OG OM ~ ard tint De Oe Pant Sas ~ : re oS Ria earn ae fo : oes ¢ rene Tab ee a te pe. - Saree Som $ my - ore Rerereeitiess : ; pane : ‘ peeve ~ Pr cae th . " oiedascaes t oaiye Se ies vane es aise = : re Le pte ete ee ae “e Ar " “e nanos re cate ae APO TOON, ° ° we a f : et wae Seana ; a v : AN pee pep Aa ~ s =F PP : Papi eer aie ted Sie c f ape me ~ Spa Dade ebob oe Pet Sete pn O-b Bae ater THE ANNALS AND MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY, INCLUDING ZOOLOGY, BOTANY, ann GEOLOGY. (BEING A CONTINUATION OF THE ‘ANNALS’ COMBINED WITH LOUDON AND CHARLESWORTH’S ‘ MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.’) CONDUCTED BY ALBERT C. L. G. GUNTHER, M.A., M.D., Ph.D., F.B.S., WILLIAM S. DALLAS, F.LS., WILLIAM CARRUTHERS, F.RB.S., F.LS., F.G.S., AND WILLIAM FRANCIS, Ph.D., F.L.S. Lag" L4AL\OS \ ational | Mi useuse 7 LONDON: PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS. SOLD BY LONGMANS, GREEN, READER, AND DYER; SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, AND CO.; KENT AND CO.; WHITTAKER AND CO.: BAILLIERE, PARIS: MACLACHLAN AND STEWART, EDINBURGH : HODGES, FOSTER, AND CO., DUBLIN: AND ASHER, BERLIN. 1881. “ Omnes res create sunt divine sapientiz et potenti testes, divitiz felicitatis humans :—ex harum usu Jonitas Creatoris; ex pulchritudine sapientia Domini; ex ceconomia in conservatione, proportione, renovatione, potentia majestatis elucet. Earum itaque indagatio ab hominibus sibi relictis semper estimata ; a veré eruditis et sapientibus semper exculta; malé doctis et barbaris semper inimiea fuit.”—Linnavs. “Quel que soit le principe de la vie animale, il ne faut qu’ouvrir les yeux pour voir qu'elle est le chef-d’ceuvre de la Toute-puissance, et le but auquel se rappor- tent toutes ses opérations.”—Bruckyer, Théorie du Systéme Animal, Leyden, 1767. Se oaa ona ooo 9 Wi eher joo ens Obey our summons; from their deepest dells The Dryads come, and throw their garlands wild And odorous branches at our feet; the Nymphs That press with nimble step the mountain-thyme And purple heath-flower come not empty-handed, But scatter round ten thousand forms minute Of velvet moss or lichen, torn from rock Or rifted oak or cavern deep: the Naiads too Quit their loved native stream, from whose smooth face They crop the lily, and each sedge and rush That drinks the rippling tide: the frozen poles, Where peril waits the bold adventurer’s tread, The burning sands of Borneo and Cayenne, All, all to us unlock their secret stores And pay their cheerful tribute. J. Taytor, Norwich, 1818, tS CONTENTS OF VOL. VIL. [FIFTH SERIES. | NUMBER XXXVILI. I, Spolia Atlantica: Contributions to the Knowledge of the Changes of Form in Fishes during their Growth and Development, especially in the Pelagic Fishes of the Atlantic. By Dr. C. F. LUTKEN Ce II. On some new or imperfectly-known Species of Corals from the Devonian Rocks of France. By H. ALLEYNE NicHotson, M.D., D.Sce., F.R.S.E. (Plate 1.) II. Description of a new Species of Mus from Southern India. By OLpFIELD Tuomas, F.Z.S., British Museum Ce oor e err eee ee ee ee eee IV. Descriptions of certain peculiar Bodies which may be the Opercula of small Gasteropoda, discovered by Mr. James Bennie in the Carboniferous Limestone of Law Quarry, near Dalry, Ayrshire, with Notes on some Silurian Opercula. By R. Eruerines, Jun. (GPLE CE IIL) © A Cae oI Ini deer Sane ese Maan Melman ich cian i V. Descriptions of new Species of Lepidoptera in the Collection of the British Museum. By Artuur G. Bururr, F.L.S., F.Z.S., &e. Cee ic) mn Gib -o:0 bo NID I DORTORIEIE ol SISO anno RIE Diicinic iy oho VI. New Neotropical Curculionidee.—Part IV. By Francis P. ARCO Tp Sal cceart ne eteinae sioteraie ae Wis oie. ciate siento’ e/erreiasieye aguas VI. On asmall Collection of Crustacea and Pyenogonida from Franz-Josef Land, collected by B. Leigh Smith, Esq. By EKpwarp J. Miers, F.L.S., F.Z.S., Assistant in the Zoological Department, Bertisnt user,» CP bate: VAs yee octet ait slave «ey acevata tars cleretetae miatetete VIII. Descriptions of new Species of Heteropterous Hemiptera collected in the Hawaiian Islands by the Rev. T. Blackburn.—No. 3. By DUCHANAN. WITH, MODS sR TS. acta bo sc ectetetnttete elon erstyt New Books:—A Treatise on Comparative Embryology. By Francts M. Batrour, M.A., F.R.S. Vol. 1—Memoirs of the Science Department, University of Tokio, Japan, Vol.I. Part 1. Shell- Page 24 bo oO 3l 38 lv CONTENTS. Page Mounds of Omori. By Epwarp S. Morssr, &c.—An Intro- duction to the Study of Fishes. By Axsert C. L. G. EUNICE Y agera i Siaisi ares ols 6 © ewig emia lero ien ls a4 eine ou ln ataree eis 59—63 On a new Species of Papilio from South India, with Remarks on the Species allied thereto, by J. Wood-Mason; On a highly organ- ized Reptile from the Permian Formation, by M. A. Gaudry; A new Genus of Rodents from Algeria; Researches on the Com- parative Anatomy of the Nervous System in the different Orders of the Class of Insects, by M. E. Brandt; Habits of a Fish of NUMBER XXXVIII. IX. History and Classification of the known Species of Spongiila. byl, J. Canter, RS, &e, (lates V.& V1.) 5. s.een anes 77 X. Spolia Atlantica: Contributions to the Knowledge of the Changes of Form in Fishes during their Growth and Development, especially in the Pelagic Fishes of the Atlantic. By Dr. ©. F. LUTKEN .......... Sp soni ie ic as Peabo des Sedna hice 107 XI. Notices of British Fungi. By the Rev. M. J. Berxetry, F-R:s., and C, E, Brooms, Hsq., FL.S. (Plate IlL.).......55.5. 1238 XII. Ona Collection of Butterflies from Nikko, Central Japan. Pveee rE Gr, BULLER) BH L35., Bi ZiSs, Gee. «oi cain vee nade. 132 XIII. Note on the Occurrence of Sponge-spicules in Chert from the Carboniferous Limestone of Ireland. By Prof. W. J. Souuas, MEAS EE RASH; R06. os eis soe sims mistaisi nels otelearerorh, set erctonie alone aie ae 141 XIV. Recent Dredging by the United-States Fish Commission off the South Coast of New England, with some Notice of the Crus- CARER VOPERANECs LSY ji.) dNy SOMITE: ope: oya'evehele sfele a tocsls,apanettiesoielnisce dete . 148 XV. Contributions towards a General History of the Marine Polyzoa. By the Rev. Toomas Hincxs, B.A., F.R.S. (Plates VIL, FORO, PRGA) al sarc soteyhn's = lnyotein wrole ser sie loiett Mania a Aes eyes nies se ae 147 XVI. Note on a Central-Asiatic Field-Mouse (Mus arianus), By WVU, BUAMRO RD, EBs OCCe. caio.s ois. c:ayeists alin oiled Gre» chs Se 162 XVII. On the Origin and Formation of the Flints of the Upper or White Chalk; with Observations upon Prof. Sollas’s Paper in the ‘Annals and Magazine of Natural History’ for December 1880. By Surgeon-Major WatLicH, M.D. (Plate XI.) ...........-.0000- ab. New Book :—A Monograph of the Silurian Fossils of the Girvan District in Ayrshire. By H. A. Nicuoxson, M.D. &c., and R. BTEEBIMGE, Jun., Esq, F.G.S.! “Fascienlus su aie. 0.5 be 205 On the Existence of a Reptile of the Ophidian Type in the Beds with Osirea columba, of the Charente, by M. H. E.Sauvage ; On some Arctic Holothurida, by MM. D. C. Danielssen and J. Koren, 205, 206 CONTENTS. Vv NUMBER XXXIX. Page XVIII. On some new or little-known Infusoria. By C. MErEscu- HOVE HeVie ay Clo Letts CMGI soy oy 5. «cl ofa. sense etopstMiatal tere oleh ckotawatel sv clench 209 XIX. On Synaxes, a new Genus of Crustacea. By C. SPENCE Pe See Se OCC (CL IALOL NEV): o.xcen whe coli sgtieye teadia ni afobe aleeeekals 220 XX. On the first Part of a Memoir by Mons. Charles Oberthiir on the Lepidoptera of the Isle of Askold. By Anruur G. BuTLER, sree aM se any OUCs, Aerial ahora dct ot Clo) sbavenalet oh tah tr hhian a at paeeet oat ats eae oe 228 XXI. Contribution to the Knowledge of the Family Tintinnodea. By Hermann For, Professor in the University of Geneva. Gila NET ofipias UE, Fahy Sols fotaiel dais te ai aiacciate mace vebe ot okece mre woneve 237 XXII. On Vigquesnelia atlantica, Morelet & Drouet. By Fran- escomARRupA FourTano, (Plate XU) 15.05 i .jc cis wags depres 250 XXIII. Relation of Devonian Insects to Later and Existing Types. By SAGMOE EL. SCUDDER. chee .yors cide aps broil sole lela pisielekaiaileterla 55 XXIV. On Siliceous Sponge-growth in the Cretaceous Ocean. Byesurseon- Major WALLICH, MID. aacsse-s serare ctcheterststersia tla cote nak 261 XXV. On Spongilla cinerea. By H. J. Canter, F.RS. &e. .... 268 XXVI. Further Note on Anomorhynchus (or Colossendeis) Smithit. yeh waremreds Wires, ESTE S55) BLS 2. oo xpeayerm winnie 0:01 0 on mere) as ab Si sievil 264 Proceedings of the Geological Society ..... 0 se eeusseceeenss 266, 267 New Books :—¥Fossil Sponge-Spicules from the Upper Chalk, found in the Interior of a Single Flintstone from Horstead, Norfolk. By G. J. Hing, F.G.8.—Fossil Foraminifera of the Carboni- ferous Limestone: 1. The Spirally-coiled Foraminifera of the Carboniferous Limestone of Russia. 2. The Foraminifera of the Carboniferous Limestone of Russia. By Vatertan Von Mo.uER, Professor at the Mining Institute——Aid to the Identi- fication of Insects. Hdited by C. O. WaTErHovuss. Litho- prrapbis: DyiBis, WW EUSON aarp s ei. coe 0%e ks ih e/a vs slaheye) ls eels 268—272 ~ On the Starfishes dredged in the deeper Regions of the Gulf of Mexico and the West-Indian Sea by the American Ship ‘ Blake,’ by M. E. Perrier; On the Guliga of Borneo, by A. Hart Everett ; On the Histology of the Pedicellariz and of the Muscles of Echinus sphera, Forbes, by MM. P. Geddes and F. E. Beddard ; On the Formation of the Blastoderm in the Araneida, by M. A. Sabatier; Actneta dibdalteria, a new Species of Marine Infu- sorian from the Gulf of Genoa, by Dr. Conrad Parona.... 272—279 vi CONTENTS. NUMBER XL. XXVII. Contributions to the Study of the British Paleeozoic Cri- noids.—No. I. On Allagecrinus, the Representative of a new Family from the Carboniferous Limestone Series of Scotiand. By P. Hmr- BERT CARPENTER, M.A., Assistant Master at Kton College, and R. ErHerGs, Jun., of the Museum of Natural History. (Plates XV. & XVI.) XXVIII. Description of a new Longicorn Beetle from Java. By Beeler ESTUSINIE © a 5. ois.0s: ovatatnaphel ete em iageione atolls atteton ele ure tec ie tat to XXIX. New Neotropical Curculionidee.—Part V. By Francis P. Pascoz, F.L.S. &c. XXX. On the Kunker Formation of the Alluvium in India com- pared with the Flint Formation in the Chalk of England. By H. J. CarteER, F.R.S. &e. XXXI. General Considerations upon the Carcinological Fauna of great Depths in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. By At- PHONSE MILNE-EDWARDS bi iei fe lalfaliabsite) ein a) 6 0).w 6l.e (0 @ 9 tel ei.0 she ete) ews min a, (bi ie) eils\ (ety tage saree) im) Teltelte, ore 2 a0 #0).8.6) 6 8)/8'e\ (sv a, 0110p». »| 00 ee \e |e) #6 @ Mie@) 6). 5\ aN in Pi! 0.0.6: \6: 0). 8, 2.8 (8 @ 16.0 es, 0 ee 0a ee), @ 1 ip ere 6)rete ree, vl le ee sne Lele CT XXXII. On a Collection of Nocturnal Lepidoptera from the Hawaiian Islands. By Artuur G. Butter, F.L.S., F.Z8., &e. .. XXXIII. Description of Parantirrhea Marshalli, the Type of a new Genus and Species of Rhopalocerous Lepidoptera from South India. By J. Woop-Mason, Deputy Superintendent, Indian Mu- seum, Calcutta ORF 6, 9, 0s als ee ke (0 che eae wee\e) Mm ollelale isie 6c lu;\a a «ss (9\ © (6 ole te s)\s 0 Proceedings of the Geological Society 33 Aer CL OAT RRR OLER YD Dae RCRCR RRR 336— GIN aeotajeie« cs 338 — Proceedings of the Dublin Microscopical Club New Books :—A History of the Birds of Ceylon. By Capt. W. VincENT Leaae, h.A.—A Monograph of the Free and Semi- parasitic Copepoda of the British Islands. By Grorer SIEWARDSON BRADY, VLDL Wi elwintan amie gate eke 344, Notes upon the Food of Predaceous Beetles, by F. M. Webster; Giant Squid (Architeuthis) abundant in 1875 at the Grand Banks, by A. E. Verrill; On the Histolysis of the Muscles of the Larva during the Postembryoniec Development of the Diptera, by M. H. Viallanes; On a new Form of Segmental Organ in the Trematodes, by M. E. Macé; On the Circulation 281 298 299 508 308 345 345 and Respiration of the Ophiwride, by M. N. Apostolidés... 848—855 NUMBER XLI. XXXIV. Seventh Contribution to the Knowledge of the Fauna of Madagascar. By Dr. ALBERT Ginruer, F.R.S. (Plate XIX.). 3 lated vv/ XXXYV. Description of a new Species of Frog from Madagascar. By GA, BOULENGER 25 Gon he xe pe ee eee XXXVI. Supplementary Report on Specimens dredged up from the Gulf of Manaar, together with others from the Sea in the Vicinity of the Basse Rocks and from Bass’s Straits respectively, presented to the Liverpool Free Museum by Capt. H. Cawne Warren. By H. J. Carrer, F.R.S. &c. (Plate xviii) a als (ete ere‘ CONTENTS. Vil Page XXXVII. Note on Papilio nebulosus, Butler. By Ltonet pDE URES PU eth as ote plan oh uc nsyeqel A cw fle ss eaath cies btvmUabe gpa ree nGoeveeS arnt 385 XXXVIII. The Male Eels compared with the Females. By C. TC OE TIN 90 st Wen ie CACORE 2 Ree | mM eA 386 XXXIX. On a Collection of Nocturnal Lepidoptera from the Hawaiian Islands. By Arruur G. Butter, F.LS., F.Z.S., &c. .. 392 XL. Descriptions of two new Longicorn Coleoptera and a new Genus of Dynastidee. By Cuartes O. WATERHOUSE............ 408 XLI. Description of a new Species of the Coleopterous Genus Dryops from Pekin (Family Parnide). By Cuartes O. WaTER- TTR orci ere pee ed ae AIS Cae errand i ocin cient cc Eee cabrio 410 XLII. Description of a new Cornuted Species of Cetoniidee from North-eastern India. By J. Woop-Mason, Deputy Superintendent, Indian Museum, Calcutta. (Plate XVII. figs. A, B, C.).......... 411 New Book:—Manual of the New-Zealand Coleoptera. By Capt. SECM ESPOUIN, Gre, 4-516. 5 Gieutanererat oi 8 eal eiacexesal-ahentrert « locales ep aren oe 412 Proceedings of the Royal Institution of Great Britain:—Dr. A. Wilson on the Origin of Colonial Organisms ...............- 413 Proceedings of the Dublin Microscopical Club.............. 417—423 On the Organs of Taste in the Osseous Fishes, by M. E. Jourdan; On the Prerochde, by Modest Bogdanow ; Investigation of certain Points in the Anatomy of Sternaspis scutata, by M. Max. Rietsch; The Bears of the Cavern of Lherm, by M. H. TILT] RE Ss ae ecm dele PS ie ls SRA a eee ts car Soe OMA 423—428 NUMBER XLII. XLII. On Palospinax priscus, Egerton. By James W. Davis, AEUNGhe fort Bice EASEC NE Nic Jina a slaiei alt a.2 tye'ayejn otafnlein’s Wueieia) os eysiat ais ehsiohe 429 XLIV. On the originally Bilateral Character of the Renal Organ of Prosobranchia, and on the Homologies of the Yelk-sac of Cepha- lopoda. By E. Ray Lanxesrer, M.A., F.RS., &e., Jodrell Pro- fessor of Zoology in University College, London...........6++00- 432 XLV. The Structure and Affinities of Euphoberia, Meek and Worthen, a Genus of Carboniferous Myriopoda. By Samuxt H. Ree CRINEPIEEE tl co, oA Sie oe om ee IRAP ele se « c's nio)s iv hal nike oie cual ote anae 437 XLVI. Polyzoa, Coelenterata, and Sponges of Franz-Joseph Land. By Sruarr O. Ripuey, B.A., F.L.S., Assistant in the Zoological Department, British Museum. (Plate XXL.) ......-........5.. 442 XLVIL. On some Indian Coleoptera, chiefly from Travancore. By CHares O. WATERHOUSE. .. 21+. 66sec recente eee e eee ens 457 XLVIII. On some Buprestide from Australia. By CHariEs O. VAT NTOUSHS ooicccse sc s0 vas dei ceb Qexleainateieisle taaielely cosa uteih g 462 vill CONTENTS. Page XLIX. Mr. Butler on Butterflies from Japan. By H. J. Ewes, Oe gis is ace ots soe ose Veh Mew at eeEEe DO eee 464 L. Description of a new Species of Mole from China. By Onp- Reo: THomas, F'.Z.8., British Museums oi gecc ceca e dite wns e sions 469 LI. Remarks on a Pathogenic Schizophyte. By Prof. H. J. DEYMERS «1.61. ee eect eee rere eee n ence tent eee eenseeenas 471 Proceedings of the Geological Society .........ceeseeueees 481—484 New Book ;—A Memoir on the Echinodermata of the Arctic Sea to the West of Greenland. By P. Martin Duncan, M.B. (Lond.), F.R.S8., &c., and W. Percy SuapEn, F.G8., F.L.S., &....... 485 Discovery of a Fossil Bird in the Jurassic of Wyoming, by O. C. Marsh ; Regeneration of lost Parts in the Squid (Loligo Pealet), by A. KE. Verrill; Note on Wardichthys cyclosoma, Traq., by Thomas Stock, Natural-History Department, Museum of Science and Art, Edinburgh ; On the Anatomy of Pyrosoma, by M. L. Joliet; Investigation of certain Points in the Anatomy of Ster- naspis scutata (Second Note), by M. Max. Rietsch ...... 488—493 1 Gao E>). dee PR are CO EA AL en pees ot eae a's rp ule «aml SME os 496 PLATES IN VOL. VIL. Prater I. New Corals from the Devonian Rocks of France. II. Fossil Opercula (?) of small Gasteropoda. III. New British Fungi. IV. New Asiatic Butterflies. us New Species of Spongilla. VI VU. Crustacea and Pyenogonida from Franz-Josef Land. ‘VIL. | New Polyzoa, a XI. Formation of Flints. XII. New Infusoria. XIII. Anatomy of Viquesnelia atlantica. XIV. Synaxes hybridica. XV. XVI. XVII. New Species of Tintinnus—Mycteristes microphyllus, XVIII. New Spongida from the Gulf of Manaar. XIX. Chameleon O’Shaughnessii. XX. Palsospinax priscus. XXI. Polyzoa and Sponges from Franz-Josef Land. Structure of Allagecrinus. THE ANNALS AND MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. [FIFTH SERIES.] Ut eScagbangsccaSntce per litora spargite muscum, Naiades, et circitm vitreos considite fontes: Pollice virgineo teneros hic carpite flores: Floribus et pictum, dive, replete canistrum. At vos, o Nymphee Craterides, ite sub undas ; Ite, recurvato variata corallia trunco Vellite muscosis e rupibus, et mihi conchas Ferte, De pelagi, et pingui conchylia succo.”” NV. Parthenti Giannettasti Ecl. 1. No. 37. JANUARY 1881. I.—Spolia Atlantica: Contributions to the Knowledge of the Changes of Form in Fishes during their Growth and Development, especially in the Pelagic Fishes of the At- lantic. By Dr. C. F. LtrTKen*. I, In this memoir I furnish a series of contributions to the know- ledge of the ichthyological fauna of the high seas, principally of the Atlantic, as also to that of the hemimetamorphoses of various sea-fishes, and especially of the pelagic fishes. The changes of form and of other characters which many fishes present during their growth and development are still but little known, and have never been described in a connected manner, although in many cases they are so great and so strongly marked that they have given rise to the establish- ment of a considerable number of species and genera, which, as a matter of course, will disappear from the system so soon as their true relationships have been recognized. ‘This me- moir is, at the same time, to be regarded as an attempt on the part of the author to employ scientifically a portion of the abundant materials, consisting of small fishes and young * Translated by W. S. Dallas, F.L.S., from a copy sent by the author of the French summary of Dr. Liitken’s memoir, read before the Academy of Sciences of Copenhagen. Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 5. Vol. vii. 1 2 Dr. C. F. Liitken on the Changes of Form in Fishes forms, especially pelagic, which, during a long series of years and by means of well-directed and persevering efforts, have been collected by Danish naturalists and by officers of the Danish royal and commercial navies. Of course, whenever I have thought it necessary for completing my investigations and making comparisons with analogous cases, I have also studied the changes produced by age in non-pelagic fishes ; and equally, of course, the criticism of the genera and species to which this study has given rise has led to discussions and digressions of various nature, as also to the creation of some new species and genera. It follows that, while this memoir is especially a contribution to the knowledge of the pelagic ichthyological fauna, particularly of the intertropical Atlantic, it is also indirectly a contribution to that of the ichthyology of the deeper strata of the high seas; for the inhabitants of these depths, in the first phases of their development, very frequently ascend, especially during the night, into the warmer strata of the surface; and they are then taken in the net ; or, when they are a little older, we meet with them in the stomachs of dolphins, or of voracious fishes such as the dora- dos, bonitos, albacores, barracoutas, sharks, &c. But the principal object of this memoir is to call attention to what I eall the hemimetamorphoses of fishes, a phenomenon of which the pelagic fishes in particular present so many remarkable examples... In adopting this expression it is not, however, my intention to introduce into science a new notion or a new term; I employ it solely to characterize briefly the changes which are produced during growth and development, which in many eases are so considerable that they have led to the complete misunderstanding of the genus, nay, often even of the tamily to which the young individuals belong. I hope by this means to profit science by a series of rectifications consisting in great part in the reduction of genera and species which are based only upon young, transitory forms. In many cases I shall thus be led simply to confirm or extend the ob- servations of my predecessors, in other cases to reject or rectify conjectures or combinations whieh are destitute of foundation. One of the consequences of a work of this nature may perhaps also be that, in future, we shall proceed with more circumspection and critical judgment in esta- blishing new species and genera, considering the possibility that the differences which may be recognized are due solely to differences of age. The mistake has only too often been made of regarding the latter as specific or generic differences ; and this, in general, has rendered the estimation of the true distinctive characters all the more difficult. during their Growth and Development. 3 In the following summary of the principal facts and results which are set forth in my memoir, I have followed the order of the chapters in the Danish text. 1. DACTYLOPTERUS and CEPHALACANTHUS. As is well known, M. Canestrini has endeavoured to prove that Cephalacanthus spinarella (Pungitius pusillus) is the young form of Dactylopterus. ‘This opinion was apparently well founded ; but it has been contested by M. Steindachner, principally with the argument that we may meet with Dacty- dopter? a little smaller than the largest of those which still pre- sent the characters of Cephalacanthus. Having had at my disposal, on the one hand, a series of twenty-five specimens of Dactylopterus volitans of all sizes, from 380 to 47 millims. in length, the last with the wings still short, and, on the other hand, almost as many of Cephalacanthus spinarella (twenty- three), also of all sizes, from 49 to 8 millims. long, I have studied in these two series all the characters subject to modi- fications arising from differences of age, in order to discover whether the changes which the Cephalacanthi had undergone enabled us to ascend to the Dactyloptert, and reciprocally those of the latter to descend to the Cephalacanthi, or whether these fishes constituted two series of forms independent of each other. The result of these comparisons (for the details of which I must refer the reader to the Danish memoir) has been, so far as I am concerned, an absolute confirmation of M. Canestrini’s hypothesis. We may certainly find Cepha- lacanthi a little larger than the smallest Dactylopteri; but this is easily explained by the fact that the metamorphosis properly so called, which no doubt takes place comparatively quickly, does not always occur precisely when the young fish has attained a definitive length (about 50 millims.), but may, according to circumstances, occur ina given individual a little sooner or a little later. It may be added that the localities (latitude and longitude) where our young Dactylopteri or so- called Cephalacantht were taken seem to prove that this genus possesses the character of a semipelagic genus in a greater degree than has hitherto been supposed. It appears also, from the investigation that I have made of its develop- ment, that the small anterior part of the pectoral fins in Dactylopterus is, properly speaking, the superior and not the inferior part, as has hitherto generally been stated. 2. RHYNCHICHTHYS, RHINOBERYX, and RHAMPHOBERYX ; HOLocENTRUM and MyRIpRIsrTIS. The hypothesis has already been advanced that Rhynchich- 1* 4 Dr. C. F. Liitken on the Changes of Form in Fishes thys pelamidis, ©. & V., and other species of Rhynchichthys subsequently established are young Holocentra (or Myri- pristes) ; and the correctness of this view is now confirmed by the circumstance that it has been possible to refer several small examples of “ Rhynchichthys” and “ Rhinoberyx” of diffe- rent ages, fished in the western part of the intertropical Atlantic, to a definite species of Holocentrum, the H. maria- num of the Antilles, which, however, has hitherto been very imperfectly described. We are acquainted with it now in all the phases of its development :—asthe true Holocentrum, young and adult; as ‘“ Rhinoberyx,” a phase intermediate between the Holocentrum and the ‘ Rhynchichthys ;” and, finally, in this last and very young state. In the Danish memoir I have described in much detail the characters of the species in each of these phases, comparing them both among themselves and with the corresponding states of Holocentrum sogho, another common West-Indian species, of which we possess an almost equally complete series of forms. The “ Lhamphoberyx” is probably the corre- sponding young form of Myripristis. These three genera (Rhynchichthys, Rhinoberyx, and Rhamphoberyx) must there- fore be suppressed, with the species belonging to them ; and we may say the same of certain species such as Holocentrum platyrhinum, which are also young forms of which the trans- formation is not completed, but which, instead of being referred to separate genera, have only been placed in a special group of the genus Holocentrum. But at the same time I have been able to recognize a phase of development anterior to that which serves as the basis of the genus Rhynchichthys. A small fish, 7 millims. long, which is undoubtedly the young form of a West-Indian Holocentrum, perhaps even of H. marianum, is distinguished from the true “ Rhynchichthyes” by a forked beak, the comparatively great length of which is equal to twice the diameter of the eye, and by the occipital spine, which is very strongly developed, as well as those of the preeoperculum, which last extend much beyond the ventral fins, as far as the middle of the anal. Our museum possesses very young larve of Berycide (that is to say Lthynchichthyes) from the Indian Ocean, which much re- semble the preceding form; but in others, which otherwise have an analogous structure, the beak, which is sometimes comparatively short and sometimes extremely elongated, does not present the remarkable division in the form of a fork. Considering the numerous representatives of this family in the Indian seas, it is impossible at present to determine these young forms more exactly. during their Growth and Development. 5 The primordial but transitory characters which distinguish the young Holocentra and Myripristes are therefore :—1. The more or less excessive prolongation of the bones of the snout in the form of a pointed beak, entire or cleft in two, with denticulated edges, and comparatively as large as the sword of the swordfish; and 2. The colossal development of the occipital and preeopercular spines, as also, in part, of those of the operculum. ‘These spines, however, soon disappear or become reduced to more modest proportions, or to perfectly insignificant rudiments. 3. TETRAGONURUS. This very characteristic genus, which is thoroughly pelagic and probably bathyphilous, inhabits the Atlantic, where it is frequently found in the stomachs of large voracious fishes or ‘dolphins ; and young individuals are often taken by the net. Tetragonurus atlanticus, Lowe, is certainly specifically iden- tical with ZT. Cuviert, K. The differences they present are in part purely individual, in part differences arising from age. Young individuals (82-62 millims.), leaving out of considera- tion certain modifications in the relative proportions of the parts of the body, which are mentioned in detail in the Danish memoir, are distinguished (1) by the spinous or denticulate opercular and preeopercular bones, and (2) by the different character of the seales, which much resemble those of the young swordfish, and have only a single sharp keel (the scales of the lateral line, however, have two), which terminates in two or three spines recurved backward, giving the young Tetragonurus a rough or villous aspect. ‘The youngest ex- amples (16 millims.) have neither scales nor spines on the skin; and their ventral fins are extremely sbort, nay, even rudimentary. I have also discussed the question of the place to be assigned to Tetragonurus in the true natural system. We shall seek in vain for indications of relationship with Mugil or Atherina ; the proposition of Lowe and Swainson to refer it to the Scomberoids is perhaps that which is most in accordance with nature. 4, X1PHIAS and HistiopHorus (TETRAPTURUS). The young forms of the Xiphioids are already so well known, thanks especially to Dr. Giinther’s communications, that the series of small individuals of the two types that I have had at my disposal do not enable me to add much that is new; nevertheless I have been able to carry the evolution of the two groups a little further, to a phase which must be very near the exclusion from the egg. The two principal 6 Dr. C. F. Liitken on the Changes of Form in Fishes types (Xtphias and Histiophorus) differ from each other quite as much in their youth as at a later period in the external characters and the structure of the skeleton. I have already shown elsewhere (Vidensk. Medd. f. d. naturh. For. 1875) that of these two types the Histiophori represent the typical group properly so called, or the central group, whilst the Xiphie must be regarded as a divergent branch or ‘ aber- rant type,” and that the species, so far as one can form an opinion upon this point from the data furnished by the litera- ture, seem to be few in number, less numerous, in fact, than has hitherto been supposed, but that they are almost cosmo- politan in their geographical distribution. Probably we know only five in all—namely, two Tetrapturt, two Histiophort, and one Xiphias. Machera, C. & V., is in every respect a true Histiophorus without ventral fins ; and we cannot help sus- pecting that the asserted absence of the latter is founded upon an error or due to the preparer. The small species of Histéo- phorus which have been established, H. immaculatus, Riipp., and H. pulchellus, C. & V., are evidently only young forms (they measure respectively 18 and 4 inches), of no true specific value; and H. pulchellus particularly closely approaches the young Histiophori of 53 to 60 millims. length, examined by Dr. Giinther and by myself. For these last I refer the reader to the Danish text, the most important facts relating to them being already known; but some remarks upon the young Xiphie, and upon the characteristic differences which distin- guish them from the voung Histiophort, will be necessary. Thus, one of our young swordfish (Xiphias) 190 millims. long, found in the stomach of an albacore, and consequently imperfectly preserved, has a very slender form ; the mandible is only 12 millims. shorter than the rostrum, which is convex above and flat beneath, like that of a Tetrapturus, and twice as broad as high; the branchiz present nothing remarkable, and consequently have not yet acquired the character which distinguishes those of the Xiphioids. The two jaws are well armed with comparatively strong teeth. All the body (inclu- ding the head and the rostrum) 1s clothed with non-imbricated scales, which are keeled and ciliated—that is to say, furnished with spines or teeth upon the keel. ‘Two rows of these scales, which strike one by their size, extend along the back on each side of the dorsal fin, and two others along the belly on each side of the anal fin. ‘The scales are still very distinct in the young Aiphias gladius 700 millims. long, in which one may even easily recognize and trace the rows of large scales above mentioned; on the other hand, this covering, at least as re- gards the teeth of the scales, occurs even in the youngest during their Growth and Development. 7 Xiphias observed, 10 millims. in length. In contrast to this, all the young Mistéophort, from 54 to 100 millims., are com- pletely naked and destitute of scales. Thus we cannot com- pare with the scales of the young Xiphie those of the adult fistiophort and Tetraptur?, which are perfectly homologous with those of the Thynnoids. The young examples of X. gladius, from 37 to 57 millims., are adorned with transverse bands, like many other small Scomberoids; the frontal mar- gins and the preoperculum are denticulated ; and the latter is also, in the youngest individuals, furnished with a group of spines, as in many other young Scomberoids. We never find in them any traces of ventral fins, whilst these are never wanting in the Histiophor?, and always occur, in a rudimentary state, even in the youngest. Then, in the youngest Xiphias, the head is flat without presenting the sudden depression of the forehead which characterizes the Histiophor?, the rostrum is short, and broad at the base, and the mandible as long as the upper jaw. Finally, the X¢phie, in all their successive stages, present nothing comparable to the occipital and pre- opercular spines, so enormously developed in the young His- tiophori, and which resemble those of the Dactylopter?. It would be far from natural to exclude the Xiphioids from the great family Scomberoidei, in which they tind their most strongly marked affinity in the genus Acanthocybium (vide infra, p. 12). The more detailed classification of the Scomberoidei has still to be settled. As to ranging them with Cottoidei (‘‘ Cotto-Scombriformes ”’) I have never been able to convince myself that there was any thing just and natural in that classification. 5. TRICHIURUS and GEMPYLUS. Under the denomination of Trichiuride Dr. Giinther has united two tribes which are certainly related in a certain degree, but which nevertheless are clearly distinguished from each other. These are the true Trichiuride (Zrichiurus, Lepidopus, Aphanopus, and Huoxymetopon) and the Gempy- lide or Thyrsitides (Gempylus, Prometheus, Epinnula, Nesi- archus, Nealotus, and Thyrsites). 'The latter must be united with the Thynnide, but may nevertheless form a secondary group among them. With regard to the genus Trichiurus I will, in the first place, remark that the species that it includes at present do not all appear to me capable of being maintained; but I shall not pronounce a definite opinion upon this point, as the mate- rials at my command are insufficient. It is evident that the two types represented by 7. lepturus and T. muticus differ 8 Dr. C. F. Liitken on the Changcs of Form in Fishes in a whole series of well-marked characters, but that the generic separation between the Lepturt (Trichiurus lepturus and the allied species) and the Hupleurogrammi (T. muticus) proposed by Gill is unnecessary, and therefore to be rejected. The specific difference between 7. lepturus of the Atlantic and 7’. haumela of the Indian Ocean seems to me not to repose upon a very solid basis; and how far the latter is really a species distinct from 7. savala is a question which | shall also leave undecided. But there are two points which merit attention, namely :—1, that 7. muticus also occurs in the Atlantic, where it had not hitherto been indicated (I have before me a specimen from Cuba which I am unable to dis- tinguish from those from Tranquebar); and 2, that in a Trichiurus (haumela?) 52 millims. long, from Java, | have found, in the place of the ventrals, which are usually deficient, two denticulated spines 2 millims. in length (just as, for example, in the young Prometheus atlanticus). ‘These spines, which evidently represent the ventrals, probably exist in all the young Trichiurd; but they persist only in 7. muticus, in the shape of small rudiments in the form of scales, and disap- pear entirely in the other species. The Gempylides and the Thyrsitides present an osteological peculiarity which has generally passed unnoticed ; I refer to a system of dermal ribs, or subcutaneous accessory ribs, com- posed of delicate bony filaments, placed pretty close together, which are directed backwards, and both upwards and down- wards, and start from the median line on both sides of the body, forming acute angles with each other. I have observed them in Thyrsites atun (chilensis), in Nealotus tripes, and in both large and small examples (down to a total length of 78 millims.) of Gempylus serpens. I have been able to study the last-named species, which is essentially pelagic and rare in museums, in all the phases of its development, from a length of about 1 metre down to a total length of only 9 millims., a phase which must have almost immediately succeeded the hatching of the egg. The species established, namely G. coluber (genus Zyphothyca of Swainson) and G. or Prometheus (Nealotus) ophidianus, Poey, do not differ specifically from G. serpens; but the characters of this genus are not correctly indicated, even in the most recent works. Thus the skin is not entirely destitute of scales: we find in it a rudiment of the “ corselet,” not only behind the eyes, but also at the root of the tail; and from this point the clothing of scales continues in part for a small extent along the infe- rior lateral line, in part for a greater extent along the back, forming a band which is limited inferiorly by the superior during their Growth and Development. 9 lateral line, which in the anterior part of the body unites with the inferior, at a point situated beneath the first dorsal spine. The palatine bones in their posterior part are armed each with three or four small teeth; and the ventrals are formed by one spinous and four soft rays. In the earliest phases of their development the Gempyli have so different a physiognomy that it would be difficult or impossible to recog- nize them for what they are if one did not know the interme- diate stages. The body is short and thick-set; the first dorsal attains its greatest elevation in front, and then decreases rapidly ; we find two free spines in front of the anal fin; the denticulated spines of the ventrals are comparatively very long, as long as (and even longer than) the spines of the dorsal; there are neither scales nor lateral line; nor are the finlets distinguishable ; the operculum and preoperculum are spi- nous. For what relates to the course of the development and transformation I refer the reader to the figures on pl. ii. fof the Danish memoir]. I have also described and figured some very analogous stages of development in a fish of the Thyrsites tribe, perhaps Nealotus tripes. Dicrotus armatus, Giinther, is certainly an analogous transitory form, probably of Prometheus atlanticus. 6. TuHynnus; OrcyNnus; PeLAmMys; CyzBium and ACANTHOCYBIUM. In the group Thynnide I distinguish the following genera: — Orcynus, Thynnus, Auaxis, Orcynopsis, Pelamys, Cybium, and Acanthocybium. I must leave on one side certain other genera which have been established, because I do not know them— tor example the genera Grammatorcynus, Gill (Thynnus bi- lineatus), Lepidocybium and Apodontis, Benn.; the separation of these two last genera from Cybiwm seems to me, however, to be not well founded. Gymnosarda Gill (Pelamys nuda) will no doubt prove to be a synonym of Orcynopsis, G. (Pela- mys unicolor = Thynnus peregrinus, Coll.*); even the specific ditferences which serve as the basis of these two genera are rather uncertain, and will need to be confirmed, although one of the two species is a native of the Mediterranean (it has been once found in the North Sea) and the other of the Red Sea. I retain the name of Zhynnus} for “the small tunnies,” * M. Giglioli has recently proposed for this genus the name of Pela- michthys, which, however, must yield priority to that proposed by Mr. Gill. ; + M.Giglioli designates this generic division by the name of Thynnich- thys, a very happy denomination, but one which has already been employed for a genus of Cyprinoids, 10 Dr. C. F. Liitken on the Changes of Form in Fishes the bonito (7. pelamys) and T. thunnina, a species from which 7. affinis probably does not differ; and I reserve that of Orcynus for “the large tunnies ’”—that is to say, the true tunny (O. thynnus) and the “germon” or albacore of our sailors (0. germo), a species which is rendered recognizable by the long pectorals and the prolongation in a sabre-like form, in the adult, of the second dorsal and the anal. These four species are all extremely cosmopolitan in their geogra- phical distribution (which also seems to be the case, although in a less degree, with Ausis); those of the whole group which have the pelagic character most strongly marked are Orcynus germo and Thynnus pelamys. A critical revision of the species described under other names, a revision founded on the comparison of individuals of different sizes belonging to several of the four principal types above mentioned, has convinced me, or at least rendered it very probable, that most of these species must be eliminated, as resting only upon quite secondary differences, to a great extent arising from age. Thus 7. brachypterus is without the least doubt nothing but a young form of Oreynus thynnus, and T. brevipennis a still younger form of the same, or rather a corresponding form of 7. thunnina. I must here remark that the want of the swimming-bladder, which is generally attributed to the true tunny, is apparently founded on a mistake; it is described in detail by M. Malm in his ‘ Fauna of Bohuslin.’ Further, I have no hesitation in identifying Thynnus secundodorsalis, Storer, and H. orientalis from Japan with O. thynnus ; Thyn- nus coretta is a form intermediate between Orcynus thynnus and 7. brachypterus, and may consequently also be struck out of the catalogue. With Oreynus germo ( pacificus), again, I identity 7. alalonga, albacora, argentivittatus, balteatus, sibi, and macropterus, which inhabit different parts of the great ocean; but I hesitate about including in this suppression of species O. subulatus, Poey, of Cuba, and O. pacificus, Cooper, of California,—the former on account of its pectorals, which are singularly short for an albacore; the latter, on the con- trary, on account of extraordinary prolongation of these same fins. At any rate the characters ascribed to these two forms of albacores require confirmation in this respect. As to the generic separation of the albacores, with long pectorals, from the true tunnies, with shorter pectorals, there seems at present no reason for making it. rom these forms, which I unite under the generic denomination of Orcynus, the “small tunnies” (Thynnus s. str. m.) differ:—1, by the absence of teeth on the vomer, a character which has hitherto passed entirely un- noticed, but to which, in the group of the ‘Thynnide, generic —3 during their Growth and Development. 11 value has generally been accorded; 2, by the complete absence of scales outside the corselet, whilst in the Orcynz of the same size the skin is already clothed with small scales, the conse- quence of which is that the limits of the “corselet” in the adult tunny and albacore are somewhat cbscure, so that, properly speaking, we cannot say there is a distinct corselet in those species ; 3, by an important osteological character, namely the special development, in the form of a net or trellis, of a portion of the abdominal part of the vertebral column between the vertebra properly so called and the hemapo- physes, a development which has already been described by Cuvier. This organization is common to Z. thunnina and T. pelamys, and occurs in a modified form in Auzxis, while in this respect Orcynus germo presents essentially the same character as O. thynnus and the species belonging to the genera Cybium and Pelamys. Whether this is or is not the case in Urcynopsis (unicolor) is unknown; but there is reason to suppose that it presents some of the characters belonging to Auais and to Thynnus (m.). Pelamys chilensis and P. orientalis are certainly not dif- ferent species, any more than Thyrsites chilensis and T. atun. It is by error also that a corselet of scales has been denied to the genus Cybium; this is already distinct in very young individuals, and extends, in the usual way, round the base of the pectorals and ventrals, along the dorsals, &c.; but, it is true, it is less apparent than in the other Thynnoids. ‘The species included in ‘the genus Cybiwm differ in general by rather insignificant characters, which, however, seem to be more constant than might have been expected. ‘There is therefore no reason for reducing them in the same proportion as the species of the Thynnus-Orcynus group ; moreover it would appear that they are far from being so pelagic as the species belonging to the latter group. Among the species of Cybium proper inhabiting the Atlantic, | have been able to distinguish without difficulty C. caballa (of which C. imma- culatum is no doubt the young form), C. regale, and C. macu- latum; C. acervum is a young C. regale, and has nothing to do with C. caballa. There is, however, a species of Cybcwm which must be generically separated from the rest, namely the large truly pelagic and rather rare Thynnoid, attaining a length of more than seven feet, which our sailors call the “ barracotta,” and of which they have sometimes brought us the head and caudal fin; it is met with in the Atlantic north and south of the equator, in the Mediterranean, and in the Pacific Ocean, but much more rarely than the bonitos and albacores. It is the 12 Dr. C. F. Liitken on the Changes of Form in Fishes Cybium Solandri, C. & V.,C. petus, Poey, the type of the genus Acanthocybium, Gill, and recently described by M. Doderlein under the name of C. Verany. ‘This genus is clearly distin- guished from the true Cybtwm :—1, by the long and pointed torm of the head, in which the mandible is longer than the upper jaw, the cleft of the mouth reaches only to beneath the eye, and the posterior part of the maxillary is not visible but concealed by the suborbital plate ; the jaws are armed with a close series of cutting-teeth lancet-shaped and finely crenu- lated; 2, by the branchiz, which exactly resemble those of Xiphias, their leaves being soldered together in the form of a network ; 3, by the distance between the points of the caudal fin, which scarcely exceeds the length of the head, &c. That Acanthocybium is the Thynnoid form most nearly approaching the swordfish is shown by the peculiar modification of the branchiz and the prolongation of the intermaxillaries, which, if more developed, would become the short rostrum of Tetrap- turus belone. 'This genus thus acquires peculiar importance from a systematic point of view ; and a detailed investigation of the still unknown structure of its skeleton would be espe- cially desirable. I have regarded as belonging to Orcynus germo some small Thynnoids of 8-17 millims. long, fished in the open sea. The corselet and the keels of the tail are wanting; the finlets are only just indicated in the largest specimen, and are not distinct ; there is no trace of them in the others, which are distinctly heterocercal and perfectly colourless, with the exception of the eyes and the first dorsal, which are black. The preeoperculum is armed with spines in all. 7. CORYPHANA EQUISETIS, L., C. HIPPURUS, L., and C. FASCIOLATA, Pall. The genus Coryphena (the ‘ dolphins,” as our sailors call them) is one of those which have the pelagic character most strongly marked ; at the same time it furnishes an example instar omnium of the extreme confusion that has resulted from the circumstance that a really very limited number of exist- ing species has been broken up into a great number of nominal species which are based only upon differences of age and sex, upon individual peculiarities, different geographical localities, incorrect drawings, imperfect descriptions, &c., a confusion for which, however, George Cuvier has been wrongly made personally responsible. ‘The error committed in dividing the species into two genera, Coryphena and Lampugus, has already been rectified by a competent authority ; and the number of species reputed well established has, at the same during their Growth and Development. 13 time, been reduced from nineteen to six. I have no doubt, however, that this number is still too great, and that it must be limited to two or, at the most, to three—the two old Linnean species, “the great dorado” (C. hippurus), which attains a length of nearly 2 metres, and “ the little dorado ” (C. equisetis), the size of which does not exceed 2? feet. In the Danish text | have given comparative characters of the two species, taking into account especially the changes which they undergo with age during their growth, as well as those which, at least in C. equisetis, are a consequence of sex, and I have illustrated by figures the modifications which are pro- duced in the two species in the form of the head. Most of the species described and figured by authors may, without much ~ difficulty, be referred to the two cosmopolitan species in question, which our sailors have frequently brought us, and which are the only ones that they have been able to present tous. J must, however, speak with some little reserve of the C. pelagica (azorica, sicula) of the Mediterranean, which has been adopted by most of the authors who have paid attention to the ichthyology of that sea, but which, neverthe- less, probably does not differ specifically from C. hippurus, L.; at least [ was obliged to regard as a young individual of the latter species a small ‘‘ C. pelagica” from the Mediter- ranean which was kindly submitted to my examination under the above name by an Italian museum. In support of my opinion, that in reality there exist only two species of Cory- phena, 1 will cite two other circumstances :—one that Dr. Giinther (although he formally recognizes more) really re- fers allthe specimens at his disposal to these two species, and thus in fact only recognizes these; the other, that I have been able without difficulty to arrange the numerous exam- ples of young Coryphenw from 18 to 62 millims. long, cap- tured by our mariners, in two series representing two species, and to refer these series to the two species in question and to no others—namely, the more numerous one to C. eguisetis, and the less numerous to C.héppurus. Further, the young Cory- hene have so little resemblance to the adults in the matter of habit, that they may easily give rise to mistakes; it is thus that a young C. hippurus was described by Pallas under the name of C. fasciolata. I have given comparative descrip- tions of young individuals of the two species in their successive stages and in their relations to the adults; and I shall here contine myself to referring to the figures on my pl. i., only remarking that the greater length of the ventrals in C. hip- purus, and especially their attachment beneath the pectorals, more forward than in C. equisetis, furnish one of the best 14 Dr. H. A. Nicholson on some new or means of separating from each other the young individuals of the two species, and agree with one of the hest distinctive characters of the adults. The very small examples of both species not only have the preoperculum furnished with spines, but they have also a scapular spine and a postsupraorbital spine on each side. The larger specimens have a rather elon- gate form, but are at the same time pretty thick, and not compressed as at a later period; the dorsal, which is compara- tively rather low, originates, in the adult C. equisetis, at a point not far distant from the posterior margin of the eye, in young individuals above the posterior margin of the pree- operculum, in still younger individuals between the latter and the gill-cleft, in the adult C. hippurus above the posterior margin of the pupil, in the youngest individuals above the gill-cleft, &e. The system of coloration which distinguishes the different ages of these two species will be easily under- stood by the aid of the figures. [To be continued. | II.—On some new or imperfectly-known Species of Corals from the Devonian Rocks of France. By U. ALLEYNE Nicuoxson, M.D., D.Se., F.R.S.E. [Plate I. } Some little time ago M. Daniel Céhlert, the able Curator of the Museum of Natural History in Laval, was good enough to send me for examination and determination a number of corals from the inferior Devonian deposits of the neighbour- hood of Laval, the stratigraphical and _ paleontological relations of these deposits having been made by him a subject of special study. Among the specimens contained in the collection submitted to me were some entirely new forms, as well as some which have not yet been fully worked out; and I propose on the present occasion, in accordance with M. (Ehlert’s wish, to give a brief description of the more im- portant and striking of these. Endophyllum Chlerti, Nich. Spec. char. Corallum composed of subcylindrical coral- lites, which are either not in contact at all or, at most, touch each other only at limited portions of their circumference. The diameter of the corallites along their longest axis is from 20 to 25 millims. Each corallite is enveloped in a distinct imperfectly-known Species of Corals. 15 epitheca, which, though not thick, is provided with irregular, somewhat sharp- edged, closely-set annulations, and is marked with faint longitudinal or costal ridges. The exterior zone of the corallum for a width of trom 3 to 4 millims. is made up eh Thin sections of Endophyllum Céhlerti, Nich., enlarged rather more than twice. A. Transverse section of a corallite, showing the outer vesicular zone and the inner tabulate area, the latter intersected by the septa. B. Vertical section of the same, showing the same two areas: the bending upwards of the tabulz in the outer part of the inner area is here well shown, and the cut edges of a number of the septa, in the form of longitudinal lines, are also exhibited, owing to the fact that the section is slightly excentric ; on the left-hand corner of the figure a part of the exterior vesicular zone has been restored. of large-sized, irregularly-shaped lenticular vesicles, which in vertical sections (fig. B) are seen to be directed with their longest axes passing obliquely downwards from the circum- ference towards the internal wall. Their greatest length varies from 1 to 5 or 6 millims. The inner mural invest- ment is well marked, and encloses a space of from 14 to 15 16 Dr. H. A. Nicholson on some new or millims. in its greatest length, which is subdivided by a series of well-developed septa. ‘The septa are alternately long and short, about thirty-six of each series existing in a corallite of 25 millims. width, flexuous, the longer ones extending to near the centre of the visceral chamber. ‘Traces of vertical lamelle also exist in the exterior vesicular zone, these representing the imperfect outward prolongation of the septa from the inner area. Dissepiments (which are really only the cut edges of the ascending tabule) are developed in the outer portion of the central tabulate area. The tabule are well developed in the central portion of the corallites, where bounded by the inner mural circle, being close-set and nearly horizontal in the middle of this region, but becoming sharply bent up towards its margins. Obs. I have founded this species upon a single well-pre- served specimen in the possession of M. Cihlert. The specimen in question exhibits four corallites, of- which two are quite separate from the others, standing at a distance respectively of 2 and 11 millims. apart from them, while the remaining two are in contact for a distance of nearly 2 centims., the one being indented by the pressure of its neighbour. Even in this case, however, the contiguity is not attended by any real union or amalgamation, the two corallites being each provided with its own distinct epitheca, and being quite readily separable from one another. The basal portions of the corallites are enveloped in the matrix; and their precise mode of origin is therefore uncertain. As regards the internal structure, the points most worthy of notice will be readily recognized by reference to the preceding description and by the accompanying drawings of the trans- verse and vertical sections of one of the corallites (figs. A and B). There can be no doubt that the present species is a true FEindophyllum, in spite of the fact that the corallites possess a distinct epithecal investment, and that this structure is stated by Milne-Edwards and Haime to be wanting in this genus. In all the points of its internal structure, however, it entirely agrees with the other recorded species of the genus; and the development of the epitheca must therefore be taken to be a variable character. In point of fact L. abditum, HK. & H., does possess well-developed walls to the corallites, and the absence of an epitheca is probably only due to the coalescent condition of the corallites. From &. abditum, EK. & H., the present species is at once distinguished by the disjunct condition of the corallites and their much smaller size. amperfectly-known Species of Corals. 17 From 2. Bowerbanki, EK. & T1., the present species is sepa- rated by the fact that each of the corallites possesses a well- developed external investment, while the corallum is not astreeiform. Florizon and Locality. Inferior Devonian, Montjean, Gallois (coll. Uthlert). Striatopora pachystoma, Nich. * (Pl. I. figs. 1-1 6.) Spec. char. Corallum ramose, composed of cylindrical or subcylindrical branches, which ‘have a diameter of from 5 to 10 millims. The corallites are primitively polygonal, with exceedingly distinct walls, but having the visceral chambers greatly contracted by a secondary deposit of light-coloured sclerenchyma deposited in concentric lamelle, the amount of this thickening being greatly increased as the mouths of the tubes are approached (Pl. I. fig. 1a). The size of the coral- lites is very variable, the largest ones having a long diameter of about 3 millims. (from wall to wall), while the smallest ones may not be much over a millimetre in width when sim1- larly measured. The preservation of the calices im all specimens I have seen is poor; but they are not surrounded by thin and sharp margins, and tangential sections show that the diameter of the visceral chambers near their mouths varies from a millimetre and a half in the largest tubes to about half a millimetre in the smallest corallites. No septal teeth, or but very rudimentary ridges, are developed on the neck of the tubes. No traces of tabulz are recognizable in long sections (Pl. I. fig. 16), but the walls of the tubes are seen to be perforated by a few remote and irregularly-distributed mural pores. Obs. This species is most nearly allied to the Striatopora Linneana, Billings, of the Devonian rocks of Canada (see Nicholson, Tabulate Cor. of the Pal. Period, p. 100, pl. v. figs. 2-2 d), which it much resembles in its general aspect. It is, however, in general a coarser and more stoutly-built form, and it differs structurally from S. Linneana, Bill., in its want of tabule and in the fact that the calices are not sur- rounded by a thin polygonal rim. Though the external preservation of the specimens is not good, this much can be made out with certainty—the calices being always bounded by thick walls (Pl. I. fig. 1), and being in the best-preserved examples surrounded by thickened and raised circular borders, whereas in S. Linneana the calices have sharp-edged poly- gonal borders surrounding the cup-shaped apertures of the tubes. Moreover the present species appears to want the Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 5. Vol. vii. 2 18 Dr. H. A. Nicholson on some new or marked septal ridges which surround the throat of the visceral chambers in S. Linneana; and its large corallites are deci- dedly larger than is the case in the latter form. Horizon and Locality. Inferior Devonian, La Baconnitre, Laval, Mayenne (coll. Ghlert). A very nearly allied if not identical form occurs in the Eifel; but I have not yet fully examined this. Pachypora Chlerti, Nich. (Pl. I. figs, 2-2 c.) Spec. char. Corallum forming flat or slightly undulated expansions, the under surface of which was doubtless originally covered by an epitheca, though this is no longer recognizable, and which vary in thickness from 2 millims. up to a centi- metre. The upper surface exhibits the apertures of the calices (Pl. I. fig. 2 a)—which are very irregular in shape, but usually exhibit two strong septal teeth, one on each side. Sometimes there is only a single well-marked projection of this nature ; sometimes there are three such; but in any case the actual mouths of the corallites are never regularly polygonal or circular, or even crescentic, but are always to some extent encroached upon by well-marked inward prolongations of the wall, and their most general form is perhaps rudely quadran- gular. Very commonly two or more of the calices run into one another, and the calicine apertures thus become vermicu- lar. The actual diameter of the tubes of the corallites varies from one third to two thirds of a millimetre measured alon their greatest lengths; but to that must be added the thickness of the walls, so that in general about four calices are found in ~ a space of from 2 to 3 millims. The walls of the tubes, as seen in tangential sections (Pl. I. fig. 25), are very much thickened; but no lines of demarcation between adjoining corallites can be made out. In thin vertical sections (Pl. I. fig. 2c) the same thickened condition of the walls and the absence of any proper boundary between adjoining tubes can be observed. ‘Tabule complete, but few in number and irregularly developed. Mural pores not observed with cer- tainty. Obs. This well-marked form seems to be a Pachypora of the general type of P. Mischeri, Bill., and P. frondosa, Nich., though it possesses marked peculiarities of its own. Its characters, in fact, increase the probability that it may be ultimately necessary to still further subdivide the genus Pachy- pora, Lindst., retaining this name for forms like P. lamelli- cornis, Lindst., P. ischert, Bill., and their allies, and creating a new genus, or subgenus, for such more natural and normal types as P. cervicornis, Blainy., and P. cristata, HE. & H. emperfectly-known Species of Corals. 19 Favosites punctatus, Boullier. (Pl. I. figs. 8-3 c.) Favosites punctata, Boullier, Annales Linnéennes, 1826. Spec. char. Corallum massive, attaining a large size, and composed of regularly prismatic corallites, which radiate very gently outwards as the periphery of the colony is approached. Corallites basaltiform, angular, and thin-walled, the average tubes having a diameter of about one millimetre and a half, but having a considerable number of smaller corallites wedged in amongst them at their angles of junction. The walls of the corallites retain their primitively duplex character. Well- marked but irregularly-developed septal spines of a blunt form and upward direction can be detected in parts of the corallum. The tabule (Pl. I. fig. 8c) are complete, numerous, hori- zontal, flexuous or slightly curved, separated by interspaces of from one third to one half ofa millimetre. The mural pores are numerous, closely approximated, round or oval in shape, without a raised margin, four or five being generally present in the space of 2 millims. meacured vertically ; their arrange- ment is either uniserial, or they are disposed in two subalter- nating rows, according to the width of the prismatic faces of the corallites. Obs. This species scems to have been overlooked by Milne-Edwards and Haime in their great work on fossil corals (‘ Polypiers fossiles,’ 1851) ; and 1 am not aware that it. has been in any way noticed by subsequent zoophytologists. It was, however, described and figured in a perfectly recog- nizable manner in the year 1826 by M. E. Boullier (“Mémoire sur une espéce de Polypier fossile rapportée au genre Favosite de Lamarck,” extrait des Annales Linnéennes pour 1826). I am greatly indebted to Mons. Cthlert for having furnished me with an accurate transcript of the text and figures of this rare paper; and I can unhesitatingly support the validity of M. Boullier’s determination. The two species of Favosites to which the present form is most closely related are /. basalticus, Goldf., and F. twrbinatus, Bill. The large corallites in F’. basalticus are much larger than in F, punctatus; its tabule are in general wider apart; its mural pores are almost always uniserial (Hdwards and Haime, Pol. foss. p. 236); and the breadth of the corallum is proportion- ally greater than the height. On the other hand, in #. punctatus, Boullier, the corallum is higher than broad, the diameter of the largest corallites is rarely above a millimetre and a half, the tabule are closely set, and the mural pores are at least as commonly biserial as uniserial. From /. tur- Q% 20 Dr. H. A. Nicholson on some new or binatus, Billings, the present form is distinguished by its not assuming the remarkable shape of the former and by the want of its peculiar epitheca, as well as by the commonly biserial condition of the pores and the more closely set tabule. Horizon and Locality. Abundant and well preserved in the inferior Devonian deposits of La Baconniere, Mayenne. . Favosties ? tnosculans, Nich. (Pl. I. figs. 4, 4a). Spec. char. Corallum forming a large mass of unknown dimensions, the single specimen examined being 12 centims. in length by 7 in width, and 4 in height. The coral- lites are very minute, averaging half a millimetre in dia- meter, and radiating gently from the base. Very commonly, in fact in a large proportion of the corallites, the walls are partially deficient ; so that two, three, or four adjoining tubes may run into one another laterally in a vermiculate manner (Pl. I. fig. 4), the boundaries between the different ele- ments of such a common tube being indicated by short mar- ginal and opposed ridges. ‘The line of demarcation between the sclerenchyma of any one tube and that of its neighbours is in general recognizable by the presence of a clear linear space representing the primitive wall. The tabule are nume- rous, complete, and approximately horizontal. Septal spines not observed. ‘The mural pores are numerous, very large, closely approximated, oval or rounded in shape, and arranged in a single series on each face of a tube, six or eight pores, or more, being present in a vertical space of 2 millimetres. Obs. In general shape and aspect this singular species is very like a-massive Alveoliies or Chatetes. Its corallites, however, show nothing of the compressed and often crescentic or lunate character of those of Alveolites, and it clearly cannot be referred to this genus. On the other hand, it presents a curious resemblance to Chetetes in the imperfect condition of the walls of the corallites, and the resulting presence of blunt processes or ridges extending into the visceral chambers (Pl. I. fig. 4). In Cheetetes, however, this appearance is due to the partial division of the old tubes, preparatory to their complete fission, whereas in the present case the adult tubes simply communicate with one another by a deficiency of their parietes. That the present species is not a true Chetetes is also conclusively shown by the fact that the duplex character of the walls of the tubes can be clearly re- cognized, as well as by the presence of numerous large mural pores. This last character proves it to belong to the Favo- sitide, though its reference to Mavosttes proper is rendered umperfectly-known Species of Corals. 21 somewhat doubtful by the unusual thickening of the walls, as well as by the free intercommunication between adjoining corallites. The single specimen of L. ? cnosculans that I have examined does not exhibit any part of either the upper or lower surface in its original condition; and the preservation of the corallum in a remarkably soft and splintery rock (dolomite ?) renders its microscopic examination peculiarly difficult. At the same time its minute structure 1s quite characteristic, and suftici- ently separates it from any allied type with which I am ac- quainted. Horizon and Locality. Inferior Devonian, Chalonnes. SPECIES OF CORALS ASSOCIATED WITH THE PRECEDING. It may be of advantage if I append the following brief notes upon some of the remaining corals which were contained in the collection submitted to me by Mons. Céhlert, and which are associated with the new forms previously described. 1. Favosites, sp. A form like &. gothlandicus, Lam., in general shape, having a massive corallum composed of regu- larly prismatic corallites of tolerably uniform diameter, their ordinary width being about 2 millims., or rather less. As seen in tangential sections the walls are moderately thin, and no septa can be detected; but in long sections the walls are sharply undulated, or show well-marked spiniform and in- wardly directed processes. The mural pores are of consider- able size, sometimes uniserial, sometimes in two alternating rows on each prismatic face of a corallite. Tabule well developed, mostly half a millimetre or less apart.— Horizon and Locality. Inferior Devonian, St. Malo. 2. Havosites gothlandicus, Lam. Two specimens, which differ little from the ordinary Devonian examples of this species. 3. Favosites Forbest, E. & H., var. (?). Corallum small, rounded, subhemispherical or spheroidal, mostly about an inch in diameter. Corallites of very unequal sizes, the larger ones averaging about 2 millims. in diameter, their walls being thick and their shape cylindrical. The smaller corallites are nume- rous, from rather more than a millimetre to half a millimetre in diameter, very variably shaped, but almost always angular. The tabule are strong, remote, and approximately horizontal, No traces of septa or septal spines detected. External surface of the tubes marked with numerous fine, slightly-curved strie. Mural pores of large size, sometimes uniserial, some- times in two subalternate rows on each prismatic face. This may be provisionally regarded as a variety of F. 22 Dr. H A. Nicholson on some new or Forbesi, KE. & H., from which it differs in the comparatively large number and small size of the smaller corallites. It is most like . Forbest, var. tuberosa, Rom.; but the corallum never attains any great dimensions, and there are no traces of the characteristic epithecal or opercular investment of the latter. From F. Forbest, var. eifelensis, Nich., it differs in the great number of the small tubes and the apparent absence of septal spines; and from Lf. Forbest, var. waldronensis, Nich., it is separated by the smaller size of the large corallites as well as by their proportionately smaller number.—Horizon and Locality. Inferior Devonian, Saint Jean sur Mayenne and La Baconniére. : 4. Pachypora cervicornis, De Blainv. Numerous speci- mens of this form, the branches varying in diameter from 5 millims. to over 2 centims., are represented in M. Cthlert’s collection. Their internal and external characters are pre- cisely similar to those of specimens from the Hifel.— Horizon and Locality. Inferior Devonian, Saint Jean sur Mayenne ; Mont Jean, Gallois. 5. Pachypora, sp. A single fragment of limestone contain- ing numerous stems of a small Pachypora imbedded init. In structure and general character this form is like P. cervicornis, Blainv.; but the stems are all small (5 millims. or less in diameter), and the tubes are more minute and more delicate than in the latter. It is more nearly related to P. meridio- nalis, Nich. & Eth. jun., from the Devonian rocks of Queens- land ; but more extended material would very probably show it to be a distinct species.—Horizon and Locality. Inferior Devonian, La Baconniére. 6. Heliolites porosus, Goldf.—Horizon and Locality. Inferior Devonian, Chalonnes, La Baconniére, and Gallois. 7. Heliolites,sp. A form resembling H.interstinctus, Wahl., but with larger tubes and with some less conspicuous peculi- arities.—Horizon and Locality. Inferior Devonian, Mont Jean, Gallois. 8. Monticulipora Winteri, Nich. Several specimens (from the Inferior Devonian of La Baconniére), which, both in ex- ternal characters and in microscopic structure, precisely agree with the examples of the Eifel. Dr. Steinmann, for whose opinion | entertain the highest respect, has suggested recently (N. Jahrb. fiir Min. Geol. und Pal. 1880, p. 438) that this species is really the Favosttes fibroglobosus of Quenstedt, de- scribed from the same locality (Gees, near Gerolstein). I do not feel at present able to accept this conclusion, for two reasons. In the first place, I have made a careful examination of nume- rous specimens, both German and French, of the form which imperfectly-known Species of Corals. 23 I call Monticulipora Winter?, both externally and by means of microscopic sections, and J have totally failed to detect any traces of mural pores. In the second place, my own limited collections are sufficient to show me the impossibility of pro- nouncing positively upon the structure and affinities of any individual specimens, even of a known and marked external figure, and from a known locality, unless a microscopic exa- mination has been instituted ; and the form now under discus- sion is an excellent example of what I now say. I find, namely, that I possess in the collection which I personally made at Gees three quite distinct forms, all of which so closely resemble each other externally that, until I had made thin sections of them, I had placed them together in the same tray, as indubitably belonging to the same species. One of these three forms is the type which I have described under the name of Monticulipora Winter; another is a true Fistuli- pora, as defined by M‘Coy; and the third is a genuine Alve- olites, and is provided with numerous and well-marked mural pores. The form described by Quenstedt under the name of Favosites fibroglobosus (Petrefact. Deutschlands, Bd. vi. 8. 15, Taf. 143) is one with which I am unfortunately unacquainted ; but it might, so far as external form is concerned, easily be any one of the three forms which I have just enumerated ; or it might be a fourth, quite distinct form. In any case, the facts [ have mentioned are quite sufficient to prove that the occurrence of a fossil at a particular locality and its possession of a well-marked external form cannot be allowed to count for any thing (so far as the more delicately constructed species of corals are concerned) when we come to determine generic or specific relations and affinities. 9. Associated with the preceding were species of Aulopora, Cyathophyllum, Zaphrentis, and Cystiphyllum, which my leisure would not permit me to specifically determine. M. (Ehlert’s collection also contained some interesting Stromato- poroids, which I may take the opportunity of describing on some future occasion. EXPLANATION OF PLATE I. Fig. 1. A fragment of Striatopora pachystoma, Nich., of the natural size. Fig. 1a. Portion of a tangential section of the same, enlarged seven times. Fig. 1b. Part of a vertical section of the same, enlarged seven times, showing the thickened walls anda few mural pores. Fig. 2. A fragment of Pachypora Ushlerti, Nich., of the natural size. Fig. 2a. A small portion of the surface of the same, enlarged eighteen times, showing the form of the calices. 4 Fig. 2b. Portion of a tangential section of the same, enlarged eighteen 24 Mr. Oldfield Thomas on a new Species of Mus. times, showing the thickened walls and the septal (?) teeth of the corallites. Fig. 2c. Vertical section of the same, enlarged eighteen times, showing the thickened walls and the remote tabule. Fig. 3. A small fragment of Favosites punctatus, Boullier. Fig. 3a. Three tubes of the same, enlarged three times. Fig. 3b. Tangential section of the same, enlarged seven times. Fig. 5c. Vertical section of the same, enlarged seven times, showing the mural pores and tabulze. Fig. 4. Tangential section of Favosites (?) inosculans, Nich., showing the free communication between many of the corallites, enlarged eighteen times. Fig. 4a. Vertical section of the same, enlarged eighteen times, showing the large mural pores and the tabule. Ill.—Description of a new Species of Mus from Southern India. By Ou_prietp THomas, F.Z.8., British Museum. THE specimen here described was obtained at Kadapa, Madras, by Colonel R. H. Beddome, and has been presented to the British Museum, together with a large series of other Indian Muride, by Mr. W. T. Blanford, atter whom I propose to name it Mus Blanfordi, sp. 1. Fur above slate-colour, tipped with fawn; hairs rather long and soft. Belly white, sharply defined. Tail longer than head and body ; basal half dark, distal half above and below white; distal third covered with soft, white, shining hairs about a quarter of an inch long, forming a pencil at the tip. Tarsus rather long. Five front and six hind foot-pads. Ears long, oval, nearly naked. Mamme six, one pectoral and two inguinal pairs. The skull differs from those of all other Indian rats by the front edge of the external wall of the infraorbital fora- men being strongly slanting instead of perpendicular. The interparietal also is much more elongated transversely than usual. Measurements of the type, an adult female:—Head and body (about) 4:1 inches; tail 6:1; himd foot, without claws, 1:2; forearm and hand 1°3 ; ear-conch, length from external base ‘70, breadth °54; skull 1°42. Mr. R. Etheridge, Jun., on Carboniferous Opercula? 25 IV.—Descriptions of certain peculiar Bodies which may be the Opercula of small Gasteropoda, discovered by Mr. James Bennie in the Carboniferous Limestone of Law Quarry, near Dalry, Ayrshire, with notes on some Silurian Opercula. By R. ETHeriDGE, Jun. [ Plate I. ] Intrropuction.—The object of the present communication is to briefly describe several small bodies which Mr. Bennie and myself are mutually agreed in regarding as the opercula of minute Gasteropoda, and which were discovered by the former some time ago in a bed of highly fossiliferous and siliceous limestone near Dalry. The interest attached to these remains lies in the fact that occasionally small entire shells are found in the same stratum with one form of the opercula about to be described za satu, thus affording a very good demonstration of their true affinity. The description of a large Natécopsis with the operculum én situ and several examples of Huomphalus sculptus from the Wenlock Limestone, all contained in the British-Museum collection, will complete the account. Mr. Bennie has kindly furnished me with the following notes on the bed of limestone from which the fossils were obtained. Law Quarry is situated on the Cubeside farm, about two miles north-west of Dalry, and only a few hundred feet from the edge of the great mass of bedded traps which stretch from Dalry to Largs. The band of limestone forms a subsidiary bed (probably the lowest) in the Howrat Limestone (=the Hurlet or Main Limestone), the lowest bed of the Lower Car- boniferous Limestone group of Scotland. It may be 12 feet or so in thickness, and is very hard and compact where solid and unweathered. The bed is highly charged with siliceous matter, asa large percentage of the contained fossils have been changed into some form of silica. A bed of Lithostrotion is present, every polypite of which is completely silicified. The percentage of silica is so high that the limestone is only wrought for manure by the neighbouring agriculturists. The fossils are obtained by washing the disintegrated material found on ledges of the quarry-face and in fissures and pockets made by the natural jointing of the rock. Interest will be added to the matter if the descriptions are prefaced by a brief epitome of the structure of the Gasteropod operculum, and a similar account of the number of genera in which this organ has been found in position in Palozoic shells, a by no means frequent occurrence. The operculum of the Gasteropoda consists of a layer more or 26 Mr. R. Etheridge, Jun., on some Glasteropod less composed of horny material, strengthened by the addition of calcareous matter. The inner surface carries a muscular scar; and the point from which the operculum commences is termed the nucleus. It may fit the mouth of the shell with accuracy ; or the entrance may be only partially closed by it; and, again, in some genera it is quite wanting. ‘The operculum may be said to be concentric when it increases equally all round and the nucleus is central or subcentral—imbricated or lamellar when growing on one side only and with a marginal nucleus—unguiculate or claw-shaped, with the nucleus apical or in front. ‘The operculum is said to be spiral when it grows only on one edge, revolving as it grows, and is always sinis- tral in dextral shells; when few-whirled the operculum is said to be paucispiral, or subspiral when the turns are little marked ; on the contrary, when the whirls are very nume- rous it is said to be multispiral. One side has sometimes a projection, in which condition the word “ articulated” is used to express the form. The operculum is present in some species of a genus, absent in others ; and it is also indifferently horny or shelly (Woodward)*. The description of opercula in the Gasteropoda of the older rocks has not been of frequent occurrence, although a few instances have been observed both amongst Silurian and Car- boniferous representatives of the class. Amongst Silurian univalves we meet with the peculiar genus Maclurea, in which the operculum is thick, solid, and sinistrally subspiral, with two internal projections, one of them beneath the nucleus, very thick and rugoset. Mr. Salter has given excellent figures of the operculum of both MZ. Logant, Salter}, and J. Peachii, Salter§, from the Durness Lime- stone of the northern Highlands. In addition to those of Maclurea, the operculum of Huom- phalus has been noticed by the late Dr. S. P. Woodward||, who describes it as shelly, round, and multispiral. Mr. F. Smithe, LL.D.§], has described and figured the operculum of Huomphalus sculptus, Sow. He states that it is shelly, ovate, concave within, plane without, thin, and with a bevelled edge. The spiral consists of twelve whirls. Passing to rocks of the Carboniferous period, we find that the operculum has been observed chiefly in the genus Nati- * Man. Mollusca, pp. 101, 102. + Ibid. p. 202. t Murchison’s ‘Siluria,’ 4th ed. p. 197, foss. 40. fig. la; and dee. i. Geol. Survey Canada, t. i. § Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. xv. p. 378, t. 18. figs. 1b, 3-5. || Man. Moll. p. 145. {| Proc. Cotteswold Nat. Field-Club. Opercula(?) in Carboniferous Limestone. 27 copsis. In 1844 Prof. M‘Coy noticed that of N. Phillipsti (M‘Coy) *, and figured this structure entirely filling-in the mouth of the shell}. Later on the same author stated that the operculum of Naticopsis differed from that of any of the Naticide: in being concentric and not spiralf. The most com- plete description of the operculum of Naticopsis yet given is that by Messrs. Meek and Worthen. These authors describe it as thick and shelly, oval or subcircular in form, with a lateral or submarginal nucleus, with an entire absence of a spiral or subspiral structure, and no articulating projection. The inner side presents a distinct reniform scar of attachment, whilst the fine and concentric lines of growth are visible on the outside §. Finally, in the British Museum is a fine example of Nat?- copsis Phillipsti, M‘Coy (?=N. elliptica, Phill.), with the operculum zn situ, which will be described hereafter; it is the shell referred to by Prof. M‘Coy||. 1. CARBONIFEROUS FORMS. It is quite open to argument whether some of these bodies may not be the otoliths of fishes. Bearing this in mind, I consulted my colleague, Mr. W. Davies, F.G.S., who was kind enough to examine the specimens with me. The result of the inquiry was that, although some bore a striking resem- blance to otoliths, others, on the contrary, appeared to afford evidence of the operculum view. ‘The question even presented itself as to how large a proportion of the bodies found in rocks of a younger age than the Carboniferous, and usually regarded as otoliths, may be the opercula of Gasteropoda of those beds. The first form is more or less circular in outline, rounded and thin-edged on one margin, thickened on the other, and produced into a blunted denticulation or two. The centre of one side is somewhat raised above the sharp margin, leaving a flattened zone, and sometimes traversed by a groove or two. This is acommon type, and is frequently much worn, when the characters become obliterated. ‘The opposite side is smooth and convex. Lower Carboniferous Limestone group, Law Quarry, near Dalry (PI. II. fig. 1). The second variety is small and oval, with a central rounded nucleus, and a notch in the margin opposite, to which the * Synop. Carb. Limest. Foss. Iveland, 1844, p. 33. + Ibid. t. 3. fig. 9. { Brit. Pal. Foss. 1853, fase. iii. p. 548. § Illinois Geol. Survey Report, iii. p. 366. || Brit. Pal. Foss. p. 548. 28 Mz. R. Etheridge, Jun., on some Gasteropod nucleus is nearest. The reverse side of the operculum is plain except for a slight convexity in the centre. As before, Law Quarry (PI. II. fig. 2). Another condition consists of elongated pinna-shaped bodies, flat or very slightly concave on one surface, and without visible marks or ornament. The other aspect is convex, particularly on one side, where it is thickened and gradually thins away to the edge. One end is rounded, the other bluntly pomted. As before, Law Quarry (PI. II. fig. 3). The fourth type consists of thin auriform bodies, a little thicker on one of the longer margins than on the other, concave on one side, more or less flattened on the opposite. The latter carries a minute central depression or umbilical spot, round which the surface is concentrically striated, and a direct groove passing to the acuminated end. On the concave side of these opercula there is a scar which may be generally described as horsehoof-shaped, and a groove bounding the raised portion. As before, Law Quarry, and on a similar horizon at Inverteil Quarry near Kirkcaldy (Pl. II. fig. 4). The fifth and last form is that of a small, thin, round oper- culum, concave on one side, more or less convex on the other. ‘The concave side shows a doubly impressed scar, having the appearance of a dumb-bell. As before, Law Quarry (PI. II. fig. 5). The deposit yielding the opercula occasionally furnishes examples of Gasteropoda with them in situ. I give two illustrations of this, one with the operculum entire, the other with it only partially preserved. In both cases the opercula fit the mouths of the shells completely. In the former of these there is a central depression, and the thickened side of the operculum is placed against the pillar-hp of the shell, the sharp edge being outward, resting against the outer lip. There are faint signs of concentric striee ; and the centre is depressed. In all probability these are minute species of Naticopsis (Pl. II. figs. 6 & 7). The sum of the information deducible from the study of these little objects appears to be, that, in the first place, certain Carboniferous Gasteropods possessed thick bony opercula, of a more or less oval form, speaking generally, and of variable size. In the second place, on the contrary, others were provided with thin, round, or irregularly oval doors to their aper- tures, and when any structure is visible it appears to be con- centric. Again, a form of an entirely different shape is foreshadowed by the elongated variety described as the preceding third type. Opercula (2) in Carboniferous Limestone. 29 We do not possess as yet any evidence to show the pre- sence in our Carboniferous rocks of the ¢mbricated, unguiculate, paucispiral, multispiral, and other forms into which the oper- cula of Gasteropoda have been grouped. In our Silurian rocks, on the other hand, we have the spiral operculum in Huomphalus. The Naticopsis in the British-Museum collection is unfor- tunately, except in the region of the mouth, imperfect. In all probability it is N. Phillipsii, M‘Coy. The operculum is oval, somewhat pointed in its upper part, and concave exter- nally, the most depressed point answering to the internal muscular scar. It bears the closest resemblance to those opercula im situ from Law Quarry described in a preceding paragraph. The concentric striz are very close and regular. It fits the aperture of the shell exactly, and is more or less thickened where it abuts against the pillar-lip (Pl. II. fig. 8). 2. SILURIAN FORMS. The British-Museum collection contains two peculiar bodies from the Upper Silurian beds of the island of Gothland, stated on the labels forwarded with the specimens to be the opercula of Euomphalus (Pl. II. fig. 9). They are bluntly conical in form, rising from a flattened or somewhat concave base. The smaller is 83 lines high, by nearly 6 wide; the larger one is 7 lines in height, by a little more than 6 lines in diameter. Both are marked by close-set concentric raised lines of laminz, subim- bricating upwards. About half the distance from the base to the blunt apex the sides are somewhat constricted, and the upper part is thus partially separated from the lower. The flatly concave base is bounded by a marginal rim, and the centre is occupied by a somewhat sunken coiled nucleus. These bodies have a very peculiar appearance, and, if really opercula, must have belonged to a strong massive shell. ‘lhe upper third or apical portion appears to be devoid of concentric lines or ridges. The collection is also enriched by several specimens of a Euomphalus with the operculum in place, from the Wenlock Limestone, and by an operculum lying on the weathered sur- face of the limestone, separated from the shell. The opercula of these shells correspond generally with the description given by Mr. Smithe, but differ in one or two minor particulars. The marginal outline is quite circular or round; but as the centre is approached the spiral rings become decidedly oval (Pl. II. fig. 13). The number of these rings in the best-pre- served of our specimens is seventeen, and there were evidently afew more. ‘There is, however, no trace of a nodose or bead- 30 Mr. R. Etheridge, Jun., on some Silurian Opercula? like character, so far as my examination of these specimens has gone. The rings are concentric and ridge-like, each sepa- rate from the other, with well-marked interspaces between them, the interspaces being quite double the width of the ridges, if not a little more (Pl. II. fig. 13). Three of the British-Museum specimens with the operculum in place have the latter presented with the spiral whirls out- wards ; and this surface is decidedly (although not very) con- cave (PI. II. figs. 10 & 11). This is shown in a somewhat exaggerated form in the free example, but heightened by fracture and compression from above. On the other hand, in a fourth example, also with the spiral side of the operculum exposed in place, the latter is quite depressed conical (PI. II. fig. 12). Lastly, in a fifth specimen the circular form of the oper- culum is well exhibited, and a somewhat different appearance visible (Pl. IL. fig. 14). The operculum is depressed a little immediately within the margin, and then rises at the centre into a low spiral prominence. The surface is shining and smooth, except near the margin, where there are a few very fine spiral thread-like lines. This aspect is rather difficult of explanation ; but I believe it to represent either the interior of the plate or a cast of the interior, and to be reversed in position. The five specimens here noticed are what is usually called Euomphalus sculptus, J. de C. Sow.*, which was briefly de- scribed as having the “surface ornamented with concentric furrows and elevated lines.” ‘This description must have been taken from a very much worn example; for even in indifferent specimens the close, transverse, undulating frills of growth which cross these “ elevated lines” are quite visible. The characters of a well-preserved example of ZH. sculptus are quite those assigned to another species, H. funatus, J. de C. Sow.t, viz., ‘ Conical, very short ; ornamented with many spiral threads, united by more numerous transverse lines ; umbilicus rather small.” It will be noticed that no mention is made of the number of concentric ridges, or any approach thereto, in the respec- tive species. On comparing the figures, however, it will be seen that those on the body-whorl of L. funatus are much wider apart and less numerous than those on a corresponding portion of the shell of H. sculptus. * Murchison’s ‘Silurian System,’ p. + Min. Conch. 1824, v. p. 71, t. 450, tea Te120. 626, t. 12. f.. 17. f.1&2; ‘Silurian System,’ p. 626, Mr. A. G. Butler on new Species of Lepidoptera. 31 Without asserting the identity of these two forms, it becomes necessary to point out the very close relation existing between them ; and it may be that they are only the old and young conditions of one species. The concentric ridges on the body-whorl of . sculptus become wider apart as the suture is approached, when they often assume very much the appearance given in the figures of EH. funatus referred to. The apparent similarity between these shells should be indi- cated, in case any difference may be detected in their oper- cula. That of H. funatus has not been described, so far as I know. EXPLANATION OF PLATE IL. Fig. 1. A small circular operculum (?) produced into a blunted denti- culation. Law Quarry. Fig. 2. A small oval operculum, with a central globular nucleus. Law Quarry. Fig. 3. 75 arpated pinna-shaped body, probably an operculum. Law uarry. Fig. 4. A ii, sain had auriform body of the same nature. Inverteil Quarry, near Kirkcaldy, Fife. Fig. 5. A small, thin, round operculum. Law Quarry. Figs. 6 & 7. Two small shells, probably species of Naticopsis, with the opercula in situ. Law Quarry. Fig. 8. Naticopsis Phillips, M‘Coy, with the operculum in place, but partially abraded on one side. Collection, British Museum. Fig. 9. A supposed operculum, conical and with imbricating ridges. Upper Silurian, island of Gothland. Collection, British Museum. xX 2. Figs. 10 & 11. Euomphalus sculptus, Sow., with the operculum in place. Wenlock Limestone. Collection, British Museum. Fig. 12. Another specimen, but with the outer side of the operculum somewhat conical. Collection, British Museum. Fig. 13. The operculum of £. sculptus free. Collection, British Museum. Fig. 14. Euomphalus sculptus? with a shining scarcely spiral operculum. Collection, British Museum. (N.B. The originals of figs. 1-7 are in the cabinet of Mr. James Bennie. ) V.—Descriptions of new Species of Lepidoptera in_ the Collection of the British Museum. By Artuur G. BUTLER, TAS., ZS, &e. [Plate IV. ] THE species described in the present paper are chiefly from India and China, all, with one exception, being Asiatic, and the latter being the first African species in a hitherto purely Asiatic genus. 32. Mr. A.G. Butler on new Species of Lepidoptera. Nymphalide. 1. Argynnis gemmata, sp.n. (Pl. IV. fig. 1.) Fuivous, with the body and basal third of the wings shining coppery brown : wings with three transverse series of black spots, the first biangulated, in zigzag fashion, on the pri- maries, and simply angulated on the secondaries ; ; this series is placed just beyond the middle of the wings; the second and third series united at their costal extremities near the apex ; a nearly marginal interrupted black line: primaries with thick black discoidal markings, much as in A. cashmirensis ; a subcostal, ill-defined, blackish, triangular spot between the first and second series. Primaries below paler than above, with smaller black spots, the basal area not brown, as above, but uniform with the rest of the ground-colour, the costa ochreous towards apex, and the outer margin and fringe spot- ted with the same colour ; an oblique apical chestnut-red stripe, margined internally by a conspicuous spot and a minute dot of silver, and bounded externally by an abbreviated submar- ginal series of six oval silver spots, which decrease in size at both extremities of the series; the first two visible spots of the second series of the upper surface greyish green: secon- daries somewhat like those of A. myrina (but altogether brighter and prettier, with the central silver spot more as in A, lathonia), bright ferruginous varied with patches of ochreous, the basal half occupied by about fifteen silver spots and streaks of various sizes and shapes, the two central ones united and passing through a postmedian arched series of sagittate silver spots; a marginal series of large triangular spots, abdominal margin, and “the base of the costal margin silver; all these markings are slenderly edged with black ; a discal series of dull green rounded spots with silver pupils ; ; fringe bright ochreous spotted with ferruginous: body below ochraceous. Expanse of wings 1 inch 11 ‘lines. Darjiling (Lidderdale) ; between N epal and Tibet (Charl- ton). The two examples taken by Major Charlton have been in the Museum collection since 1852; but, probably owing to the fact that they belong to a dificult genus, nobody appears to have ventured to describe them. I find them labelled “ Tibet ;”” but our register says ‘‘ between Nepal and Tibet,” and the fact that Dr. Lidderdale labels his specimen as taken at ‘ Darjiling”’ renders it extremely likely that Major Charl- ton’s were also taken on the Nepal side of the Himalayas. The position of this species seems to be next to A. myrina. My. A. G. Butler on new Species of Lepidoptera. 33 Papilionide. 2. Papilio nebulosus, sp.n. (PI. IV. fig. 3.) In some respects nearest to P. antiphates, in others to P. euphrates, but the primaries dull greyish black, crossed at the base by two broad pale belts ; the costal half of the wing also crossed by four abbreviated white bands, united below the median vein so as to form two large U-shaped markings, and .crossed by black veins; submarginal tapering band as in P. euphrates, white; a large roundish diffused patch of white on the internal area near the exterior angle: secondaries as in P. antiphates, excepting that they appear greyish through their showing the markings of the under surface, and that the submarginal liture are continued upwards above the third median branch. Wings below blackish ; the base and the interno-median area of the secondaries sordid white or brown, shading into white; subbasal band of primaries scarcely trace- able; other markings as above, but sordid: secondaries with the abdominal margin and fringe white, bounded inter- nally by a black stripe along the submedian vein ; a central elbowed series of six sordid-white elongated spots, bounded on both sides by ill-defined black spots, the third or central spot pyriform and enclosing a smaller black spot; a discal angulated series of six more or less pentagonal ochreous patches, their two outer sides slightly sinuated and black- edged ; a submarginal series of five almost confluent, oblong, sordid-white patches placed corner to corner ; outer margin and tail black: body below white, spotted at the sides with black ; anus pale flesh-coloured. Expanse of wings 3 inches 3 lines. Darjiling (Lidderdale). But for the fact that this species is, in some of its most important characters, nearer to P. ewphrates of the Philippines, I should have thought it possible that it might be an extra- ordinary melanistic variety of P. antiphates. 3. Papilio Mariesti, sp.n. (Pl. IV. fig. 4.) Allied to P. alebion, from which it differs in the absence of the submarginal black band on the primaries, the narrower discal belt of secondaries, which is greyish externally and becomes obsolete towards the costa, the slightly larger white spots above the blue-centred marginal black spots of the secondaries, and the slightly larger and deeper-coloured orange subanal patch: on the under surface the primaries differ as above, the outer discal line of the secondaries is obsolete, and Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 5. Vol. vii. 3 34 Mr. A. G. Butler on new Species of Lepidoptera. the marginal black stripe encloses a much smaller spot of the ground-colour at apex. Expanse of wings 2 inches 10 lines. Lu-Shan mountains, province of Kiukiang, China. One specimen of this species was taken by Mr. Charles Maries. 4, Thecla betulotdes (Blanchard in litt.). (PI. IV. fig. 2.) Above chocolate-brown, shot with purple, excepting on the outer border: primaries with a large patch of bright orange on the disk immediately beyond the cell: secondaries with an’ orange patch at the anal angle. Under surface grey; the cells closed by a short brownish fasciole with darker marginal lines edged externally with white; an oblique discal band and a second band nearer and parallel to the outer margin of the same colours; a submarginal dusky stripe, followed in the secondaries by a white marginal line; base of fringe occupied by a black line: secondaries with an orange anal patch en- closing a black dot on the first median interspace ; a subanal W-shaped blackish line joining the inferior extremity of the inner discal band, its inner edge bordered with orange and its outer edge with white; anal lobe and tail black; pectus white, venter testaceous. Expanse of wings 1 inch 4-6 lines. Three specimens. Kiukiang, China (Maries). Although quoted in the Supplement to Mr. Kirby’s ‘ Cata- logue,’ this species cannot be regarded as described by Blan- chard ; that author simply remarks, “ In the neighbourhood of Pekin an allied species exists which is distinguished by several characters ;”’ and in a footnote he says “ This species (Thecla betuloides, Lucas) has the wings tinted with blue above and grey below.” From the vague resemblance which the species bears to 7’. betule, and from the fact that the underside is grey and the upperside shot with purple (not blue), IT have little doubt that the species here described is that men- tioned by Blanchard ; and therefore I have adopted for it the name which he has proposed; but nobody can be certain of any thing from his casual hints as to the insect. 5. Thecla tyrianthina, sp.n. (PI. IV. fig. 5.) Above brown, shot with purplish blue in the male and with purple in the female. Under surface of wings pale greyish brown, darker towards the base; a brown fasciole, traversed by a pale line, at the end of the cell; a broad, slightly taper- ing discal brown belt from the costal margin of each wing; a submarginal brown stripe and a marginal brown border: secondaries with an orange patch enclosing a square of four Mr, A. G. Butler on new Species of Lepidoptera, 35 black spots, bounded above by an incomplete w-shaped black line, and below by an alternately white and black fringe; a black-edged whitish oblique band near the anal angle across the abdominal border, bounded internally by a brown band, and externally by an orange marginal border; anal lobe and tail black tipped with white: pectus greyish, palpi white po venter testaceous. Hxpanse of wings 1 inch 3-4 ines. Kaukiang, China (Maries). Allied to 7. arata. 6. Thecla stygiana, sp.n. (PI. IV. fig. 6.) Above smoky brown, without markings. Wings below ereyish brown, with an indistinct externo-discal series of blackish spots bounded outwardly with yellowish: primaries with an indistinctly whitish-bordered black spot at external angle: secondaries with a very indistinct submarginal series of dusky spots ; a patch of orange at external angle enclosing a black spot above the tail, which is also black ; anal angle black: pectus bluish white; venter sulphur-yellow. Ex- panse of wings 1 inch 7 lines. Nikko, Central Japan (Maries). 7. Milleria pontioides, sp. n. Creamy white: primaries with the veins brown; external two fifths brown, enclosing a small white spot at the inferior angle of the cell, and crossed by a disco-submarginal series of abbreviated whitish dashes upon the veins: secondaries with the outer half greyish ; a broad external brown border from costa to first median branch, interrupted by five longi- tudinal whitish dashes on the veins: antenne black. Prima- ries below nearly as above, but the external area blackish, and the spots upon it white: secondaries sulphur-yellow, excepting towards the costa, the outer half black-brown, with the end of the cell and five streaks on the veins white. Hx- panse of wings 1 inch 9 lines. Sarawak (Low). Somewhat like Pontéa pactolica, Butl., in pattern and colo- ration. Lithosiide. 8. Camptoloma binotatum, sp. n. Nearly allied to C. ¢nterioratum (C. erythropygum, Felder, Nov. tab. xciii. fig. 7) from China and Japan, but with the primaries ochreous, nearly as dark as the secondaries ; the 3% 36 =©Mr. A. G. Butler on new Species of Lepidoptera. oblique lines from near the base of the costal margin not united to one another, consequent upon the abbreviation of the inferior or basal one; the upper line, on the contrary, continued (by means of a terminal elbow) through the red streaks, and uniting with the oblique line immediately beyond the cell ; the fourth or subapical discal line longer, slightly waved or bisinuated instead of regularly concave; the submarginal line longer and much more slender; only two instead of three large black spots on the fringe at external angle. Body bright ochreous, the thorax scarcely perceptibly paler than the abdomen; anus lake-red. LExpanse of wings 1 inch 7 lines. Two specimens. Shillong (Assam). I have examined a fair series of the Japanese species, and therefore am in a position to state positively that it is not a variable insect. Liparide. ‘EFRISULOIDES, gen. nov. Trisule affine genus ; differt alis anticis minus productis; posticis magis rotundatis ; capite retracto, breviore; palpis brevioribus ; signaturis supra generis Chrysorithri vel Catocale. 9. Trisuloides sericea, sp. n. Smoky brown; sericeous, especially the primaries; these wings above transversely irregularly banded with sandy brown, the bands being bordered and intersected by blackish lines; a more or less defined, nearly semicircular, pale patch from the costa to the first median branch and slightly im- pinging upon the discoidal cell; outer border sandy brown, very irregular along its inner margin, which is edged with black; its outer margin is pale, limited by a submarginal series of dusky spots; a double black spot, bordered internally with snow-white, just touching the external border near the external angle; fringe whity brown, spotted with blackish : secondaries pale towards the costa; a large central ochreous patch ; a squamose marginal streak near the anal angle; fringe white or whitish varied with quadrate black spots : head, front of thorax, and posterior margins of the abdominal segments greyish ; abdomen with four dorsal tufts. Wings below sericeous, pale, the outer borders dull silvery white ; veins blackish; a nearly central, angulated, dusky band, fol- lowed by a testaceous band bounded externally by an angular dusky line, immediately beyond which is a curved externally Mr. A. G. Butler on new Species of Lepidoptera. 37 dentated dusky stripe; marginal line blackish ; fringe white, spotted with black : primaries with ochreous basal area: body below blackish, pectus more or less clothed with greyish hairs; tarsi more or less distinctly banded with grey. Expanse of wings 2 inches 6 lines. Shillong, Assam, and Darjiling. On the upper surface this species much resembles Chryso- rithrum, Allotria, and Catocala, the primaries especially re- minding one of Walker’s “ Catocala” albifascia, a species apparently referable to the genus Zalissa; in structure and the pattern of the under surface it agrees far better with Trisula. Acontiide. 10. Apsarasa lturata, sp. n. Primaries above sulphur-yellow, costal margin white ; all the borders crossed by black-edged metallic blue-green lituree as follows—two near the base of the costal border, two at basal fourth, one running obliquely from just before the middle of the costa to the end of the cell, where it unites with an irregularly v-shaped line of the same colour interrupted by a shining rose-red discoidal dash, three curved lines on the costal border beyond the cell, the first very short, a dot followed by a zigzag line just before apex, and an oblique V-shaped marking at apex; markings of the outer border becoming brown upon the fringe, the first and third being short dashes, the second formed of two dashes united by a <-shaped marking, the fourth and fifth long dashes, nearly united inter- nally by a metallic green lunule; on the internal border two <-shaped markings before the middle, an oblique line beyond the middle, and three reversed oblique lines close to external angle; at the base of the median area is a large S-shaped marking, partly metallic green and partly rose-red, and on the second median interspace two rose-red transverse spots, dotted at each end with metallic blue-black: secondaries semitransparent sericeous white, with sulphur-yellow borders and veins : head, collar, front of thorax and of tegulz sulphur- yellow, transversely striped and spotted with bluish and pur- plish black, remainder of body white. Under surface cream- colour, sericeous. Expanse of wings 1 inch 7 lines. 3, Camaroons; ? , Old Calabar. Evidently congeneric with A. radiata and A. figurata, but more beautiful in colouring. 38 Mr. F. P. Pascoe on new Neotropical Curculionide. VI.—New Neotropical Curculionide.—Part IV. By Francis P. Pascoz, F.L.S. &e. BRACHYDERIN#. Emmeria, n. ¢. Pandeletius naupactoides. ee Phanasora, n. g. plumbea. OTIORHYNCHINA. Naupactus simplex. Exorides, n. g chloropleurus. carinatus. serenus. imbutus. Case sulphurifer. ; magicus. Cholus luctuosus. Megalostylus expansus. meestus. Pandeletius naupactoides. P. ovatus, fulvus, squamulis subsilaceis tectus; capite, prothorace femoribusque anticis fuscis, squamulis viridibus sparse adspersis. Long. 24 lin. Hab. Brazil. Ovate, fulvous, covered with small whitish-yellow scales ; head, prothorax, and anterior femora brown, with scattered greenish scales, but denser and brighter on the latter; rostrum rather longer than broad, slightly suleate at the base, the lower half covered with bright green scales ; antenne testa- ceous, scape not extending beyond the middle of the eye ; funicle with the first joint stout, much longer than the second, the rest transverse, club short ; prothorax well rounded at the sides, coarsely granulate-punctate, an impressed line in the middle; scutellum punctiform; elytra rounded at the shoul- ders, coarsely punctate-striate; body beneath covered with bright green scales, except the last two segments of the abdo- men; fore legs much longer than the others, their femora very stout, their tibie denticulate on the mner margin, all, except the anterior femora, testaceous. In the rounded sides of the prothorax this species agrees with the North-American P. Aclaris (Hbst.), but differs in coloration, in the relative size of the basal joints of the funicle, and in the larger fore legs. PHANASORA. Rostrum subangustum, sulco angulato basi a capite separatum. Antenne mediocres, subterminales; scapus oculum superans ; funiculus articulis duobus basalibus longitudine equalibus. Pro- thorax subcylindricus. lytra basi prothorace latiora. Pedes subequales ; femora clavata, omnia infra dente acuto armata ; Mr. F. P. Pascoe on new Neotropical Curculionide. 39 thie intus bisinuate, apice mucronate; corbulis apertis; tarsi articulo ultimo ampliato ; wngues liberi. Abdomen normale. One of my specimens has the MS. name of Pandeletius ceruleus, Buq., attached to it; but from Pandeletius and allied genera it differs in the angular groove at the base of the rostrum, and in all the femora being toothed beneath. Phanasora plumbea. P. ovata, squamulis ceruleis approximatis tecta ; tibiis anticis intus denticulatis. Long. 23 lin. fab. Bogota. Ovate, black, covered by approximate pale blue scales (hence the colour as a whole appears to be dull leaden) ; ros- trum longer than the head, flattened above, and rather sharply angled on each side; antenne black, last five joints of the funicle somewhat turbinate; eyes lateral, rounded; prothorax slightly rounded at the sides, granulate above, the base trun- cate ; scutellum punctiform ; elytra moderately convex, nearly twice as broad as the prothorax at the base, punctate-striate, punctures approximate ; teeth of the femora slender, curved. Naupactus simplex. NV. obovatus, brunneus, squamulis pallidioribus subapproximatis tectus; rostro antice excavato; antennis elongatis; tibiis anticis intus denticulatis. Long. 33 lin. Hab. Brazil. Obovate, everywhere reddish brown, covered with small paler subapproximate scales; rostrum broadly excavated between the insertions of the antenne, the median impressed line or canal extending to the back of the head; eyes promi- nent ; antenne ferruginous, slender, elongate ; scape extending to behind the eye; second joint of the funicle nearly twice as long as the first; prothorax above equal in length and breadth; scutellum triangular; elytra convex, seriate-punctate, punc- tures distinct, sabapproximate ; intercoxal process broad, sub- truncate. Allied to N. durius (Sttona durius, Germ.), but with a much longer prothorax and a less delicate punctuation of the elytra. Naupactus chloropleurus. N. niger, indumento brunneo tenuiter vestitus, lateribus lete argen- teo-viridibus, supra setulis minutis adspersus ; rostrum curvatum, postice capiteque profunde suleatis. Long. 6 lin. Hab. Bahia. 40 Mr. F. P. Pascoe on new Neotropical Curculionide. Black, loosely covered with a light-brown indumentum, the sides of the prothorax and elytra covered with bright silvery green overlapping scales, and everywhere, especially the legs, furnished with very minute scattered setule ; ros- trum curved, a deep groove from the middle to between the eyes; antenne slender; scape passing behind the eye; funicle elongate, second joint more than twice the length of the first, the fourth shorter than the third or fifth; club ellip- tic; prothorax transverse, rounded at the sides, subgranulate ; scutellum cordate; elytra seriate-punctate, each rounded at the apex, green stripe broad, irregularly indented, at one point behind the middle continued to the outer margin; body beneath with silvery green scales on each side and on the coxe. In coloration this species resembles to a certain extent N. stauropterus (Leptocerus stauropterus, Germ.) ; but, inter alia, the stripe on the elytra is continuous, not interrupted so as to give the black central portion the figure of a cross as in the latter. Naupactus serenus. NV. niger, squamulis cupreis dense tectus, elytris singulatim vittis ger, squamulis cup » tectus, elytris sing duabus metallice viridibus ornatis. Long. 6 lin. Hab. Parana. Oblong-obovate, black, covered with cupreous scales, each elytron with narrow metallic green stripes; rostrum slightly concave above; antenne ferruginous; scape scarcely extend- ing behind the eye; funicle with all the joints elongate, the second three times as long as the first; club slender, not longer than the two preceding joints together; prothorax transverse, rounded at the sides, not canaliculate ; scutellum round, covered with golden-green scales; elytra moderately convex, obliquely truncate at the shoulders, the apex nar- rowly rounded, irregularly seriate-punctate, the punctures minute, outer green stripe nearly the length of the elytron, the inner shorter; body beneath covered with silvery green scales; fore legs moderately robust. This species appears to have N. decorus (Fab.) for its nearest ally; but the latter has a rugose prothorax and is differently coloured. The males in this genus have the elytra much narrower than the females, and the prothorax often considerably larger or even globose. Naupactus imbutus. NV. nitide fuscus, squamulis minutis sparse indutus; elytris vittis duabus interruptis marginibusque flavidis. Long. 8 lin. Hab. Macas. Mr. F. P. Pascoe on new Neotropical Curculionide. 41 Glossy brown, sparingly furnished with minute scales, each elytron with a reddish-yellow or luteous stripe interrupted i in the middle, the side broadly margined with the like colour ; rostrum slightly angular on each side, the central canal not extending beyond “the middle ; antenne piceous, slender ; funicle with all the joints very ‘long, the second three times as long as the first; club not so long as the two preceding together ; eyes very. prominent ; prothorax very transverse, finely punctured, canaliculate ; scutellum triangular ; elytra convex, shoulders somewhat angular, the apex produced and narrowly rounded, scutellar border elevated, striate-punctate, punctures transverse, interstices narrow ; body beneath pitchy brown ; fore legs robust, their coxee not contiguous. This species belongs to Schénherr’s first Stirps ; but I have not seen any thing which can be called an ally. Naupactus sulphurifer. JV. fuscus, indumento griseo sparse leviter indutus, lateribus pro- thoraceque vittis duabus, basi fascia transversa connexis, lete sulphureis. Long. 63-7 lin. Hab. Uruguay. Brown, inclining to pitchy, with a thin eveyish indumen- tum and a few black sete: ; the sides of the prothorax and elytra, the anterior margin of the former, and a stripe on each of the latter (connected by a cross band at the base with its fellow) a rich sulphur-yellow ; rostrum rather narrow, concave above ; antennz slender, second joint of the funicle twice as long as the first, the third shorter than the fourth, the seventh as broad at the apex as the ciub, the latter slender, acumi- nate; prothorax transverse, the sides rounded, finely granu- late above ; scutellum scutiform ; elytra (¢) scarcely broader than the prothorax at the base, narrowly rounded at the apex, irregularly and finely punctate- striate ; body beneath with a sulphur-yellow pubescence ; legs ferruginous, the anterior robust, with their tibie and tarsi pitchy. The sulphur markings are composed of a compact mass of indumentum mixed with hairs. I believe this species is N. bivittatus of Dejean’s Catalogue. Naupactus magicus. N. niger nitidus, squamulis isabellinis in vittas longitudinales digestis ; antennis brevibus. Long. 6 lin, Hab. Brazil. Glossy black with longitudinal stripes of whitish ap- proximate scales; rostrum narrow, deeply concave above ; 42 Mr. F. P. Pascoe on new Neotropical Curculionide. antenne short, ferruginous, the funicle scarcely longer than the scape, second joint of the former nearly twice as long as the first; club stout, a pale stripe over the eye continuous with a broader one on the prothorax, the latter slightly trans- verse, posteriorly a broad groove, which is corrugated on each side ; scutellum small ; elytra striate-punctate, inflected poste- riorly, the outer margin thickened, and towards the apex bluntly denticulate, near the suture a narrow stripe, on the shoulder a double stripe united before the middle and behind the middle interrupted by a round spot; body beneath and legs glossy black, clothed with a few greyish hairs. An isolated species, somewhat resembling Hilipus bipunc- tatus, Boh., in general appearance. Megalostylus expansus. M. oblongus, obscure fuscus, squamulis albis tectus; prothorace transversim triangulari, angulis posticis basin elytrorum superan- tibus. Long. 4 lin. Hab. Mexico. Oblong, dull brown or pitchy, more or less covered with small white approximate scales ; rostrum scarcely narrower than the head, concave in front; antenne stoutish, black ; prothorax broadly triangular, the posterior angles acute, extending be- yond the elytra at the base ; scutellum very small, triangular ; elytra moderately convex, gradually rounded from the base to the apex, finely striate-punctate, the punctures almost obso- lete ; body beneath and legs pitchy brown with scattered white setulee. The head is more constricted behind than in M. rhodopus, Boh., with which structurally it pretty nearly agrees; but it is at once differentiated by the form of the prothorax. EXMMERIA. Rostrum breve, robustum, supra canaliculatum, apice triangula- riter excisum; scrobes curvate, infra oculos desinentes. An- tenne tenues, breviuscule, in medio rostri inserte. Oculi sub- oblongi. Prothoraw transversus, basi bisinuatus. lytra basi producta, humeris obsoletis. Pedes breviusculi ; femora incras- sata, haud petiolata ; t¢bzw anticze curvate, omnes intus denticu- late; corbulis cayernosis; tarsi breviusculi, sequales ; ungues liberi. Processus intercoxalis angustus. Abdomen segmentis tertio quartoque brevibus. With the general appearance of Lustales this genus has the broad rostrum of Cyphus, but without the prominent shoulders of the latter. Lacordaire gives “ corbeilles glabres ”’ Mr. F. P. Pascoe on new Neotropical Curculionide. 43 as one of the characters of Mustales ; in all that I have exa- mined they are scaly. Emmeria marginata. LE. subelliptica, squamulis leete argenteis dense tecta, lateribus vitta splendide cxrulea ornatis. Long. 43-5 lin. Hab. Paréa. Subelliptic, closely covered with rich silvery scales, the sides of the head, prothorax, and elytra with a brilliantly sparkling blue or green stripe (depending partly on the light), the apex of the Tatter dull brownish or blackish; rostrum slightly narrower than the head, the excised portion ciliated on each side; antenne pitchy, pubescent, first joint of the funicle shorter than the second, equal in length to the third ; club as long as the last four joints together; prothorax equal in length and breadth, slightly rounded at the sides, a lightly impressed median line; scutellum oblong; elytra moderately convex, seriate- -punctate, punctures small, , apex of each elytron ending i in a small mucro; body beneath black, with oblong imbedded bluish or greenish scales; legs ferruginous, with subapproximate whitish and brownish scales. E.XORIDES. Rostrum breviusculum, canaliculatum, apice excavatum; scrobes recta, ad oculos desinentes. Antenne graciles, subterminales ; scapus oculum superanus. Oculi rotundati. Prothorax normalis. Elytra connata, basi prothorace haud latiora, ad latera abrupte declivia. Pedes mediocres ; femora integra ; tibie subrectee, apice mucronate ; corbulis cavernosis ; tars¢ equales; wngues liberi. Abdomen segmento primo inter coxas angusto, antice rotundato. A somewhat anomalous genus. It would seem to be some- where near Naupactus; but the straight scrobes show that its true place is with the Otiorhynchine. With its cavernous corbels and free claws it would be referred, according to Lacordaire’s arrangement, to his “ Celeuthétides.” None of the species of that group are American; and, moreover, the broad truncate intercoxal process is a character which this genus does not possess; so that for the present we must con- sider its affinities drake Exorides carinatus. E. ellipticus, niger, squamulis griseis, aliis orchraceis, tectus ; pro- thorace elytrisque carinis duabus instructis, his postice nodosis. Long. 7 lin. Hab. Macas. 44 Mr. F. P. Pascoe on new Neotropical Curculionide. Elliptic, somewhat narrow and compressed, covered above with pale greyish scales alternating above with ochraceous ; head and rostrum black, with scattered very minute scales, apex of the latter with a broad deep excavation between the insertions of the antenns; scrobe expanding in front of the eye, the upper boundary slightly curved; antenne black, second joint of the funicle longer than the first, the rest gradu- ally shorter, club with a silvery pubescence ; prothorax rather broader than long, sides rounded, two curved black carine on the disk, the interval concave and canaliculate ; scutellum small, triangular; elytra seriate-punctate, a strongly raised earina on the third interstice, terminating in a prominent nodosity, another carina on the seventh interstice, the apex narrow and compressed, ending in two short diverging points ; body beneath and legs black, furnished with pale scattered setule. Cholus luctuosus. C. ovatus, aterrimus, squamulis suberectis concoloribus tectus, fasciis pallide flavis ornatus; corpore infra dense albido-squa- moso. Long. 6 lin. Hab. Sarayacu. Ovate, intensely black, with small semierect scales of the same colour, and with bands of pale yellowish overlapping scales on the prothorax and elytra; rostrum rather long, dilated and finely punctured at the apex; antenne pitchy, the two basal joints of the funicle equal in length, club elliptic ; prothorax transverse, contracted anteriorly, the apical margin and large spot at the sides pale yellowish ; scutellum oblong; elytra scarcely broader than the prothorax at the base, the shoulders nearly obsolete, the apex broadly rounded, entire, a pale yellow basal band not extending be- yond the shoulders, another behind the middle, but inter- rupted at the suture, and a large spot on each side between the two bands pale yellowish ; body beneath covered with minute whitish scales ; legs with longer hair-like setule ; an- terior coxee approximate. This species is not unlike Amerhinus Bohemanni, Mann., in coloration ; but Cholus differs generically in its longer legs. Polyderces, Schinh., is another genus with the feeblest of characters, and only adopted by Lacordaire with hesitation as distinct from his Archarias, which he separates from Cholus by the absence of the serrated apex of the elytra and the truncated (not angulated) intermediate segments of the abdo- men; but if united with Polyderces, it would lead to such an alteration of nomenclature that I have thought it better to Mr. E. J. Miers on Crustacea and Pycnogonida. 45 keep them all in Cholus, especially as, throughout the whole of the group, structural characters are not correlated with the general appearance. Cholus mestus. C. oblongo-ovatus, depressus, subnitide niger, denudatus, elytris macula basali utrinque fasciaque pone medium, ad suturam in- terrupta, ex squamulis pallide flavis confertis ornatis. Long. Glin’. Hab. Sarayacu. Oblong-ovate, depressed, black, slightly glossy, glabrous, a spot at the base near the shoulder and a slightly oblique narrow band, not meeting its fellow at the suture, composed of pale yellowish minute scales; rostrum glossy black, elon- gate, dilated and finely punctured towards the apex; antenne terruginous, basal jomt of the funicle twice as long as the two next together, the rest cylindrical; prothorax transverse, very minutely punctured, a few small glossy spots dotting the duller black; scutellum suboblong, smooth; elytra slightly broader than the shoulders at the base, abruptly contracted near the apex, seriate-punctate, punctures small, distinct ; body beneath and legs with small scattered setulee and round imbedded scales, the legs ferruginous ; femora slender. A glabrous, depressed, and somewhat isolated species; the elytra abruptly contracted towards the apex cause a gibbosity above the contracted portion, which is very marked, although noticeable in many species. VII.—On a small Collection of Crustacea and Pycnogonida from Franz-Josef Land, collected by B. Leigh Smith, Esq. By Epwarp J. Miers, F.L.S., F.Z.8., Assistant in the Zoological Department, British Museum. [Plate VII.} THE Crustacea which form the subject of the present memoir were all collected by Mr. Leigh Smith in a single locality a little to the south of Franz-Josef Land, in lat. 79° 55’ N., long. about 51° E., during his recent expedition to the Arctic seas in his yacht ‘ Hira,’ and have been generously presented by him, with other animals collected in the same cruise, to the British Museum. Mr. W. Grant, who accompanied him as naturalist, undertook the care and preservation of the specimens. The collection, although not numerous in species, is of con- siderable interest, in that it contains two Amphipoda which are apparently new to science, and a Pycnogonid which is 46 Mr. E. J. Miers on Pranz-Josef-Land not only remarkable on account of its very large size (in which it is only exceeded by the gigantic Antarctic species mentioned by Dr. v. Willem6es-Suhm as having been ob- tained by the ‘ Challenger’ expedition), but also as consti- tuting the type of an apparently new genus allied to, but distinct from, Pasithoé and Rhopalorhynchus*. The precise locality is, moreover, one hitherto unexplored by the naturalist. Dr. Camil Heller, in hisaccount of the Crustacea collected by the late Austrian expedition to the North Pole (Denkschr. der Akad. der Wissensch. Wien, xxxv. p. 25, 1878), enumerates twenty-four species of Crustacea and three of Pycnogonida, most of these, unfortunately, without precise indication of locality ; and Mr. W. 8. M. D’Urban has recently given an account of the Crustacea with other Invertebrata collected by Mr. W. J. A. Grant in the Barents Sea during two expedi- tions of the Dutch vessel ‘ Willem Barents,’ in 1878 and 1879. Nineteen Crustacea and five Pycnogonida were ob- tained in these two expeditions. ‘They were determined by the Rev. A. M. Norman and Prof. J. O. Westwood; and all seem to have been collected in latitudes considerably to the south of Franz-Josef Land. (See Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1880, vol. vi. p. 262). DECAPODA. Crangon (Cheraphilus) boreas (Phipps). An adult male, length 3 inches 3 lines. Hippolyte Phippst, Kroyer. Four specimens of the female form (described by Kréyer as H. turgida) are in the collection ; length of the largest 1 inch 8 lines. There is also a specimen which is probably to be referred to the male form of this species, in which all the dorsal teeth of the rostrum except the three nearest to the apical spine are obsolete. ‘There are three teeth on the lower margin. The second supraocular spine is distinctly developed. Length about 1 inch 5 lines. Hippolyte polaris (Sabine). Six females are in the collection. The length of the largest is not less than 2 inches 5 lines. The rostrum in this series is 5—,-toothed. With these specimens is one that is very * I regret to have been unable to consult an important memoir by Prof. G. O. Sars, on the new Crustacea and Pycnogonida collected during the Norwegian Expedition in 1877-78, and published at Chris- tiania during the present year (1880). Crustacea and Pycnogonida. 47 probably to be referred to the male or borealis form of H. polaris, in which the rostrum is entirely devoid of teeth on its upper margin, and possesses but a single small tooth on the lower margin. The larger flagellum of the antennules is con- siderably thickened. ‘The anterior margin of the carapace is armed with a supraocular and infraocular spine. Prof. S. I. Smith, it may be observed, has noted that in extreme varie- ties of HZ. polaris the rostrum is wholly edentulous. AMPHIPODA. Anonyx nugax (Phipps). Numerous specimens of this, perhaps the commonest Arctic Amphipod, were collected. Acanthonotozoma inflatum (Kroyer). A single female was obtained. This specimen agrees very well with Goés’s figure of the species; but the anterior margin of the coxa of the fourth thoracic limb is regularly rounded, whereas in Goés’s figure it is represented as somewhat angu- lated. The dorsal carina, which is described by Boeck as very high (aléissima), on the first three postabdominal seg- ments, in Goés’s figure and in our specimen is distinct, but not much elevated. Acanthostepheia pulchra, sp. n. (Pl. VIL. figs. 1, 2.) Body robust. Head, as in A. Malmgrent, armed with a long dorsally, inferiorly, and laterally carinated rostrum, which is somewhat curved downward toward the apex, and is pro- longed beyond the distal end of the first exposed joint of the superior antenne ; posteriorly the dorsal keel of the rostrum is prolonged backward between the eyes to the posterior margin of the head. Hach of the segments of the body present, indi- cations of a median dorsal carina, which is elevated in the form of a single obtuse somewhat triangular lobe on the fifth and sixth segments, and forms two lobes on the seventh seg- ment; two similar lobes exist on each of the first four seg- ments of the postabdomen; but the lobes, although acute, are not so greatly produced backward, and on the fourth segment a much greater interval exists between the first and second of the dorsal lobes in A. pulchrathan in A. Malmgrent. The postero-lateral angles of the sixth and seventh segments of the body and of the first three segments of the postabdomen are regularly rounded—not, as in A. Malmgreni, produced into spines. The superior antenne are relatively shorter than in 48 Mr. E. J. Miers on Franz-Josef~Land A, Malmgreni, the last joint of the peduncle being less deve- loped than in Goés’s figure of that species. The penultimate joints or palms of the first and second legs in A. pulchra are regularly ovate, without indications of teeth on the inferior margins as in Goés’s representation of A. Malmgrent. The coxal joints of the legs (particularly of the fourth and sixth pairs) appear to be more developed. As in A. Malmgreni, the seventh thoracic legs are greatly elongated. The uropoda and terminal segment do not present any very marked dis- tinctive characters. Length of the largest specimen to tip of rostrum about 1 inch 5 lines. Three females were collected. The absence of spines at the postero-lateral angles of the posterior thoracic and postabdominal segments would suffi- ciently characterize this species, independently of the other dis- tinctions enumerated in the above diagnosis. The outer maxillipedes are very similar to those of A. Malmgreni as figured by Goés. The outer lamina reaches very nearly to the middle of the dilated antepenultimate joint of the palpus. Halirages fulvocinctus (Sars). A good series of specimens (females) are in the collection, which agree very well with Goés’s figure of the species, and with the specimens collected by the late British Arctic expe- dition. Amathillopsis affinis, sp. n. (Pl. VII. figs. 3-5.) The head is produced anteriorly into a short, convex, subacute rostrum, which does not reach nearly to the distal end of the first joint of the superior antennze, and has a small antero-lateral lobe on each side between the superior and inferior antenne. As in Amathillopsis spinigera, Heller, the dorsal surface of each of the thoracic segments and of the first three postabdominal seoments bears a long acute dorsal lobe or spine; and, as in that species, the spines become successively longer, the last excepted, which is very small. As in A. spinigera, the lateral margins of the first three postabdominal segments are sinu- ated and terminate in a spine at their postero-lateral angles. The terminal segment is less dilated at its distal end, which is very slightly emarginate. The superior antenne terminate in very long and slender flagella, and are nearly twice as long as the inferior antenne ; the terminal joint of the peduncle is relatively shorter than in A. spinigera, and the accessory flagellum so minute as to be undistinguishable except under Crustacea and Pycnogonida. 49 the microscope. The first and second legs (gnathopoda) are slender and feeble, the first rather the smaller; the merus is produced distally beneath the carpus, which is about as long as the palm or propus, and is very narrow at its proximal end ; the palm in both is about twice as long as broad, of a more oblong form than in A. spinigera, obliquely truncated at its distal end, against which the slender arcuate dactyl impinges. The coxal joints of the legs are not so distinctly emarginate at their distal ends ; those of the fourth legs are much more developed than in A. spinigera. The legs are very imperfect in the single specimen examined ; but the basal (2nd) joints of all the legs are oblong-oval and more dilated than in A. spinigera as figured by Heller. The single specimen (which it was necessary to decapitate to examine the mouth-organs) is a female. This species is easily distinguished from its congener by the form of the telson, the greater length of the superior antenne, the form of the first and second legs, the carpi of which are not so produced at their infero-distal angles, the coxal joints of the third and fourth legs, &c. In the mouth-organs, so far as could be ascertained from the dissection of the unique example, the following differences are observable: the apex and accessory process of the man- dible is broader, truncated; the exterior lobe of the outer maxillipede does not reach to the middle of the antepenul- mate joint of the palpus. The two forms, however, bear a very close external resemblance to one another, and I cannot regard them as generically distinct ; moreover the examination of additional specimens is needed in the case of A. affinis. Eustrus cuspidatus, Kroyer. Three specimens (females) are in the collection. Length of the largest 1 inch 7 lines. Tritropis aculeata (Lepechin). A single female example of this common arctic species occurs in Mr. Grant’s collection. PYCNOGONIDA. Nymphon hirtum, Fabr. I refer a single example in the collection to this species. The pubescence covering the body is rather short and dense. Nymphon gracile, Leach. Five examples are in the collection which appear to be referable to this species. L Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 5. Vol. vii. 4 50 Mr. E. J. Miers on Franz-Josef-Land ANOMORHYNCHUS, gen. nov. Body robust, with the segments coalescent and the leg- bearing processes nearly in contact with one another. Ros- trum greatly developed, constricted at the proximal end, and hence flask-shaped—that is, provided with a distinct neck. First pair of appendages (antenne or mandibles) wanting ; second pair 9-jointed, with the second and fourth joints elongated; third pair (the so-called ovigerous legs) 10- jointed, the fourth and sixth joints elongated, the tenth joint bearing a small terminal claw. Claws of the legs simple. Abdomen about half as long as the body, very slender, uni- articulate. This new genus must be placed in the family Pyenogonidee as characterized by Dr. Semper in his arrangement of the group (Verh. physik.-medicin. Gesellschaft Wiirzburg, vil. p- 274, 1874) ; but it is not to be confounded with any of the genera therein enumerated. Structurally it is most nearly allied to the Rhopalorhynchus Kréyert of Wood-Mason (Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, 1873, xlii. pt. 2, p. 172, pl. xiii. figs. 1-5, and Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1873, ser. 4, xu. p- 342), from the Andamans; but in this genus the neck and distinctly-segmented body are very slender, the leg- bearing processes being separated by wide intervals, and the abdomen is rudimentary. From Pasithoé, Goodsir (Hndeis, Philippi), with which Oiceobathes, Hesse, is perhaps identical, this genus is distin- guished by the more numerous articulations of the appen- dages, the great development and basal constriction of the rostrum, and the simple claws. Anomorhynchus Smithii, sp. n. (Pl. VIL. figs. 6-8.) The body and its appendages are robust and apparently naked, but clothed with very minute, stiff, sparse hairs, which render the surface scabrous to the touch. ‘The head is very robust, in the larger specimen nearly once and a half the length of the body with the abdomen; its constricted proximal portion or neck widens somewhat suddenly, and is about one fourth the length of the head, which is nearly cylindrical; the oral aperture large and triangulate. The segments of the body are coalescent, and scarcely any traces of them distinguishable. The abdomen is very slender, much narrower than, and half as long as, the body ; the ophthalmic process elevated, conical, and acute. The first and second Crustacea and Pyenogonida, 51 pairs of appendages are closely approximated ; the first pair is articulated with a very short process of the thorax; its basal joint is also very short, the second joint considerably elon- gated, the third very short, the fourth rather more than half as long as the second; of the remaining joints the sixth is longest, but shorter than the fourth. he second pair of appendages is articulated with a short thoracic process ; and its first three joints are short, the fourth and sixth joints greatly elongated, the seventh to tenth short, subequal, and fringed with short spines on their under surfaces. ‘The first three joints of the legs, and the processes of the thorax with which they are articulated, are short, the fourth to sixth joints considerably elongated, the seventh little shorterthan theeighth, both together not as long as the sixth, the terminal claw styli- form and acute. ‘Total length of the largest example 2 inches 2 lines, of the head and neck rather more than 1 inch 3 lines, of the abdomen nearly 4 lines (4 inch); greatest width between tips of legs (when expanded) rather more than 84 inches. ‘I'wo specimens were collected. The four terminal joints of the third (ovigerous) pair of appendages are short and capable of being coiled together so as to form a prehensile organ, as observed by Prof. J. Wood- Mason in Rhopalorhynchus Kréyert, a peculiarity observable also in some other Pycnogonida. I have much pleasure in associating with this fine species the name of its distinguished discoverer, Mr. Leigh Smith. Besides the above Crustacea, certain species were collected by Mr. Smith in the seas to the north of Spitzbergen, about which no detailed observations need be offered. They are Hippolyte turgida, a Schizopodous crustacean in too mutilated condition for determination, Gammarus locusta, Onesimus litoralis, and Themisto libellula (in considerable numbers). EXPLANATION OF PLATE VIL. Fig. 1. Acanthostepheia pulchra, sp. n. (nat. size), lateral view. Fig. 2. Second leg of the same (magnified). ; ‘ Fig. 3. Outer maxillipedes of Amathillopsis affins, sp. 0. (magnified). Fig. 4. Second leg of the same, showing the form of the hand (magnified). Fig. 5. Terminal segment of the same (magnified). Fig. 6. Anomorhynchus Smithit, gen. and sp. n. (slightly reduced). Fig. 7. Lateral view of the body of A. Snuthi, showing the form of the oculigerous tubercle and cephalic appendages (nat. size). Fig. 8. Front view of the rostrum of the same, showing the form of the mouth (nat. size). 4* 52 Dr. F. B. White on new Species VIII.— Descriptions of new Species of Heteropterous Hemiptera collected in the Hawatian Islands by the Rev. T. Blackburn. —No.3. By F. Bucnanan Wuire, M.D., F.L.S. Scutelleridzx. 28. Coleotichus Blackburnie, n. sp. (. elongato-obovatus, coccineus, puncturis aureo-viridibus et cyaneis confertim ornatus, marginibus lineaque centrali impunctatis ; capite supra levissime, subtus forte convexo, apice obtuse rotun- dato, lateribus (postico excepto), tylo et linea centrali obtuse elevatis; antennis articulis primo secundoque subzequilongis, tertio, quarto quintoque longioribus et inter se subsquilongis ; rostro coxas intermedias attingente ; pronoto marginibus latera- libus et ad angulos anticos subdepresso, his subincrassatis rectis, angulis lateralibus prominulis obtusiusculis; scutello abdomine subangustiore, linea centrali subelevata; prosterni lobis pro- stethioque postico subimpunctatis; ventris segmentis pone spi- racula macula distinctius punctata destitutis, angulis apicalibus segmentorum secundi usque sexti distincte dentato-productis ; segmento anali maris a basi sensim producto, medio transversim haud profunde depresso, apice subtruncato. Capite confertissime punctato, marginibus (postico inter ocellos excepto), linea centrali, et linea tenuiore utrinque prope basin et cum linea centrali parallela, necnon tylo levigatis; pronoto intra margines anticum lateralesque subtilius et crebrius, disco rude et irregulariter punctato, marginibus maculis irregularibus prope marginem anticum et linea centrali impunctatis; scutello limbo per- angusto et linea centrali levigatis; elytris inter venas conferte punctatis, area magna triangulari ante membranam levigata. 3. Long. 163, lat. 8 m. m. Of this fine species (which I have dedicated to Mrs. Black- burn) I am sorry that I cannot give a better description as regards the colour. JI have described it as being scarlet on the authority of Mr. Blackburn, who has met with three specimens. ‘l'he one sent to meis (perhaps from having been in alcohol) ochraceous brown in colour, thickly punctured with golden green and dark blue, and only showing a trace of the red ground-colour on the scutellum. Under these circum- stances I have said as little as possible regarding the colour, reserving a description of that till I have seen other specimens. Mr. Blackburn remarks that this is one of the rarest of the Hawaiian Hemiptera, only three specimens having been taken, and these at long intervals. It occurs on flowers near Honolulu. The occurrence of a species of the genus Coleotichus in the Hawaiian Islands is rather interesting, as the genus has hitherto ~ of Heteropterous Hemiptera. 53 been confined to Australia or its more immediate vicinity. Of the five species previously described, two belong to Austra- lia, one to New Caledonia and Woodlark, one to the Fiji Islands, and one to Amboina and Ceram. The Hawaiian Islands seem to have derived the progenitors of their Hemi- pterous fauna from all quarters; but our knowledge is yet too incomplete to allow of any speculation as to the direction whence the immigration has been strongest. This species is intermediate between the sections ‘a’ and “aa” (having some of the characters of both), into which Stal divided the genus in the ‘ Enumeratio.’ Lygeide. 29. Nysius Blackburni, n. sp. JN. oblongo-obovatus, niger, subnitidus, capite maculis oblongis maguis 3 inter oculos, tylo linea longitudinali, pronoto macula parva ad marginem anticum et disco postico pro magna parte, clayo maculis parvis, corio maculis majusculis precipue prope marginem costalem sitis, necnon femoribus apicibus plus minus rufo-testaceis, membrana albida fusco-maculata. Capite pilosulo subtiliter punctulato; antennis rostro brevioribus, articulo secundo quam tertius multo longiore ; rostro coxas posticas attin- gente, articulo primo bucculis subsequilongo ; gula basin capitis subattingente ; bucculis gula paullo brevioribus, subparallelis, retrorsum sensim humilioribus; pronoto rude punctato, rugis sub- eleyatis (una centrali longitudinali, altera transversa et ante medium sita) subimpunctatis, angulis posticis elevatis levigatis, longitudine latitudine postica + minore, lateribus ad medium paullo sinuatis; scutello triradiatim calloso-rugoso punctato (ruga ad medium excepta); hemelytris pilosulis haud profunde punctato- rugulosis, corii marginis costalis parte quarta basali recta, deinde sensim rotundato-ampliatis; pedibus mediocribus ; mesosterno sulcato, prostethio antice punctato; ventre capillis adpressis pallidis vestito. ©. Long. 4, lat. 13 m. m. Taken by sweeping ferns near the “ Lake of Fire” on Mauna Loa, Hawaii, at an elevation of 4000 feet. 30. Nystus nitedus, n. sp. N. elongatus, nitidus, glaber, pallide olivaceo-brunneus, subtus cum pedibus dilutior, capite capillis adpressis aureis vestito, brunneo, tylo, linea longitudinal, orbitulis et tuberculis antenniferis ochra- ceis, antennis et rostro apice brunneis, his articulo primo (macula interiore excepta), articulis secundo tertioque ochraceis, articulis secundo tertioque ad medium brunnescenti-annulatis ; pronoto puncturis, angulis posticis et macula ad medium marginis postici, 54 Dr. F. B. White on new Species scutello basi puncturisque, hemelytris venis, corio angulo apicali lato, femoribus maculis, tibiis ad basin apicemque, tarsorum arti- culis apicibus, pectore puncturis, gula, linea inter pedes, mesosterno macula media, ventre ad basin neenon maculis connexivi plus minus brunneis vel piceo-brunneis; membrana subhyalina. Capite paullo elongato, ruguloso; antennis gracilibus rostro brevioribus, articulo secundo tertio subsequilongo ; rostro coxas posticas supe- rante, articulo primo basin capitis attingente ; gula basin capitis haud attingente ; bucculis antice altis cito retrorsum humilioribus, plure quam dimidio postico maxime depresso et subseque alto, postice appropinquantibus; pronoto parce et rude punctato, disco longitudinaliter et transversim depresso, rugis longitudinali transversaque elevatis et angulis posticis elevatis levigatis, longi- tudine latitudine postica } minore, lateribus subsinuatis ; scutello fortiter triradiatim calloso-rugoso, ad latera punctato ; hemelytris (margine costali corti excepto) subtilius punctatis, sutura clayi biseriatim punctata, margine costali corii ad basin recto, deinde sensim rotundato et subampliato; pedibus mediocribus; meso- sterno sulcato, margine postico paullo elevato. Q. Long. 5, lat. 12 m. m. At an Tees of 4000 feet, on Haleakala, Maui. 51. Nysius nemorivagus, n. sp. JV. oblongus, nigro-fuscus, rufescenti- ochraceo variegatus, subopa- cus, parce pallide pilosulus, capite vitta longitudinali interrupta et maculis 2 inter oculos, tuberculis antenniferis apice, antennis articulo primo basi apiceque, articulis secundo tertioque apice, pronoto macula media antica, disco postico (puncturis, ruga longi- tudinali antice, et maculis 4 irregularibus ad marginem ‘posticum exceptis), scutello apice, clavo maculis nonnullis parvis, corio maculis majusculis (presertim in disco antico sitis) et margine costali dilatato (limbo angustissimo excepto), pectore ventreque maculis, femoribus (maculis permultis exceptis), tibiis (basi pro parte et apice exceptis), tarsis (articulo ultimo excepto) plus minus rufescenti-ochraceis vel ochraceis; membrana hyalina plus minus fusco variegata. Capite rude punctato; antennis rostro subsequi- longis, articulo secundo tertio longiore ; rostro coxas posticas sub- attingente, articulo primo bucculis equilongo; gula capitis basin attingente; bucculis gula brevioribus antice subaltis, in medio sensim retrorsum humilioribus, postice citius humilioribus et ante apicem gule evanescentibus ; pronoto rude punctato, ruga longitu- dinali preecipue postice, ruga transversa et angulis posticis elevatis levigatis, lateribus subsinuatis, longitudine latitudine postica minore; scutello rude punctato, ruga longitudinali impunctata ; hemelytris vix et tenuissime punctulatis, corio margine costali ad basin recto, deinde sensim rotundato-ampliato ; pedibus mediocri- bus ; mesosterno sulcato, postice submarginato ; ventre segmento quarto postice truncato. 9. Long. 5, lat. 13 m. m. of Heteropterous Hemiptera. a) Mauna Kea, Hawaii, and Haleakala, Maui, at an elevation of 5000-6000 feet. | In the specimen described above the membrane is almost unicolorous; in others it is more or less variegated with fuscous. 52. Nystus rubescens, n. sp. NV. oblongus, ochraceo-rufescens, capillis adpressis pallidis vestitus, capite macula magna utrinque oculum includente et ad apicem jugee percurrente, pronoto vitta lata transversa ante lobum posti- cum sita et puncturis, scutello basi puncturisque, hemelytris maculis parvis, corio limbo antico angustissimo necnon maculis 3 majusculis ad marginem apicalem fusco-nigris ; antennis, rostro pedibusque lutescentibus, antennarum articulo ultimo, rostri arti- culis tertio quartoque, et tarsorum apicibus brunneis vel piceo-brun- neis, hemelytris dilutioribus, margine costali dilatato innotato, scutello apice, bucculis, coxis atris ad apicem et acetabulis secundis tertiisque ochraceis, pectore ventreque nigris capillis albidis vestitis, prostethio marginibus, ventre segmentis quarto, quinto sextoque ad medium, et segmentis genitalibus pro parte rufescentibus, membrana albido-hyalina pallide fusco-nebu- losa. Capite punctato; antennis rostro paullo brevioribus, articulo secundo quam tertius multo longiore ; rostro coxas posticas superante, articulo primo et gula basin capitis attingentibus ; buc- culis gula paullo brevioribus, retrorsum sensim humilioribus et evanescentibus ; pronoto rude punctato, ruga transversa in medio interrupta, macula ante medium marginis postici, margine et angulis elevatis posticis levigatis, ruga longitudinali obsoleta, longitudine latitudine postica minore, lateribus fere rectis; scutello rude punctato, ruga longitudinali levigata ; corii margine costali ad basin recto, deinde sensim rotundato-ampliato ; pedibus mediocribus ; mesosterno sulcato, postice marginato. @. Long. 5, lat. 12 m. m. On ferns near the “ Lake of Fire”? on Mauna Loa, Hawaii, at an elevation of 4000 feet. 33. Nysius pteridicola, n. sp. N. ovato-oblongus, brunneo-ochraceus, brunneo yariegatus, glaber subnitidus, capite, antennis articulis secundo tertioque ad basin angustissime, rostro articulo ultimo, pronoto ruga transversa puncturisque, scutello, hemelytris puncturis, corlo limbo costali angustissimo et angulo apicali, tarsis apicibus necnon corpore subtus plus minus brunneis vel piceo-brunneis ; antennis, rostro, pedibus et prostethii margine postico rufo-brunneis; pronoto ruga longitudinali postice et angulis posticis, scutello apice necnon hemelytris venis plus minus pallide ochraceis ; membrana albido- hyalina, Capite rugoso; antennis rostro multo brevioribus, articulo secundo tertio longiore; rostro coxas posticas superante, articulo primo basin capitis superante ; gule longitudine capitis 56 Dr. F. B. White on new Species 3 minore; bucculis gule fere equilongis, antice altis, retror- sum cito humilioribus, pone gulam concurrentibus ; pronoto rude et dense punctato, ruga transversa et ruga longitudinali fere obsoleta subimpunctatis, angulis posticis levigatis, longitudine latitudine postica + minore, lateribus fere rectis ; scutello dense et rude punctato fortiter triradiatim rugoso-calloso, ruga longi- tudinali laevigata; hemelytris dense subtilius rugoso-punctulatis, sutura clayi biseriatim punctata, margine costali fere a basi sen- sim rotundato et subampliato; pedibus crassis; mesosterno sul- cato, postice marginato ; ventre segmento quarto postice truncato, segmento quinto obtuse emarginato longitudine media longitu- dinis lateralis parti quarte squilonga. do et 9. Long. 43-6, lat. 13-2 m. m. Near the “ Lake of Fire” on Mauna Loa, Hawaii, at an altitude of 4000 feet. 34. Nystus vulcan, n. sp. iV. precedenti (Nysio pteridicole) persimilis, differre videtur pronoto remotius punctato, margine costali dilatato corii_paullo ampliore, bucculis magis abrupte et minus sensim retrorsum humilioribus, antennarum articulo secundo tertio vix longiore, et precipue ventris segmento quarto postice angulariter sinuato haud trun- cato. sé. Long. 5}, lat. 13 m. m. Mauna Loa, Hawaii. Very like Nysius pteridicola (no. 33) in coloration and general appearance ; but the different form of the fourth ven- tral segment, as well as the other points noted, will serve to separate them. ‘The coloration of the underside differs in a few particulars; but having seen one specimen only, I cannot be sure whether this will afford a constant character. The Hawaiian Islands seem to be very rich in species of Nysius, no less than ten species (all peculiar) having been found there ; and of these Mr. Blackburn has discovered nine. When there is reason to believe that the total number of species occurring in the islands is (comparatively) completely known, it will be desirable to give an analytical table of them; in the meantime [ have been obliged to describe each at some length, as the species of this genus are often very similar in general appearance. Nysius must, from its wide distribution, and especially from the occurrence of species in many oceanic islands, be a genus of great antiquity. 35. Cymus calvus, n. sp. C. niger opacus, tylo apice, tuberculis antenniferis, collo loboque postico pronoti, scutello apice, oculis ocellisque, prostethio margi- of Heteropterous Hemiptera. oT nibus antico et postico, metastethio margine postico necnon aceta- bulis rufo-brunneis ; antennis, pedibus hemelytrisque pallide brunneo-flavescentibus ; antennis basi et articulo ultimo, coxis, trochanteribus et femoribus ad basin, clayi commissura, pronoto ad marginem posticum, hemelytrorum puncturis et corii angulo apicali plus minus pallide vel saturate brunneis ; abdomine ferru- gineo-testaceo, ad basin fusco, incisuris pallidioribus, capillis sericeis tenuissimis vestito ; pedibus rostroque brunneo-ochraceis, illo apice piceo-brunneo ; membrana albida. Capite cum oculis latiore quam longiore, subtiliter punctato, jugis subpromi- nulis et acutiusculis ; antennarum articulo primo capitis apicem superante, secundo tertio tertioque quarto longiore; rostro mesosterni medium attingente, articulo primo medium prosterni haud superante; pronoto capillis tenuissimis parcissime vestito, sat rude punctato, anterius rotundato-angustato et hoc modo collo lato instructo, ad medium leviter constricto et transversim impresso, quam margo posticus paullo longiore, margine postico sinuato, ruga centrali longitudinali obsoleta, marginibus antico posticoque, area utrinque lobi anterioris necnon vitta longitudinali ad angu- lum posticum -levigatis ; scutello rude punctato (rugis distinctis longitudinah et transversa exceptis); clavo rude punctato; corio ad margines interiorem et apicalem serie punctorum instructo, disco rude punctato, margine lato costali et area intima a basi ad marginem apicalem extensa levigatis ; pectore punctato, meso- sterno obsolete longitudinaliter sulcato; abdomine apicem corii longe superante. ©. Long. 5, lat. pronoti posterioris 14 m. m. Very rare. Understones on the mountains near Honolulu, at an elevation of about 2000 feet. Though I have placed this and the following species in the genus Cymus, they seem to differ from it in some particulars, as, for example, in the shorter rostrum, in which point they approach the genus Arphnus of Stal, from which, however, the tylus not or scarcely exceeding the buccule appears to exclude them. Consequently I have described the species at greater length than I would otherwise have done. The genus Cymus, though a small one, is widely distributed, having re- presentatives in the Palearctic, Oriental, Nearctic, Neotro- ical, and Australian Regions, and a closely-allied genus in the Ethiopian Region. It may be noticed that the specimen described above has the second and third joints of the right antenna fused into one, a not uncommon malformation in the Lygeide. 36. Cymus criniger, n. sp. C. griseo-flavescens, capillis crassiusculis pallidis sat bene vestitus ; capite, pronoti lobo antico vitta transversa lata, scutello basi, corii clavique angulis apicalibus necnon corpore subtus atris ; 58 On new Species of Heteropterous Hemiptera. antennis pallide rufo-brunneis, articulo ultimo precipue ad apicem, tuberculis antenniferis, tylo apice, scutello, prostethii mar- gine antico, acetabulis externe, sternorum abdominisque inci- suris saturatioribus ; rostro pedibusque brunneo-testaceis, illo ad apicem fusco, horum coxis, trochanteribus et femoribus ad basin fusco-ferrugineis, femoribus subtus fusco maculatis; membrana albida. Capite cum oculis latiore quam longiore, jugis subpromi- nulis et acutiusculis, antennis articulo primo apicem capitis superante, secundo tertio et tertio quarto longiore; rostro coxas anticas vix superante, articulo primo marginem anticum prostethii paullo superante ; pronoto punctato, anterius in collum subangustato, lateribus leviter sinuatis, ruga longitudinali obso- leta, disco anterius utrinque, marginibus angustis antico posti- coque et linea brevi subelevata ad angulos posticos elevatos leevi- gatis ; scutello (ruga longitudinali excepta) punctato; hemely- tris rude punctatis, margine costali dilatatoimpunctato; mesosterno distincte longitudinaliter sulcato; abdomine apicem corii longe superante. 9. Long. 5, lat. pronoti posterioris 1} m. m. Very rare. Under stones on Haleakala, Maui, at an ele- vation of 5000 feet. Though in stature and general appearance resembling the preceding species, this is very distinct from it. It is rather stouter and also broader behind. Anthocoride. 87. Dilasia (?) denigrata, Buchanan White. Dilasia (?) denigrata, Buchanan White, E. M. M. xvi. 146. 11. On trees, at an elevation of about 3000 feet, on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. 38. Dilasia(?) decolor, Buchanan White, Dilasia (?) decolor, Buchanan White, E. M. M. xvi. 147. 12. On trees in mountain forests near Honolulu. 39. Lilia dilecta, Buchanan White. Lilia dilecta, Buchanan White, E. M. M. xvi. 147. 18. On trees at an altitude of about 5000 feet, on Haleakala, Maui. , The genus Lilia was constituted for the reception of this species, which, with nos. 37 and 88, has been found in the Hawaiian Islands only. Emeside. PLOIARIODES, n. g. Caput antice convexiusculum, postice globoso-reflexum. Thorax Bibliographical Notices. 59 trapezoidalis, pronoto marginibus rotundatis, disco ante marginem posticum tuberculo elevato armato. Hemelytra apicem abdo- minis paullo superantia, corio clayoque angustissimis. Pedes antici corporis dimidio vix longiores, femoribus ad basin biseriatim setuloso-dentatis, trochanteribus haud dentatis, tarsis triarticu- latis. Abdomen elongato-obovatum, marginibus reflexis. Very like Ploiaria, Scop., differmg only in the unreflexed side margins and tuberculate hind margin of the pronotum. 40. Ploiariodes Whitet, Bln., n. sp. P. pallide ochraceo-brunnea, antennis, pedibus hemelytrisque dilu- tioribus, his fusco-brunneo maculatis, illis fusco-brunneo annu- latis; pedibus subtilissime pilosis; antennis ¢ parce longi- pulosis. 3 et Q. Long. 64, lat. pronoti 1, lat. corp. postici 12 m. m. Beaten from dead branches of trees at an elevation of about 4500 feet, on Mauna Loa, Hawaii. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. A Treatise on Comparative Embryology. By Francis M. Batrorur, M.A., F.R.S. Vol. I. 8vo. London: Macmillan, 1880. Amone the numerous benefits for which zoologists must own their in- debtedness to Mr. Darwin, one of the greatestisundoubtedly theimpulse given, by the enunciation of his theory of the origin of species, to the study of the embryology of animals. Of course there were embryolo- gists in pre-Darwinian times, and many of the facts revealed by them were among the most interesting offered for the contemplation of naturalists ; but the doctrine of the origin of species by descent with modification immediately invested these facts with a new interest. There seemed to be at once a confirmation and a key given to that reproduction in developmental forms of the higher animals of the characteristics of more lowly organisms, which was long since, if somewhat vaguely, recognized. It was only natural to conclude that, if the different living types were genetically related, some trace of the line of descent ought to be found in the phases which they passed through between the first appearance of the embryo and its assumption of the adult form ; and observation showed that in fact in many cases the ontogeny of the individual might fairly be regarded as furnishing an abridged sketch of the ancestral development or phylogeny of the species. Of course those naturalists who ob- jected to the doctrine of the genetic evolution of organisms were free also to object to the phrases in which such conclusions as these are couched ; but at the same time it must be admitted that the 60 Bibliographical Notices. phenomena of the geographical distribution of animals and their succession in geological time, whatever theory of their production we may adopt, are generally in accordance with the results of a theoretical genetic relationship. With the prevalence of such ideas a new significance was given to the phases through which animals pass in their progress to their perfect form ; and it is hardly to be wondered at that the study of embryology, taken in its broadest sense, began to be followed with a zeal and energy of which we had no previous conception. The zoological laboratories which have been established in several favourable situations offered every facility for carrying on the most minute and elaborate investigations ; individual students of course under such circumstances experienced an increased stimulus to exertion ; and the result during the last fifteen years has been a perfect deluge of memoirs, of greater or less merit, treating of the developmental history of animals. It is to the sifting and summarizing of this vast mass of material, aided by his own investigations, that Mr. Balfour has devoted an enormous amount of labour, the outcome of which is the volume whose title stands at the head of the present article, and for which all zoologists certainly owe him a deep debt of gratitude. The introduction of new ideas in connexion with embryonic development has resulted in such a multiplication of technical terms that many naturalists who have not made embryology their study must often find it difficult to understand the precise nature of the statements made and the arguments used in the discussion even of questions of systematic zoology ; and to these Mr. Balfour’s book will be an in- expressible boon. But this is the lowest point of view from which we can estimate its usefulness. As a philosophical ‘summary of the results of embryological investigation it must be quite as highly appreciated. Mr. Balfour commences with an Introduction, in which, after indicating the general purpose and scope of his work, he briefly describes the phenomena of reproduction and its different modes. He then proceeds to describe the nature and development of the ovum and spermatozoon, the maturation of the former and its im- pregnation, and the subsequent changes produced by segmentation &e. up to the period of the formation of the germinal layers. The general statements are illustrated by references to the pheno- mena presented by certain groups; and the whole constitutes an admirable sketch of the process of ovular development in the animal kingdom. These chapters are followed by the section which constitutes the body of the work, systematic embryology, in which the author, after describing the general phenomena resulting in the formation of the germinal layers, and the broad differences in the mode in which this result is brought about, proceeds to describe seriatim the character- istics of embryonic development in all the great groups of the animal kingdom. Criticism of such work would be out of place; we can only say that, so far as we can see, all the most recent literature of Bibliographical Notices. 61 the subject has been laid under contribution, and the materials thus obtained worked up into a connected whole with great care and in the clearest and most intelligible manner. Mr. Balfour has ap- pended to each section and subsection of his work a bibliography of the memoirs cited in it; and as these are cited throughout by con- secutive numbers, he has reprinted all the separate bibliographies in a connected list at the end of the volume. This is exceedingly convenient for reference. ‘The book is also freely illustrated with woodcuts, most of which are very good, and many of them beauti- fully executed. In this first volume only the Invertebrata are treated of; the second, which we hope will not be long in making its appearance, will deal with the Vertebrate animals from the same phylogenetic point of view which is adopted in the present volume, and will also treat of another special department of the general subject, namely the evolution of organs. When completed, the book will certainly constitute one of the most important of recent contributions to the literature of zoology ; and whether the author’s fear that his attempt at a systematic exposition of the facts of embryology may be re- garded in some quarters as ‘‘ premature” proves to be well founded or not, we are quite sure that the gratitude of those to whom his book will be a perfect godsend will far outweigh any cavils that may be raised against it. Memoirs of the Science Department, University of Tokio, Japan. Vol. I. Part 1. Shell-Mounds of Omori. By Epwarp 8. Morsz, &e. 4to. 36 pp., with 18 plates. Published by the University, Tokio, Japan. Nisshuska Printing-office. 2539 (1879). Tae Japanese have taken up the study of Archeology with warmth and earnestness. A native Archeological Society flourishes at Tokio, the Government interdicts the exportation of the antiqui- ties of the country ; and it is hoped that the ancient temples, monu- ments, gateways, idols, and tombs of Japan will be officially pro- tected. Both from its many antiquities and the fidelity of its very ancient records of civilization and history (for nearly, if not quite, two thousand years), Japan is eminently favourable to the study of archeology. The enthusiastic pursuit of science in modern Japan, the institution of the University of Tokio, the advent of many first- class teachers of philosophy and science, and the cultivation of observing and thinking minds among the many willing native students, have given a high standing to all those connected with this state of progress among our scientific brethren in the North Pacific. The Professor of Zoology at the University of Tokio, Mr. E. §, Morse, had ardently studied prehistoric shell-heaps in Maine and Massachusetts, U.S., for several years in company with Profs. Jeffries Wyman and F. W. Putnam ; and he was not long in discovering a large sheli-mound on the Yokohama railway at Omori, about six 62 Bibliographical Notices. miles from Tokio. With the ready and sympathetic aid of his friends and colleagues, the officials, professors, and students of the University, a very extensive collection of pottery, ornaments, tablets, implements (horn, bone, and stone), bones, and shells was made and arranged; and with the careful and obliging cooperation of Japanese scholars, artists (draughtsmen and lithographers), and printers Prof. Morse has been enabled to produce this excellent fasciculus. It is neatly printed, profusely illustrated, and published altogether in a highly creditable form by the Japanese. The paper being of native manufacture, we may note that, from the composi- tion (by printers unacquainted with English) to the binding, the mechanical production is entirely Japanese. Excepting the Japanese “imprimatur” and Japanese titles and numerals on the plates (to allow of their being used in a native translation of the work), there is nothing but European appearances about it. The length of the prehistoric shell-deposit exposed by the railway- cutting is about 89 metres, with a thickness of 4 metres in one place. Another exposure occurs about 95 metres off; and culti- vated fields to the south bear evidence of similar deposits. The mound or mounds are nearly half a mile from the shores of Yedo Bay. In some places the sea has receded about six miles in this bay. The former contiguity of these and other shell-mounds to river-banks or sea-coasts, and, in the latter case, the frequent proofs of the local retreat of the sea, are carefully insisted upon. Objects (implements) found at Omori are :—Eurthen: cooking- vessels, hand-vessels, ornamental jars, ornamental bead, tablets, spindle-whorl (?), and disk, shaped from the bottom of broken vessel. Stone (lava, slate, schist, and jasper): hammers, celts, rollers, skin-dresser (?), and mortar. Horn: awls, handle, prongs of deers’ antlers, and implements of unknown use. Bone: fish-spine needles, bird-bone with two lateral holes, cube from deer’s metatarsal, and deer’s os calcis, probably used as a handle. Miscellaneous: arrow- point from boar’s canine, and shells used as paint-cups. Objects (implements) found in other kitchen-middings, but not found at Omori: flint or obsidian implements, arrow-heads, spear- points, scrapers, skinning-knives, mortars and pestles (?), drilling- stones, ornamental stones, stone net-sinkers, pipes, worked shell, wampum, stone beads. Of bones found at Omori there are remnants of those of man, ape (?), monkey, deer, boar, wolf, and dog, also of a large cetacean and a large tortoise, and of small mammals, of birds, and of fishes. The human bones bear evidence of having been subjected to canni- balism. A fragment of one platycnemic tibia was discovered at Omori; but several were subsequently found in an immense shell- mound at Onomura, in the province of Higo, Island of Kiushiu. Prehistoric shell-deposits are also known at Otaru, on the western coast of Yezo, Hakodate; several also within the city limits of Tokio. These will be described subsequently ; but, as far as com- Bibliographical Notices. 63 parisons have been made of their contents, they appear much to resemble those of Omori, and, like it, are of very remote antiquity. In one case, however, the removal of part of a canal-bank, made 230 years ago, exposed a shell-heap composed of species still ewtant, without any ancient pottery ; hence the extinction of the old species found in the mounds of Omori and elsewhere, and the changes of sea-level, were certainly before, probably long before, that date. The comparison of the Omori pottery with that found in other parts of the world, and the comparison of the ancient with the modern fauna of Omori, are full of interest, and have been worked out with the acumen and experience of a well-trained naturalist and antiquary. The following is the list of Gasteropods found at Omori :— Fusus inconstans, Lischke. Potamides, sp. Rapana bezoar, Linné. Lampania, sp. Hemifusus tuba, Gmelin. Natica Lamarckiana, Duclos. Purpura luteostoma, Chemnitz. Turbo granulatus, Gmelin. Eburna japonica, Lischke. Rotella globosa, Gmelin. Nassa, sp. Of the Lamellibranchs in the old mounds there are :— Area subcrenata, Lischke. Cytherea meretrix, Linné. inflata, Reeve. Tapes, sp. eranosa, Linné. Solen strictus, Gould. Dosinia Troscheli, Lischke, Lutraria Nuttali, Conrad. Cyclina chinensis, Chemnitz. Ostrea denslamellosa, Lischke. Mactra veneriformis, Deshayes. ——, sp. Mya arenaria, Linné. The absence (in the old mounds) of edible species now existing in the neighbouring sea shows that, in all probability, a new or modi- fied fauna has come in since the period of these kitchen-middings. So also the relatively large and luxuriant growth (for the most part) of both the shells of mollusks and the bones of mammals found in these mounds have reference to long-past time, previous to the introduction of stages of degeneracy due to changed conditions either of nature or civilization. An Introduction to the Study of Fishes. By Atsert C. L. G. Ginter. S8yvo. Edinburgh: A. and C. Black, 1880. Ow1ne to the author’s connexion with this journal, we must abstain from giving an ordinary notice of the present volume. ~We think it due to our readers, however, to call their attention to its appearance, and to indicate its nature in very general terms. Dr. Giinther’s work is founded on the notes and other materials got together by him for the preparation of the article “ Ichthyology ” in the new edition of the ‘ Encyclopedia Britannica,’ and may there- fore be regarded to some extent as an expansion of that article. He commences with a history of ichthyological research, which is followed 64 Miscellaneous. by a general description of the structure of fishes and its modifica- tions in the various groups, leading up to a notice of the reproductive phenomena presented by animals of this class, and their growth and variation during development. Other chapters are devoted to the distribution of fishes in time and space, the latter subject treated at very considerable length, and the whole winding up with a notice of those deep-sea fishes our knowledge of which is mainly due to the dredging-operations of the last few years. The remainder of the volume (more than half) is devoted to systematic ichthyology, and gives the characters of the orders and families and of the principal genera, with notes on the more important points in their natural history. The volume is very freely illustrated. MISCELLANEOUS. On a new Species of Papilio from South India, with Remarks on the Species allied thereto. By J. Woop-Mason. In December last the Indian Museum received from Mr. F. W. Bourdillon, of Trevandrum, a small collection of diurnal Lepido- ptera, amongst which was a much-worn and tattered example of a female insect, evidently closely allied to the North-Indian P, Castor and to the Burmese P. Mahadeva, with the same sex of the latter of which it turned out on examination to agree in having the discal markings of the hind wing confined to the median region of the organ, where they form a transverse band of lanceolate spots, instead of being diffused over the whole disk and extending into the cell, as in the former. About a month ago a few species of butterflies were received from Mr. G. H. Kearney, of the Berkodee Coffee-Kstate, Koppa Anche, Mysore ; and amongst them is a fine specimen of the male, which proves that the species is, as the above-mentioned female specimen had already indicated, more nearly related to P. Mahadeva than to P. Castor, and enables me to describe it. Papilio Dravidarum*, n. sp. Allied to P. Castor and to P. Mahadeva, but more closely so to the latter, with which it agrees in the form of the wings in both sexes. Sexes alike, having not only the same form of wings, but also the same general type of coloration as the female of the two described species, the male differing from the female only in the darker and richer tints of its upper surface. do. Upperside rich fuscous, of a much lighter shade than in * Dravide -arum; from Dravida=common name of South-Indian peoples. Tt Moore, P. Z.8. 1878, p. 840, pl. li. fig. 1. Miscellaneous. 65 P. Castor or even than in P. Mahadeva, and more densely powdered with fulvyous scales than in either. Anterior wing with the basal area of a richer and darker shade of brown than the rest of the organ; with four distinct longitudinal lines of fulvous scales in the cell, at the extremity of which is a minute but distinct cream- coloured speck; with the outer portion beyond the cell very densely covered with fulvous scales between the veins; with a marginal row of ochraceous white spots placed at the incisures; and with a submarginal series of nine conical or sublanceolate ochraceous ones, each series decreasing at either end and paling towards the costal margin. Posterior wing with the anterior third of its surface devoid of fulvous scaies; with the incisures of the outer margin very nar- rowly edged with ochraceous white; with a submarginal series of seven strongly and angularly-curved lunules or arrow-shaped spots, the four posterior of which are ochraceous white, and the three apical ones cream-coloured ; and with a discal band of seven exter- nally-dentate lanceolate cream-coloured spots, all irrorated with fuscous scales except the anterior two; with the cell and the parts of the wing-membrane external and internal to it tolerably thickly sprinkled with fulvous scales. The wing-membrane, being in both wings devoid of fulvous scales in the intervals between the submar- ginal and incisural markings, presents the appearance of having a submarginal row of dark blotches. Underside less richly and deeply coloured, with the markings, especially the spot at the end of the cell, all slightly larger and white, with the exception of the discal series of the hind wing, which are tinged with cream-colour at their inner points ; and with the fulvous scales similarly though not qnite so thickly distributed over the fore wing, but evenly sprinkled over the whole of the hind wing. Body lghter-coloured than in P. Castor, but marked in identically the same manner. Length of fore wing 2-2 inches, whence expanse= 4-5 inches. Hab. Koppa Anche, Kadur district, Mysore, South India, at about 2500 feet elevation. Obtained by Mr. G. H. Kearney. 9. Marked above and below, spot for spot, as in the male, but lighter and less richly coloured, with the spot at the end of cell larger and apparently more distinctly visible on the upperside, and with all the markings (except the submarginal series of the under- side of the hind wing, which are white) straw-coloured. Length of fore wing 2°3 inches, whence expanse=4-7 inches, Hab. Trevandrum. Obtained by Mr. F. W. Bourdillon. In the male of P. Dravidarum there are visible upon the upper surface of the fore wing aspot at the end of the cell, a submarginal row of conical or sublanceolate spots, and a marginal row of inci- sural spots; and upon that of the hind wing a discal row of lanceo- late spots, a submarginal series of lunules, and incisural spots as in the fore wing. In the male of the darker-coloured P. Mahadeva the incisural spots of the fore wing alone remain ; but the hind wing retains its three series of spots, which, however, are all smaller and apparently less clouded with dark scales than in the preceding species. Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 5. Vol. vii. a G6 | Miscellaneous. In the fuscous-black male of P. Castor the fore wing may be said to be uniform black, the incisural spots, which alone remain, being so reduced in size as to be barely visible, being, in fact, mere specks confined to the fringe; the hind wing has lost all but the incisural specks (which are similarly confined to the fringe) and the first three or four spots of the discal series, which together form a large and conspicuous cream-coloured blotch divided by the veins. P. Castor may, in fact, be described asa rich dead-black insect with a con- spicuous cream-coloured blotch near the outer angle of each hind wing. In P. Castor, then, the sexes are, as regards colour and markings, as strongly differentiated from one another as in any species with which I am acquainted; they also differ to some extent in form, the male having the fore wing narrower, with the external margin obviously emarginate, and the hind wing also narrower and pro- duced, with the same margin more deeply incised and lobed than in the female, both pairs of whose wings in form more or less closely * resemble those of both sexes in the other two species. In P. Mahadeva the sexes are also tolerably well, though not so conspicuously, differentiated in point of colour and markings as in P. Castor, but not at all in form, the wings being of the same shape in both sexes. In P. Dravidarum the sexes agree perfectly both in form of wings and markings, differing very slightly in colour only; so that but little sexual differentiation has here taken place. The female of P. Dravidarum is scarcely distinguishable, as far as one can tell from a description alone, from that of P. Mahadeva, the only differences that I can make out being that in the latter “the fore wings have very small and less distinct submarginal white spots, and no spot at the end of the cell.” From that of P. Castor, how- ever, it is readily distinguished by haying, as I have already pointed out, the discal markings of the hind wing in the form of a transverse band of short lanceolate spots. At the meeting of the Linnean Society of London held on the 18th March last, a paper by Prof. Westwood on a supposed poly- morphic butterfly from India was read. In this memoir the follow- ing conclusions are said (vide abstract in ‘ Nature,’ vol. xxi. p. 531, April 1st, 1880) to have been arrived at by the author :—*‘(1) That Papilio Castor is the male of a species whose females have not yet been discovered ; (2) that the typical P. Pollux are females, of which the males (with rounded hind wings having a diffused row of markings) have yet to be discovered ; and (3) that the coloured figures given by the author represent the two sexes of a dimorphic form of the species.” With regard to. the last of these conclusions [ cannot speak, be- cause neither the paintings nor the specimens in question are acces- * The females present an inconspicuous dimorphism, some having retained the primordial form of hind wing, while others have the outer margin of this wing toothed as in the male (vde infra). Miscellaneous. 67 sible to me; but, having spoken above as if the opposite sex of P. Castor were perfectly well known to naturalists, while, according to Prof. Westwood, it is still undiscovered, I ought perhaps to say a few words about the material on which my remarks are based. Papilio Castor is restricted in its distribution to the slopes and valleys of the hill-ranges of North-Eastern India and to the parts of the plains in immediate contiguity to them, its place being taken elsewhere, as in Southern India, by the new species described in the preceding pages, and in Burmah by P. Mahadeva. The Indian Museum possesses specimens from the southern slopes of the Khasi hills (Silhet), from the Sikkim hills (Darjiling), Cherra Punji in the Khasi hills, and the Naga hills; and three males were taken by Lieut.-Colonel Godwin-Austen during the Dafla expedition ; in these last, in a large male from Cherra Punji, and in two specimens of the same sex from the Naga hills, the upper surface is dark brown, of a much lighter tint than in nine males recently received from Sikkim (two) and Silhet (seven), which are all brown-black of so dark a shade as to appear quite black except when a strong light falls upon them, when their colour appears brownish ; in fact the brown of the former is to that of the latter series of specimens what dark green is to the colour known as “invisible green.” In the large Cherra-Punji specimen the short tooth, or rudimentary tail, into which the third branch of the median vein of the hind wing is usnally produced, does not extend beyond the line of the other lobes of the outer margin; and one of the three dwarfed winter speci- mens* captured by Colonel Austen approaches it in this respect ; moreover one of the Silhet specimens has this tooth smaller in one wing than in the other; so that this, like secondary sexual charac- ters in general, is subject to variation. It is possibly to difference of station, but probably to long exposure to the vicissitudes of the Calcutta climate, and to the application of benzine and other noxi- ous substances to which they were subjected before I took over the charge of the collection of Lepidoptera, that these brown specimens owe their lighter coloration. However this may be, it may confi- dently be asserted that it would be impossible for the most invete- rate species-maker to discover any character by which to separate them as a distinct species or race from the fresh and consequently dark Sikkim and Silhet specimens. So much for the males. Of the nine females in the collection referred by me to P. Castor, seven, being perfect, can readily be divided into two sets, according to the form of the outer margin of the hind wing :—three (one from Assam, one from Cherra Punjit, and a large one from Silhet) * The insect figured by Westwood (Arcana Entom. vol. ii, pl. 80, fig. 2) seems to have been a similarly dwarfed and faded individual. + There is another specimen from Cherra Punji (the largest of all in the collection), with the outer margins of its hind wings so ragged that it is impossible to be quite sure to which form it belongs, though, from its close agreement in other respects with Westwood’s figure in the ‘ Arcana,’ as well as with the other insect from the same locality, I should say it is a typical P. Pollux. 68 Miscellaneous. having the third branch of the median vein not produced, and the outer margin of the wing consequently “‘ rounder,” being in fact typical P. Polluw; and four (two from Silhet* and two from Sikkim +) having that veinlet produced into a small tooth, as in the male. I consider that these two different forms are both females of P. Castor, and that the slight differences they present are ex- plained on the supposition, warranted by numerous analogous facts in nature, that the secondary sexual characters acquired by the male have been partially transmitted to some females, but not to others (P. Pollux), which have retained the primordial rounded form of wing. The fact that the discoidal markings of the hind wing in the two Silhet females with toothed wings are lighter and more distinctly cream-coloured than in any of the females with rounded wings, that the malformed specimen from the same locality (which cer- tainly belongs to the form with toothed hind wings) has these markings in the fourth, fifth, and sixth interspaces (those, that is to say, corresponding to the ones forming the principal part of the blotch in the male) of almost as rich and pure a colour as in that sex, and that one of the two former has the spot at the end of the cell and the submarginal markings of both fore wings obsolete and is thus still further approximated to the male, do certainly seem to me to tell rather for than against the above supposition. The Helenus group of Papilios, to which Papilio Castor and its allies unquestionably belong, taken as a whole, presents us with a remarkable series of gradations in the amount of difference between the sexes, comprising, as it does:—one species (P. Dravidarum) in which the sexes closely resemble one another in the form of the wings and in colour and markings, and there is only an incipient * There is a third specimen from Silhet in the collection, taken at the same time and place as the other two; but it unfortunately has the hind wings symmetrically malformed at their outer margins, the third lobule on each side being short and angulated, and the fourth being somewhat longer than usual and also angulated. This malformation is interesting as showing in the same specimen the instability of this character, the strong tendency to the assumption of the male form of wing exhibited in the lengthening of the lobule next in order, and the unmistakable “ re- version” to the rounded form of wing in the suppression of the rudi- mentary tail. It should be mentioned that a gynandromorphous example of the form of female described by Prof. Westwood as P. Pollux has been figured and described as P. Castor by G. Semper in Wien. entom. Monatschr. 1863, Band vii. p. 281, Taf. 19. In this specimen both the wings of the left side are truly female; but on the opposite side the posterior portion of the fore wing from the first discoidal veinlet to the inner margin on the upperside only, and the anterior portion of the hind wing from the costal margin to the second branch of the subcostal on both sides, ex- hibit the masculine livery. not unmingled with female characters (conf. Westwood in Thes. Ent. Oxon. p. 187). + The two Sikkim specimens have the tooth less developed and the discal markings of the hind wings exactly like those of the other form (P. Pollux). Miscellaneous. 69 sexual differentiation; another (P. Mahadeva) in which, while agreeing in structure, they differ to a considerable extent in mark- ings and colour, and the secondary sexual characters of the male are much more pronounced; another (P. Castor) in which they differ from one another to such a remarkable extent, that no less an authority than Prof. Westwood originally described them under different names, and still maintains their distinctness, and Mr. Wallace* placed them in different groups of the genus—the male having acquired the most pronounced secondary sexual cha- racters (including rudimentary tails), which have been partially transmitted to some females but not to others, and the two forms of female having retained, one of them the form of wings, and both the general style of colouring, characteristic of both sexes in the first-named species; and, finally, others (P. Helenus, P. Chaon, &c.) in which the male has perfectly transmitted to the opposite sex all the secondary sexual characters (including the long tails) that he had acquired, the female only differing from him in such trifling points as the lighter coloration of the outer half of both wings and the dingier shade of the upper surface generally. From these and other facts, we are, | think, entitled to infer the probable descent of all the members of this group from an ancestor with tailless, rounded wings in both sexes, closely resembling P. Dravidarum, but with diffused discal markings in the hind wings, and probably also in the fore wings—the conspicuous wing-blotches of P. Helenus, P. Castor, &c. having apparently resulted from the concentration, so to speak, of such diffused colouring in the direction of the breadth of the wing, just as have the discal bands of short spots in P. Dravidarum and P. Mahadeva from a similar process of modification in the opposite direction. If his conclusions are correctly reported, Prof. Westwood’s draw- ings must represent a species different from either of those alluded to herein; and I look forward with much interest to the appearance of his paper.—Proc. As. Soc. Beng. 1880, No. 3. On a highly organized Reptile from the Permian Formation. By M. A. Gauvpry. M. Roche, director of the Ironworks of Igornay, to whom we are already indebted for several discoveries of curious fossils, has just found, in the Permian, a new genus of reptile, which he has pre- sented to the Museum of Paris. The Igornay animal is the most perfect of those which have hitherto been met with in the Pri- mary formations of France. I propose to name it Stereorachis dominans. In Stereorachis the vertebre present a striking contrast to those of the reptiles of the same deposits. While in Actinodon and * Tn his well-known memoir “On the Phenomena of Variation and Geographical Distribution as illustrated by the Papilionide of the Malayan Region,” in Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond. vol. xxv. pp. 38, 54. 70 Miscellaneous. Euchyrosaurus the centra are composed of a median part, or hypo- centrum, and two pleurocentra not soldered together, in Stereorachis the centra are in a single piece, which adheres to the neural arch ; the vertebral column has therefore acquired much more solidity, which has led me to invent the name Stereorachis. It must, how- ever, be noted that the centra of the vertebre were still extremely hollow; their anterior and posterior faces were so concave that they formed two cones united end to end; I would not even assert that there was not a perforation establishing the continuity of the notochord. This is a condition analogous to that of many fishes. The new genus found by M. Roche presented another mark of superiority over the Reptiles that lived with it. Its humerus had a neuro-arterial canal in its distal part. I had already called atten- tion, in Euchyrosaurus, to the rudiments of the arch indicating a tendency to the formation of this canal; in Stereorachis the forma- tion was completed. When we find that, besides the neuro-arterial canal, the humerus had its epitrochlea and its epicondyle widened as in those animals in which the supinator and pronator muscles, or the extensor and flexor muscles, are greatly developed, we are led to think that the old quadruped of Igornay had arms more perfec- tionated than those of existing reptiles. Stereorachis must have been a carnivorous animal of considerable size; one of its mandibles, although a little broken, measures 18 centims. The upper and lower jaws are armed with conical teeth, deeply immersed in the sockets; their section is nearly circular ; they are smooth externally, with a radiate structure in the interior ; the front ones are stronger than the rest; an inferior tooth has a crown 32 millims. high ; a superior tooth, the point of which un- fortunately is broken, must have been at least 40 millims. There is an entosternum which recalls that of the Labyrinthodonts ; it is very broad in its anterior third, and narrowed behind; its length is 15 centims. Beside it there is a large nearly quadrilateral bony plate, 14 centims. long and 5 centims. broad ; I suppose this to be the homologue of the coracoid and scapula. There is also a curved bone which I believe to be the homologue of the great bone in fishes regarded by Mr. Kitchen Parker as a clavicle (episternum of the Ganocephalous reptiles). I must also notice long arched ribs, formed of two pieces united end to end; a large coprolite; bones of the head with a rugose surface ; and hard, brilliant, very fine, long, aciculate scales, as in Archegosaurus and Actinodon. In some respects Stereorachis shows affinities with the Gano- cephala and Labyrinthodonts. In other respects it shows tenden- cies towards certain genera of the Permian of Russia and the Trias of South Africa, upon which Prof. Richard Owen has made admi- rable investigations, and for which he has proposed the name of Theriodonts. Perhaps it still more nearly approaches some North- American animals, such as Empedocles, Clepsydrops, and Dimetro- don, ranged by Prof. Cope in his group of Pelycosauria ; but at Miscellaneous. 71 present I know no genus with which it could be identified. It is a curious thing to find such numerous and varied reptiles in the Primary formations, which for a long time seemed to palontolo- gists to be almost destitute of them. The discovery in the Permian of a highly organized reptile like Stereorachis, or those lately indicated inNorth America by Prof. Cope, leads us to expect others ; these animals are so far from the initial state of reptiles to lead us to suppose that before them there were many generations of ances- tors, and that some day, no doubt, we shall meet with their remains even in the Devonian.—Comptes Rendus, Oct. 18, 1880, p. 669. A new Genus of Rodents from Algeria. M. Ferdinand Lataste has recently described a remarkable Rodent, which he obtained in the Algerian Sahara, as the type of a new genus of Muridee, which he names Pachyuromys. It belongs to the subfamily Gerbilline ; and its most striking external character is its tail, which is short, claviform, greatly swollen, and apparently naked, its minute annulations and fine white hairs not concealing the rosy tint of the skin in the living animal. Still more remarkable is the structure of its skull, in which the auditory bulle are so greatly developed behind that they are only separated by a groove, about 5 millims. in depth, at the bottom of which lies the foramen magnum. Mr. Alston informs M. Lataste that such a development of the bulle, both in their tympanic and more especially in their mastoid portions, is not met with in any genus of Muride with which he is acquainted, and that a parallel can only be found in the Geo- myide, in the North-American genus Dipodomys. Pachyuromys Duprasi, of which M. Lataste possesses several living specimens, is a small animal, measuring about 100 millims. in length of head and body, and 40 millims. in that of the tail ; the upper parts are fawn-colour, the lower pure white. Its dis- coverer promises a more detailed description, with figures of the animal and its skull and observations on its habits.—‘ La Natura- liste,’ i. pp. 8313-315 (Nov. 15, 1880). Researches on the Comparative Anatomy of the Nervous System in the different Orders of the Class of Insects. By M. EK. Branopr. In 1879 I had the honour of bringing before the Academy my investigations upon the nervous system of insects*, The present note contains the principal results of my comparative researches upon the nervous system in the different orders of the class Insecta. The nervous system of the Coleoptera has been studied in a great many representatives of various families by M. KE. Blanchard‘. This naturalist is the only one who has studied it as a whole; and * Comptes Rendus, tome Ixxxix. pp. 475-477. + Ann. Sci. Nat. 3° sér. tome v. (1846). 792 Miscellaneous. his profound investigations enriched science with most important facts, now well known in the scientific world. My investigations upon the nervous system of the Coleoptera were made upon 235 species in the perfect state, and upon 36 species in the state of larve. The following are the conclusions:—1. Some Coleoptera (Ihizo- trogus solstitialis) have the subcesophageal ganglion confounded with the thoracic ganglion. The cerebroid ganglia always have convolu- tions. 2. There are from one to three thoracic gangha; if there are two or three, it is only the last that is composite. 3. The number of abdominal ganglia is very variable, from one to eight; sometimes there are no separate abdominal ganglia, but they are confounded with the thoracic part (Curculionide, La- mellicornia); sometimes the males have more separate ganglia than the females of the same species (in Dictyopterus sanguineus the male has eight and the female seven). My principal results on the nervous system of the Hymenoptera were published in 1875 *. The nervous system of the Lepidoptera had been very little studiedt. I have examined it in 118 adult species, and in 48 species in the caterpillar state. 1. All Lepidoptera have two cephalic ganglia; the supracesophageal ganglion is furnished with convolu- tions. 2. In most cases there are two distinct thoracic ganglionic masses (Rhopalocera, Crepuscularia, and most of the other groups) ; the first is simple, while the second is composite. Some have their thoracic ganglia sometimes very close together (Cossus ligniperda, Pygera bucephala), sometimes distant (Zygena, Sesia, Hepialus) ; an intermediate form also occurs (Orgyia, Notodonta, &c.), which possesses two thoracic ganglia, the second having a strongly-marked constriction. 3. There are always four abdominal ganglia ; Hepi- alus humuli alone presents five. The nervous system of the Diptera was studied in several families by M. Léon Dufour ¢; but in most cases his descriptions are incor- rect. My investigations on the nervous system of the Diptera were made upon sixty-five adult species and twenty-nine species of larvee §$. 1. The Diptera have always two cephalic ganglia, well separated from each other by short commissures; and the supracesophageal ganglion always has convolutions. 2. There is sometimes a single thoracic ganglion (Muscide, Conopsidee, Syrphide, Stratiomyde), sometimes two (Therevide, Dolichopodide, Xylophagide, Bibio- nidee) ; some have three thoracic ganglia (Fungicole, Culiciformia, Pulicida). When there are two thoracic ganglia, both are compo- * Comptes Rendus, tome lxxxiii. pp. 612-614. + M. Léon Dufour is the only naturalist who has investigated repre- sentatives of the different families (Comptes Rendus, tome xxxiv.). { ‘Recherches anatomiques et physiologiques sur les Diptéres.’ § The principal results of my researches upon the nervous system of the Diptera were read in October 1877 before the Russian Entomological Society. Miscellaneous. 73 site; if there are three, it is the last alone that is composite. 3. The number of abdominal ganglia varies from one to eight; and the Muscid Calypterze have no separated abdominal ganglia, these being confounded with the central nervous part in the thorax. Sometimes the number of abdominal ganglia varies in the same species, according to the sex: according to Landois, Pulew canis has eight and seven; according to my own researches this is the case also in P. felis and P. irritans. I have also found that in the male Leptis the last ganglion has a constriction, whilst in the female it is compact. 4. The Diptera have a frontal ganglion and two pairs of small pharyngeal ganglia ; but they have not the abdominal part of the sympathetic system distinct. The nervous system of the Hemiptera has been very little investi- gated, and comparative studies are wanting. My researches on the nervous system of the Hemiptera extend to seventy species. 1. Some Hemiptera have no separate subcesophageal ganglion, the latter being amalgamated with the medullary part of the thorax. 2. In some (Pseudophanus) it is separate, and placed, not in the head, but in the thorax. The convolutions of the cerebroid lobes are never wanting. 3. In some Hemiptera which have two ganglia in the thorax, the first results from the fusion of the first thoracic gan- glion with the subeesophageal ganglion. 4. The number of thoracic ganglia varies from one to three: thus Hydrometra, Acanthia, and Nepa have one; two occur in Pentatoma, Lygeus, &c.; there are three thoracic ganglia in Pediculus, but, having no commissures, they are in contact. Notonecta presents an intermediate form, having only a single true thoracic ganglion, which, however, pos- sesses a very strongly-marked constriction. 5. The Hemiptera never have separated abdominal ganglia, they being amalgamated with the thoracic part of the nervous system.—Comptes Rendus, December 6, 1880, pp. 935-937. Habits of a Fish of the Family Siluridee (Callichthys fasciatus, Cwv.). By M. Carponnier. I have in my possession several individuals of the species called Callichthys fasciatus, Cuy., coming from the river Plate. This species is characterized by two barbels at each angle of the upper lip, two rows of broad and strong scaly plates, which cover the flanks and intercept the lateral line, and two dorsal fins, of which the second (adipose) is furnished like the first with an osseous ray. These fishes, as I have ascertained, come frequently to take in a provision of air at the surface of the water; but their most inter- esting peculiarity consists in their mode of copulation and repro- duction. At the moment of fecundation the female brings together her ventral fins, after the fashion of two open fans united by their edges, and thus forms a sort of cul-de-sac, at the bottom of which Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 5. Vol. vii. 6 74 Miscellaneous. the aperture of the ovaries opens. The fecundating elements of the male are imprisoned in this sort of membranous sac ; and when, a few moments afterwards, the eggs arrive in the same place, they will find themselves bathed in a liquid very rich in spermato- zoids. Each laying consists of five or six eggs, which the female retains fer a few minutes in the pouch above described ; then she quits the bottom to go in search of a favourable spot for their evolution. Her choice leads her in preference to a well-illuminated part, such as the glass wall of the aquarium, or a stone that emerges from the water; with her mouth she cleans a place situated at least 10-15 centims. below the level of the water, then, applying her abdomen to this place, she opens her sac and attaches the eggs, which adhere by means of the viscosity with which they are endued. All the eggs being deposited, contact with the male recommences ; and the ovipositions thus follow one another forty or fifty times in the course of the day. I estimate the total number of eggs emitted at about two hundred and fifty*. At the moment of deposition the eggs, arranged in groups of from three to five, are of a milky white, and but slightly transpa- rent; they afterwards become yellowish, and at the moment of ex- clusion, 7. ¢. from the eighth to the tenth day of incubation, they become blackish: this coloration is due to the pigment spots which cover the body of the embryo. At the moment of its birth the embryo is globular. At first one can only distinguish the four barbels; the umbilical vesicle, which is semitransparent, is not very voluminous; the embryo holds itself in the normal position, and not lying upon its side, like most embryos of other fishes. Speedily the tail and the other fins appear. These latter developments last on the average three days, during which time these fishes lead an independent and isolated life. When this period is past, 2. e. from twelve to thirteen days after deposition, all these young fishes collect together and move about the bottom of the aquarium. The growth of this fish is not very rapid; it does not become adult until two years after its birth. An interesting fact is the change of the period of reproduction presented by our Callichthys. At La Plata it isin the months of October and November that it breeds. After arriving in Europe it passed a year without producing young. In 1878 oviposition took place in August and September. The produce of this genera- tion oviposited this year in the month of June. Evidently there has been an adaptation to our climate, the temperatures of which are the reverse of those of South America.—Comptes Rendus, Dec. 6, 1880, p. 940. * The layings observed by me always commenced between 9 and 10 o'clock a.M., and terminated about 2 P.M. Miscellaneous. 75 On a new Form of Vesicular Worm with Exogenous Budding. By M. A. Vitor. The curious larva of a Tzeniid, which I now propose to make known under the name of Urocystis prolifera*, is, like the Staphylocystest, a parasite of Glomeris limbatus ; but it presents the peculiarity that it lives in the same host in various degrees of development—namely, in the vesicular state properly so called, free in the visceral cavity, and in the state of scolex, encysted in the adipose body. Urocystis prolifera, in the vesicular state properly so called, pre- sents for our consideration three very distinct parts—a head, a body, and a caudal vesicle. These three parts, which are in perfect con- tinuity of tissue, are invaginated one within the other, the head in the body, and the body in the caudal vesicle. The head is oval, more or less inflated laterally, truncate in front, and narrowed behind. It bears four sucking-disks and a very long rostellum. The latter deserves to be described in detail. It is invaginated in the head by its posterior extremity, and upon itself by its anterior extremity. From this it results that the head of the worm terminates by a sort of funnel of invagination, having perfectly the aspect of a frontal sucking-cup. ‘The inner wall of this infun- dibulum presents numerous transverse folds, formed by the contrac- tion of the elastic fibres of which it consists, and is armed with a circlet of hooks so small that it is impossible to count them. These hooks are packed very closely together ; and to distinguish them it is necessary to employ a magnifying-power of 600—900 diameters ; with lower powers we only see a chitinous ring of a brilliant yellow colour. The body (receptaculum capitis) is united by the neck to the pos- terior part of the head. It is formed by a very delicate membrane, so closely pressed against the inner wall of the caudal vesicle that it is difficult to distinguish it therefrom. We only remark beneath the neck a sort of pad, formed of embryonic cells, like the paren- chyma of the head. The peduncle which unites the body to the caudal vesicle can only be detected with difficulty, in consequence of the transparency and contractility of the tissues and the narrow- ness of the orifice of Invagination. The caudal vesicle is oval, slightly acuminate in front, obtuse posteriorly. It is formed, as usual, of anatomical elements of two kinds—an outer layer of interlaced elastic fibres, and an inner layer of connective tissue. Its contractility, which is very marked, enables the animal to move in all directions. The scolex occupies only two thirds of its cavity ; and there is in the posterior region a very con- siderable vacancy. The dimensions of the different parts of the worm are as follows:— hooks 0-001 millim.; diameter of the trunk in the invaginated state 0-03; diameter of the sucking-disks 0°02; length of the scolex in the invaginated state 0°07 ; length of the caudal vesicle 0°09 ; breadth * Incorrectly called Urocystis prolifer by M. Villot. + See ‘ Annals,’ ser. 5, vol. i. p. 258. 76 | Miscellaneous. of the caudal vesicle 0:06. From these measurements one may judge of the minuteness of our parasite, and the difficulties presented by its study. Its bulk does not exceed that of an Infusorian; and it is evident that it would escape the researches of any observer who does not avail himself of the lens and the microscope. As indicated by its name, Urocystis prolifera is essentially charac- terized by its mode of multiplication. Its buds are successively developed, and become detached as soon as they have arrived at maturity. Thus its colonies are usually composed only of two indi- viduals placed one behind the other—a completely-developed vesicle in front, and a bud in the form of a caudal appendage. The bud is represented at first only by a small spherical vesicle containing cellular elements in course of proliferation. It is sessile, and in continuity of tissue by its anterior extremity with the individual that preceded it (perfect vesicle or bud); but during development it acquires an oval form, and tends gradually to become isolated. At the moment when the first traces of the scolex make their ap- pearance the two individuals are no longer united to each other except by a thin cord. When it becomes detached, the vesicular bud has acquired its full development, and contains a perfectly- formed scolex. The latter speedily frees itself from its caudal vesicle to go and encyst itself in the adipose body of its host; but the scolex, while abandoning its caudal vesicle, remains encysted in its ‘receptaculum capitis and does not evaginate its trunk. The escape of the scolex may be effected either by degenerescence of the caudal vesicle or by rupture of the pedicle which attaches the scolex to the vesicle. The latter mode, which I have frequently observed, appears to me the more natural. The scolex, in becoming encysted in the adipose body of its host, does not undergo any great modification. There is nothing more than a change of external form and a thickening of the integuments. It becomes spherical; and the embryonic elements which constitute the wall of the receptaculum capitis pass to the state of elastic fibres, to replace the caudal vesicle as a protective organ. No doubt, independently of its habitat, Urocystis prolifera has many relations to Staphylocystis; but it differs from the latter by important characters which fully justify the establishment of a genus. In Staphylocystis the individuals which constitute the colony are developed simultaneously, and do not separate from each other at maturity. The scolex does not issue from the caudal vesicle, and has not its trunk invaginated upon itself. The other states of this new form of worm are unknown to me, and probably have not yet been described; but we know now that the scolex which must figure at the head of the strobile possesses a long trunk and a simple circlet of very small hooks. As to the definitive host, whether mammal or bird, it certainly belongs to the Alpine fauna. The Glomerts which furnished me with Urocystis prolifera was captured in the woods of the Grande-Chartreuse.— Comptes Rendus, December 6, 1880, p. 938. THE ANNALS AND MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. [FIFTH SERIES.] No. 38. FEBRUARY 1881. IX.— History and Classification of the known Species of Spongilla. By H. J. Carrer, F.R.S. &e. [Plates V. & VI. | THE freshwater sponge has been known from a very early period, although perhaps only first publicly noticed in 1696, by Leonard Plukenet, in the following way, viz. ‘ Spongia fluviatilis anfractuosa perfragilis ramosissima ”’ (apud Pallas, No. 4*). Linneus, in 1745 (No. 2), described two species * Publications to which reference is made in the following communi- cation :— 1.—1696. PiuxreNnEeT, Lzonarp. (Brit. Bot.) Almagestum, p. 356, tab. 112. f. 3, “Spongia fluviatilis anfractuosa perfragilis ramo- sissima.” 2.—1745. Linnawus. Flora Suecica, Spec. Pl., ed.1, sp. 11. Spongia fluviatilis ; ib. sp. 10. Spongia lacustris. 3.—1758. Linnzus. Systema Nature, ed. x. 4.—1766. Patias. Elench. Zoophytorum, Spongia fluviatilis, No. 231, . 384, 5.1816. Lamarck. Anim.sans Vertébres, t. ii. p. 98. 6.—1826. Grant, Ropertr. “On the Structure and Nature of the Spongilla friabilis,” Edin. Phil. Journ. vol. xiv. p. 270. 7.—1835. Gervais, P. “Les Eponges d’eau douce,” Ann. des Se. Naturelles, n. s. t. iv. p. 254. 8.—1839. Mryen, F.J.F. “ Beitrage zur nahern Kenntniss unseres Siisswasserschwammes,” Miiller’s Archiv, 1839, S. 83, apud Lieber- Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 5. Vol. vii. 7 78 Mr. H. J. Carter on the under the names respectively of ‘‘ Spongia lacustris”? and “ §. fluviatilis” (apud Pallas), observing in his ‘ Systema Nature’ of 1766, ed. xii. p. 1299, that “ Autumnali tempore in hujus poris sparsis globulos cerulescentes magnitudine semi- num thymi &c. observavit C. Blom, M.D. ;”’ so that Linneus then was not only acquainted with the existence of the fresh- water sponge, but also with the presence of the little globular bodies (globulc) in it, to which our attention will be more particularly given by-and-by, under the term of “ statoblasts ;” while Pallas, also, in 1766, in his diagnosis of ‘ Spongilla fluviatilis,” stated, “‘ Masse interdum aut cruste informes in stagnantibus aquis; in fluentis forma ramosissima”’ (No. 4, p- 384). Thus the two species of the present day were fore- shadowed both in character and nomenclature. Subsequently much was written on the subject by various authors, and the name “ Spongia” more than once changed (see ‘ Literature” apud Johnston, No 10) ; but that of ‘ Spon- kiihn (No. 14, p. 7) ; Microscopic Journ. vol. i. p. 42, 1841 (No. 10, p- 154); Valentin’s ‘Repertorium,’ 1840 (No. 21, vol. ii. . 341). 9.1840. Hoae, J. “Observations on the Spongilla fluviatilis,’ Linn. Soc. Trans. vol. xviii. pt. 5. 10.—1842. Jounston, G. History of British Sponges &c. Spongilla, pp. 149-163. 11.—1848. Carter, H. J. “Notes on the Species, Structure, and Animality of the Freshwater Sponges in the Island of Bombay,” Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 2, vol. i. p. 303. 12,1849. Carrer, H. J. “A Descriptive Account of the Fresh- water Sponges in the Island of Bombay, with Observations on their Structure and Development,” ibid. vol. iv. p. 81, pls. 111., iv., and v. 13.—1854. Carter, H. J. “ Zoosperms in Spongilla,’ ibid. yol. xiv. . 304, pl. xi. 14.—1856. LizBERKUAN, N. ‘ Beitrage zur Entwickelungsgeschichte der Spongillen,” Archiv f. Anat. u. Physiologie, Heft i. u. ii. pp: 1-19 (Jan.). 15.—1856. LizrpgrKtun, N. “ Beitriige” &c. (Nachtrag), ibid. Heft iv. pp. 899-414, Taf. xv. (May). 16.—1856, Lizperkiun, N. Id. ibid. Heft v. pp. 496-514, Taf. xviii. figs. 8, 9. 17.1887, Carter, H. J. “On the Ultimate Structure of Spongilla &c.,” Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 2, vol. xx. p. 21, pl. i. 18.—1859. Carter, H.J. “On the Fecundation of the Volvoces, &c. (Spongilla),” Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 3, vol. iii. pp. 12-15, pl. i. figs. 12-14 (Jan.). 19.—1859. Carter, H. J. “On the Identity in Structure and Compo- sition of the so-called ‘Seed-like Body’ of Spongilla with the Winter-egg of the Bryozoa; and the Presence of Starch-granules in each,” ibid. vol. ii. p. 331, pl. viii. (May). 20.—1863. BowErBANK, J. ‘ Monograph on the Spongillide,” Proc. Zool. Soc. London, Nov. 24, pl. xxxviii. known Species of Spongilla. 79 gilla,” instituted for the genus by Lamarck in 1816 (No. 5), has taken precedence of all the rest, whereby we now have Spongilla fluviatilis and S. lacustris. It was not, however, until the improvements of the micro- scope ushered in an era of minuter observation that Spongilla was more particularly examined, when Dr. Grant (my kind friend and able teacher) published his “ Observations’? in 1826 (No. 6). After this, Meyen, in 1839, pointed out that the crust of the spherula or seed-like body (statoblast) was composed of vertically placed spicula 1-250th to 1-200th of a millim. broad, at whose extremities, near the circumference, more or less toothed little disks are formed (PI. VI. fig. 11, a,b), and further that, ‘ besides the larger siliceous spicula within the substance of the sponge, there exist more delicate ones of 1-16th to 1-10th of a millim. long, having upon their surface little points which elongate as their age in- creases’’ (apud Johnston, No.j10, p. 154, footnote). Here 21.—1866. BowErBank, J. Monograph of the British Spongiada, vol. ii. pp. 339-344, Spongilla fluviatilis and S. lacustris; ib. vol. i. p. 262, spicula of the ovaries of Spongilla; pl. ix. figs. 201- 227, pls. xxii. and xxiil. figs. 217-822 (figures of the “ ovaries’). 22.1867. Gray, J. E. ‘Notes on the Arrangement of Sponges,” Proc. Zool. Soc. London, May 9, p. 550, &c. (Potamospongia, classification of). 23.—1867. James-CiarK, H. J. “‘ Sponge ciliate as Infusoria flagel- lata,” Journ. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. vol. i. pt. 3, pls. ix. and x. 24,1868. Carter, H. J. “Ona Variety of Spongilla Meyeni from the River Exe, Devonshire,’ Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 4, vol. i. p. 247. 25.—1870. BowErBank, J. Monograph of the British Spongiada, vol. iii. pls. lix. and lx. 26.—1874. Cartrer, H. J. “On the Nature of the Seed-like Body of Spongilla, &c,” Ann, & Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 4, vol. xiv. p. 97. 27.—1875. Carter, H. J. “Notes Introductory to the Study and Classification of the Spongida,” ibid. vol. xvi. p. 1, &c.: Potamo- spongida (pp. 187, 190, and 199). 28.—1877. DyBowsxK1, W. “Ueber Spongillen der Ostsee-Provinzen,” Sitzungsber d. Naturf. Gesellsch. zu Dorpat, Bd. iv. Heft 2, 1876, p. 258, Heft 3, 1877, p. 527. 29,—1878. ScuutzE, F. E. “ Untersuchungen tiber den Bau und die Entwicklung der Spongien. Die Gattung Halsarca,” Zeitschrift f. wiss. Zoologie, Bd. xxviii. 30.—1879. MetscunikorfT, E. “Spongiologische Studien,” ibid. Bd. xxxii. p. 349, Taf. xx.—xxiil. 81—1879. Carter, H. J. ‘ On the Nutritive and Reproductive Pro- cesses of Sponges,” Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 5, vol. iv. p. 374. 82.—1880. Dynowsk1, W. “ Studien iiber die Spongien des Russischen Reiches mit besonderer Beriicksichtigung der Spongien-Fauna des Baikal-Sees,” Mém. Acad. Imp. d. Sc. de St. Pétersbourg, 7° série, t. xxvil. no. 6. 7* 80 Mr. H. J. Carter on the evidently the minute spicules with “ toothed little disks ” and “little points’ respectively belonged to Spongilla fluvi- atilis and S. lacustris. Meyen also stated that the seed-like bodies or spherule of Spongilla are “ essentially distinct from the sporangia of Alge, and are similar to what are de- nominated the winter-eggs of polypes ” (No. 10, l.c.), which having endeavoured myself to illustrate and confirm in 1859 (No. 19), I finally adopted the term “statoblast”’ (No. 19, p- 840). Lastly, Mr. John Hogg, in 1840, demonstrated beyond question that these ‘‘ seed-like bodies,”’ or statoblasts, germinaied in water, and thus reproduced the Spongilla {No. 9). In 1842, Johnston published his work on the British Sponges (No. 10), from which the ‘ Monograph on the British Spongiade’ of Dr. Bowerbank is chiefly compiled ; and in Johnston’s work an epitome of all that had been made known up to the time was given, not only of Spongilla, but of every other species of the British sponges that had been noticed, together with descriptions and illustrations from actual observation, not only of these but of many others which he added to them ; so that this book is a sine gud non to the student. A few years after this, brings us to a period in which, be- sides the reproduction of Spongilla through the ‘ seed-like body,” one through seawal elements was also sought for and dis- covered. Thus, in 1856, Lieberkiihn discovered and figured the ovum of Spongilla, together with the spermatozoa (Nos. 14, 15, and 16), which, as regards the ovum, Grant had done in the marine sponges in 1826 (Edin. New Phil. Journ. vol. ii. p- 133, pl. 1. figs. 27-29), and, as regards the spermato- zoa, F. Ei. Schulze confirmed, in 1878, in thé marine species Halisarca lobularis (No. 29). I take no account of my own observation of “ zoosperms in Spongilla”’ in 1854 (No. 13), although the absence of the so-called “ ear-like appendages ” &e. in the figures of them &c. now seems to indicate that they were such, although in the interval I have doubted this, because the fact was not substantiated after the satisfactory manner in which it was subsequently demonstrated by the sagacious Lieberkiihn. Thus, then, in addition to the “ seed-like body” in Spon- gilla, it was shown that the freshwater sponges could be propa- gated by elements of sexual reproduction like those of the marine sponges. Shortly after this, my own observations (Nos. 17 and 18), coupled with those of James-Clark in 1867 (No. 23), esta- blished the ‘ animality”’ of Spongilla, together with the form known Species of Spongilla. 81 of the animal itself, for which, in 1872, I proposed the name “ spongozoon”’ (‘ Annals,’ vol. x. p. 45). Finally Lieberkiihn, observing what had been pointed out by Meyen in 1839, viz. that the seed-like body of Spongilla was partly composed of “ little toothed’’ amphidisks, and that besides these there were others with “little points” or spines on their surface (‘‘ rauhen etwas gekriimmten”’), made these the distinctive characters of Spongilla fluviatilis and S. lacus- tris respectively (No. 16, pp. 510, 511). This was confirmed by Bowerbank in 1863 (No. 20, p. 7, pl. xxxviii. fig. 1, 6, ¢, and p. 24, dd. fig. 14, c); and good representations of these sponges were given by him in 1870 (No. 25, pls. lix. and Ix.) ; but unfortunately the amphidisk or birotulate is omitted in the former, viz. that illustrating S. fuvdatilis. Descriptions of the two species, as well as illustrations of the seed-like bodies and their spicuies respectively, were also published by Dr. Bowerbank in 1866 (No. 21). Thus the two species of Spongilla, hitherto doubtfully distinguished from ignorance of these more decided differences, were firmly established. Having premised all the circumstances connected with the history of the freshwater sponge (Spongillu) that are neces- sary for the present occasion, we find that they are quite as much advanced physiologically as those of the marine species ; and although the latter must ever be by far the most numerous, from the great extent of area producing them, yet, when we remember how few known species of Spongilla there are com- pared with the comparatively large area of freshwater which they may be inferred to inhabit, while the localities of the area in which they have been found are, with the exception of Europe, “‘ few and far between,” and as yet from Africa none at all have been described, it may also be inferred that hereafter a great many more species will be added to those with which we are at present acquainted, while the latter are already sufficiently numerous and diversified to render a classification of them desirable for further advancement. This classification should, of course, be based on some peculiar and persistent characters which may yet admit of modified addition; and as we have seen that until Meyen had pointed out the form and presence of spicules in the seed- like body, no reliable distinction existed between Spongilla fluviatilis and S. lacustris, so we may assume that this may be anticipated throughout the family. And such is the fact ; hence the classification which I am about to propose will be based chiefly on the spicules of the statoblast. 82 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Up to the present time no species of marine sponge has been found to present a statoblast; while those of the fresh- water sponge, although specimens are often without any (like the mycelium of “dry rot,” Merulius lachrymans, which may destroy the woodwork of a whole mansion without putting forth its fructification in more than half a dozen places), might be assumed to be capable of producing them in every instance. So here we possess a sharp line of demarcation between the marine and freshwater sponges; for I have examined the type specimen (now in the British Musenm) supposed by Dr. Bowerbank to show the existence of the seed-like body in his marine genus Diplodemia (No. 25, pl. lxx. fig. 12 and No. 21, vol. i. pl. xxi. fig. 234, and vol. 11. p. 357), and find that this is nothing more than an insignificant portion of egg- bearing Jsodictya adherent to the valve of a Pecten. As already stated, Meyen considered the ‘‘ seed-like body ” of Spongilla to be equivalent to the “ winter egg” of the polyp (Polyzoa) ; and, as before stated, I have endeavoured to confirm this view by parallel description and illustration (No. 19); while Prof. Allman having proposed the name “statoblast ” for the winter egg of the freshwater Polyzoa (Monograph, Ray Society, 1856), must be my reason for calling the seed-like body the ‘ statoblast ” of Spongilla. Describing the statoblast generally, it may be said to be in size about as big as a pin’s head, varying in this respect, not only with the species but in the individual. For the most part it can be seen with the naked eye, and there- fore does not differ much in size from the ova and embryos (swarmspores) of both the freshwater and marine sponges. In form it is more or less globular or elliptical (Pl. V. figs. 1 and 4), and of a whitish colour when fully developed, with a hole either lateral or terminal on the surface, generally at the bottom of an infundibular depression which leads to the interior (fig. 1, A, and 4, e, &c.). If we now make a vertical section through the hole or aperture of one of these bodies when dry (for this is the best time) with a sharp thin knife, we may observe that it consists of an internal, globular, axial cavity filled with a soft waxy substance of a yellowish colour, like that of dried yelk of egg (fig. 1, a, &c.) ; which substance, on microscopic examination, when swollen out in water, will be found to be composed of a great number of extremely thin, transparent, spherical sacs, filled respectively with minute germinal matter consisting of transparent germs or cellule of different sizes ; the whole enclosed by a delicate, globular, transparent, investing membrane (fig. 1, 6) slightly protru- ding at the aperture (fig. 1, 7), and presenting a reticulated known Species of Spongilla. 83 appearance likethat of vegetable cell-structure when compressed minus any granules (fig.12,f). (For further detail respecting these parts, see Nos. 12, 17, and 19.) Outside this follows a comparatively thick, translucent, homogeneous membrane, seem- ingly composed of chitine, whose amber colour being reflected through the “‘ axial” substance gives the latter in the section a deeper tint than it 1s found to possess when separate ; this will be called the ‘‘ chitinous coat” (fig. 1, c). ‘Then comes another kind of coat, composed, in two instances, of cell-struc- ture, which is almost evident under a doublet (fig. 3, dand 7), as will be seen hereafter, but in the rest of a white granular substance (fig. 2, a) that will presently be more particularly described, which can only be resolved into such by a very high compound power; and this will be called the “ crust ” (fig. 1, d) ; it appears to afford a floating property (like cork) to the statoblast, but varies very much in thickness, not only according to the amount of its development, but according to the species. The “crust,” again, is charged with, or accom- panied by, minute spicules of different forms, variously ar- ranged according to the species, which will be found by-and- by, as before stated, to yield the chief characters of our classi- fication (fig. 1, g, and fig. 2,6, c). At the “ aperture,” of course, these two coats are deficient, while the interior or chiti- nous one is prolonged into it by a tubular extension, generally in proportion to the thickness of the ‘‘ crust” (fig. 1, A). Meyen thought that the substance of the ‘crust’? was composed of ‘‘ carbonate of lime having a cellular structure ” (No. 10, p. 154); but in no instance have I found it to effer- vesce with acids, while, on the contrary, after boiling it for some time in strong nitric acid it leaves a floccular residue, which may be assumed to be a colloid form of silica, unless it be undissolved tissue. As before stated, in some in- stances the cell-structure, being comparatively large, is_per- fectly evident, while in others it is only resolvable under a very high magnifying-power (at least 450 diameters), when it may be termed “ microcell-structure,”’ presenting under ordinary circumstances a white granular appearance, which, filling up the intervals between the spicules, imparts to the fully developed statoblast the light colour before mentioned. It floats in water, and is very much like ‘ pith,” without apparent cell-structure, is unaffected by liquor potassee, and untinged by iodine, while before the blowpipe it burns off without leaving any perceptible residue. ‘lhe floating-power of this substance is very considerable ; for it keeps on the surface the whole of the internal contents, which swell out and sink to the bottom the moment they are liberated by sec- 84 Mr. H. J. Carter on the tion in water, while the remnants of the crust themselves continue to float with the greatest pertinacity. Still, although in most instances where the statoblast is fully developed it forms a thick coat, yet in others it can hardly be traced even under the microscope after the fully developed statoblast has been mounted in balsam ; while it must not be forgotten that, as its development is progressive, it may be as untraceable at an early period in one as in the other. Lastly, there is often a distinct layer of spicules which are more like those of the skeleton than those of the statoblast, but sufficiently differentiated by their peculiarities from both to show that they do not belong to either (Pl. VI. fig. 8, J, n) ; and these form avery distinct capsular covering to the stato- blast, in which probably it was originally developed, and thus separated from its neighbours. Generally the statoblasts are situated towards the base or first-formed portions of the Spongilla, either fixed to the object on which the sponge may be growing, or more or less scat- tered throughout its structure. ‘The details of their development may be found in the papers to which I have last alluded; while, as this is also progressive, they often present themselves in a collapsed hemispherical state, without the crust, when the chiti- nous coat, being uncovered, gives them an amber colour, and thus their appearance generally is that of a different kind; but, as before stated, the statoblast when fully developed is, especially in the fresh state, globular, and, in proportion to the thickness of the crust, more or less white in colour. Yet there is a crustless spherical form, wherein too the aperture may be multiplicate— that is, double, triple, or even quintuple (PI. V.fig. 5,c ¢ ¢ cc) —as first noticed in another species by Gervais (No. 7) ; with which also there appear to have been statoblasts that contained two or three others of the same kind presenting the same structure, the same composition, and the same yellowish colour (apud Johnston, No. 10, p. 154); so that, as before stated, the statoblast, although generally globular or elliptical, may have these forms modified in a variety of ways, as indeed may be seen in those which I have figured in Plates V. and VI. Now, as the statoblast has so far been found in nearly all the freshwater sponges that have been described, and never in the marie ones, while the form of the skeleton-spicule is not only always acerate but almost always more or less alike in all, it follows trom the latter being of little or no specific value that the statoblast, which is different in all, at least in the form of its spicules, must become the basis of the most reliable classi- fication ; and therefore I shall use its characters for what in this respect I may hereafter have to propose. known Species of Spongilla. 85 No attempt to classify the freshwater sponges had been made up to the publication of the late Dr. J. E. Gray’s “ Notes”’ in 1867 (No. 22, p. 491), when my dear old friend (alas! now only dear to memory) made them the seventh order in his “‘ proposed ” arrangement of the Spongida generally, under the terms ‘‘ Potamospongia,”’ family “ Spongillade,’’ with the following genera, viz.:—l. Hphydatia; 2. Dosilia; 3. Me- tania; 4. Acalle; 5. Drulia; 6. Eunapius ; and 7. Spongilla ; adding Dr. Bowerbank’s marine species Diplodemia as an eighth genus—an incongruity arising from the misconception of Dr. Bowerbank to which I have already alluded. If Dr. Gray’s “ Notes””’ had been based on direct knowledge of the species of Spongilla themselves, and not on Dr. Bower- bank’s ‘* Monograph” (No. 20), it might have been unneces- sary now to propose a different arrangement. It is enough to state of this “‘ Monograph ”’ that Dr. Bowerbank therein calls the statoblasts ‘ ovaries,’ and in speaking of them in Spon- gilla gregaria (No. 20, p. 15) thus expresses himself—‘ The gregarious habit of these ovaries,’ &c.—to show the fallacies that might arise from such loose phraseology. But setting aside this and the like (for there is much to redeem it), I have had before me, in addition to the publications under reference, the actual specimens, while going through the late Dr. Bower- bank’s collections for the British Museum (where they now are); and it has been from examination of these type speci- mens, together with my own from the island of Bombay, which were described, illustrated, and published long before Dr. Bowerbank’s ‘ Monograph of the Spongillide,” that I have been induced to propose the following classification. As may have been observed, in my “ Notes introductory to the Study and Classification of the Spongida,” in 1875 (No. 27), I found it necessary to make the freshwater sponges the fifth family of my sixth order of the Spongida generally, under the name of ‘‘ Potamospongida,” with a single group, at present named ‘‘ Spongillina.’”? Hence so far they will stand thus:— Class SPONGIDA. Order VI. HOLORHAPHIDOTA. Char, Possessing a skeleton whose fibre is entirely com- posed of proper spicules bound together by a minimum of sarcode. Form of spicule variable. 86 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Family 5. Potamospongida. Freshwater Sponges. Group 19. Srowerzxra. Char. Bearing seed-like reproductive organs called “ sta- toblasts.”’ Genera: 1. Spongilla; 2. Meyenia; 3. Tubella ; 4, Parmula; 5. Uruguaya. SPONGILLA. Gen. char. Skeleton-spicule acerate, smooth, curved, fusi- form, pointed, sometimes more or less spined or more or less inflated in the centre; sometimes accompanied by flesh- spicules. Statoblast globular, crust thick, thin, or absent altogether, accompanied by or charged with minute acerates (Pl. V. fig. 5, 64, d, &c.), smooth or spined according to the species, arranged tangentially. * Minute acerates smooth. 1. Spongilla Cartert, Bk. Spongilla Carteri, Bk., No. 20, p. 31, pl. xxviii. fig. 20; provisionally S. friabilis, Lam., No. 12, p. 88, pl. iii. fig. 3. Massive, sessile. Colour greenish or faint whitish yellow. Structure fragile, crumbling. Skeleton-spicule smooth, fusi- form, curved, gradually + sharp-pointed. Statoblast globular ; aperture infundibular ; crust composed of pyramidal columns ot dodecahedral or polyhedral cells, hexagonal in the section, regularly arranged one above another, in juxtaposition, per- pendicularly to the outside of the chitinous coat on which they rest ; surrounded by a layer of minute, fusiform, curved, and gradually sharp-pointed, smooth acerates (No. 19, pl. viii. figs. 1-3). Loc. Bombay. 2. Spongilla paupercula, Bk. Spongilla paupercula, Bk., No. 20, p. 82, pl. xxxviil. fig. 21. Coating and branching. Skeleton-spicule curved, fusiform, + “Gradually,” in contradistinction to “abruptly” sharp-pointed (See Pl. VI. figs. 14 and 16 respectively). known Species of Spongilla. 87 sharp-pointed, smooth. Statoblast globular; spicules curved, fusiform, gradually sharp-pointed, smooth. Loc. Water-pipes of Boston &c., U.S. Obs. Mr. Thomas H. Higgin, F.L.S., of Liverpool, kindly sent me a specimen from the same locality, viz. the water- pipes of Boston, which, when examined, proved to have a similar skeleton-spicule, among which there are a number of minute, curved, fusiform, sharp-pointed acerates so like the flesh-spicules of Spongilla lacustris that, in the absence of statoblasts, I am led to consider it the same species; and if I am right, then the spicules of the statoblast should be spined, while those of S. paupercula were of the “‘same form as those of the skeleton, but not more than half their size ;”’ so these would be more like statoblast-spicules of S. Cartert. My description of S. paupercula, Bk., is an abbreviated one of that given by Dr. Bowerbank himself (J. c.). 3. Spongilla navicella, Carter, n. sp. (PL. V. fig. 4, a-g.) Sponge unknown. Skeleton-spicule curved, fusiform, smooth, gradually sharp-pointed. Statoblast adherent to the twig on which the sponge had grown; globoelliptical (fig. 4) ; aperture terminal, infundibular (fig. 4, e); no apparent crust ; chitinous coat (fig. 4, c) encased with a dense layer of minute, stout, short, thick, more or less curved, fusiform, smooth ace- rates, variable in size, becoming so short internally (that is, where they are in immediate contact with the chitinous coat) as to be trapezoidal, or like a little boat or “cocked hat,” according to the direction in which they are viewed; arranged tangentially, crossing each other (fig. 4, d and g). Loc. River Amazons. Obs. A few of the statoblasts were found on a small twig in company with S. reticulata, Bk., and S. paupercula, Bk., in the Bowerbank collection. They bear evidence of the existence in the river Amazons of a species of Spongilla whose entirety is as yet unknown; and it is very probable that a further search there would find many such. ** Minute acerates spined. 4, Spongilla lacustris, Linn. Spongilla lacustris, Bk., No. 20, p. 24, pl. xxviii. fig. 14; also No. 21, vol. ii. U. ¢. and vol. i. p. 842; also No. 25, pl. lx. and No. 16, pp. 510, 511. S. lacustris auctt. Branched ; branches long, round, and sharp-pointed. Colour 88 Mr. H. J. Carter on the dark brown. Structure fibrous. Skeleton-spicule (PI. VI. fig. 14) curved, fusiform, gradually sharp-pointed, smooth, sometimes more or less spiniferous. T'lesh-spicule thin, curved, fusiform, gradually sharp-pointed, spined throughout. Statoblast when fully developed globular; aperture infundi- bular; crust composed of granular cell-structure, charged with more or less curved, minute, stout, fusiform, sharp- pointed acerates covered with stout recurved spines, arranged tangentially or centrifugally, like the lines of a so-called “ engine-turned ”’ watch-case. Loc. England and Europe generally; North America ; Asia, Lake Baikal (Dybowsk:). 5. Spongilla alba, Carter. Spongilla alba, Carter, No. 12, p. 83, pl. iii. fig. 4; also No. 20, p. 26, pl. xxxviii. fig. 15. Massive, spreading, subbranched. Structure fragile, to- mentose. Colour whitish. Skeleton-spicule curved, fusiform, gradually sharp-pointed, smooth. Flesh-spicule thin, curved, fusiform, covered with spines, longest in the centre, where they are vertical and obtuse. Statoblast globular; aperture infundibular ; crust thick, white, composed of granular cell- structure charged with minute, thick acerates, which are curved, cylindrical, round at the ends, covered with spines (especially about the extremities, where they are longest and much recurved), arranged tangentially, intercrossing each other like the lines of an engine-turned watch-case. Loc. Bombay. Obs. The spicules of the statoblast here, as well as in Spongilla lacustris, are considerably stouter, more curved, cylindrical, and more coarsely spined than the flesh-spicules of the sponge generally. 6. Spongilla cerebellata, Bk. Spongilla cerebellata, No. 20, p. 27, pl. xxxviii. fig. 16. This Spongilla, which appears to me to be only a variety of the foregoing species, differs from it chiefly in the absence of the “ flesh-spicule,” in addition to what Dr. Bowerbank has mentioned (J. c.). Loc. Central India, Aurungabad. 7. Spongilla multiforis *, Carter, n. sp. (Pl. V. fig. 5, a—-d.) | Massive, incrusting. Colour dark brown. Structure fra- * muitiforis, with many doors or openings (in allusion to the plurality of the “ apertures”). known Species of Spongilla. 89 gile, fibrous, like that of S. lacustris. Skeleton-spicule curved, fusiform, gradually sharp-pointed, smooth, often inflated in the centre. Statoblast spherical (fig. 5) ; apertures in plurality (one to five) (fig. 5, ccccc), on a level with the chitinous coat (fig. 5, a), as there is no apparent crust; sur- rounded by a layer of minute, curved, fusiform, sharp-pointed, spinous acerates, which are in contact with the chitinous coat, arranged tangentially (fig. 5, 6 and d). Loe. Chiluk-weyuk Lake, British Columbia, lat. 49° 10' N., long. 121° 22! W. Type specimen in the British Museum, presented by Dr. Lyall. Register no. 64. 8. 11. 1-10; running no. 289. Obs. As the statoblasts, although very numerous, are all empty, itis probable that the germinal matter has passed out of them, and therefore that they are only the effete remains of this organ, although still covered by the statoblast-spicules, as represented in the illustration. 8. Spongilla Lordi, Bk. (Pl. VI. fig. 13, a—f) Spongilla Lordu, Bk., No. 20, p. 28, pl. xxxviii. fig. 17. Sessile, incrusting reeds (fig. 13, f); surfaceeven. Struc- ture fragile, crumbling. Colour light brown. Skeleton-spicule curved, fusiform, gradually sharp-pointed, smooth, often inflated in the centre. Statoblast hemispheroidal, flat bottle-shaped, forming a single layer in juxtaposition round the reed, under- neath the sponge, with the aperture upwards (figs. 13 and 13 f); chitinous coat hemispheroidal (fig. 13, a) ; aperture prolonged from the summit by a short tubular extension (fig. 13, 4, c); colour dark amber, followed by a thin granular crust charged with small curved, fusiform, spined acerates, round at the extremities, arranged tangentially (fig. 13, d and e). Loc. Lake Osogoos, Cascade Mountains, British Columbia. Type specimen in the British Museum. Register no. 68. 8. 17. 1-7; running no. 211. Presented by J. K. Lord, Esq. 9. Spongilla nitens, Carter, n. sp. (Pl. V. fig. 38, a-k, and Pl. VI. fig. 18.) Form of sponge unknown to me. Structure reticulate; fibre rigid, composed of bundles of spicules united by trans- parent colourless sarcode, which in the dried state gives it a hardness and vitreous appearance like that of Spongilla corallioides, Bk. Skeleton-spicule curved, cylindrical, smooth, sometimes very slightly inflated in the centre and at the ex- tremities, which are round (PI. VI. fig. 18). Statoblast glo- 90 Mr. H. J. Carter on the bnlar (fig. 3); aperture infundibular (fig. 3, g) ; crust com- posed of pyramidal columns of dodecahedral or polygonal cells, hexagonal in the section, regularly arranged one above another, in juxtaposition (fig. 38, d and 7), perpendicularly to the outside of the chitinous coat (fig. 38, c), on which, by the intervention of a layer of the statoblast-spicules (fig. 3, e), they rest, surrounded by a layer of minute, fusiform, curved acerates thickly spined, especially over the ends, where the spines are longest and recurved (fig. 3, &), arranged tangen- tially (fig. 3, 7); the same kind of layer immediately round the chitinous coat, where the spicules appear to be intermixed with the lower cells of the crust, leaving the latter free between the two (fig. 3, e). Loc. Unknown. Obs. Of this species I can state nothing more than that a small fragment appeared in the Bowerbank collection labelled “ Snongilla, new species, from the Jardin des Plantes.” While it affords another instance of the crust of the statoblast being composed of apparently hexagonal cell-structure like that of Spongilla Carteri, the rigidity and vitreous appearance of the skeletal structure, if not the form of the spicule also, allies it to Spongilla corallioides, Bk., which will be seen hereafter to come from Uruguay. Finally, as this peculiar rigidity of the skeletal structure has in addition only been found in two species of Spongilla (viz. S. Batesit and S. reticulata, Bk.) from the river Amazons, it may be assumed that S. nitens also comes from South America. ‘The presence of a layer of sta- toblast-spicules on the inside as well as on the outside of the crust will be seen by-and-by to occur also in the statoblast of Parmula (Spongilla) Batesiz. ° MEYENIA*. Gen. Char. Skeleton-spicule acerate, curved, fusiform, sharp-pointed, smooth, sometimes more or less spined, or more or less inflated in the centre. Statoblast globular or elliptical ; crust composed of the granular structure mentioned, charged with birotulate spicules, 7. e. spicular bodies which consist of a straight shaft terminated at each end by a disk, even or denticulated at the margin (Pl. V. fig. 6, h, &c.), arranged perpendicularly around the chitinous coat, so that one disk is applied to the latter, while the other forms part of the surface of the statoblast (fig. 6, e). * « Meyenia,” after Meyen, who first pointed out that the statoblast was partly composed of birotulate or amphidiscal spicules (/. c.). known Species of Spongilla. 91 * Margin of disks even. 1. Meyenia erinaceus. Spongilla ervnaceus, Ehr. apud Lieberkiihn, No. 15, p. 509. Of this species Lieberkiihn says, “‘ Zeichnet sich durch Nadeln aus, welche auf ihrer Oberfliiche mit kleinen Stacheln versehen sind ;” but the spinous character of this spicule here does not appear to be such a valuable character, in a specific point of view, as the disks of the birotulate spicule of the statoblast, which Lieberkiihn describes in the following page to be without denticulation, and represents as umbonate with even circular margin and short shaft (No. 15, Taf. xv. fig. 31). Loc. River Spree, Berlin. Obs. This sponge appears otherwise, ¢. e. in structure and spiculation, to be like Meyenia fluviatilis. I do not know where Khrenberg has described it. 2. Meyenia Letdit. Spongilla Leidit, Bk., No. 20, p.7, pl. xxxviil. fig. 2. Thin, sessile, coating. Surface tuberculated, minutely hispid. Structure friable, crumbling. Skeleton-spicule curved, fusiform, abruptly sharp-pointed, sparsely spiniferous, becom- ing much smaller and more spined round the statoblasts. Statoblast globular, aperture infundibular ; crust composed o1 granular substance charged with birotulate spicules possessing very short shafts and evenly margined smooth umbonate disks, both of which have the margins more or less everted or turned outwards (that is, from the statoblast), arranged perpendi- cularly on the chitinous coat. Loc. Schuylkill river, Pennsylvania. 3. Meyenta gregaria. Spongilla gregaria, Bk., No. 20, p. 14, pl. xxxviii. fig. 7. Sponge unknown. Skeleton-spicule cylindrical, stout and rather short. Form of statoblast not mentioned; crust charged with birotulate spicules composed of a short thick shaft termi- nated at each end by a simple umbonate disk with even circu- lar margin, arranged perpendicularly to the chitinous coat. Spicules in the immediate neighbourhood of the statoblast cylindrical, slightly curved, and abundantly spiniferous, vary- ing considerably in size. Loc. River Amazons. Obs. Having no specimen of this species to refer to, I got Mr. Stuart Ridley, F'.L.S., of the British Museum, to examine the mounted specimens of Spongilla gregaria and S. reticulata, 92 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Bk., for me, since, although I have taken my diagnosis from Dr. Bowerbank’s descriptions and illustrations (J. c.), still, as the skeletal spiculation of the former is almost precisely that of the latter, which covered the twig on which the stato- blasts alone of S. gregaria were found, to the extent of “ five inches,” it seemed to be by no means impossible that the spiculation of the two species might have been confounded. Mr. Ridley’s drawings are confirmatory of this possibility; and thus the skeletal spiculation given by Dr. Bowerbank to 8S. gregaria becomes nearly identical with that of the foregoing species, viz. S. Letdit, Bk.; but while the ends of the spicules are abruptly pointed in the latter, they are equally round in S. reticulata and those stated by Dr. Bowerbank to charac- terize the skeletal spicule of S. gregaria. Undoubtedly we have the same sparsely spined skeleton- spicule becoming smaller and thickly spined in the imme- diate neighbourhood of the statoblasts in S. Letdit, S. gre- garta, and S. reticulata, together with absolutely smooth skeleton-spicules in all three, if those assigned to S. gregaria by Dr. Bowerbank be the right ones. Thus the skeletal spicules and the spicules of the statoblasts in S. Levdit tending to the characters of those assigned to S. gregaria, in spite of the roundness of the ends of the skeletal spicules in the latter, seems to point out that the spinous element existed in both, and that generally they are closely allied; but, after all, it doesnot satisfy our doubt as to whether the round-ended spicules did not belong to S. reticulata. Further observation is re- quired to decide this. ** Margin of disks denticulated. 4. Meyenia fluviatilis. Spongilla fluviatilis, Bk., No. 20, p. 7, pl. xxxviil. fig. 1; also No. 21, vol. ii. p. 389; vol.i. pl. xxii. figs. 317-819; and No. 25, vol. iii. ix: Buona Jhwvatilis auctt. Massive, lobate. Structure friable, crumbling. Colour light yellow-brown. Skeleton-spicule curved, fusiform, gradually sharp-pointed, smooth, often spined and often centrally inflated, Statoblast globular; aperture infundibular; crust thick, composed of the granular or microcell-substance, charged with birotulates whose umbonate disks are deeply and irregu- larly denticulated (Pl. VI. fig. 11, a, 6), arranged parallel to each other and perpendicular to the chitinous coat. Loc. England and Europe generally. Obs. Here, as elsewhere, in proportion to the thickness of the crust is the length of the infundibular aperture, which is partly lined by a tubular extension of the chitinous coat. known Species of Spongilla. 93 Spongilla Meyent, Carter. Spongilla Meyeni, Carter, No. 12, p. 84; and No. 20, p. 10, pl. xxxviii. fig. 4. Loc. Bombay. Spongilla fluviatilis, var. Parfittc, Carter. Spongilla friatils, var. Parfitti, Carter, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1868, vol. i. I 247 ; and Bowerbank, 1870, No. 25, p. 298, pl. Ixxxvi. figs. 5-14. Loc. River Exe, Devonshire. Obs. Having specimens of all three of these sponges now before me, I cannot help thinking that the occasional diffe- rences of spiculation in one may be seen in the other, and » therefore that S. Meyend and S. fluviatilis, var. Parfitti are mere varieties of S. fluviatilis = Meyenia fluviatilis, nobis. Of the two specimens of S. fluviatilis, var. Parfitti, that [have mounted, nearly all the skeleton-spicules in one are smooth, and nearly all those in the other are spiniferous, which shows what an admixture of these two kinds of spicules may exist in Meyenia fluviatilis. It is convenient here to allude to Spongilla sceptrifera, Bk. Spongilla sceptifera, Bk., No. 25, p. 300, pl. Ixxxvi. figs. 15-17. Loc. Reservoir, Exeter. Obs. This pretended new species is no “new species” at all, but probably S. fluviatilis, as the statoblast would have proved if any had been present ; for S. fluviatilis grows abun- dantly in the same locality, and the characteristic spicule re- presented by Dr. Bowerbank (/. c. fig. 17) is nothing more than a detached frustule of the diatom Asterionella, like A. formosa (Pritchard’s Infusoria, ed. 1861, pl. iv. fig. 17), which, in its entirety (that is, with the frustules arranged in a radiated ring) as well as separated, abounds on the surface of the type specimen (which was kindly given to me by Mr. K. Parfitt, of Exeter), but not in the interior. It at once ap- peared to me that such a form of spicule could not belong to any species of Spongilla; and, indeed, I have never seen any thing identifiable with it either in the freshwater or marine sponges. Mr. Parfitt found the specimen, and sent part of it to Dr. Bowerbank, who immediately seized upon it as a new species of Spongilla. 5. Meyenia Capewelli. Spongilla Capewelli, Bk., No. 20, p. 9, pl. xxxviii. fig. 3. Massive, sessile. Surface even, lobular. Structure friable, ° Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 5. Vol. vii. 8 94 Mr. H. J. Carter on the crumbling. Skeleton-spicule curved, fusiform, abruptly sharp- pointed, smooth, sometimes inflated in the centre. Statoblast globular; aperture infundibular; crust thick, composed of granular microcell-substance charged with birotulate spicules consisting of a straight shaft somewhat inflated in the centre, terminated at each end by an umbonate disk of equal size, whose margin is irregularly crenulo-denticulate, and whose surface is granulated towards the circumference often in lines running towards the centre, mixed with faint radiating lines generally coming from that point, arranged perpendicularly, with one disk resting on the chitinous coat and the other forming part of the surface of the statoblast. Loc. Lake Hindmarsh, Victoria, Australia, lat. 35° 30'S., long. 141° 40! E. 6. Meyenia plumosa. (PI. V. fig. 6, a-k.) eed plumosa, Carter, No. 12, p. 85; No. 20, p. 11, pl. xxxviii. g. 5. Massive, lobate. Structure feathery, fibrous, friable. Colour greenish or light brown. Skeleton-spicule curved, fusiform, gradually sharp-pointed, smooth. Flesh-spicule stelliform, consisting of a variable number of arms of various lengths radiating from a large, smooth, globular body; arms spined throughout ; spines longest at the ends, so as to present a capi- tate appearance, and recurved generally (fig. 6, £); the whole varying from a simple, spinous, linear spicule to the stellate form first mentioned, thus modified by the size and presence of the globular inflation and number of arms developed from the centre of the former ; abundant in all parts of the structure, but especially in the neighbourhood of the statoblasts. Stato- blast ellipsoidal (fig.6) ; aperture lateral, infundibular (fig.6,/); crust, which is thick and composed of granular microcell- substance (fig. 6, d), charged with birotulate spicules (fig. 6, e) consisting of a long, straight, sparsely spiniferous shaft whose spines are large, conical, and perpendicular, terminated at each end by an umbonate disk of equal size, whose margin is irre- gularly denticulated, with the processes’ more or less turned inwards (fig.6,,7), arranged perpendicularly, with one disk resting on the chitinous coat and the other forming part of the surface of the crust (fig. 6, e). Loc. Bombay. Obs. The variety in the minute spiculation generally of this species renders it perhaps the most beautiful in this re- spect that has yet been discovered. known Species of Spongilla. 95 7. Meyenia Bailey. Spongilla Baileyi, Bk., No. 20, p. 13, pl. xxxviii. fig. 6. Coating, surface smooth. Structure friable, crumbling. Skeleton-spicule curved, subfusiform, gradually sharp-pointed, smooth. Flesh-spicule minute, curved, fusiform, gradually sharp-pointed, covered with erect obtuse spines throughout, extremely small towards the extremities, and extremely long and perpendicular about the centre of theshaft. Statoblast globular; aperture infundibular ; crust, which is thick and composed of granular cell-substance, charged with birotulate spicules consist- ing of a long, straight, sparsely spiniferous shaft whose spines are large, irregular in length, conical and perpendicular, termi- nated at each end by an umbonate disk of equal size deeply but regularly denticulated, whose processes are claw-like and turned inwards, arranged perpendicularly, with one disk rest- ing on the chitinous coat and the other forming part of the surface of the statoblast. Loc. New York. In a stream on the Canterbury Road, West Point. Obs. This seems to be the North-American representative of the Bombay species, viz. Meyenia plumosa, but with globu- lar, not elliptical, statoblast. 8. Meyenia anonyma, Carter, n. sp. (Pl. VI. fig. 12, a—f) Sponge unknown. Statoblast flask-shaped (fig. 12) ; aper- ture terminal (fig. 12, c) ; composed of a membranous coat striated longitudinally (fig. 12, a), supporting a reticulation (fig. 12, 5) consisting of extremely minute, erect, conical processes with their sharp ends inwards, and presenting in the centre of each interstice, especially towards the fundus, a short, thick, somewhat hourglass-shaped spicule whose outer end is more or less denticulated, and whose inner one is inserted into the striated coat (fig. 12, d, e). Investing membrane of the germinal matter transparent, presenting the usual polygonal reticulation without granules, like compressed cell-structure (fig. 12, f). Loc. River Amazons. Obs. Of this statoblast, which is indicative of an undescribed species of Spongilla, I can state nothing more than that its presence appeared to me to be an accidental occurrence on the surface of another species which had grown over the surface of a leaf sent to me by Dr. Dickie. 8* 96 Mr. H. J. Carter on the TUBELLA*. Gen. char. Skeleton-spicule curved, fusiform, sharp-pointed or rounded at the extremities, smooth or spined. Statoblast globular or elliptical; aperture lateral or terminal; crust composed of the granular microcell-substance mentioned, charged with inzequibirotulate spicules—that is, alittle trumpet- shaped spicule having a straight shaft which is smooth, spined or inflated, or both, terminated by a large disk at one, and a small one or an umbonous, circular, marginally spined head at the other end (Pl. V. fig. 7,2); the former applied to the chitinous coat, and the latter forming part of the surface of the statoblast. 1. Tubella paulula. (Pl. VI. fig. 10, ac.) Spongilla paulula, Bk., No. 20, p. 15, pl. xxxviii. fig. 8. Thin, incrusting. Surface even. Structure fragile, crum- bling. Colour now brown. Skeleton-spicule curved, fusi- form, abruptly sharp-pointed, spiniferous or smooth. Stato- blast globular; aperture sunken, infundibular; crust com- posed of granular microcell-structure charged with two kinds of inequibirotulates, one form of which is much stouter than the other, and consists of a straight shaft passing by trumpet- like expansion into the large disk, which often has radiating lines, and abruptly terminating in the other, which is only one fourth of the diameter of the former (Pl. VI. fig. 10, a, 6); the other form similarly constructed, but more delicate, with the shaft inflated towards the large disk, and the smaller one much less in proportion than in the larger form (fig. 10, c) ; the forms not mixed but confined to their statoblasts respectively ; ar- ranged perpendicularly, with the large disk resting on the chitinous coat, and the smaller one forming part of the surface of the statoblast. Obs. Although the skeleton-spicule in Dr. Bowerbank’s illustration is smooth, it is stated in his diagnosis (p. 16, /. c.) to be “entirely spined,” which is the case generally, but not always; so that the artist must have taken for the illustration one of the smooth ones. 2. Tubella spinata, Carter, n. sp. (Pl. VI. fig. 9, a—-m.) Thin, coating, spreading. Structure fragile, crumbling. Colour light brown. Skeleton-spicule curved, fusiform, gra- dually sharp-pointed, smooth or spiniferous. Flesh-spicule minute, curved, fusiform, thin, gradually sharp-pointed, * Tubella, a little straight trumpet. kenoW hr, Spectesof Snongilla. 97 covered with perpendicular spines, which are longest about the centre (fig. 9,m). Statoblast elliptical, flask-shaped ; aperture terminal (fig. 9,/); crust thick, composed of granu- lar microcell-substance (fig. 9, d) charged with ineequibirotu- late spicules (fig. 9, e) consisting of a straight shaft, inflated near the small end, and passing by trumpet-like expansion into the large disk, sparsely spined (fig. 9,4) ; disk circular, smooth, with even margin (fig. 9, 7), small end consisting of a circular convex head, regularly denticulated on the margin with eight or more conical processes, which are slightly in- clined towards the shaft (fig. 9, &, 7); arranged perpendicularly, so that the disk rests on the chitinous coat and the head forms part of the surface of the statoblast (fig. 9, e). Loc. River Amazons. On a leaf sent to me by Dr. Dickie in 1878. 3. Tubella reticulata. (Pl. VI. fig. 8 a—n, and fig. 16.) Spongilla reticulata, Bk., No. 20, p. 17, pl. xxxviii. fig. 9. Elliptical, or fusiform when growing round the immersed small branches of trees. Structure extremely rigid, reticulate, terminating in thorn-like processes on the surface. Colour light sea-green when growing in clear water. Skeleton-spicules curved or bent, cylindrical or subfusiform, rounded at the ends, absolutely smooth or sparsely spiniferous (Pl. VI. fig. 8,m, and fig. 16), becoming more so towards the statoblasts, where they are not more than half the size, thickly spined, and in this shape form a distinct capsular layer around each of those organs (fig. 8, 7, n). Statoblast elliptical, ovoid (fig. 8) ; aperture terminal (fig. 8, f); crust composed of granular microcell-substance (fig. 8,d@) charged with ineequibirotulate spicules (fig. 8, e) consisting of a straight shaft passing by trumpet-like expansion into the large disk, with two or more spines about the centre, and furnished with a ring-like inflation towards the disk (fig. 8, 2); disk circular, smooth, with even margin, which is somewhat recurved (fig. 8, 7), small end consisting of a circular umbonate head regularly denticulated on the margin with 6-8 conical processes, which are slightly inclined inwards or towards the shaft (fig. 8,4); arranged perpendicularly, so that the disk rests on the chitinous coat, and the head or small end forms part of the surface of the statoblast (fig. 8, e). Loc. River Amazons. Obs. The skeletal structure of this species, although of the same rigid nature and general character as that of Parmula Batesti and P. Brownii, to be hereafter mentioned, is more reticulated and not nearly so coarse as in the latter. 98 Mr. H. J.) _.cr on the 4. Tubella recurvata. (Pl. V. fig. 7, a-l.) Spongilla recurvata, Bk., No. 20, p. 18, pl. xxxviii. fig. 10. Sessile, coating. Surface even. Structure fragile, crum- bling. Colour brownish. Skeleton-spicule curved, fusiform, abruptly sharp-pointed, smooth or spiniferous. Statoblast globular (Pl. V. fig. 7); aperture infundibular (fig. 7, g) 5 crust thick, composed of granular microcell-substance (fig. 7, d), charged with inequibirotulate spicules (fig. 7, e) consisting of a delicate, straight, smooth shaft passing by trumpet-like expansion into the large disk, which is circular, smooth, saucer- shaped, inverted, with even margin, curved towards the shaft, and abruptly terminating in the other, which is only one eighth of the diameter of the disk (fig. 7, 7), arranged perpendicularly with the large disk resting on the chitinous coat, and the small one somewhat within the surface of the crust (fig. 7, e); surrounded by a capsule of short thick spicules (fig. 7,7), consisting of a straight smooth shaft, slightly inflated in the centre, and terminated at each end by an equal-sized head, which is prominently umbonate, with cir- cular margin regularly divided into eight conical teeth slightly incurved (fig. 7, &, /), arranged perpendicularly around the statoblast, with one end free and the other adherent to the surface of the crust (fig. 7,f). Loc. River Amazons. Obs. This kind of capsular covering is, so far, unique, and renders the whole structure of the statoblast as remarkable as it is beautiful under microscopic observation. PARMULA*. Gen. char. Globular or elliptical, fusiform when growing round the small immersed branches of trees. Structure coarsely reticulate, extremely hard and rigid, rising into thorn-like processes on the surface. Colour light green. Skeleton- spicule acerate, curved, fusiform, abruptly sharp-pointed, smooth. Statoblast globular, large, more or less tubercular on the surface; aperture infundibular; crust composed of granular microcell-substance (Pl. V. fig. 2, a), charged with and surrounded by minute, spinous, acerate spicules (fig. 1, g, and 2, d), limited by a layer of parmuliform spicules (fig. 2, d, c) both internally and externally, the former in contact with the chitinous coat (fig. 1, e), and the latter on the surface of the erusty} (ig. 1,7). * Parmula, a little round shield. + As these characters are taken from the only species yet known, they may hereafter have to undergo alteration. known Species of Spongilla. 99 1. Parmula Batesit. (Pl. V. fig. 1, a-c, and fig. 2, a-c, also Pl. VI. fig. 15.) Spongilla Batesii, Bk., No. 20, p. 21, pl. xxxviii. fig. 12. More or less globular when growing round the small im- mersed branches of trees one inch or more in thickness. Struc- ture coarsely reticulate, extremely hard and rigid, rising into thorn-like processes on the surface. Colour light sea-green. Skeleton-spicule curved, fusiform, abruptly sharp-pointed, smooth (PI. VI. fig. 15), forming, when bundled together with the hard transparent sarcode, the rigid structure above men- tioned, charged throughout with statoblasts. Statoblast large, globular, more or less uniformly tuberculated (Pl. V. fig. 1). Aperture infundibular (fig. 1,4). Crust very thick, composed of granular microcell-structure of a white colour, which, grow- ing out through the interstices of the reticular arrangement of skeleton-spicules, reduced in size, which form a capsular covering to the statoblast, gives it the tuberculated cha- racter mentioned (fig. 1, d), charged with and surrounded by minute, thin, curved, fusiform, gradually sharp-pointed, spinous acerates irregularly dispersed throughout its substance (fig. 1, g, and 2, d), limited, both inside and outside, by a layer of parmuliform spicules, the former in contact with the chitinous coat (fig. 1, e), and the latter on the free surface of the crust, giving it a light brown colour (fig. 1, 7). Parmuliform spicule circular, flat, infundibuliform, terminating in a point, like a little round shield turned up at the margin, which is even (fig. 2, 6, c), arranged both internally and externally in juxta- position, more or less overlapping each other, with the funnel- shaped process outwards in both instances, so that the surface of the crust is covered with little points (fig. 1, /). Loc. River Amazons. Obs. The double layer of statoblast-spicules, viz. one on the inner and the other on the outer side of the crust, is seen also in Spongilla nitens. 2. Parmula Brownt. Spongilla Brownii, Bk., No. 20, p. 19, pl. xxviii. fig. 11. Globular, four or more inches in diameter, appended to a small twig rather than embracing it. Structure and colour the same as in the foregoing species. Skeleton-spicules the same, but diminished to half their size round the statoblasts, to which they afford a distinct capsule. Statoblast globular ; aperture slightly infundibular ; crust thin, composed of micro- scopically minute spherical cells, irregularly agglomerated together, so as to produce small lacinuliform processes, which 100 Mr. H. J. Carter on the project into the interspaces between the capsular spicules; un- accompanied by the spinous spicule, which is present in the foregoing species, and without a continuous layer of the parmu- liform spicule over the surface, but presenting one in contact with the chitinous coat, where it is overlain by an extremely thin development of the microcellular crust, from which the lacinuliform processes above mentioned are projected. Loc. British Guiana (Schomburgk). British Museum, general collection. Running no. 527. Obs. The most remarkable part about this species is the cell-structure of the crust, which is just a transition in size from that of Spongilla Cartert and S. nitens to the minute granular form of Parmula Batesii &c., thus showing that the latter is also composed of minute cells, which, as before stated, require a power of 450 diameters to be resolved. ‘Thus with Tubella reticulata and Parmula Batesit we possess three of those species with extremely rigid reticulated structure which as yet have only been found in the river Amazons, but to which the provisional genus ‘‘Uruguaya,” as will presently be seen, also appears to be allied. URvGuAYA, n. gen. prov. 1. Uruguaya corallioides. (Pl. VI. fig. 17.) Spongilla corallioides, Bk., No. 20, p. 22, pl. xxxviii. fig. 13. Irregularly digitate; rising into a polychotomous and anastomosing mass of cylindrical branches, which may attain several inches (7 or more) in all directions. Colour faint whitish yellow or cark leaden on the surface, internally white or colourless. Surface even, vitreous in appearance, extremely hard, smooth, and compact, interrupted by small raised vents more or less uniformly distributed at short and unequal distances from each other. Internal structure com- posed of short densely reticulated fibre, formed of the skeleton- spicules of the sponge in bundles firmly united together by colourless sarcode, which, together with the spicules, in a dried state simulates, from its hardness and vitreous appear- ance, an entirely silicified mass. Skeleton-spicule very robust, much curved, cylindrical, rounded at both ends, smooth or microspined, about six times longer than it is broad. (PI. VI. fig. 17). Statoblast unknown. Loc. ‘‘ Rapids” of the river Uruguay, above the town of Salto, Uruguay. Obs. 'This is a most interesting species in almost every particular. 1st. Some of the specimens of it that have been known Species of Spongilla. 101 sent to England are very large. 2nd. That sent by Mr. George Higgin to his brother, Mr. Thomas H. Higgin, F.L.8., of Liverpool, the former took from the “rapids” of the river Uruguay, above the town of Salto, ‘ 200 or 300 miles” from the sea in the delta of the Parana; in which “rapids” the amount of water is subject to such great alteration in quantity that, when Mr. Higgin found it, the stream was confined to the “ cracks in the rock,” while when he returned to the spot again it was ‘40 feet deep.” The specimen sent to Liver- pool is still adherent to the piece of rock on which it grew ; and all the other specimens of the sponge that Mr. Higgin saw at this spot were of the same kind. 3rd. In none of the specimens sent to England has the statoblast been seen, or any other trace of reproductive organs, although the size of the specimens evidences full growth, and the circumstances connected with them, viz. their presence in a river subject to great alteration in the size of the stream, and at a great dis- tance from salt water, supply all that is required for a genuine freshwater sponge. “4th. The characters of the sponge above given are unique, although the hardness and rigidity of the skeletal structure seems to find a kinship with that of Tubella reticulata and Parmula Batesti &c., from the river Amazons, as before intimated, if not also with Spongilla nitens, whose locality is at present unknown. With reference to the “ leaden”’ colour of the surface, it is worthy of remark that this is not only confined to the surface, fading off into the white structure of the interior a little below it, but in the same branch may abruptly meet the faint whitish-yellow colour which the whole sponge may present on other occasions. The cause of this diversity in colour must be explained by future observation. Of the specimens of this sponge known to me, one is in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, which Dr. Bower- bank states is labelled “near Salto Grande, above Paysandu,” presented by Mr. W. Bragge (No. 20, p. 23); but when Dr. Bowerbank adds that this place is on a tributary of the upper part of the river Amazons, it is evidently a mistake ; for Salto and Paysandu are on the river Uruguay. Another specimen is in the British Museum, labelled “ Freshwater sponge from Paraguay. Presented by R. McAndrew. Register no. 72. 11. 138.1; running no. 622.” A third isin the Liver- pool Free Museum, viz. that sent to his brother by Mr. George Higgin, to which I have alluded; and a fourth is part of a specimen sent by Dr. Garland of Dublin to the same museum, which differs from all the rest in being of a faint yellow-white colour throughout, with an accumulation of minute brown 102 Mr. H. J. Carter on the bodies here and there on the surface towards the base, which are the capsules of one or two undescribed species of the vorti- cellate infusorian “ Freda,” that cannot be confounded with the statoblasts (for they would be large enough to be seen with the naked eye, and situated in the interior). Fulfilling all the other characters of a freshwater sponge, I cannot help thinking that a specimen will be found sooner or later in which the presence of the statoblast will complete them. At the same time, if we are right in identifying the statoblast with the winter-egg of the freshwater Polyzoon, that flustraceous Indian species which I have long since described and illustrated under the name of Hislopia lacustris (‘ Annals,’ 1858, vol. i. p. 169, pl. vii.) has not, to my know- ledge, been found to possess them ; so it is not impossible that this may be the case with Uruguaya corallioides, of which I therefore make “ provisionally’ a new genus. The speci- mens mentioned have been carefully examined by different people over and over again; but in no instance has a trace of a statoblast been found, with the exception of that noticed by Dr. Bowerbank (No. 20, p. 23), which, I think, admits of much doubt, not so much of the existence of the “ fragment ”’ as of its belonging to Uruquaya corallioides. Observations. Although my classification is chiefly based upon the form of the spicules of the statoblast, yet it is not to be assumed that I have included all the species of the Spongillina that have been discovered, but those only in which this means of classification has been obtained, as will be seen by the follow- ing short summary of Dr. W. Dybowski’s elaborate account of freshwater sponges from Lake Baikal, in Central Asia (No. 32). The specimens were obtained by his brother Dr. Benedict Dybowski and Herr W. Godleuski while in Siberia, and have been divided into four species, with their varieties re- spectively, under the generic name of “Lubomirskia,” after Prince Wladislau Lubomirski, thus—L. batcalensis, Pallas, sp., L. bacillifera, n. sp., L. papyracea, n. sp., and L. inter- media, n. sp.3 in all of which the statoblast (gemmula) was absent ; so that, whatever arrangement is made of them here- after, the present one must rest upon their general form and that of their skeleton-spicule respectively, which places them much in the same position as the two original species (viz. S. fluviatilis and S. lacustris) before the spicules of their statoblasts were discovered. known Species of Spongilla. 103 Lubomirskia baicalensis. Lubomirskia baicalensis, Pallas (apud Dybowski, No. 32, p. 11, Taf. i. fig. 1), with four varieties, viz. a, 8, y, 5. One learns from the figure of this species (op. cit. Taf. i. fig. 1), which is half the natural size, that it consisted of long digital processes, about 14 inches by } an inch in their greatest diameters, more or less uniformly inflated at short intervals (that is, bullate), but solid throughout. Structure elastic, but not crumbling between the fingers. Colour dark grey or olive- green. Skeleton-spicule curved, fusiform, gradually sharp- pointed, spiniferous generally, but especially towards the ends, particularly in the variety y, where the rest of the shaft is smooth (Pl. VI. fig. 19). Loc. Lake Baikal. Largest skeleton-spicule 0°222 by 0:021 millim. “ Paren- chyma-spicule” (?early form of the foregoing) 0°159 by 0006 millim., a smooth thin acerate (fig. 19, a). Lubomirskia bacillifera. Lubomirskia bacilifera, n. sp. (No. 52, p. 22, Taf. i. figs. 2, 4, 5, and 6, &c.), with three varieties, viz. a, 8, y. Massive, more or less lobed. Structure much the same as that of the foregoing species, but finer and softer. Colour grass-green. Skeleton-spicule curved, cylindrical, sometimes fusiform (as in the variety 8), round at the ends, and spinife- rous generally, but more particularly over the ends, sometimes (asin the varieties) smooth over the rest or middle of the shaft (PL. VIL. die. 20). Loc. Lake Baikal. Largest skeleton-spicule 0°270 by 0:024 millim. Paren- chyma-spicule a small, thin, smooth acerate. No measure- ment. Lubomirskia intermedia. LIubomirskia intermedia, n. sp. (No. 82, p. 28, Taf. iv. fig. 8, A, spicule only), with one variety, viz. a. Flat, spreading. Structure like that of L. batcalensis, but more tender. Colour yellowish or olive-green. Skeleton- spicule curved, fusiform, gradually sharp-pointed, spiniferous generally (Pl. VI. fig. 21). Loc. Lake Baikal. Largest skeleton-spicule 0-222 by 0:018 millim. Paren- chyma-spicule a large smooth acerate. No measurement given. 104 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Lubomirskia papyracea. Lubomirskia papyracea, n. sp. (No. 32, p. 33, taf. i. fig. 7 &e.). Papyraceous in thinness, with smooth shining surface. Structure very soft. Colour white. Skeleton-spicule thick (seven times longer than broad), curved, cylindrical, round at the ends, thickly spiniferous throughout (Pl. VI. fig. 22). Loc. Lake Baikal. Largest skeleton-spicule 0°144 by 0°018 millim. Paren- chyma-spicule a very small smooth acerate. Obs. The “ parenchyma-spicule ” appears to be the same in each of these species, and therefore is probably merely an early form of the skeleton-spicule, and not a “ flesh-spicule,” which it is hardly to be supposed would be the same in all four. Observations. Besides the new species of freshwater sponges in Lake Baikal, Dr. Dybowski mentions the occurrence of Spongilla lacustris ina small lake at its western end, called the ‘‘ Pacha- bicha See,” together with a new species, viz. S. s¢birica (No. 32, p. 66), which is not described; also the occurrence of Spongilla lacustris in the Goktscha See in ‘Transcaucasia, in the Dnieper, Minsk, Livonia, and about Warsaw and Charkow ; also Ephydatia (Spongilla) fluviatilis in Livonia, Warsaw, and Charkow; besides Trachyspongilla erinaceus (No. 28 and No. 32, Taf. 4. fig. 13 a), Spongilla erinaceus (No. 32, p. 33), ? Spongilla erinaceus, Khr. ‘Thus it is evident from what has been above stated that freshwater sponges have been found in many parts of Europe, in Asia, and in the two Americas; but, to my knowledge, no notice has been made public of their occurrence in Africa; still it may be fairly inferred that new species will be dis- covered there as well as elsewhere; and a yet further infe- rence may be drawn, viz. that we are only on the threshold of our knowledge of the extent and varieties of the Potamo- | spongida generally, so vast are the freshwater areas that have not been explored for this purpose. Ehrenberg in his ‘ Mikrogeologie,’ 1855, Taf. 1-12, repre- sents many amphidisks (birotulates) which he found in “freshwater deposits” of various parts of the world, several of which are quite different in torm from those with which we are acquainted. Lastly, I would observe that, although I have endeavoured to make the above communication immediately useful, it is by no means intended to supply what can only be obtained by a careful perusal at leisure ot all that has been written on the subject, especially that to which I have referred. known Species of Spongilla. 105 EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES. N.B.—1. All the figures of the statoblasts are drawn to the same scale, viz. 1-24th to 1-1800th inch, in order that their constituent parts may appear under the same magnifying-power. They, however, are to a certain extent diagrammatic for the sake of clearness, inasmuch as all the coats are of course im contact naturally; the chitinous coat, which is re- presented by the dark line, is not quite so thick and the spicules are not quite so scanty as they are represented ; but, generally speaking, the whole may be considered relatively magnitied on the scale above mentioned. 2, All the “ more magnified” parts or spicules are drawn to the scale of 1-12th to 1-6000th inch. 3. The skeleton-spicules, viz. figs. 14-18, are drawn to the scale of 1-12th to 1-1800th inch, and the rest, viz. 19-22, on much the same scale, having been traced off those done with Hartnack’s no. 4, prism and objec- tive (No. 382, p. 69). 4, Fig. 13, f, is only magnified three diameters. 5. It should be remembered that all sponge-measurements, both general and elementary, can only be considered approximative ; for what is fixed upon asa standard at one time may be upset by the measurements of another, chiefly on account of the objects appearing under different degrees of development in different specimens. Still there is an average largest size and shape of the spicule which can easily be recognized: but this too is subject to differences; for it may be thick or thin, although fully developed, while the former is the shortest and the latter the longest. Thus varieties are numerous; but the great point is to give the average shape and size of the fully-developed object, and to avoid as much as possible the variations ; for the latter confuse, while a very slight acquain- tance with sponge-structure points out that their existence may be in- ferred in all cases. Puate V. Fig. 1. Parmula Batesii. Perpendicular section of the statoblast through the aperture, showing :—a, cavity filled with germinal matter ; b, coat enclosing the same ; ¢c, chitinous coat; d, crust; e, inter- nal layer of parmuliform spicules; f, external layer of the same; g, minute spinous acerate spicules; A, aperture; 7, nipple-like prolongation of b. Fig. 2. The same. More magnified view of fragment of crust bearing two parmuliform spicules: a, crust, to show granular appear- ance of microcellular structure; 6, parmuliform spicule, end view; ¢, the same, lateral view; d, more magnified view of spinous acerate spicule. Fig. 3. Spongilla mitens, n. sp. Perpendicular section of the statoblast through the aperture: a, cavity filled with germinal matter; 5, coat enclosing the same; c, chitinous coat; d, crust composed of columns of hexagonal cells in the section, in juxtaposition ; e, inner layer of spinous acerates ; f, external layer of the same ; g, aperture ; h, nipple-like prolongation of 6; 7, more magnified view of cell-structure of crust ; k, the same of spinous acerate. Fig. 4. 8. navicella, n. sp. Perpendicular section of the statoblast through the aperture: a, cavity filled with germinal matter ; b, coat enclosing the same; c¢, chitinous coat; d, layer or capsule composed of minute navicelliform acerates (no ap- pearance of crust-substance); e, aperture ; f, nipple-like pro- longation of 6; g, more magnified view of navicelliform spicule. 106 Mr. H. uv. Carter on the known Species of Spongilla. Fig. 5. 8S. multiforis, n. sp. External view of entire statoblast: a, chiti- nous coat; bb, layer of minute spinous acerate spicules (crust almost obsolete); ¢c¢ecc, apertures; d, more magnified view of spinous acerate. Fig.6, Meyenia plumosa. Perpendicular section of the statoblast through the aperture: a, cavity filled with germinal matter; 6, coat enclosing the same; c, chitinous coat; d, crust; e, birotulate spicules zm situ; f, aperture; g, nipple-like prolongation of 0; h, birotulate spicule, more magnified ; 7, disk, end view; 4, stel- late form of flesh-spicule. Fig. 7. Tubella recurvata, Perpendicular section of the statoblast through the aperture: a, cavity filled with germinal matter; 6, coat enclosing the same; ¢, chitinous coat; d, crust; e, tubelliform or trumpet-like spicules 7 situ; f, capsule of equal-ended denti- capitate spicules in situ; g, aperture ; h, nipple-like prolongation of 6; 7, more magnified view of tubelliform spicule; %, the same of equal-ended denticapitate spicule ; 7, still more magnified end view of head of same. PuateE VI. Fig. 8. Tubella reticulata, Perpendicular section of the statoblast through the aperture: a, cavity filled with germinal matter; b, coat enclosing the same; ¢, chitinous coat; d, crust; e, trumpet-like spicules in situ; f, aperture; g, nipple-like prolongation of 0; h, more magnified view of trumpet-like spicule ; 7, the same of large disk, end view; %, the same of small disk, end view; J, small spinous skeleton-spicule forming a capsular layer to the statoblast ; m, skeleton-spicule smooth or sparsely spined ; x, more magnified view of /. Fig. 9. T. spinata, nu. sp. Perpendicular section of statoblast through the aperture: a, cavity filled with germinal matter; 6, coat enclosing the same; ¢, chitinous coat; d, crust; e, trumpet- shaped spicules in situ; f, aperture ; g, nipple-like prolongation of 6; h, more magnified view of trumpet-shaped spicule with spinous shaft; 2, large disk; 4, small disk, denticulated, end view ; /, the same, still more magnified, lateral view; m, flesh- spicule, spinous acerate. Fig. 10. T. paula: a, trumpet-shaped spicule, lateral view; 8, large disk, end view; ¢, another form of the trumpet-like spicule. Seale 1-12th to 1-6000th inch. Fig. 11. Meyenia fluviatilis : a, birotulate spicule, lateral view; 0b, denti- culated disk, end view. Same scale. Fig. 12. Tubella anonyma,n.sp. External view of statoblast of unknown sponge: a, striated coat; 6, reticulated structure resting on the same; c, aperture; d, reticulated structure, more magnified, to show that it is composed of minute, erect, conical bodies in relief on the striated coat, having a spicule in the middle of the interstice; e, more magnified lateral view of spicule; /f, fragment of coat of germinal matter, showing polygonal reticu- lation. Fig. 18. Spongilla Lordi. Lateral view of entire statoblast: a, body or chitinous coat; 6, neck, ending in c, aperture; d, coating of acerate spicules; e, more magnified view of spicule ; f, group of statoblasts zm situ, magnified three diameters. Fig. 14. S. lacustris. Skeleton-spicule, to show the “ gradually-pointed ” form. On the Changes of Form in Fishes. 107 Fig. 15. Parmula Batesii. Skeleton-spicule, to show the “abruptly- pointed ” form. Fig. 16. Tubelia reticulata. Skeleton-spicule, to show “ rounded end.” Fig. 17. Uruguaya corallioides. Skeleton-spicule, to show micropuncta- tion and “ rounded ” ends. Fig. 18. Spongilia nitens. Skeleton-spicule, to compare with foregoing form. Characteristic skeleton-spicules of freshwater sponges from Lake Baikal, after Dr. W. Dybowski ; traced off the figures in Taf. iv. (No. 32), drawn with Hartnack’s prism and no. 4 objective. Fig. 19. Lubomirskia baicalensis, Pallas: a, ‘ parenchyma-spicule,” after Dybowski. Fig. 20. L. bacillifera, n. sp. Fig. 21. L. termedia, n. sp. Fig. 22. L. papyracea, n. sp., two forms. X.—Spolia Atlantica: Contributions to the Knowledge of the Changes of Form in Fishes during their Growth and Development, especially in the Pelagic Fishes of the At- lantic. By Dr. C. F. Litrxen. [Continued from p. 14.] 8. BramMA, TARACTES, PTERYCOMBUS, PTERACLIS. With regard to Brama, it is to be remarked, in the first place, that it has been ascertained that B. Raji is not an almost exclusively Mediterranean species, but a bathyphilous and very cosmopolitan species, which is spread from the Fiirées to the Cape, and represented at Chili, New Zealand, and Japan by very nearly allied, if not identical forms (B. japonica, Hilg., appears to be a distinct species), but has not yet been found among the Antilles or on the eastern coast of America. Leaving out of consideration some young forms (B. Oreint, B. Dussumiert) which cannot pretend to the rank of distinct species, a series of species from the Antilles, Madeira, &c, have subsequently been described, some with smooth scales, others, as in Pteraclis and Pterycombus, with a large spine upon the anterior margin of the visible part of each scale, and a corresponding notch in the posterior margin of the immediately preceding scale. It is a singular thing that it has not hitherto been observed that B. Raj’, when young but yet about half-grown (290 millims.), has the scales armed with the same spines, which do not disappear until the fish approaches its full development. We are therefore not justified in forming a separate genus ( Taractes) for the species of Brama with spines, nor in determining the young individuals furnished with spines (Zaractes asper, Brama Orcint and 108 Dr. C. F. Liitken on the Changes of Form in Fishes Dussumiert) as the young of species which retain the spinous character of the scales all their lives; for they may just as well belong to species which, like B. Raj, become completely smooth as they advance in age. ‘The small Brame with spines, from 11-47 millims. long, that I have examined, which in general agree with the young forms above mentioned and formerly described, present no peculiarity which prevents our referring them to b. Raji; and consequently we may very well provisionally range these nominal species among the synonyms of the type species in question. It is probable, however, that the young individuals belonging to the different species of Brama will closely resemble one another, and be extremely difficult to distinguish; in those which I have at my disposal, some of which (the largest) were found in the stomach of large voracious fishes, and others (the smaller ones) fished at the surface of the Atlantic, I have been able to recognize only the elements of a single continuous series, and not the representatives of several species. One of the oldest and one of the youngest individuals of this series referred to B. Raji are represented in pl. iv. (of the Danish memoir) ; and I refer the reader for their differences and for their com- parison with the adult fish to figs. 1 and 2. With the young Brame which we have just been discussing there was also a Pterycombus, perhaps a young P. brama, an arctic species inhabiting deep water, hitherto known only from specimens derived from the coasts of Finmark and Nor- way; this specific determination, if correct, will furnish a fresh proof of the conformity presented in general by the faunas of great depths in the tropical and arctic seas. In the stomach of the same albacore which contained these inter- esting young Bramide there was also a young fish belonging to the arctic genus Himantolophus, perhaps H. Reinhardtt. Fig. 4, pl. iv. (of the Danish memoir), placed near that of the adult Brama, will elucidate the very considerable changes that the young Pterycombi undergo diene their growth and development. , A pelagic genus allied to Brama and Pterycombus is the genus Pteraclis, the still little-known species of which per- haps need to undergo some reduction. Our sailors have also found it in the stomachs of albacores ; and they have moreover captured in the nets very small examples of 7-15 millims. long. Their physiognomy greatly resembles that of the young Brame and Pterycombi; and they differ as much as these and the young dorados from fully developed fish. The body is short, thick, and pyriform; the scales are high and hexagonal, each armed with a spine directed backward; the praoper- during their Growth and Development. 109 culum is very spinous; the dorsal and anal are low and almost completely retractile within their scaly sheaths ; as in the young Ooryphene and Pterycombi, the dorsal does not commence so far forward as at a later period, and it is placed further back in proportion as the fish is younger ; the ventrals are composed of a few very fine rays &c. 9. NaucraTES, NAUCLERUS, and XystropHORuUS ; NOMEUS, PorTHMEUS, LicH1A, and CHORINEMUS; PAROPSIS. Mr. Gill and myself, some years ago, showed that the Naucleri are young forms of Naucrates ; and the synonyms of the celebrated pilotfish (N. ductor) have consequently been augmented by the other probably merely nominal species of Naucrates, by all those of the genus Nauclerus, and by two species referred to the genus Seriola. But it has not hitherto been noticed that Xystrophorus, Rich., is nothing but the youngest form of Naucrates ; moreover, among the first stages of Sertola there are also some which present, in part, the characters of Xystrophorus. The very young Naucrates are among the small fishes which are often met with among the arms, tentacles, &c. of the Physalie, pretty frequently asso- ciated with Nomeus Gronovit, which is not less pelagic than Naucrates. These little fishes, as well as the young of Seriola, Coryphena, &c., are also met with in the floating masses of seaweeds. The young of Naucrates and Nomeus constitute the most frequent Sick of net-fishing in the open sea; and we thus possess numerous examples of them, which bear witness in favour of their wide geographical distribution. In Nomeus the changes arising from age and development are comparatively insignificant, but, perhaps, only because they occur so early that they have not hitherto attracted attention. Porthmeus argenteus, of which our museum possesses an example 74 millims. long, from the coast of Guinea, is not, as has been supposed, a young form of Chorinemus, but of Lichia amia. As this species must be referred to a different genus from Lichia glaucus, we may very well leave to the latter the name of Lichia, and in future designate L. améa under that of Porthmeus amia (Lac.). On the other hand, Lichia calcar, Bl., of which [ have before me a specimen 25 millims. long, is a young form of some Chorinemus of the Atlantic with four dorsal spines, perhaps Chorinemus saliens. The museum has received a corresponding series of a Chorinemus from the Indian Ocean 25-34 millims. long, with seven spinous dorsal rays, including successive stages up to the perfectly deve- loped although still very young form. For the subdivision of this genus it would be best to employ a difference hitherto Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 5. Vol. vii. 9 110 Dr. C. F. Liitken on the Changes of Form in Fishes unnoticed (see the fig. on p. 512 of the Danish memoir), namely the existence or absence of teeth on the pterygoids side by side with those of the palatines and vomer, in accor- dance with the following scheme, the divisions of which must, however, only be estimated as sections or subgenera, and not as true genera :— A. 4-5 (6) dorsal spines; scales linear; no teeth on the pterygoids. C. occidentalis, saliens, palometa (Oligo- plites, Gill). B. 7 dorsal spines, and teeth on the pterygoids. 1. Scales linear: C. tol (C. moadetta, Klz., perhaps the young form of C. tol). 2. Scales short and broad: C. dyson, sancti Petri, and a new species from Singapore which greatly resem- bles C. altus of the western coast of Central America. In some species the teeth of the upper jaw are uniserial, and in others bi- or pluriserial; but those of the mandible are always biserial, although here a remarkable difference due to age makes its appearance; the older individuals are homodont, and the young heterodont. In other words, in the young Chorinemt, until they are about half-grown, the outer row in the mandible consists of very small, numerous, setiform teeth placed very close together (almost as in the Cheetodonts), which are very different from the strong, conical, recurved teeth, separated by distinct intervals, and consequently much less numerous, of the inner row. During the growth of the fish these outer teeth are replaced by a new row of teeth, which, according to the species, are identical with, or more or less similar to those of the inner row. A somewhat super- ficial observation of these important modifications of the dental system, which depend upon the age of the individual, might easily lead to the establishment of unfounded specific distinctions. The pterygoidian teeth, mentioned above, likewise exist in the genus Paropsis; and this genus presents another peculiarity not previously mentioned, namely the ramification of the lateral line, which, however, seems to be- come less marked with increasing age. 10. PsENES, CuBiceps, and NAVARCHUS. It is already known that Navarchus is generically identical with Atiémostoma and Trachelocirrus, as also that this genus falls into that of Cubiceps. But in the present state of science it is equally difficult to separate the genera Psenes and Cubr- ceps. Under these two names a series of species have been described which are for the most part young forms still un- during their Growth and Development. BAT known in the adult state, and which will no doubt have to undergo reduction. Among the rather numerous small pelagic individuals of the genus Psenes possessed by our museum, I have been able to distinguish five or six species; but I have only partially succeeded in referring them to those which have been described. I regard as new a high, short, and very com- pressed form, nearly colourless and semitransparent, from the Straits of Surabaya, P. pellucidus, sp. n. (figured p. 516 of the Danish memoir), which, I suppose, could not very well represent the juvenile form of a Navarchus. Another form very widely distributed in the Atlantic is represented in pl. v. fig. 2 (of the Danish memoir) ; I have made it provisionally a new species under the name of P. maculatus, but strongly suspect that it may be a young form of Navarchus sulcatus (Cubiceps gracilis), or of Atimostoma capense (species which are perhaps identical), or of some analogous form. We shall hardly deceive ourselves if we regard these three types (P. maculatus, N. sulcatus, and A. capense) as three successive stages of a single species, or, at any rate, of several very nearly allied species, which only appear rarely at the surface of the sea in their developed state, and which, in consequence, are still but little known to naturalists; perhaps, indeed, it is not precisely my Psenes maculaius, but another nearly allied form, which I have met with more rarely, and which is dis- tinguished by a smaller number of rays in the vertical fins, that is really the young form of Navarchus sulcatus and Ati- mostoma capense. ‘The group Psenes-Cubiceps is, in point of fact, one of the pelagic groups of which we know least, and with regard to which we have scarcely begun to lift a little corner of the veil which hides the rich ichthyological fauna of the great depths. In none of these young or more advanced forms of Psenes have I found a spinous preoperculum as in, so many other young Scomberoids, and as is the case in the adult state with the preoperculum and interoperculum of a fish which appears to be very nearly related to Psenes, namely Palinurichthys (Pammelas) perciformis; there is nothing which seems to indicate that any of the forms of Psenes that have been described, or that I have examined, can be derived from that species, which is only known from specimens from the eastern coast of North America. 11. Srromateus, APoLECTUS; SCHEDOPHILUS ; TRACHY- NoTUS ; MICROPTERYX; SERIOLA. The conjecture has already been put forward that the “ Rhombus crenulatus,’ Cuv., 1s a young form of Stromateus alepidotus (Gardenit, longipinnis). Dr. Giinther has also o* 112 Dr. C. F. Liitken on the Changes of Form in Fishes shown that Stromateus securifer is only a young S. argenteus (candidus); and the subordination on the same ground of Apolectus stromateus to S. paru is confirmed by the descrip- tion of a little fish (18 millims.) from the Straits of Riouw, with large ventrals and the margin of the preeoperculum den- ticulated, in which I have recognized a still younger form of the Apolectus and of S.paru. In consequence of these analo- gies, and depending in part upon the materials at my disposal, and in part on what I have found in the literature of the sub- ject, it seems to me more than probable that S. (Seserimus) microchirus, with more or less rudimentary ventrals, is a young form of S. fiatola; but as this question, when once raised, may easily be elucidated by the ichthyologists of the Mediterranean coasts, I shall leave to them the task of solving it, and shall not discuss it further. With regard to the genus Stromateus I shall further remark that the separation effected by M. Bleeker of the three species S. argenteus, cinerea, and sinensis (atous, albus) as forming a distinct genus, Stroma- teovdes, must be sustained. This genus is chiefly character- ized by its short branchial clefts; young examples of Stroma- teoides sinensis also confirm the proposition, already advanced by M. Bleeker, that the ventrals, in this genus, disappear earlier than in the true Stromate?, if indeed they are not com- pletely deficient. iS. medius, Pet., is a true Stromateus, and not a Stromateoides. The genus Schedophilus, which belongs to the true pelagic fishes, counts several (4) species; I shall abstain from dis- cussing whether it may not be necessary to make them undergo some reduction. The pretty numerous specimens, chiefly young, that our Museum possesses must all be re- ferred to S. medusophagus. ‘The differences of age manifested in the proportions of the parts of the body, the system of coloration, &c. might certainly, if we examine them isolatedly, give rise to the establishment of illegitimate species ; but they have no great importance from a general point of view. The great differences arising from age, which, in the genus Trachynotus, have caused a series of false species, and even genera (Doliodon, Bathrolemus) to be established, have already been dealt with by MM. Giinther and Gill, and I have nothing essential to add. I shall only remark that 7. rhomboides of the West Indies already has its rhomboidal physiognomy and its much prolonged sickle-shaped fins at an age when these prolongations of the fins are still rather short in the 7. ovatus of the Indian seas, and that I am of opinion (with Mr. Gill) that these two species must be regarded, at least provision- ally, as distinct. On the other hand, Micropteryx (Chloro- during their Growth and Development. 113 scombus) chrysurus is not one of the forms in which the changes due to age can give rise to the establishment of de- ceptive species. Nevertheless the scapular and preopercular spines, which are characteristic of so many Scomberoids in the first phases of their development, are not wanting in the youngest individuals (10-25 millims.) of the series that I have examined. The division indicated by G. Cuvier, and effected by Mr. Gill, of the genus Serola into two distinct genera, Zonichthys, Swainson, and Halatractus, Gill, seems to be very natural. (S. gigas is the type of a third genus, Naucratops?s, Gill; and S. Dussumiert and succincta are young forms of Naucrates ductor). To the genus Zonichthys belongs S. nigrofasciata (with which S. cntermedia is no doubt to be united) ; the genus Halatractus, or Sertola proper, includes 8. Dumerilii, Risso (with which I identify not only S. purpurascens, Schl., but also S. Solandr?,C. & V.), S. quinqueradiata, Schl., S. zonata, Mitch. (carolinensis, Holbr.), and S. rivoliana (8. Boscit, fal- cata, and bonariensis perhaps do not differ from this last species). iS. tapetnometopon (an example 73 millims. long from the Indian Ocean) is no doubt only a young form of S. Dumerilii, with the transverse bands which are character- istic of so large a number of young Scomberoids. Young Seriole are tolerably frequent in our pelagic collections; the entire group may therefore no doubt be regarded as subpelagic, and certain forms (such as S. rivoliana) as completely pelagic. Besides several more or less juvenile forms of S. Dumerilit and S. rivoliana, our museum possesses very young forms (19-26 millims.) with the head armed with very large spines, and greatly resembling the so-called Xystrophorus phase of Naucrates; I have referred them to S. zonata (carolinensis) ; lastly, young spinous forms of S. nigrofasciata and S. quin- gueradiata, with regard to which I refer to the figures (pl. iv. figs. 7-11 of the Danish memoir) for the greater or less diffe- rences in physiognomy, the system of coloration &c. which dis- tinguish them from the adults. I think also that we must refer to the subpelagic forms the Seriolichthys bipinnulatus (the pre- operculum of which, notwithstanding what has been said, is not denticulated), as having been observed not only in the Indian Ocean, but also in the Mediterranean and the West . Indies. The Serioledle having been identified with the Nep- toment by Dr. Giinther, we must suppose that the armature of spines indicated in them likewise does not constitute a per- manent character. 114 Dr. C. F. Liitken on the Changes of Form in Fishes 12. Caranx, CARANGICHTHYS ; GALLICHTHYS; SELENE (ARGYREIOSUS, VOMER). In the Caranx group too many and too few genera have been established. Following the principles adopted by certain authors, we might establish still more of them; for several un- described species represented in our museum must furnish types for new divisions; on the other hand, we cannot approve of suppressing them all. A critical revision allows us to retain the six following genera :— 1. Trachurus, Cuv. (Gthr.). The lateral line is cuirassed throughout its whole length. The species of this genus have erroneously been united into a single one; I am able to dis- tinguish the following :—7. Linnet, Malm, the form from the Northern seas, which, however, is also met with in the Mediterranean ; 7. mediterraneus (Steind.), which also pro- bably occurs in the Northern seas, where, however, it is cer- tainly rare; 7. Cuviert, Lowe (Madeira, West Indies, west coast of South America) ; 7. japonicus, Blkr. (China, Aus- tralia). The relative proportions between the two parts of the lateral line, its more or less sudden or oblique inflexion, and the height of the plates in proportion to their breadth, furnish good specific characters. 2. Megalaspis, Blkr. With 8-9 finlets separated from the dorsal and anal. 3. Decapterus, Blkr. A single finlet (the last ray of the fin) separated from the dorsal and anal. 4, Caranx, Cuv. Lateral line incompletely euirassed as in 2 and 3; no isolated finlets. Carangichthys is only a young Caranz with the preoperculum denticulated. ‘This genus has been divided into a great number of subgenera, which it would be superfluous to enumerate, and which ought all to be sup- pressed. 5. Gallichthys, Cuv. Naked, or nearly sealeless; the first dorsal is rudimentary in young individuals, and altogether wanting in the adults. Blepharis, Scyris, Hynnis, &c. are founded upon differences arising from age, and must conse- quently be eliminated. i 6. Selene, Lac. (Vomer, Argyreiosus, &c.). The young of Caranz and Trachurus, down to a length of 10-14 millims. for the smallest, are often brought by the sailors, and we thus possess a great number of them ; but it is not pos- sible to determine their species with exactitude except when they occur in more complete series, which enable us to recognize the characters of the adult. In my memoir [ indicate the diffe- rences arising from age that I have observed in certain species, during their Growth and Development. 115 especially from the West Indies; and these, considering the difficulty of distinguishing from each other the species be- longing to these genera, merit some attention. The youngest individuals with no scales or lateral line, and with a spinous preoperculum, certainly do not present any character which enables us to decide whether they are Trachuri or Caranges. The species in which I have observed the greatest changes during growth and development is C. ar matus : but they are already i in great part well known, and I shall not here examine them in more detail. These changes are, however, very in- ferior to those observed in the Gallichthyes, which have been divided into more genera than there are species in reality, because the successive stages which recur in an analogous manner in the different species have been interpreted as con- stituting so many separate generic types—the result of which has naturally been that the diagnoses of the species have be- come as incorrect as possible, and that systematic confusion has attained its final limits. Hach of the three or four exist- ing species passes through a phase of Blepharis (Gallichthys), one of Scyris, and one of Hynnis. Hynnis goreensis is thus the adult form of Gallichthys egyptiacus and of Scyris alex- andrinus ; the forms described by Poey under the names of Scyris analis and H; ynnis cubensis correspond in the same way to G. (Blepharis) crinitus. The Scyris phase belonging to G. ciliaris has not been before described. It may be asked (but, owing to the want of sufficient materials, I cannot decide the question) whether G. ciliaris of the Indian Ocean differs specifically from the American G. crinitus. If these two forms, comparatively rare in the adult state, are, as I suppose, fishes which inhabit tolerably deep water, we can understand that the same species might occur in seas far dis- tant from each other. The general rule which finds its ex- pression in the changes of form produced in this genus may be summed up as follows :—Greater and greater elongation of the body, so that its original proportions are completely altered ; reduction of the number of spinous rays in the dorsal and anal fins, as also of the filamentous prolongations of the ventrals, and, later on, likewise of those of the dorsal and anal. Exactly similar changes occur in the genus Selene, Lac. (p. p-) (= Argyreiosus, Vomer, Platysomus) ; and in conse- quence “analogy” and “ aftinity ” have been until very lately confounded in them as in Gallichthys; nay, more, after Dr. Giinther had elucidated the filiatior. of the forms in the essential points, the justice of his views was contested, and the error again maintained with a certain emphasis. 116 Dr. C. F. Liitken on the Changes of Form in Fishes Leaving out of consideration Argyretosus dorsalis, with regard to which I will not attempt to decide whether it is a variety of Selene setipinnis or a distinct species, it seems to me evident, from all that I know in nature and from literature, that in- stead of four species there are only two on the east coast of America, namely Selene (Argyreiosus) vomer, Linn., and S. setipinnis, Mitch. (Vomer Brownii). I have illustrated by two series of figures (pp. 543 and 547 of the Danish memoir) the development of these two species and the changes they undergo withage. The young form of S. setipinnis has been described under the name of Argyretosus unimaculatus; if _ consistency had been desired it might have been set up as a distinct genus; the very old form of the same species is Platy- somus micropteryx of Swainson. Argyreiosus vomer, L., Zeus rostratus and Argyreiosus capillaris of Mitchill, A. Sprxie, Cast., triacanthus and Maurice?, Sw., and senegalensis, Guich., are all one and the same species, Selene vomer (L.), which, in its complete development, is represented by the Selene argentea, Lac., described by Brevoort. The two species attain nearly the same size (2 feet), and follow a very parallel course in their evolution—with this reservation, however, that the successive stages present greater differences among them- selves in S. vomer than in S. set¢pinnis, and that the principal changes are earlier accomplished in this latter species. As will be seen from the figures, the young forms of the two species have the body very short and thickset ; the first dorsal and the ventrals are well developed, and have filamentous prolongations in S. vomer; with age the body extends more or less in length, and the ventrals as well as the first dorsal are reduced to a minimum, while the pectorals become elon- gated, and the first ray of the anal and that of the second dorsal acquire an enormous length, in S. vomer. ‘Thus, in propor- tion as the form of the body is modified, the prolongations of the fins which in the young perform the office of instruments of movement or of balancement, are replaced in the adults by prolongations of the same nature, but developed elsewhere. Both species occur on the west coast of Africa, and they have also been met with on the west coast of America. 1 must, however, remark that the species from Nicaragua possessed by our museum, and which there represents S. vomer, is a distinct species (8. Oerstedii, m.), distinguished by a peculiar profile and by the number of itsrays (D. 8.1.18; A. 1.15). 13. Zeus; ZeNopsis (LAMPRIS; MENE). A critical comparison of the materials in the possession of our museum, in the form of fishes from St. Pierre, in the during their Growth and Development. 117 Mediterranean, combined with the statements contained in literature, has led to a fresh examination of a question which has also been raised elsewhere—namely, whether Zeus faber and Z. pungio must really be considered distinct species, or only varieties with a more or less local character. It is clear that the differences which have been appealed to are not characters relating to sex or age; but at the same time it re- sults, from the examination that I have made, that Z. pungio can, at the utmost and even with difficulty, be regarded only as a variety of Z. faber, and by no means as a distinct species— an opinion which seems to be shared by the greater number of the Italian ichthyologists. The only somewhat constant character is the form and size of certain scutes at the base of the second dorsal. On the other hand, I must maintain that Z. australis, Rich. (Australia), is a perfectly different species from Z. faber, but perhaps identical with Z. japonicus ; whether Z. capensis is a third species, or to be combined also with 4. australis, is a question still to’ be solved ; in any case it will belong to a species distinct from Z. faber. It is no doubt with good reason that Mr. Gill has established the genus Zenopsis for the species more exclusively inhabiting the deep waters (which can hardly be said of the true species of Zeus), such as Z. conchifer (Madeira, with Z. ocellatus of North America) and Z. nebulosus (Japan); but the right of these species to be considered distinct still needs revision, which is the more necessary as the characters indicated are of rather doubtful value, and as we have here to do with species inhabiting the great depths of the oceans, and the geogra- phical distribution is often very extensive in the fish of this category. I shall refer finally to the note by Dr. Giinther on a supposed juvenile form of Mene maculata, a note which is, so to speak, the harbinger of the interesting particulars which the future will no doubt bring us as to the hitherto unknown metamorphoses of the genera Zews and Lampris. 14. PseTrus; ZANCLUS and GNATHOCENTRUM ; PLATAX. Dr. Giinther has already demonstrated that Gnathocentrum, Guich. (Zanclus canescens, L.), is only a young form of Zanclus cornutus ; nevertheless the late M. Bleeker, in his ‘ Atlas Ichthyologique,’ still separates them as distinct species. I have therefore thought it right to state that for me also it is an established fact that the genus Gnathocentrum and Z. canes- cens are respectively only the young stages of the genus Zanclus and of Z. cornutus. Other authors have already pointed out that it is an error to deny palatine teeth to the genus Psettus. The four species 118 Dr. C. F. Liitken on the Changes of Form in Fishes which constitute it are all armed with five very considerable groups of card-like teeth on the vomer, the palatines, and the pterygoids. These four species are :—the true P. rhombeus of Forskal from the Red Sea and the Mauritius (figured in the illustrated edition of Cuvier’s ‘ Régne Animal,’ pl. xli. fig. 2), which authors, except the late Sir John Richardson, have erroneously confounded with P. argenteus, Linn., from the East Indies, Australia, and China (see ‘ Voyage of the Kre- bus and Terror,’ pl. xxxv. fig. 1); P. falciformis, Lac., from the East Indies, and P. seb, C. & V., from the west coast of Africa. . The species of the genus Platax are subject during their growth and development to such considerable changes, both im physiognomy and in the form of the body and the colora- tion, that great confusion and the establishment of a number of nominal species could not but result from them. Never- theless more light has by degrees been thrown’ upon this question; and in this respect I may refer especially to M. Bleeker’s text and the very instructive plates of his great ‘ Atlas Ichthyologique.’ But (and this is a singular fact) he has neglected a character of which M. Klunzinger first indi- cated the importance, and without which we shall never arrive at a certain determination of the species. In some species (P. tetra, Forsk.) the three points of the teeth of the outer row are of the same size; in others (P. vespertilio, BL, =orbicularis) the middle point is very distinctly larger; in others, again (P. batavianus and P. pinnatus (L.), Blk.), it is much larger than the others and completely predominant. It would not appear that we know more than these four species ; M. Blecker’s fifth species (P. melanosoma) is only known from a very young specimen; and the author (whose recent loss is so much deplored) himself regarded it as doubtful. 15. SCOMBERESOX SAURUS. Dr. Giinther having already indicated, although very briefly, the metamorphoses of this fish in their principal features, I may here contine myself to referring to the figures on p. 567 (of the Danish memoir), which represent the different phases of the evolution of the rostrum, as also the physiognomy of the entire fish in one of its youngest stages; and as they are accompanied by a corresponding series of figures representing the very well-known evolution of the same parts in the com- mon Garfish (Belone vulgaris), the analogies and differences between the development and transformation of these two nearly allied fishes will strike the eye at once without need of further explanation. I will only add that Scomberesox saurus. during their Growth and Development. 119 is in the highest degree a pelagic fish, the young of which, easily recognized and impossible to confound with any others, are captured everywhere between the tropics, and even beyond them, especially the youngest forms. It is therefore not diffi- cult to obtain a series of all the successive stages of this genus. Nevertheless, in this great accumulation of more or less juve- nile forms derived from very widely separated parts of the great seas of the globe, I have been unable to distinguish more than one species, and have come to the conclusion that, properly speaking, we only know a single species belonging to this genus, namely the pelagic and essentially cosmopolitan species known under the name of S. sawrus or S. Campert. I must, however, make an exception in favour of S, brevi- rostris of California, a very distinct species described by M. Peters, which is distinguished by an excessive abridge- ment of the two jaws, a peculiarity to which we find an ana- logue in the young of S. sawrus ina certain stageof evolution. A critical examination of the characters indicated for the other species of Scomberesox also seems to show that they do not rest upon a very solid basis ; but [ must leave it to the ichthyo- logists of the shores of the Mediterranean to elucidate from this point of view the case of S. Rondeletii and its relationship to S. sawrus of the Atlantic. The anatomical character upon which its separation as a distinct species is founded has not, so far as I know, been verified since it was established by M. Valenciennes ; hence it does not appear to have any real foundation; and the Scomberesoces from the Mediterranean that I have examined possessed a swim-bladder like those of the ocean. Another eminently pelagic form of this group is Hulepto- rhamphus longirostris. ‘here is therefore a certain proba- bility in favour of the opinion that all the different species which have been established in this genus from individuals fished in the two great oceans at points very distant from one another are only representatives of a single pelagic and cos- mopolitan species; but for the more satisfactory verification of this supposition it would be necessary to have at command more considerable materials than any museum at present possesses. 16. Pomacantuus; HoLacanruus; CH2&Topon ; THOLICHTHYS; EPHIPPUS. On the shores of the Antilles there live two species of Pomacanthus which are certainly distinguished at all ages by positive and non-equivocal characters, but which in habit, 120. Dr. C. F. Liitken on the Changes of Form in Fishes coloration, pattern, squamification, &c. undergo changes so profound and so analogous that we cannot be surprised if ichthyologists on the one hand have created a great number of nominal species, and on the other have not succeeded in separating from each other the very analogous young forms belonging to the two species. The natural consequence of this has been that the connexion between the young and older forms being incapable of being overlooked by those who had sufficient material at their command, authors have fallen into the extreme opposite mistake, and united the two species, including all the phases of their development, under a single species including a whole series of varieties. The consider- able materials contained in our two zoological museums now combined (the Royal Museum and that of the University) have enabled me to study the distinctive characters of P. paru, BL, and P. aureus, Bl., at all ages, and to confirm, with some modifications, the correctness of the views put forward on this question by MM. Bleeker and Poey. Holacanthus ciliaris is subject to analogous changes; and H. formosus of Castelnau is evidently only a young form of this species. On the contrary, the changes due to age are comparatively insignificant in H. tricolor; the young indi- vidual represented in pl. v. fig. 6 (of the Danish memoir) has the same large ocellated spot which distinguishes many young Cheetodonts. As to the secondary squamification, Holacanthus ciliards stands in the same relation to //. tricolor as Pomacan- thus aureus to P. paru. Neither of these genera, so far as we know, passes through the so-called ‘‘ Tholichthys” phase; and it is hardly probable that this case occurs in them. On the other hand, this phase occurs in so great a number of true Cheetodonts, that there can be no doubt it is common to them all. Among the larvee of Cheetodonts or “ Tholich- thyes”” that I have had before me I will mention two. One of them (pl. v. fig. 8 of the Danish memoir) represents, in my opinion, one of the stages of C. sedentarius, Poey (gracilis, Gth.), or of some little-known nearly allied species: the other (fig. 10) I have referred to Parachetodon ocellatus (C. & V.) ; and it would then represent that species in a still younger stage than those at present known, distinguished, among other things, by this peculiarity, that the supraorbital margin termi- nates in a spine directed obliquely sideways and backwards. Like the Chetodonts, the species of the genera Ephippus (Scatophagus), Harpochirus, and Chelmo, atter having com- pletely passed through the “Zholichthys” phase, so far as such a phase exists, undergo modifications, in the form of the body, the coloration, &c., which merit attention, because they during their Growth and Development. 121 are always sufficiently great to give rise to the establishment of false species when one has not sufficient materials at com- mand, phippus argus appears to me, however, to include three species : —the Chinese form, with a small number (20-30) ° of large spots; the East-Indian type species, with many spots of moderate size; and a form from the Sunda Islands with numerous small spots, a pattern which, in young individuals, changes into transverse bands (H. ornatus). Strictly speaking we cannot characterize our youngest Hphippus as a “ Tholich- thys ;”” but nevertheless it has so many points in common with this phase of Chetodon that we may describe it as being in a “holichthyoid” phase. It somewhat resembles a Chromis or a Pomacentrum: the body is short, squat, and much com- pressed, the profile of the head nearly vertical, the skin rough and without scales; the fins are naked; the pattern consists of dark transverse bands; the forehead is broad, convex, and protected by two thick, rounded, triangular shields, which meet in the median line, but which, posteriorly, embrace between them the apex of a parietal boss; there is also on each side a temporal boss accompanied by astout spine, which is the inferior extremity of a triangular suprascapular tubercle; the prolongation of the operculum (¢. e. of the preeoperculum and interoperculum) is divided by a notch into two short rounded parts, of which the superior is directed backwards, and the inferior inwards and downwards. 17. AcantHurus, Naseus; Acronurus, KEris. We now know that Kerzs and Acronurus are respectively only the young forms of Naseus and Ov G98 162 Dr. Wallich on the Origin of the XVI.—Note on a Central-Asiatic Field-Mouse (Mus arianus). By W. T. BuanrorD, F.R.S. &e. I AM indebted to Mr. Oldfield Thomas for calling my atten- tion to the fact that a Japanese species of Mus was named M. erythronotus by Temminck in 1850. In the ‘Annals’ for 1875 I proposed the same name, M. erythronotus, for a mouse of which I obtained specimens at Kohrud, between Isfahan and Teheran, in Persia. A species apparently identical with the Persian mouse was collected by the late Dr. Stoliczka in Wakhdn, a province on the Upper Oxus belonging to Afghanistan, and at Kashgar, in Eastern Turkestan; and the same form has since been found by Major Biddulph and Dr. Scully at Gilgit in the Upper Indus valley. It is by no means certain that this form may not pass into the eastern races of Mus sylvaticus ; and it requires comparison with Mus sylvaticus, var. major, of Radde; but as it appears to be a well-marked type, with a wide distribution in Central Asia, and as the name Mus erythronotus cannot be retained for it, in consequence of the prior use of the same specific denomination by Temminck, I propose to change the name to Mus arianus—from Ariana, one of the ancient names for Persia and the neighbouring countries to the eastward. The following synonymy furnishes, I believe, all the necessary references :— Mus arianus. Mus erythronotus, W. Blanford, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 4, vol. xvi. p- 811 (1875); Northern Persia, ii. p. 54, pl. v. fig. 8 (1876); Scientific Results Second Yarkand Mission, Mamm. p. 54 (1879); J. A. 8. B. 1879, vol. xlviii. pt. 2, p. 97 (nec Mus erythronotus, Temm. Fauna Japonica, Mamm. p. 50, 1850). Mus sylvaticus, var. W. Blanford, ie A.S. B. 1875, xliv. pt. 2, p. 108 (nec Linn.). XVII.—On the Origin and Formation of the Flints of the Upper or White Chalk; with Observations upon Prof. Sollas’s Paper in‘ The Annals and Magazine of Natural ee for December 1880. By Surgeon-Major WaLLIcH, [Plate XI.] As Mr. Sollas has seen fit to make the second part of his memoir “ On the Flint Nodules of the Trimmingham Chalk” Flints of the Upper or White Chalk. 163 a medium for indulging in a number of unwarranted comments (for they cannot be called criticisms) upon my paper “ On the Physical History of the Cretaceous Flints” (published in the ‘ Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society,’ vol. xxxvi. No. 141, Feb. 1880)*, I shall first reply to his strictures, and then avail myself of the opportunity to furnish some additional facts and arguments in support of my views, which want of space debarred me from bringing forward in the paper just referred to. That Mr. Sollas or any other professed geologist should have hesitated to accept my explanation as to the mode of formation of the Flints, and should freely canvass my facts as well as my conclusions, was not only perfectly legitimate, but no more than I expected when giving utterance to an hypothesis both novel and opposed, in some most important particulars, to all preconceived ideas concerning a difficult and avowedly un- solved geological problem. But I likewise expected, from a writer whose previous researches on kindred subjects (so far as [ was acquainted with them) had yielded me both pleasure and instruction, at least a precise and impartial recital of such of my statements and conclusions as he felt called upon to impugn—together with some better results than a laboured and, as I venture to think, futile attempt to improve upon the well-known doctrine that ‘the flints are due to the replace- ment of carbonate of lime by silica”? Tf. Speaking generally, Mr. Sollas’s paper contributes very little that can be considered original to our knowledge on the flint question—unless it be the interesting fact that the silica of the Trimmingham flints may, in part, have been derived from spicules belonging to, but now missing from, certain fossilized sponge-remains in the Trimmingham Chalk. For, although he devotes a considerable space in his paper to the chemistry of the subject, it is obvious that he has derived his inspiration, on almost every material point relating to the pro- duction of fint, from the splendid researches of Graham, to which, in common with myself, he appears to be indebted for whatever information he possesses regarding the colloidal properties and combinations of silicic acid and colloidal sub- stances in generalf. Yet he offers no explanation of the cha- * This paper was read before the Geological Society in December 1879. + See paper by Prof. Rupert Jones, F.R.S. &e., “On Quartz, Flint, and other forms of Silica” (Proc. Geol. Assoc. vol. iv. no. 7, Apr. 1876, . 447). t at. Sollas mentions Mr. Graham’s name only in relation to “ the fact,” if it be one, “ that silicic acid has the property of actually combining with such substances as albumen and gelatin to form with them silicate of albumen and silicate of gelatin” (loc. cit. p. 452). 164 Dr. Wallich on the Origin of the racteristic forms assumed by the flint nodules that may not be found in every geological textbook ; and upon the most difficult and puzzling question of all (namely, the cause of the stratification of the flints), although he shows that he regards it as part and parcel of the Flint question, by just once (at p. 441) confessing it presents ‘a difficulty,” from first to last he remains significantly silent. I may observe, in reference to the last-mentioned fact, that I should have been content to discuss Mr. Sollas’s theory of the formation of flint so far as it goes, and to leave entirely out of sight those points on which it would appear that he has been unable to arrive at any conclusion whatever, had he not indulged in such unjustifiable observations as the following :— “The last question which remains for discussion is the origin of the various external forms assumed by flint. A good deal of misconception appears to have arisen on the subject through a too exclusive attention to one particular form of flint arbi- trarily selected as a type of all others. For this (generally the irregular nodular form) a theory is framed which is then made to account for the rest. Thus, when Dr. Bowerbank attempted to show that flints are silicified horny sponges, he accounted for the flint-veins of the chalk by supposing them to be horny sponges which had grown over the sides of an open fissure at the cretaceous sea-bottom ; and Dr. Wallich, after giving an explanation of flint nodules and layers, speaks of the veins as formed by a ‘sluggish overflow’ of silica- saturated protoplasm ‘ into fissures in the chalk.” There does not appear much to choose between these rival explanations of the veins; both are attempts to square a preconceived hypo- thesis with an obnoxious fact”’ (loc. cit. p. 450). Mr. Sollas is doubtless aware that Dr. Bowerbank ean no longer answer for himself. He has, however, associated my name with that of a universally respected and known scientific thinker and writer, whose researches on the Sponges alone ought to have protected him from an imputation which, applied as it has been to myself as well as to Dr. Bowerbank, I can only describe as being wholly unfounded. Mr. Sollas has taken care not to state at what page the words he here quotes from my paper are to be found. I will supply the omission. The seven words in question consti- tute the sole allusion to the flint-veins made by me, from beginning to end of my paper. The context, now furnished, will show that the formation of the veins was not what I was speaking about, but the ‘‘ homogeneousness” of the colloid material contained in the fissures. In my paper I offered no Flints of the Upper or White Chalk. 165 other opinion whatever on the veins, for reasons which I con- sidered sufficient—the allusions to sluggish overflows into the fissures of the chalk being made solely with a view to point out that, had they been filled with an aqueous solution, the fissures would not only have been lined with silica, but the walls of the fissure would, to a considerable depth, have become silicified through the absorbent power of the chalk. This view [ still regard as valid, and as appli- cable to the tabular layers of chalk also, The following is the sentence from which Mr. Sollas has detached and quoted (as I shall show he has done in other instances) an incom- plete passage, in order that he might impugn it :—“ But that the colloidal ¢diosyncrasy of silica performed a much more important function in the phenomena connected with the flints than has heretofore been supposed, appears to me to be in- dicated by the evidence of the almost perfect incorporation of the organic silica with a colloid material, the unique ameebi- form nodulation of the flints, and dts homogeneousness, whether occurring in nodules, in continuous sheets parallel to the strati- fication, or as sluggish overflows into fissures in the chalk” (loc. cit. p. 89). Again, at p. 451 of his paper Mr. Sollas says :—‘ In attempting to find an explanation for the form of these flints we may consider the following suppositions :—(i) The form may have been determined by the presence of animal matter (protoplasm, Wallich), or (11) of the products of its decompo- sition,’ &e. . . . ‘ The first explanation may best be stated in Dr. Wallich’s own words. Thus, speaking of the irregular nodules, he says :—‘ those characteristic amabiform outlines which, according to my hypothesis, are dependent on the presence of, and the combination of the silica with, the accu- mulation of nearly pure protoplasm still sufficiently recent to have resisted admixture with calcareous or other matter’ (Joc. cit. p. 79). As I have already shown in the earlier part of this paper that flints originate as silicified chalk, we need not spend time on a formal confutation of Dr. Wallich’s hypothesis ; but when Dr. Wallich remarks that ‘ the various conditions that present themselves from the earliest elimination of the silica from the sea-water to the period when it becomes finally consolidated, have never, that I am aware, been consecutively followed out’ (/oc. cit. p. 89), I would take the liberty to refer him to a paper of my own, printed in abstract in the Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxix. p. 76 (1873), where the steps are perhaps as consecutively followed out as in Dr. Wallich’s paper itself. As my paper has never been published in full, I shall 166 Dr. Wallich on the Origin of the make no apology for giving here a rather lengthy extract from it” (Mr. Sollas’s paper, ‘ Annals,’ Dec. 1880, p. 452). Both the above extracts from my paper are so incorrectly given, and mutilated by the omission of the context, as to materially alter their purport, at the very time that Mr. Sollas informs his readers that “ THE FIRST EXPLANATION may best be given in Dr. Wallich’s own words,” and prefaces his first quotation by saying that I was “‘ speaking of the trre- gulur nodules,” in order to make it appear that I was then describing some part of my hypothesis. I was neither describing any part of my hypothesis, offering an explanation of any supposition, nor directly or indirectly making any allusion to the question of the nodules. I had been impugning a statement by Sir Charles Lyell, made under a misapprehension of certain facts which I was relating concerning the very insignificant part played by the Diatomacee in supplying the silica of the flints, and was repeating generally what I had been at great pains in proving, for the first time, by detailed evidence, that “the comparatively bulky siliceous framework and spicule-system of the deep-sea vitreous sponges must constitute the main source of supply of the material for the flints.” Speaking of th7s, I continued as follows :—‘ Indeed, it is far from improbable that the true flints are produced solely in the areas occupied by the sponge-beds, the flints becoming (elsewhere) more cherty and DEVOID of those characteristic amebiform outlines which, according to my hypothesis, are dependent” &c. (see my paper, p. 79). Therefore, to cite this passage as an “ explanation” of my hypothesis, more particularly as it was not described by Mr. Sollas either before or afterwards, was a mere abuse of words, if not of facts! In the second of the above extracts Mr. Sollas pursues the same course of destroying the purport of the passage by sup- pressing the context. Such a method of supplying the epsissima verba of a writer might, in skilful hands, be so applied as to warrant the impression that the best hypothesis that ever was constructed was not worth the ink it was written with. In the present case, so finely had Mr. Sollas drawn the line as to deprive the sentence he quotes of a definitely expressed limitation, by omitting the word “ But,” with which it commences. The following is the paragraph from which the extract is taken:— That the predisposition of silica, itself in reality a colloid, to form colloidal combinations with albuminous and other materials was known long before deep-sea exploration Flints of the Upper or White Chalk. 167 was dreamt of, is a well-known historical fact ; it has been alluded to by most of the writers who have attempted an explanation of the mode of formation of the flints. But the various conditions that present themselves, from the earliest elimination of the silica from the sea-water to the period when it becomes finally consolidated, have never, that I am aware, been consecutively followed out”. (see my paper, 9). x It aa be seen from this that I had distinctly shown, in the previous part of the paragraph from which the quotation is made, that I laid no claim to originality in reference to the abstract chemical questions concerned on the subject of colloids and notably of silica. Yet, incredible as it may appear, the four next pages of Mr. Sollas’s paper, which are taken up with the said “lengthy extract,” contain not a single obser- vation that is not wholly connected with the chemical and molecular changes that take place in the formation of flint nodules, and the infiltration with silica of certain shells from the Blackdown Greensand beds, which has no direct bearing whatever on the questions now before us. Indeed the con- cluding paragraph of the extract proves this; for in it the writer says:—‘ Thus the crystalline state of flint nodules offers us no evidence for or against our theory of the for- mation of these fossils. This theory may be summed up under two heads :—(1) combination of silicic acid with animal matter of various kinds—a chemical fact; and (2) concentration of the silica from the silicate of animal matter thus formed, by the extrication of the organic part of the com- pound. This ts a pure assumption, but one which agrees very well with other well-known facts in chemistry ’’ (loc. cit. p- 456). Again, speaking of the irregular forms of the flint nodules, Mr. Sollas observes, at p. 459 of his paper:—“ These, by their fantastic flowing outlines, are responsible for much of the theorizing which can only regard flint as a silicification of organic matter. Thus, Dr. Wallich repeatedly lays stress on ‘the uniqueameebiform nodulation of the flints,’ though one may remark that one of the characteristic features of an amcebiform outline is that it seldom remains the same two minutes to- ether; and this cannot be said of flints, although, as Dr. Wallich speaks in another place of the flints showing ‘ signs of the specific contractility of colloid silica,’ one might infer that he does not regard this character as absent. A flint moving by means of its pseudopodia would be an interesting object ; but perhaps the distinguished writer merely alludes to the 168 Dr. Wallich on the Origin of the excessive shrinkage which colloid silica undergoes in passing from the pectous to the solid state; and certainly, to one who has experimented with colloid silica, the wonder on Dr. Wal- lich’s hypothesis would be, not that the flints show signs of shrinkage, but that they do not present them more markedly. The time for conclusions based on superficial resemblances is now gone by; we no longer regard ‘dendrites’ as fossils on account of their moss-like form, nor profess to be ‘ able to tell an honest man by the smell’ ”’ (Mr. Sollas’s paper, p. 459). This extraordinary composition may, or may not, have been written in a wholly serious spirit. It has appeared, however, in a journal occupying a foremost rank in the scientific literature of our time, and is therefore calculated to engender an idea that it embodies a legitimate criticism upon views cor- rectly ascribed to me. ‘This is, in itself, amore than sufficient reason why it should be seriously answered, and why some other personal observations made by Mr. Sollas in the same journal, in regard to my writings, should receive distinct refu- tation at my hands. Since Mr. Sollas has become so zealous an advocate for preciseness of expression on the part of a non-professional naturalist as to take exception at the use of the word amebi- form—which he alleges, but incorrectly, was “ repeatedly ” employed in my paper,—how comes it, I would ask, that, in the very same paragraph that contains his criticism, he should himself have described, in language of his own selection, and, it is to be assumed, conforming in all respects with his en- lightened views, “the irregular and fantastic FLOWING outlines of the flint-nodules”’ as being “ responsible for much of the theorizing”’’ he refers to; my name being pointedly associated with this observation? And how comes it that, in the ‘Annals’ for December last (p. 38), he should, when speak- ing of the ForM of these nodules, have thus expressed himself :—“ In form they vary greatly, some being flabellate, some irregularly conical, others consist of a somewhat ellip- soidal body on a short stalk, while many are irregular and AMORPHOUS”’? The word ameebiform, though a hybrid and but little re- moved from the Latin and Greek jargon which day by day threatens to drive plain English out of our scientific termino- logy, is undoubtedly expressive of the unique kind of outline and nodulation I desired to picture. There is no English equivalent for Ameba, and consequently none for amebiform. Hence no other word could have adequately’ conveyed my meaning. It was accordingly used by me; and I stand by it. Flints of the Upper or White Chalk. 169 Before passing on from this portion of my subject, I beg leave to say that the tone of Mr. Sollas’s remarks, and more articularly of the last-quoted paragraph of his paper, would bee been answered only by one general expression of repro- bation on my part, but for the way in which he has attempted to make the personalities and other matters I complain of serve the purpose of depreciating my opinions, and has thus left me no alternative but to enter fully into the facts. ae Mr. Sollas opened his paper by citing the opinion of Ehrenberg and Sir Charles Lyell (which he says “is sup- ported by Dr. Wallich”’ and others) that the silica of the flints “has been derived from siliceous organisms, either collected into distinct layers or scattered through some other deposit, like the siliceous remains now found dispersed in the Atlantic ooze.” A glance at p. 265 of Sir Charles Lyell’s latest work, ‘The Student’s Elements of Geology,’ will nevertheless show that such was not the opinion entertained in 1871 by that illustrious geologist. I can answer for myself, moreover, that no opinion of the kind has ever been entertained or expressed by myself, either elsewhere or in my paper on the Chalk flints. Referring to the analogy that has been drawn between the Atlantic mud and the chalk, and the inference which he alleges has been based on this analogy, “that siliceous organisms were at one time present in the chalk, just as they now are in the ooze,”’ Mr. Sollas states that he will at once “ proceed to make this inference independent of analogy, by showing that it is really nothing less than a statement of fact” (loc. cit. p. 438). And this he immediately claims to have done on evidence afforded by the Trimmingham flints, which goes “ straight to the point,’ but which I venture to affirm leaves the inference as thoroughly dependent on analogy as ever it was—the only change in the situation being that, whereas I and other writers on the subject avowedly drew our analogy from analyses of chalk taken from the middle of a chalk-stratum, he drew his, not, as he pledged himself to do, - from the Trimmingham Fiints, but from chalk adherent to the crevices of the flint-nodules, and separated from them by washing and subsequent treatment with hydrochloric acid. It is true he does not confine himself in this matter only to the evidence afforded by the Trimmingham flints, but says his conclusions are supported by what he has observed at the Niagara chert-beds, the Carboniferous beds of Scotland and North Wales, and also in other English strata. But at p- 441 he says, in reference to “a difficulty” lhe has encoun- tered :—‘“‘ This is to be found in the restriction of the flints to 170 Dr. Wallich on the Origin of the definite layers in the chalk, the chalk above and below being free both from them and from sponge-spicules. It is difficult to see, in the first place, how a shallow sea came to consist of a strong solution of silica, and still more so to understand how it came to vary ina rhythmical fashion, some- times being concentrated enough to lead to the formation of flints, and again pure enough to leave the intervening chalk almost absolutely devoid of silica.” His “statement of fact,” as derived from the occurrence of great numbers of sponge- spicules adherent to the nodules, goes for nothing therefore, in so far as the present question is concerned. But Mr. Sollas claims to have obtained proof of another kind, in the presence in limestone-rocks of minute quartz- erystals and chalcedonized shells, and occasionally “numerous grains of silica with a radiate crystalline structure ’’—and notably in the mountain-limestone of Caldon Low, in which were found a large number of crystals, which he rapturously describes as being “ six-sided prisms terminated by six-sided pyramids, the usual form of rock-crystal,” and immortalizes by adding that it may “ be accepted as a fact that in the moun- tain-limestone these beautiful crystals abound.” A great many more details are furnished, relating to the microscopic measurements of these crystals, their being “ beautiful polari- scopic objects,” &c., all of which information is no doubt excellent in its way, as showing that indubitable, minute, and perfectly-formed rock-crystals have “somehow” been pro- duced from silica in aqueous solution; but in this, as in the previous case, not a single new or additional fact is brought forward which can in any wise connect the silica of the crystals with the silica of sponge-spicules, or furnish a pretext for assuming that they may not, with just as much probability, have been formed from the silica always held in solution in sea-water, and which is said to be derived principally from the comminuted siliceous débris of felspathic rocks brought down to the sea by rivers*. Therefore, until this connect- ing-link between the Trimmingham flints and the spicules found on the chalk adherent to them (but only mechanically) can be positively affirmed, and between ‘‘ calcitized siliceous sponges and the deposited silica,” which, we are told, ‘is generally to be found somewhere not far off,” Mr. Sollas must not be surprised at my regarding these mere “ inferences ”’ of his—probable, no doubt, but still mere inferences—with even * See ‘Student's Elements of Geology,’ by Sir Charles Lyell, 1871, p. 265. Flints of the Upper or White Chalk. 171 less reverence than he regards the inference he could not deny was based, at all events, on a due amount of analogical reasoning. But this raises the very important question, whether the Trimmingham chalk and flints can, for the purposes of the present inquiry, with any propriety be ranked in the same cate- gory as the typical chalk-strata, which have as certainly been deposited at abyssal depths in the ocean as the Trimmingham strata have been deposited in comparatively shallow water. On this point I do not propose to offer an independent opinion, but shall content myself with citing the opinions of experienced geologists, and amongst others of Mr. Sollas himself. Referring, in the first section of his paper, published in the ‘Annals’ for November 1879 (which was really a treatise upon the Trimmingham flint-spicules and nodules), to the Sponges which furnished the still-existing spicules, he says these ‘lived on a sea-floor probably somewhere between 100 and 400 fathoms deep.”’ In the later (7. e. December) portion of his paper bearing the same title, after noting the fact that “currents have had some influence’ in causing an addition to the proper spicular complement “of the Trimmingham forms from Sponges of other kinds,” he again admits “ the flints”’ in this locality “were not formed at any abyssal depth,” but at from “100 to 400 fathoms, giving a pressure of from 20 to 80 atmospheres,” by which he considers the solution of the spicules in sea-water might have been aided*, Now, according to the authorities on the subject about to be cited, it will be seen that the average depth at which the ancient Cretaceous mud was deposited is so vastly in excess even of the maximum depth indicated for the Trimmingham deposit, that the conditions under which animal life existed in the two regions do not admit of comparison. In the one region the water immediately overlying the sea-bed must have been in a state of practically perfect quiescence ; in the other (as collateral evidence, to be presently produced, will show), the water immediately overlying the sea-bed must have been in a state of constant and perhaps even powerful movement, owing to tidal and other currents. In the one region, sponge- life (the now admitted chief source of the silica from which the chalk-flints were formed) was in all probability developed, as it is known to be in our own day, to an enormous extent ; and with it, of course, the dense protoplasmic environment which forms an organic constituent of the deep-sea sponges, * Loc, cit. pp. 442, 444. 172 Dr. Wallich on the Origin of the and is, as I stated in my former paper, as indispensable a factor in the production of the flints, as they now present themselves in the Upper Chalk, as the silica itself which is derived from the sponge-spicules. In the other region sponge-life did, no doubt, occur to a certain and, possibly, considerable extent. But the condition of aqueous movement at the sea-bed during the deposition of the Trimmingham beds must there have constituted an insuperable obstacle (as it undoubtedly is to this day, at depths no greater than those determined for the Trimmingham beds) to the development of both the sponges and their protoplasmic nidus in sufficient abundance to lead to the formation of the typical black flint, which, according to my hypothesis, is as distinct in its mode of formation from the cherty varieties as the chert is distinct in its mode of formation from the chalk. Accordingly, the element of depth becomes a material factor in our present investigation. Professor Prestwich, when referring to ‘‘ Submarine Tempe- ratures”’ *, in his Address delivered in 1871 at the Anniversary Meeting of the Geological Society, observed :—“ From these considerations the question arises whether the deep sea in which the Chalk was deposited may not also have been a sea shut out from direct communication with the Arctic seas ”’ (doe. cit. p. 39). . . . “ I think, therefore, that the hypothesis with regard to the continuity of that sea-bed (the Post-cretaceous Atlantic) from the period of the chalk to the present is one of high probability” (ebid. p. 41). And again :—“ The Chalk, attaining as it does a thickness of 1000 to 1500 feet, was always looked upon by geologists as the deposit of a very deep sea” (ibid. p.46). Mr. Whitaker, in his excellent ‘ Guide to the Geology of London’ (The Geological Survey of England and Wales : 1875), says :—“ By its fossils the Chalk is proved to be the deposit of a deep sea—a deposit of much the same character as that now forming in the mid-Atlantic, and which, like the Chalk, is largely made up of the remains of microscopic Foraminifera” (op. ci#. p. 19). And, lastly (though many additional authorities to the same effect might be cited), Pro- fessor Martin Duncan, during the discussion which followed the reading at the Geological Society of Mr. Sollas’s own paper “On the Markings in the Chalk of the Yorkshire Wolds,” * See the elaborate and admirable memoir entitled “Tables of the Temperatures of the Sea at different depths, reduced and collated from the various observations made between 1749 and 1868, with maps and sections. By Joseph Prestwich, M.A., F.R.S., &c.,’ Phil. Trans, Roy. Soe. vol. 165, pt. 2, 1874. Flints of the Upper or White Chalk. 173 observed that “no reef-building corals are occupants of the deep sea, on which there is little doubt the Chalk was depo- sited ” (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. 1875, p. 419)—an _ authori- tative statement which it is somewhat unfortunate Mr. Sollas should have overlooked, inasmuch as it might possibly have saved him from drawing a very misleading parallel between the flints of the Trimmingham and those of really typical Upper-Chalk strata. On the other hand, we have it on the authority of an observer, whose opportunities of arriving at a correct estimate of the mean depths at which the modern deep-sea calcareous deposits are being formed have never been equalled, that there can be no doubt whatever that we have, forming at the bottom of the present ocean, a vast sheet of rock, which very closely resembles chalk;” and “ there can be little doubt that the old chaik was produced in the same manner and under closely similar circumstances” (‘The Depths of the Sea,’ 1872, p- 470). But another, and perhaps the most material, fact in relation to the Trimmingham beds remains to be noticed. It is one on which I lay very great emphasis, as proving that a large proportion of the spicules (on which Mr. Sollas has based the whole of his superstructure of argument in relation to his hypothesis of the flint-formation as a whole) have, in all pro- bability, been both drifted to and fro on the sea-bed and subject to very powerful disturbing agencies, and accessions from other more or less littoral localities, since the period when the asso- ciated Cretaceous deposit was formed. ‘The fact referred to is described in a letter from Mr. Clement Reid, of H.M. Geo- logical Survey of England and Wales, which was published in the ‘Geological Magazine,’ Dec. 2, vol. vii. p. 238. Mr. Reid, after remarking on another explanation that had been suggested, says :—‘ My difficulties in accepting the view that the contortions were formed by the dead weight of masses let down from above are, firstly, that I cannot find a single case where uncontorted beds have been deposited over the contorted one, though at first sight many sections have that appearance ; and, secondly, that no weight we can imagine possible could drive up the solid chalk at Trimmingham in a ridge three quarters of a mile long from N.W. to 8.E., and apparently about 250 yards wide, this disturbance, it must be remembered, affecting not only the chalk, but 200 feet of overlying clays and sands.’’ Any commentary on such evidence is, I submit, unnecessary ; for, to quote a favourite expression of Mr, Sollas’s, ‘‘ these facts speak for themselves.” But, strange to relate, Mr. Sollas arrives at the conclusion Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 5. Vol. vii. 13 174 Dr. Wallich on the Origin of the that ‘the once existing spicules are absent from the Trim- mingham deposit—not because they have been washed away, but dissolved ; for they are invariably absent in fossil sponges and stratified deposits. Neither Zittel nor 1”’ (he says) ‘* have seen a trace of them; and my observations on the compara- tive readiness with which they undergo solution in—CAUSTIC POTASH, serve to explain their absence”?! (loc. cit. p. 442). If these are not “inferences,” they are something more, namely pure assumptions—the first an improbable assump- tion, the second worse than improbable, since every school- boy knows nowadays what the action of “caustic potash” is on silica, and that caustic potash is certainly not one of the ingredients which chemical analysts have heretofore detected in oceanic waters. It is therefore “a self-evident truth” that the solution of the Trimmingham sponge-spicules on the sea- bed could not, under any known conditions, have been due to the substance referred to, even were it possible for the alkali to exist in sea-water in the form of hydrate. Besides there is no other substance in sea-water which possesses even an approximate solvent energy upon silica. “he chemical fact” referred to (loc. cit. p. 456) cannot, therefore, under the most strained interpretation, be regarded as “serving to explain,” or being connected with, ‘‘ the absence of the spicules” from the Trimmingham deposit. Nor, coupling it with what has been previously advanced, can it be regarded otherwise than as demolishing Mr. Sollas’s claim to having made a demon- strated fact occupy the place either of analogy or inference. And, going yet a step further, if we take the whole of the facts that have up to this point been recorded, I venture to think it has been indisputably proved that no parallel can be drawn, for the purposes of the present inquiry, between the Trim- mingham Chalk with its flints and the White or Upper Chalk with its flints, or even the typical calcareous deposits of the modern Atlantic sea-bed. Should this conclusion be correct, it follows, as a natural consequence, that the whole of the arguments and hypotheses Mr. Sollas has, with so much con- fidence, based solely on evidence supplied by a shallow-water cretaceous deposit like that of Trimmingham, subject as it must have been to disturbing tidal and current-influences during the period of its deposition, and to still more violent and cataclysmal agencies afterwards, must be looked upon as untenable. I will now proceed to consider two other important ques- tions which have a direct bearing on the flint-formation. The first is:—Does the ordinary theory of replacement of carbo- nate of lime by silica, which has been so ably discussed by Flints of the Upper or White Chalk. 175 Prof. Rupert Jones and others, account for all the phenomena ? The second :—Is flint, the true black or typical flint of the Upper or White Chalk, a crystalline, or an amorphous and, to a certain extent, colloid body ? It has already been stated that, according to Mr. Sollas, “flints originate as silictfied chalk” (loc, cit. p. 452). “It would appear (he says) that the simple deposition of silex is impossible in the Chalk ; the first STAGE of deposition in this deposit is always that of replacement (ibid. p. 451).” And again :—“ Briefly to sum up, a deposit of sponge-spicules accumulated in the chalk ooze*, and in the presence of sea-water under pressure entered into solution. Replacement of the cal- careous material of the ooze then ensued, small shells, and many large ones too, being converted into silex ; and s¢liceous chalk, not flint, was the result. he chambers of the Foraminifera and the interstices of the chalk were now filled up by a simple depo- sition of silica, and the siliceous chalk became converted into black flint, an incompletely silicified layer of chalk remain- ing as the white layer of the surface” (ibid. p. 449). It will, I think, be admitted that it is no easy matter to divine, from this extraordinary description, what the distine- tion is which the author desires to convey between Ais version of the replacement-theory, that “ flint originates as silicified chalk,” and the generally accepted view, that “the flints are due to the replacement of carbonate of lime by silica”’—apart from the fact that the former is an unnecessarily complicated mode of expressing the latter, which, as it stands, is both plain and to the point. But it will be observed that Mr. Sollas divides the process into two distinct parts, which he dignifies by the name of “ stages,” without in any wise intimating what is to be gained by this division. The first stage (he tells us) commenced with the solution of the sponge-spicules in sea- water under pressure, and ended when the calcareous ooze, with some small shells and many large ones too, became con- verted into silex, through the replacement of carbonate of * This is an assumption, since no accumulation of spicules “in the ooze” at all sufficient to account for the flint-formation has as yet been recorded by any deep-sea observer. . I have seen nothing in the North Atlantic that could meet the requirements of the case. I was the first, however, to point out and furnish valid reasons for concluding that the substance called “Bathybius,’ which from the first I suspected to be no independent living organism, is merely the effete residuum of deep-sea organic life and the protoplasmic nidus of the deep-sea vitreous sponges, whose existence, in inconceivably vast numbers, over the calcareous areas of the sea-bed, had been conclusively demonstrated during the cruises of the ‘ Porcupine’ and ‘ Challenger.’ (See my paper “ On the Cretaceous Flints,” pp. 74-77.) 13% 176 Dr. Wallich on the Origin of the lime by silica—szliceous chalk, but not flint, being the result ; whilst the second stage commenced with the filling-up of the chambers of the Foraminifera and the cnterstices of the chalk by a simple deposition of silex, and ended when the siliceous chalk became converted into black flint, an dncompletely silicified layer of chalk remaining as the white layer of its surface. The replacement-theory as taught by Prof. Rupert Jones* is undoubtedly applicable to the flints, so far as it goes. Mr. Sollas’s version robs it of this attribute. For how and why the replacement by silica, admitted to have extended, during the first stage, to the ooze and some small and many large shells, should not, without let or hindrance, have, at the same time, entered the chambers of the Foraminifera, which, though small, present no peculiarity of structure that could interfere with the penetration into their chambers of the “simple” siliceous solution—how or why this solution should have reached the calcareous particles of the ooze and certain shells without gaining access to them through the ¢nter- stices existing amongst the oozy particles themselves, and should not in the first instead of the second stage have silicified these interstices—and, above all, how or why the siliceous solution, which, from the commencement of the first to the final completion of the second stage, must necessarily have gained access to the interior of the mass of ooze by per- meating its boundary-walls, should have failed throughout to silicify these, and should have left them in the shape of an “incompletely silicified layer of chalk remaining as the white layer of its surface,” are problems far too subtle for ordinary understandings to grapple with, although Mr. Sollas appears. to have long ago solved them to his own satisfaction, as the following remark, at p. 452 of his paper, somewhat personally attests :— ‘¢ As I have already shown, in an earlier part of this paper, that flints originate as silicified chalk, we need not spend time on a formal confutation of Dr. Wallich’s hypothesis ”’! These details may appear wearisome, and, could they be taken apart from Mr. Sollas’s conclusions, might with advan- tage be ignored. They become important, however, when * Prof. Rupert Jones qualifies the theory by adding :—“ As this mineral (silica) rarely succeeds calcite as a true pseudomorph, it is only the amor- hous, or detrital, carbonate of lime of the organisms constituting the feaestonp that has been replaced by silica (as flint &c.), and not the crystallized material of Echinodermatal spines &c...... the guards of Belemnites, nor the shells of Inoceramus, Ostrea, Terebratula, &c.” (loc. eit. ante, p. 447). Flints of the Upper or White Chalk. 177 viewed in connexion with the fact that they rendered it neces- sary for me to show on what grounds I reject those conclusions ; and I mean from henceforth in this paper to discuss only the replacement theory of Prof. Rupert Jones, although compelled to dissent?from it to the extent of maintaining that it performs no part whatever in the production of the true or black flint of the Upper Chalk, which, apart from its émbedded pseudomorphs of Foraminifera and other organisms, and their comminuted débris, I regard as having, from first to last, passed through the following stages :—first, in the state of inorganic, and pro- bably some organic, silica held in solution in sea-water under the special conditions prevailing at the deep-sea bed; then, in the shape of sponge-skeletons and spicules*; next, of silica in its gelatinous and perfectly colloidal condition; and, finally, in the form of the flints. In short, every imbedded pseudomorph, without exception, consists not of pure but of impure flint; in other words, it becomes cherty, and ought to be in the strictest sense regarded as an “dncluston.” Moreover the whole of these pseudo- morphs included in, but not forming part and parcel of, the pure flint (of course omitting the large foreign bodies, such as Echinoderm and other shells, which so frequently form a ‘nucleus, around or within which the colloidal silica has col- lected), if consolidated into compact masses, would rarely, if ever, occupy a space that would not be insignificant in com- parison with the bulk of the remaining mass of pure flint in which they had been imprisoned. In their case replacement of carbonate of lime by silica must undoubtedly have taken place, precisely as it takes place when large masses of shell, as, for example of Jnoceramus, have been accidentally en- trapped in the still plastic and viscid colloid. But inasmuch as it would be a palpable error to regard such foreign bodies as integral portions of the flinty matrix, even though occurring in the highest stage of silicification, so long as there is the slightest trace of the opalescence resulting from the combination of the silicic acid with a mere remnant of the calcareous or fibrous tissues, so it would be a palpable error to regard the minute organisms which are almost invariably imprisoned in the flint, like insects in amber, as constituting integral portions of the - imprisoning material. Or, per contra, if these are regarded as * For the purposes of the present inquiry, I have deemed it inexpedient to include the Polycystina, and other minute siliceous-shelled structures, the silica of which, though undoubtedly contributing their quota to the general volume of the flints, exists in such a comparatively small proportion as not to deserve mention in discussing the general question of the flint-formation. 178 Dr. Wallich on the Origin of the integral portions of the flint structure, so must the cherty rind or crust of the nodular flints, and the white outer coating of the tabular layers, both of which are due merely to the accidental entanglement in the still viscid colloidal mass of silica of minute calcareous organisms and their debris, “ the imperfectly silicified layer of chalk remaining as the white layer of its surface,” as it is very properly described by Sollas, be also thus regarded—a conclusion that would obviously be absurd. Were the replacement theory applicable except in the case of the cherty varieties, there would be no such thing as pure flint ; but we should have in lieu of it a composite mass, not homogeneous and, at times, almost translucent, but a substance identical in every respect with the cherty core that occasionally occupies what was, in the nascent state of the nodule, a portion of calcareous mud around which the colloidal mass of silica and protoplasm combined had closed in so as to form an internal chamber or cavity, the outer surface of the never absolutely silicified contents passing transitionally, though sometimes somewhat rapidly, from perfectly pronounced chert to perfectly pronounced flint. It is true that Mr. Sollas seems to have such unlimited faith in the silicifying powers of his hypothesis that he sees no difficulty in supposing that ‘ concentration of the silica”’ from the “silicate of animal matter,” formed by the combination of silicic acid with animal matter of various kinds, may take place by the extrication of the organic part of the compound ;”’ though he admits that this supposition is a ‘ pure assump- tion which agrees very well with other well known facts in chemistry” (doc. cit. p. 456). At page 454 he says, “ In all these and similar cases the silica, concentrated by the diss7- pation of the animal matter, which seemed in the first place to imprison it from solution, might remain in the crystalloid or the colloid state; at this distance of time we cannot determine.” But even this extreme and ambiguously expressed view of the potentialities of colloid matter would hardly be tenable in these days, as explaining the only practicable way in which the an- nihilation—for it must be that or nothing—of the basal organic - substance could be brought about which enters into the con- stitution of every shell and spicule, and which contains one elementary body that is certainly not an ingredient of pure flint, and could be got rid of only by entering into chemical union with another of the released elements to form carbonic acid. How comes it, then, that the constituent elements of the basal organic matter of the Foraminiferal and other calcareous, and, indeed, of all siliceous-shelled organisms, including the sponges Flints of the Upper or White Chalk. 179 themselves (whether we bury our heads and call it spzculin*, or glairine{t, or acanthine{, or even Bathybine§), if all absolutely ‘ dissipated,” or “ extricated,” should leave any pseudomorphic forms behind at all? If pseudomorphs, the pseudomorph must represent something that has been re- laced. But under the extraordinary conditions assumed by Mr. Sollas they can represent nothing—a logical situation from which I shall certainly not attempt to dislodge them, for most obvious reasons. I may here mention another of the reasons which induce me to reject the replacement theory as applicable to the true flint. Itis the fact that, were no powerful restraining influ- ence at work on the sea-bed wherever the calcareous deposits occur, such as arises out of the nearly absolute insolubility in sea-water of sponge and Foraminiferal protoplasm, and of the now gelatinous and colloid silica in combination with it, instead of well-defined strata of chalk alternating with nodular and tabular layers of flint, the stratum of the one substance never encroaching upon or becoming deeply fused into the stratum of the other so as to render it doubtful where chalk entirely ends and silica begins (evidence being in this wise furnished of their insulation from each other being dependent on some chemical or molecular agency present in the one which is absent in the other), the replacement process would have had no definite limits, and must have been exerted indetermi- nately. ‘This would have resulted in the production, in lieu of stratified chalk with intercalated and conformable layers of flint, of siliceous limestone, either with or without concre- tionary masses of chert distributed through it, probably with- _ out any regard to regularity. And, lastly, we should certainly not meet with nodular flints bearing unmistakable evidence of a highly colloidal origin. Nay, it is perhaps not going too far to say that, in such a case, the entire mass of organic rock known as chalk would, through the replacement of the whole of its carbonate of lime by silica, which had penetrated in a state of very dilute aqueous solution into every nook and ‘® Prof. Sollas’s paper, p. 445. + Alexis Julien, in ditto, p. 457. t ‘The Atlantic, by Sir Wyville Thomson, vol. i. p. 340. § G. C. Wallich, supra. I would repeat here what I stated in a footnote at p. 73 of my paper on the Flints, that I used the word “ proto- plasm” only because it is less specialized than either sarcode or albumen. It will be time enough to give it a distinctive name, as applied to enveloping albuminoid substance of the sponges or the basal organic substance of their siliceous parts, when we really know in what the distinction between the various guises under which protoplasm appears shall be more precisely determined than it has hitherto been. 180 Dr. Wallich on the Origin of the cranny, have become converted into one stupendous pseudo- morphic mass of compact silicified limestone. It must not be imagined, however, that the views now so confidently advocated are based on mere assumption unsup- ported by a fair amount of relevant evidence—as relevant perhaps as any evidence can be that relates to natural opera- tions that may in times past have been, or may even now be, carried on at abyssal depths in the ocean*. I have from time to time, during a long-continued study of the flint question, seen specimens of limestone thickly studded with fossil dia- toms, not one of which, even when examined under a micro- scopic power amply sufficient to exhibit any loss of substance or form, exhibited the least trace of having undergone solu- tion; the calcareous matrix of the limestone, crystalline and apparently deposited from solution, enclosed the diatom-valves, which remained as distinct from each other, although in the closest mechanical contact, as it was possible for them to be. It is, doubtless, both possible and probable that some of the more delicate of these structures may have undergone com- plete solution ; for, as pointed out by me nearly twenty years ago, the Acanthometre, a remarkable and very beautiful group of siliceous organisms inhabiting only the surface-waters of the open ocean, often in immense numbers, are never found in recent or fossil oceanic deposits. ‘This I showed to be the result of the unusually large admixture of basal protoplasm with silica, of which their spines are composed, and which imparts to them a very distinct optical character, causing them, in virtue of this excess of colloidal matter, invariably to dis- solve away in sea-water before their remains can sink down to the bottom. Some diatoms likewise present this character ; . and accordingly these may, if they formerly existed, have vanished from the limestone under notice. But, as already stated, the whole of those still visible remain perfectly intact, and, when seen in delicately cut sections, retain their characters so perfectly as to enable their marine origin to be positively determined. As bearing directly on this question, I will here quote from my ‘ North-Atlantic Sea-bed,’ published in 1862, with a view to show that even at that early date I had given the subject some careful consideration, though all my conclu- * It is almost needless to point out that, in all questions relating to the conditions and changes taking place at the bottom of the ocean, assump- tion and hypothesis must, for many a day to come, occupy the place of demonstrated facts. Hypotheses are the advanced guard of knowledge, and, if properly equipped and cautiously sent forth, minimize the risks of fallacy when exploring an unknown region in science. Flints of the Upper or White Chalk. 181 sions may not bave been strictly accurate :—“ It is probable that the saline and mineral substances present in sea-water exercise a much more marked effect on the formation of the organic deposits of the deeper zones of the ocean than has been admitted under the ‘antibiotic’ view so often referred to. From the nature of the difficulties by which the inquiry is surrounded, not only is the chief portion of our knowledge regarding the deep-sea bed rather of a theoretigal than a prac- tical kind, but unfortunately it must long continue to be so. It is therefore doubly expedient to test this knowledge by the light of every fact that science or accident may throw in Our way. /s. si). If we examine the siliceous concretions, our perplexities increase rather than diminish ; for whilst remains of siliceous-shelled organisms are to be met with in them, it is very remarkable that they do not belong to the family of siliceous-shelled Rhizopods that next to the Foraminifera are most largely represented at the bed of the ocean, namely the Polycystina; and there ts no authenticated example up to the present period of a Polycystine shell having been detected in a flint. FHrom the nature of the hydrosilicates, we could hardly expect to find the forms of siliceous organisms preserved ; hence it is possible that the mineral atoms of the Polycystina have become merged as it were into the substance of the masses. But since we constantly detect siliceous spicules of sponges, which have not yielded to disintegration though similarly formed, it is difficult to reconcile the apparent anomaly. If we regard the concretions as principally made up of sponge- spicules, the case is but little altered ; for the pseudomorphs of the calcareous shells of the Foraminifera are plentiful in their substance, and indicate that the conditions under which they were formed and silicified were such as might have been shared by the testaceous Rhizopods generally” (op. cit. pp. 120, 121). “ Again, in those marine deposits in which the Diatomacee are sufficiently abundant and well marked to indicate that they had lived in the immediate locality, it may be taken for granted either that the water was shallow or that the deposit was formed along a coast-line, s¢nce no Diatomacee live at greater depths than trom 400 to 500 fathoms. In the deep-sea beds where Diatomacez occur, the characters of the species, their variety, and their limited numbers, at once show they had been drifted from distant shallows, or were free floating surface forms which had subsided to the bottom after death. Whilst as yet we have no positive proof that the Polycystina live at extreme depths, it is a very significant circumstance that the large assemblages of these organisms hitherto met with in such a recent state as to indicate vitality 182 Dr. Wallich on the Origin of the occur in deep water, and that the forms taken alive at the immediate surface of the ocean in some latitudes are sufficiently distinct to prove that the same species do not occur at the surface and at the bottom without undergoing marked modifi- cation. On the other hand, there is reason to believe that some of the siliceous organisms met with in a living condition at the surface of the open ocean cannot live at any great depth, and that, from some peculiarity in molecular constitution, the siliceous portion of their structure yields to the solvent power of the water. Thus the Acanthometrina, a small group of organisms with siliceous frameworks of extreme symmetry and of such characteristic shape as to be readily distinguish- able, occur in tolerable profusion in tropical and subtropical latitudes ; but, strange to say, not a trace of thetr siliceous re- mains ts to be found either in recent or fossil oceanic deposits” (ibid. pp. 126, 127). I have still in my possession unmounted and mounted mate- rial obtained by me in 1857 from the surface of the Indian Ocean, and Southern and Mid-Atlantic Ocean, containing specimens, in considerable numbers, of Acanthometre, Poly- cystina, Dictyochide, Diatomace, and Spherozoide — the mounted specimens in Canada balsam, the crude material in dilute alcohol. In both cases, the Acanthometrw, and some of the very delicate oceanic Diatomace, with the thin-shelled Spherozoide, were the first to show signs of solution, about ten years after they were obtained. In twenty years most of these had vanished as visible structures, but the fluffy resi- duum of their sarcodic bodies remained. Now some of the more solidly built forms are beginning to yield, and probably will do so in the course of a few scores of years, which, it is almost needless to say, is but a moment in comparison with the periods involved in any of the great chemical or molecular changes brought about in Nature. But, surely, no fact could be more clearly indicative of the potency residing in proto- plasm than the one just furnished, these minute siliceous struc- tures having, undoubtedly, given way under the powerful colloidal properties of what was once their own body-sub- stance. What, then, do these facts prove ? First and foremost, they prove, by the presence of forms belonging to genera which invariably live along coast-lines*, and possessing stalk or cushion-like processes whereby they anchor themselves to rocks or shells, or algee at the bottom of the sea, that the deposit in which their remains occur could not have been formed at any great distance from land, and that they were, in all pro- * At depths probably never exceeding 50 or 60 fathoms. Flints of the Upper or White Chalk. 183 bability, drifted by tidal or other currents into those areas in which they became finally accumulated. This, coupled with the almost entire absence of sponge-spicules, tends moreover to prove that there were no siliceous sponges in those areas, and, consequently, that the only substance which would have ensured their solution, namely sponge or Foraminiferal pro- toplasm (for in like manner no Foraminifera are observable in the limestone), was entirely wanting. Hence their im- munity from destruction and perfect preservation in the limestone. Of the existence of pure Diatomacean deposits at much greater depths in the ocean and at vastly greater distances from land than those just named, there is, as every biologist knows, abundant evidence—for example, in the antarctic regions, where they were discovered by Sir Joseph Hooker in 1843, and thirty years later by the naturalists on board the ‘Challenger.’ I have now before me sections of a Norwegian limestone literally crowded with marine diatoms of the kind already described, which are also in the same perfect state of preservation,—the inference I draw from these facts being that the unaltered condition of the organisms under notice is due to the very limited power of sea-water at mode- rate depths, and consequently under moderate pressure, even when aided by abundant products of animal and vegetable decomposition, to reduce silica to a colloidal state; and, con- versely, that the superabundance, over the deep-sea calcareous areas, of siliceous sponges and their concomitant protoplasmic investment furnishes us with a highly probable and satisfac- tory explanation why flint-formation has taken place under one determinate set of conditions and has failed entirely to take place where these conditions are absent. Reasons have already been given by me for regarding the simple deposition of silica from an aqueous solution, whether in the condition of flint which Mr. Sollas describes as “ erys- talline,’ or of pure rock-crystal, as furnishing no parallel whatever to the process of the true chalk-flint formation as it occurs in the chalk strata, in which I contend there is no deposition of silica in the ordinary acceptation of the term, but a still more simple process of solidification of two gelatinous colloids ‘ more or less rich” (to quote an expression of Mr. Graham’s) ‘‘in combined water as at first produced,” but which gradually part with their ‘“‘ combined water” to the surrounding medium, under the dialyzing action of their own gelatinous substance, and become more and more consolidated ‘until the period arrives when they have lost the whole of their “hydration,” and then “ appear as a colloidal glassy hyalite”’ 184 Dr. Wallich on the Origin of the (in other words, as typical flint): see an invlauable paper by Mr. Graham, “‘ On the Colloidal Properties of Silicic Acid and other Colloidal Substances,” Proc. Roy. Soc. for June 2, 1864, p. 335, where nearly the whole of the changes and processes I have described, although not with relation to deep- sea siliceous deposits, will be found most lucidly set forth. Mr. Sollas alludes throughout his paper, with one exception to be hereafter mentioned, to the flints as being composed of “crystalline silica.” This expression strikes me as being so remarkable that I must quote some of the passages in which it occurs. Thus, at p. 445, “ The silica of the sponge-skele- tons occurs in conjunction (or probably in combination) with an organic basis known as spiculin ; on solution it is liberated from the spiculin, and exists in a colloid state, whence it readily passes into the pectous condition, and subsequently becomes hyaline; it is, moreover, probable that, under condi- tions not yet investigated, a solution of colloid silica may give rise directly to silica in a crystalline form.” Again, at p- 455, alluding to the silicified Blackdown shells, he says :— “The crystalline silica, which the percolating water carries in solution, passes through the shell, and in some cases, under favourable conditions, crystallizes out in long fine prisms.” At p. 456:—“ Thus the crystalline state of the flint nodules offers us no evidence for or against the theory of the formation of these [the Blackdown] fossils.” And “‘ from this process of reasoning we conclude that colloidal silica has the power of changing, in course of time, into a static or crystalline condi- tion.” And, lastly, reverting to p. 445, from which the first of these extracts was taken, we find the “ crystalline” view thus emphasized :—‘‘ If it be objected that in this expanded explanation fact and conjecture are mixed together, I to some extent admit it, but at the same time remark that there is no conjecture in the statement that the silica which passes into solution is very different from the silica which has passed out of solution. The one may be conveniently called organic, and the other mineral silica; the properties of the two are strikingly different ; and the process which has really happened has been a solution of organic silica and a deposi- tion of mineral silica, not a solution and deposition of the same kind of silica.” ‘The last truisms are quoted only be- cause, as the entire passage stands, the term “ mneral silica” would seem from the context to be a convertible term for ‘ crystalline silica.” On the other hand, I subscribe to the opinion which, if I mistake not, is very generally entertained by chemists, that the flints are neither perfectly pure, nor, under any circum- Flints of the Upper or White Chalk. 185 stances, a truly crystalline form of silica—silica being of course the principal but not the sole constituent of the black flint met with in the chalk, which is a compound substance consisting of a purely flinty matrix, within which varying numbers of the disintegrated remains of minute calcareous and siliceous organisms may almost invariably be detected on careful examination. ‘Thus, in Phillips’s ‘ Elementary Intro- duction to Mineralogy,’ the following, according to Klaproth, are the constituents of flint—“98 per cent. of silica, with minute proportions of oxide of iron, lime, alumina, and water.” It may also be here stated with advantage that, according to Graham, silicic acid or silica becomes more and more insoluble the purer or more free from combined water it be- comes. Hence the gelatinous compound formed by the ready and intimate combination of organic silica with, and also within, a mass of protoplasm, which ts already an insoluble colloid, is to all intents and purposes no longer either soluble or miscible with water; whilst on the question of crystal- lization Mr. Graham says, “I may add that no solution, weak or strong, of silicic acid in water has shown any dispo- sition to deposit crystals, but ALWAYS appears, on drying, as a colloidal glassy hyalite. The formation of quartz crystals at a low temperature, of so frequent occurrence in nature, re- mains a mystery” (Graham, loc. cit. p. 335). It is of the utmost importance to bear these last-named characteristics of silica constantly in mind, as upon them de- pends the preeminent tendency of this substance to enter into colloidal combination with any albuminoid substance, such as animal protoplasm. Qn the other hand, it is equally impor- tant to bear in mind that silica, the moment it has assumed its gelatinous state, although holding in combination a certain portion of water, zs practically insoluble in water. Hence its inherent tendency, when combined directly with protoplasm, not to imbibe more water, but to part with all but the infini- tesimally minute trace that remains in combination with it up to the period when it is exposed to atmospheric agencies on dry land—this expulsion of its combined water being the result partly of dialytic action, as already mentioned, and partly of its idiosyncratic tendency to contract (Graham, loc. cit. p. 336) more and more upon itself, and thus favour the expulsion of all but the last residuary quantity, before final and complete consolidation into flint*. ‘This consolidation is * I have seen an interesting fact stated (but where, Iam at this mo- ment unable to remember), that flint-workers always find the flint softer and more easy to cut away in flakes immediately after it is extracted 186 Dr. Wallich on the Origin of the also shown by Graham (Joc. cit. p. 337) to be greatly assisted by the presence of alkaline salts and more particularly of carbonate of lime. According to Mr. Sollas’s statement already referred to, silicic acid forms, with albumen and gelatin, chemical com- pounds, silicate of albumen, and silicate of gelatin (ante, p- 163, note), and Mr. Sollas reasons upon it as if it were an indisputable fact. It may be so; but, until I have some sub- stantial proofs of the fact, I confess I shall continue disin- clined to believe that any chemical compound, such as silicic acid, or protoplasm, can be broken up into its elements by simple mechanical means, such as solution or diffusion. Thus glycerine and water may be mixed in any quantities without losing their chemical identity. So may two gelatinous and colloidal substances, as in the case of silicic acid and proto- plasm, as soon after the death of the parent organism as the purely material forces step into the field to cause a combina- tion of the silica, which had, én the first instance only, yielded so far, but no further, to the guast-chemical action by which silicic acid, in the presence of a powerful colloid, exchanged one unstable condition in which it can exist without chemical disruption, for another unstable condition in which it can also do so. On these grounds I contend that the union of these two substances is a purely mechanical combination or intermix- ture, whereby they become amalgamated, as it were, ¢nto an organic alloy, capable of retaining just sufficient “ combined water’’ not to interfere, in the least degree, with their mutual insolubility in the surrounding water. Organic silica, or, in other words, s¢licic hydrate, in the presence of protoplasm only, passes into its gelatinous phase as soon as the preservative action of the diving organism ceases with its death. ‘‘ Decom- position ” at the sea-bed, in the presence of the various saline preservative substances contained in sea-water, the low tem- perature prevailing, and the stupendous pressure (which, in all probability, prevents any gaseous body from existing, save in its fluid condition), must necessarily be an extremely slow process. In the combined state of colloidal silica and proto- plasm their insolubility helps still further to protect them from decomposition by excluding substances which might otherwise enter into chemical combination with them. They constitute an independent regnum in regno, the permanence of which is interfered with only by the inherent and powerful tendency of from the chalk rock. This would appear to be in some way related to its retaining its permanent minute residuary quantity of water only until its exposure to the aetion of the atmosphere. Flints of the Upper or White Chalk. 187 the combined mass of colloidal silicic acid and protoplasm to contract upon itself, and thus to bring about, by slow and sure degrees, the separation of its combined water. But it is not until the transition is actually imminent, from the plastic con- dition of the still nascent flint nodule to the final consolidated state when the nodule may be regarded as complete, that the minute residuum of water, enabled under the enormous pres- sure to retain a portion of pure silica in solution, yields, for the first time since it formed a component portion of the sili- ceous mass, to purely chemical forces, and thus, by dialytic action, escapes in its elementary form from its long imprison- ment. It is during the entire period, dating from the death of the parent organisms that furnish the silica and protoplasm, up to that at which the final consolidation takes place, that the innate tendency to the assumption, by the continually con- tracting mass, of the peculiar external forms which so signally characterize the flint nodules, exercises a determining effect upon them—this effect being in all probability at its maximum of energy in the early stages of the masses, and at its miniémum in their latest stages, but never absent or materially inter- rupted in the quiescent solitudes of the ocean. It shall be shown hereafter that dead and effete albuminoid matter, as well as living, evinces this tendency to assume what I have termed, in the absence of a preferable word, amebiform outlines. The varying number and contiguity of the flint nodules in different strata of chalk, and in different parts of the same chalk-beds, prove that these variations are due to varying extent, bulk, and rapidity of growth of the sponge-fields and their enveloping nidus of protoplasm, both the siliceous and the albuminoid portions of these organisms being contributories to the flint-formation. Did the nodular flints really originate, as alleged by Mr. Sollas, in silicified chalk—if by this expres- sion we are to understand that a siliceous solution derived from the solvent action of sea-water on the spicules, aided by a partial admixture with the products of decayed organisms, “yeplaced the calcareous material of the ooze,.. . that siliceous chalk (not flint) was the result, . . . and, subsequently, this siliceous chalk became converted into black flint, an incom- pletely silicified layer of chalk remaining as the white layer of its surface””—it is very difficult, if not impossible, to conceive why or how such flint assumed, under any ulterior conditions short of re-solution and combination with a plentiful supply of colloid matter, the amcebiform outlines I have so often alluded to. The replacement of carbonate of lime—whether in sponge- cavities, shells, the tests of Foraminifera, or masses of calcareous ooze—has never, that I am aware, been found coupled with 188 Dr. Wallich on the Origin of the change of form. On the contrary, we have in almost every pseudomorph, whether consisting of carbonate of lime after silica, or silica after carbonate of lime, or an admixture of both carbonate of lime and silica, a well-defined retention of the general outline of the object, although extending only to the ghostly remnant of the organic basal matter to which reference is made. The necessary evidence is, I submit, therefore complete, of the black flint* not being the product, in any sense, of the replacement of one mineral substance by another, but the direct resultant of the gradual transition of its silica from a gelatinous to the “ pectous”’ condition, during which the last removable vestige of its “‘ hydration” is expelled and the production of “ the hard stony mass of vitreous substance” called flint is consummated. As these remarks apply more or less to the entire flint- formation, including the cherty varieties, I hereto append a few short passages from Mr. Graham's paper on silicic acid, to which I have already been so deeply indebted for guidance in the present inquiry, as I should of course wish to give the whole weight of that illustrious physicist’s scientific authority to the statements that have been put forward on the subject. Having done so, I shall consider my case concluded, so far as the mode of production of the flints is concerned. “ A dominating quality of colloids,’ Mr. Graham wrote, “is the tendency of their particles to adhere, aggregate, and contract. This idio-attraction is obvious in the gradual thickening of the liquid, and, when it advances, leads to pectization. In the jelly itself the specific contraction in question, or syneresis, still proceeds, causing separation of water, with the division into a coagulum and serum, and ending in the production of the hard stony mass of vitreous substance, which may be anhydrous, or nearly so, when the water is allowed to escape by evaporation. . . . Bearing in mind that the colloidal phasis of matter is the result of a peculiar attraction and aggregation of molecules, never entirely absent from matter, but greatly more developed in some substances than in others, it is not surprising that colloidal substances spread on all sides into the liquid and solid conditions. . . . It is unnecessary to return here to the ready pectization of liquid silicic acid by alkaline salts, including some of very sparing solubility (such as carbonate of lime), beyond stating that the presence of carbonate of lime * Throughout my paper I have spoken of the black funt and the typical flint of the upper or white chalk, only because the characters I wish to account for are most strikingly seen in it. Flints of the Upper or White Chatk. 189 in water was observed to be incompatible with the coexistence of soluble silicic acid, till the proportion of the latter was reduced to nearly 1 in 10,000” (loc. cit. anted, pp. 336, 337). Of course, between the most highly developed cherty form of flint and that in which is an admixture of foreign particles, of whatever kind these may be, there is an almost infinite gradation, depending, as ] have in a former page pointed out, on the replacement, now taking effect for the first time, of carbonate of lime by silica. In order to understand by what very simple means this result is brought about, I will endea- vour to illustrate it by the diagrams in the Plate accompanying this paper, representing four of the most common forms in which the typical nodular flints are met with in the Chalk, all peculiarities as regards external form being of course dis- pensed with as irrelevant to the present inquiry. For this reason each of the four nodules is supposed to have been more or less spherical (a condition, by the way, in which they are not unfrequently met with), and to have been split in half, so as to exhibit the flat and broken surface of one of the hemi- spheres. In figure 1 we have a solid mass of typical black flint, sur- rounded exteriorly by a whitish crust or layer, the thickness of which is immaterial, inasmuch as it depends almost entirely on the degree of comminution and purity of the deposit in the spot at which it was formed. ‘The portion which is now a mass of the typical black flint (marked B in all the figures) con- sisted originally of an accumulation of effete sponge-spicules and network, which, immediately after the death of the parent sponge to which they belonged, became loosely distributed within the substance of the also effete investing protoplasmic nidus *. Here they would be retained, more or less free * “Hiffete ” is not meant to denote a state of decomposition in the common acceptation of the word, inasmuch as every known fact tends to show that no such process takes place at profound depths in the ocean. Disintegra- tion (7. e. tumbling to pieces) may, and no doubt does, take place, either in obedience to mechanical, chemical, or molecular forces, under the ope- ration of which dead organic matter is enabled to enter into new combi- nations. This distinction is more important than it at first sight appears to be, since there is reason to believe that in such an elementary substance as sponge-protoplasm, and likewise in the examples known to every algologist, in which the development of a prctoplasmic nidus or “ thallus” is often so enormous in comparison with the dimensions and apparent capabilities of secretion of the organisms producing it, that it is extremely difficult to understand by what subtle or simple function (if it be indeed simple) such a massive adjunct can be produced and maintained for lengthened periods. The singularly rapid disruption of this adjunct, following upon the death of the organism of which it formed a part, furnishes one of the most in- structive and significant commentaries we could desire upon the complete Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 5. Vol. vii. 14 190 Dr. Wallich on the Origin of the from contact with sea-water, owing to the insolubility and coherence of the protoplasm, and would in due time yield to the powerful solvent influence of this substance (an influence which is at its maximum when exerted between substances that are colloidal), and eventually, by parting with their hydration in obedience to the law which governs these bodies, as their state of pectization became more perfect, would become consolidated into black flint. Wherein, then, does the external whitish layer or crust of the nodule, and which also forms a crust or coating over the surface of the tabular layers of flint, differ in its mode of formation from that I have just been describing—namely, of the central mass of black flint? The explanation, I contend, is both simple and conclusive. At this stage of the forma- tion of the nodular mass (not in point of time, but of material) replacement of the carbonate of lime by silica, rarely, if ever, a complete process *, comes into operation. An examination of sections of nodules embracing both a portion of the true flint, and of its outer investing crust of chert will show that the transi-~ tion from pure flint to well-pronounced chert is a gradual one, so gradual, indeed, that it would often be difficult, were not a difference of colour apparent, to recognize it, except by the im- pairment of the vitreous character, conchoidal fracture, and translucence which distinguish the flint from the crust of chert. Seen, however, as a section under the microscope, it is always visible. On the outer aspect of the cherty crust, on the other hand, there is no gradation observable either as regards colour or texture; for, although in nearly every nodular mass a certain quantity of unmetamorphosed chalk is closely adherent to it externally, a very little trouble will show that not a trace of siliceous percolation has extended beyond the peri- dependence of organic matter for its continuance, as living matter, upon the unknown quantity we call life. A mere breath destroys the link that binds together the animate and inanimate ; and, as if eager to regain the sway they once enjoyed, when life “was not,” the material forces of nature set about their normal task of disintegrating and recon- structing the elements which had for a time so successfully set them at defiance. If we extend this conception (and there is no reasonable ground for saying we have no warrant for so doing) to the stupendous development of sponge-life at the bed of the ocean, we shall not expe- rience difficulty in comprehending how the silica and the protoplasm of the sponge, which respected each other’s rights so long as the vital force presided over them, should, under the now unrestrained action of their powerful combining tendencies, interact upon each other in the way that has here been indicated. * Mr. Sollas (at p. 449 of his paper) speaks of the white outer crust of the flints as ‘an incompletely silicified layer of chalk.” Flints of the Upper or White Chalk. 191 phery of the cherty wall, the adhesion of the cretaceous particles being due solely to their having become imbedded here and there, while the flinty mass was yet in an unconso- lidated state, into little pits or cavities formed by the pressure of the cretaceous particles themselves, or into other equally accidental irregularities of the surface of the nascent nodule. The adherence of any. portion of chalk to the nodule is a mere mechanical adherence arising out of the grip thus secured. Now, according to the replacement theory, the entire mass of black flint was at one time a mass of calcareous ooze, which, becoming impregnated with a fluid aqueous solution of silica, became gradually silicified. Had this really taken place, one of two things must have happened: either the re- ‘placement of the calcareous material must have begun from some central point or points, by the admission of the siliceous solution into the centre of the mass through some channels which communicated with the surrounding medium—in which case a period must have arrived at which the external layer of the mass undergoing silicification must also have come under the influence of the replacing siliceous fluid and have in its turn become completely converted into black flint, the replacement thus extending radially from the centre of the mass to its periphery ; or the replacement must have taken place from without and extended centrewards. It will be obvious, however, that under the latter supposition the outer coating must of necessity have been the first portion of the mass to be converted into flint. But it is almost needless to observe that in neither case is the theory of replacement borne out, inasmuch as in the first-named case the outer coating must sometimes, at least, have been converted into black flint—a condition in which it is never found; and in the second case, the silicification having begun from the peri- phery towards the centre, nodules must occasionally have been met with in which a coating of black flint (not possess- ing a cherty external layer) surrounded the yet unmetamor- phosed central caleareous mass—another condition in which we never find it unless under the wholly exceptional circum- stances where the nodule has, after separation from its chalky matrix, undergone attrition. In the early nascent state of each nodule no chemical replacement of mineral for mineral has taken place on either side—the extensions of the colloidal siliceous jelly, and the intervening masses of calcareous deposit interlacing mechani- cally, and changing their relative boundaries only in obedi- ence to the slow contraction going on in the colloidal mass towards its own centre or a centre or point d’apput consisting * 192 Dr. Wallich on the Origin of the of some shell or other foreign substance that happened to come in the way and became thus accidentally enveloped either partially or wholly. According to Mr. Graham, “a dominating quality of colloids is the tendency of their particles to adhere, aggregate, and contract. In the jelly itself the spe- cific contraction or syneresis still proceeds, causing separation of water with a division into a clot and serum, and ending tn the production of a hard stony mass of vitreous structure” (Graham, “ On Silicie Acid and other Colloids,” Proc. Roy. Soe. vol. xi. no. 65, June 1864, p. 336). Here, then, is the key to my hypothesis, and, as I conceive, proof that the characteristic features, including the stratifica- tion and nodulation of the flints, are due to the inherent properties of the double colloid formed by the intense dispo- sition of the colloidal protoplasm to enter into mechanical union (as in the case of glycerine and water) with the organic silica of the sponge-spicules and network—this tendency dating, however, only from the period when they ceased to be integral portions of a living structure and had already become only its residuary substances. Having now explained, but still too cursorily to admit of my producing all the evidence that could be adduced in sup- port of my view, the processes whereby the nodules and tabular layers of flint and the cherty varieties are formed, from the earliest to the latest stage of their nascent condition, it remains for me to connect these with my hypothesis in such a manner as to show :—firstly, the adequacy of the hypothesis to account not for one, or two, but for all the distinguishing features of the flint-formation as it now presents itself in the Chalk; and, secondly, in what respects the replace- ment and other theories that have been proposed must be considered faulty and insufficient to account for any thing more than the formation at the bed of the ocean of an impure flint, and the silicification of certain calcareous-shelled creatures which are entombed in the chalk and flit. I cannot secure this end more readily and, under existing circumstances, more appropriately than by quoting such portions of my former paper as bear onmy hypothesis. But tor the reasons assigned I should, of course, have been content to append reterences to the pages in question. Referring to the insufficiency of the hypothesis previously offered in explanation of the Ilint-formation, I asked :— “¢ Whence, then, did all the silica come? Why is it almost invariably found existing in layers parallel to the stratitica- tion of the Chalk? And what has really been its history, from first to last ? Flints of the Upper or White Chalk. 193 * Tt is to these questions that I hope, on the present occa- sion, to be able to furnish such answers as shall, at all events, form the groundwork of a good working hypothesis, and one capable of further elaboration as time and opportunity permit. Meanwhile I may be allowed to state that the conclusions arrived at by me have their origin in the assumption that, in the nearly total elimination of the organic silica from the organic carbonate of lime, in the almost constant aggregation of the colloid silica around some foreign body, in the ultimate consolidation of the colloid material into nodular masses or more or less continuous sheets, in the stratification of these masses and sheets, and, collaterally, in the perfectly preserved state of many of the Cretaceous fossils, are to be discerned the successive stages of a metamorphic action, whereby the pro- toplasmic matter and silica present on the sea-bed, after having first passed through an organie phase capable of resisting dis- integration and decay, became once more amenable to those purely material forces in obedience to which they entered upon their new and secondary phase as I lints *. “But even yet the chain of metamorphic action must have remained incomplete but for the manifest connexion which I was fortunately enabled, in 1860, to trace out between each of the successive stages referred to and a condition of things at the sea-bed then for the first time noticed—namely, that the entire mass of animal life there present is confined to the immediate surface-layer of the muddy deposit, alternating periods being thereby established, during which one of the two predominant animal types (Foraminifera and Sponges) gradually overwhelms and crushes out the other over indefinite local areas, the strata of chalk in the one case, and the inter- calated flint-beds in the other, being the issue of these contests. “Should it be asked, Why, then, do we find so striking a lithological difference between the Chalk and the Atlantic mud? the answer is, because our specimens of the mud repre- sent only the constituent materials forthcoming at a depth of a few inches beneath the surface, where, if my hypothesis be correct, there must needs be accumulated nearly the whole of the silica. Whereas, were it possible to obtain specimens, say, from a depth of even a few feet, we should find that all, save the small residuary portion detected by analysis in the Chalk, had in like manner been eliminated from the mud.” * “Much valuable information ‘on Quartz and other Forms of Silica’ will be found in a paper bearing this title, from the pen of Prof. Kupert Jones, F.R.S. Unfortunately [ was unable to avail myself of it, being unaware of its existence until the present communication had been laid before the Geological Society.” 194 Dr. Wallich on the Oriyin of the “‘ A very important fact has to be here noticed in relation to the siliceous materials which are supposed to be normally and uniformly distributed throughout the substance of the calcareous mud at the period of its deposition on the sea-bed. In order to understand the full significance of this fact, it is indispensable to recollect that, whereas the carbonate of lime of the effete Globigerine and other foraminiferous shells is to a certain extent redissolved in the water charged with an excess of carbonic acid, and the amount thus abstracted is too insignificant to produce any material diminution in the mass of the calcareous deposit, nearly the whole of the organic, and probably a not inconsiderable proportion of the inorganic silica which has been found present in some specimens of the Atlantic mud, is dissolved under the conditions that prevail. For, whereas the calcareous matter is furnished partly from the débris of Foraminifera which pass their existence only at the bottom of the ocean, and partly from such as live at the surface and subside to the bottom only when dead, the whole of the silea-secreting organisms, with the solitary exception of the sponges, subside to the bottom only after death. 'The result is, that the whole of the organic silica, the moment it reaches the bottom, comes into contact with the protoplasmic layer and is retained by it. Hence the quantity present in every sample of mud obtained (as all our samples hitherto have been) by a mere dip into the superficial stratum of a few inches in depth, does not fairly represent the percentage of silica contained and supposed to be equally distributed in the substrata, but only the accumulated amount of that substance which has been getting accessions for an indefinite period from the superincum- bent waters. ‘“Tn the case of the sponges that occur in such numbers on every square yard of the calcareous mud, and live more or less imbedded in the soft and luxuriantly developed nidus of their own protoplasm, the result described must necessarily take place in a still more signal degree, since every spicule, and every particle of their siliceous débris, is not only formed but accumulated within this protoplasmic environment. Therefore, instead of there being from 25 to 35 per cent. of silica, soluble and insoluble, in the calcareous mud, at a depth, say, of eighteen or twenty-four inches below the surface there is in all probability not more than is to be met with in an average specimen of white chalk. “Tf we follow out to its legitimate issue a continuance of such conditions as have been here described, it is obvious that a period must arrive when the protoplasmic masses (which, owing to their inferior specifie gravity, always occupy Flints of the Upper or White Chalk. 195 this position in relation to the calcareous mud, upon which they may be said to float so as to form an intermediate stratum between them and the superincumbent water) will become, if not supersaturated with silica, at all events so highly charged with it in a now colloid state more and more closely approaching coagulation, as eventually to asphyxiate, so to speak, the very organisms which have produced them. ‘“‘Tf we turn to the less prominent, because negative, con- ditions that prevail at the sea-bed, we shall perceive that they are of a kind specially favourable for securing uniformity of results, both as regards the time occupied in their completion and the nature of the changes which are effected by them. Thus we know that the abyssal waters closely bordering on the sea-bed itself are, in the majority of cases, in a state so nearly approaching perfect quiescence, that no current of sufficient energy exists to divert from their downward course particles of matter so light and feathery as to have taken probably many weeks, if not months, to sink down from the surface of the sea to their final resting-place at the bottom. On the other hand, there is nothing as yet known that could lead to the inference that the periods required for the depo- sition and consolidation of each succeeding stratum of chalk, and its accompanying stratum of flints, bear any proportion to those gradual and more rarely recurring secular changes in the direction of the great oceanic currents which (to repeat Sir Charles Lyell’s words) favour at one time in the same area a supply of calcareous, and at another of siliceous matter ; whilst, as a natural consequence, the prevailing uniformity of the physical conditions must inevitably engender a corre- sponding uniformity and simultaneousness in the development, growth, and final death and decay of the various lower forms of life that are under its inflnence. If this be true, we might expect that over large areas of the calcareous sea-bed a very preponderating number of the sponges would, almost simul- taneously, spring into existence from the germs or gemmules left by a preceding generation, and as simultaneously multiply and die, to be succeeded in turn by another generation, and soon. We are thus furnished with an auxiliary, though (as 1 shall presently show) by no means the most important, factor in determining the simultaneous production of the flint nodules and sheets over extended horizontal areas.” “‘The stratification of the flints is due to the fact, already touched upon in a previous page, that nearly the whole of the silex derived from the Sponges on the one hand, and the continual subsidence of minute dead siliceous organisms on the other, is retained in the general protoplasmic layer, which 196 Dr. Wallich on the Origin of the I have shown maintains its position on the immediate surface of the calcareous deposit, and gradually dissolves the silex. This layer, in virtue of its inferior specific gravity, rises with every increase in the thickness of the deposit, until at last the supersaturation of the protoplasmic masses with silex takes place, and the first step towards the consolidation into flint is accomplished—the continuity of sponge-life, and of the various other forms which tenant the calcareous areas, being secured through the oozy spaces which separate the sponge- beds, and thus admit of both adult and larval forms having free access to the overlying stratum of water. - “‘ That the predisposition of silica, itself in reality a colloid, to form colloidal combinations with albuminous and other materials was known long before deep-sea exploration was dreamt of, is a well-known historical fact ; it has been alluded to by most of the writers who have attempted an explanation of the mode of formation of the flints. But the various con- ditions that present themselves, from the earliest elimination of the silica from the sea-water to the period when it becomes finally consolidated, have never, that I am aware, been con- secutively followed out. “ But that the colloidal diosyncrasy of silica performed a much more important function in the phenomena connected with the flints than has heretofore been supposed, appears to me to be indicated by the evidence of the almost perfect incorporation of the organic silica with a colloid material, the unique Amebiform nodulation of the flints, and its homogene- ousness, whether occurring in nodules, in continuous sheets parallel to the stratification, or as sluggish overflows into fissures in the Chalk. But for a very highly developed colloidal condition of the materials, these peculiarities could not, I conceive, have presented themselves so uniformly throughout the formation. From a mere aqueous solution the deposit of silica would have exhibited totally different characters: there would have been a general infiltration into the substance of the chalk, the particles of which would thereby have been cemented together, so as to form a siliceous lime- stone; the various minute organic forms in which the silica showed itself, though, no doubt, capable of solution to a limited extent in water charged more or less highly with carbonic acid, and aided perhaps by the stupendous pressure, would have occasionally left more pronounced traces of their original structure than is observable in the body of the flints ; probably all the fossils would have been either infiltrated with silica, or a substitution of that substance would have taken place even more frequently than we find it ; there would have Flints of the Upper or White Chalk. 197 been no signs of the specific contractility pertaining to colloidal silicic acid; the resulting siliceous mineral, instead of appearing, when not rendered cherty by insoluble matter, as ‘a colloidal glassy hyalite, would have presented itself either as compact quartz, or possibly as an alkaline silicate ; and, lastly, there would have been wanting the evidence of the greater portion of the siliceous material having been, as it were, continuously waylaid and absorbed, as it descended from the surface of the ocean, into the colloidal protoplasmic mass resting upon the immediate upper surface of the calca- reous deposit. “Tn conclusion, I beg to express a hope that, although the length already attained by the present communication has debarred me from bringing forward a number of important facts and observations which would have materially strength- ened my arguments, considering the complex nature of the inquiry and the special difficulties belonging to it, the follow- ing conclusions have, on the whole, been fairly sustained :— 1. That the silica of the flints is derived mainly from the sponge-beds and sponge-fields which exist in immense pro- fusion over the areas occupied by the Globigerine or calcareous ‘ooze. 2. That the deep-sea sponges, with their environ- ment of protoplasmic matter, constitute by far the most important and essential factors in the production and stratifi- cation of the flints. 3. That, whereas nearly the whole of the carbonate of lime, derived partly from Foraminifera and other organisms that have lived and died at the bottom, and partly from such as have subsided to the bottom only after death, goes to build up the calcareous stratum, nearly the whole of the silica, whether derived from the deep-sea sponges or from surface Protozoa, goes to form the flints. 4. That the sponges are the only really important contributors to the flint-formation that live and die at the sea-bed. 5. That the flints are just as much an organic product as the Chalk itself. 6. That the stratification of the flint is the immediate result of all sessile Protozoan life being confined to the superficial layer of the muddy deposits. 7. That the substance which received the name of ‘Bathybius,’ and was declared to be an independent living Moneron, is, in reality, sponge-protoplasm. 8. That no valid Uithological distinction exists between the Chalk and the calcareous mud of the Atlantic ; and pro tanto, therefore, the calcareous mud may be, and in all probability is, ‘a continuation of the Chalk formation.’ ” The history of Bathybius is too well known to the scientific world to need resuscitation in this place. Suffice it, therefore, to say that Sir Wyville Thomson and Dr. Carpenter found what 198 Dr. Wallich on the Origin of the they conceived to be vast masses of it in dredging in the North Atlantic, at the same time that they discovered vast numbers of vitreous sponges whose root-fibres and spicules were densely mixed up with it “like hairs in mortar.” The deep-sea explorations on board the ‘Challenger’ confirmed the existence over other areas of the ocean besides the North Atlantic, where they had first been found, of like vast accu- mulations of sponges. On this all but conclusive evidence I ventured to assume that Bathybius, though not an independent living thing, was not altogether a myth, but veritable sponge- protoplasm. I refer to the circumstance now solely in explanation of my having appended to this paper a figure (Pl. XI. fig. 5) of the so-called Bathybius (copied from Hiickel’s figure, a representation of which is to be found in Sir W. Thomson’s ‘ Depths of the Sea,’ p. 412), with a view to show what I mean by an ameebiform outline. It must be recollected, however, that, owing to the nature of the conditions to which a little viscid mass of the kind has unavoidably to be subjected when examined in the microscope, an undue amount of flattening-out must take place. It had evidently taken place in the specimen from which Haeckel’s drawing was taken. Hence, as a perfectly typical specimen of an Ameba-like form, it might certamly be surpassed. But it has this extraordinary merit—that it 1s not a figure of Ameba, but, according to my interpretation, of sponge-protoplasm diself, which, for the purposes of the present inquiry, is infinitely more to the purpose than the best figure of an Ameba could possibly have been. At all events any one looking at it who is also familiar with the appearances exhibited by Ameba will, at a glance, recognize the identity in character, and have no difficulty in perceiving that, but for the abnormal flattening- out of the mass by compression just referred to, no more conclusive testimony could have been furnished of the tendency of an organic colloid, and notably of the material itself which is so largely concerned, according to my hypothesis, in the production and determination of the unique but nevertheless undefinable type of irregular form of the flint nodules, to assume the forms in question. I would add that I have never said or written, because I have never so believed, that the /iving sponge-protoplasm has any thing to do with the flint-formation. It stands in the same direct relation to the living parent sponges as the pro- toplasmic investment of a group of Botryllidz, adherent to a mass of rock, does to these organisms; or the gelatinous thallus, often of great comparative bulk, which surrounds some of the freshwater protophytes. It is only after the Flints of the Upper or White Chalk. 199 death of the sponge that the spicules, already resting within the protoplasmic mass, combine with it and pass through the phase which has already been described by me in a previous portion of this paper, and was pointed out at p. 72 of my former paper in the extract which will be found anéé, p. 192. It only remains for me to mention that the “‘ Coccoliths ”” which form so prominent a feature in Hiickel’s figure have, in reality, no connexion whatever with the protoplasmic mass in which they rest. This I maintained in a paper on the nature of the so-called “ Bathybius” (Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist., Nov. 1875, p- 825). Nd doubt Coccoliths, subsiding in the shape of disjecta membra of the parent Coccospheres from the surface- waters of the ocean which they inhabit, are constantly showered down in certain regions upon the sponge-fields on the sea-bed below. And when this 1s the case they no doubt ultimately undergo silicification by replacement, just as the Foraminifera do. But in all probability their extremely minute size and delicate structure, when so silicified, alone prevent us from detecting their spectral pseudomorphs in the flints, except when silicified outside, or, I should rather say, not imbedded directly within the substance, but within a cavity of the siliceous jelly. It is in this wise that they remain perfect in the flint-cavities along with the also free Foraminifera and other included objects. Having stated, in a former part of these observations (p. 193), that the strict limitation of all sessile animal life present at the sea-bed to the immediate surface-layer of the muddy deposit, which is an invariable characteristic of the calcareous and probably all abyssal areas where living Protozoa are to be found, supplies the key to the whole of the unique phenomena observable in the flint formation, I will now endeavour to furnish an ideal picture of the condition under which the periodical formation of the strata of flint takes place. ‘The Potstones of the Norwich Chalk appear to me to furnish a supplementary clue to the solution of this problem in spite of the still undetermined question whether they are the fossil remains of some Titanic sponge, like the Ventriculites. Fortunately it is sufficient to know that they were gigantic vitre- ous sponges, and must have grown one after another, each out of the inverted bosom of its immediate predecessor and parent. In this manner, and in this manner only, does it seem possible to explain their forming columnar assemblages, the height of each column, as seen in such faces of the chalk as are exposed to view, approaching 30 feet, each individual in each columnar series being about 5 feet in height. Hence they traverse several successive strata of chalk, passing directly through the 200 Dr. Wallich on the Origin of the interstratified flint-layers, and showing neither symptoms of exhaustion nor diminution of size at any part of their upward range. The inference I would draw from these facts is that, whereas the living portion of each individual sponge was restricted to one plane, and that plane was determined by, and theretore followed, each rise in the level of the surrounding deposit, the growth being due to simple repetitive divisions of parts, and not to a process of reproduction, until the maximum height and perhaps maximum age attainable by each indivi- dual had been arrived at, the death of the parént Titan was synchronous with and perhaps dependent on the intervention of a true reproductive process, whereby a successor was pro- duced, who was destined to pass through a similar cycle of existence. We may assume also that the enormous size of each individual, as compared with the other sponges and forms of animal life that passed their lives on the same sea- bed, would enable it to rear its head high enough above the general level, when occasion demanded, to enable it to con- tinue its existence uninterruptedly while the organisms around were perishing. The stratification of the flints in layers of nodules and tabular masses may, I conceive, be similarly accounted for. Starting with the facts that the calcareous areas of the ocean (which are the representatives of those in which the ancient chalk was deposited) consist of vast expanses of this deposit, iterrupted only by sponge-fields and sponge-beds (the one living and flourishing in the intervals from which it had either gradually expelled or yielded up its ground to the other) , what must have occurred, and be still occurring, over the calcareous sea-bed? As the sponges encroached (in virtue of their undoubtedly more rapid growth *) on the domains of the Foraminifera, the latter would, here and there, be overwhelmed by the protoplasmic masses and simply asphyx- iated. The sponges would, in turn, encroach on each other, * Prof. Martin Duncan says, with reference to the slow rate at which deep-sea deposits are formed :—“ With reference to the great thickness of deep-sea deposits, I have satisfied myself, from late researches, that the rate of deposition is exceedingly slow. Thus an electric cable was laid down in the Globigerina-ooze region; and six years after a consider- able coral-growth had taken place on it. Some of the living calices were close above the cables ; and therefore the deposit had been infinitesimal in that time. Again, there are slow-growing Echinoderms, Corals, and Spon- gida in place in many chalk series; and it is evident that the foramini- feral and sedimentary deposit was infinitely slower than their growth” (Anniversary Address Geol. Soc. London, 1877, by Prof. Martin Duncan, M.B., F.R.S., p. 44). Flints of the Upper or White Chalk. 201 and eventually crush out and destroy some of their own kind—their siliceous remains, no longer restrained by vital forces, thenceforward becoming subject to material forces, and, as suggested in a previous portion of this paper, entering into colloidal combination with the protoplasm by which they were surrounded. Meanwhile Foraminiferal life would continue to multiply in all the vacant spaces. Small patches and masses of the ooze would be enveloped by masses of protoplasm ; living organisms of various kinds would be similarly entrapped and entombed by the closing around and over them of the protoplasmic masses; and meanwhile a never-ceasing rain of minute calcareous- and siliceous-shelled organisms from the surface of the ocean would fall down upon the sea-bed, the protoplasmic and colloidal aggregations receiving their share, and allowing these foreign bodies to sink into their substance and become the bases of the future pseudomorphs of the flint. But whilst the Foraminifera, as they died off, would leave their remains on the spots where they died, and thus assist in- finitesimally, but continuously, in building up the cretaceous deposit, each new brood being born, living, and dying on the surface of the sea-bed, and the races*being kept up by those occupying the vacant spaces, the sponges as they died off would not leave their remains on the sea-bed itself, but those remains would be one after the other absorbed by and form part of the colloidal masses of protoplasm and silica clinging together, and floating, as it were, on the immediate surface of the sea-bed. This tendency of the colloidal masses of silica “to adhere, aggregate, and contract,” their viscidity, immiscibility with the water, and the extreme difficulty with which they could be made to sink at all into the substance of the ooze, would enable them continuously to maintain a position immediately resting upon the subjacent deposit ; and in this wise they would accumulate, and, by perpetual acces- sions of siliceous remains from without, gradually become saturated with silica. But even yet certain conditions would have to be fulfilled before any thing like simultaneous molecular or chemical action could take place over vast areas so as to produce the stratification of the resultant siliceous masses. Owing to the perfect stillness prevailing at the sea-bed, the total absence of currents, the nearly constant uniformity of temperature, and the perfect uniformity and constancy of all the other conditions prevailing there, together with the im- mense periods concerned in the deposition of the strata, there is every probability that the growth of the entire series of 202 Dr. Wallich on the Origin of the sponges occupying the area in which they flourish in the highest degree, owing to the uniformity of all the above con- ditions, would proceed part passu. It would follow, there- fore, as a natural consequence, that the time requisite for the growth and arrival at maturity of the whole series would, in like manner, become uniform. The uniformity, moreover, of the supply of food, inseparable from the nature of the case— nay, the physical necessity that in a vast fluid medium like the ocean diffusion would take place with unerring unifor- mity of all the inorganic and organic substances on which nutrition depends—would assist, if not actually enforce, a rate of growth uniform in the groups distributed over the same areas. And thus the various groups would necessarily arrive simultaneously at that stage of their being when their asphyx- iation by the supercharging of their protoplasmic masses with silica would end their career. If we reflect, moreover, that we are dealing with conditions that must have been equally real and effective ever since the period when the earliest flint-producing deposits began to be formed at all, we can hardly doubt that the law which governs the growth of the spgnges at the bottom of the deep sea must have caused thefa to complete their first cycle in the history of the fiint-bearing chalk within a certain cosmic period, and that, owing to the uniformity of the conditions which have ever since prevailed, there must have been an approximate uniformity in the completion of each cycle since that period. As the result of these operations, extensive areas of the cal- careous sea-bed would, after a certain period, be simultaneously covered with protoplasm supersaturated with silica in its gelatinous condition, and a constant coalescence and tearing asunder of portions of the masses would take place, owing partly to their inherent contractility and diminution in volume through the expulsion of their combined water. Judging from what is known of the time necessary to bring about the change in silica from the gelatinous to the nearly perfectly anhydrous state, when it may be said to become finally conso- lidated into a hard, stony mass, it is not improbable that the process would not be a very protracted one, even when con- ducted on the vast scale referred to—a fact, if it be one, which would materially decrease the possibility of the extinction of the minute forms of life that build up the calcareous deposits. They would perpetuate their species in the intervals unoccu- pied by the nascent flint-masses, and gradually entomb them. On the other hand, the sponges would perpetuate their species by gemmules distributed over the general surface of the sea- Flints of the Upper or White Chalk. 203 bed, which would settle and develop wherever there were vacant areas and favourable conditions. In those tracts where the sponge-fields were altogether predominant, the dense colloidal areas, viscid and coherent enough to pre- vent their flowing out laterally, would become consolidated into tabular sheets, more or less unbroken, inasmuch as their contractility would exert itself chiefly in decreasing their thickness, as the expulsion of the Combined water would go on uninterruptedly over their entire surfaces. On the other hand, in those tracts in which Sponge and Foraminiferal life had been split up into small contiguous patches, or the sponges occupied only sparsely scattered plots, the nodular flints would form, and be correspondingly distributed through the calcareous bed. It is here that the powerful contractile power resident in the colloidal masses would exert itself most freely on all sides, every little irregularity of surface caused by living or dead animal structures &c. tending still further to break up the masses, which, during their tearing asunder, would assume the amediform outlines which have been so often referred to by me as specially characteristic of animal proto- plasm or albumen, and which may, to a certain extent, be seen when fresh albumen is mixed with cold water and gently shaken up, and then allowed tosettle. That protoplasm—the protoplasm of the deep-sea sponges—does veritably assume these forms is an indisputable fact, attested by Hackel and Sir Wyville Thomson. I had myself once seen this material off the south-east coast of Greenland, in a sounding taken at a depth of nearly a couple of thousand fathoms, in which I found the minute sponge which Mr. Perceval Wright named after me. But I had not any idea at the time, or until many years afterwards, what the extraordinary glairy substance pervading the mud really was; and consequently I threw away the only chance I have had of seeing it in its perfectly recent stage. It is a remarkable circumstance that, throughout the long cruise of the ‘ Chalienger,’ nothing whatever should have been discovered which might throw some light on the formation of the flints at the sea-bottom. Constant mention has been made of the immense abundance, in certain regions, of sponges; but I am not aware that any dead shell of a mol- lusk or echinoderm was found in the dredgings, the interior of which was filled up with colloid silica, or silica in an already consolidated state. One would have thought that, amongst the almost countless number of shells landed on the deck of the ship, whether from calcareous or siliceous bottoms, some trace of incipient fossilization or flint-formation must have 204 On the Origin of the Flints of the Upper Chalk. turned up. But, on carefully considering the matter, it be- comes obvious that the chances are a million to one, comparing human with cosmical periods, against the ‘ Challenger’ dredge “coming across any portion of the ocean in which that special stage in the flint-formation had been reached, when the con- solidation of the pectous silica was just commencing, or just being completed. In all such operations of nature, we are too apt to forget that, whilst time and money are said to be almost convertible terms in human affairs, both time and money are unknown at the bottom of the sea, except when man has been either foolish or unfortunate enough to leave there all that remains to him of these good things. EXPLANATION OF PLATE XI. Figures 1 to 4 are diagrammatic representations of nodular masses of black flint from the Upper or White Chalk (as seen in section), and are intended to illustrate the mode of formation of the flint, its outer in- vesting layer of chert, and other points referred to below. Fig. 1 represents the section of a spherical nodule of solid black flint enveloped in its white or greyish-coloured outer layer of chert. Fig. 2 represents the section of a similar spherical nodule, in which the central portion of a mass of calcareous and possibly some sili- ceous débris had been surrounded by the colloidal mass of pro- toplasm and silica, the contraction of which upon itself had been so great as to compress into a closely compacted mass the contained materials, these having been converted into chert by the incomplete replacement of their carbonate of lime by silica. Fig. 3. A similar section to the last, in which, however, the included material was insufficient to occupy the whole cavity, the vacant portions having in all probability been occupied originally by water. Fig. 4. A similar section to no. 2, having in the middle of its central cherty mass a drusy cavity lined with crystals of pure quartz. Fig. 5 is a facsimile of the figure given by Sir Wyville Thomson (at p; 412 of his ‘ Depths of the Sea’) of “Bathybius,’ as taken from rof. Hiickel’s original drawing of a specimen examined by him under the microscope, in a supposed living condition. This figure is introduced here, not because I have ever believed in the existence of Bathybius as an independent structure, but because I regard the substance to which that name was given as simple sponge-protoplasm, in order to show that even in the dead state of this substance it is capable of exhibiting amebi- form outlines when subjected to gentle pressure. Miscellaneous. 205 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. A Monograph of the Silurian Fossils of the Girvan District in Ayr- shire. By H. A. Nicnotson, M.D. &c., and R. Ernermer, Jun., Esq., F.G.S., &e. Fasciculus III. 8vo. London and Edinburgh : Blackwood & Son, 1880. Tus part completes the first volume of a first-rate paleontological work, the result of enthusiastic labour on the part of the authors, who are fully conversant with their subject. Supplemental matter (derived mainly from new collections made in Ayrshire, and partly from further knowledge acquired in the progress of the work) forms a large part of this Fasciculus, namely the chapters on some of the fossil Protozoa, Coelenterata (tabulate corals), and Crustacea, from Girvan. Some Annelidan remains, and several so-called ‘* Worm- tracks,” or trails and marks due to Crustaceans, Mollusks, and other animals besides Worms (as the authors now recognize them), are treated of ; and various Echinoderms (Asteroidea and Crinoidea) are carefully described. These fossils are well illustrated in nine plates. The printing, paper, and plates are good. A careful index for the volume is appended; and altogether the authors may well be proud of their elegant and useful volume. MISCELLANEOUS. On the Huistence of a Reptile of the Ophidian Type in the Beds with Ostrea columba, of the Charente. By M. H. E. Savvaen. Tue Ophidian type, the maximum development of which is at the present epoch, seemed to make its first appearance at the base of the Tertiary, in the genera Palwophis and Paleryx, discovered by Owen in the London Clay. fossil snakes, however, were known only by a few rare species found at Sheppey, in the phosphorites of Quercy, and in the Miocene of Sansan. Gervais had figured (but without giving it a name) the vertebra of an Ophidian derived from the sandstones which, at the island of Aix, are above the Creta- ceous lignitiferous clays. M. Trémaux de Rochebrune, bas since collected vertebree which enable us to assert the presence of the serpent type as long ago as the Cenomanian epoch, in the Caren- tonian stage, the sands with Ostrea columba of the forest of Bas- seau in the Charente. These vertebrae, which belong to the middle region of the body, are 0°018 metre high and 0°014 metre long, and indicate an animal of about 3 metres. The length is equal to the breadth at the level of the costal apophysis ; so that the vertebra is strong and thickset. The articular condyle is supported by a very short neck ; the articular cavity is circular, such as we find in the Boedonians., The neural canal is narrow, as in the Crotalians ; and its section is triangular. ‘The anterior face is broad, the diapophysis and zygo- sphene projecting but little. As in the Typhlopians, the parapo- physis is reduced to a feeble tubercle, which joins with the diapo- physis by a prominent line ; the zygapophysis is inclined downwards, backwards, and inwards. The Boas and Pythons have the tubercle for the insertion of the rib placed very near the anterior margin of Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 5. Vol. vii. 15 206 Miscellancous. the centrum; this is also the case with the Cretaceous serpent. When we examine the vertebre from above, the costal tubercle appears immediately outside of and a little behind the diapophysis, reminding us of what is seen in Acrochordus. The process of the neural spine is united to the diapophysis by a slightly excavated line. The neurapophysis is robust, and the neural spine broad, tolerably high, and flattened at its upper margin, which must have given attachment to a powerful ligament ; this neural spine occupies the greater part of the length of the centrum, as in the Crotalians. The inferior surface of the centrum is flattened, which recalls the vertebra of the Amphisbzenians ; we may also recognize the absence of any hypapophysial tubercle, as in the Typhlopians, which, as is well known, form the passage from the Ophidians to the Saurians. The Cretaceous serpent, at present the most ancient known Ophidian, presents such manifold analogies that it is not possible to refer it to one rather than another of the great divisions accepted for existing snakes ; it indicates the existence as early as the Cenomanian epoch of a peculiar genus, which we propose to name Simoliophis, giving the species the denomination S. Rochebruni, from the name of the zealous naturalist to whom the discovery of this interesting type is due.-—Comptes Rendus. Oct. 18, 1880, p. 671. On some Arctic Holothurida. By MM. D. C. Dantntissrn and J. Koren. Among the Holothurida obtained by the Norwegian aretic expe- dition of 1878, the authors notice some new forms, and indicate certain points in the synonymy of previously described species. One of the former is described as the type of a new genus under the name of Kolga hyalina, the generic name being derived from that of one of the daughters of the goddess of the sea in the old northern mythology. The genus belongs to Théel’s family Elpidide, and is characterized as follows :— Genus Korea, g. n. Body bilateral. A buccal disk, furnished with ten tentacles, turned towards the ventral surface. Anal aperture on the dorsal surface (near the posterior extremity). On the anterior part of the back a projecting collar, furnished with papilla. Just in front of this (and usually concealed by it) are two apertures, one for the generative organs, the other for the stone-canal. Feet on both sides of the body and around its posterior extremity. Sexes sepa- rate. No intestinal appendages (lungs). Kolga hyalina, sp. n. Body 50 millims. long, 15-20 high, and 12-15 broad. Back very convex; on the collar six transversely arranged papillae, of which the two middlemost are the longest. Sixteen long, thick, almost retractile feet, five on each side and six around the posterior end. ae of the body diaphanous, Tentacles five-lobed, each lobe trifid. Hab. Station 295, 71° 59’ N. lat., 11° 40’ E. long., at a depth of 1110 fathoms, temperature —1°3 C.,in Biloculina-ooze; Station 303, Miscellaneous. 207 75° 12' N. lat., 3° 2’ E. long., at a depth of 1200 fathoms, tempe- rature —1°6 C., in brown mud. Feeds chiefly upon Diatoms and Foraminifera, swallowing the fine mud in which these creatures live in extraordinary abundance. The skin is transparent with a whitish tinge, so that in places where it is compressed it appears quite white. The five-lobed leaf of the tentacles, especially the part fringed with spicules, is deep orange-yellow. Buccal disk orange- yellow, with a darker, nearly brown ring round the mouth. Myriotrochus Rinkit, Steenstrup*. This species. has been described under the same name by Litkent, Stimpsont, Selenka§, and Semper||; but Théel’s Myriotrochus Rinkii, from Nova ZemblaG, is regarded by MM. Koren and Danielssen as identical with Chirodota brevis, Huxley **, of which Oligotrochus vitreus, M. Sarstt, is also a synonym. ACANTHOTROCHUS, g. n. Body cylindrical, apodal, rounded at the posterior extremity. Sexes separate; no intestinal appendages (organs of respiration). Skin furnished with two kinds of differently formed calcareous wheels. The one kind has winged radii, and teeth issuing from the inner margin of the periphery ; the other kind of wheel is more than twice as large, and has also winged radii ; but from the outer margin of the periphery there spring long teeth turned inwards. Twelve digitate tentacles, which can be concealed in the body. Acanthotrochus mirabilis, sp. n. Body 10-12 millims. long, cylindrical, widened and rounded off at the hinder extremity. Mouth and anal aperture central. Skin transparent, beset throughout with two different kinds of wheels. Those of one kind are stalked, small, furnished usually with eleven radii, and from the inner margin of the periphery spring generally two triangular teeth between each two radii. The larger wheels have usually 8-11 radii; and from the outer margin of the peri- phery spring long pointed teeth, equal in number to the radii. Twelve tentacles, furnished with three divided digitate leaves. Five longitudinal muscles. Skin in the living animal perfectly trans- parent, with fine glistening points, which under the lens are found to be calcareous wheels. The margins of the tentacles brownish. Hab. Station 283, 73° 47’ N. lat., 14° 21' E. long., in 767 fathoms, temperature —1°4 C., Biloculina-ooze; Station 295 (see Kolga hyalina) ; Station 312, 74° 54’ N. lat., 14° 53’ E. long., in 658 fathoms, temperature —1°2 C., brown and green mud. * Vidensk. Meddel. naturh. Foren, Kjob. 1851, pp. 55-60. + Ibid. 1857, p. 21. Berens Marine Invert. Arct. Exp., Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil. 1863, § Zeitschr. f. wiss. Zool. xvii. (1867) p. 367. || Reisen im Archip. der Phil., Holothuria, i. p. 24 (1867). 4] Appendix to Sutherland’s ‘ Journal of a Voyage to Baftin’s Bay,’ &e., vol. ii. p. 221 (1852). ** Note sur quelques Holothuries des Mers de la Nouvelle Zemble (Upsal, 1877). tt Vidensk. Selsk, Forhandl. 1865, p. 200, and in ‘ Fauna littoralis Nor- vegiz,’ Heft 3, p. 49. 208 Miscellaneous. Molpadia borealis, M. Sars, with which M. violacea, Studer, is probably identical, is referred by the authors to their genus 7'ro- chostoma, as also Huplodactyla arctica, Marenzeller. Allied to these is a new genus with two new species. ; ANKYRODERMA, g. 0D. Body cylindrical. Anterior end transversely cut off. Buccal disk furnished with fifteen tubular processes, alternating with fifteen - oblong depressions, in which there are fifteen papilliform tentacles. The posterior extremity produced into a tail-lke process. Cloacal aperture surrounded by five papillae. Skin furnished with perfo- rated papille, together with singular calcareous bodies consisting of five to six spatulate calcareous rods arranged in a stellate form, from the centre of which rises a calcareous anchor. No feet. Two intestinal appendages. Ankyroderma Jeffreysii, sp. 0. Body elongated, cylindrical. Caudiform process long. Tenta- cles extremely small, furnished with three papille, of which the middle one is the largest. Genital papilla large, prominent. Cal- careous bodies in the skin of three forms,—anchors attached to spatuliform calcareous rods, perforated calcareous plates with crowns, and oval claret-coloured bodies, placed in groups. The colour of the skin in the living animal is greenish with a violet tinge from the scattered red points, or sometimes dark violet. The anterior end of the body has a white pentagonal ring, within which is the white buccal disk with white tentacles. The genital papilla in part yellowish white, in part full yellow; caudiform prolongation white. Hab. Station 260, Porsangerfjord in 127 fathoms, temperature 3°-5C., and 261 Tanafjord in 127 fathoms, temperature 2°8 C., on a muddy bottom; Station 262, Tanafjord in 148 fathoms, tempe- rature 1°-9 C., ooze; Station 372, 97° 59’ N. lat., 5° 40’ E. long., in 459 fathoms, temperature —1° C., on bluish-grey mud. Ankyroderma affine, sp. 1. Body cylindrical. The caudiform process shorter than in the preceding. Tentacles extremely small, with three papille. Genital papilla not prominent. On the surface of the skin tolerably regular rows of anchors attached to spatuliform calcareous rods. Among these are some peculiar calcareous branches, from the common starting-point (central point) of which there rises either a three- knobbed crown or a long calcareous spicule, or some exceedingly variously formed perforated calcareous plates with crowns; and in the deeper layer of the “skin a great quantity of colourless more or less rounded bodies consisting of a conglomerate of calcareous prisms. Skin greenish ; buccal disk and caudal point white. Hab. Station 290, 72° 27' N. lat., 20°51’ E. long.,in 191 fathoms, temperature 3°5 C., sandy clay. The genus Trochostoma, Dan. & Kor., includes 7. Thomsonii, D. & K., with no cloaca; and with cloaca 7’. boreale, M. Sars, 7. arcticum, Marenz., and 7’. (Molp.) ooliticum, Pourt.— Nyt Magazin fiir Naturv. Bd. xxv. pp. 83-140, pls. i—vi. THE ANNALS AND MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. [FIFTH SERIES. } No. 39. MARCH 1881. XVITI.— On some new or little-known Infusoria. By C. MeRESCHKOWSKY. [Plate XII] In this article it is my intention to describe some new species of Infusoria that I have observed in the different seas that I have chanced to visit. There are two species from the White Sea, three others from the Black Sea, and two observed in the Bay of Naples. It is especially with the view of en- riching our knowledge of the geographical distribution of the Infusoria that I publish these notes ; it is also with this object that I undertake a revision of certain genera, such as Trochilia and Aczneta, so far as the marine species are concerned. Although want of time did not allow me to acquire more than a superficial knowledge of the Infusorial fauna of the Black Sea, I nevertheless see with satisfaction all the conclu- sions at which I arrived in my “ Studien iiber Protozoa des nordlichen Russlands”” more and more confirmed, as I have just shown in a recent note upon the Infusoria of the Black Sea*. There are already ten marine species, all more or less frequent in the Black Sea, that | have never met with in the White Sea; and there is not a single freshwater species ob- * “Matériaux pour la faune des Infusoires de la Mer Noire,” Travaux de la Société des Naturalistes 4 St. Pétersbourg, 1880. Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 5. Vol. vii. 16 210), M. C. Mereschkowsky on some served in the Crimea or in the Caucasus that has not also been observed by mein the Arctic regions of Northern Russia. Thus the law that the marine Infusoria of different seas differ much more than the freshwater Infusoria of different coun- tries finds a new confirmation in the Infusorial fauna of the Black Sea. All the other laws of the geographical distribution of the Infusoria established by me in the memoir above mentioned are likewise daily finding fresh confirmations; and I believe there is little change to be expected in this respect when the distribution of this class of organisms shall be studied with the same zeal and attention that is devoted to other classes. I will now pass to the description of the new species. Cothurnia pontica. (Pl. XII. figs. 4-6.) Diagn. Concha superficie undulata insidet pediculo brevi ; urceiformis, duobus rostris munita. Animal insidet pediculo triangulari, intus excavato. Loc. Black Sea, Crimea, Livadia. Descr. This is one of the prettiest species that I have ever seen of this genus, the forms of which are so numerous. The carapace has a very graceful pitcher-shape with the edges slightly turned out, and with two sides of the margin more elevated than the rest, which especially aids to give an elegant appearance to the whole animal. ‘The surface of the carapace is not even, but covered with four or five not very strongly marked circular elevations. The carapace has scarcely any pedicle ; it might therefore be placed among the sessile species; the little that can be taken for a peduncle is only the attenu- ated part of the base of the carapace, enclosing the peduncle of the animal itself, asis well shown in the figure (fig. 5). The peduncle of the animal is formed by an inferior small pad, which is perfectly solid, and a conical peduncle with its widest part turned upwards, where it is attached to the animal. This peduncle is not solid like the pad which serves as its base, but furnished with a cavity of the same conical form as the peduncle itself. As to the animal, I have only seen its remains, already in a state of putrefaction. The carapace was attached to a Flori- dean Alga, apparently belonging to the genus Ceramium, which I found upon the shore of the Black Sea near Talta. The total length of the animal, or, more properly of the carapace, 1s 0°0171 millim., its breath is 0°007 millim. Cothurnia socialis, A. Gruber. (Pl. XII. fig. 3.) Loc. White Sea, Solowetzk Islands, at a depth of 2 metres. new or little-known Infusoria. 211 Descr. I have waited so long with the description of this species, which I found in the White Sea in 1879, that it has at last been described by M. A. Gruber, not long since, under the name of Cothurnia socialis. And I do not regret it; for I should never have described the species.with all the details given by M. Gruber; and, further, it would never have re- ceived from me the specific name “ socialis,” as I only came across it in St. Petersburg among Bryozoa preserved in alcohol, and I have only seen a single solitary individual, whilst the German zoologist has seen it in the living state and in great numbers. I have no doubt, however, on comparing my individual with the figures given by M. Gruber, that they belong to the same species. All the characteristic details of the species are present, except perhaps the coloration, which in the individual observed by me is not yellow, it is entirely colourless ; but, as I have just remarked, the animal that I have observed is solitary, and therefore still very young, and it may very well be that the absence of colour is due simply to the youth of the animal. I would also call attention to the extreme regularity of its form. The specimen that I have examined was attached to a Bryozoan by means of a rather long, slender, solid peduncle, slightly inflated at its base. The carapace, which is about the same length as the peduncle, is of an ovoid form, with a small conical process at the lower part, and with a funnel- shaped neck at the upper part. ‘The carapace bears four very strongly marked circular striz or grooves, dividing it into five parts or segments. The body of the animal is placed upon a small peduncle, which is only the continuation, in the interior of the carapace, of the exterior peduncle. The following are some measurements of this marine species, which, apparently, is characteristic of the northern seas ; for it is only in these that it has been found, by two observers :— millim Ihength of the carapace: 5.5.25 sa00< ve eens 0-084 Maximum: brea Gthigi aig ceas Bo sence voxel rernt 0:035 icenoth of the peduncle: esac. abi. caine se olay 0-054 Tintinnus mediterraneus, sp. n. (Pl. XII. figs. 1, 2.) Diagn. Concha urceoli inflati forma, paulo longior quam latior, collo brevi lato, 4-5 striis annulatis. 7 Loc. Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, Crimea, and Bay of Naples. Descr. The carapace of the animal, which is all that I have 16% 212 M. C. Mereschkowsky on some had the opportunity of examining, is in the form of a wide, somewhat inflated vase, rounded or terminating in a point at the bottom, thus forming, as we shall see, two distinct varie- ties. At the upper part it narrows suddenly, forming a wide but not very long neck, the margins of which are not turned out. In the variety that I have observed in the Black Sea, the neck is a little narrower relatively to the total width of the carapace (PI. XII. fig. 2), which causes the neck to be more accentuated; while in the other variety, from the Bay of Naples, the neck is almost as wide as the carapace (Pl. XII. fig. 1), as may be seen by comparing the two figures here given. The neck and the upper part of the carapace itself are adorned with slight rings, which are nothing but circular elevations or thickenings of the chitinous substance of the carapace. These circular strie are four or five in number ; and their arrangement is slightly different in the two varieties of the species that I have observed. In one of them, that from the Black Sea (fig. 2), the neck is ornamented with three rings, while the actual body of the carapace has only two; in the Neapolitan variety, on the contrary, there is only a single ring upon the neck, the others being placed upon the first third of the carapace itself (fig. 1). But the principal difference which distinguishes the two varieties is the form of the bottom of the carapace. Whilst in the specimen that I observed in the Black Sea the bottom is regularly rounded (fig. 2), that of the Neapolitan variety presents at the pos- terior extremity a rather long and regularly conical point. We should thus have two local varieties :— 1. Var. pontica, with the bottom of the carapace rounded. Loc. Black Sea, Crimea, Livadia. 2. Var. neapolitana, with the bottom terminating in a point. Loc. Bay of Naples. This species, which is very easily distinguished by its form from all the other known species, is a marine species charac- terizing the fauna of the whole Mediterranean. It does not appear to be very rare; for I have found it in two different localities, namely the Black Sea and the Bay of Naples, although under somewhat different forms in the two places. Unfortunately I did not once happen to meet with the living animal; I have never seen more than the carapace. The following are some measurements of this species (var. pontica):— millim Total length of the carapace ..........ss0... 0-016 Maximumibreadthe 31.2 meysr ee aortic rem cistn kis 0:018 Length of the neck jhe wick hie elec. sinks soe 0-002 new or little-known Infusoria. 213 Trochilia marina, sp.n. (PI. XII. figs. 7-9.) Diagn. Corpus ovale, in vertice paululum coangustatum, inferiore parte corrotundatum, dorsi superficie levi. Loc. Black Sea, Crimea, Livadia. Descr. The slightly compressed body is regularly oval, except the anterior part, which is a little constricted and trun- cated; the rounded posterior part is furnished with a large aud broad movable spine, excavated internally, and directed from right to left. The dorsal surface is more convex than the ventral, which is furnished with a space covered with cilia; this space is only half as wide as the body itself, and is of a slightly arcuated triangular form. On the dorsal surface there are two grooves, which run the whole length of the body, one on the right, the other on the left side, thus dividing the whole dorsal surface into three equal parts (Pl. XII. fig. 8). The single contractile vacuole is situated on the back, a little towards the left side. The oval nucleus is rather large, and situated on the right side. The mouth, with its bacilli, is very visible (Pl. XII. fig. 9). This species, which is very well characterized by the form of the body, is not rare in the Black Sea, where I have often found it among the seaweeds covering the stones of the shore of the Crimea, near Livadia. The genus Tvrochilia, first established by Dujardin, was exceptionally characterized by Stein by this peculiarity, that. the cilia are not merely placed at the margins of the body, but occupy a larger or smaller portion of the ventral sur- face. The species hitherto known are a marine species (Trochilia sigmoides*) found by Dujardin in the Mediter- ranean, and two freshwater species, Zrochilia palustris, de- scribed by Stein}, and 7. polonica, described by Wrzesniow- skit. Besides these three species and the fourth which I have just described, I think [ may refer to the same genus another marine form from the Norwegian coast, described by Claparéde and Lachmann§, in their ‘ Etudes sur les Infu- soires et les Rhizopodes,’ under the name of Mgyria oliva. As we may conclude from the excellent figure given of it by Claparéde and Lachmann, this form must undoubtedly belong to the genus Zrochilia, the greater part of the ventral surface * Dujardin, Hist. Nat. des Infusoires. + Stein, Organismus, Abth. i. p. 118, Taf. ii. figs. 28, 30. { Wrzesniowski, “ Beobachtungen tiber Infusorien aus der Umgebung von Warschau,” Zeitschr. fiir wiss. Zool. Bd. xx. p. 485, Taf. xxiii. fig. 37. § Claparéde and Lachmann, ‘ Etudes sur les Infusoires et les Rhizo- podes,’ p. 289, pl. xv. figs. 14, 15. 214 M. C. Mereschkowsky on some being covered with cilia. It seems very strange that such an eminent student of the Infusoria as M. Stein did not direct attention to this form, and that in general he has not mentioned the work of Claparéde and Lachmann in treating of the family Ervilina. I propose, therefore, to call the Infusorian in ques- tion Trochilia oliva. As for the Trochilia polonica, Wrzesn., found by M. Wrzesniowski in the fresh waters of Poland, that species has very little to distinguish it from 7. palustris, Stein. With regard to the fifth species, which I have just de- scribed under the name of Trochilia marina, it is very distinct from all the other known species. It most nearly approaches Trochilia oliva, from which it is distinguished by the general form of the body, the two dorsal grooves, and the absence of the black pigment spot at the anterior part, which is so characteristic of 7. oliva. At present, therefore, we shall have five species of the genus Trochilia, three marine and two freshwater. Of the first three species, one (Z. ol’va) inhabits the northern seas, and the other two (7. stgmoides and T. marina) the seas of the south of Europe. Length of the animal 0-033 millim. Acineta livadiana, sp. n. (Pt XT fe710;) Diagn. Concha ovalis, superiore parte, qua intus flectitur atque cum corpore conjungitur, truncata; pediculus tenuis, cylindricus, paulo quam corpus longior, scapo centrali. Loc. Black Sea, Livadia, surface. Descr. The carapace of the animal is regularly oval, except at the superior exteremity, where it is suddenly truncated, and furnished with a wide orifice, through which the suckers are seen to pass. ‘The margins of the orifice bend in towards the interior of the carapace, and are produced there tc some distance, forming a short interior tube. It is at the margin of this interior tube, and only at this margin, that the body of the animal is attached; in all other parts it remains freely suspended in the cavity of the carapace, occupying more than half its space. The body is almost regularly round, with its contours undulated and changing continually, these contours thus demonstrating the constant amceboid movement of the living animal. The protoplasm is strongly granular, which renders it rather opaque and at the same time makes it im- possible to see the nucleus; but, on the other hand, a con- tractile vesicle situated in the ectosarcode is easily distin- guished. The suckers, terminated by a knob, are not longer than the diameter of the body; they are about twenty-five in new or little-known Infusoria. 215 number, and arranged at the summit of the body in a single broad bundle. The pedicle, which supports the body with its carapace, is not much longer than the carapace itself. It is cylindrical, slender, of uniform breadth, and furnished with a central axis composed of a material different from that of the surface, and apparently less dense. There is no enlargement of the pedicle either at the spot where it joins the carapace or where it is attached to the plant on which I observed the animal. It terminates suddenly, without forming a disk to facilitate fixation, such as is observed in nearly all the other species. As to the systematic position of Acineta livadiana, it cannot be confounded with any other known marine species. The oval general form with the posterior part rounded is a very rare phenomenon among the Acinete, which, in general, have a more or less conical form. ‘There are only Actneta cothurnia, Clap. & Lachm., and set bess iachties 0:03 resutlvot the peduncle a2). sie reci. crs os os tne ane 0-01 Meneth Of the SUCKERS «cre sare sepe gs oie ta clea c we taers 0:04 From these characters it seems to me that this form cannot be confounded with its congeners. In fact, if we run over the figures of those which are at present known, we shall see that none of them approaches the species just described. In reality there is no Acineta that presents tentacles reduced to two only. We have here a very remarkable example of anatomical and func- tional retrogression. The organs having been reduced, the functions have been concentrated. The differentiation of the suctorial and pre- hensile tentacles having ceased or being absent, the two correlative functions have been compelled to combine in the same organ, which, in its turn, in order the better to perform its now multiple part, has been obliged to modify and adapt itself. We have evidence that this must have taken place when we find that whilst in the other Acinete the tentacles are usually rigid and motionless, in the present case, as we have already said, they are flexible and movable in all directions.—Bibliotheque Unwerselle ; Archives des Sci. Phys. et Nat., February 15, 1881, p. 181. THE ANNALS AND MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. [FIFTH SERIES. ] No. 40. APRIL 1881. XXVII.— Contributions to the Study of the British Paleozoic Crinotds.—No. I. On Allagecrinus, the Representative of a new Eamily from the Carboniferous Limestone Series of Scotland. By P. HerBert CARPENTER, M.A., Assistant Master at Eton College, and R. ErneripGr, Jun., of the Museum of Natural History. [Plates XV. & XVI.] 1. Introduction. WE have for many years been in the habit of meeting with a very small and peculiar Crinoid in almost every collection of Scotch Carboniferous-Limestone fossils ex- amined by us, in which attention has been paid to the remains of the more minute organisms that inhabited the old Car- boniferous seas. The systematic position of our fossils. will be best discussed at the conclusion of this paper, after we have described the remarkable combination of characters which they present. We believe them to represent the type of a new genus, for which we propose the name Allagecrinus*, on account of its * adXayn, change. Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 5. Vol, vii. 21 282 Messrs. P. H. Carpenter and R. Etheridge, Jun., singularly protean nature. We cannot even refer it to any known family of Crinoidea, although in many respects it approaches the Haplocrinide very closely. The sources from which our material is derived are two. The ample and fine collection of Dr. J. S. Hunter, of Braid- wood by Carluke, has supplied us with two well-preserved examples of the calyx. In the second place, we have been permitted to use a very large series of specimens, showing all stages of growth, from the collection of the Geological Survey of Scotland. The examples in question were collected and washed from shale by Mr. James Bennie; and we are indebted to the kindness of Prof. A. Geikie, LL.D., F.R.S., for the loan of them. In the descriptions which follow we have united under the one name a series of forms possessing up to a certain point in their organization the same general structure, but beyond this differmg in minor degrees, which we were at first sight in- clined to look upon as probably of specific value. The finding of a regular gradation, however, between the extreme forms of the series has led us to reconsider this view; and we now think the additional points of structure referred to may be looked upon simply as an advance from a less to a more com- plex condition in the same form. 2. Description of the Genus and Species. Genus ALLAGECRINUS, Ether, & Carp. (gen. nov.). Gen. char. Calyx pyriform or cylindro-conical, composed of five basals and five unequal radials, one to four of which, or sometimes none, may be axillary. An oral pyramid of five closely fitting valves, and of very variable height, is pre- sent in the young, but is. probably wanting in the adult. Arms composed of elongated joints, sometimes forking twice. Stem short and vermiform, of low rounded joints; canal circular ; terminal faces slightly granular. Obs. Although the various individuals figured on Plates XV. & XVI. differ from one another to a very considerable ex- tent, both in size and form, we have been led to the con- clusion that they are really all referable to one species and represent various stages in its development. The most ad- vanced, and probably fully grown, stage is shown in Pl. XV. figs. 1, 2, and 6. These are the only three tolerably complete specimens of the adult that we have met with, and were all found at the same locality. Fig. 2 represents that which is most fully developed and also the best preserved of the three. on British Paleozoic Crinotds. 283 A projection of the calyx and the arm-bases in connexion with it is shown in fig. 3 of the same Plate. There are only two rows of plates in the calyx, which is cylindro-conical in form, expanding slightly from below up- wards. The basals form a complete ring and a very shallow pentagonal cup, but little higher at the angles than at the sides ; the sutures are nearly if not quite invisible as a general rule. Fig. 4 (Pl. XV.) represents the interior of this cup as seen from above. The five radials which rest upon it are elongated pieces with subparallel lateral margins, increasing slightly from below upwards both in width and in convexity. They vary considerably in size, some of them being axillary and bearing two arms, while others are narrower and have only one articular facet on the upper surface (Pl. XV. figs. 2,a, 2,5). In two specimens (Pl. XV. figs. 1-3) four of the radial plates are wide and axillary, so that the number of (primary) arms must have been nine. In the third specimen, however (Pl. XV. fig. 6), only three of the radials are axillary, corre- sponding to eight primary arms ; while the two adjacent ones, which bear but one arm each, are unequal in size (Pl. XV. fig. 6,6). The articular facets for the attachment of the arms are large and distinct (Pl. XV. fig. 6, a & 4), and nearly hori- zontal in position, so as to give a projecting lip-like appear- ance to the upper and outer edges of the radials. They have the same general form in all three specimens, although a certain amount of variation is perceptible. The dorsal fossa for the elastic ligament is narrow and crescentic, and lacks the central pit, which is often so very distinct in other Crinoids. Above it is the transverse articular ridge expanding around the opening of the central canal, which is unusually large. On the upper side of the ridge are large fosse for the arti- cular ligaments, which vary somewhat in shape in the diffe- rent specimens. The muscular fosse, in the few cases in which they are discernible, are small and at a lower level than the ligamental fossew, from which they are separated by ridges. Two of the specimens have the lowest joints of the arms preserved. ‘They are small and irregularly cuboidal, with nearly circular distal faces (Pl. XV. figs. 2&6). In the best specimen the second and third brachials of three arms are also preserved (Pl. XV. figs. 2,3). Hach joint has an almost cylindrical shaft, with slightly expanded ends. Where the first radial is axillary, the second brachial is not much longer than wide; but in the second brachial of the azygos arm the length is more than twice the width. This may, however, be merely an accidental difference; for the three 21% 284 Messrs. P. H. Carpenter and R. Etheridge, Jun., third brachials vary considerably in size. Neither of these is an axillary ; but their terminal faces are almost transverse to their longer axes, and seem to have been syzygial rather than articular. No traces either of vertical or transverse ridges are visible. In none of the specimens is there any indication of an anal aperture. The interior of the calyx between the radials is occupied by matrix; but there are no signs of its having been roofed over by a closed dome or vault of any kind. Had such a structure existed within the circle of radial plates, it would assuredly have been preserved in the original of fig. 2, together with the ring of first brachials. It 1s possible, however, as we shall point out later on, that the mouth was surrounded by a circle of oral plates, disconnected from the calyx like those of the recent Rhizocrinus and [yocrinus. The column is short, and when tolerably entire has a ver- miform appearance (Pl. XV. figs. 2, a, 6,&7, a). It is composed of small, low, rounded joints fitting closely toge- ther. Hach segment is biconcave, with a thickened margin, and the centre a little raised around the small circular canal, where the surface is also minutely frosted or granulated CPV aie.) 2 The surface of the plates is minutely pitted. The three specimens we have now described are from one locality, together with another in a much broken condition, and several fragments of other individuals. None similar have been met with elsewhere. Other localities, on the contrary, have yielded a very large number of small specimens, the general appearance of which is so like that of the preceding examples that we have been led to regard them as the younger stages of the same, or of a closely allied species. They are all characterized by the presence of an oral pyramid, the relative size of which is greater the smaller the specimen. The various figures on Pl. XVI. and figs. 7, a, 6 of Pl. XV. represent a number of these specimens of various sizes and at various stages of development. Great as is the contrast between the originals of figs. Land 2 (Pl. XVI.) and those of the corresponding figures on Pl. XV., there are so many intermediate stages which pass gradually into one another that we are unable to regard the series as comprising more than one species. We may commence the study of this interesting develop- mental series with the smallest and least advanced forms, such as are shown in figs. 1-3 (Pl. XVI.). The youngest on British Paleozoic Crinotds. _ 285 condition we have met with is shown in fig. 2 (Pl. XVI). The calyx is covered by a round dome of oral plates, the height of which relatively to that of the radial plates is greater than in any other specimen we have seen. Its base is very nearly as wide as the summit of the radial pentagon, which is thus almost entirely concealed. At the centre of the upper edge of each radial is a minute opening, which pene- trates beneath the dome; but no arm-facet corresponding to this opening is visible. The oral plates are so closely united that there is no trace of the sutures between them, though there are five faint grooves on the upper surface of the dome, which indicate their median lines. In older specimens, figs. 4, 7, 8, 10 (Pl. XVI.), these grooves are sometimes very marked. In this youngest individual the calyx is tolerably symmetrical, no one part being further developed than another. The same is the case in some older individuals, as is shown in figs. 5 and 7 (Pl. XVI). On the other hand, specimens are not uncommon with some of the radials more developed than others. The youngest stage in this condition that we have met with is shown in fig. 1 (Pl. XVI.). The oral plates in this specimen are relatively lower, but cover the radials more com- pletely than in the original of fig. 2, and their median grooves are much more distinct. Three of the radials have rudimen- tary arm-facets ; but on the other two there is scarcely any more indication of these structures than in the specimen re- presented by fig. 2 (Pl. XVI). ' A larger and more advanced individual in the same condi- tion is shown in fig. 3 (Pl. XVI). The dome of oral plates is remarkably flat ; and three of the radials have minute semi- circular arm-facets, which are much less distinctly visible in the two remaining radials. The next stage, in which the arm-facets are equally deve- loped on all the radial plates, is exhibited in figs. 4-7 (Pl. XVI.). The calyx, which varies considerably in form, is surmounted by a low rosette-like dome, composed of the five very closely ankylosed orals. Each of these plates is triangular in shape and excavated rather deeply along its median line. At the centre of the dome they are in close contact laterally, so that no opening is visible; but their basal angles are more or less truncated, leaving a superficial gap between every pair of plates, which corresponds in position with the articular facet on the subjacent radial. The interior of this gap, however, is filled up by the deeper portions of the oral plates, which thus bridge over the semicircular notch on the upper surface of the facet. The latter consists of nothing 286 Messrs. P. H. Carpenter and R. Etheridge, Jun., more than a thickened semicircular rim, which is thus con- verted into the opening of a tunnel that leads inwards beneath the dome. These notches on the upper surface of the radial plates are the central ends of the grooves which are excavated in the upper surface of the arm-joints, and were called the arm- grooves by Miiller. They are often, although incorrectly, spoken of as the ambulacral grooves. Above and partly con- tained in these grooves were the vascular and generative tubes of the arms, and above all these the true ambulacral or food-grooves, which may or may not have been protected by special plates, as in Cyathocrinus and many other fossil and recent Crinoids. All these structures entered the calyx on their way to join their respective’ circumoral centres through the openings at the edge of the vault between the radials and the orals. ‘These openings are of course the representatives of the ambulacral openings round the edge of the vault of Actinocrinus ; but there is no trace in Allagecrinus of any such separation of the soft parts by plates as we find in the former genus. In both cases the cceliac canal, which was lodged in the lowest portion of the arm-groove, is continued directly downwards into the visceral cavity. It was sepa- rated in Actinocrinus from the water-vessel and food-groove by the subambulacral plates, which form the floor of the ambulacral tunnels beneath the vault; but'there is no trace of these in Allagecrinus. In none of these small specimens is there any trace of an_ anal opening, either directly piercing an oral plate, or at the margin of the dome, between the orals and the radials. The central end of one or more of the former may be marked by faint tubercles (figs. 5 and 7, Pl. XVI.) ; but we cannot sug- gest any explanation of these. In the specimen shown in fig. 6 the central portion of the dome has been removed, and only the bases of the triangular oral plates are visible. » Except in the characters of the stem, and in the general aspect of the basals and radials, these small specimens differ so much from the larger ones previously described that it would seem only natural to place them in entirely different families, characterized respectively by the presence or absence of an oral pyramid, Fortunately, however, we have met with a few specimens that show us such a gradual transition between the two groups that we have been compelled to place them together under one specific name. These intermediate forms, which are represented in Pl. XV. fig. 7, and Pl. XVI. figs. 8-10, while agreeing in certain general characters, seem to have developed along different on British Paleozoic Crinoids. 287 lines. The radial plates are better developed relatively to the orals than in the younger forms. Hence when the calices are viewed from above they are seen to be only very incompletely covered by the dome and project considerably beyond its circumference, while distinct facets for a true articulation with the first arm-joints begin to make their ap- pearance (Pl. XVI. figs. 9, 10). These are least marked in the specimen shown in fig. 8 (Pl. XVI.). In one or two cases the facet is something more than a mere thickened rim to the arm-groove, and shows traces both of a central canal and of a dorsal fossa for the elastic ligament. ‘The chief cha- racter indicating the advanced condition of this specimen is the inequality in the size of its radial plates, one of which is axillary and has two arm-facets, which are not yet completely developed. In the individual shown in fig. 10 (Pl. XVI), on the other hand, all the radials have well-developed arti- cular facets, which are pierced by the openings of the central canals ; but though the radials are unequal in size, none of them is an axillary. The great reduction of the relative size of the orals in this specimen is especially noteworthy. In two other specimens, which also have much-reduced orals, there is a remarkable inequality in the development of the arm-facets. Thus, in the original of fig. 9 (Pl. XVI.) three of the radials have well-marked articular surfaces for the first arm-joints, while that of the fourth is very imperfect, and that of the fifth altogether undeveloped, no trace even of an arm-opening being visible. Fig. 7 (Pl. XV.) shows a similar irregularity. The orals are relatively very small, and two of the radials have distinct articular facets, whilst two others have small cuboidal brachials still in contact with them. The fifth radial, however, bears a very small and rudimentary brachial, which is shown on the right of fig. 7, a. The originals of fig. 6, Pl. XV., and figs. 1 and 2, Pl. XVI, differ very considerably in size. Apart from that, the chief point of difference is the presence of oral plates in the latter and not in the former. It does not seem to us a very im- probable supposition that during the growth of the smaller specimen to the size of the larger its orals would come to be of such small relative size (as they do in the development of Comatula) as to be altogether lost in the fossil state, even if they persisted during adult life. The large and small forms agree in so many points, espe- cially the inequality in size of the radials, and the fact that some of them may be axillary, that we do not see our way to separating them specifically. It must be remembered that these little fossils occur at various localities. Even the larger 288 Messrs. P. H. Carpenter and R. Etheridge, Jun., and more fully developed forms are at a very low stage of organization * as compared with most other Crinoids ; so that it 1s natural to suppose they would present a considerable amount of variability, both local and general. Although it may be thought that the variations we have described exceed the widest limits allowable on these grounds, we prefer rather to ask for an extension in this direction than to multiply species in a manner which appears both artificial and unnecessary. When all the above facts are taken into consideration, it seems to us hardly possible to doubt that the specimens we have described represent various stages in the development of a Paleozoic Crinoid. In the smallest examples there is a relatively large oral pyramid, and the uniformly sized radial plates were not perforated by a central canal. The axial cords lay at the bottom of grooves in their upper surfaces, just as in the young Pentacrinoid larva of Comatula (with closed oral pyramid) and in the mature stages of many Paleo- crinoids. Next we find specimens in which there are distinct canals developed for the axial cords, and the articular facets of the radials gradually come to exhibit their characteristic markings. At the same time the sizes of the different radials become more or less unequal, and the orals relatively less prominent, though still resting directly on the radials. Lastly, in the best-developed examples the radials have strongly marked articular facets—some of them (never all) being axillary and bearing two arms, while the orals have entirely disappeared as an integral part of the calyx. In fact, one would scarcely expect to find them retaining their em- bryonic condition of a closed pyramid on the top of a calyx, the radials of which had reached such a high state of deve- lopment. The very complete fusion of the orals in the specimens represented in figs. 8-10 (Pl. XVI.) appears to show that they remained united until a comparatively late stage, and so closed in the tentacular vestibule, in the floor of which was the opening of the mouth. * Beyrich has pointed out (Crinoideen des Muschelkalks, pp. 43, 44) that in young individuals of Encrinus the sutures between the basals are invisible, though those between the radials are distinct enough. This is the case in nearly all our specimens of Adlagecrinus, both young and old. It may also happen in the young Lncrinus that one of two arms on the same axillary may remain rudimentary, while the other develops first. The inequality in size of the radials in Allagecrinus and of the arms which they bear is even a lower condition than that noticed by Beyrich in the young Encrinus. There is no similar stage in the young of recent Crinoids, in which all the radial plates are equal from the first, on British Paleozoic Crinoids. 289 The entire absence of orals from the three largest specimens does not necessarily prove that they were not present during life. We imagine that in the subsequent stages to those represented in fig. 7 on Pl. XV. and figs. 8-10 on Pl. XVL., the orals were relatively carried inwards, away from the radials, and separated from them by perisome (just as they are in the Pentacrinoid larva of Comatu/a) when the arms began to appear above the radials. Whether the orals ever separated so as to open the mouth to the exterior, and whether the ring of perisome forming the ventral disk between them and the radials was naked, as in Fhizocrinus, or plated, as in Hyo- crinus, must of course remain undecided. The absence of any distinct anal system in the calyx of the large specimens indicates that the anus was situated in a ventral disk, which, if plated at all, can only have been but lightly so, as in the Ichthyocrinide. It is true we have no proof that there were any orals at all in the older specimens; but, judging from the relative sizes and development of the largest examples with oral plates, and the smallest without, we think it scarcely likely that they were entirely unrepresented in the adult. It is obvious that, if they were united to the radials by perisome, whether plated or bare, they would be readily lost under con- ditions that would have had no destructive effect on younger specimens, in which there was a closer union between the two rings of plates. Lastly, we may say a few words about the ornament and size of the specimens. In the larger individuals, although visible, the pitted structure is not so decidedly apparent as in many of the smaller and younger ones. For instance take figs. 3a and 10a (Pl. XVI.), as compared with figs. 1 a, 2a, and 26 (Pl. XV.). In the former it absolutely amounts to ornamentation. The diameter of the full-grown calyx varies from about 3 millims. to 5 millims. 3. On the Relations of the Species. Three or four years ago, when our acquaintance with AJ/a- gecrinus was in a much less advanced state than at present, specimens were forwarded to Prof. L. G. de Koninck of Liége, for his opinion as to their identity. He very kindly referred one of the present writers to the description and figure of the Poteriocrinus isacobus, 'T. and 'T. Austin *, as coming nearest in general appearance to the specimens in question. ‘The identity of our little Scotch fossils with this * Mon. Recent and Foss. Crinoidea, p. 74, t. 8. f. 4,a & 3. 290 Messrs. P. H. Carpenter and R. Etheridge, Jun., species not being so clear as could be desired, Major Austin, F.G.S., was communicated with for further details of P. isacobus than are contained in the description given by him- self and his son. Major Austin very kindly replied that his specimens had unfortunately been mislaid. We are therefore unable to institute a close and detailed comparison between P. isacobus and our Allagecrinus. We propose to call the latter A. Austini?, Ether. & Carp., as aslight tribute of respect to Major Austin in connexion with his work on the Carbo- niferous Crinoidea. According to Messrs. Austin, “ the dorso-central and periso- mic plates (of P. ‘sacobus) appear to agree in number with the typical species” of Poteriocrinus. If this be the case, P. isacobus is not in the least related to Ad/agecrinus. But in the figure of it given by the Messrs. Austin there is no indica- tion whatever of the presence of two rows of plates below the radials*. We believe the plates which are represented as forming the greater part of the calyx to be the radials, and the ring upon which they rest to consist of five closely united basals, as in our specimens. Above these radials the Messrs. Austin’s figure is incomplete: but one portion of it appears to represent the end of a short first brachial which has been dis- placed ; and upon this there seems to have been an elongated axillary brachial, each face of which bore a similarly elon- gated axillary that supported two arms. Hence there were probably twenty arms. Mr. Percy Sladen has proposed to establish a new genus, Dactylocrinust, for the fossils described by Miller and the Messrs. Austin respectively under the name Poterdocrinus tenuis. He takes that figured by Messrs. Austin as the type of his new genus, and calls it D. loreus; while the Poterco- crinus tenuis, Miller, becomes the Dactylocrinus tenuis of Sladen, who thus continues :—‘ The P. tsacobus of Messrs. Austin seems identical with the present species. In any case it is very much nearer than the fossil figured by them as P. tenuis.” We regret that we are unable to accept this view of * The “first series of perisomic plates” of Messrs. Austin are those which one of us has proposed to call “ under-basals.” This name has been adopted by Messrs. Wachsmuth and Springer and by Prof. Zittel. The ‘second series of perisomic plates” are the “ parabasals ” or “ sub- radials” of the old nomenclature, and the “ basals” of the more rational modern one. ‘The dorso-central plate described in Potertocrinus by Messrs. Austin is not recognized by other authors as occurring in this genus at all. + “On the genus Poteriocrinus and Allied Forms,” Proceedings of the Geological and Polytechnic Society of the West Riding of Yorkshire, 1877, pp. 245-247. on British Paleozoic Crinotds. 291 Mr. Sladen’s. Whether the P. tenuis, Austin, is identical with P. tenuis, Miller, does not concern us now; but under- basals are represented in the type-figures of both authors ; while in the Messrs. Austin’s figure of P. dsacobus there is no trace of these plates, and the statement as to their presence is avery guarded one. Jor the same reason we cannot follow Messrs. Wachsmuth and Springer* in referring P. isacobus, Austin, to the sectional group Scaphiocrinus, Hall. We be- lieve its calyx to be a simple one, consisting of a monocyclic base supporting five large radials, just as in our own fossil (Allagecrinus) ; and we are disposed to regard the two types as congeneric, but as specifically distinct from one another. In A. Austinid some (1 to 4) of the radiais may be axillary, bearing arms directly without the intervention of any second or third radials. These arms may have divided (but there is no evidence of their having done so) before the fourth joint above the radials. In A. csacobus, on the other hand, there seem to have been but five primary arms, which forked on the third and then again on the fourth joints above the radials. Without a personal examination of the Messrs. Austin’s ori- ginal specimen we are naturally unable to say much about it ; but we venture to think we are correct in referring it to a type which is much more closely allied to Allagecrinus than to Poteriocrinus, Dactylocrinus, or Scaphiocrinus. 4, Position of Allagecrinus with respect to other Families of Crinoidea. If we are right in believing that the various forms figured in Pls. XV. and XVI. are merely different stages in the deve- lopment of one singularly protean species, Allagecrinus must be regarded as a type of singular interest; for although it is a Paleozoic Crinoid, the most advanced individuals are entirely devoid of those characters which are supposed to be specially distinctive of the Tessellata. According to Miiller’s defini- tion of the “ Crinoidea articulata,” Allagecrinus is as much an articulate Crinoid as Pentacrinus. On the other hand, the younger specimens are truly “ tessellate,” and they retain the peculiarities which are supposed to be eminently charac- teristic of the Tessellata until they are considerably larger and more strongly built than the largest Comatula-larve in the “ tessellate ”’ stage. Were we dealing with these specimens only, Allagecrinus * Revision of the Paleocrinoidea, part i. p. 113, extracted from the ‘Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences,’ Noy. 4, 1879. 292 Messrs. P. H. Carpenter and R. Etheridge, Jun., would find its place without difficulty in the family of the Haplocrinide, the special character of which is the presence of a dome of oral plates. But we can find no family, either in the Tessellate or in the Articulate division of the excellent classification of Prof. Zittel*, to which we can refer the larger specimens of Allagecrinus. We therefore propose to institute for its reception the family Allagecrinide, with a definition essentially the same as that already given for the renus. The inequality of size of the radials, owing to some of them being axillary, is a character which sharply distin- guishes Allagecrinus from the Encrinide, Apiocrinide, and Pentacrinide, and, in fact, from all the ‘ Articulata,” to which division of the Miillerian classification it clearly belongs. It is, however, one of the Paleozoic Crinoids, and, like most members of that group, retains several embryonic features. Hence it adds one more to the many proofs which we have already of the unsatisfactory nature of Miiller’s definitions of the Articulata and ‘Tessellata. 5. Locality and Horizon. Allagecrinus Austinit appears to be dispersed generally throughout the shales and some of the limestones of the Scotch Carboniferous system. We are acquainted with its distri- bution in the east of Scotland much better than in the west. The following may be taken as typical localities :— No. 16 Mine, Addiewell, near Bathgate, in the decomposed No. 1 main, or Hurlet Limestone; Howood, near Johnston, in shale above the Hurlet Limestone; Cateraig Shore, near Dunbar, and Burlage Quarry, near Dunbar, in shale above the Skateraw Limestone ; Carlops Quarry, near Carlops, in shale above the Carlops Limestone; Roscobie, near Dunterm- line, in shale above the limestone developed there. The foregoing horizons are all in the Lower Carboniferous Lime- stone group. 6. On the Divisions of the Crinoidea. Articulata and Tessel- lata ; Paleocrinoidea and Stomatocrinoidea ; Regularia and Irreqularia. Although Miiller’s terms Articulata and Tessellata are practically meaningless as regards the Crinoids, they have nevertheless come. to be looked upon as representing two very distinct sections of the order, viz. the Mesozoic, Tertiary, and Recent types on the one hand, and the Paleozoic types on the other. We think, however, that the time has come * Handb. d. Palaontol. Bd. i, pp. 642-346. on British Paleozoic Crinodds. 293 when they may be fitly replaced by other names which are less misleading in their character. According to Miiller’s original definition *, the articulate Crinoids are those in which the radii are free down to the base of the calyx. They do not meet laterally; but the in- tervals between them are filled by perisome continuous with that of the ventral surface of the disk, and either bare or plated. lLiitken has pointed out} that, according to this definition, the Mesozoic Apiocrinus and Cruettardicrinus can- not be included among the Articulata. In the former the second and third radials are united with their fellows all round the calyx by interradial plates, while in the latter the rays are united as far as the second arm-joints, either directly or by interradial plates. The same is the case in many recent Comatule. On the other hand the rays of the Paleozoic Zaxocrinus were just as free as those of Pentacrinus ; and this genus entirely corresponds to Miiller’s definition of the Arti- culata. The same may be said of other so-called “ tessellate Paleoerinoids.” An attempt has also been made to separate the Mesozoic Articulata from the Paleozoic Tessellata on the ground that the successive radial plates of the latter are only suturally united, while in the former group they articulate upon one another. Here again, however, Guettardicrinus and Apto- crinus are tessellate though not Paleozoic Crinoids. Further, in many of the Paleocrinoids the distal faces of the first or second radials are true articular surfaces in which the fossa for the insertion of muscles and ligaments are much more distinctly marked than in the corresponding joints of many Apiocrinide, or even of recent Pentacrinide. In spite of Liitken’s well-grounded attack upon the Miillerian classification, it has recently been entirely adopted by Prof. Zittel{ on the ground that it “ liefert vortrefflich abgegrentzte natiirliche Gruppen.” We cannot understand, however, how Cyathocrinus, Poteriocrinus, Platycrinus, and Myrtillocrinus can find places in a group a leading charac- teristic of which is that the plates of the calyx are “‘ unbeweg- lich durch einfache Nahte verbunden.” It is obvious from the context that vertical and not horizontal union is meant. The latter occurs in all Crinoids as far as the first radials, * “Ueber den Bau des Pentacrinus caput-Meduse,’ Abhandl. d. Ber- lin. Akad. 1843, p. 25 (of separate copy). + “Om Vestindiens Pentacriner med nogle Bemaerkninger om Pen- tacriner og Sdlilier i Almindelighed,” Videnskabelige Meddelelser fra den naturhistoriske Forening i Kjobenhayn, 1864, no. 13-16, pp. 220 seg. { Op. cit. pp. 842 and 345, 294 Messrs. P. H. Carpenter and R. Etheridge, Jun., and a good deal further in many types; while sutural union in a vertical direction is not exclusively confined to the Pale- ozoic Crinoids, though it is certainly more common among them than among the younger forms. But at the same time there were several genera (and those by no means the least common) in which the second radials were not only free from their fellows, but articulated to the first radials, in precisely the same manner as the corresponding joints of a Pentacrinus or Comatula. Other genera, however, are characterized by a peculiarity which is only met with among the Palzocrinoidea, viz. the absence of any distinct articular surface on the distal faces of the first radials, which are not perforated by canals for the axial cords of the rays. The presence of these canals is mentioned by Zittel among the characters of the Mesozoic and younger Crinoids; but their absence is not distinctive of the Paleocrinoids, as they exist in Platycrinus and in all the forms with true articular facets on the first radials. There are several Paleeozoic types, however, in which the second radials were in contact with the first by semicircular or horseshoe-shaped surfaces, with or without notches for the reception of the axial cords at the bottom of the concavity. This, though a permanent condition in some Paleocrinoids, is a transitory one in the young Comatula, and, as seen above, in the young Allagecrinus; and as none of the Neocrinoidea (if we may so call them), with the doubtful exception of Comaster, Goldfuss *, retains this peculiarity when mature, it is, as far as it goes, a good general character for separating the younger from the older Crinoids. Another and a better distinction between them is one on which considerable stress has been recently laid by Messrs. Wachsmuth and Springer }, who believe that the mouth was internal in most Paleozoic Crinoids, if not in all of them; while it is external and suprategminal in the recent forms, for which they propose the general term Stomatocrinoidea. That the mouth was internal in the Actinocrinide we have, of course, not the smallest doubt; but we would point out that the “ vault”’ of this family, closing in the mouth and all the covered ambulacra of the body, is a very different struc- ture from the six “ apical dome-plates ” of the Cyathocrinide and Ichthyocrinide, which merely close the peristome and leave the plated ambulacra as much external as those of any * Linnean Society’s Journal, Zoology, vol. xiii. pp. 454-456. + Op. cit. pp. 6, 30. See also “ Notes on the Internal and External Structure of Paleozoic Crinoids,” by Charles Wachsmuth (‘ American Journal of Science and Arts,’ 1877, vol. xiv. pp. 117-127 and 181-190), on British Paleozoic Crinotds. 295 recent Crinoid. We see no reason to believe that the plates bordering these ambulacra were not movable during life, like the similar ones on the ambulacra of the arms, so that the food-grooves were completely open to the exterior. In fact Wachsmuth * admits that “this might possibly have been the case in Cyathocrinus towensis ; but I even doubt it here, as the corresponding plates in other closely-related species, though arranged upon the same fundamental plan, present rather an aspect of true vault-pieces.”” Whatever may have been the case in the Cyathocrinide, we believe that the ventral disk of the Ichthyocrinide, which was composed of “ a more or less soft or scaly integument yielding to motion in the body and arms,” was essentially like that of a recent Crinoid with movable plates bordering the ambulacra and an irregular pavement in the interradial areas. We cannot therefore regard all the Paleocrinoids as having been withont external food-grooves, as 1s supposed by Wachsmuth and Springer ; and we think it also quite possible that the apical dome-plates of the Cyathocrinide and Ichthyocrinide were movable during life, so that the mouth was open to the exterior. Hence we do not attach quite so much importance to these two charac- ters as do Wachsmuth and Springer. But we regard the presence of the apical dome-plates or of a true vault, and not the condition of the mouth and food-grooves, as an important distinction between the older and the younger Crinoids. It is certainly a more constant one than the absence of axial canals in the radials, though not altogether universal. Probably the most constant difference between the Paleo- zoic and the younger Crinoids is one to which we do not think attention has yet been drawn. In almost all the- Mesozoic and recent Crinoids the calyx is perfectly regular and sym- metrical all round t. There are five equal and similar basals, upon which rest five equal and similar radiais; and each of these is in close lateral union with its immediate neighbours without the intervention of any interradial pieces at all f. Should there be any interradials in the calyx, as between adjacent second or third radials, they are not limited to any special side of the calyx, but are equally distributed all round it, as in Cluettardicrinus and Apiocrinus. Lastly, if the rays divide, it is always the third radial that is the axillary joint. * Paleozoic Crinoids, p. 184. + The distortion of the calyx in the Eugeniacrinidee may be left out of consideration for the present. { The partial freedom of the first radials from one another in Bathy- crinus and Pentacrinus subangularis does not affect the question under discussion, owing to the absence of interradials in these genera. 296 Messrs. P. H. Carpenter and R. Etheridge, Jun., Now in the Paleozoic Crinoids the symmetry of the calyx is always disturbed by the presence of an anal or azygos side. This may be indicated simply by the presence of an anal opening, which notches one of the oral plates, as in Phimo- crinus, Haplocrinus, &e., or by the presence of a single anal plate, as in Belemnocrinus, which in other respects has such a close resemblance to the recent Rhizocrinus, or more com- monly by the fact that one of the basals and two of the radials differ from their fellows in size and shape so as to give room for the system of anal plates which separates two of the rays, or in some similar manner. Even in cases where the radials are closely united all round and the general contour of the calyx is perfectly regular, a want of symmetry is indicated by the inequality in the numbers of basal and radial plates. This is the case, for example, in Hucalyptocrinus, which has five radials but only four basals. Lastly, in those Paleozoic Crinoids which have divided rays the position of the axillary joint is by no means so fixed as in the younger types. The rays may fork on the first radial, as in Allagecrinus ; or the axillary may be as many as six joints beyond it, as in Potertocrinus radiatus, or in any intermediate position. Taking all the above facts into consideration, we are-in- clined to think that the Palzocrinoids do constitute a group that is distinguished from the more modern types by an assemblage of very definite characters, perhaps the most con- stant of which is the distinction between the perfectly sym- metrical calyx of the Mesozoic and recent forms, and the more or less irregular one of the Paleocrinoids. We suggest therefore that the two groups should be distinguished as the Paleocrinoidea (Wachsmuth) and Neocrinoidea (nob.), or as hregularia and Regularia. The old terms Articulata and Tessellata are meaningless, as we have shown above, while the name “Stomatocrinoidea,” proposed by Wachsmuth, is long and cumbersome; and we are by no means sure that some of the Paleocrinoids did not have an external oral opening. Whatever name be adopted for the Paleozoic Crinoids, they are of the highest interest morphologically, owing to their presenting so many embryonic characters. These may be briefly summarized as follows :— 1. The great development of the orals, which sometimes form a closed pyramid. 2. The frequent presence of a more or less perfect vault on British Paleozoic Crinoids. 297 (in the absence of a closed oral pyramid), which covers in either the whole of the ventral side or only the peristome. 3. The want of symmetry, indicated by the presence between two rays of one or more special “ anal plates.” 4. The great development of the calyx as compared with that of the arms. 5. The frequent absence of a distinct articulation between the first and second radials, and of axial canals within the joints of the rays and arms. EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES. PLATE XV. Adult specimens. Fig. 1. Nine-armed calyx with two brachials. Carlops Quarry, near Peebles. a, side view, showing the small radial, which bears one arm only; 4, view of the calyx from above, showing the articular faces of the radials. Fig. 2. Calyx and lower brachials of another nine-armed example, the most complete yet found. Carlops Quarry. qaand 3, side views, the former showing the single one-armed radial plate ; c, ventral aspect of the same specimen, showing the second and third bra- chials or arm-joints of three arms. Fig. 3. Projection of the calyx and lower brachials of the original of fig. 2. Fig. 4. The basal cup as seen from above; the sutures are quite oblite- rated. Carlops Quarry. Fig. 5. Terminal face of a stem-joint, showing rim-like margin, small canal, and central granulation. Carlops Quarry. Fig. 6, Calyx with only three axillary radials and one of the first bra- chials still preserved. Carlops Quarry. a, ventral aspect of the calyx; 6, side view, showing the two adjacent simple radials and one first brachial. Or Intermediate specimen. Fig. 7. Calyx and upper stem-joints of an irregular example, with small orals and unequally-developed radials. Near Carluke. a, from the side; 6, from above; the radial on the right bears a very rudimentary brachial. N.B.—The figures represent the specimens as magnified nine times, PuaTE XVI. Young specimens, Fig. 1. Calyx of a very young individual, with unequally-developed radials and depressed oral pyramid. Catcraig, near Dunbar. x 25. a, from the side; 6, from above. Fig. 2. Calyx of another very young specimen, with a large dome of oral plates and very small arm-openings. Whitebaulks, near Lin- lithgow. x 25. a, from the side; 6, from above. Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 5. Vol. vii. 22 298 On a new Longicorn Beetle from Java. Fig. 3. Calyx of a somewhat older example, with a depressed oral pyra- mid; three of the radials have distinct arm-facets. No. 16 Mine, Addiewell. x 25. a, from the side; 6, from above. Fig. 4. Calyx of a more advanced individual, with a higher and deeply- grooved oral pyramid and more marked arm-facets. Catcraig, near Dunbar. X 28. Fig. 5. Calyx of a similar specimen, with equally developed radials and a single oral tubercle ; the five grooves separating the orals are well shown. Burlage Quarry, near Dunbar. x 23. Fig. 6. Calyx of a similar example, in which the centre of the oral pyra- mid has been broken away, leaving a rounded hiatus; portions of the grooves again visible. Fig. 7. Calyx of a larger specimen, with a low deeply-grooved oral pyra- mid and large arm-openings. Catcraig, near Dunbar. xX 24. a, from the side; 6, from above. Fig. 8. Three views of the calyx of a still more advanced individual, with unequally developed radials and a relatively small oral pyramid. Burlage Quarry, near Dunbar. x 26. a, from the side, showing a small radial; 6, from the side, showing the large axillary radial ; c, from above, showing the reduced condition of the orals. Fig. 9. Calyx of a specimen in which three radials have distinct articular facets, whilst another has no facet, even of the simplest kind, and there is only an imperfect one on the fifth. _Howood, near Johnstone. xX 24. a, from the side; 0, from above. Fig. 10. Calyx of a much pitted specimen, with a small and low oral pyramid and well-marked articular facets on all the radials. Carlops Quarry, near Carlops. Xx 25. a, from the side; 6, from above. XXVIUI.—Deseription of a new Longicorn Beetle from Java. By W. L. Distant. Tus fine Coleopteron was represented by a single example only in an entomological collection made by my friend Baron A. von Hiigel in the neighbourhood of Kederi, Java. Mr: C. O. Waterhouse of the British Museum, to whom I ex- hibited it, and who kindly took some trouble with me in ascer- taining it be an undescribed form, is desirous of figuring the same in his illustrated work, ‘ Aid to the Identification of Insects,’ and has requested me to describe it forthwith. Pachyteria Hiigeli, n. sp. Glabrate; cyaneous ; head, first to seventh joints of antenna, a little less than basal half of elytra, and legs ochraceous ; four apical joints of antennz dull black; eyes cyaneous and gla- brate. Lateral margins of body beneath faintly clothed with greyish pubescence. The head has a distinct, central, longitudinal incision on the Mr. F. P. Pascoe on new Neotropical Curculionide. 299 vertex, with the base above somewhat faintly obscured with cyaneous. Thorax wider than the head ; lateral margins sub- ampliated, rounded, and transversely sulcate ; base and apex constricted and transversely sulcate; disk finely and obscurely punctate, with a faint central raised longitudinal line. Scutel- lum finely punctate, with a central longitudinal impression. Elytra obscurely punctate, with eight fine longitudinal strie— two subsutural, four on disk, and two near margins; these striz are most distinct on the basal ochraceous portion, and become more evanescent and obscure towards apex. Proster- num transversely striate and very sparingly punctate ; meta- sternum coarsely punctate. Long. 42 millims. This species is allied to P. bicolor, Parry, but differs by the much more rounded sides of the thorax, the legs entirely ochraceous, ce. XXIX.—New Neotropical Curculionide.—Part V. By Francis P. Pascor, F.L.S. &e. LEPTOPIN®. CRYPTORHYNCHIN#. Rhigus vespertilio. Conotrachelus eximius. Cydianirus ornatus. Cyphorhynchus rugosus. Dacnirus, n. g. scapulatus. —— flexuosus. Hdesius, n. g. obesus. HyLopin. Barisses, n. 2. rufipennis. H id ors larger Analcis fasciatus — circumductus. striatus. ERIRHININZA. c PYROPINZE. Ochetina, n. ¢. 5 cr uniformis. yropus pusillus, CHOLINE CALANDRIN2. Dionychus conciliatus. Ithaura nitida. Rhigus vespertilio. kt. oblongus, compressus, dense griseo-squamosus, utrinque vitta umbrina irregulari notatus; prothorace angusto, tuberculo late- rali instructo ; elytris singulatim tuberculatis, apicibus productis. Long. 7 lin. Hab. Brazil. Oblong, compressed posteriorly, almost wholly covered with greyish scales, the prothorax and elytra with an irregular umber-brown stripe on each side; rostrum very broadly dilated at the tip, three grooves in front and a curved deeper one on each side; antenne scaly and setose; scape rather 22% 300 Mr. F. P. Pascoe on new Neotropical Curculionide. long; second joint of the funicle a little longer than the first, the next four turbinate, the last longer than any of the pre- ceding four; club elliptic; prothorax narrowed, longer than broad, the disk unequal, the sides deeply corrugated and having an obtuse tubercle just before the middle, ocular lobes very prominent; scutellum raised, small, rounded; elytra much compressed posteriorly, abruptly declivous at the apex, above the slight preapical callus a stout conical tubercle, a smaller one on each side of the disk nearer the shoulder, the latter prolonged into a horizontal conical tubercle ; body be- neath and legs with closely placed scales of grey speckled with brown. A very distinct species; an example in the British Museum bears Dupont’s catalogue name here adopted. Cydianirus ornatus. C. late ovatus, squamulis flavis sat dense vestitus, supra nigro- maculatus ; prothorace integro, leviter punctato; elytris brevius- culis, subtiliter striato-punctatis. Long. 43 lin. Hab. Brazil. Broadly ovate, almost wholly covered with rather closely set yellow scales, above with black spots; head convex in front, black posteriorly ; rostrum triangularly flattened an- teriorly ; antennee with yellow scales at the base, gradually greyish and pilose towards the tip; funicle with the second joint nearly twice as long as the first; club elongate, slender, fusiform ; prothorax transverse, slightly contracted at the base, rounded at the sides, four black spots on the disk and one on each side; scutellum oblong; elytra rather short, much broader at the base than the prothorax, striate-punctate, punctures masked by the scales, each elytron with thirteen round very distinct black spots; body beneath and legs closely covered with pale yellow and saffron-coloured scales ; first abdominal suture straight. This species, of which I have only seen the one example in my own collection, bears a striking resemblance to the Madagascar Stigmatrachelus ornatus, but differs entirely in the rostrum, antenne, &c. DACNIRUS. Antenne scapo brevissimo. Prothorax lobis ocularibus obsoletis. Cetera ut in Rhigo. The sole exponent of this genus at present has a very diffe- rent aspect from any thing in Rhzgus or in Cydianirus ; but to the latter it might perhaps have been referred but for the Mr. F. P. Pascoe on new Neotropical Curculionide. 301 strongly mucronate anterior tibie, which furnish the princi- pal, if not the only, character differentiating these two genera. The scape does not extend beyond the short, almost transverse, portion of the scrobe. Dacnirus flexuosus. D. oblongus, flavo-squamosus, prothorace scutelloque fusco-brun- neis, illo confertim granulato-punctato; elytris leviter striato- punctatis, plagis duabus sinuatis transversim notatis. Long. 32 lin, Hab. Brazil. Oblong, mostly covered with sulphur-yellow scales ; head in front scaleless, brown, closely punctured ; rostrum slightly compressed, strongly curved anteriorly and broadly grooved, densely covered with yellow scales; antenne with setulose scales at the base ; first joint of the funicle short, second twice as long; club elongate, ovate; prothorax about equal in length and breadth, scaleless, chocolate-brown, coarsely and closely granulate-punctate, the sides rounded; scutellum oblong, brown; elytra at the base nearly twice as broad as the prothorax, the shoulders slightly prominent, narrowed at the apex, striate-punctate, two brown, very irregular, flexuous or sinuate transverse patches at equal distances from each other and from the base and apex, but not extending to the outer margin; metasternum rather short; first abdominal suture curved. I owe my specimen of this species to Mr. Fry, who has taken it near Rio. HYPNIDEUS. Rostrum breve, crassum ; scrobes oblique, antemediane. Antenne breviuscule ; clava a funiculo sat distincta. Oculi laterales, ovati, infra subacuminati. Prothorax basi rectus. Hlytra de- missa, humeris obliquis, ad latera tuberculo instructa. Femora valida, dente parvo instructa; tibiw sulcate, intus bisinuate; tarsi normales ; wngues connati, Abdomen sutura prima arcuata. Allied to Sternuchus, but differentiated by the depressed elytra not rising above the level of the prothorax. The club of the antennz is also clearly marked off from the last joint of the funicle. One of my specimens is labelled Clinorhynchus hetlipoides, Jek. Hypnideus circumductus. H. subellipticus, niger, vitta lata dorsali utrinque (postice ad suturam ducta) et plaga apicali albo-squamosis ornatus, Long. 6 lin. Hab. Paya. 302 Mr. F. P. Pascoe on new Neotropical Curculionidae. Subelliptic or somewhat ovate, glossy black, a broad stripe of white scales beginning behind the eye and continued on the back on each side of the prothorax and elytra to near the preapical callus, joining its fellow at the sutura, at the apex a patch of white scales; head and basal half of the rostrum coarsely punctured ; antenne pitchy, first joint of the funicle as long as the three next together, the terminal joints slightly setulose, club densely tomentose ; prothorax slightly broader at the base than long, the apex tubular, the sides rounded, closely punctured, an oblong cavity behind the apex; scutel- lum subcordate; elytra broadest behind the base, abruptly declivous behind, coarsely seriate-punctate, the intervals transversely ridged, preapical callus not prominent, apex of each elytron rounded; body beneath and legs with small scattered setule. OCHETINA. Rostrum gracile, arcuatum; scrobes premediane, subrecte. An- tenne tenues; funiculus sexarticulatus. Oculc reniformes, transyersi, grosse granulati. Prothorax transversus, basi rotun- datus. Scutellum invisum. EHlytra breviuscula, humeris promi- nulis. Abdomen segmentis tertio quartoque brevissimis, segmento secundo ad latera angulo producto. /¢mora subclavata, mutica ; tibie perparum arcuate, intus sulcate, apice mucronate; tarsi elongati, lineares, articulo penultimo integro ; wngues liberi. In its linear tarsi this genus agrees with Bagous; but its long slender rostrum and entire propectus will at once diffe- rentiate it. The peculiar structure of the tibisee (grooved for the reception of the tarsi in repose) is probably unique in this family. Ochetina uniformis. O. ovata, fusca, squamositate grisea fere omnino tecta; rostro cas- taneo, denudato. Long. 27 lin. Hab. Amazon (Ega?). Ovate, dark brown, almost everywhere covered with a greyish squamosity or crust; rostrum chestnut, shining, much longer than the prothorax and well curved; antenne ferruginous; two basal joints of the funicle longer than the rest together, the first shorter and stouter than the second ; club elliptical ; prothorax rounded at the sides and very slightly at the base, irregularly punctured; scutellum not apparent ; elytra a little broader than the prothorax, striate-punctate, the apex narrowly rounded; tibie with a broad groove, clothed with short hairs, passing to the inner margin, and receiving the tarsi in repose; sterna and abdomen rather remotely punctured. Mr. F. P. Pascoe on new Neotropical Curculionide. 303 Dionychus conciliatus. D. oblongo-obovatus, niger, supra griseo-squamosus ; elytris singu- latim lineis quinque elevatis, nitide nigris, denudatis, aliis qua- tuor leviter granulatis instructis. Long. 8 ln, Hab. Brazil. Oblong-obovate, black, with pale greyish scales; rostrum as long as the prothorax, carinate, and closely punctured throughout; antenne pitchy, setulose; first joimt of the funicle as long as the three following together; prothorax slightly broader than long, finely granulate, the intervals covered with minute greyish scales ; scutellum slightly trans- verse, convex, finely punctured ; elytra gradually narrowing from the base, each with five lines, smooth, glossy black, densely scaly between, but with a finely granulated line par- tially dividing the scaly portion; body beneath and legs fur- nished with greyish setul, on the latter more dispersed. Alhed to D. parallelogrammus, but differing principally in the elytra, which have, including the outer margin, only five raised lines on each instead of ten; the granulated lines, confined to the basal half of the elytra, may be considered the representatives of the uniform lines present in the former species. Conotrachelus eximius. C. ovatus, nitide fuscus, supra lineis annulisque silaceo-squamosis ornatus; elytris modice convexis, sat fortiter striato-punctatis ; femoribus (basi apiceque nigris exceptis) luteis. Long. 4 lin. Hab. Sarayacu, Macas. Ovate, dark glossy brown, with very distinct lines and rings of silaceous scales; rostrum much longer than the pro- thorax, curved, with two punctured grooves on each side; scrobes commencing at about three fourths from the base ; antennee ferruginous; funicle with the three basal joints elongate, second longest, the rest turbinate; club ovate, dis- tinctly four-jointed ; eyes nearly meeting beneath; prothorax narrowed anteriorly, the sides of the posterior half parallel, irregularly and closely punctured, a looped line posteriorly prolonged into a single one on each side; scutellum oblong, elevated ; elytra nearly twice as broad as the prothorax at the base, seriate-punctate, punctures rather coarse, an irre- ‘ular ring on each shoulder, another close to the apex, between the two and behind the middle a slightly flexuous linear band ; mesosternum elevated, triangular; second abdominal segment only a little longer than the third or fourth, suture separating it from the first slightly arched; legs elongate; femora glossy 304 Mr. F. P. Pascoe on new Neotropical Curculionide. luteous yellow, base and apex black ; tibie and tarsi blackish, with a dull luteous tint. A very distinct species, in its coloration resembling some of the Hilipoda from the same locality. In any future dis- memberment of this group it would probably be found to be congeneric with C. corallifer. Cyphorhynchus rugosus. C. ovatus, fuscus, squamositate grisea adspersus, supra tubercu~ latus : prothorace elytrisque basi linea brevi obliqua alba ornatis, illo apice valde producto. Long. 34 lin. Hab. Eiga. Ovate, dark brown, with a sparse greyish squamosity ; rostrum much shorter than the prothorax, constricted at the base, at first compressed, but becoming broader to the tip ; prothorax very irregular, a narrow slightly emarginate lobe projecting beyond the head, its centre carinate, the disk with two approximate mamilliform tubercles in the middle; scu- tellum oblong; elytra subcordiform, much broader at the base than the prothorax, shoulders oblique, rather abruptly decli- vous posteriorly, the back and sides with tubercles varying in size, the largest much compressed, the intervals with coarsely-impressed punctures, at the base, on each side of the scutellum, a short oblique line of white scales continuous with a duller line crossing the posterior angle of the prothorax, the apex with a round yellowish-white spot on each side; meso- sternum moderately elevated ; abdomen dark brown, opaque ; tibia much compressed. Cyphorhynchus was a genus originally propounded by Schonherr, but which he afterwards merged into Conotrache- lus, from which, in my opinion, it essentially differs in its deformed or misshapen rostrum. C. squalidus, Boh., and C. singularis, Gyll., are evidently strangers to the genus. Cyphorhynchus scapulatus. C. oblongo-ovatus, fuscus, squamositate obscura adspersus, supra minus tuberculatus; prothorace apice elevato, vix producto; elytris ad humeros linea arcuata albido-squamosa-notatis. Long. 34 lin. Hab. Para. Oblong-oval, dark brown, with a sparse dull squamosity ; rostrum compressed throughout, irregularly carinate ; antenne pale ferruginous; prothorax narrow, closely punctured, the apex elevated and slightly emarginate above, somewhat de- pressed or hollowed anteriorly, two conical approximate Mr. F. P. Pascoe on new Neotropical Curculionide. 305 tubercles in the middle; scutellum ovate; elytra much broader than the prothorax at the base, the sides subparallel, shoulders shortly rounded, a line of white scales at the base, curving round the shoulders, and nearly meeting its fellow at the suture behind the scutellum, tubercles fewer and smaller, with punctures in the intervals; body beneath dark brown; mesosternum elevated and prominent; tibizee mode- rately compressed. Differs from the preceding in the prothorax not prolonged at the apex, the oblong elytra, and the more slender and less compressed tibiee. EDESIUS. Rostrum validum, basi subito arcuatum; scrobes infra rostrum cito desinentes. Oculi laterales. Prothorax paryus, lobis ocularibus apiceque productis, basi bisinuatus. H/ytra ampla, in medio ele- vata, lateribus carinatis. Pectus profunde canaliculatum. Oowve anticee basi contigus. Mesosternum depressum; femora infra dentata ; tibie arcuate, apice uncinate ; wngues apice fissiles. This genus would probably be referable to Conotrachelus if it did not constitute, as Lacordaire has observed, “ not one but many genera.” Schénherr gives as its type C. diaconitus, and as one of its characters, a “‘ long, linear, and often fili- form ”’ rostrum, only the base of which can be received in the pectoral canal, which is bounded behind by the anterior coxe. In this genus, owing to its comparative shortness and the depressed mesosternum, the rostrum can be retained to its full extent. The species described below has, at the first glance, much the appearance of Cionus thapsus. Edesius obesus. E. breviter ovatus, squamositate albida griseo-varia indutus, supra ineequalis, tuberculatus. Long. 33 lin. Hab. Para. Shortly ovate, covered with a whitish squamosity, varied or clouded with greyish, above irregular and tuberculate; ros- trum ferruginous, with a carina on its lower third, scrobes commencing near the apex; antenne pale ferruginous, the two basal joints of the funicle equal and elongate, the rest shortly obconic ; club ovate, distinctly jointed ; eyes in repose covered by the ocular lobes; prothorax transversely conic, gibbous in the middle, hollowed out at the sides and base; scutellum oblong, elevated ; elytra twice as broad at the base as the prothorax, very convex, shoulders prominent, apex rounded, indistinctly subseriate-punctate, the third interstice with three tubercles, the middle one greatly elevated and lon- 306 Mr. F. P. Pascoe on new Neotropical Curculionide. gitudinally compressed, the fifth interstice with three smaller tubercles, two of which are basal, the side with a carina extending from the shoulder to near the apex; sterna and legs closely covered with greyish scales; abdomen black, with scattered punctures, each bearing a scale. BARISSES. Rostrum breve, validum; serobes oblique, infra rostrum cito desi- nentes. Qculi majusculi, rotundati, fortiter granulati. An- tenne median ; funiculus septemarticulatus. Prothorax trans- versus, lobis ocularibus prominulis. Scutellum majusculum. Elytra breviuscula, convexa. ima pectoralis inter coxas inter- medias terminata, apice elevata. Abdomen segmentis tribus intermediis equalibus, sutura prima recta. Femora sublinearia, subtus sulcata et dente armata; tbi@ compresse, extus recte carinate, apice mucronate ; wngues liberi. The short rostrum, round eyes, large scutellum, sulcated femora, and tibia with a straight carina or shortly-produced ridge along the outer margin, are characters which will at once distinguish this genus from Pseudomus, to which, how- ever, it cannot be considered a very close ally. Barisses rufipennis. B. breviter ovatus, castaneus, elytris valde convexis, rufescentibus. Long. 33 lin. Hab, Parana. Shortly ovate, chestnut-brown, the elytra rufescent (or, under a strong lens, inclining to ferrugimous), with sparse ale silaceous hairs; rostrum shorter than the head, much stouter towards the apex, broad and very slightly convex in front, and sparingly punctured; antenne pale ferruginous, two basal joints of the funicle equal in length, the last closely attached to the club; eyes approximate; prothorax shortly conic, slightly rounded at the sides, deeply pitted with oblong, mostly coalescing punctures, the intervals forming narrow, longitudinal, short, glossy ridges; scutellum round; elytra oblong-cordate, much broader than the prothorax, and very convex, deeply striate-punctate, the interstices glossy and somewhat rugose ; body beneath and legs glossy yellowish ferruginous, with approximate punctures, each bearing a pale silaceous hair, the punctures on the legs more elongate. Analcis fasciatus. A. sat anguste ellipticus, nitide niger, fasctis fulvo-squamosis orna- tus; prothorace latitudine longitudini equali; elytris seriatim punctatis. Long. 2 lin. Hab. Amazon (Kga ?). Mr. F. P. Pascoe on new Neotropical Curculionide. 307 Rather narrowly elliptical, glossy black, banded with ful- vous scales ; rostrum shorter than the head, stout, punctured ; antenne ferruginous, funicle short and stout, club small; pro- thorax not longer than broad, obsoletely punctured, band before the middle of transversely-set scales bounded on each side by a stripe, curved downwards, of similar scales; scutel- lum moderately large; elytra broader at the base, normally convex, serlate-punctate, punctures small and remote, on each elytron four bands (not meeting at the suture), the basal not extending beyond the shoulders; body beneath and legs punctured, each puncture bearing a small white scale. Analcis has hitherto been confined to North America. Dr. Leconte records seven species ; but he adopts Say’s name of Tyloderma (it has no such character) in strict conformity (much to the detriment of science) with those who insist upon an absolute rule of priority. Schénherr’s name Analcis was published in 1837, and has been in use ever since; Say’s name appeared in 1831, in what work is not mentioned. Analcis striatus. A, anguste ellipticus, ereus, squamulis elongatis albis parcissime adspersus ; prothorace latitudine longiore ; elytris fortiter striatis. Long. 23 lin. flab. Minas Geraes. Narrow elliptic, brassy brown, nearly scaleless; rostrum not longer than the head, finely punctured ; antenne ferrugi- nous, second and third joints of the funicle nearly equal in length, the first longer than either ; club broadly ovate ; pro- thorax longer than broad, obsoletely punctured; scutellum triangular ; elytra rather elongate, strongly striate-punctate, the punctures large and quadrangular; metasternum and first abdominal segment coarsely punctured ; legs pitchy. The absence of squamose bands and the striated elytra will at once distinguish this species. Pyropus pusillus. P. breviter ovatus, glaber, cyaneus, nitidus, antennis piceis; scu- tello subtriangulari, nigro. Long. 1 lin. Hab. Jamaica. Shortly ovate, smooth, blue or inclining to violet, shining ; antenne pitchy. Allied to P. sapphirinus, but differs in its much smaller size, wholly blue colour (except the antenne), prothorax comparatively more strongly punctured, and shorter scutellum. Gyllenhal, in his description of the species, the only one 308 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Kunker Formation then known, says “ Scutellum nullum ;”’ but in characterizing the genus he rightly says ‘‘ Scutellum minutum, punctiforme.” Ithaura nitida. I, oblongo-elliptica, vix depressa, silaceo-brunnea, nitida; rostro cum capite inter oculos carinato et rude punctato. Long. 33 lin. Hab, Parana. Oblong elliptic, scarcely depressed, glossy yellowish brown ; rostrum shorter than the prothorax, a central carina at its base, commencing between the eyes, with three rows of coarse punctures on each side; antennz short and stout, slightly pubescent ; prothorax longer than broad, abruptly constricted at the apex, remotely and rather finely punctured; scutellum small, somewhat transverse, rounded ; elytra delicately striate, the striz marked with coarse oblong punctures, the alternate interstices raised posteriorly ; tibiee short, seriately setulose ; tarsi very small. The type species of this genus is figured and described in the ‘Journal of the Linnean Society,’ vol. xi. pl. vi. fig. 2, pp. 215, 216. It is a longer and proportionally narrower insect than this species, differently sculptured, and with a rather dull varnished appearance. The genus is allied to Aphyoda, another singular form, and both approximating to the group of which our too well-known Calandra granaria is an example; but the head deeply constricted behind the eyes, and the small portion which lies between them, seem alone to warrant their separation as a group apart. Of some of the species described in these papers coloured figures will be given in Mr. C. Waterhouse’s ‘ Aid to the Identification of Insects.’ XXX.—On the Kunker Formation of the Alluvium in India compared with the Flint Formation tn the Chalk of Eng- land. By H. J. Carrer, F.R.S. &c. Preruars De la Beche and Elie de Beaumont were the first to insist more especially on the necessity of studying the pre- sent to interpret the past in geology—thus avoiding all theory and speculation in establishing facts which, if pursued truth- fully, offer great attraction to the scientific mind, but, if other- wise, cannot fail to do the opposite. Under such views I venture to compare the formation of the nodular and so-called “sheet” kunker of India with of the Alluvium in India. 309 that of flints and chert in the Upper Chalk and Greensand of England respectively—bearing in mind that the former is in alluvial deposits and calcareous, and that the latter are parts of the Cretaceous system and siliceous. Among the “ Post-tertiary and Recent Formations” of India mentioned in Medlicott and Blanford’s ‘ Manual of the Geology of India,’ 1879 (vol. i. p. 371), it is stated :—that kun- ker is ‘‘concretionary carbonate of lime,” most commonly presenting itself “‘in nodules of an irregular shape from half an inch to three or four inches in diameter,” as well as in “thick beds, in the alluvium,” ... . “ often filling cracks in the latter and the older rocks” beneath (p. 381); that “ at Bombay the alluvial deposits consist of blue and yellowish- brown clay,” of which the former “ contains small grains and nodules of kunker,” while the latter ‘ abounds with it in large masses”’ (p. 424) ; and, lastly, that the regur, or black soil of India generally, which is argillaceous, usually, when more than about 6 to 10 feet deep, passing downwards into brown clay, also ‘‘abounds in kunker”’ (p. 431). The late Captain Newbold observes of the regur, that “from Courtney to Yailbenchi, four miles, the plain continues as before, covered with a substratum of regur, or black cotton-soil of India, to a depth of 1 to 18 feet, in many places resting immediately on gneiss and granite, in others on an intervening bed of calcareous deposit somewhat resembling the travertin of Italy, though more nodular, and called by the natives ‘kunker.’ It is burnt by them for lime. Like rows of flints in chalk it is seen also in the lower layers of the regur often with sharp projecting spicule of carbonate of lime, which would have been broken off had the nodules been drift-pebbles.” (‘ Notes, principally Geological, on the Tract between Bellary and Bijapore,’ by Captain Newbold, F.R.S. &e., Madras Army. Reprinted in Carter’s ‘ Geological Papers on Western India,’ 1857, p. 308.) In the same compilation, under the head of “ Kunker,” in the index (p. 780), will be found references to all that had been stated of kunker up to that time, viz. 1857; while at pp. 159 and 700 are my own accounts respectively of the kunker formation as it occurs at Bombay and over India generally. ‘They are as follows :—“ There is a feature of this clay (‘Geology of the Island of Bombay,’ 1850), however, which is very remarkable, viz. the kunker formation. This, which consists of concretionary limestone, occurs massive or scattered throughout the clay in small isolated portions. In its massive state it is found in large boulders or in continuous tracts, reposing on the freshwater strata or igneous rocks 310 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Kunker Formation beneath, and in this state is compact and cavernous, enclosing portions of the clay in its cavities &c. in which it has been formed; or as a conglomerate with sandy or gravelly detritus from the igneous rocks, and the remains of small shells, assi- milating it to the sandy beaches [littoral concrete]. Those portions which are scattered throughout the clay are more or less round, like Septaria; very uniform in structure, and some so pure that they wholly dissolve in nitric acid. They are generally of a blue colour, but sometimes quite white and identical with chalk. Like Septaria, also, they are irregular and almost invariably envelope the remains of some organic matter, such as pieces of reed, wood, the remnants of crab- shells, &c., which are very frequently removed, and leave nothing but their moulds in the centre of the concretions. This substance also accumulates in the interior of shells and almost always fills the cavities of pholadine tubes which have been formed in the clay. It does not always, however, enve- lope organic remains, but may be seen appended to them in a globular form—to the pincher of a crab-claw, for instance. Occasionally it may be seen, in a vertical section of the clay, in the state of a number of isolated particles or concretionary nuclei round a piece of wood, as if in process of forming a nodule, not by successive layers, but by the increase of sub- stance round different centres.” As much the same statement is given in my ‘ Summary of the Geology of India’ (1858), I need not repeat it here, nor add more than that the surface of the regur generally is over- spread with the nodules of kunker which have been weathered out of it, and that, in a great many parts of the Southern Mahratta country (according to Lieut. Aytoun, Geol. Papers, op. cit. p. 889), it occurs continuously at the bottom of the regur, in the form of a conglomerate, which he terms “ sheet kunker.”’ Although remnants of organic matter in the kunker do not appear to have become fossilized generally, yet Captain W. T. Nicholls, formerly of the 24th Regiment, Madras Native Infantry, who was a very good and accurate observer, states with reference to some on the black soil, which he discovered in Central India near Narrainpoor, about 17 miles south-east of Saugor, as follows, viz. :—“‘ I found fossils in three spots on the surface of the regur soil. At the first spot, fragments of dicotyledonous wood with a fragment of palm, one frag- ment of fossil bone, and a fossil ? palm-seed, converted into tuffaceous lime [kunker]. At the second spot, fragments of large bones strewed on the surface of the black regur soil, and one or two fragments of fossil wood, together with irregular of the Alluvium in India. 311 flat pieces of tuffaceous limestone loose on the surface. These bones are silicified.” . . . “The third spot is about 150 yards from the last; and here I found dicotyledonous wood only. . . . They lie on the black regur soil; and I see nowhere else that they could have come from but out of it” (Geol. Papers, op. cit. p. 766). It would therefore appear that, in some parts, the organic remains of the regur have become transformed into kunker, which, under the circumstances, does not appear extraordinary. Thus we have the kunker lying in loose nodules on the surface, occurring in seams like flints ; appended to or enclosing organic remains, or in the form of layers embodying hetero- geneous material ; sometimes transforming the organic remains of the regur into its own substance. Hence, if we were to substitute the terms “ flint”? and “chert” for the nodular and so-called “sheet”? kunker, the description would apply equally well, mutatis mutandis, to the Upper Chalk and Greensand. Now, as regards the flints and chert, I happen to be living on the New Red Sandstone (at Budleigh-Salterton, Devon) where the surface is covered generally with the silicified débris of the Upper Chalk and Greensand which once over- lay it in their integrity ; and I observe that, together with other fossils, there are a great number of sponges, especially belong- ing to the Lithistina (Prof. Zittel’s “ Megamorina” and “ 'Te- tracladina”’). Taking one of these I find :—l1st, that a flint may be appended to it; 2ndly, that the flint may enclose it; drdly, that the flint may have so extended into it as to oblite- rate all trace of the structure of the Lithistid; 4thly, that a mould only of the Lithistid structure may remain ¢n the in- truding flint ; further, that in most cases the flint is homo- geneous and nodular, while, on the other hand, the fragments of chert are heterogeneously composed and tabular—indica- ting that the former was more exclusively concretionary than the latter. On the surface of some enclosed specimens of Lithistina that I have knocked out from flint, the stelliform discoid stage in the development of the lithistid spicule re- mains on the surface, showing that nothing more than the thin, circular, discoid one had disappeared, which is a com- mon occurrence even among recent specimens. Apart, however, from the siliceous material which we call “flint,” there may be a simple silicification of a calcareous shell, which would be a facsimile of the original form. Or, as J have shown in the sponge-spicules from the Carboniferous Limestone near Glasgow in Scotland, and Sligo in Ireland, respectively, the original material of the organic remains may 312 M. A. Milne-Edwards on the Carcinological undergo more than one change: thus as these spicules are now composed of chalcedony and yet present the rhombohedral excavations of calcite on their surface, they must previously have been carbonate of lime; and we know from their forms that they were originally siliceous spicules. Under what circumstances these alterations take place, or how they may occur, or why the mineral should be changed, must be a matter of conjecture; but that they do occur we have evidence in the case just mentioned and in the formation of all mineral pseudomorphs; so that, if the mould of a Lithis- tid in flint, such as I have mentioned, were filled up with calcite and the flint subsequently removed, the original struc- ture, instead of being siliceous, would be calcareous, or it might be pyritic, and so on. In two parcels of powder which came from the interior of two separate flints from Walling- ford, Berkshire, the Coccoliths, which abound in both, are all silicified in one, and all calcareous in the other. Where the siliceous material of which the flints and chert are composed came from I do not pretend to say, any more than the calcareous material which formed the kunker, espe- cially the latter, seeing that out of eight analyses the quantity of lime only amounts to a mean of about nine parts ina thousand taken from the regur in eight different places, the lowest quantity of which, in three of the instances, did not reach two parts (Medlicott and Blanford, op. cit. vol. 1. p- 430). It may, however, be fairly inferred that the purer material will be found in the nodular forms, both of flint and kunker, and the less pure in the tabular forms, viz. the sheet kunker and the chert respectively. Thus have I endeavoured to correlate that which may be said to be going on at the present day with what has taken place in ages past—not that such concretionary formations are confined to kunker and flint, for all geologists know that such have been taking place in the stratified deposits from the be- ginning ; but to comprehend all, so far as we are able, is best accomplished by studying what is taking place at the present moment for comparison with what has taken place heretofore, since this kind of induction is the least exposed to error. XXXI.—General Considerations upon the Carcinological Fauna of great Depths in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. By ALPHONSE MILNE-Epwarps*. THE progress which submarine investigations have caused * Translated from the ‘Comptes Rendus,’ February 21, 1881. Fauna of the Caribbean Sea ke. 313 zoology to make exceeds any thing that could have been hoped for; and almost every day new facts are added to those already known. Those seas which had been best explored, and with regard to which naturalists thought there was nothing more to be learnt, have furnished unexpected discoveries when those zones which the fishermen do. not usually reach came to be investigated. I have already had occasion to call the attention of the Academy to the results obtained last summer on board the ‘Travailleur’ off the northern coast of Spain; and I dwelt especially upon the difference that exists between the animal population of the great depths and that of the surface or of the shores. When we compare their representatives it is as though we had before us two distinct faunas belonging neither to the same time nor to the same climate. The importance of this fact cannot escape any one; and geologists, in the determination of the age of a formation, must take it seriously into account. In fact, at the present day, in the same seas, there are in course of formation deposits, as to the contempo- raneity of which there can be no doubt, and which contain the remains of perfectly dissimilar creatures. The animals of the littoral deposits belong to types of higher organization ; those of the deeper deposits have a more ancient character: some of the latter present incontestable affinities with the fossils of the Secondary epoch ; others resemble the larval condition of certain existing species. The investigations which I have lately made of the Crus- tacea of the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico have furnished interesting results; and 1 think it worth while to say a few words about them. ‘The materials I have had at my disposal were abundant and varied ; for Mr. Alexander Agassiz had the kindness to send me for determination all the Crustacea col- lected by the expeditions of the U.S. navy during the years 1877, 1878, and 1879. A special ship, the ‘ Blake,’ was fitted out for the performance of deep dredgings; and the harvests collected by her have proved most fruitful. I have now completed the examination of all the Brachyurous Deca- pods, of the Anomura, and the Cuirassed Macrura; I have described them in the Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College* ; and now, treating the question from another point of view, I shall confine myself here to the indication of the general results at which I have arrived. The number of species collected is much greater than would have been supposed from what was known of this part of the * “Etudes préliminaires sur les Crustacés,” par A. Milne-Edwards (1° partie), Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Hary. Coll. tome viii. no. 1. Ann. & Mag. N. IMist. Ser. 5. Vol. vii. 23 314 M. A. Milne-Edwards on the Carcinological fauna; for the groups just enumerated it amounts to 214, of which 153 are new to science. Forty of these species differed too much from the forms previously known to take their place in existing genera, and I have been compelled to regard them as the types of new generic divisions. ‘This variety of species is the more remarkable when we consider that fifty years ago the existence in these same regions of scarcely a score of Crustacea had been indicated. Certain groups, supposed to be foreign to the American seas, are, on the contrary, extraordinarily abundant at these great depths. Such is the family Galatheide, of which I have recognized forty-one species of very varied forms, and which I have had to distribute into eight different genera. Some of these have representatives in nearly all seas, such as Galathea and Munida*. The others have never been met with elsewhere. Among these I may indicate the Galacanthe, the carapace of which is armed above and on the sides with large sabre-shaped spines ; the G'alathodes, of which the eyes are very small, with imperfect corneola; the Orophorhyncht, in which the eye-peduncles are greatly reduced, spinous, and capable of concealing themselves in part beneath the rostrum ; the Hlasmonoti, with a carapace destitute of teeth or spines ; the Diptychi, im which the abdomen is twice folded upon itself and concealed beneath the sternum; and, lastly, the Ptychogastres, which greatly resemble the preceding, but have the legs of unusual length. The true Crabs, or Brachyurous Decapods, do not inhabit the very great depths of the Caribbean Sea. They abound on the shores; numerous species, but generally of small size, are found down to 500 metres below the surface ; beyond this they seem to disappear. Nevertheless at 800 metres a crab with a square carapace, which I have described under the name of Bathyplax, was captured, representing in these seas the Gonoplax of our shores; but its eyes are atrophied and destitute of corneola, its orbits are rudimentary, and it is blind. On the other hand, the Anomurous and Macrurous Crustacea swarm at great depths. Down to 3500 metres there have been found representatives of the genus Willemoesia, those singular Macrura which almost exactly reproduce the forms of the Eryonide of the Jurassic period, but are blind, while the eyes of the above fossil Crustaceans appear to have attained their ordinary development. From a bottom of more than 4000 metres the dredge brought up some Galatheide of very remarkable forms, which I have placed in the new genus Galathodes. ; * T have described two species of Galathea and eleven of Munida. Fauna of the Caribbean Sea &e. 315 What is especially astonishing is the infinite variety of zoological forms, which often renders it almost impossible to apply the classifications which have hitherto been regarded as most firmly established. In fact, transition types abound, and we find numerous intermediate forms between groups that we were accustomed to consider very distinct. Of this I will give some examples. The family Paguride, or the Hermit-Crabs, arranged by zoologists of most authority in the group Anomura, hitherto included only species which, although very numerous, were all very similar to each other, and without any direct con- nexion with the Macrura. The American dredgings have furnished unexpected forms, which unite the Hermit-Crabs with the Thalassinide. Such is Pylocheles Agassizii, the abdomen of which, instead of being soft and unsymmetrical like that of the Pagur?, is composed of firm regular rings and terminated by a symmetrical fin. This Crustacean lives in holes, the entrance of which it closes with its claws, which, when they are united by their inner margin, constitute a very perfect operculum. The Mixtopaguri differ less from the Paguri ; for their abdomen, which is more developed on the right than on the left side, is divided into seven distinct and movable joints, the first five of which are imperfectly cal- ecified, while the last are large and hardened. In the Ostra- conoti the carapace is entirely coriaceous, and the abdomen so reduced that the female, to hold her eggs, makes use of the legs of the fourth pair, the penultimate joint of which, widened into a palette, forms a sort of tloor underneath the packet of eggs. The Catapaguri establish a passage between the preceding and the Spiropagurt: their abdomen is still very small, but twisted and lodged in little shells, the dimensions of which contrast strongly with the size of the carapace and legs, which remain outside. In some of these Crustaceans we also observe curious adaptations to a special mode of life. Thus Hupagurus discoidalis, inhabiting the tubular shell of the Dentalia, makes use of one of its chele as a circular oper- culum perfectly moulded to the orifice of the dwelling which it has to close. The Xylopaguri also merit our attention : they have never been found except in holes hollowed in frag- ments of wood; and whether it be a reed, a rush, or some branch, these cavities are always open at both ends; and the animal does not introduce itself backwards, as the ordinary Paguri do, but penetrates into its lodging directly. When there the chele always make their appearance at one of the orifices, the other being closed by the extremity of the abdo- men, converted into an opercular buckler. 316 On the Carcinological Fauna of the Caribbean Sea ce. The family Dromiide, hitherto so distinct from the Homo- lide, is now united therewith by the genus Homolodromia, the legs of which also resemble those of Dorippe. The Acan- thodromie are intermediate between the Dromie and the Dynomene; they have the buccal pieces, the eyes, and the antenne of the former, and the ambulatory feet of the second. The Dicranodromie have the carapace narrower than that of the ordinary Dromie; its form resembles that of certain fossil Crustaceans of the secondary formations, of which the genus Ogydromites has been formed; the legs are very long, like those of the Homole. In Homolopsis also the body is more rounded and narrower than that of the last-named Crus- tacea ; and in this respect they approach the Dromiide ; but their eyes are nearly atrophied. The Homole are represented by two species, one of which appears to me to differ in no respect from H. spinifrons, hitherto found only in the Medi- terranean. ‘This is a fresh example of the immense geogra- phical distribution attained by certain animals of the great depths. Cymopolia, of which one species also inhabits the Mediterranean, possesses eight in the Caribbean Sea. Some of them approximate to Dorzppe by the intermediation of Cy- clodorippe and Cymonomus ; and these last-mentioned crusta- ceans, which are perfectly blind, have, on the other hand, close affinities with the Hthuse. The genus Lthusa, supposed to be confined to the Mediterranean, must also be recorded among those of the American seas; among the Crustacea from the Florida reefs I have recognized a species and described it under the name of £. americana, only differmg from #. mas- carone by characters of but little importance. The examples just cited suffice to give an idea of the interest attaching to the study of the animals from great depths. ‘These bathymetrical researches are only commencing ; and when we compare the small extent over which the dredge has been dragged with the immense spaces which have never been touched, when we reflect upon the manifold causes which render the retreats of certain animals still inaccessible to our means of investigation, we cannot avoid the conviction that the results obtained are only a very small part of those in reserve for us in the future. Hence we cannot too forcibly direct the attention of scientific men in all countries to the utility of coordinating their efforts and undertaking methodi- cal investigations in the seas to which they have the most easy access. Our zoological groupings now present so many gaps that it is impossible to understand the general .plan which has presided over the grouping of living creatures. Paleonto- On Hawatian Nocturnal Lepidoptera. 317 logical discoveries on the one hand, and on the other those which are promised to us by submarine explorations, will gradually fill up these gaps, and perhaps one day enable natu- ralists to grasp the relations which exist between the different animals. Our country has not remained indifferent to these researches ; the Academy at its last meeting heard the interesting details given by M. de Lacaze-Duthiers upon the organization of his laboratory at Roscoff and the work that has been accom- plished there. For my own part I am happy to be able to announce that the expedition accomplished last year in the Bay of Biscay by the ‘Travailleur’ will not be the last of its kind, and that this summer the same ship will undertake a series of dredgings in the Mediterranean, of which I shall have the honour to give you an account. XXXII.—On a Collection of Nocturnal Lepidoptera from the Hawaiian Islands. By Artuur G. Butter, F.L.S., F.Z.8., &e. THE collection of which the following is an account consists of eighty specimens forwarded to me last year by the Rev. Thomas Blackburn. It is particularly interesting as being to a large extent composed of Micro-Lepidoptera, of which we have hitherto received very few species from the Hawaiian Islands. Sphingide. 1. Deilephila calida, sp. n. General size, form, and pattern of D. euphorbie, but the primaries coloured as in D. biguttata of Madagascar, and the secondaries differing from all species of the genus in their dark outer border ; on the under surface the general coloration is bright brick-red. Primaries above smoky grey; a broad dark olive-brown belt across the base, three unequal subcostal spots, and a tapering discal belt of the usual form and also of a dark olive-brown colour; a narrow transverse fasciole forking from the inner margin of the discal belt to the costa; below this fork the belt is edged internally by a golden ochreous line ; outer borders of a dark and slightly purplish- grey colour, decidedly darker than the central area of the wing; fringe with a slender whitish basal line: secondaries black, With narrow diffused sooty-grey border, scarcely paler 318 Mr. A. G. Butler on Nocturnal Lepidoptera than the ground-colour; a slightly irregular vermilion-red belt (a little narrower towards the costa) just beyond the middle of the wing; no trace of any white spot at the anal angle; costal border paler than the ground-colour; fringe white towards the anal angle, rose-coloured along the abdo- minal margin: body above dark olivaceous; the head, shoulders, and tegule bordered with sulphur-yellow ; antenne black, tipped with snow-white, ferruginous internally: abdo- men with lateral white and black basal markings, nearly as in D. euphorbie, but narrower; three last segments bordered at the sides behind by narrow transverse cream-coloured spots; lateral margins dull rose-coloured. Wings below brick- red, crossed beyond the middle by two subparallel curved black lines (abbreviated in the secondaries); outer border rosy brown, with zigzag inner edge; discoidal area of prima- ries blackish, partly obscured towards the base by dull rosy hairs: body below pale rosy ferruginous; legs and palpi pale greyish brown, the base of the palpi and anterior tarsi whitish. Expanse of wings 2 inches 10 lines. One specimen of this very distinct species was sent in a separate box. Mr. Blackburn gives the following description of the larva :— “Larva. Pale green (belly whitish), sparingly dusted with white; dorsal and spiracular lines whitish, but rather obscure ; first segment (7. e. the one behind the head) obscurely suffused with red; spiracles pink, with a crimson centre; head and legs green; claspers green, tipped with crimson ; horn short and warty, black above, red beneath; head small; second and third segments behind the head much distended. ‘¢ Another individual was as follows :—Greenish grey, with a sooty appearance, sparingly sprinkled with rather large white spots; underside green; dorsal line yellow, very con- spicuous; spiracular line white; spiracles yellow, with the centre dull orange; subspiracular line whitish, but very indistinct, excepting on last segment, where it forms a con- spicuous white line on either side, converging to the horn. There is a general tendency in this form of the larva to a mauve-coloured suffusion in various parts of the body, which is very conspicuous when the larva is about half-grown. “he two forms of larva described produced identical moths, though, I think, different sexes. “‘T have taken it on several different plants (none of them known to me by name) in different mountain localities in Oahu. The imago flies by day in hot sunshine about flowers, and is also attracted by light in the evening.” Mr. Blackburn has also forwarded the following descrip- from the Hawavian Islands. 319 tion of the larva of another hawk-moth, which I named in a » previous paper Protoparce Blackburnit :— “Description of full-grown larva. Green or ashy grey, more or less sprinkled with white; spiracular line white, emitting upwards and backwards (¢. e. so that they slant upwards in a backward direction) seven white stripes, the first of which is on the fourth segment (not counting the head as a segment), the last on the tenth; on the eleventh segment is a small white stripe bent backwards over the spiracle, being much smaller than the white lines on the other segments; head with two well-defined black longitudinal lines, and clouded with black laterally; spiracles black, surrounded with a bright blue ring; horn long, shining black, bent backwards ; claspers of the ground-colour. In the ashy grey larve the whole dorsal surface is sprinkled with white; the segment behind the head is shining black, bordered with white ; the last claspers and space round the anus are shining black (at least partially) ; and the legs are blackish at base, becoming red towards apex. In the green larve only a few segments near the head are sprinkled with white, and the segment next behind the head, the last claspers and the space round the anus are olivaceous rather than black; the legs, too, are more conspicuously red. “Weeds on a very common weed growing about 2 feet high, also on a shrub growing some 6 feet high, neither of which is known to me by name.” Larentiide. 2. Scotosia corticea, sp. n. (No. 116). Bronzy brown: wings mottled all over with dark slaty grey, most distinctly on the primaries, where the mottling forms transverse striations ; a rather broad central belt, formed of two stripes of a dark slaty-grey colour and the space between them, which is slightly paler; the outer stripe den- tate-sinuate externally, both stripes inarched towards the costa of primaries; a discal stripe limiting the external border, parallel to the central belt, almost obsolete on the secondaries: primaries with traces of a curved slaty-grey stripe at basal fourth, and with the external border densely mottled with this colour: body greyish. Under surface paler than above, the wings very slightly striated with grey, ex- cepting towards apex of primaries; an oval discocellular grey spot on each wing, largest on the primaries, the costal margin ot these wings straw-yellow, mottled with black: body below 320 Mr. A. G. Butler on Nocturnal Lepidoptera whitish ; venter transversely banded with grey ; anus yellow- ish. Eixpanse of wings 1 inch 6 lines. One specimen, in which the left primary is dwarfed; it has somewhat the aspect of a Hubolia, as noticed by Mr. Black- burn, but seems to agree better with Scotosta. Mr. Black- burn says:—‘I captured two of this, at an elevation of about 4000 feet, on Haleakala, Maui, May 1880. ‘The one sent was just out of pupa when taken; one side did not expand properly.” 3. Eupithecia monticolens, sp. n. (No. 117). Very closely allied to L. bilineolata from New Zealand, but darker, and with slightly less angular bands. Sordid shining greyish white: wingscrossed by numerous subparallel undulated grey and brown lines, the interspaces between some of which are filled in with grey, so as to form fairly well-defined bands ; the banding of the primaries is as follows :—two basal irregular bands, followed by a line; then comes the central belt, bounded on each side by a band and traversed by two lines; at the end of the cell is a transverse black spot on a scarcely perceptible diffused reddish shade; immediately beyond the central belt is a band of almost pure white, traversed by a single line; a submarginal slightly brownish band, the inner line of which is black ; outer border grey ; the veins varied with black and white, so as to form little black longitudinal dashes upon the dark bands: secondaries with a whitish band across the disk as in the primaries, but with no distinct dark bands, excepting on each side of the whitish one upon the abdominal area: body varied with grey ; the abdomen crossed by two subbasal and one subanal black band; between these bands is also a dorsal series of four black dots. Primaries below greyish white; the discocellulars and the veins just beyond the cell black ; apical area broadly bronzy, crossed by two curved ill-detined greyish stripes, and with the border of the same colour; these markings, however, entirely disappear in certain lights: secondaries sordid creamy white; a curved band just beyond the cell, formed entirely by a series of black longitudinal dashes on the veins; a marginal series of black dots: body below white; legs partly black above. Expanse of wings 10-11 lines. Two specimens. “Not very rare about 4000 feet up Haleakala, Maui; I took it also at the summit of the moun-- tain, 10,000 feet above the sea” (7. B.). from the Hawatian Islands. 321 Noctuidae. 4, Spelotis crinigera, sp. n. (No. 11). Colour of primaries and thorax similar to S. ravida, and exhibiting the same slight variations of tint from brownish to slaty grey, always as sericeous and sometimes more so than in that species; the markings on the primaries agree with those of S. pyrophila, excepting that they are black, with scarcely perceptibly paler borders: secondaries only differing from S. pyrophila in having the yellow line at the base of the fringe sharply defined and limited externally by an interrupted dusky line; abdomen greyish brown, the male with a very large anal tuft of long stramineous hair. Under surface shining white in the male, greyish in the female, with the discoidal area of primaries greyish in both sexes; internal area shining brassy opaline: a slightly dentate-sinuate discal grey stripe, abbreviated on the primaries: body below sandy yellowish in the male, sordid white in the female, dusky in front behind the palpi ; tarsi blackish, with pale bands at the joints. Expanse of wings 1 inch 8 lines to 2 inches 3 lines. Four specimens, in both sexes; Mr. Blackburn says of them, “T believe it to be identical with the Agrotis referred to in your papers in EK. M. M. vol. xv. p. 269, and vol. xvii. p. 7, which was too much broken to be named, also with the insect described by you as Spelotis lucicolens. How the number ‘12’ (unless it be a misprint) got placed against the latter I cannot conjecture, for the number ‘12’ is marked off from my note-book as non-existent, having been applied to a single worn specimen of a Leucania, which further study satisfied me was only dislocata, Walker.” In this supposition Mr. Blackburn is partly correct; that is to say, this is the supposed “Agrotis;” but it differs from my ‘ Spelotis luci- colens,”’ which (with ‘S. cremata’’) must be referred to Agrotis, in the simple instead of pectinated antenne of the male: the species which must now stand as Agrotis lucicolens, although it possesses the general coloration and pattern of Spelotis, is represented by a male specimen having strongly pectinated antenne, as in A. crassa of Europe, to which it is probably most nearly allied. A. cremata also has the an- tenne of the male exactly as in typical Agrotis, notwith- standing its Spelotis-like pattern. The specimen of A. lucicolens still has the No. “12” attached to it; so that it seems probable that this number when detached from the Leucanta was accidentally transferred to the Agrotis. Of Spelotis crinigera Mr. Blackburn says 322 Mr. A. G. Butler on Nocturnal Lepidoptera further :—“ This insect is extremely common all over the Hawaiian archipelago, as I have found out since I penned the note from which you give extract calling it rare. I should say it is periodical in occurrence. I have taken it at all seasons of the year; but sometimes hardly a specimen is to be seen for months, then it swarms suddenly. At a place called Kawaihae, on the island Hawaii, in February 1879, I observed it literally in thousands round a lighthouse, evidently attracted by the lamps. The unset specimen (type of the male) was taken there; the largest specimen (type of the female) is from Maui, the other two from Honolulu. It does not usually occur much above sea-level, and does not thrust itself into notice much unless looked for about or soon after dusk, so is easily passed over.” With regard to Agrotis (“Spelotis”’) cremata, Mr. Black- burn says, “‘I think there is a mistake somewhere in the mention of Oahu as a locality for this species. I am only conscious of having had three specimens altogether, two of which I sent you in separate consignments. ‘They were all bred from pupx obtained in September 1876 in the Maui sand-hills. If I wrote No. 10 against any insect with Oahu” as its locality it was a slip of the pen; nor do I even think it decidedly probable that the species occurs on Oahu, as that island has no region of sand-hills; and, moreover, Maui seems to contain many other species peculiar to it, many more, so far as my experience goes, than any other of the islands.” Apameide. 5. Apamea chersotoides, sp. n. dg. Allied to A. wnanimis, but with the coloration of a Graphiphora. Primaries shining laky brown, mottled with testaceous towards the base and along the costal border ; costal margin spotted regularly with black; basal area crossed by oblique interrupted slightly zigzag black lines, which appear to be continuous with the first two pairs of black costal spots ; four ill-defined, reversed, oblique, dentate-sinuated black lines, the first, third, and fourth attached to minute whitish points ; the first line (which runs from the “ orbicular”’ to the inner margin) very indistinct, the last line limiting the external border, which is dusky; a discal series of black dots; an obligue subapical costal black dash; a marginal series of small lunate black spots, followed by a testaceous marginal line; base of fringe dark brown, remainder of fringe red- brown; orbicular and reniform spots whitish, with black- from the Hawatian Islands. 323 speckled centres: secondaries grey, the veins and a diffused outer border fuliginous brown; costal border whitish, shining, with brassy reflections ; fringe cream-coloured, traversed by a brown line; thorax laky brown, the collar crossed by scarcely perceptibly darker lines; abdomen grey, becoming brown towards the anus, and fringed on each side with lake-brown hair; anal tuft orange. Wings below sericeous whitish, with the borders pale rosy testaceous, speckled with black; black discocellular spots; a dusky angulated discal line; external border greyish ; a marginal series of lunate black dots; fringe with a pale yellowish basal line: primaries with the discoidal area greyish; fringe reddish: secondaries with the fringe crossed by a grey line and tipped with white: body below dull rose-colour; venter with lateral black dots. LExpanse of wings 1 inch 3 lines. ?. Darker than the male, the markings more distinct, the black lines across the basal area distinct and continuous with the costal spots, the discal series of black dots attached to whitish dots, and therefore having the appearance of an extra discal line; abdomen dark greyish brown. Otherwise as in the male. Expanse of wings 1 inch 4 lines. A pair in good condition. “Various localities on Maui, April and May 1880.” 6. Apamea cinctipennis, sp. n. (No. 140). Aspect of Chersotis, but with the border of the primaries almost as pale as in Apamea limbata. Primaries above shining laky brown, mottled all over, excepting upon the outer border, with black ; outer border pale dead golden or sandy brown, slightly speckled with black; a marginal series of black lunate spots; costa, disk, and basal area mottled with pale testaceous ; a zigzag black-bordered pale testaceous stripe at basal third, and a curved series of internally black-bordered testaceous spots across the disk; discoidal cell blackish, the ordinary spots slaty grey, edged with black ; the outer margin of the reniform spot angulated and whitish ; fringe pale tes- taceous and laky brown in alternate lines: secondaries shining grey, with dusky diffused outer border; fringe pale testaceous, intersected by a dusky line; thorax slaty grey, varied with brown; abdomen shining grey, with ochreous anal tuft. Under surface whitish grey, shining: wings with black-speckled sandy-tinted borders; discocellular and mar- ginal black spots; venter ochreous, with lateral series of black spots. Expanse of wings 1 inch 8 lines. One specimen. I can find no reference to the No. (“ 140”’) in Mr. Blackburn’s notes, and therefore am ignorant as to the exact locality for this species. 324 Mr. A. G. Butler on Nocturnal Lepidoptera Heliothide. 7. Heliothis armigera (Nos. 141 and 154). Noctua armigera, Hubner, Noct. pl. 79. fig, 870 (1805-24). A pair. The male (No. 141) is a faintly-marked variety exactly resembling H. incarnata on the upper surface, except- ing that the fringe is not rosy; the female, on the other hand, is a rather dark specimen, nearly approaching the form found in New Zealand and named Heliothis conferta by Walker, with which it may be conspecific; as, however, the difference between H. armigera and H. conferta is apparently only one of colour, it is very doubtful whether the latter is more than a variety of the former. Of the male Mr. Blackburn says :— ““T took three specimens flying at flowers, at an elevation of about 2000 feet, on Haleakala, Maui, in May 1880; the specimens are all identical in size and markings &c., save that one (which I retain) has the marginal dark band of the hind wings narrower than the other two.” Of the female he says:—‘‘ I took the specimen sent at a lamp in Honolulu, attracted by the light ; a second, which I retain, occurred to me in company with * * No, 141.” Hypenide. 8. LHypena obsoleta (No. 14). Hypena obsoleta, Butler, Ent. Month. Mag. xiv. p. 47 (1877). Two specimens, one of which is an interesting variety, having the central belt of the primaries bordered (narrowly internally and broadly externally) with pale stramineous. Mr. Blackburn still considers the species to be conspecific with H. insignis ; but at present I have not sufficient evidence before me to unite them, the variety now sent not being inter- mediate. The following is what Mr. Blackburn says :—‘“ I feel compelled, however presumptuous it may seem in one who does not profess to be a specialist in Lepidoptera, to hesi- tate much in regarding obsoleta and insignis as distinct. The species (or group of species) occurs all over the Hawaiian archipelago : I have specimens from Hawaii, Maui, and Oahu ; I have seen it in my own garden and at an elevation of 4000 feet. Among twenty specimens which I have set, there are only two that cannot be said to differ enter se; and they are of the form ‘znsignis.’ Two extreme forms I possess are :—the one sooty black, with faint indications of the lines which border the dark area in ‘insiynis;’ the other sooty black, with the same lines sulphur-yellow. Another specimen From the Hawartian Islands. 325 is pale grey, with the same lines nearly black ; another dark fuscous, with a still darker cloud representing the dark area of insignis, but extending further before it reaches the costa. The hind wings vary through all shades from pale ashy to nearly black. Classified by locality, I can detect no differ- ence, except that the specimens from the south of Hawaii generally have darker hind wings.” The preceding note certainly seems to show that H. obsoleta is extremely variable; and yet the observation that the two specimens which agree are referable to “H. insignis’’ seems to show that the gradation from one form to the other is not perfect, and therefore that we may have here, as in the British butterflies of the genus Pieris, nearly allied species widely distributed and occurring constantly together, which never- theless are distinct; nothing but breeding can satisfactorily decide the point, unless a pertect gradation can be shown; and even this is not always conclusive. In all probability the larva would be found abundantly on nettles. 9. Hypenodes altivolans, var. simplex (No. 65). Scoparia altivolans, Butler, E. M. M. xvii. p. 9 (1880). Primaries above bronzy brown, shining; a dusky-edged zigzag clay-coloured stripe across the basal third, followed within the cell by a short oblique black dash ; a second arched clay-coloured stripe with dusky inner edge across the external third, followed by an irregular abbreviated stripe of the same colours; a submarginal lunulate white line breaking up into small annular or ocellus-like spots towards the inner margin ; a marginal series of black impressed dots followed by an inter- rupted pale line at the base of the fringe ; secondaries shining pale grey ; thorax bronzy brown, abdomen greyish brown. Under surface uniformly grey. Hxpanse of wings 94 lines. Var. Primaries above darker than in the type, the clay- coloured stripes only indicated by their dusky margins, ex- cepting towards the inner margin, also more irregular; thorax darker ; otherwise similar. ixpanse of wings 8 lines. Three specimens. ‘“ It occurs all over the Hawaiian archi- pelago ; but I have not observed it to be common” (7. B.). Hercynide. 10. Boreophila minuscula, sp. n. (No. 134). Leaden grey above ; primaries with the basal third dusky, crossed by an acutely angulated black line, and limited exter- nally by an angular black stripe tollowed by a white stripe; two 326 Mr. A. G. Butler on Nocturnal Lepidoptera angulated black-edged ochreous stripes representing the central belt ; a diffused white costal spot immediately beyond the outer stripe; an irregularly falciform snow-white discal line; a marginal series of black dots; fringe whitish, spotted with blackish and intersected by a black line; secondaries very slightly greenish in tint as compared with the primaries, with a slender whitish submarginal line followed by a slender black marginal line; fringe whitish, intersected by a grey line ; palpi, head, and thorax dusky. Under surface dark shining leaden grey; wings with whitish submarginal and blackish mar- ginal lines; fringe as above; primaries with white internal border : pectus and under surface of legs white; tarsi above blackish, banded with white. Expanse of wings 63 lines. One specimen, taken “ at light at an elevation of about 4000 feet on Haleakala, Maui.” 11. Aporodes? micacea, sp. n. (No. 118). Primaries above shining slaty grey, shot with purple and clouded with black; a creamy whitish irregular subbasal band, densely irrorated, excepting along its borders, with black scales ; orbicular and reniform spots well-defined, black, varied with clay-colour; a very irregular dentate-sinuate black discal line partly bordered externally with white and golden orchreous, a large cuneiform costal ochreous patch beyond the discal line, spotted, upon the costal border, with black ; outer and inner borders irrorated with ochreous; two marginal alternated series of black spots, and between the spots of the outer series snow-white dots; fringe intersected by two black lines and spotted externally with ochreous: se- condaries greyish brown, with bronzy reflections ; costal border silvery whitish towards the base; fringe whitish, spotted with blackish and intersected by two lines of the same colour: body black, with the thorax and anterior abdominal segments spotted with rosy cupreous, posterior segments altogether of this colour; the anterior segments also have snow-white pos- terior margins. Wings below cupreous, shining, with an alternately black and white marginal line and silky white fringe ; primaries shot with pale greyish blue, so that in certain lights the whole tint of these wings is entirely altered ; costal border red, spotted with black from the end of the cell ; orbicular and reniform spots large and black ; discal line of the upper surface indicated but indistinct ; secondaries reddish all over and irrorated with black ; the interno-median area and a streak through the cell snow-white, speckled with black, ex- cepting on the veins, which remain reddish ; a discal series of white-bordered black spots; three black spots in the cell, from the Hawaiian Islands. SOT and one at the inferior extremity of the cell; pectus shining silvery white; legs dull red, banded with black and white ; venter white towards the base, but red towards the anal ex- tremity. Expanse of wings 11 lines. Two specimens of this beautiful little species. According to Mr. Blackburn it is ‘common, at an elevation of about 4000 feet, on Haleakala, Maui; generally flying over ferns.” I am extremely doubtful as to the affinities of this species. Although in structure it seems to agree with Aporodes, it has much the aspect of a Noctuid allied to Acantholipes; the dis- tinct orbicular and reniform spots and the highly coloured under surface are by no means characteristic of typical Her- cynide. Margarodide. 12. Margaronia glauculalis (No. 114). Margarodes glauculalis, Guénée, Delt. et Pyral. p. 806. n. 325 (1854). ““'The specimen sent was brought to me dead; and I could do nothing with it but gum it on a card. After an interval of nearly two years I procured a second specimen in fine condi- tion at light. The specimens are so absolutely identical that you will not hesitate to treat the somewhat unsightly one I send as a type. Both were taken in Honolulu.”—T. B. The species is very widely distributed, being found also in Java and Sumatra. It ought to be common, if one may judge by the abundance of some of the allied species. Botidide. 13. Anemosa aurora, sp. n. (No. 143). Allied to “ Scopula” daiclesalis of Walker*, but much smaller: primaries above bright rose-colour, with a slight lilac reflection ; the ordinary lines very indistinct but ochra- ceous ; fringe golden ochreous tipped with whitish : secon- daries shining golden ochreous, paler towards the abdominal border, whitish on the costal border, slightly greyish at apex ; a marginal series of minute black dots between the veins; fringe tipped with white : body dark ochraceous, the thorax and posterior segments of the abdomen washed with lake-red ; margins of abdomen silvery. Wings below cream-colour, with golden reflections: primaries with whitish internal border ; costal margin rose-colour; an oblique annular oval marking representing the reniform spot and a diffused arched line be- * The genus Anemosa differs from Scopwa in its considerably longer palpi and acute primaries, 328 Mr. A. G. Butler on Nocturnal Lepidoptera yond the cell grey; secondaries with a marginal series of black dots: body below sericeous white; palpi red at the sides. Expanse of wings 8} lines. One specimen in good condition. I can find no reference to the number, and therefore cannot record its exact locality. 14. Mecyna ennychioides, sp. n. (No. 135). Dark fuliginous brown: wings with shining slaty-grey reflections ; a marginal series of black dots; fringe tipped with white; primaries with the usual markings characteristic of Botys, black, as follows :—a black dot before the middle of the cell, the orbicular and reniform spots represented in out- line; a bisinuate abbreviated line from the orbicular spot to the inner margin, and the usual alternately angulated (or castellated) discal line from costa to inner margin; apical half of costal margin black, spotted with testaceous : seconda- ries with white costa: body blackish, the abdomen with a bluish gloss. Under surface, excepting that it is altogether less red, is almost identical in pattern with Aporodes ? micacea. Expanse of wings 103 lines. One specimen, taken at light, at an elevation of about 4000 feet, on Haleakala, Maui. The extraordinary resemblance which this species bears to Aporodes? micacea on the under surface makes me doubt, notwithstanding its many structural differences, whether it is not the male of that species; yet on the upper surface the pattern and colouring are very different ; the form of the pri- maries, the length and form of the palpi, and the length of the tibiz and tarsi are altogether dissimilar. 15. Mecyna nigrescens, sp. n. (No. 136). Primaries above dark brown, clouded in the centre with pale buff, which colour fills the intervals between the discoidal spots; all the markings similar to those of the preceding species, excepting that the orbicular and reniform spots are dark brown with black margins, that there are two additional black spots close to the base, that the two transverse lines are bordered with pale buff and white, that there is a whitish ne- bula near the apex and a white oblique stripe from the discal line to the outer margin, that the marginal black dots are bordered with white and the fringe is spotted with pale buff : secondaries shining fuliginous brown, with the basal half of the costal border white ; two black spots in the cell, fringe spotted with white: thorax pale buff, speckled with black; abdo- men black, with white hind margins tothe segments. Primaries ~ below grey, with silvery white mternal border; costal border from the Hawatian Islands. 329 cream-coloured, spotted with black beyond the middle; dis- coidal spots large and black; an indication of the discal line of the upper surface ; outer border and fringe nearly as above, but greyer and more sericeous: secondaries greyish white, with two black spots in the cell and one at the inferior ex- tremity ; a discal series of black dots; a submarginal dentate- sinuate grey line; a marginal series of black dots; a white apical spot; fringe spotted with grey: body below white ; venter with lateral series of black dots. Expanse of wings 8 lines. One specimen, “ flying among low plants at an elevation of about 4000 feet on Haleakala.” 16. Mecyna exigua (No. 133). Mecyna exigua, Butler, Ent. Month. Mag. xv. p. 271 (1879). One specimen, without head; it is probably the female of my species; and differs in the diffusion of the white edges of the black lines across the primaries ; so that these wings might be described as greyish white, dusky at the base and crossed in the middle by a broad irregular blackish belt ; a subapical costal spot and the outer border blackish; a marginal series of black dots, limited internally by a zigzag submarginal white line; fringe grey, traversed’ by a brown line and tipped with brown. LExpanse of wings 10 lines. No exact locality is given. ‘‘ April-May.” 17. Mecyna virescens, sp. n. (No. 139). Allied to MM. polygonalis of Europe and M. deprivalis of New Zealand ; same size and pattern above: primaries above olive-green ; costal margin dark orange; an indistinct angu- lated oblique darker line just before the basal third ; orbicular and reniform spots small and dusky ; a large black spot just below the inferior angle of the cell, and two or three black dots in a straight line between it and the inner margin; an arched series of five black dots beyond the cell; a marginal series of black points; fringe of inner margin sienna-red ; fringe of outer margin grey in the centre, sienna-red at base and tips: secondaries dull cupreous brown, with a black border as in the allied species, fringe golden cupreous, traversed by a central grey line: thorax olive-green, abdomen pale sandy brown. Primaries below with the costal border and apex reddish orange ; subapical area broadly dull rose-colour ; dis- coidal area grey ; disk towards external angle tlesh-coloured ; internal border white ; a whitish-buff basal spot and an indis- tinct rosy subcostal streak in the cell, interrupted by blackish orbicular and reniform spots: secondaries pale sandy yellow, Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 5. Vol. vii. 330 Mr. A. G. Butler on Nocturnal Lepidoptera washed with rose-red, especially on costal and external areas ; a greyish outer border: fringe of all the wings cream- coloured, traversed by a grey stripe: body below cream-coloured, femora and tibiae reddish. Expanse of wings 1 inch 2 lines. One specimen. This is the first Mecyna of the typical group received from the Hawaiian islands. Mr. Blackburn says of it, “I send a specimen (one of two) bred from larvee found feeding on a tree unknown to me by name, but appa- rently a species of Acacia, which I have not seen growing elsewhere than in damp ravines at an elevation of 4000 to 5000 feet on Haleakala, Maui. A third specimen I took flying by day in the same locality; it is larger, exp. al. 38 millims., ground-colour of front wings as bright yellow as the cilia of hind wing in the specimen sent, otherwise identical ; probably the other sex. The other bred specimen is identical with the one sent. “The following is a description of the larva :—Shining black, sparingly furnished with long grey-white hairs ; head and underside dirty grey; spiracular line bright orange-colour ; three pairs of legs (on three segments next behind head), and five pairs of claspers, all dirty semitransparent grey. Forms a pupa in a silken cocoon.” The entirely different character of the under surface readily distinguishes this species from its allies. Scopariide. 18. Scoparia hawatensis, sp. n. (No. 83). Closely allied to S. exhibitalis of Australia and S. letalis of Europe: primaries above grey, densely speckled with black, crossed near the base by an angulated cream-coloured belt, broadly bordered and sparsely speckled with black; a has- tate black spot in the cell; end of the cell filled by a milk- white spot; a black rhomboidal spot just beyond the cell, a black spot partly surrounded by white scales below the dis- coidal hastate spot; external third densely irrorated with milk-white scales, which form two ill-defined stripes, the inner one zigzag and discal, the outer one submarginal; two sub- apical costal spots, a nearly marginal confluent series of un- equal spots, and a large spot on the inner margin near the external angle black; a marginal chain-like series of small elliptical white spots, bounded externally by a slender black line; fringe sericeous sordid white, tipped with grey and traversed near the base by a black line: secondaries sericeous sordid white like tarnished silver, fringe with greyish outer half and a grey subbasal line: thorax black, spotted with from the Hawatian Islands. 331 cream-colour ; abdomen silvery white, anal tuft testaceous ; tarsi black above, banded with white. Under surface uniformly silvery white. Expanse of wings 8 lines. Two specimens. Mauna Kea, Hawaii; elevation about 7000 feet. 19. Scoparia jucunda, sp. n. (No. 82). Allied to the preceding, but with somewhat the aspect of Tinea nigralbella; primaries above sericeous white, with a very slight bluish tinge, adorned with black markings as follows —a dentate sinuate band close to the base, an irregular patch across the cell interrupted transversely by two spots of the ground-colour and terminating below the median vein in a curved line, which runs along nearly a fourth of the inner margin, an oblique streak beyond the cell and a zigzag mark- ing (which may, in some specimens, be continuous with the latter) at external angle, an apical patch interrupted by two oblique stripes of the ground-colour and a marginal series of dots; secondaries shining sordid white; head and thorax white, slightly bluish ; abdomen shining pale brown, with tes- taceous anal tuft. Under surface sordid silvery white. Ex- panse of wings 83 lines. One specimen. Mauna Kea, Hawaii; elevation about 7000 feet. Var. formosa (No. 130). Much more heavily marked than the preceding, the black markings on the primaries being broad and intense in colour- ing, the patch across the cell altered in shape so as almost to resemble the Greek ©, the outer extremity uniting with the oblique streak beyond the cell; shoulders and back of collar black. Hxpanse of wings 9 lines. One specimen. Found “ occasionally on trunks of trees, at an elevation of about 4000 feet on Haleakala, Maui.” This can at most be no more than a local modification of the preceding (S. jucunda); it, however, reminds one rather of Psecadia pusilla than of Tinea nigralbella. 20. Scoparta frigida, sp. n. (Nos. 67 and 81). Nearly allied to S. rakaiensis of New Zealand, but much smaller, with slightly different pattern on the primaries and no broad border to the secondaries: primaries above shining brownish grey irrorated with white; an acutely angulated black- edged white line across the basal third; three white-edged abbreviated longitudinal black lines at the base; several scattered black spots in the cell, the largest of these being 24* 332 On Nocturnal Lepidoptera from the Hawaiian Islands. placed longitudinally within the inferior angle of the cell; a bidentate trisinuate white discal stripe partly bordered exter- nally with black, the central arch or sinus uniting with the middle of a bisinuated submarginal white stripe; a nearly marginal series of black spots, followed by a black-edged marginal white line; fringe with the base and a slender line just beyond the middle grey: secondaries shining bronzy whitish, with a grey line close to the margin; fringe white, with the base anda slender line grey: thorax white varied with brown; abdomen bronzy whitish. Under surface silvery whitish. Expanse of wings 9} to 10 lines. Two specimens, of which one was “taken flying at an elevation of about 4000 feet on Haleakala, Maui,” and the other at ‘‘ Mauna Kea, Hawaii; elevation about 7000 feet.” 21. Scoparia coarctata (No. 102). Eudorea coarctata, Zeller, Linn. Ent. p. 308. 14 (1846). One specimen. No exact locality given. 22. Scoparia venosa, sp. n. (No. 84). Primaries above black with white veins ; a white marginal line followed by a black line at the base of the fringe ; tips of fringe grey: secondaries pale shining brown, with a white marginal line followed by a blackish line at the base of the fringe, which is white tipped with grey: head and thorax black, spotted with white; abdomen pale shining brown. Wings below pale shining brown, with marginal line and fringe as above: body below silvery white. Expanse of wings 94 lines. Two specimens. ‘f Mauna Loa, Hawaii; elevation about 4000 feet ; occurred very near the active volcanic crater.” Phycidz. 23. Ephestia humeralis, sp. n. (No. 111). Allied to E. elutella; general coloration similar, but the pattern quite different: primaries above shining silvery grey, with the basal half of the costal border snow-white; fringe white: secondaries greyish white, shining; veins and mar- ginal lines grey; fringe snow-white, traversed near the base by a slender grey line: body above silvery grey. Primaries below grey, shining; secondaries and body below silvery white. Expanse of wings 82 lines. One specimen. ‘ Mountainous places on Oahu and Hawaii. I have taken only two specimens.” —T. B. Mr. J. Wood-Mason on Parantirrhcea Marshalli. 333 24, Ephestia albosparsa, sp. n. (No. 80). Allied to Z. semirufa, very similar in general pattern: prima- ries above shining leaden grey, irrorated with white; an ob- lique white stripe at basal third, immediately followed by a broad externally angulated leaden-grey band; a faint indi- cation of a reniform spot, owing to the less densely congregated white scales at the end of the cell; a regular white stripe with leaden-grey internal border parallel to and near the outer margin: secondaries shining brownish white (like slightly tarnished silver), with snow-white fringe traversed near the base by a slender grey line: thorax grey; abdomen silvery whitish. Primaries below shining greyish brown; secondaries as above, excepting that they are whiter: body below silvery white. Expanse of wings 83 to 93 lines. Two specimens. ‘ Various localities on Hawaii.” [ To be continued. ] XX XIII.—Deseription of Parantirrhoea Marshalli, the Type of anew Genus and Species of Rhopalocerous Lepidoptera from South India. By J. Woov-Mason, Deputy Super- intendent, Indian Museum, Calcutta. Family Nymphalide. Subfamily Sarrrmwz. PARANTIRRHGA *, gen. nov. 3. Anterior wings triangular ; anterior margin moderately and regularly arched; apical angle acute; outer margin almost straight, being only just perceptibly convex; inner angle rounded ; inner margin sinuous, being lobed at the base much as in the males of Clerome and 4imona, genera of Morphine ; subcostal vein 4-branched, the first branch given off before and the second beyond the end of the discoidal cell, the first, second, and third coalescing successively and _ respectively with the costal vein, the first and the second and all three in turn becoming free and running off at a tangent, like the costal vein, to the anterior margin, the fourth being perfectly free from its origin and running to the apical angle; posterior discocellular veinlet long, very slightly concave outwards, almost straight, intermediate one not quite half the length of * From rapa, by the side of, and Antirrhaa, generic name. 334 Mr. J. Wood-Mason on Parantirrhoea Marshalli. the posterior, anterior one rudimentary ; submedian vein sinuous, short, terminating in the wing-membrane near the inner margin at about the level of the junction of the basal and second fourth of the length of that margin, being, in fact, hardly more developed than is the internal vein of the Papilio- nine as compared with that of many Heterocerous Lepido- ptera; the first median veinlet directed straight outwards and backwards, out of its normal course, to the inner angle, and supplying the place of the rudimentary submedian. On turn- ing to the underside it is seen that a narrow rounded lobe of the functional sutural area, about six times as long as it is broad, is folded back upon the under surface, to which it is firmly adherent ; this lobe occupies the middle two fourths of the length of the inner margin, and is thickly clothed on its surface and fringed at its free edge with firmly attached, long, and somewhat raised modified scales, rendered conspicuous by their rich dark brown colour and satiny lustre ; the outline of this turned-up lobe is marked out on the upperside by a cur- vilinear groove. Posterior wings tailed, subquadrate, with four distinct margins, viz. a strongly and irregularly-arched anterior margin, nearly straight external and posterior margins, and an inner or abdominal margin, marked out by the obtuse-angled apex, the tail, and the well-rounded anal angle; with a black oval sexual mark, divided by the submedian vein, near the anal angle ; costal vein short and straight, terminating before, and the first branch of the subcostal, which originates close A. Right anterior wing, from the underside, nat. size, to show the whole venation and the inflected lobe of the inner margin. B. Anterior portion of the same, much enlarged, to show the relations of the veins to one another: a, costal vein; 1, 2, 3, 4, terminations of the four branches of the subcostal vein. C. Right posterior wing, from the underside, nat. size. to the base of its vein, ending beyond the middle of the length of the anterior margin, the second branch being given off Mr. J. Wood-Mason on Parantirrhcea Marshalli. 335 before the middle of the discoidal cell and extending into the apical angle; “discoidal” vein in the same straight or slightly curved line with the subcostal; discocellular vemlet sinuous ; the third median veinlet produced to a conspicuous tail. Antenne fine and distinctly clubbed. Female unknown. No Asiatic genus of Satyrine presents us with any approach to the remarkable arrangement of the two hindermost veins of the anterior wings described above ; but in the South-Ameri- can genus Antirrhea we meet with identically the same arrangement, the first median veinlet in the males of A. archea and its congeners running back to the inner angle, and the submedian vein ending a considerable distance short of that angle, though not nearly so far short of it as in the Indian form, for which I propose the above name, in allusion to these remarkable points of resemblance, reserving all further com- parisons and comment until I shall be in possession of specimens of the South-American forms. The species of the genus Llymnias alone exhibit the same disposition of the three anterior veins of the posterior wings. Parantirrhea Marshalli, n. sp. 3. Wings above dark fuscous, suffused with rich deep violet. Anterior wings with an outwardly and forwardly arched subcrescentic pale violet or mauve band, commencing beyond the middle of the wings at the costal vein, terminating at the inner angle, and crossed obliquely by a series of three small white spots disposed in a straight line parallel to the outer margin, and placed upon folds of as many consecutive cells, the last being between the two anterior median veinlets. Posterior wings relatively longer-tailed than in JMelanitis ismene (Cramer), with the membranous parts of the divergent tails almost wholly formed by the produced wing-membrane ot the interspace between the second and third median vein- lets, a very narrow anterior membranous edging only being contributed by the interspace next in front, and with rather more than the basal two thirds of their length in front of the discoidal and subcostal veins ochreous. Wings below ochreous, obscurely striated with a deeper shade of the same colour, and marked with a submarginal series of inconspicuous brown specks, the probable rudiments of ocelli. Length of anterior wing 1:16 inch, whence expanse= 2°4 inches. ; The female will in all probability prove to differ from the 336 Geological Society. male not only in the absence of the sexual spot on the poste- rior wings, but also in having the inner margin of the anterior wings straight and neither lobed at the base nor turned up in the middle, and the first median veinlet and the submedian vein of the same wings normally arranged and developed and directed respectively to the outer margin and to the imner angle, after the manner usual amongst butterflies. Hab. 'Trevandrum, Travancore, South India. Described from four specimens of the male—one (the type) recently pur- chased by the Indian Museum, and three the property of Capt. G. F. L. Marshall, R.E., to whom I am indebted not only for the opportunity of describing this interesting insect, but also for permission to dissect one of the specimens in his collection. PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. January 19, 1881.—Robert Etheridge, Esq., F.R.S., President, in the Chair. The following communications were read :— 1. “ Further Notes on the Family Diastoporide, Busk.” By G. R. Vine, Esq. Communicated by Prof. P. Martin Duncan, M.B. Lond., F.R.S., F.G.S8. In continuing his review of the family of the Diastoporide, the author stated that upon the question of the classification of the Polyzoa he is inclined to accept the views recently published by the Rev. T. Hincks, in preference to the earlier ones enunciated by Prof. Busk. He now described the forms found in the Lias and QOolite, including Diastopora stromatoporides, Vine (=liassica, Quenst.), D. ventricosa, Vine, D. oolitica, Vine, D. cricopora, Vine. The author then proceded to argue against the inclusion of the foliaceous forms in the genus Diastopora, and concluded by giving a definition of the genus as now limited by himself. 2. “Further Notes on the Carboniferous Fenestellide.” By G. W. Shrubsole, Esq., F.G.S. The author pointed out the discrepancies in the descriptions given by Lonsdale, Phillips, M°Coy, and King of the genus Fenes- tella as represented in the Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian formations respectively. He then proposed a new defini- tion of his own, and described the following species—/. plebeia, M°Coy, F. membranacea, Phil., F. nodulosa, Phil., F. polyporata, Phil., F. crassa, M°Coy, F. halkinensis, sp. nov.; and in conclusion he pointed out that the few species to which he has reduced the Car- boniferous Fenestelle find their representatives in the North-Ameri- can continent, only one really new form, 7. Norwoodiana, having been described there. Geological Society. — 337 February 2, 1881.—Robert Etheridge, Esq., F.R.S., President, in the Chair. The following communications were read :— 1. “On the Coralliferous Series of Sind, and its Connexion with the last Upheaval of the Himalayas.” By Prof. P. Martin Duncan, M.B. Lond., F.RB.S., F.G.S. This communication is the result of the author’s study and de- scription of the fossil corals of Sind, undertaken at the request of the Geological Survey of India. The history of the researches in the geology of the Tertiary deposits of Western Sind was noticed in relation to a statement made some years since by the author and Mr. H. M. Jenkins, F.G.8., that there was more than one Tertiary series there, in opposition to both D’Archiac and Haime. After a brief description of the geology of the Khirthar and Laki ranges of hills, which were called Hala Mountains by the French geologists, the succession of the stratigraphical series demon- strated by the Survey under Blanford and Fedden was given, and the author proceeded to discuss the peculiarities of the six coral faunas of the area, and to argue upon the conditions which prevailed during their existence. A transitional fauna, neither Cretaceous nor Eocene, underlies a trap; to the trap succeeds a great development of Num- mulitic beds, the Ranikot series, containing corals, some of which are gigantic representatives of Kuropean Nummulitic forms. »-shaped group of spots below it; a bilobed black transverse spot at the end of the cell; two arched discal bands formed of more or less confluent grey dashes; apical half of costal margin and outer margin spotted with black: secon- daries with grey spots on the fringe: female with the terminal segments of the abdomen banded with grey. Primaries below yellowish (like pale gold), the marginal black spots as above; secondaries with slightly yellowish costal area, otherwise white: body below white; legs banded above with greyish. Expanse of wings 7-11 lines. A pair of this pretty little species. Mr. Blackburn says that it was taken on the “ mountains near Honolulu.” 37. Parasia sedata (No. 86). @. Gelechia sedata, Butler, Cist. Ent. ii. p. 560. n. 88 (1880) The male of this species, which agrees better (both in structure and pattern) with Parasia than with Gelechia. It was taken “ flying on the sea-shore at Kawaiahe, Hawaii.” HYPOSMOCHOMA, gen. nov. Holcocere affine genus. Alze posticee vena mediana triramosa, ramis autem omnibus bene separatis, petiolo haud emissis; fasciculo setarum magno basali; ciliis marginis externi longissimis; palpis perlongis, arcuatis, a latere emissis; capite lanuginoso ; antennis longis, crassis ; pedibus longis, robustis, tibiis valide spinosis. The principal differences between this genus and Holcocera seem to consist in the branching of the median vein of the secondaries, the second and third branches being emitted sepa- rately instead of from a footstalk 5 and in the large fascicle of 400 Mr. A. G. Butler on Nocturnal Lepidoptera bristles emitted from the base of these wings (presumably a scent-fan), which, when closed, extends along the costal border to some distance beyond the end of the cell, but when opened extends obliquely backwards across the secondaries, and forwards across the under surface of the primaries: the frons appears (judging from the description by Clemens) to be narrower than in Lolcocera ; but in other respects the two genera seen to be much alike*. Hyposmochoma has somewhat the aspect of Butalis, excepting for its singularly placed palpi, which are emitted almost as far apart as in my New-Zealand genus Boocara. 38. Hyposmochoma Blackburnit, sp. n. (No. 123). g. Primaries dark sepia-brown, the second and third sixths of the costal half densely sprinkled with cream-coloured scales, forming a large oblong patch, sharply defined and oblique at its basal extremity, but diffused externally ; rather beyond the middle of this pale patch is a short longitudinal black subcostal spot; a few scattered creamy or pale testa- ceous scales on the basal area; a patch of white and pale scales on the dorsal margin near the external angle ; a trans- verse subapical white belt, notched internally, angulated and expanded upwards along the outer margin externally, and enclosing one or two marginal black spots; a central longitu- dinal, slightly branched, black streak almost from the base to the white belt ; apex black, crossed by two transverse spots of whitish scales; costal fringe immediately opposite to the commencement of the subapical belt pale golden or shining whity brown ; fringe of outer margin of the same colour, but tipped and traversed by grey lines, and with two or three black spots upon the inner line : secondaries grey, with bronzy reflections and bronze-brown fringe; the pencil of hairs or bristles stramineous: thorax black, the head and fringes of the tegule pale bronzy brown ; palpi with silvery inner mar- gin: abdomen dark greyish brown. Wings below shining plumbaginous grey, with slight cupreous reflections, fringes paler than above: body below pale metallic golden; legs brown above, the tarsi black, banded with cream-colour, tibial spines cream-colour. Expanse of wings 9 lines. One specimen. ‘Occurring at about 4000 feet above sea on Haleakala, Maui; various localities. I think it is con- nected with dead wood.” * T again have to thank Lord Walsingham for referring me to the de- scription of Holcocera; without this reference I should have been much puzzled as to the affinities of this singular insect. Jrom the Hawaiian Islands. 401 Genus CHRESTOTES (= Safra, Walk.). Walker founded a genus under the name of Safra upon a species of Crambid from Shanghai (Cat. Lep. Het. xxvii. p- 195, 1863) ; he subsequently gave the same name to one of the genera ‘of. Gelechiides (Cat. Lep. Het. xxix. p. 785, 1864) ; the latter therefore requires a fresh denomination. 39. Chrestotes dryas, sp. n. (No. 70). Primaries above pinky clay-coloured, mottled all over with grey; these mottlings are most regular “along the borders, but are evidently not arranged on any plan, as they do not corre- spond on the opposite wings; fringe whity brown, irrorated and obscurely spotted with grey : “secondaries silver, with a tarnished appearance ; fringe pale testaceous : thorax reddish clay-coloured ; abdomen ‘ereyish brown. Under surface bronzy brown, shining: secondaries greyish towards the anal angle; body pale. LKxpanse of wings 94 lines. One specimen. Honolulu. Te 2. EvpERIssvs, gen. nov. (Fig. 1, hind wing.) Tarude affine genus. Alis angustis elongatis, venis parallelis: ale anticee margine costali modice arcuato, ciliis longulis; vena costali perlonga; vena subcostali triramosa, ramo primo ven medio emisso, secundo et tertio apud angulum cellule anticum emissis ; vena superiore radiali furca terminali instructa ; vena inferiore radiali simplici ; vena mediana triramosa, ramis secundo et tertio approximatis: posticee margine costali paululum concavyo, ciliis apud apicem plicatis, venis omnibus bene separatis, ramis duobus subcostalibus paululum divergentibus ; vena mediana supra late ciliata, ciliis regularibus rigidis, penicillum elongatum ruga abdo- minali emissum partim obtegentibus et inhibentibus ; ciliis ordi- nariis longulis ; capite lato leviter cristato, antennis longis modice pectinatis, palpis perlongis arcuatis; pedibus robustis, posticis perlongis, tibiis supra setosis, infra insequaliter quadrispinosis. 402 Mr. A. G. Butler on Nocturnal Lepidoptera This extraordinary form comes nearer to Taruda of Walker than to any other genus: it doubtless belongs to the group of genera allied to Cryptolechia; the singular development of bristles from the median vein of the secondaries, in order to hold down a long hair-pencil which proceeds from the mar- ginal abdominal furrow, is one of the most singular contri- vances which I ever observed in a Lepidopterous insect. 40. Huperissus cristatus, sp. n. (No. 72). Primaries above pale shining bronze-brown, with a black spot at the end of the cell, a grey dot near the middle of the cell, one or two (very indistinct) near the base, and one about the middle of the interno-median area: secondaries silvery grey, with the cilia from the median vein and the pencil from the abdominal fold bright ochreous; marginal fringe pale brown, spotted obscurely with grey at the base: head clay- brown; thorax silvery ; abdomen pale buff; basal joint of antenne blackish, remainder of antenne and palpi cream- coloured. Under surface shining silvery, metallic; legs and base of venter pale buff. Expanse of wings 114 lines. One specimen. Mountains near Honolulu. ST@BERHINUS, gen. nov. (Fig. 2, palpus.) Urbare affine genus, Ypsolopho* simile, differt autem palpis maris permagnis crassis, scopis terminalibus expansis, feminz palpis simplicibus longulis porrectis ; antennis crassis. The development of the male palpi in this genus is con- siderably greater than in the little South-American genus to which Walker has given the name of Urbara; this organ curves upwards far above the head in Steberhinus, and is broadly fringed at the back, so as to present the appearance of a hearth-broom fF. Al. Steberhinus testaceus, sp. n. (No. 73). Primaries above pale testaceous; six dark brown spots arranged in pairs, two at the base, two just beyond the basal third, the fifth (which is largest) just below the end of the cell, and the sixth in an oblique line with it on the dorsal margin; two or three widely-separated brown costal spots and an arched series close to the outer margin; a slender brown marginal line, and a paler line near the base of the * Y. verbascellus especially. + The development is quite different from that in Anaphora, being quite slender and only emitting divergent bristles from the back of the last joint. from the Hawaiian Islands. 403 fringe, beyond which it (the fringe) is almost pure white: secondaries silvery white, with faint cupreous reflections; an indistinct marginal testaceous line: body testaceous; palpi with the terminal bristles dark brown; abdomen silvery at the base. Primaries below greyish testaceous, with a narrow buff-coloured border ; fringe silvery : secondaries with greyish testaceous costal area, otherwise as above : body below shining golden buff. Expanse of wings 6 lines. A pair. Honolulu. Argyresthiide. 42. Argyresthia zebrina, sp. n. (No. 74). Primaries above stramineous ; two black spots placed ob- liquely near the base on the costal and dorsal margins, two larger spots at about the basal third, almost uniting in the centre into an oblique band; an oblique i irregular abbreviated. band across the end of the cell, divided by a longitudinal line of the ground-colour at its inferior extremity, and beyond this four submarginal black dots ; a broad oblique black sub- apical band, divided by a slender line of the ground-colour close to its outer edge; fringe white at apex, but interrupted by a large black spot confluent with the subapical band, and emitting a short curved line outwards and downwards close to the edge of the fringe: secondaries silvery white, slightly tinted with stramineous towards the apex: body ochraceous, frons black. Under surface shining grey: primaries with cupreous reflections. Hxpanse of wings 4 lines. One specimen. Honolulu. 43. Argyresthia? aurisquamosa, sp. n. (No. 42). Primaries coarsely scaled; brown, changing to purple in the light, and with the scales beyond the middle metallic golden in the centre; an irregular sulphur-yellow spot at about the centre of the dorsal margin, and a cuneiform sub- apical costal spot sulphur-yellow, changing in the light to brassy gold; fringe pale bronzy brown: secondaries bronzy brown, with the basicostal area and outer margin metallic silver; fringe very long and bronzy brown: thorax dark brown, shot with purple and spotted with gold; frons, palpi, and antenne bright pearly opaline; abdomen greyish brown ; legs whitish; tarsi obscurely banded with grey. Wings below bronzy brown: secondaries paler than primaries ; body shining whity brown. Hxpanse of wings 5 lines. One imperfect specimen. I have taken the description 404 Mr. A. G. Butler on Nocturnal Lepidoptera from two specimens previously sent. ‘Occurs in neigh- bourhood of Honolulu.” Gracilariide. 44, Gracilaria inana, sp. n. (No. 112). Allied to G. rufipennella. Primaries above pale brown, densely irrorated with darker brown, general coloration pale smoky brown; in certain lights a faint pink reflection; a blackish dot in the middle, and a second at the end of the cell ; a line of dark brown scales from the second spot to the costa, and thence along the margin to apex; four ill-defined dark brown marginal dots between the apex and the first median branch ; fringe whity brown, with cream-coloured basal line and a subbasal series of darker brown flecks: secondaries with the basal third silvery white, the remainder pale shining brown ; fringe whity brown, with cream-coloured basal line: head and prothorax pale brown; frons white, vertex of head and basal joint of antenne buff, remainder of antenne grey ; meso- and metathorax and abdomen pearly grey, anal tuft shining stramineous; legs above brownish, indistinctly banded with grey. Wings below shining bronze-brown: body whitish, tinted with yellow towards the anus. Expanse of wings 64 lines. One specimen. Honolulu. 45. Gracilaria auripennis, sp. n. (No. 121). Primaries above golden ochraceous, with orange fringe: secondaries smoky black: head and palpi opaline; antenne above black, banded with white, below cream-coloured; thorax ochraceous; abdomen black. Primaries below shining fuli- ginous brown, with bright ochreous costal margin and fringe: secondaries silvery, with brown fringe: body below and legs brilliant pearly white. Expanse of wings 6 lines. One specimen, “beaten from ‘Koa’ trees (a species of Acacia I believe) on Haleakala, Maui” (7. B.). Elachistide. 46. Laverna abjecta, sp. n. (No. 48). Allied to JZ. conturbatella. Primaries dark fuliginous brown; a whitish spot at the base; an angulated cream- coloured band across the basal fourth; a rather wide bluish- white streak along the dorsal margin from the angle of the subbasal band to the external angle of the wing; the inner from the Hawaiian Islands. 405 edge of this streak is bisinuate, with a cream-coloured spot at the point between the sinuations ; apical fourth densely irro- rated with bluish white, with the exception of a spot at apex and a hastate spot on the outer margin; costal fringe and basal half of external fringe olive-brown, spotted with white, outer half cream-colour, tipped with grey : secondaries silvery grey, with the fringe pale brown at the base: head brown ; palpi black and white; antenne black; pro- and mesothorax black; metathorax and abdomen pale brown. Primaries below pale bronze-brown, with golden costal border ; fringe crossed by a whitish stripe: secondaries silvery whitish, with brownish costal border and fringe: body below pearly whitish. Expanse of wings 7} lines. One specimen, which came ina former collection, but which I now venture for the first time to describe. 47. Laverna corvina, sp. n. (No. 122). Primaries above sericeous jet-black; an oblique cream- coloured band at basal fourth continuous with an internally bisinuated streak of the same colour, which extends along the dorsal margin to the external angle, and then emits a rather yellower abbreviated band upwards close to the outer margin ; a cream-coloured costal spot at apical fourth ; fringe smoky black : secondaries silvery grey, with smoky-brown fringe; a jet-black pencil of hairs from the base of the costa: head dark green and golden; palpi blue-black, the joints tipped with whitish ; antennz black ; collar golden ; pro- and mesothorax black ; metathorax testaceous ; abdomen prismatic grey ; legs black, banded with opaline white. Wings below shining grey ; fringe brownish ; pectus bright silvery ; posterior legs below and venter bright golden opaline. Expanse of wings 7 lines. Two specimens, “ beaten from ‘Koa’ trees on Haleakala, Maui.” 48. Laverna domicolens, sp. n. (No. 124). Primaries above brownish grey, with slight pinky reflec- tions; an irregular almost \\~~-shaped black-brown band from the base of costa, through the centre of the wing, to the apical third of costa; a black costal spot opposite to the centre of this band; three blackish costal dots towards apex ; exter- nal angle suffused with brown; fringe whitish beyond the centre: secondaries metallic silvery, with pale bronze-brown fringe: body on both surfaces pearly white; tibia and tarsi banded with black. Wings below shining silvery, the pri- Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 5. Vol. vii. 30 406 My. A. G. Butler on Nocturnal Lepidoptera maries appearing tarnished towards the apex and on the fringe. Expanse of wings 6 lines. Two specimens, “occurring at Makawao, Maui; about 2000 feet above sea, in a house.” 49. Laverna parda, sp. n. (No. 125). Primaries above slaty grey, irrorated with black ; the base, a streak along the dorsal margin, a streak across the cell, a spot on the costa near apex, and a spot at external angle densely sprinkled with white scales ; a black spot at the base, two in the cell, a rather large one closing the cell, and two below the cell; fringe and the whole of the secondaries sooty grey: thorax black, spotted with ochreous; frons cream- coloured ; abdomen grey, with pale margins to the segments ; lees above black, banded with white, below white. Wings below shining plumbaginous grey, with dull grey cilia: body below silvery white. HExpanse of wings 6 lines. Var. (No. 127). Smaller; the primaries much more generally irrorated with white, so that the black spots stand out more prominently ; the secondaries plumbaginous instead of sooty grey, and with brown cilia; body paler; the head greyish white or creamy yellowish, with white frons and almost wholly white palpi; the black colouring of the upper surface of the legs variable (in the paler specimen reduced to a series of spots). Expanse of wings 53 lines. Three specimens, the typical one taken ‘on Haleakala, about 4000 feet above sea; apparently connected with dead wood.” The two others “at light, Makawao, Maui.” One of the specimens taken at Makawao is exactly inter- mediate, excepting in size, between the two other specimens sent by Mr. Blackburn; and as the arrangement of the most stable character (that is, of the black spots on the primaries) is the same in all three, I cannot think that we have here more than a variation to deal with. 50. Chrysoclista tigrina, sp. n. (No. 120). Primaries above golden orange; basicostal area dusky ; discoidal cell black, crossed near the middle by two oblique lines of the ground-colour, and only separated by a third oblique line from a little curved black stria at the end of the cell; an oblique blackish costal streak above the end of the cell, immediately followed by a similar white streak; an almost fusiform apical costal black patch, partly crossed by Srom the Hawaiian Islands. 407 two silvery-white tufts of scales, and bounded externally at apex by a third; a broad silvery-white longitudinal median stripe from the base almost to the end of the cell; base of dorsal border dusky; five confluent black dots along the outer margin, the fourth bounded internally by a white dot ; apical half of fringe golden orange, longitudinally striped with white, the dorsal half smoky brown; two longitudinal black dashes close to the external angle: secondaries silvery grey, with fuligimous brown fringes: head, thorax, and palpi pearly white ; abdomen blackish. Wings below silvery grey, with slight bronzy reflections; apical half of fringe of pri- maries orange, remainder of fringe brown: body below white. Expanse of wings 5 lines. One specimen, ‘“ beaten from ‘Koa’ trees on Haleakala.” 51. Chrysoclista? haleakale, sp. n. (No. 126). Primaries above black, sericeous, with slight purplish re- flections ; a few golden-orange scales at the middle of the costal border, aud a large spot of this colour above the end of the cell; a broad orange longitudinal stripe running along the median vein from the base to the end of the cell; a spot at external angle; cilia orange at apex: secondaries smoky black, with slight pinky reflections, the cilia dull: head and thorax orange; frons golden opaline; abdomen slaty grey, with fiery cupreous reflections. Wings below smoky brown, shining, with bronzy reflections; primaries with silvery inner border: body below shining metallic silvery, the tibize and tarsi blackish above. Hxpanse of wings 6 lines. Two specimens. ‘On Haleakala, in company with Laverna parda.” Pterophoride. 52. Platyptilia repletalis (No. 96). Platyptilus repletalis, Walker, Cat. Lep. Het. xxx. p. 931. n. 16 (1864), One specimen. “ Mauna Loa, Hawaii, elevation about 4000 frat.” wr, ee ‘mblyptilia cosmodactyla, var. (No. 137). Alu, .ta cosmodactyla, Hiibner, Samml. eur. Schmett. 5, figs. 35, 36 (1827). ‘ One specimen. ‘Not rare at light; also by beating, at an elevation of about 2000 feet, on Haleakala, Maui.” 30* 408 Mr. C. O. Waterhouse on new Longicorn Coleoptera. 54. Aciptilia hawaiiensis, sp. n. (No. 138). Wings above sericeous whity or sandy brown: primaries paler than the secondaries, but with dark brown costal border ; a black dot just above the commencement of the cleft between the lobes; anterior lobe fuliginous brown, crossed near its base by an oblique white band, and towards the apex by two obliquely-placed white dots ; fringe at apex white ; posterior lobe fuligmous brown externally ; fringe spotted here and there with white, that of the inner margin with a black dot near the commencement of the cleft, and black spotted with white towards the external angle: secondaries with greyish cilia; a black spot at the second third of the abdominal fringe: metathorax, base of abdomen, and hind margins of the segments white; legs banded above and below with white. Wings below darker than above: body below white. Expanse of wings 6 lines. Two specimens. ‘Common on the sea-shore at Uoluolu, Manat?’ (7. B.), XL.— Descriptions of two new Longicorn Coleoptera and a new Genus of Dynastide. By CHartes O. WaTER- HOUSE. Lamiide. Megacriodes Forbesii, n. sp. Niger, nitidus, pube subtilissima cinerea indutus; thoracis disco macula oculata crocea ornato; elytris basi et sub humeros crebre granulosis, plagis sex albis ornatis. Long. 22 lin. Near to M. Saundersi’, Pascoe (Trans. Ent. Soe. 3rd ser. = p- 272, 1866); but , judging from the figure (pl. xii. fig. 1), 1 is a more robust species. It differs chiefly i in having the the of the elytra and all the humeral region thickly studded with shining granules. ‘The scutellum is yellow. Each elytron has three patches of white pubescence (which were do htless yellow when the insect was alive)—the first and secon¢ ad asin M. Saundersii, but very irregular in form; t. very elongate, and as if formed of “the two apical spots of M. Saundersii. The underside is clothed with yellowish- grey pile, with a broad stripe along the side from behind the eye to the apical segment of the abdomen ; this stripe is part ~ Mr. C. O. Waterhouse on new Longicorn Coleoptera. 409 yellow and part white; it was probably yellow when the specimen was alive. Hab. Lampong, Sumatra (H. O. Forbes). B.M. Pamenesperus Dobret, n. sp. Niger, velutinus, griseo variegatus ; antennarum articulo tertio basi apiceque testaceo, articulis sex apicalibus flavis. Long. 8 lin. Near P. voluptuosus, Th. (Arch. Ent. i. pl. vi. fig. 6), but with the lateral angle of the thorax much nearer the base. Antenne with the base and apex of the third joint and the extreme base of the fourth pale ; half the fifth and all the sixth to tenth joints yellow; the eleventh is yellow, except at the extreme apex. Head black; the face, a central line, a patch behind, and a dot above each eye pale grey. Thorax black, with a line along the anterior margin, another at the base, an irregular line over the lateral spine, and a A-shaped mark on the disk grey. lytra at the base a trifle broader than the thorax, with obtuse but prominent shoulders, black, with a transverse grey band at the base; this descends a little at the suture, dentate along its basal line; at the middle there is a grey line which, commencing on the margin, extends to the middle of the elytron, where it ascends a little, and then turns at right angles towards the suture, where it again descends for some distance and is united to another band, which leads back to the original point on the margin. At some distance from the apex there is an oblique grey band which nearly reaches the suture and then descends to the apex, emitting a small branch about halfway to the apex; there is also a grey spot on the margin close to the apex. The underside and legs are grey, dotted with black. Hab. Gaboon. B.M. I have only seen one specimen of this elegant species. I have named it after its captor, the late Robert B. Dobree, Esq. Dynastide. BRACHYSIDERUS, n. gen. General form and characters of Antedon. Thorax in the male evenly convex and without tubercle or horn. Ocular canthus with its anterior angle directed forward into a short sharp tooth. Horn on the clypeus a little longer than the head, thick, horizontal, dilated at the apex, which is emargi- nate, the angles acute and turned slightly upwards. Legs much: more robust and more flattened than in Antedon, 410 On a new Species of Dryops from Pekin. smooth; the anterior tibize broad, with three strong acute teeth near the apex ; the claw-joint of their tarsi considerably enlarged, with a strong tooth about the middle; one claw much larger than the other, suddenly bent before the middle, with a strong acute tooth at the base. Intermediate and posterior tarsi with the basal joint short and produced on the outer side into a long acute spine. Body above and below smooth and without pubescence. This genus should be placed between Antedon and Mitra- cephalus, ,differing from both in the absence of horn on the thorax. Brachysiderus quadrimaculatus, n. sp. Piceus, nitidus; thoracis lateribus flavescentibus macula picea notatis, elytris testaceis, punctulatis, sutura maculisque quatuor piceis. <. Long. cornu excl. 14 lin., lat. 8 lin. Head pitchy black, nearly impunctate; the horn deeply excavated at the base. Thorax convex, very much rounded at the sides, very thickly, finely, and delicately punctured, the posterior angles obtusely rounded. LElytra a little broader than the thorax, smoky’ testaceous, not very thickly punc- tured; the suture broadly and the margins very narrowly pitchy ; each elytron has a pitchy black spot on the shoulder and another near the apex. Hab, Amazons. This species will be figured in the sixth part of my ‘ Aid to the Identification of Insects.’ XLI.—Description of a new Species of the Coleopterous Genus Dryops from Pekin (Family Parnide). By CHARLES O. WATERHOUSE. Dryops sericatus, n. sp. D. substriato affinis et similis, magis tamen elongatus; thorace postice paulo angustato, lateribus marginatis fere rectis, ad angu- los anticos solum arcuatis. Long. 3 lin. This species has the colour and appearance of D. substriatus, but is much more elongate and relatively narrower. ‘The most striking difference is in the form of the thorax: this is very little transverse, distinctly narrowed posteriorly, much narrower at the base than the elytra, moderately convex on Mr. J. Wood-Mason on a new Species of Cetoniide. 411 the disk ; the anterior angles are moderately prominent and acute ; the sides are distinctly margined, broadly so in front, as if impressed above the anterior angles; rectilinear, except near the anterior angles, where they are gently arcuate. The elytra are less convex, rather more straight at the sides; the striz are scarcely so well marked ; and the punctuation of the interstices is finer. The legs are very long, pitchy. Hab. Pekin. B.M. XLIT.—Description of a new Cornuted Species of Cetoniidee from North-eastern India. By J. Woop-Mason, Deputy Superintendent, Indian Museum, Calcutta. [Plate XVII. figs. A, B, C.] Mycteristes microphyllus, n. sp. 3. Slender. Above obscure bronzy, with dull greenish reflections, and sparsely clothed with minute whity brown appressed squamiform sete; legs and under surface more brilliant and redder bronzy, without green reflections, but with a similar clothing of sete, which are longer and denser on the thorax ; exposed outer ends of abdominal terga densel clothed with whity brown setiform scales ; tarsi black. Cly- peus concave, with its anterior angles pointed, produced, and somewhat divergent; its front margin armed with a short and broad-stalked small subcrescentic process, which is slightly transversely concave behind and correspondingly convex in front. ‘The crown of the head produced horizontally over the clypeus into a short, truncated, triangular, lamellar pro- cess, divided at its extremity into two rounded points by a median notch. Pronotum unarmed. Mesosternal process very short, porrected in front, not produced downwards beyond the level of the sternum. Abdomen grooved along the middle below. Fore tibiz externally tridentate ; four posterior ones bidentate, as in M. rhinophyllus. Length from extremity of cephalic horn to end of abdomen 19 millims.; breadth across bases of conjoined elytra 7°75 millims. While I was in England on furlough in 1877-78, Mr. E. W. Janson showed me an insect which I at once recognized as the female ; it differs from the male in having the clypeus, asin M. rhinophyllus, simple, but, as far as I recollect, in no other point of any moment. 412 Bibliographical Notice. From the Javan MV. rhinophyllus the present species differs in the small amount of sexual differentiation it has undergone (the pronotum being hornless, and the colour and general form the same in both sexes, and the azygous horn on the front of the clypeus in the male being short and inconspicu- ous), in having the mesosternal process directed forwards instead of downwards, in colour, in its slenderer form, and probably also in the crown of the head in the male being pro- duced into a bilobed horizontal plate-like process overhanging the clypeus. Hab. The specimen was presented to me several years ago by my friend and colleague Mr. Geoftrey Nevile, who had received it from Mr. W. Robert, of the Topographical Survey of India, by whom it was captured in the Naga hills, one of the hill-ranges of North-eastern India. EXPLANATION OF PLATE XVII. Fies. A-C. Fig. A. Mycteristes microphyllus, nat. size. Fig. B. Upper view of the head, enlarged. Fig. C. Outline of the extremity of the clypeus, viewed from below; drawn to scale under a Ross’s 35-inch. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. Manual of the New-Zealand Coleoptera. By Capt. Tuomas Brown. Published by command. Wellington: James Hughes. 1880. A srout volume of 640 pages on the beetles of New Zealand, pub- lished at the expense of the local government, marks an era in the scientific history of the colonies. If we except Ceylon, no other British possession has shown itself so far above ‘the miserable theory of money on the ledger being the primary rule for empires, or for any higher entity than city-owls and their mice-catching.” Capt. Broun has laboured under immense difticulties. With few books and no opportunity of comparing his ‘‘new species,” he has given very fair descriptions (beyond, indeed, the European average) of such as he believes to be undescribed. The author, moreover, living in the island of Kawau, had not even an opportunity of re- vising the proof-sheets of his work, although this has been ably done for him; and, as might be expected, he has not been able to satisfy himself as to the generic location of many of his species, nor has he always been fortunate in the names he has applied to them. We are sorry Dr. Hector, who appears to have seen the work through the press, did not suggest to Capt. Broun to change them. The plan of the writer has been to give the original descriptions of various authors; and these are generally supplemented by re- Royal Institution of Great Britain. 413 marks of his own; but, as he has omitted the usual quotation com- mas, it requires some care to distinguish between them. From the list given at the beginning we find that 1141 species are described. ‘To those who have been in New Zealand, and noted the apparent scarcity of animal life (mosquitoes excepted), this must appear to be a very large number. Many, however, are only known at present from one or, at most, two or three specimens ; and some will perhaps be found to be merely varieties. As usual in island faunas, Curculionide are the most numerous ; they number 207 species ; then follow Longicorns 182, and Carabidee with 135. Buprestide have only 2 species, Scarabeeidee 29; and all the Phyto- phagous families do not yield more than 36: these three groups are in marked contrast with the numerous species of the Australian fauna. The comparatively small families of Pselaphide and Coly- didee are represented by 44 and 49 respectively. There is very little in its beetle-fauna to connect New Zealand with Australia, and still less with any neighbouring land. Prof. Huxley considers these islands to form a distinct zoological pro- vince: they are certainly peculiar in the fragmentary character of their productions; but they have no endemic groups larger than genera, and few of these are very remarkable. Captain Broun’s list contains 355 genera; of these, 93 are represented in England, while the otherwise exclusively Australian genera are nearly con- fined to Leperina, Adelium, Amarygmus, Tanychilus, Rhadinosomus, Pachyura, and Euthyrhinus. With regard to the other orders of insects it is perhaps hazardous to say that they are not represented in such large numbers; still there is reason to believe that the Coleoptera exceed all the rest together. It is to be hoped that this useful work will be followed by others completing the insect-fauna. PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. ROYAL INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN. February 4, 1881.—Thomas Boycott, M.D., F.L.S., Vice-President, in the Chair. “On the Origin of Colonial Organisms.” By Dr. ANDREW Witson, F.R.S.E. &e. Every animal develops, directly or indirectly, from an “ ovum” or egg; and the plant springs, directly or indirectly, from the germ or seed. One chief difference between low and high forms of life con- sists in the fact that the development of the former ceases at a stage when the development of the latter has barely begun. The Gire- garina is a microscopic speck of protoplasm living parasitically within the bodies of earthworms and other Articulated animals, When development takes place the body becomes oval, develops a wall or cyst, and the internal protoplasm breaks up into small 414 Royal Institution of Great Britain. spindle-shaped masses. The body then ruptures, and the small seg- ments escape, each to become a Gregarina, without further change, save the development of a nucleus. Each Gregarina at first appears as a single animal or persona, which converts itself by segmentation into an aggregation of such beings. There is thus a temporary de- velopment of a compound or colonial state. Similarly the Amebe (which are low Protozoa, living in stagnant water and infusions, and moving, as do the white corpuscles of our blood, by emitting pseudopodia, or processes of their protoplasmic substance), when undergoing development, exhibit segmentation or internal division of their substance, and thus exhibit a compound state as a transi- tory feature of their reproductive phases. It is noteworthy that in developing from the eggs the embryos of all higher animals exhibit a like process of segmentation or division, as a preliminary phase of their reproduction. There are also forms - of Protozoa (Myxodictywm) which are truly ‘ colonial” as adults, and which consist of masses of protoplasm aggregated together to form compound organisms. The Foraminifera are likewise “ colo- nial ;” since the shells of these minute Protozoa exhibit, as a rule, a division into chambers, each occupied by a distinct protoplasmic unit, organically connected to its neighbours, from which it was pro- duced by budding. The Volvox globator, formerly known as the “ Globe animalcule,” but now ascertained to be a free-swimming lower plant, 1s composed of distinct units, each provided with two cilia, and resembling a Chlamydomonas. Volvowis, in fact, a colony of monads. A Sponge is a compound or “ colonial” organism, in that it consists of an ageregation of protoplasmic units, some of which resemble Amebe in nature, whilst others resemble Chlamydomonads. The protoplasmic units of a sponge-colony are, asarule, united together by a common skeleton they have helped to elaborate. Each sponge grows from an egg, the process of reproduction by “‘ budding” being also represented in the group. Two Spongille, or common freshwater sponges, will unite if placed in contact, or may separate spontaneously. The sponge arising from an egg, like a higher animal, thus exhibits seg- mentation and segregation of its parts and comes to retain this segre- gate and colonial nature as a permanent feature of the race. The Hydre of the freshwater pools, lead us to a type of animals nearly related to the sponges. ach is a tubular animal which may be artificially divided, and which throws off gemme or buds naturally, Each Hydra-bud grows into the exact likeness of its parent, and ultimately detaches itself from the parent body. The zoophytes are simply Hydrew which have budded, but whose buds remain permanent to form a veritable tree, whose growth is ever increasing, and through whose branches a continual store of nutri- ment is continually circulating. Many zoophytes produce eggs which simply and directly develop into the compound adults by budding. Others develop eggs through the media of jelly-fish or medusoid buds, which break away from the parent tree and live an independent existence in the sea. In some zoophytes there may be Royal Institution of Great Britain. 415 seven different kinds of units in the colony, all referable, however, to one type. A Flustra, or ‘‘ sea-mat,’’ grows upon shells, and resembles a piece of pale brown seaweed. Each organism is an animal colony; butits units, which may number several thousands in one organism, are not structurally connected together like those of the zoophytes, but are contained each in a separate cell, The Yeniada, or tapeworms, consist each of a linear series of similar “joints.” Each “joint” is in reality comparable to the unit of zoophyte or “* sea-mat ;” for it is essentially a distinct mem- ber of a colony, and possesses a complete set of generative and other organs, and is produced from the head and neck by budding. According to Hiickel, starfishes and sea-urchins are each compound or “colonial” animals, Structurally, it is provable that each ray of a starfish corresponds with worm-structure in broad details. The Nais and other freshwater worms produce young forms by a new head being budded out amongst their joints. There is here seen a tendency to become doubly ‘colonial ;” inasmuch as the single worm is typically a “colonial” animal, and the new head-develop- ment causes this compound body to detach a new colony, Amongst insects, the Aphides, or plant-lice, produce by veritable ‘‘ budding” new generations, and the queen-bee does not fertilize those eggs which are destined to become “ drone” bees. Thus the homology of an egg with a “bud” appears demonstrable. It is the business of philosophy to correlate and arrange facts to form a harmonious and scientific system, The philosophy of biology leads us firstly to define an “individual” structurally as a being whose parts and organs are so closely and intimately connected, that separation of even a limited structural area means disintegration of the individual asa whole. Physiologically, an “ individual” animal or plant is the total development of a single egg or seed. As the whole zoophyte, sea-mat, and tapeworm arise each from a single egg, each, im toto, is an “ individual.” The separate units of each are named ‘‘zodids.” A new personality does not enter into the life- cycle of any animal or plant until a new egg or seed has been pro- duced. Even in the case of the Hydra, although the buds become detached and, to all appearance, are each as truly an “ individual” as their parent, they possess nevertheless no true personality, They are merely units or zodids of a colony ; they were produced by bud- ding, and as such are not “individuals” but parts of an “ indivi- dual.” If we assumed that the buds of a zoophyte or tapeworm were “individuals,” we might with equal correctness speak of the joints of a lobster or worm as “individuals” likewise. Even in human structure itself there are to be seen traces of a fundamentally “colonial” nature. The tissues of the highest animals are but ag- gregations of cells. As such, they have a semi-independent consti- tution; and there are certain protoplasmic cells (e. g. the white or amceboid corpuscules of the blood) which roam independently at will through the body, and possess powers of movement exactly resembling those of the Ameba and its kind. 416 Royal Institution of Great Britain. A progressive tendency, according to the theory of evolution, marks the organic series. The conversion of the “colony” into the ‘in- dividual ” (in other words, the concentration of originally separate and independent ‘“ units” or “ zodids”) is the chief developmental cause of the differences between high and low organisms. ‘he pri- mitive condition of all organisms is the “ colonial” condition. Egg- segmentation (or, in Protozoa, body-division) is universal in the animal world; and cell-multiplication begins the development of plant-life likewise. Arrest of development at an early stage dis- tributes the separate units thus formed (as in Gregarina); arrest at a later stage gives us the sponge colony (a series of similar aggre- gated cells), or the tapeworm colony (a collection of essentially similar ‘‘ joints”). Physiologically, the higher organism devotes less time to pure reproduction and becomes more explicitly busied with individual interests. Hence the increased concentration of energy which results in the formation of the highest “ individuals,” that yet retain, in the “colonial” and cellular structure of their tissues, the evidence of an originally compound nature. In the plant world, such “ individualization ” is seen as a secon- dary tendency in the close aggregation of flowers in Composite, and in the transformation of uniform composites (e. g. thistle) into individualized forms (e. g. daisy) through such intermediate steps as the centauries. The conclusions of our study of ‘ colonial” organisms are as follows :—1. The original condition of organisms is colonial: the universal segmentation of the egg is a proof of this inference; and the development of new forms by this so-called process in low forms like Gregarine &c. supports this conclusion. 2. The lower we pro- ceed in the scale of being, the more marked is the tendency to form “colonial” organisms. 3. Arrest of development, by causing an organism to cease progressing at a segregated stage, will tend to produce a ‘‘compound” and “ colonial” constitution. 4. The plant world is “colonial” in its highest types. Plant-development has not proceeded towards any marked increase of “ individuality” over the colonial nature of lower forms.