
very irregular above, the basal tubercle, as well as the two
anterior, rather strongly marked; scutellum very broad at the
base, incurved at the sides, truncate at the apex; elytra
sparingly punctured, each puncture in the centre of a white
spot, the first band midway between the base and middle, the
second a little behind the middle; body beneath greyish ful-
vous, the middle of each abdominal segment with a subtrian-
gular black denuded patch; legs and antenna with fulvous
fawn and dark brown pile. Length 10 lines.
A very distinct species, apparently most allied to C. pe-
techialis.
Crossotus stypticus.
C. confuse griseo tomentosus ; prothorace sparse punctato; elytris
basi fusco nebulosis, utrinque pone medium macula transversa
fuscescente ; tibiis anticis parum arcuatis.
Hab. Damaraland.
Dark brown, covered with a grey, more or less confusedly
spotted with darker grey, irregular tomentum; head with a
narrow black impressed median line, an oblique line also on
the vertex on each side; prothorax short, broader at the base
than at the apex, a stout spine on each side behind the middle,
with a few distinct punctures above, an undefined brown stripe
above the spine; scutellum truncate at the apex; elytra with
a few punctures at the base, and three or four small tufts of
black hairs on each, including one on the shoulder, obscurely
clouded with brown, behind the middle a brownish transverse
spot near the outer margin; body beneath, legs, and scape of
the antenne grey speckled with brown, the rest of the joints
greyish, gradually darker towards their apices, all those at
the base with a rather dense black fringe. Length 9 lines.
This species, besides its colour, has a more transverse pro-
thorax than C. plumicornis or C. natalensis, which appear to
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. iv. 15
206 Mr. F. P. Pascoe on new Species of Lamiide.
me to be the only two other published species to be referred to
the genus.
Daxata confusa.
D. leviter pubescens, fusco-fulva, cinereo nebulosa, et nigro macu-
lata; fronte capitis transversa; elytris singulatim bituberculatis,
uno basali, uno postmediano.
Hab. Penang.
Covered with a short thinly set pubescence, chiefly pale
brownish fulvous, but clouded with small patches (under the
lens) of pure ashy, and spotted with dark brown; head very
broad and transverse in front, greyish, spotted with fulvous ;
prothorax short, irregular, the sides transversely wrinkled, the
base blackish, the middle with the fulvous collected into an
indistinct band; scutellum triangular; elytra ample, each
somewhat tricarinate at the base, the inner carina crowned with
a narrow tubercle, behind the middle another and smaller tu-
bercle in line with the first, behind this and towards the outer
margin are two oblique brown bars; body beneath and legs
with a thin grey pubescence mottled with naked spots, the
femora fulvous above; antenne brown, the joints from the
third ashy at the base. Length 9 lines.
This has, inter alia, a larger and proportionally broader
head than either of the two other species of the genus, and it
has moreover an extra pair of tubercles on the elytra.
Mispila curvilinea.
M. fusca, pube grisescente parce vestita; fronte capitis quadrata,
Tugoso-punctata ; prothorace fere regulari; antennis unicoloribus.
Hab. India.
Dark brown, covered with a short, thin, greyish pubescence;
head square in front, very roughly punctured ; prothorax nearly
regular, the sides rounded, above with scattered punctures and
two large well-limited patches, divided by a narrow central
line, greyish brown; scutellum broad, rounded behind; elytra
subseriately punctured ; from the shoulder a pale narrow, well-
marked line descends in a curved direction downwards to near
the middle, and posteriorly similar short zigzag marks occur
at the sides; body beneath and legs greyish, spotted with
brown ; antennee with a uniform greyish pubescence. Length
84 lines.
A more robust species than JZ. venosa, with the head qua-
drate in front, the antenne unicolorous, and without the long
hairs covering the body as in that insect.
Mr. F. P. Pascoe on new Species of Lamiide. 207
Mechotypa adusta.
M. breviuseula, fusco pubescens, medio elytrorum grisea; elytris
singulatim cristis duabus basalibus vix elevatis, et haud plumosis.
Hab. Waos.
This species approaches M. chinensis, Thoms., but is much
shorter, the colours more clearly limited, only two short slightly
elevated crests at the base of each elytron, although there is a
vestige of another between them, a round brown spot on the
middle near the suture, and the underparts of a clear pinkish
colour. Length 9 lines.
Tthytiphora Dallasii.
hk. fusca, nitida, vittis fasciisque argenteo pubescentibus ornata.
Hab. Western Australia.
Head dark brown, shining, confluently punctured; margin
round the eye, a curved line above it, and a stripe in front
white ; antenne rather shorter than the body (3), brown, the
four basal joints with a white pubescence, third to fifth bearded
beneath ; prothorax cylindrical, rather broader than long,
finely wrinkled transversely, the margins and three bands
white; scutellum subscutiform, brown; elytra elongate, gra-
dually narrower from the shoulders to near the apex, the su-
tural line, a narrow stripe not reaching to the apex, and an-
other broad stripe extending from the shoulder to the apex
denuded and glossy brown, the intervening portions covered
with a dense pure silvery white pubescence, the humeral stripe
more or less divided by a longitudinal series of white spots ;
body beneath closely pubescent, glossy white; sides of the
metasternum and an oblique spot on each side of the four basal
segments of the abdomen denuded, brown; legs with a close
white opaque pubescence. Length 15 lines.
One of the most striking and distinct of the Australian
Longicorns ; its name is intended to serve as a mark of appre-
ciation of the author of the masterly reports on entomology in
the ‘ Zoological Record.’
Symphyletes defloratus.
S. ferrugineus, griseo pubescens ; prothorace postice angustiore, dorso
tuberculis duobus in medio instructo; elytris basi bicristatis,
humeris fortiter granulatis, apicibus bidentatis.
Hab, Champion Bay.
Ferruginous, covered with a short, rather dense (except that
the middle of the elytra is somewhat denuded), greyish pubes-
cence, closely but indistinctly speckled with fulvous; head
15*
208 Mr. F. P. Pascoe on new Species of Lamiide.
marked with small dark points; antenne about as long as the
body, the scape scarcely thicker than the third joint ; prothorax
slightly transverse, narrowest at the base, the middle with two
small but very distinct tubercles; scutellum broadly rounded
behind ; elytra not elongate, gradually narrower from the base,
between the scutellum and shoulder, on each side, two longi-
tudinal tuberculate crests, the inner longest, shoulders strongly
granulate, an indistinct brownish patch on each side near the
middle, apices bidentate ; body beneath with a coarse yellowish-
grey pubescence, with small denuded spots at the sides; legs
also yellowish grey, with spots on the femora and tibie.
Length 9 lines.
Allied to S. cinnamomeus, but without any bands on the
elytra; the prothorax of the latter broader, not narrower, at the
base, &c.
Symphyletes lanosus.
S. robustus, ferrugineus, dense griseo lanosus, super elytra setulis
sparsis interjectis; dorso prothoracis subtuberculato; elytris basi
latis, subbicristatis.
Hab, Champion Bay.
Robust, ferruginous, densely covered with a greyish woolly
pubescence; head rather narrow in front; antenne about as
long as the body, uniformly grey; prothorax nearly as long
as broad, narrowest at the apex, the back with a few indistinct
tubercles, but two more prominent than the rest; scutellum
somewhat quadrate ; elytra much broader at the base, rapidly
narrowing posteriorly, with many minute erect bristles scat-
tered amongst the pubescence, at the base, on each side, three
short lines of granules, the largest near the suture, forming,
as well as the second line, a sort of crest, the outermost line
nearly obsolete, apices bispinous, clothed with longish hairs ;
body beneath and legs with a long coarse grey pubescence.
Length 12 lines.
This species comes nearest S. devotus, but is much more ro-
bust and has a nearly uniform colour and a woolly pubescence ;
the apices of the elytra in both are densely clothed with hairs,
which almost entirely hide their outline.
Thysia viduata.
T. breviuscula, plumbeo-nigra; prothorace utrinque spinoso; api-
cibus elytrorum emarginatis; antennis apicem versus albidis;
mesosterno producto,
Hab. Sumatra.
Much shorter than 7. Wallichii, dark leaden black; head
almost obsoletely punctured in front, a narrow raised line
Mr. F. P. Pascoe on new Species of Lamiide. 209
between the eyes not extending to the clypeus; eyes larger
than in 7. Wallichti; prothorax rather narrow, not turgid,
a stout, strong angular spine on each side; scutellum equi-
laterally triangular; elytra scarcely punctured except at the
sides, their apices broadly emarginate, with five or six jet-
black bands, the first at the base; body beneath black; legs
with a purplish tinge; mesosternum with a large prominent
mamumillary process ; antennee with the third, fourth, and fifth
joits plumose, the remainder dull white. Length 12 lines.
A comparatively short, nearly black species, remarkable
for its strongly produced mesosternum. The other two species
of this genus are 7. Wallichit, Hope (Royle’s ‘ Himalaya,’
pl. 9. figs. 5 and 6), and 7. tricincta, Lap. (Hist. Nat. des
Ins. 11. p. 471), from Java. The latter has been hitherto con-
founded with Hope’s species, from which it differs, ¢nter alia,
in having only a very small, scarcely noticeable tooth on each
side of the prothorax.
Nyctopais Thomsont.
NV. aterrimus, linea arcuata a vertice usque ad medium elytrorum,
altera obliqua postica maculaque niveis ; antennis niveo annulatis.
Hab. Gaboon.
Intensely black, covered with a very thin and close pu-
bescence, except where it is gathered up to form snowy-white
markings—that is, a line from the mandible in front of each
eye, another beginning on the vertex and passing back over
the side of the prothorax above the spine, where it is joined
to a patch below it, and then over the shoulder curving in-
wards to the suture, from which point it proceeds for a short
distance longitudinally, near the apex an oblique line, directed
inwards and downwards, which is followed by a small spot
at the apex itself; beneath black and shining, with the epi-
sterna of the metathorax and a large spot on each side of all
the abdominal segments white; upper portion of the posterior
femora and two spots on their tibie white; a broad ring of
white at the junction of the third and fourth joints of the an-
tenn, and another at the junction of the seventh and eighth.
Length 54 lines.
In Nyctopais mysteriosus, Thoms., the only hitherto described
species of the genus, the white markings are arranged very
differently, as will be seen in the figure given in the ‘ Archives
Entomologiques,’ tom. il. pl. vii. fig. 1. I have much pleasure
in dedicating this new member of the genus to M. James
Thomson, the author of that and so many other useful and
indispensable works on entomology.
210 Mr. F. P. Pascoe on new Species of Lamiide.
A short diagnosis of the following genus was given in the
‘Proceedings of the Entomological Society’ for February 1868,
p- xiii. M. Lacordaire informs me (én Mit.) that he considers
it synonymous with Lophoptera of M. Perroud; but in this
genus the antenne are said to be distant at the base, and
the third joint only “a little less long than the fourth and fifth
together.” These characters, taken in conjunction with its
supposed affinities, do not apply to anything known to me; I
have therefore ventured to give here a fuller description of the
proposed genus, which was named
ANTHORES.
Head rather narrow above, nearly quadrate in front. Eyes
not nearly extending to the mouth. Antennary tubers con-
tiguous at the base, prominent and diverging. Antenne in
the male twice as long as the body, setaceous; scape very
stout, with a well-marked cicatrix at the apex, and nearly as
long as the third joint; this a little longer than the fourth,
which with the three following are equal; the eighth to the tenth
slightly shorter, the eleventh simulating two joints. Prothorax
small, transverse, irregular above, a slender tooth on each side
at the middle. Elytra clongate, subparallel, with a slight
crest on the base of each; shoulders produced. Legs nearly
equal, anterior tarsi neither dilated nor fringed. Pro- and
mesosternum declivous ; metasternum elongate.
The type is well known in collections under the name of
Monochamus leuconotus, but it has never been published. The
female differs shghtly from the male in having the antenue
only about a third longer than the body. The genus is known
from Monochamus, inter alia, by the basal crests of its elytra,
the legs of nearly equal length, and the tubercular prothorax.
Anthores leuconotus.
A, fuscus, elytris, basi et plaga laterali postmediana exceptis, albo
tomentosis ; his, capite prothoraceque fusco pubescentibus, maculis
fulvis vage intermixtis.
Hab. Natal.
Dark brown, with a dense white tomentum on the elytra,
except at the base and patch at the side behind the middle,
which, with the head and prothorax, have a dark brown pu-
bescence indistinctly mingled with spots of fulvous; head
deeply indented between the antennary tubercles; prothorax
slightly transverse, two well-marked tubercles on the disk, a
little before the middle; scutellum curvilinearly triangular ;
elytra impunctate, granulate at the base, between the scutel-
Miscellaneous. 211
lum and shoulder a small granuliform crest; body beneath
covered with a long brownish-fulvous pubescence, but whitish
on the metasternum; femora darkish but fading to a pale
colour on the tibie and tarsi; antenne fulvous brown, base of
. the joints, from the third inclusive, paler. Length 14
ines.
In the same Proceedings, J. c., I proposed Opepharus as a
generic name for Monochamus tridentatus, Chev.* (signator,
Pasc.), differing from Anthores in its longer antenne in the
male (twice as long as the body), with the last joint subulate,
the elytra strongly crested at the base, the fore legs of the
male longer and more robust than the others, and the meta-
sternum not elongate. J. asperulus, White, should be re-
ferred to the same genus.
MISCELLANEOUS.
On the Marine Forms of Crustacea which inhabit the Fresh Waters of
Southern Europe. By Prof. Heiter.
Every one knows the curious discoveries made by Prof. Lovén upon
the presence in the Wenern and Wetter lakes of animals identical
with species belonging to the Frozen Ocean. The Swedish naturalist
has adduced this identity as evidence in favour of the union of these
lakes with the sea at a period anterior to history. These discoveries
directed attention to the fauna of the lakes situated south of the
Alps. As early as 1857, E. von Martens described a series of fishes
and Crustacea which, although living in various Italian lakes, pre-
sent the characters of Mediterranean speciest. Such are, amongst
fishes, Blennius vulgaris, Pall., from the lakes of Garda and Albano,
Atherina lacustris, Bon., from the lakes of Albano and Nemi, and,
lastly, Gobius fluviatilis, Bon., from the lake of Garda and the neigh-
bourhood of Padua,—and amongst the Crustacea, Palemon lacustris,
Mart., from the lake of Albano, Thelphusa fluviatilis, Latr., from
the lakes of Albano and Nemi, and, lastly, Sphewroma fossarum,
Mart., from the Pontine Marshes. These facts have already been
employed by M. Sartorius von Waltershausen in his investigation of
the climates of the present and of former periods. This savant en-
deavours to establish that the lakes situated south of the Alps were
formerly in communication with the sea, and are only the remains
of ancient fiords. Geological changes, by separating them from the
sea, converted them into basins of brackish water, which were gra-
dually deprived of their salt, with a rapidity differing according to
the abundance of river-water flowing into them. These lacustrine
* Silbermann’s Rev. i. No. 9, pl. 7.
+ Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858, p. 411.
{ See ‘Annals,’ ser. 3. vol. i. p. 50.
212 Miscellaneous. ana: :
reservoirs were carried to a certain height by upheavals, which
lowered the temperature of their surface. In the course of these
events the marine fauna disappeared, with the exception of a few
fishes and Crustacea less sensitive than their fellows to the action of
fresh water.
Prof. Heller has carefully investigated the marine forms inhabit-
ing the Italian lakes. He confirms and extends most of the diseo-
veries of M. von Martens, at the same time rectifying some of them.
He shows that Palwmon lacustris is a species very widely diffused
in the fresh waters of the Mediterranean basin. He cites it in the
lake of Albano, in the ditches of the terra firma in the neighbour-
hood of Venice, in the marshes round Pavia, in the lake Trasimene,
in that of Garda, m the brooks of Dalmatia, in Corfu, in the lake of
Albufera in Spain, and, finally, in Egypt. But this species is not
peculiar to the fresh waters ; it still exists in the North Sea and the
Baltic. M. Heller, in fact, recognizes in it the species introduced
into science under the names of P. varzans and P. antennarius. It
appears, however, to be wanting in the Mediterranean. M. Milne-
Edwards certainly mentions it, in his ‘ Histoire Naturelle des Crus-
tacés,’ as occurring in the Adriatic; but the author himself has
found this statement to be erroneous, the specimen in the Paris
Museum having really been derived from Lake Trasimene. ‘The
crustacean in question is distinguished from all the Pakemons by
the want of a palpus on the mandibles, by which it approaches the
genus Anchistia. But as other characters distinguish it from that
genus, M. Heller proposes for it the new generie name of Palemo-
netes (P. varians). It is probable that this Palemonetes existed at
a prehistoric period in the Adriatic and Mediterranean, as at pre-
sent in the bays of the North Sea, m places where the water was
comparatively not very salt. Subsequently, after the transformation
of the bays into lakes, the species gradually accommodated itself to
the fresh water, although without attaining its origmal size. In
fact the freshwater individuals are always smaller than the marine.
A similar lot may be reserved in the future for another crustacean
of the Adriatic. Nephrops norvegicus, which is so common in the
northern seas, occurs here and there in the Mediterranean and the
Adriatic. Inthe Gulf of Quarnero, however, it exists in considera-
ble quantity. If this gulf should one day be converted into a lake
by an upheaval, this animal would, no doubt, in time become a true
freshwater crustacean, whilst its congeners would still live in the
northern seas.
Thelphusa fluviatilis is not entirely confined to the lakes of Albano
and Nemi; it occurs also in the south of Italy, in Greece, in Cyprus,
in the Crimea, in Syria, and in Egypt. As regards the Sphwroma
of the Pontine Marshes, it presents the greatest resemblance to a
species (S. granulatum) inhabiting the Adriatic and Mediterranean,
although they cannot be completely identified.
Lastly, M. Heller describes two new freshwater Crustacea of ma-
rine forms. The first is an Amphipod (Gammarus Veneris) found
by M. Kotsehy in the Well of Venus, near Hierokipos, in Cyprus, at
Miscellaneous. 213
an elevation of 50 feet. This species is almost identical with Gam-
marus marinus, from which it differs only in a clothing of hairs like
that of other lacustrine species.
The second species belongs to the genus Orchestia (O. cavimana).
It was found in great abundance by M. Kotschy in Cyprus, upon
Mount Olympus, at an altitude of 4000 feet. It lives in moist
places, in the vicinity of a spring. This species appears to differ
from O. Montagui only by insignificant characters, such as a some-
what smaller size and a darker colour.—Stebold § Kolliker’s Zeit-
schrift, xix. p. 156; Bibl. Univ. xxxy. June 15, 1869, Bull. Sci.
pp. 158-160.
On the Leaves of Conifere.
By Tuomas Mrenan, of Germantown, Pennsylvania.
Botanists can scarcely have overlooked the fact that the true
leaves of Pinus consist of bud-scales, and that what are known as
leaves, and what Dr. Engelmann (Gray’s Manual, 5th edition, p. 469)
calls “‘ secondary leaves” are but phylloid shoots; but I have failed
to find any specific reference to the fact in botanical works. Dr.
Dickson, however, in a paper “ On the Phylloid Shoots of Sciado-
pitys verticillata” (Proceedings of Botanical Congress, 1866, p. 124),
remarks, ‘In Sciadopitys I have to call attention to the fact that
the leaves of the growing shoots consist, asin Pinus, entirely of bud-
scales.” One would suppose, from this incidental reference to Pinus,
that he was acquainted with the fact that the so-called leaves of
Pinus were phylloid shoots; but as the object of the paper is to show
that the so-called leaves of Sciadopitys are not true leaves, and as
any one must know that they are not if already cognizant of the
fact in Pinus, we may take it for granted that at any rate, if not
entirely overlooked, little thought has been given it. I believe I
am occupying an entirely original field in pointing out the true
nature of leaves in Conifere, and that the increased knowledge will
have an important bearing on many obscure points in their study.
Dr. Dickson uses but the language of general botany when he de-
scribes the true leaves of Pinus as “ bud-scales,” meaning thereby the
scaly free portion just under the “secondary leaves” of Engelmann,
and sometimes forming sheaths around them. But these free scales are
scarcely leaves. The chief portion of the true leaves in most plants
of the order are adnate with the stem; sometimes they have the
power to develope into scaly points, at others into foliaceous tips,
and at other times are without any power but to preserve their true
leaf-like character. Lariv affords the best illustration. The true
leaves are linear-spathulate, entirely adnate to the stem. There are
two kinds of stem-growth in Larix: in the one case the axis elon-
gates and forms shoots ; in the other, axial development is arrested
and spurs are formed. On the elongated shoots the leaves are scat-
tered ; on the spurs they are arranged in whorls. The power of
elongation possessed by the shoot is imparted to the leaves which
are adherent to it, and they produce green foliaceous awl-like tips ;
the power of elongation which the spurs have lost is also measurably
214 Miscellaneous.
lost to their leaves: they develope themselves fully, although they
have no stem to adhere to; they preserve the spathulate form, but
cannot produce the awl-shaped tips of the shoot-leaves. There are,
therefore, two forms of leaves on the larch, the one free, the other
adherent ; and we have a novel principle very clearly illustrated,
that strong aaial development (vigour) is a characteristic of adhesion,
while the reverse (weakness) is characterized by a free system of folia-
tion. Any species of aria will sustain this observation ; and Jepto-
lepis, as a vigorous grower, is the best.
The characteristics of the foliage described in Larix may be found
in a greater or less degree in a great many species of coniferous
plants. In Oryptomeria the leaves adhere for four-fifths of their
length on vigorous shoots; but on the more delicate ones they are
free for three-fourths or more. In Juniperus the different forms of
foliage are well known, especially in J. virginiana, J. chinensis, and
J. communis. On the vigorous shoots adhesion takes place for nearly
the full length of the leaves; but on weaker ones the leaves are very
nearly free. In Thuja, Biota, Retinispora, Cupressus, Thwopsis,
indeed most of the section Cupressinee, these variable degrees of ad-
hesion may be found, and always in relation to the absence or pre-
sence of vigour: and on this question of vigour it will be well here
to make a few remarks. The power to branch I take to be a high
mark of vigour. The young seedlings of most coniferous trees grow
but a few inches the first year, and have no power to branch ; the
power increases with age, and in all cases in proportion to the vigour
of the plants. In Zhuja, for instance, no branches appear till the
second year ; they increase in number, until, when in its prime,
branches appear from every alternate pair of axils, and, as these are
decussate, this gives the fan-like form of growth of which the Arbor
vite affords a familiar illustration.
This varying power of adhesion in the true leaves, and in con-
nexion with vigour, enables us to explain many matters hitherto not
understood. For instance, Dr. Lindley describes a form of Biota
as B. meldensis, suggesting that from its appearance it must be
a hybrid between the red cedar and Chinese Arbor vite; it is but
B. orientalis with the leaves moderately united. Thuja ericoides
of gardens was long supposed to be a Japanese species ; it is but an
entirely free-leaved form of Thuja occidentalis. Retinispora ericoides
of Zuccarini is but a free-leaved form of some Japanese plant; and
in all probability many species of Retinispora, so marked in herba-
riums, are all forms of one thing with more or less adnate leaves.
In all these cases delicacy of growth and freedom of leaves go gra-
dually together, as before indicated.
One of the most remarkable instances of the value of this prin-
ciple, however, will, I have no doubt, be in fixing the identity of the
Japenese genus Glyptostrobus* of Endlicher with the American
Tawxodium of Richard. In a shoot one foot in length of the latter
we find perhaps four or six branchlets ; in the same space in Glyp-
* Note by the proof-reader.—It was the intention of the author to refer his re-
marks on Glyptostrobus to G. sinensis, Endl.
Miscellaneous. 215
tostrobus we shall find a score or more. Indeed in this plant a
branchlet springs from nearly every axil on the main branch, show-
ing an extraordinary vigour. As vigour is opposed to a free deve-
lopment of foliage, the small thread-like leaves of Glyptostrobus are
naturally to be expected, and the free leaves distichously arranged
is the natural concomitant of the weaker Taxodium. Fortunately 1
am able to sustain this theory by actual facts. I have a seedling tree
ten years old, of remarkable vigour. It does not branch quite as
much as the typical Glyptostrobus, but much more freely than any
Taxodium. The result is, the foliage is aciculate, not distichous, and
just intermediate between the two supposed genera. But to help me
still more, my tree of Glyptostrobus has pushed forth some weak
shoots with foliage identical in every respect with the intermediate
Taxodium, Specimens of all these are presented with this. In es-
tablishing Glyptostrobus, Endlicher notes some trifling differences in
the scales of the cones between it and Taaodium; but all familiar
with numerous individuals of some species of Coniferse, Biota orien-
talis for instance, know how these vary. ‘There can be no doubt, I
think, of the identity of the two; and this will form another very
interesting link in the chain of evidence that the flora of Japan is
closely allied to that of the United States.
If we were to look on the so-called leaves of Pinus and Sciadopitys
as true leaves, we should find serious opposition to my theory that a
vigorous axial growth is opposed to the development of free leaves
in Coniferee ; for we should see a class of plants which notoriously
adds but from three to six branches annually to each axis clothed
with foliage. But admitting them to be phylloid shoots, it confirms
our theory in astrong degree. We then see a plant loaded with
branchlets ; and so great is the tendency to use them instead of leaves,
that in some cases, as in Pinus strobus, P. excelsa, and others of a
softer class of Phylloidez, the bud-scales are almost entirely confined
to the sheathing leaflets—just as in the very rugged, hard-leaved,
almost spinescent forms, like Pinus austriaca, we find them more
dependent on well-developed adnate leaf-scales. In Abies of old
authors, A. excelsa for instance, we have a numerous-branching ten-
deney ; hence we have true leaves, though partially adnate, and no
necessity for phylloid branchlets. In Picea of Link, almost near
Abies, taking P. balsamea as a type, we havea rather weaker deve-
lopment, slower-growing and less hardy trees, and the leaves are
nearly free. Could some of the shoots of Abies be arrested in their
axial development, as in Lariw, we should have the remainder in-
creased in length, and the fewer branchlets and two forms of leaves
just as in Larix. Should, on the other hand, the plant increase in
vigour, there would be no class of free leaves, adnation would be the
law, and metamorphosed branchlets prevail. Starting from Abies,
extra vigour makes the pine, extra delicacy the larch; it is the
centre of two extremes.
That the fascicles in Pinus are phylloid shoots, I think cannot be
questioned. Their position in the axils of the true leaves, as beau-
tifully shown in Pinus austriaca, indicates the probability ; their per-
216 Miscellaneous.
manency in proportion to their induracy is also another strong point.
The soft ones of the Strobus section retain vitality little longer than
some true leaves, while the spinescent ones of P: austriaca remain
green for four or five years. But the strongest of all points is, that
on dissection of an old fascicle, it will be found to have a distinct
connexion with the woody system of the tree, and that these minute
woody axille under each fascicle increase in size with the age of the
sheath. With a very little encouragement these woody axille can
be induced to elongate and become real branchlets. If the leading
shoot, for instance, of a pine be tipped in May just after pushing,
bulblets will form in every fascicle below, and the next season the
bulblets will produce weak branchlets, although this might be said
of true leaves, which are supposed to bear an embryo shoot in the
axil of every one. So much stress need not be put on this fact, as
the others are sufficient ; it is introduced, and its weak nature com-
mented on, as it furnishes the chief point in Dr. Dickson’s argument:
for Sciadopitys, which amounts to little more than that the appa-
rently single phyllon is really a double one—a two-leaved fascicle
united by a transformed sheath through its whole length. Carricre
has since pushed Dr. Dickson’s observations further by noting, in the
‘ Revue Horticole,’ really bifid leaves, with little verticils in the axils
(see reference in ‘ Gardeners’ Chronicle,’ May 2, 1868)—an observa-
tion which I confirm by a specimen exhibited herewith ; yet, as I
have said, it is by itself not wholly free from the objection that it
may be but a modified form of regular bud-growth ; but, together
with my other observations, I think they do serve to confirm the
point of these so-called leaves being but phyllodea.
In conclusion, I will restate the main points of this paper :—
The true leaves of Coniferz are usually adnate with the branches.
Adnation is in proportion to vigour in the genus, species, or in the
individuals of the same species or branches of the same individual.
~ Many so-called distinct species of Conifere are the same, but in
various states of adnation.—From the forthcoming volume of the Pro-
ceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
(Communicated by the Author.)
Mechanical Reproduction of the Flight of Insects.
By M. Marry.
The author has already shown that by gilding the tips of the
fore wings of a hymenopterous insect and allowing it to fly in the
sun, the point of each wing is found to describe a figure of 8, indi-
cating that in the course of one elevation and descent the wing
moves twice forward and twice backward. ‘To ascertain how this
movement is produced, the author took a small glass rod blackened
with smoke, and by presenting it to the wing in different parts of its
passage, he found that the soot was rubbed sometimes on the upper
and sometimes on the lower surface, according as the rod was held
below or above the course of the wing forwards or backwards. From
Miscellaneous. ZT
his experiments he concludes that the wing moves from behind for-
wards both in its descent and in its ascent.
That the plane of the wing changes twice during each movement
appears from the difference in the brilliancy of the two branches of
the luminous figure of 8. When a branch is very brilliant, this is
because it presents its gilt surface at a favourable angle for the re-
flection of the sun’s light. During descent the wing presents its
upper surface a little forward, whilst during elevation this surface
looks rather backward.
These movements are so complex that they would require a very
complex muscular apparatus if each of them was the result of a
special act. It would require a very perfect coordination to enable
these eight or ten successive actions to be reproduced in regular order
at each revolution of the wing—that is to say, from two hundred to
three hundred times in a second; but the simple elevation and de-
pression of the wing is sufficient to enable the resistance of the air
to produce all the other movements. The wing being rigid in front,
in consequence of its thick nervures, the flexible hinder part, being
raised by the resistance of the air during the rapid depression of the
wing, will acquire an oblique direction, so that the upper surface of
the wing will look forward; on the other hand, during elevation
the resistance of the air will be above, and the upper surface of the
wing will incline backwards. This figure-of-8 movement exactly
resembles the motion of the oar in sculling a boat.
To verify his theory, the author has constructed a small apparatus,
which he describes as follows:—A mechanism set in motion by an
air-pump caused the alternate elevation and depression of a pair of
wings constructed on the plan of those of insects. This apparatus
had not sufficient motive power to raise its own weight; but it was
placed upon a pivoted rod in equilibrium, so that, if the apparatus de-
veloped the motive power required by the theory, the whole would
acquire a movement of rotation round a central axis. On being set in
action, the apparatus rotated rapidly.
By gilding the tip of one of the wings of this artificial insect, all
the movements and changes of plane executed in the flight of an in-
sect were reproduced by the apparatus; and as the force derived
from the pump can only produce elevations and depressions of the
wing in the same plane, it is evident that the other movements are
produced by the resistance of the air.
The origin of this theory of flight is to be found in Borelli, who
supposes that the wing of a bird acts upon the air in the manner of
a wedge. Strauss-Durckheim states this opinion more clearly, and
shows how the insect derives, from the resistance of the air to the
inclined plane of its wing, a combination which it employs to sustain
and guide itself. Girard has made experiments to show the correct-
ness of Strauss-Durckheim’s hypothesis, and proved that if the flexi-
bility of the hinder margin of the wing be altered by a dry coating
of any kind, the power of flight is destroyed.—Comptes Rendus,
March 15, 1869, tome lxviii. pp. 667-669. |
218 Miscellaneous.
Spectroscopic Examination of the Diatomacee. By H. L. Surrn.
The vegetable nature of the Diatomacez is now generally admit-
ted; but if any further proof is needed, we have it in marked results
from the application of the spectroscope. I have been enabled to
prove the absolute identity of chlorophyl or the green endochrome of
plants with diatomin or the olive-yellow endochrome of the Diato-
mace. The spectrum-microscope is now too well known to need
any description here. The one I have used was made by Browning
of London. It is not at all difficult to obtain a characteristic spec-
trum from a living diatom, and to compare it directly with that of a
desmid, or other plant.
I need not here give the resulis in detail. Suffice it that, from
about fifty comparisons of spectra, I can unhesitatingly assert that
the spectrum of chlorophy] is identical with that of diatomin.
The spectrum in question is a characteristic one, and is figured
below.
Lo
A very black narrow band in the extreme red, reading at the lower
edge, which appears to be constant, about 7 of Mr. Sorby’s scale, is
too characteristic to be mistaken. There are two other very faint
bands, not easily seen, and somewhat more variable in position.
The black band in the red is always present, and is remarkably con-
stant in the position of its lower edge. In making comparisons of
spectra it is of the utmost importance that the slit of the spectro-
scope should be absolutely in the focus of the achromatic eye-lens.
If this be not attended to, there will be a slight parallax ; and bands
really identical in position, ¢. g. those of blood (scarlet cruorine),
will not absolutely correspond when two spectra are formed, one
from blood on the stage of the microscope, and the other from the
same on the stage of the eye-piece.
The dark band of the chlorophyl-spectrum is slightly variable in
width; and the action of acids and alkalies sometimes causes a slight
displacement, the former raising (moving toward the blue end) and
the latter depressing. The endochrome of a diatom after treatment
with acid is green, and the acid, in this case, produces scarcely any
displacement of the band, which may be observed even in the dark
reddish mass of the dead Diatomace, almost identical in colour
with the ferrous carbonate so often found in bogs where the larger
diatoms are abundant; and what is more remarkable is, that the
carbonate gives no absorption-bands at all. As a general rule,
alcoholic solutions of chlorophyl and diatomin have the band slightly
depressed, reading 1 to 14 on the interference scale.—Siliman’s
American Journal, July 1869.
Miscellaneous. 219
Two new Generic Types of the Families Saprolegniese and
Peronosporee. By MM. E. Rozz and M. Cornv.
The authors remark that it is questionable whether the Sapro-
legniez should be referred to the algz or the fungi. They think that
one of their new genera furnishes an argument in favour of the
latter. It is an endophyte, parasitic upon the smallest of our pha-
nerogams, Wolffia Michelii, Schleid. (Lemna arrhiza, Linn.), and pre-
sents some characters belonging both to the Saprolegnie and Pe-
ronosporee, so that it may to a certain extent be regarded as inter-
mediate between the two families. They name it Cystosiphon
pythiordes.
Its mycelium, which traverses the cells of the Wolfia by perfo-
rating their walls, developes the two kinds of reproductive organs
(sexual and asexual) which have already been indicated in the
species of this family. The first mode of reproduction terminates in
the formation of an oospore, the thick epispore of which resembles
that of the oospores of the Peronosporeew. This oospore originates
here, however, from the fertile union of the antheridian and oogonic
plasma, effected by means of a short process emitted by the antheri-
dium, which penetrates into the oogonial cavity.
The so-called asexual reproduction of Cystosiphon is effected by
means of zoosporangia. These are represented by vesicles which
terminate certain branches of the mycelium in peripheral cells of
the Wolffia. When mature, each of these vesicles, which is isolated
by a septum from the rest of the mycelium, emits a tube which runs
perpendicularly to meet the cellular wall separating it from the
water. This flattens itself against the cellulose membrane, which it
perforates by an exosmotic action, and then grows out into the
water until its extremity becomes stationary and slightly thickened.
The plasma of the zoosporangium is then instantaneously diffused in
this extremity of the tube in the form of a plastic spheroid, which in
a few minutes contracts and shows a very delicate enveloping mem-
brane continuous with the tube. The following phenomena are then
rapidly witnessed in the interior of this vesicle :—A network of clear
lines indicates the segmentation which takes place in the plasmic
mass, and the cilia appear; the segments separate from each
other and constitute the zoospores ; these agitate their cilia, and
move more and more rapidly; lastly a portion of the wall of the
vesicle becomes absorbed and the zoospores escape. Their move-
ments last for about half an hour; they then become spherical,
lose their cilia, become clothed with a membrane, and germinate by
emitting a tube. This germinative tube then penetrates by perfora-
tion into the cells of healthy fronds of Wolffia, where it is developed
into a mycelium.
The Peronosporee, to which the second new generic type belongs,
have hitherto included only the genera Cystopus and Peronospora.
The endophytal fungus, parasitic on Hrigeron canadense, Linn., de-
scribed by the authors under the name of Basidiophora entospora,
is distinguished at the first glance from the above genera by its
220 Miscellaneous.
conidiophorous stipites, which resemble the basidia of the Hymeno-
mycetes.
The conidia, or asexual reproductive organs of Basidiophora, when
placed in water at their maturity, present the remarkable fact that
their plasma, instead of being expelled before the complete formation
of the zoospores, undergoes its whole sporogonic evolution within
them. The zoospores move in the conidia until the apical papilla of
the latter, becoming absorbed, leaves them a passage into the liquid.
This aperture, however, being much too narrow for the free passage
of the zoospores, they pass it, one after the other, with great difficulty,
by lengthening and twisting themselves with a most singular power
of vitality. After their escape they traverse the liquid with con-
siderable rapidity, but in less than an hour they stop and germinate.
The organs of sexual reproduction in Basidiophora are formed in
the parenchyma of the leaves which have already presented the co-
nidiophorous stipites. But this parenchyma, being formed by a very
compact cellular tissue, does not allow us to ascertain clearly the re-
lations of the antheridia and oogonia, or to observe the phases of
fecundation.— Comptes Rendus, March 15, 1869, tome Ixviii. pp.
651-653.
On Spatangus Raschi, Loven.
At the meeting of Scandinavian naturalists at Christiania, in July
1868, Prof. Lovén exhibited specimens of this new species, which
was first discovered on the deep sea-bank of Storegzen, off the coast
of Norway, as far back as 1844, by Prof. H. Rasch, of the University
of Christiania. Since that time it has been found occasionally in
the same locality, and Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys has dredged it in the Zet-
land seas. From the Spatangus purpureus of O. F. Miller, which it
almost surpasses in size, it differs by its more oblong and posteriorly
more attenuated form and greater height, by much narrower petala,
by the flattened ventral surface, the prominent lip, the narrow
strongly keeled sternum, of almost equal breadth throughout, and
by the rounded, not bilobate, area semitalis, half as large as that of
Spatangus purpureus of the same size. The colour is dark reddish
brown; and the primary spines, arranged, as in Sp. purpureus, in
arcuate series, are shorter than in that species.
At the same time, Prof. Lovén drew attention to the fact that, in
very young specimens of Spatangide, the peristomium, situated
much nearer the middle of the body than in the full-grown animal,
is exactly pentagonal, with the mouth, an oval opening in its centre,
surrounded by perforated plates of an irregular form. But the
mouth is very soon drawn backwards, and becomes transversely
elongated, the surrounding plates assuming their specific shapes ;
and when the mouth has reached the posterior side of the peristo-
mial pentagon, this side begins to protrude forwards and to deve-
lope into the vaulted lip peculiar to the Spatangide. This juvenile
pentagonal form of the peristomium is retained by the full-grown in-
dividual in Palwostoma and in certain fossil forms, as Echinospatangus,
Holaster, and others.— Communicated by Prof. Loven.
THE ANNALS
AND
MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.
[FOURTH SERIES.]
No. 22. OCTOBER 1869.
XXV.—On some curious Fossil Fungi from the Black Shale of
the Northumberland Coal-field. By AwLBany Hancock,
F.L.S., and THomas ATTHEY*,
[Plates IX. & X.]
IT is now about ten years ago that a few sections of certain
lenticular bodies were made and their peculiar tubular ramifi-
cations revealed. ‘These bodies were then supposed to be of
vegetable origin, and were procured in the Cramlington Black
Shale. At the time we took these tubular ramifications to be
those of a parasitic fungus related to the unicellular fungi
described by Kolliker +; and as such our specimens were ex-
hibited at one of the early microscopic soirées held by the
Tyneside Naturalists’ Field Club.
Since we first became acquainted with these curious and
interesting bodies, we have collected a vast number of speci-
mens (not less than 150) at Cramlington, Newsham, and other
localities ; and, having been engaged for the last few months
investigating the subject, we now propose to give a succinct
account of the results at which we have arrived, reserving for
some future occasion more complete details of our researches.
First, then, with regard to the bodies themselves in which
the peculiar structure alluded to is found. They are frequently
circular, a good deal depressed and lenticular, with one side
generally flatter than the other, sometimes quite flat. The
largest are upwards of 4; inch in diameter and nearly 2; inch
in thickness. Oval, depressed forms also occur, one of which
in our possession is 58; inch in length, though one extremity
is wanting, and =; inch wide. But by far the greater number
* Communicated by the Authors, having been read at the Meeting of
the British Association held at Exeter in 1869,
T See Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 3. vol. iv. p. 300, Oct. 1859.
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. iv. 16
222 Messrs. Hancock & Atthey on Fossil Fungi
are somewhat irregular in form, mostly partaking, however,
of the circle or ellipsis: one such elongated specimen is an
inch in length. Some have the margin a little sinuous ; others
are even pedunculate, or at least have a narrow produced pro-
cess at one end; and it is not uncommon to find them very
much flattened, squeezed out as it were, till the margins are
quite sharp. ‘The surface is invariably dull and much like
the matrix in texture, though in one or two instances we have
perceived indications of a reticulated structure. They leave
the matrix with great facility, frequently dropping out of it
on the shale being split open.
When sections of these bodies are viewed by transmitted
light, they vary in colour from carmine to warm yellow, re-
sembling much in this respect fossil wood from the same loca-
lity, though the latter is never so bright in tint. Like fossil
wood, too, the sections have a tendency to warp when placed
on the slide, and consequently the outer margin or rim is fre-
quently cracked all round on putting on the cover.
That they are non-calcareous is proved by a very simple
experiment. If we place a fossil tooth or bone from the News-
ham Shale in dilute nitric acid, a violent effervescence imme-
diately ensues, and the result is that in an hour or two the
specimens are either entirely broken down or are so much re-
duced that they crumble to pieces on being touched with the
finger; hence it is evident that such fossils from the above-
mentioned locality retain their calcareous matter not much, if
at all, changed. Now when we treat one of the lenticular
bodies in question with nitric acid of the same strength, no
action whatever takes place, and after being immersed in it for
several hours no perceptible effect is produced. Fossil wood
from Newsham Shale is likewise unaffected when subjected to
the same influence. We have thus a proof that these lenti-
cular bodies are non-calcareous, and strong presumptive evi-
dence as to the probability of their being of vegetable origin*.
Indeed that they are so does not admit of a doubt. If there
were no other evidence of the fact, it is demonstrated by their
organic structure. Originally, as already stated, we took this
organic structure (the tubular ramifications) to be a parasitic
fungus, and the substance in which it was imbedded to be
wood. And assuredly the tubalar ramifications resemble very
closely those of the unicellular fungi before alluded to, many
species of which we have in our possession. The size and
general character of the tubes, the mode of ramification, and
* Some account of these lenticular bodies has recently been given,
in ‘Scientific Opinion,’ by Mr. T, P. Barkas, who supposed them to he
fish-otolites.
from the Northumberland Coal-field. 223
particularly their bulbous enlargements, all agree very well
with what we observe in these peculiar bodies. But there is
one important difference: while, in the unicellular fungi, the
tubes never sink deep into the substance in which they are
lodged, ramifying immediately below its surface, those of the
lenticular bodies, though they are connected with the periphery,
permeate the entire mass. . Our recent investigations, how-
ever, compel us to the conclusion that the whole, including
the substance in which the tubes ramify, is but one organism,
and that it is a fungus of a peculiar nature, related apparently
in structure, and to some extent in form, to Sclerotiwm stipi-
tatum, a very curious and abnormal species from India, de-
scribed by Messrs. Berkeley and Currey in the ‘ Transactions
of the Linnean Society’ (1862, vol. xxii. pp. 91 & 93). The
internal structure of this living species is so similar to that of
some of the coal-fungi in question, that, were it fossilized, it
would assuredly be considered one of them. ‘“‘ ‘The mass con-
sists,’ says the Rev. M. J. Berkeley, ‘‘ of very irregular,
swollen, and sometimes constricted, more or less anastomosing
and more or less densely compacted threads.” These words
might be used to describe the tubes of Archagaricon conglo-
meratum, one of our fossil fungi described in the sequel.
We have in our possession a section of Sclerotiwm stipi-
tatum, and, after carefully examining it, we can find no im-
portant difference distinguishing it from sections of our coal-
fungi. The irregular character of the tubes, thew nodular
enlargements, and the large terminal vesicles are all features
that are found in both the recent and fossil species. And,
moreover, many of the larger “threads” or tubes in Sclerotiwm
stipitatum can be seen abutting with their ends against the
dark peripheral cuticle, just as the tubes do in the fossil spe-
cies, the bark or cuticle of which is similar in definition and
thickness, and is also dark and opaque*.
On examining sections of these lenticular fungi from the
coal-shale, we find that they occasionally appear to be almost,
if not entirely, homogeneous, and that, when perfect, they al-
* Since the above was written, we have obtained from Newsham a
very interesting specimen of our new fungus, with the surface in excellent
preservation. We have stated in the text that traces of surface-reticu-
lation had been observed; in this new specimen the whole surface is
covered with a minute angular reticulation, sharply defined by grooves,
and resembling most closely the cuticular reticulation represented in the
figures of Sclerotium stipitatum illustrating the paper of Messrs. Berkeley
and Currey already referred to ; so that in general form, in this peculiar
surface-reticulation, in the thickness and character of the cuticle, and in
internal structure our fossil fungi agree with this peculiar species from
India.
16*
224 Messrs. Hancock & Atthey on Fossil Fungi
ways exhibit a peripheral bark or cuticle of considerable
thickness, though they vary in this respect, the cuticle being
sometimes comparatively thin. The colour, as before men-
tioned, varies from a pretty clear carmine to a warm yellow,
the intensity, of course, varying with the thickness of the
section, and also, to some extent, the tint. But the apparent
homogeneity is not by any means constant ; indeed by far the
greater number of specimens show the peculiar structure be-
fore mentioned, some to only a slight degree, others very ex-
tensively, the whole mass being filled with, nay, almost com-
posed of, ramifying tubes. The tubes vary considerably in
size in the different species (for there are many species of these
fungi), and, in fact, to some extent in the same species. In
some they measure 71, inch in diameter; in others they are
quite minute, being only 75455 inch in diameter ; im some
they are plain; in others, again, they terminate in large bulb-
like swellings, and have here and there similar but smaller
enlargements, two or three of such being occasionally placed
close together. The tubes always appear to originate in the
peripheral cuticle.
The mode of ramification also varies: in some species the
tubes are long, and may be said to branch rather freely ; but
in others they are cramped and much contorted; they are
usually inextricably involved; and in a few instances they
radiate from centres, and are short, sinuous, and stout. In all
cases they terminate in rounded extremities when not in
bulbs.
The branches are very frequently sharply defined, and ex-
hibit a double marginal line, indicating that they have proper
walls. They are occasionally filled with the matrix ; and then
they are black and perfectly opaque, and have a very striking
appearance. The contained black matter is continuous with
the external matrix, and from this fact it may be inferred that
the tubes open externally ; indeed their arrangement seems
to indicate this; however, they are usually transparent, and
reveal within their walls oval spore-like bodies, which pervade
both the branches and the bulbous enlargements. Similar
spore-like bodies are frequently scattered through the sub-
stance of the fungus amidst the ramifications ; and in a few
specimens in our possession these spore-like bodies are thickly
scattered throughout the entire substance, no tubes or any
other structure being perceptible. In others, again, nothing
is observed in the homogeneous matter except circular vesicles
resembling the bulbous enlargements of the tubes ; in some
instances such vesicles, large and small, are mingled together,
. . =) .
and have scattered amidst them the spore-like bodies. In one
from the Northumberland Coal-field. 225
remarkable specimen the vesicles seem to be formed into a
connected congeries towards the margin.
Another variety of these curious fungi has the outer bark
or cuticle rather thick ; and it seems to be composed of two or
three layers. Immediately within the innermost layer there
is a thin stratum of minute granules, which in some speci-
mens is much extended, and the granules enlarged. In the
former the quarter-inch object-glass is requisite to resolve
them ; in the latter aninch glass shows them very well. And,
what is rather peculiar, at certain points of the circumference
the bark or cuticle is folded inwards, the outer layer to a much
less extent than the znner, thus leaving a wide space between
the two. These inward foldings, of which there are three or
four, bulge considerably into the substance of the fungus, and
are somewhat reniform or ear-shaped. ‘The stratum of gra-
nules follows the infoldings with the greatest regularity.
There is still another variety, which differs considerably
from all the rest. This is without tubes, the whole substance
being composed of large polygonal cells having the appearance
of coarse cellular tissue, with here and there a dark, irregular,
spherical body.
Such are the variations in the structure of these Coal-
measure fungi: they are, we have said, occasionally structure-
less or nearly so; but this is rarely the case. We have six-
teen specimens that appear either homogeneous or almost so,
out of 126 sections, all the rest (110) exhibiting more or less
structure. This fact militates strongly against the idea we at
first entertained, that the tubular structure was a fungus para-
sitic in the bodies in which it is found. Were such the case,
these figures ought to be reversed: 16 bodies so affected might
be found in 126; but certainly we should never expect to
find out of that number 110 affected and 16 only free from the
parasite.
The apparent entire homogeneity of some specimens, and
the apparent partial homogeneity of others, can be accounted
for as the result of fossilization. Fossil wood and other ve-
getable substances have frequently the structure either wholly
or partially obliterated by pressure. ‘This is not uncommonly
the case with wood found in the Newsham Coal-shale ; and it
can scarcely be doubted that such is the case with the fungi in
question. We presume that the general substance of these
bodies is composed of cellular tissue (and, indeed, in one of the
varieties above mentioned we have seen that it is chiefly made
up of cellular tissue, and traces of such a structure have been
observed in one or two other instances), and that by pressure
this is almost universally obliterated. The ramifying tubes,
226 Messrs. Hancock & Atthey on Fossil Fungi
with the spore-like bodies, being of a less delicate nature, or
in some way less perishable, are sometimes preserved through-
out the mass, at other times only partially preserved; occa-
sionally the tubes are so strongly defined, that every charac-
teristic is retained; again so delicate and attenuated are they,
that their margins only can be perceived, dying out until the
faintest traces of them subside ito the surrounding homoge-
neous substance.
Those specimens that exhibit only cell-like bodies, large
and small, may have had likewise ramifying tubes, and pres-
sure may have obliterated them; or they may have had a
continuous connected congeries of cells opening at the surface,
as the tubes would seem to do; and in one instance, at least,
extensive traces of such a structure exist. In this case the
spores will have been developed in the cells; and, in fact,
spore-like bodies have been observed in connexion with these
cells.
We have already stated that the tubes originate in, and ap-
parently open at, the periphery of the fungus, and that spore-
like bodies are occasionally found within the tubes and the
bulbous enlargements in connexion with them. Such being
the case, it is only necessary to suppose (and, indeed, from
what we have seen, apparently the fact is such) that the tubes
are invaginated prolongations of the outer envelope or cuticle,
in order to bring the organization of these coal species into some
accordance with the structure of the higher fungi, in which
the spores seem to be always developed in connexion with
folds, tubes, or processes of one kind or other of the enveloping
membrane or cuticle, or, more correctly speaking, of the hy-
menium, which is itself apparently a continuation of the peri-
pheral investment.
We shall now conclude this very imperfect account of these
interesting Coal-measure fungi with concise descriptions of a
few of the more characteristic species, leaving the rest (proba-
bly as many more) for further investigation, which we hope
will throw additional light on this intricate subject.
DESCRIPTIONS OF SPECIES.
1. Archagaricon bulbosum.
Tubes of equal size, about +455 inch in diameter ; the main
branches pretty straight, long, somewhat sinuous, with the
secondary branches much contorted, involved, and crowded ;
occasionally papillose, and frequently terminating in large
spherical vesicles, and with smaller bulbous enlargements,
sometimes two or three in close succession, their diameter
from the Northumberland Coal-field. 227
being three or four times that of the branches, the terminal
vesicles being much larger.
Several specimens of this species have occurred; and we
have two or three of what we consider to be a variety of it,
with similar branches ; but neither have they bulbous enlarge-
ments nor are they papillose. The peculiarities of this variety
are probably owing to its state of development.
2. Archagaricon globuliferum.
Tubes various in size, the larger about 3955 inch in dia-
meter, smooth; both stems and branches straight or very
little sinuous, with numerous globular enlargements five or
six times the diameter of the tubes, and with a few extremely
large spherical vesicles, many times larger than the globular
enlargements, some of them being <4, inch in diameter.
This species is distinguished from A. bulbosum by the
straightness, smoothness, and minuteness of the branches, and
also by the more numerous globular enlargements, and parti-
cularly by the great size of the terminal vesicles. Several
specimens have been obtained.
3. Archagaricon radiatum.
Tubes large, measuring x}, inch in diameter, short, smooth, a
little tortuous, and appearing as if radiating from centres, but
not with much regularity; their margins are not always ex-
actly parallel, but usually somewhat irregularly sinuous.
This is a very characteristic species, and cannot be con-
founded with any other. We have two specimens exactly
agreeing in the above characters; a third has, in addition to
the radiating tubes, large, irregular, rounded vesicles. The
variation is probably owing to a different state of development.
The fungus is elongated and rather small. .
4, Archagaricon dendriticum.
‘Tubes very minute, 557 Ich in diameter, arranged in den-
dritic tufts in connexion with the periphery of the organism,
and having interspersed large elliptical vesicles, which are
apparently terminal. When the branches are crowded, the
tuft-like arrangement is obscured.
We have only two specimens of this pretty species ; they are
irregularly circular, and are quite minute, being only +4, inch
in diameter. They do not exactly agree in internal structure,
one of them having the terminal elliptical vesicles much more
numerous than the other, and the organism crowded through-
out with a vast number of similar vesicles.
228 Mr. 8. I. Smith on a new Genus and
5. Archagaricon conglomeratum.
Tubes large, uneven, cramped, and warty, irregularly en-
larged and occasionally much constricted, anastomosing, and
studded with cells of various sizes, sometimes so numerous
that the tubes are much obscured, the whole mass appearing
filled with them.
Several specimens have occurred of this well-marked spe-
cies. The tubes are occasionally constricted to =}, mch in
diameter, and are sometimes enlarged to considerably more
than twice that size. They are of an irregular form.
EXPLANATION OF PLATES IX. & X.
Prats IX.
Fig. 1. Lenticular form of Archagaricon.
Fig. 2. Oval form.
g. 3. Irregular elongated form.
3
Fig. 4. Pedunculate form.
Fig. 5. Irregular form, with minutely reticulated surface.
Fig. 6. A portion of the surface, enlarged, to show the reticulations.
Fig. 7. Transverse section of lenticular form.
PLATE XE
Fig. 1. General view of a few of the tubes, much enlarged, of Archaga-
ricon bulbosum: a, peripheral envelope or cuticle of the fungus ;
b, one of the large terminal vesicles; c, tubular enlargement.
2. A portion of a tube of the same species, more highly magnified,
with a terminal vesicle, showing the double marginal line.
3. An enlarged portion of a tube, with bulbous swelling and papillose
walls.
Fig. 4. The same, showing spore-like bodies within : a, spore-like bodies.
Fig. 5. Terminal extremities of three tubes without enlargements, show-
ing double marginal line.
XXVI.—Descriptions of a new Genus and two new Species of
Scyllarides and a new Species of Aithra from North America.
By Sipvey I. Smiru*.
EVIBACUS, gen. nov.
Carapax very broad; lateral border expanded, incision at
the cervical suture closed, and the margin behind it not in-
cised. Rostrum broader than long, very slightly bilobed.
Eyes situated midway between the rostrum and the outer
angle; the orbits entire, slightly removed from the anterior
margin and connected with it only by a suture. Antenne
with the inner margins approximate.
* From Silliman’s American Journal, July 1869.
two new Species of Scyllaride. 229
This genus is most nearly allied to Lbacus and Parribacus,
but is very distinct from both of them in the entire lateral
margin of the carapax, the closing of the orbits in front, and
the form of the rostrum.
Evibacus princeps, sp. nov.
Whole upper surface verrucose and nearly naked ; five low,
tuberculose elevations on the median line of the carapax, of
which one is at the base of the rostrum, two on the gastric
region, one on the anterior part of the cardiac, and one on the
posterior margin; similar elevations on the middle of the se-
cond and third segments of the abdomen, and a very slight
one on the fourth. Carapax strongly convex transversely ;
the anterior margin nearly straight, except at the lateral angle,
where it is slightly curved forward; lateral margin strongly
curved, with a broad notch at the cervical suture, behind
which the margin is very slightly obtusely and irregularly
toothed. Antenne together as broad as the anterior part ot
the carapax; the outer margins coarsely and irregularly
serrate and their outline forming the segment of a circle.
Everywhere beneath naked and nearly smooth. External
maxillipeds with the outer margin of the merus divided into
a number of slender processes. Legs so short that when bent
forward in ‘their natural position they are concealed beneath
the expansions of the carapax ; those of the first and second
pairs with the superior angle of the merus raised into an ob-
tuse crest ; dactyliof all the legs short and stout, in the female
those of the posterior pair closing against a process from the
propodus. Abdomen with the lateral projections of the se-
cond, third, and fourth segments long and rather acutely
pointed, those of the fourth shorter and triangular at tip ;
lamella of the terminal segment half as long as broad. Whole
length of body 14 in.; length of carapax, including rostrum,
5°8; breadth of carapax 7°9.
A single female specimen of this remarkable species, the
first of the Scyllaride discovered upon the west coast of Ame-
rica, was sent from La Paz, Lower California, by Capt. Jas.
Pedersen.
Arctus americanus, sp. nov.
Carapax as broad as long, median crest high, covered with
low squamiform tubercles, tridentate, the anterior tooth small
and situated halfway between the front and the second tooth ;
lateral crests very high, anterior portion with two teeth above
the eye and separated by a deep notch from the posterior por-
tion, which is covered to the lateral margin with low squami-
form tubercles; depression between the median and lateral
230 Mr.8.1. Smith on a new Species of Adthra.
crests broad and deep, smooth or slightly punctate, with a
median line of four depressed tubercles ; lateral margin broken
by a deep fissure at the cervical suture, and by a slight one a
little more posteriorly. Antepenultimate segment of the an-
tenn as broad as long; anterior angle not prominent; outer
margin arcuate, bidentate; anterior margin armed with seyve-
ral denticles ; median carina prominent, but smooth and even ;
terminal segment short, the extremity almost truncate and
rather deeply five-lobed, the lobes rounded ; the inner margin
bidentate. Exposed portions of the abdominal segments
sculptured as if covered with rows of scales; fourth seement
with a prominent median elevation above. Feet nearly
naked ; the merus segments slightly carinated above. Length
1:45 in.; length of carapax along the median line °45, late-
_ ral margin ‘50, breadth anteriorly ‘49. Male and female
do not differ.
Several specimens from Egmont Key, west coast of Florida,
collected by Col. E. Jewett and William T. Coons. It is
specially interesting as the representative of a genus hitherto
known only from the Old World.
Aithra scutata, sp. nov.
Carapax transversely and regularly elliptical; margins
thin, shghtly dentate, the denticles separated by broad and
very shallow sinuses; posterior margin nearly straight in the
middle; anterior margin straight and parallel to the posterior
margin for a short space outside the eyes; front projecting
horizontally, its margin forming a semicircle ; gastric region
elevated, with a broad median depression extending to the
front; anterior lobe of branchial region large and prominent ;
the broad space between the branchial region and the antero-
lateral margin concave; summits of the elevations and a
space along the posterior border tuberculous, rest of the upper
surface smooth ; inferior lateral regions slightly convex and
smooth. Chelipeds fitting closely to the carapax ; the angles
projecting into dentate crests ; outer and inferior surface of the
hand coarsely granulous. Ambulatory legs short, the angles
projecting into thin, dentate crests. Sternum and abdomen
deeply vermiculated. Length of carapax 1°39 in., breadth
2°23.
A single male of this species, the first of the genus dis-
covered in America, was sent with the Lvdbacus from La Paz
by Capt. Pedersen. It is at once distinguished from 4. scru-
posa, Kdw., by the much broader and more regularly elliptical
carapax.
The genus 4thra should evidently be placed near Crypto-
Dr. H. A. Nicholson on new Species of Graptolites. 231
podia, as has been done by Stimpson. The gastric region is
narrow and projects far forward as in the Maioids. The ex-
pansion on the sides of the carapax, which give it a Cancroid
form, are thin, and contain none of the internal organs; and
their removal would give the carapax very much the form of
- that of Cryptopodia.
XXVII.—On some new Species of Graptolites.
By Henry AuLeyNe Nicuotson, M.D., D.Se., M.A., F:G.S.*
[Plate XL]
Havine recently discovered a considerable number of new
forms of Graptolites, | purpose in the following communica-
tion giving a short diagnosis of the more remarkable ones
amongst them, reserving a more detailed description for an-
other occasion. To the twenty-four species which I formerly
described from the Skiddaw Slates (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soe.
vol. xxiv. p. 125) I have now to add seven new species; and
I have also detected Diplograpsus bicornis, Hall, and Phyllo-
grapsus Anna, Hall, thus raising the total number of Grapto-
lites from this formation to thirty-three. To the rich Grap-
tolitic fauna of the mudstones of the Coniston series I have
three new forms to add, making with those I have previously
described a total of twenty-seven species (see Quart. Journ.
Geol. Soc. vol. xxiv: p. 521). Finally, I have a few new spe-
cies from the Upper Llandeilo rocks of Dumfriesshire.
TRIGONOGRAPSUS, gen. nov. Pl. XI. fig. 6.
Gen. char, Frond simple, diprionidian, rapidly tapering
towards the base, and having perfectly plain lateral margins
without denticles. Cell-partitions alternating with one an-
other, and springing from an undulating or zigzag solid axis.
A common canal is probably present, in which case the axis:
must be excentric ; but the evidence on this point is incomplete.
I have been compelled to found this genus for the reception
of a single remarkable form which I have recently found in
the Skiddaw Slates, and which differs considerably in strue-
ture from both Retiolites and Diplograpsus. As defined by
Barrande, Fetiolites is distinguished by the triangular shape
of the frond on transverse section, by the absence of a solid
axis, and by a characteristic punctation of the test. The only
form to which these characters apply in their entirety is the
* Communicated by the Author, having been read before Section C
of the British Association, at Exeter.
232 Dr. H. A. Nicholson on new Species of Graptolites. —
familiar R. Getnitzianus, Barr. ; and it seems safest at present
to restrict the genus entirely to this species. Retzolites venosus,
Hall, and R. perlatus, Nich., possess a solid axis, and are
likewise distinguished by an extraordinary structure of inter-
lacing reticulated threads, the exact nature of which has yet
to be discovered. These will probably have to be placed in a
genus by themselves. ‘There remains R. ensiformis, Hall,
which occurs in the Quebec group of Canada, and which Hall
himself hints should probably be removed from Retiolites.
This last form agrees with the characters of Tr/gonograpsus
in having a well-marked solid axis from which the cell-parti-
tions alternately take their origin, in possessing perfectly plain
lateral margins, and in the general shape of the frond ; and as
their geological position is the same, there can be little hesita-
tion about placing the two in the same genus.
Trigonograpsus lanceolatus, Nich. Pl. XI. fig. 6.
Spec. char. Frond flattened, obtusely pointed at the base,
and widening out with great rapidity, the breadth just above
the base being more than doubled in the space of half an inch.
The lateral margins of the frond are bounded by an elevated
line, and are perfectly plain, the cellules being in contact
throughout their entire length, so that the cell-mouths are all
inaline. Along the centre of the frond runs a strong, zigzag,
solid axis, from the opposite angles of which there arise in an
alternating manner strong cell-partitions, which run nearly to
the margin, and form with the axis as high an angle as 75°.
The test shows no traces of a punctated or reticulated struc-
ture.
This form is certainly in many respects allied to Trigono-
grapsus (Retiolites) ensiformis, Hall; but it is separated by
very well-marked characters, of which the more important are
the nearly straight axis in the latter, and the much greater
obliquity of the cellules, which form with the axis an angle of
not more than 50°. In our species, on the other hand, the
axis is strongly bent from side to side, and the cellules form
with it an angle of about 75°.
Loc. Upper beds of the Skiddaw Slates, Ellergill, near
Milburn.
Dichograpsus fragilis, Nich. Pl. XI. figs. 1-3.
Spec. char. Frond multibrachiate, consisting of several
(probably eight) simple, monoprionidian stipes, arising from a
median non-celluliferous funicle. Centrally is placed a small
pointed radicle, from which proceed the two primary divisions
of the funicle. These subdivide, at a distance of about half a
Dr. H. A. Nicholson on new Species of Graptolites. 233
line from the radicle, into two secondary branches, of which
one is directed upwards and one downwards. Of these the
superior branch appears to give off no tertiary offsets, being
directly prolonged into the celluliferous stipe. The inferior
branch, on the other hand, gives off two tertiary offsets on the
same side, the extremities of the three divisions thus produced
becoming celluliferous upon one side. The stipes are ex-
tremely slender; the cellules are about twenty in the space of
an inch; the cell-mouths are at right angles to the back of
the stipe, and the denticles are simply angular, and not
mucronate.
This pretty little species is distinguished from all the other
members of the genus by its very minute size, by its mode of
branching, and by the extreme tenuity of the divisions of the
funicle and of the celluliferous stipes.
Loc. Upper beds of the Skiddaw Slates, Thornship Beck,
near Shap.
Dichograpsus (?) annulatus, Nich. Pl. XI. figs. 4 & 5.
Spec. char. Frond compound, branching and rebranching.
Base unknown. Branches coming off from one another more
or less nearly at right angles, often attaming a length of from
four to five inches, and preserving a uniform width of about a
line. Cellules from seventy to ninety in the space of an inch.
The face of every one of the stipes is crossed by a number of
transverse, sometimes slightly wavy, ridges, amounting to the
above number in the inch; but the state of preservation of the’
specimens is such that it is impossible to determine whether
these are the cell-partitions or are the mouths of the cellules
shown in a scalaritorm view. In the former case the direction
of the cellules would be nearly transverse to that of the stipes.
The margins of the stipes, however, are quite plain and ex-
hibit no denticles ; so that the latter view would appear to be
the correct one.
This singular form is recognizable, even in small fragments,
by the presence of the above-named transverse ridges, which
give the stipes somewhat of the aspect of a ringed worm.
Whichever view be adopted of the nature of these ridges, they
unquestionably mark the position of the cellules, which are
thus seen to reach the extraordinary number of not far from
100 in the space of an inch. The central portion of the frond
is not shown in any of my specimens (the best of which was
discovered by Mr. Christopherson, of Keswick); and it is
therefore impossible to fix finally the generic position of the
species. Its mode of branching, however, corresponds closely
with that of Dichograpsus ; and as this genus has its home in
234 Dr. H. A. Nicholson on new Species of Graptolites.
the Skiddaw Slates, the position of our form is most probably
here.
Loc. Rare in the Skiddaw Slates of Barrow, near Braith-
waite, and of Wath Brow, near Keswick.
Diplograpsus Hopkinsoni, Nich. Pl. XI. fig. 7.
Spec. char. Frond diprionidian, from half to three-quarters
of an inch in length exclusive of the distal prolongation of the
solid axis, and having a breadth of from one to one and a half
line. Base ornamented with a minute triangular radicle,
flanked by two long, curved, setiform processes, many times
ereater in length than the central mucro. Cellules about
twenty-four in the space of an inch, obtusely triangular in
shape, terminating in long drawn-out tips or denticles, which
are obtusely pointed and are usually slightly bent downwards,
but which do not terminate in distinct spines.
The specimens of this form which had previously come
under my notice were confounded by me with D. mucronatus,
Hall, to which they bore, in the shape of the cellules, a con-
siderable resemblance. Having now, however, discovered
more perfect specimens, in which the base is exhibited, I have
been led to alter this opinion. D). Hopkinsoni is altogether
larger and broader than J. mucronatus, the cellules are larger
and fewer to the inch, whilst the denticles are turned down-
wards, and do not terminate in spines. Finally, D. mucronatus
does not possess the long basal spines which are so charac-
‘teristic of D, Hopkinsont. ‘These spines are sometimes of
great length (a quarter of an inch in one specimen), and in all
their characters they resemble those of Climacograpsus anten-
nartus, Hall, which is a characteristic species in the Skiddaw
Slates. J have named this form after Mr. John Hopkinson,
who has recently written an excellent paper on the subject of
Graptolites.
Loc. Skiddaw Slates of Outerside, near Keswick.
Diplograpsus armatus, Nich. Pl. XI. fig. 8.
Spec. char. Frond diprionidian, varying in length from four
lines to more than one inch, exclusive of the distal prolonga-
tion of the axis. Breadth, exclusive of the spines, from one
to one and a half line. Base obtusely pointed, with a single
short radicle. Cellules extremely remote, not exceeding twelve
in the space of an inch, and having their apices furnished with
broad, tapering, slightly deflexed spies, which attain the
comparatively enormous length of from one to two lines; so
that the breadth of a full-grown specimen, including the spines,
may be as much as five lines.
Dr. H. A. Nicholson on new Species of Graptolites. 235
All the specimens which I have of this species are derived
from the upper beds of the Skiddaw Slates, and are both poorly
preserved and a good deal distorted by cleavage. The great
remoteness of the cellules, however, and the extraordinary
length of their spiny appendages are characters which distin-
guish this from all other forms. .
Loc. Upper beds of the Skiddaw Slates, Thornship Beck,
near Shap.
Diplograpsus Hughest, Nich. Pl. XI. figs. 9 & 10.
Spec. char. Frond diprionidian, about one quarter of an inch
in length, and one-sixteenth of an inch in width in the fully
developed portion. Base obtusely pointed, apparently without
any proximal extension of the solid axis. Frond forming a
cylindrical tube, which is divided into two vertical compart-
ments by a longitudinal septum. This septum, in all the
Diplograpst with which I am acquainted, is perfectly straight
or is very slightly undulated ; and its lateral margins appear
on the exterior of the test as very slightly wavy or straight
lines between the rows of cellules. In the present species,
however, the septum must be strongly and sharply bent first
to one side and then to the other, since the impressed line on
the exterior (which may conveniently be called the “ suture”’)
is regularly and strongly bent from side to side so as to be
almost zigzag. ‘The common canal is excessively narrow.
The base of each cellule is applied to a concavity of the undu-
lating septum, so that a regular alternation is maintained on
the two sides of the frond. The cellules are about thirty in
the space of an inch, overlapping one another not at all or for
an extremely short distance, curved, nearly vertical (or parallel
to the axis of the frond), their outer margins strongly convex;
the cell-mouths horizontal (or at right angles to the axis of the
frond). The test is perfectly smooth.
This extraordinary species reminds us of D. tamariscus, Nich.,
in the characters of the curved, cup-shaped, vertical cellules,
with their horizontal cell-mouths and extremely narrow com-
mon canal. It is easily distinguished, however, by the undu-
lated (not straight) suture, and by the constant absence of the
beautiful transverse strie which are so characteristic of all
examples of D. tamariscus which are preserved in relief. I
have named the species after my friend Mr. Hughes, of the
Geological Survey.
Loc. Graptolitic mudstones of the Coniston series, Skelgill
Beck, near Ambleside. (Beautifully preserved in relief.)
Diplograpsus sinuatus, Nich. Pl. XI. fig. 11.
Spec. char. Frond diprionidian, from four to five lines in
236 Dr. H. A. Nicholson on new Species of Graptolites.
length, and one line in breadth in the fully developed portion.
Base pointed, and furnished with a long straight radicle.
Cellules from thirty-six to forty-five in the space of an inch,
forming an angle of about 40° with the axis, and overlapping
one another for more than two-thirds of their entire length.
In shape the cellules are somewhat curved, wide at the base,
contracted in the middle of their length, and expanding mto
rounded knobs towards the cell-mouths.
This species is only known to me by some two or three
specimens, in a state of high relief, from the mudstones of the
Coniston series. The characteristic of the species is the pecu-
liar sinuous outline of the cellules, produced by the undulating
cell-partitions. .
Loc. Graptolitic mudstones of the Coniston series, Skelgill
Beck, near Ambleside. .
Diplograpsus bimucronatus, Nich. Pl. XI. figs. 12 & 12’.
Spec. char. Fyond diprionidian, from one to two inches in
length, and attaining in the fully-grown portion of large spe-
cimens a width of over two lines, exclusive of the spines from
the cell-mouths. Base obtusely pointed. Cellules from twenty-
eight to thirty in the space of an inch, broad at the base and
gradually tapering towards the cell-mouths, so as to form long
extended denticles, the upper margins of which are nearly
straight and are at right angles to the axis, whilst the inferior
margins are curved and form an angle of about 45° with the
axis. ‘The extremity of each denticle is furnished with two
long flexible spines, which are usually bent downwards, and
sometimes attain the extraordinary length of more than one
line and a half; so that the breadth of the entire frond, in-
cluding the spines, may be as much as a quarter of an inch.
The spines increase regularly in length as the distal extremity
of the frond is approached.
In the general shape of the cellules, D. bimucronatus closely
resembles D. mucronatus, Hall, from which it is distinguished
by the much greater size of the frond and by the possession of
two spines proceeding from the extremity of each denticle, the
latter species possessing but one spine, and that a smaller one,
to each cellule. From D. guadrimucronatus, Hall, im which
each cellule has two spines, our species is readily separated by
the characters of the cellules.
Loc. Not uncommon in a single bed of anthracitic shale,
Glenkiln Burn, Dumfriesshire.
Diplograpsus insectiformis, Nich. Pl. XI. fig. 18.
Spec. char. Frond diprionidian, not exceeding two and a half
Dr. H. A. Nicholson on new Species of Graptolites. 237
to three lines in length, averaging two lines, elongate-ovate in
shape, tapering towards both extremities, the width in the
middle being nearly one line, exclusive of the spines. Base
obtusely pointed, with a minute, sometimes double, radicle.
Axis apparently not prolonged beyond the distal extremity of
the frond. Cellules forty-two in the space of an inch, over-
lapping one another for about half their entire length, their
lower margins straight, inclined to the axis at an angle of not
more than about 25°, and having the cell-mouths nearly rect-
angular to the axis of the frond. Denticles pointed and fur-
nished with rigid straight spines, which are usually directed
slightly upwards.
Out of about thirty individuals of this gregarious little spe-
cies, all upon the same piece of shale, no important departures
from the above characters are observable. The small size and
ovate shape of the frond, the low angle which the cellules
form with the axis, the acutely pointed denticles, and the pre-
sence of straight spines at the cell-mouths sufficiently distin-
guish the species.
Loc. Upper Llandeilo rocks of Dobb’s Linn, near Moffat.
Diplograpsus vesiculosus, Nich. Pl. XI. figs. 14 & 15.
Spec. char. Frond diprionidian, the celluliferous portion at-
taining, in fully grown specimens, a length of from one to two
inches, and a breadth of from one-eighth to one-sixth of an
inch. The celluliferous margins of the frond are almost pa-
rallel till close upon the base, when they converge to form a
short obtusely pointed basal process, resembling that of D.
palmeus, Barr. In the centre of the frond, in place of the
ordinary solid axis of the Diplograpsi, is a tubular body, bor-
dered laterally by filiform margins. Whether a true solid axis,
in the form of a cylindrical filament, is also present, cannot be
determined. The axial tube is narrow proximally, but widens
out distally till a width of nearly one line may be reached, and.
on passing finally beyond the celluliferous portion of the frond
it is directly prolonged into a long, fusiform, ovate or cylin-
drical, vesicular dilatation, which 1s bordered by strong fili-
form margins. This terminal vesicle, at first narrow, attains
a width of from one-tenth to one-fifth of au inch, and then
contracts to an acuminate apex. ‘The cellules are in contact
throughout their entire length, from twenty-five to thirty in
the space of an inch, inclined to the axial tube at an extremely
low angle (about 25°). The cell-mouths are nearly parallel
to the median line of the frond, and are gently rounded and
convex, not forming distinct denticles ; so that the celluliferous
margin of the frond appears simply as an undulating line.
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. iv. 17
238. Dr. H. A. Nicholson on new Species of Graptolites.
The external portions of the test appear to have been the
strongest portions of the polypary, and are always more
strongly defined than the inner.
The name which I have adopted for this extraordinary spe-
cies appears to be somewhat unfortunate, since it seems to
have given rise to the opinion that the presence of a terminal
vesicle is the most important or the sole distinguishing cha-
racter of the species. ‘This distal vesicle is sometimes seen, to
a limited extent, in D. pristis, His., and in D. palmeus, Barr. ;
and in this respect our species is only remarkable in always
having the vesicle, and in its very large size. D. vesiculosus,
however, is totally and entirely distinct from any other Diplo-
grapsus known to me, and its characters are recognizable even
m very small fragments. It is completely separated from all
other forms by the following characters :—1, the parallelism
of the celluliferous margins of the frond; 2, the obtusely
pointed, triangular basal process; 3, the contiguity of the
cellules throughout their entire length; 4, the absence of dis-
tinct denticles; 5, the exceedingly small angle which the cel-
lules form with the central line of the frond; 6, the possession
of a median axial tube of considerable width, in the place of,
or in addition to, a true solid axis; 7, the possession of a ter-
minal dilatation or vesicle, formed by an expansion of the
axial tube.
This combination of characters cannot be predicated of any
other known form, and is sufficient to place the validity of the
species beyond reasonable doubt.
Loc. Upper Llandeilo rocks of Dobb’s Linn and Frenchland
Burn, near Moffat. Rare in the mudstones of the Coniston
series, Skelgill Beck, near Ambleside.
Climacograpsus tnnotatus, Nich. Pl. XI. figs. 16 & 17.
Spec. char. Frond diprionidian, from three to five lines in
length, and little more than half a line in width in its fully
developed portion. Base pointed, with a minute radicle. Axis
prolonged beyond the distal extremity of the frond. Cell-
apertures forming rounded notches, sunk below the general
margins of the frond, and from twenty-eight to thirty-five in
the space of an inch. The projecting portions of the frond
between the notches formed by the cell-mouths are somewhat
quadrangular, with the angles rounded off; and from the infe-
rior angle of each arises a short stout spine, which is directed
horizontally over the mouth of the cellule below.
This species agrees with Climacograpsus typicalis, Hall, in
the possession of spines; but it is altogether a much smaller
Dr. H. A. Nicholson on new Species of Graptolites. 239
and narrower form, and differs still further in the characters of
the cellules.
Loc. Upper Llandeilo rocks of Dobb’s Linn, near Moffat.
Climacograpsus tuberculatus, Nich. Pl. XI. fig. 18.
Spec. char. Frond diprionidian, from half to over three-
quarters of an inch in length, and of a breadth of about one
line in the fully developed portion. The base is pointed, and
is provided with three strong tapering spines or mucronate
processes, of which the central one is the smallest and consti-
tutes the true radicle, whilst the two lateral ones are nearly
rectangular to the axis, and are slightly curved towards their
extremities. The cellules are about thirty in the space of an
inch, excavated in the sub8tance of the frond, and appearing
in a scalariform specimen as linear or elliptical apertures ex-
tending across the stipe. Between the rows of cellules on the
two lateral surfaces of the frond, the test is furnished with a
linear series of tubercles or outward processes of the periderm,
which are sometimes square, sometimes more or less triangular
in shape. One of these processes arises from, or in the imme-
diate vicinity of, the lateral angle of each cell-aperture.
This form is allied to C. bicornis, Hall, but is clearly sepa-
rated by the lateral tubercles, as well as by the nearly hori-
zontal position of the two lateral spines at the base.
Loc. Rare in the Upper Llandeilo rocks of Dobb’s Linn,
near Moffat.
Graptolites argenteus, Nich. Pl. XI. fig. 19.
Spec. char. Stipe simple, monoprionidian, commencing
proximally in a delicate curved base, and then proceeding in
a nearly straight line. Base extremely slender, the cellules
having here very much the character of those of G. Nalssond,
except that their apices are reflexed. They are long, narrow,
and triangular, about eighteen in the space of an inch, the
entire length of this portion of the stipe being about four-tenths
of an inch. From this point the stipe gradually widens, until
a breadth of as much as one line may be reached ; but this does
not appear to be exceeded. The cellules in the adult portion
of the stipe are very closely set (from forty to forty-five in the
space of an inch), long, narrow, overlapping one another for
more than two-thirds of their entire length, and having their
apices reflexed. The basal portion of the cellules is a little
wider than the mouth ; and the length of a full-grown cellule
is about a line, the width not exceeding one-fortieth of an inch.
In the distal portion of the stipe the apices of the cellules are
Li
240 Dr. H. A. Nicholson on new Species of Graptolites. —
not tumed down at all. The common canal is extremely
narrow ; and the cellules form with it an angle of about 35°.
‘This beautiful species presents a superficial resemblance to
G. priodon, Bronn. It is distinguished, however, by the slen-
der, linear, sharply curved base, the cellules of which resemble
those of G'. Nilsson7, by the much greater number of cellules to
the inch (those of G. priodon not exceeding twenty-five, whilst
those of G. argenteus are from forty to forty-five), by the great
comparative length and nearly uniform width of the cellules,
and by the great rapidity with which the stipe attains its full
dimensions. Further, it is only in the lower portion of the
adult part of the stipe that the cellules resemble those of G.
priodon, since it is only here that they are reflexed at their
extremities.
Loc. Abundant, and beautifully preserved in relief, in a
single thin band in the mudstones of the Coniston series,
Skelgill Beck, near Ambleside. |
Didymograpsus afinis, Nich. Pl. XI. fig. 20.
Spec. char. Frond consisting of two extremely slender
stipes, each from half to three-quarters of an inch in length,
diverging from an initial point, which is provided with a long
and pointed radicle of about one line in length. The stipes
are very narrow, having a uniform width of from one-fiftieth
to one-tortieth of an inch. ‘The cellules are on the opposite
side of the frond to the radicle; and the “ angle of divergence””*
varies from 90° to 150°, the stipes being straight or gently
* In the specific determination of any Didymograpsus, one of the most
important points in the diagnosis is found in the “angle of divergence”
of the two stipes which compose the frond. It is obvious, however, that
the two stipes, diverging from a single point, form éwo angles ; and it is
equally obvious that this character is absolutely valueless unless the same
angle be always chosen for purposes of comparison. The ordinary prac-
tice, in the case of the Didymograpsi, has been to take the smallest angle,
and to call that the “angle of divergence,” or, in cases where the two
angles were equal, to take the angle formed by the two stipes on the side
on which the cellules were placed. Now, in neither of these cases is it
really the same angle which is compared in different species ; or, at any
rate, it is not necessarily or invariably the same. The proper method of
comparison is to take the angle formed by the stipes on the opposite side
of the frond to the radicle, and to consider that as the “angle of diver-
gence.” In this way a constant standard of comparison is obtained, since
the radicle always marks the organic base of the frond. A neglect of this
obvious point has led to extraordinary confusion amongst the British
members of this genus, as I shall point out upon some future occasion.
The angle formed by the stipes upon the same side as the radicle may con-
veniently be called the “radicular angle;” and the cellules, in different
sections of the Didymograpsi, are found to occupy the sides of the angle
of divergence or of the radicular angle.
Dr. H. A. Nicholson on new Species of Graptolites. 241
curved. The cellules are about eighteen in the space of an
inch, and are indistinguishable in all their characters from
those of G. Nilssoni, Barr. ‘They are long, narrow, and so
arranged that they do not overlap one another at all; the outer
cell-walls being inclined to the axis at an angle of not more
than 15° to 20°, and being three to four times as long as the
cell-mouths, the latter forming short transverse apertures at
right angles to the axis.
This pretty little species is readily separated from all allied
forms (such as D. nitidus, Hall, and D. serratulus, Hall) by
the remote free cellules, which do not overlap one another, by
the general shape of the frond, and by the small length and
great tenuity of the stipes.
Loc. Lower beds of the Skiddaw Slates, Barff, near Kes-
wick. Upper beds of the Skiddaw Slates, Hllergill, near Mil-
burn; and Eggbeck, near Pooley.
Didymograpsus fasciculatus, Nich. Pl. XI. figs. 21 & 22.
Spec. char. Frond consisting of two simple stipes arising
from a short obtuse radicle. ‘The stipes are at first directed
horizontally outwards, but are immediately bent downwards
towards the radicle, again curving horizontally outwards.
The cellules occupy the concave face of each stipe, forming
thus the angle of divergence; but, owing to the curvature of
the stipes, the amount of this angle can hardly be stated.
Each stipe is extremely narrow at first, but gradually widens
out till a breadth of nearly one twenty-fourth of an inch may
be reached. ‘The common canal is very narrow, but is wider
than the cellules. The cellules are excessively long and nar-
row, curved, following the curvature of the stipe, the cell-
mouths being at right angles to the axis of the cellules. The
cell-mouths are not more than about twenty-four in the space of
an inch in the adult portion of the stipe, and the cellules overlap
one another for fully two-thirds of their entire length. An indi-
vidual cellule, when fully grown, may have the extraordinary
length of more than two lines, with a uniform breadth of not
more than one-hundredth of an inch. Owing to the great
length and narrowness of the cellules, and owing to their
inclination being so small that they are nearly parallel to the
back of the stipe, the cellules in the distal portion of the stipe
appear to form a bundle of long narrow tubes. In consequence
of this, a line drawn at right angles to the distal portion of the
stipe would exhibit a section of three, or even four, cellules.
This species cannot be confounded with any other, being
distinguished by the curiously curved stipes with the cellules
on their concave aspect, the latter being nearly parallel to the
242 Mr. A. G. Butler on four new Species of
back of the stipe, and attaining an extraordinary length as
compared with their breadth.
Loc. Rare in the upper beds of the Skiddaw Slates, Eller-
gill, near Milburn, Thornship Beck, near Shap, and Eggbeck,
near Pooley.
EXPLANATION OF PLATE XI.
Fig. 1. Specimen of Dichograpsus fragilis, n. sp., nat, size.
Fig. 2. The same, enlarged.
Fig. 3. Portion of the same, enlarged still further, to show the cellules.
Fig. 4, Portion of Dichograpsus annulatus, n. sp., showing the transverse
ridges.
Fig. 5. Portion of the same, enlarged.
Fig. 6. Trigonograpsus lanceolatus, n. sp., enlarged.
Fig. 7. Diplograpsus Hopkinsoni, n. sp., enlarged.
Fig. 8. Diplograpsus armatus, n. sp., enlarged. ‘QE
Fig. 9, Portion of Diplograpsus Hughesi, nu. sp., greatly enlarged, to show
the cellules.
Fig. 10. Diplograpsus Hughesi, enlarged.
Fig. 11. Diplograpsus sinuatus, n. sp., enlarged.
Fig. 12. Diplograpsus bimucronatus, n. sp., enlarged.
Fig. 12'. Fragment of another specimen of D, bimucronatus, enlarged, to
show the cellules.
Fig. 13. Diplograpsus insectiformis, n. sp., enlarged,
Fig. 14. Upper portion of Diplograpsus vesiculosus, n. sp., Slightly enlarged.
(The serration of the margin in this figure is too pronounced.)
Fig. 15. Portion of D. vesiculosus, enlarged, showing the cellules, axial
tube, and base.
Fig. 16. Climacograpsus innotatus, n. sp., enlarged.
Fig. 17. Portion of C. innotatus, greatly enlarged, to show the cellules.
Fig. 18. Chimacograpsus tuberculatus, nu. sp., enlarged.
Fig. 19. Graptolhites argenteus, n. sp., enlarged.
Fig. 20. Didymograpsus affinis, n. sp., enlarged.
Fig. 21. Didymograpsus fasciculatus, n. sp., enlarged.
Fig. 22. Portion of D. fasciculatus, still further enlarged, to show the
cellules.
XXVITI.— Descriptions of four new Species of Diurnal Lepido-
ptera of the Genus Thyca. By A. G. Burisr, F.L.S. &e.
Genus Tuyca, Wallengren.
1. Thyca Ithiela, sp. nov.
¢. Ale supra nigree: antice velut in 7’. Horsfieldii cinereo plagate
et maculate: postice macula magna subcostali subovali aureo-
flava apud basin posita, maculis quinque discalibus, serie an-
gulari velut in 7. Horsfieldii positis, maculisque quinque cine-
rascentibus semicircularibus submarginalibus; area abdominali
cinerea, haud flavo maculata: corpus nigro-cinereum, antennis
nigTis,
Ale subtus fere velut in 7. Horsfieldii, maculis autem posticarum
Diurnal Lepidoptera of the Genus Thyca. 243
multo minoribus et latius separatis: corpus cinereum, abdomine
albicante ; antennis nigris, cinereo-squamosis.
Exp. alar. une. 3, lin, 83.
Hab, Penang. 6. Presented 1860, by the Hon. East-
India Company.
3. Obtained 1843, from Mr. L. James. B.M.
This handsome species is larger than the nearly allied 7.
Hlorsfieldi’, and may be distinguished from it at a glance by
the smaller spots on both surfaces of the posterior wings, and
the absence of any yellow patch upon the abdominal margin.
2. Thyca fragalactea, sp. nov.
3. Al supra simillime iis 7’. Argenthone, area autem apicali anti-
carum et marginali posticarum angustius nigrescente.
Ale subtus simillime iis 7’. Argenthone: antice autem maculis apica-
libus albis magis regularibus, margineque magis regulari et angus-
tiore, maculam albam statim pone cellam haud exhibente : postica
area basali flava multo profundiore, nec ad basin obscurata; ma-
cula coccinea discocellulari a maculis submarginalibus late sepa-
rata et aream apicalem intus hmitante ; maculis submarginalibus
minus albo cinctis: corpus album.
Exp. alar. unc. 3,.lin. 1.
Hab. North coast of Australia. Presented 1846 and 1853,
by the Earl of Derby, and collected by Mr. Macgillivray.
B.M.
Closely allied to 7. Argenthona, but quite distinct.
3. Thyca Lucerna, sp. nov.
3. Ale supra simillime iis 7. Henningie: antice fascia obliqua sub-
media multo angustiore et cinerascente, striolis subapicalibus dis-
tinctioribus: postice fasciola cinerea obsoleta; plaga flava duplo
majore: corpus nigro-cinereum.
Ale subtus us 7’. Henningie persimiles fascia autem media anti-
carum angustiore, maculisque quinque subapicalibus albis ; fascia
marginali posticarum paulo latiore venisque angustius nigro
marginatis: corpus thorace fusco-cinereo, abdomine albo.
Exp. alar. une, 3, lin. 3.
Q. Ale supra nigro-fusce: antice fere velut in 7. Pasithoé 9
maculate, fascia autem media albidiore et magis integra : postice
plagis tribus, maculisque quatuor squamosis a margine abdomi-
nali ad apicem serie decrescente arcuata currentibus ; squamis
nonnullis in cella discoidali vena mediana ab his separatis : corpus
thorace nigro; abdomine albo, stria dorsali cinerea; antennis
nigris,
Ale subtus velut in mari at pallidiores et maculis sex anticis
subapicalibus albis.
Exp. alar, unc, 3, lin, 2.
244 Prof. J. C. Galton on the Myology
Hab. 3 9%. Philippines. Obtained 1867, through Mr.
Higgins. B.M.
Allied to 7. Henningta, and intermediate in character be-~
tween it and 7. Pasithoé.
4, Thyca ochreopicta, sp. nov.
3. Ale supra nigro-fusce: antice fere velut in 7’. Egialea, albido
fasciate et cinereo punctate: postice iis 7. Henningie simillime ;
plaga autem abdominali breviore et ochracea: corpus nigro-
cinereum.
Ale subtus iis 7. Henningie persimiles: anticee autem fascia alba,
magis obliqua, striolis quinque subapicalibus: postice ochraceo-
flavee, striola basali coccinea angustiore: corpus thorace nigro,
abdomine albido.
Exp. alar. une. 2, lin. 9—une. 3.
Hab. 3. Philippines. Obtained 1866 ; collected by Herr
G. Semper. B.M. ;
gd. Obtained 1867, through Mr. Higgins.
This species, though very closely allied to 7. Henningia,
may be readily distinguished by its more arched anterior
wings, and the more ochraceous colouring of the yellow in the
posterior wings, with several other differences. It may be re-
garded as intermediate between 7. Henningia and T. Lgialea.
XXIX.—The Myology of Cyclothurus didactylus. By JoHN
CHARLES GALTON, M.A., F.L.8., Lecturer on Comparative
Anatomy at Charing Cross Hospital*.
[Plate VIII.]
THROUGH the kindness of Prof. Flower, F.R.S., Conservator
of the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, I have been
enabled to examine the muscles of a specimen of the 'Two-toed
Anteater (Cyclothurus didactylus, Lessont). The animal was
* Communicated by the Author, having been read at the Meeting of
the British Association for the Advancement of Science, at Exeter,
August 24, 1869.
+ See ‘Revision of the Genera and Species of Entomophagous Eden-
tata,’ by Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S, (Proc. Zool. Soc. April 1865, p. 386 and
1. 19.
: No mention is made of this species of Anteater either in the French edi-
tion (2 vols. Paris, 1801) of Don Felix d’Azara’s Essays on the Natural His-
tory of the Quadrupeds of Paraguay, or in Dr. Rengger’s ‘ Naturgeschichte
der Siiugethiere von Paraguay,’ Basel, 1830. In the first volume (the
only one ever published), however, of an English translation from the
original Spanish of the former author, by Mr. W. Perceval Hunter, F.G.S.
(Edin. 1888), we are informed (p. 163) that “Buffon describes a third
species of Anteater ;” and the Don proceeds, somewhat scoffingly, to ques-
tion the correctness of the observations of this unfortunate butt of natu-
of Cyclothurus didactylus. 245
a female, fairly developed, and measured from the tip of the
snout to the extremity of the tail 15 inches, and from the tip
of the latter to the anus 8? inches.
This is not the first time that the muscles of this species of
Anteater have been the subject of description either by pen or
pencil, seeing that Meckel, at the beginning of the present
century, published a paper on its anatomy in the ‘ Archiv’
which bear his name*, and Cuvier devoted two plates of his
splendid Atlas to the illustration of its myologyf.
Since, however, the descriptions of the former author are
somewhat lacking in completeness and fulness in certain points,
and since the figures drawn by the latter, though from an
artistic point of view faultless, are, for the stern needs of the
dissector, “un faible secours,”’ as remarked by M. Pouchet, it
is hoped that the following notes will fill up any gaps which
may still exist in the knowledge to which these great anato-
mists have so largely contributed f.
Panniculus carnosus. This muscle is most developed in the
abdominal region and flanks. The “portion ventrale”’ of
Cuvier is, on either side of the middle line of the abdomen,
fused with the aponeurosis of the external oblique; while
dorsally it is continued into fascia covering the the intercostal
muscles and those of the back.
ralists, and thus concludes, after the fashion of a counsel on a losing side :-—
“Finally, I leave it to time to prove or disprove my conjecture.” Time
has disproved his conjecture ; and Buffon, for once in a way, is right.
The translator, in some ‘‘ Additional Notes” (p. 169), quotes from the
‘Penny Cyclopedia’ (vol. ii. pp. 68-66) a description of the habits of the
Anteater in question, which was taken from Von Sack’s ‘Narrative of a
Voyage to Surinam ’—a work, as Mr, Hunter truly observes, “rarely met
with.”
I extract from the preface to Mr. Hunter’s translation the Spanish titles
of Azara’s works, which were published in five octavo volumes :—
1, “Apuntamientos para la Historia natural de los Quadrupedos del
Paraguay y Rio de la Plata, escritos por Don Felix de Azara, en dos
tomos, en la imprenta de la viuda de Ibarra, Madrid.”
2. “ Apuntamientos para la Historia natural de los paxaros del Paraguay
y Rio de la Plata, escritos por Don Felix de Azara, en tres tomos. Ma-
drid, 1802.”
* “Anatomie des zweizehigen Ameisenfresser,” Archiv fiir die Phy-
siologie, Ve" Bd. Halle & Berlin, 1819.
+ Anatomie Comparée, recueil de planches de myologie dessinées par
Georges Cuvier ou exécutées sous ses yeux par M. Laurillard. Fol.
Paris, 1855, pls. 257 & 258.
¢ I should here state that Prof. Humphry had completed the dissection
of a Two-toed Anteater before my labours had begun; but, as he intends
reserving his notes for the next number of the ‘ Journal of Anatomy and
Physiology,’ he has, with great kindness and liberality, made no objection
to the prior publication of observations which are, in point of time, of later
date than his own,
246 Prof. J.C. Galton on the Myology
The outermost fibres of the ventral portion pass over the
outer aspect of the thigh, and are lost in the fascia covering
the outer side of the thigh and leg of either side, acting thus
as a tensor fascia femoris externus (Cuvier, pl. 257. fig. 1, and
pl. 258). This arrangement keeps the thigh semiflexed upon
the abdomen.
The uppermost fibres, “‘ portion latérale” (Cuvier, pl. 257. fig. 1,
and pl. 258), split near their termination into two flat bundles,
the innermost of which appears to become blended with the
inferior surface of those fibres of the pectoralis major which
take origin from the costal cartilages, while a few fibres seem
to be prolonged as far as the first or second rib. The outer-
most bundle joins a small slip given off from that portion of
the latissimus dorsi (namely, from its innermost edge) which
furnishes the dorso-épitrochlien, which slip is continued into
the inferior surface of the terminal tendon of the pectoralis major.
The portion answering to the platysma myoides is but poorly
developed.
There is no trace of a musculus sternalis.
The rectus abdominis is very well developed. Asin Dasypus,
it broadens out on reaching the thorax, over which it was pro-
longed, terminating at ribs 2 to 6, inclusive, by digitations
corresponding to the point of origin of the obliquus externus
from these ribs. The highest fibres, which are continuous
with the inner edge of the muscle, are inserted into the second
rib by an extremely delicate tendon, easily overlooked. There
was no complete sheath for the muscle, The superficial sur-
face was covered by the aponeurosis of the internal oblique ;
while the deep surface was, on its outer half, invested with the
fibres of the transversalis, the inner half being covered by the
aponeurosis of the same muscle, which probably, along the
inner edge of the rectus, fused with that of the internal oblique
muscle. The outer edge of the rectus was not bounded by any
sheath. :
This muscle, according to Meckel (Archiv, p. 40) has three
‘“‘inscriptiones tendinez ’’ (Sehnenstreifen), the middle one
being the most conspicuous. Its thoracic attachment, accord-
ing to the same authority, is to the eight uppermost costal
cartilages. The tendinous bands were by no means clearly
marked in the specimen which I examined.
' There was a well-developed rectus thoracicus lateralis. It
arose from about the seventh to the eleventh ribs inclusive,
passe 1 over the boundary-line of the insertions of the serratus
magnus and the thoracic origin of the obliquus externus, and
was inserted into the second rib, at about the junction of the
costal with the sternal portion.
" of Cyclothurus didactylus. 247
Since this muscle coexists with an upward prolongation of
the rectus abdominis, it can scarcely be regarded as a “ late-
ralized”’ slip of the rectus, as suggested by Prof. Macalister*.
It is, moreover, completely separated from the rectus by a
muscular stratum composed of the thoracic fibres of origin of
the obliquus externus. Cuvier figures the muscle very clearly
(pl. 257. fig. 2), but terms it “ scaléne, portion extérieure ou
inférieure.” In his plate of the myology of Myrmecophaga
tamandua (pl. 262), it is represented as passing over the serra-
tus magnus. I am inclined to regard this muscle, as evidently
did Cuvier, as a downward detachment from the scalenus.
Mr. Wood describes a similar muscle as occurring in man,
under the name of “ supracostal”’ (Proc. Roy. Soc. June 1865,
p- 8, and May 1867, p. 523). 5 0°909 0°0449 20°2
SP diaveuble: 25.805..ese- 0°319 0°0251 12°7
Or Hile GIG PEOR A Zconcnccahudsan 0°902 0'0830 10'9
LOH te Gan Os MM 5 ccc smeciaaas o'rgs1 C°O197 9'2
These results, obtained from measurements made upon a freshly
killed animal, confirm those found from observation of the human
subject, and prove that the ratio of the cross section of the muscle
to that of its tendon depends upon the amount of friction experienced
by the latter, the coefficient being greater in proportion as the fric-
tion is less.
The following observations, made upon a Wallaby Kangaroo, con-
firm in a general way the preceding results :—
Cross sections of Muscles and Tendons in a Wallaby Kangaroo, and ratios
of the same.
Cross section of |Cross section of | Ratio of cross
Name of muscle. muscle, in tendon, in section of muscle}
square inches. | square inches. to that of tendon.
1. Gastrocnemius.............+- T2313 0.0356 | 36°9
ay ROME QUE cosa soins iam ‘ 0°354 070246 14°4
It appears from the preceding investigation that the cross section
of a muscle does not bear a constant ratio to the cross section of
its tendon, unless the friction experienced by the muscle and tendon
be also constant, and that there may even be a surplusage of strength
in the tendon beyond what is absolutely necessary to resist the com-
bined force of the muscle and friction. This surplusage, however,
cannot be supposed to be large, if the principle of economy of material
in nature be admitted.
‘‘On Holtenia, a Genus of Vitreous Sponges.” By WyviLLe
Tuomson, LL.D., F.R.S., Professor of Natural Science in Queen’s
College, Belfast.
During the deep-sea dredging cruise of H.M.S. ‘ Lightning” in
the autumn of the year 1868, the dredge brought up, on the 6th of
September, from a depth of 530 fathoms, in lat. 59° 36’ N., and
Prof. W. Thomson on Holtenia. 285
long. 7° 20! W., about 20 miles beyond the 100-fathom line of the
Coast-Survey of Scotland, fine, grey, oozy mud, with forty or fifty
entire examples of several species of siliceous sponges. The mini-
mum temperature indicated by several registering thermometers was
47°-3 F., the surface-temperature for the several localities being
52°°5 F.
. The mud brought up consisted chiefly of minute amorphous
particles of carbonate of lime, with a considerable proportion of living
Globigerine and other Foraminifera, and of the “ coccoliths’” and
“‘ coccospheres’’ so characteristic of the chalk-mud of the warmer
area of the Atlantic. The sponges belonged to four genera: one
of these was the genus Hyalonema, previously represented by the
singular glass-rope sponges of Japan and the coast of Portugal ; and
the other three genera were new to science. One of these latter was
the subject of the paper.
Associated with the sponges were representatives, usually of a
small size, of the Mollusca, the Crustacea and Annelides, the Echino-
dermata, and the Coelenterata, with numerous large and remarkable
rhizopods. Many of the higher invertebrates were brightly coloured
and had eyes.
Four nearly perfect specimens of the sponge described in the
memoir were procured.
Ho trent, n. g.*
Ti. CarrenTERI, n. sp.
The body of the sponge is nearly globular or oval. Normal and
apparently full-grown specimens are from 9" to 1! 1" in length, and
from 7" to 9" wide. The outer wall consists of an open, somewhat
irregular, but very elegant network, whose skeleton is made up of
large separate siliceous spicules. These spicules are formed on the
sexradiate stellate type; but usually only five rays are developed,
the sixth ray being represented by a tubercle. To form the frame-
work of the external wall, the four secondary branches of the spicule
spread on one plane, the surface of the sponge, while the fifth or
azygous branch dips down into the sponge-substance. This arrange-
ment of the spicules gives the outer surface of the sponge a dis-
tinctly stellate appearance, the centres of the stars being the point
of radiation of the secondary branches of the spicules. ‘These
quinqueradiate spicules measure about 1" 5! from point to point
of the cross-like secondary branches; and the length of the azygous
arm is from 7°5!"' to 1".
Smaller stars, formed by the radiation of smaller spicules of the
same class, occupy the spaces between the rays of the larger stars.
The rays of each star bend irregularly, and meet the rays of the
spicules forming the neighbouring stars. The rays of the different
spicules thus run along for some distance paralle] to one another,
* The genus is named in compliment to M. Holten, Governor of the Faroe
Islands; and the species is dedicated to Dr. W. B. Carpenter, V.P.R.S., with
whom the author was associated in the conduct of the expedition. [A figure of
the species is given at p. 120 of the present volume of the ‘Annals.’ ]
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. iv. 20
286 Royal Society :-—
and are held together by a layer of elastic sarcode, which invests
all the spicules and all their branches. Between the rays of the
spicules, over the whole surface, the sarcode forms an ultimate and
very delicate network, its meshes defining minute inhalant pores.
At the top of the sponge there is a large osculum, about 3! in
diameter, which terminates a cylindrical cavity, which passes down
vertically into the substance of the sponge to a depth of 5! 5!".
The walls of this oscular cavity are formed upon the same plan as
the external wall of the sponge; and the stars, which are even more
conspicuous than those of the outer wall, are due to the same
arrangement of spicules of the same form. The ultimate sarcode
network is absent between the rays of the stars of the oscular surface.
The sponge-substance, which is about 2! in thickness between
the oscular and the outer walls, is formed of a loose vacuolated
arrangement of bands and rods of greyish consistent sarcode, con-
taining minute disseminated granules and groups of granules of
horny matter, and minute endoplasts.
Towards the outer wall of the sponge the sarcode trabeculee are
arranged more symmetrically, and at length they resolve themselves
into distinct columns, which abut against and support the centres
of the stars, leaving wide, open, anastomosing channels between
them. The sarcode of the outer wall, and that of the wall of the
oscular cavity, is loaded with minute spicules of two principal forms—
quinqueradiate spicules with one ray prolonged and feathered, and
minute amphidisci.
Over the lower third of the body of the sponge, fascicles of enor-
mously long delicate siliceous spicules pass out from the sarcode
columns of the sponge-body in which they originate, through the
outer wall, to be diffused to a distance of not less than half a metre
in the mud in which the sponge lives buried ; and round the osculum
and over the upper third of the sponge, sheaves of shorter and more
rigid spicules project, forming a kind of fringe.
The author referred all the sponges which were found inhabiting
the chalk-mud to the Order Porifera Vitrea, which he had defined
in the ‘Annals and Magazine of Natural History’ for February
1868. This order is mainly characterized by the great variety and
complexity of form of the spicules, which may apparently, with
scarcely an exception, be referred to the sexradiate stellate type, a
form of spicule which does not appear to occur in any other order
of sponges. The genus Holtenia is nearly allied to Hyalonema,
and seems to resemble it in its mode of occurrence. Both genera
live imbedded in the soft upper layer of the chalk-mud, in which
they are supported,—Holtenia by a delicate maze of siliceous fibres,
which spread round it in all directions, increasing its surface without
materially increasing its weight—Hyalonema by a more consistent
coil of spicules, which penetrates the mud vertically and anchors it-
self in a firmer layer.
It appeared to the author and to Dr. Carpenter, who had had
their attention specially directed to this point as bearing upon the
continuity and identity of some portions of the present calcareous
Messrs. Duncan & Jenkins on Paleocoryne. 287
deposits of the Atlantic with the Cretaceous formation, that the
vitreous sponges are more nearly allied to the Ventriculites of the
chalk than to any recent order of Porifera. They are inclined to
ascribe the absence of silica in many Ventriculites, and the absence
of disseminated silica in the chalk generally, to some process, pro-
bably dialytic, subsequent to the deposit of the chalk, by which the
silica has been removed and aggregated in amorphous iasses, the
chalk flints.
The Vitreous Sponges, along with the living Rhizopods and other
Protozoa which enter largely into the composition of the upper layer
of the chalk-mud, appear to be nourished by the absorption through
the external surface of their bodies of the assimilable organic matter
which exists in appreciable quantity in all sea-water, and which is
derived from the life and death of marine animals and plants, and, in
large quantity, from the water of tropical rivers. One principal
function of this vast sheet of the lowest type of animal life, which
probably extends over the whole of the warmer regions of the sea,
may be to diminish the loss of organic matter by gradual decomposi-
tion, and to aid in maintaining in the ocean the “ balance of organic
nature.”
“On Pal@ocoryne, a Genus of Tubularine Hydrozoa from the
Carboniferous Formation.” By Dr. P. Martin Duncan, F.R.S.,
Sec. Geol. Soc., and H. M. Jenxins, Esq., F.G.S.
Paleocoryne is a new genus containing two species, and belongs to
a new family of the Tubularide. The forms described were dis-
covered in the lower shales of the Ayrshire and Lanarkshire coal-
field ; and an examination of their structure determined them to be-
long to the Hydrozoa, and to be parasitic upon Fenestelle. ‘he
genus has some characters in common with Bimeria (St. Wright),
and the polypary is hard and ornamented. The discovery of the
trophosome and probably part of the gonosome of a tubularine
Hydrozoon in the Paleozoic strata brings the order into geological
relation with the doubtful Sertularian Graptolites of the Silurian
formation, and with the rare medusoids of the Solenhofen stone.
“On the Rhizopodal Fauna of the Deep Sea.””, By Witu1aM B.
Carpenter, M.D., V.P.R.S.
The author commences by referring to the knowledge of the
Rhizopodal fauna of the Deep Sea which has been gradually ac-
quired by the examination of specimens of the bottom brought up
by the sounding-apparatus; and states that whilst this method
of investigation has made known the vast extent and diffusion of
Foraminiferal life at great depths—especially in the case of Globi-
gerina-mud, which has been proved to cover a large part of the bottom
of the North Atlantic Ocean—it has not added any new generic
types to those discoverable in comparatively shallow waters. With
the exception of a few forms, which, like Glodiyerina, find their most
20*
288 sat Royal Society :—
congenial home, and attain their greatest development, at great
depths, the general rule has seemed to be that Foraminifera are pro-
gressively dwarfed in proportion to increase of depth, as they are
by a change from a warmer to a colder climate—those which are
brought up from great depths in the Equatorial region bearing a
much stronger resemblance to those of the colder temperate, or even
of the Arctic seas, than to the littoral forms of their own region.
The author then refers to the recent researches of Prof. Huxley
upon the indefinite protoplasmic expansion which he namesBathybius,
and which seems to extend itself over the ocean-bottom under great
varieties of depth and temperature, as among the most important of
the results obtained by the sounding-apparatus.
By the recent extension of dredging-operations, however, to depths
previously considered beyond their reach, very important additions
have been made to the Foraminiferal fauna of the Deep Sea.
Several new generic types have been discovered, and new and re-
markable varieties of types previously known have presented them-
selves. It is not a little curious that all the new types belong to
the Family Lirvoxipa (consisting of Foraminifera which do not
form a calcareous shell, but construct a “ test”’ by the agglutination
of sand-grains), which was first constituted as a distinct group in
the author’s ‘ Introduction to the Study of the Foraminifera’ (1862).
The first set of specimens described seem referable to the genus
Proteonina of Prof. Williamson ; but the test, instead of being com-
posed (as in his specimens) of sand-grains, is constructed of sponge-
spicules, cemented together with great regularity, so as to form
tubes, which are either fusiform or cylindrical, being in the former
case usually more or less curved, and in the latter generally straight.
Of the genus T'ochammina (Parker and Jones) many examples were
found of considerable size, resembling Nodosarians in their free
moniliform growth, but having their tests constructed of sand-grains
very firmly cemented together, with an intermixture of fragments of
sponge-spicules, which give a hispid character to the surface.—The
genus Rhabdammina of Prof. Sars is based on a species (the R. abys-
sorum) first obtained in his son’s dredgings, of which the test is
very regularly triradiate, sometimes quadriradiate, and is composed
of sand-grains very regularly arranged, and firmly united by a ferru-
ginous cement. Not only was this type represented by numerous
specimens in the ‘ Lightning’ dredgings, but another yet more con-
siderable collection was formed of irregularly radiating and branching
tubes, which are composed of an admixture of sand-grains and
sponge-spicules, united by ferruginous cement. These seem to
originate in a “primordial chamber” of the same material, which
extends itself into a tube that afterwards branches indefinitely.
This type may be designated R. irregularis.—Of the protean genus
Tituola (Lamarck) a large form was met with which bears a strong
resemblance to the LZ. Soldani of the Sienna Tertiaries. Its nearly
cylindrical test is composed of sand-grains very loosely aggregated
together, forming a thick wall; and its cavity is divided by septa
of the same material into a succession of chambers, arranged in
On the Rhizopodal Fauna of the Deep Sea. 289
rectilineal series, each having a central orifice prolonged into a short
tube. The genus Astrorhiza, instituted a few years ago by Dr. O.
Sandahl, was represented by a wide range of forms, referable to two
principal types (the one an oblate spheroid, with irregular radiating
prolongations, the other more resembling a stag’s horn, with numerous
digitations), passing into one another by insensible gradations. The
composition of its thick arenaceous test is exactly the same as that
of the test of the Lituola found on the same bottom; but its cavity
is undivided ; and there is no proper orifice, the pseudopodial exten-
sions having apparently found their way out between the sand-grains
that formed the termination of the radiating extensions or digita-
tions. The genus Saccammina (Sars) is characterized by a very re-
gular spherical test, built up of large angular sand-grains strongly
united by ferruginous cement, which are so arranged as to form a
wall-surface well smoothed off externally, whilst its interior is
roughened by their angular projections. The cavity is undivided,
and is furnished with a single orifice, which is surrounded by a
tubular prolongation of the test, giving to the whole the aspect of a
globular flask.
‘The family Mrz1oxrpa, consisting of porcellanous-shelled Forami-
nifera, was represented at the depth of 530 fathoms by a Cornuspira
foliacea of extraordinary size, and at the depth of 650 fathoms by
a series of Biloculine of dimensions not elsewhere seen except in
tropical or subtropical regions.
Of the family GLopiGeRinipa a considerable number of forms
presented themselves ; but, with the exception of the ordinary Glod:-
gerina and Orbulina, these were not remarkable either for number
or size. The Globiyerina-mud brought up in large masses by the
Dredge, exhibited the same composition as had been previously deter-
mined by the examination of Soundings ; but it included a large
amount of animal life of higher types, whilst it seemed everywhere
permeated by the protoplasmic Bathybius of Huxley, as described in
the author’s “ Preliminary Report.’’ The Globigerine vary enor-
mously in size; and the author gives reason for the belief that this
variation is not altogether the result of growth, but that many small
as well as large individuals have (speaking generally ) attained their
full dimensions. He describes the sarcodic body obtained by the
decalcification of the shell, and discusses the question whether (as
some suppose) Orbulina is the reproductive segment of Globigerina,
as to which he inclines to a negative conclusion. He describes the
curious manner in which the shells of Globigerine are worked-up
into cases for Tubicolar Annelids; of which cases several different
types presented themselves, the Foraminiferal shells in some of them
being combined with sponge-spicules. A remarkably fine specimen
of Textularia was met with alive, of which the porous shell was en-
cased by sand-grains; this being laid open by section showed the
sarcodic body of an olive-greenish hue, corresponding with that of
the Lituole and Astrorhize also found alive. Several Rotaline
types presented themselves sparingly in the Globigerina-mud ; these
are specially characteristic of the Cretaceous Formation.
290 Royal Society.
The family Lacenrpa was represented not merely by its smaller
forms, but also by a large and beautiful living Cristellaria, that
closely corresponds with one of the forms described by Fichtel and
Moll from the Siennese Tertiaries, whilst even exceeding it in dimen-
sions.
These results conclusively show that reduction in the size of
Foraminifera cannot be attributed to increase of pressure, since the
examples of Cornuspira, Biloculina, and Cristellaria found at depths
exceeding 500 fathoms were far larger than any that are known to
exist in the shallower waters of the colder temperate zone. But as
these all occurred in the warm area, whose bottom-temperature in-
dicates a movement of water from the Equatorial towards the Polar
region, it is probable that their size is related to the temperature of
their habitat, which is found to be in like relation to the general
character of the fauna of which they formed part. On the other
hand, as we now know that the climate of the deepest parts of the
ocean-bottom, even in Equatorial regions, has often (if not uni-
versally) Arctic coldness, the dwarfing of the abyssal Foraminifera
of those regions is fully accounted for on the same principle.
Besides these examples of new or remarkable forms of Foramini-
fera, the ‘ Lightning’ dredgings yielded some peculiar bodies, the
examination of which would seem to throw light upon the obscure
question of the mode of reproduction in this group. One set of
these are cysts, of various shapes and sizes, composed of sand-grains
loosely aggregated (as in the tests of Lituola and Astrorhiza), which,
when broken open, are found to be filled with aggregations of mi-
nute yellow spherules, not enclosed in any distinct envelope. These
are supposed by the author to be reproductive gemmules formed by
the segmentation of the sarcodic body of a Rhizopod, in the same
manner as “‘ zoospores ”’ are formed in Protophytes by the segmenta-
tion of their endochrome. Of such segmentation he formerly
described indications in the sarcodic body of Orbitolites ; and cor-
responding phenomena have been witnessed by Prof. Max Schulze.
But in another set of cysts, of similar materials but of firmer struc-
ture, bodies are found having all the characters of ova, with embryos
in various stages of development. In none of these, however, does
the embryo present characters sufficiently distinctive to enable its
nature to be determined ; and the hypothesis of the Foraminiferal
origin of these bodies chiefly rests upon the conformity in the struc-
ture of the wall of the cysts with that of the tests of Lituola and
Astrorhiza, and upon the improbability that such cysts should have
been constructed by animals of any higher type.
291
MISCELLANEOUS.
The Development and Change in the Form of the Horn of the Gnu
(Connochetes gnu). By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S.
Mr. Epwarp GxErrarp, jun., has lately purchased the dead body of
a half-grown gnu which died shortly after it was imported.
This animal is most interesting as showing the very great change
that takes place in the form and direction of the core of the horns
and the horns themselves during the growth of the animal. The
very young animal is figured by me in the ‘ Knowsley Menagerie,’
but I am not aware that the half-grown animal has ever been de-
scribed or figured.
The horns in this state, instead of being bent down on the sides
of the front of the head, and flattened at the base, as in the adult,
are erect, cylindrical, conical, slightly curved, rather lyriform, some-
what like the horn of Damalis lunata, but less curved. The horns
are rather long, smooth, with a few indistinct rings near the base.
The cores of the horns are 6 inches long, conical, erect, like the
horns that cover them. The conical horn of this age forms the
conical elongated tip to the adult horn.
At a certain age, the core and horn must be gradually bent back-
wards at the base, and at length they are produced and spread out
laterally until, as in the adult animal, they are decumbent on the
sides of the head, with a flattened base, recurved upward in the
middle, and straight and conical at the end.
The horns on the skull of the half-grown, and especially of the
nearly adult animal are so unlike those of the adult, that, if they
had been received without the skin, it would be very excusable for
a naturalist to have regarded them as a distinct genus intermediate
between this genus and the lunated smooth-horned Damalis.
The cores of the horns of the young animal are somewhat like
those of the skull of the adult Nylghau, but not angulated at the
base, and more erect. When the horns are more developed and re-
curved, as they must be in the intermediate age between the young
and the adult form, they must be very unlike those of any known
genus of hoofed animals.
The skull of the gnu is peculiar for having the lateral wing of the
basisphenoid extended into a broad pointed process in the back of the
orbit. This process is only very indistinctly seen in the figures of
the skull in the Catalogue of the Ungulata Furcipeda in the Collection
of the British Museum, t. 15. f. 4, 5.
On the Development of Cypris. By C. Cravs.
The earliest observations on the development of the Ostracoda are
due to M. Zenker. He found that at their birth the Cytherides are
already provided with their two pairs of antennz and two pairs of
jaws, but that their abdomen is still but slightly developed and
bears only three little appendages in place of the future limbs. In
1865 M. Claus published some observations on the larvae of Cypris,
292 Miscellaneous.
and he now completes this subject by describing all the phases of
the development of two other species of that genus.
In contrast to the Cytherides, which present an advanced stage of
development at their first appearance, the young freshwater Ostra-
coda on quitting the egg only possess the three anterior pairs of
limbs, like the Nauplius of the Copepoda and Cirripedia. They are
distinguished, indeed, from these by the presence of a bivalve shell,
which protects them, and by the form of the limbs, of which the
first two pairs at least already present the general forms of the cor-
responding members in the adults. Nevertheless, from a morpho-
logical point of view, we may justly regard the young Cyprides as
Nauplii, especially as the third pair of members in these little crea-
tures displays, both in form and function, peculiarities belonging to
that larval form. As in other Nauplii, in fact, the third pair of
limbs, corresponding to what will afterwards be the mandibles, do
not fulfil the function of jaws, but that of locomotive organs. They
are triarticulate reptatory feet, the extremity of which terminates in
a strong bristle curved into a hook. In the older larve of the Co-
pepoda the mandible buds as a masticatory process at the base of
this limb ; and so also the reptatory foot of the larvee of Cypris pre-
sents at its base a crenulated apophysis, which, at the first change
of skin, becomes converted into a mandible.
The larvee of Cypris pass through a great number of stages before
arriving at their ultimate form and at sexual maturity. M. Claus
enumerates nine of these phases, separated from each other by a
complete moult and by a change of the shell. The most striking
character of the second phase is the budding forth of the mandibles
above mentioned, accompanied by the metamorphosis of the loco-
motory foot of the preceding phase into a mandibular palpus. At
this same period appear the rudiments of the maxille and of the
first pair of final locomotory feet. The jaw-feet (maxille of the
second pair) appear in the fourth phase, and consequently after the
first pair of feet, which, however, come after them in the order of
succession of the appendages. During the fifth phase, the jaw-feet
play the part of locomotory feet, and terminate in a strong hooked
bristle. In all phases of development there exists a pair of strong
posterior terminal bristles. It is singular that the position and inser-
tion of this bristle is modified in the course of development. Originally
it is borne by the mandibular foot, then by the first foot-rudiment, then
by the jaw-foot, and then by the locomotory foot of the first pair.
The posterior pair of locomotory feet appear at the sixth phase. At
the seventh all the extremities have nearly acquired their definitive
form. This is the period at which the first rudiments of the gene-
rative organs make their appearance; but the sexual differences are
not manifested until the eighth stage. The abdomen or postabdo-
men appears in the fifth phase, in a form exactly similar to that of
the rudiments of the limb. This is also the period when the hepatic
canals grow and descend into the shell.—Schriften der Gesellsch. zur
Beford. der ges. Naturw. in Marburg, Bd. ix. 1868, p. 151; Bvbl.
Univ. tome xxxy. August 15, 1869, Bull. Set. pp. 312-314.
Miscellaneous. ™ '298
On the White-toothed American Beaver.
By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S.
The British Museum lately received from Dr. R. Brown three
skulls of the American Beaver, which agree in all particulars, and
especially in the form of the nasal bones, with the usual American-
beaver skulls; but they differ from them in having white cutting-
teeth, or with a more or less yellow tinge; all other American
and European beavers I have seen have dark red-brown cutting-
teeth. The variety may be catalogued as Castor canadensis leuco-
donta. I believe these skulls were procured on the north-west coast
of America; but Dr. R. Brown did not state any special locality.
On the Occurrence of Beania mirabilis and Labrus mixtus at East-
bourne, Sussex. By F.C.S. Rorzr, F.LS. &e.
To the Editors of the Annals and Magazine of Natural History.
GrnTLEMEN,—The beauty and variety of animal and vegetable
life on the rock-bound shores of our south-western and northern
coasts, where every pool abounds with zoophytes, sponges, and algze
in profusion, has long made them favourite hunting-grounds for
all who are interested in these branches of natural history. Many
of the small and rare species of zoophytes are only recorded as oc-
curring either on the coasts of Devon or Cornwall, of which the marine
zoology has been so well worked up by the labours of Couch, Gosse,
and the Rey. T. Hincks, or on the shores of Yorkshire or Northum-
berland, by Bean, Johnston, and others, The south and south-eastern
coasts, where chalky, argillaceous, or sandy strata occur, are less
favourable to the growth of these productions, and, as a necessary
consequence, have not received the same amount of attention. At
the same time I have little doubt that a careful search would be
rewarded by the discovery of many species at present only known
as inhabitants of more favoured localities. As an instance of this,
I have to record the occurrence on the shore at Eastboumne of one
of the rarest of the Polyzoa noticed by Dr. Johnston, the Beania
mirabilis, which appears hitherto only to have been found at
Scarborough (by Mr. Bean, its discoverer), at Peterhead, on our
northern coasts, where it is said to be very rare, and at several
localities in Devon and Cornwall, where, according to the Rev. T.
Hincks’s ‘Catalogue of South-Devon and Cornish Zoophytes,’ it is
more abundant. The specimen I met with was growing at the base
of amass of Flustra foliacea thrown up on the shore by the late
heavy gales; and, as Dr. Landsborough observes, the species “is so
insignificant when seen by the naked eye, that it would easily be
passed over as undeserving of regard.” The specimen I have is
barely one-fourth of an inch in length, with about eight of the pe-
culiar calycles attached standing up erect from the radicles, which
ramify over the lower part of the Flustra. From its occurrence on
this zoophyte, it would appear to be from deep water rather than
from the immediate vicinity of the shore, and probably, by dredging,
might be procured in a living state.
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. iv. 21
294 Miscellaneous.
I also wish to place on record the capture, this summer, of two
specimens (male and female) of the Striped or Cook Wrasse (Labrus
miatus of Yarrell), which, from what I hear from the fishermen, is
very rarely met with on this coast, though mentioned as an occa-
sional visitor by Mrs. Merrifield in her ‘ Natural History of Brighton.’
According to Couch, it is not uncommon on the Cornish coast, but
appears to be rarely met with elsewhere. Both specimens were taken
about the same spot, on a shoal about five miles off Eastbourne, the
first in a lobster-pot, the other by a line. Of the male I have only
seen the dried skin; but the female was brought to me soon after it
was caught, and it has been preserved in glycerine, but has lost the
brilhaney of colouring which makes it so resemble the wonderful
productions of tropical seas in the intensity of the deep-blue stripes
bordered by the brilliant orange and yellow tints that cover the
mass of the body. Your obedient Servant,
F. C. S. Roper.
On the Origin and Increase of Bacteria. By Dr. A. Potorrnnow.
The author’s investigations, made in Prof. Wiesner’s laboratory,
at the Polytechnic Institute of Vienna, have led him to the following
results :—
1. That a perfect genetic connexion exists between Bacterium,
Vibrio, and Spirillum, and that these present no other differences
but those of size and direction.
2. None of the Vibriones (Vebrio, Bacterium, and Spirillum) are
independent organisms, but only derivatives (delicate mycelia) from
the spores of fungi, especially those of Penicillium glaucum.
3. The development of the Vibriones from the spores of Penicil-
lium may be best followed when the spores are exposed to the action
of a high temperature (140°-212° F.).
4. The notion that Vibriones are developed in the filaments of
mycelium from the granules occurring in the cells proves to be quite
erroneous, as also that of the conversion of Vibriones into other
higher forms (yeast &c.).—Anzeiger der k. k. Akad. der Wiss. in
Wien, April 29, 1869, pp. 87-88.
Experiments to show that the Fins of Fishes are Regenerated only.
when their Basal Portion at least is left. By M. J. M. Puturravx.
The author’s experiments on the regeneration of the spleen of the
mammalia and the limbs of the newts and axolotl have been ex-
tended by him to the fins of fishes.
He cut off the left ventral fin of some gudgeons at the level of
the abdominal surface. The fishes were then placed in a basin under
favourable conditions, and in eight months the fins were completely
reproduced.
In a second series of experiments upon the same species the author
entirely extirpated the right ventral fin, including all the small
bones which support it; the fishes having been put into the basin,
some of them died from the effects of the operation, whilst those
which survived showed a perfect cicatrix eight months after the
Miscellaneous. 295
operation, but no indication of the regeneration of the fin. Brous-
senet came to the same conclusion ; and the author considers that it
may be stated as a general law, with regard to vertebrate animals
at least, that when an organ is entirely removed, it can never
be regenerated.—Comptes Rendus, March 15, 1869, tome Ixviii.
pp. 669-670.
Descriptions of two new Species of Hymenoptera from the
Argentine Republic. By J. C. Puts.
Melipona molesta.
Black, shining, entirely covered with white hairs. Antenne black,
with their extremity and the lower part of the first joint brownish.
Head black, shining, covered with white hairs. Thorax black,
shining, the hairs white; prothorax bordered by a yellowish-white
line; mesothorax having a similar line above the insertion of the
wings ; metathorax having a point of the same colour on each side.
Scutellum inferiorly bordered by a line of the same colour. Abdomen
black, shining, covered with white hairs. Legs black; tarsi brown.
Wings hyaline, nervures yellow (worker). Length 4 millimetres.
Hab, San Luis, in woods of small trees. It is very troublesome
like the flies. December (Strobel).
Odynerus albocinctus.
Black, thorax very villose; abdomen velvety, shining, first seg-
ment margined with yellowish white ; antenne and mandibles red;
legs red, with the femora black, Length 9 millimetres; expanse
20 millimetres.
2. Clypeus pyriform, with a strong emargination, forming two tri-
angular teeth, punctured. Antenne entirely red; mandibles, palpi,and
labrum red, Head and thorax covered with long, close hairs ; meta-
thorax rounded. Abdomen black, velvety, shining, sprinkled with
longer hairs, the first segment bordered by a thin yellowish-white
line ; second segment having no tubercle beneath. Wings brownish,
with the extremity violet; scale black. Legs red, with all the
femora black, except on their anterior part.
This is the only species that might be confounded with Odynerus
Antuca, Sauss. (in Gay’s ‘ Chili’), as having the first segment of the
abdomen yellowish white; but it differs therefrom by its black cly-
peus, scales, and femora.
Hab. Near a spring, Portezuelo de Bonilla, in the Sierra de Us-
pallata, in the province of Mendoza. January (Strobel).— Atti della
Societa Itahana di Sci. Nat. vol. xi. pp. 257 & 258, October 1868.
Habits of the Meduse. By Dr. J. E. Gray.
Mr. M‘Andrew informs me that he often saw the Sea-jellies (Me-
dusa cequorea, Forskal, Fauna gyptiaca, n. 28. t. 32) lying on their
backs at the bottom of the beautiful clear water of the Red Sea,
with the tentacles expanded like a flower. The Arab sailors dived
for them, and brought them up to the surface. The Arabs are very
handy in this respect, and will bring up any animal, shell, or stone
that may be pointed out to them, jumping in a moment from the
296 Miscellaneous.
side of the boat into the sea. When disturbed, the meduse swam
about, like other meduse, with their tentacles below. .
Two specimens of this species that Mr. M‘Andrew brought home,
preserved in spirits, have retained their shape, and are thicker and
much firmer than the commoner species of Meduse.
I am not aware that the habit of lying on the back and expand-
ing the tentacles under water has been observed or recorded before.
On the Reproduction of Pholeus phalangioides, Waleck.
By Dr. Paoxo Bonizz1.
The author placed a female of this species in a glass vessel ; it im-
mediately formed a web in the upper part of the vase, and the fol-
lowing day deposited its eggs. These were of a dirty white colour
with a rosy tinge; their diameter was about 1 millim. There were
more than twenty of them, and, as usual, they were not enclosed in
a cocoon, but adhered to each other by the stickiness of their sur-
face, and formed a somewhat spherical or ovoid mass, The female
carries the eggs suspended from the claws of the mandibles (cheli-
cera), and will not quit them even in the greatest peril.
On a fly being introduced into the vessel, the female quitted the
eggs, which remained suspended by a thread attached to those of
the web. The author observed that the second and third pairs of
feet are employed by the animal to secure its prey, and to hold it
in a convenient position for sucking out its juices; the fourth pair
is employed to involve the prey rapidly in a thread.
Towards the end of the time of incubation of the eggs, the spider
rotated the mass of eggs upon the suspending thread by means of
the second and third pairs of feet, and appeared to endeavour to break
their shells, touching each of them in turn with the mandibles. The
morning after this observation was made, some of the young were
hatched, but still remained adhering to the mass of ova; in a few hours
they were found scattered over the web, and the empty shells had
fallen to the bottom of the vessel. The mother stood near the young,
below the space occupied by them; and this the author has also ob-
served in free individuals. When some flies were introduced into the
vase, the mother imprisoned them in the usual manner, when the more
robust of the young animals ran to suck the insects thus prepared for
them. The time of incubation of these ova was nineteen days; but
in other cases the author observed it to occupy only seventeen days.
The author describes the nuptials of this species. He introduced
a male (which is much smaller than the female) into the glass with
the above-mentioned female; the two animals remained immovable
for some time, and then the male approached the female very cau-
tiously. The male continued uneasy for a long time before uniting
with the female, and from time to time he trembled considerably.
The copulation lasted about an hour and a half; and during this
time the animals appeared to be almost insensible to slight shocks
given to the vessel. At the conclusion of the copulation, the male
rapidly quitted the female, and took up his position as far as pos-
sible from her, at the bottom of the vessel. Annuario della Soc. dei
Natural. in Modena, anno iii. pp. 179-181.
THE ANNALS
AND
MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.
[FOURTH SERIES. ]
No. 23. NOVEMBER 1869.
XXXVI.—On the Coleoptera of St. Helena.
By T. Vernon Wo taston, M.A., F.L.S.
IT is now eight years since I gave an enumeration, in the
‘ Journal of Entomology,’ of fourteen species of Coleoptera
which had been detected at St. Helena, on the 21st of July
1860, by the late Mr. Bewicke, during a few hours’ collecting
in that island (en passant from the Cape of Good Hope to
Madeira). Since then, our knowledge of the fauna has been
considerably increased, mainly through the exertions of J. C.
Melliss, Esq., a gentleman who is resident on the spot, and
who continues to take a lively interest in the various branches
of natural science; and although, clearly, very much remains
yet to be done, two successive consignments which he has
entrusted to me of the beetles which from time to time have
rewarded his researches enable me now to venture on some-
thing like a systematic, though short, catalogue (destined, I
hope, hereafter, to be greatly increased) of the St.-Helena
Coleoptera.
That a special interest should attach to the productions of
any island which is unusually remote, I need scarcely state ;
and when we recollect that St. Helena is about 1200 miles
from the nearest point of the African continent, we shall at
once acknowledge that, for the geographical naturalist, a more
isolated field could hardly perhaps be found. The manifest
deterioration of the island, in a scientific point of view, during
the last 300 years, is a subject on which I need not dilate ;
for the primeval forests which are said to have more or less
clothed it at its discovery have succumbed beneath the ruth-
less hand of “ civilization,’—a few detached patches alone re-
maining, on the extreme summit and more inaccessible slopes,
to harbour what is left of that noble fauna the fragments of
which are so eccentric that one cannot but suspect the guondam
22
Ann. & Mag. N, Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. iv.
298 Mr. T. V. Wollaston on the Coleoptera of St. Helena.
occurrence of many intermediate links (now, in all probability,
long exterminated) which must, as it were, have “ articulated
them on” to the recognized types with which we are familiar.
Of course in an island of this kind, which has become intensely
cultivated since the period of its colonization, we naturally
should not expect to meet with many traces of its primeval
species ; for the gradual rooting-out of the native vegetation,
and the introduction, year after year, of more “ useful” plants
(chiefly from European latitudes, but in the present instance,
perhaps, partly from the Cape of Good Hope), accompanied by
their inevitable train of insect parasites, would so far alter the
entire country as to destroy the apparent peculiarity of its
productions, and give a mixed character to its fauna and flora
to which aboriginally it had no kind of claim. Happily, how-
ever, in cases like this, when the species are brought fairly
together, it is usually not difficult for a practised eye to sepa-
rate in a general way the species which are strictly endemic from
those which have subsequently been introduced and become
naturalized ; and thus it is that out of the seventy-four which
are enumerated in the following catalogue, there are only thir-
teen concerning which I have (in that particular respect) much
doubt. Indeed what we may term the “ u/tra-indigenous”
species speak at once, and unmistakeably, for themselves ;
and in like manner as regards those which are more or less
cosmopolitan, or which have found their way, through human
agencies, into nearly every country which has the slightest
intercommunication with the civilized world, there can be no
question. These manifest ¢mportations last mentioned, which,
however, figure so largely in the St.-Helena list, have no
real bearing on the true fauna of any single region beyond
those whence they were originally disseminated, and for the
most part owe their presence in local catalogues merely to the
amount of research which may happen to have been made in
the houses, stores, gardens, and merchandise around the va-
rious ports and towns. Yet, on the other hand, they cannot
be omitted or ignored; for some of them may have taken so
firm a hold on the newly acquired area as to occupy a promi-
nent place amongst its primeval organisms, and even perhaps
to have aided indirectly in their very extermination. This
latter contingency, however, seems to me to represent the ex-
ception rather than the rule; for I have myself generally ob-
served that the species which are manifestly imported linger
almost exclusively about the “ inhabited regions,” and seldom
attach themselves to those which are emphatically wild and
uncultivated—and even if in a few instances they should do so,
that their modus vivendi is totally different from that of the
Mr. T. V. Wollaston on the Coleoptera of St. Helena. 299
veritable autochthones of the soil. To these wnquestionably
established forms J have, in the subjoined list, placed (as an
aid to the eye) an asterisk (*).
Bearing in mind, therefore, the above considerations, I may
add that out of the seventy-four species enumerated in the
present paper, only thirty-five (or less than half) appear to be
unmistakably indigenous, whilst the evidently ¢mported ones
(species which through human agencies have become widely
disseminated over more or less of the civilized world) amount
to about twenty-six, leaving a residuum of thirteen which I
should perhaps characterize as “ doubtful,” but the majority
of which nevertheless have 7m all probability been naturalized.
The thirty-five which seem to be as it were the actual auto-
chthones of the soil, or which there is no reason to suspect have
been derived from any other country, are the following :—
Haplothorax Burchellii. Microxylobius terebrans.
Calosoma haligena. an vere obliteratus.
Helene. distinct ? debilis.
Bembidium Mellissii. —— Chevvrolatii.
Adoretus versutus. — conicollis.
Pentarthrum subceecum. monilicornis.
Nesiotes squamosus. Notioxenus Bewickii.
asperatus. rufopictus.
Trachyphlceosoma setosum. —— dimidiatus.
Sciobius subnodosus. alutaceus.
Heteronychus arator. Homeeodera rotundipennis.
Mellissius eudoxus. alutaceicollis.
adumbratus.
Heteroderes puncticollis.
Microxylobius Westwoodii.
pygmea.
Longitarsus Helene.
Cydonia lunata.
vestitus. Opatrum hadroides.
—— lacertosus. Mordella Mellissiana.
—— lucifugus.
whilst the twenty-six which clearly have followed in the track
of civilization and commerce are these :—
Lzemophlceeus pusillus. Anobium confertum.
Cryptophagus affinis. Rhizopertha bifoveolata.
Mycetza hirta. pusilla.
Typheea fumata. Hylurgus ligniperda,
Dermestes cadaverinus. Sitophilus oryzee.
vulpinus. Otiorhynchus sulcatus.
Attagenus gloriose. Arezeocerus fasciculatus.
Aphodius lividus. Alphitobius diaperinus.
Corynetes rufipes.
Gibbium scotias.
Anobium velatum.
paniceum.
striatum.
» This leaves the following thirteen, already alluded to as
piceus.
Gnathocerus cornutus.
Tribolium ferrugineum,
Tenebrio obscurus.
Creophilus maxillosus.
22*
300 Mr. T. V. Wollaston on the Coleoptera of St. Helena.
“doubtful,” the majority of which, however, have most likely
been, through various causes, naturalized :—
Pristonychus complanatus. Stenoscelis hylastoides.
Dactylosternum abdominale. Bruchus rufobrunneus.
Spheeridium dytiscoides. advena.
Cryptamorpha muse. Aspidomorpha miliaris.
Tribalus 4-striatus. Epilachna chrysomelina.
Saprinus lautus. Zophobas concolor.
Tomicus zemulus.
If it be permissible, from material so limited as that which
has hitherto been amassed, to build up a rough estimate of the
true Coleopterous population of St. Helena, it is clear that the
twenty-six “‘cosmopolitan”’ species, which have manifestly
followed in the wake of mere commerce and civilization, must
be altogether set aside; and in that case, giving the thirteen
more or less equivocal ones the advantage of the doubt, we
should have forty-eight to represent the aboriginal (and evi-
dently much reduced) fauna of this remote deteriorated island.
When commenting, in 1861, on even the fourteen species
which had been collected by Mr. Bewicke, I called attention
to the extraordinary fact that not only did the weevils number
nearly two-thirds of the entire batch, but were likewise
all of them endemic, both as regards species and genus!
whilst certainly three, if not indeed more, out of the remaining
six (belonging to other families) possess a wide geographical
range. This led me to remark that the Curculionide would,
in all probability, be found to play a most important part in
the Coleopterous fauna of St. Helena; and I then expressed
my belief, from the mere diversity of configuration presented
by the five species of Microaylobius which had been brought
to light, that the members of that abnormal little group would
almost certainly be ascertained to be locally abundant, and,
“since the same might be urged with no less force for that
extraordinary genus Notioxenus,” that there was ‘‘ every reason
to suspect that the Rhynchophora of this mountain-island are,
in proportion to its size, both numerous and eccentric.”’
I have thought it worth while to allude to these casual ob-
servations of my own, because they have been so strictly and
literally verified. Not only have Microxylobius and Notioxenus
been augmented by newly discovered exponents, but every-
thing tends to prove that they are immeasurably the most
significant of the island forms: indeed an undescribed and
closely related genus has been detected alongside the latter, as
though still further to enhance the local importance of that
particular Anthribideous type. Scarcely less characteristic,
however, than even these three, are, perhaps, the obscure Cur-
Mr. T. V. Wollaston on the Coleoptera of St. Helena. 301
culionideous groups Nesiotes and Trachyphlaosoma ; and, if in-
deed it be truly aboriginal (and there is no reason for suspect-
ing the contrary), that curious little blind Cossonid, the Pent-
arthrum subcecum, may be added to the number, in which
case the Rhynchophora alone would monopolize no less than
six of the most anomalous endemic genera! Indeed the only
other manifestly indigenous forms which I should define as
par excellence “abnormal” are Haplothorax of the Carabidae,
and perhaps Mellissius of the Lamellicorns, neither of which,
however, are so eccentric in their structure as the six Rhyn-
chophorous ones to which I have just alluded.
Apart, however, from their singularity of type, it may be
useful, in order to illustrate the mere numerical preponderance
of the weevils (as regards both species and genus) in the
St.-Helena catalogue, to distribute the forty-eight members of
the fauna (to which I have already called attention) under the
twelve great sections into which the Coleoptera are usually
supposed to arrange themselves. I am well aware that the
paucity of the list itself, and perhaps likewise the totally un-
explored state of the pools and streams, may be sufficient to
account for many an apparent anomaly—such as, for instance,
the complete absence of the water-beetles and Brachelytra ;
but still, after making every allowance for the manifest im-
perfection of the material, the broad fact does undoubtedly
remain that the researches of Messrs. Melliss, Bewicke, and
others (and that, too, whilst by no means neglecting the mi-
nuter groups) have brought to light more representatives of
the Rhynchophora than of all the other departments combined.
And that this is truly the case, a glance at the following table
will suffice to show :—
AYA CH OWN ONG react eco lans. dysishet agian a hid one 26
Cordylocerata (2. ¢. Lamellicorns &ec.)...... 6
Greatbonnata hy Mit eter mete che suede e ses 5)
Heteronidrard Cbs st ce stated bane eee 3
Payer es FY eg ate shee Pere 2
Phwiophara aes: 10.8 Gees ss RS 2
Psemdominaeraton2.. 2 ShtMion Site Bp ae Sa oS 2
Neermplasa ails) Ayer isia lew dias Boise wars wk 1
rig cemeteie el ects. Prgms yous eaters to, a 1
ELAM CPN AR A peso... e sivts acta ake spud ats > 0
ja cn 8)108 Ragin Aa Mang ga a raretr ene eel acevo 0
EG SEER ne MERE OE A eh 0
48*
* It is scarcely necessary to consider what would be the result were
the whole seventy-four species which are enumerated in the present list
distributed under these twelve primary departments, because (as already
302 Mr. T. V. Wollaston on the Coleoptera of St. Helena.
It will be seen, on reference, that the seventy-four species
of the subjoined list distribute themselves under twenty-eight
families and no less than fifty genera. Of these seventy-four
species I have been compelled to treat about forty as if
they had not been detected in any other country, though it is
probable that some five or six of them (as, for instance, the
Histeride, the Anobium confertum, and the Bruchz) will be
found eventually to have been already described. The seven
genera which would appear to be peculiar to the island are
Hlaplothorax (of the Carabide), Mellissius (of the Dynastide),
Microxylobius, Nesiotes, and Trachyphleosoma (of the Cureu-
lionidee), and Notioxenus and Homaodera (of the Anthribide),
three of which (Mellissius, Trachyphleosoma, and Homeodera)
have been enunciated for the first time in this memoir. The
species which in the present paper I have described as new are
the twenty-five following :—
Bembidium Mellissii. Nesiotes asperatus.
Tribalus 4-striatus. Trachyphlocosoma setosum.
Saprinus lautus, Sciobius subnodosus.
Mellissius eudoxus. Notioxenus dimidiatus.
adumbratus. — alutaceus.
Heteroderes puncticollis. Homeeodera rotundipennis.
Anobium confertum. alutaceicollis.
Tomicus eemulus. emea,
Microxylobius vestitus. Bruchus rufobrunneus.
obliteratus. advena.
debilis. Zophobas concolor.
monilicornis. Mordella Mellissiana.
Pentarthrum subczecum.
If we exclude from consideration the twenty-six species
(above alluded to) which have unquestionably been brought
into the island’ through the medium of commerce, and which
enter into the fauna of nearly every civilized country, I need
scarcely add that the St.-Helena list, as hitherto made known,
possesses nothing whatever in common with those of the three
sub-African archipelagos which le further to the north—
though the great development of the Curculionideous sub-
family Cossonides is a remarkable fact which is more or less
conspicuous throughout the whole of them.
stated) the twenty-six which have manifestly been introduced (and most
of them, perhaps, quite recently) can have no real connexion with the
true fauna of the island ; nevertheless, even were we to do so, the position of
the Rhynchophora as the most extensive of the various groups (although
its relative proportion to them would be lowered) would remain the
same. Whilst in the former case, however, it numbers twenty-six, and
the remaining sections (combined) twenty-two, in this instance it would
contain thirty, and the other eleven divisions forty-four.
Mr. T. V. Wollaston on the Coleoptera of St. Helena. 303
Fam. 1. Carabide.
Genus 1. HAPLOTHORAX.
Waterhouse, Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. iii. 207 [seript. Aplo-
thorax] (1841).
1. Haplothorax Burchellit.
Aplothorax Burchellii, Waterh., loc. cit. pl. 12. f. 1 (1841).
A truly indigenous and noble Carabid, which appears, how-
ever, to be both local and extremely scarce. Although re-
ceived many years ago from St. Helena, where it was first
detected by the African traveller Dr. Burchell, the only ex-
amples of it which I have myself seen have been captured by
Mr. Melliss.
Genus 2. CALOSOMA.
Weber, Obs. Ent. 20 (1801).
2. Calosoma haligena.
CO. supra aut obscure ewneum aut fere (vel etiam omnino) nigrum,
subopacum; capite irregulariter punctato; prothorace parvo,
transverso-subcordato, antice ad latera valde rotundato, angulis
posticis retrorsum productis sed obtusis, densissime ruguloso-
punctato, utrinque intra angulos posticos late et profunde im-
presso; elytris grosse crenato-striatis, interstitiis sequaliter ele-
vatis ac transversim imbricato-rugatis, punctis magnis plus minus
senescentibus vel cuprescentibus in triplici serie notatis; antennis
pedibusque nigris aut piceo-nigris.
Mas, plerumque vix minor, pedibus sensim crassioribus, tibiis poste-
rioribus (preesertim intermediis) conspicue curvatis, tarsis anticis
valde dilatatis.
Fem., plerumque vix major, pedibus sensim gracilioribus, tibiis in-
termediis vix curvatis, posticis fere rectis, tarsis anticis sim-
plicibus.
Long. corp. lin, 9-11.
Calosoma haligena, Woll., Journ. of Ent. i. 208 (1861).
Of this fine Calosoma a single example was captured at St.
Helena (in July 1860) by the late Mr. Bewicke, and several
more have since been communicated by Mr. Melliss. It seems
to belong to the same type as the African species sene-
galense and rugosum, from the former of which it is never-
theless abundantly distinct. From the latter it differs (inter
alia) in being more depressed, and in having its coppery
punctures smaller, in its prothorax being more deeply rugose
before and behind, and in its legs being less robust. As re-
gards colour, it appears to be either dull brassy or nearly (if
not indeed altogether) black; and its males have their four
- 804 Mr. T. V. Wollaston on the Coleoptera of St. Helena.
posterior tibice (particularly, however, the intermediate pair)
conspicuously curved, whilst in the opposite sex the hinder
ones are nearly (if not quite) straight, and even the middle
pair but very slightly bent inwards. Whether the C. Helene
of Hope was established on an unusually small and dark in-
dividual of this species I cannot feel quite positive; but as
the published description of it does not by any means tally
with the C. haligena, I am compelled (in the absence of evi-
dence which is positive) to retain the two as distinct. If, how-
ever, they should prove ultimately to be conspecific, I need
scarcely add that the name of Helene (as the prior one) will
of course have to be adopted.
3. Calosoma Helene.
C. “atrum; elytrorum margine neo; antennis basi piceis, pedi-
busque nigris. Long. lin. 8; lat. lin. 33.
‘‘ Habitat in ins. Sancte Helene. In Mus. Dom. Darwin.
“ Atrum ; elytris striatis margine neo, punctisque excavatis triplici
serie dispositis. Antenne 4 primis articulis piceis, reliquis fusco-
pubescentibus. Corpus supra et infra nigrum. Thorax transverse
ovatus, marginatus. Elytra striata, subrugosa; marginibus ex-
ternis subvirescentibus, punctisque excavatis triplici serie ordi-
natis. Pedes nigri, tibiis intermediis incurvis.” [Ex Hope. ]
Calosoma Helene, Hope, Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. ii. 130 (1838).
Although perhaps it is scarcely likely that so small an
island as St. Helena should possess two species of Calosoma,
nevertheless, since the above description (which I have trans-
cribed verbatim from Mr. Hope’s paper) does not by any
means agree with that of the C. haligena, I can scarcely take
upon myself to regard the C. Helene as identical with the
latter, and I have therefore (until at any rate further evidence
shall settle the question) cited it as distinct. Judging from
the published diagnosis, the C. Helene would appear to be
smaller than the haligena ; and it is stated to be deep black,
though there is of course a possibility that the more brassy
form did not happen to be included amongst the individuals
which were examined by Mr. Hope. In the C. Helene the
elytra, too, are detuned as merely “striata, subrugosa;”’
whereas those of the haligena are deeply crenate-striate and
have their interstices transversely imbricated in a most coarse
and conspicuous manner ; and the cntermediate tibiee only of
Mr. Hope’s species are said to be curved, whereas in the C.
haligena the four hinder ones of the male sex are powerfully
arcuate. Still, it is of course possible that the C. Helene may
have been defined from an unusually small and dark example
of what I subsequently enunciated under the trivial name of
Mr. T. V. Wollaston on the Coleoptera of St. Helena. 305
haligena ; and if that should prove eventually to have been
the case, the title proposed for the species by Mr. Hope will
have to be retained.
Genus 3. PRISTONYCHUS.
Dejean, Spec. des Col. iii. 43 (1828).
4, Pristonychus complanatus.
Pristonychus complanatus, Dej., loc. cit. 58 (1828).
alatus, Woll., Ins. Mad. 27 (1854).
complanatus, Id., Col. Atl. 27 (1865).
Lemosthenes complanatus, Harold, Cat. Col. 356 (1868).
An insect of a widely acquired geographical range, particu-
larly, however, in Mediterranean latitudes—occurring in Portu-
gal, Spain, the south of France, Italy, Sardinia, Sicily, Egypt,
Barbary, &c. It is abundant also in the Azores, Madeiras,
and Canaries, and has been reported even from Chili. At St.
Helena it has been met with both by Mr. Melliss and the late
Mr. Bewicke ; and I have seen examples of it from the same
island in the collection of Mr. A. Fry.
Genus 4. BEMBIDIUM.
Latreille, Hist. Nat. viii. 221 (1804).
(Subgenus Notaphus, De}.)
5. Bembidium Mellissit, n. sp.
B. oblongum, subopacum, alutaceum ; capite prothoraceque subzeneo
nigro-viridibus, hoc brevi subcordato, utrinque intra angulos pos-
ticos profunde impresso (impressionibus extus striola terminatis) ;
elytris depressiusculis, profunde striato-punctatis (striis postice
evanescentibus), lurido-testaceis sed fasciis maculisve disjunctis
nigrescentibus ornatis; antennis pedibusque piceo-testaceis, illis
versus apicem horumque femoribus paulo obscurioribus.
Mas, tarsorum anticorum art? basilari valde dilatato,
Long. corp. lin. 2.
Two examples only of this beautiful Bembédiwm (which be-
longs to the same group as the European B. vartum and flam-
mulatum) were taken by Mr. Melliss; but I have no note as to
the precise locality. It is well distinguished by its dull brassy-
green head and prothorax, and lurid-testaceous elytra—the
latter of which are ornamented with a number of darker fascize
and cloudy patches, forming (on each elytron) a large sub-
apical blotch, a postmedial zigzag (or deeply dentate) fascia,
and two squarish antemedial spots placed in an oblique direc-
tion (from the shoulder) on the fore disk. The elytral striz
306 Mr. T. V. Wollaston on the Coleoptera of St. Helena.
are coarsely and closely punctured, or crenate, and there are
two large punctiform impressions on the third interval from
the suture.
Fam. 2. Spheridiade.
Genus 5. DACTYLOSTERNUM.
Wollaston, Ins. Mad. 99 (1854).
6. Dactylosternum abdominale.
Spheridium abdominale, Fab., Ent. Syst. i. 79 (1792).
Dactylosternum Roussetit, Woll., Ins. Mad. 99, tab. iii. f. 1 (1854).
abdominale, Id., Col. Atl. 80 (1865).
—. , Id., Col. Hesp. 48 (1867).
Several specimens of this widely spread insect were taken
in St. Helena by Mr. Melliss, and there can be no doubt that
the species has become naturalized in the island through
human agencies. Although found more particularly in Medi-
terranean latitudes, it has acquired an extended geographical
range—occurring in the Azorean, Madeiran, Canarian, and
Cape Verde archipelagos, and being reported even from Mada-
gascar, Bourbon, and the Hast Indies.
Genus 6. SPHARIDIUM.
Fabricius, Syst. Ent. 66 (1775).
7. Spheridium dytiscoides.
S. “ferrugineum, elytris atris. Habitat in ins. St. Helene. Mus.
Dom. Banks. Statura et magnitudo S. scarabeoides; totum gla-
brum, nitidum. Antenne rufve, perfoliate. Caput, thorax,
pectus, abdomen rufa; elytra atra, glabra.” [Ex Fabricio. |
Spheridium dytiscoides, Fab., Syst. Ent. 67 (1775).
es , Oliy., Ent. 2. 15, tab. 2. f. 10 (1790).
—— —, Fab., Ent. Syst. i. 79 (1792).
—— ——, Id., Syst. Eleu. i, 94 (1801).
I have no means of determining what this insect (the dia-
gnosis of which I have copied verbatim from the ‘ Systema En-
tomologie ’) really is; but, judging from the rough figure of it
which is given by Olivier, it would appear to me to be either
a true (though possibly small) Spheridium or else an unusu-
ally large Cercyon, or (still more probably perhaps) a Cyclo-
notum—with the head and prothorax rufo-ferruginous "and the
elytra black. Nevertheless, as it was described by Fabricius
from a specimen (or specimens) in the cabinet of Sir Joseph
Banks, which had been obtained at St. Helena, I have no
choice but to include it in the present enumeration; and I can
only hope that some future collector in the island may again
Mr. T. V. Wollaston on the Ooleoptera of St. Helena. 307
bring the species to light, and so enable us to decide positively
what it is.
Fam. 3. Cucujide.
Genus 7. LZMOPHLEUS.
(Dejean) Erichs., Nat. der Ins. Deutsch. iii. 315 (1845).
8. Lemophleus pusillus*.
Cucujus minutus, Oliv. [nec Kugel. 1791], Ent. iv. bis, 8, 9 (1795).
pusillus, Schon., Syn. Ins. iii. 55 (1817).
Lemophiceus pusillus, Woll., Col. Atl. 182 (1865).
Of the little Z. puszl/us—an insect so liable to transmission,
along with grain and other articles of commerce, throughout
the civilized world—a single example is now before me which
was taken by Mr. Melliss at St. Helena; but, having clearly
no connexion with the real fauna of the island, it is of little
geographical importance. The species has, in like manner,
established itself in the Madeiran and Canarian groups.
Genus 8. CRYPTAMORPHA.
Wollaston, Ins. Mad. 156 (1854).
9. Cryptamorpha muse.
Cryptamorpha muse, Woll., loc. cit. 157, tab. iv. f. 1 (1854).
, Id., Cat. Mad. Col. 51 (1857).
—— —— Id., Col. Atl. 133 (1865).
A single example of this prettily marked insect—which in
Madeira occurs beneath the loose outer fibre of Banana stems
in and around Funchal—has been taken at St. Helena by Mr.
Melliss. J have no note as to its exact place of capture; but
if (as in Madeira) it is attached to the Bananas, in all proba-
bility the species has been introduced into the island.
Fam. 4. Cryptophagide.
Genus 9. CRYPTOPHAGUS.
Herbst, Kaf. iv. 172 (1792).
10. Cryptophagus affinis*.
Cryptophagus affinis, Sturm, Deutschl. Fna. xvi. 79 (1845).
, Hrich., Nat. der Ins. Deutschl. iii, 860 (1846).
—— — , Woll., Col. Atl. 137 (1865).
A common European Cryptophagus which—lke Lemo-
phleus pusillus, Mycetea hirta, and others—must clearly
have been imported into the island from more northern lati-
308 Mr. T. V. Wollaston on the Coleoptera of St. Helena.
tudes ; and therefore, even if fairly established (as is the case
with it in the Azorean, Madeiran, and Canarian groups), it
can of course have no connexion whatever with the original
fauna of St. Helena. -A single specimen of it, which I have
examined with great care, has been captured (in all probability
in some house or granary) by Mr. elias,
Fam. 5. Mycetophagide.
Genus 10. Mycretma.
(Kirby) Steph., Ill. Brit. Ent. iii. 80 (1830).
11. Mycetea hirta*.
Dermestes fumatus, Mshm. pace Linn., 1767], Ent. Brit. 65 (1802).
Silpha hirta, Mshm., Ent. Brit. 124 (1802).
Cryptophagus hirtus, Gyll., Ins. Suec. i. 184 (1808).
Mycetea fumata, Steph., Ill. Brit. Ent. iii. 81 (1830),
lurta, Woll., Col. Atl. 156 (1865).
The widely distributed European M. hirta—which is so
eminently liable to become naturalized, in houses and culti-
vated spots, throughout the civilized world—appears, from a
single example now before me which was taken by Mr. Melliss,
to have established itself at St. Helena; but, like so many
others of the species alluded to in this paper, it can have nothing
whatever to do with the real fauna of the island. It has, in
like manner, been introduced into the Azorean and Madeiran
archipelagos, in the latter of which I have usually met with it
ciline on the inner walls of houses.
Genus 11. Typuama.
(Kirby) Steph., Ill. Brit. Ent. iii. 70 (1830).
12. Typhea fumata*.
Dermestes fumatus, Linn., Syst. Nat. ii. 564 (1767).
Typhea fumata, Woll., Col. Atl. 157 (1865).
, Id., Col. Hesp. 78 (1867).
There is scarcely any insect which has acquired (doubtless
through human agencies) a wider geographical range than the
common Kuropean 7. fwmata; and therefore it is not surprising
that it sheath have been met with by Mr. Melliss (judging
from a single example which he has communicated to me) at
St. Helena. It occurs in the north of Africa, and abounds in
the Azores, Madeiras, Canaries, and Cape Verdes ; and it has
even been reported likewise from the United States.
Mr. T. V. Wollaston on the Coleoptera of St. Helena. 309
Fam. 6. Dermestide.
Genus 12. DERMESTES.
Linneus, Syst. Nat. 11. 561 (1767).
13. Dermestes cadaverinus*.
Dermestes cadaverinus, Fab., Syst. Ent. 55 (1775).
, Oliv., Ent, ii. 9. 8 (1790).
domesticus, (Gebl.) Germ., Ins. Spec. Noy. 85. 148 (1824).
cadaverinus, Woll., Ann, Nat. Hist. vii. 301 (1861),
This widely spread Dermestes having originally been de-
scribed by Fabricius (in 1775) from a St.-Helena example, in
the collection of Sir Joseph Banks, it seems scarcely right to
omit it from the present memoir, even though I do not myself
happen to have seen a specimen of it from that island. Being
peculiarly liable to transmission, in various articles of mer-
chandise and commerce, throughout the civilized world, it has
been made to acquire a very extensive geographical range,—
being recorded not only in Europe, but even from South
America, Mexico, Otaheite, the East Indies, Siberia, Arabia,
&e.; and it was obtained abundantly, by the late Mr. Bewicke,
at Ascension. Speaking of it, in 1861, in a short paper on
Ascension Coleoptera, I remarked that ‘it belongs to the se-
cond of Erichson’s sections, in which the third and fourth
abdominal segments of the males (instead of the fourth alone)
are furnished beneath with a little circular fossette armed with
a cone (or convergent fasciculus) of powerful bristles. In
specific details, it may be known from its several allies by its
(black) upper surface being uniformly and rather densely
clothed with a coarse yellowish-cinereous pile, by its rather
elongate and slightly narrow outline, and by its abdominal
under segments having, each of them, two roundish patches
of darker pile in their centre (gradually diminishing and ap-
proximating in each successive segment towards the apex),
and a sublunate one at either lateral edge.”
14. Dermestes vulpinus*.
Dermestes vulpinus, Fab., Spec. Ins. i. 64 (1781).
, Woll., Col. Atl. 159 (1865).
— — , Id., Col. Hesp. 79 (1867).
An example of this almost cosmopolitan Dermestes (which
is so well characterized by the very minute spinule with which
the extreme apex of each of its elytra is furnished) was taken
by Mr. Melliss at St. Helena; but the species, which (like
the D. cadavertinus) is so eminently liable to accidental dis-
semination along with various articles of commerce and mer-
310 Mr. T. V. Wollaston on the Coleoptera of St. Helena.
chandise, is of course totally unconnected with the true fauna
of the island. It has been established equally in the Madeiran,
Canarian, and Cape Verde groups.
Genus 13. ATTAGENUS.
Latreille, Hist. Nat. iii. 121 (1802).
15. Attagenus gloriose*,
Anthrenus Gloriose, Fab., Syst. Eleu. i. 107 (1801).
Ethriostoma gloriose, Motsch., Etud. Ent. 146 (1858).
Attagenus Gloriose, Woll., Ann, Nat. Hist. vii. 301 (1861).
Of this prettily fasciated Attagenus—which has acquired,
through the medium of commerce, an almost cosmopolitan
range—two examples, now before me, were captured by Mr.
Melliss at St. Helena. The species has established itself like-
wise in the island of Ascension—where it was taken, during
April 1860, by the late Mr. Bewicke; and it is reported also
from India, Eastern Africa, and America.
Fam. 7. Histeridez.
Genus 14. TRIBALUS.
Erichson, in Klug, Jahrb. i. 164 (1834).
16. Tribalus 4-striatus, n. sp.
T. rotundato-ovalis, piceo-niger, nitidus, ubique (in disco levius)
punctatus; fronte minutius punctulata, subsemicirculari, angulis
anticis subrectis, oculis parvis, simplici (nec transversim cari-
nata); elytrorum striis 4 dorsalibus sat profundis, punctatis,
usque ad medium ductis, sutwralt nulla sed ad basim ipsam bre-
viter arcuatim conspicua, humerali tenui obliqua; pygidio per-
pendiculari; antennis pedibusque piceis; tibiis anticis leviter
circa 5- vel 6-denticulatis.
Long. corp. lin. vix 13.
The rather small size and entirely punctulated surface of
this little Histerid, combined with its semicircular wncarinated
forehead, and the fact of its elytra being totally free from a
sutural stria (which is only traceable as a very short subscu-
tellar arcuated impression), affiliate it with the small group
of species which constitute the genus Tribalus ; but it seems
to differ (¢nter alia) from the whole of them in having four
very distinct dorsal punctured strie continued to about the
middle of each elytron. Apart from other characters, its
piceous-black hue, subrufescent limbs, and perpendicular py-
gidium will serve additionally to distinguish it. The single
example from which the above diagnosis has been compiled
Mr. T. V. Wollaston on the Coleoptera of St. Helena. 311
was communicated by Mr. Melliss, along with his other St.-
Helena captures.
Genus 15. SAPRINUS.
Erichson, in Klug, Jahrb. i. 172 (1834).
17. Saprinus lautus, n. sp.
S. submetallicus, nitidissimus; capite prothoraceque senescentibus,
illo dense punctato, fronte ab epistomate linea transversa distincte
divisa, hoe versus latera et basin grosse punctato, in disco leviore,
ad latera nudo (nec ciliato); elytris cyaneis (vel subvirescenti-
cyaneis), sat dense ruguloso-punctatis, punctis in disco antico et
versus humeros obsoletis, striis hwmeralibus obsoletis, subhumerali
distincta, longe ultra medium postice ducta, 4 dorsalibus ad me-
dium terminatis (4% in suturalem integram antice arcuatam
coéunte); pygidio propygidioque obscurioribus, profunde punc-
tatis; antennis pedibusque nigro-piceis ; tibiis anticis circa 8—9-
denticulatis.
Long. corp. lin. 3.
The blue tinge (at any rate on the elytra) and by no means
small size of this Saprinus are somewhat suggestive at first
sight of the widely spread S. semipunctatus ; but the fact of
its epistome being divided from the forehead by a strong trans-
verse line, in conjunction with its sutural stria being complete,
and uniting in front with the fourth discal one, remove it into
a totally different section of the genus—characterized by such
North-American species as Javett, patruelis, and dimidiati-
pennis, which, however, appear to be of considerably smaller
stature and less punctured on the surface. A single example of
this species is amongst the Coleoptera found by Mr. Melliss at
St. Helena.
Fam. 8. Aphodiade.
Genus 16. APHODIUS.
Illiger, Kiif. Preuss. 1. 28 (1798).
18. Aphodius lividus*.
Scarabeus lividus, Oliv., Ent. i. 3. 86 (1789).
Aphodius lividus, Woll., Col. Atl. 178 (1865),
, Id., Col. Hesp. 89 (1867).
A single example of this widely spread European Aphodius
—which occurs throughout northern and western Africa, and
in the Azorean, Madeiran, Canarian, and Cape Verde archi-
pelagos—is amongst the Coleoptera collected at St. Helena by
Mr. Melliss ; but as it is an insect which easily becomes dis-
seminated through indirect human agencies (particularly the
312 Mr. T. V. Wollaston on the Coleoptera of St. Helena.
transportation of cattle), I feel satisfied that it has no connexion
whatever with the original fauna of so remote an island.
Fam. 9. Rutelide.
(Subfam. ANOPLOGNATHIDES.)
Genus 17. ADORETUS.
(Eschcholtz) De Casteln., Hist. Nat. des Col. 11. 142 (1840).
19. Adoretus versutus.
A, ovato-oblongus, elongatus, depressiusculus, sat nitidus, valde
alatus, brunneus pilisque brevibus cinereis demissis parce irro-
ratus; capite prothoraceque obscurioribus, illo magno rugose
punctato, clypeo semicirculari ad marginem recurvo, oculis maxi-
mis, hoc brevissimo marginato grosse punctato, ad latera rotun-
dato, angulis anticis porrectis, posticis rotundato-obtusis ; elytris
elongatis, punctato-rugosis (punctis, saltem majoribus versus la-
tera, subseriatim dispositis), parce longitudinaliter costatis ; an-
tennis pedibusque rufo-ferrugineis ; tibiis anticis extus 3-dentatis :
unguiculis inzequalibus.
Long. corp. lin. 53-6.
Adoretus vestitus, Bohem. [nec Reiche, 1847], Res. Eugen. 56 (1858).
versutus, Harold, Col. Hefte, v. (1869).
An Adoretus which appears to be rather common at St.
Helena. It may be known amongst the few Lamellicorns
here enumerated by its narrowish, oblong outline, less convex
body (which is sparingly clothed with a short, decumbent,
cinereous pile) and more yellowish-brown hue, by its rather
large head; greatly developed eyes, and semicircular clypeus,
by its extremely abbreviated prothorax and subcostate, rugu-
lose elytra, and by its unequal claws. The examples from
which I have drawn out the above diagnosis were captured
by Mr. Melliss.
Fam. 10. Dynastide.
(Subfam. PENTODONTIDES.)
Genus 18. HETERONYCHUS.
(Dejean) Burm., Handb. der Ent. v. 90 (1847).
20. Heteronychus arator.
Scarabeus arator, Fab., Ent. Syst. i. 33 (1792).
Geotrupes arator, Fab., Syst. Eleu. i. 21 (1801).
Heteronychus arator, Burm., loc, cit. 94 (1847).
Sancte-Helene, Blanch.,Voy. Péle Sud, iv. 105, pl.7. f. 6 (1853).
arator, Woll., in Journ. of Ent. i. 210 (1861).
The South-African H. arator appears to be common at St.
Mr. T. V. Wollaston on the Coleoptera of St. Helena. 313
Helena—where it was taken by the late Mr. Bewicke in 1860,
and subsequently in considerable abundance by Mr. Melliss.
It is conspecific with the insect characterized by Blanchard in
the entomological portion of Dumont d’Urville’s ‘ Voyage au
Péle Sud sur les Uairettes P Astrolabe et la Zélée’ (p. 105,
pl. 7. f. 6) under the title of H. Sancte-Helene.
Apart from its numerous and strictly generic characters, the
H. arator may at once be known from the two species of
Mellissius by being rather smaller, darker, brighter, and more
cylindric, by its clypeus being more rugose, and bisinuated
(instead of truncate) in front, by its prothorax being un-
sculptured, and by the punctures of its elytra being distributed
in regular strie. Amongst other features, its antenne are 10-
(instead of 9-) articulate, its propygidium is furnished with
two long file-lke divergent bands for the purpose of stridula-
tion by friction against the inner surface of the apex of its
elytra, and its wings are fully developed.
Genus 19. MELLISSIUS (nov. gen.).
Corpus crassum, supra nudum, subtus pilis longis robustis obsi-
tum : capite triangulari, clypeo apice truncato, necnon ibidem atque
subito in genis (ante oculos) plus minus incrassato recurvo, fronte in
medio vel obsolete vel conspicue tuberculata: prothorace magno,
convexo, ad latera subequaliter valde rotundato, in utroque sexu
nisi fallor (certe in masculo) simplici, nec antice impresso; pro-
sternali lobo (inter coxas anticas) brevi, piloso: scutello semicirculari-
triangulari: alis minutis, obsoletis: instrumentis stridulantibus aut
fere nullis, aut propygidium pliculis brevibus tuberculisve trans-
versis ubique dense asperantibus. Antenne: 9-art®: art®. 1™° elon-
gato, robusto, subclavato, subflexuoso, 24° brevi transverso, 3tie
minore breviore, 4'°, 5‘, 6'° gradatim paulo crescentibus, reliquis
clavam magnam, foliatam, ovalem, 3-articulatam efficientibus.
Labrum clypeo absconditum. Mandibule cornee, robust, subtri-
angulares, concave, apice incurve obtuse, extus setis longissimis
instructe. Maaillarum lobus internus obsoletus, eaternus latus,
suboblongus, setisque longissimis ubique obsitus. Palporum mawil-
larium articulus ultimus obovato-oblongus, labialiwm subobovatus.
Mentum (ligulam oceultans) elongatum, subtriangulare, corneum,
pilis longissimis obsitum. Pedes fossorii, robusti, subequales: tibzis
anticis extus fortiter tridentatis, posterioribus apice truncatis ciliatis:
tarsorum articulo basilart subtriangulari, ultimo wnguiculis sequalibus
armato.
The structural features of the group which I have enunci-
ated above bring it into close proximity to the Australian
genera Chedroplatys and Isodon; but a reference to the dia-
gnosis will show that it is abundantly distinct from them both.
Unlike them, also, it appears, at any rate in one of the two
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. iv. 23
314 Mr. T. V. Wollaston on the Coleoptera of St. Helena.
species described below, to have organs for slight stridulation ;
and its prothorax is apparently entire in both sexes (for as it
is so in 15 males which are now before me, we may conclude
a fortior? that this is equally the case in the opposite sex); and
its anterior male tibie are not enlarged as in Chetroplatys.
The Mellissiz are practically apterous, their wings being very
small and rudimentary, and they seem to be eminently fossorial.
In its simple (or unimpressed) prothorax the genus agrees
with the European and African group Pentodon ; but, apart
from other differences, the members of the latter have their
organs for stridulation exceedingly conspicuous, occupying,
however, the central part only of the propygidium.
I have had much pleasure in retaining for the present genus
the name proposed for it by Mr. Bates—in honour of J. C.
Melliss, Esq., who has supplied the greater portion of the
material for this memoir, and to whose researches we are con-
sequently indebted for the additional light which has been
thrown upon the small but highly interesting fauna of St.
Helena.
21. Mellissius eudoxus, n. sp.
M. crassus, subquadrato-ovatus, rufo-piceus, nitidus; capite grosse
ruguloso-punctato (fere scabroso), clypeo lato subtriangulari
apice truncato et ibidem paulo recurvo lateribus anguste margi-
nato; prothorace magno, convexo, grosse punctato, angulis anticis
subporrectis acntiusculis, posticis rotundato-obtusis, ad latera
rotundato, in medio vix subangulato, longe fulvo-ciliato ; elytris
subquadratis sed pone medium latiusculis, apice subtruncato-ab-
breviatis (angulis suturalibus paulo rotundatis), propygidium
transversum subleve (mucronibus valde transversis perpaucis
solum in medio parcissime adspersum) omnino occultantibus,
grosse submalleato-punctatis (punctis sat profundis et perpaucis
quasi in sulcis obsoletissimis undulatis evanescentibus, preter
sulcum suturalem rectum, obsolete dispositis) ; pedibus robustis,
fossoriis, fulvo-pilosis.
Mas clypeo postice in medio obsolete tuberculato (vix cornuto).
Fem. adhuc latet.
Long. corp. lin. 7-84.
Scarabeus eudoxus, in Dej. Cat. 168 (1837).
Although small for the Dynastide, this species and the fol-
lowing one are the largest of the Lamellicorns which have
hitherto been detected at St. Helena; and while both of them
may be known by their thick, ovate-squarish bodies (they
being rather widened posteriorly), their bald though sculptured
upper surfaces, their strong fossorial ciliated legs, and their
rufo-piceous colour, the M. ewdowus (which is, on the average,
a trifle smaller than the adumbratus) is further conspicuous by
Mr. T. V. Wollaston on the Coleoptera of St. Helena. 315
being the more shining and deeply punctured of the two, by
its clypeus being wider, less margined at the sides, and less
recurved at the tip, and by its elytra (some of the punctures
of which have a faint tendency to arrange themselves in yery
obsolete, evanescent, longitudinal, flexuous grooves) being not
only less straightly truncate (or more rounded-off separately)
at their apex, but likewise concealing altogether the propygi-
dium—which is straight and transverse (instead of being tri-
angular), and so destitute of asperities (there being traces of
only a very few transverse plaits, or short, broken file-like
ridges, in the centre behind) that I am exceedingly doubtful
whether the insect is able in reality to stridulate.
The M. eudoxus seems to be thoroughly indigenous to the
island, and found principally in cultivated regions of a rather
high altitude—according to Mr. Melliss, by whom the 12 ex-
amples from which the above diagnosis has been compiled
were collected. It appears, however, to have been brought
from St. Helena many years ago; for it is cited in Dejean’s
Catalogue under the name of Scarabeus eudoxus; and I am
informed by Mr. C. O. Waterhouse that there are two speci-
mens (likewise ‘ unquestionably males”’) in the British Mu-
seum which had been placed aside as in all probability the
type of some undefined group, and which are evidently con-
specific with the present insect,
22. Mellissius adumbratus, n. sp.
M. crassus, subquadrato-ovatus, rufo-piceus, subopacus ; capite in-
eequaliter punctato, fronte fere impunctata; clypeo triangulari
apice truncato et valde recurvo, lateribus grosse marginato ; pro-
thorace magno, convexo, grosse sed leviter punctato, angulis an-
ticis porrectis, acutis, posticis rotundato-obtusis, ad latera rotun-
dato, in medio subangulato, fulvo-ciliato; elytris subquadratis
sed pone medium latiusculis, apice recte truncato-abbreviatis
(angulis suturalibus subrectis), propygidium subtriangulare (mu-
cronibus transversis dense asperatum) vix occultantibus, grosse
sed leviter submalleato-punctatis (punctis nullo modo in seriebus
longitudinalibus, linea levi suturali excepta, dispositis); pedibus
robustis, fossoriis, parce fulvo-pilosis.
Mas clypeo postice tuberculo medio magno conspicue cornuto.
Fem. adhuc latet.
Long. corp. lin. 8-93,
Amongst 15 examples, collected by Mr. Melliss and belong-
ing to the present genus, there are three which are rather
larger and nearly opake (the remainder being shining), and
with the obscure frontal tubercle developed into a Tietinet
corneous process, so that my first impression was that they
23*
316 Mr. T. V. Wollaston on the Coleoptera of St. Helena.
were evidently the opposite sex of the smaller form—though,
at the same time, if males (as their comparatively armed cly-
peus would imply them to be), I should have been driven to
the anomalous conclusion that the individuals of that particular
sex were the larger and less brilliant of the two! and more-
over, on examination, so many other characters presented
themselves that I began to feel doubtful whether they were
not, after all, specifically distinct. I therefore sent two of them
to Mr. C. O. Waterhouse, of the British Museum, who has
lately paid considerable attention to the Lamellicorns, and he
is decidedly of opinion that they cannot be referred to the
same species as the other examples which | forwarded to him.
Indeed Mr. Waterhouse has shown by dissection that these
two opake ones are males; and as I have myself since opened
the abdomen of the third, as well as those of eleven out of the
12 brighter individuals, and find them all to be males likewise!
there can be no longer any question that the two are positively
distinct*.
Assuming therefore that the above opinion is correct (and
it is difficult to see how it can be otherwise), the 1Z. adumbratus
recedes from the ewdoxus in being more opake and (on the
average) a little larger, in its sculpture being altogether shal-
lower and less rough, in its frontal tubercle (though I can
only vouch for the male sex) being very much more developed,
in its clypeus being narrower, more coarsely margined at the
sides and more recurved at the tip, in its anterior prothoracic
angles being rather more porrect and acute, and in its elytra
(none of the punctures of which have apparently any decided
tendency to be longitudinally distributed in obsolete flexuous
evanescent grooves) being more straightly truncate behind (or
with the sutural angles less rounded-off), so as to expose a
portion of the propygidium—which is itself more triangular
(or pointed in the centre), instead of being separated from the
pygidium by a straight suture, and is likewise roughened all
over (very densely so in the middle) with short transverse
plaits or tubercles (well separated from each other) which
clearly are employed by the insect for the purposes of stridula-
tion. This stridulating-power is very important ; and I doubt
whether the preceding species can stridulate (at any rate
audibly so to us) at all ; for 7ts propygidium, which is entirely
concealed by the apical portion of the elytra, is comparatively
bright and unsculptured, an extremely few and distant trans-
verse plaits in the hinder central region being alone traceable.
* The twelfth of these more polished examples was imperfect, and
had lost its abdomen; but it differed in no respect, that I could perceive,
from the rest.
Mr. T. V. Wollaston on the Coleoptera of St. Helena. 317
Fam. 11. Elateride.
Genus 20. HETERODERES.
Latreille, Ann. de la Soc. Ent. de France, iii. 155 (1834).
23. Heteroderes puncticollis, n. sp.
H. elliptico-elongatus, subnitidus, niger pilisque brevibus -demissis
fulvis parce vestitus; capite prothoraceque dense et profunde
punctatis punctulisque minutissimis intermediis irroratis, hoc
magno, convexo, in medio coleopteris latiore, angulis posticis
valde productis acutissimis et carinulis binis instructis, in disco
postico obsolete canaliculato, basi transversim declivo sed in
media parte ipsissima (pone scutellum) elevato; elytris grosse
arguteque crenato-striatis, in interstitiis punctato-rugulosis ;
antennis, palpis pedibusque rufo-ferrugineis ; tarsorum art® 34°
subtus late bilobo.
Long. corp. lin. 42.
I am informed by Mr. Janson that the two examples from
which the above diagnosis has been compiled, and which
Mr. Melliss captured at St. Helena, are well distinguished by
the very deep and close punctation of their head and (largely
developed) prothorax from all the species of Heteroderes with
which he is acquainted. Amongst other characters, the species
may be recognized by the much enlarged lobe, or lacinia, with
which the underside of its third tarsal joint is furnished, by its
almost black surface, which is sparingly clothed with a short
decumbent fulvescent pile, and by its rufo-ferruginous limbs.
It is a somewhat remarkable fact geographically that the only
Hlaterid hitherto observed at St. Helena should be a member
of the genus which occurs also, in a single representative, at
the Azores and Cape Verdes ; whilst the equally rare Madeiran
and Canarian exponents of that large department of the Coleo-
ptera belong to a totally different group.
Fam. 12. Cleride.
Genus 21. CoRYNETES.
Herbst, Kaf. iv. 148 (1791).
24. Corynetes rufipes*.
Anobium rufipes, Thunb., Nov. Ins. Spec. i. 10 (1781).
Corynetes rufipes, Woll., Col. Atl. 209 (1865).
, Id., Col. Hesp. 102 (1867).
The common European C. rufipes, as at Ascension and in
the Canarian and Cape-Verde archipelagos, appears (judging
318 Mr. T. V. Wollaston on the Coleoptera of St. Helena.
from three examples now before me which were captured by
Mr. Melliss) to have established itself at St. Helena; but as it
has equally become naturalized, through the medium of com-
merce, in most parts of the civilized world, it is of course
totally unconnected with the real fauna of the island.
Fam. 13. Ptinide.
Genus 22. GIBBIUM.
Scopoli, Intr. ad Hist. Nat. 505 (1777).
25. Gibbium scotias*.
Ptinus scotias, Fab., Spec. Ins. i. 74 (1831).
Gibbium scotias, Woll., Col. Atl, 214 (1865).
A single example of this European Ptinid is in the St.-He-
lena collection of Mr. Melliss; but the species, of course, is a
mere importation, and might perhaps be found more plentifully
if searched for in the warehouses and town. It appears, in
like manner, to have become established at Madeira.
Fam. 14. Anobiade.
Genus 23. ANOBIUM.
Fabricius, Syst. Ent. 62 (1775).
26. Anobium velatum*.
Anobium velatum, Woll., Ins. Mad. 276, t. v. f. 3 (1854).
—,Id., Cat. Mad. Col. 92 (1857).
—— ——,, Id., Cat. Can. Col. 249 (1864).
—- —, Id., Col. Atl. 226 (1865).
A single example of an Anobiwm which was taken by Mr.
Melliss in St. Helena appears to me to betoo close tothe Madeiran
A. velatum to admit of its being separated from that species,
though perhaps its elytra are not quite so strongly punctate-
striate. Its extremely elongated suberect pubescence renders
it more in accordance with the A. velatwm than with the Cana-
rian A. villosum of Brullé, though in point of fact the two
species are so intimately related that I cannot feel quite sure
that they are more in reality than modifications of a single
plastic form. If my conjecture, that in the more northern
archipelagos these particular species are considerably attached
to the old vine-trees, is correct, it is more than probable that
the one now before me may have been accidentally imported
into St. Helena.
Mr. T, V. Wollaston on the Coleoptera of St. Helena. 319
27. Anobium paniceum*.
Dermestes paniceus, Linn., Faun. Suec. 431 (1761).
Anobium paniceum, Woll., Col. Atl. 227 (1865).
——, Id., Col. Hesp. 109 (1867).
I need scarcely add that the almost cosmopolitan A. pant-
ceum (a few examples of which are amongst Mr. Melliss’s in-
sects from St. Helena) is a mere accidental importation into
the island, and has no kind of connexion whatsoever with the
true fauna, the presence of such species in any local list being
merely dependent upon the amount of diligence with which
the warehouses and stores may happen to have been searched.
The A. paniceum has, in like manner, become established in
the Azorean, Madeiran, Canarian, and Cape-Verde archipe-
lagos.
28. Anobium striatum*.
Anobium striatum, Oliv., Ent. ii. 16. 9 (1790).
, Woll., Col. Atl. 227 (1865).
Like the last species, the present common European Ano-
bium has (judging from a few examples which were captured
by Mr. Melliss) become established at St. Helena; but it has,
of course, no more to do than that equally cosmopolitan insect
with the original fauna of the island. It has been naturalized
in like manner in the Azorean, Madeiran, and Canarian
groups.
29. Anobium confertum*, n. sp.?
A, cylindricum, fusco-nigrum, ubique minutissime et densissime
subgranulato-punctatum pubeque brevi demissa cinerea vestitum ;
prothorace simplici, transverso, postice elytrorum latitudine,
angulis anticis subrectis, posticis paulo magis rotundatis, ad latera
subrecto subrecurvo ferrugineo ; elytris obsolete longitudinaliter
substriatis (sed punctis majoribus carentibus); antennis pedibus-
que inzequaliter piceo-ferrugineis, tarsis clarioribus.
Long. corp. lin. 12.
Having no information concerning the precise places of
capture of Mr. Melliss’s various Coleoptera, [ cannot but look
with suspicion upon a single example of an Anobiwm now be-
before me, as having in all probability become introduced into
the island and been found by him in some house or cultivated
spot ; yet, as it is well characterized by its very peculiar sculp-
ture, and I cannot identify it with any member of the genus
to which I have had access, I have thought it desirable to
enunciate the species on the chance that it will be ascertained
to have been undescribed. Apart from its cylindric but not
very elongated outline, and (for an Anobcum) rather dark hue,
it may be known by its transverse prothorax, which has the
320 Mr. T. V. Wollaston on the Coleoptera of St. Helena.
sides somewhat straight, slightly recurved, and ferruginous,
by its fine and short (but not very dense) cinereo-sericeous
pubescence, and by its entire surface being most minutely and
closely punctulated, the punctures being so crowded together
as to cause the surface to be dull and to appear at first sight
to be alutaceous, or even coriaceous. Its elytra are obsoletely
striated, but without any intermixture of larger punctures.
Fam. 15. Bostrichide.
Genus 24. RHIZOPERTHA.
Stephens, Ill. Brit. Ent. ii. 254 (1830).
30. Rhizopertha bifoveolata*.
Rhyzopertha bifoveolata, Woll., Ann. Nat. Hist. ii. 409 (1858).
Rhizopertha ——, Id., Col. Atl. 232 (1865).
, 1d., Col. Hesp. 110 (1867).
I have little doubt that the present Rhizopertha has, like
the R. pusilla, become naturalized in the island through the
medium of commerce ; and it is possible therefore that it may
be ascertained eventually to have been described by some
prior title to that which I myself proposed for it in 1858. Be
this, however, as it may, it seems to be conspecific with the
insect which was taken by Mr. M. Park “out of a cask of
flour’ at Madeira (in the Funchal custom-house), and likewise
with an example which I captured in a quinta at S** Catharina,
in the interior of St. Iago, of the Cape Verdes. Unless I am
much mistaken, there are many examples of it in the collec-
tion at the British Museum bearing labels which show how
widely the insect has become disseminated, through human
agencies, over distant parts of the civilized world.
31. Rhizopertha pusilla*.
Synodendron pusillum, Fab., Ent. Syst. v. (Suppl.) 156 (1798).
Rhyzopertha pusilla, Steph., loc. cit, 354 (1880).
Rhizopertha , Woll., Col. Atl. 232 (1865).
Like the last species, the almost cosmopolitan R. pusilla
appears (judging equally from examples of it which were
taken by Mr. Melliss) to have become established in the ware-
houses and stores of St. Helena, just as it has in the Madeiran
archipelago and elsewhere.
Fam. 16. Tomicide.
Genus 25. TOMICUS.
Latreille, Hist. Nat. des Ins. 11. 203 (1802).
Mr. T. V. Wollaston on the Coleoptera of St. Helena. 321
32. Tomicus emulus, n. sp.
7’. cylindricus, nitidus, nigro-piceus, pilisque longiusculis suberectis
fulvescentibus parce obsitus ; prothorace amplo, subalutaceo, pos-
tice evidenter punctulato, mox ante medium subnodoso-convexo,
antice dilatato obtuse rotundato necnon mucronibus asperato ;
elytris leviter striato-punctatis punctulisque minoribus in inter-
stitiis uniseriatim notatis, ad apicem retusis, parte perpendiculari
dentibus sublateralibus duobus subsequalibus (sc. superiore et in-
feriore) ac perpaucis lateralibus minutissimis granuliformibus
utrinque armata; antennis pedibusque testaceo-ferrugineis.
Long. corp. lin. 13.
The single specimen from which the above diagnosis has
been drawn out, and which was captured at St. Helena by
Mr. Melliss, has much the general appearance, at first sight, of
the European 7. saxesent (which occurs likewise in the Azo-
rean, Madeiran, and Canarian archipelagos) ; but a closer in-
spection will show not only that it is a little larger and more
pilose, with its prothorax less alutaceous and more distinctly
punctulated behind, but that its elytra are more retuse (or perpen-
dicularly truncated) at the apex, and that each of them is armed
with (in addition to smaller and granuliform ones) two robust
acute spines. This latter character, apart from its less shining
and more evidently punctulated prothorax and darker hue,
will equally separate it from the 7° perforans, a species closely
resembling the saxesen?, and which has been found in the
Madeiran and Cape-Verde archipelagos (where, however, in
all probability it has become naturalized accidentally through
human agencies). What the exact habit of the St.-Helena
species may be, I cannot tell; but, if found in the higher dis-
tricts of the island, at a distance from the towns, it is of course
possible (though I should scarcely think likely) that it may be
truly indigenous.
Fam. 17. Hylesinide.
Genus 26. HyLureus.
Latreille, Gen. Crust. et Ins. ii. 274 (1807).
33. Hylurgus ligniperda*.
Bostrichus ligniperda, Fab., Ent. Syst. i. ii. 367 (1792).
Hylurgus ligniperda, Woll., Col. Atl. 250 (1865).
As in the Azorean, Madeiran, and Canarian groups, the
European H. ligniperda appears (judging from examples of it
which were captured by Mr. Melliss) to have become natu-
ralized at St. Helena ; but as it is an insect which is eminently
liable to accidental transmission along with-trees of the pine
family, its presence in even so remote an island may perhaps
be accounted for.
[To be continued. }
322 Messrs. Hancock & Atthey on the Generic Identity
XXXVII.—On the Generic Identity of Climaxodus and con
nassa, two Fossil Fishes related to the Rays. By ALBANY
Hancock, F.L.S., and THomas ATTHEY.
[Plate XII. ]
WHEN the paper on the teeth of Climazxodus lingueformis was
published*, it was not thought desirable to hazard an opinion
as to their arrangement, or whether they were palatal or man-
dibular, or whether or not they belonged to both the upper
and lower jaws. Since then we have obtained information
that throws much light on the subject of these curious dental
organs.
Mr. Howse having called our attention to some well-pre-
served specimens of the teeth of Janassa bituminosa of Miin-
ster}, from the Marl-slate, it was at once obvious, as pointed
out by that gentleman, that they were closely related to those
of Climaaxodus—so closely, indeed, that they seem to be generi-
cally the same. ‘The differences are only those of proportion,
there being not a single character of importance to distinguish
one from the other.
The teeth in both forms are depressed and elongated in the
antero-posterior direction, and taper a little backwards; in
front there is a wide concave margin, which, standing up like
a scoop or dredging-bucket, is the cutting-edge; behind this
the surface is covered with transverse imbricated ridges, form-
ing the grinding or crushing portion; and further down, on a
lower plane, the broad depressed root projects backwards and
downwards for a considerable distance. In profile they pre-
sent a sigmoid curve, the frontal scoop-like portion standing
up in the direction of the oral cavity, the posterior or root
extremity being turned downwards in the opposite direction.
The above description will do equally well for either Ci-
maxodus or Janassa. Our Coal-measure species, however, C.
lingueformis, Atthey, is considerably wider in proportion to
its length, and the transverse imbricated ridges are stronger
and much less numerous than they are in Janassa bituminosa.
But C. imbricatus, M‘Coy, from the Mountain Limestone, seems
somewhat intermediate between the two ; it is proportionally
narrower, and the ridges are much finer than in C. lingue-
Sormis.
From these teeth alone the generic identity of all the three
might be safely predicated; but there is further evidence in
proof of the fact. Climaxodus and Janassa are both provided
with two kinds of teeth. Those already indicated may be
* Annals of Nat. Hist. ser. 4. vol. ii. p. 321.
+ Beitrage zur Petrefactenkunde, Heft 2. p. 38, tab. 15. f. 10-14.
of Climaxodus and Janassa. 323
looked upon as the principal or primary dental organs ; the
other kind or the secondary, in the two genera, resemble each
other just as closely as do the primary ; and it is interesting
to find that these secondary teeth agree pretty closely with
some of those included in the genus Petalodus of authors, only
they are oblique.
In Janassa the association of these Petalodontoid teeth with
the primary ones is too obvious to be called in question. In
this form the two kinds are actually found arranged in order
side by side. This is proved by the specimens already re-
ferred to and by Miinster’s excellent figures. The Petalodon-
toid form has likewise been obtained associated on the same slab
with the primary teeth of Climaxodus. We have in our pos-
session a small slab, not so large as the palm of the hand, on
which there are seven primary teeth, three or four of which
lie in their natural position. On this slab there are likewise
three of the Petalodontotd form, two being in contact with the
primary teeth, and apparently not far removed from their
original position.
Six or seven other specimens of these secondary teeth have
occurred scattered in the same shale in which the primary teeth
are found. The secondary teeth have a certain resemblance
generically to the primary teeth, and specifically they have cha-
racters in common with their respective primary teeth. Never-
theless they are scarcely generically distinguishable from the
Petalodus of authors, though they are, as already stated, oblique.
Having said thus much with respect to the external charac-
ters of the teeth themselves in the two genera in question, we
must now make some remarks about their arrangement in the
mouth. In Janassa it is clearly demonstrated, both by the
specimens and figures before alluded to, that the teeth are
similarly arranged in both the upper and under jaws. In this
genus they are placed in slightly arched transverse rows, the
largest symmetrical primary tooth being situated on the me-
dian antero-posterior line, and projecting a little in advance
of the others. On each side of this there are two similar teeth,
but somewhat less, the outside one being twisted obliquely ;
the row is then terminated on either side by one of the Petalo-
dontoid form. There are therefore seven teeth in each row,
including both kinds—five primary, two secondary. Miinster
represents five or six such rows in close succession from back
to front, the teeth and rows gradually diminishing in size
forward. It is evident, then, that the arrangement of the
buccal armature more closely resembles that of the Rays than
the Cestracionts or Sharks; and, indeed, notwithstanding the
difference in the teeth themselves, in their arrangement they
324 Messrs. Hancock & Atthey on the Generic Identity
agree in a remarkable manner with those in Myliobatis aquila
and Zygobatis marginata—a relationship which was recog-
nized by Agassiz*. In the extraordinary dental apparatus of
these two interesting forms the teeth or plates are placed
crosswise on the anterior portion of the jaws in rows succeed-
ing each other from back to front. The largest primary tooth
is median: on each side of it there are two other primary
teeth, both of which are small in the first genus, and only one
in the second; all these teeth are charcterized by having six
sides ; and each row is flanked by a small or secondary tooth,
distinguished by having only five sides. Thus it appears that
each transverse row is composed of seven teeth, five of which
may be looked upon as primary, two as secondary, arranged
exactly as the teeth are in Janassa, and agreeing with them
exactly in number.
Now it cannot be doubted that the disposition of the teeth
is the same in Climaxodus as it is in Janassa; and in fact the
specimens of the former, on the slab previously mentioned,
verify this assertion when aided by the light derived from the
latter. Alone perhaps these specimens might have justified
the inference ; but taken in connexion with what is known re-
specting Janassa, there can now be no hesitation upon the
subject. Indeed the large, symmetrical, central teeth of two
rows lie in proper order one over the other; and in contact
with the upper one, and side by side with it, is the first lateral
tooth in its exact true position ; and a little further away, but
almost touching it, is a secondary tooth, apparently belonging
to this side. Overlying the first, lateral, primary tooth in
front are the distorted remains of what seems to be the second
lateral tooth. On the other side of the central tooth, and some
little distance from it, is another primary tooth, which, from
its oblique form, is undoubtedly the second lateral tooth of
this side: it lies in juxtaposition to its flanking Petalodontoid
tooth. All these teeth, with the exception of that last named,
lie with their crowns uppermost, and belong to one row; the
central tooth and the three lateral teeth of one side are all
present, and lie nearly in their natural order; and the second
lateral tooth and the secondary tooth of the other side are not
far removed from their right position. So here we see a whole
row of seven teeth complete, with the exception of one of the
first lateral teeth. ‘Two other small lateral teeth are on the
same slab, and rest with their faces downwards, or in the
opposite direction to those already spoken of. These belong
apparently to the opposing jaw, and both he in contact with
the large central teeth ; and one of them, as an opposing tooth,
* Poissons Fossiles, tome ili. p. 375.
of Climaxodus and Janassa. 325
occupies its correct position by the side of the upper central
tooth. A third Petalodontoid tooth lies a little apart, and pro-
bably belongs to this jaw.
On another small slab recently obtained there is a fine speci-
men of a second lateral tooth associated with a secondary tooth.
From the above it appears that there is evidence enough to
show that in Climaxodus, as in Janassa, the teeth are placed
in transverse rows of seven teeth each, one being symmetrical
and central, and six lateral, three on each side, the extreme
lateral tooth on either side being Petalodontoid in form, that
there are more rows than one, and that they are placed in both
upper and under jaws. In fact it is quite evident, not only
that the teeth in Climaxodus agree in external character
with those in Janassa, but that they also agree with them in
the mode of arrangement.
The minute structure of the teeth in the two so-called ge-
nera is very similar. Jn both, the centre of the tooth is com-
posed of osteo-dentine, having branched anastomosing medul-
lary canals, which are for the most part arranged lengthwise,
and give off from their sides rather coarse tubules into the
surrounding matter. The canals likewise send off compara-
tively small branches, which subdivide dichotomously as they
approach the periphery of the tooth. Here many of them
abut perpendicularly to the surface. The walls of these small
branches assume the character of dentine, and the interstices
between them are filled up with opaque white matter—proba-
bly cement; so that, by the unequal wear of these peripheral
components, the surface of the tooth is always kept rough,
having the granular and punetate appearance before spoken
of. When quite fresh, there is a thin film of enamel cover-
ing the surface; but this seems to disappear rapidly with
the use of the tooth.
The teeth of both Climaxodus and Janassa agree with the
above general description; but in the latter the material ap-
pears more dense, and the cement is in greater abundance and
is distributed more regularly than it is in Climaxodus; con-
sequently it is found to assume a pretty regular reticulated
appearance on the surface when a little worn down.
The generic identity, then, of Climaxodus and Janassa
seems pretty certain; and as the latter was established many
years (1832) before the former (1848), the genus Climaxodus
must merge into that of Janassa. Ultimately, perhaps, Peta-
lodus will be found to be more closely related than can at pre-
sent be demonstrated ; for it is not only in the Petalodontoid
form that a resemblance is observed, but likewise in the primary
teeth themselves, which show a remarkable similarity in ge-
neral form to some of the Petalodontes.
326 Messrs. Hancock & Atthey on the Generic Identity
Prof. M‘Coy seems to think that his Climaxodus imbricatus
is related to Pectlodus. The relationship, however, with this
genus seems to us to be remote, though it may have some cha-
racters in common with Janassa.
The bodies of these two fishes, Janassa and Climaxodus,
were covered with shagreen. In the former it is beautifully
preserved, the granules being highly polished, irregularly
rounded, with one side a little flattened and obtusely denticu-
lated. On the small slab, with numerous teeth of Climazxodus,
already noticed, is a great quantity of granular matter, but
the granules are much disturbed; a few, however, are well
displayed, and show considerable, resemblance to those of
Janassa; but the denticulations at the side are produced into
sharp points, and the surface is undulated.
Although Climaxodus lingueformis was pretty fully de-
scribed in the paper already referred to, we will make, on the
present occasion, some general remarks on the teeth in our
possession, and also redescribe them.
The species cannot be considered common, though we have
obtained eighteen primary teeth in the shale at Newsham and
elsewhere, and eight of the secondary or Petalodontoid form.
The largest of the former is 1# inch in length, including the
root, and upwards of % inch wide at the broadest part. The
smaller are not more than § inch long, and are oblique: these
are the second primary teeth. There are three about this size
in the collection. We have one, however, which, from its
obliquity, is undoubtedly a lateral tooth, that is only 3 inch
in length. They are ovate, depressed, with the broad extre-
mity anterior. The crown is upwards of two-thirds of the entire
length, and is divided into two portions, anterior and posterior ;
the former is a wide, hollow, arched, scoop-like cutting-
margin, which in some specimens is obscurely and minutely
erenulated or denticulated, and is usually quite sharp: this
portion occupies the anterior third of the crown; the posterior
two-thirds is shield-formed, somewhat convex, with the point
directed backwards and the sides evenly arched outwardly,
This is the crushing- or grinding-surface, and is traversed by
strong transverse undulated ridges imbricated forward, and
divided by wide deep grooves. In fully developed specimens
there are six such ridges; but the number varies, some having
four, others five; and in the small, second lateral, oblique in-
dividuals there are only three. The ridges bend upwards at
the sides, and usually arch a little forward at the centre,
where they are most strongly undulated and sometimes deeply
notched and angulated, roughened and granulated. But they
vary considerably in these respects, some being almost smooth ;
and in one of our specimens all the ridges are comparatively
of Climaxodus and Janassa. 327
even, though here and there slight undulations are perceptible.
From this comparatively smooth state there is every degree of
undulation to the most rugged. In fact, the smoothness is
very much owing to wear; and in such specimens this portion
of the crown is generally much reduced in thickness. The
form of the grinding division of the crown also varies con-
siderably. We have said that the sides arch outwards ; they
are, however, not unfrequently quite straight; and when this
is the case, and the anterior ridge is free from undulations, the
area assumes the form of an equilateral triangle, with one of
the angles directed backwards ; in two or three specimens the
area is even wider than long, with the lateral angles more
acute than usual. In such individuals the scoop-like cutting-
margin occupies half the crown. The root is a wide plate as
broad as the tooth, and tapers slightly backwards ; behind, it
is rounded, convex above and concave below, and projects
backwards on a lower plane, the crown being elevated above
its upper surface.
The second primary or lateral oblique teeth are very in-
equilateral, one side being concave, the other convex; they
have only three ridges, with the grooves very wide ; the scoop-
like cutting-margin is deep, oblique, and projects laterally on
the concave side.
The largest Petalodontoid or secondary teeth are nearly 4 inch
wide and # inch long; they are inequilateral and oblique,
with one side concave, the other convex; they are depressed,
and the crown is somewhat longer than the root; the former
consists principally of a wide, sharp, hollow, scoop-like cutting-
margin, which in fresh specimens is obscurely denticulated ;
the grinding-surface is very short, and is represented by only
two transverse close-set delicate ridges immediately below
the cutting-margin ; the root tapers a little backwards, and is
truncate.
From the character of the teeth above described, it may be
inferred that the food of Climaxodus was composed of some
soft material, notwithstanding the rather formidable appear-
ance of the grinding- or crushing-surface. The cutting-edge
of the scoop-like margin is sharp and thin, and does not seem
calculated to seize hard and resistant bodies ; and though it is
frequently worn evenly down, its sharpness is maintained,
often, apparently, by the wearing of the outside, as though
the teeth had been overlapped by those that opposed them.
And, moreover, the edge is not broken or chipped, as might
be expected if it had rough work to perform, or came into con-
tact with bony or shelly bodies. Neither are the ridges of the
crushing-surface broken, but worn regularly, retaining their
sharpness, though in a few instances they are much reduced
328 On the Identity of Climaxodus and Janassa.
in height, as if they might even ultimately by long use entirely
disappear.
At present only three species of Janassa are known,
namely, J. bituminosa, Miinster, from the Magnesian Lime-
stone, Climaxodus imbricatus, M‘Coy, from the Mountain
Limestone, and C. lingueformis, Atthey, from the Coal-
measures. Two species have been described by Mr. T. P.
Barkas, under the respective names of C. ovatus* and C.
vermiformist. The first is merely the variety with compara-
tively smooth ridges; the second is the true C. lingueformis,
which latter was the name first used. Mr. Barkas’s two names
must therefore fall into the rank of synonyms f.
Climaxodus imbricatus is somewhat intermediate between
the Magnesian-Limestone species and that from the Coal-
measures. ‘The crown is narrower and more elongated than
it is in C. lingueeformis, and the ridges are more delicate, thus
approximating to Janassa bituminosa. 'The anterior cutting-
margin seems to have been deep; but the extreme border is
wanting in M‘Coy’s figure; the root is also deficient. In the
description in the ‘ British Paleeozoic Fossils’ the posterior
extremity is mistaken for the anterior.
Mr. Howse will shortly publish im the ‘ Annals’ a full de-
scription of the oral armature of Janassa bitwminosa in con-
tinuation of this paper. It therefore only remains for us to
state that the species will stand thus :—
JANASSA, 1832, Miinster.
Climaxodus, 1848, M‘Coy.
J. bituminosa, 1817, Schloth., sp.
J. imbricata, 1848, M‘Coy, sp.
J. lingueformis, 1868, Atthey, sp.
* Geological Magazine, vol. v. p. 495. + Ibid. vol. vi. p. 381.
{ C. vermiformis was not described till 1869. Mr. Atthey’s descrip-
tion of C. ingueformis and that by Mr. Barkas of C. ovatus appeared
simultaneously on the Ist of November 1868—the first in the ‘Annals
of Natural History,’ the second in the ‘Geological Magazine.’ Mr.
Atthey’s paper, however, was read at the meeting of the Tyneside Natu-
ralists’ Field Club on the previous 9th of October (see Nat. Hist. Trans.
of Northumberland and Durham, vol. iii. p. 295); so that the priority
of C. lingueformis is clearly established. And, moreover, Mr. Atthey’s
specimens had been in his cabinet for many years, and were seen, or
might have been seen, by all the paleontologists of the district. Mr.
Barkas, indeed, says that he named and described C. ovatus in a lec-
ture delivered by him, on the 28th of September, to the Mechanics’
Institution of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. But, were this even strictly correct,
we apprehend it would be no such publication of the species as to secure
priority. Where, however, is the record either naming or describing at
this time C. ovatus? We have searched for it in vain.
Mr. W. T. Blanford on new Birds from Abyssinia. 329
EXPLANATION OF PLATE XII.
Fig. 1. Two rows of teeth of Janassa (C.) lingueformis, a little over the
natural size, arranged in order, the anterior row merely indi-
cated : a, central primary tooth ; 6, root; ¢, first lateral primary
tooth; d, second oblique ditto; e, secondary or Petalodontoid
form ; f, root of ditto.
Fig. 2. Primary tooth of J. lingueformis, smooth variety, slightly en-
larged: a, scoop-like cutting-margin ; 6, grinding- or crushing-
surface.
Fig. 3. Primary tooth of the same, a little enlarged ; worn variety, inter-
mediate between the smooth variety and those much undulated.
Fig. 4. Diagram of profile of primary tooth: a, scoop-like cutting-mar-
gin; 6, crushing- or grinding-surface ; ¢, root.
XXX VITI.— Descriptions of five Birds and a Hare from Abys-
sinta. By WiturAM T. BLAnrorp, F.G.S., C.M.Z.S.
Hirundo ethiopica, sp. nov.
H. similis H. albigulari, Strickl. (Contrib. to Ornith. 1849, pl. 17),
sed conspicue minor et torque pectorali interrupta, gutture pec-
toreque rufescenti-lavatis.
Long. tota 5:25, al. 4:3, rect. med. 1:55, ext. 2°3, tarsi 0°45, rostr,
a fr. 0-3, a rict. 0-5 poll. Angl.
Syn. Cecropis rufifrons, auct., ex Abyssinia.
Hirundo albigularis, Strickl. apud Heuglin, Ornithologie N. O.
Africa’s, p. 113 (nec Strickland, 7. ¢.).
Hab. in Abyssinia septentrionali, et in Nubia (teste Heuglin).
Ruticilla(?) fuscicaudata, sp. nov.
R. supra brunnescenti-fusca, uropygio magis rufescente ; remigibus
rectricibusque fuscis, vix pallidiore marginatis; macula ante-
oculari nigrescente, albido circumdata ; mento, gula, abdomineque
medio sordide albis, pectore et hypochondriis cinerascentibus.
Rostro pedibusque fuscis.
Long. tota circa 5:5 poll. Angl., al. 2:95, caud. 2-2, tars. 0-9, rostr,
a fr. 0°45, a rict. 0°7.
Hab. in Abyssinia septentrionali.
The form of this bird resembles Futicilla, the bill being
similar and the tarsi smooth in front ; but the sombre plumage
rather resembles that of a Sylvia. Its nearest allies are R.
(Saxicola) familiaris, Stephens, and R. (Erythacus) sinuata,
Schlegel. The tail is somewhat rounded, and the wing is less
pointed than in Ruticilla.
Phylloscopus habessinicus, sp. nov.
Ph. P. trochili similis, sed supra magis viridescens, subtus isabellinus
vix flavescens, cauda longiore.
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.4. Vol. iv. 24
330 Mr. W.T. Blanford on a new Hare from Abyssinia.
Long. al. 2°5, caud. 2:05, tars. 0°78, rostr. a fr. 0°36, a rict. 0-5, tota
circa 45 poll. Angl.
Hab. in provincia Habessinica “ Tigré” dicta.
Alauda pretermissa, sp. nov.
A. supra fusco-umbrina, capitis, colli postici interscapuliique plumis
late et pallide rufescenti-marginatis ; dorso posteriore magis cine-
rascente, vix striolato; superciliis et gastreeo toto isabellinis ;
genis, colli lateribus pectoreque saturatioribus et fusco guttatis,
regione parotica fuscescente, remigibus et tectricibus alarum um-
brinis, primariis extus isabellino, secundariis cum tectricibus ala-
rum rufo marginatis ; remigibus omnibus intus versus basin rufo-
fulvis; uropygio et rectricibus medianis rufescenti-umbrinis, ex-
teris (pogoniis internis basin versus exceptis) et pogoniis externis
secundarum rufo-isabellinis, ceteris cum partibus reliquis 4 ex-
ternarum fumoso-nigricantibus. Caput subcristatum; rostrum
supra fuscum, subtus pallidum ; pedes carnei.
Long. al. 3-9, caud. 2-15, tars. 1, ung. post. 0°45, rostr. a fr. 0-5, a
rictu 0°75, tota circa 6-25 poll. Angl. Foemina vix minor.
Hab. in provincia Habessinica “Tigré” dicta. Circa pagum Senafé
frequentissimam inveni.
Crithagra flavivertex, sp. nov.
C. supra olivacea, obsolete fusco maculata, fronte late aurea, pileo
summo paullatim olivascente ; superciliis flavis, postice productis ;
loris fuscis ; colli lateribus olivaceis, immaculatis ; uropygio flavo;
remigibus cum tectricibus alarum rectricibusque fuscis flavo
marginatis, remigum marginibus internis pallidis ; gastrao sordide
flavo, olivascenti-lavato, crisso albescente ; rostro brunneo, pedi-
bus fuscis. Foemina vix dilutius colorata.
Long. al. 3:15, caud. 2°15, tars. 0-6, rostr. a fr. 0°35, tota cirea 5:25
poll. Angl.
Hab. in provincia Habessinica “ Tigré” dicta.
Lepus tigrensis, sp. nov.
L. persimilis L. sawatili, sed minor, cauda breviore, plantarum pilis
ferrugineis, haud umbrinis.
Long. capitis 4, corporis circa 13, caudze cum pilis ad extremitatem 4,
sine pilis 3, auris 5, lat. ejusdem 2°8; long. cranii 3:5, lat. 16,
alt. 2-2; long. tibia 5:3, tarsi 4:5, radii 4:5, carpi 2-3 poll.
Angl.
Syn. Lepus abyssinicus, Lefébvre, Voyage in Abyssinie, Atlas, pl. 5. fig. 1
(nec Hempr. et Ehrenb.).
More complete descriptions, where necessary, and figures
will be given in my forthcoming account of natural-history
observations made during the Abyssinian expedition.
A. E. Verrill on new American Phyllopod Crustacea, 331
XXXIX.—Descriptions of some new American Phyllopod
Crustacea. By A. Ei. VERRILL*.
ARTEMIA, Leach.
THIs interesting genus is remarkable for its habit of living
and flourishing best in very saline and alkaline waters, such
as the natural salt lakes of Egypt, Utah, &c., and the artificial
brines formed by the evaporation of sea-water by exposure
® ee heat of the sun, as in England, France, and the West
ndies.
The species first made known, A. salina, Leach (Cancer sa-
linus, Linn.), was first described by Schlosser+, who found it
in great profusion in the brines of Lymington, England.
Linné indicates it also from the salt lakes of Siberia—per-
haps a distinct species, and probably the same as that observed
by Pallas{ in great numbers in the Great Schimélée. More
recently it has been described from the salterns of southern
France, at Montpellier, &c.§ The genus has been found also
in the lakes Goumphidieh, Amaruh, and Bédah in Egypt,
which are reported to be both very saline and alkaline, their
bottoms being ‘‘ covered with a layer of crystals of carbonate
of soda, sulphate of soda, and common salt,” while the density
of the water is stated as 1:255. The Egyptian species appears
not to have been described as yet||._ In the Antilles A. Gudl-
* From Silliman’s American Journal, being an abstract of a paper
read before the American Association for the Advancement of Science,
Salem, Mass., Aug. 1869.
+ ‘Observations périodiques sur la Physique, l’Histoire Naturelle et les
Beaux-Arts,’ par Gautier, 1756 (with figures). An extract from this is
republished in ‘ Annales des Sciences Nat.’ sér. 2. t. xiii. p. 226 (1840), in
an elaborate description of the anatomy, development, habits, &c. of
Artemia salina, by M. Joly, illustrated by two excellent plates of the
female and young. M. Joly failed to observe the male among more than
a thousand females, and therefore doubted whether the sexes were dis-
tinct, suggesting that the males very well described by Schlosser were
only the young, although that author described them as clasping the
females in the well-known manner; but he did not observe the actual
copulation.
See also an article by Thomas Rackett, in Trans. Linn. Soc. of London,
1812, vol. xi. p. 205, pl. 14 (figures very bad); Thomson, Zoological Re-
searches, No. 5. p. 105, t.1&2; W. Baird, Nat. Hist. of the British
Entomostraca, p. 61, tab. 2. figs. 2-4 (figures very good, but the speci-
mens probably not full-grown).
F Woyage en différentes provinces de !’EKmpire de Russie, t. ii, p, 505
tr. Joly).
: § eigen “Note sur des Animaux qui colorent en rouge les marais
salans,” Ann. des Sci. Nat. 1836, sér. 2. t. vi. p. 219 (contains experiments
on the effects caused by altering the composition and density of the water) ;
also op. cit. 1838, t. x. p. 315; Joly, op. cit, 1840, t. xiii. p. 225 (see above);
Milne-Edwards, Crustacés, t. iii. p. 369 (1840).
|| Audouin, Ann. des Sci. Nat. 1836, sér. 2. t. vi. p. 280. 4
24
332 My. A. E. Verrill on new American
dingt, Thompson, occurs*. A. Mulhausenii, Edw. (Fischer,
sp.) is found in Lake Loak, in the Crimeat. A few years
ago Prof. Silliman presented to the Museum of Yale College
a number of specimens of a new species, A. monica, V., which
he collected in Mono Lake, California, where it occurs in great
abundance associated with the larve of Hphydrat. The water
of this lake is very dense, and not only very saline but also so
alkaline that it is said to be used for removing grease from
clothing. Ihave been unable, however, to find any reliable
analysis of this water. It is said to contain biborate of
soda. Prof. Silliman informs me that the genus also occurs
in Little Salt Lake. It occurs in great abundance in Great
Salt Lake, Utah, as I am informed by Prof. D. C. Katon, who
obtained specimens there during the present summer; but these
have not yet come to hand. The water of Great Salt Lake
has usually been described by travellers as destitute of all life;
but according to Prof. Eaton it contains not only an abundance
of Artemice, but also various other small animals, insect-larvee,
&c. The density of the water is stated as 1170, but doubtless
varies much according to the season§. It yields, according to
Dr. Gale, over 22 per cent. of solid matter||, while the Syracuse
Saline, one of the richest natural brines in the United States,
contains but 19°16 per cent.{] A few weeks ago, Mr. Oscar
Harger discovered another new species, A. gracilis, V.,near New
Haven, under very peculiar circumstances. On the long wooden
bridge across West River and the extensive salt-marsh on the
West-Haven side, are placed large wooden tubs filled with
water from various pools on the marsh, to be used in case of
fire. By long exposure to the sun and air, the water in these
becomes concentrated, and thus furnishes suitable stations for
the rapid increase of Artemie. On examining the tubs on the
* Thompson, Zool. Researches, fase. 7. pl. 1. figs. 11, 12.
+ Edwards, Crustacés, t. iii. p. 370 (1840).
¢ Verrill, Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. 1866, vol. xi. p. 3 (the larvee
were wrongly referred to Eristalis); Packard, “On Insects inhabiting
Salt-water,” Proc. Essex Inst. 1869, vol. vi. p. 41.
§ The density of the water of the Atlantic Ocean is stated as 1-020,
that of the Dea Sea 1:130 to 1-227,
|| This solid matter, according to Dr. Gale (Silliman’s Journal, ser. 2.
vol. xvii. p. 129), has the following composition :—
Chlonde‘otsodium: 2 iion32- sen. css 20°196
Ul pH ahe OF SOdH sis celanes wisiote e+ os 1:834
Chloride of magnesium............ 0:252
Chloride of calcium .............. trace
22-282
{| For analyses of several of these brines, see Dana’s ‘System of Mine-
ralogy,’ p. 113. ;
Phyllopod Crustacea. 333
Ist of August, I found eight of them partly filled with water,
in six of which the Artemée were found in abundance, though
more numerous in one than in any of the others. In one tub,
in which the water had a decidedly milky appearance, they
were so abundant that hundreds could be obtained in a few
minutes. he water in some of the other tubs containing them
was of a reddish or brownish hue, or about the colour of weak
tea. In two no Artemie could be seen; and in these the water
appeared to have been more recently renewed. Search was
made in the pools from which the water had been taken ; but
no Artemie were found, though doubtless from these places
the progenitors of those inhabiting the tubs must have been
taken. It is probable that in the pools they exist in very
small numbers, being kept in check partly by various small
fishes and other enemies, and partly by the unfavourable cha-
racter of the water; while in the tubs the density of the water
is more favourable for their rapid increase, and unfavourable
or fatal to their enemies*. ‘he water from the tubs, when
examined with a high power of the microscope, was found to
be filled with immense numbers of Infusoria of various kinds,
such as Monads, Vibrios, and Bacteria, most of which were so
small as to be distinguishable only as moving points with a
3-inch objective.
In the salterns of France the Artemie are associated with
immense numbers of a monad, usually bright red in colour,
which has been named Monas Dunalit by Joly, who attributes
to it the red colour which the brine assumes just before erys-
tallizationT, as also the red colour observed in the Artemia,
which doubtless feed upon it as well as upon various other
living Infusoria and dead animal and vegetable matter of va-
rious kindst. The Monas Dunalii appears in abundance in
the water having the density most favourable for Artemia, but
increases in far greater proportion in the still denser, nearly or
quite saturated brine in which Artemza does not live. The
observations of Payen and Joly show that the A. salina of
France can exist in waters varying in density from 4° to 20°
Baumé, but that theyflourish best in those that have a density
of 10° to 15°§. According to Rackett, those of Lymington
* The density of the water in two of the tubs containing most Artemie
was 1-065, equivalent to a brine containing 9-07 per cent. of salt. One of
those tested was brownish, the other milky.
+ “Recherches sur la Coloration en Rouge des Marais Salans Médi-
terranéens,” par M. Joly (Ann. d. Sci. Nat. 1840, ser. 2. t. xiii. p. 266).
t According to M. Joly (op. cit. p. 262), a beetle, Hydroporus salinus,
Joly, also inhabits the salterns where the water has a density of 6° or 7°
Baumé, and preys upon the Artemia.
§ 4° to 20° Baumé is equivalent to a density of about 1:02 to 116;
334 Mr. A. E. Verrill on new American
do not live in the water which is undergoing the first stage of
concentration, but only in the pans of concentrated brine con-
taining about “a quarter of a pound of salt to the pint.”
Our A. gracilis can exist without apparent inconvenience
when the water in which they occur is diluted with an equal
bulk of fresh water, as well as when it is much concentrated
by evaporation. The water in which they were found varies
in density from 1-060 to 1-065.
The genus is characterized by having eleven pairs of four-
jointed branchial “‘ feet” or fins along the sides of the body,
the middle ones being the longest. Hach joint of the “feet”
bears flat branchial appendages, ciliated with sharp sete, as in
the other genera of the family. The abdomen is slender, six-
jointed, the last joint long, terminated by two small projecting
appendages, each bearing from six to ten plumose sete. The
first abdominal segment bears the external sexual organs of the
male, and a short dilated ovigerous pouch in the female. In
the male the head bears in front a pair of large three-jointed
hooks or clasping-organs, each of which has on the inner side
of its basal joint a small rounded appendage—a pair of slender
antenne just behind these, terminated by two or three minute
sete—a pair of pedunculated compound eyes—and a dark
spot on the middle of the head, which is the remains of the
single eye of the young. The mouth below is provided with
a broad labrum, a pair of mandibles, two pairs of jaws, and a
pair of lateral papillee. In the female the head lacks the stout
claspers, which are replaced by a pair of comparatively small,
simple, horn-shaped organs.
Artemia gracilis, Verrill, sp. nov.
Body slender, in the male about *3 inch long, in the female
‘4, Claspers of the male relatively long and powerful ; first
joint thickened, with a distinct angle at the articulation on the
outside, and a short, rounded, nearly semicircular process on
the inside near the base, about its own diameter from the base;
second joint broad, flattened, continuous with the third joint,
strongly curved, outline nearly regularly convex on the out-
side, until near the middle it suddenly bends inward, forming
an obtuse angle, beyond which the outline is concave to the
last articulation, where it becomes again convex, forming on
the last joint a slight rounded angle; the inner edge is nearly
straight or but slightly concave to the last articulation, where
10° to 15°=1:075 to 1:117. A brine having a density of 1-020, which is
nearly that of sea-water, contains about 2°766 per cent. of salt; one of
1-160 contains 21-219 per cent.; one of 1:075 about 10-279 per cent. ;
1117 about 15°794 per cent.
Phyllopod Crustacea. ws 335
there is a slight but distinct angle; last joint triangular,
longer than broad, tapering to the acute, slightly excurved
point. Antenne slender, elongated, reaching beyond the first
articulation of the claspers ; terminal setee minute. Abdomen
slender, smooth; the terminal lobes small, longer than broad,
broadly rounded at the end, slightly constricted at the base
inside, each bearing usually seven or nine plumose sete, the
central ones much the longest. Ovigerous pouch of the female,
when seen from below, flask-shaped, the neck extending back-
ward and downward, short, thick, subcylindrical towards the
end, the body of the “flask” short, thick, swollen laterally,
broader than long, the sides terminating outwardly in a small,
triangular, sharp tooth, sometimes showing a minute spine.
This pouch is generally filled with numerous large brownish
eges.
Raalaes generally reddish, flesh-colour, or light greenish,
translucent, the males usually lighter, greenish white, the
intestines generally showing through as a dark reddish or
greenish median line; eyes very dark brown or black ; ovaries
often whitish, along each side of the abdomen.
An adult male gives the following measurements :—
Distance between eyes 1°81 millim.; breadth of head 76;
length of eye-stalks °62 ; length of first joint of the claspers °91,
its breadth ‘72, breadth of its appendage °18; length of second
and third joints from outer edge of first articulation to the tip
2°48, greatest breadth -86, breadth at last articulation °72 ;
length of last jomt 1:05; length of last joint of abdomen, ex-
clusive of appendages, 1°00, its breadth 31; length of pre-
ceding joint 42, its breadth -37; length of terminal appen-
dages ‘21, breadth 0°96; length of longest sete -70.
Near New Haven, in tubs of water from salt marsh.
Artemia monica, Verrill, sp. nov.
Form similar to that of the preceding species, but a little
larger and stouter. The largest female is 13 millim. (51 inch)
long, the abdomen being 6 millim.; and 5 millim, across the
branchial feet in their natural, partly extended position. The
largest male is 11°5 millim. (-45 inch) long, the abdomen being
6 millim. The claspers of the male are relatively stouter, the
hook or outer two joimts being much broader, more triangular,
and less elongated. The inner edge of the first joint, as seen
from below, is regularly convex, bearing the appendage on its
most convex part and not so near the base as in A. gracilis,
the distance being about twice the breadth of the organ, which
is about as broad as long and regularly rounded. At the
articulation the outer edge of the joint projects as a distinct
3386 -° £Mr.A.E. Verrill on new American
angle. The second and third joints together have a nearly
triangular form, the breadth being about half the length; the
outer edge is regularly rounded, shorter than in the preceding;
it forms little more than a right angle with the front edge,
which is nearly straight or a little concave, sometimes slightly
convex at the last articulation, but not forming a distinct angle
there; the inner edge of the hook is a little concave on the
first joint, becoming convex at the last articulation, where
there is a distinct but very obtuse angle. The last joint is
almost regularly triangular, about as broad as long, tapering
to an obtuse point, the inner edge being a little convex. The
antenne are very slender, and do not reach the first articula-
tion of the claspers. The caudal appendages are smaller than
in A. gracilis, and scarcely longer than broad, rounded at the
end, terminated by nine or ten very slender plumose sete.
The egg-pouch of the female is broad flask-shaped, strongly
convex in the middle below, the sides not forming such sharp
angles as in A. gracilis.
The English specimens of A. salina, as figured by Baird,
differ from both the preceding species in having longer, more
curved, and sharper clasping-hooks, and the basal appendage
more elongated; the egg-pouch, though badly figured, is of a
very different form. ‘The French specimens, as figured by
Joly, appear like a distinct species, the egg-pouch being of a
very different form, and the caudal appendages very much
longer and larger than in either of our species, while Baird’s
figure represents them as very small; but his specimens appear
to have been smaller, and may have been immature, for these
species begin to breed before they are half grown. Whether
the French species be distinct from the English can only be
determined by additional examinations, especially of the male ;
for the male of the former appears not to have been figured
hitherto,
BRANCHIPUS, Schiffer.
Branchipus, Schaffer, Elementa Entomologica, 1766 (type, B. pisez-
formis=(?) B. stagnalis, Linn. sp.).
Branchipus (pars), Lamarck, Latreille, Leach, Edwards.
Chirocephalus (pars), Dana (non Bénédict Prévost, 1803; Jurine,
Thompson, Baird).
Under the name of Branchipus at least four generic groups
have been confounded by various authors.
Branchipus should be restricted to the original species de-
scribed by Schiffer and the allied species, of which B. stagnalis
(Linn. sp.) is one, and if not identical with B. pisciformis, as
is generally supposed, must be closely allied to it.
Phyllopod Crustacea. 337
As thus restricted, the genus is characterized by the stout
two-jointed claspers of the male, with or without a tooth near
the base of the hook, the basal jot being swollen, by having
a pair of simple appendages resembling antennz between the
bases of the claspers in front, by the large, thick, oval egg-
pouches of the female, and, apparently, by the structure of the
branchial organs. It includes B. stagnalis, B. spinosus, Kdw.,
B. vernalis, Verrill, sp. nov., &c. Perhaps B. paludosus,
Miiller, also belongs here.
__ Branchinecta.—A group of species allied to these, but de-
stitute of all appendages between the bases of the claspers of
the male, which are more slender and simple—with a much
elongated egg-pouch, having lateral lobes at the base—a more
slender body, with more elongated branchial organs, the middle
ones longest—and having, in general appearance, a much
stronger resemblance to Artemza, probably constitutes an-
other genus; but for the present we prefer to regard it as a
subgenus of Branchipus.
For this group we propose the name Branchinecta. It in-
cludes two new arctic species, B. grenlandica and B. arctica,
and B. ferox (Edw., sp.) from near Odessa.
_Heterobranchipus.—Dr. Lovén* has described a singular
species, By cafer, which appears worthy to constitute a distinct
genus. It is remarkable on account of the very curious claspers
of the male, which are very long, three-jointed, flexuous, the
basal joint bearing a long cirrus externally and a lacerate tooth
on the inner side of the base, the outer joint bifid, the internal
part cirriform, the external one deeply bilobed. External
male organs very long, slender, curved, outer portion serrate
on the outer edge, with short setee on the inner edge; egg-
pouches long, slender, slightly enlarged and beaked at the
end; branchiz of a peculiar structure; front of head between
the claspers with a short bimucronate rostrum.
H., cafer is from the marshes of Natal, South Africa.
Chirocephalus, Prévost, 1803.—This genus, established for
C. diaphanus, is evidently very distinct from all the preceding,
The typical species is large, stout, and remarkable for the
singular appendages between the claspers of the male, on the
front of the head. These consist of two long, ligulate, fleshy
processes, serrated on each side, which coil in a spiral beneath
the head, but when extended, as in copulation, reach beyond
the claspers; attached to the outer side of each of these
are four long processes strongly serrate on the inner edge, and
near the base another large, broad, thin, subtriangular appen-
* Kongl. Vet. Akad. Handl, 1846, p. 433, tab. 5.
338 Mr. A. E. Verrill on new American
dage, its edges strongly serrate, especially in front, capable of
folding up like a fan when not in use. ‘The claspers have a
much swollen basal joint, a strongly serrate tooth on the inside
of the base of the second joint, which beyond this is slender
and regularly curved. Egg-pouch long-oval, large and thick ;
caudal appendages large; male organs and branchiz peculiar.
C. diaphanus, Prév., inhabits freshwater pools in France,
Switzerland, and England. It is well described and figured
in Baird’s ‘ British Entomostraca,’ p. 39, tab. 3 & 4.
Branchipus vernalis, Verrill, sp. nov.
Form rather stout, large; the full-grown females are 23
millim. (‘91 inch) long, the abdomen being 14 millims.; and
6:5 millims. wide across the branchial organs in their natural
position ; breadth of head across the eyes 4 millims. A large
male is 22 millims. (‘87 inch) long, the body 12 millims. ;
the breadth of head across eyes 5 millims. ; the entire length
of claspers 8 millims. The claspers are very large and strong,
the basal joint much swollen, with a soft integument, capable
of retracting the basal portion of the second joint into itself by
involution of its outer edge; the second joint is elongated,
broad and stout at base, with an angle on the outside,
from which it rapidly narrows by strongly concave outlines
on each edge, but most on the outside; at the constricted
portion, not far from the base, it bears a large, strong, very
prominent, crooked, bluntly pomted tooth, which is directed
inward and backward, not serrate on its outer side; beyond
the tooth the rest of the joint is long and rather slender, curved
outward and forward at base, having just beyond the tooth on
the inside a distinct but very obtuse rounded angle, from
which the outline slightly curves inward to near the tip, which
is a little dilated and recurved. The basal portion, including
the tooth, is retracted into the first jomt in some specimens.
On the front of the head, between the basal joints of the
claspers, are two flat, short, lanceolate, ligulate, fleshy pro-
cesses, with finely serrate edges, usually coiled down, but,
when extended, scarcely more than half as long as the basal
joint of the claspers. Antenne small and very slender, taper-
ing, reaching a little beyond the eyes. Caudal appendages
long, rather narrow, slightly swollen at base, gradually taper-
ing to the acute tips, and bearing along the sides, except at
base, very numerous long plumose sete. Hgg-pouches short,
broad-oval, nearly as wide as long, slightly three-lobed pos-
teriorly, the central lobe largest, sides extended and largely
adherent to the sides of the abdomen; length 4 millims., width
Phyllopod Crustacea. 339
3°5. Body flesh-colour or pale red, the intestine darker red or
greenish.
A large male gives the following measurements :—
Length of first joint of claspers 4°62 millims., diameter 2°40 ;
length of second joint 4°14, breadth at base 1-90, at tooth -72,
in middle 52; length of tooth ‘90, its diameter ‘33; length
of caudal appendages 4, breadth at base ‘33, in middle ‘20;
length of setee 2; length of antenne 3.
New Haven, in stagnant pools (J. D. Dana, D. C. Eaton,
A. EK. Verrill) ; Salem, Mass., April 19, 1859 (R. H. Wheat-
land, C. Cook, from Essex Institute); Cambridge, Mass.
(A. E. Verrill).
This species differs widely from all the described species of
Europe in the character of the claspers of the male and their
appendages. B. stagnalis has a pair of long setiform organs
between the claspers, and a tooth on the outer side of their
second joint; B. spinosus resembles our species somewhat in
the frontal appendages between the claspers, but lacks the
conspicuous tooth at the base of the second joint of the latter.
The shape of the egg-pouch in our species is also characteristic.
This is doubtless the species referred to by Dr. Gould under
the name of Branchipus stagnalis*. Dekayt copies the dia-
gnosis of B. stagnalis (?) from a foreign work, and gives a
figure of Chirocephalus diaphanus, copied apparently from
Desmarest, pl. 56, which is itself a copy.
This species appears very early in spring, often in great
numbers, in quiet pools. J have never seen it later than the
middle of May; yet, since the individuals seen in early spring
are full-grown, it might, doubtless, be found also in autumn.
Branchipus (Branchinecta) arcticus, Verrill, sp. nov.
Branchipus paludosus, Packard, Invertebrate Fauna of Labrador, in
Mem. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. i. p. 295 (non Miiller).
Form slender, body short, abdomen elongated. A full-sized
male is 20 millims. (*79 inch) long, exclusive of the claspers,
the abdomen being 13 millims., the breadth between the eyes
3 millims. A female, 20 millims. long, with the abdomen
12 millims., has an egg-pouch 6:2 long. Branchial “ feet ”’
slender, elongated, the middle ones longest, 4-5 millims. long
when extended. Claspers of the male rather long and slender;
the basal joint is but little swollen, elongated, regularly curved,
with a small tooth or prominent angle at the articulation on
the inside, and on the inner side a row of numerous small,
* Invertebrata of Massachusetts, p. 339.
+ Natural History of New York, Zoology, Part I. Crustacea, p. 63,
pl. 9. fig. 36.
340 Mr. A. E. Verrill on new American Phyllopod Crustacea.
distinct, sharp teeth, extending from the articulation about
half way to the base, and arranged somewhat obliquely; se-
cond joint slender, regularly curved, tapering to a blunt point,
the imner edge minutely serrulate. Front simply curved, with
no appendages. Antenne slender, scarcely more than half the
length of the basal joint of the claspers. Labrum long and
narrow; mandibles stout, strongly curved, bluntly pointed.
Caudal appendages slender lanceolate, rather small, with long
slender sete. LHgeg-pouch much elongated, slender, subcylin-
drical, beaked or slightly bilobed at the end, the upper or
dorsal lobe longest, its basal portion with two small, rounded,
lateral lobes.
A large male gives the following measurements :
Breadth between outer extremity of eyes 3°46 millims. ;
diameter of eyes °66; length of basal joint of claspers 1°66,
breadth °71; length of second joint 1:29, breadth at its base
‘46; width of mandibles at middle °66; length of caudal ap-
pendages °96, breadth at base -16; length of longest sete *84
to 1 millim.
Colour of preserved specimens pale reddish, with dark green
intestine. Labrador, at ‘‘ Indian Tickle,” on the north shore
of Invuctoke Inlet; abundant in a pool of fresh water (Dr. A.
S. Packard).
Branchipus (Branchinecta) grenlandicus, Verrill, sp. nov.
A little stouter than the last; the largest male is 17 millims.
long, exclusive of claspers, the abdomen being 10 millims.,
including caudal appendages. Claspers similar to those of B.
arcticus, but more elongated, the basal joint less curved, and
the second joint longer, less regularly curved, tapering more
quickly at base and consequently more attenuated beyond the
middle, and with more slender tips, which are nearly straight.
The tooth on the inside of the first joint is rather more promi-
nent, but the teeth of the row along the inside are similar. Cau-
dal appendages stouter, tapering more rapidly. External male
organs slender, curved outward, swollen at base. The largest
female is not mature, and the egg-pouch contains no eggs; it
is small, slender, elongated, subcylindrical, beaked at the end.
The largest male gives the following measurements :—
Breadth between eyes 3°20 millims.; length of basal joint
of claspers 2°81, breadth *95 ; length of second joint 2°24, its
breadth at base °76; length of caudal appendages ‘86, width
at base ‘24; length of sete -76.
Greenland (Dr. Chr. Liitken). From the University Zoo-
logical Museum, Copenhagen.
Of this species I have seen but four specimens, which were
Mr. J. Gwyn Jeftreys on some British Freshwater Shells. 341
sent to Dr. A. S. Packard by Dr. Liitken, under the name of
B. paludosus, Miller. The latter appears to be quite distinct,
to judge from the figures; it is represented as having appen-
dages between the claspers, and very slender, linear caudal
appendages. In the form of the egg-pouch and the serration
of the first joint of the claspers it is similar.
This species is very closely allied to B. arcticus ; and when
a larger series of specimens can be examined, it may prove to
be only a local variety ; but the specimens studied show dif-
ferences that seem to warrant their separation.
XL.—On some British Freshwater Shells.
By J. Gwyn JEFrFreys, F.R.S.
I LATELY received from Mr. Thomas Rogers, an active and
enthusiastic naturalist at Manchester, specimens of a small
Planorbis, for my opinion. He discovered them in the Bolton
Canal. They proved to belong to a species new to Europe,
viz. the P. dilatatus of Gould (P. lens, Lea), which was origi-
nally found near Cincinnati, and inhabits an extensive tract
of the United States. The shell is about the same size as P.
nautileus, which may be considered its nearest ally ; but it has
one whorl less, the periphery is angulated, the underside is
remarkably gibbous, the mouth is very large, squarish, and
scarcely oblique, the outer lip is expanded (“so as to make it
trumpet-shaped,” Gould), and the umbilicus is abruptly con-
tracted, small, and deep. Some of the Manchester specimens
are more or less distinctly, though microscopically, striated in
the direction of the spire. The following is a description of
the animal or soft parts :—
Body dark grey, often with a slight orange tint, closely and
minutely speckled with flake-white: mantle thick, lining
the mouth of the shell: head large and tumid: mouth fur-
nished with broad lobular lips: tentacles cylindrical and
extensile, widely diverging, broad and triangular at the
base ; the sheath or outer part is gelatinous, and the core or
inner part is of a much darker colour and apparently greater
consistence ; tips rounded: eyes sessile, on the inner base of
the tentacles: foot oblong, squarish in front, and bluntly
pointed behind: verge curved, on the left-hand or umbilical
side of the shell. ‘The spawn is arranged in an irregular
mass containing about a dozen membranous capsules, each
of which has a yellowish yolk or vitellus in the centre.
It is active, and occasionally creeps, like many other aquatic
342 Bs 8 ee Gray on Seals.
Gastropods, on the under surface of the water, with its shell
downwards.
Inhabits the Bolton and Gorton Canals at Manchester.
Suspecting that this American species had been introduced
into our canals through the cotton-mills, I wrote to Mr. Rogers
for information ; and he tells me that in one habitat (and pro-
bably in the other also) the waste from the first process or
“‘blowing-machine”’ is discharged close to that part of the
canal where the Planorbis occurs. As the best cotton is culti-
vated in river-bottoms, and the crop, when picked, is spread
out and dried, nothing is more likely than that it should take
up either the Planorbis or its eggs; and these could be trans-
ported alive to any distance. The vitality of Planorbis, and
its capability of enduring considerable changes of temperature,
may be inferred from the habit which certain species are known
to possess of closing the mouth of the shell in summer (when
the shallow pieces of water in which they live are dried up)
with an epiphragm or membranous lid, to exclude the heat
and prevent the evaporation of the natural moisture. Thus
protected, they keep alive for weeks, and even months, until
the return of the rainy season.
In connexion with the foregoing, I would suggest that
Spherium ovale may have been introduced in the same or
some other way from the United States. That species also
inhabits the canals near Manchester, and may be the Cyclas
transversa of Say. It has long been known in this country.
I have a specimen which was in Dr. Turton’s collection of
British shells more than forty years ago.
I have written to Mr. Anthony, of Cambridge, Mass., one
of the leading conchologists in the United States, for informa-
tion as to the range of distribution there of both these species,
and especially as to whether they, or either of them, inhabit the
cotton-growing districts.
Several species of land-shells (e. g. Zonites cellartus and
Helix nemoralis, var. hortensis), and perhaps of freshwater
shells also, are supposed to have been introduced into North
America from Europe by the agency of man, and are now
thoroughly acclimatized in the former continent.
XLI.—WNotes on Seals (Phocidee) and the Changes in the Form
of their Lower Jaw during Growth. By Dr. J. E. Gray,
F.R.S. &e.
ONE of the most important studies of zoologists has been the
examination and comparison of the differences in the colour
Dr. J. E. Gray on Seals. 343
and structure of fur or feathers, and other external characters,
that occur during the growth of animals, and the differences
that take place in the outer appearance of the same animals in
the different seasons. Now that so much attention is paid to
the characters afforded by the skull, teeth, and other parts of
the skeleton to distinguish the recent species, and to separate
them from the allied animals whose remains are found in a fossil
state, it becomes most important that great attention should
be paid to the variation which takes place in the form of the
different bones during the progress of the animals towards ma-
turity or old age, and the variation that occurs in the different
bones of the skeleton of the same species, or in the skeletons
of allied species.
Having the importance of this study always before my eyes,
I send you an account of a difference which I have recently
observed in the form of the lower jaws of Seals during the
growth of the animals.
The British Museum has lately received the skulls and
skeletons of some large European Seals (I believe, from the
Baltic) which were exhibited in the Zoological Gardens as the
“Ringed Seal, Phoca annellata.” They are very interesting
as showing the difference in the form of the front part of the
lower edge of the lower jaw which occurs during the growth
of these animals.
Unfortunately almost all the skulls of the European Seals
previously in the Museum collection are from young animals.
The examination and comparison of these skulls of youn
animals, and the comparison of these with the skulls of the
adult Seals received from Mr.Wood from Vancouver’s Island,
which I described under the name of Halicyon Richardt, in-
duced me to believe that the form of the lower edge of the
“lower jaw afforded very good characters for the distinction
of the species.”’ (See Proc. Zool. Soc. 1864, p. 80, and Cat. of
Seals and Whales in the Brit. Mus. 1865, p. 30.)
The skulls of older specimens of Callocephalus vitulinus
in the British Museum show that, though the strength and
general form of the lower jaw, and especially the position of
the angle in the lower edge as compared with the condyle,
do afford good specific and even generic characters, the
form of the inner side of the lower edge, on which I have been
inclined to place reliance, varies considerably according to the
age of the specimens. In the young specimen, for example,
the inner edge of the front of the lower jaw is dilated and pro-
duced inwards, so as to form a protection to the front of the
gullet; but as the animal increases in age, this dilatation
344 Dr. J. E. Gray on Seals.
appears to diminish, or, rather, not to be extended as the jaw
becomes thicker in front, which it does in the adult animal.
In the skull of the adult animal, it no longer forms a pro-
jection on the inner side of the lower edge of the jaw; the jaw
being much thicker and more substantial, it forms only a slightly
marked keel on the middle of the lower surface of the jaw,
separated from the rest of the jaw by a slight groove on its
inner side.
The extent of this dilatation in the young animal affords a
character for the separation of the young animals of the dif-
ferent species. Thus, in the young Callocephalus vitulinus,
the dilatation only extends to a line even with the third lower
grinder; in Pagomys fotidus it extends to a line even with
the fifth or last lower grinder, and it is wider and more deve-
loped in the latter than the former. The ramus of the lower
jaw in this genus is so oblique and directed backwards, that
the angle on the hinder part of the lower edge is in a line
considerably in front of the upper part of the compressed pro-
cess in front of the condyle. (See Proc. Zool. Soc. 1864, p. 29,
f.3; Cat. Seals & Whales Brit. Mus. 1865, p. 28, f. c.)
Though it is impossible to determine the species of Seals
with any certainty without the more careful examination and
comparison of the skulls, yet it is by no means impossible that
two or more specimens which are very distinct in external
characters, manner, habit, voice, &c. may have very similar
skulls, or skulls so alike that, when they are compared in a
museum, they may be regarded only as individual or acci-
dental variations of the same species.
The form of the hinder edge of the palate seems to be less
liable to variation in the Earless Seals (Phocide) than in the
Eared Seals or Sea-bears, at least as far as I have been able
to observe in the skulls of these Seals in the British-Museum
and other collections.
The earless Seals (Phocide) are distinguished from the
other Pinnipedia thus :—A small perforation for the ear, with-
out an external conch. Eyes large. The feet hairy, more or
less clawed; fingers short, curved, webbed, clawed, forming a
well-formed webbed foot ; the toes unequal, the three middle
shorter, forming a broad triangular foot when expanded and an
elongated paddle when contracted; the palm and soles hairy.
The hind limbs are folded together, and are produced outwards
behind the body, when on land or in the water. Walking
on land by the action of the abdominal muscles. Testicles
enclosed in the body. Skull and skeleton very distinct from
those of Otariade in external form ; skull without any, or only
a rudimentary postorbital process.
Dr. J. E. Gray on Seals. 345
Section I. Cutting-teeth §, lower conical ; hind toes clawed.
Tribe 1. Poocina. ‘The front grinder in each jaw single-,
not, as the rest, two-rooted. Head narrow in front.
Muffle bald, callous, and with a central erect groove be-
tween the nostrils.
1. Muzzle broad, whiskers smooth ; third finger longest.
Skull: face large, forehead convex, palate arched
behind. Lower jaw strong, ramiserial angle under
the front of the condyle; teeth small, compressed,
far apart.
Phoca, Gray, Cat. S. & W. 31, f. 10.
1. Muzzle conical, whiskers waved ; first finger longest.
Skull tapering in front; forehead flat; face small.
* Lower jaw strong, ramiserial angle in a line rather
in front of the condyle ; teeth thick, conical, lobed.
Pagophilus, Gray, ibid. 25,f.8. Hinder end of
palate truncated.
Halicyon, Gray, tbid. 27, f.9. Hinder end of
palate arched.
Callocephalus, Gray, tbid. 21, f.7. Hinder end
of palate angular.
**% Lower jaw weak, ramus sloping, angle in front of
the process in front of the condyle; teeth small,
separate, compressed and lobed, especially in the
lower jaw.
Pagomys, Gray, ibid. 22. Hinder end of palate
angular.
Tribe 2. Haticua@rina. The grinders all single-rooted, ex-
cept the two hinder of the upper and the hindmost of the
lower jaw. Head broad, square in front; muzzle large,
truncate; mufile hairy to the edge and between the nos-
trils ; whiskers waved.
Halicherus, Gray, ibid. 33, f. 11. North Sea.
Section II. Cutting-teeth +. Muffle hairy to the edge and
between the nostrils.
Tribe 8. Monacutna. Lower cutting-teeth notched on the
inner side; the first grinder in each jaw single-rooted,
the rest two-rooted.
Monachus, Gray, ibid. 18, f. 6.
Tribe 4. LopoponTina. Cutting-teeth concave; grinders
deeply and immensely lobed ; the first, second, and third
upper and the first lower grinder one-rooted, the rest two-
rooted. Hinder claw small. Mufile hairy.
Lobodon, Gray, ibid. 9, f. 2 (skull). Lower jaw
withangle beneath the condyles. Antarctic Sea.
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. iv. 25
346 Mr. A. Murray on the History
Tribe 5. STENORHYNCHINA. Cutting-teeth conical ; grind-
ers more or less three-lobed, two front in each jaw single-
rooted, the rest two-rooted. Mufile hairy to the edge and
between the nostrils. Hind feet clawless. Antarctic
Seas and South Pacific?
Stenorhynchus, Gray, ibid. 15, f. 5. Lower jaw
strong, ramus erect; grinders with three
cylindrical elongate lobes.
Ommatophoca, Gray, ibid. 33,f.4. Lower jaw
slender in front; grinders small, compressed,
with a central incurved lobe and a very small
one on each side.
Leptonyx, Gray, ibid. 11, f. 3. Lower jaw
weak, ramus shelving backwards; grinders
subcompressed, with small central and smaller
posterior lobes.
Tribe 6. CysTopHoRINA, Gray, bid. 38. Lower cutting-
teeth conical, unequal; grinders with small plaited crowns
and large swollen simple roots. Mufile hairy, of male
produced or inflated; whiskers waved.
Morunga, Gray, ibid. 38, f.13. Nose of male
produced into a trunk. Antarctic and North
Pacific Oceans.
Cystophora, Gray, ibid. 40, f.14. Nose of male
with an inflated crest. North and, perhaps,
South Atlantic.
XLIT.—On some points in the History and Relations of the
Wasp (Vespa vulgaris) and Rhipiphorus paradoxus. By
ANDREW Murray, F.L.S.
Every entomologist knows that Rhipiphorus paradoxus under-
goes its transformations in the nest of Vespa vulgaris (the
common wasp which makes its nest underground). But in
what capacity it is present there, and what are its relations to
its hosts, are still matters of dispute. Is it as a robber and a
murderer that it appears, or simply as a guest? and if as a
guest, is it as a cuckoo-guest usurping the place of the genuine
offspring of its hosts, or as an inoffensive changeling innocently
imposed on the unconscious parents, and merely filling up a
place which (from the wasp point of view) might have been
better supplied had it been left empty ?
In support of the more truculent hypothesis, Mr. Stone
records, 1n the ‘ Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine’ (i. p. 118),
how he found a larva of Rhipiphorus “ sticking to the larva of
and Relations of the Wasp and Rhipiphorus. 347
a wasp,” which it devoured, except skin and mandibles, in
forty-eight hours. ‘The milder supposition had the support of
Latreille and most subsequent authors (at any rate prior to
Mr. Stone’s observation), who, although they always spoke in
somewhat doubtful tones, yet on the whole inclined to the
opinion that the Rhipiphori were bred by the wasps under the
mistaken belief that they were their own progeny.
This still seems to me to be the true explanation ; and it is
supported by some observations which I have recently had the
opportunity of making, through the kindness of Miss Eleanor
Ormerod, Sedbury Park, Chepstow, a lady with more of the
true spirit and genius of a naturalist than any other whom it
has been my fortune to encounter. She has been kind enough
to assist the Horticultural Society in an attempt they are now
making to form a collection of what may be called Economic
Entomology—a task for which their connexions give them
peculiar advantages, and of which the commencement may be
seen housed in the South-Kensington Museum.
The charge of the formation of this collection having been
entrusted by the Society to me, Miss Eleanor Ormerod’s con-
tributions have consequently passed through my hands, and I
have had the advantage of profiting by her talents for obser-
vation. Among numerous other illustrations, she lately sent
a large wasps’ nest, containing Rhipiphor?; and it is the exa-
mination of this, and the picking out the larve and pupz from
the cells to fit it for preservation, which has supplied the facts
I am about to mention.
In France the knowing mode of procuring specimens of
Rhipiphori, as expounded to me long ago by my old friend
M. Chevrolat, is to note in summer the locale of a large wasps’
nest, and to return to it in winter, and then examine it. Miss
Ormerod’s dealings with the wasps are simpler, bolder, and,
as will be presently seen, more instructive. The process will
be found detailed more at length in her brother Dr. Ormerod’s
little book on wasps. Enveloping her head in a gauze bag,
which is made to stand out from her face by a broad-brimmed
hat, and is tied tightly round the neck, protecting her hands
by long and stout gloves tied tightly above the wrists, she fear-
lessly handles, rifles, or removes the largest and most formid-
able nest. Her subsequent perseverance and patience are not
behind her courage; she tells me that she has picked out 3000
larve and pupe from the nest which is the subject of these
observations ; and the reader will presently see that the intel-
ligence with which every point of interest was observed and
noted during the process is equally remarkable.
The nest which supplied our material in the present instance
25*
348 Mr. A. Murray on the History
was a very large one, containing six or seven large combs
more than a foot in diameter. It was built in the ground,
partly in a rough stone drain, and unusually deep and distant
from the opening, being more than a yard from it, and fully a
foot beneath the surface. The soil was very hard, so much so
that it took a strong labourer nearly half an hour’s work to
get at it.
When the nest was raised out of its hole, after asphyxiating
its inhabitants, a fully formed male and female Rhipiphorus
were found, one lying dead among wasps at the bottom of the
nest, and the other gone head foremost into one of the great
cells (queens’ cells) at the bottom.
No other Rhipiphori were found by Miss E. Ormerod in the
lower or last-made tiers of comb—that is, in those composed of
large cells (for male and female larve) ; all except the lowest
two tiers of comb were composed of small or worker cells. She
found no larve, but pupe in every stage, from that almost re-
sembling the larva in whiteness and form to the perfect insect,
able, when the cap or seal of the cell was removed, to run out
with such speed and dash down a neighbouring cell, that she
could scarcely distinguish what it was. She mentions inciden-
tally the stages she remarked in development were white, white
with the black showing on the thorax, and coloured before the
wings had developed. She noticed, too, that, in coming out,
the pupe did not cut the ld or cap nicely round, as the
wasps do, but thrust their heads roughly through the middle
of it, apparently only getting out by forcing their way slowly
through the torn hole; but she did not see any specimen com-
lete the operation of freeing itself.
All the specimens in the nest in question were of the com-
mon size; but two or three varied from the others in colour, as
in having the abdomen black (or black with light rmgs) in-
stead of yellow. From another nest, however, she took one
of the large size mentioned by Prof. Westwood, in his
‘Introduction to Entomology,’ vol. i. p. 294, on Mr. Hope’s
authority, as being found only in the cells of the female wasps;
the comb she took it from was full of nearly full-grown females
of Vespa vulgaris.
Having picked the combs of the large nest pretty clean,
Miss E. Ormerod sent it on to me, kindly leaving a portion
of the cells unopened in all the combs, for me to have an
opportunity of verifying her observations for myself. I found
about fifty specimens of Rhipiphorus ready to come out, alive,
not quite so active as described ; but that was, no doubt, due
to their not having reached their full term. I also found
about a dozen pupz less advanced. I did not distinguish any
and Relations of the Wasp and Rhipiphorus. 349
difference in the proportions of the sexes in the combs which
{ examined: male and female seemed to come indifferently ;
and the cells in which they were placed seemed to be scattered
indiscriminately over the combs in which they occurred, per-
haps occurring ‘a little more frequently towards the outer
margin than the centre; and in the case of those near the
outer margin, more of them seemed to lie near to each other.
As already said, there were none in the queens’ cells; but the
greater part of them were as yet unoccupied.
In three instances I found two pups in the same cell, a
wasp-pupa and a Lhipiphorus-pupa—a fact which seems to
me to be conclusive against the idea of the one feeding on the
other. They must have been hatched in the same cell, bred
lovingly as larvee in the same cell, and undergone their meta-
morphoses in the same cell. Both the pupe in two of these
instances are preserved in a phial of Canada balsam, and ex-
hibited, along with the combs and sketches of their position,
in the South-Kensington Museum. Their position was re-
markable. In one of them the pupa of the wasp was next the
mouth of the cell, but with its tail to the mouth, and the pupa
of the Lhipiphorus further in, with its tail to the base of the
cell, their heads thus meeting. The usual black saucer of
droppings of the wasp-pupa was at the mouth of the cell. I
shall return to it presently, but in the meantime stick to the
Rhipiphori. Both pupe were sufficiently developed, rather small
and stunted perhaps, especially the Rhipiphorus, but all right,
no lesion or distortion. In the next case there was distortion :
the larva of the Rhepiphorus was uppermost, and I think (al-
though I am not quite certain) that its head was towards the
mouth of the cell. Its tail, or, to speak with absolute caution,
its inner end (be it head or tail) rested on the head of the pupa of
the wasp; and at first I thought the head of the latter had been
eaten away, but, on closer examination, I found that it had
merely been squeezed out of shape, leaving a discoloured de-
pression where it should have been, and had dwindled into an
unnatural small lump, in which, however, the eyes and mouth
are to be distinguished. It was obviously nothing but the
result of protracted pressure, which had begun to end in the
destruction of the parts exposed to it. In the third case, the
wasp-pupa was next the mouth of the cell, with its black
deposit in the lid (preserved cn situ at South Kensington), and
the Lhipiphorus at the bottom in its natural position. Both
were unhurt, but rather small.
On examining the bottoms of the cells from which the Rhi-
ptphort were taken (I mean those which had a cell to them-
selves) I found more than once the débris of the skin of a
350 Mr. A. Murray on the History
wasp’s larva, easily recognizable by its mandibles. At first
sight this might seem to indicate that the Rhipiphorus had
consumed a previous tenant of the cell, and recalled to my
mind the way in which Mr. Stone speaks of his wasp-larva being
devoured by a Rhipiphorus-larva, except “skin and mandi-
bles,” in forty-eight hours. But if any one will search the
cells of the wasp-pupe, and still more those of the hornet,
they will constantly find the same thing, a shred of skin and
mandibles, the skin of the mandibles being particularly notice-
able in consequence of its greater strength, higher colour, and
definite form. It is plainly the cast skin of the larva. It has
all the look of a cast skin (every entomologist will recognize
my meaning) ; and its occurrence in cells inhabited by Rhipi-
phorus is simply due to the Lhipiphorus having taken up its
abode in a cell formerly inhabited by a wasp-pupa. Mr. Stone’s
observation, as it appears to me, must rest on a mistake in
some way arising out of such a cast skin. The wasps, indeed,
are said to clear out the cells which have been inhabited pre-
viously, before laying their eggs in them again. I have seen
no indication of any such cleaning or redding up for a new
tenant. The dégats at the bottom are left all standing, and,
from the size of this dung-heap (especially in the hornets’
cells, where the quantity is naturally much greater), it is not
difficult to distinguish those cells which have had more than
one tenant from those which have been used only once. The
silvery lining of the walls is all left, and, what we have spe-
cially to do with also, the cast skin of the previous larva. It
is constantly to be seen in the cells; and that we do not see it
always may be due to its sometimes decaying away or getting
covered with additional rejectamenta; for it is plain that the
digestive operations will continue after the insect has ceased
to feed, and shut itself up, until the contents of its stomach
are all voided. This, moreover, is proved by the black deposit
having been found at the mouth of the cell in the case of the
reversed specimen first above noticed. If it had been depo-
sited prior to sealing up, it must have fallen out, not to speak
of the barrier it would be to the larva in spinning itself up.
The eggs of the wasps are not deposited, as by the bees, at
the bottom of the cell, but about a third of the way up, so that
this débris does not interfere with them.
In picking out some specimens of cells with eggs attached,
Miss Eleanor Ormerod observed some with two eggs in the
same cell. She sent me some of these combs, in which a
tolerably large proportion (about four out of a score) had
two eggs, either both in the state of eggs, or a young larva
at the bottom and an egg not yet hatched adhering to the
and felations of the Wasp and Rhipiphorus. 351
angle of the cell higher up. I have tried my best to find a
difference between the two eggs, but without success. I am
not sufficiently acquainted with the economy of wasps and bees
to know whether the queens often or ever commit the mis-
take of laying two eggs in the same cell: it may happen
sometimes ; but when it does happen, one would expect to
find the mistake at long and wide intervals, not in a cluster or
near each other, unless, indeed, we are to suppose that the
queen only makes the mistake when she is in a stupid or ab-
sent frame of mind; for then the mistakes should all be near
each other. This, however, seems less likely, because the exer-
cise of instinct is not like that of pure mental effort. A man’s
instinct will lead him right when his reasoning fails him.
Every one must be able to recall to his mind some time or other
when he has instinctively found his way home although his mind
has been so preoccupied as to take no note of external objects ;
and absence of mind would therefore be immaterial to an
insect engaged on an operation of instinct. Now in the combs
containing eggs the doubly employed cells were located near
each other ; and that I should be inclined to regard as a prima
facie presumption that one of the eggs was not that of the
wasp, but of Rhipiphorus.
Should that be so, the points of resemblance in the economy
of the Rhipiphorus to that of the wasp would become very
striking. We should have :—
1. The egg of the same size, texture, shape, and transpa-
rency in both. (Iam not quite positive about the enclosed
undeveloped larva being quite the same. I have thought that
in Canada balsam, which makes the shell transparent, the one
seemed longer than the other; but this may have been due to
state of advancement or imperfect observation.)
2. We should have the egg attached in the same way, at
the same height in the cell, and in the same angle as it is
placed by the wasps.
3. ‘The larvee must feed on the same food as the wasp-larve,
and deposit similar black droppings ; for these are found in the
Lhipiphori-cells as well as in the wasps’, and are undistin-
guishable from them, consisting of débris of digested insects,
which might with care be often identified. In the hornet,
where the fragments are larger, the identification of most of
them can be made without much difficulty. Miss Eleanor
Ormerod shrewdly remarks to me, however, that she has ob-
served that, unlike the wasps, the dead pupe of the Rhdpi-
phorus keep well in their cells, and that this may be due to a
difference of food. But we must remember that their texture
is naturally harder and drier.
352 Mr. A. Murray on the History
Lastly, it must pass into the pupa-state, and spin a cap or
lid to the cell, and the membranaceous, thin, silvery, shiny-
looking lining to the cell, all in the same way as the wasp-
pupa; for the lids of the Rhipiphori-cells are identical with
those of the wasp-cells and undistinguishable from them. I
here assume, as I think is the general belief, that this lining
and lid are spun by the pupa, although it does not present
itself to my mind as absolutely free from difficulties. I
am not a hymenopterist; that is, I do not make a specialty
of that branch of entomology; I therefore may without loss
of credit indulge in wonder not allowed to the better-informed
specialist at some of the things which to my unsophisticated
mind appear amazing and puzzling, but which to him are
hackneyed and trite. The lid of these wasp-cells and the
manner of their formation is one of these things. The autho-
rities say the pup spin them; and that they are spun is de-
monstrable by examination of some of the less hard and com-
plete lids. You can see the threads stretching across and
interlacing each other in every direction. Moreover, plenty of
observers have seen them doing it, and watched their heads
going to and fro with the regular spinning motion, under a
commenced lid; so that there can be no doubt up to that point.
But we must go a step further. Can they do it with their tails?
Two of the wasp-pupe in the doubly employed cells were
outermost, and in both cases tail to the mouth of the cell, and
a black cap or deposit of its droppings lay just within the
lid. Miss Eleanor Ormerod observed the same thing; but in
her case, although there may have been two pupz in the cell
(and in my own mind, I have no doubt there were), she did not
observe it, but was struck only by the reversed wasp-pupa. At
that time we had not met with any cells containing two pupe,
and she may have overlooked a Rhipiphorus-pupa below it;
but she marked the cell, and I searched it subsequently without
finding any traces of double employ; but it was some days
after before I looked, and by that time the pupa might have
decayed or shrunk, so as under my manipulation to have
become confounded with the débris at the bottom of the cell.
The cells containing these reversed wasp-pupe were in every
respect the same as the surrounding cells. ‘The spun lid was
the same, and also the silvery lining and the strong base—no
back door or any means of feeding or getting in from behind.
Now I hold it to be impossible for the full-grown larva to turn in
its cell—that is, to reverse its position. It can turn and turn on
its side, turn about and wheel about on its pivot; but turn sum-
mersaults it cannot. If the larva then spins the lid, it must
apparently be able to supply the silk or matter of the thread,
and Relations of the Wasp and Rhipiphorus. 353
and to spin it equally well with its tail as its head. I do not
say that it does not; but it seems a very unusual aggregation
of gifts, an accumulatio munerum for which there is no pre-
cedent. Nature never provides for unnatural or exceptional
events, but leaves the unhappy victim of them to meet its fate
and die.
The explanation which has occurred to me is this—a little
far-fetched, perhaps; but the difficulty seems to warrant a
stretch. There are two difficulties, the supply of the material
and the spinning. As to the first, it must be remembered that
the position of the cell is mouth downwards; so that if the
fluid silk or glue was ejected in quantity from the mouth of
the larva, it would naturally flow down its body or along the
walls to the mouth of the cell. I suppose that the grub at
that stage of its existence is constantly expectorating some of
this glue (if we touch its head at that period, it may be seen
to eject from its mouth a bell of clear liquid like water, which
I have no doubt is liquid silk), and that the slimy-looking
stuff on the walls of the cell is part of it which has adhered to
them. When the grub is ready to pass into the pupa-state, it
spins it into the lid; and its weight, elasticity, and adhesive
qualities make it take the cup-shaped form the lid bears. If we
examine one half finished, we see the threads crossing the out-
side rough and somewhat woolly ; but Isuppose a quantity of glue
poured out on it from within, after it has reached this stage,
penetrates the interstices and gives the outside the glossy look
which the finished lid bears. Suppose, then, the larva reversed,
no change will take place so far as regards the glue on the walls ;
it flows down them and coats them as before; but when the
larva begins to spin, the head being now uppermost (the mouth
of the cell being downmost), the glue will fall back and flow
past the grub to the mouth of the cell. This would explain
why there is no lid in the middle between the two pupe ;
the movement of the other larva would be sufficient to pre-
vent its settling, and the matter would then by gravitation
find its way downwards. If the larva then is restless and
moves its tail (which, although used as a sucker, it can de-
tach and move as it likes) from side to side, it would imitate
the motion of spinning and prepare a sieve of sufficient fine-
ness to retain any more liquid that flows down, and so com-
plete the lid. The only difference from the usual process
would then be, that, instead of the material being supplied
from the pendent mouth, it streams backwards down its
body. That the larva has enough of this glue streaming
from its mouth to cover the whole body will be apparent to
354 Mr. A. Murray on the History
any one who looks at an unexcluded pupa nearly mature, when
he will see it is clothed in a hardened cake of it all over.
This may explain the spinning of the lids to the cells of
reversed wasp-pupe ; but what shall we say to those of the
Rhipiphori? Have they the same fluida sericina? I suppose
they must; but we want observation on this point; and for the
present I must content myself with having pointed out the
want.
These reversed larvee present other difficulties. How do
they maintain their place in this unnatural position? Nor-
mally their position is head downmost (not in reference to the
cell, but to the ground). The cell has its mouth downwards,
and the head of the grub is at the mouth of the cell. In that
position one would expect it to fall out; but it uses its tail as
a sucker, and hangs on by it. When you pull them out of
the cell, you have to give a tug to bring them away. Reverse
it, and it might hang on like a sailor by the teeth for a little,
but certainly could not do so for any length of time. It must
in any event sometimes open its jaws to eat, and it would then
fall out. I suppose it must hold on as usual by the tail; only,
instead of fastening itself at the base of the cell, it will do 80
on the sides of the mouth of the cell. It would have the dis-
advantage of the weight of the body pressing on the tail, in-
stead of hanging from it; but I can see no other way in which
it could be done. In the pupa-state both the reversed speci-
mens had the tail adhering as a sucker to the black saucer of
débris lying in the lid of the cell.
The manner in which these reversed larve can have been
fed is another puzzle. Miss Eleanor Ormerod suggests that
it may have been through an opening towards the base in an
adjoining cell; but I can find no such opening, and, moreover,
all the surrounding cells were themselves tenanted. It some-
how seems not quite so difficult to imagine how it could be
done with two larve in the cell (the one at the mouth reversed
and the other not) as it would be with only one, reversed.
The grub in the latter would have its mouth so far in the cell
that the wasp coming with food might not be able to reach it;
but when there are two (arranged as supposed), the inner one,
of course, both has its own “head halfway to the opening,
and directed towards it, and also prevents the other going 50
far into the cell, and its head must just meet that of the inner
one. Thus, if the wasp gets at the mouth of the inner one to
feed it, the upper reversed one must always have the oppor-
tunity of taking a share of what is given to it.
I feel rather inclined to suppose that the only case in which
and Relations of the Wasp and Rhipiphorus. 355
we can find reversed pupze is when there are two in the cell.
It is only under such circumstances that one can conceive the
grub taking the reversed position. In the ordinary case of only
one grub in the cell, it is so small when it first comes out
of the egg, that it can turn and shift its position as it likes;
and of course the position it likes will be that with its mouth
to the food-bringer. But when there are two, if the egg first
evolved be lowest, or, what is the same thing, if the grub first
out has taken its position at the base of the cell with its head
to the mouth of the cell, when the last evolved breaks out of
the egg, the latter will naturally turn its head down to that of
the former when it receives its food, in order to partake of it,
and will gradually settle into that position until it grows too
big to have room to change it. I am also inclined to believe
that the only case in which two pupe are found in one cell is
when one of them is a Rhipiphorus.
I have only, in conclusion, to say that evidence of the accu-
racy of all the facts above recorded is, I think, to be seen
in the collection in the South-Kensington Museum. As
already said, I have not sufficient acquaintance with the eco-
nomy of wasps and bees to be sure that the occurrence of
reversed pupze and grubs, although new to me, is not per-
fectly well known to hymenopterists, and that all the points
I have been boggling at have not been clearly and satisfactorily
explained ; but I know that if they have not been previously
observed, they will have and ought to undergo the usual
scrutiny of doubt and suspicion. ‘To any one who shall feel
so far interested in the subject as to wish to test them, I
would recommend the little black saucer of droppings taken
from the mouths of the ‘cells of the reversed pup as a good
“piece justificatif.” Its shape will tell that it did not come
from the base of the cell, but must have come from the mouth.
One of these is left actually 7 sd#w under the lid of the cell or |
cocoon ; another is in a phial of Canada balsam (as to which,
however, I may add the scarcely necessary caution that its
position in relation to the pupa in the phial is not the natural
one: when I put it in, its tail was still attached to it; but
it became detached; and, in settling, it has wheeled round and
its mouth come into contact with the black saucer; but no one
knowing the nature of the saucer will mistake that for its
natural position). ‘The pups from these doubly tenanted cells
are also there; and if there is anything I have overlooked, it
is, I hope, unnecessary to say that I shall be happy to supply
it to those who may wish to know more, if they will specify
the points on which they desire information.
356 Mr. R. Tate on Terrestrial Mollusca from San Lucia.
XLII.— Species of Terrestrial Mollusca collected on the Island
of San Lucia. By Ratpo Tate, Assoc, Linn, Soc.,
VG ee occ
Mr. Buianp, in his Catalogue of the Pulmoniferous Snails of
the West Indies (Ann. Lyc. Nat. Hist. New York, vol. vii.),
gives but two species (Helix orbiculata and Bulimus aulaco-
stylus) as inhabiting San Lucia. About two hours’ search on
the island, in the early part of this year, has enabled me to
add ten species, making a total of twelve now known; they
are as follows :—
1. Helix orbiculata, Fér. This snail has much the same habit as Z.
aspersa in this country, and is tolerably abundant about the
town of Castries.
2. Helix ierensis, Guppy, Proce. Scient. Assoc. Trinidad, 1869, p. 242.
This species belongs to a section of the genus represented by H.
lamellata in Europe and H. labyrinthica in North America; the
tropical forms are H. ceca, Guppy, H. terensis, Guppy, Trinidad;
H. bactricola, Guppy, Trinidad and Venezuela, Guyana; H. ce-
coides, Tate, Nicaragua; and H. caratalensis, Tate, n.sp., Vene-
zuela, Guyana. Inhabits, among rubbish of old walls and houses,
Castries.
3. Bulimus tenuissimus, Fér. A few dead shells.
4. Bulimus aulacostylus, Pfr. One dead shell, but with coloration.
5. Bulimus caracasensis, Reeve. Several individuals were obtained.
6. Stenogyra plicatella, Guppy, var. Abundant with Helix cerensis.
7. Stenogyra coronata?, Guppy, with the last.
8. Stenogyra octona, Chemnitz. Abundant in the woods around Cas-
tries.
9. Tornatellina lamellata, P. & M. With the last.
10. Cylindrella costata, Guild. Upon damp walls and among stones
in shady places ; common.
11. Succinea approximans, Shuttl. Damp pastures.
12. Helicina plicatula, Pfr. Common in the woods about Castries.
Bulimus aulacostylus, Pfr., is the only species peculiar to
the island; Helix orbiculata, Cylindrella costata, and Helicina
plicatula are common to San Lucia and the islands to the
north; whilst the remainder occur in Grenada, Trinidad, or
the northern coasts of South America.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
Notes on the Geology of North Shropshire. Small 8vo, pp. 88.
London: Hardwicke, 1869.
Tuts little book, by Miss Charlotte Eyton, is well written and nicely
printed, and must be a welcome companion to any intelligent
inhabitant of Salop, or thoughtful tourist, if geologically inclined
Miscellaneous. 357
and desirous of knowing the why and wherefore of the varied
scenery and the many interesting points in the geographical struc-
ture of the district, and in its mineral and other products. Some
sections, with outline views and a map, would, of course, greatly
increase the value of this little book; and we trust that there are
enough geological inquirers in Shropshire to use up this, and make
way for an illustrated edition. In that reprint the technical names
of “formations” should be more uniformly printed, either with or
without capital letters. Mytillus, Keiiper, and Megalocervus are
nearly all the errata we observe. The careful manner in which the
authoress has collected, used, and acknowledged the results of others’
work is an example to many writers. Being an original observer,
personally interested in her subject, and having clear views of what
is before her, Miss Eyton gives a lucid and readable account of her
district, from the old Cambrian rocks to the most recent alluvium,
supplying trustworthy information to all, and a good basis of facts
and notions for new observers to start from.
Figures of Characteristic British Fossils, with Descriptive Remarks.
By W. H. Barty, F.L.S., F.G.8., &e. 8vo, Part II. London:
Van Voorst, 1869.
This welcome continuation of Mr. Baily’s useful work contains :—
Ist, pages xxv—xxxvi of Descriptive Remarks, including some clear
and concise descriptions of the elementary constitution of Corals,
Crinoids, and Polyzoans (with diagrams), as well as notes on the
fossils of the Caradoc and Llandovery strata; 2nd, pages 31-61 of
the Explanation of Plates (XI.—XX.), conveying very much informa-
tion in a condensed form. The figures of the Fossils are necessarily
well chosen by so experienced a paleontologist as the author, whe-
ther they be original or copied from published types. The printing
of plates and text is better than at first. A few errata occur (septe
for septa, Upper Caradoc for Llandovery, Ostracoda for Phyllopoda,
&c.), warning us that, with the greatest care a professional man can
give to his “ proofs,” errors will creep in with the innumerable facts
he has to notice and compile. Certainly geologists both at home
and abroad must be glad to get Mr. Baily’s work in their hands;
and such slips of the pen are willingly lost sight of in so large a mass
of carefully arranged and well illustrated information as is here offered
to the student and general geologist.
MISCELLANEOUS.
On the Occurrence of Beania mirabilis at Shanklin, Isle of Wight.
By Henry Lez, F.LS. &e.
To the Editors of the Annals and Magazine of Natural History.
GENTLEMEN, —I notice with pleasure the mention made by
Mr. F.C. S. Roper of his having found Beania mirabilis at Eastbourne,
358 Miscellaneous.
and beg to record its occurrence in another locality on our southern
coast—namely, Dunnose, near Shanklin, Isle of Wight. Whilst
residing there, three years ago, I one day brought in from a pool on
the jutting spit of rock locally known as “ the Ledge,” a quantity of.
Aitea anguina (the snake’s-head polyp), which grows abundantly
there on Rytiphlea pinastroides. I placed some of it in a “ zoo-
phyte-trough,” and, whilst examining it under the microscope, I
saw, to my surprise and delight, a few cells of Beania mirabilis en-
tangled with it. The little daughter of a brother microscopist who
was with me accidentally upset the trough, and my newly found
treasure was lost. I left Shanklin on the following day, and have
had no opportunity since then of searching for Beania mirabilis in
the rock-pools of Dunnose.
I remain, Gentlemen, yours, &c.
Henry Ler.
Cuttlefish (Sepia) of the Red Sea. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.RS.
Savigny, in his plates on the ‘Mollusca of Egypt,’ figures a
cuttlefish (Sepza), t. 5. f. 1-3, from the Red Sea. Audouin, in his
explanation of these plates, considered it Sepia officinalis. This
plate was copied in Férussac’s ‘ Seiches’ (t. 4) as Sepia Savigniana ;
Blainville and D’Orbigny altered this name to S. Savignii; and
Ehrenberg, in his ‘Symbol Physicz,’ gives to the figure the name
of Sepia Pharaonis.
The bone of this species has not been described or figured.
Professor Ehrenberg obtained from the Red Sea, near Haman, a
bone of a cuttlefish which is about 3 inches long and 1 inch wide,
round at each end, and without any posterior spine, which he cails
Sepia gibbosa (Symbol Physic, 1831); D’Orbigny altered the name
to Sepra gibba.
M. Lefébvre obtained at Cosseir some Cuttlefish-bones, which are
described and figured by M. d’Orbigny under the name of Sepia
Lefebvrei, Paléont. Univ. t. 4. f. 5, 6, 1845 (Férussac and D’Orb.
Céphalop. t. 24. f. 1-6). .
Mr. MacAndrew observed bones of Cuttlefish similar to the one
here figured on the shores of the Gulf of Suez, and brought two
specimens which are now in the British Museum. I think there can
be little doubt that S. Lefebvre: is the same as S. gibbosa ; and they
both, as suggested by M. d’Orbigny, are the bones of Sepia Savignit,
the bones of which have not otherwise been seen or described.
But the latter suggestion may be doubtful, as Mr. Feilder said
that he had examined with his finger all the cuttlefish he saw in
the market at Suez (where they are eaten, as they are in most of the
towns on the shores of the Mediterranean), and that they all ap-
peared to have a shell without the protuberance so peculiar in S.
Lefeburei ; indeed Mr. MacAndrew brought home a specimen of a
cuttlefish-bone without the protuberance on the inner side, and
very like the bone of Sepia officinalis, and still more like Sepia Rap-
peana, from the Indian Ocean.
Miscellaneous. 359
M. Lefébvre also found at Cosseir some very slender bones of a
cuttlefish which have the inner surface elevated into a central ridge as
in S. Lefebvrei, and which D’Orbigny has described and figured under
the name of Sepia elongata, Paléont. Univers. t. 4. f. 7-10 (Férussac
and D’Orb. Céphal. t. 24. f. 7-10).
There is a third species in the British Museum with the central
prominence, found on the coast of Australia, which I have described
as Sepia apama, Gray, Cat. Cephal. Antepedia, p. 104, var. 10.
The Larva of Tischeria complanella and its Parasite.
By Prof. Camrt1o Ronpant.
Rondani has found the larva of Tischeria complanella living in
oak-leaves, upon which its mines form spots similar to those pro-
duced by the larve of some other Tineide and those of Orchestia
quercus. The leaves were brought to him by a friend, who wished
to know by what insect the spots were produced. They were placed
under a bell-glass, and in a few days two specimens of Tischeria
complanella were observed endeavouring to make their escape.
Other specimens continued to make their appearance until the end
of July, the first having been observed about the middle of that
month.
On examining the mines, most of the insects were found in the
pupa-state ; but some larvae were discovered which had died without
any apparent cause; and these, when placed in a vessel of water,
acquired nearly the appearance which they must have possessed
when alive. From the specimens thus swelled the author prepared
the following description of the larva :—
The larva is footless or with indistinct feet, the sides being rugu-
lose or tubercular to replace those organs. Head coriaceous, ferru-
ginous, the following segments very pale yellowish and somewhat
translucent, except the last, which are confused into one large fer-
ruginous piece; first or cephalic segment broader, marked above
with a large, subquadrate, blackish spot; the remainder with a
yellowish or brownish-yellow dorsal longitudinal vitta ; all furnished
at the sides with a few minute hairs. It lives between the epider-
mides on the parenchyma of the leaves of Quercus pedunculata
and perhaps other species.
Simultaneously with the moths, a considerable number of minute
Hymenopterous parasites were produced from the leaves; they feed
upon the larvee of the T%scheria, and destroy many of them. This
parasite belongs to the Chalcidide, and to the subfamily Encyrtine ;
but the author was unable to refer it to any of the genera of that
group with the characters of which he was acquainted. As Mr.
Haliday concurred with him in regarding it as a new generic type,
he has characterized it as follows, under the name of
TINEOPHAGA, NOY. gen.
Antenne 7-articulate, seu scapo et articulis 6 flagelli instruct in
utroque sexu; primo articulo flageili brevi, ceteris in foemina
360 Miscellaneous.
subovatis, in mare oblongioribus, quorum 3, in hoe sexu, fila-
mento longo fimbriato preeditis.
Ale supere extense, vena costali exilissima, appendicula apicali
oblique in dilatationem terminante, et alia venula spuria prope
marginem posteriorem, longitudinaliter decurrente ultra medium
preeditee.
Abdomen apice subacuminato et sursum paulo incurvatum, basi
angustatum. }
Pedes simplices, tibiis intermediis unicalcaratis, tarsis omnibus 5-
articulatis.
Tineophaga Tischeric, sp. nov.
Nigra, nitida, glabra; maris et foomine antenne nigre, articulo
primo flagelli sat breviore sequentibus ; maris articulo secundo,
tertio et quarto appendice longa preeditis filiformi, breviter fim-
briata, articuli secundi longiore, quarti minore. Abdomen maris
ad basim in medio paulo albido-translucidum. Ale limpidissime,
nude. Pedes femoribus late nigris; tibiis cum coxis anterioribus
totis albis, posticis apice nigricante; tarsis omnibus albis, apice
fusco.
The size of the parasite is not given. The larva of Tischeria, the
legs and antenne of the perfect insect, and the details of the struc-
ture of its parasite are figured.—Annuario della Soc. de Natural. in
Modena, anno ii. pp. 20-24, pl. 4.
A Naked Shrew. By Dr. J. E. Gray.
Mr. P. Garner, of Stoke-upon-Trent, has kindly sent to the British
Museum a Naked Shrew. It was caught on the border of a wood
in Staffordshire on a hot day, but died from being enclosed in a
botanical box.
The whole of the upper surface of the body and head is destitute
of hair, and the skin is corrugated like that of the Naked Mice (Mus)
figured by Mr. Gaskoin in the ‘ Proceedings of the Zoological
Society,’ 1856, Mamm. pl. 41.
On Spoggodes conglomeratus, and a new Genus of Fleshy Alcyonoids.
By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c., and Henry J. Carrer, F.R.S.
Mr. Robert Swinhoe has brought from North China a dried speci-
men of a fleshy Alcyonoid for the British Museum, that appears to
belong to a genus hitherto unnoticed; and Mr. Carter has kindly exa-
mined and drawn its structure and spicules forme. It may be called
EUSCLERIDES.
The coral fleshy, consisting of a growth of thick contorted lamine
with rounded upper edge, the lower part of the lamina and base
bare, the upper part with regularly disposed polypes with numerous
small coneavities placed at the base on the surface between the
Miscellaneous. 361
polype-cells; the inner part strengthened with thick, fusiform,
longish tubercular spicules with three or five wide, smooth, sunken
cross bands, separating the tubercular surface of the middle of the
spicules into bands respectively. The spicules in shape are like those
figured by Prof Kélliker, in his ‘ Icones Histiologicer,’ t. 18. f. 31 & 39,
as found in Gorgonia setosa and G. sanguinolenta ; £. 42 & 43, Gorgo-
nella pseudo-antipathes and G. granulata.
Eusclerides chinensis.
Hab. North China. B.M.
Mr. Carter says, “The spicule is calcareous, tubercular, elliptical,
presenting from three to five smooth bands, or intervals without
tubercles, alternating with the tubercular ones, all forming so many
circular rings round the central axis of the ellipse. About twice as
long as broad, and ;4, inch long.
«There are seldom more than three smooth bands, and these may
be more or less irregularly disposed; but the figure given shows the
average form and size of the spicules, though taken from one of
those which are most symmetrically formed. The whole tissue is
pregnant or densely charged with them,
“The magnified surface shows the form of the pits; the larger are
situated in the middle of the smaller, cup-shaped ones. The larger
ones contain the animal with its eight divisions, showing the dry
contracted animal. In the centre of each of the smaller cups is an
aperture which may be an outlet for the ova, which abound in the
structure round the large cells. Urticating organs are also present.”
Mr. Carter has also sent me a drawing, with some interesting details
of the structure, of a species ef Spoggodes which was brought up from
the bottom of the sea off the south-east coast of Arabia, on a fishing-
hook, The coral was of a “ greyish colour, more or less transparent,
firmly gelatinous interiorly, semicrusted with rough, fusiform calca-
reous spicules externally. Animal pinkish, just visible, surrounded
by a cupwork of fusiform spines, one of which is much longer than
the rest. Skeleton of spine- or spicule-work consisting of different-
sized fusiform spicules. The branches are branched, the branchlets
short, each ending in a spherical head of polypes more or less bristled
by the projecting calcareous fusiform spicules.”
The mass is large and short (5 inches each way), with very thick,
rather compressed, barren stems, divided above into short, thick,
rounded lobes, which are covered with clusters of short branches
ending in spherical heads of polypes. I propose to call the species,
which is evidently very distinct from any I have before seen, Spog-
godes conglomeratus.
On the Anatomy of the Genus Gordius. By H. Grenacuer.
The singular results obtained by M. Meissner, in his anatomical re-
searches on the Gordiacea, have induced the energetic expression of
doubts on the part of several naturalists ; the conscientious work of
M. Grenacher ought therefore to be welcome to all, The author has
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.4. Vol. iv. 26
362 Miscellaneous.
taken as the subject of his dissections some large tropical species,
and he has verified the exactness of the results obtained in the Gor-
dius subbifurcus of Kurope.
We may distinguish, with M. Schneider, in the skin of all the true
Nematodes, two layers—the one internal and cellular, lying directly
on the muscles, called the subcutaneous layer, and the other external,
the cuticle, secreted by the first. The two layers occur in exactly
the same way among the Gordiacea ; but M. Meissner entirely mis-
understood their nature. He considered the subcutaneous layer as
being in direct relation with the muscular system, and gave it the
name of perimysium. As to the cuticle, it is formed of two lamine,
of which the innermost was regarded by M. Meissner as a fibrillar
corium, and the external as an epidermis of cellular nature.
In immediate dependence upon the skin is the organ which M.
Meissner has described as a ventral nervous cord. M. Schneider was
afterwards better inspired in regarding this cord as the homologue of
the ventral line of the Nematodes. Nevertheless, in his monograph
of the Nematodes, he abandons this opinion and regards the cord in
question as an cesophagus deprived of all communication with the
intestine—that is to say, as the morphological equivalent of an ceso-
phagus, not fulfilling the functions generally supposed to belong to
that part. It does not, indeed, present any mouth in front, or any
communication with the intestine behind. This interpretation is
energetically opposed by M. Grenacher. This observer recurs to the
first idea of M. Schneider, and regards the supposed nervous cord as
homologous with the ventral line of the Nematodes. He shows be-
sides, by means of a series of very convincing sections, that this organ
is really an excrescence of the subcutaneous layer. A narrow fissure
of the muscular cylinder along the ventral line permits a lamina to
pass, which establishes the continuity of the tissue between the sub-
cutaneous layer and the ventral cord.
The muscular system of the body of Gordius forms in the interior
of the subcutaneous layer a cylindrical layer, interrupted only along
the ventral surface by the gap through which the ventral cord com-
municates with the subcutaneous layer. This cylinder is composed
of laminz, which M. Schneider compares with the fibrille of the
other Nematoda. M. Grenacher, on the contrary, regards each la-
mina as a muscular cell, homologous with those of the Polymyaria.
These lamin, indeed, are not solid, but each constitutes a tube,
though, it is true, of very small calibre. The calibre is directly com-
parable to the medullary mass of the muscles in the other Nematoda.
The author has not, however, succeeded in finding the nucleus of
these muscular cells.
The tube formed by the different layers of the body-wall that we
have just described is filled with a cellular tissue, in which the other
organs are immersed. This tissue is designated by M. Grenacher the
perienteric connective substance. It is to it that M. Meissner, by a
curious interpretation, ascribed the function of an intestinal canal.
He assumed, in fact, that the mouth led directly into the cavity filled
by this tissue ; so that the genital organs would have been lodged in
Miscellaneous. 363
a solid intestinal canal filling all the body. M. Schneider has already
rejected this curious interpretation ; but he regards the perienteric
tissue as a dependence of the muscular tissue, of which it would
represent the medullary substance extraordinarily developed.
It is generally admitted that the Gordiacea are without internal
organs of reproduction so long as they lead the life of parasites.
This may be true of Mermis; but as regards Gordius M. Grenacher
shows that the generative organs are already completely developed
during the phase of parasitism. It is not true that in these animals
the intestine terminates cecally, and that there does not exist any
opening playing the part of an anus. In the females the intestine
opens into the uterus immediately in front of the sexual pore, so that
this last is in reality the opening of a cloaca. The uterus, however,
soon divides into three canals, of which the two lateral are the ovi-
ducts, and the middle one is the direct continuation of the uterus, but
performs the part of a seminal receptacle. In the males there also
exists a cloaca in the form of a sac, presenting three orifices—one,
superior and median, leading into the intes:ine, the other two, smaller
and lateral, corresponding to the deferent canals.
The variable statements of authors with regard to the digestive
system of the Gordiacea are explained by the following facts, ascer-
tained by the author, So long as they are in the state of parasites, the
Gordzi present a distinct mouth leading directly into an intestinal canal
lined with epithelium ; but at the time of migration, or immediately
before it, the mouth appears to be obliterated in the greater number
of species. It disappears then entirely, or there only remains a
slight, scarcely perceptible, trace of it. The anterior part of the in-
testinal canal seems also to become atrophied, and the place that it
occupied before is henceforth filled with the perienteric tissue. These
remarkable modifications had already been foreseen by M. Blan-
chard. In 1849, he expressed himself as follows :—‘‘ We remark in
the Gordi, at least in the adults, the atrophy of the intestinal canal.
This suffices, up to a certain point, to separate the Gordiacea from
the Nematodes; and yet we are not in a position to describe clearly
the digestive tube of a single Gordius, for it would be necessary to
have observed it at different ages of the life of the animal.” Most
zoologists of late years have approximated the Gordii to the Nema-
todes. Diesing has formed, under the name of N*matoda aprocta,
a group including Mermis, Gordius, and the Spherularice. The
name proposed by the Viennese naturalist, at all events, cannot be
maintained : in the first place, the absence of an anus (true, perhaps,
as regards Mermis and the Spherularie) will not hold good in Gor-
dius ; in the second place, we know now of true Nematodes appear-
ing to be without any anal opening whatever (Jchthyonema). The
results obtained by M. Grenacher seem to remove the genus Gordius,
more than is generally supposed, both from the true Nematodes and
from Mermis. M. Schneider has already pointed out a certain num-
ber of differential characters. To these we must now add the exist-
ence of a cloaca in both sexes of Gordius, in the male sex only
of the Nematodes; then the existence in Gordius of that con-
364 Miscellaneous.
nective perienteric tissue, in the parenchyma of which the in-
ternal organs are lodged and fixed. Hence M. Grenacher concludes
that it is necessary to separate Gordius, more than is usually done,
both from Mermis and from the true Nematodes, at the same time
approximating Mermis to the latter.— Zeitschr. fiir wiss. Zoologie,
xvii. p. 322; Bibl. Univ. August 15, 1869, Bull. Sci. pp. 308-
dll.
On the Development of Pelobates fuscus, Wagl.
By C. van Bampexe.
The author treats of a subject which has not hitherto been inves-
tigated—the embryogeny of Pelobates fuscus. His history of its
development commences with the ovarian egg, and closes at the
period when the internal branchie replace the external branchizee—
that is to say, when the principal organs are sketched out. He first
of all describes the process which he has foliowed in making his
preparations. The object is to obtain sections sufficiently delicate
for microscopic examination by transmitted light, this method being
the only one which leads to positive results in the anatomical inves-
tigation of the various phases of embryonic development. For fur-
ther details the reader must refer to the memoir.
The ovum is described, with the appearance which it presents in
the ovary. The deposition of the secondary vitellus in the proto-
plasm of the primordial ovum takes place uniformly round the ger-
minal vesicle, and not in the form of a nucleus; the germinal vesicle
is enclosed in a cavity closely approximated to the periphery of the
ovum, and has no external communication by a canal; the rupture
of the germinal vesicle always precedes the quitting of the ovary by
the ovum; and there is no true vitelline membrane (Hizellmembran
of Remak). These are the chief peculiarities presented by the ovum
before its extrusion.
In the upper hemisphere of the fecundated ovum a clear solid
nucleus makes its appearance; this becomes the starting-point of
the segmentation, which sometimes commences upon the very border
of the germinal pit (fovea germinativa of Schultze). The circlet of
folds (Faltenkranz of the Germans) is very distinct in the ovum of
Pelobates during the first phases of segmentation. The division into
two spheres takes place in such a manner that the part still undi-
vided, instead of being central, occupies the periphery of the ovum,
and corresponds to the inferior pole.
The formation of the primitive visceral cavity results from the
multiplication of the cells of the deeper layer of the dome which
covers the cavity of segmentation. In consequence of this cellular
prolification, the above-mentioned layer is incurved and covers the
clear hemisphere. As soon as the primitive visceral cavity has re-
placed the cavity of segmentation, the embryonal lamelle are dis-
tinct. Of these there are four, namely :—
1. An external lamella (enveloping membrane).
Miscellaneous. 365
2. A second lamella, which the author, like Prof. Stricker, regards
as the true sensorial lamella.
3. A third lamella, which corresponds to the motory germinal
lamella of the higher Vertebrata.
4, A fourth lamella, the analogue of the glandular or trophic
lamella (Trophisblatt of Remak).
In Pelobates the primitive streak does not precede the dorsal fur-
row, but appears at the same time as the latter: these two parts
are at first visible only in the posterior half of the dorsal region of
the future embryo; but the dorsal furrow_is soon completed, when
its form is characteristic, and most frequently the primitive streak
cannot be distinguished in its anterior half. The clear surface has
an ovoid form ; its anterior limit corresponds to a dark zone which
shows itself at the same time as the dorsal furrow and primitive
streak ; this is the cephalic crescent, of which the subsequent modifi-
cations are very remarkable in Pelobates.
The microscopical examination of transparent sections shows
clearly that, in Pelobates, the production of the dorsal furrow is
effected solely at the cost of the outer lamella (enveloping mem-
brane). This latter behaves like the sensorial lamella of the higher
Vertebrata at the period of the formation of the nervous canal; only,
when the dorsal furrow is closed, the tube produced by this closure
is not yet the nervous canal, which is afterwards completed by the
incurvation of the thick part of the sensorial lamella.
At its anterior part the thickened portion of the sensorial lamella
not only gives origin to the cerebral cells and ocular vesicles, but,
after the occlusion of the nervous canal, there remains, on each side,
an aggregation of cells which become the origin of the auditory
vesicle and of the nervous part of the olfactory organ. The latter
becomes the olfactory lobule, which therefore is not, in Pelobates, an
excrescence of the anterior cerebral cell, and only comes into contact
with this gradually.
As regards the motory germinal lamella, we shall only say here
that the cutaneo-dorsal laminz are not derived from the peripheral
portion of this lamella, but are produced in their place by the laminz
of the primitive vertebre. The dorsal cord, the Wolffian bodies,
and the external and internal branchie originate from the motory
lamella.
Lastly, the author believes we may regard as the first rudiments
of the kidneys two small masses of cells formed at the expense of the
glandular lamella; but he has been unable to ascertain what relation
there exists between these organs and the excretory ducts of the
Wolffian corpuscles.—Mém. de Acad. Roy. de Belgique. Abstract
communicated by the Author.
On the Systems of Capillary Vessels in the Gasteropods.
By Prof. Went.
The doctrines that are now generally accepted in France and
elsewhere with regard to the blood-vascular system of the Mollusca
366 Miscellaneous.
were originated by M. Milne-Edwards. These doctrines may be
summed up in the thesis that this vascular system is lacunary, and
in communication both with the cavity of the body and with the
exterior world. M. de Quatrefages also taught, as early as 1844, the
existence of an extravascular circulation, among the Gasteropods
of the family Eolidide, which he classed among his “ Gasteropodes
phlébentérés.” Souleyet energetically opposed this notion, and
asserted the existence in these animals of a venous system, similar
to that of the higher animals. M. Robin (1851), after carefully
criticising the works of Cuvier and of MM. Milne-Edwards, Quatre-
fages, Blanchard, and Owen, pronounced in favour of Souleyet and
the closed vascular system, and consequently against phleben-
terism.
Notwithstanding the objections of Souleyet and M. Robin, not-
withstanding the anatomical researches of MM. Keber and Langer,
notwithstanding the fine*injections of the latter, which have demon-
strated the existence of a system of capillary vessels and at the same
time the absence of an aquiferous system in these Lamellibranchs,
notwithstanding all this, M. Milne-Edwards maintains to this day
the existence of a lacunar circulating system in all the Mollusca,
with vessels widely gaping in the cavity of the body and exter-
nally. M. Wedl has just carefully resumed this study, and, like
Souleyet and M. Robin, M. Keber and M. Langer, he declares most
positively against M. Milne-Edwards.
The method employed by M. Milne-Edwards was insufficient. He
contented himself with injecting a solution of chromate of lead into
the perivisceral cavity by a small opening made in the back or else-
where. M. Agassiz, by making injections through the mouth or the
anus, thought he could also demonstrate a direct communication
between the digestive organs and the circulatory system. M. Robin
has already characterized these processes as coarse. Thus, for in-
stance, it is certain that in opening the perivisceral cavity it is easy
to open at the same time a blood-sinus or some large vessel, and to
make the injection penetrate through this.
M. Milne-Edwards cites in support of there being a communica-
tion of the vessels with the perivisceral cavity the following evi-
dence, which one cannot help thinking singular. When he examined
with the microscope the blood of the ventricle of the heart and the
perivisceral liquid in a living Helix, he found the two liquids per-
fectly similar, both of them containing blood-corpuscles. Now it is
not possible to open the perivisceral cavity without cutting a quan-
tity of vessels, whose contents fall into the cavity. M.Wedl, on the
contrary, by making his injections through the heart, has ascertained
that in Helix the injected mass does not penetrate into the peri-
visceral cavity, and does not go out at the exterior surface.
It is remarkable that M.Milne-Edwards in his works never speaks
of the capillary vessels, which might lead one to suppose that he
has never seen them. Several naturalists whom this author ranks
among his adherents nevertheless differ from him on certain points.
Mr. Owen and M. Blanchard in particular never speak of true lacune,
Miscellaneous. 367
but of sinuses with proper walls. However, all the German zoolo-
gists appear to have passed into the camp of M. Milne-Edwards.
M. Eberth alone, in consequence of some injections with nitrate
of silver, thinks he has ascertained that the blood-canals of the
Gasteropoda have proper walls, and cannot be regarded as lacune.
The best method of studying the circulatory passages of the Gas-
teropoda is to make an injection by the ventricle, or, still better, by
the auricle or by a large vessel. There are, however, some cases in
which this method cannot be employed—as, for example, among the
Murices and the Turbines, in which the heart, which is extremely
small, is protected by the thickest part of the shell. In these cases
M.Wedl has also employed the method of pricking in the neighbour-
hood of the sinuses or of some large vessel.
The result of the numerous researches of M. Wedl is to prove the
existence in the Mollusca of a completely closed vascular system,
with capillary networks in the greater part of the organs. The
type of distribution of these is extremely variable, and intimately
connected with the structure. It is thus that in the Murices the
skin of the trunk and of the back is formed of several superposed
layers of muscular fibres, crossed in different directions, and that
several networks of blood-vessels are likewise superposed in these
parts. The vascular networks are superposed in the same manner
in the foot of these Ctenobranchs. In the warty skin of Helix we
find a distinct capillary system for each verrucosity. In all cases
where the skin is very erectile, as in the foot of the Limaces, the
capillary vessels are very large, and embrace very small meshes.
The very erectile part of the mantle presents an extraordinary vas-
cularity with very narrow meshes, whilst that part of the mantle
which envelopes the kidneys and the liver does not present by any
means a like richness. In no part of the skin is there any commu-
nication between the veins and the exterior. Nor do the veins
appear to communicate with the aquiferous vessels. M.Wedl, how-
ever, has not been able to determine whether these last open directly
into the perivisceral cavity, or whether they are distributed only in
the foot.
The digestive organs of the Gasteropoda present great variations
in their intimate structure. Among the Helices and Limaces, the
circulatory system both of the mucous and of the external surface
of the intestine is perfectly closed. There even exists a rich capil-
lary network in the duplicature of the mucous membrane which
encloses the radula. In the liver, which has no portal system, the
bile is secreted by the arterial blood. Some arteries encompass the
acini; the mode of ramification of the vessels is that of a clustered
gland.
The capillary network of the inner surface of the lungs in the
pulmonate Mollusca is one of the richest in the organism, just like
that of the branchie in the Ctenobranchs. We find networks com-
posed of large meshes in the kidneys, around the mucus-glands and
flagellum, and in the seminal capsule (in Heliwv), whilst the albumi-
368 Miscellaneous.
nous and hermaphrodite glands have networks of oval and round
meshes, The eye and the ganglia of Helivw present numerous vas-
cular rings united by anastomoses.
Although the researches of M.Wedl have been confined to a small
number of species, they suffice, however, to show that the doctrines
taught by M. Milne-Edwards with regard to the circulation of the
Mollusca will not hold good of all animals of this class*.—,Svtzungs-
ber. Akad. Wiss. Wien, 1868, ui.; Bibl. Univ. September 15, 1869,
Bull, Sct. pp. 76-80.
Discovery of New and Rare Fossils in the Marl-Slate of Midderidge.
To the Editors. of the Annals and Magazine of Natural History.
GrntLEMEN,—Will you allow me a line in the next Number of
the ‘Annals’ to record the discovery, by Joseph Duff, Esq., of the
following interesting species in the Marl-Slate of Midderidge? viz.:—
two specimens of Proterosaurus Speneri; a specimen of a large reptile
of undetermined genus and species; several examples of Dorypterus
Hoffmann, Germar; four groups of the palatal teeth of Janassa
bituminosa, Schloth., sp. ; a specimen of Acrolepis exsculptus, Minst.;
and the head and teeth, up to the present time unknown, of Acro-
lepis Sedgwicku, Ag., and Calacanthus granulatus, Ag.
With these remarkable novelties were associated numerous remains
of the fishes and plants already figured and described in English
works, and some additional forms of plants not hitherto announced
from the Marl-Slate of England. All these will from time to time
be described in detail in the pages of the ‘ Annals.’
I remain, Gentlemen,
Yours truly,
Ricuarp Howse.
17 Saville Row, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
October 25, 1869,
* Without disparaging the importance of the discovery made by M.
Wedl of the numerous capillary networks in the Gasteropods, we do not
think that the non-existence of vast blood-sinuses, or especially the ab-
sence of communication of the vascular system with the exterior world
in these animals, necessarily follows therefrom. Quite recently we have
ourselves examined the communication of the pericardiac sinus with the
exterior by means of the excretory organ in Phyllirhoé, and we do not
think that the existence of this communication can be for one instant
doubted. This also applies to an analogous arrangement described in the
Pteropoda by M. Gegenbaur and other authors, &c. &c.—E, CLAPAREDE,
THE ANNALS
AND
MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.
[FOURTH SERIES. ]
No. 24. DECEMBER 1869.
XLIV.—List of Coleoptera collected in Vancouver's Island by
Henry and Joseph Matthews, with Descriptions of some
new Species. By Dr. J. L. Leconte, Philadelphia.
By the kindness of my friend the Rev. A. Matthews, I have
been permitted to examine a very interesting series of Coleo-
ptera collected by his brothers Henry and Joseph Matthews in
Vancouver’s Island and British Columbia. Though pertaining
to the same zoological district as Oregon and Washington
Territories, several species not yet obtained from other locali-
ties occur in Messrs. Matthews’s collection; and, what is of
equal interest, several species known from the eastern and
central parts of the continent have been found to extend their
range to the Pacific slope.
Among the former; Zacotus Matthewsii (a magnificent copper-
coloured Broscide, resembling in form Promecoderus, but allied
by generic characters to Miscodera) stands preeminent as one
of the most remarkable additions recently made to the North-
American insect-fauna. Of those which have been found to
extend their western range beyond the limits within which
they were previously known may be mentioned :—Nebria
masta, Psydrus piceus, Platynus cupripennis, P. bembidioides,
Anisodactylus nigrita, Dytiscus Harrisit, Leistotrophus cingu-
latus, Elater apicatus, Corymbites inflatus, Clerus nubilus,
Tricrania Stansburit, Tragosoma Harrisit, Acmcops strigilata,
Callidium janthinum, Monohammus scutellatus, Saperda calea-
rata, Platyrhinus? fasciatus.
The occurrence in a far northern locality of such forms as
Omus Audouinit and Dejeanit, Promecognathus levissimus,
Amara californica, Chlenius harpalinus, Dichirus piceus,
Necrophorus nigrita, Necrophilus hydrophiloides, Odonteus
obesus, Polycaon Stoutit, Celus ciliatus, Calocnemis dilati-
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. iv. Sup -7)
370 Dr. J. L. Leconte on Coleoptera
collis, Ergates spiculatus, and Mesosa Gruewt, all of which are
found on the Pacific slope in more southern regions of Oregon
and California, is an instructive fact, and not without signifi-
cance as indicating a greater uniformity of the climate of the
maritime parts of the continent than has been heretofore sus-
pected.
In conclusion, I would desire to express my most sincere
thanks not only for the privilege of investigating the series of
Messrs. Matthews, but also for the great liberality with which
I have been permitted to select from it such specimens as were
desirable additions to my cabinet.
Omus Audouinii, Reiche.
Dejeanii, Rezche.
Cicindela purpurea, Oliv.
vulgaris, Say (green race).
Elaphrus californicus, Mann.
Blethisa oregonensis, Lec.
acutangula, Chaud.
Loricera 10-punctata, Esch.
Trachypachys inermis, Motsch.
Nebria Mannerheimii, Esch.
meesta, Lee.
Leistus ferruginosus, Mann.
Calosoma tepidum, Lee.
Carabus tedatus, Fab.
Cychrus tuberculatus, Harris.
velutinus, Men.
angusticollis, Fescher,
angulatus, Harris.
marginatus, Dey.
Promecognathus levissimus, Chaud.
Platynus ovipennis (Mann.).
metallescens, Lec.
carbo, Lec.
cupripennis (Say), var.
—— lutulentus, Lee.
strigicollis, Lee.
bembidioides (Kirby).
fraterculus, Lee., n. sp.
Pterostichus herculaneus, Mann.
algidus, Lee.
amethystinus, Mann.
—— longicollis, Lee.
6-punctatus (Mann.).
Holciophorus ater (De/.).
Amara scitula, Zimm.
impuncticollis, Say.
californica, Dej.
Badister anthracinus, Lec.
Chlenius harpalinus, Esch.
Zacotus Matthewsii, Lec., n. sp.
Psydrus piceus, Lec.
Anisodactylus (Dichirus) piceus
(Men.).
nigrita, De). ;
semipunctatus, Lec.
confusus, Lec.
Harpalus cautus, De).
Patrobus fulcratus, Lec., n. sp.
Bembidium simplex (?), Lee.
, 1. sp.
Anisomera recta, Lec., n. sp.
Colymbetes densus, Lec.
Dytiscus parvulus, Mann.
Harrisil, Kirby.
Necrophorus maritimus, Mann., var.
confossor, Lec. ;
nigrita, Mann.
pollinctor, Lec. (nec Mann.).
Silpha lapponica, Herbst.
Necrophilus hydrophiloides, Mann.
Creophilus villosus (Grav.).
Leistotrophus cingulatus (Grav.).
Philonthus californicus, Mann.
, Sp.
Laitpp bic » 8p.
Temnochila viridicyanea, Mann.
Peltis Pippingskéldii, Mann.
Pediacus planus, Lee.
Cucujus puniceus, Mann.
Orphilus subnitidus, Lee.
Platycerus czrulescens, Lec.
Ceruchus striatus, Lec,
Sinodendron rugosum, Mann.
Odontzeus obesus, Lec.
Dichelonycha fulgida, Lee.
Serica anthracina, Lec.
Diplotaxis brevicollis, Lee.
Polyphylla 10-lineata, Lec.
Chaleophora angulicollis, Lee.
Dicerca crassicollis, Zee.
Ancylochira rusticorum, Lec.
—— Langii, Lee.
collected in Vancouver's Island.
Ancylochira lauta, Lec. _
adjecta, Lee,
Melanophila Drummondi (Kirby).
Chrysobothris trinervia (Kirby).
Fornax basalis, Lee.
Epiphanis cornutus, Esch,
Anelastes Latreillei, Lec.
Adelocera rorulenta, Lee.
cavicollis, Lee.
Cardiophorus longulus, Lee.
Cryptohypnus funebris, Cand.
Elater apicatus, Say.
cordifer, Lec.
—— pheenicopterus, Lec,
anthracinus, Lec., n. sp.
Megapenthes stigmosus, Lec.
Dolopius macer, Lec.
Limonius subauratus, Lec.
nitidicollis, Lec., n. sp.
Athous ferruginosus, Esch.
scissus, Lee,
vittiger, Lec,
Sericosomus incongruus, Lee,
Corymbites eripennis, Lee.
carbo, Lee,
—— Suckleyi, Zee.
cruciatus, Linn.
Lee.).
triundulatus (Randall).
—— nubilus, Lee.
—— bombycinus (Germ.).
—— inflatus (Say) =glaucus, Germ.
fraternus, Lec., n, sp.
— eracilior, Lee.
Asaphes morio, Lec.
oregonus, Lec.
Eros hamatus, Mann.
Photinus facula, Lec.
Podabrus comes, Lee.
Trichodes ornatus, Say.
Clerus sphegeus, Fad.
eximius, Mann.
nubilus, Lee.
Polycaon Stoutii, Lec.
Cioide, sp.
Phellopsis porcata, Lec.
Ceelus ciliatus, Esch.
Coniontis ovalis, Lec.
Eleodes producta, Mann.
Ccelocnemis dilaticollis, Mann.
Iphthimus serratus (Mann.).
elops leetus, Lee.
Dendroides ephemeroides (Mann.).
Phryganophilus collaris, Lec.
Meloé montanus, Lec.
(race festivus,
371
Tricrania Stansburii (Hald.).
Ditylus gracilis, Lee,
Asclera nigra, Lec., n. Sp.
Priognathus monilicornis (Rand.).
Dyslobus decoratus, Lec., n. sp.
granicollis, Lec., n. sp,
Phyllobius ?, sp.
Alophus didymus, Lee.
Hylobius ? teeniatus, Lee.
Plinthus carinatus, Mann.
Pissodes costatus, Mann.
Rhyncolus, sp.
Platyrhinus ? fasciatus (Oliv.).
Ergates (Trichocnemis) spiculatus,
Lee. ,
Tragosoma Harrisii, Lec,
Asemum atrum, Hald,
? asperum, Lee.
Criocephalus productus, Lee.
Tetropium velutinnm, Lec., n. sp.
Ulochztes leoninus, Lec.
Necydalis levicollis, Zec., n. sp.
Rhagium lineatum, Oliv.
investigator, Mann.
Toxotus flavolineatus, Lec.
spurcus, Lec.
vestitus, Hald.
Acmeops strigilata (Fabr.).
Leptura cribripennis, Lee.
sanguinea, Lee,
dehiscens, Lee,
—— valida, Lee.
chrysocoma, Kirby.
— leta, Lee.
—— fasciventris, Lee.
—— quadrillum, Lee.
dolorosa, Lec.
obliterata (Hald.).
—— Matthewsii, Lec., n. sp.
fuscicollis, Lee.
scripta, Lec., n, sp.
Clytus undulatus, Say.
Sayi, Lap.
Rosalia funebris, Motsch.
Callidium janthinum, Lec. (race),
—— dimidiatum, Kirby.
—— vulneratum, Lec.
—— (Semanotus) ligneum, Fabr.
Atimia dorsalis, Zee., n. sp.
Plectrura spinicauda, Mann.
Mesosa Guexii, Lec.
Monohammus scutellatus
Say.
Saperda calcarata, Say.
Adimonia externa (Say).
27*
(race),
372 Dr. J. L. Leconte on Coleoptera
New or remarkable Species.
CYCHRUS.
Cychrus angulatus, Harris, Bost. Journ. Nat. Hist.
The recovery of this remarkable species, the type of which
has disappeared, enables me to add some characters to those
briefly indicated by Dr. Harris. The thorax is much more
polished and convex than in any other species found on the
Pacific slope of America, and is very narrowly margined and
deeply channelled; the sides are distinctly angulated in front
of the middle, oblique towards the tip, strongly sinuate to-
wards the base, the angles of which are rectangular and pro-
minent; the transverse impressions are deep, the basal ones
well marked, not punctured. The elytra are elongate-oval,
narrower than in ventricosus, but sculptured in nearly the
same manner, with sixteen deeply impressed, closely punctured
strie, of which the two outermost are confused.
The head is obtusely elevated in the middle, and narrowly
carinate at each side above the insertion of the antennz, the
carine extending along the superior margin of the eyes, and
bending around their hind margin; the first joint of the an-
tenn is stouter than in C. ventricosus, but neither as thick
nor as long as in C. cristatus. 'The feet of the specimen (a
female) are proportioned as in C. ventricosus.
Cychrus tuberculatus, Harris, Bost. Journ. Nat. Hist.
The specimen submitted to me by Mr. Matthews is much
larger (23 millims. long) and stouter than those in my collec-
tion, and is therefore evidently a female: this species is there-
fore to be placed among those in which the anterior tarsi are
not dilated in the male nor furnished beneath with brushes of
hair. It differs from all the other species, not only by the
peculiar sculpture (scabrous upon the head and thorax, tuber-
culated upon the elytra), but by the antennz being shorter,
scarcely more than half the length of the body, with the first
and third joints equal in length, and the second but little
shorter; the labrum is scarcely longer than wide, and less
deeply bilobed than usual. The palpi of the male are more
broadly securiform than those of the female.
PLATYNUS.
Platynus ovipennis (Mann.).
This species, rare in California, has not been heretofore
found in the more northern regions. It is easily distinguished
collected in Vancouver's Island. Bia
by the regularly oval, deeply striate elytra, without distinct
humeral angles, though the base is slightly emarginate, and
the basal fold meets the margin in a well-defined angle; the
dorsal punctures are three—the first on the third, the other
two on the second stria ; the wings are not developed. The
prothorax is quadrate-ovate, narrowed behind, scarcely wider
than long, with the sides strongly but not widely margined,
and subsinuate behind; the hind angles rectangular, not rounded
in five specimens, feebly rounded in a sixth; the base is trun-
cate, finely margined, somewhat oblique at the sides near the
angles; the transverse impressions are well marked, and the
basal impressions are deep and not punctured. The under
surface of the joints of the front tarsi of the g are clothed
with long golden-yellow hair; the front tarsi are without
grooves; the middle and hind tarsi have a distinct exterior,
but no interior groove.
Z Platynus fraterculus, n. sp.
Aineo-niger, nitidus, alatus ; prothorace rotundato-quadrato, postice
paulo angustiore, latitudine vix breviore, lateribus et basi late
rotundatis, margine laterali anguste reflexo, angulis posticis ob-
tusis, subrotundatis, licet sat distinctis, basi utrinque late im-
pressa et subtiliter rugosa; elytris clongato-ovalibus, thorace
paulo latioribus, striis subtilibus haud punctatis, punctis 3 dor-
salibus, 14¥° in 2%, alteris in stria 3* sitis.
Long. 7 millim.
One female. This species appears more nearly allied to P.
Harristi, Lec., than to any other in my collection, but differs
by its much smaller size and by the absence of the impression
near the posterior end of the fifth stria. It resembles in the
form of the prothorax P. frater, Lec.*, but is smaller, and has
the second dorsal puncture on the second stria, while in that
species it is on the third.
_’ Zacotus, nov. gen. (Broscini).
, Gacotus Matthewsii.
Supra purpureo-cupreus, nitidus, subtus niger; capite obscure cu-
preo, fronte profunde impresso, lateribus et inter oculos valde ru-
goso ; prothorace convexo, ovato, latitudine paulo longiore, postice
angustato et pedunculato, lateribus versus basin sinuatis, linea dor-
sali profunda, impressionibus transversis parum distinctis; disco
* Tam informed by Baron Chaudoir that P. frater, Lec., is the same
as Agonum brevicolle, De}. iii. 159. The latter, however, is described as
having four dorsal punctures, while in many specimens of P. frater which
I have examined I perceive but three. I am therefore inclined to believe
that Dejean’s species is only an individual variation of P. fossiger.
374 Dr. J. L. Leconte on Coleoptera
toto transversim rugoso, basi punctato ; elytris elongato-ovalibus,
convexis, thorace haud latioribus, striis subtilibus subpunctatis,
interstitiis vage impressis, parce subtiliter rugosis, basi virescenti-
bus, stria scutellari distincta puncto magno notata.
Long. 18 millim., lat. 5:5 millim.
I have seen but one badly preserved female of this most
interesting addition to the North-American fauna. It evi-
dently belongs to a different genus from any mentioned by
Mr. Putzeys in his Synopsis of Broscini (Stettin. Ent. Zeitung,
1868, p. 306); but the palpi are wanting, and only a few
joints of the antenne and tarsi remain. I am therefore
unable to characterize the genus any further than to say that
it resembles somewhat in form Promecoderus, and that its
place in the tabular arrangement of Mr. Putzeys would be in
(aa, 9g), probably next to Miscodera and Broscosoma. The
mentum-tooth is moderately large, slightly rounded, and is
scarcely perceptibly impressed at tip; the temporal suture is
not visible. he first dorsal stria commences on the peduncle
of the elytra, as in Miscodera; the scutellar stria is connected
at the base with the second stria, and is marked at its hinder
end with a large puncture. The first four joints of the an-
tennz are glabrous.
It gives me much pleasure to dedicate this very beautiful
species to the enterprising explorers to whose energy and per-
severance during the many privations to which travellers in
North-western America are exposed we owe the valuable
collection which forms the subject of the present memoir.
PATROBUS.
_ Patrobus fulcratus.
Niger, nitidus, depressus ; capite profunde biimpresso ; prothorace
quadrato-cordato, latitudine paulo breviore, postice modice angu-
stato, lateribus rotundatis, anguste reflexis, versus basin late
sinuatis, angulis posticis rectis, basi medio late emarginato, utrin-
que vix obliquo, foveis basalibus latis profundis, dense punctulatis,
carina angulari vix distincta, linea dorsali profunda; elytris
elongatis, parallelis, striis haud profundis vix punctulatis, 3°
punctis 3 dorsalibus notata; trochanteribus posticis elongatis,
maris acutis.
Long. 115 millim.
One pair. In the male the hind trochanters are about half
as long as the thighs, and nearly acute at tip; in the female
scarcely shorter, and rounded at the tip.
This species belongs to a group thus far found only in
Western North America, distinguished by the great length of
the hind trochanters. In the depressed form of the body and
collected in Vancouver's Island. 375
parallel elongate elytra, they resemble in appearance P. angi-
collis, Randall, and P. aterrimus, Esch., but differ by the eyes
being less prominent, the head less narrowed behind, and the
hind angles of the prothorax less prominent; the third and
fourth joints of the front tarsi of the g are scarcely narrower
than the first and second, but, as in other species, are not fur-
nished beneath with papille ; in both sexes the front tarsi are
broader and furnished beneath with more abundant long golden
hairs than in the typical Patrobus, and the fourth joint is very
distinctly emarginate.
Three species of this group are known to me, agreeing
closely in form and sculpture, but differing chiefly in size,
form of prothorax, and length of trochanters. 'They may be
distinguished as follows :—
Patrobus trochantericus.—Prothorax scarcely wider than
long, very slightly narrowed at base, sides feebly rounded in
front of the middle, and slightly sinuate behind; hind angles
rectangular, slightly dentiform, base broadly emarginate at the
middle, oblique and subsinuate at each side near the angles;
basal impressions broad, punctulate, not very deep; carina of
angle feeble, limited by a distinct but short impression: hind
trochanters of male nearly as long as the femur, much at-
tenuated beyond the middle, and extremely narrow and sharp
at the tip; of the female nearly half as long as the femur,
rounded at tip. Length 13-14 millims. Fort Crook, Northern
California (Dr. G. H. Horn).
Patrobus californicus, Motsch. Bull. Mose. 1859, ii. 123.—
Of the same size and general form as the preceding; but the
basal impressions of the thorax are shallower, more distinctly
punctured, and the carina and impression near the angle are
wanting ; the base is much more oblique at each side, and the
angle is more dentiform. The male is unknown to me. The
hind trochanters of the female are as in the preceding, nar-
rowed towards the tip, which is rounded, and are about half
the length of the femur. California (Col. Motschulsky).
Patrobus fulcratus, Lec., above described, differing by the
deeper basal impressions of the prothorax, by the base being
scarcely oblique on each side, by the angles, which are less pro-
minent though more rectangular, and by the less elongated
and less attenuated hind trochanters of the male.
ANISOMERA.
_ Anisomera recta.
Elongato-ovalis, eneo-nigra, subtiliter dense reticulata ; prothorace
longitudine plus triplo latiore, postice subangustato, lateribus an-
376 Dr. J. L. Leconte on Coleoptera
tice late rotundatis, versus basin paulo obliquis vix subsinuatis,
angulis posticis rectis, basi truncato; elytris thorace vix latiori-
bus, utrinque seriebus tribus punctorum solitis, externa minus
distincta.
Long. 10 millim.
One male. The first three joints of the front tarsi are
clothed beneath with an elongate oval brush of dense hairs.
This species differs remarkably from A. cordata by the pro-
thorax being scarcely perceptibly narrowed behind ; it, in fact,
resembles in miniature a Colymbetes of the group Meladema;
but the ungues of the hind feet are equal and moveable, and
much longer and more divergent than in Agabus—precisely,
in fact, as in Anisomera cordata.
PLATYCERUS.
Platycerus coerulescens, Lec. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad.
1861, p. 345.
A remarkably well-developed ¢ (14 millims. long excluding
the mandibles) 1s contained in Mr. Matthews’s collection: it is
much larger than the type, which was found at Fort Tejon,
California, but agrees with it in form and sculpture; it is
easily distinguished from P. guercus by the beautiful purple-
blue colour of the elytra, by the tooth on the upper edge of
the mandibles near the tip being prominent, and by the apex
not being dilated and subserrate, as in that species, but only
slightly emarginate.
CERUCHUS.
Ceruchus striatus, Lec. Proc. Ac. Nat. Sc. 1859, p. 55.
The only male of this species I have seen is one of the
valuable acquisitions of Mr. Matthews: it is larger (16°5
millims. long) than C. ptceus, as might have been anticipated
from the larger size of the female; the elytral strie are very
strongly marked, as in the female, and the intervals convex
and coarsely punctured; the frontal excavation is much
smaller and more anterior than in C. piceus 6; the mandibles
are stouter, more curved, and the tooth at the middle of the
upper edge is very much broader, its base extending nearly to
the base of the mandible. In both sexes the middle thighs
are furnished beneath with a large patch of long yellow hair ;
and in the male the middle tibiz are also clothed with long
yellow hair on the inner face from the middle to the tip—
characters not observed in C. piceus, which has in those places
only a few scattered hairs.
A fine male specimen, collected in El Dorado, co. Cala.,
collected in Vancouver's Island. ore
agrees with the one above described in having the under sur-
face of the middle femora and the inner surface of the middle
tibize clothed with long hair, but differs in the frontal excava-
tion being triangular, much larger and broader, the prothorax
much more strongly punctured, and especially by the elytral
strie being very fine, the outer ones obsolete, and the intervals
perfectly flat and coarsely punctured. The tooth of the man-
dibles rises nearly perpendicularly about one-third from the
tip; the angle is nearly rectangular, and the upper edge nearly
horizontal, extending nearly to the base, giving the appear-
ance of a curved inner outline and great breadth to the hind
part of the mandible. .
These characters seem to indicate a distinct species, to which
I would give the name of C. punctatus.
ODONTAUS.
Odontceus obesus, Lec.
One well-developed male (10 millims. long). On account
of the resemblance of sculpture, I refer it to this species, of
which the female only was previously known to me by asingle
Californian specimen. ‘The clypeus is more obtusely rounded
in front than in the two species of Eastern America, filicornis
and cornigerus, and somewhat less coarsely punctured; the
horn is long and slender, as in them; the prothorax is similar
in form, except that it is perhaps a little shorter and more
narrowed in front; the medial excavation is broader than in
cornigerus and almost as in filicornis ; the anterior declivity is
sparsely punctured, much less so than in the one last named ;
the lateral elevations are longitudinal and laminiform, as in
that species, but the excavations at their base are smaller,
more deeply indented and subtriangular, and the crest of the
elevation, instead of being broadly rounded in the arc of a
circle, is very distinctly and nearly rectangularly angulated
and perpendicularly declivous in front. I may mention, in
order that the three species may be readily distinguished by
the notes here given, that this lateral elevation in O. filicornis
is merely a subacute tubercle or cusp, and that the dorsal
groove is deeper, narrower, and more strongly punctured.
The females of these species are scarcely to be distinguished,
except by minute differences in form and sculpture, which are
not very obvious without comparison.
CARDIOPHORUS.
Cardiophorus longulus, Lec.
Well-preserved specimens of this species are clothed with a
378 Dr. J. L. Leconte on Coleoptera
fine cinereous pubescence, as in C. gagates, from which it
differs chiefly by its less convex prothorax and elytra, and less
rounded sides of prothorax.
ELATER.
ipa Elater anthracinus.
Niger, nitidus ; pube brevi suberecta nigra parce vestitus, prothorace
latitudine longiore, antice angustiore, angulis posticis elongatis,
fortiter carinatis; disco convexo, fortiter sat dense punctato,
punctis haud umbilicatis; elytris striis punctatis, interstitiis vix
convexis, punctatis, et transversim subrugosis; tarsis picels ; an-
tennarum articulis 2¢ et 3° conjunctis sequente paulo longi-
oribus, hoe 2? yix latiore.
Long. 10 millim.
One pair. In the male the prothorax is narrowed from the
base to the apex, with the sides broadly and obliquely rounded ;
in the female the sides are nearly parallel behind the middle,
then rounded to the tip, and the elytra are more obtuse behind
than in the male. This species is allied to #. carbonicolor,
but is much larger, the prothorax is more strongly punctured,
and the third joint of the antenne is narrower. It also ap-
proaches very nearly to an Alaskan specimen of EL. nigrinus,
which, however, has the hind angles of the thorax acutely,
not feebly carinate, as described by Candéze, Hlat. i. 475 ;
it differs by its larger size and greater length of the third
joint of the antenne, which is distinctly longer than the
second, and by the somewhat more elongate form, longer hind
angles of the thorax, and black antenne and feet.
LIMONIUS.
_Limonius nitidicollis.
Nigro-zeneus, nitidus, parce breviter nigro pubescens ; fronte apice
late rotundato, margine anguste reflexo, inter antennas bum-
presso ; capite thoraceque parce distincte punctatis, hoc latitudine
paulo longiore, antice vix angustiore, convexo, angulis posticis
acutis, reflexis, carina breyi margini approximata, minus con-
spicua, basi medio brevissime canaliculato ; elytris striis subtili-
bus impunctatis, interstitiis planis, biseriatim punctatis ; anten-
narum articulis 24 et 3' equalibus, conjunctis 4'° paulo longi-
oribus.
Long. 6 millim.
One pair. Similar in size and form to L. quercinus, but
very different by the characters given above, and rather
allied to L. aurifer, Lec., though quite distinct from that
species.
collected in Vancouver's Island. 379
CORYMBITES.
Corymbites triundulatus, Lec. Trans. Am. Phil. Soc. x. 457 ;
Candéze, Elat. iv. 145.
Elater triundulatus, Randall, Bost. Journ. Nat. Hist. ii. 12.
A female specimen, much larger (11 millims. long) than
those from Lake Superior and Maine, but which does not
differ from them in form and sculpture. The middle angu-
lated dark band is equidistant between the other two, instead
of being nearer to the hinder one as in our eastern specimens;
Ido not think that this is a sufficient character to establish
it as a distinct species, although the prothorax seems to be a
little broader.
_ Corymbites fraternus.
Obscure eeneus, nitidus, pube cinerea longiuscula vestitus ; prothorace
latitudine longiore, fortiter sat dense punctato, angulis posticis
elongatis, obliquis at vix divaricatis, breviter carinatis; elytris
striis angustis vix punctatis, interstitiis planis, punctatis; anten-
nis pedibusque piceis vel piceo-ferrugineis, illis articulo 3% se-
cundo paulo longiore at vix latiore, conjunctis 4'° haud longioribus.
Long. 15-17 millim.
One pair. In the male the prothorax is gradually narrowed
and feebly rounded on the sides from the base to the apex ; in
the female the body is more robust, the sides of the prothorax
are nearly parallel behind, and more strongly rounded before
the middle.
This species is very closely allied to the Alaskan C. angus-
tacollis, but differs chiefly by the hind angles of the prothorax,
which are not so narrow and are scarcely divaricated.
ASCLERA.
_7Asclera nigra.
Cyaneo-nigra, opaca, brevissime pubescens; prothorace obovato,
postice angustato, latitudine vix longiore, dense punctulato, apice
subsinuato, basi late rotundato, apice subconstricto, lateribus
medio rotundatis, postice late sinuatis, disco subtiliter punctulato,
foveis tribus latis impresso, ante medium subcarinato; elytris
confertissime punctatis, lineis utrinque tribus angustis elevatis.
Long. 9 millim.
One specimen. Resembles somewhat the European A.
cerulea, but differs by the much deeper excavations of the pro-
thorax: it agrees in form and sculpture with the Californian
A, excavata, Lec.; but the thorax in that species is rufous,
more elongate, and much less punctured than in the present
one.
380 Dr. J. L. Leconte on Coleoptera
Dys.osus, Lec.
I have associated under this name several species found in
Western North America which belong to the tribe EKremnini
of the Oxyophthalm Adelognath Curculionide, according to
the arrangement of Prof. Lacordaire. They differ from the
other genera known to me by the following assemblage of
characters :—
Rostrum slightly dilated at tip, rather thick, flattened above,
feebly carinate, with the apical lobes divergent; postocular
lobes of thorax more or less ciliate, and very feebly developed,
though still quite apparent. The general appearance is that
of Otiorhynchus, from which this genus differs by the form of
the eyes, narrowed and angulated beneath, by the less elon-
gated scape of the antennz, and the postocular thoracic lobes.
To this genus belong :—
Otiorhynchus segnis, Lec.
/ Dyslobus granicollis.
Niger, squamulis griseis et fuscis dense vestitus et breviter brunneo
pubescens; thorace latitudine paulo longiore, antice vix angus-
tiore, lateribus rotundatis, apice et basi subtruncatis vix rotun-
datis, angulis omnibus obtusis, dorso transversim convexo, dense
subtilius rugose punctato et granulato; elytris convexis, ovalibus,
thorace duplo latioribus, apice valde declivibus, striis haud im-
pressis e punctis magnis compositis, interstitiis 3°, 54, et 7 paulo
elevatis et maculis obscuris variegatis.
Long. 10 millim.
Vancouver’s Island and Puget Sound (Mr. G. Davidson).
The beak is a little longer than the head, not narrower than
the front, nearly parallel on the sides, very feebly dilated at
tip ; upper surface flattened, carinate from the base to between
the antenne, where the carina ends in an elongate fovea.
The antennal grooves are short and oblique; and under them
on each side is a strongly impressed oblique line, nearly
uniting in the gular transverse impression. The front is broadly
transversely impressed at the base of the rostrum. The scales
of the occiput are tinged with metallic colours. The prothorax
is scarcely one-half wider than the head, a little longer than
its width, broadly rounded on the sides, very feebly rounded
and nearly truncate at base and tip; the surface is densely
rugosely punctured, and between the scales presents small
shining granules. ‘The elytra are nearly twice as wide as the
thorax, and about twice as long as their width, oval, convex,
very declivous behind; the striz are composed of large shal-
low punctures, not closely placed; and the third, fifth, and
seventh intervals are slightly elevated and darker in colour.
collected in Vancouver's Island. 381
The scape of the antennz is slender and extends to the back
part of the eyes; the funiculus is slender, and longer than the
scape; the first and second joints are equal and elongate, the
third is two-thirds as long as the second, the fourth, fifth, and
sixth equal, each a little shorter than the third, the seventh a
little longer ; club elongate-oval, acute at tip. The first ven-
tral suture is distinct and straight, the second and third are
deeply exarate; the last ventral segment is convex towards
the tip, and the extreme tip is carinated and acute.
In D. segnis the third joint of the funiculus of the antennze
is scarcely shorter than the second, the carina of the rostrum
is very feeble, almost obsolete, and the lateral oblique lines
below the antennal grooves are entirely wanting.
pr Dyslobus decoratus.
Niger, squamis obscure argenteis et cupreo-fuscis variegatus, parce
breviter pubescens, rostro subcarinato; thorace latitudine haud
longiore, antice subangustato, lateribus rotundatis, apice basique
fere truncatis, angulis omnibus obtusis, disco transversim convexo,
profunde rugose punctato et granulato ; elytris thorace latioribus,
elongato-ovalibus, apice rotundatim valde declivibus, striis e
punctis magnis magis approximatis compositis.
Long. 7 millim.
Vancouver’s Island.
Smaller and somewhat more robust than D. granicollis, but
apparently congeneric with it; the carina of the rostrum is
more feeble, and does not end in an anterior elongate fovea ;
the lateral oblique lines below the antennal grooves are dis-
tinct ; the funiculus of the antenne is rather stouter, and the
third joint is not longer than the following, which are nearly
as broad as they are long; the elytral striz are feebly impressed
and composed of more approximate large punctures.
Two other species of this genus are before me—one from
Oregon, one from California, which await description when a
general synopsis of the Curculionide of the United States is
prepared.
Tyloderes? gemmatus, Lec.
is related to Dyslobus, but differs by the beak being more
slender, much more dilated at tip, and by the antennal grooves
being longer and deeper. The first and second joints of the
funiculus are elongate, the third to the seventh are nearly equal
in length, except that the fifth is a little shorter. The postocular
lobes of the prothorax are equally broad, but more prominent
and less fimbriate. The first ventral suture is deep, and feebly
convex forwards at the middle; the other three are stfaight
382 Dr. J. L. Leconte on Coleoptera
and deeply exarate; the last ventral segment is not convex,
nor subearinate at tip. ‘The thorax and elytra are studded
with scattered, large, polished granules or small tubercles, and
the strie are not apparent. These differences are apparently
generic; but I am unwilling at present to do more than pro-
pose the name Phymatinus, and to indicate it as probably be-
longing to the group Phytoscaphi, Lac. Gen. vi. 229.
In all the species here mentioned, the apical cavities (cor-
beilles) of the hind tibiee are broad, oblique, acutely margined
and open at their upper limit; and the antennal grooves,
though oblique, are not directed below the inferior angle of
the eyes. They also all belong to a great division of Curculio-
nide (embracing the greater part of Lacordaire’s Adélognathes,
with some of the short-beaked Phanérognathes, such as Hu-
diagogus, among our North-American forms), which exhibits
a remarkable character, not known in any other group of Co-
leoptera: the mandibles of the freshly developed imago have .
acute pyramidal appendages, which are deciduous, and leave
a well-defined scar on the most anterior part of the convex
outer surface of the organ. ‘This peculiar structure has been
mentioned by Lacordaire (Gen. vi. p. 5, note), but without
attributing to it the importance which such an extraordinary
character, common to a large number of genera, and without
parallel in any other part of the series, seems to deserve. I
have placed, in an unfinished continuation of my ‘ Classification
of the Coleoptera of North America,’ all such forms together
as a subfamily, under the name Brachyderide. Sttones and
allied forms do not belong to this type, as the mandibles are not
provided with the deciduous appendage, nor does the mentum
cover the base of the maxillee.
TETROPIUM, Kirby.
- Tetropium velutinum.
Nigro-piceum, opacum, subtiliter sericeo pubescens ; prothorace lati-
tudine haud breviore, lateribus fortiter rotundatis, disco confertis-
sime punctulato, sulco dorsali lato profundo, linea levi polita
versus basin notato; elytris basi nonnunquam piceo-ferrugineis.
Long. 125-20 millim.
Four female specimens from Vancouver’s Island, Oregon,
and California differ from 7. cinnamopterum, Kirby, found in
Eastern America, by the prothorax being not wider than long,
and more finely and densely punctulate. his difference ap-
pears to me to be specific, though I have not studied the group
with a sufficient number of specimens to give my opinion much
value:
collected in Vancouver's Island. 383
NECYDALIS.
7 Necydalis levicollis.
Capite thoraceque nigris, hoc latitudine paulo longiore, convexo, ni-
tido, fere impunctato, dorso vix canaliculato, antice posticeque
transversim impresso, lateribus medio late rotundatis utrinque vix
subsinuatis ; elytris obscure ferrugineis, rugose punctulatis, apice
piceis et transversim profunde impressis ; abdomine supra piceo,
infra ferrugineo, pectore nigro; pedibus obscure ferrugineis; an-
tennis nigro-piceis.
Long. 16 millim.
One specimen. Differs from N. mellitus of Eastern America
by the more robust and nearly smooth prothorax, which is
scarcely sinuated on the sides, and by the elytra being much
more deeply impressed near the tip.
LEPTURA.
Leptura fuscicollis, Lec. Pac. R.R. Expl. & Surveys,
Ins. p. 65.
Elongata, eneo-nigra; capite thoraceque confertissime subtiliter punc-
tatis, hoc transyersim profunde bis constricto, lateribus medio an-
gulatis, dorso canaliculato et linea levi notato; elytris basi thorace
latioribus, ab humeris sensim angustatis, apice rotundatis, vix
subtruncatis, confertim fortiter punctatis, pube brevissima parce
vestitis, nigris, margine laterali, basali et apicali vittaque angusta
dorsali testacea ornatis ; pedibus fuscis, femoribus rufis, anticis
supra, posterioribus apice fuscis.
Long. 12 millim.
Variat testacea, subeenea, capite thoraceque fusco-eneis, elytris
vitta lata submarginali paulo obscuriore. (Lec. Pac. R.R. Expl.
and Surveys, Ins. p. 65.)
A fully matured specimen from Vancouver’s Island evi-
dently belongs to the same species as the pale-coloured speci-
men from California previously described by me. It is allied
to the Alaskan L. Frankenhaeusert and macilenta, and, apart
from differences in the colour, which I regard as of no impor-
tance, only differs from them by the larger size, and the convex
part of the disk of the prothorax not being foveate on each
side of the dorsal channel.
The two larger specimens are both females, and differ from
the male types of the Alaskan species by the more slender and
less elongated antenne, and by the more distinctly emarginated
eyes. I am inclined, in view of the great differences in colour
observed in certain species of Acmaops, to regard these three
forms as merely varieties of one species. They belong to a
384 Dr. J. L. Leconte on Coleoptera
group of the genus which, from the slender outline and the
peculiar conformation of the prothorax, bears a strong resem-
blance in miniature to Toxotus.
I may further observe that the elytra of the specimen above
described may be equally well said to be pale, with a broad
black sutural stripe, and a broad black dorsal vitta extending
from the humeri nearly to the tip.
_, Leptura scripta.
Elongata, fusca, parce pubescens; capite thoraceque confertim subtilius
punctatis, hoe apice angustiore, tubulatim profunde constricto ;
basi transversim impresso, lateribus medio rotundatis, subangulatis,
antice posticeque concayvis, angulis posticis haud prolongatis ;
elytris fortius punctatis, thorace latioribus, parallelis, apice rotun-
datis subtruncatis, pallide testaceis, lituris nigris ornatis (viz.
striga angusta discoidali a basi fere ad medium extensa, macula
laterali duplici ad medium, alterisque duabus approximatis ad do-
drantem, exteriore submarginali); antennis pedibusque testaceis,
femoribus posticis extrorsum late infuscatis.
Long. 10 millim.
One female. Belongs to the same group as L. sphericollis,
and related in form and sculpture to L. awrata, but quite dis-
tinct by the peculiar coloration. The black markings of the
elytra above mentioned are a narrow line extending from the
base to about the middle, slightly oblique and gradually nar-
rowed behind, a lateral or submarginal spot at the middle,
composed of two confluent spots, and an imperfect band behind
the middle, half way between the spot just described and the
tip; this band is composed of an elongate submarginal spot
and a smaller discoidal one; there is, besides, a very faint
fuscous cloud on the side margin near the base: the scutellum
and the suture for a short distance are also black.
‘Leptura Matthewsii.
Nigra, pubescens ; elytris a basi paulo angustatis, confertim subtilius
punctatis, flavo-testaceis, apice late et macula magna pone medium
ad marginem extensa nigro-piceis, apice singulatim rotundatis ru-
fescentibus ; prothorace latitudine breviore, apice valde angustato
et fortiter tubulatim constricto, lateribus obtuse angulatis, pone
medium fere parallelis, angulis posticis brevibus acutis, basi late
bisinuato, disco confertissime fortiter punctato, ante basin profunde
transversim impresso.
Long. 20 millim., lat. 7 millim.
One female. Somewhat related to L. cordifera, but much
larger, therefore resembling L. obliterata and vitiosa, which,
collected in Vancouver's Island. 385
however, belong to a different group, having the elytra biden-
tate at tip. This species differs conspicuously from Z. cordi-
Jera and its allies by the tubular constriction of the apex of
the thorax being very well marked and longer than usual, and
by the base being less prolonged at the middle and more
broadly bisinuate ; the posterior impression extends entirely
across the base, and is very strongly marked and nearly
straight.
In the name of this fine and conspicuous species I desire to
commemorate the labours of Messrs. Henry and Joseph
Matthews, who, inspired by the same love of science to which
we owe many valuable memoirs in entomological literature by
their brother, the Rev. A. Matthews, have with great zeal ex-
plored the wildernesses of British Columbia and Vancouver’s
Island, and, in fact, have obtained the best material yet pro-
cured for a study of the distribution of species in those regions,
which remain, in a scientific sense, the most unexplored por-
tions of North America.
AtimiA, Hald.
_z Atimia dorsalis.
Nigro-picea, pube brevi depressa fulvo-sordida dense vestita ; thorace
latitudine vix breviore, quadrato, ad apicem subito angustato,
lateribus haud rotundatis, modice punctato, vitta dorsali lata sub-
nuda; elytris antice parce punctulatis, vitta denudata sub-
suturali pone medium extrorsum bidentata, et sensim angustata
notatis.
Long. 10 millim.
Vancouver’s Island. A. specimen was also collected in
Southern California by Dr. G. H. Horn.
This species is very closely related to A. confusa (Clytus
confusus, Say, A. trastis, Hald.), but differs by the prothorax
being less transverse, almost quadrate, and scarcely rounded
at the sides, except near the apex, where it is suddenly nar-
rowed: the arrangement of the denuded spots is somewhat
similar; but the sides of the thoracic vitta are straight and the
elytral spots are confluent, forming a vitta extending nearly
to the tip, with two external dilatations—one at the middle,
the other at the extremity; the tip of the elytra is more
squarely truncate, and the general form a little less robust
than in A. confusa.
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. iv. 28
386 Messrs. Jones, Parker, and Kirkby on the
XLV.—On the Nomenclature of the Foraminifera. By Prof.
T. Rupert Jones, F.G.S., W. K. ParKer, F.R.S., and
J. W. Kirxsy, Esq.
[Plate XIIL.]
Part XIII. The Permian Trochammina pusilla and tts Allies*.
§ J. A minute serpuloid fossil occurring abundantly in the
Permian Limestone of the British Islands and Germany at-
tracted the notice of paleontologists twenty years ago. Its
tubular and variously contorted shell suggested an Annelidan
relationship, though its minute size seemed to contradict that
notion. Prof. W. King had, however, from the first, formed the
idea of its being related to the Foraminifera; but no near ally
among the existing Rhizopods was recognized until 1856,
when one of us referred it to “ Spzrillina,” which was then
supposed to include both opaque and transparent monothala-
mous shells, either discoidal or twisted t. In 1857 all these
together were spoken of as “the Spiriliine [hyaline], Cornu-
spire [opaque], and their allies,” common in the recent and
the fossil state, and as including the minute fossils from the
Magnesian Limestone that we have here to treat of (Ann.
Nat. Hist. ser. 2. vol. xix. p. 285, & note). Further distinc-
tions had been made by 1860, when the opaque forms were
subdivided—some left to Cornuspira and others placed with
Trochammina, the little Permian fossil being provisionally
referred to the latter (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xvi. p. 805,
note). A similar intimation of its alliance is given in Carpen-
ter’s ‘Introd. Foram.’ (Ray Soc.), 1862, p. 142, and in the
‘Monograph of the Foraminifera of the Crag’ (Palzeont. Soc.),
1866, p. 26. Finally, one of the varieties of this protean
Microzoan is so much like a J/iliola that one of. us referred to
it, a few years back, as Miliola? pusillat.
§ II. Frequently this little fossil occurs as casts in the lime-
stone (as at Humbleton, near Sunderland), and most usually
as an oblong coil of white, calcareous, subcylindrical, wire-
like folds, with appreciable intervals, especially between the
larger, outer folds. A central, irregularly twisted, tubular
mass, of about =!; inch in diameter, is enclosed in eight or
nine outer folds; these are flat or slightly concave on their
* The last Part of this Series of Papers was inadvertently entitled
“Part X. (continued)” instead of “Part XII.” See Ann, Nat. Hist.
ser. 3. vol. xvi. p. 15.
+ In 1854 the discoidal forms alone were referred by one of us (in
Morris’s ‘ Catal. Brit. Foss.’ 2nd. edit. p. 42) to “ Spirillina.”
{ ‘Synopsis of the Geology of Durham and part of Northumberland,’
by R. Howse and J. W. Kirkby, p. 18, 8vo, Newcastle, 1863.
Nomenclature of the Foraminifera. 387
inner and convex on their outer face, and are arranged longi-
tudinally, not all on the same plane, but, with the exception
of the outermost folds (which are more nearly parallel), cross-
ing one another at the extremities of the coil at various angles.
The size of the folds gradually increases from within outwards,
but is subject to irregularities sometimes suggestive of periodic
constrictions or undeveloped segmentation. The whole fossil
is about =; inch long, and ;!; in breadth and thickness.
Shelled specimens of this kind are abundant in the Magnesian
Limestone of Yorkshire (“‘ Lower Limestone,” in an old quarry
beside an inn called the Hampole Inn), and in the Zechstein
of Germany at many places. It is this form which was
noticed by Geinitz under the name of Serpula pusilla, and by
King as Foraminites serpuloides,
III. These irregularly coiled varieties are accompanied by
others that have a more discoidal arrangement of the whorls,
which, in this case, fold over and over on one plane or nearly
s0, making a flatter shell, more or less oval, and leading us as
it were to the regularly discoidal narrow-whorled form which
was described by one of us, in 1850, as a “ Spirillina” (in
King’s ‘ Monograph of Permian Fossils,’ p. 18). The speci-
men then referred to was from Tunstall Hill, near Sunderland;
others have been met with in the Lower Magnesian Limestone
of Langton, co. Durham, and elsewhere.
§ IV. Another form of the same kind of shell as the first-
mentioned (§ II.) has thicker folds, arranged more flatly on
one plane, in an oblong coil, and enveloping one another on
their edges, but sometimes showing, on the flatter faces, parts
of the early whorls, and thus much resembling some Milioline
shells. This is especially abundant near the Hampole Inn
above mentioned; and, judging from the section of a shell
given as fig. 19, in pl. 10 of Geinitz’s ‘ Dyas,’ we presume
that it is not wanting in Germany. Among the specimens
from Yorkshire, some of the Milioloid varieties become oval,
and even circular, differing from the discoidal forms of Tr.
pustlla only in having thicker, broader, and fewer whorls.
§ V. In 1856 one of us discovered numerous minute
“‘arenaceous ”? Foraminifera in the shelly sands of the Indian
seas, which presented in their contorted tubular forms the
required recent analogue of the Permian fossil. Although,
indeed, the majority of those first found have a tendency to
fold more irregularly than the then known fossil specimens,
yet others of the latter have since been abundantly met with,
in which the almost discoidal outer folds are disposed to pass
for a little way on one of the flatter surfaces of the shell, and
then return to their original plane, or even to pass round about
25
388 Messrs. Jones, Parker, and Kirkby on the
the former whorls of the shell at various angles. On the other
hand, the recent contorted forms are associated with others of
similar structure and habit, but more or less discoidal in their
mode of growth, leading us towards both Trochammina incerta
(D’Orbigny, sp.) and 7’r. inflata (Montagu, sp.) ; and, indeed,
all these and other varieties were, in 1860, included under the
“second species” of Zrochammina*, as being zoologically
related to the typical 77. squamata; but, of course, the neces-
sity of retaining binomial appellations for well-marked varie-
ties, recent and fossil, must be always recognized. For these
chief varieties, then, ‘the names Tr. incerta ‘(D’ Orb.), Tr. cha-
roides (P.& J. iy Tr. ‘gordialis (Pde), Fr: squamata(P. &J.),
and Tr. inflata (Montagu) were adopted +.
In a paper “ On the Occurrence of Foraminifera in the older
beds of the Vienna Sandstone,” F. Karrer has given excellent
figures of his Trochammina proteust from these strata of Cre-
taceous or Lower-Tertiary (?) age. Among these figures we
find modifications of Tr. gordialis (figs. 1, 2,3, 8), of charoides
(fig. 4), of sguamata (fig. 6), and irregular squamata, or trans-
itional from lobulate gordialis to squamata (fig. 5). The
Spirilline or discoidal and narrow-whorled condition (77. 7n-
certa), from the same beds, is given as Cornuspira Hoernest
(fig. 10).
8 VI. With some of the above-mentioned recent and fossil
forms the different specimens of the little Permian fossil under
notice are readily correlated. Thus the perfectly discoidal
narrow-whorled individuals come in the same group with 7’.
incerta; and very similar Rhizopods, having plano-spiral
shells of sandy texture, have been figured and described from
several geological formations, and have received different
names, as shown in the following list :—
Recent. Operculina incerta, D’Orbigny, 1839. Foram. Cuba, p. 49, pl. 6.
figs. 16, 17.
Lower Cretaceous. Operculina cretacea, Reuss. 1846. Verstein. Bohm.
Kreid. p. 35, pl. 15. figs. 64, 65,
Lias. Orbis infimus, Strickland, 1848. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. ii.
p- 80, fig. a.
Permian. Spirilina, sp., Jones, 1850. In King’s Monogr. Perm. Foss.
pp. 18-20; and in Morris’s Catal. Brit. Foss. Ond edit. Pp: . 42.
Chalk and Chalk-marl. Spirillina cretacea, Jones, 1854. In Morris’s
Catal. Brit. Foss. 2nd edit. p.42. |
* Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xvi. p. 304. The “first species,” or
simplest form, has been since referred to the restricted genus “ Webbina,”
D’Orb.
+ Op. cit., and in Carpenter’s ‘Introd. Foram.’ p. 141, pl. 11. figs. 1-5.
{ Sitz. Akad. Wien, Math.-Nat. rae vol. lii, Ist Abtheil. 1865, pl. 1.
fies. 1-8.
Nomenclature of the Foraminifera. 389
Lias. Sprrillina infima, Jones, 1854. Ibid.
London Clay. Sprrillina, sp., Jones, 1854. bid.
Recent. Spurillina arenacea, Williamson, 1858. Rec. Foram. Brit. p. 93,
pl. 7. fig. 203.
Recent and Fossil. Trochammina (squamata) incerta, Jones & Parker,
1860. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xvi. p. 304.
Recent and Fossil. Ammodiscus (species), Reuss, 1861. Sitzungsb.
Akad. Wien, vol. xliv. (Zusam. Foram.) p. 365,
Recent and Fossil. Zrochammina incerta, Parker & Jones, 1862. In
Carpenter’s Introd. Foram. p. 141 & p. 812, pl. 11. fig. 2.
Lower Cretaceous. Cornuspira cretacea, Reuss, 1862 (Sitzungsberichte
Akad. Wien, vol. xlvi.). Foram. Hils und Gault &c. p. 34, pl. 1. fig. 10,
and var. irregularis, figs. 11 & 12.
Tertiary (?). Cornuspira Hoernesi, Karrer, 1866 (Sitzungsb. Akad. Wien,
vol. lii.), Auftreten Foram. &e. p. 4, fig. 10.
Permian. Serpula Roessleri, Schmidt, 1867. N. Jahrb. 1867, p. 583,
pl. 6. figs. 46, 47.
For the distinctive name of this Permian Rhizopod the ap-
pellation Trochammina incerta (D’Orb.). has priority ; whilst
zoologically (that is, looking only at its real specific relation-
ship, and taking the gradations of form as varietal) it belongs
to the typical 7’. squamata. For convenience of reference,
however, this Foraminifer (Pl. XIII. fig. 1), as in other cases,
keeps a distinct name; and we must remark that, as a Per-
mian organism (if its geological age and position are to be
regarded as of any special importance), it first received its
trivial name (oesslerv) from Dr. E. E. Schmidt (1867).
A variety, in which the tube departs, at an early stage,
from the spiral to the straight line of growth (this occurs with
very many Foraminifers), has been recognized and figured, as
Serpula filum, by Dr. KE. E. Schmidt, op. cit. p. 583, pl. 6.
fig. 48, who has associated it with the spiral form (both being
regarded by him as Serpula-tubes), because it also is free and
not parasitic.
VII. Less regular in its coil, and with a somewhat broader
whorl, a closely allied form of this fossil Trochammina accom-
panies the foregoing, and is figured in the annexed Plate
XIII. figs. 2& 3. Still more irregularly folded are figs. 4,
5, & 6, which represent the well-known “ Serpula pusilla” of
Geinitz, the special subject of this notice (see above, § II.).
Regarding these as representing a form requiring a distinctive
name, though zoologically linked with fig. 1 (by means of
figs.2 & 3), we must, of course, use the longestablished trivial
name above quoted, and refer to the fossil as Zrochammina
pusilla, Geinitz, sp. We have already remarked that this,
with the Spirilline variety, has been included in the zoological
species Trochammina squamata.
390 Messrs. Jones, Parker, and Kirkby on the
The synonyms of Trochammina pusilla are as follow :—
Serpula pusilla, Geinitz, 1848. Verstein. Zechst. Roth. BS, pl. 3. figs. 3-6.
Foraminites serpuloides, King, 1848. Cat. Perm. Foss. Northumb. p. 6.
Serpula? pusilla, Jones, 1850. In King’s Monogr. Perm. Foss, p. 57, pl. 6.
figs. 7-9; pl. 18. figs. 13 a-d.
Serpula pusilla, Morris, 1854. Cat. Brit. Foss. 2nd edit. p. 93.
Spirillina pusilla, Jones, 1856. In King’s Memoir on Irish Permian Fossils,
Journ. Geol. Soc. Dublin, vol. vii. part 2. p. 73, pl. 1. figs. 12 a, 6.
Serpula pusilla, Geinitz, 1861. Dyas &c. p. 39, pl. 10. figs. 15-21, & pl. 12.
fig. 1.
Serpula pusilla, Bélsche, 1864. Neues Jahrb. Min. &c. for 1864, p. 667.
§ VIII. Many Zrochammine (Tr. gordialis and Tr. cha-
roides) from the warm seas resemble 77. pusilla, but more
especially in its earlier stage of irregular coiling; and we find
individuals of this stage of growth or knot-like condition in
the Permian limestone also (see figs. 7, 8); and we can refer
to them as 77. gordialis, the synonyms of which are as fol-
low :—
Trochammina (squamata) gordialis, Jones & Parker, 1860. Quart. Journ.
Geol. Soc. vol. xvi. p. 304. (Speridlina pusilla, Jones, is referred to in the
footnote at p. 305.)
Trochammina gordialis, Parker & Jones, 1862. In Carpenter’s Introd.
Foram. p. 141.
Trochammina squamata, vay. gordialis, Parker & Jones, 1865. Phil. Trans.
vol. cly. p. 408. (Reference is here made to the similarity of the so-
called Serpula pusilla.)
Trochammina proteus, Karrer, 1866. Ueber das Auftreten von Foramini-
feren in den alteren Schichten des Wiener Sandsteins (Sitzungsb. Akad.
Wien, vol. lii.), p. 3. figs. 1-8. (Including 7’. gordialis, Tr. charoides,
_ Tr. squamata, and intermediate conditions.)
Trochammina squamata, var. gordialis, Parker, Jones, & Brady, 1866.
Monogr. Foram. Crag, p. 26. (Reference is here made to Spiridliina pu-
silla, Jones, and Milela? pusilla, Kirkby.)
§ IX. In fig. 9, Pl. XIII, we see broad short whorls making
a shell that somewhat reminds us of the Biloculine Miliole.
Still more neatly and compactly arranged, the folds constitute
a flattish and nearly oblong shell (fig. 10), or a broadly oval
and almost biconvex shell (fig. 11), or even a circular shell
with sunken faces (fig. 12). In figs. 13 & 14, the exposure of
a circumscribed oval portion of the older whorls in the middle
of the side-faces of the subovate shell gives it a particularly
Milioline likeness, reminding us of Trdloculina and Quinque-
loculina. Hence one of us thought it likely to prove a Milla,
and referred to it as M.? pusilla; but now we give to this
variety the name of Trochammina mitlioloides. The nearest
published drawing is Herr Karrer’s fig. 2 of Tr. proteus; and
indeed it is essentially the same, though showing a greater
Nonenclature of the Foraminifera. 391
exposure of the early whorls, and thus constituting a passage-
form between Tr. gordialis andT’r. incerta in one direction,
as Tr. pusille is a link in another.
We may here remark that Zrochammina squamata (typica)
has a very near relationship to Valvulina in structure and
habit, though it possesses more chambers and wants a definite
tongue-like appendage at the orifice. This alliance has been
suggested to us by our friend and colleague, Mr. H. B. Brady,
F.L.8., whose collection of these Foraminifera particularly
exemplifies their many intermediate gradations of form. So
also Tr. inflata sometimes seems to become Lituola cana-
riensis by the increased coarseness of its shell and its more
compactly nautiloid shape. Indeed there is no real specific,
much less generic, distinction between all these and many
other associated forms, if such distinctions fade away as gra-
dations of intermediate styles of structure and shape become
more and more known.
Again, though the Miliole have for the most part a homo-
geneous calcareous shell, yet many become coated with a
sandy envelope, and, except in the possession of a tongue or
valve at the aperture, may be lineal descendants and repre-
sentatives of such forms as are here figured in Plate XIII.
figs. 9-14; whilst Cornuspira and Spiroloculina, in particular,
may in like manner be descended from such as figs. 1—3.
Whether or not the tongue-like process in Miliola and the
valve in Valvulina are essential distinctions, there is no doubt
that there is a considerable range of variation in the shell-
structure produced by these and other simple Protozoans,
and that it is difficult to distinguish the limits between coarse-
ness and fineness, roughness and smoothness, when the amount
of sand in the shells of some forms (Valvulina, Miliola, Buli-
mina, Textularia, &c.) varies from much to nothing.
X. Trochammina pusilla is very widely and very plenti-
fully distributed in the Permian rocks of Kngland and Ger-
many. In Durham it ranges from the lowest beds to the
middle of the Magnesian Limestone. It is absent in the
highest beds. In Yorkshire it only occurs in the lower beds
of the series.
It usually occurs as casts; sometimes (in hard subcrystal-
nlie limestone) it is seen as sections showing internal struc-
ture, and occasionally as well-preserved testiferous specimens.
In Durham it is found in the “ Shell-limestone”’ at Tunstall
Hill, Humbleton Hill, and Claxheugh, near Sunderland.
In the “‘ Lower Limestone” of the same county it occurs at
Hartley’s Quarry and Pallion near Sunderland, Westoe, Offer-
ton, Rough Dene, Eldon, Langton, Morton Tinmouth, Sum-
392 On the Nomenclature of the Foraminifera.
merhouse, Thrislington Gap, Running Waters, Moorsley,
Walworth and Limekiln Banks, south of Leg’s Cross.
In Yorkshire it is very abundant, occurring, with the Milio-
loid variety, in myriads, in the dark-grey limestone of Noster-
field, and in a similar limestone at Chapel Houses,—also at
Gybdykes, near Masham, Thornton Watlass, Linderick, and
Hampole.
In Ireland it has been found by Prof. W. King at Tully-
connel Hill, near Artrea, co. T’yrone.
In Germany it is very common in the Lower Zechstein of
Corbusen, near Ronneburg, and at other places in the vicinity
of Gera, at Moderwitz (near Neustadt) on the Orla, at Kams-
dorf and Saalfeld, and in the Wetterau (‘ Dyas,’ p. 40). It is
found also in the “ grauer Mergel-Zechstein,” overlying the
Zechstein at Gera (King, Journ. Geol. Soc. Dublin, 1856).
The discoidal or Spirdllina-like form (7'r. incerta) is found
in Durham in “ Shell-limestone” at Tunstall Hill, and in
“ Lower Limestone” at Langton, Thrislington Gap, Walworth,
and Limekiln Banks, south of Leg’s Cross.
The Nosterfield limestone, when cut and polished, shows
instructive sections, the matrix being almost black, while the
shell-substance is white. This rock is similar to the black
limestone of Gera and Hanau.
This little fossil is always associated with other fossils, such
as Producta horrida, Gervilia antiqua, and Ichthyorachis an-
ceps, often with other Rhizopods, and as often with an obscure
plant-like fossil which has been named Chondrus virgatus.
It is always free (not attached or parasitic) ; and we do not
see any reason to follow Dr. Geinitz* in associating the fixed
vermiform fossil (Vermilia obscura, King) with Trochammina
pusilla.
EXPLANATION OF PLATE XIII.
Fig. 1. Trochammina incerta. From Langton, co. Durham. Magnified
30 diameters.
Figs. 2, 3. Tr. pusilla, subdiscoidal forms. Sunderland. Magn. 15 diams.
Figs. 4,5,6. Tr. pusilla, ordinary forms. Sunderland. Magn. 15 diams.
Figs. 7,8. Tr. gordialis. Tunstall Hill, Sunderland. Magn. 15 diams.
Figs. 9-14. Tr. maholoides, various forms. Sunderland. Magn. 10 diams.
Fig. 15. Tr. pusilla, section. Nosterfield. Magn. 15 diams.
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